Acknowledgments
A Series 25 Years In The Making
Hi there! I’m a huge fan of Xena: Warrior Princess. I have been a Xenite since 1995. I also have been writing since my teens. In 1996 the episode,The Xena Scrolls, aired and I came up with a rough, short story of Mel and Janice’s descendants. But then, due to life happening, and a writer's block, I stored the story away, forgetting about it until 2018 when I was binge-watching Xena: Warrior Princess and watched The Xena Scrolls again for the first time in 22 years. Suddenly the writer's block broke, I found the story, and I started to rework it. What began as a short story, became the pilot novel Chakram Reborn!!
There are tons of people I would love to thank for helping me with this labor of love. First off, a huge thank you to many Xenites who helped me regain my writers flair, especially with editing. Thank you! You know who you are!
Christina Fisher, thanks for being my go-to girl for the Chakram Reborn series, especially season 1! Your thoughts and ideas have helped create some excellent storylines! One of my first fans of the series, you’ve been there from the start! Thank you!
Emma Louise Wilson, thanks for being my spiritual guru on everything Xena: Warrior Princess. Your wisdom, insight, and just how you see things that nobody else sees with the show has helped me view the show in a whole different light.
Kelly Shorty Follen, Sarah-Caitlin Williford, Jay Tuma, and Sandra Sue Surf, thanks for being my cheering squad and always supporting me and my series from the beginning!! You ladies, ROCK!!!
To everyone in the Xenites United, Xena Fan Fic Chat, Xena Warrior Princess Facebook Pages, and all my Twitter followers!! Thank you for supporting Chakram Reborn! Love you all!!
And last but not least, to my BFF and partner in this fun and crazy life, Stacey Thieme! You have been my biggest supporter through this all (even though you are not into this genre, I’ll forgive you 😉👍😘). Thank you, Goddess. Love you!!
The Yin/Yang Chakram, a weapon only a select few could handle. It is said that when Gabrielle died, Xena and Gabrielle’s spirits were intertwined within the Chakram, waiting to be released again. Throughout time, trusted Gods and humans alike hid this Chakram, waiting for the time for Xena and Gabrielle to be reborn again. For when the time comes, a descendant of Xena’s will hold the Chakram, and Xena and Gabrielle will be reborn again. Both Xena and Gabrielle will be reincarnated as their descendants and will be reunited. And once finding the Chakram, they shall emerge as their true selves again, ready to fight for the greater good in a new world.
Opening Scene
Lying in her bed, 21 year old Jessie Pappas-Decker’s head moves side to side as she tries not to dream. The raven haired beauty whimpers as her mind cast a scene of a past that she is haunted by. In the downstairs family room of the spacious Decker home, a young Jessie, 5, and her two older sisters Sydney, 7 and Beth, 9 are hiding in the walk-in closet peeking out of a cracked open door at the fearful sight.
Their mother Zara Pappas-Decker, is being held at gunpoint by a dark figure. "Where is it!" the female voice says angrily.
"Listen, I have no clue what you're talking about, but if you want money, I can give it to you!" Zara says nervously. "Just please don't shoot, I hate guns!"
The dark figure walks around her and says, "I know you have it! It’s been in your family for generations!"
"I told you, I have no clue what you're talking about!" Says the raven haired Zara.
The shadowy female figure cocks the gun, points it to Zara's head and says, "Either you give it to me or your girls will be without a mother!"
A scared look comes across Zara's face. "Leave my girls alone! They are innocent!" Zara says frightened.
The shadowy figure begins to angrily laugh into Zara's ear and says in an evil voice, "Maybe if I kill one of your daughters, then you'll give it to me!"
Sydney tries to open the door, but Beth pulls her back, forcing Sydney's curly, light brown bangs to fall in her face. "Stay here!" Beth whispers as a strand of brown hair falls in front of her.
An angry look comes across Zara's face and she elbows the intruder in the stomach and back kicks the gun out of her hand. The three young girls watch in horror as a fight starts between the two female adults!! Little Jessie hugs Beth as the two women fight. Beth and Sydney go to the corner of the closet while Jessie looks through the crack of the door. Suddenly the dark figure pulls out a knife and when Zara isn’t looking, the woman stabs Zara in the stomach. A look of pain and fear comes across Zara's face as she kneels to the ground. She looks at the knife in her stomach, blood oozing out of her stomach, then back up at the shadowy figure. And as she falls to the ground Jessie awakes from her nightmare!!
"NO!!" Jessie yells in horror and anger. She looks around her room gasping for air, wiping the sweat from her forehead. She runs into the bathroom, turns on the faucet and splashes cold water on her face. As she grabs a towel and dries her face, she then looks into the mirror with horror and anger.
Her long raven hair falls past her shoulder and her deep blue eyes stare helplessly at herself. "Why am I having this dream again!!" she says angrily. "Why?!" She clenches her fists wanting to smash the mirror, but she makes her fist stop before smashing it. She takes a deep breath and walks back into her room, sits on her bed and glances at her phone sitting on her night stand and sees that it's 6am. " I have to go workout. I need to calm down." She takes a deep breath and goes into her bathroom.
....…..........................
About 30 minutes later Jessie is in the workout room of the sprawling Decker home. She is wearing a sports bra, black yoga pants and sneakers. Her hair is in a ponytail and she is wearing boxing gloves. With determination in her face, she easily hits the large bag, sending it flying midway up. Her toned abs and arms flex with each punch as she concentrates on her workout. Her older sisters, Sydney and Beth Pappas-Decker walk in and stare at Jessie with worried looks on their faces. Sydney, now 23, still has curly, light brown hair, but the curls are looser. Beth, now 25, sports brown/blonde highlights. Both are dressed in sweats and sneakers.
"She had the nightmare again." Sydney whispers to Beth with a concerned look on her face.
Beth sighs and looks at Jessie as she's concentrating on punching the bag. "She needs help." Beth says to Sydney, “She can't keep living with these nightmares."
Sydney's one eyebrow raises as she gives Beth a serious look. "She isn't going to do counseling." Sydney says. "She won’t even talk to us! Besides, she hates Dr. Smith.”
"That's because he's Andrea's buddy from college or whatever." Beth says sarcastically.
Sydney looks over at Jessie with concern. "There is another option." Sydney says as they walk up to Jessie. "Hey sis! Having a good workout?"
"Yep." Jessie says as her punches become more fierce. "Doesn't your hands hurt? " Beth says as Jessie stops and turns around, taking off her gloves.
"One of you, block me!" Jessie says in a zone. Sydney and Beth look at each other and Sydney takes position in front of Jessie.
Sydney blocks Jessie's fists as she reverts to a kickboxing/hand to hand style of workout. Jessie swings her hips as Sydney blocks her punches and kicks. Jessie and Sydney start to move around the room. For every punch and kick that Jessie throws, Sydney flawlessly blocks. Jessie jumps on a workout bench, does a backflip and performs a swing kick move, but making sure she never hurts her older sister, who is amazed by the actions her younger sister is performing. Beth looks on in awe as Jessie runs onto another bench and does a backflip, forcing Sydney to quickly turn and block a high kick. Jessie takes a fist and aims it towards Sydney.
"Ok, Jess, you're done!" Beth says seriously as she blocks Jessie fist from almost coming to Sydney's face. "We need to talk! Now!"
Jessie snaps out of the zone she was in and grabs a towel wiping sweat from her face. "You know I'd never hit you Sydney!." Jessie says. "What's up?"
Sydney grabs a towel and wipes her face. "We're worried about you Jess," she says concerned. "You've been off for a while, distant. Jessie, what’s wrong?"
Jessie walks over to a cooler and grabs a bottled water, taking a big gulp, she looks over at her older sisters. "I'm fine." Jessie says seriously. "Everything's ok."
Beth walks over to Jessie and puts her hand on her younger sister's shoulder, "Jessie, you have been having those nightmares again about what happened to mom, haven’t you?" Beth says concerned.
Jessie gets a serious look on her face. "I'm fine." Jessie says calmly as she looks seriously into Beth's eyes. "I'm good."
Sydney sits on a workout bench and looks at Jessie. "Jess, we are worried about you," she says seriously. "I know you don't want to hear this, but maybe you should talk with Dr. Smith, maybe he can... "
Jessie starts pacing in front of them. "Hell No!" Jessie yells. "I'm not talking to that quack job! There's something about him that freaks me out!!"
"Jess, I know you haven't been to counseling in a while, but he can help." Sydney says in a worried voice. She gets up and gently puts her hand under Jessie's chin as a tear runs down her face. "Jess, I would move heaven and earth if I could bring mom back and make your pain go away, but you've been holding this anger up for way too long now. You've become so distant, like a different person."
Beth walks to Jessie and touches her shoulder, "Listen, I know you don't like Andrea." Beth says seriously. "We don't like her either, but for some weird reason she makes dad happy. Just please, talk to Dr. Smith, maybe he can help."
Suddenly Jessie gets this angry look on her face and puts her fist through a board that was holding more boxing gloves. Jessie's action causes Sydney and Beth to look on in fear. Jessie snaps out of her mood and turns to them, with a tear in her eye,"I, I'm sorry." Jessie says with regret, "I didn't mean to scare you two. I would never harm you." Beth and Sydney give Jessie a hug.
"It's ok Jess." Beth says reassuring her. "We know." Beth looks at Sydney seriously then they look at Jessie.
"Hey sis, can we throw another idea at you." Sydney says. Jessie looks at them and shakes her head yes. "We've been in contact with Aunt Kira." Sydney says. "And since you're done with your classes this semester, she would like to see you!" A huge smile comes across Jessie's face.
"Wow!" Beth says happily, "I haven't seen you smile like that in years!" Jessie sits on a bench and looks at her sisters.
"It's been at least seven years since I’ve seen her!" Jessie says grinning from ear to ear, she looks down at the floor, then back at her sisters. "She really wants to see me!" Jessie says with excitement in her voice.
"Yeah sis! She does!" Sydney happily says.
Jessie gets up and walks around, "But what about you two? I know she'd love to see both of you again." Jessie says.
“Well, we are booked with classes and other stuff." Beth says, "Besides, you are her favorite!" Jessie smiles again then gets a serious look on her face.
"Does dad and Andrea know about this?" Jessie says worried, "Dad would be cool with the idea, but Andrea will protest it in a heartbeat!"
"She doesn't have any say in our lives Jessie!" Sydney says seriously, "We are grown adults now. And if anyone needs this getaway, it's you." Sydney hugs Jessie, "Think about it sis."
Just then a female voice comes over the intercom in the gym. "Ladies, breakfast," the voice says, "Your dad is home from his business trip and wants to see you." All three girls look at the intercom with disgust.
"I don't want to deal with her." Jessie says in disgust as she puts a zipped hoodie on.
Sydney grabs her arm and says, "Come on Jess, if we have to, so do you." All three sisters leave the gym room for breakfast.
The scene is now the elegant Decker dining room where a spread of breakfast foods are laid across the huge dining room table. Sitting on the right side of the table is Andrea Decker, age 54. With her long brownish hair, brown eyes, high cheekbones and 6 foot frame, she has a look that is captivating, but demands respect. The three sisters walk in the dining room and sit across from her looking civil to say the least.
"Good morning girls, did you have a good workout?” Andrea asks politely.
"Yes, yes we did Andrea." Beth says.
Walking into the dinning room is 58 year old James Decker. His brown yet salt and pepper hair and goatee gives him a sexy, rugged look as his biceps flex through his business suit.
"Ok, let me get back to you." James says on his cell phone, "Having breakfast with my daughters." He shuts off his cell phone and looks at his daughters with a smile on his face. "Hi ladies!" he says, "How’s my girls!"
All three sisters get up and hug their dad. You can tell Beth and Sydney resemble their father with their hair color and hazel eyes. Jessie hugs James and he looks at her tenderly knowing she's the spitting image of his beloved late wife. "Come on girls, let’s eat, talk!"
A few minutes later, the family is eating breakfast. Jessie eats a high protein breakfast with minimal carbs while everyone else eats regular breakfast.
"I'm sorry I've been away on business, gals." James says, "These deals that are coming up could land the company with huge profits this month."
"That's good dad." Sydney says as she looks at Jessie with a coaxing signal.
"So Beth, how's graduate school going?" Andrea asks.
"Uh, good. I start labs next semester for my Pathology classes.” Beth says.
James gets a huge smile on his face. "That's awesome Beth!" James says proudly. “Or should I say soon to be Dr. Beth Pappas-Decker!”
“Well, there’s still four years of med school I have to do before that happens!” Beth says happily.
Andrea looks at Beth with a confused look on her face and asks, "But I thought you were going for history?"
"That would be me." Sydney says annoyed. "Beth has always been into science and medicine." Suddenly there is an awkward moment of silence in the room. Sydney looks at James and says with an excited tone in her voice, "I'm studying Ancient history right now. We are exploring the Amazon tribes of Ancient Greek and Roman times! These Amazon women were very intriguing! I’m even thinking about taking a class on ancient weaponry of Greek and Roman civilizations!”
