Shadows Of the Night
part 19
"Wait. How do you know his name?" Phoebe hissed, as she gently placed both hands upon his chest, her eyes widening a bit from the shock. "I thought that guy that helped us with our-"
"If I didn't know better, I'd say they're one and the same," he told her, keeping his blue eyes trained on the man in front of them, his hands settling upon his wife's petite waist. "The resemblance is uncanny."
"So that means Sterling and Elizabeth are probably here too...right?"
"One thing I've learned about my mother- she's manipulative, but...she's also known for bluffing. Take case in point with her threatening our daughter, and indirectly at that. Either this guy does his own bidding, or he's just a ploy in their little plan to throw us off track."
"A distraction?"
"More than likely."
"But isn't Orin the guy that supposedly made himself responsible for making short work of Lowell? Didn't he murder one of those girls? The sisters? Or at least...I think that was what we'd figured happened up until now."
"So the story goes. But the bottom line? He was apparently never charged for any of his crimes."
"Well, yeah. Because they obviously couldn't prove it."
"Though, the funny thing is, I could have sworn Elizabeth said Lowell never died. That he became something more. If this is true, who's to say he-"
"Well, she's your mother, isn't she?" Phoebe offered. "Why don't you tell me?"
"Phoebe, right now not a whole lot seems to be coming together. I need you to help me here- just...try and remember anything you can, alright?" He lifted his eyes to Orin once again, only to discover him suddenly missing from sight, a young brunette residing in his place, her light-haired companion inviting her to take the dance floor- a sleek smile spread across his face. Cole closed his lids then, reopening them after only a moment's hesitation, still taking in the same frame of vision from where he stood.
"What is it?" Phoebe asked him, her voice revealing a brief shake."What's wrong?"
"Maybe nothing. I just...I think..."
"Cole, what is it?"
"He's gone," he admitted sheepishly. "He was right there. Right- I was just looking in that direction, and I know I wasn't seeing things. There was somewhere there," he insisted. "Dammit...."
"Shimmering?" she suggested hopefully.
"In public?" He frowned. "There are people all over the place. He'd have to be crazy to reveal himself now."
"Maybe you only thought you-"
"Phoebe, he was right there."
"Or...perhaps not," a hoarse voice greeted the half demon from behind, the figure letting his words sink in, as Cole felt something sharp against his back. "Not exactly a night for romance, is it?"
"What gave us away? No, wait. Don't tell me. It was the suit, wasn't it?" he countered, his voice coated with a thick sense of sarcasm, as his hands slowly went up into the air in a willing attempt to surrender. Phoebe opened her mouth to scream, but Crane had already secured an arm tightly around her waist, placing his other hand firmly across her mouth. A long, slick knife blade now rested close to her stomach, as her eyes suddenly clothed themselves in a faint fear, slowly enveloping her entire body.
"Now. We're going to do this rather calmly, and without any fuss. You decide to be stupid and cry out for help, and your wife won't feel a thing when I-"
"Alright. Look. Do you guys always have to be so cliched? Two...how do I know you're not just a really bad liar? That if I shimmer out of here to warn the others, you won't lay a hand on her?"
Crane grinned. "Well, I don't know. She is rather beautiful, isn't she? Gorgeous dress, soft skin- and you know, I even love the way she trembles beneath all of this excitement. Don't you?"
Cole could feel the anger immediately beginning to rise in his system. His right hand began to clench itself into a tight fist, and he fought to sustain the overwhelming urge to let out the side of himself that he still knew existed. It was there, just waiting to be brought to the surface- to do something that could just show him the evil he once was. He couldn't let it win. Not now... No. He couldn't give himself away. "You're not working with them, are you?" he challenged briefly, his arms finally resting casually across his chest.
"What? What kind of a question is that? Of course I am. How do you think I-"
"No. It's...it's a little too easy for you. Sterling would have come up with something way more intricate than this. He wouldn't go through the trouble of trying to outsmart me through conversation. You, on the other hand, don't appear to have any kind of plan on what happens next. Do you?"
Crane knelt down closer to Phoebe's ear, as he carefully shifted the knife a bit to the right, laughing quietly to himself. "Maybe you want to know what really happened to those girls...to the one and only Miss Jacqueline Graves. I still have it-" He gestured briefly to his head with the blade of his weapon then, his eyebrows raised, "All up here. Been resting calmly for over a century, undisturbed. Well....until that mindless little witch got curious."
