Hell on Earth: Signum - Series 1: 101: Insurance - act 3
by Timan
Dr. Thomson was sitting in his surgery when his nurse entered the room looking very concern.
“Doctor what was the medication you give Mathew O’Donnell?” she asked
The eighty year old doctor looked at his nurse in concern.
“It was the one in the blue packaging you remember.” He replied
The nurse looked at the doctor seriously. She held up the blue container with the tablets inside.
“You mean these?” she asked
The doctor looked at the container in shocked confusion. Sure enough it was Mathew O’Donnell medication.
“Then what did I give him?” Dr. asked
Rebecca didn’t sleep well. She spent the better part of that evening tossing and turning. Rebecca rolled over and looked at the clock. It was five thirty in the morning. Rebecca sighed and decided to get up. Not feeling to energetic Rebecca didn’t bother to put on a robe and walked naked into the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of water and sipped it thoughtfully while standing at the counter. Too much was happening too soon. Between the virus, the council trying to call her back and the student with the ability to see the future Rebecca wondered how she was going to cope.
Behind her Alex walked in and leaned in the doorway of the kitchen. He’s heard his wife get up and decided to join her. Alex smiled to himself as he looked at Rebecca, absorbing every line and curve of his wife’s naked form. To him she was a goddess, and not because of her powers, she was just as beautiful as the day he first met her. Slowly he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waste. Lovingly he kissed her neck. Rebecca smiled and caressed her husbands arm.
“Good morning honey.” He said softly
“Good morning yourself,” Rebecca replied
Slowly Alex worked his hands up Rebecca’s body until he lightly cupped her breasts. Rebecca smirked
“Hey,” she said playfully, “those are mine.”
“Not anymore. I called dibs on them last night.” Alex replied between neck kisses
Rebecca thought about this curiously
“I don’t remember that.”
“I can’t help it if you were asleep during the voting,” Alex replied, “I won, one to zero, so now I get to play with the puppies.”
Rebecca turned to face him.
“Oh so now we’re claiming parts of each others body?” she asked
Alex smirked at her.
“You don’t have a problem with that do you?”
“No,” Rebecca replied mischievously, “I was thinking of claiming something for myself . . . and use my super strength.”
Alex removed his hands from her breasts.
“Ah . . . good point,” Alex replied, “want a coffee?”
Rebecca nodded. Alex moved over and turned on the kettle.
“So how’s school?” he asked
The smile dropped form Rebecca’s face.
“It’s . . . going well.” she replied
“You seemed kind of tense last night did something happen?”
“No,” Rebecca lied, “First day nerves.”
Alex nodded. He handed her the drink then lightly sipped his own. There was something in her eyes that concerned him. He had seen that look before. That was the look she wore before he had to fight something evil.
“You’d tell me if something was wrong right?” he prompted
Rebecca smiled and stroked his hair.
“Of course I would sweetie.” She said then lightly kissed him
Later on that morning Nigel entered the library. He noticed Belle sitting at the main table.
“Ah good you’re here,” he commented, “this morning I want to concentrate on combat training then we will move onto identifying a nest. We don’t have much time so we should . . . “
Nigel turned and saw Nolan smiling at him. Nigel stared at the boy curiously
“ . . . What are you doing here?” he asked
Nolan shrugged.
“You said be in early for slayer training.” He replied
“I was talking to your sister.”
“But you were looking at both of us.”
Nigel rolled his eyes. He wondered if any other watchers went through this.
“Regardless of who I was looking at I was addressing your sister only.”
Nolan rolled his eyes then rested his chin in his hands.
“Fine, whatever.”
Nigel sighed and opened one of the old volumes.
“Right, now, we’ll work with defensive moves this morning.”
“What do I get?” Nolan asked
Nigel glared at the boy.
“What are you driveling about?”
Nolan gestured to Belle.
“Well, she’s the slayer and I am the slayers brother, what can I do? Can I fly, do I have heat vision?”
“You don’t get anything Nolan.”
“Nothing?” Nolan asked as he folded his arms, “Typical! As usual Belle gets all the cool stuff and I get the crap.”
Belle glared at her brother.
“Shut up!” she snapped
“No you shut up!”
“No you!”
This degenerated into a slap fight. Nigel dropped his head.
“Children please!” He yelled, “I’m trying to do a job here!”
The library doors swing open. Rebecca stormed in and glared at Nigel.
“So,” she asked, “did you get in contact with the council?”
Nigel looked down at the table in frustration.
“As I told you last night Mrs. Whitfield use of council resources in that way is prohibited.”
“I don’t care about prohibited I need you to help me find Willow.”
“And I’m telling you that my hands are tied.”
Rebecca and Nigel stared at each other for a moment.
“You are such a weasel.” Rebecca commented
Nolan looked Nigel up and down.
