Faked
by Chrissy Bennett
Disclaimer: I own Tricia Singh, Hannah Kruven Quest, Mariah Singh, and
plot. I own nothing else, and I am making about as much money
for writing this as you are for reading it. In other words:
I own zip. I'm making zip.
Rating: J/J HR, A?, E
Archivers: Have at thee!
note: I finally got this finished! YAY!
Jessica Quest stared out the window of the QuestJet and recalled
the events of the day.
She had been sitting in the living room of the Quest compound
reading a novel. Also in the room were her parents, her friends, Hadji
and Tricia Singh, and Karla Rage, and Dr. Benton Quest and his wife,
Hannah. The phone rang and Jessie got up to answer it. "Hello?…
Omigod… Yes… Yes… Thank you… We’ll be there as soon as I can." She
hung up the phone.
"What is it, Jessie?" Hadji asked. The tears rolling down her
cheeks and the fact that she was focusing in middle-space had him
scared.
"They said Jonny’s dead. They said his plane crashed in the
Painted Desert." Assorted gasps echoed through the room. "Well, what’re
we waiting for? Are we going to Arizona or what?"
"What about me?" Karla asked in her little girl voice.
"Do you want to come with us?"
"I guess."
"Then let’s go."
"I’m sorry, ma’am, there’s nothing to identify. The section
where your husband was seated was completed incinerated. In fact, we
believe that the explosion was centered at his seat."
"Was it a bomb?"
"Yes."
Jessie thought a moment, then looked at Karla, who spoke: "It
was my dad, wasn’t it."
"No, with your dad, it would have been a thermo-nuclear bomb at
Antarctica, not a simple pipe bomb. Surd is the one who did it. He’s
completely forgotten that it was my dad that he hated in the first
place. Now he’s just after Jonny."
"Oh."
"Well, Ponchita, what do we do now?"
"We wait for Surd’s next move… and we stay here."
Jessie had climbed to the top of a butte and was watching the
sun set over the horizon. The beautiful colors of the desert were
breathtaking, but Jessie did not fully appreciate them yet.
"DAMN YOU, JONATHAN BENTON QUEST!" Jessie screamed at the top
of her lungs, then sank to her knees and sobbed in anguish. In a quiet
voice she said: "You left me. You went and died on me. I love you. I
need you. WHY DID YOU HAVE TO LEAVE ME?" she leaned her head against
her knees and sobbed until her throat was raw and eyes were dry. Why
you? All the times we spent together. That smile of yours. I
remember the time we were at the park… and you said you’d love me
forever. And I’ll never see you again. Oh, Jonny, why did you leave
now, just when I need you most? Finally she found they strength to say:
"Wherever you are, Jonny, I want you to know that I will always love
you. Goodbye." She sank back down, with her head on her knees.
Jeremiah Surd was happy. Jonny Quest was dead.
Jessie had climbed to the top of the butte again. This time,
she was singing a song from her childhood.
What ravages of spirit
conjured this tempestuous rage
created you a monster
broken by the rules of love
Her voice rang out over the beautiful landscape, touching the
ears of many people. Jessie turned toward the distant Wupatki National
Monument. The clouds from the previous night’s storm were retreating
over the Hopi dwellings.
and fate has led you through it
you do what you have to do
and fate has led you through it
you do what you have to do ...
She was being strong for Benton’s sake... and it was killing
her. So she kept climbing the buttes to grieve the death of her
husband.
And I have the sense to recognize that
I don't know how to let you go
every moment marked
with apparitions of your soul
She sang the words and realized they were true. She would never
be able to let him go. He would always mean so much to her. The
previous night she swore she saw him in the town they were staying in.
It turned out to be a local person.
I'm ever swiftly moving
trying to escape this desire
the yearning to be near you
I do what I have to do
the yearning to be near you
I do what I have to do
but I have the sense to recognize
That I don't know how
to let you go
I don't know how
to let you go
She was trying to move on. The only thing was grateful for was the fact
that she and Jonny had no children.
A glowing ember
burning hot
burning slow
deep within I'm shaken by the violence
of existing for only you
She turned to the west, to the setting sun. A breeze blew her
hair back from her face and chilled her to the bone.
