Third Watch/Halloween Fic: Blood Ties (3/7)
Title: Blood Ties (3/7)
Author: X_tremeroswellian
Email: faithboscorelli1@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: The Third Watch characters belong to Edward Allen Bernero and John Wells. Laurie and Michael belong to John Carpenter. All others belong to me.
Rating: R for violence, language, and sexual content. This one is *not* for the kiddies, folks.
Spoilers: Up through and including everything in the third season of "Third Watch" except the finale, "Blackout." Also, spoilers for the movies Halloween, Halloween II, Halloween H20 and Halloween Resurrection.
Summary: Evil has come to New York City, hellbent on killing one of the officers at the 55th precinct. Will the rest of the Third Watch crew be able to stop the killer in time? Or will they become victims themselves?
Distribution: My site Only Time, fanfiction.net. Anyone else, just ask.
Category: Story
Subcategories: Horror, angst, romance
Feedback: Is really appreciated.
Author's Note: The idea for this fic came after watching Halloween Resurrection the day it came out in theatres. Sorry to anyone who *liked* the movie. I personally thought it was awful and I felt the need to try and fix it. And what better way to fix something than by throwing the Third Watch characters in the mix? ;) I've never attempted a horror fic before, and I realize the idea of a Halloween/Third Watch crossover is a bit...bizarre, but I decided to take the challenge. So if you like it, or hate it, please let me know.
Dedication: This one is for CCA, my fellow scary movie viewer. :)
Special thanks to Dem and Bree for encouraging me to go through with this story.
Prologue | One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Conclusion
Blood Ties (Part Three)
Apartment of Maurice Boscorelli, New York City
October 31st, 2004--Halloween
8:05 a.m.
Faith opened her eyes to see a faint light flooding into the bedroom from the window. Morning already? she thought with disbelief. It felt like she had just gone to bed.
She closed her eyes again, a faint smile touching her lips as she remembered she wasn't at her place, but at Bosco's. She stretched her arms over her head, yawned, then turned over, expecting to find him still asleep.
Instead, she realized with an immediate sense of anxiety, that he wasn't there at all.
Faith sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Boz?" she called.
He didn't answer.
Maybe he's in the bathroom, she thought hopefully.
She swung her legs off the bed and stood up. She picked up Bosco's NYPD shirt from the floor and pulled it on over her head. She raked a hand through her hair as she walked down the hall to the bathroom.
"Bosco?" She pushed the door open and flipped on the light. He wasn't there.
Not wanting to jump to any conclusions, she turned the light off again and walked out to the living room, glancing around the kitchen. He wasn't in either place.
Her anxiety began to increase as she walked over to his kitchen table. She picked up the short note he'd written and quickly read it, her heart sinking.
Went out. Be back soon.
-Bosco
Faith blinked back the rapidly forming tears in her eyes. She clutched the paper in her hand as she stood alone in his apartment. Obviously he had regretted what happened between them and thought it would be easier for both of them if he just wasn't there when she woke up.
A sudden, intense feeling of despair stabbed her heart. She'd been abandoned by the one person she'd always been able to trust. A tear slid down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away, anger covering up the sadness.
This was *classic* Bosco behavior.
Why had she thought she'd be any different than all the other one night stands and passing flings he was so well-known for? Had she honestly thought he'd suddenly fall in love with her of all people? Not likely.
She shook her head, disgusted with herself for being so weak to turn to him in the first place. She dropped his note back onto the tabletop and walked into the living room. She picked her sweatshirt off the floor, then walked back to his bedroom feeling numb.
She reached down to pick up her jeans, memories from earlier that morning permeating her mind.
Faith remembered how he had slid his hands over hers, interlocking their fingers as they made love. He had kept his eyes on hers the whole time, gazed at her with such intensity that it had startled her.
Fred had always kept his eyes shut.
Probably easier to picture Holly that way, she thought bitterly.
She pushed away all thoughts of Fred, of Holly, of Bosco. She had more important things to worry about. Like her sister. That's what she needed to focus on now.
Faith quickly pulled her jeans on and started to change out of Bosco's NYPD shirt. She stopped, closing her eyes tightly, inhaling the scent of his cologne lingering on the shirt she was wearing. She hesitated, then left his shirt on, and folded her own.
So it was weak. It was the only piece of Bosco she had to hold onto. Because he didn't want her.
She wiped away another tear that trickled down her cheek as she walked back to the kitchen. She picked up a pen off the table and on the other side of the note he'd left her, she wrote three words.
Then, taking a deep breath to compose herself, Faith headed to the front door. If she managed to survive the day, then she'd figure out how to deal with losing Bosco's friendship. Right now she had work to do.
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Bosco whistled as he walked up the stairs of his apartment building, carrying a paper bag in his arms. He quietly unlocked the door to his apartment and stepped inside. He set the bag down on the countertop and pulled out a carton of strawberries and a bag of bagels he'd bought. He smiled as he sniffed the white rose he'd gotten from a street vendor on his way back. Yeah, Faith will like this, he thought.
He closed his eyes as he thought about what happened between them. Making love to Faith had been the most amazing experience he'd ever had. He'd been unable to take his eyes off her the entire time. It was like he'd realized for the first time where he truly belonged and it was right there with her.