“Wow! You girls are really coming into your own." James says as Andrea still has a confused look on her face. He looks at Jessie, "How about you Jess? What have you been up to in school?"
Jessie looks at her sisters and then at her dad. "I finished all my classes early this semester." Jessie said.
”That's great!" James says.
"Have you picked out a major yet?" Andrea asks, staring seriously at her, "Your father and I are paying for all three of your girls' schooling, we at least want to know what your career goals are."
Jessie looks at Andrea seriously. "Number one, our father is paying for our schooling, not you," Jessie says annoyed, ”Second, I will decide when the time is ready, what to do with my life!"
"Jess, what's wrong honey?” James asks with a worried look on his face. "You can tell me."
Jessie looks at her dad seriously. "I want to take some time off from school." Jessie says. "I want to take a gap semester. I've been stuck in either boarding school and now college. I need a break."
"What do you want to do Jess?" James asks.
"Out of the question!" Andrea barks as she interrupts them. "You need to keep up with your credits, you want to graduate on time!"
Jessie angrily whips her head at Andrea and stares her down. "It's my life!" Jessie yells. "You have no say in it!"
"Jessie keep your voice down!" Andrea says seriously. "You're embarrassing yourself in front of your whole family!"
"Screw you!" Jessie yells angrily at Andrea.
"Jessie! Calm down!" James says worriedly. "What's wrong? I've never seen you like this! Are you ok? Something going on on campus? Can you tell me?"
Jessie looks at her dad seriously and says, "I want to go see Aunt Kira out in Arizona! I miss her! And she wants me to come down there."
"Maybe you should talk with Dr. Smith, he can help you out with your anger issues," Andrea says.
"I am not talking to that quack job!" Jessie says angrily.
Andrea suddenly gets up from the table and both her and Jessie come face to face with each other. "I won't allow you to belittle a friend who has helped this family!" Andrea says as she stares angrily at Jessie, who is equally staring her down.
"Help this family!" Jessie screams. "He's nothing but a so called therapist out to make a quick buck off our family!"
"I won't allow you to talk like this to me!" Andrea yells.
"Fuck off! You're not our mother!" Jessie screams as a fist starts to curl up. Beth, Sydney and James suddenly fly out of their chairs and Beth and Sydney pull Jessie back while James pulls Andrea back.
"Jess, Jess, calm down. Take a deep breath." Beth says in a reassuring voice, "It's ok. Just breathe."
Jessie takes a huge breath and looks at her very confused dad, "I'm sorry dad." Jessie says, "I'm just stressed out right now."
James looks at her worried and says, "Jess, honey, I don't know what's troubling you, but, if you want to take some time away and go visit your aunt, I'll support your decision. Just promise me that you'll keep in contact with your sisters and me."
"Of course dad." Jessie says more calmly, “You know I will.”
James walks over to Jessie, hugs her and says. "All I want is for you to be happy Jess." He smiles at her then says, "Come on, give me that beautiful smile that lights up my world."
Jessie gives her dad a smirk and says, "Don't worry dad, I'll be ok."
They look at each other with smiles on their faces, "You are your mother's daughter." James says. He then looks at everyone, grabs a muffin and says, "I have to go to a meeting. Is everything ok now?" Everyone nods their head yes in agreement. "Book the flight and let me know when you leave Jess." James says. Jessie nods yes as James leaves the room.
Andrea then looks at Jessie with disgust in her eyes and screams, “Why you little bitch!” Andrea goes to slap Jessie but she quickly blocks her hand, twisting her arm to her back and throwing her against the wall.
"What the hell!" Jessie says confused. "Don't you ever, ever try to lay a hand on me! You got it!"
Andrea gets a shocked look on her face as Sydney says seriously. "Jessie let her go! You're going to break her arm."
"Let her go! Now Jess!" Beth says seriously.
Jessie releases her hold on Andrea, giving her a glaring look and walks out of the dining room in a hurry.
"Your sister is nuts!" Andrea says stretching her arm, "I'm glad she's getting away from us!"
Sydney looks at Andrea with a serious look on her face, "No, more like you!" she says annoyed, "Ever since you married our dad, all you've tried to do is control us."
"That's not true!" Andrea says, "I've always wanted what was best for all three of you girls."
"Yeah right!" Beth says annoyed, "All you've done is dictate our lives!" Beth says as she leaves.
"Oh, and just so you know, your buddy the therapist, his therapy, never helped!" Sydney says as she also leaves. Andrea's facial expression then becomes cold as she walks out of the room.
Later that night, Jessie is fast asleep in her bed, suddenly her dream takes her to a place during the time of ancient Rome. There is a battle going on against a group of raiders and a very tall, athletic woman. Having the same raven hair as Jessie only a tad darker, her deep blue eyes are focused in battle. She swings her sword blocking and killing every raider that comes her way. She makes a war cry as she back flips and stabs another raider, killing him. She suddenly grabs an object from her belt. It is blurred from Jessie's view, but this woman warrior takes it, throws it and watches it as it reflects off of two raiders, bouncing off their faces causing them to collapse. The object flies back into the woman's hand and she puts it back on her belt. She runs screaming with her sword out and suddenly Jessie hears a familiar voice say, "Find the Chakram, and you will find your true self!" Jessie wakes up gasping for air, sweat running down her face.
Sydney and Beth rush into her room with worried looks on their faces.
"Jess! Are you ok?!?" Sydney asks worriedly, "We heard you wake up and gasp for air!"
"Did you have another nightmare?" Beth asks worriedly as she pulls a lock of hair from Jessie's face.
Jessie shakes her head no. "No, it was weird." Jessie says confused, "It was like I was back in like ancient times in a battle scene of sorts. There was this woman battling a group of men and she was amazing! She was taking on an army by herself! All of a sudden, she took something off her belt and flung it at a couple soldiers who just fell dead to the ground. The object came back to her and she took off running." Jessie wipes her eye, "I felt drawn to her for some reason. Then I heard a voice say something, but I couldn't remember what it was, then I woke up."
Beth and Sydney look at each other concerned. "Do you want us to stay with you Jess?" Sydney asks. "We can stay with you until morning."
Jessie shakes her head,."No, I'm good," Jessie says. "I called Aunt Kira and I'm heading out to Arizona the day after tomorrow."
"Wow, that's quick." Beth says, "We should go out before you leave."
"Yeah, like a girls night out, just the three of us!" Sydney says as Jessie smiles.
"I'm only going for a few months." Jessie says, "It's not like I'm going off forever. But hey, a night out with you two does sound good!" Jessie grabs Beth and Sydney's hand, "I will be ok, don't worry." They all smile and have a group hug. "I have a feeling everything will be ok in the end." Jessie says smiling.
Chapter 2: The Reunion and Forging a Friendship
Summary:
In this chapter, you will get introduced to Jessie’s Aunt Kira, who has a major role in this story. Also, you’ll get introduced to Lester Jacks, who sort of reminds you of a bumbling sidekick from the Xena Universe. It also introduces the other main character of this story, Abigail Covington. I went back and forth on how to introduce her in the story and I went with a major issue of today that is serious, but it bonds Jessie and Abigail together. Also, be on the lookout for one of our favorite Goddesses from the Xena universe. I did change her up a bit! It was fun giving her a total character change! Plus we get the first glimpse of Ares!
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Jessie's plane lands at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Jessie grabs her bags and walks to the meeting site. Restaurants and shops surround this part of the airport. She takes off her sunglasses and slides them into the inside pocket of her leather jacket, she reaches into the pocket of her blue jeans to pull her phone out when a tall man in his late 20's taps her shoulder. She quickly turns around causing her ponytail to swing to the other side of her shoulder. She grabs the guys wrist, as if protecting herself from danger.
"Woah there!" the guy says, "You’re Jessie right?"
Jessie then releases the guys hand and says seriously, "I’m sorry! Can I help you?"
"I'm Lester Jacks. I work for your aunt at the ranch." He says, "We got a delivery of new horses in and your aunt had to stay back to take inventory. She sent me to get ya!"
Jessie looks at the guy dressed in jeans, a button upped western style shirt, cowboy boots and hat. With his weird eyes and annoying jawbone Jessie looks him up and down and becomes unamused by his goofy looks, giving him a weird smirk. "Here let me take your bags." Lester says as he starts to grab them.
"I got it." Jessie says grabbing her bags.
"But Miss Jessie, your aunt gave me instructions to help ya out at all times." Lester says with a goofy smile. "Let me help ya!" Jessie sets down her luggage and Lester picks them up. "Come on!" Lester says happily as he and Jessie start to walk out of the airport.
Jessie shakes her head, giggles to herself and says in her head, "Oh boy! This is going to be fun!"
In an old pick-up truck, Jessie looks out the window as Lester starts to whistle a song not heard of in the modern era, but for some reason, it’s familiar to her. She stares at him with a sarcastic look on her face. He then looks at her, seeing that she's not amused and stops. "Um, sorry Miss Jessie." Lester says obliviously. "Family song. Been in my family for generations."
"Ok." Jessie says.
"So, Miss Kira says you're from New York." Lester says, trying to make small talk.
"Upstate New York." Jessie says.
Lester looks over at her and asks, “So, what do you do? Are you in college?"
“I'm entering my 3rd year of college." Jessie says. "I just need a break."
Lester looks back on the road, smiles and says, "Your aunt is really excited to see ya Miss Jessie! That's all she talked about this week!"
Jessie smiles then grabs her wireless headphones from a bag and puts them on. Lester can see that she isn't into small talk and just continues driving.
About 30 minutes outside Sedona, Lester pulls into the sprawling Pappas Ranch. While he drives down the long dirt road leading to the main house, Jessie takes off her headphones smiling at the reddish mountains that wrap around the land. A spark ignites in her eyes as the beauty of the land amazes her. Lester then stops in front of the main house and they get out of the truck. He takes her bags out of the back. "I'll set these in the main house for ya Miss Jessie." Lester says happily.
"Thanks." Jessie says as she looks around soaking in the beauty. She walks to the end of the truck, taking off her sunglasses. "Wow! It's still beautiful!" Jessie says happily staring out at the mountains.
"It's sure is darling!" says a female voice behind her. Jessie turns around to see her Aunt Kira. Kira, 51 years old, stands around 5'7, about 130 pounds with brownish hair and lighter blue eyes than Jessie's. She is wearing jeans, boots, a t-shirt and a jean jacket. They share a warm embrace.
"Aunt Kira!" Jessie says happily. "I've missed you so much!" Kira looks at Jessie with amazement. "Wow! You have grown since I last saw ya!" Kira says a tear runs down her face.
"What's wrong." Jessie says concerned.
"Nothing sweet." Kira says smiling, "It's just that you are the spitting image of your ma."
Jessie smiles softly at her and says, "Yeah, I've been told that."
Kira looks around the ranch. "Well now, let's get you all settled in! Come on!" Kira says as they walk to the house.
Sitting on a big comfy leather chair, Jessie looks out the huge window watching the mountains. The living room has a cozy, yet rugged vibe to it with western art hanging on the walls, some Southwest pottery and rugs on the floor and leather furniture giving it a rustic feel. Kira walks in carrying a tray with two mugs and a carafe with coffee. "Now you have free reign over the ranch Jessie." Kira says as she pours coffee into mugs and hands Jessie one. "Don't be afraid to go out riding.You still ride horses?"
Jessie puts her mug down and shamefully looks at the floor, then at Kira. "No." Jessie says. "With being at boarding school then college, I really didn't have the time. Besides, Andrea didn't want the stables on the property anymore."
Kira then gets an angry look on her face and says, "Riding was your passion Jess! I can't believe she took that from you! It was the only thing that made you happy." Kira then walks to the fireplace and says, "You know I never liked that woman Jessie." Kira looks at a picture of Zara and her when they were teens and then back at Jessie and tells her, "But I guess your sisters and you needed a mother."
"She is not and never will be our mother Aunt Kira." Jessie says seriously. "But for some weird reason she makes our dad happy."
Kira walks over to Jessie and puts her hand under her cheek causing Jessie to smile. "Your mom would be so proud of you." Kira says smiling as she sits in front of Jessie. "Your sisters have been keeping me updated on you and I don't want to push you on these nightmares you've been having, but I want you to know that when you're ready to talk, I'm here for you."
Jessie looks out the window with a little pain in her eyes. "You can stay here as long as you want." Kira says as Jessie hugs Kira.
"Thanks!" Jessie says smiling. "This means a lot to me, letting me come out here and everything!"
"You're family honey!" Kira says smiling. "Once you start riding again, things will become much clearer for ya!"
"Well, do you have a gym or workout room here?" Jessie says. "I have a workout routine I do every morning. It keeps me focused."
"Well no, sorry Jessie." Kira says, "But there is a huge workout center at our local college about 15 minutes from here. I can make some calls and you can go workout whenever you want."
