3.2 The Watchers

They dropped Heath on the floor and left without saying a word. Bound hand and foot Heath could only lie on the cold hard floor. He couldn't see where he was but from the silence that greeted his ears he'd bet he was alone. The only wounds were from his useless struggles as he tried to sit up. He quelled the urge to scream. Wherever he was was not where a helpful passerby would be able to hear him.

Tears from pent up anger, helplessness and grief threatened to overwhelm him. Why had they been attacked? Who attacked them? They weren't any kind of being he was aware of and he had done exhaustive research into supernaturals after his dad came back a vampire. They were beautiful with their multi-colored hair and brilliant skin tones. Rainbow people? The thought almost made him smile. It brought to mind a happy carefree pixie type of being that scattered love and happiness everywhere they went. Whoever had attacked them was anything but lovable. Their malice was palpable and what they did to Quentin.... his screams still echoed in Heath's head.

He squinted as a bright light came on above his head. He groaned as a girl walked in smiling down at him "Dana I should have known," Heath mumbled.

"Be a good boy and I'll untie you," Dana cooed in his ear.

"You'll untie him regardless," a stern voice commanded from the doorway.

Heath closed his eyes praying it wasn't who it sounded like. He turned to face the older woman once Dana had untied him. "Windy," he said under his breath.

"Is that anyway to greet your mother?" Windy asked delighting in the look of disgust that flashed across Heath's face. "Now get over here and give your mama a hug."

"Like hell," he growled without moving.

Frowning Windy commented "maybe I should have let the watchers rough you up a bit before bringing you down here."

"They did more than rough up my brother," Heath shouted at her.

"Yeah well," she shrugged "watchers don't like werewolves and one out alone is easy pickings." Giving him a hard stare "he got off easy Alessandro would have had him tortured then executed."

Her offhanded callousness was making Heath's stomach churn. He didn't think he could ever hate someone as much as he hated her. He hated her for everything she had done to him, his father and now his brother. Breathing fast he asked "why am I here?"

"Because I missed my baby," Windy smiled as Heath gagged at the idea "why do you think genius?"

Heath's eyes opened wide as it became clear to him "dad..."

"That's right baby boy," she sneered at him "he'll come and when he does I'll be right here waiting."

Head spinning Heath sat down heavily on the floor. "So I was nothing more than bait to lure my father out into the open."

"Yes that's right," Windy's voice dripped with venom "just like your friend over there was bait to get to you."

Heath looked up and for the first time saw Don in a similar room like his. "Don?" he whispered. Turning to his mother "let him go," he demanded.

"Why should I?"she laughed in his face.

"You have what you want," Heath said "Let him go."

Ignoring him Windy looked at Dana "what do you think? Should we let your brother go?"

Shaking her head Dana gave Windy a wicked grin "I like him where he is."

Heath turned to her gasping. He had known Dana had never liked Don but to be so cruel as to keep him detained in a cage was just evil. Eyes glimmering Dana sidled up to Heath pulling him close kissing him. Running her hands over his chest and back "say you'll marry me and I'll let him go."

"Never," he growled forcing her off him.

"Fine," She shouted "you can watch him starve to death until you change your mind." She turned on her heels and stormed out of Heath's cage. As she went she pounded her fist on the glass partition of Don's cage.

Windy's eyes danced with merriment "a girl after my own heart". Turning to leave she said "just to show you I'm not completely heartless I'll let your friend into your cell. He might enjoy sleeping on a bed for a change."

"Plus it'll have the advantage of keeping Dana off balance," Heath said staring at his mother.

Smiling Windy said "you're not as naive as your father. I'll have to remember that."

"Come on boy change of address," Windy said loudly opening the door. "No monkey business or I'll let Dana starve you to death."

"She will anyway," Don said his tone flat.

"Oh she'll try but with you two together that would mean starving her lover. I don't think she'll do that, do you?"

Weak from lack of good nourishing food Don landed hard on his knees when Windy shoved him through the door. Heath went to him and held him while he sobbed in a mixture of fear and relief.

"I'm sorry," Don muttered.

"For what?" Heath asked dumbfounded "it's not your fault that Dana and Windy are psychos...."

"I should have known...."

"Known what?" Heath asked holding his friend "known that your sister is evil. Give yourself a break it's understandable that you want to believe that she's not as bad as she is."

"I should have," Don insisted pulling away from him "I grew up with her. I knew what she was like. I should have known better."