"You've already killed her," Phoebe realized. "You killed Jacqueline, and hid her body. Didn't you? So no one would ever find out. Because you were insanely jealous of Lowell and his feelings for her. Isn't that the way it went?"
"Sweetheart, I may be insane, but I was certainly never jealous."
Suddenly, the music had resided to an abrupt halt, as the three of them found themselves in a room full of complete darkness, piles of crates scattered helplessly across the floor, as barrels of alcoholic beverages rolled among the tireless heaps, spilling bits of liquid to the wooden planks below. Phoebe jumped in Crane's grip, as he continued to triumph in his hold over her, pressing the knife closer once again, as she let out a small cry.
"What is this place?" Cole asked, his voice just a whisper.
"Well, it's funny you should ask. But really, Mr. Turner. Don't you even want to try your hand at it yourself? I guarantee you won't be that far off. Go on. Take a stab at it. The little miss is counting on you."
"It's where he killed her....isn't it?" Phoebe guessed, as she shut her eyes, a wave of sadness instantly washing over her.
"Why do you always assume it was intentional?" he called out to no one in particular. "Why does it have to be on purpose, when you only wanted to break them up?!"
"Break who up?" Cole responded. "You just told us Lowell wasn't a part of this. Who else could have persuaded you to-"
"I loved Jackie," he interrupted, tears threatening to crumble his hardened visage, as he fought to keep them back. "She was everything I'd ever lived for in that life. I would have died for her, if it came down to it. She was special- and not just because of her father....who he was. But because she saw good in people who never deserved to be saved. Like our friend, Lowell. She had no busines trying to tame that boy. He'd lost his marbles ages ago. He was never all there. But she insisted he had some real good in him, you know? Even when he'd rave about those pointless sea stories of his. Well, eventually they gave him what he'd been raising hell about. He got his wish all right. Just as it should have been given to him before he set foot on the Crimson Star."
"A wish," Cole mused carefully, narrowing his eyes, as he took a step forward.
"Well, it suited him just fine in my eyes. The man was terribly loony. There was no way he'd survive in these waters on his shoulders."
"He became one with it....didn't he? He became the sea."
"Oh, I'm afraid it was much more than that, Turner. You see, when you also have those sins you never gained redemption for, your mind tends to take on a warped sense of things. In fact....I'd say you could relate to his story awfully well."
"And why's that?"
"Because you....know exactly what it's like to have half of you become corrupted by demonic influence," he replied simply. "Isn't that right?"
"And I was able to deal with mine just fine, thank you."
"But you lost it to a witch. How does that make you feel?"
Cole laughed softly, as he advanced a bit further, his shoes coming together in perfect alignment, as he placed his hands upon his hips. "Pretty good, actually. But I guess you couldn't say the same for Lowell, could you?"
"No. Lowell was a complete demon after the change hit him. There was no coming back. Ever."
"The Taker?"
"Bingo. And he's still out there, you know. Still waiting for Sterling to get himself in line, and sacrifice those passengers. Me, though? I couldn't be bothered with any of that anymore. So...I faked my own death at the hands of Elizabeth...provoked her to the point of rage. She still thinks I'm a bit pile of charcoal. She'd never admit it, but her power rests solely in her hands. Nothing more. But you? You've got more than just a few tricks to play with, don't you?"
"Well, I don't know. Are you going to try and get me angry again, so we can find out?"
"If anything, Miss Halliwell is going first. Unless of course, you want to die together- because that can also be all too easily arranged. Romeo and Juliet- the tragedy lives on! Can you stand the suspense?"
"Jacqueline," Cole stated. "Was she down here?"
"I didn't know," he reasoned, shrugging. "They both looked so much alike. It was the funniest thing! But...you know, Jessi never knew what she'd gotten herself into. That little bitch was always where she never belonged. And instead, her sister takes the plunge. Her sister...the one who had been on her side the entire time! They were working against me, for crying out loud. I loved her, and deep down inside, she wished I were no longer a part of her. Do you have any idea how that made me feel?"
