Spider's Bite
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"Peter!" Kai Chang Caine cried out then bolted upright in his bed. He had tried to meditate earlier, but all he got was silence. Both his father and Peter were not communicating. Rather then being refreshed, the meditation had left him exhausted. It was Kermit who suggested that Caine lay down and get some rest.
While he slept, he dreamed of Peter and his father. He saw Matthew being placed in a room where there were hundreds of black widow spiders. He found himself crying out to him, "Father, do not move or the spider's will bite!" Then the dream changed and he saw Peter leaning up against a wall. The sleeves of his shirt had been rolled up. Two men were bending over him. He could clearly see a syringe in one of the man's hands, and Peter's very thoughts came to me.
*Dad, the crap about having an obedient body doesn't work when they got you juiced to the gills.*
"Peter!" Caine cried out, but his son could not hear him. What drug they have given him prevented their connection from forming.
The dream had been much more than that, it had been a vision, showing him exactly what was happening to Peter and his father. Caine tried to recall the details in the vision, but there just wasn't enough to go on. There was nothing unique about the areas within each place to let Caine know where the order had taken his father and son.
"Caine, are you all right?" Mary Margaret came in carrying a tray with a pot of tea. There was deep concern in her eyes. "Kermit called me. He asked if I wouldn't mind dropping by."
Caine sat on the edge of the bed. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sighed wearily. "I am at a loss as to know what I must do. My son and my father are in great danger and I do not know where they are."
"Perhaps you're trying too hard. My Mom used to say when your mind can't focus, follow your gut."
"Your gut?" Caine puzzled.
"Yeah, whatever your gut feeling is telling you, follow that and see where it leads."
Caine thought about the dream one more time. The feelings that he received were mixed. Each feeling that arose came with the images. But were they his feelings or someone else's? Truly in the vision he was feeling his son's frustration and pain. The drug that had been given to him had brought out those feelings. As for his father, he felt sorrow and regret. Was his father truly preparing himself to die?
Then his thoughts drifted to the Ancient's words, that he would be forced to make a choice between an old man and his son. He would rather not make any choice where someone had to die while another lived, but see that his father and son were both safe. Still, the choice was still there, looming before him like a pendulum swinging between the two. If he chose his father, Peter could die from the poison that the order had injected into his system. If he chose his son, the spiders' bite might do his father in. And if he did nothing, both were sure to die.
"Caine, where was the order the last time they were in town?"
Caine thought on Mary Margaret's question. The order had used two sites, one a warehouse and second a recently build office building on the edge of Chinatown near the center of the city. Those sites were later confiscated by the police after they learned from Caine and Peter just who Latrodect worked for and what he wanted to do. The mayor personally sent her apologies to Caine for not believing him about the man. Perhaps if he were to check out those sites, he might find Peter and his father. It was at least a start.
As Caine was thinking about his next move, Kermit came in carrying a manila folder.
"Caine, you here?"
Caine came out of his bedroom followed by Mary Margaret.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Kermit stated, a slight lopsided grin on his face.
"Even if you were, we wouldn't tell you," Mary Margaret shot back. "What have you got?"
"You were right, Caine. The liquid in that syringe is linked to the Black Widow order. I don't get it though. It's not the same stuff they gave you. There's some similarities, but something's different about it."
"Perhaps the Ancient can tell us," Caine suggested. "Cheryl is with him."
"Well, I hope so. I have a bad feeling about this if he can't," Kermit replied.
"I'll head back to the precinct and tell Captain Simms," Scalany offered
"Please, do not inform your Captain."
"That's not like you Caine," Scalany countered.
"I have my reasons," Caine stated.
"Caine, you can't do this. It could mean the difference between life and death for them."
"Scalany's right, you've got to tell the Captain."
"I do not," Caine said forcefully. "Peter and Matthew are Shaolin. They know what must be done."
"That's got nothing to do with this," Kermit argued. "Kidnapping is a federal offence."
"And my son and my father will die if there is any more interference. Come Kermit, we must see the Ancient."
Continues with Part 13
Alisa Joaquin Copyright@2002.
This story cannot be reprinted or sold in any other form without strict permission from
the author. It is being distributed here solely for your enjoyment.
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