Date: Mon, 1 Aug 1994 04:57:00 -0400 Reply-To: Highlander TV show stories Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Stephan Searles Subject: The New Life (2 of ???) Well here it is by almost popular demand :) I finally got not only the spell checer to wor but also cleaned the eyboard so my "i" works.... sorry about that. I am still interested in any feedbac (good or bad) throughout my writing so please fire away :) well without further delay I present part 2 of ??? (I have no clue how long this'll be something you'll want to read :) and yes the missing "k"'s are a joe :) Disclaimer: The characters & events portrayed in this story are fictitious. Any similarity with any persons/events past or present are purely coincidental. When possible I tried to correlate the location and setting but I hold no promises :) THE NEW LIFE - Part 2 "What are you talking about!" I bluntly asked, baffled by his appearance. "I think it's time you find out a little about yourself" he said, strangely. Seeing the puzzling look on my face, he opened the duffel bag and pulled out a set of clothes. "Put these on" he said "your checking out early." "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell your doing!" I bluntly stated. "OK fine." he said "My name is Marc Jones and I'm 182 years old, I died in the War of 1812. I awoke to find myself Immortal and have lived all around the United States. The reason I'm here is to tell you that you are now and Immortal and to get you away from the hospital." Stunned by the ferocity of his reply, I just looked at him. Not knowing whether he should be committed (or me for believing him), I grabbed the clothes and started to dress. "You mind running that by me again?" I asked, as I dressed. "I'm an Immortal and so are you. I was a medic in the Battle of New Orleans when I was shot and consequently died. I awoke about 6 hours later to find my wounds healed. For the next 3 years my body didn't seem to age and I healed rapidly. Then I was found by another Immortal by the name Conner Macleod. He then taught me what it meant to be an Immortal and the skills I'd need to survive." "But I thought you said your Immortal." I said. "To most wounds but if an Immortal is beheaded you lose the Quickening" was his answer. "The Quickening?" I asked. "I'll explain more once we're out of here." he said, as he checked the door. I finished dressing and handed the duffel bag back to Marc. "OK, what now?" I asked. "Now I'm going to distract the nurse at the station. In about 5 minutes go left down the hall until you get to the stairwell. Stay low and go down to the garage level. Stay in the stairwell until you hear two beeps from my car, then come out." "OK." I said. "Now time to shmooze up to the nurses." he said with a sly looking in his eyes. Waiting the five minutes was torturous, but gave me time to reflect on what Marc told me. Could what he told me is true? Is he really over 180 years old? Am I really one of these Immortals? These questions bothered me even more than the fact that I didn't have the slightest clue to who I am. After waiting what I thought was five minutes I opened the door to my room a crack. Hearing low voices to my left I could see Marc (with his back to me) discussing something with the nurse on duty. I quietly stepped out and reclosed the door to my room. Walking down to the hall I quickly came to the stairwell door and opened it. Looking around I realized why Marc told me to stay low. There was a security camera in the corner, but seemed to be pointing too high to see the whole stairway. Crouching low I quietly went down the stairs. After going down three flights I came to the door labeled 'Garage'. Waiting for the two beeps from Marc, the howling in my ears returned just before I heard the beeps. I opened the door and saw Marc in a white Lincoln Town Car. Making my way to the car was no problem. Once I got in, Marc said "Get in the back and stay low, until I say it's safe" I crawled in the back and laid flat (as I could) across the floor. After a couple of minutes Marc turned on the radio and said "OK, it's clear." I climbed back into the front seat and fastened my seatbelt. "Any questions you want to ask me?" he started. "Yeah, who am I?" I asked. "That I don't know for sure. From what I can gather you could be one of 4 men, your apparent age, they haven't identified yet. The coroner's office is having trouble because the bodies were burnt pretty badly." he explained. "OK, say I believe this story about Immortals and such. What make you believe I'm one?" I asked. "Simple," he stated "you died on the table while I worked on you in the Emergency Room. After your death I immediately began Sensing you and figured I'd have to start performing a 'miracle' job to bring you to 'life' again." "What do you mean 'sense' me?" I inquired. "All Immortal can Sense when another Immortal is close by, that is the howling in your ears and nauseous feeling you get anytime I came near you." he said. Having confirmed a budding notion I had, I asked "What is this Quickening you talked about?" "The Quickening is the energy contained in your body that makes you Immortal. Whenever you suffer a lethal wound you may 'die' but the Quickening will heal the damage and bring you back to life. Depending on the severity of the wound it could take minutes to hours for the Quickening to heal you." he answered. "What about this beheading stuff?" I continued. "When an Immortal is beheaded, usually by another Immortal, the Quickening is released from the body and mostly absorbed by the other Immortal. If you lose your head you are permanently dead, period." he said. "Why would another Immortal want to behead you?" I asked, puzzled by the tone he used. "Because there can only one Immortal left in the end." he stated, enigmatically. "What do you mean, there can be only one Immortal left in the end, the end of what?" I prodded. "All Immortals are part of what's called the 'Game'. What this means is that Immortals hunt each other out until there is only one left. This 'One' then gets a Prize of unimaginable power. The hunt is called the 'Gathering'." he said. "OK, let me get this straight, someone is going to start hunting me for my power so he can try to win a prize?" I asked. "Or she, I know a couple of swordwoman too." he said with a grin "But yes, that's basically it." "When is this 'Gathering' going to happen?" I asked. "Actually, I thinks it's begun. About 9 or 10 years ago my mentor, Conner Macleod, thought he had actually won the Prize in New York. You can imagine his surprise when I called on him one day." Marc said with a funny smile. "We now think he actually started the Gathering." "Have you even fought another Immortal?" I asked, suddenly apprehensive about Marc's intentions. Seeing through my question Marc answered. "Yes, I've taken a couple of Quickening's and no I'm not looking for yours." Hearing him actually say that my fear subsided. "What else should I know?" was my next question. "Plenty, but for now you should know that Holy Ground is a safe haven from other Immortals. You can spar but not actually harm while on Holy Ground." he said. "Now, why don't you take a rest, it's been a long day for you." Suddenly feeling just how tiring the day has been, I fell into a restless sleep as this Immortal drove me to my future. END OF PART 2 +------------------------------------+----------------------------------------+ | "If it moves KILL IT!! If it | I am Stryfe of Clan Summers.... | | doesn't move, pick it up & | There WILL be only one! :) | | KILL IT!!" - Ram Python Theme | (Stryfe@world.std.com) | +------------------------------------+----------------------------------------+ =========================================================================