This story is totally original and is written for entertainment
purposes only.  I have tried not to infringe on the copyrights of 
Shaun Cassidy, MCA Universal, or CBS.  The name American 
Gothic, as well as the characters Lucas Buck, Selena Coombs, 
Gail Emory, Caleb Temple, Ben Healy and Loris Holt are used 
without permission.  I am not making a profit from this story.
	This story takes place after "Cliff-Side", which is housed at
The Trinity Bookstore.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

"All Dressed in Red"
by Leah
(leahwarsha@aol.com)


	The shadows on the ceiling of the tower bedroom began 
to grow darker and creep towards the edges of the room.  They 
flowed past the seam where floral-patterned wallpaper covered 
the walls, across dusty paintings of bears and other wildlife and 
down to the hard wood floor. Without making a sound, the 
shadows moved from all corners of the floor, converging upon 
the bed where a still form lay sleeping.  Moving up the checkered 
bedspread and the wooden frame, they began to form a great mass 
of darkness at the foot of the bed.
	The darkness spilled upwards into the air, spreading out 
to form a massive set of wings.  The boy shifted in his sleep as the 
shape reached over him, its feathers stretching over the sides of 
the bed and a sharp beak pushing towards his head.  The 
shadow-creature had almost reached the boy's face with its 
dark feathers when suddenly it blew apart into a million tiny 
crows, each flying in different directions to form a chaotic swarm 
that filled the entire room.
	Caleb Temple awoke with a gasp and sat up in bed.  
There wasn't anything unusual about the room as he looked 
around in the darkness, but an insistent cawing still echoed 
loudly in his ears.


	Loris Holt was just putting away the last of her breakfast
dishes as Caleb shuffled into the kitchen and started going about
getting his cereal.  She noticed the bags under his eyes and went to
pour him a glass of orange juice.
	"How did you sleep, Caleb?" she asked as he seated 
himself at the kitchen table.
	"Not much at all, Ma'am," he answered and filled his mouth 
with corn flakes.  Loris put the glass down in front of him and sat 
down.
	"You not feeling well?"
	"Naw, that ain't it," he said as he continued to shovel food
into his mouth.  "I kept havin' nightmares."
	"Maybe someone's trying to tell you something," she replied.
	"Well, if that's it then I don't want to hear about it no
more," he said crossly and took a gulp of the orange juice.
	"If you receive a message from the other side, Caleb, you
should be thankful.  Not everyone's so lucky."
	Yeah, thought Caleb, and not everyone's dead sister visits
them either, but how long did that last?  "I guess," he said out loud.
	Loris noticed the brief shadow that passed over his face 
and was about to ask what was wrong when he put a last, heaping 
spoonful cereal into his mouth and got up from the table.  She 
watched as he put his dishes in the sink and then left the room to 
fetch his backpack.
	"Caleb, you know you can talk to me if anything's bothering
you?" she asked when he returned.
	He just grinned and nodded at her reassuringly, then went 
out the back door to start the walk to school.
	Caleb kept his head down as he went, mildly aware that 
the sun was beating down on him and the air was still, even this 
early in the morning.  Every so often he would kick a stone that 
lay on the sidewalk, or readjust his backpack on his shoulders.  
It had been almost three weeks since Lucas's "death" and Merly's 
disappearance, but he just felt normal.  School was almost over 
and he had been spending lots of time with Boone and Rose.  
The birds were singing, flowers blooming.  Normal, normal, normal!
	The only problem was, Caleb had never felt so normal in 
his entire life and the lack of turmoil actually unsettled him.  Plus,
there was no reason for it.  He had awoken as if from a fog, unaware 
of what he had done for the previous two days, apparently because 
he had fallen down an entire flight of stairs onto the floor of Lucas 
Buck's foyer, but all he felt was normal!
	"Caleb!" someone called, and he shielded his eyes from 
the sun and scanned the street.  In the distance, Boone was smiling 
and waving his arms above his head. Caleb smiled back and took 
off in a run to catch up.


