Virtual American Gothic - Second Season Episode Sixteen Genesis by Queri and Dana ********************************************* NOT TO BE ARCHIVED TO A WEB PAGE WITHOUT THE AUTHOR'S PRIOR CONSENT. Special Guest Stars: Illeana Douglas as Sabbath Brent Spiner as Jonathan Kane ********************************************** Thistle was a teenager. He hadn't been with Selena very long but she trusted him implicitly. With his short hair and his striped coat he reminded her of Caleb. And like Caleb, he was little, smart and quick, could slip in anywheres unobserved. She trained him with a belled collar, pretty soon that bell only rang when he wanted it to. The big dark Buck mansion was the toughest of all the Trinity houses to get into. Not that there weren't open windows and cracked doors. No, it was the human that lived here, if that was the right word. Sometimes he seemed to be gone, no scent, no sound -- and then there he was, larger than life and twice as unnatural. And those crows that patroled the trees as sentrys! They'd divebombed Thistle more than once, with their sharp claws and beaks. And they got a good scratch for their trouble, but there were alot of them, and Thistle was rather a little cat, growing fast though. He came onto the Buck grounds through the back garden, rubbing up against the cool stone lady. One of the veranda screens was usually loose. Thistle scraped past the thin mesh, so far, so good. He padded silently through the dark halls and into the book place. A clock boomed out the hour and Thistle jumped thinking it was that human again. Several books slid off a shelf, one opened to a photograph of an old oak tree and a carved rock. The picture shook a bit and then seemed to open up. There was a lady in a grey dress with a veil sitting next to the carved rock, her knees drawn up under her. Gail turned and looked at Thistle, who liked her eyes and jumped into the picture. Never omit a possibility for petting. "Oh, you're real." The lady said, she had soft dark eyes and hair. She was real, too. But the place was strange. "It's so good to touch something." She stroked his back, and between his ears, " It's nothing like I expected here. I just wanted closure. But instead I've learned alot, Thistle." She knew all the best scratching spots and his name too, Thistle was impressed. "Can you help me? I need to talk to Sabbath. Next time you come, bring the new kitten with you from the boarding house, alright? I want to thank her." --------- "This tree is the key!" Kane scrutinized a photo of the venerable Trinity Oak. Other photographs, history books, random xeroxes were spread out all over Selena's kitchen table. She could remember when more exciting events were happening on that hard wooden surface, oh well. "It's just an old battered up black oak. Lightning strikes it every summer, it's a wonder it still puts out leaves." "This is the place where the town began, one lonely midnight, that fact is not in dispute, 300 years ago someone called divine powers to this place and established Trinity." "We've come a long way since then," Selena sighed, "all down hill." "Have you ever wondered why there are so many full moons in Trinity?" "I have better things to do with my nights, at least, I used to. I suppose we have '3 per year just like every other place on earth." " This place is not like any other place on earth." Kane sneezed violently as Thistle climbed up on the table, scattering most of the documents. "Your cats know that, even if you don't." "The moon's affecting you all right. Come here, Thistle, baby, Mr Kane has a problem with kitties." She shooed the kitten onto the front porch. The tree frogs were peeping their heads off in the steaming night air. "The only thing special about this town is the sheriff. They ought to call this Buckville." "But they didn't, dear. Whoever created this town used a more powerful force than any Buck could wield. And if I could connect to it I would have the means for Lucas's downfall." Selena sat back at the kitchen table, not the Lucas' downfall speech again. "It says here," Kane fished around on the floor to find the paper he needed. "because of something they called the Madness of the Trees, no decent settlers stayed here more than a month of two before either going suicidal or homicidal. Until General Cross collected a group of nameless expendables from up state to try to build a township by the river's mouth one more time. Somebody, possibly Reverend Strickley, conquered the Madness of the Trees by invoking the Holy Trinity, under a black oak tree at midnight 300 years ago." He threw down one paper and perused another. "Although that holy man might also have been General Cross, according to this document. . . Yes, he became a religious fanatic when his only son was stolen by indians. I'm not sure when that happened. There's mention of him holding the secret of Trinity. I want that secret, Selena!" "I can't believe any secret of Trinity