“Actually,” Nolan replied, “he looks more like a ferret. See he’s got the nose thing and his hair.”
“Not helping!” Rebecca snapped at Nolan
Nigel looked at the subtle desperation in Rebecca's eyes and decided to use it to his advantage.
“Perhaps if you told me the reason why we are finding Willow it might sway the council.”
“It’s personal.” Rebecca replied
“Then I’m sorry Rebecca there is only one other way the council would be willing to help you.”
Rebecca folded her arms.
“What’s that?” she asked
Nigel leaned on the table. He gave the Divine One a very serious look.
“Return to the fold. Become a slayer again.”
“I already told you that are not going to happen.”
“In that case your problems are your own and not the concern of the council.”
Rebecca snarled angrily at the watcher. In frustration she kicked a small filing cabinet the was standing next to her. It sailed into the air, smashed through the window and flew across the school ground. As Rebecca left Belle and Nolan were stunned.
“Remind me never to get counseling at this school.” Nolan commented
Heidi hid next to the lockers. Further down the corridor Mathew O’Donnell, the boy she ran into last, was at his locker getting the books for his next class. Heidi peeked out as Mathew pulled out a green container holding some pills. A look of panic crossed her face. Moving quickly she bolted from her hiding spot, charged up to Mathew and snatched the bottle from his hand. Mathew glared at her
“Hey give that back freak!” he yelled at her
Heidi shook her head vigorously as she clutched the bottle to her chest. Slowly she backed away from the boy but Mathew wasn’t going to give up that easily.
“I said give those back I need them!” he yelled
Mathew grabbed the bottle but Heidi wasn’t willing to let go. They both struggled until an abbey pulled them apart.
“What’s going on you two?” she asked in a teacher tone
“She stole my medication!” Mathew snapped pointing an accusing finger at Heidi
Abby shifted her attention to the scared looking Heidi
“Is this true Heidi?” she asked
Timidly Heidi looked up to Abby
“N-no.” she said
“She’s got them in her hands!” Mathew yelled
Abby noticed the pill container in Heidi’s clutches. She gives the nervous schoolgirl a serious look.
“Give those back to him Heidi.” She said
Again Heidi shook her head
“Heidi,” Abby said more insistently, “give back the pills.”
Heidi looked from the teacher to Mathew A moment later Heidi handed over the medication.
“freak.” Mathew said softly
“Hey!” Abby snapped
As Mathew walked away Abby looked at Heidi in concern.
“What was that about?” she asked
“H-he’s going to hurt himself.” Heidi replied anxiously
“Mathew has never done that before what makes you so sure?”
“I-it’s the pills t-they’re gonna make him go funny.”
“How do you know that?”
“I-I just know.”
Abby sighed. she felt sorry for the girl. Heidi seemed like she had potential but something was holding he back.
“Your teachers are beginning to worry about you Heidi. You’re a bright girl but you’re always distracted.”
“I-I’m serious H-He’s gonna hurt himself.” Heidi said more insistently, “P-Please.”
“Perhaps you need to talk to the councilor again.”
Heidi thought about this. Abby was right she needed help. Heidi turned and sprinted away.
Rebecca sat stressfully in her office. she was trying to get her paperwork done but she couldn’t focus. the pigheadedness of the watcher was playing on her mind. there was a light knock at the door. Rebecca sighed and tried to push her emotions down.
“come in.”
The door slowly opened and Belle walked in. Rebecca looked at her curiously in return Belle looked at Rebecca in an awkward way.
“Yeah, Principal Crawford sent me here,” Belle said cynically, “apparently I have anger issues.”
“I heard about the cafeteria.” Rebecca replied gesturing for Belle to sit.
The slayer looked at the Divine One curiously.
“You have to be more careful with your slayer strength,” Rebecca explained, “I know at first it seems a little daunting but you . . . “
“What are you?” belle asked
Rebecca stopped she half expected Belle to ask this question after last nights display.
“I’m your school councilor.”
“No I’m serious,” Belle continued, “What are you? Are you one of those demons that Nigel keeps talking about?”
“I’m not a demon,” Rebecca replied, “can we just get back to what happened yesterday?”
“You kicked a filing cabinet like it was a football and, last night; you threw that vampire like he was a rag doll and pulled a ball of fire out of thin air.”
Rebecca rubbed her temple stressfully. Belle looks at her in confusion.
“If you can do all this stuff why aren’t you out there fighting vampires?” she continued
“It’s complicated,” Rebecca replied
Just then the door burst open. Heidi was standing in the doorway completely exhausted.
“Heidi?” Rebecca asked in concern, “What is it?”
Heidi looked at Rebecca in complete panic.
“S-someone’s gonna die!” she said desperately
Back in the library Nigel was stacking books up on the shelf. He had just placed an encyclopedia back when something caught his eye out the window. A look of shock crossed his face
“Oh my lord.” He exclaimed before rushing out the library.
