Dreamtrees

Khaat saw Hannah open the door slightly. "Robert," she called urgently.

"Not now," Robert replied dryly.

"Yes, now."

"No. Not now."

"Now, please," Hannah had a begging urgent tone in her voice. He sighed.

"You have one minute," he said harshly, exiting the room.

Khaat didn't move. More than likely, Chase was so dissociated she would have no clue that Robert had even left. Or if she did, her thought was that perhaps Chase would relax since Robert had tried the unsuccessful calm spell that she had dodged. She knew her father was right. Chase had been traumatized until she had been brainwashed and reprogrammed. This was not going to be easy. Khaat was wishing that he would send her to Jeffrey and Sarah in Switzerland, but he didn't seem to be ready to do that yet.

Chase slowly looked up when someone opened the door, half hoping it was Calvin, but it wasn't.. it was some nurse. And she was calling to Robert urgently, telling him she needed him. When he exited the room, Chase slowly stopped rocking back and forth, and her eyes found Khaat's. She stared at Khaat and found herself smiling. "He wanted me to kill you Khaat." She whispered, her eyes finding Khaat's, a very creepy smile on her face. "He told me what you did.. and he told me that I had to... and he would go away.. in my head, he would leave if you died.." She said moving carefully, and leaning towards Khaat, moving onto her knees. "He told me that... and you know it's true... it's all your fault Khaat... everything that happened to me, to Elijah... to Sophia.. even him going off and getting more people... It's all your fault Khaat." She stared at her, and kept smiling, the stuffed animal forgotten.

She started to scratch at her neck again, causing long red streaks to appear on her skin, some of them even started to bleed slightly because of the length of her fingernails ,and how hard she was scratching. "You said I should kill you if I thought you deserved it.. and I thought about it Khaat." She grinned at her, and then found her feet propped on the bed, and she flung herself at Khaat, hoping to knock her down, get her hands around her throat, and do exactly as she wanted to do.

The next thing Khaat knew she was flat on her face on the floor. She'd fallen on the babies. She panicked, Her mind went blank. It was what happened now, because of Felix, when she was in danger. Her own mind just blanked.

"MOVE!" Brian shouted outside. He shoved everyone out of the way. That was his lady, his children at stake. Before he thought, his right fist had connected hard to Chase's jaw in one hell of a right hook. He knocked her flat off of Khaat. Robert flew in behind him and flew to Khaat. He looked into Chase's face and decided he was going to try something unique. Give her what she wanted.

"Brian," Robert called him quietly. Brian looked back for a brief moment and saw a look on Robert's face he knew too well. "She's gone. She's dead." He looked at Chase. "Well, you got what you wanted. You killed my only child. Are you happy now? That's what Barker wanted. But you just killed the woman you thought of as your mother. Is that what YOU really wanted? Hannah, get that gurney, please." He looked at Hannah and saw tears streaming down her face, her hand covering her mouth in utter horror. "NOW!!" Robert ordered. Hannah brought the gurney, and Robert turned Khaat over, her delicate face and neck bruising, a snall trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth. He picked her up like she was broken glass and laid her on the gurney and covered her, pausing a moment to look into her face. Then slowly he covered her head as well.

Brian looked at Chase with rage. "Incarcerous!" he roared, firing his wand with her with all the power he could muster, Restraints flew around Chase, binding her tightly. Brian stormed out of the room, making sure that the key clicked in the lock with a hollow empty banging sound.

Chase didn't know what happened next. Suddenly she was on the ground, having hit Khaat hard, and suddenly she was being thrown off of her, and someone was shouting at her. She looked up and a fist came out of nowhere, connecting with her jaw, and making her fly nearly across the room, to hit the bed and she lay there, dazed as Robert came into the room after Brian, and she heard him say something to Brian. Then he turned on her, and Chase sat there, blinking in shock at what she had done. Her mind was turning, and somewhere in it, the Felix was yelling in joy. He was shouting and yelling in complete and utter joy. Then it was like something exploded. Her eyes were rolling in her head, and she lay there, completely and utterly confused.

Suddenly Brian turned on her, and she saw something she had never seen before rage.. directed at her. He was angry at her, and his wand was pointed at her. And suddenly she couldn't move. The second the restraints connected to her though, she started to scream. Screaming, and sobbing, tears falling down her face. "No! NO! NO!" She sobbed screaming at the top of her lungs, her eyes found the lump that was Khaat, and she only intensified. "NO! Khaat! NO! I'm sorry! Khaat no Merlin! No! Let me go! Please! PLEASE!" Chase was sobbing, her whole body shuddering, but completely unable to move. "He's got me! Please! Save me! Please!" She was shuddering, her eyes rolling in her head. She couldn't move.. she was back there... back in his clutches.. and it was almost like she was replaying the moment he had gotten her. "No! Please! Please don't hurt me!" She was shaking hard.