I know I can't be with you
I do what I have to do
I know I can't be with you
I do what I have to do
and I have sense to recognize but
I don't know how to let you go
I don't know how to let you go
I don't know how to let you go
She had even contemplated suicide. But she knew that she could
not take her own life to be with him. Something held her back. Whether
it was her belief that suicide was as bad as murder, or a premonition of
things to come, she would never know.
As the last words of the song fell from her lips, she bowed her
head and sobbed.
Some time later, a hand touched her shoulder and she whirled
around to face the last person she expected to see.
"Jonny! You’re alive!" She flew into his arms, sobbing with
joy.
"Yeah. I saw on the news that I was supposed to be dead. I was
sneaking around the crash site, and I heard you scream last night. I
was walking around the base of the butte tonight and heard you singing."
"I don’t care! I’m just glad you’re okay. I love you, Jonny."
"I love you, too, Jess." The couple embraced.
"Jessie! What the hell?" Race had followed his daughter. Now
she was kissing someone just after her husband had died.
The two pulled away from each other and turned so Race could see
that it was Jonny.
"Jonny Quest! I swear, you have nine lives."
"No, I wasn’t on that flight."
"Damn, boy, you sure are lucky." Race shook his head.
"Umm, Dad? Could you leave us alone for awhile?"
"Sure, Ponchita. I’ll go tell the others that your husband is
alive and well." With this, he turned and was soon making his way down
the rocky sides of the butte.
"Where were we?" Jonny asked his wife.
She leaned in closer to him. "Right about here," she said
before she kissed him again.
"JULIA! WHAT IS THIS?"
Julia Surd ran into the computer lab. "Jeremiah, what’s wrong?"
"THIS IS WHAT’S WRONG!" He pointed to a computer monitor. It
showed Jonny and Jessie descending the butte.
"He’s alive."
Jessie woke up the next morning, her head resting on Jonny’s
shoulder. She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek.
"Good morning," he said, waking up.
"Yeah. Man, I still can’t believe you’re alive."
"Believe it, Jessie."
"I believe it." She got up out of the hotel bed and got dressed.
Jonny got dressed as well. When Jessie was fully clothed, Jonny
wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her.
"Jonathan Quest, if you keep this up…" her voice trailed of as
she noticed an all to familiar figure outside the hotel. "Jonny, get
down!" she yelled and dragged him down with her as she hit the floor.
Gunshots went off above their heads. Jessie reached up and pulled the
curtains shut. She pulled Jonny into the hallway and they laid on the
floor until the shots from the semi-automatic weapons had stopped.
"Stay there, Jonny." Jessie got up and walked back into the
room. She pulled the curtain open and saw Lorenzo and Julia retreating
in a black Mercedes. *Why can’t they just die?* "Come on out, Jonny."
"Surd?"
"Yeah." Jessie looked over at her husband, who stood in the
doorway, wearing a pair of jeans. "You’d better put a shirt on. It’s
gonna be a long day."
"Did you kill him?"
"No."
"Can’t you do anything right? You’re losing your touch,
Lorenzo. I should fire you."
"But, Boss, I’ve been with you for 30 years."
"Right, and how many times have you screwed up? You’d think at
53, a man could do something right. I should get younger henchmen…
Julia, on the other hand, always does fine… unless you’re there to screw
it all up."
"Give me another chance, boss. I won’t screw up."
Surd growled. "All right. Go and bring back our Jessie and
Jonny. If you botch this…" Lorenzo didn’t hear him finish the
sentence. He and Julia were already on the way.
"Are you sure it was them, Jess?"
"I’m positive, Dad. Unfortunately."
"Well, what do we do now?"
"You do nothing, Dr. Quest. Except, of course, come with us."
Julia stood in front of the Quest Team, a rifle pointed at them.
Jonny and Jessie exchanged glances and raised their hands in the
air.
"LORENZO! YOU CAN COME OUT NOW!" Lorenzo drove up in a black
minivan. He and Julia were soon herding the Quests in the vehicle.
"Glad you could come, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Hell,"
Jeremiah Surd’s mechanical voice said.
"What do you want with us?"
"Why, your deaths, of course, Mrs. Quest. Or is it still ‘Dr.
Quest’?"
"It’s doctor."
"Hmph. All that college education down the drain. Julia,
Lorenzo, take them to their cells."
