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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Disclaimer: All the Pretender characters are the sole property of “The Pretender” creators Steve Mitchell and Craig Van Sickle. All other characters are created by the author of this work with no correlation to anyone living or deceased. This written work is produced solely for recreational purposes, to honor “The Pretender” series and to entertain its fans.
The Players circle the room.
Trying to decide what would be the next Game played.
So many choices that need to flow to the same conclusion.
They now get ready for Masquerade.
*************************
Angels Hope
Entanglements And Betrayals
“So Mr. Klos. Have you gotten me my answer?” Raines wheezed as he sat across from the man in his limo.
“I believe from all the data that I retrieved from the Sweepers in New Orleans and your estimations that your problem is this little lady.” Klos handed Raines a folder.
Raines opened it. “Are you sure? I saw her die.”
“Positive. Taking into consideration her stay at the Centre, psychologically it has to be her.”
“Damn. Another ghost.” Raines slammed the folder on his seat. “What do you suggest as the next course of action?” Raines wheezed through his frustration.
“We go do a little ghost busting.” Klos said with a large devilish smile.
The limo drove off into the night.
*************************
After what seemed an eternity, the couple pulled apart from each other. “Happy Valentine’s Day.” Jarod whispered in Parker’s ear.
“Happy Valentine’s Day.” She purred back. “I never thought anyone could top Mr. Wiggles.”
Jarod looked at her confused. “Mr. Wiggles? Who is Mr. Wiggles?”
“Remember my Christmas present. That cute little bunny. Whenever I was having a bad day, I would just go out and pick him up. He’s so soft and cuddly. You should have seen Broots face when I introduced him to Mr. Wiggles. You would have thought he saw a ghost or something. Must have a fear of rabbits.”
Jarod smiled as he saw the joy permeated off of Parker. He knew that she would love the rabbit, but not until this moment did he realize how much his gift had meant to her. “I’m glad you liked him. You needed a source of love in your life. Someone to take care of.” Jarod wrinkled his face. “I hope that someone is taking care of him.” Jarod said as the concern filled his voice.
“No problem. His caretaker comes by the house twice a day. When I’m away she takes care of him. She’s use to me taking off on the spur of the moment and she takes good care of him.”
“You have a babysitter for the rabbit?” Jarod couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Well I’m gone a lot and I wanted to make sure he was taken care of.” Jarod kept snickering. Parker hit him in the chest. “Stop that.” Jarod tried to contain his smirks. “It’s not like I even described the Taj Mahal of bunny houses that he has.”
“I’ve seen his cage. I didn’t know bunnies needed penthouses.”
Parker had grown quiet and was looking out past Jarod. “What are we going to do now? Its not like we can just go back and play house.”
“Do you really want to go back? We could get the rabbit and just stay here. I think he would like the Colorado mountains.”
“You figured out we’re in Colorado? Of course, you’re boy genius.” Parker thought for a moment then lifted her head. “When you left on the mission. You calculated our position.”
Jarod only smiled. “I can’t reveal all my secrets.”
“I remember when you first started revealing your inner most secret.” Parker said as she walked amongst the trees.
“And when was that?” Jarod asked, his curiosity now peaked.
“On Valentine’s Day. Remember. You sent me the book you wrote. The Saddest Little Valentine. And a giant candy heart. It said...”
“Be My Valentine. I remember. Jarod Heart. I really wanted it to read Jarod’s Heart.” Jarod’s tone got a little sullen as he walked around the tree to come to the other side of Parker.
“I remember the sound of your voice as you told me to open the box. So sad. So alone.” Parker turned and leaned up against a tree. “I swore that day that I would never care how hurt you sounded. I took that candy heart and I devoured it. Like I devoured everything in my path.” Parker put her head down as once again she saw that hurt look on Jarod’s face. “But it was a lie.”
Jarod had followed Parker. His face lit up a little with a sign of hope. “A lie?”
“What I was really feeling was the same hurt, the same loneliness. I just didn’t want to admit it. Not to you. Especially not to me. Remember.” Parker tapped the side of Jarod’s head. “Ice Princess.”
“It hurt. When you didn’t respond to me. When you shut me out. I was offering what little part of myself I had found. But you rejected it.”
