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"The most stubborn and down trodden soul, I have seen in a long time."
"I'm glad the title's no longer mine," Duncan said.
Adam went on, ignoring Duncan, "She's overweight, ill from something, and is starving herself to death. I believe one of the side affects of her illness depression, but I don't know how severe. When I went to go over to return her wallet she was as pale as snow and just as cold towards me as well. I have been over there at her place nursing her back into a somewhat stable health. Hopefully, she will stay that way."
"Why don't you just take her to a doctor? Did you ever find out what she does," Joe asked.
"No, not yet. She asked for my help and then gave me the silent treatment. She was skittish around me and I didn't know how she'd do in a strange white room with strange men in white coats running many tests on her. I don't need another female enemy after me. One is too much, thanks."
MacLeod got a serious look on his face, "Have you told her anything about immortality?"
"No, she is definitely not ready yet. I'm still trying to get the turtle to poke its head out of the shell," Adam said as he got up from the barstool and retrieved his trench coat, "Somehow I'm going to get her to come out from wherever it is that she is hiding."
"Good luck, later old man," Joe and Duncan offered.
Adam left, stopped for groceries, and went home. Since scheming was his forte, he had a little plan cooked up. If she was not coming out he was going to bring it to her. He was going to bring over dinner and rented a chick flick movie he hoped she might like. He went into his kitchen and made a light lunch. He looked through the shelf of books for something to read. Adam longingly thought of the days with Lord Byron, the parties, the orgies, the Shelleys, especially Mary. She was such a treasure, even though she was a mortal. He would have snapped her up for himself, but Percy beat him to it and he just couldn't force himself to marry another mortal so soon.
Over a sandwich and another beer he set about reading some of Lord Byron's works. A little later he worked on the translation project for Joe, actually finishing a whole chapter. Then Adam concentrated on filling in the past several weeks to his Methos Chronicles. He added in having a new patient but he left out Lynda's name because his involvement with her was still too new to go and put her in for what could possibly be all of eternity. If this would work out with Lynda he considered making a brief mention of her in Methos' Chronicle.
The dinner hour quickly came upon Adam. He climbed in the shower, and spent a little longer than he wanted to. The water turned cold, he cursed in a few dead languages, and got out. He dressed in a clean pair of black jeans and his cream-colored cashmere sweater. Adam splashed on a little cologne and ran his hand through his semi-wet short hair. He slipped on socks and his boots, and then his trench coat at the door.
He stopped in at the movie rental store first. He got the perfect movie for his unofficial dinner date with Lynda Maxwell. Then Adam stayed a little longer and picked out a few DVD's to watch at his place. Going shopping at the store was a mess. He should have gone to another store nearby. Too many people shopping like the world was going to end and the lines at the counters were a mile long at least.
* Gee, I'm so glad I'm not in hurry or anything! * Adam thought as he waited in line. * I'm glad I didn't pick anything frozen to cook. God I hope she will still be awake when I get there… *
Lynda had suicidal thoughts creeping around in her head. She spent her lunch plotting her death, even though she had cancer, she decided she didn't want to let it have the last word over her. She already had a back up plan set in case she didn't make it the first time. There were so many ways to die she just had to pick one and when to do it. Lynda decided on a sharp dagger by midnight, all she had to do now was wait. She wondered if she should leave a note.
All her family and friends did not know she was still alive. They thought she had been killed in a car accident at the age of 18. The wreckage was so bad that not even her teeth were identifiable. There were also no dental records to be found. They had supposedly burned in a fire along with her medical records, but Lynda had them safely tucked away where no one could find them. What they also did not know is that the people she was working for required that all personnel had to become untraceable, almost like ghosts. Since Lynda's friends were gone and family had no real love for her anyway she gladly accepted the terms of agreement.
The sun had set and it was just a matter of a few hours more. She pulled out her stationary set and began to write a letter, to the man she knew as Adam Pierson.
