Yesterdays Gone (A Highlander FanFic)

Highlander: Yesterdays Gone ~ Part 3 "Fears Must Be Faced"

Inside, the church was dimly lit, cool and quiet. The air still bore the residual odour of incense from the last service. Most importantly, there was hardly anyone there. They sat about half way down the aisle, well away from listening ears, but Martin made sure that they were enough in the line of sight of onlookers that Morgan did not feel too uncomfortable. “I’m sorry to spring this on you” he told her sincerely. “But your life depends on it now. We can’t put this off any longer”.

Morgan nodded, her eyes on the stained glass window over the altar. Not for the first time, Martin wondered what could have happened just before she had died to make her so nervous. “There’s no easy way to tell you how your life is going to change Miss Doyle. Nobody knows how or why Immortals are born, but they are and, unfortunately each with a measure of strength that others of their kind find worthy of killing for”. As he had half expected, she stiffened at his words and flinched away. Penwarden caught her sleeve, just momentarily enough to stay her from fleeing. “It’s alright… you’re safe here, besides, I have no intention of laying so much as a hand on you, I swear”.

“How do I know I can trust you?”

“If I meant to hurt you, I could have done so a dozen times before now. I would most likely simply have taken your head while you lay in the Coroner’s care”.

She flushed a little “I suppose so…”

Martin nodded approvingly. “I want to help you Miss Doyle. Is that so hard for you to believe?”

Her head dropped a little and she regarded her hands pensively.

“I see. Now… as soon as possible you must learn to fight so that you can defend yourself. As I said earlier, you are Immortal; but only so long as your head stays on your shoulders. If you lose your head, it’s over and all your strength and knowledge passes to your opponent. We call it the Quickening”.

“And if I… cut off their head?”

“Then their strength passes to you, of course… but that will not happen unless you learn to defend yourself. If you’ll agree to trust me, I can teach you what you need to know to survive”.

“What about... an accident... or suicide.... If the Immortal, say, wanted to end it and lay down on the railroad tracks”.

“I suppose if no other Immortal is near at the moment of the beheading, the Quickening would just... dissipate” Martin allowed himself a faint thrill of hope. It was an intelligent question. It showed she was paying attention, taking him seriously.

Morgan was silent for several long moments as she pondered the situation. When she lifted her head it was to gaze upon the statue of the Holy Mother at her side altar in the Lady Chapel, rather than the great wooden crucifix suspended behind the main altar. Whether she was praying, meditating or just thinking, the feminine image seemed to offer some kind of prompt for an answer. “What other choice do I have?” she asked eventually.

Martin nodded to himself. “It’s getting late” he had noticed that the sky outside had darkened and night was falling fast. “Let me take you back to the hotel”.