Mellissa's Story

Subject: Gehenna

Click.
After far too long, it clicked.
After the clues, the daring raids, the excitement, the losses, it finally
clicked somewhere, deep within a dark recess of my mind.
The password.
You see, quite some time ago, we... we went on a little jaunt, a few of Us. A
seemingly suicidal raid on the Temple of Set to retrieve what we could. Retrieve
the scarab, retrieve the disk...
And so we had.
And the disk was a clue to the most devious trap ever devised.

Allow me to describe this disk. It was what most people where I came from used
as storage. Storage for information, for data... Disks are small flat items,
usually of about 3 1/2 inches square, with a metal plate which flicks open,
allowing access to the plastic round inside, upon which is magnetically
inscribed the information. They are read by devices known as Computers -
electronic computational devices capable of much more than basic mathematics.
Upon this disk was a label, with a rather cryptic clue:
"Hell has two crimes seen at heart accounting for the english".
Contained within the actual data on the disk was a picture. What the picture was
is irrelevant to you, I'm afraid. Suffice it to say it was a complexively simple
pointer to something - the key, if you will.

I realised some time ago that the written information on the label referred to
an E-Mail address (something I'd rather not describe here, as the intricacies
can get a little contorted). It was the location of data.
The picture? The picture was the key... But it was a key I could not decode
until that last Sunday.

Click.

1066AD.

Simple.

That simplicity nearly cost me my, what was at the time, unlife.

Running.
Running.
Running.
It's all I can remember.
I spent days running.
Running from the Setites. Running from the poor souls who, whilst not
necessarily what we would term "good", were not as evil as they appeared.
Running from the poor souls who had become nothing more than tools of the
Bakkai.
I accessed the account, then, three days later, I was running.

I came to a great monolith. I'm sure I was in Scotland. It was so long since I'd
been to Scotland, but I remembered the feel...
Engraved upon it, glowing dully, was a maze. I couldn't help but follow it round
and round and round...
Trapped.
That's what I was. Trapped. And so was he.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. It's something I do rather well, Vincent
used... used to say...

It's as if one moment I was standing before the stone, and the next I was...
somewhere else. If I had blinked, I would have missed the shift. The whole world
shifted from under my feet and replaced it with a grey void...

There was a calm centre in my heart, though. Somehow I knew I was in no danger.
But then, of late, I've been calm in the silliest situations... In the face of
eternal death...

"Please..." began a voice. "Please. Don't turn around..."
He sounded vague, curious, lost. Trapped.
I simply stood. Waiting.
"How did you get here?" he asked.
I shrugged. I wasn't too sure. The details were fuzzy...
"Probably folly," he lamented. "I'm sure I'm here through my own folly... You
probably are too... Are you going to stay here?" He jumped track easily, but
didn't seem conscious of the fact.
"Do I have to? Stay here?" I was dubious of the prospect, to say the least.
"I don't know..."
I waited.
He began to show me images, things I had heard of but never seen. Things told to
me by Harry... Harry Keogh, and Madeline Krammer, poor...
And others.
Images of an alien landscape, assumed to be the future, an desolate barren
sandscape with jutting rocks... And the man with no face holding the severed
head... The present, with the gate, the severed head... And the past... with the
betrayal..
"You seem to have these images stuck in your mind," I pointed out.
"Yes... Yes, maybe I do..."
"What do they mean to you?"
Silence. He was deep in though, that much I could sense.
"I'm not sure..."
"Why are you here?"
"I don't know".
Horrible. The realisation that dawned upon me was horrible. That was it. That
was when I realised.
Realised that this was Caine, and that he had forgotten who he was. What he was.
He did know that he had forgotten things because he had been there for so long.
Things he should have know were lost to him.
He wanted to go home.
"Where is home?" I asked, hoping to jog some of his memories. Maybe my only way
back to MY home was to remind him of his. The obvious flaw in my plan was that I
had never seen his home...
"I don't know..."
"Why do you want to go there?"
"I have to... to do something... I'm not sure what..." He didn't sound too
upset, as if he'd been living with the fact that he could never go home for
centuries, and had become resigned to his fate.
"Return something?" I asked.
"Yes!" I heard hope in his voice for the first time. "Yes, that was it... I have
to return... something..."
"Return what?"
"I... can't remember".
I frowned. This was going to be a long conversation.
"Return a gift?"
"..."
"It was something physical, wasn't it. Something you had to take home..."
"Yes..."
But I knew that, even though he was remembering the basics, the details were
lost to him.
He leaped tracks again.
"What's your name?" he inquired.
"Mellissa," I replied.
"That's a nice name..." he said wistfully.
"What's yours?"
"I don't know..."
"Okay, let's play Name-Recognition, shall we? What do you associate with the
name Casper?"
"Hmmm...." He seemed to think, but couldn't come up with anything.
"How about the name Jethro?"
Jethro had mentioned once a past association with Caine... Maybe this would
help?
Images flashed before me, images of total strangers racing across alien
landscapes, through bizarre episodes, through a stone gate...
"You associate all this with Jethro?"
"Yes..."
"What do you associate with the name Caine?" Well, I had to drop the bombshell
sooner or later..
A figure appeared before me, bearing a striking resemblance to that associated
with Jethro. It spoke to me, he spoke to me, the voice which had been behind me
for seconds, years, days, nanoseconds spoke to me from the mouth of this
figure...
"Yes.... Caine..."
Then the figure was gone, and he was behind me once more...
He slipped back into a dream again, so I retreated to the memory of Jethro.
"Show me Jethro..."
A figure appeared again, tallish, with long blonde hair, greying at the
temples... He looked pleasant enough, but seemed... Well, to be perfectly
honest, he didn't seem like Jethro at all.
"Why isn't he smiling?" I asked.
Caine seemed confused by this question.
"I don't know..."
"Well the Jethro I know almost always wears a smile..."
"Yes..." He agreed. "I do recall that smiling was important for Jethro..."
"So why isn't he smiling?"
We gazed at the figure before us for .
"Was he a friend?"
He paused, unsure of his answer.
"An enemy?"
"No," came the vehement response. "Not an enemy".
"An associate?"
Another pause.
The image dissipated, leaving us alone once more.
"Will you stay here?" he asked, sounding only mildly curious.
"I can't. Too many people are relying on me..."
This seemed to make him think.
I asked him why he didn't go home. He replied that he didn't know how, and that
he'd forgotten where home was...
"What's your home like?" he asked me.
Concentrating, I showed him. I called forth images of places I had lived, one
after the other... Welwyn Garden City, as it is today... or rather as it was
then. I've not seen it since... London, as it was two centuries ago.
Yorkshire... Over 70 years ago... The Western Front... The trenches of battle,
the airfields of my past life... The Second World War, battle-torn again... Then
a brief glimpse of a paradise I had never known, in the hope of jogging some
memory he might have had.
That last effort came to naught.
Again... "Will you stay here?"
"I can't. I have to go. Come with me," I added suddenly. Maybe if we could leave
here, he would begin to remember, especially if I sought Jethro's aid...
"How?"
Ah, there was my stumbling block. I didn't know, per se - oh, I am sorry. Old
expressions die hard... I wasn't certain of how to escape.
Without warning, I left. I concentrated on my home, and there I was, standing in
the last place I had called home...
I was worried that I had lost him, that I had left him too fast, so I thought
about his voice, concentrated on him, and there he was. I could feel him
watching me, following me.