	Jeff Parker was sweating profusely and shifted uncomfortably 
in his seat.  He had dressed in his idea of a responsible looking outfit,
blue work-shirt and corduroy shorts, and had even attempted to 
smooth down his curly hair with styling gel.  He ordinarily prided 
himself on passing for older than he was, but suddenly felt strangely 
immature at his seventeen years.
	"If you found stuff, it-it isn't mine," he swore, stuttering.
"I mean, maybe one of my friends hid it there, but it ain't mine!"
	Lucas leaned against the front of his desk casually, only a
foot away from the teenager.  Despite the hot weather outside he was
dressed in black pants, a long-sleeved shirt and a suede vest.  "Are
you tellin' me that one of your friends broke into your house, snuck 
up to your bedroom, opened up your money-box with that key you 
have around your neck, and hid five hundred dollars worth of 
marijuana there?"
	Jeff swallowed hard.  He hadn't even told his girlfriend about
the key.  He didn't even take it off in the shower, so how could the
Sheriff possibly have known about it?
	"I, uh," he began weakly and cleared his throat.  Lucas broke
in before he could continue.
	"It seems pretty clear that you've been dealin'," he said,
walking around to the other side of his desk and sitting down.  
"Unless you want me to believe that all that was for personal 
consumption?"
	"N-no," Jeff stuttered, scared that if he lied he'd only bury
himself further.  Lucas twirled a fountain pen in his fingers and
regarded the boy for a moment.
	"Your father know about this?"
	"No, he'd kill me!"
	Lucas paused and set the pen down on his desk.  "We've 
got a real problem here.  You've committed a serious offense."  
The boy inhaled sharply and waited in anguish for what he assumed 
would be his Miranda rights.  "Maybe... I don't have to tell anyone 
about this. Give you a second chance and see how you do."
	Jeff just sat in his chair in disbelief.  "You wouldn't tell
nobody?  Not even my pa?"
	"Nope, wouldn't have to if you kept your nose clean."
	Jeff leapt to his feet and reached to grasp Sheriff Buck by 
the hand.  "Thank you!  Oh, thank you!" he blubbered, and Lucas 
smiled and stood to escort him out of the room.
	"Boy," he said with a sudden seriousness as he stopped 
by the door, "remember, you reap what you sow.  If you so much 
as look at a joint, I'll make sure you wind up in a place where the 
only thing they deal is tobacco plugs and boyfriends, understand?"
	Jeff blanched but nodded and practically ran out the door 
when Lucas opened it for him.  Lucas chuckled.  The boy's father 
already knew about the drug dealing, although not the key or the 
moneybox.  It seemed that Morris Parker owned a local bank 
branch and one of his customers had explained to him the whole 
distasteful affair.  The bank owner came to Sheriff Buck looking 
ragged, begging him to talk some sense into the boy but to please, 
not put him away, Jeff's mother couldn't bear it!
	Lucas had smiled.  They had known each other for years 
and trusted each other.  Of course, he would be happy to help.  
Oh, and by the way, there were a few people in town who he felt 
deserved a loan.


	On the boardwalk of Jackson Lake a middle-aged man 
with a stained apron was working a dingy snack counter.  He 
checked a plastic thermometer nailed to the hut's interior and shook 
his head.
	"Gonna be a hot one," he remarked as he got his customer 
her coffee.  "That'll be one seventy-five."  Gail Emory reached into 
her wallet and paid him in exact change without saying a word.
	The vendor watched as the young woman walked down 
the boardwalk, veering a little to either side as if being blown by the
breeze.  She seemed nice enough, certainly a pretty thing, but her 
eyes had a slightly glazed-over look that he wasn't sure the caffeine 
could fix.  He shook his head again and started wiping down the 
counter.
	Gail made her way across the crooked wooden slats, mildly
gazing at the lake which glittered in the midday light.  She was
wearing an ivory dress, sleeveless and long, and carried a brown,
leather purse clutched under her elbow.  After walking a fair distance
away from the snack counter she stopped and leaned her elbows 
on a railing that separated the boardwalk from the lake.
	She'd been discharged from the hospital a week before 
and had to wonder if they just kicked her out because they needed 
the room. After awakening from the coma a strange doctor had 
checked her over. She would have preferred Billy Peele, but 
apparently he no longer lived in Trinity.  The new doctor had told 
her, in a vaguely interested sort of way, that she was healing nicely 
and the only thing to do was go home and rest.  An acquaintance 
at the Charleston Post picked her up and took her home the very 
next morning.
	Being bed-ridden was hardly her style, although Gail had 
plenty to keep her mind occupied.  Everything that had happened 
in this damn town, everything that had happened to her, was all 
so bizarre.  She had fallen completely in love with Lucas Buck 
but at the same time hated his guts.  Then he had to confuse 
things further by dying.
	Somehow, Caleb had been affected by his father's death. 
Obviously a son should be upset under those circumstances, but 
the change that came over him was unnatural.  He had attacked 
her with a rage she would have never thought him capable of.  
The final image of the attack, one she felt sure would be imprinted 
on her subconscious forever, was Lucas, a man whose funeral 
she'd attended, coming through the door and screaming her name.
	The moment she woke up in the hospital and looked into the
man's eyes again she knew that something was different.  For some
reason she wasn't surprised that he was alive.  In fact, it seemed like
nothing had changed since their last meeting, nothing except for her.
A feeling of strength had come over her, and she knew that despite
their complicated past she needed to stay away from Lucas Buck.
	That's the way it had always been with Gail.  Intense emotions,
both positive and negative, would overcome her and it felt like she 
had no choice but to obey them.  This time though, the feeling that 
she had to stay as far away from Lucas as possible seemed to be 
there for good.
	Gail watched as a sailboat lazily crossed the center of the
lake and she picked up the now-lukewarm coffee that sat beside 
her on the railing.  Taking a sip, her mind wandered back to the 
hospital. After Lucas left and Selena had said goodbye (a visit that 
still continued to mystify her), the first thought that crossed Gail's 
mind was Caleb.  She had pushed the call-button about fifty times 
before a nurse burst into the room.  The anxious woman looked at 
her like she was mad, but brought her a phone without saying 
anything.
	Loris picked up at the boarding house and seemed pleased 
that Gail was feeling better.  She said that the day of Lucas's funeral
Caleb had run away and gone to stay at Lucas's house.  After a few
worried hours, Selena called to say that she had found the boy and 
was looking out for him until he felt like coming home.
	"That seemed pretty strange, but I figured Caleb had a right 
to be upset, since he and Lucas were friends," Loris explained,
pronouncing "friends" in a grim voice.  A few hours later, news broke
on the local radio and TV news that Lucas hadn't been dead after all.
Contradicting those who knew about the burial, the police reported 
that Lucas had awoken in the hospital morgue after having been
"misdiagnosed" by a Dr. Narone, who unrelatedly committed suicide 
later that evening.
	Just as the shock was beginning to wear off, Loris heard a
knock on the door and there was Sheriff Buck with a slightly dazed
Caleb at his side.  He said the boy had had a fall, but was alright and
to make sure that he was comfortable.  After hearing this Gail was 
even more confused then she was to begin with, but thanked Loris 
and hung up the phone.  Apparently Caleb had no knowledge of 
what he had done, but somehow Gail thought that was better for 
everyone.
	It seemed like Lucas was responsible for what happened 
to Caleb, and in turn what happened to her, but how and why she 
couldn't explain just then.
	Gail felt disconnected.  Getting back to work just didn't 
seem to matter, and Lucas hadn't talked to her since the hospital.  
For the moment she had the excuse of illness to sit around and do 
nothing, but eventually she'd heal.  Life had always dragged her 
in all directions like a marionette, but now it felt like all her strings 
had been clipped.


