Puzzle Pieces: Claude

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#CC9900" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="047005a0dwnjzk.gif"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cassies Writing"><U><B>home</B></U></A><B>     | </B><B> </B><B> </B><B>  </B><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>Cassie's Writing</B></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id87.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="All Hallows Eve"><U><B>All Hallows' Eve</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id88.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Fall Camoflage"><U><B>Fall Camoflage</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id89.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Puzzle Pieces: Cyrus"><U><B>Puzzle Pieces:  Cyrus</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id90.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Puzzle Pieces: Roxanne"><U><B>Puzzle Pieces:  Roxanne</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><B>Puzzle Pieces:  Claude</B><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id92.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Christmas Magick"><U><B>Christmas Magick</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id93.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Puzzle Pieces: Maggie"><U><B>Puzzle Pieces:  Maggie</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id94.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Winters Deep Freeze"><U><B>Winter's Deep Freeze</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id95.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Puzzle Pieces: Sabrina"><U><B>Puzzle Pieces:  Sabrina</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id96.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Frostbite"><U><B>Frostbite</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id97.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Puzzle Pieces: The Collins Family"><U><B>Puzzle Pieces:  The Collins Family</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id98.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biding Time in Purgatory"><U><B>Biding Time in Purgatory</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id99.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Puzzle Pieces: Quentin"><U><B>Puzzle Pieces:  Quentin</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id100.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Family Secrets"><U><B>Family Secrets</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id102.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Vortex"><U><B>Vortex</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id101.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Spring Whirlwind"><U><B>Spring Whirlwind</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id103.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Den of Vipers"><U><B>Den of Vipers</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id104.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Puzzle Pieces: Angelique"><U><B>Puzzle Pieces:  Angelique</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id105.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Converging Forces"><U><B>Converging Forces</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id106.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Flames of Purification"><U><B>Flames of Purification</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id85.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Adam in Parallel Time"><U><B>Adam in Parallel Time</B></U></A></div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Puzzle Pieces:  Claude</B></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Claude North fingered the blade of the sharp knife thoughtfully, considering the small house across the street. This was the house of Tim Stokes, the corrupt madman searching for a young woman with no family ties. Claude knew that Stokes was both corrupt and mad, just as he knew the almost endless limits of his own power. Stokes would never realize just who it was he was dealing with. To get Roxanne, though, he would be made to understand that only he--Claude--would be able to deliver her.</div> <div> This knife had been the first to forge the bond between himself and Roxanne--the bond she wanted to carelessly throw away so she could pursue that monstrous aberration of nature who dared to call himself a man. Adam Knight was no natural man--he was a creature. All of Claude's efforts to persuade Roxanne to see that and to see the futility of continuing such an unnatural relationship had been in vain. She wouldn't listen to him any more. Very well--he thought--to protect her I'll allow Stokes to use the enormous untapped life energy she has stored inside her. When that monster is gone for good, I'll bring her back to me.</div> <div> He looked at the tip of the knife and then at the thin scar on his wrist, almost twenty years old. The Drews and the Norths had been neighbors. The first time he'd seen Roxanne, Claude had fallen deeply and hopelessly in love with her. That had been the day the Drews moved in next door. He watched her from the window, she and her younger </div> <div> brother, Randy. Claude didn't know then that she'd been adopted by her parents; he didn't know her heritage. He just looked at her and felt his heart breaking, knowing he couldn't possess her.