"Oh, I can take a couple guesses, but I suppose they'd all involve the asylum," Phoebe quipped, as she felt the knife draw nearer again, gasping suddenly as the sharp point came into contact with the fabric of her dress.
"And you'd better watch it," he warned carefully.
"I'd say the same for you," Cole advised, as he gently raised a hand into the air, a bolt of lightning starting to take form within it, his handsome profile revealing a stern expression. "Speaking of getting pissed off? You really don't want to see what happens to me."
"I'd put that down, if I were you," Crane challenged. "If you kill me, how are you ever going to discover what the real villains are up to? Hmm? How will you ever get to the end of this story? You'd be stuck for all eternity in a place that was over a hundred years before your time. Is that really how you want to play this?"
"What happened to-"
"It was an accident," he put forth absentmindedly, his tone clearly indifferent. "I thought it was Jessi- but you know...there she was, laying on the ground before me, completely soaked in her own blood. The scary thing was, she looked so peaceful, so at ease at that moment. Her necklace wasn't that far from her body. I...I went to pick it up, you know? And well....ooops! Hey, we all make mistakes, right? It was just an unfortunate circumstance that I happened by some means to destroy the woman I loved. It's not the first time a man has been so passionately devoted, and it sure as hell won't be the last."
"So you just left her there?" Phoebe whispered. "To...bleed to death?"
"Oh, I think you're missing the point, darling. You see...she was already dead. Out like a light, in fact."
"How can you live with yourself?"
"It's not that hard. Because as I just told you, it wasn't Jacqueline I wanted to kill. It was Jessi."
"So it was Jessi on the ship," Cole mulled over. "She was trying to-"
"Jessi knew Lowell was falling for Jacqueline. She wanted them to have their own little happily ever after. But you know, I just couldn't stand for it. I wanted her out of the picture, and I was determined to have my way."
"So you killed Jessi," Cole surmised. "Another accident, right?"
"I don't really want to talk about her anymore," he continued, placing his free hand to his head, tightly shutting his eyes.
"Then why did you bring us-"
"Please I wanted you to see!" he screamed. "Because I wanted you to know the truth!"
"Before you kill us?" Phoebe finished lightly, her voice breaking.
"You don't understand. I was supposed to have been dead a long time ago. I could have gone to be with her...we could have been together-"
"Yeah, maybe in hell," Phoebe sided, immediately regretting it.
"But he wouldn't have any of it. He took away my memory...my identity...he took it all. I didn't even know who I was. I've been serving him for all of these years, and I've been miserable every single day. Every single one of them. It wasn't until you and your daughter showed up, that something finally clicked. That I started to realize why it was I'd been here for so long. The bastard made me immortal. He made it so I could never even rest for the evil I'd done. He took away my life...I...I can't even remember anymore..."
"So how-"
"I have no recollection of what I said to that witch of yours, but it was obviously something that made Sterling very angry. Very angry."
"Paige," Cole whispered. "Dammit."
"I'm afraid you've reached the end of the line," Crane mumbled sadly, as he gently took a handful of Phoebe's hair in his hand, the knife easily slicing a fairly deep cut in her side, as she screamed out in a terrible pain. Offering a low growl, Cole charged the man in front of him, knocking him to the ground- the blade flying halfway across the room. Phoebe clutched her side, struggling to breathe, as she caught a glimpse of the sharp object positioned toward her on the floorboards. Cole took his fist to Orin's face, easily knocking the man unconscious, as he fought to regain his composure, a bolt already forming in his hand again.
"Are you alright?!" he shouted to her.
"I think so," she managed to utter, her voice appearing to grow even more faint.
Before Cole knew it, he was knocked off his feet, the lightening coming to a slow sizzle within his grasp, as Orin attacked him from behind.
"Cole!" Phoebe called out to him.
"Oh, don't worry," Orin assured her. "I don't plan to hurt him- much. And you know what? You stupid half breed are all alike. You're all alike. You know that? And now....you're going to wish you'd figured this out when you had the chance."
Phoebe winced, fully taking the knife in her grasp. "Catch!" she yelled, as she quickly threw it into the air.