"Adam, please know that this event was not your fault. I had no reason to live and I wanted to die. I'm sorry if I tricked you into helping me get better, only to inflict death upon myself. I have been alone a good deal of my life and I couldn't see far enough to go changing the way things are. My funeral plans are in a safety deposit box in Seacouver First Trust Bank. Since my family thinks I'm already dead, and since you are the last person to know me, my will stipulates that the last person gets half of my earnings. The rest is to be split as follows, one quarter to Mrs. Swanson, the other quarter to my favorite charities. Sell off whatever you do not want of my things and keep the earnings for yourself. These are my wishes and it is all legally verified in my will. Thank you. Sincerely, Lynda Maxwell," she wrote.
"That should do it, now I will place it carefully here for later," she spoke softly aloud.
A knock was heard at the front door, and she left the note addressed to Adam in her night table. Lynda was not expecting anybody but she had a good idea who it was. Regardless, she grabbed her gun and hid behind the door. One hand on the trigger and the other on the doorknob, she looked through the peephole. She quickly put her gun away in the bedroom and opened the door.
"Adam, I wasn't expecting you. I was headed for bed."
"I brought dinner and a movie."
"I already ate and I'm very tired."
"Nice try Lynda. It's not going to work with me," Adam saw through her weak excuse. He came in anyway and set the bag on her kitchen counter.
Lynda just gave in. She thought about her plans and decided to still go through with them, maybe wait until he was asleep.
* Damn him! * She thought to herself.
Adam busied himself in the kitchen while Lynda sat on the sofa, staring off into space. He prepared steak, salad, and steamed green beans. Lynda came out of her somber trance as Adam announced dinner was ready. Lynda ate silently, regarding it as her official last meal. Adam tried to talk to her but she only gave yes or no answers. She enjoyed the food as best she could, not wanting to criticize or compliment Adam's cooking skills. She ate everything to please him and then put her dishes in the sink. Adam follows suit and does the dishes quickly. Lynda started the movie, What Women Want, wanting to get it over with because she had already seen it, and in fact she owned the DVD, but she would watch it again just to humor Adam. She took up a seat on the left side of the sofa covered her legs with a blanket. Adam came over and sat on the sofa next to her, just in time to miss the ads.
She empathized with the depressed, suicidal girl in the movie. She felt that way all the time. The only thing different was no Nick Marshall to hear her thoughts, almost sweep her off her feet, or offer her a better corporate job. Lynda fell asleep with her head propped up against Adam's left shoulder, just about when Darcy McGuire was in the bathtub. She missed her midnight deadline. Adam carefully got up and let her down on a pillow then he covered her up with a quilt. He sat back down on the sofa near her feet. Adam fell asleep with his head resting on the back of the sofa.
In the morning, when Lynda woke up seeing light out the window, she began to get angry. She was angry first at herself for falling into Adam's trap, and for letting him manipulate her. Secondly, she was angry at Adam for driving her into situations where she was trapped, having to lie to get out of, not being able to convince him. Also for not leaving her alone so she could end her pathetic life. She gently stood up not wanting to disturb him and calmly folded the quilt.
"Wake up Adam, please," pleaded Lynda as she tapped his shoulder.
"What, what, what is it," Adam asked waking with a start.
"I want you to leave now," she said angrily.
"Well... That's nice of you. Invite a guy over and then kick them out before breakfast," Adam said letting a bit of the Methos sarcasm slip out.
"Adam, I didn't invite you. You just showed up at my door with food and a movie."
"Most women would have loved having a gentleman show up bearing food and gifts. Is it because I didn't bring you flowers? I can go get some, breakfast, and be back before you know it."
"I am not most women, and in spite of what you may think, I think flowers are too commercial and too easy. Now I want you to go, please don't make me call the police."
Adam became alarmed at her mention of her calling the police. She had never suggested calling them before, in all the time he had been around her. Lynda's mood suddenly changed and she became more emotionally unstable.
"Lynda, you have to believe me, I'm not going to hurt you," Adam said.
"Why won't you leave me alone?"
"Because I have nothing else to do with my Saturday nights?"