wouldn't have Lucas Buck's name written all over it." "Three centuries ago there weren't any Bucks in Trinity. It's been my lifeswork to study that evil brood. Reverend Tribulation Buck was the first of the line to storm into Trinity in '759 from up north, maybe Boston, maybe Maine. He was breathing fire and damnation and running slaves on the side. A very nasty piece of work. Then there was Dunsany Buck in '827. He built a huge white pillared monstrosity in the bogland, staged great county hunts, man hunts, some say, before they burned him out. Oh, the Bucks are fairly well documented if you know where to look. They have grand rises and appalling falls. But this town's origins lie elsewhere, in a power that precedes the elegant but somehow all too vulgar hand of the Buck family." "Trinity Days is tomorrow and the all too vulgar hand of Lucas Buck has certainly got a grip on that." "The Sheriff has brought in sideshows and carnival rides. It's a travesty. He's trying to deflect attention from the real center of Trinity." "If you mean that black oak you're obsessed about -- the tree's in the cemetary. It's a bit hard to set up a ferris wheel between the tombstones." "The Bucks buried their enemies under that tree, to kill the positive influences. But it's not dead, I can bring it back. If I have to buy the cemetary and dump all the bones somewhere. And then, the balance of power will shift." "Well, before I have to move in over a cemetary, boned or boneless, I'd like to slip into something a little more comfortable." She sat on the table and plucked the papers out of Kane's hands. "What's the matter, Selena?" "Nothing's the matter, Jonathan, are you dense?" "Why Selena, I didn't know you cared." Kane looked up at his beautiful fiance, a slight smile twisting his mouth. "Neither did I," her legs carefully wrapped themselves around Kane's thighs, " But I think we have to get used to this sometime." She leaned over and kissed him. ----------- Selena left Kane snoring softly on her bed and unlocked the door of her study. She wrapped her black bathrobe tightly around her like a formal gown and began adjusting the mirrors. When the second mirror was situated so that it was completely reflected in the first one, Thistle padded into the room, she petted him absently. "You ever climb a black oak tree in the cemetary? I used to every summer when I was little. It was special then, and it's still special now. But perhaps not quite in the manner Candy Kane believes." Thistle mewed appreciatively. She let the cat out and relocked the door on the inside. Time to really relax. When the mirrors were just right, they reflected each other in an infinity of corridors. Selena lit a thick beeswax candle. The light flowed through the corridors of the mirrors showing so many paths to take into so many worlds. The seventh reflection usually held whatever secret she was seeking. Tonight she was just trolling for goodies, something to distract her from her evening's work with Kane. She focused on the first angle that caught her fancy and it was like turning a corner, a corner that led into the library stacks. Looked like late afternoon, maybe two or three days away, forward or backwards was always hard to tell. Sabbath was shelving books in her worn and torn jeans and deadhead t-shirt, probably smelling of patchouli incense as usual. "Dewey Decimals, Darlin?" Lucas Buck rounded the corner, leaned himself into the history and travel sections, smiling, rubbing a trace of the librarian's lipstick off his collar. "You know it. An intelligent monkey could do this job." "Well, now, Woodstock, off hand, I can think of a few things you can do that even the most intelligent monkey might have problems with. " Sabbath gave him a sideways smile, sarcastic and adoring at the same time. "I was thinking we might try one or two of those things later on. If you can get away." "I doubt it." "What, you need this nickle and dime gig bad enough to stand me up?" "Lucas, You know this is all I got. And don't start offering me money, again, I told you I pay my own way." "Everybody needs somebody sometime, Darlin." Sabbath stared blankly at him. "You don't know that song?" "No. I don't."Lucas hummed a few bars, Sabbath rolled her eyes at him. "Would you knock it off?" "Huh?" "Would you quit humming, for God's sake? It's not like I can think or anything." Lucas picked the tune up at the chorus. Exasperated, Sabbath flung herself at him, knocking books everywhere, and planted her lips to his. Lucas pushed her away gently, laughing. "Looks like another late night hitting the books, Woodstock." Stepping over the mess, Lucas chuckled as he left her to clean up. Selena shook her head and the image vanished. "Not this again. Sabbath, honey, when are you going to learn?" --------- It was a hot August night. Ice cream weather. Windows open, cicada humming weather. The sun was nuzzling the horizon but its heat still lay heavy like a blanket over the