He hadn't fallen asleep afterward, but lay there holding her in his arms as she slept. He'd spent nearly four hours just listening to the sound of her breathing with a feeling of utter and complete peace and calm that he'd never known existed.
He'd dozed off around seven, but had woken up a half-hour later, feeling hungry. He'd decided not to wake Faith and had gone to get something for them to eat for breakfast. He remembered her once telling him that she loved strawberries, so he'd decided on a light breakfast. He could take her out to lunch later. Much later, he thought with a smile as he headed back to his bedroom, carrying the rose.
He stopped in his tracks the second he saw that the bed was empty. His gaze dropped to the floor. Her clothes were gone.
Bosco felt a knot form in his stomach as he walked through his apartment looking for her. He finally made his way back to the kitchen where he spotted the note on the table.
Scratched across the paper in her familiar handwriting, there were three words written:
I'm sorry.
-Faith
His heart sank and he sat down in one of the kitchen chairs, dropping the rose onto the tabletop. "Son of a bitch," he muttered.
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55th Precinct Station House, New York City
October 31st, 2004--Halloween
9:16 a.m.
"Ma'am? What are you doing here so early? Did you change to day shift?"
Faith looked up and saw Steve Gusler standing a few feet away, dressed in his uniform. "Hi, Steve. No, I'm not on 'til 3," she confirmed tiredly. "I just came to use one of the computers for some research."
"Oh."
"Are you liking Midnights?"
"Yeah, they're much quieter," he said, nodding.
"You just finish your shift?"
"Yeah, I just had to finish up some paperwork."
She nodded. "Well, go home and get some sleep, okay?"
"I will. Thanks." He turned away, then paused, glancing over his shoulder. "Happy Halloween, Ma'am."
Faith cringed slightly. "Thanks. You too, Steve." She walked down the hallway and poked her head into one of the offices with a computer terminal, relieved to see no one was there.
She drew in a deep breath and slid into the chair, waiting for the computer to boot up. When it did, she quickly logged on to the Internet and did a search on 'Michael Myers.'
Literally hundreds of website links popped up and her eyes widened slightly. She scanned the site addresses until she found one that read Chicago Tribune, figuring it was more reliable than personal pages. She clicked on the link and waited impatiently for the page to load.
The headline read:
Six Year Old Institutionalized for Murdering Sister
She quickly read the article that had been written in 1963. Apparently Judith Myers--my sister, she thought fleetingly--had been babysitting her younger brother Michael while their parents had been at some Halloween party. When their parents had gotten home, they'd found him outside their home dressed in his Halloween costume, and clutching a blood knife in his hand. He'd stabbed his older sister multiple times and by the time the paramedics had arrived, she'd already bled to death.
Faith swallowed hard, a chill passing through her body. If he'd committed such a horrendous act at six years old, what was he capable of now, 41 years later?
She forced aside her feelings, determined to learn everything she possibly could about her brother, about the terrible things he had done. She had to, if for no other reason but to find out what she was up against if her sister was right and he did decide to come after her.
She clicked on the link at the bottom of the web page that said 'related articles.' She read dozens of articles about the people he had killed and how he had never again been caught. Each story was a little more grusome than the previous one.
Faith clicked on another link. The headline of this particular story read:
Terrorized Sister Takes Revenge on Wrong Man
With a sinking feeling in her stomach, she began to read.
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Sundown Cafe, New York City
October 31st, 2004-Halloween
12:04 p.m.
Doc walked into his favorite coffee shop that afternoon, wanting to read the newspaper and relax a bit before his shift started.
He stood in line at the counter, waited his turn, then ordered his usual cup of coffee. He turned to find a booth to sit in and stopped when he saw a familiar figure in the corner alone, staring out the window at the dreary day as she drank her own cup of coffee. He paused for a moment, but curiosity got the best of him. He walked over to her.
"Excuse me."
She jumped, startled at his voice. The coffee cup slipped out of her hands and shattered on the tabletop.
"I'm sorry," Doc said immediately, grabbing a handful of napkins off the next table and helping her wipe up the mess. "I didn't mean to scare you."
She looked up at him, her eyes widening slightly with recognition. "You're one of the paramedics--"
"From last night," he finished, giving her a small smile. "Yeah, I am. And you're the lady who disappeared into thin air when my partner and I drove you to the hospital."
She looked down. "Sorry about that."
"It's okay." Doc studied her for a moment. "My name is Monte. Monte Parker. Everyone calls me Doc," he said, extending his hand out.
She hesitated, then shook his hand. "Laurie Strode."
The name sounded vaguely familar, but he couldn't recall where he'd heard it before. "Nice to meet you, Laurie."
"Nice to meet you, too." She withdrew her hand and turned to glance out the window.
"I don't mean to sound nosey or anything, but...you seemed pretty upset last night."
Laurie looked at him again, swallowing hard. "It's sort of a long story."
Doc nodded slowly. "Are you in some kind of trouble?" he asked, dropping his voice. "Because if you are, I have a lot of friends that could help you."
She smiled sadly. "Thanks for the offer, but...I don't think anyone can help me at this point."
He frowned. "You might be surprised." He slid into the seat across from her.
Laurie looked down at the table and remained silent.
Doc sighed lightly, then took a drink of his coffee. He looked at her again. "Did you find your sister?"
