*All characters copyrighted to Poseidon Simons

Chapter 28

Worse Than Death

 

                Helen shook as she read the note..."Blake Gargan...come to the abandoned factory at seven tonight...or forfiet your daughter's life..."  She fell into a chair, drained of energy, "He didn't tell me about this...and he's gone!  How far did he get?!"  She looked up at the clock, fearing for her husband's life...it was a few minutes past seven already!  With a sob, Helen pressed her face into the chair and cried, "He's already there, and he didn't even say goodbye!  Why didn't he wake me?..WHY?!!!!!!!!"  She tossed and turned in her chair, trying to deal with the fact that he'd gone...frustration grew inside her...she grabbed a pillow and hurled it away, wishing with all her might that Blake hadn't done this...she'd only just gotten better!  He couldn't leave now!  Not when things were starting to look up...she glanced at the pillow she thrown...a small slip of paper had fallen onto it.  Another threat note?  Helen dried her tears and went to look at the note...

                ...it was Blake's goodbye.  The letter fell from her suddenly numb hands, "He...he's...I've got to find help!"  But who?  Where was the Protector when you needed him?!!!  She ran outside, thinking of the police, "They can help me...that's why they're here, to help us...but Blake's going to get himself killed!  It's already past seven...they aren't fast enough!"  She grew desperate as she tried to think of someone else.  The Protector was the only one she knew who could travel fast enough..."There has to be someone..."  Then she got it...but he'd be just as hard to find!!!!  That...it had been Kale, Blake said...he'd attacked them back at the hospital.  For all she knew, Griffin could be dead now from that!  But there had to be someone!  She settled for finding Griffin.  It was the only hope she had right now.  She walked up to whoever she saw and asked if they knew anyone named Griffin.  EVERYONE said no.

                Helen walked into diners, coffee shops...anyplace where people were more likely to be, but no one knew anything about Griffin...

                "Excuse me...miss?  Are you looking for someone?"  An interestingly colored horned gryphon was looking at her.

                Helen turned around at the voice.  She didn't care WHO she was talking to, just if they knew someone named Griffin, "I'm looking for a man named Griffin...do you know anyone with that name?"

                The lady smiled brightly, "Yes!  I know someone named that!  He's so gorgous!  How did you meet him?"

                Helen's eyes went wide, "Do you know where he is?!"

                The woman thought about it, "Well...I don't know if he's still there, but the last time I saw him, he was at a friend's place."

                "Can you take me there?!  It's urgent!"  Helen asked, hope finally starting to rise again.

                She nodded, "Yes...my name's Julie, what's yours?"

                "Helen Gargan.  Please, we need to hurry!!!!!"

                Julie frowned and nodded, "Sure...sorry."  They were off.  Helen grew more hopeful the closer they got.

 

                Sarah frowned when she saw Julie coming toward them...but she had someone with her this time...maybe she wasn't trying to see Griffin this time...all the same, Sarah told Griffin first, just in case.  James gasped and hid under Griffin's bed once he heard the news.

                Sarah went down and opened the door as Julie approached it, "Hello, Julie...who'd you bring with you?"

                "My name is Helen Garagn...is Griffin here?  It's urgent."

                Sarah studied Helen for a moment...she looked sincere enough.  With a nod, Sarah let them come in.  She told Helen where to go, but held Julie back, "So?  Why'd you bring her?"

                Julie shrugged, "She said she really needed to see him...she was so upset that she never told me why."

                Sarah watched Helen as she ran up the stairs and into Griffin's room, "Uh huh...do you want me to get Kia, or someone?"

                "Is James here?"

                "I'll get Kia."  Sarah smiled and went upstairs as well.  She knew that Julie would follow her.

 

                Now she was in the city...Jasmine looked up at all the tall buildings, "Where's home?..nothing looks familiar..."  She shivered as a chilly breeze blew toward her.  It was getting pretty dark...she saw a clock.  One of those cool digital ones so she knew exactly what time it was...almost nine.  Her bedtime was soon.

                "Hey kid, you lost?"

                She shrieked and looked for the voice, but there was nobody there!

                "Well?"

                She stood there for a second, then RAN.  This HAD to be the sort of person her parents said not to talk to.  She didn't care where she ran...she just ran away from the voice.  By the time she slowed down, she was completely lost, "Mom?..dad?..is anyone there?.."  She started crying...

 

                "Huh...she ran from me?"  Oh well.  It was easy to follow her.  James had slipped out of Griffin's room before Julie had gone inside.  He had managed to get away.  Griffin was off with Babe and they were at that wierd factory place Babe hated so much.  Helen had been taken home.  James wondered how Babe and Griffin made out with their rescue, but for now he wanted to make sure the kid would be okay.

                He almost cried with her after she called for her parents.  She was lost...majorly.  He tried talking to her again, this time, keeping his mouth shut until he thought he was close enough for her to at least see him, "Hey...you alright?"

                She shrieked again and spun to look at him.  He smiled and squatted down so they could look straight at each other, "Where you headed?"

                "M...g--go away..."

                "Huh?  I'm not gonna hurt you, kid.  You know who I am?"

                "No..."

                "Really?  Wow..."  He smiled, "I'm James Elias...eh...Player.  You know, from Sargasso?"

                The girl frowned, "My parents say I'm not supposed to talk to strangers..."

                "Well, you know who I am, right?  I just told you.  What's your name?"

                "Jasmine..."  She took a step back.

                "Oh...that's pretty..."  He sat down where he was to make it look like he didn't mean any harm...since he didn't after all..."Hang on a sec."  He looked down at his chest and asked, "You two want to come out?"  A minute later, he felt them climbing up his throat.  He opened his mouth, and Nino and Crystal flew out.

