The Link 3 - The Huntress

Chapter 26 - Sam

I heard Natalie's scream as I felt the surge of darkness pulse into me. I gasped, then it disappeared. A terrible feeling that made bile crawl into my throat. The newspaper fell from my hands, and I rose from the chair. There was no Teegan.

"My baby," Natalie cried again. I ran to the kitchen and found her in tears. I searched internally, trying to locate my daughter and nothing returned. Not even a direction. I pulled Natalie close and tried to fathom what it all meant. "They killed her," Natalie said.

"We don't know that," I lied. Nothing had ever severed Teegan so distinctly. Even when she tried to block me out, there was that sliver that held on. That one little strand that let me know she was there. My eyes began to fill as I pretended to be strong.

"Where is God!" Natalie screamed. I pulled her closer, more to hide my tears than to settle her down. It was true; my baby was gone. Nothing of her was left. I should have never let her go alone.

"I failed her," I whispered. Natalie began bawling. I failed them both.

"Shhhhh." The sound was all around us. A comforting sound so full of hope. Natalie looked at me then around the room. I separated from her as an incredible warmth filled me. Natalie grabbed my hand, obviously feeling the same. "Your daughter needs your help," the voice whispered. I had heard it before, but I couldn't place it. "She is about to make a choice that will change the world forever. Fire can not fight fire. She was not ready for what she's facing."

"She's gone," I said stupidly, trying to source the sound.

"You're ready. It's your time," the voice said. Natalie smiled, which looked so strange with the tears running down her cheeks.

"Mother?" Natalie said, looking at the ceiling.

"I'm so proud of you, Natalie, but I have such little time," Rose said. Natalie looked at me; there was hope in her eyes. "Find her, Sam. You're the only one who can."

"There's nothing there. I've lost her," I argued, looking about for a body that wasn't there.

"Remember Runnymede, Sam," Rose said with humor. My eyes widened at the reference. Natalie was practically bouncing. "Stinky can never separate from you fully." The voice and the warmth faded as quickly as it came.

"I don't understand?" I said.

"Screw understanding, find my daughter," Natalie ordered, her words full of hope.

"What happened?" Zane asked. We turned to the door to find him leaning despondently against the jam. He sported the same tears as I. "Teegan's gone."

"Maybe not," I said and pulled a chair and sat down. "I have to think." Natalie sat next to me and Zane the other side. Family had power, didn't it?

Rose reminded me of Runnymede. Was that to prove who she was or some reference I needed? I read everything on the Magna Carta, but that was years ago. The kitchen went quiet, and I looked deep inside myself, searching for some connection to my daughter. I found nothing. Why didn't Rose just tell me what I should do?

"Anything?" Natalie asked. I shook my head, and she placed her hand lightly on my neck in support. Something appeared, a sliver so tiny I missed it before. I could barely sense it, so I wrapped up my determination and thrust my will at it. It disappeared, and I jerked up, losing Natalie's hand.

"I had it, then it was gone," I said.

"She's still alive?" Zane asked.

"I think so. Quiet, maybe I can find it again," I said and closed my eyes. It was such a small sliver, hardly a hair's width of a connection. Just touching it with my thoughts sent it flying in the ether wind. Searching began to strain my mind, and it must have shown. Natalie lightly caressed my hand in support. The sliver returned, and I jumped on it. Again it fled, and I lost it. I sighed loudly.

"I can't hold onto it," I said, disgusted with myself. My baby needed me, and I was too damn weak. "It's was right there, you know that link, but so much smaller." I put my thumb and finger a hair's breadth from each other to demonstrate.

"Maybe you're trying too hard," Natalie said quickly, "it never took effort before. Just let it be, and maybe it will come to you." She was trying not to sound anxious, but I could hear it in her voice. Now I was failing them both. The pressure was increasing.

I settled my mind, closing my eyes once again. Thoughts of the past relaxed me. I remembered changing that first diaper in the horrendous heat of the desert. That first time Stinky let me know how special she was. I felt Natalie squeeze my hand and the sliver reappeared. I smiled and let it sit there, concentrating only on its presence. It was a beautiful thing, a signpost pointing to my precious daughter. I opened my eyes, and it didn't fade.

"I found her," I said. Natalie released my hand to cover her joyous smile. The thread vanished. I smiled as things began to sort themselves in my mind. "We found her," I rephrased.

"What?" Natalie asked.

"I'll explain later," I said, taking Natalie's hand in mine. I turned my other hand palm up to my son. "It will take all of us." Zane put his hand in mine, and the link appeared and grew. Magna Carta was the beginning of power moving from one central authority to the people. A small step for a monumental idea. Power to the people. Teegan needed all of us. Teegan needed every one.

"Even now your mother would rather teach than tell," I said under by breath as I closed my eyes. The thread was so apparent now, I wondered why it was so elusive before. It didn't want my intelligence or my determination. It only needed my desire, a father's love for his daughter. Add in a mother and a brother, and you had real power. The realization strengthened the link, it felt like it was pulsing like an artery full of life-giving blood. I didn't attack it like the other two times, I simply wound around it, following it as carefree as a water bug on a still pond. Lightly touching, but never forcing.

I found her there, encased in a dark shell. My baby was trying to die.

"Daddy?" Teegan called. She had felt me, then tried desperately to sever the connection. I could feel her protecting me, wanting to remove me from whatever was threatening her. Something so evil it permeated all but the encasement she had collapsed into. Struggle as she might, she could not sever what I now owned. I did what any father would do; I loved her.

"You have to leave, Daddy," Teegan cried. It was the voice I hadn't heard in years. The voice of the girl that loved me unconditionally. Before the teenager, but after the toddler. I smiled and loved her more.

"It's trying to use me," Teegan said, again struggling to shrug me off. "It wants my baby." I tried to let the surprise of a grandchild slide away and not interfere, but it was too much. It invaded my very core. Natalie rode my emotions, following me to the source.

"My baby is having a baby," Natalie thought, her love overflowing everything of mine. I squeezed her hand and felt her smile.

"No Momma, you two can't be here," Teegan said. "You don't know what he is. It corrupts anything it can find."

You can't fight fire with fire. You have to douse it with water. Rose was always the teacher, making me solve things for myself. It was annoying then, and still annoying now. Why do I still love that woman?

"He can't corrupt everything," I thought loudly. "He can't corrupt us." There were muddled protests from Teegan as she digested my thoughts.

"Let me feel my grandchild," Natalie insisted greedily. We could tell that Teegan was shielding her child, walling her off from the thing she feared. "Let me love her too."

"He'll find her again," Teegan argued.

"Let him," I said. "Let him find us as well. Don't fight it."

"He's too strong," Teegan thought weakly. "Caleb's on the ground. I think he's dead." I could feel her tears, and knew she was close to doing something drastic. We had interrupted.

"His strength is in your fear and anger," I said. "I know my girl, and her strength is in her love." I sent images of a baby, a butt covered in the vilest sewage looking glop, and the man that cleaned it up. Only a special child could make that tolerable. I felt an embarrassed smile, something less than dismay. I could feel hope growing.

"Let him find me, Stinky," I said.