"Thanks. That would be great." Jessie says. "Could I borrow a truck in the morning then?"
Kira smiles at Jessie and says, "I got something better that I'd think you'd like! Follow me!"
A few minutes later Kira and Jessie open a barn door to an old shed, they walk in and Jessie looks around. "Sydney told me that while you were at boarding school you took up riding motorcycles." Kira says as she walks to something that's covered up by a tarp.
“Well, since I couldn’t ride horses at the time, I needed something to do.” Jessie says. “Riding a motorcycle became my only option.”
Kira takes the tarp off and in front of Jessie is an old Harley. Jessie's eyes get big with excitement
"What the..." Jessie says happily shocked. "This is awesome!" She walks around it, studying it, amazed by its rugged beauty. "You, you didn't have to do this Aunt Kira."
Kira puts her finger to Jessie's mouth, "It belonged to your mom." Kira says grinning.
Jessie gets this shocked look on her face as Kira says, "Before your parents met, your mom rode this bike all the time. She felt relaxed after riding it. When your parents got married, she asked me to put it away for her. I had it restored about six months ago and Lester takes it out to keep it running."
Jessie gives her a weird look. "You let that goofball touch this beauty of a machine." Jessie says sarcastically.
"He might be a goof and an idiot at times, but he keeps things running here for me when I can't fix stuff by myself." Jessie looks in awe at her mother's old bike, "Well, go on Jess! Start her up!!!" Kira says smiling.
Jessie hops on the bike and starts it up, revving the engine. A smirk comes across her face as Lester walks in.
"Hey! What's going on!" Lester says. "Heard the.."
"Out of my way!" Jessie yells as she kicks the kickstand up and rides the bike out of the shed and down the road.
"Hey does she even know how to drive that!" Lester says confused.
"More than you know how to Lester." Kira says happily as she watches her beloved niece ride off down the road with a huge smile on her face.
The next morning Jessie walks out of the women's locker room of the huge workout center of Sedona's local college. She is dressed in jeans, a white t-shirt and leather biker boots. She has her hair in a ponytail and is carrying a gym bag. She starts to walk out when she hears a noise coming from the hallway outside the gym. "Leave me alone!" A young woman yells. Jessie throws her bag down and runs into the hallway to see three guys cornering a young, blonde haired woman underneath a stairwell.
"What's the matter babe? Can't handle big boys?" Asks the ringleader as he has her pinned up against a wall.
"Leave me alone!" says the young woman with a very scared look on her face. The guy kisses her neck as she tries to squirm away.
"Come on! We just want some fun!" the guy says as he starts to unbutton her shirt. He starts to unbutton her pants and just as he was about to force himself on her, he is suddenly yanked back and is slammed into another staircase. "What the fuck!" he says stunned.
All of the sudden Jessie kickboxes the guy in the stomach. He tries to swing at her, but she blocks his swing, right hooking him in the nose, breaking it and causing him to fall to the ground gasping for air. His two friends run at Jessie but she does a swing kick to the head of one of the guys causing him to go flying into a towel rack and knocking it down as he falls to the floor. She then blocks a swing from the other guy, twisting his arm around and slams his head into a wall.
Meanwhile, the young woman, who was thrown to the ground during the ordeal, watches in amazement as Jessie subdues all three guys. Her blue-green eyes widen in amazement as Jessie takes on all three guys with ease!! When the fight is over, one guy crawls over to the other guy who starts to get up, wiping blood from his busted lip. They go over to their buddy whose nose is severely broken.
"My nose!" the guy says. "Coach is going to freak!"
"Pick up your piece of shit friend and get the hell out of here!! Now!" Jessie screams, "And if I ever see you three lay a hand on her I will finish what I started! Now go!"
The three guys become scared, get up and run off. Jessie then takes a breath and walks over to the young woman and looks down at her concerned. "Are you ok?" Jessie says worried.
The young woman grabs her glasses that were knocked from her face and puts them on. "Yes, I..." the woman says. "You... That was amazing." The young woman then looks up at Jessie and suddenly becomes awed by the beautiful, yet athletic woman.
"Are you ok?" Jessie says again. "Those guys were about ready to gang rape you! Do you need to get checked out? Or go to the campus police?"
"I'm fine. Thank you." the young woman says.
Jessie puts her hand out. "Here, let me help you." Jessie says as she takes the young woman's arm and helps her up. The young woman brushes off her jeans and buttons up her shirt and starts to pick up her books. Jessie kneels down to help her.
"Let me help." Jessie says as they pick up books.
"Thank you. Oh my god that was amazing." the woman says. "Those are star athletes from our baseball team and you just wasted them."
"Well, you looked like you needed some help." Jessie says smiling.
"I could've handled them." the woman says. “Really I could!!”
Jessie raises her right eyebrow and gives the woman a half smirk. "Ok." Jessie says with a chuckle as they stand up. "Are you sure you're ok."
"Yes, thank you." says the young woman. "I'm Abigail, Abbie for short, but I go by either name."
"Nice to meet you Abigail, I'm Jessie." Jessie says. "Do you want me to walk you somewhere just in case those jerks stalk you out or something."
"No, I'm done with classes till later this afternoon. I was going to drop my books off at my dorm room and walk into town and get an early lunch." says Abigail. "How about I treat you to lunch."
"No, you don't have too." Jessie says. "It's ok."
"No!" Abigail says seriously, "I want to. You saved me from those creeps, at least let me buy you lunch!" Jessie smiles at her. "Ok, lunch it is." Jessie says.
Abigail smiles at her and says. "My dorm is at Delta house, just across from here. Meet me there."
"Will do!" Jessie says smiling.
About five minutes later Abigail comes out of her dorm house and sees Jessie waiting for her on her bike. Abigail's eyes open in shock as she looks on in amazement at the old Harley. Jessie with her sunglasses and leather jacket looks at Abigail and smiles, "You ready?" Jessie asks.
"Wow!" Abigail says. "Nice bike!"
"Thanks." Jessie says. "I don't have a helmet for you, so hold on very carefully, ok?" Jessie puts her arm out and Abigail grabs it and hops on the back of the bike. "Hold on tight, you can trust me." Jessie says. "Just tell me where to go." Abigail nods her head yes and wraps her arms around Jessie's stomach. Jessie turns on the bike, revs the engine and heads off out of the campus.
About 10 minutes later they pull up to a small diner on the outskirts of town. A big pink sign reading Di's Cafe with a pink heart hangs above the door. They get off the bike and Abigail says, "You'll love this place. It's a little retro inside, but Di makes the best food around." They walk into the diner and it's like walking into a retro 80's diner from a sitcom. Pink walls and 80's memorabilia blanket the place. Jessie looks around, not knowing how to take this.
Suddenly coming out of the kitchen is Di, the owner of the diner. With her flamboyant blonde curly hair and 80's style waitress uniform, she looks like she walked out of the 80's. But for being in her 40's, she still has a young vibe. She looks over at Abigail and smiles.
"Well hey there Abbie! I was wondering when you'd show up!" Di says. "How's my favorite college freshman?"
"Good Di." Abigail says, "You know I'd eventually show up."
Di looks at Jessie and says, "I see ya brought a friend. Hi I'm Di, owner of this awesome diner and Goddess extraordinaire!"
Di snaps her fingers as Jessie chuckles. "I'm Jessie." she says.
"Awesome to meet ya Jessie!" Di says. "You two sit down and I'll grab ya some menus! Abbie, sweet tea right?"
"Yes." Abigail says. "Lots of ice and a lemon."
"Same here." Jessie says. "And water please."
After they place their orders Abigail looks at Jessie and starts the conversation.
"So I notice you're not from around here." Abigail says. "Are you transferring to the campus?"
"No, I go to NYU." Jessie says. "I'm just taking some time off, visiting my Aunt who has a horse ranch about 20 minutes outside of town."
"That huge ranch just past the Red Rocks!" Abigail says happily. "I've always wanted to go hiking up there."
"I'm sure my Aunt won't care if you go hiking on the trails sometime." Jessie says smiling.
Abigail looks down at the table then to Jessie, "I truly want to thank you for what you did for me earlier Jessie." Abigail says. "I never had anyone come to my rescue. I owe you big time."
Finally realizing what happened Abigail's hands start to shake. Jessie grabs them and looks at her with a worried look. "It's ok." Jessie says. "Are you sure you don't need to get checked out or something?"
Abigail takes a deep breath. "I'm fine.” says Abigail as she smiles at her. "It just hit me what happened, I'll be ok. Now, like I said, I owe you big time."
Jessie shakes her head no. "No, really, you don't owe me a thing.” she says. "I just wanted you to be safe from those assholes." They stare at each other, as a serious look comes across Jessie's face., "I have an idea." Jessie says. "How about after your morning classes you meet me at the gym and I can teach you how to protect yourself, show you some self-defensive moves."
Abigail smiles at Jessie. "You'd do that for me?!?" she asks.
"Yes, I would." Jessie says smiling at her while looking at her nerdy clothing. "Just dress accordingly." They look at each other, smile and giggle a little.
Di comes out of the kitchen carrying a tray with food on it, she sets Jessie's plate down. "There you go Jess!" she says, then she puts a huge plate in front of Abigail. "One Abbie special!"
Jessie's eyes get wide as she looks at the huge burger and fries and the short yet small Abigail. "Let me tell ya Jessie, this girl might be small, but she can eat with the best of them!" Di says as she grabs the tray, smiles at them then goes back into the kitchen.
Abigail looks at Jessie with a half grin and says, "High Metabolism!?!" They both laugh and start to eat their lunch.
The next morning, Abigail walks into the woman's gym. She is dressed in sneakers, yoga pants, sports bra, tank top and her long blonde hair is in a ponytail. She walks around the gym and finds Jessie, punching a huge punching bag. Jessie, wearing her trademark sneakers, yoga pants and sports bra with her hair up. She concentrates on each blow as her gloved fists hit the bag. Abigail watches Jessie in awe. With her toned arms and firm abs, Abigail can tell that Jessie is a powerhouse with sexiness that mixes very well with her 5'10 height.
Abigail pushes her glasses up and says with a excited tone in her voice. "Hi Jessie!"
Jessie stops her workout and looks at Abigail and smiles. "Hi Abigail!" Jessie says as she takes her gloves off. “I was just finishing up here.” Jessie grabs a towel and wipes her forehead. “Ready for your first lesson?”
“Uh, yeah.” Abigail says, still in awe.
“Ok, let’s go!” Jessie says as she looks at Abigail. “How much do you need your glasses?”
“Well, I really don’t need them. They’re the costume glasses that’s all the rage right now!” Abigail says. “Why?”
Jessie walks up to Abigail, and gently, yet seductively takes Abigail’s glasses off revealing her blue-green eyes. The move blows Abigail away as Jessie looks at her and smiles. “You won’t be needing these. You look better without them.” Jessie says as she smiles and tosses the glasses across the room.
A few minutes later Jessie and Abigail are in front of the punching bag and Jessie is tightening a pair of boxing gloves on Abigail. “Ok, first thing I want you to do is concentrate on the bag, focus and with all your strength, start punching the bag.”
Abigail starts punching the bag, not hard, but not like a wussy either. “Ok, now pretend this bag was that creep that was trying to force himself on you.” Jessie says seriously. Abigail gets an angry look on her face and starts hitting the bag harder. “That’s it!” Jessie says as she stands behind Abigail. “You’re doing great!”
All of the sudden Abigail uses all her strength and hits the bag so hard, it bounces back and hits her causing her to fly backwards into Jessie!! They both fly to the ground, landing on their backs. Abigail quickly sits up and looks at Jessie with a scared look on her face. “Oh my God Jessie, I’m so sorry! Are you ok?” Abigail asks worried.
Jessie turns her head to face Abigail, gives her a serious look, then starts laughing real hard. Abigail looks at her with a puzzled look on her face. “You’re laughing?” Abigail asks seriously. Jessie stops and looks at her.
“You should’ve seen it from my point of view!” Jessie says smiling. “You hit the bag so hard you just flew right into me!” Jessie starts to laugh again. “It could’ve been one of those funny YouTube moments!!” Jessie continues laughing as Abigail looks at her a little angry. Jessie winds down, sits up and smiles. “You got to admit, that was funny.” Jessie says. Abigail smirks, then chuckles a bit. They both lay back on the floor and laugh.
—————
Meanwhile, back at the Decker home, Andrea is in the dining room on her cell phone. “Where the hell have you been?” Andrea says with anger in her voice. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for a week now!”
On the other end is Dr. Aaron Smith. With his dark hair, goatee and dark eyes, he has a suave look to him. “I’ve been busy,” he says seriously. “What do you want?”
“Jessie decided she was going to leave for a semester and go off by her aunt’s in Arizona!” Andrea says.
Aaron rolls his eyes in an uncaring way. “Now which one is this?” he says unamused.