"Yeah, actually, I think I did. She's meeting me here in a little while."
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Sundown Cafe, New York City
October 31st, 2004-Halloween
12:48 p.m.
Faith stood outside the cafe for several long moments, the cool autumn wind tousling her hair as she stood under the awning to keep from getting wet in the drizzling rain. She felt like she was being watched and she turned around in a full circle, scanning the sidewalks and rooftops for any sign of her brother. When she didn't see anyone wearing a white face mask, she closed her eyes momentarily, letting out a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. She finally reached for the door handle and stepped inside the coffee house. She glanced around, looking for Laurie.
My sister, she told herself, a mixture of emotions flooding her. She spotted her over in the corner, sitting across a table from...Doc?
Faith stared at him in surprise. How did they meet? she wondered, confused. She took a deep breath and walked over to them.
Laurie and Doc looked up.
Doc looked just as surprised to see her as she felt seeing him. "Faith, hi."
"Hi," she answered, her gaze drifting to her sister.
"Hi," Laurie said quietly.
Doc looked back and forth between them. "Wait a second. Are you two--?"
"Sisters," Faith finished.
Laurie stared at her.
"I didn't know you had a sister," Doc said to Faith, his eyebrows furrowed.
She shrugged slightly. "I seem to be hearing that a lot lately," she murmured, her eyes focused on Laurie.
He looked between them again, a frown settling on his face. "Well, I'll let you two talk," he said, standing up, his gaze on Faith. "I'll see you out there."
Faith nodded and gave him a small smile. She waited until he'd left before sitting down in the spot he'd vacated, folding her hands together on the table.
"You saw your parents?"
"Yeah, I saw them," she said softly, her dad's angry voice echoing in her mind. <"She doesn't want me for a father anymore than I ever wanted her for a daughter. At least now she knows why!">
"What did they say?"
"That it was true." Faith raised her eyes to meet her sister's gaze. "They didn't want to tell me because they wanted to protect me. Or at least my mother did."
"I'm sorry," Laurie said quietly, picking up a napkin on the table and twisting it in her hands.
She hesitated for a long moment. "I need you to tell me what happened."
Laurie's gaze dropped to the table and she took a deep breath. "In 1978? Or six years ago?"
"Both," Faith answered softly. She had read the newspaper accounts of the events, but she needed to hear what happened from this woman. From her *sister*.
She nodded slowly and turned her head to look out the window. "I was 17. It was Halloween night. I was babysitting for a boy that I babysat for all the time, Tommy." Her eyes grew distant as the memories took over. "My friend Annie was babysitting for a little girl across the street. She brought Lindsey over for me to watch so she could go out with her boyfriend. Later, I got this phone call and I thought it was her, but she didn't say anything. There were these weird sounds on the other end of the line...at first I thought maybe she was playing some kind of joke on me, but then--" She shook her head. "I don't know, I just had this feeling. So after I put the kids to bed, I went across the street to the Wallace's house."
Faith felt her own stomach knot with anxiety. "You know what? You don't have to--"
"Yes, I do." Laurie turned her gaze back to her sister. "You have to know what he's capable of." She took another deep breath, her eyes drifting shut. "When I got to the Wallace's house, the doors were unlocked so I went inside. It was dark and it was quiet. It was so quiet," she whispered, her eyebrows furrowing. "I went up the stairs. And found Annie in the bedroom, dead." Her voice shook. "He had um...he had stolen our older sister's headstone and set it there above her. He'd also killed one of my other friends, Lynda, and her boyfriend. I started to run and then there he was. I fell down the stairs and I managed to get out of the house, but...he followed me across the street to Tommy's house." She shuddered.
Faith hesitated, then reached out and touched her sister's hand. To her surprise, Laurie gripped onto her without hesitation.
"He trapped me in this closet and he was stabbing the doors with the knife he had. I grabbed this wire hanger and unfurled it, and I stabbed him in the eye with it and he fell down. I got out of the closet and told the kids to get out of the house, to run down the street to the neighbor's house and call the police. And they did. I could hear them screaming for help before they even got to the street. I didn't hear Michael get up. I was in shock. And then the next thing I knew, there he was again. He stabbed me in the arm, but before he could kill me, this doctor, the psychiatrist who had treated Michael since he was six, he showed up out of nowhere. And he shot him. Again and again. Michael fell off the balconey of the Doyles' house. But when the police arrived, he was gone." Laurie opened her eyes and looked at Faith.
Faith could see the fear in her eyes, the terror that their brother had caused her. She swallowed hard.
"They took me to the hospital that night. He came after me again. And he killed so many people," she whispered, shaking her head. "There was a fire. An explosion. We thought he was dead, but then...we found out that his body was never recovered that night. After that, I ran. I changed my name and I ran. And I tried to hide. I became this whole other person with a whole different life, one that didn't include a brother that was trying to kill her."
"You faked your own death," Faith said softly.
Laurie nodded. "Twice." She looked out the window again. "The first time, I became Kerry Tate and I moved to California to run a school there. But Michael managed to find me, even twenty years later. He killed the man I loved. He tried to kill my son and he killed a lot of people that I knew." A tear slid down her cheek. "So I killed him. Only it wasn't really him," she whispered. She pulled her hand away from Faith's to wipe the tears off her face. "I killed an innocent man because I thought he was my brother."