Parker started reciting the book. “She felt consumed by a great void. A dark and silent abyss. As terrifying as the grand palace around her. But somewhere in the chilling blackness she caught a glimpse of a light. She remembered a time. The precocious little girl with a heart full of fire, a soul enflamed by passion, and a smile that could melt winter into spring. But the light was gone. The flame had died. Her past was taken from her by the soldiers of the great palace. She would continue searching, hoping to rekindle the fire. Till then she would always be the saddest little Valentine.”
“You memorized it? You told me you skimmed through it.” Jarod came and brought her into his arms.
“I must have read it over and over again a thousand times. Every time I felt alone.” Parker let out a little laugh. “I never did return it to the evidence vault at the Centre. I‘m sure that Syd would have loved to have analyzed it.”
“He already knew what it was about. I called him asking him about why people go through falling in love. And he asked me if that was what the novel was about.”
“And?” Parker looked at Jarod with hope in her eyes.
“And I told him yes. I have always known that there was a connection between us. No matter how hard I tried to run away from it, to let you go.”
“Do you feel that way now Jarod?” Parker asked feeling the old walls coming up.
“No. No more running for either of us. No more pain or loneliness. It ended here, tonight.” Jarod leaned over and kissed Parker gently on the lips.
“You’re the first person who has been a part of my past who has accepted me for who I am. We’re going to have a lot of things to work through. I want to work through them.” She moved up on her toes and kissed him back.
“Me too. We are going to get through this. I’m not sure how right now. I have to find out fully what Lily has planned.”
“It doesn’t matter. Because tonight. I am no longer the Saddest Little Valentine.”
“Better to love and lost. Than never to have loved at all.”
“I don’t plan on losing you Jarod now that I have you. So whatever Lily does, it better not include me losing you.” Parker leaned back up and kissed Jarod passionately.
“Together forever.” Jarod felt a yawn coming on.
“Am I boring you?” Parker quipped.
Jarod looked down at his watch and realized what time it was. “Do you realize that it is almost 1:00 a.m. in the morning?”
Parker purred again in his ear. “Time flies when you’re having fun.”
“I think we better get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a big day.”
“I think today was a bigger day. The joining of the Ice Princess and the Boy Genius. Raines is going to have a coronary.”
“An alliance to defeat all Centre alliances.”
“Except for Broots and Sydney. All this is wonderful, but we have to get to the Centre so that Debbie can be safe.”
“I know. After tomorrow I think we will be able to safely retrieve her. Lily will figure out Lyle’s alliance and then we’ll be able to proceed. I promise. I won’t let anyone hurt Debbie.”
“You better not Boy Genius.” Parker smiled as Jarod realized she was joking. “Because if someone does, I’m coming after you and Sister Genius with my 9mm.”
Jarod got down on one knee. “On my honor.”
Parker walked past him. “Come on. The Ice Queen needs her sleep.” Parker turned and extended her hand out to lift Jarod up.
“Your wish is my command.” Jarod followed Parker to the door.
“What have I gotten myself into?” Parker asked as she pushed the arboretum doors open.
*************************
The monitors showed Lily tossing and turning in the arms of the panda bear. The technician battled whether he should notify Dr. Mark, but decided to evaluate the situation further.
Lily could see herself standing at the end of a dark gray room. The fluorescent lights gave the room a dim glow. Lily could see the board with the dark man shape on it. She had seen it before. When Raines had brought her there for target practice. She had been firing a weapon since she was four years old. The first time the gun had been put in her hands she had dropped it. The gun had fired and Sweepers had run in every different direction. Raines had ducked under a table. And alone there she stood. Not knowing anything better. That the toy she held in her hand was a gun. It was the one thing that her mother had never let her know about. Weapons.
So again she found herself standing in that room. Not afraid any longer to handle the gun, but also not wanting to fire it any longer. Raines had been running simulations with her that involved the firearms. He had been screaming at her.
“You decide who lives or dies!” Raines would yell at her.
Lily looked to her left and saw Raines and the Sweepers standing there. Waiting for her to fire.
“Just imagine the board being a man. A bad man that has killed many people. Some of them children. You would be doing society a favor.” Raines encouraged her.
“I don’t want to fire the gun. I don’t want to kill anyone!” Lily yelled back at him.
Raines came over and slapped the child hard in the face. “You will do as I say.”
“I thought I decided who lives or dies?” Lily yelled as she clung to her cheek with the hand that wasn’t holding the gun.