                Jasminne gasped in awe..."They're so pretty!..why did you eat them?"

                James winced.  Why did everyone always think he'd eaten them?!!.."I didn't eat them, they live inside me.  That's where they built their nest."

                Jasmine laughed, "That's wierd!..but kinda cool..."  She kept silent as Crystal landed on her shoulder...her eyes were huge with wonder as she watched the tiny fairy dragons...Nino landed on her nose, making it itch.  She giggled and brushed him off.  Crystal flew up after him.

                James smiled, "You like them?"

                "Yeah...they're so cute...I wish I could have a pet like them..."  She started crying again.

                James frowned and got a little closer to her, "What's wrong?"

                "I'm lost!"  She whined, "I can't find my home anywhere!!!"

                "I can help you find it if you want..."

                "You can?.."

                "Well, sure!  Can't be that hard..."  He got up and looked around, "Come on.  I need to see a friend of mine first...she's helping out a lady who's looking for her husband."

                "What happened?"

                "Well, their daughter got kidnapped, and the dad went off to try to get her home...but they're going to do some bad stuff to him, so a new friend of mine named Griffin is going to get...him...why are you looking at me like that?"

                "I was kidnapped...that was my dad!!!!!!!"

                "...Is your mom's name, Helen?"

                "Yes...it's them!  What's going to happen to my dad?!!!!!!?"

                James bit his lip..."How about we get you home first?.."

                "But my dad!!!!!!"

                "I know, I know...I don't really know what's going to happen to him...come on.  I thought you wanted to get home..."

                "I do, but what about my dad?.."  She was going to start crying again...

                James sighed, "Your mom might know...come on.  Let's get you home, okay?"

 

                Babe flew toward the factory, holding Griffin, "Okay...you remember Kale, right?"

                "Yeah..."

                "Well, the same thing is going to happen to Blake, except that he won't stay himself.  He'll be basically a robot..."

                "WHAT?!!!  But WHY would anyone want to do that?!"

                "It creates something close to the perfect soldier.  They don't feel pain, they'll obey every single command without question, they're damned hard to get rid of, and they don't stop until their order is carried out.  I was supposed to be the first of these soldiers...but they goofed, and here I am.  Kain and Kale were deliberately kept alive while they were changed into robots.  Kain targets people who have excellent body structure...so be careful he doesn't get you, okay?"

                "Yeah...I'll be careful."

                They landed.  Babe activated his arm cannon and opened the front door, "Watch out.  Kain's rigged the entire place with traps.  He almost got me the last time I was here."

                Griffin nodded and headed in after him.

                Babe scanned the area, but the metal interferred with his system, and he could detect a thing, "Damn...okay, somewhere around here is the entrance to a hidden lower level of the place.  My scanner's messed up, so we have to rely on eyesight.  How good is yours?"

 

                Griffin didn't quite understand, "I can see perfectly fine..."

                "I meant in the dark.  How far ahead can you see?"

                "Um...all the way to the other end of this place...back ho--back where I grew up, the human I called Father did some stuff to my eyes.  I can see just as good in the dark as I can in the day."

                "Really?..damn...that's handy...don't bright lights hurt your eyes then?"

                "Nope...Father tweaked my eyes so that I wouldn't be bothered by bright lights either...he did a lot of stuff to me...why?  Can't anyone on this island do that type of stuff?"

                "Uh...yeah...but not like what you're saying!"  Babe almost shouted.  He calmed down and watched for any movement, "See anything interesting?"

                For an answer, Griffin threw someone over Babe's shoulder.  Babe looked up from the unconscious man on the ground at Griffin, who smiled, "I saw someone."  Without a second glance at the man, Griffin walked forward, "Okay...so let's see...last time I was in here, I got to about here before they knocked me out."  He stood in one spot, "Now where would they have taken me after that?.."  He spotted an interesting crack in the machinery, "Hey...help me out here."  They searched the machine until Babe found it, "Hey, I think I found a door!"

                Griffin glanced at it and nodded, "Let's get it open then."  Griffin stood back a bit and concentrated.  Babe watched as the door swung silently open.

                He laughed, "Damn...I wonder when Don will be able to do THAT!"

                "Can he lift small things?"

                "Yeah...books are the biggest objects I've seen him do."

                "Then he can open this door.  It's basically just turning the handle, then swinging the hinges.  But enough talk...let's go."

                Babe nodded and charged his cannon.

                A voice spoke out from what sounded like an intercom, "Thank you for bringing Griffin here, Babe.  I never thought you'd do me such a huge favor."

                "Kain..."  Babe said with a scowl.

                "That'd be me.  Go down those steps and face your fate...or go back and let us finish with Blake here.  Either one works."

                Griffin scowled too, "We're coming to stop you!"

                "You'll never reach m--"

                Babe had found the intercom and blasted it with his cannon, "That damned razor...we've got to hurry."

                Griffin ran down the stairs ahead of Babe and hit the camera that hung above the doorway.  It fell off, but before it could crash to the ground, Griffin caught it with his chip and lowered it the rest of the way, "Be careful.  Lots of cameras have lazers in them.  That'd mess up your curcuits pretty badly.  He opened the door slowly and glanced out, "No one so far...come on.  I think the coast is clear."

                Babe followed him out.  As soon as the door had swung shut behind them, they realized they'd found a trap.  Babe shot at the camera in the room, then concentrated on the men coming at them.

                Griffin was one step ahead, and had used his chip to grab their guns.  Each gun floated to him and he broke them in half.  With the weapons out of the way, the men surrounding them were pathetic.  Each one ran off before Griffin or Babe had a chance to do anything to them.

                An intercom sounded off in the distance with Kain's voice, "I didn't think they'd stand much of a chance...but they aren't what you have to worry about.  Be careful of which room you pick next."