She wanted to say something, anything, offer some words of comfort to her sister, but didn't know what she could say.
"The guilt drove me crazy," Laurie whispered, drawing in a shaky breath. "They uh...they locked me away in an institution. I was safe there for a couple years, but...I always knew he'd come back for me. So I tried to prepare myself. I tried to take him out before he killed me. I set a trap for him last Halloween. And it would have worked, but...I had to be sure it was him this time. I couldn't take the chance that I was killing another innocent person. And that's when he grabbed me. We were hanging off the roof top of the institution and he stabbed me in the back. And then he dropped me."
Faith waited nervously for her to finish, her hands clenched together.
"When I woke up, there was a man...a doctor...who helped me. He saved my life. And when I was recovered enough to walk again, he told me to run. That my secret was safe with him. He'd let everyone believe that I was dead. That my body had been stolen from the morgue." Laurie swallowed hard, dropping her gaze to the tabletop. "No one in my family knows that I'm still alive. Not even my son. It's safer for everyone that way." She lifted her eyes to look at Faith. "But when I found out that I had a sister...I had to find you, to warn you. Because if I could find out, it was only a matter of time before Michael did, too."
She nodded slowly in understanding, feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything she'd just been told. She shivered lightly and pulled her jean jacket closer to her. "Thank you for putting yourself in that kind of danger to warn me."
"You're my sister," Laurie whispered, a sad smile on her face. "What choice did I have?"
The alarm on her watch beeped and Faith jumped, startled. She glanced down. It was 2:55. "Damn. I have to get work. Where are you staying tonight?"
"I'm not." She shook her head. "Staying in one place...makes me too much of a target. It'll be harder for him to find me if I'm moving."
"Yeah. Of course." Faith let out a breath. "Well, look..." She reached into her purse and pulled out a pen. She scratched a number across one of the napkins on the table. "This is my cell phone number. I have to work tonight, but...if you need anything, or if you see him, call me, please."
"Faith?" Laurie looked up at her as Faith rose to her feet.
"Yeah?"
"Be careful," she whispered.
Faith held her gaze for a long moment and nodded. "I will. You, too, okay?"
Laurie nodded slowly, still staring at her. Then she rose to her feet and hesitated before putting her arms around her sister.
Faith closed her eyes and hugged her back. "I'll see you later."
"I really hope so," Laurie murmured.
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55th Precinct Station House, New York City
October 31st, 2004--Halloween
3:06 p.m.
Bosco stormed into the locker room, carrying his duffle bag on his shoulder. He looked around and spotted two of his colleagues changing into their uniforms. "Sullivan, Davis...you guys seen Yokas?" he asked instantly.
"Nope," Davis answered, leaning down to tie his shoe.
"Not yet," Sully told him.
"Damn it," he muttered, shaking his head. He headed for his locker and quickly spun the combination on the lock. He yanked out a clean uniform and slipped his shoes off as he threw the bag down on the bench.
"Everything all right, Bosco?" Sully asked, concerned as he watched his colleague's angry actions.
"Peachy," he replied sarcastically as he pulled his jacket off and shoved it into his locker.
Davis raised his eyebrows and glanced at his partner. "All right then. Shall we go to roll call?"
"Yeah, good idea," Sully responded, frowning as he glanced at Bosco once more. They headed out of the room.
Bosco closed his eyes and leaned his head against the locker door, letting out a heavy sigh. "Come on, Faith, where the hell are you?" he wondered aloud.
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Faith walked into the roll call room five minutes late, sliding into an empty seat toward the back, hoping no one had noticed.
"Yokas, you must be spending too much time with your partner," Christopher remarked with a smirk as he glanced back at her. "See me after."
She kept her face blank, not giving the bastard the satisfaction of a dirty look. Any other day, she'd be annoyed, even pissed, but today she had far worse things to worry about that getting a command discipline from Jason Christopher. She glanced around the room and almost instantly linked gazes with Bosco, who had turned to look at her. She couldn't read the expression on his face and it bothered her. Had he requested they be paired up differently that day? For the rest of their working lives?
She finally looked away from her partner and tried to focus on what Swerksy and Christopher were saying, but found her mind drifting back to her sister's words. <"...when I found out that I had a sister...I had to find you, to warn you. Because if I could find out, it was only a matter of time before Michael did, too.">
Faith shivered in her seat and glanced around the room again, expecting to see everyone's eyes on her. But no one was watching. No one that she could see, anyway.
Christopher dismissed the officers from roll call, but motioned her to the front of the room. She stood up and walked over to him, not even really caring what he had to say. She wasn't convinced she was going to live through her shift, so what difference did it make if she got in trouble or not?
"You and your partner can meet me tonight at 8:00 in the parking lot at King and Durbin for your command discipline for missing the first part of roll call," he informed her with a smirk.
She turned to see who she'd be working with and was startled to see Bosco standing there waiting, a pissed off look on his face as he glared at Christopher. He met her gaze for a brief second, then looked down at the floor. She swallowed hard.
"Oh, and by the way," Christopher said, his smile widening slightly. "After our meeting tonight, you two can finish off your shift patrolling your sector on foot."
Faith's jaw clenched involuntarily and without a word of response to the sergeant, she headed for the door, Bosco right behind her.