Raines slapped her again. Lily’s head swung sideways with the force of the blow. She quickly snapped her head back. There was hatred in her eyes. And fire. “Good. Feel that hatred. Feed on that hatred. Rage is your companion. Now fire!”
Lily pointed the gun at Raines, who stood his ground. The Sweepers went frantic, but Raines raised his hand in a gesture to stop. The gun trembled in her hands. “I can’t......” Lily turned and fired at the standing board. She hit the mark right at the heart level.
Raines took the gun out of Lily’s hands. “Good Lily. Now you know what it feels like to kill a man.” Raines hit a red button on top of a box at the table. The board swung around and fastened by cuffs to the back was a man who was drenched in blood.
“Nooooo!!” Lily screamed as she dropped to her knees.
Lily sat up in bed with a gasp. She felt as if someone had kicked her in the stomach. She scrambled off the bed and went to the door of her room. The night guard was on duty. “Max. I need to go to the Equipment Storage Room.”
“Lily. You know that you are not allowed to take anything out of there. Dr. Stedman’s orders.” Max stated as he stood his ground.
“Fine. Then I won’t take anything out. Come on.” Lily grabbed Max’s hand and pulled him to the elevator. A few minutes later they approached the room, which had a guard stationed at it. “Please open the door.”
The guard on duty looked at Lily. “I have strict orders that only authorized personnel can enter the room.” The guard saw the look that Lily gave him as she folded her arms across her chest. “I’m not suppose to let anyone in there Miss Lily.”
Lily tapped the man on his chest. “I don’t want to take anything out. I’m not going to make a prison break. I just need to look at something in there. One of you can even stay with me if you’d like. OK?”
The two guards looked at each other. “Well. I guess that would be all right.” The nervous man unlocked the door and Lily pushed past him.
Max looked at the frightened guard. “I’ll keep an eye on her.” The other guard nodded in agreement. As Max entered the room, Lily had already started frantically searching the shelves.
After a few minutes she found what she was looking for. She pulled out Jarod’s case, placed it on the floor, and opened it. “Here we go.” Lily turned on the machine, took out one of the DSA’s, and placed it in the hole. “Now I learn about the Centre.”
*************************
The Players are trying on their costumes for the Masquerade.
The dance will bring them to the ballroom.
To settle the past.
And save the future.
The Game moves forward.
The Players circle the room.
Trying to decide what would be the next Game played.
So many choices that need to flow to the same conclusion.
They now get ready for Masquerade.
*************************
Entanglements And Betrayals
“So Mr. Klos. Have you gotten me my answer?” Raines wheezed as he sat across from the man in his limo.
“I believe from all the data that I retrieved from the Sweepers in New Orleans and your estimations that your problem is this little lady.” Klos handed Raines a folder.
Raines opened it. “Are you sure? I saw her die.”
“Positive. Taking into consideration her stay at the Centre, psychologically it has to be her.”
“Damn. Another ghost.” Raines slammed the folder on his seat. “What do you suggest as the next course of action?” Raines wheezed through his frustration.
“We go do a little ghost busting.” Klos said with a large devilish smile.
The limo drove off into the night.
*************************
After what seemed an eternity, the couple pulled apart from each other. “Happy Valentine’s Day.” Jarod whispered in Parker’s ear.
“Happy Valentine’s Day.” She purred back. “I never thought anyone could top Mr. Wiggles.”
Jarod looked at her confused. “Mr. Wiggles? Who is Mr. Wiggles?”
“Remember my Christmas present. That cute little bunny. Whenever I was having a bad day, I would just go out and pick him up. He’s so soft and cuddly. You should have seen Broots face when I introduced him to Mr. Wiggles. You would have thought he saw a ghost or something. Must have a fear of rabbits.”
Jarod smiled as he saw the joy permeated off of Parker. He knew that she would love the rabbit, but not until this moment did he realize how much his gift had meant to her. “I’m glad you liked him. You needed a source of love in your life. Someone to take care of.” Jarod wrinkled his face. “I hope that someone is taking care of him.” Jarod said as the concern filled his voice.
“No problem. His caretaker comes by the house twice a day. When I’m away she takes care of him. She’s use to me taking off on the spur of the moment and she takes good care of him.”