	In South Carolina heat and humidity are a fact of life.  
People can't afford to sit around and do nothing when the mercury 
climbs high, they just have to use extra deodorant and deal with it.
	At the elementary school Selena was fanning herself with 
a sheet of paper and staring out at her students, lethargic and 
sweating with their limbs sprawled out under their desks.  All 
the windows in the classroom were open, but without a breeze 
it didn't seem to make any difference.
	"Can anyone tell me the purpose of the Lewis and Clark
expedition?  Jamie?" she said, pointing to a curly-haired girl in the
back of the room with her hand raised.
	"Can I get a drink a water, Miss Coombs?" she asked in 
a small voice.  Selena checked her watch.  Two-thirty, only half 
an hour until the end of this miserable day.
	"It's too hot to do anything else, anyway.  Let's all go get a
glass of water," she said and grins spread across the children's faces.
They all stood and started putting their books and papers into their
backpacks.
	"What about Lewis and Clark?" a boy asked but was 
quickly silenced by his classmates.
	"Come on, let's get out of this sauna," Selena said when
everyone had gotten their things.  She led them to the cafeteria 
where a grubby janitor unlocked the door for them.
	"Miss Coombs," he said and let his eyes travel over her 
as she passed.
	"Why don't you keep your push-broom to yourself, Abe," 
she said after all her students had gone inside.  "School's in session."
	"Don't I know it!" he called after her with a grin and let the
door slam shut.
	The students lined up at the sink, each coming away gulping
water from a paper cup.  She hoped they would start a water fight 
and get the floor wet so that lecher would fall and break his neck, 
but it didn't feel like her lucky day.
	She watched as Caleb got to the front of the line and splashed
some cold water on his face.  He filled up his cup and walked away 
from the other kids, gulping down the water and wiping the droplets 
from his forehead at the same time.  He was staring out the cafeteria's 
huge windows when Selena came up behind him.
	"How are you, Caleb?" she asked, and he whirled around in
surprise.
	"Shoot, you scared me, Miss Coombs!" he said with a grin.
	"We wouldn't want to do that," she replied.  "You've already
had too much scaring for a boy your age."
	"Naw, I'm fine," he said slowly in a tone she couldn't
interpret.  "But how're you?" he asked suddenly, changing the 
subject.
	"Oh, I guess I'm fine too," she said with a laugh.  "The
school-year's almost over.  What'll I do with nothing to do but 
make lemonade and go swimming?"
	"I'm sure you'll think of somethin'," Caleb said with a grin.
	"I'm sure I will," Selena answered with a smile and ran her
hand over his bristly hair.  "People always tell me that my greatest
talent is findin' things to do."
	Caleb wasn't sure how to respond to this but suddenly 
the bell rang and he turned to leave.  He noticed that Selena had 
a strange look on her face, almost a frown but not quite.
	"Have a nice weekend, Caleb," she said suddenly when she
noticed him staring at her.  He paused, and then smiled back and
followed his classmates across the room and out a metal exit door.
	As soon as he stepped outside the hot sun pounded him 
and he squinted his eyes.  Boone was ahead of him walking with 
some other boys, and Caleb wasn't in the mood to go chasing 
after them.  High-pitched voices came to him from a distance 
and he thought it must be one of the younger grades.  He 
followed the sound to the other side of the elementary school 
and saw them as he turned the corner.  There were three little girls, 
probably second graders, all sitting on swings in the playground 
and singing.

	"Nine little devils all dressed in red,
	Tried to get to heaven on the end of a thread,
	But the threeead BROKE, and down they all fell!
	They didn't get to heaven, they all went to-
	Eight little devils all dressed in red,"

and so on, each verse cutting off the one before it before they 
swore and got into trouble.  Caleb watched from the edge of 
the building and let his mind wander.  The air was thick with 
humidity but was filled with the sweet smell of flowering trees.  
He thought Merly would've liked it, then wondered if ghosts 
could even smell flowers.  Closing his eyes and lifting his face 
to the sun, he felt its heat and watched the orange and red 
patterns dance on the inside of his eyelids.
	Everyone was worried about him as usual, but he wished 
they'd just get over it because he felt fine.  Everything seemed 
so crystal-clear, the sunlight, the gravel under his sneakers, the 
song that came to him on the breeze.  It was all so wonderful, 
like he had never seen anything like it before.  Suddenly his life, 
which had once seemed almost unbearable, had been reduced 
to a warm, spring day for him to enjoy.  Caleb opened his eyes 
and continued walking, forgetting to see how the song ended 
when the girls ran out of little devils.