"I want to die alone, can't you see that," she pleaded to him, as she let her ulterior motive slip.
"Who said anything about dying alone," he asked wondering where this was coming from.
Her layers seemed to be peeling the longer he stayed. Lynda was almost to her breaking point and he wanted to be there. Her emotions would fly and he wanted to be there to help her. It seemed like something strange for him to want do, but he once took an oath to protect life, mortal or immortal, even when it was pre-immortal.
"Please leave," she said with a clenched jaw.
She knew she was losing ground the longer he stayed, so she stoked the fire of her iron will. Lynda knew the only way to get rid of him was her gun. She went into the bedroom and retrieved it.
"Talk to me Lynda, what is going on in that head of yours," he said as Lynda came out of the bedroom with the gun aimed at Adam's chest.
"Why will you not leave this place? Please don't get involved any more than you already are."
"Because I care and I already am more involved than I should probably be," he said wondering why he got involved in the first place, because he cared.
"What more do you want with me," Lynda said, feeling like the girl in the movie last night, the depressed, suicidal one, "Never mind, just go."
He just would not budge. She took a warning shot at the wall near her front door. He jumped up off the sofa and grabbed his coat.
"See what you have made me do? Now I will have to leave here and start a new life. Mrs. Swanson will no doubt have called the police," Lynda didn't yell but she could feel the headache coming already.
Adam reluctantly left; he knew he should have stayed. He went back to his place feeling like he had failed. He grabbed a beer and damned the thought of breakfast. Then he remembered he forgot the movie rental at Miss Maxwell's place.
Lynda managed to deal with the police, claiming that the argument and gunshot Mrs. Swanson heard was a movie she was watching. A typical answer, thank the gods and goddesses they believed her. After they left Lynda went into her bedroom put the note on her night table for Adam to find. She plunged an antique dagger into her stomach, quickly pulled it back out, lay back onto her pillow to die. Soon, she passed out from the loss of blood and she became immortal forever. When she woke up and the dagger still in her hand, she began to cry. She looked at her stomach where the wound had been and it was gone.
"No, no, no this can't be. I know I did it," she said believing she had failed in her attempt.
She then proceeded to prove to herself she could die; if she was going to commit suicide she was not going to fail a second time. Lynda grabbed a dining room chair into her room and the rope from when she moved in from her closet. She tossed a portion of it over the ceiling beam above her and tied the rest to the hanger bar in her closet. She made herself a noose and put it around her neck. Lynda stood up on the edge of the chair; she let one foot hang before she brought the other off. She was alive for a few minutes until her last breath was gone, Miss Lynda Maxwell died for a second time.
A few hours later, Adam got back in his Cherokee and drove back over to Lynda's place, to pick up the movie. As he entered the building a brand spanking new Immortal presence hit his senses. He knew it had to be Lynda. Adam went to her door, made sure no one was around before he picked her lock. He entered her apartment and she was nowhere to be found. He smelled something funny, something old and familiar, like blood. Adam took a deep breath and cautiously opened her bedroom door. He found Lynda's body still hanging from the beam. There is blood all over her bed and the floor left over from her first attempt.
"Bloody hell," he said and slipped out a pocketknife from his trench coat.
He cut her down and because of her weight Adam fell to the floor, her dead body landed on him, knocking the air out of his lungs. He rolled her off and Adam got his air back. He helped Lynda up off the floor and onto the bed. He took the noose off of her neck, began to check her body for any injuries to reset, and found none.
A few minutes later Lynda woke up. This time Adam was looking into her face.
"Noooo," she cried out covering her eyes with her hands, rolling onto her side to bury her face in a pillow.
"Lynda, it's pointless to try again. I know what you are thinking. You are not in heaven and you are not dead."
"I'm in hell, I know it. Huh, how did you know I would want to try again?"
"I guessed. You are just like me, Immortal. You can not die normally any more."
"What? You are crazy. I'm just as human as the next guy. Awww, why does my head hurt?" Lynda saw the looks of sincerity and seriousness of the situation coming from Adam's face.