It only took a few minutes for Rebecca, Belle and Heidi to reach the front of the gym. They look up and see Mathew standing near the edge of the roof. He was hugging himself anxiously as tears streamed from his eyes. Rebecca looked around the crowd and saw Nolan standing near by.
“What’s going on?” she asked him
“It was the weirdest thing,” Nolan replied, “one minute he was fine the next he was running out the class room saying the walls were closing in and nobody loved him.”
“It sounds a lot like a psychotic episode,” Nigel said as he moved into the group, “I saw him from the library.”
“What are we going to do?” Belle asked
Rebecca looked around the large group of students and teachers. She turned to Nigel.
“Do you think you can clear this crowd?” she asked
Nigel thought about it.
“It’s possible why?”
“Because I’m going to get him down and to do that I’m going to need to use my powers.”
Nigel nodded. He made his way to the front of the group he turned to the group and smiled.
“Can I have everyone’s attention please,” he announced, “I would like to thank you all for attending our demonstration on what to do in a suicide situation . . .”
The crowd looked at each other confused. Nigel started to Sheppard everybody away.
“ . . . I hope you all learned something now please return to your classrooms.”
Still the confused the crowd dispersed and reentered the building. When it was just the five of them Nigel nodded to Rebecca. Rebecca pointed her hand to the ground and a portal opened beneath her feet.
On the roof Mathew stared over the ledge. He was shaking and sweating profusely. The sound of the opening portal stunned him and he turned around sharply. Mathew watched in shock as Rebecca dropped out of a hole in the sky. Calmly the Divine One slowly approached the scared boy.
“Everything’s okay Mathew,” Rebecca said softly, “nobody’s going to hurt you.”
“You came out of nowhere. Have you come to kill me?” he asked
“I’m trying to help you. What I need you to do is move away from the ledge.”
Mathew looked at Rebecca cautiously.
“Why? What are you going to do to me?” he asked
“I’m just trying to help.”
When Rebecca was about a meter away Mathew raised his hands in panic.
“No! Stay back! I’m not anywhere with you!” he yelled
Rebecca stopped moving but it was no good. Mathew took a step back and dropped off the ledge . . .
. . . Into a waiting portal. Rebecca sensed that reason wasn’t going to work so she went to plan B.
“Thank you, goodbye.” Said the school nurse before hanging up the phone.
The nurse did one final check on Mathew then went over to Rebecca and Nigel.
“Mathew had a chest infection about a week ago. His doctor accidentally gave him the wrong pills by mistake. That’s what caused the episode.”
“So he’s going to be alright?” Nigel asked
“He’ll have to stay in hospital for a couple of days but after that there should be no problem,” the nurse explained, “It was lucky you find him when you did.”
“Thanks a lot.” Rebecca replied as she and Nigel left the nurses office.
Outside Belle and Nolan waited patiently.
“How is he?” Belle asked
“He’s going to be fine.” Rebecca replied, “If it wasn’t for Heidi Mathew wouldn’t have made it.”
Nolan looked at Rebecca in awe.
“That portal thing was great!” he exclaimed, “You are so hot!”
Nolan felt three sets of eyes stare at him curiously. Nolan began to panic
“You know, for a married chick . . . who’s also a councilor and . . . ah . . . I’m gonna go.” he continued
Nolan turned and left as quickly as he could. Nigel looked around the remaining people and realized something.
“Where did Heidi get to?” he asked
“I think I saw her run away after we arrived at the gym.” Belle commented
“I think we need to talk to her.” Rebecca replied
~ The home of Heidi Marsh – 20 minutes later ~
“Come on sweetie unlock the door,” Jennifer Marsh, Heidi’s mother, asked sweetly.
Jennifer knocked lightly on Heidi’s bedroom door again. Inside she could hear the sound of crying which worried her. When Heidi came rushing through the front door earlier then she should have her mother could sense that something was amiss.
“I just want to know what happened that’s all please let me in.” she continued
She heard a knock on the front door. Jennifer looked from her daughter’s bedroom to the front door deciding whether or not to go. She walked to the front door and answered it. On the other side Rebecca and Nigel stood calmly. Jennifer looked at the both of them curiously
“Can I help you?” Jennifer asked
“Mrs. Marsh my name is Rebecca Whitfield I am the councilor for your daughter’s school. This is Nigel Wincroft.” Rebecca said calmly
“Oh,” Jennifer replied, “please come in.”
“I don’t know what to do with her,” Jennifer said as she poured both Nigel and Rebecca some coffee, “she’s just so closed off from everybody. My husband and I have tried counseling but it hasn’t helped.”