Author: X_tremeroswellian
Email: faithboscorelli1@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: The Third Watch characters belong to Edward Allen Bernero and John Wells. Laurie and Michael belong to John Carpenter. All others belong to me.
Rating: R for violence, language, and sexual content. This one is *not* for the kiddies, folks.
Spoilers: Up through and including everything in the third season of "Third Watch" except the finale, "Blackout." Also, spoilers for the movies Halloween, Halloween II, Halloween H20 and Halloween Resurrection.
Summary: Evil has come to New York City, hellbent on killing one of the officers at the 55th precinct. Will the rest of the Third Watch crew be able to stop the killer in time? Or will they become victims themselves?
Distribution: My site Only Time, fanfiction.net. Anyone else, just ask.
Category: Story
Subcategories: Horror, angst, romance
Feedback: Is really appreciated.
Author's Note: The idea for this fic came after watching Halloween Resurrection the day it came out in theatres. Sorry to anyone who *liked* the movie. I personally thought it was awful and I felt the need to try and fix it. And what better way to fix something than by throwing the Third Watch characters in the mix? ;) I've never attempted a horror fic before, and I realize the idea of a Halloween/Third Watch crossover is a bit...bizarre, but I decided to take the challenge. So if you like it, or hate it, please let me know.
Dedication: This one is for CCA, my fellow scary movie viewer. :)
Special thanks to Dem and Bree for encouraging me to go through with this story.
Prologue | One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Conclusion
Blood Ties (Part Three)
Apartment of Maurice Boscorelli, New York City
October 31st, 2004--Halloween
8:05 a.m.
Faith opened her eyes to see a faint light flooding into the bedroom from the window. Morning already? she thought with disbelief. It felt like she had just gone to bed.
She closed her eyes again, a faint smile touching her lips as she remembered she wasn't at her place, but at Bosco's. She stretched her arms over her head, yawned, then turned over, expecting to find him still asleep.
Instead, she realized with an immediate sense of anxiety, that he wasn't there at all.
Faith sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Boz?" she called.
He didn't answer.
Maybe he's in the bathroom, she thought hopefully.
She swung her legs off the bed and stood up. She picked up Bosco's NYPD shirt from the floor and pulled it on over her head. She raked a hand through her hair as she walked down the hall to the bathroom.
"Bosco?" She pushed the door open and flipped on the light. He wasn't there.
Not wanting to jump to any conclusions, she turned the light off again and walked out to the living room, glancing around the kitchen. He wasn't in either place.
Her anxiety began to increase as she walked over to his kitchen table. She picked up the short note he'd written and quickly read it, her heart sinking.
Went out. Be back soon.
-Bosco
Faith blinked back the rapidly forming tears in her eyes. She clutched the paper in her hand as she stood alone in his apartment. Obviously he had regretted what happened between them and thought it would be easier for both of them if he just wasn't there when she woke up.
A sudden, intense feeling of despair stabbed her heart. She'd been abandoned by the one person she'd always been able to trust. A tear slid down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away, anger covering up the sadness.
This was *classic* Bosco behavior.
Why had she thought she'd be any different than all the other one night stands and passing flings he was so well-known for? Had she honestly thought he'd suddenly fall in love with her of all people? Not likely.
She shook her head, disgusted with herself for being so weak to turn to him in the first place. She dropped his note back onto the tabletop and walked into the living room. She picked her sweatshirt off the floor, then walked back to his bedroom feeling numb.
She reached down to pick up her jeans, memories from earlier that morning permeating her mind.
Faith remembered how he had slid his hands over hers, interlocking their fingers as they made love. He had kept his eyes on hers the whole time, gazed at her with such intensity that it had startled her.
Fred had always kept his eyes shut.
Probably easier to picture Holly that way, she thought bitterly.
She pushed away all thoughts of Fred, of Holly, of Bosco. She had more important things to worry about. Like her sister. That's what she needed to focus on now.
Faith quickly pulled her jeans on and started to change out of Bosco's NYPD shirt. She stopped, closing her eyes tightly, inhaling the scent of his cologne lingering on the shirt she was wearing. She hesitated, then left his shirt on, and folded her own.
So it was weak. It was the only piece of Bosco she had to hold onto. Because he didn't want her.
She wiped away another tear that trickled down her cheek as she walked back to the kitchen. She picked up a pen off the table and on the other side of the note he'd left her, she wrote three words.
Then, taking a deep breath to compose herself, Faith headed to the front door. If she managed to survive the day, then she'd figure out how to deal with losing Bosco's friendship. Right now she had work to do.
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Bosco whistled as he walked up the stairs of his apartment building, carrying a paper bag in his arms. He quietly unlocked the door to his apartment and stepped inside. He set the bag down on the countertop and pulled out a carton of strawberries and a bag of bagels he'd bought. He smiled as he sniffed the white rose he'd gotten from a street vendor on his way back. Yeah, Faith will like this, he thought.
He closed his eyes as he thought about what happened between them. Making love to Faith had been the most amazing experience he'd ever had. He'd been unable to take his eyes off her the entire time. It was like he'd realized for the first time where he truly belonged and it was right there with her.