“The youngest one.” says Andrea, “She has some anger issues. We had an argument about her leaving school and she just about ripped my arm off. She’s lucky I didn’t kill her right there!”
Aaron gets this devilish grin on his face and says. “Well she is an adult now. And the few times I met her when she was younger, she ignored me. You then decided to ship her off to boarding school because you didn’t want to deal with her. Are the two other sisters like her now?”
“No.” Andrea says, “Sydney is a little mouthy, but Beth has matured.”
Aaron sighs and says, “It has to come to one of them. One of them knows about it and where it is.”
“I’m guessing it’s Beth or Sydney, they are older, more stable. Jessie, she has many anger issues.” Andrea says.
Aaron looks unconvinced. “Don’t guess, know.” he says angrily. “Or did your spirit soften as time went by?”
“Don’t ridicule me!” Andrea yells. “All three girls are descendants. One of them has to know where it is.”
“Well, you better stop playing step-mother and find out!” Aaron yells and hangs up. He gets up and walks to the mirror and stares into it. Suddenly he morphs into his true self, Ares, God of War. Wearing black boots, jeans and a black vest, he stares into the mirror with an evil look. “Well now. It’s been a while since I’ve seen little Jessie. Maybe I should look in on her and see what kind of anger issues she has. The unstable the better I always say.”
He snaps his fingers and sees an image in the mirror of Jessie. He stares at her and his hands start to shake as he looks at her eyes. He clenches his fist as a shocked look comes across his face. He sees images of her working out, sparring with Sydney, and her fighting moves. He watches her argument with Andrea, when Andrea goes to slap her, but she defends herself and pins Andrea against the wall. He then sees the image of Jessie wasting the three guys that tried to gang rape Abigail. “NO!” he screams. “It can’t be!” Ares freezes an image of Jessie and stares at it again. “It can’t be!” Ares gets an evil, twisted look in his eyes. He starts to laugh then suddenly disappears into thin air.
Chapter 3: Building a Bond and Finding her Roots
Summary:
Jessie and Abigails friendship starts to grow in this chapter. Abigail starts to come out of her shell and Jessie reveals to her what happened to make her the way that she is today. Also Jessie gets to know her mother more through stories from her Aunt Kira, who is only revealing some of the truth. Jessie also has another dream of the warrior woman and now her fighting companion.
(To some, it's a boring chapter, but it gives some insight on Jessie and her mother Zara)
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A few weeks have now passed. Jessie and Abigail are in the woman’s gym working on fighting techniques. Abigail has since chucked the glasses and she now wears just a sports bra with yoga pants and sneakers. You can see that Abigail has started to form six pack abs as her workouts have become more intense. Abigail blocks a swing that Jessie throws and swing kicks towards Jessie’s stomach making sure not to connect with her. Jessie then does a low swing kick to try and make Abigail stumble, but Abigail jumps and does a fake strike blow to Jessie’s back. Jessie quickly moves out of the way, jumps up and swings at Abigail, but with each swing, Abigail flawlessly blocks them.
They start moving around the gym, blocking each other’s swings. You can see the intensity in each other’s eyes as they focus on the lesson. Jessie then swings at Abigail, who blocks the swing by twisting Jessie’s arm around, grabbing the back of her neck and pinning her against the wall. “How’s that!” Abigail says smiling.
“Excellent!” Jessie says proudly. Abigail releases Jessie and they grab a towel and wipe the sweat off their faces.
“So, do you think I can handle those creeps now Jessie?” Abigail asks.
Jessie smiles at her and says, “You’re getting there! You’ve done a great job learning everything I’ve been teaching you.”
“Jessie, can I ask you something?” Abigail says.“Where did you learn to fight like this?”
Jessie gets up, throws the towel around her neck and looks at Abigail seriously. “It’s a stress reliever of sorts.” Jessie says. “It calms me.”
Abigail looks at her not convinced. “Fighting calms you?”
Jessie looks away, takes a deep breath and looks back at Abigail. “I have anger issues.” Jessie confesses.
Abigail looks at her shocked. “I can’t tell.”
Jessie starts to pace back and forth, then looks at Abigail, seeing a trusting look in her eyes. She looks down at the ground then back up at Abigail and says with a sad look on her face, “When I was five years old, my older sisters and I witnessed our mother being murdered.”
Abigail gets a sad look on her face and covers her mouth in shock. “Oh, oh my god Jessie! I am so sorry.” Abigail says sadly. “I didn’t mean to push you like that.”
Jessie shakes her head, “No, it’s ok.” Jessie looks to the ground.
Abigail looks on as Jessie tells her what happened. “Our dad was on a business trip for his dad’s tech company and was due home that day. My mom, my sisters and I just came home from a trip to the museum. We were in our family room playing, when my mom heard something. She walked to the surveillance camera that my dad had installed and didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, so we started playing again only to hear a loud crash coming from upstairs. My mom told us to hide in the closet and she ran out of the room. A few minutes later she walked into the room with a gun to her head.”
“Did you see who it was?” Abigail says.
Jessie shakes her head no and says, “It was all a blur. My sisters and I then peeked through the closet door to see the person was all in black. We couldn’t see the face, but we knew it was a woman. Her voice was very evil and scratchy. I remember that because the voice scared me and I buried my head in my sister Beth’s shirt.” Jessie starts pacing again. “We started to peek through the door again and my mom and this woman were yelling about something. The woman cocked the gun and pointed it to my mom’s head, but my mom was able to knock the gun out of her hand and a fight broke out.” Jessie looks at Abigail with a tear running down her face. “The next thing I remember is my dad had my sisters and I upstairs and the police were swarming the place.”
Abigail then gets up and puts her hand on Jessie’s arm with a concerned look on her face. “We had blocked a lot of it out.” Jessie says. “Our Aunt Kira flew up that day and wouldn’t let us out of her sight. The next few weeks were a blur. Investigators tried to question us about what happened, but we were just too traumatized. It’s a cold case right now. Aunt Kira stayed with us for a few months and she tried to put some sort of stability back in our lives. But then, our dad met Andrea, our step-mother, and Aunt Kira decided to come back to the ranch. Within a few months our dad and Andrea got married.” Jessie gives a half smirk. “I guess he thought we needed a mother and the first couple years Andrea was really cool. She would take us shopping and when I used to ride horses, she took me to lessons and stuff. But then as we got older, we started talking about our mom again. Andrea flipped. I think she may have thought that if we talked about our mom to our dad, he’d fall out of love with her. She started to condemn us every time we talked about our mom. Then, one day she convinced our dad that we needed counseling. So, we started going to a friend of hers from college who was a therapist. He freaked me out, so my dad said that I didn’t have to see him. When I was fourteen, Andrea and I got in a huge argument about it and the next thing I knew, I was being packed off to boarding school.”
“Wow, she seems like a total bitch.” Abigail says. “What did your dad say about this?”
“Our dad became too busy running our grandfather’s tech company after he retired. Dad basically left the parenting to Andrea. He did have the final say in stuff, but Andrea made sure he only saw the good side of things.” Jessie goes on. “Then, during the first year of boarding school I came home for spring break and the first thing I noticed was the stables that my mom had were gone, all the horses sold to a local horse breeder and Andrea was making the land that my mom had for her horses into tennis courts and a huge pool. I freaked out.”
Jessie shakes her head in disgust. Riding was the only thing that I had in common with my mom and Andrea ripped it away from me. She stated that since I was away and my sisters were into other things, the stables and horses weren't needed. I started screaming at her in front of my sisters and dad and stormed off to my room.” Jessie stops speaking for a moment and then continues more softley. “My sisters huddled with me in bed that night, apologizing to me for not remembering what riding meant to me. We decided never to speak about our mom in front of Andrea again. I spent that week in my room, only coming out to eat and to say hi to my dad. I came out here to the farm that summer. It was the best summer of my life.” Jessie smiles, remembering. “I felt the connection I had with my mom. I was happy for the first time in a long time. Then when I went back to school in the fall, I started having nightmares.”
“Of what?” Abigail asks concerned.
“About the murder.” Jessie answers calmly. “At first, it would always come in bits and pieces, like fragments of what happened. I would wake up screaming and my dorm mate Sarah would try and comfort me, but as the nightmares kept coming I would get angrier and angrier. I suddenly became destructive and I was turning into a person I had no control of. Talking to people didn’t help, so I bottled up my feelings and went with the rage that was inside me.” Jessie stops again and swallows.
“One night, I had the nightmare again and I couldn’t handle it anymore and I flipped out.” Jessie says. ”Sarah tried to calm me down, but I ended up pinning her against the wall. Then, out of nowhere Sarah broke free and pinned me to the floor until I calmed down. After apologizing to her, she looked at me and told me that if I didn’t want to talk to someone, I needed to learn to control the rage and anger inside me. She started to take me to her mixed martial arts classes and we would train three times a week, after classes and on weekends.” Jessie chuckles as she continues to say. “I suddenly enjoyed fighting. It was thrilling, sort of a turn on. But the rage was beginning to take over again. When I was sixteen, I met this one guy, who went to school at a neighboring campus, we had a few flings and he told me about how his uncle ran a fight club. I would sneak off campus and lie about my age to get into them. It was during that time, I became someone I didn’t like.” The last part comes out in almost a whisper.
“What do you mean?” Abigail wants to know.
Jessie looks shamefully at Abigail and says, “I needed to fight, like I said, it was a thrill. Every time I fought against someone, I’d win. The promoters loved it. Then one day, Sarah followed me and saw me almost kill another fighter. She got angry, pulled me out of the ring and the next thing I knew, I woke up the next morning in our dorm room with a huge headache. She looked at me with pure anger in her eyes and said that if I valued our friendship, the fighting I was doing had to stop! She said the look in my eyes when I was fighting was pure evil, like I was a different person, like a destroyer of sorts. She said I needed to find a way to tone down the rage building inside me.”
Jessie takes a big breath and says. “So I stopped going to fights and she taught me about meditation, how to relax. Soon, I was able to teach myself that when the nightmares came, to breathe before I’d flip out. She helped me a lot that year. We became really close.” Jessie smiles for like the first time in a long time. “When school was over for the year and I came home, my sisters could see the change in me. I told them about the nightmares and the rage that I had with them. But, I also told them about what I learned and I started to use our gym during the summer. I even recruited my sister Sydney to help me with my techniques.”
“Do you still have nightmares?” Abigail asks.
“Yeah, but when I do, I can control them by either working out or meditating.” Jessie says smiling. “The nightmares are getting longer though, it’s like they’re trying to show me something. Now that I’m older, I can control them more, but there is a part that I just can’t get past.” Jessie wipes her face with a towel and looks at Abigail and smiles “You hungry?!”
Abigail grins at her and chuckles, “When am I not hungry?”
“Come on, let's grab some food!” Jessie says as they stand up. “Abigail, thanks for listening.” Abigail puts her hand on Jessie’s arm and smiles at her. “You’re the first person I’ve really opened up to about this.” Jessie confesses, still smiling.
“I will always be here for you Jessie.” Abigail says smiling tenderly at Jessie. They share a hug, and as they do, a faint glow appears, surrounding them. They stare at each other, feeling a connection and smile as the glow fades,
“Come on, let’s go! Di is probably wondering where we are.” Jessie says smiling. (a lot of smiling going on here ;-) )
————————————————
Later that night, Jessie lays in her bed, sound asleep. Her mind suddenly drifts off to ancient times and the warrior woman is fighting a band of raiders. She now has a fighting partner, a short woman with short blonde hair. The blonde wears what appears to be a leather bra, showing off her toned six pack abs and a mini skirt made of leather and cloth. She is fighting a raider using what looks like a long fighting staff. She swings the staff at the raider, sending him flying, she runs and jumps over two raiders, taking her staff and bashing it into the raiders back, causing them to fall in pain. A raider sneaks up to the blonde and the warrior woman screams at her. “Gabrielle!” The blonde takes her stick and rams it backwards into the raiders stomach. She kicks the raider in the face causing him to fall to the ground. As the blonde is fighting one group of raiders the warrior woman takes her sword and stabs two raiders. She sees her partner is in trouble and calls out a battle cry. She runs, then twirls through the air, landing about ten feet from the action. She takes out the round weapon and she throws it in the air. Suddenly it separates into two half objects, slicing the raiders. The blonde woman quickly ducks as the two objects fly past her. They suddenly form back together as it glides back into the warrior woman’s hand with ease. Holding it in front of her, she stares at it and gives a grin.
Suddenly the voice of Zara speaks to Jessie: “You are the one. Find this and avenge me.” Jessie jolts out of the dream gasping for air, she looks around and shakes her head. She stares seriously at the ground. “What the heck is going on!!” She says slowly calming down. She lays back down puzzled by the dream.
The next morning, Jessie is in the living room staring at the pictures of Zara that sit on the mantle. She grabs a picture of Zara, dressed in western clothing, on a horse. She looks around eighteen in the picture. A tear rolls down Jessie’s face as Kira walks in and notices the moment. A sad look comes across Kira’s face, but she shakes it off and smiles.
