Jacob hobbled toward the uneven bricked entrance, when suddenly from behind, he was captured by three of Paracelsus's drones!
Jacob tried to resist his capture, but could not! He lifted his cane up in an attempt to tap on the pipe, but he was helpless to do anything, and the cane then went flying!
As he knew his attempt to free himself was fruitless, he threw the vile to the floor, so if Paracelsus was behind his capture, at least it would not fall into his hands.
He was then sedated, and one of the drones tied him up.
Just then Catherine stepped down onto the last rung, and when she saw what was happening, she hopped on the back of one of the drones, and tried to utilize some of her self-defense maneuvers! But he was so huge, she was slung to the ground like a rag doll.
She too was quickly sedated, and was in the middle of being tied up, when Jennifer entered the tunnel foyer! She was happily calling after Catherine, and said, "Catherine you forgot the Varnish..."
When she realized what was happening, suddenly Jennifer was in the mix too, and she tried to help save Catherine and Jacob!
She dropped her keys to the floor, got ready for a wind up and she threw the can of varnish and hit one of the drones in the head! But his head was so thick, it merely bounced right off!
He turned to Jennifer, and though she fought him, she was sedated and captured too.
The three of them, Jacob, Catherine and Jennifer, were then taken deeply into the tunnel depths to Paracelsus's lair.
As Vincent helped steady the wagon, Mouse curiously looked up at him as he saw Vincent suddenly lift his head, and tilt it to the side. Causing Mouse to ask him, "Vincent did you hear something?"
Vincent shook his head no, as for now...what he thought he had felt, had passed.
In a troubled tone he answered Mouse, "For just a moment, I felt something, as if something was troubling Catherine. However the feeling is gone now. Perhaps I am just overly anxious to see her."
Jamie teasingly said, "Or...maybe you picked up on Catherine's anxiousness to see you...Romeo!"
Vincent smiled, and uneasily said, "Yes...perhaps that is so Jamie."
He knew too, that he was feeling on edge with his Father going above to see Peter, and with his instincts now at rest, he reconciled all was well. Yes, in an hour or so, Catherine would be below with him, and Father should be back too. Then all would be right in his world.
Vincent couldn't know that Catherine was trying to contact him, but because of the sedation that had been issued to her, their bonds connection was now nulled, and silenced.
The hour passed by, and Peter began to worry that Jacob had not yet arrived! Nervously he checked his watch once more, and finally decided to send word to Vincent via a helper. He stated in his note that Jacob was not there yet, and asked if he had a change in plans.
As Vincent read the note Mortimer had delivered to him, he ran through the tunnels to the threshold where Father was entering the world above. He knew too, that it was nearing the time Catherine should be coming below as well.
Ronald saw him running, and decided to follow him, to see if something was wrong!
As Vincent arrived at the tunnel foyer, he could tell by the tracks on the tunnel floor, there must have been a struggle! He found the can of varnish, and as he picked it up, he knew this must have been the can of varnish Catherine was bringing below to him, as he walked further, he found her purse and overnight bag too!
Ronald caught up with him, and saw the look on Vincent's face, and asked, "What's going on Vincent?"
Vincent walked to the ladder and saw there were also some keys lying there on the ground. As he picked them up, he saw the ring had a little name tag dangling from it, and the name on it said "Jennifer"!
Ronald urgently asked again, "Vincent what is going on!"
To which Vincent softly said, "Ronald, I believe someone may have Catherine and Jennifer."
As Ronald approached Vincent in disbelief, he tripped over Jacob's cane, and as he picked it up, he said, "Oh no Vincent, this is Father's!"
As Ronald began to stand, he put his hand on the small bottle and when he showed it to Vincent he said, "What is this?"
Vincent now realized, Father too must have been captured, and he never made it above to see Peter!
Vincent explained Jacob was going above to have the vile's contents analyzed, and Paracelsus must have wanted to stop him!
Ronald shakily asked, "So you think Paracelsus is behind this? And has all three of them?"
Vincent solemnly handed Ronald Jennifer's key ring, and said, "I do."
Vincent then added, "Catherine was coming below this afternoon, and she was bringing this varnish with her. I can only imagine she and Jennifer arrived just as Father was being captured."
The two men looked around to see if they could derive any other evidence, and they then found three syringes lying to the side of the tunnel wall.
Becoming more angry by the minute, Ronald shouted, "What are we waiting for, let's go after them!"
Vincent calmed him by saying, "We must prepare Ronald, and we need Mouse. Only he could safely lead us there. It is a long journey, and he will know the quickest route."
The tunnel community was alerted, by using the ACS (Alternative Communication System, or walkie-talkies,) that Jennifer had brought below for them.
The pipes were ordered silenced, and were not to be used for communication by anyone! If Jacob has a chance to send word, only his message will be the one heard, ringing its way to them.
As Vincent conducted the meeting, he instructed Mouse, he would be needed to go along on this rescue mission. Jamie and Pascal argued to go along too. They reasoned with Vincent that since they had been along before the last time to rescue Catherine, and they would be most valuable on this mission too! So it was decided that yes Pascal and Jamie would be going along with Vincent, Ronald and Mouse.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Mary tearfully said to Vincent, "Bring Father back to us Vincent, bring them all safely back."