He hadn't fallen asleep afterward, but lay there holding her in his arms as she slept. He'd spent nearly four hours just listening to the sound of her breathing with a feeling of utter and complete peace and calm that he'd never known existed.
He'd dozed off around seven, but had woken up a half-hour later, feeling hungry. He'd decided not to wake Faith and had gone to get something for them to eat for breakfast. He remembered her once telling him that she loved strawberries, so he'd decided on a light breakfast. He could take her out to lunch later. Much later, he thought with a smile as he headed back to his bedroom, carrying the rose.
He stopped in his tracks the second he saw that the bed was empty. His gaze dropped to the floor. Her clothes were gone.
Bosco felt a knot form in his stomach as he walked through his apartment looking for her. He finally made his way back to the kitchen where he spotted the note on the table.
Scratched across the paper in her familiar handwriting, there were three words written:
I'm sorry.
-Faith
His heart sank and he sat down in one of the kitchen chairs, dropping the rose onto the tabletop. "Son of a bitch," he muttered.
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55th Precinct Station House, New York City
October 31st, 2004--Halloween
9:16 a.m.
"Ma'am? What are you doing here so early? Did you change to day shift?"
Faith looked up and saw Steve Gusler standing a few feet away, dressed in his uniform. "Hi, Steve. No, I'm not on 'til 3," she confirmed tiredly. "I just came to use one of the computers for some research."
"Oh."
"Are you liking Midnights?"
"Yeah, they're much quieter," he said, nodding.
"You just finish your shift?"
"Yeah, I just had to finish up some paperwork."
She nodded. "Well, go home and get some sleep, okay?"
"I will. Thanks." He turned away, then paused, glancing over his shoulder. "Happy Halloween, Ma'am."
Faith cringed slightly. "Thanks. You too, Steve." She walked down the hallway and poked her head into one of the offices with a computer terminal, relieved to see no one was there.
She drew in a deep breath and slid into the chair, waiting for the computer to boot up. When it did, she quickly logged on to the Internet and did a search on 'Michael Myers.'
Literally hundreds of website links popped up and her eyes widened slightly. She scanned the site addresses until she found one that read Chicago Tribune, figuring it was more reliable than personal pages. She clicked on the link and waited impatiently for the page to load.
The headline read:
Six Year Old Institutionalized for Murdering Sister
She quickly read the article that had been written in 1963. Apparently Judith Myers--my sister, she thought fleetingly--had been babysitting her younger brother Michael while their parents had been at some Halloween party. When their parents had gotten home, they'd found him outside their home dressed in his Halloween costume, and clutching a blood knife in his hand. He'd stabbed his older sister multiple times and by the time the paramedics had arrived, she'd already bled to death.
Faith swallowed hard, a chill passing through her body. If he'd committed such a horrendous act at six years old, what was he capable of now, 41 years later?
She forced aside her feelings, determined to learn everything she possibly could about her brother, about the terrible things he had done. She had to, if for no other reason but to find out what she was up against if her sister was right and he did decide to come after her.
She clicked on the link at the bottom of the web page that said 'related articles.' She read dozens of articles about the people he had killed and how he had never again been caught. Each story was a little more grusome than the previous one.
Faith clicked on another link. The headline of this particular story read:
Terrorized Sister Takes Revenge on Wrong Man
With a sinking feeling in her stomach, she began to read.
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Sundown Cafe, New York City
October 31st, 2004-Halloween
12:04 p.m.
Doc walked into his favorite coffee shop that afternoon, wanting to read the newspaper and relax a bit before his shift started.
He stood in line at the counter, waited his turn, then ordered his usual cup of coffee. He turned to find a booth to sit in and stopped when he saw a familiar figure in the corner alone, staring out the window at the dreary day as she drank her own cup of coffee. He paused for a moment, but curiosity got the best of him. He walked over to her.
"Excuse me."
She jumped, startled at his voice. The coffee cup slipped out of her hands and shattered on the tabletop.
"I'm sorry," Doc said immediately, grabbing a handful of napkins off the next table and helping her wipe up the mess. "I didn't mean to scare you."
She looked up at him, her eyes widening slightly with recognition. "You're one of the paramedics--"
"From last night," he finished, giving her a small smile. "Yeah, I am. And you're the lady who disappeared into thin air when my partner and I drove you to the hospital."
She looked down. "Sorry about that."
"It's okay." Doc studied her for a moment. "My name is Monte. Monte Parker. Everyone calls me Doc," he said, extending his hand out.
She hesitated, then shook his hand. "Laurie Strode."
The name sounded vaguely familar, but he couldn't recall where he'd heard it before. "Nice to meet you, Laurie."
"Nice to meet you, too." She withdrew her hand and turned to glance out the window.
"I don't mean to sound nosey or anything, but...you seemed pretty upset last night."
Laurie looked at him again, swallowing hard. "It's sort of a long story."
Doc nodded slowly. "Are you in some kind of trouble?" he asked, dropping his voice. "Because if you are, I have a lot of friends that could help you."
She smiled sadly. "Thanks for the offer, but...I don't think anyone can help me at this point."
He frowned. "You might be surprised." He slid into the seat across from her.
Laurie looked down at the table and remained silent.
Doc sighed lightly, then took a drink of his coffee. He looked at her again. "Did you find your sister?"
"Yeah, actually, I think I did. She's meeting me here in a little while."