	Sheriff Buck smiled and crinkled his eyes warmly.  He 
knew David Handley couldn't see him on the other end of the 
telephone, but people could always hear whether or not you 
were being sincere.  Even the best lie in the world wouldn't be 
believable if you weren't smiling.  Besides, what kind of sheriff 
would he be if he wasn't happy to talk to his people?
	"Well now, if you're concerned about Emma I can check 
up on her," he was saying, "but it sounds like she's just lonely."  
He paused and listened to the response.  "I know runnin' a 
business takes time, but a woman needs to feel like she's 
special, a lady.  You take her out for a night of dinner and 
dancin' and she'll perk right up."
	An image flashed in Lucas's minds eye of old Emma 
Handley in the throes of passion with a muscular construction 
worker.  "That's right," Lucas said into the receiver, "doesn't 
seem to be any reason for a woman like her to be depressed.  
You have a good day, now."
	Lucas stretched back in his chair and rubbed his eyes.  
It was a slow day.  It was going on a week of slow days, and 
the tranquillity was beginning to grate on his nerves.  Everything 
seemed to be going well, despite the slow pace life seemed to be 
taking lately.  Caleb was living his life as if nothing had ever 
happened, except Lucas hadn't seen him in weeks.  That was 
alright, though.  He knew Caleb would come to him if there 
were ever a crisis, and all that was left to do was decide what 
kind of crisis he wanted to create.
	After a while Lucas pulled himself out of his chair and 
stepped out of his office.  The first thing he saw when he 
reached the front area of the Sheriff's Department was Ben 
Healy's stricken face.
	"Selena," Lucas drawled contemptuously without 
breaking eye contact with his deputy.  He turned and saw her 
standing in the doorway, still dressed in a schoolteacher's outfit 
with a conservative white blouse and black skirt.  As she looked 
at him there was fear in her eyes, but he could she was here for 
a reason.
	"Lucas," she began quietly, half expecting him to hit her.  
His lips grew thin, and she was aware that Ben still stood behind 
his desk, too fearful to excuse himself.  "Can I talk to you?"
	"You've done a hell of a lot of talkin' already, Selena, in
case you've forgotten."
	"No," she said and looked down at the floor.  She looked 
so damn vulnerable, so fragile under the fluorescent lights.  "I 
wanted to-"
	"You wanted to what, Selena?" he asked chidingly and 
she looked up.  An almost imperceptible smile touched his lips.
	"I needed to see you," she said quietly.  The words were
painful because they were the truth.  She was at the end of her rope
and all she wanted to do was be at the end of his.
	"I'm a busy man," Lucas said with a grand gesture, "lot's of
people need to see me.  Besides, you're seein' me right now.  What
else?"
	Selena shifted her weight from one shapely, high-heeled leg to
the other.  "I need you to...."
	"What, Selena?" Lucas asked in a soft voice and walked 
towards her.  "You need me to what?"  She looked up at him with 
big eyes.
	"I need you to... forgive me, Lucas," she whispered.  For a
moment he was motionless, but slowly a smile began to spread 
across his lips.  Selena could see the change in his posture, from 
rigidity to the arrogance of a man who'd gotten his way.
	"Well," he said with a smile, "maybe I can do you that favor,
after we'd dickered about it a while and we've worked out a 
satisfactory agreement."
	"Of course," Selena said and curled up her lips into a
seductive pout.  Lucas turned around and waved for her to follow 
him down the hall and into his private office, where he was sure 
to lock the door behind them.
	Still standing behind his desk, Ben let the air he had been
holding in his lungs flow out in a loud sigh.  He had learned long 
ago that some questions were better left unasked.