“You have a babysitter for the rabbit?” Jarod couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Well I’m gone a lot and I wanted to make sure he was taken care of.” Jarod kept snickering. Parker hit him in the chest. “Stop that.” Jarod tried to contain his smirks. “It’s not like I even described the Taj Mahal of bunny houses that he has.”
“I’ve seen his cage. I didn’t know bunnies needed penthouses.”
Parker had grown quiet and was looking out past Jarod. “What are we going to do now? Its not like we can just go back and play house.”
“Do you really want to go back? We could get the rabbit and just stay here. I think he would like the Colorado mountains.”
“You figured out we’re in Colorado? Of course, you’re boy genius.” Parker thought for a moment then lifted her head. “When you left on the mission. You calculated our position.”
Jarod only smiled. “I can’t reveal all my secrets.”
“I remember when you first started revealing your inner most secret.” Parker said as she walked amongst the trees.
“And when was that?” Jarod asked, his curiosity now peaked.
“On Valentine’s Day. Remember. You sent me the book you wrote. The Saddest Little Valentine. And a giant candy heart. It said...”
“Be My Valentine. I remember. Jarod Heart. I really wanted it to read Jarod’s Heart.” Jarod’s tone got a little sullen as he walked around the tree to come to the other side of Parker.
“I remember the sound of your voice as you told me to open the box. So sad. So alone.” Parker turned and leaned up against a tree. “I swore that day that I would never care how hurt you sounded. I took that candy heart and I devoured it. Like I devoured everything in my path.” Parker put her head down as once again she saw that hurt look on Jarod’s face. “But it was a lie.”
Jarod had followed Parker. His face lit up a little with a sign of hope. “A lie?”
“What I was really feeling was the same hurt, the same loneliness. I just didn’t want to admit it. Not to you. Especially not to me. Remember.” Parker tapped the side of Jarod’s head. “Ice Princess.”
“It hurt. When you didn’t respond to me. When you shut me out. I was offering what little part of myself I had found. But you rejected it.”
Parker started reciting the book. “She felt consumed by a great void. A dark and silent abyss. As terrifying as the grand palace around her. But somewhere in the chilling blackness she caught a glimpse of a light. She remembered a time. The precocious little girl with a heart full of fire, a soul enflamed by passion, and a smile that could melt winter into spring. But the light was gone. The flame had died. Her past was taken from her by the soldiers of the great palace. She would continue searching, hoping to rekindle the fire. Till then she would always be the saddest little Valentine.”
“You memorized it? You told me you skimmed through it.” Jarod came and brought her into his arms.
“I must have read it over and over again a thousand times. Every time I felt alone.” Parker let out a little laugh. “I never did return it to the evidence vault at the Centre. I‘m sure that Syd would have loved to have analyzed it.”
“He already knew what it was about. I called him asking him about why people go through falling in love. And he asked me if that was what the novel was about.”
“And?” Parker looked at Jarod with hope in her eyes.
“And I told him yes. I have always known that there was a connection between us. No matter how hard I tried to run away from it, to let you go.”
“Do you feel that way now Jarod?” Parker asked feeling the old walls coming up.
“No. No more running for either of us. No more pain or loneliness. It ended here, tonight.” Jarod leaned over and kissed Parker gently on the lips.
“You’re the first person who has been a part of my past who has accepted me for who I am. We’re going to have a lot of things to work through. I want to work through them.” She moved up on her toes and kissed him back.
“Me too. We are going to get through this. I’m not sure how right now. I have to find out fully what Lily has planned.”
“It doesn’t matter. Because tonight. I am no longer the Saddest Little Valentine.”
“Better to love and lost. Than never to have loved at all.”
“I don’t plan on losing you Jarod now that I have you. So whatever Lily does, it better not include me losing you.” Parker leaned back up and kissed Jarod passionately.
“Together forever.” Jarod felt a yawn coming on.
“Am I boring you?” Parker quipped.
Jarod looked down at his watch and realized what time it was. “Do you realize that it is almost 1:00 a.m. in the morning?”
Parker purred again in his ear. “Time flies when you’re having fun.”
“I think we better get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a big day.”
“I think today was a bigger day. The joining of the Ice Princess and the Boy Genius. Raines is going to have a coronary.”
“An alliance to defeat all Centre alliances.”
“Except for Broots and Sydney. All this is wonderful, but we have to get to the Centre so that Debbie can be safe.”