Shaking his head Heath laughed softly "no Don it's not your fault. If we're comparing whose more at fault based upon our evil relatives then I take the cake. Windy is my mom. I think she's using Dana to get to me to get to my dad. You see I'm no stranger to obsessive females. It must be hereditary."

"You're not responsible for what your mother does," Don said staring at him.

"No more than your responsible for what Dana does," Heath replied back.

Shrugging "I guess," Don said unconvinced. Looking around the room "why does this room have two beds?" 

"I bet one belongs over there," Heath nodded towards the cell Don had occupied. "I bet they removed it to make you even more uncomfortable  then you were." Looking at Don taking in his pale complexion and glassy eyes he asked "you don't look well, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Don gave him a lopsided grin "just weak from eating the slop they serve around here." He shivered from the cool damp basement air.

Putting a hand to his forehead Heath looked at him in concern "you're feverish."

"I'm fine," Don shook his head coughing weakly.

Putting his arms around him Heath commented "you're shivering."

"It's cold in here," Don complained.

Heath looked at Don with concern. While the air was damp it wasn't near cold enough to induce uncontrollable shivering. "Come on lets get you to bed. I bet after a good night's rest in a comfortable bed you'll feel better in the morning."

"I'm not sick," Don said obstinately while he allowed Heath to tuck him into bed. He closed his eyes still shivering from the cold.

No sooner had Heath put Don to bed then the blind went down and the room plunged into darkness. Taking his shoes off Heath groped his way to the other bed and pushed it up against Don's. Heath tossed his blanket over Don and laid down beside him whispering "goodnight" into the darkness.

***

Percy and Shon struggled to carry the young but heavy werewolf through the woods leading back towards Bridgeport. Stopping to rest Percy muttered "they must have used a portal to travel between towns to have traveled so fast."

"Portals?" Shon asked.

"Yeah something Alessandro set up so that supernaturals could hunt," Looking at Shon "I'm sure you've come across unexplained deaths in your line of work..."

"Yeah I just never believed the tabloids that vampires or werewolves and what have you were actually responsible. But seeing Adam's transformation and getting to know Quentin I can see it's possible." Staring into the forest Shon asked "will Adam become like that...a blood thirsty monster."

"I hope not," Percy said "he's doing everything he can to prevent it but I wonder how long he'll survive on the plasma fruit juice that Beverly came up with."

"What if he succumbs? What happens then?" Shon asked intrigued by the situation as much as he disliked it.

Running is fingers through his hair Percy thought over what he should say "right now Adam is living between two worlds. Not quite human and not quite vampire. Once he feeds there's no going back. I don't know if that means there's a way to reverse the transformation or not. There's two opposing forces Alessandro who performed the ritual that started the transformation. Then there's Ambrogio. I'm not really sure if he exists outside Adam's mind or not." Getting up he moved to check on Quinten "the Van Winkles are special and somehow the conflict between Alessandro and Ambrogio is replaying itself and the future rests upon Adam resisting the urge to feed. I'm not sure how it all goes together but there are forces at play that will determine the very future of all of us."

"That's not very comforting," Shon muttered shivering in the cool night air.

"I probably said too much," Percy said sitting back "I'm sorry."

"We better get going," Shon said moving to lift Quentin to his shoulders.

They walked a couple of miles when the first pains began. Percy rubbed his eyes trying to clear his vision. Shon turned to look at him "are you ok?" Nodding Percy waved him on as his breathing became labored. He was finding walking difficult as the pain increased. Blood dripped on his hand, lifting it up into his field of vision he grew dizzy. Blood poured from his nose. Falling to his knees he screamed as his mind fractured into a million pieces.

Dropping Quentin to the forest floor Shon raced to Percy's side. Turning the younger man over Shon shuddered as he was confronted with a nightmarish sight. Blood oozed from Percy's eyes, nose, ears and mouth. He put a hand out to check for a pulse. Sighing in relief as he found it weak and sporadic. Movement to his left alerted him to danger. Jumping to his feet Shon turned to face whatever was approaching. His vision blurred as he lost consciousness. A multi-colored creature stood over him "is it the one?"

Scanning Shon's bio-metrics the other creature shook her head "it has the watcher gene but it's not the gene we need."

"Then we must test it's progeny. One of them must have the gene we require," the man said.

Standing over Quentin the female growled "it's progeny will be corrupted. Look at it's associates...supernaturals."  She grimaced as if being in the presence of supernaturals left a bad taste in her mouth.