Vincent hugged Mary, and asked her to send word to Peter and apprise him of what has happened. He then secretly handed the vile to Mary, and whispering softly he told her, "Keep this safe Mary, hide it for me until Peter comes below, where no one can find it. If something happens to me, the note on the bottle is self-explanatory, and he will understand."
Mary worriedly nodded, and said, "I will Vincent...be safe."
Rebecca ran up to Vincent and hysterically said, "Vincent I just heard! I was pouring candles, and didn't know!"
As she looked to the rescue team Vincent had rounded up, she urged, "Be careful everyone! This is so terrible! Oh Vincent the last time...we lost Winslow, what if..."
Vincent put his arms around Rebecca and said, "We will come back Rebecca, all of us will come safely back. Now you must keep your Faith strong, and believe. Keep a candle burning for us until our return...we will need your Prayers..."
Vincent looked up and said to the rest of the community, "...We will need all of your prayers."
Vincent turned to William and said, "You are in charge now William, until Father's safe return."
William nodded proudly, and took the responsibility gladly, as he told Vincent, "Not to worry Vincent, we will take every precaution to keep the rest of the tunnel population safe."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, As Jacob, Catherine and Jennifer all one by one came up out from the sedatives, they found themselves, all locked up together in this huge cage!
Jacob was the first to speak as he looked around himself and in disbelief saw Catherine and Jennifer were captured too!
He frightfully asked, "Catherine, Jennifer, what is your condition? Have either of you incurred any injuries?"
Catherine rallied and said, "I'm all right Father, what about you and Jenny how are you two?"
When Jennifer didn't answer right away, Jacob too anxiously asked, "Jennifer are you all right?"
To which Jennifer weakly said, "I'm OK Pops..."
As she looked around, she unbelievably asked, "Where are we? In Hell?"
Catherine answered her friend by saying, "Where we are Jen, is a place that makes Hell look inviting!"
Paracelsus walked to the cage, and looked at Catherine and said, "Ah you have developed the poetic side of your nature I see, and you grow more lovely each time I see you my Dear. I can see how Vincent found you worth risking his life for, I wonder...will he risk his life to rescue you once more?"
Catherine scathingly said, "Vincent will save us, you do not frighten him."
Paracelsus laughed as he said, "Ah, the emotion of love, does induce a false state of illusion."
He then turned to Jacob and said, "Nice of you to drop in old friend...it has been far too long..."
Jacob replied, "Yes it has been a long time John, since we have been face to face with no barriers to hide behind. You finally have the courage to look at me."
Paracelsus corrected Jacob by saying, "John has died, he no longer exists! I do wish you would stop referring to me that way! It is quite annoying!"
Paracelsus then said to Jennifer, "A newcomer, hmmmmm, well don't fret my lovely, we shall find something to keep you entertained, I am sure!"
Just then one of the drones stepped up, looked at the two girls, and anxiously asked, "Me?"
Paracelsus reprimanded him, and said, "No the girls are not for you, now go back and don't speak unless you are told to speak! Is that clear?"
Jacob rose to his feet and threatened, "If you allow one of those, those animals near these girls, I will kill you!"
Paracelsus started to laugh, and said, "You are hardly in any position to threaten me Jacob, now are you? I am glad to see however that you have not lost your sense of humor or flair for the dramatics!"
Catherine then asked, "What do you plan to do to us?"
Paracelsus brought his hand to his chin, and said, "Plan, hmmm now that is a good idea, I should have a plan. Hmmm, let's see..."
He then walked away, and then turned around and diabolically said, "I have got it! I have a plan! I will kill you...kill you all! All three of you shall die, and this time Vincent will not be able to help you, for I already have a trap in place to kill him and he will die as well."
Jacob argued, "You would never kill Vincent, John. I know you could never do that to him, if only for the sake of Anna's memory."
Paracelsus then said to Jacob, "I find it quite ironic that you believe I had killed Anna, but that I couldn't kill Vincent?"
Jacob argued, "Because in some twisted way, you viewed Anna's death as a way to keep her to yourself, because you loved her so much. I know you loved her, and she loved you...more than you could ever know. But Vincent is different because you have failed to win his love...and you will not be satisfied until you do so...so no, I don't think you could kill him, not yet."
Paracelsus surmised, "Jacob, Jacob, Jacob...if you do believe I killed Anna, I know you believe I could kill Vincent too! Do not underestimate me my friend."
Paracelsus smiled as he then said, "Think of Vincent's death as a gift to Anna. Just think, they could be reunited! Now wouldn't that be a nice reunion to behold. Hmmm, perhaps you will be there to witness it as well Jacob!"
Jennifer then stepped next to Jacob, and scathingly said, "I heard about you, you're that Pair-a-seltzers guy! Well let me tell you a thing or two, you are nothing more than just a big Ol meanie! What is your problem anyway? Did your Mother not love you or something?"
Catherine rushed to Jennifer's side, and tried to calm her down! "Jennifer, please let Father handle this."
Jennifer screamed once more at him, "Is this how you get your jollies?"
Paracelsus laughed aloud, and then chuckled as he said, "Oh stop...you may hurt my feelings!"
To be continued
Chapter Nine
| A Dream Within a Dream! By Sharon Holtz Chapter Eight |