"Man, what’re we gonna do?"
"You got me, Trish. I haven’t got a clue." Jonny replied.
"Wait! I’ve got an idea!" Jade exclaimed.
"Let’s hear it, Mom."
"Well… See, Jessie you…"
"Now, my friends, I will give you one chance. Help me restore
my body… or die."
"I’ll help you."
"Oh, really, Jessie? I seem to remember the outcome of a
similar situation many years ago."
"I’ll prove it."
Jeremiah Surd and Julia exchanged glances.
"All right. Kill Hadji." Jessie took the gun from Julia and
pointed it at Hadji.
"JESSIE! WHAT THE HELL?"
"I finally see the truth, Dad." She pulled the trigger and
Hadji fell over.
"Well done. You have proven yourself, Jessica. You will not
die."
Jessie looked up from the wires she had just finished soldering
and saw Julia.
"Well, young Dr. Quest, you have done well."
"I try." *I swear, they’re stupid. Any idiot should know that
I would never kill Hadji. Hmph. The logic of Jeremiah Surd.* She had
been with the Surds for two days, wondering why they had not yet killed
her friends.
*Maybe they’re just stalling… and then they’ll kill us all at
once? Or maybe… No, that’s simply not possible. They would never let
them go.*
"Hadji! What are you doing? They’ll see you… and then they’ll
kill us all!" Karla gasped.
"Mariah is here… She wants to see Trish."
"Mariah?" Tricia looked over at the barred window of the cell.
"Mommy! Are you going to be okay?" Mariah asked in her little
girl voice.
"I’ll be fine, dear… Hadji, you’ve got to get her out of here…"
"Do you want me to take her back to Maine?"
"No, Hadj, take her to the Florida Compound," Jade said from the
darkness.
Hadji nodded once and disappeared into the night. As Tricia
watched her husband and daughter go, she said to Jade and Karla: "Why
aren’t we dead yet?"
"That’s the logic of a Kenyon talking…"
"Do what?" Karla asked.
"Yeah… Julia is my sister."
"JULIA SURD IS YOUR SISTER?" Tricia was shocked.
"Yeah… and don’t go commenting on my ‘wonderful’ family."
"I can’t believe it. Jeremiah Surd is your brother in law…
That’s too bizarre." Karla was as shocked as Tricia.
"Did you ever tell Jessie?" Hannah asked.
"No… but Julia knows… And I’m betting she’s the only reason
we’re not dead… Or that Jessie isn’t."
"But, Jeremiah…"
"No buts, Julia. They will die."
"I will not let you do it!"
"You will not have a choice."
"Oh yes, I will." Julia walked over to Jeremiah’s wheelchair
and disconnected something.
"Julia! What are you doing?"
"Something I should have done ages ago." And with that,
Jeremiah Surd took his last breath and died. "This lifestyle… It’s not
what I want anymore. Jessie is my niece… And I will NOT let anyone hurt
my family." Julia walked out of the room and down the corridor to the
cell where the women of the Quest Team where being held.
"Well, Jules, have you come to kill us?" Jade asked.
"No, Jadeana. I have come to set you free." With this, she
produced a key and unlocked the door. "I’ve killed Jeremiah. I don’t
want to be a criminal anymore. You are all free to go. Take this key
and let your husbands and friends leave. Jessie can be found sleeping
in the room across the hall. You will not have to worry about Lorenzo
and the other thugs… They will not be waking up until the police
arrive." Julia turned to leave.
"What about you, Julia?" Hannah asked.
"Me? I’m leaving this life… I’m going to disappear… Go back to
be what I am… and not a fake…" With this, she left.
"Race picked the locks on the cell doors, and let us out. We
found Jessie and the thugs asleep, Julia gone, and Jeremiah Surd dead."
"Thank you, Mrs. Quest." The officer turned and left Hannah
standing with the rest of her family. After a few minutes, he returned.
"Um… Mrs. Bannon?"
"Yes?" Jade answered.
"This was left here… I believe it’s to you." Jade opened the
envelope. The letter inside read:
Jadeana,
By the time you read this, I will no longer be a Surd.
Jeremiah is very abusive, through Lorenzo. I did not have the courage
to leave until now. I am a Kenyon again. Am I no longer a fake.
Jules
THE END
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