</div> <div> Although the Norths seemed to be a typically nice, middle-class American family with two children, a cat, a dog, and a car in the garage they were not exactly what they seemed. Both of Claude's parents were powerful sorcerers. They went about their normal lives in a fairly typical manner and if anyone noticed that the Norths were never ever sick and that they never ever experienced the bad luck of life that sometimes happened to everyone, it was never commented upon. Although the Norths were pleasant people, there was an aura of foreignness and </div> <div> danger about them that made neighbors reluctant to comment about the fact that their car never broke down, their roof never needed shingling, and they always seemed to have an abundance of money. Claude and his sister both went to private school; they were day students, and when they came home, they were tutored in the arts--black magic and white magic both.</div> <div> Roxanne and Randy didn't go to private school with Claude. They went to the public school. He would watch them go up the street together, swinging their lunch boxes and he would feel jealous. At his own school, he was unnoticed. He stayed to himself. He was not a scholar, nor was he an athlete. The other children gave him a wide</div> <div> berth, as if they sensed something "not quite right" about him. </div> <div> The year that Roxanne moved to the neighborhood, Claude was twelve years old. There was a new boy at the private school who made overtures toward Claude that he'd immediately regretted. Claude had shaken hands </div> <div> with that boy, a lonely, sad kid with horn-rimmed glasses named Cy. As they shook hands, Claude could see everything there was to know about this boy: his parents were strange and fanatical; Cy felt like a prisoner, fighting urges he couldn't understand and which were considered sinful by his parents. Claude saw the natural curiosity </div> <div> turned perverse. He looked Cy in the eye and said, "You ought to kill them so you don't ever have to go home again."</div> <div> Cy's mouth dropped open in shock. This was not what anyone would expect a new friend to say. "What are you talking about?"</div> <div> "I know about them, Cy," Claude said. "I know what you did. I know what they did to you. They're mean and crazy, but they think they love God. You have to kill them or you'll never be free."</div> <div> Cy backed away, horrified. "I think you're the one who's crazy!" He exclaimed, and then he bolted. Cy wasn't one to have many friends, either, but he did have a few and he must've told them because word spread among the children. Claude was more isolated than ever, but he didn't care.</div> <div> He enjoyed the sensation of knowing what was to be. He could hold an animal gently in his hands and he'd know how long it would live and what it would die from. He found a stray kitten once. Cradling it in his arms, he could "feel" the sickness in the animal. It was malnourished and suffered from worms. He turned the kitten over in his arms, holding it gently but firmly. Placing his hand on its belly, he concentrated with all his might. He could feel the heat and energy flowing from his fingers into the belly of the kitten. "Be well, be healthy," he thought to himself. He imagined all the worms fried to a crisp, being absorbed by the cat's stomach. If there were nutrients there, the kitten would absorb them. If not, they would pass out through her body. When his fingers cooled, he looked at the kitten, satisfied. She would be around for many years. All he had to do now was bring her home and feed her.</div> <div> "Hello! What a pretty cat!"</div> <div> He looked around to see who was speaking to him and looked into her beautiful, entrancing eyes. Roxanne! He couldn't speak, stuttering like an idiot. She and her brother stood before him. They must've noticed him just standing there and had come to investigate.</div> <div> "Can I hold her?" Randy asked. Claude thrust the cat into his arms. They briefly touched, and Claude had an image in his mind he didn't understand: a plane going down, the tail shooting flames. It was going down into a jungle, thick and green. Remembering what happened with Cy and remembering he wanted very badly to be friends with these two so that he could at least be near Roxanne, he chose to say nothing about his vision.</div> <div> "My name is Roxanne Drew," she was saying in a lovely, sweet voice. "This is my brother, Randy. We live there." She pointed to their house.</div> <div> "I know," Claude finally managed to say. "I saw you move in." The cat had begun to wiggle in Randy's arms, so Roxanne took it and gave it back to Claude. Their hands brushed each other lightly, and it seemed as if an electrical current shocked them both. They looked into each other's eyes, amazed and frightened. She has the power too, only she doesn't know it, Claude thought. She's adopted--she's not really their daughter. She comes from a family who had powers but those powers were not able to save them. They're all dead--she is the only one left. Claude realized something even more amazing: she is more powerful than me! She knows what I am--she can feel it! That's why she's looking at me that way!</div> <div> "Excuse us," Roxanne said in a confused voice. "We have to go in for dinner." She was pale and frightened, grabbing her brother by the hand.</div> <div> "Roxanne, don't be afraid of me," Claude said to her. "We can help each other! Please--I only want to be friends. Please say you'll be my friend."</div> <div> Roxanne searched his eyes as if looking for something. Slowly she nodded. "I'd like to be friends."