"Ton'ga come away from them," the male commanded "it depends upon which of the genes the progeny has. If it has the aggressive gene it will be manifesting itself in it's hatred of the weaker docile one."

Reluctantly Ton'ga moved away from the supernaturals "these creatures should be obliterated....have the other watchers been successful in hunting down Logan for his treachery?"

Shaking his head Rendar replied "no Logan has proved quite adept at hiding any traces of his where abouts. That's one of the reasons why the elders have decided to resurrect the creator."

Kneeling beside Shon "if this loathsome creature has the gene why not use him?"

Rendar shook his head at her "we need the aggressive gene otherwise when the creator is awakened he will be too soft and we will never be free of these creatures."

"It's not a good  plan relying upon long dormant gene's to bring back a creator who abandoned his creations to live among inferior beings...." Ton'ga persisted.

"Enough," Rendar shouted at his partner "it is not up to you to question the elders decision. Time is running out.  We must find the one with the aggressive gene soon. Emit has regained control of Oasis Landing. Once he has repaired the time portal he will be able to start correcting the changes we have made."

Hanging her head she mumbled "forgive me. You are right as usual." Looking down at Shon "should we take this creature with us?"

"He is of no use to us. He has the docile gene. It makes him weak and unsuitable for our requirements." Smiling at his fellow watcher "we know where two of his progeny are located."

Smiling with eagerness Ton'ga stood "we need to go back to the IF's house where we brought the halfling."

Nodding with enthusiasm "I have a feeling the female has the aggressive gene we are seeking. Then we will use the halfling to mate with it to produce a viable vessel to resurrect the creator."

"Rendar you are a genius," Ton'ga smiled with approval.

***

Adam fell to his knees as the pain knifed through his brain.  Panting for air he crawled to the nearest tree. Leaning heavily upon it he rubbed his temples saying out loud "Percy," he could feel the pain his blood brother was in as it ebbed and flowed through him before the link was lost. Wiping the back of his hand across his mouth he was shocked to fine blood smeared across it.

"You must go to them," Ambrogio told him.

"I can't .... my son needs me," Adam shook his head refusing.

"I'll go to him," Ambrogio assured him.

Laughing Adam asked "how does that help? You only exist in our heads. There's nothing you can do to help."

"You would be surprised what I can do," Ambrogio asserted "trust me Adam. I will protect your son."

"Do you know what happened to Percy and the others?" Adam asked "Is the danger coming after my son?"

"Adam go to Percy. He needs you. He was attacked by the watchers...."

"If the watchers are involved I must get to my son," Adam insisted.

"No Adam you cannot. You will be  powerless to protect him. Watchers are toxic to supernaturals. Being in the presence of a watcher induces debilitating pain and continued exposure induces death. Quentin and Percy need your help .... both are hovering near death. You can heal them with your blood, infuse them with it. It's one of the benefits of having not fed...you have the ability to heal."

Holding onto the tree Adam stood up "why didn't you tell me this before we split up? I could have healed Quentin before."

"The watchers are looking for the descendants of their creator. Shon carries the genetic markings of the creator. If you had remained together the Watchers would have disabled all of you. Now you can save your friends and son." Ambrogio paused before continuing "the one they seek is Shon's daughter...."

Looking up sharply Adam pushed himself away from the tree, staggering slightly. "That's it I'm going to my son. Dana is dangerous."

"She is more so to her brother than to Heath. Don carries the gene as well...."

"No your wrong Don's a good kid..."

"He is like Shon carrying the docile gene. He has the goodness that the creator was known for. That goodness is considered a weakness and is lacking in all the Watchers. It was that lack that drove their creator to prevent them from being able to have children of their own. The Watchers figured out how to create their own likeness when they made the first Imaginary Friend.  It was their way of punishing their creator for forsaking them to be with humans."

"You know this creator don't you?" Adam asked "What does this have to do with us?"

"We don't have time for details now. Suffice it to say that what happened in the past is replaying itself out today and will impact the future. For now it's important that you do not fall into the hands of the Watchers. If they get you they will be able to manipulate Heath into doing something he will regret...."

Torn between going to his friends and going to protect his son Adam felt like he was being torn in two. "Ambrogio if anything happens to my son I'll never forgive you or trust you again." 

"As I would expect." Ambrogio said "Trust me I want Heath safe as much as you do. I promise when he is safe I will tell you everything...."