“Morning Jessie.” Kira greets her.
Jessie puts the picture back on the mantle and wipes a tear from her cheek. “Oh, hey Aunt Kira.” Jessie says, “I was just looking at these pictures of my mom.” Jessie looks down at the floor. “Aunt Kira, what was my mom like?”
Kira walks up to Jessie and puts her hand on her shoulder. “I remember her, but I was so little. All I remember was that she was loving and beautiful. I want to know who she was.”
Kira smiles at Jessie. “Come on honey, let's sit down and talk.” Kira grabs Jessie's hand and they sit across from each other.
“As far back as I can remember, your mom was a spitfire of a woman.” Kira says smiling. “Even when we were kids, she was always full of life. Our mom died when we were young and even though our dad had this huge ranch, he raised us the best way he could. While I was laid back, your mom was always full of life. While I was taking riding lessons, your mom would be out exploring or taking karate lessons. Our dad said we were total opposites, but he encouraged us in anything we wanted to learn. When we became teenagers, your mom started riding horses again, which made my dad happy. Then one day, they started talking about family history, about his daddy’s brother who was a famous college dean from South Carolina and his daughter Mel, who was also famous for reading ancient scrolls.”
“Is this Mel Pappas still alive?” Jessie asks
“Oh lord, no.” Kira says. “Back in the mid 50’s while visiting dad’s folks, Mel and a friend of hers were killed in a tragic fall while discovering the caves up in the mountains. Grandpa and Lester’s Grandpa found their remains the next day when they didn’t return back to the ranch. Their remains were flown back to South Carolina and they were buried next to her dad. Anyway, getting back to your mom, when she was sixteen, daddy gave her money to pick out a horse that she wanted to train, instead, she came home with the motorcycle.” Kira and Jessie then start to laugh.
“How angry was he?!?” Jessie asks, smiling.
“My daddy never raised his voice until that day!” Kira said smiling, “He read your mom the riot act, but your mom stood her ground and kissed your grandpa on the cheek and told him that even though she loved horse riding and training them, the bike called to her also. He let her keep it with the promise that she’d keep up her dream of becoming a horse trainer. And then a few years later while your mom was giving lessons on horseback riding, your mom met a handsome young college senior from upstate New York who was on spring break and it was love at first sight.” They both smile at that. “You have a lot of your mama in you Jessie.” Kira says, “You are strong willed, caring and adventurous, just like her. She would be so proud of you.” They get up and hug each other.
“Thank you Aunt Kira.” Jessie says happily. “I’m meeting Abigail for lunch, will be back later.”
“Hey!” Kira says, “I’m glad you met a friend, you should bring her out here. I’d like to meet her.”
“Will do!” Jessie says smiling then walks out of the house.
Kira walks over to the mantle and looks at the picture of Kira. “I only told her half of the truth sis.” Kira says looking at the picture. “I just pray that when she finds out the whole truth, she’ll have the strength to deal with what will happen.”
Chapter 4: On A Lighter Note
Summary:
Ok, you have to have a funny and light chapter in this story! Abigail tells Jessie more about herself. Abigail meets Kira, we get to see Lester in all of his bumbling glory, Jessie one ups Lester when a familiar horse comes into the picture, Abigail has a vision of ancient times, she gives Lester a warning and Ares and Aphrodite go at it over Jessie and Abigail!! This is where I started to have a little fun with Aphrodite! You will get to see this other side of her later in the story!
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A week has now passed and Jessie and Abigail are sitting at the diner. Jessie is in her jeans, t-shirt and boots. Abigail’s choice of clothing has changed along with her new found confidence. She is wearing tight fitting blue jeans, a white t-shirt and boots, with her hair in a braid. They both have their signature glass of sweet tea in front of them. Jessie looks at Abigail and smiles. “So, since I told you most of my life, I want to know about you.” Jessie says curiously.
Abigail takes a sip of her sweet tea and smiles at Jessie and says, “Well, I’m from Texas, my dad owns a construction company, my mom is a chief and caterer, I have a fifteen year old sister named Racheal and I’m going to college to study something I really don’t want to do.”
“What’s that?” Jessie says intrigued.
Abigail looks at the table, then back up at her and says sarcastically, “Archaeology. It’s my dad’s dream for me to become a famous archaeologist because his Great Aunt was a one back in the 40’s and 50’s. He never even met her, he wasn’t born yet. But my grandpa would talk about her like she was a superhero of sorts. My dad would say that Janice Covington could find the Arc of the Covenant if she wanted to, but she was more into ancient scrolls or something like that.” Abigail shrugs her shoulders. “Anyway, when my mom and him got married, he said that his first daughter was going to follow in his great aunt Janice’s footsteps.” Abigail leans into Jessie. “They were even going to name me after her!” They both start to laugh. “Thank God my mom put her foot down on the name choice. But my dad was obsessed with me following in a dead aunts profession. I was interested at first, but it’s just not what I want to do.”
“So what do you want to do?” Jessie asks.
Abigail takes another sip of her tea, looks at Jessie and says, “I want to travel, explore places, meet people and write about my adventures. Not dig for bones and artifacts just to make my dad happy.”
“Why don’t you tell him you want to do something different?” Jessie asks. “I mean, it’s your life.”
“I guess there’s a part of me that doesn’t want to disappoint my dad.” Abigail utters. “He’s stubborn, set in his ways. It’s either his way or no way. He’s very old fashioned. The thing is, I’ve always done my own thing, which he hates. We’ve even come to blows when he found out I was writing a blog about some of my stories. At least my sister follows the rules.”
“What does your mom think about this?” Jessie wonders.
“Well, my mom has even crazier ideas for me.” Abigail says. “She wants me either to be married, barefoot and pregnant, or one of those Dallas socialites married to some rich guy. She tried hooking me up with all her friends’ or clients’ sons, but I just wasn’t interested.”
“You don’t want to get married one day?” Jessie asks.
“If I want to be with anyone, I want it on my terms. Besides, no one has captivated my heart yet.” They stare at each other and shiley smile.
Di comes out of the kitchen with a tray of food, sets plates in front of them, “Here you go my beautiful babes!” Di says smiling. “You two just rock my world!” Di walks away from them and into the kitchen.
“Are you free after lunch?” Jessie asks. “Want to go for a ride?”
“Where too?” Abigail asks.
“To my aunt's ranch, I want you to meet her.” Jessie says, smirking. “You up for it?”
Abigail smiles. “Yeah, I’d love to meet your aunt!” They suddenly stare at each other and the glow that surrounded them at the gym appears again, surrounding their bodies.
Di looks out of the kitchen window, smiles and says, “By the Gods! I can feel the connection happening! Come on you two! You can remember!”
An hour later, Jessie and Abigail pull up to the horse stables where Kira is carrying a saddle out of the barn. Jessie and Abigail get off the bike and walk over to her.
“Hi Aunt Kira.” Jessie greets her.
Kira smiles at them. “Hey honey.” She then looks at Abigail, smiles and says, ”You must be Abigail.”
Abigail puts out her hand. “Nice to meet you Ms. Pappas.”
Kira shakes her hand and says, "Call me Kira. Formalites make me feel old. So you’re the Abigail, my niece talks about. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Abigail and Jessie smile at each other, then out of nowhere Lester comes running around the side of the barn, being chased by a wild Palomino horse. “Hey! Whoa!!” Lester screams at the horse. “I just wanted to put the saddle on you!"
Jessie and Abigail look on as the horse chases Lester into a corral, Abigail looks confused at Jessie and asks, “Who’s that?”
“That is Lester, the idiot that works for my aunt.” Jessie says smirking at Abigail.
“He looks like he’s in trouble!” Abigail says puzzled.
“That is just how Lester is.” Kira says. All three ladies run to the fence and hop on a fence rail, Abigail takes her phone out and starts recording the event. “Lester, what the hell are you doing!!” Kira yells. “I told you not to try to tame that horse, it’s too wild”
“But Ms. Kira, I can do this!” Lester says as he grabs a saddle, trying to throw it on the horse, “You are gonna get broke you stupid horse.” Suddenly the horse gets angry and tries to stomp on Lester.
As she’s recording the whole event, Abigail leans into Jessie, smirks and says, “You’re right, he is an idiot.”
Lester jumps over the fence and lands on the ground, all three women look at him seriously. He looks at them and says, “Just so you know, I come from a long line of horse tamers!”
“Maybe it skipped your gene pool.” Abigail says sarcastically.
Jessie then looks back at the horse as it’s bucking all over the corral. “I’m going in.” Jessie says seriously.
Lester gets up and looks at her. “If I can’t tame that horse, what makes you think you can?” Lester asks furiously.
“Just watch me.” Jessie says, smirking at him.
Kira looks at Jessie with a concerned look on her face and says, “Honey, you could get hurt! That horse is way too wild.”
Jessie looks at her, smirks and says, “So am I.” She then jumps into the corral and circles the horse as it raises its front legs. She grabs the saddle. “It’s ok,” she says softly to the horse, “You can trust me. Shh.” The horse starts to calm down as they both lock eyes with each other, “That’s it girl.” Jessie says smiling. “You’re doing good.” The horse makes a few noises. “Shh.” Jessie says as she puts the saddle and bridle on. “Good girl.”
Kira, Abigail and Lester look on in awe as Jessie straps on the saddle. She whispers in its ear, “Ok, I’m Jessie, I just want to ride you. You don’t have to be afraid of me.” She goes to pet the horse and all of the sudden a vision of the warrior woman on a similar horse flashes in front of Jessie. She comes to and the horse blinks at her. She gives the horse a strange look as if they knew each other. “Ok, don’t be afraid.” Jessie says as she gets up on the horse and into the saddle. She takes the reins and the horse starts bucking all over the place. Jessie pulls the reins up. “Whoa girl calm down!” Jessie says firmly. The horse gradually calms down while everyone looks on in shock and awe. Jessie rides the horse around the corral, jumping over a bale of hay and landing in front of everyone. “Whoa Girl! Whoa!” Jessie commands. The horse calms down and stops in front of everyone. Kira and Abigail clap their hands and whistle.
“That’s my girl!!” Kira says proudly as she claps her hands, then slaps the fence! She then looks at Lester and says, “That is how you tame a horse! I taught her that when she was fourteen!”
Lester looks confused at both Kira and Jessie as Jessie jumps off the horse. She pats it gently and says, “Good girl, good girl!”
“Oh my god Jessie! That was amazing!!” Abigail says excitedly “I got it all on my phone!”
Jessie ties the reins to the fence, walks over and grabs an apple from a barrel and gives it to the horse. “There yeah go!” Jessie says smiling at the horse. “Good girl!”
She looks at Abigail and jumps on the fence grinning at her. “Send it to me!” Jessie says happily. “I want to send it to my sisters!”
“Already done!” Abigail says smiling at her.
Kira smiles at Jessie and says “Wow! I’m so proud of you Jess! Now, you know the rules, you break the horse, it’s yours!”
“Hey!” Lester says angrily. “I found and scoped that horse out for a week!”
“I know you did Lester, but Jessie broke it.” Kira says with a smirk on her face. The ladies jump on the ground. “You know the rule.” She looks at the girls. “How about I strike up the grill for steaks girls!”
“That sounds great!” Jessie pronounces. She looks at Lester with a smirk and says, “Thanks Les, I’ll make it up to you!”
Lester gets a goofy smile on his face. “Really!” He says. “How about a date?!?”
Jessie looks at him seriously and says, “Not in your wildest dreams.” He looks down at Abigail and she shakes her head no as the ladies start to walk off.
“Hey Lester, put the horse in the stall next to mine will ya.” Kira says.
He shakes his head still not believing what had happened, takes the reins and leads the horse to the stables. “You’re still a stupid horse.” Lester tells the horse. It suddenly kicks Lester in the ass and he starts to stumble but catches himself. “Ok, I’m sorry!”. The horse laughs as Lester takes it in the stables.
————————-
Later that night, Jessie sits in front of a computer screen connected to FaceTime with Beth and Sydney. “Hey you two!” Jessie says smiling.
“Jessie!!” Sydney says happily. “That video you sent us! Holy shit!! That was amazing!”
“Yeah it sure was!” Jessie says.
Beth smiles at her and says, “How’s it going out there sis? You look so happy!”
“I am.” Jessie says. “For the first time in a long time I feel happy again.”
“You know, Aunt Kira has been filling us in on you and this Abigail.” Sydney says, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Yeah, you two have become good friends, right?” Beth says.
“Yeah, we have.” Jessie says smiling.
“Aunt Kira says you’ve opened up to Abigail about a lot of things. You never talk about your feelings to anyone, not even to us.” Beth says. “She must be really special for you to spill your heart out like that.”
Jessie smiles tenderly. “Yeah she is.” Jessie says. “It’s weird. It’s like we have some sort of connection."