city. Carnival lights were picking out spots in the sky like stars. The Tricentennial of Trinity was underway, with fairway rides, cotton candy stands, sideshow barkers, and unwinnable games of chance. Lucas ambled through the crowd of fast-talking carnies and slow moving townsfolks, making sure nobody got too flimflammed. Ben was having no luck at all at the ring toss, trying to win a prize for his son. Lucas bumped against his elbow and the ring slid itself comfortably over the highest spool. "Sorry, deputy." Lucas winked at the surprised barker who sighed. Somebody had to win sometime. Ben chose a plush Bart Simpson Doll. "Isn't that a little young for Ben jr?" "It's what he said he wanted." "Fathers don't get to hear all their son's desires. I'd take him by the Miss Trinity Kissing Booth, if I were you." Selena and Kane passed by the arcade arm in arm. "Love is in the air, you know." "So they say." Ben watched Selena's sinuous movements. She could certainly do strange and interesting things to red silk. Kane looked much as he always did, crisp and pale, his walking stick flashing to point out various nefarious elements on the midway. ---- The boarding house crew had all arrived together. Loris sat herself down at a picnic table to check out her cousin's rib booth. She squeezed Matt's hand. "You take care of the kids?" "Will do, Mom." He smiled back. Caleb ran up to a barker announcing a girlie show. "Tondalayo the Serpent Princess, raised by a Python on the Banks of the Nile. See the Snakes rip her very Clothes from her Body as she Writhes in Serpent Frenzy." A skinny girl in nylon harem pants held up a small limp boa and tried to look exotic. "That's not a very big snake." Caleb mentioned. "Everything's bigger and better inside, son." the barker leaned closer, "All you need is a ticket." "I don't think this is your kind of show, Caleb." Matt steered the boy out of the barker's slimy clutches. Lucas leaned against the garishly painted plywood partition, his head close to the picture of a snake's open jaws. Orange and green flickering lights demonized his face. "See you brought your guardian angel with you, son." "We're going on the ferris wheel, sheriff, want to join us?" Matt replied, certain of Lucas's refusal. "Too close to heaven, for my tastes." As Matt and the boy moved on, Lucas stuck out his arm and stopped Sabbath. "I thought you liked your rides a little less tame." "Oh, we'll move on to the fun stuff later." "We certainly will. Bring Caleb with you and we'll sneak in to Tondalayo's private show." ------- Lurline was indeed a lovely Miss Trinity Days and one heck of a kisser. Lucas nibbled at a corn dog and wondered if he might be able to use her resources around the Sheriff's office. A slender dark haired woman in a long flowered dress and clogs slipped between the sideshow and the Guess Your Weight stand. Something about her dress and her hair reminded Lucas of Gail. He moved closer to check her out. A gigantic clown's head formed the entrance to the fun house. The Gail-like woman stooped and peered through the door, then ran inside furtively. Recent events started falling into place. Run one ghost out of town, won't be too hard to exorcise another. Lucas followed her through the open mouth between the huge white teeth to find himself alone in the dark, surrounded by flashing mirrors. He was reflected in none of them and neither was the ersatz Gail. Eerie synthesizer music looped over and over in a spacy minor key. A small tabby cat appeared in front of him. "Scat, you little spy." Lucas banged against the hard glass. Just a reflection. He really didn't like this place. The door he had come in by was lost in the flow of mirrors. "What have you got against my cats?" It was Selena's voice soft as a whisper coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. "Nothing, really, just that they're yours." "How long are you going to torture me for Gail's little trip down the stairs?" "Long as I want to." "I dream about you all the time, Lucas." "Nightmares?" "Only if I'm lucky." You could hear the slow, lazy smile in her voice. She never scared easily , he always liked that, it gave him something to work for. "Why don't you cuddle up with Kane, he'll protect you now." "And if I don't want protection?" Her face appeared right in front of him. It was surely a reflection, so ripe and luscious, her lips as red as her dress which fit her like an warm embrace. "You and I never had a Last Time. And we need one, we need it badly." She licked her lips slowly as if they tasted of cherries. "Needy women are so boring." "We're not talking about >my< needs." A mirror seemed to slide open in front of him and he could see the front door. "If I'm so boring, why don't you leave. You must have some books to check out of that exciting library." ---- Sabbath and Caleb were whirling up to the sky and smashing back down to earth again as the Hammer swung around and around. Sabbath felt her spirit