And then I noticed the time.
Time is a relative concept. I don't know how long I'd been away. There were
pauses in our conversation that had seemed like years, others like only
seconds... Time had been our plaything, but the price was a little too high for
my liking...

It was Thursday.

I didn't really pay much attention to the actual time - I didn't need any more
illusions... But the date was rather important...

All I could think of to do was jump in my car and head for the gate... He
followed me. He remained with me all evening, and remains with me still...


We arrived at, well, late in the evening. We arrived and left the car in the car
park, setting off to wander the grounds, to find what we could. We searched and
searched until, finally, my heightened senses picked up a strange noise.
Rounding the corner of a building, I happened across Matt and Jason, who
accompanied what appeared to be Thoroughgood. I had heard he was in a bad way,
but the poor fellow was completely out of his tree that night.

Matt and Jason have no doubt given you their views on what happened..

I was so relieved to see them that I stumbled forward... "Matt! Jason! What's
been happening? What's -"
I cut off, mid-sentence. They were wary of me. Maybe Thoroughgood had become so
totally insane that he still sought my death? I brushed that thought aside. I
doubted that even he were that stupid.
But Usiah was holding them back... Muttering to them. They looked... scared of
me! That's what they were!
This confused me, I'm afraid to say. I'm not exactly the most deadly of
creatures... Quite the opposite, in fact. Now, anyway...
"What's wrong? Matt? Please, what's wrong?" I began to panic a little. After
everything I had been though, to come to this...
Usiah grumbled and whined at me, staggering forward to prod my arm, asking the
paradoxical question "Are you real?"
"Of course I'm real... Well, at least I was the last time I checked," I stated.
"What IS going on here?!"
Matt seemed a little more at ease. Jason moved forward. Maybe it was the fact
that Usiah was still attempting to cause grievous bruising on my upper arm,
maybe it was because they knew my brand of sarcasm. They seemed happy I were I,
and explained to me that there were people around who weren't who they appeared
to be.
"Great," I enthused sarcastically. "Let me get this straight. We have to save
creation with the boogiemen jumping on our heads."
They seemed not to notice my complete and utter lack of enthusiasm, so I tailed
them.

Matt began to explain to me where he and the others had been. They too had been
missing for quite some time. It transpired that Matt, Jason, Usiah and Paul, a
good friend of mine who had a rather unfortunate profession which caused almost
everyone else to despise him, had travelled to the Umbra. They had lost Paul on
the journey... The first loss of the evening, to my mind...

Usiah led us to the Amphitheatre. He was, depressingly enough, completely
barking mad. He had us lie down over to one end, after theorising that a large
pile of ash in the centre of the ground was all that was left of the Kindred we
had known... I could not believe him, for I shared a bond with Kathie which was
still in existence... She at least was still alive...
he left us, wandered off too wherever it is that little insane minds run away
to.