Sydney sends a text to Beth that reads, “$100 says Jess and this Abigail will hook up!” Beth gives Sydney a smirk and texts back, “Ok! You got a bet”
Beth and Sydney then smile at Jessie. “That’s great sis.” Beth says. “She must have some kind of effect on you.”
“Why do you say that?” Jessie asks.
Sydney chuckles a bit and says, “You smile just talking about her Jess. We can see it in your face. She has an effect on you.”
“Anyone who makes you smile like this, has to be special.” Beth says, “Cherish this moment Jess.”
“I am.” Jessie says. “More than you know.”
The sisters finish up their chat, but little do they know in a room next to Beth and Sydney, Andrea stares into a laptop. Watching their conversation via a hidden camera. She stares at them with an evil look as she twirls a strange broach on her necklace.
The next morning Jessie and Abigail are in the stables. Jessie is brushing her new horse while Abigail looks on. “You know, I’ve been thinking about a name for this beauty, but I just can’t think of one that fits her.” Jessie says. “Pick a name for me.”
Abigail looks surprised. “Are you sure?” She says, “You did all the work breaking her. It should be your call.”
Jessie smiles at Abigail and says, “You’re the creative one, surprise me!”
Abigail smiles and looks at the horse. “You are such a beautiful horse.” The horse wags its tail at her and Abigail laughs. “And a playful thing too.” Abigail goes to pet the horse and suddenly a vision of a blonde woman from ancient times riding on a horse similar to this one flashes across her. The blonde woman has a short pixie type hair cut and is wearing warrior attire of the time.
“Abigail!” Jessie says concerned. “You ok?”
Abigail shakes it off and looks at Jessie. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Abigail says as she looks at the horse. “Name her Blaze.”
Jessie smiles and looks at the horse. “Blaze.” Jessie says in agreement. “I like it! Blaze it is!” The horse shakes her head in agreement to the name.
Lester walks into the stables whistling that song again then stops. “Morning!” He says as he walks to the girls. He looks at Abigail. “I never introduced myself yesterday little lady, I’m Lester. Ranch hand guru of this place.”
“Hi.” Abigail says unamused. “Abigail.”
Lester looks her up and down, smiles and says, “So, you’re Jessie’s friend.”
“Yeah and!?!” She says trying to brush him off.
“I was wondering if you’re not doing anything later, we could go for a bite and get to know each other,” he says.
“Not interested.” Abigail says seriously.
“Oh come on Abbie, just one date.” Lester says. “I could be the cowboy of your dreams.”
“I said: not interested!” Abigail repeats.
Lester leans in to try and kiss Abigail but she slaps his face, takes his arm, twists it around his back, grabs the back of his neck and throws him up against the wall as Jessie looks on smirking. “I said: not interested!” Abigail repeats angrily.
“Ow! Ow! Let go please! I’m sorry!” Lester screams.
“When a lady says no, it means no jackass!” Abigail growls angrily in his ear.
“Ok! Ok! I’m sorry! Let me go! Please! Ow!” Lester says scared.
Abigail releases her grip as Jessie walks up to them and gives a devilish smirk to Lester. “Ow that hurt!” Lester says as he stretches his arm. He then places his hand on his jaw and moves it around.
“You deserved it!” Jessie tells him seriously.
“Well she didn’t have to almost kill me.” Lester says a little shocked.
“That’s nothing compared to what I might have done to you!” Abigail says seriously.
“Apologize to her.” Jessie says, “Now! And mean it!”
Lester takes a breath and looks at Abigail. “I’m very sorry Abbie.” Lester says. “Please forgive me.” She looks at him still with a pissed off look on her face. “Please! I promise, it won’t happen again.”
She walks up to him and stares him down. “You’re an idiot!” Abigail says.
“Ok, I’m an idiot!” He says. “Please! I’m sorry!”
“The next time you pull something like that, I’ll rip your balls off and shove them down your throat! You got it?” Abigail says seriously.
Lester's eyes get wide as he is shocked by what she said. “If I were you, I’d just walk away right now Les!” Jessie says to him with a smirk on her face. Lester walks out the stables but gets a grin on his face and says smiling. “She likes me.”
“Not if you were the last man on Earth!” Abigail yells.
Jessie smiles and looks down at Abigail. “I’m very proud of you.”
Abigail looks up at her. “He’s still a jerk.” She is still angry.
“That he is, but you did great!” Jessie says as they turn around. She then looks at Abigail and says, “You know, you look cute when you’re pissed off.” Abigail smiles at her and Jessie hugs her and gently kisses the top of her forehead. “You are coming out of your shell.” Jessie says to her. “Don’t ever be afraid to show this side of you.”
They walk out of the stables, but little do they know, Ares has been watching the whole ordeal. He has an evil look in his eyes and fists are clenched. He suddenly disappears to his throne room and lets out a yell so loud, that it breaks a statue. “Damn it!” he screams. “Another irritating blonde! And she’s just like her!” He sits on his throne looking angry. “And there’s even another idiot!” He puts his hands over his face, then stares off into the distance. He gets up from his throne and yells, “Dite, I know you’ve been there with them! We have to talk now!”
All of a sudden Di appears, she looks around and then morphs into her true self, Aphrodite, Goddess of Love. With her long pink gown, sexy lingerie and flowing blonde hair, she looks at the shattered statue and then at him. “Well, hello Ares.” Aphrodite looks around. “I see you still can’t control your anger when you don’t get your way.”
“Oh shut up!” Ares says annoyed. “You knew about this!” He says angered. "And you're helping them!"
"Just a little push!" Aphrodite says with a smirk. “You shouldn’t interfere with destiny Ares.”
“I can do what I want, I am the God of War!” Ares shouts as he starts pacing around.
“They are destined to be together.” Aphrodite says. “Their spirits have finally found each other.”
“Not if I can help it!” Ares says seriously. “I can’t believe she was hiding right under my eyes all this time. You know the saying, always watch out for the loners. What I don’t get is how come I didn’t realize it was Jessie. I mean, she’s no destroyer of nations at all! But with today's society and some molding from me, I can turn her into the ultimate warrior!!”
“Whatever you’re planning, scrap it right now!" Aphrodite says seriously. “You know your plans always end up failing!” Ares gives his sister a cold look. “Besides, Jessie isn’t her. She is a descendant of Xena and she has some of her traits, but she’s her own person.”
“Maybe, but you haven’t seen her rage, her anger like I did! That was her!” Ares says with a devilish smile. “I’d know the Destroyer of Nations anywhere!”
“You’re dreaming Ares.” Aphrodite says.
“Ok, she may or may not be her, but she has the makings of a new destroyer! I have spent the past two thousand years waiting for the perfect descendent of Xena and she was there right in front of me!”
Aphrodite gets a weird look on her face. “How did you find Jessie?” She asks seriously.
Ares looks at her with a smirk. “It doesn’t matter!” He says as he gets a serious look on his face. “But now that I’ve found her, why must there be an irritating blonde in the picture?”
“You better not harm Abbie!” Aphrodite says angrily. “She’s a good friend of mine!”
“She’s irritating!” Ares says. “She’s already making Jessie happy, just like...”
“Just like how Gabrielle made Xena happy!" Aphrodite yells. “Listen Ares, I don’t know what’s going on in your head, but you better lose it right now!"
"Why? What are you going to do, Dite!?!” Ares asks seriously. “Sprinkle your love dust on me or something?”
Aphrodite gets in his face and growls,, “You know I’m all about love Ares! That’s who I am! But let me warn you brother, love can hurt!”
“Are you threatening me?” Ares asks in anger.
“No! This is just a warning!” Aphrodite says seriously. “Stay away from them!” Aphrodite vanishes in a ball of pink glitter.
Ares clenches his fists and shouts, “You dare threaten me!” Ares shakes a fist angrily. “You want a fight, Dite! You got it! I will make Jessie mine!! Even if I have to get rid of the blonde in the process!!”
Chapter 5: The Cabin, The Staff And A Shocking Discovery
Summary: Jessie, Abigail and Lester come across a cabin belonging to Jessie’s grandfather. They discover an old backpack and an ancient staff, which is drawn to Abigail in a way that shocks everyone. They also come across an old article that links Jessie and Abigails families together. Jessie has an encounter with one of Abigail's professors, Aphrodite has a visit from her favorite brother and Kira sets Jessie on the path to discovering the truth. (This is where the story gets serious, linking Mel and Janice into the story)
———-
A couple days later, Jessie and Abigail are on horses riding through the trails that surround the ranch. Jessie is in her trademark jeans and black t-shirt and boots, while Abbie is in jeans, boots, a white t-shirt and a long sleeved denim shirt. They stop at a creek so Blaze and the other horse can get a drink. “This is beautiful out here!” Abigail says. “How much land does your aunt have?”
“I think all the way to the mountains,” Jessie says as she looks around.
Lester rides up to them and says, “Morning ladies! How are you enjoying your ride?”
“It’s nice,” Abigail says as she looks at him in a pissy mood.
”Listen Abbie, I am really sorry about the other day,” Lester says sincerely. “If you get to know me, you see that I’m not really a jerk.” Both Jessie and Abigail look at him seriously. “Can’t we all start over and try to be friends?” Lester says sincerely.
“Fine!” Abigail says. “Just don’t try anything and we’re all cool!”
Lester throws his hands in the air. “I promise,” he says. He looks over at Jessie who is mesmerized by something in the distance. “Hey Les, what is that about two miles away?” Jessie says intrigued. “Is it an old stable or something?”
Lester looks where Jessie is pointing. “Oh heck naw!” Lester says smiling. “That’s your Grandpa’s old cabin!” Jessie gets a shocked look on her face. “Your Grandpa had that cabin built when he used to go exploring up in the mountains. He didn’t want to travel all the way back to the main house, so he had the cabin built.”
Jessie and Abigail look at each other intrigued. “You want to go check it out?” Jessie says smiling.
“You know I do!” Abigail says.
“Now I think your aunt lost the keys, ya might not be able to get in.” Lester says seriously.
“We’ll see!” Jessie says as they get back on their horses and start riding off in the direction of the cabin. Lester shakes his head and follows them.
About 15 minutes later, Jessie, Abigail and Lester ride up to the cabin. They get off their horses and tie the reins to the old post. Jessie looks around in amazement. “Wow!” she says. She walks around the cabin, admiring the structure. “When was the last time Aunt Kira was out here?” she asks.
“Don’t know.” Lester says. “I think maybe 5 years ago. I was away working on my uncle Virgil’s farm at the time.”
Jessie walks up to the door and turns the doorknob noticing that it is locked. “Like I said earlier, I think she lost the keys. And she won’t be back from the horse show until the weekend.” Lester says.
Jessie jiggles the knob trying to get in. “Hey, hold on. Move!” Abigail says smiling as she walks up to the door. She takes a bobby pin out of her hair. She twists it around and looks at Jessie and Lester. She puts the bobby pin in the lock, jiggles it a bit and the door pops open. Jessie looks at her at first shocked and then starts smiling. “It was the only way I could sneak into the media room after school! I’ll tell ya the story one day.” Abigail says, smirking.
“Yeah! Please do!” Jessie says as they stare deep into each other’s eyes.
All three of them walk into the old cabin. Dust lingers everywhere while blankets are draped over chairs and a huge leather couch. A small kitchen is set up in the corner, but it has modern appliances in it.
“This is so cozy.” Abigail says as she looks around,
They discover a bedroom and a full bathroom and a huge walk in shower. Jessie then walks up to the fireplace mantle and wipes off a picture frame to reveal a picture of her mom looking at a sunset. Zara is smiling as if she is staring at something. Jessie smiles at the picture as Abigail walks up to her and sees it.
“Is that your mom?” Abigail asks, smiling. Jessie shakes her head yes as her eyes start to well up. She quickly composes herself. “She was a very beautiful woman,” Abigail says smiling. “You look just like her.”
Jessie sets the picture down. “Yeah, I guess I do.” She responds smiling at the picture.
“I really don’t think we should be here.” Lester says.
Jessie looks at him, smirks and says, “I’m family. Besides, Aunt Kira said I had free reign over the whole ranch.”
Abigail leans on a closet door, it jiggles open and an old backpack and an old staff fall out. “What’s this?” Jessie wonders as she kneels down to check it out. She picks up the staff and stares at it with awe.
“What is it?” Abigail is intrigued.
“I don’t know. It looks like some sort of ancient collapsible walking staff.” Jessie says as she fully extends the staff. She studies the staff and sees ancient writing on it.
”What kind of language is this?” Lester asks confused.
“It looks like some sort of ancient Greek writing,” Abigail says.
“Do you know how to read it?” Lester asks.
“Not yet, I’m only in my freshman year of college,.” Abigail says. “I won’t get to the full Greek language till next semester, but let me look at it for a moment.”
