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Leaving Maggie, Jessicafar too quickly

Despite Maggie&039;s assurances, she felt she had to personally check on the situation at the hospital She went to David&039;s room and saw that there was indeed a cop on duty

Yeah, well, there had been a cop on duty with Mary, too Discreetly, pretending she was looking for another rooood look at the officer She should have faith in Sean, of course, but

The officer was huge, a big, handsoe She saw the chain around his neck It held a crucifix, she was certain

She tarried until she heard the officer speaking to a nurse leaving the roo Doesn&039;t reh" She lowered her voice to a near whisper "Spooky, if you ask me I tell you, we never lost a patient here before I mean a dead patient You know We&039;ve never lost a corpse froe kids Pranks," the cop said, his voice reassuring

"I don&039;t know I just get the willies around here these days" she said, and then she save a little wave and started down the hall

Jessica left the hospital and went on to her office, hoping to find Jeremy and Nancy there No luck

Looking around, she had a strange feeling, as if someone had been there, as if they&039;d just left She told herself that she&039;d let the kids use the office, and that was all it was

Still, a sense of unease plagued her So around, then closing her eyes Had the Master been here?

No It was a different sense ofviolation that plagued her But she didn&039;t have time to dwell on it

She started out, then nearly screa Jim

He immediately looked sheepish "Sorry Didn&039;t mean to scare you"

"My fault But what the heck are you doing here? I can&039;t iine you&039;ve come for my services"

He shook his head "I read the newspaper," he said softly "And I&039;ot to be careful I can feel it inYou know oing down Comes from all the voodoo in my life, I suppose"

"Your bones aren&039;t all that old, Jim"

"I don&039;t like this I don&039;t like this one bit And too gie is going to make some calls"

"I saw the sky turn red This evil is after you"

Jessica looked around quickly "You&039;re alone, right?"

"Yeah, I&039;ood old boy, but don&039;t worry, we never do anything but tease aboutJim, you need to be careful The whole city needs to be careful If I had my way, I&039;d ask Sean to impose a curfew"

"And he&039;d be locked up in an insane asylum"

"I know That&039;s all that stops me"

"You call er, too"

He gave her a huge sainst"

"No No one really understands what they&039;re up against"

"When you need"Thank you"

He stepped back, studying her "You knohat I think? I think there&039;s got to be someone close to you who isn&039;t what he see, and asked sharply, "What do you ot help"

"You meanthe Master?"

"Honey, think about it He ht here"

She exhaled softly, staring at hihtEven so, she shook her head in denial "The only people ere in Romania were the kids and Bryan MacAllistair But it can&039;t be hi the Master himself He wants to destroy him"

"Yeah? How do you know that? Only because he says so, right? And think about it Where is he staying? Your place"

"No I can&039;t believe"

"Watch your back He doesn&039;t need an invitation to come in"

"Look, it could be anyone The Master didn&039;t need any help in Transylvania" She didn&039;t allow her voice to falter

Big Jim wouldn&039;t be swayed "There&039;s someone, and it&039;s so," she said, putting an end to the unco in the bar, okay?"

"You know it," he pro She answered it, still ie Get over here Now"

"But I haven&039;t found-"

"I think you should come Seriously There&039;s still ti Jio to ie was at the door when she parked in the drive Jessica frowned "What&039;s going on?"

"Ancient texts," Maggie told her

"You got ancient texts off the computer?" Jessica asked incredulously

"With patience, you can find anything you want on the coie assured her "Come in Sit down"

They returned to the kitchen There were papers froie&039;s printer spread out all over the breakfast table

"Here, this one is Babylonian The translation is, &039;He rises when the tiht, when the succubi ride raod nor ainst the ns&039;"

"Ancient Babylonian?" Jessica murmured doubtfully

"Yes And this is a release from the Vatican, twelfth century"

"This is in Latin," Jessica said

"Translation to the left," Maggie warned

"&039;As there shall be deels And as the ithin the world is not the ithin the soul, there are those whose deth shall cast terror into the innocents Yet so there shall be warriors, those granted life and breath, to do battle Therefore, have ye faith, have ye strength, have ye courage Ever and eternally, such a battle will rage, for if there is darkness, there is light, if there is love, there is hatred So shall they rise, by the strength and goodness of His love and mercy, those arriors, and where there is despair, they will bring hope Thus ht the eternal battle&039;"

Jessica set down the printed sheet, staring at Maggie "How did you find this?"

"I&039;ve been at it since you&039;ve left I&039;ve found a dozen other references to these beings known as warriors I had heard about thereat fear of thes, butI should have reme, too"

"Now that you o I thought that they were men sent out by the Church in a ti poas a witch, a bride of Satan-that people signed away their souls to the devil and danced naked in the ht Soyou think Bryan MacAllistair is one of them?" Jessica asked

"I don&039;t think he&039;s just any warrior," Maggie said softly "I think he is-or was-the chareat warrior who strode onto the field at Hay Glen and allowed the fledgling king to escape when Edward III first took the throne and decided to battle the Scots"

Jessica sank into a chair and stared at Maggie "That&039;s not possible"

"It is"

"He&039;d be more than a thousand years old"

"I didn&039;t find a life span noted in any of the references to the warriors," Maggie said

"It&039;s impossible," Jessica repeated

"Why?"

"He died I&039;ve studied history He died"

"Things aren&039;t alhat they seeo back to your house and stay there"

"I can&039;t, and you know it Thank you, Maggie I don&039;t believe what you&039;re telling me, but I promise to be careful"

"Just keep your distance fro in my house"

"Perhaps you should ask hiuilty look that caie groaned "You&039;re not going to ask hi with him"

"Yes," Jessica answered at last "And yes, there&039;s sos into words, she let her voice trail off

"Just be careful That&039;s all I ask"

Jessica gave her friend a hug and headed for the door Then she turned around "I saw Big Jim He thinks the Master has help here Soht have been in Roie said dubiously

"No, Bryan MacAllistair Your warrior"

"I still say I&039;ie said

"There was soot there before ainst the Master That hen panic set in I had to wait before I could reat that if he&039;s threatened, they&039;d die like lele-ness to protect hie was set before I did anything, but before I could, the battle began But the Master kneas there, andhe&039;ll be out to kill ie said "You need to keep the hell away from him"