	"Sue, she may look like a sweet girl but nuts is nuts."
	"Well, I heard that she had some sort of fever and was 
locked away at Juniper House for a week.  You can't blame her 
for bein' sick, Betty."
	"Oh, that's just a silly rumor!  What really happened is she
got pregnant (she gets around, you know), then got rid of the 
baby and flew right over the edge."
	The two middle-aged women squabbled at each other 
while Gail sat on a park bench not far away, unaware of their 
scrutiny.
	"She does not get around.  Look at that face!  You must 
be confusing her with that Coombs woman."
	"I'm tellin' you, Sue, that girl's been with more men than 
you can shake a stick at."
	Just then, Lucas stepped out from behind a tree near the 
two women.  They both swiveled their heads to look at him, and 
Betty grabbed her ample chest in surprise.
	"'Afternoon, Sheriff!" she cried in an alarmed voice that she
hoped sounded polite and gave him a toothy grin.
	"Hello, ladies," he answered and flashed a smile.  The 
women looked like a female Loral and Hardy, one overweight 
on the other hawkish and skinny as a beanpole.  Their floral 
sundresses were plastered to the park bench, sticky with sweat.
	"We were just talkin' about how Ed Thompson got a new
Cadillac," the larger one went on nervously.
	"Did he?" Lucas responded in a mildly interested voice, 
letting his eyes travel past them to where Gail was still sitting quietly
unaware.  Betty looked at Sue for help, but she was sitting with her
bony hands clasped in her lap and trying to fade into the greenery.
	"Say, Betty," Lucas went on suddenly, "are you and Tom 
any closer to payin' me back that loan?"  She stared at him and 
nervously licked her lips.  They had had enough money for months, 
but her husband insisted on reinvesting it and gaining more interest 
before they paid the sheriff back.
	"That's alright," Lucas went on after she had stared at him
dumbly for a few seconds, "I'm sure you'll pay me back just as 
soon as you have the money."
	"Oh, of course!" she said, then looked at her watch.  "Why,
just look at the time!  Sue and me must be going.  Come on, Sue."
	Lucas watched as Betty pulled her friend to a standing position
and started dragging her down the footpath, then turned his back on
them and looked at Gail.
	The heat was intense and the humidity was such that 
everything in the park looked richer, the colors more saturated.  
The grass and trees glowed in the sunlight and the sky was an 
electric blue.  It was almost hard to look at, or at least that's the 
way it seemed to Gail after sitting there for over an hour.  By the 
time she even noticed Lucas he had already sat down beside her.
	"How's life in the land of the livin'?" he asked.
	"Go away, Lucas," she replied absently, letting her eyes travel
to a mother and daughter she'd been watching.  They were having a
picnic under the shade of a nearby tree and didn't seem to notice her.
	"Is that any way to treat the man who came to your rescue?  
If I hadn't come home when I did that day, you could have been a 
lot worse off than unconscious."
	"Do I need to remind you what _did_ happen to me?" she 
shot at him and defensively grabbed her stomach.
	"No," he said and looked away, "you're not the only one who
lost somethin' they wanted."
	"You're a curse, not a father, Lucas," she said and 
narrowed her eyes at him.  "You know what?  As soon as I 
get things settled I'm going to go back to Charleston, and I'm 
not going to let you stop me this time."
	"Why would I stop you?" he asked in surprise.  "It's just 
you now, darlin', and that makes it your decision."
	Gail regarded him for a second.  "You'd let me go?" she 
asked incredulously.
	"'Course I would."
	Gail became quiet and turned her attention back to the 
mother and daughter.  The girl looked to be about five or six with 
blond ringlets that streamed down her back.  They giggled and 
tickled each other, taking sips from bottled lemonade from time 
to time.  Gail just watched them mutely as they lived their happy, 
simple lives, somewhere far away that she could barely imagine 
but could definitely tell was not Charleston.
	"Can I offer you a friendly piece of advice?" Lucas asked.
	"I don't think anything you've ever offered me was friendly,"
Gail responded without taking her eyes off the happy pair.
	"You need to decide on your priorities, darlin'.  Trinity's a
part of you, no matter how far you manage to move away."
	Gail could feel the bench shift slightly as Lucas stood and
left, leaving her alone to watch the mother and daughter, a phantom
happy life that she didn't think she'd ever reach herself.  His words
echoed in her head as she watched them:  priorities, priorities,
priorities.  The mother reached for her daughter and threw the child
onto her lap and they both dissolved into laughter.  How could 
they be so close by and at the same time feel so distant?
	Suddenly Gail leapt to her feet, startling an elderly man 
who had been walking past her on the footpath.  She took off in 
a run in the direction of town.
	"Where's the fire, honey?!" the man called after her in a 
raspy yell, but she didn't hear him.


	Caleb had been riding his bike for nearly an hour when he 
saw the red sports-car come to a screeching halt nearby and Gail 
leap out of the drivers seat.  He stepped off the bike and rolled it 
over to her, eyeing her warily.  They hadn't seen each other in 
weeks, and he was surprised to find that she seemed so alien to 
him now.
	"Caleb, I'm so glad I found you!" she said with a smile.  
At that moment, all the horrible things that had happened between 
them were forgotten to her.  She was shocked that Lucas would 
give her the key, but she forcibly pushed him out of her mind and 
looked at her young cousin.
	"Are you alright, Gail?" Caleb asked.
	"Oh, things have been a little strange lately," she admitted.
"Being sick, it makes you think about things, like what's really
important in your life.  Do you understand?"
	"I think so," he answered.
	"See," she went on, "I realized that I've been a rotten 
cousin, Caleb.  I've practically abandoned you when we only 
live ten minutes away, but I want to fix that now.  Here," she 
said and reached into her pocket.  She pulled out a piece of 
brown paper that she unwrapped to reveal two shining ID-bracelets, 
then handed them to Caleb.  "Sorry they're so plain," she said, 
"that was the best the man could do on short notice."
	Caleb turned the bracelets over in his hands.  Each had 
a flat piece of metal engraved with big, bold letters, one with 
"CALEB" and the other "GAIL".  He smiled at his cousin, who 
had been waiting anxiously to see his response.
	"I love 'em, Gail!" he said and she grinned in relief.  
"Which one's mine?"
	"Whichever one you want.  I figured you could wear one 
and I'd wear the other.  That way we'd never forget who our real 
family is in this town."
	"I think you should wear this one, then," he said and 
handed her the bracelet engraved with his name.  Then he slipped 
the other around his wrist.  The embossed letters glinted in the 
sunlight with his cousin's name, one that he couldn't believe felt 
so strange crossing his lips just minutes before.
	"You want a lift?" she asked him.
	"Naw, it's cooled off some.  I think I'll just ride home."
	"Alright," she said.  "Hey, I know this great steak and 
seafood restaurant on the coast.  You think Miss Holt would 
mind if I took you tomorrow?"
	"Wow, all the way to the ocean?" he exclaimed.
	"That's what I'm here for."
	"She won't mind.  I'm sure of it!"
	"Alright then, it's a date," she said and stuck out her hand.
Caleb gave it a hearty shake and hopped back on his bicycle.  He 
waved as he pedaled away.  Gail began to wonder about Lucas 
again as soon as he dropped out of sight.  He had given her her 
life back despite the fact that it would have nothing to do with 
him.  Was it just some plot to keep her close, or had they really 
moved beyond all that?
	Gail climbed back into her convertible and noticed that 
the temperature was dropping rapidly with the setting sun.  In the
darkening sky she could see the face of the full moon peering 
down at her.