Jessie hands Abigail the staff and all the sudden Abigail has a vision of the blonde warrior woman. She is holding what looks like the exact same staff and is fighting a band of raiders with it. She is very athletic as her fighting style is similar to Abigails. The blonde warrior runs up a wall and does a backflip, knocking the raiders out with the staff.
“Abbie!! Abbie!! You ok?” Lester says, noticing Abigail's mesmerizing gaze at the staff.
Jessie stands up and looks at Abigail worried. “Abigail!” Jessie yells. Abigail snaps out of her vision, but all of the sudden she starts twirling the staff around using her defensive training. She swings it towards Lester's head, but he ducks just in time.
“Hey! What the hell!” Lester shouts angrily. “I apologized earlier!”
Jessie steps in front of Lester as Abigail swings the staff towards him. Jessie grabs the staff as Abigail starts to bring it down. “Abigail!” Jessie speaks loudly.. “Snap out of it! What’s wrong?” As Jessie takes the staff from her, Abigail snaps out of her daze and looks at Jessie a little scared. “I, I don’t know! For some weird reason, that staff called to me.” Abigail mumbles stunned. “What happened?”
“Well for number one, you almost took my head off with that thing!” Lester says a bit angry. “I apologized and I’m being nice, and you tried to kill me again.”
Abigail looks shocked at Jessie. “I had to step in and stop you,” Jessie says to Abigail, who looks at Lester in shock,
“I’m sorry Les,” Abigail says ashamed. “That’s so not me.”
Jessie puts the staff down. “Well, let's put this stuff back in the closet,” Jessie says. “I want to ask my aunt if I can come back here and just explore this cabin.” Jessie picks up the backpack and puts it in the closet, an old newspaper falls out of it behind her.
Lester grabs the staff and says, “I got this! I don’t want my head taken off!”
Abigail looks down and notices the newspaper. “Hold on, an old newspaper fell out the side of the backpack,” she says. Abigail picks the paper up and notices the front page. The paper is from the Sedona Sun and is dated June, 1956. The main headline reads:
Two Major Archaeologists Killed in Freak Climbing Accident Near Red Rocks
Abigail looks at the pictures and sees a picture of Janice Covington and Melinda Pappas, she gets a shocked look on her face. “Oh my God!” Abigail says. “Jessie look!”
Abigail hands Jessie the newspaper and Jessie gets a shocked look when looking at the pictures and names.
Lester stairs at the pictures also. “Do you know these ladies?” he says. “You two sort of resemble them. Not exactly, but the resemblance is there.”
Jessie and Abigail look at each other in shock. A minute later, all three of them are sitting on chairs reading the article. “A tragic climbing accident claimed the lives of famous archaeologist Janice “Mad Dog” Covington and Dr. Melinda “Mel” Pappas sometime this Friday after they were reported missing by Ms. Pappas cousin RJ Pappas. Their bodies were found by Mr. Pappas and his friend Mick Jacks.” Abigail reads.
“Hey, that’s my grandpa!” Lester says.
“Officials with the sheriff’s department determined the women were exploring the mountains when their rope broke and gave way.” Abigail continues reading. “The sheriff's department has determined that it was an accident. Janice Covington was an acclaimed/leading/honored/renowned archaeologist, famous for discovering ancient scrolls back in the early 40’s. These scrolls were deciphered by Dr. Pappas during the discovery. The scrolls told a story of an ancient warrior woman who once was known as “The Destroyer of Nations” during the times of the Ancient Greek Gods and Goddesses. She redeemed herself and saved many lives in the process.” Abigail looks up from her reading and looks at her two compagnons. Jessie nods her head as in saying keep on reading. And so she does. “These scrolls were written by her traveling companion known as The Battling Bard of Potidaea. This bard told stories of their adventures and their battles for the greater good. This writer, or Bard, was also possibly the warrior woman’s soulmate.” Abigail and Jessie look at each other in pure shock. “You know what this means, right?!” Abigail exclaims.
“Our relatives knew each other!” Jessie says.
A few minutes later Abigail is pacing the floor, Jessie is staring at the ground in shock and Lester is looking at the article. “I can’t believe my Great-Great Aunt and your distant cousin knew each other and worked side by side with each other!” Abigail says.
“When I asked Aunt Kira about my mom, she told me about when my mom was around sixteen, grandpa and her started talking about past relatives and about how his one cousin was a famous doctor, able to read ancient scrolls and how her and a friend died in a climbing accident. Wow! This is insane!”
“The thing that gets me is why were they here,” Abigail wonders. “They were famous scientists. What brought them here?”
“Well, my grandpa is gone, plus my mom.” Jessie says.
“My grandpa passed a decade ago.” Lester says.
“The only one who might have any info on these two would be Aunt Kira. I guess we wait till she gets back,” Jessie says.
Abigail looks at them with a smirk. “Or we could take this paper to my world science professor, Dr. Henry!” she says. “He might know something about Janice and Mel.”
————-
The next morning, Abigail knocks on the door of her professor Dr. Henry. “Come in,” a male voice says. Abigail enters the office and sitting at a desk is Dr. Mike Henry. He is wearing tight jeans and a white polo shirt. He is very athletic for being in his 50’s. His high cheekbones and ruggedness gives him a Godlike look. “Well hello Abbie, can I help you?”
“Hi Dr. Henry. My friend and I found an old article, we want to ask you some questions about it. My friend should be here shortly with it.”
Suddenly there is a knock at the door. “Come in,” Dr. Henry says.
Jessie walks in with the old newspaper, she looks at Abigail and says, “Here’s the paper.” She then glances over to Dr. Henry and gets a weird look on her face.
“Jessie, what’s wrong?” Abigail asks.
“Excuse me, but have we met before?” Jessie asks Dr. Henry..
Dr. Henry stares at her and smiles. “No, I don’t think so,” he says.
“You just look familiar,” Jessie says smiling. “Anyway, Abigail, a friend and I were exploring an old cabin on my aunt's ranch, when we came across this old news article.” Jessie hands the paper to Dr. Henry, he stares at it and looks at them half smiling. “The two women in this article were relatives of ours. We want to know more about them.” Abigail says.
Dr. Henry takes a big breath. “Dr. Janice Covington and Dr. Melinda Pappas. Two extraordinary women,” he says. “Together they discovered one of the greatest parts of ancient history.”
“What’s that?” Jessie asks.
“The Xena Scrolls,” Dr. Henry says.
“What are the Xena Scrolls?” Jessie wonders.
“It tells about one of the greatest warrior women that ever lived, Xena: Warrior Princess. I have a class to teach now, but feel free to use the library to learn more about her.” Dr. Henry says as he hands the paper back to Jessie.
“Will do Dr. Henry,” Abigail says smiling. “Come on Jessie, let's walk to my next class. Goodbye Dr. Henry.”
“Bye Abbie, nice to meet you Jessie,” Dr. Henry says smiling.
“You too,” Jessie says smiling back at him. Abigail and Jessie walk out of the room.
“Ok, things are starting to come together,” Dr. Henry says as he gets up. “I guess it’s time for that visit.” Dr. Henry leaves his office.
About a half an hour later, Di walks out of the kitchen. She sees a patron with a menu at his face. “Can I help ya darling!” Di says cheerfully.
Dr. Henry sets down the menu and smiles at Di. “Hey there! Can we talk?” He asks, smiling.
“Sure, just let me change the atmosphere!” Di says as she snaps her fingers and suddenly they are transported to Aphrodite's throne room. It’s pink, of course, but it radiates love. Immediately Di morphs into Aphrodite and looks at Dr. Henry who morphs into his true self, Hercules. Aphrodite gives Hercules a huge hug. “How’s my favorite brother doing?” she asks smiling.
“I’m doing good sis,” Hercules says. “I met Jessie.”
Aphrodite smiles at him, “Isn’t she awesome? They’re finally coming together!”
“Yes they are,” Hercules says. “They showed me the article about Janice and Melinda’s death. I just hope they discover everything soon.”
“It’s so awesome that after all this time, they are reuniting,” Aphrodite says. “And it’s all thanks to us!”
“Well, appearance wise, they are a bit different, but their personalities and traits are coming together,” Hercules says. “Jessie smiled at me and asked me if we knew each other from somewhere. I had to hold back and lie to her.”
Aphrodite smiles at him, then gets a serious look. “I do have some bad news though.” Aphrodite says. “Ares knows about Jessie and Abigail.”
“HOW!” Hercules says angrily.
“I don’t know, you know we can’t read his mind,” Aphrodite says.
“What did he say?” Hercules asks. “Does he know who they are?
“No, I don’t think so, he knows that they are descendants and he is hell bent on making Jessie his new protégée. He’s even willing to kill Abbie in the process.” Aphrodite walks around. “I won’t let that happen, Hercules. Abbie is coming into her true self and I will do anything possible to stop Ares!”
Hercules looks at her and chuckles. “Sis, I love you, but the Goddess of Love can’t destroy the God of War,” he says.
Aphrodite looks at him seriously. “Hercules, I’ve been around forever. I’ve seen everything, but these past two thousand years or so, I have seen love lose its way. It has sort of jaded me, changed me in a way, ”Aphrodite says. “I am still the Goddess of Love, but now, I will do anything in my powers to keep Jessie and Abigail together. I owe them that. We brought them back together with the help of Archangel Michael, I won’t let Ares destroy them.”
Hercules looks at Aphrodite seriously, “We can’t help them.” he says, “We have to let them find out everything on their own. We promised Michael we wouldn’t help them.”
“That is true”, Aphrodite says, “But when the time comes and it gets messy, we will step in. I will make it happen.”
———
A few days have passed, and Jessie sits in the living room at the ranch, looking out the window at the mountains when Kira walks in. “Hey sweetie!” Kira says. “Long drive back, but I’m glad I’m home!”
“Hi Aunt Kira!” Jessie says happily. “Glad your trip was good.”
“So what’s been going on here?” Kira asks. “Lester still trying to get Abigail or you to go on a date with him?”
Jessie laughs and says, “No, we all decided just to be friends.” Jessie chuckles and then turns serious.“I have to tell you something.”
“Is everything ok back home?” Kira asks concerned.
“Everything’s fine,” Jessie says. “Sit down.” Kira sits in a comfortable chair across from Jessie “A few days ago Abigail and I were riding the trails, Lester caught up with us and as I was looking around, I came across something on the west side of the ranch. Lester told me it was Grandpa’s cabin, so all of us went to check it out.”
“You have free reign over the property, I told you that.” Kira says smiling.
“Lester said you lost the keys to the cabin, but we sort of picked the lock. I’m sorry Aunt Kira. If you didn’t want us to be there, we won’t go back there.” Jessie tells her concerned.
Kira gets up and walks to a box sitting on a table, she opens the box up and takes out a key and puts it in her pocket. “It’s ok Jess, I’m not mad,” she says smiling at her.
“We went in and were just looking around when Abigail accidentally opened a closet door and an old backpack and a staff of some sorts fell out. We studied the staff and then went to put everything back when an old newspaper fell out the side of the backpack. The newspaper was from June, 1956. And the headline told about two famous archeologists who died in a climbing accident. It was our distant cousin Mel Pappas and her friend Janice Covington.” Jessie continues in a rush.
“Oh wow, that’s interesting!” Kira says excited.
“Aunt Kira, Abigail's last name is Covington. Janice Covington was Abigail's Great Great Aunt.” Jessie says.
Kira gets a shocked look on her face. “Oh wow!” she says. “That’s amazing!”
“They knew each other, worked together and discovered some wild stuff,” Jessie says. “Would it be ok if Abigail and I check the cabin out? We want to learn more about Mel and Janice. We want to find out why they were here.”
Kira reaches into her pocket, takes out the key and hands it to Jessie. “Here ya go,” Kira says, “Go, explore, I trust the both of you.”
Jessie gets an excited look on her face and says, “Lester said you lost the key!”
“Lester doesn’t know this whole ranch,” Kira says, winking at Jessie. “Enjoy your exploration, you have my blessing.”
Jessie hugs Kira. “Thanks!” Jessie says and as she starts to leave, “You’re the best!”
Jessie walks out of the room. Kira looks at the picture of Zara and her, “And so it begins sis.” Kira says. “Look over the both of them, please.”
Chapter 6: Discoveries, The Nightmare And Ares Plans Begin
Summary:
Jessie and Abigail reveal some things to each other. They also start their quest on learning about Mel and Janice. Jessie's nightmare reveals more to her. Jessie and Abigail bond over the nightmare, Ares makes a threat and sets his plan in motion. (You get to see what happened to them after The Xena Scrolls event. Plus, while reading the journal entries, you can hear Janice and Mel tell their sagas!!)
————-
The next day, Jessie and Abigail are at the cabin. After a good cleaning, they sit across from each other in two comfy leather chairs.
“This place is so peaceful,” Abigail says. “Your aunt was so cool letting us come in here”
“Yeah, she’s always been like that,” Jessie says smiling.
“So, I have to ask you a question Jessie,” Abigail says smiling. “The other day when we went to see Dr. Henry, were you checking him out? I mean, for an older guy, he is very attractive and all."