"Don't... no.. I didn't do it.. I didn't deserve it.. I didn't mean to hurt them! I didn't mean to! DON"T CALL ME STUPID!" Her eyes were closed and she almost looked like she was seizing, her whole body shaking so hard. "no.... Khaat is a nice person... Khaat would never hurt me... no... Khaat loves me.. She's my mom... no.." Chase was shuddering. "I'm sorry Khaat.. don't hate me.. please.. please don't hate me.. I'm so sorry." Her eyes snapped open and she saw the white walls, the restraints, and immediately she fainted.

The next Khaat knew, she was waking, slowly. Everything hurt.

"Bring that here, Brian," she heard her father's voice. Khaat's eyes began to gain some focus. "Here," her father said. "Drink, Khaat. Slowly." He raised her head and fed her a tiny sip of firewhiskey. She choked, and he talked slowly and gently to her until she regained herself, feeding her very tiny sips of firewhiskey. She finally recognized where she was. She was on the sofa in her office.

"What happened?" she asked slowly.

"Chase. She wanted to kill you. You are far far more lucky than you know. She knocked you on the floor. The babies are just fine." Her mind flashed back, remembering fragments that came in flashes. She looked at him.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Positive. I wouldn't risk not being absolutely certain about something like that. But right now, I need her to think you're dead."

"Brian?" she called.

"Right here," he said softly, coming into her view. "Its a good thing your father is such a good chess player. Otherwise I might have thought you really were dead, and I'm not ready to be without you. You do have a few bruises, though."

"I can live with that. How do I help Chase?"

"Stay out of it for now," Robert said. "Thats exactly what I need you to do--until I say otherwise." She nodded, reluctantly.

Trees... There were so many trees... the trees were absolutely surrounding her, and she was so scared. In fact she lay sobbing on the ground. Sobbing harder then she had ever sobbed before. She was coughing, and her body was getting racked with such hard sobs, she was nearly vomiting. She had killed her.. she had killed Khaat. Where she had been able to see sunlight outside the trees, there was nothing but black. Tree, after tree, after tree, a frozen forest. Snow lay on the ground, her skin was grey, her lips bright blue, her hair lay damp around her shoulders, making her shake even harder. "NO! NO!" She screamed, rocking back and forth. "I HATE YOU!" Suddenly he was there.. there in front of her, he was standing over her, his eyes nothing more then black holes, his hair longer then she remembered it, much taller then she remembered him to be.

"Did you call me?" He asked softly, his eyes glaring down at the girl. "I HATE YOU!" Chase screamed, her eyes streaming, snot running down from her nose, sobs racking her body. "Do you now? You just did me a great favor Chase Moor... Fen darling.. you got rid of my worst enemy.. you single-handedly killed Khaat Lupin, and her children... thank you Chase.. Thank you so much.. you've done me a great favor." He whispered into her ear, bent over so that his lips brushed her ear. "NO! No.... I loved Khaat! No.." Chase rocked back and forth on the ground. "I loved her.. how.. DARE YOU!" Chase suddenly jumped to her feet, and pushed Felix... and he disappeared.

Chase stood completely still, Felix was gone... he was gone... Chase stood still for a long moment, and looked around. He was gone.. but she was still stuck.. She was stuck... but Felix was gone

Chase woke up with a start, unable to move. The second she realized that she couldn't move. She immediately freaked out, and started sobbing. "He was supposed to let me go.. he let me go.. he's gone.. he's gone." She whispered to herself, over and over, but her voice got louder and louder. "Help me! HELP ME! Please! Someone! Save me! PLEASE!! I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to! I never wanted to hurt her! I'm so sorry! SO So Sorry! I didn't mean to! I swear! I didn't mean to! Please... believe me! Help me!" She was sobbing in fear and sorrow. "Khaat... Khaat I'm so sorry."

Despite Calvin’s pleas, the healer that he had asked for permission to enter Chase’s room had denied him access. He had tried everything from presenting his Ministry badge, to falling to the polished hospital floors and weeping at the woman’s feet, but to no avail. The closest Calvin had managed to get to Chase, was a large waiting room just beyond the walls of her room.