unwind and dissolve into the sheer terror and ecstacy of total disorientation. Closest thing to pipe dreams. The pressure pushed the air in and out of her body and she felt as if her life were accidental and beyond the whimsy of fate. ---- Lucas walked out of the mirror maze and right into Selena's pliant body. "You don't give up," he said, "do you?" They stood close together beneath the sharp white teeth of the funhouse clown. "Once upon a time neither did you. Has my fiance made you cautious? Can't touch a woman another man owns?" Lucas eyes narrowed and he grabbed Selena's shoulders with iron hard fingers and kissed her viciously. Sabbath got out of the Hammer, the world was spiraling around her pleasantly. The dead center of her vision focused on Lucas and Selena bound together in what seemed to be mutual lust. Lucas broke the kiss and noticed Sabbath. "Hi, ready for the snake lady? I know I am." Selena rubbed her bruised lips. Sabbath ran away into the crowd. ---- "What am I doing? Half the time I dont even LIKE him, let alone love him. He's just stuck in my head." Sabbath paced around her bedroom, her wet hair piled up under a towel. She had showered for the longest time after returning from the fair, trying to wash the hurt away. She opened her window to let the late night breezes in and heard the tinkling of a bell. "Come on in, Thistle." The tabby climbed into Sabbath's arms purring and nuzzling her neck. A slip of paper fell from his collar to the floor. 'Come by my house and all will be explained.' the note read. Sabbath crumpled the paper to throw it away, but Thistle mewed so plaintively she stopped. "Oh, what do I have to lose?" She threw on a bright purple t-shirt and cut-offs and climbed out the window into the light of the full moon. ----- The same full moon shined into Caleb's bedroom as he sat on his bed and petted his kitten. "The rides were really fun, Gail, you spin round and round and forget about everything for at least a little while." The kitten curled in his lap and purred. "I wanted to bring you home some ribs, but Ms Holt said they wouldn't be good for you." The little cat looked up at him flicked her little tongue out. "You don't care if they're good for you or not, you want them ribs." He laughed and hugged the kitten a little too tight. Gail squeaked and ran off. "I'm sorry, Gail." He kneeled down and looked under the bed where the kitten was hiding. "Don't be mad at me. I didn't mean to hurt you. I don't want to be all by myself tonight. Please, Gail, come back and forgive me." Caleb leaned on the bed, his head in his hands, the tears beginning to flow, "Someday you have to forgive me." A halo of pale white light passed over his head like a caress. ----- When Sabbath arrived at Selena's, the front door was slightly open flickering candlelight beckoned from within. "Well, this is spooky. . ." Sabbath tiptoed through the kitchen following the scent of incense to the back of the house. Selena was in her study, wrapped in her black robe lighting candles in front of two mirrors that faced each other. Six cats posed impressively in the small room. Damn, she really was a witch. "I was so afraid you wouldn't come. You mustn't think I'm trying to take Lucas away from you." Selena smiled like a little girl, wide and welcoming. "You can't take something away that I never owned." "Lucas is the only person who owns people in this town, and, honey, you don't want to sign that deed." She smiled ruefully, "Let me show you something to make up for that careless kiss." Selena moved over so Sabbath could sit between the mirrors. "Shoot, this looks like one of Mom's worst flashbacks." "You have no idea. This is one of my mother's tricks. Look at the mirrors within the mirrors." She lit another incense stick and the air became very thick with earthy perfume. "Can you count them, one, two, three," Sabbath felt her awareness sliding deeper and slippery between realities. "five , six ---seven. That's the one you use to go between times and places." The seven reflections seemed like seven shiny rooms to Sabbath which tilted and shimmered in the candlight. Suddenly she saw something, herself, but not herself. What a big belly on her, at least 6 months pregnant, and she wasn't happy about it, either. She saw herself beat at a man's chest, hitting the dark black vest with clenched fists. "Oh, Jesus. It's a trick, right? Selena, it can't be real. I don't want that man's baby." "Then you'd better revoke his library card, honey, cause that's the road you're going down." "Is this a solid future or a maybe, Selena? Does this have to happen?" "It's hard to stop the Buckman when he's determined, but I'll see what I can do." The mirror shimmered again and Sabbath saw that dark haired woman from her dreams peering around the seventh mirror, her finger to her lips. "Did you see that?" Selena shrugged, "The images don't usually last very long." And Sabbath knew, she just knew, Gail had secrets