Jessie shakes her head and laughs. "No! I mean, he is very attractive, it's just that.." She looks down at the ground then back at Abigail. "Have you ever met someone and felt like you knew that person from like, a past life or something. That's the vibe I got off of him. I don't know about the past life stuff, but I felt like I knew him from long ago."
"Maybe you two were lovers in a past life," Abigail says.
"No!" Jessie says strangely. "It felt like we were good friends at one time. Almost like he saved me, like a brother type figure."
"I get it," Abigail says. "I believe that some souls are destined to reunite in the future, either family, friends, lovers or enemies. It all comes back full circle." Abigail chuckles. "If my parents heard me say that, I'd be shipped off to some church retreat or something."
"That bad huh." Jessie says as Abigail shakes her head yes. "Ok, now I got to ask you something now that we're alone. What happened the other day when you grabbed that staff? You kind of scared me a little."
Abigail gets up and walks to the fireplace, she looks at Jessie. “You remember when you asked me to name Blaze and I went to pet her?” Abigail asks, Jessie shakes her head yes. “When I went to pet Blaze, I got a vision.”
“What kind of vision?” Jessie asks seriously.
“A vision of a young woman, back in ancient times, she was small, yet athletic, and she was on a horse just like Blaze.” Jessie looks at her intrigued. “And then, when we were here at the cabin and you handed me that staff, I had another vision of the same woman. And she was using a staff identical to the one in the closet. She... she was amazing! She was fighting these bandits or raiders using the staff and her fighting skills were similar to mine. She totally kicked these guys’ ass. She even ran up a wall, did a backflip and smashed two guys with the staff!”
Jessie gets this puzzled look on her face. “And then, when I snapped out of my vision, it was like... like I turned into her. I felt comfortable and wasn’t scared to be her.” Abigail says.
Jessie gets up with a serious look on her face and starts to walk around. “Right before I came here, I had a weird dream. It was about a woman from ancient times. I don’t know if she was a general of an army or what, but she could take on an army by herself if needed,” Jessie says, puzzled. “Then I had another dream of the woman and she had a fighting partner similar to who you explained. It was all foggy, but it felt real.”
“It’s going to sound weird, but maybe Janice and Mel want us to finish something they started,” Abigail says.
“Well then, if that’s the case let’s start finding out what brought them here,” Jessie says.
A while later Abigail and Jessie are sitting next to each other on the huge leather couch, Abigail has her laptop out and she googles Janice Covington and Melinda Pappas. Suddenly a bunch of old articles pop up in the search engine. The first thing that comes up is their discovery of the Xena scrolls.
“Ok, Jessie, you ready?” Abigail is excited.
“Go for it,” Jessie says.
Abigail clicks on the link and an article from the mid 40’s pops up. Abigail starts to read the article, “Janice and Melinda vaguely tell the reporter of how they came across the scrolls. Even though they didn’t go into details, they said that the discovery changes everything about Ancient Rome and Greece. Unfortunately, most of the scrolls were stolen by an idiot named Jack from New Jersey who was posing as a soldier from the French Foreign Legion. Melinda did go on to say that reading the scrolls, she discovered that Xena and Gabrielle were soulmates and fought together for the good of humanity. When asked what their next exploration will be, Janice said that they were on the hunt for Xena’s Yin/Yang Chakram and other artifacts that belonged to Xena and Gabrielle. When asked why they are so interested in a long ago legend, Melinda just briefly said that it was personal.” Abigail says. “We finally have a name of the woman who fought alongside Xena! Gabrielle! Such a beautiful name!” They both smile.
“But what’s the big mystery that they discovered?” Jessie wonders. “That’s what I want to know.” Jessie gets a weird look on her face. “Abigail, type in Xena’s Yin/Yang Chakram,” Jessie says. “I want to see if there is a photo and what it looks like.”
Abigail types in Xena’s Yin/Yang Chakram and a drawing of what it may look like pops up. The artist is none other than Janice Covington. Abigail and Jessie study the drawing and all of the sudden both of them have a vision. Jessie’s vision is of Xena throwing the Chakram, it glides through the air, splits in two and comes back to her in one piece. Abigail's vision is of Gabrielle dressed in ancient Asian clothing catching the Chakram after some kind of battle. It glides into her hands as she stares at it with determination in her eyes.
They both snap out of their visions.Abigail puts the laptop down.They look at each other in shock.
“What happened!?!?” Abigail says a little scared. “Did you just have a vision?”
“Yeah!” Jessie says. “What was yours about?”
“Gabrielle has the Chakram in some kind of battle,” Abigail says. “It flies back to her and she looks at it with determination in her eyes.”
“Mine is of Xena easily throwing the Chakram, it splits in two and comes back to her as one,” Jessie says. “What the hell is happening?”
“Why are we having these visions?” Abigail asks. “Do you think the visions are about this Xena and Gabrielle?”
“Yeah,” Jessie answers. “But why?” Jessie gets up and walks to the closet, she opens it and grabs the old backpack, “Maybe we might find something in here,” she says as she sets it on the table in front of them. She opens it up and finds papers regarding a lecture Janice gave on the Xena scrolls. What looks to be two old passports, one of Janice and one of Mel. Two old journals and what looks like an old map of the Red Rocks. Both Jessie and Abigail look at the items with awe.
“Where do we begin?” Abigail wonders.
After Jessie looks over the lecture notes, she discovers they really weren’t helpful. They then look at the journals. “Well, let's see what’s in these,” Jessie says as she picks up a journal and starts to read it.
February 1942
After nearly being captured by the Nazis, Mel and I were able to escape to Brazil. We boarded a cargo ship in Africa thinking it was going to at least Mexico. We are now in the jungles of the rainforest trying to make it back to the US. The natives have been nice to us, treating us as if we were Gods. Hopefully we can find a village where someone can speak some form of English and try and help us get back home. Mel said that when she was going through her dad's things, she also found some info on more things about Xena. It is still trying to sink in what we learned in that cave. We are keeping quiet though. Mel is taking the news ok, the events that took place still rattles her a bit. But I can see some pride in her eyes about the whole situation. I’m just glad I was able to detain that evil bastard before he got out of that cave and reeked destruction on the world. Must close now, we are boarding a ship headed north.
Jessie and Abigail look at each other puzzled. “I wonder what they discovered?” Abigail says.
“It must be big if it was personal,” Jessie says. “I guess I should get you back to campus before it gets dark.” Suddenly a clap of thunder is heard and it starts pouring. “Crap!! It’s raining! Open the door so I can bring the bike in!” Abigail and she jump from the couch. Abigail opens the door and Jessie runs out and brings the bike inside the house and parks it by the fireplace.
Abigail checks her phone for a weather report. “It looks like we may be stuck here for the night,” she says. “It’s going to rain off and on through the night.”
Jessie looks around and says, “Ok, I guess we stay here till morning, I can take the couch.”
“No!” Abigail proclaims. “This is your family’s place. I’ll sleep on the couch. I just need a blanket and pillow.”
“Are you sure?” Jessie asks. “I’m fine on the couch also”
“I call the couch,” Abigail says smiling. “No arguing!” She reaches into her bag and pulls out some snacks. “I did bring food in case we get hungry!” she says.
Jessie chuckles and says, “Di was right, you can eat with the best of them.” They both then start to laugh.
———————
Later that night, Jessie is sleeping in bed. Rain falls on the roof and thunder is heard in the distance. She has the nightmare again, but this time it starts when Zara gets stabbed and falls to the ground. The dark intruder looks down at her and pulls the knife out of her abdomen. “You should’ve listened to me. Now your daughters will pay for your silence,” the woman says as she disappears into thin air. While a young Beth and Sydney are huddled in the corner of the closet crying, young Jessie walks out of the closet and goes to her mom.
Zara is gasping for air, she turns and looks at Jessie with a tear running down her cheek. “Hey sweetie,” Zara says as she takes her last breath. “Find the Chakram Jessie. Your true self awaits you.”
“MOM!” Jessie screams as she jolts from her sleep.
Abigail comes running into the bedroom and sits next to Jessie. “Jessie! Jessie! What’s wrong?!” Abigail is worried. She looks at Jessie, who starts to tremble and gasps for air. Abigail hugs Jessie as she tries to calm Jessie down. “Shh. It’s ok.” Abigail says as she holds her in her arms. She takes her hand and runs it through Jessie's long hair. “It’s ok Jessie. I’m here.”
Jessie looks at Abigail with a tear in her eye. “Stay with me,” Jessie says. “Just until I fall back asleep.”
Abigail smiles at her. “Ok,” Abigail says. They lay down in bed and Abigail holds Jessie in her arms. Jessie closes her eyes and quickly falls back asleep. Abigail looks at Jessie with compassion in her eyes, feeling a connection in her soul. Jessie holds Abigail tighter and Abigail soon closes her eyes and falls asleep.
In the morning, Abigail opens her eyes and glances over to see an empty spot in the bed. She pulls off the covers and goes into the living room where she sees Jessie sitting on the floor with her legs cross in a meditation position. Meditation music is playing from her phone. Her eyes are closed with her hands by her knees. Abigail slowly moves to a chair facing Jessie and she sits and watches her, mesmerized by the calmness in Jessie’s face. Jessie senses Abigail's presence. “Would you like to join me?” Jessie says to Abigail.
“Sure,” Abigail says as she sits across from Jessie.
“Close your eyes, breath, and just let yourself focus on the moment,” Jessie instructs.
Abigail closes her eyes and starts to breathe slowly. After a while Jessie and Abigail fall into a meditative state. A ray of sunlight shines through the window and hits both of them. They both have a vision of the Chakram. It is suspended in the air, breaking apart and forming back together as flames surround it .
“Find the Chakram, and the both of you will find your true selves,” a voice says. They both awake from their vision and stare at each other.
“Wow!” Abigail says. “That was intense.”
“We have to find that Chakram,” Jessie says. “In some weird way, it connects us to something.” Jessie grabs Abigail's hand. “Thank you for staying with me last night.”
“You’re welcome Jessie,” Abigail says. “If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. I just wanted to make sure you were ok.”
Jessie looks to the ground then back up to Abigail and says, “I’ve seen my mom take her last breath before my sister Beth pulled me back in the closet.”
Abigail grabs both of Jesse’s hands as she looks at her concerned. “Oh my god Jessie, I... I’m so sorry,” Abigail says. Jessie and Abigail get up to sit on the couch. “Are you ok? Do you need to go talk to your aunt?”
Jessie puts her hands over her face then looks out the window. “No, I’m fine,” Jessie says as she looks back at Abigail. “We have to find that Chakram and I want to find out who murdered my mother. Whoever killed her wanted something from her, what, I don’t know. All I know is we have to find it.”
Abigail puts her head on Jessie's shoulder as Jessie hugs her. “I’m with you on this,” Abigail says as she grabs Jessie's hand. “Let’s find the Chakram, and the bastard who killed your mom.”
————
Back at the Decker house, Andrea sits in her office, Ares appears, but in the form of Dr. Smith.
“So, anything yet?” he asks “My patience is growing thin.”
“I am still working on this,” Andrea says. “Where have you been anyway? You’re supposed to be helping me.”
Ares looks at her seriously. “I have helped you more than you know. What have you done!?!”
They both look at each other, Andrea gets up and walks over to Ares and puts her hand on his chest. “Ares, God of War. Don’t you want to conquer the world again like we planned, or do you want to go back to that old tomb where I found you.” Andrea says with an evil look.
Ares grabs her throat and starts to squeeze it. She starts gasping for air. “Don’t you dare threaten me!” he says in anger. “If it wasn’t for me, you would still be roaming down there in Hell.” He releases his grip. Andrea covers her throat and walks back to her chair and sits down. “I’m losing my patience with you. It’s been what sixteen years now and still nothing,” he says. “Oh yeah, you’re spying on Beth and Sydney when they talk with Jessie, ooh.”
“They are going to say something soon,” Andrea says soothingly. “I think Beth might be the one who holds the key to where it is. She’s the oldest, her mother had to tell her.”
“And maybe you’ve had the wrong sister picked out all along.” Ares says as he walks around to Andrea and touches the emblem on her neck. “I’m gonna be nice to you. I’m giving you ninety days to find the Chakram, otherwise I take this back and Lucifer will be happy to take your soul back down to Hell for the final time.”
Ares suddenly disappears as Andrea looks on. She touches the emblem. “I will get the Chakram and all of the power that it holds,” Andrea says. “And when I do, I will be more powerful than I ever was.” She laughs methodically in a familiar tone that hasn’t been heard in over two thousand years.
Sitting back in his throne room, Ares stares at nothing with an evil look. “It is time to bring back the true Destroyer of Nations,” Ares says. “I know deep in my soul it is you Jessie. And I will make you mine, even if I have to destroy who you are now, you will be mine.” Ares gets an evil smile and starts to laugh.
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