He’d taken a seat on the floor at the very edge of the lobby. He was pushing his limits, he knew. In fact, healers had begun to shoot him incredulous looks. He paid them no mind, however; he was far too busy staring straight ahead, peering at the sliding glass door that would allow him to return to Chase’s side, but was just out of reach.

Calvin sniffled, and rubbed gingerly at his swollen eyes, looking quite like a lost pup in the process. His heart hadn’t yet calmed to a regular pace, and was beginning to pain him beneath his t-shirt glad chest; a result of the panic that he had experienced as he’d watched Chase’s sanity deteriorate. He closed his eyes for a brief moment to steady his breathing. No part of him was functioning properly.

Inhale. Calvin’s chest rose slowly.
Exhale. His shoulders fell and he returned to his usual, hunched position.

Just as Calvin had begun feeding his lungs properly once more, however, a scream met with his ears. Chase’s scream. He would recognize that heartbreaking cry anywhere.

Calvin’s eyes shot open immediately. He jumped to his feet and ran forward, but a pair of healers followed closely behind. “Chase!?” he screamed as he skidded to a halt before her room, but he was certain that his voice was nothing more than a faint whisper to her ears. Calvin’s arm shot forward and he began to attack the sliding door, pushing and pulling it frantically. "Chase!"

Brian did care whether someone paid attention to Calvin, did understand his helplessness and how much he wanted to help Chase. He identified with it. He went over to the distraught young man and spoke softly and gently.

"Calvin," he said, "You are not aware of all the facts. There is a reason for all this. And this looks utterly terrifying, I know. I"ve been in your shoes, believe me, Mate. Come with me so we can at least explain it. She's upset, but she's safe for the moment. We need to catch you up. We told you we'd do our best to keep you in the loop with this. And we'll keep our word. Come upstairs with me. There is a lot you need to know." He motioned Calvin to follow him over to the lifts to go up to the 5th floor with him.

Just as the pair of healers that had tailed Calvin had moved near enough to him to pull him away from Chase’s room, Brian stepped forward. Calvin would have been surprised by the man’s sudden presence, had he been paying attention to anything other than the task at hand; defeating the door handle that had prevented him from getting any further than the door that it belonged to. For hours Calvin had stared at that door, wishing desperately to be given the chance to get past it, but as he was presented with said opportunity, he failed. It seemed Calvin was doing a lot of that those days; wholeheartedly attempting to complete a task that would benefit a loved one, only to fail.

The healers had taken hold of each of Calvin’s arms and had begun to pull him back towards the lobby, but at Brian’s mention of hiking upstairs with Calvin, they released him. Calvin had only just managed to decipher what had been said to him; it took quite a bit of effort on his part to understand any language when he was in such a state. Fear and concern had overpowered all logical thought once more, leaving Calvin with nothing but impulses and an overworked heart.

He released his grip on the door for a moment and took another step towards the thick sheet of glass. If he opened his eyes wide enough he found that he was capable of making out Chase’s silhouette in her poorly lit room, but nothing more. Looking utterly broken, Calvin flattened each of his palms against the glass, followed by his forehead.

Brian wants me to follow him upstairs. Brian wants to explain. Brian cares. Brian will help Chase. Calvin’s mind informed him, but the thought was barely audible to Calvin’s mind. Step back. Turn around. Walk. His mind continued, but Calvin remained where he was. “Chase…” he whispered, willing his nasally voice to seep through the door and meet with Chase’s ears. “You’ll get better. I promise. You will get better, and when you do, I will make sure that you are always happy. I will take care of you, and I will make you smile. You, Kate, and I – we will go on picnics, and go camping. We can go to the beach if you want. Anywhere you want to go. Anything you want to do. I promise. Whatever will make you happy. Anything to make you happy.”

Calvin closed his eyes for a moment, forcing the fresh tears that his eyes had brewed to remain where they were.

“Please, come back,” he croaked.

"Calvin," Brian sighed, his hands on the young man's shoulders, "there is not one bone in my body that believes you can accomplish much of anything with her at the moment. Maybe a bit of temporary comfort, but I don't see it as being long term. IF---and its a huge if--If I let you in there, there are a couple of conditions. First, you do NOT release her from the incarcerous under any circumstances. If you do, I'll set you on your bum and remove you myself. Got that? Second, you don't give her any information about Khaat at this point whatsoever. That also will remove you. You don't have the full story yourself. So don't respond by giving her any information. That is important for Chase at this point.

"Oh, and one more thing? You can't camp in that room. You can stay a short time, but that's all." He took the key and unlocked the door. "You have just a few minutes, and if Robert catches us, we're both done here. Understand?"