to tell that couldn't be told in front of Selena. --- Caleb ran through the tombstones tagging the ones he knew. "Mother, Father -- sorta, Sister, Uncles, Aunts." "You sure know alot of dead people." Sabbath said. How that kid had this much energy on a hot day was beyond her. They were having lunch in the cemetary on the oft chance that the tombstones would cool them down. "My whole family's dead, I told you that. My real father, you know, the one you're hangin around with, his grave was right over there." "Lucas was . . .buried?" "Just for a little while. They dug him up again real soon. It was some kinda medical mistake." "That's quite a mistake." "Yup, Lucas Buck doesn't die as easy as most people. And he don't tend to stay dead very long." Caleb plunked himself down by Merly's tombstone and pulled out some sandwiches. "You want tunafish, liverwurst or some kinda cheese?" "Oooh, tuna sounds so good. No, I can't, the dolphins would haunt me.. Give me the cheese." "We'll give the crows the liverwurst, don't know anybody likes that." They chomped for a while, Sabbath was thinking about kissing a man who had been buried and dug up again. "If you could live forever, Sabbath, would you wanna?" "No way. Everyone you love would get old and die, and you'd be stuck there watching. I'd rather see what comes next." "Everyone I love is dead already, what have I got to lose?" He tossed a piece of liverwurst to a big black crow hovering nearby. "I see your point. But, it doesn't have to be some big black hole you fall into, you know. People on the other side can communicate with us if they want to." "Don't I know it!" Caleb pulled out his locket. "This was my sister Merly's. She kinda gave it to me after she died, kinda." He opened the locket and showed it to Sabbath. "This is the only picture I have of my mother, wasn't she pretty? I don't look much like her." Sabbath looked at the locket. There was the lovely time-worn face of a fair haired woman on one side and the face of the woman in her dreams on the other. "This is Gail, your cousin, isn't it?" The sight of her dream woman in this place made Sabbath shudder. She was too close. "Yup, just like my kitten except she shot herself." Caleb said, his voice saddening. "I stuck her in with my momma for company. She didn't like me very much before she died." "Where is she buried?" "She's way over that way." Caleb said, "by the old black oak tree. The sheriff kinda hid her in the back. It took me forever to find her grave. Wanta see?" "Yeah." They walked the whole length of the cemetary. It was like going back into time, the graves got older and lost their edges. In a shallow depression, sunken into the soft and rotting earth, an incrediably ancient oak tree clung to life. Half of it was scarred and blackened by lightening strikes. "Bout time for it to get struck again. Happens every summer." Caleb remarked. Dark green prickly leaves bristled on the living branches, the bark rough and dark and inhospitable. A few lonely graves were planted under the thick twisted trunk. Simone Buck. Aldus Buck. Gail Emory on white marble indecently new and unstained by time. The tombstone next to Gail's was so old no word or image remained, just a rough cross dug deep into the pitted stone. "It's lonely here, isn't it." "Terribly lonely and terribly sad." "I'd sure like to know if my cousin has forgiven me." "Caleb, maybe I can find out for you." ---- Sabbath was handing out volumes on early Trinity to Mayor Kane. He was searching through every diary and memoire ever written about Fulton Co. Selena seemed utterly bored as Sabbath carted manuscript after manuscript to Kane's table. "Well, if it isn't the prospective Kane clan. Cramming for a test, Mr Mayor?" Buck sauntered in and picked up one of the dusty books. "A test of ingenuity and long memory, Lucas." Kane beamed at him. "Well, I hope you have some crib notes." Lucas cut Sabbath off before she could disappear into the stacks again. "I need to talk to you." "Not now, I have a lot to think about." He was wearing a black vest, the same black vest she had seen in the mirror. "Ms Lightfoot. I ain't accustomed to playing the waiting game." "You're doing a good job of it. Did you read the rulebook?" "This is starting to wear thin with me, this little act of yours. " "That's really too bad, Lucas. It's a long production." "If you're worried about that little kiss on the midway, didn't mean a thing." "I couldn't care less." She hoped. "We'll see about that." Sabbath disappeared back in the stacks after another book for Kane. "Your technique is slipping, sweetheart." Selena sidled up to him, her eyes as bright as her dress. "Women didn't use to run away from you until the third or fourth date." "I must admit, I lack imagination these days." "What you lack, is inspiration." She leaned against the bookcases lightly, nothing ever collapsed unless Selena wanted it to. Between the books he could see Sabbath peeking at them. It