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Sundown Cafe, New York City
October 31st, 2004-Halloween
12:48 p.m.
Faith stood outside the cafe for several long moments, the cool autumn wind tousling her hair as she stood under the awning to keep from getting wet in the drizzling rain. She felt like she was being watched and she turned around in a full circle, scanning the sidewalks and rooftops for any sign of her brother. When she didn't see anyone wearing a white face mask, she closed her eyes momentarily, letting out a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. She finally reached for the door handle and stepped inside the coffee house. She glanced around, looking for Laurie.
My sister, she told herself, a mixture of emotions flooding her. She spotted her over in the corner, sitting across a table from...Doc?
Faith stared at him in surprise. How did they meet? she wondered, confused. She took a deep breath and walked over to them.
Laurie and Doc looked up.
Doc looked just as surprised to see her as she felt seeing him. "Faith, hi."
"Hi," she answered, her gaze drifting to her sister.
"Hi," Laurie said quietly.
Doc looked back and forth between them. "Wait a second. Are you two--?"
"Sisters," Faith finished.
Laurie stared at her.
"I didn't know you had a sister," Doc said to Faith, his eyebrows furrowed.
She shrugged slightly. "I seem to be hearing that a lot lately," she murmured, her eyes focused on Laurie.
He looked between them again, a frown settling on his face. "Well, I'll let you two talk," he said, standing up, his gaze on Faith. "I'll see you out there."
Faith nodded and gave him a small smile. She waited until he'd left before sitting down in the spot he'd vacated, folding her hands together on the table.
"You saw your parents?"
"Yeah, I saw them," she said softly, her dad's angry voice echoing in her mind. <"She doesn't want me for a father anymore than I ever wanted her for a daughter. At least now she knows why!">
"What did they say?"
"That it was true." Faith raised her eyes to meet her sister's gaze. "They didn't want to tell me because they wanted to protect me. Or at least my mother did."
"I'm sorry," Laurie said quietly, picking up a napkin on the table and twisting it in her hands.
She hesitated for a long moment. "I need you to tell me what happened."
Laurie's gaze dropped to the table and she took a deep breath. "In 1978? Or six years ago?"
"Both," Faith answered softly. She had read the newspaper accounts of the events, but she needed to hear what happened from this woman. From her *sister*.
She nodded slowly and turned her head to look out the window. "I was 17. It was Halloween night. I was babysitting for a boy that I babysat for all the time, Tommy." Her eyes grew distant as the memories took over. "My friend Annie was babysitting for a little girl across the street. She brought Lindsey over for me to watch so she could go out with her boyfriend. Later, I got this phone call and I thought it was her, but she didn't say anything. There were these weird sounds on the other end of the line...at first I thought maybe she was playing some kind of joke on me, but then--" She shook her head. "I don't know, I just had this feeling. So after I put the kids to bed, I went across the street to the Wallace's house."
Faith felt her own stomach knot with anxiety. "You know what? You don't have to--"
"Yes, I do." Laurie turned her gaze back to her sister. "You have to know what he's capable of." She took another deep breath, her eyes drifting shut. "When I got to the Wallace's house, the doors were unlocked so I went inside. It was dark and it was quiet. It was so quiet," she whispered, her eyebrows furrowing. "I went up the stairs. And found Annie in the bedroom, dead." Her voice shook. "He had um...he had stolen our older sister's headstone and set it there above her. He'd also killed one of my other friends, Lynda, and her boyfriend. I started to run and then there he was. I fell down the stairs and I managed to get out of the house, but...he followed me across the street to Tommy's house." She shuddered.
Faith hesitated, then reached out and touched her sister's hand. To her surprise, Laurie gripped onto her without hesitation.
"He trapped me in this closet and he was stabbing the doors with the knife he had. I grabbed this wire hanger and unfurled it, and I stabbed him in the eye with it and he fell down. I got out of the closet and told the kids to get out of the house, to run down the street to the neighbor's house and call the police. And they did. I could hear them screaming for help before they even got to the street. I didn't hear Michael get up. I was in shock. And then the next thing I knew, there he was again. He stabbed me in the arm, but before he could kill me, this doctor, the psychiatrist who had treated Michael since he was six, he showed up out of nowhere. And he shot him. Again and again. Michael fell off the balconey of the Doyles' house. But when the police arrived, he was gone." Laurie opened her eyes and looked at Faith.
Faith could see the fear in her eyes, the terror that their brother had caused her. She swallowed hard.
"They took me to the hospital that night. He came after me again. And he killed so many people," she whispered, shaking her head. "There was a fire. An explosion. We thought he was dead, but then...we found out that his body was never recovered that night. After that, I ran. I changed my name and I ran. And I tried to hide. I became this whole other person with a whole different life, one that didn't include a brother that was trying to kill her."
"You faked your own death," Faith said softly.
Laurie nodded. "Twice." She looked out the window again. "The first time, I became Kerry Tate and I moved to California to run a school there. But Michael managed to find me, even twenty years later. He killed the man I loved. He tried to kill my son and he killed a lot of people that I knew." A tear slid down her cheek. "So I killed him. Only it wasn't really him," she whispered. She pulled her hand away from Faith's to wipe the tears off her face. "I killed an innocent man because I thought he was my brother."