We sat in silence, listening, waiting...
Eventually Jason's hot temper led us away. To be perfectly honest, if he hadn't
moved us, I would have left anyway...

Darkness,
Darkness all around...
We climbed out of the Amphitheatre, the three of us. Climbed to the top, to the
bushes that surrounded the lip of the Amphitheatre...
We heard noises. Our accuse senses aided us once more, giving us advance warning
of the coming mass. I motioned Jason and Matt into the bushes. If what they had
said were true, if there WERE other things out there, I saw no point in us all
getting slaughtered. They sank into hiding whilst I stood waiting for the
future.
We waited, did I, waited...
A powerful flashlight glared around the area, from behind the bushes. I heard
Kathie's voice. I stepped forward, shielding my eyes from the harsh glare,
dampening my senses once more...
Kathie rushed forward. It was her, I needed no confirmation. Others were with
her... Jonathan, Jethro, Max... But no Thoroughgood.
Gillian looked a little spooked, but relaxed once she realised I was who I
claimed to be. I was prepared for the hostile approach, so simply stood and
waited for them to satisfy their curiosity.
We headed back to the Amphitheatre.
Much of what remains is a blur. We ran here there and everywhere. It frustrated
me to have to amble so slowly, but I daren't have allowed the group to split any
further than it already had...

We lost Jethro...
He... he was disabling the Guardians... He..
Oh...

He was killed. Killed as he touched the Scarab to the stone... I tried to drag
my eyes away, but I couldn't. Someone had to remember him... Someone has to
remember them all...

And then, after more trekking, after Pidanteus had forced me to kneel before him
then vanished a second later, after more...
We arrived at the gate.

Pidanteus was there. I knew he was completely under the control of the Bakkai...
He slaughtered.... slaughtered just about everyone...
Saville had managed to sneak past him, somehow, and was calling to me from the
gate.
Then I heard another voice.
Casper.
He was crying out... In pain, in despair... "What have I done??? What? What have
I done?"
"Mellissa?" called Saville.
I daren't answer. I daren't draw attention to myself. Our ritual had been a
shambles, but I had sworn never to perform such a vile action again, yet I was
caught up in it... And now I was caught up in this. Directly in Pidanteus' line
of sight...
"Mellissa.... MELLISSA!!!!" called Casper.
That did it.
I had to tear myself away from the fates of the others... Never has such a
decision weighed so heavily upon my shoulders. I had to leave the few to save
the many. But it's different when you've known the few for so long, and the many
remain faceless...
As Pidanteus slaughtered another, I shot past him, over the fence, and up to
Casper.
He was hunched on the ground, crying. "What have I done?" he repeated, over and
over, like a Mantra. Saville stood over him, gaping at me...
I winced in pain as I heard another scream from behind me...
Crouched down beside Casper. Held his hand. Squeezed his shoulders.
He seemed to know what to do. I simply prayed, as I had done on occasion. It had
helped before and, even if it didn't help now, I would die safe in the knowledge
that I had tried...
Casper stood resolutely, and began a chant. I won't pretend to have understood
the words, but the effects were dramatic, to say the least.
His frame turned to ash.
Yet another casualty.
I cried.

Pidanteus was freed from the influence of the Bakkai, and restored the
universe(s) to their original state. Clean slate, thankyou for playing, I hope
you enjoyed the trip...
Only he couldn't... couldn't restore those who had died... I felt Caine's
presence weighing me down... I felt the deaths on my shoulders....
I heard a rustling noise behind me.
Whirled round to see... Matt and Jason! They were alive... I felt little joy at
this revelation, for they were but two out of thousands...
Pidanteus couldn't restore the dead... Not the undead dead, at any rate...

WHAT'S THE POINT OF BEING A GOD IF YOU CAN'T BRING BACK THE DEAD!!!


We travelled though the gate. There was nothing left for us there. We had to
leave... Leave or stay as Mortals. Whilst I have no objection to being restored
to full Humanity, my curiosity got the better of me, and I came to what I now
think of as Home... Besides, Saville, Pidanteus, Jason, Matt... They had no
means of surviving a world that wouldn't be able to understand why they had no
money, no identification, no recorded life...
And I had to take Caine home. I couldn't condemn him to an eternity stuck on
Earth when his home was so far away...

So through we went...
Came...

Through we came...

We saw faces upon faces, people we had known, people who had died....
Leona... Harry... Cartek... David...
On and On...
Vannavar... Derek...
I felt tears well up inside me again...
Oh yes, they all appeared well and happy, but something seemed fake.... They
weren't real...
Vincent...
Casper... Usiah...


I know Jethro is still out there. I have to believe so. Knowing the nature of
his being, he is not dead, merely dissipated when Casubon's body was destroyed.
We can't leave him alone. We can't leave him to fall apart over the years.
I will find a way to save him. Just one more life... I can't live now knowing
that I hadn't tried...
I'm going back there. Somewhere, there must be that reality, the reality left
outside the bubble, the reality in which Gehenna occurred... He's there... And
he's trapped.
Caine seems to agree with me here. He never speaks to me, but I can feel his
moods...

Mellissa.