Whispers in the Dark

I watched as Anna climbed up on Toby's back again. Wasn't easy gettin' that 'bot dog down here into Hemlock. She was thrilled no end. "Seems like I could almost hear the sounds of Lily's diggin' in the mines. I'd gone down there to see her...... Got a gorram shock to see her too. She'd changed....." I rubbed my face then looked back up at Anna as she giggled, "There she was, small like a kid. Wirey and all wild. I caught her scent. That I know didn't change. But she was now no more'n a child her own self now." Wasn't goin' to admit how it tore me up inside. "Now Lily was a whole new entity. Not my Lily, not the Lily we all knew. Some little feral child."

"She don't really know me or anyone, 'cept maybe Xoxo... And that's questionable at best too. I had to take AuroraBlue with me. No way could Lily handle another jolt. It might foul up what remained of her original programmin'. I think if Lily were in my position, she'da done the same. Keepin' Anna safe was the most important thing right now. But for how long could I protect my little one. I knew the 'laince'd be after me b'fore too much longer. I couldn't very well take her on the run. It's why I came back to Hale's. I had an obligation and a promise to keep." Anna was tuggin' on Toby's collar like it was a set of reins. She giggled and babbled at the old animal 'bot.

"To much goin' on in my head.....And with reaver's on the increase, I wasn't goin' to leave Anna unprotected. We listened sometimes to the distant wails and screams in the darkened Hemlock." I heard em way too well. It brought with it the nightmares from my past......"I woulda gone up to help, but it'd risk Anna and my chances of stayin' hid." That and I needed to keep her away from em. "Xoxo wasn't actin' right either. She'd been actin' more and more strange. We'd got talkin' on stuff. Stuff I already knew. What she didn't know was Lily'd bit me. She was a might unsure how to take that, seein' how Lily's the PAX. I don't mean square. I mean she's been built with PAX. Seems her bite didn't effect me. Didn't change me into a reaver. For whatever reasons...... Don't know. But it got Xoxo a little worried... Saw it in her face."

"She asked me 'bout Kitten... Where all she was. I kept wonderin' too. Where all was mei mei. Not like her to be gone so gorram long and not contact me. I have to let Brooke know she's gone missin'. But gettin' a wave out could be dangerous. I didn't need Brooke in trouble over me makin' a gorram mistake." Started pacin' the floor again. Anna looked up at me with her big blue eyes, "Papa.... Wong?" Lookin' back at her, I didn't know what to tell her, "Nothin', Little one. It's ok. Nothin' wrong." I wish I coulda believed it in my own head. "I could still hear the noises in the dark. The whispers from the past. The sounds of the dead. Whenever I closed my eyes, I heard em."

Lily came down to Hemlock the other day lookin' for somethin'. I was just glad I'd takin' Anna to the bunk room to nap when Lily'd come on down. She was like a small animal. She wanted to know where HAL was. Wanted it for bargainin'.... For what I didn't know. She left when I said it wasn't down here. Barely talk to me. I knew she was not thinkin' of anythin' b'yond the here and now of it. Needed what she needed and then she moved on." Whispers.... Darkness..... Cold and lonely down there. "Darkness was supposed to be quiet. Was supposed to be where you could heart your own heart a beatin'. Instead, it was sounds of ships and people moving above us." Anna'd leaned forward and was huggin' the old dog 'bot. And as usual the old thing kept callin' her Anya. Xoxo couldn't fix that. At least she had a play toy. Not just Dog and me now.

"I'd spotted Lily that other night out playin' in the little playground. Like she always did. But then she went to the department store and stole a big old Sapphire. Hid it in her old worn and dirty coveralls. I woulda stopped her, but what good would it do. I wasn't a deputy anymore.... I'd thrown that by the wayside when I shot the Marshall at Eavestown. She run off after that. Was Lily really gone? Who was this new Lily?" I looked down at the ring a Lily gave me to hold onto. Three tears on a silver band. Whispers of who Lily was. Xoxo was able to remove it when we were trying to save Lily from Ardra. Now it's stuck like glue on me again. But then again I wasn't goin' to leave it there on Xoxo's desk. What was Lily was still in there. Maybe it' was her whispers in the dark that I'd hear when I tried to sleep at night..... when things'd quiet down above us.