	At dinner Loris had her hands full keeping Rose and 
Caleb quiet. She noticed when they started kicking each other 
under the table but had chosen to ignore it until Rose missed and 
hit a table-leg, sending water splashing down the edges of all their 
glasses.
	"Rose!" her mother cried in a voice used too often to hold 
any authority over anyone.  Loris stopped chewing and gave Rose 
a stern look with her big, brown eyes and the blond girl immediately 
grew quiet.  Caleb started giggling but Loris turned her stare to him 
and he stopped short and turned his attention to the mashed potatoes.
	"Caleb, help me with the dishes," Loris said after everyone 
had finished.
	"But me an' Rose were doin' something tonight," he 
protested.
	"Whatever it is, it can wait," she said and he started
gathering the dishes without further complaint.
	"Have fun, Cinderella!" Rose teased.
	"Keep that up and you'll be moppin' the kitchen floor," 
Loris warned.  Rose just shrugged and followed her mother out 
of the room.
	Loris filled up the sink with soapy water as Caleb carried 
a stack of dinner dishes into the kitchen and put them on the 
counter. She handed him a scouring sponge and they both 
started scrubbing.
	"Think you'll have any nightmares tonight, Caleb?" Loris 
asked casually.
	"I dunno," he replied.  "Depends on if the other side has 
any more messages, I guess."
	"Well, maybe you could give a message back."
	"What do you mean?" he asked and looked up at her.
	"Somebody's been talkin' to you, boy.  You think it's time 
to answer?"
	"I don't think anyone's been talkin' to me in the first place,"
he answered thoughtfully.  Not anymore, he couldn't help finishing 
to himself.
	"Either way, it's better to exercise your demons before 
they eat you up inside."
	"That sounds gross!" he said and began to laugh.
	"Well, it is gross," she answered with a smile.  "Evil is the
grossest thing on the earth."  Caleb stopped washing and looked 
ahead of him solemnly.  The window above the sink reflected his 
own image, as if the darkness outside was a sort of judgement on 
his soul.
	"Do you think I'm evil, Miss Holt?" he asked.  She stopped
washing too and looked him over seriously.  His eyes had always 
had a look of someone who was haunted by some unimaginable 
demon, but she saw none of this now.
	"No," she answered seriously.  "I don't think you're evil,
Caleb.  In fact, you seem perfectly normal to me."
	They went back to the dishes in silence and Caleb thought 
about what she'd said.  Deep down, he knew that he was different 
from other people.  There was something inside him that had come 
from his father and it would always be there.  Merlyn had warned 
that the power would one day destroy him, but that was so hard to 
believe now with the change that had happened in his life.
	Suddenly, more than anything else in the world he wanted 
to know what had happened to take his sister away.  It was such 
a colossal event and he couldn't even remember it!  Why had she 
wanted to become a part of him if it meant her own destruction?
	"I can dry the dishes by myself, Caleb," Loris said slowly 
as she saw the shadow cross his face as it had that morning.  Caleb 
turned around and walked out the door to the living room without 
saying a word.  He continued through the house to the front door, 
and without hesitation, pushed it open and walked out onto the 
porch.  At the top step he stopped and stared out into the darkness.
	There was a movement near one of the trees in the front 
yard. The shadows parted and a dark figure stepped out.  Caleb 
stood up taller on the porch, pushing away his fear into the pit of 
his stomach. The dark figure took another step forward and the 
moonlight crossed his face.
	"Evenin'," Caleb called out to him.
	"Long time no see," Lucas answered in his familiar drawl.  
"Care to take a ride?"
	Caleb thought for a second, then walked down the porch 
steps and onto the lawn.  They both walked over to where the 
Lucas's Crown Victoria was parked on the street and stepped 
inside.
	Lucas started the engine and pulled away from the curb 
as his passenger stared out the side-window.  He was only wearing 
a striped T-shirt, and shivered a little as he was hit by a blast of air
from the air vent.
	"Cold?"
	"I'm fine," Caleb answered quietly.
	They drove in silence, the car smoothly weaving through 
the streets of the little town until the houses became less and less
frequent.  After a while they turned onto a dirt road that led into 
the woods.  Everything flew by too fast for Caleb to recognize 
where they were, so he was relieved to see Trinity River appear 
ahead.  He had no idea how the night would go and wanted to 
make sure he could find his way back to the boarding house by 
himself.
	Lucas stopped the car in a clearing by the river's edge 
and cut the engine.  He opened his door and stepped outside, 
then leaned back in when he saw that Caleb hadn't moved.
	"You comin'?" he asked.  Caleb eyed him for a second 
and then unbuckled his seatbelt and got out.  He watched with 
suspicion as Lucas sat on the hood of the car and motioned for 
him to do the same.
	"I wanna' know what happened to Merly," Caleb 
demanded, standing tall with his arms crossed.  Lucas narrowed 
his eyes.
	"Sure you want the truth?" he asked.
	"Yeah," Caleb said and nodded his head sternly.
	"You might want to sit down, then," Lucas said and 
again motioned for his son to sit next to him.  Caleb shrugged 
and hoisted himself onto the hood of the car.
	"Do you remember the hole-punch I got in the cranium?" 
Lucas asked, pointing to a spot in the center of his forehead.  
Caleb nodded and looked to where he was pointing where 
there wasn't so much as a hint of a scar.
	"You know we're different from other people in Trinity, 
son," Lucas said.  "Most of the power lives within me, but that 
attack left me sort of 'incapacitated'.  It moved on, like an 
inheritance.  I was laid up in the hospital so I asked you to 
help me out with some business."
	Caleb listened quietly with his brow furrowed and felt a 
heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach.  He couldn't remember 
anything yet, but the feeling was intense and unmistakable:  guilt.
	"Yancy Lidon," Lucas pronounced slowly to help jog the 
boy's memory, "must've gotten spooked after seein' you, because 
he went a little overboard in the hospital's drug cabinet."  Caleb 
held his breath until Lucas continued sarcastically.  "Luckily, 
Dr. Peele was close at hand and was able to revive him."
	"That was after....  you died," Caleb said with uncertainty.
	"That's right," Lucas answered, "but I was never actually 