Cole tossed an arm up, just in time to cradle the object in his left grip, easily plunging it into Orin, as his opponent lazily dropped to one side, a trail of blood seeping out of his mouth. His eyes lay open to the world around him, blank and unmoving, as his form became a lifeless heap. Cole finally regained his footing, as he studied the man once more, his blue eyes falling over his still frame. "Immortal, my ass," he quipped, as his hand wove the blade in even deeper. "Sterling was just keeping you around for back up."
"Sterling may have made him demonic, but obviously he never did his research," Phoebe tried, forcing a smile, as she slowly lay her back against a nearby crate, her hand struggling to apply pressure to her wound.
Cole immediately rushed to her side, kneeling down beside her, as his hand gently covered hers. "Is it bad?"
"Well, you know me. I've been through a lot more than this," she whispered, offering a short laugh.
"Here." He carefully shrugged off his suit jacket, as he calmly removed her hand, easily sliding the material across the cut. "Just hold this- look, I'm going to get Leo, alright?"
"But we can't involve them," she told him. "Not now. I can't have Piper worry about the baby and him too. It's too much."
"Dammit, Phoebe, you could be dying, and-"
"We'll get Paige," she assured him. "She can help me just as much as Leo can. Remember?"
"Let's just thank God for her powers expanding when they did," he muttered. "It was a good thing you left the girls with Dad. Because I don't I would've been able to-"
"Cole, I don't even want to think about what he would've done to the girls. I just...it's nothing compared to...." Her voice trailed off then, as she met his gaze completely, her brown eyes staring into his softened blues.
"What is it?" he asked her gently, as he quietly placed a hand upon her knee. "Phoebe?"
"We know most of the story now, don't we?"
He nodded. "Though I wouldn't exactly pinpoint Orin's mindless babbling as anything significant. I mean....that is, until we can find Jacqueline herself. I'm still not buying into the fact that this almost solely consisted of his jealous rage. There was a lot more to it....a lot he didn't say."
"I know. But those poor- why did they have to die so young? It just wasn't fair," she murmured. "So much to live for..."
"And I am not going to lose you," he reminded her, his voice somewhat hoarse. "So, look. I'm going to see if I can find Paige, and- do you think if I called for her, she'd sense it? I mean, if she's progressed that far in her abilities, maybe it'd be worth a shot to get her attention that way. Do you-"
"Cole. It's probably not even that-"
"It looks bad though," he confirmed, as he brought his face closer to hers.
"I...there's something I have to tell you," she said quietly. "Something I should have probably said a lot sooner....back at the house."
"In all honesty? I do hope you are not going to tell you me you had a premonition of all of this coming to pass, and the two of us never surviving to tell about it. Because so help me, Phoebe Halliwell, I am just going to-"
She smiled. "You could never stay mad at me. Not even when I refused to tell you about a premonition."
"So-"
"Look, I brought this up for a reason before, and I think it was because I needed to get your reaction first."
"Alright, who turned out the lights?" a voice responded, as the figure calmly placed her hands on her hips, a flash of blue disappearing upon her entrance. She rolled her eyes. "I have been looking all over for you guys. It's a good thing I was able to track Cole's energy, because-"
"Speak of the devil," Phoebe muttered, her smile growing wider.
"Over here," Cole called out to her. "Phoebe's down. She needs to be heal-"
"I'm coming, I'm coming" she returned, her high heels clicking loudly across the planks, her hands struggling to hold up her long dress from catching the dust. "Sheesh. I leave you alone for ten minutes, and already you have your wife in danger. Didn't take you long, did it?"
"It was more like an hour," he sided, "And we just had a run-in with Orin."
Paige placed a single hand over Phoebe's wound, watching as the healing took effect, the sliver of skin slowly sewing itself back together. As she released her hold, a pair of arms had slung around her neck, throwing her into a hug. "Whoa! What gives?"
"I missed you?" Phoebe offered.
"Well, I'm sorry to tell you this, but it looks like your dress didn't make it," her sister deadpanned, a smile falling over her features.
"I think you should try and get to Alex," Phoebe instructed her. "I think that's where Elizabeth is already headed. Benjamin has to be ready for her- and things are coming to a close pretty quick around here. It might be better if it's you, because I know she'll-"
"So I noticed," Paige offered, shrugging. "I...take it that's the willing victim over there?"
"The immortal willing victim," Cole corrected sarcastically, gesturing to Orin in the distance.