was time to up the ante. He leaned into Selena, his nose touching her cheek. "So you want a Last Time, do you?" "As long as it doesn't involve Last Rites." She glanced at Kane's table, he was absorbed in his books. "My fiance's right over there." "So what? It's your funeral."Lucas licked her ear lightly. "Name the time and the place and I'm yours, metaphorically speaking." "Midnight tonight by the Trinity Oak." Lucas straightened up suddenly, his eyes narrowing. "Why there?" "It's your fault for mentioning funerals. Afraid to do it on Gail's grave, metaphorically speaking?" "My dear Selena, there's nobody else like you." The kiss was long and luscious until it was interrupted by Kane's walking stick. Kane's cane, so to speak, lightly tapped Buck's shoulder. "When you're quite through with my fiance, I'd like to go home." "Just kissing the bride." "A charming old custom," Kane murmured, "usually reserved until after the wedding." ------ Sabbath tipped the living room mirror off the wall and leaned it by the settee. She was barely breathing. It was almost midnight, everybody else tucked in bed. No time to knock anything over. The mirror off her dresser was already in place by the easy chair. She would rather have done this in her own bedroom but there was just no way to carry that big mirror up the stairs. "You'd better be there, Gail, after all this." She lit a candle and a stick of incense and started counting the reflections. A figure in a grey dress slowly turned in the glass. "You're there." They both spoke at once saying the same words. "You're really Caleb's Gail, aren't you?" "Caleb's and yours." "He wants to know if you forgive him." "I forgive everything that little boy ever did to me." Sabbath began to sigh with relief when she heard Gail's voice turn hard. "What I will never forgive is that he's a Buck and when he grows up he will do what the Buck men have always done to the Cross women." "Who are these Cross women, really?" "Our mothers, our grandmothers, you and me. Take a look." The glass shimmered like wind on water and Sabbath saw Lucas rape Judith and then violate Gail in the hospital. The scenes flooded into her like bile, sickening her. "Why is he doing this?" Sabbath whispered. "Because he's a Buck, they all do it. It's their destiny. Theirs and ours." The images flowed further back to Buck's father and grandfather, Sabbath saw her own grandmother lying beneath another Buck, silently bearing the invasion and the child that came from it. "You thought you came here by choice or chance, but my death pulled you in. It's the illusion of free will. We are more than kin, more than sisters. Never mind Caleb, you need to forgive me." "Forgive, hell! How do we stop it?" "I don't know, but I do know how it all started. I only learned this on the other side, you need to know it too but you have to come through to see it." Gail stretched out her hand to Sabbath who reached back piercing the glass like a layer of cool frost. The trip to the other side was as easy as giving up breathing. Sabbath looked out over the Trinity river in early Autumn, a tall sturdy Cherokee woman was walking down to the river's edge. She saluted the sun as if it were her sister, then, took off her clothes and entered the river. She was brown as the heartwood of cedar, not in her first beauty but beyond it into a transcendant radiance of a leaf in autumn just before it falls and dies. Sabbath didn't know whether to hug her or worship her. "Who on earth is that?" She asked Gail. " Her name is Nanye'hi, Beloved Woman, and she's the first, our Eve." Movement in the forest caught Nanye'hi's eye but she paid it no mind. The man often stood there in the early morning watching her. Some day he would reveal himself. Today was the day. A young man in fringed buckskin leaned against a Sassafras tree. His dark brown hair flowed long past his shoulders, a familiar smirk on his face. He looked in his early twenties. He looked. . . "My God, it's Lucas." "Well, that's his name," Gail said, "but this is 1696. Don't speak too loudly. I know they can't see us, but they may be able to hear us." A gentle wind blew across the river and the leaves changed to the full rich green of summer. Sabbath could feel the heat thickening the air as the seasons turned and the months flowed past. The Cherokee woman was leaning against the tree now, kissing Lucas Buck. "Is this good, Nan?" Lucas asked her. "Very good, Raven." "One thing the old world can teach the new." "I suppose it's time to me to learn from you, you've learned as much as you can from me." They kissed again, more passionately. "Lucas, raven boy, you walk in my heart." "Then walk as my wife." His voice was hoarse, impetuous, young. Nanye'hi drew back. "I can't. Time is about to take me away from you and send you on a much darker path." "I'm not afraid of time and there's nothing in my path to hurt us. I have a fancy for good women." "And I have a fancy for bad boys. But I'm