dead. Seems the medical profession isn't as exact as we're lead 
to believe."
	"What else?" Caleb asked.
	"You seemed to be getting used to your newfound power 
with me out of the way."  Caleb looked at him and frowned in 
disbelief.  "It wasn't entirely your fault, though.  Selena came in 
quick to string you along.  She was mad at Gail for bein' pregnant 
and with you the way you were, everything sort of came together."
	"What do you mean, came together?" Caleb asked angrily.
	"I believe you were trying to 'get rid of the competition',"
Lucas answered dryly.  Caleb leapt off the car.
	"You're lyin'!" he screamed, but already the images were
flooding into his mind.  His stomach flipped as he realized what he 
had wanted Gail to do with that fireplace poker, what he was 
intending to do with it himself.  Tears began to well up in his eyes 
and he fingered his new ID-bracelet guiltily.
	"It's not easy bein' a Buck," Lucas said with a sigh.  "That's
what Merlyn could never understand, because she wasn't one of 
us.  The Rage will always be a part of you, Caleb.  You've gotta 
learn how to work with it."  Caleb shook his head and then 
angrily wiped the tears from his eyes.
	"What else?" he demanded.
	"That was about the time I came to.  I found Gail and 
took her to the hospital and left you alone to sulk.  That's when 
Merlyn came to me with a proposition."  Caleb again looked at 
him with disbelief. "She wanted to stop you before you did 
anymore damage and since it looked like I was next on your 
list, I decided it was in my best interest to help her.
	"We went to my house and you turned it into ground zero 
and tried to attack me.  Somehow, you fell."  Lucas stopped 
talking but Caleb remained silent, his arms folded tightly at his 
chest and his eyes hidden under the shadow of his brow.  "Merlyn 
saved you," Lucas continued after a pause.  "She gave up her 
existence so that you could live on."
	Caleb just stood there motionlessly.  It was chilly, but 
he didn't feel the cold.
	"I didn't fall," Caleb intoned in a voice of barely restrained
rage, "you threw me over the edge.  I can remember everything 
now." Lucas clenched his jaw, then relaxed and let a smile spread 
across his lips.
	"You were quite the troublemaker," Lucas said with a 
chuckle. "You gotta work with the Rage, Caleb, or it'll work you 
and everyone else that gets in your path."
	"You threw me!" Caleb screamed and balled his hands into 
angry fists.  "Merly is gone because you threw me!  You want me 
to work with the Rage?" he asked, "just watch me!"
	Caleb took every ounce of fury he felt inside him and 
focused it into a little ball in the center of his stomach.  Then, with 
all his might he hurtled it out of his body.  Caleb's jaw dropped as 
he saw his father's eyes widen in shock.
	Nothing had happened.
	"So," Lucas whispered in a shaky voice after a moment, 
"that's how it's gonna be, Merly Ann."  Caleb shook his head 
from side to side as he tried to absorb this.  He had never felt 
that much concentrated energy in all his life, including his 
newfound memories of when Lucas was gone.  It felt like 
his father should have been blown into a million pieces but 
nothing had happened.
	Lucas slid off the hood of the car and walked over to 
Caleb, whose jaw was still unhinged.
	"Your sister's final gift," Lucas said.
	"What does that mean?" Caleb asked, his voice coming 
out in a shallow whisper.
	"She didn't just save your life.  Looks like she sealed 
over the part of you that makes you my son.  Healed you," he 
said sarcastically.
	"Well, maybe I'm better off," Caleb said and looked 
down.
	"You think so?" Lucas asked, drawing the boy's eyes 
back to his.  "You're half a person now, Caleb.  Must feel 
pretty strange." Caleb couldn't argue, but he didn't know what 
to do about it.  As if sensing his thoughts, Lucas said slowly, 
"It can be undone."
	Caleb looked up at his father, who stared down at him 
with an unreadable expression.  He felt the weight of tonight's 
sorrows fall heavy on his shoulders and tears again welled up 
in his eyes.  Lucas could undo what Merly had sacrificed so 
much to give him, but she hadn't even asked if he wanted it.  
He didn't know if he could trust himself to control the Buck 
power if Lucas gave it back.
	Just then he felt the ID-bracelet tickle his wrist.  He 
looked down at it.  Gail must have remembered what he had 
done to her and her baby, but she had forgiven him, had even 
apologized for being a bad cousin.  She had said that the 
bracelet was for them to remember who their real family was.
	"I want my sister back," Caleb said in a broken voice, 
but as soon as he had the tears disappeared.  Lucas smiled 
down at him.
	"I thought you'd see it that way."
	Lucas took a step back and closed his eyes.  Almost 
immediately dark clouds began to stream across the sky above 
their heads and Caleb could hear thunder in the distance.  A 
screaming wind hit them both simultaneously, causing Lucas's 
hair to fly into his eyes and their clothing to plaster to their 
bodies.  The wind seemed to swirl in between them, spinning 
debris from the forest floor into a mini-cyclone.  To Caleb's 
right the river rushed past, waves crashing on its banks with 
the force of a hurricane.
	"Take my hand!" Lucas commanded over the noise.  
Caleb thought about what he was about to do, what could 
possibly happen to him and the entire town if his power ever 
got out of control.  Then he reached forward and clenched 
Lucas's hand for dear life.
	In an instant he was inside the cyclone.  At first he 
couldn't see anything because the wind was whipping him 
so badly, but then a pristine, white light appeared.  It covered 
his eyes, making Lucas and the forest around him disappear 
in a fog.  Then an incredible force blew through his arm and 
he lost his grip on Lucas's hand and flew backwards through 
the air.
	Caleb landed hard on his backside, but he quickly sat 
up and looked around.  An eerie silence had descended on the 
forest and the quickly reappearing moon illuminated the scene.  
Lucas stood where he had been before, but now a slightly 
shocked grin covered his face. Caleb turned his head and 
saw why.
	Hovering over the banks of Trinity River was Merlyn, 
swathed in the white dress she had always appeared to him in, 
with a silent tear falling down her cheek.  She looked at him 
with more sorrow than he could imagine, then slowly faded 
away before his eyes.
	"No!" Caleb screamed as he leapt to his feet and 
started sprinting through the dense forest.  Branches scratched 
at his face but he didn't stop.  He just kept running blindly 
without anyone for a guide.