"And you're looking awfully twenty-first century-ish in that suit," she commented briefly, scrunching up her nose.
"And did someone just attend the Mad Hatter's tea party?" he returned, throwing a single glance at her outfit. "Little late, were we?"
"So it's checkered, big deal. Sue me. I had to find something quick and loose. This works, does it not? I...think it belonged to some rich nobleperson or something. Anyway....I guess I'm off again. So much for the reunion, as I see there is no rest for the wicked."
"You're the best," Phoebe confirmed, bringing her close for another hug. "Whenever I need you-"
"I'm always there. Yeah, yeah," she added, pulling away. "I'll stay in touch by orbing, alright? If something's wrong-"
"Don't waste any time."
"I know."
"So we're good?"
"I'm off. See you soon. Least I hope." Taking a deep breath, she was gone as soon as she'd dropped by, another wave of sparkles following her in her wake.
"Perfect timing," Cole observed. "Hmm...Imagine that."
"I guess you were right," she said. "Not much holds her back. She's certainly come through for us a lot in the past."
"That's your sister for you," he offered.
"So where are we headed next? You have to know this thing is going to end in a pretty big battle, and if we don't know where to start...that could...well, it could definitely be a problem. Orin's gone, Jacqueline and Jessica are still MIA, and Sterling and Elizabeth could be anywhere at this point. So I was-"
"Phoebe."
"What?"
"Slow down. Alright? We'll just take it one step at a time. There's no need to rush into this."
"I know....I know..."
"So what were you going to say?"
"What do you mean?" she asked, somewhat confused.
"Before. When you were-"
"Oh! Oh, that was nothing. Really. It can wait. It's not important."
"If it prompted you to act when you were....pretty near to death, I'd say it's damn important."
"But if we're both dead by the time this is over, I can't-"
"Phoebe, please."
She bit her lower lip, as she looked away from him, gathering her arms around her small frame, clothing herself from the sudden chill that had crept into the room. She laughed softly, as her eyes then focused themselves upon the ceiling, her feet taking a single step forward. "Remember when I brought up the fact that I would like to eventually have another little one running around?"
"We were discussing Ally, and-"
"And I wanted to know your opinion," she interrupted. "Yeah. I think that about sums it up."
He studied her long and hard, his scruffy visage displaying a rather slow smile, his hands resting at his sides. "Phoebe, I'm just going to take a-"
"You'd probably be right," she whispered.
"Then this....you're-"
"I'm pregnant," she confirmed, her face still remaining entirely expressionless. "I...I don't know if it's a boy...a girl...I only just found out for sure the morning we were trying to get Alex up and ready for school. Actually...the day before. It may have been why I was so moody about the job. I...I don't know. But just knowing what we're up against here, I was so scared, Cole. I didn't want anything to happen to him, I-"
"Him?"
"What?"
"You suddenly sound awfully sure it's going to be a boy."
"Do I?"
"You do."
"I guess the idea of little Cole Jr. is just really starting to-"
"Actually- I've been thinking a lot about this since you mentioned it, strangely enough, and I do believe we may want to reconsider this one."
"Oh?"
"I'm kind of partial to Benjamin now," he offered, shrugging. "Has a kind of...legendary ring to it, don't you think?"
"Cole Turner, I swear-"
But he'd already brought her close, his lips finding hers. It was her turn to be completely surprised as she responded to him wholeheartedly, his gentle touch allowing her to forget where she was just then. She threw her arms around his neck, laughing between kisses, as she planted a soft one upon his cheek, just as they broke away. "I'll tell you what. We'll write the names on little slips of paper, throw them into a hat, and whatever-"
"Now that...is just too lame," she joked, as she rubbed her nose up against his.
"Really? You think?"
"I do think."
"See, once our speech does not appear to be making a coherant kind of sense anymore- I think we're straying a little bit from the matter at hand."
"Did I just distract you again?"
"You did," he agreed. "But the truth of it is...I could just be the happiest man on Earth right now. So I-"
"Do you realize what you just said?"
"What?"
"That is the first time you've ever really allowed yourself to see through to what you really are. You know that?"
"A man?"
"A good man," she emphasized, smiling at him, as he pulled her into a hug once again.