"You'll get used to it. It has been called everything from a buzz, presence, calling card, and headache to that damned ringing. It is our signal and how we know when there is another one of us around. I want you to look in the mirror at your neck."
Lynda complied with his request, going to the mirror on her dresser. She looked in it and saw no scar on her neck.
"Where is the rope burn scar?"
"It was healed by your Quickening."
"I don't believe you," she said wondering if he was some kind of devil playing some mean trick on her to get her to sell her soul.
* Damn I hate this… Why does this have to be so difficult? I suppose it's the only way to get her to believe me... * Adam thought.
He did not want to do what he knew he had to do, but it seemed it was his only choice to convince her he was telling the truth. He grabbed the dagger off her bed and made a slit on his hand, letting the blood pool at the cut.
She watched in fright as it healed up and the blood disappeared by these little flashes of blue light. She saw it and still did not want to believe it.
"You are the devil incarnate aren't you? Get away from me," Lynda said using her fingers like a cross.
* If she only knew how true that is. * He thought and laughed; she thought he was some kind of devil or a vampire of which he was not so sure.
"Go ahead, try it for yourself, if you don't believe me," he dared her.
* You want to prove him wrong don't you? You don't mind pain. Pain is your friend. * Lynda's inner voice taunted her.
Lynda's mind loved playing little games. She listened to that little voice in the back of her head that was not about to let Adam be right. She grabbed the dagger from his hand and did slice her hand. She winced at the pain and then watched in awe as little blue flashes of light came from her hand, beginning to heal her hand.
* You have failed again, and this time you proved him right! Ugh! What an idiot you are! *
"I am like you and I can't die," she said, "No, no, no, no, no. This is not happening."
"Yes and there are others out there like us. Some evil and some good, all out to kill each other," Adam decided not to flood her with all the details of the game in her current mood.
He looked into her eyes again, still finding that lost look in her eyes. Adam had put his neck on the line before, now here he was doing it again. Adam called Joe on his cell phone and let him know that he would be coming in later. No doubt to discuss Lynda.
"I am Immortal. I just cannot believe this… How, how did this happen?"
"You become immortal when you died a violent death, my guess, it was your first attempt at suicide, and we don't know where immortals come from exactly."
"Oh My God. This is my fault… I triggered this. It's ok; I don't know where I came from any way. I was adopted."
"All immortals were at one time adopted or abandoned and taken in. Immortals don't have parents and they can't have children."
"I can't have any children," Lynda asked and sighed. She was taking this hard and Adam knew it.
"With the life we lead, I would advise that we not adopt children either, but some have been known to."
"I must contact my best friend Emerald at work about this, she wouldn't believe this."
"No. You cannot tell anyone, doing so could become a matter of life and death for you, for all immortals, and create a very big mess. This has to be your secret," Adam warned her.
"Why?"
"Because mortals destroy what they don't understand, history has proven that. We would be hunted down all over this globe until we were all dead or captured. Maybe even some of us would make it into some government lab, locked up, and treated like lab rats. The torture would be endless. Imagine them trying to cut you open to do a little experimental surgery, only to have it heal up again just after the scalpel cut it. We have it hard enough trying to survive from attacks from each other day to day."
"Listen Adam. I need some time alone, to try and deal with this."
"Lynda there is much more I have to tell you, but I am going to wait and let you have the time you need. If someone you don't know comes after you and you feel a sign from them or they have a sword, run and get to a cemetery or church as fast as you can and call me."
Hearing the last thing Adam said really scared Lynda. He handed her a card with a number where he could be reached.
"Call me if you need anything, any hour of the day or night. If you have to run, take your gun as a back up, and make sure it's fully loaded," Adam said at the door.
"I will. Oh wait you forgot the movie here last night. Let me get it," Lynda went over to the DVD player, picked up the movie case, and brought it to Adam.
"Thanks."
"No problem," Adam opened the door and put the movie in one of the deep pockets of his trench coat, "I'll see you around."
"Sure," Lynda said as she closed the door, "Bye."
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