	By the time Caleb had reached the boarding house it 
was after ten and everyone had retreated to their rooms.  As 
quietly as he could, he crept up the stairs and locked himself 
in the bathroom.  The mirror showed the reflection of a boy 
who looked like he had been to war.  His face was completely 
white except for dozens of tiny, red scratches and a streak of 
dirt on his right cheek.  Caleb washed his face and brushed 
his teeth, and by the time he had finished flossing the color of 
his face had returned to normal.
	He went to his room and changed into pajamas and 
then climbed under the checkered bedspread.  Tears seeped 
from his eyes, but he tried to ignore them.  He had almost 
drifted into an exhausted sleep when something caught his 
attention.
	In the corner of the room, casting a silver glow to 
everything around her, Merlyn was smiling at him.
	"Can you forgive me, Merly?" Caleb asked, sitting up.
	"No," she said and Caleb felt his heart drop, but she 
went on. "I can't forgive you for righting something I never 
should have done in the first place."
	He looked up at her and took in her familiar, smiling 
face. The tears began to stream down his face unabandonedly 
as he grinned at her.
	"I've missed you," he told her.
	"Oh, Caleb," she said and tilted her head to the side, 
causing her brown locks to swing past her shoulders.  "I was 
with you the entire time."


	Lucas stared up at the full moon as he lay on the hood 
of his car.  A smile crossed his lips.  Tonight had gone a little 
rougher than he had anticipated, but the final results were all 
that mattered.  He would have to deal with Merlyn again but 
now he could start helping Caleb work on his power.  He 
had won the boy over once, he was sure he could do it again.
	Seeing Caleb was just the final touch on a perfect 
day.  Selena was back, not a particularly important fact in-
and-of-itself, but now she was completely desperate.  He 
had seen her like this before and knew she would do anything 
he asked, no matter how roughly it clashed with her weak 
sense of morality.
	That and he had taken care of Gail.  He wasn't sure if 
he wanted to pursue any kind of relationship with her but she 
hadn't been good for anyone crazy.  Now, Caleb had a 
confidante and Lucas could safely orchestrate things from 
the sidelines.
	For a second a dark shape eclipsed the full moon.  
It could have been a crow, but that seemed unlikely for so 
late at night.  Stranger things had happened in Trinity, and no 
one ever seemed to be able to explain why.  Lucas smiled.
	"Looks like things are finally lookin' up," he said to 
himself and closed his eyes.

END