“Has she always been like this?” Nigel asked curiously
“Oh no she was never this bad,” Jenifer replied, “back at her old school she was one of the most popular students according to her teachers.”
“Really?”
“Heidi’s a very bright girl, one lots of competitions for her writing, she even directed one of their school plays.”
“So she was a creative girl?” Rebecca asked
Jennifer smiled. She liked to think of the old days.
“Very. When she was younger she used to play in the back yard with her imaginary friends all the time. She was so happy. Our little lucky star.”
Rebecca and Nigel looked at her curiously.
“That’s what we called her,” Jennifer explained, “You see, she had this knack of finding things at the right time. We also won the lottery a couple of times because we handed her a blank lottery form and she gave us some numbers.”
Rebecca and Nigel looked at each other.
“When did everything change?” Nigel asked
Jennifer dropped her head. A look of sadness crossed her face.
“It was right after we moved to Raleighfield. For some reason Heidi kept going to the scene of all these horrible accidents and murders. She kept looking at people and talking about things she thought was going to happen to them. Quickly she began to isolate herself from people. We’d ask what was wrong and she told us that she wanted the voices to stop . . .”
Jennifer paused. Slowly she looked up at the pair.
“. . . I don’t know how long I can take this,” she continued, “my daughter is so scared all the time and there’s nothing I can do to help her.”
Finally things began to make sense. It was obvious to both Rebecca and Nigel that Heidi was some kind of seer. Rebecca smiled and placed a caring hand on Jennifer’s shoulder.
“Is it okay if I talk to her?” Rebecca asked softly, “I have experience with people in your daughter’s condition.”
Jennifer looked to Rebecca a small glint of hope in her eye.
“If you think you can help her, please.” She replied
Heidi lay face down on her bed the tears flowing from her eyes. There was a light knocking at her door.
“Heidi its Mrs. Whitfield from your school can we talk for a second?” Rebecca asked
Heidi didn’t reply. The door made a snapping sound as Rebecca twisted the doorknob hard enough to break the lock. Slowly Rebecca and Nigel entered.
“Hi.” Rebecca asked calmly, “How are you feeling.”
“Go away!” Heidi yelled
Rebecca sat on Heidi’s bed.
“Listen, about what happened earlier today, you did a good thing warning us. We were able to help Mathew because of you.”
“B-because I’m a freak!” Heidi screamed
“No, no you’re not a freak,” Rebecca replied softly, “you’re special . . . like me.”
Heidi lifted her head she turned and slowly looked at Rebecca.
“Really?” she asked
“Of course Heidi. You have great gift you can help a lot . . .”
“Virus.” Heidi said in a curious tone
Rebecca looked at the young seer anxiously. Nigel looked from Heidi to Rebecca.
“What was that?” Rebecca asked
“What you have . . . Virus . . . deadly,” Heidi said curiously, “they gave it to you.”
“Who did?” Nigel asked
“The lawyers. . . Wolfro . . . Wolfrea . . .”
“Wolfram and Hart?”
Heidi nodded. Nigel looked at Rebecca seriously. Rebecca tried to hide her anxious.
“You told me that the voices speak to you in your head,” Rebecca continued trying to change the subject, “do these voices have a name?”
Heidi looked around anxiously.
“I-I’m not supposed to tell people that.” she replied
Rebecca looked around the room. She noticed a pad and a pencil on Heidi’s desk.
“Do you think you can write it down?” Rebecca asked
Heidi looked at Rebecca worried. Rebecca smiled at her.
“It’s important Heidi.”
Heidi nodded. She moved over to her desk and scribbled down a name. She handed the pad back over to Rebecca who read it. She looked up at the seer curiously.
“Are you sure that’s the name they gave?”
Heidi nodded slowly a pout forming on her face.
“I’m sorry.” She said quietly.
Before Rebecca could reply Heidi jumped up from her bed and rushed out of the room. Rebecca looked stunned and placed the pad on the ground. Nigel looked at her worried.
“What was the name?” he asked
Rebecca handed him the pad.
“The powers that be?”
“Why can’t people just leave me alone.” Rebecca replied
Nigel put down the pad as Rebecca rubbed her forehead stressfully.
“Is it true?” Nigel asked,
“Is what true?” Rebecca asked
“What Heidi said about the virus is it true?”
“Yeah it’s some kind of countermeasure Wolfram and Hart put in me when I was created.”
There was silence between them for a moment.
“Alright.” Nigel said, “I’ll talk to the council and try and get them to track down the Goddess Willow.”
Rebecca looked at him in relief.
“Thanks.” She replied softly
Outside Heidi sat on her front doorstep. She had her chin on her knees and hugged her legs tightly. Across the road a maintenance van pulled up. Heidi looked at it curiously for a moment until a look of sheer panic crossed her face.
“Explosion,” she exclaimed, “The school . . . destroyed . . . all dead.”
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