She wanted to say something, anything, offer some words of comfort to her sister, but didn't know what she could say.
"The guilt drove me crazy," Laurie whispered, drawing in a shaky breath. "They uh...they locked me away in an institution. I was safe there for a couple years, but...I always knew he'd come back for me. So I tried to prepare myself. I tried to take him out before he killed me. I set a trap for him last Halloween. And it would have worked, but...I had to be sure it was him this time. I couldn't take the chance that I was killing another innocent person. And that's when he grabbed me. We were hanging off the roof top of the institution and he stabbed me in the back. And then he dropped me."
Faith waited nervously for her to finish, her hands clenched together.
"When I woke up, there was a man...a doctor...who helped me. He saved my life. And when I was recovered enough to walk again, he told me to run. That my secret was safe with him. He'd let everyone believe that I was dead. That my body had been stolen from the morgue." Laurie swallowed hard, dropping her gaze to the tabletop. "No one in my family knows that I'm still alive. Not even my son. It's safer for everyone that way." She lifted her eyes to look at Faith. "But when I found out that I had a sister...I had to find you, to warn you. Because if I could find out, it was only a matter of time before Michael did, too."
She nodded slowly in understanding, feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything she'd just been told. She shivered lightly and pulled her jean jacket closer to her. "Thank you for putting yourself in that kind of danger to warn me."
"You're my sister," Laurie whispered, a sad smile on her face. "What choice did I have?"
The alarm on her watch beeped and Faith jumped, startled. She glanced down. It was 2:55. "Damn. I have to get work. Where are you staying tonight?"
"I'm not." She shook her head. "Staying in one place...makes me too much of a target. It'll be harder for him to find me if I'm moving."
"Yeah. Of course." Faith let out a breath. "Well, look..." She reached into her purse and pulled out a pen. She scratched a number across one of the napkins on the table. "This is my cell phone number. I have to work tonight, but...if you need anything, or if you see him, call me, please."
"Faith?" Laurie looked up at her as Faith rose to her feet.
"Yeah?"
"Be careful," she whispered.
Faith held her gaze for a long moment and nodded. "I will. You, too, okay?"
Laurie nodded slowly, still staring at her. Then she rose to her feet and hesitated before putting her arms around her sister.
Faith closed her eyes and hugged her back. "I'll see you later."
"I really hope so," Laurie murmured.
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55th Precinct Station House, New York City
October 31st, 2004--Halloween
3:06 p.m.
Bosco stormed into the locker room, carrying his duffle bag on his shoulder. He looked around and spotted two of his colleagues changing into their uniforms. "Sullivan, Davis...you guys seen Yokas?" he asked instantly.
"Nope," Davis answered, leaning down to tie his shoe.
"Not yet," Sully told him.
"Damn it," he muttered, shaking his head. He headed for his locker and quickly spun the combination on the lock. He yanked out a clean uniform and slipped his shoes off as he threw the bag down on the bench.
"Everything all right, Bosco?" Sully asked, concerned as he watched his colleague's angry actions.
"Peachy," he replied sarcastically as he pulled his jacket off and shoved it into his locker.
Davis raised his eyebrows and glanced at his partner. "All right then. Shall we go to roll call?"
"Yeah, good idea," Sully responded, frowning as he glanced at Bosco once more. They headed out of the room.
Bosco closed his eyes and leaned his head against the locker door, letting out a heavy sigh. "Come on, Faith, where the hell are you?" he wondered aloud.
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Faith walked into the roll call room five minutes late, sliding into an empty seat toward the back, hoping no one had noticed.
"Yokas, you must be spending too much time with your partner," Christopher remarked with a smirk as he glanced back at her. "See me after."
She kept her face blank, not giving the bastard the satisfaction of a dirty look. Any other day, she'd be annoyed, even pissed, but today she had far worse things to worry about that getting a command discipline from Jason Christopher. She glanced around the room and almost instantly linked gazes with Bosco, who had turned to look at her. She couldn't read the expression on his face and it bothered her. Had he requested they be paired up differently that day? For the rest of their working lives?
She finally looked away from her partner and tried to focus on what Swerksy and Christopher were saying, but found her mind drifting back to her sister's words. <"...when I found out that I had a sister...I had to find you, to warn you. Because if I could find out, it was only a matter of time before Michael did, too.">
Faith shivered in her seat and glanced around the room again, expecting to see everyone's eyes on her. But no one was watching. No one that she could see, anyway.
Christopher dismissed the officers from roll call, but motioned her to the front of the room. She stood up and walked over to him, not even really caring what he had to say. She wasn't convinced she was going to live through her shift, so what difference did it make if she got in trouble or not?
"You and your partner can meet me tonight at 8:00 in the parking lot at King and Durbin for your command discipline for missing the first part of roll call," he informed her with a smirk.
She turned to see who she'd be working with and was startled to see Bosco standing there waiting, a pissed off look on his face as he glared at Christopher. He met her gaze for a brief second, then looked down at the floor. She swallowed hard.
"Oh, and by the way," Christopher said, his smile widening slightly. "After our meeting tonight, you two can finish off your shift patrolling your sector on foot."
Faith's jaw clenched involuntarily and without a word of response to the sergeant, she headed for the door, Bosco right behind her.