older than you, Raven. I know things you don't." Buck folded his arms, reining his enthusiasm in, maybe she did. "One thing I know is you are no woman's husband. If we can't have marriage, we can have something more holy, more lasting." "Me, holy?" He smiled. "If you wanted to be, yes!" "I want you to marry me." "Then I will. In my own way, the best way." "When?" "Next full moon at the Mother Oak." "That would be tonight, Nan." "Tonight? How many full moons does this month have?" "As many as you want." ----------------- It was midnight at the Trinity Oak, a man and a woman were wound around each other on the soft dark ground. There was no moon at all. "Ouch!" "I told you the tombstones would get in the way, Selena." "I think Gail bit me." "She never did like you, I don't know why." "I'll show you why." The night was silent for awhile except for a few delighted exhalations here and there. Finally Selena's long white arms stretched upwards, their outline picked out by starlight. "You ought to stick to your own kind, Lucas." "You're a little too close to my own kind for comfort, Selena." "Is that why you would never give me a child?" "You can ruin a good hunting dog by overbreeding." "The Bucks have been overbreeding for centuries, why worry now." The leaves shook with her laughter. "Scared of producing monsters?" "Woman, you're going to wake the dead!" "I sincerely hope so. I have a lot to tell Gail, including the name of a good hairdresser." "Just don't get any ideas this is permanent. Don't think you can keep me." "Keep you? I'm throwing you back already, Lucas." Selena got up and walked out of the graveyard without even bothering to put her clothes back on. The moon had risen, full as a mother's belly. ---------- Three hundred years ago the Full Moon's light fought to penetrate the heart of the thick forest canopy that had driven so many white men mad. The majestic Black Oak ruled the forest core like a feared and revered matriarch. Sabbath hid herself in a cevasse of the great trunk. "Put these woods in the fire, Raven. Cedar, hickory and oak from this very tree." Buck tended the flames carefully as Nan demanded. "Three blessed trees. Threes are sacred, like a man, a woman and their child," she stroked her belly only slightly beginning to round with her lover's son and heir. Lucas looked up at her, his eyes glowing with the light of the fire. "Sacred as a Trinity." "Exactly." The blessed wood burned brightly for Nanye'hi, warming and hallowing the deep shadows of the wood. It was time to release the wards she had set on this precious land. "I believe General Cross is a good man who deserves to settle this valley. I gladly offer its benefits to him. He's solid and reliable, a woman could depend on him to raise a town or a child." "On him?" Buck's eyes froze, shutting out all the light from the fire. "It's sensible, Raven, and it's time." Oh no, thought Sabbath, and you were so smart up to now. Nan held out a handful of tobacco she had specially prepared with herbs of love and said. "May this smoke bind us, man, woman and child, from now to beyond the seventh generation in this new world." "Now, that's a long time, Nan. Are you sure you want to tie a knot that tight?" "Quite sure. Let the smoke carry the prayer for both of us." She dropped the tobacco into the fire which gave off a vast aromatic cloud. "You ought to know prayers and me do not mix." Buck poured a leathern flask of whiskey onto the fire. "Here's a little toast to your prospective husband, Mrs Cross." Nanye'hi realized his change, too late to take the power back. "Buck, why do you want to poison what already belongs to your heart." Lightening from a summer storm, came out of nowhere and struck at the oak tree. The mighty blast drove Sabbath from the past all the way back to the present day. She hunched over on Loris's rag rug, between the two mirrors, trying to catch her breath. The candle flickered in the dark room. "Lucas Buck strikes again. He never loved her. He never loved me, he never loved any of us. He doesn't get his own way and we become breeding stock. Great." In the depths of the dark mirror, two eyes glowed with inner fire. Only a thin sheet of glass separated Sabbath from a very alive, very aware, ancient Lucas Buck. "Sabbath, I did love her." Oh no, get out, girl, show the sense your forebears didn't. Don't stay in the room with that. She ran up the stairs trembling. Outside there was a crash of thunder and a flash of lightning split the marble tombstone on Gail's grave. Selena appeared in the reflection of the mirror and blew out the candle. END DISCLAIMER: Any story/episode appearing that states it is part of Virtual AG-Season Two is based upon the Television show, "American Gothic", which is the property of Shaun Cassidy, Renaissance Productions,and CBS (apparently). The characters added to support this concept, and the storylines, are the property of the writers acknowledged as such. PLEASE, DON'T SUE US!!