“I know. After tomorrow I think we will be able to safely retrieve her. Lily will figure out Lyle’s alliance and then we’ll be able to proceed. I promise. I won’t let anyone hurt Debbie.”
“You better not Boy Genius.” Parker smiled as Jarod realized she was joking. “Because if someone does, I’m coming after you and Sister Genius with my 9mm.”
Jarod got down on one knee. “On my honor.”
Parker walked past him. “Come on. The Ice Queen needs her sleep.” Parker turned and extended her hand out to lift Jarod up.
“Your wish is my command.” Jarod followed Parker to the door.
“What have I gotten myself into?” Parker asked as she pushed the arboretum doors open.
*************************
The monitors showed Lily tossing and turning in the arms of the panda bear. The technician battled whether he should notify Dr. Mark, but decided to evaluate the situation further.
Lily could see herself standing at the end of a dark gray room. The fluorescent lights gave the room a dim glow. Lily could see the board with the dark man shape on it. She had seen it before. When Raines had brought her there for target practice. She had been firing a weapon since she was four years old. The first time the gun had been put in her hands she had dropped it. The gun had fired and Sweepers had run in every different direction. Raines had ducked under a table. And alone there she stood. Not knowing anything better. That the toy she held in her hand was a gun. It was the one thing that her mother had never let her know about. Weapons.
So again she found herself standing in that room. Not afraid any longer to handle the gun, but also not wanting to fire it any longer. Raines had been running simulations with her that involved the firearms. He had been screaming at her.
“You decide who lives or dies!” Raines would yell at her.
Lily looked to her left and saw Raines and the Sweepers standing there. Waiting for her to fire.
“Just imagine the board being a man. A bad man that has killed many people. Some of them children. You would be doing society a favor.” Raines encouraged her.
“I don’t want to fire the gun. I don’t want to kill anyone!” Lily yelled back at him.
Raines came over and slapped the child hard in the face. “You will do as I say.”
“I thought I decided who lives or dies?” Lily yelled as she clung to her cheek with the hand that wasn’t holding the gun.
Raines slapped her again. Lily’s head swung sideways with the force of the blow. She quickly snapped her head back. There was hatred in her eyes. And fire. “Good. Feel that hatred. Feed on that hatred. Rage is your companion. Now fire!”
Lily pointed the gun at Raines, who stood his ground. The Sweepers went frantic, but Raines raised his hand in a gesture to stop. The gun trembled in her hands. “I can’t......” Lily turned and fired at the standing board. She hit the mark right at the heart level.
Raines took the gun out of Lily’s hands. “Good Lily. Now you know what it feels like to kill a man.” Raines hit a red button on top of a box at the table. The board swung around and fastened by cuffs to the back was a man who was drenched in blood.
“Nooooo!!” Lily screamed as she dropped to her knees.
Lily sat up in bed with a gasp. She felt as if someone had kicked her in the stomach. She scrambled off the bed and went to the door of her room. The night guard was on duty. “Max. I need to go to the Equipment Storage Room.”
“Lily. You know that you are not allowed to take anything out of there. Dr. Stedman’s orders.” Max stated as he stood his ground.
“Fine. Then I won’t take anything out. Come on.” Lily grabbed Max’s hand and pulled him to the elevator. A few minutes later they approached the room, which had a guard stationed at it. “Please open the door.”
The guard on duty looked at Lily. “I have strict orders that only authorized personnel can enter the room.” The guard saw the look that Lily gave him as she folded her arms across her chest. “I’m not suppose to let anyone in there Miss Lily.”
Lily tapped the man on his chest. “I don’t want to take anything out. I’m not going to make a prison break. I just need to look at something in there. One of you can even stay with me if you’d like. OK?”
The two guards looked at each other. “Well. I guess that would be all right.” The nervous man unlocked the door and Lily pushed past him.
Max looked at the frightened guard. “I’ll keep an eye on her.” The other guard nodded in agreement. As Max entered the room, Lily had already started frantically searching the shelves.
After a few minutes she found what she was looking for. She pulled out Jarod’s case, placed it on the floor, and opened it. “Here we go.” Lily turned on the machine, took out one of the DSA’s, and placed it in the hole. “Now I learn about the Centre.”
*************************
The Players are trying on their costumes for the Masquerade.
The dance will bring them to the ballroom.
To settle the past.
And save the future.
The Game moves forward.