</div> <div> He sighed with relief. He almost blurted: I can teach you how to use your power! I can help you learn so many things! He barely restrained himself. Instinctively, he knew he had to move slowly. He didn't want to frighten her off even though there was yet a third thing he--and she--had realized: they were meant for each other. Someday, they would become one.</div> <div> After a few weeks, he felt that Roxanne was comfortable enough and trusted him as a friend. He began to show her how to do little things--like picking up a toy and "feeling" who the toy belonged to. He was also helping her practice move things. That was what they were doing the day he brought the knife. They were playing by the creek, </div> <div> Randy and Claude's sister Marie splashing nearby. "Watch," Claude said, concentrating.</div> <div> He and Roxanne were resting together under a tree, keeping an eye on the two younger children. Claude fixed his attention on a pebble near the creek. He concentrated on it, willing it to move. He put all of his energy into that thought: rise, pebble! Rise! Slowly, magically, the pebble began to rise. When Roxanne gasped, his concentration broke and the pebble fell to the ground. "Claude! How did you do that!" He looked at her and told her in his mind. He wanted to see what would happen.</div> <div> She looked back at him. He heard her voice in his head. I can hear you, Claude. I don't understand. How can we do this?</div> <div> We have a great deal of power, Roxanne, he thought back at her. You have no idea all the things you can do. I know--and I'm learning how to use my power. What I learn from my parents, I'll teach you because you're my best friend. He had a thought. That was when he'd drawn the large, sharp knife out, "borrowed" from his mother's kitchen.</div> <div> "Roxanne," he said with his voice now, "there's a bond between you and me. You feel it, too, don't you?" Roxanne nodded, looking at the knife with a horrid fascination. "We need to sanctify our bond in blood." When she drew back, he assured her quickly, "I won't hurt you. We'll just cut each other enough so that we can make a blood bond between us. You know we need to do this, don't you?" He heard her whisper yes into his mind. She held her arm out to him, putting her trust into his hands.</div> <div> Reverently, he took her arm with one hand, holding it firmly. With the other, he quickly sliced her wrist. Roxanne winced and jerked involuntarily. For just a moment, nothing happened. Then blood began to seep through the cut. He turned the knife to her and offered his own arm. "Now you!" he exclaimed. When she'd made the cut, they put their bloody wrists together, allowing the blood to mingle. "We'll always be one now," he whispered. He wasn't even sure what he meant by that and smiled when she nodded in agreement.</div> <div> ************************************************</div> <div> He looked at the knife bitterly now. She would not come back to him as long as she stayed with that creature. They'd been close friends almost through the end of high school. Something had changed--the relationship had changed irrevocably the night they'd given into their adolescent urges and they had given themselves to each other. As he plunged in and out of her body, he felt the raw power. He knew that as long as she didn't know as much as he, he could control and channel her powers to his own end. He also could hear her thoughts: she was being possessed, she was not in full control of her body anymore and she resented it. He climaxed powerfully, but Roxanne did not. She cried softly because of the loss of her innocence, the loss of her power, and the loss of the </div> <div> close relationship they'd had. The truth was that she was basically unchanged: a loving, trusting person filled with pure goodness. He was her dark mirror image--over the years, he'd felt himself changing, becoming ambitious and seeking more and more power for himself.</div> <div> It was a stormy love affair. He became more preoccupied with her. He wanted to know where she was going, who she was seeing, what she was doing. If she was not with him, he couldn't control her and prevent her from exploring her powers. He didn't want that--he wanted to be in charge completely. He wanted her power; he wanted to take it from her as he would take her--even when she didn't want to. They broke up many times. Always, though, he was able to call to her and draw her back--until now.</div> <div> He became filled with a jealous rage. I'm going through with it, he thought in determination. I'll sell my soul to the Devil himself to get her back. And once that unnatural creature is out of her life, it'll be an easy thing for me to bring her back and save her from Stokes. Oh, she'll be grateful to me then, yes, she will, and she'll never question my authority again! Having made his decision, he sheathed the knife and quickly crossed the street to Tim Stokes' house.</div> <div> He rapped sharply at the door and stood waiting, impatiently, for the disgusting old sot to come to the door and open it. The door finally cracked open. "Wha d'ye want?" Stokes demanded in a slurred voice, whiskey fumes billowing through the crack in the door.</div> <div> "Dr. Longworth told you about a girl," Claude said. "I can help you get her cooperation."</div> <div> "Wha the hell are ya talkin about, ya damn fool?" Stokes demanded suspiciously. Claude could see his thoughts, however. He saw Stokes, standing, frustrated staring after Roxanne after being rebuffed by her and warned by Adam ("Stop following me, whoever you are!") to leave them alone.</div> <div> "I think you know, Mr. Stokes," Claude said softly. "You need her life force--you want it. Now, will you let me in so that we can talk?"</div> <div> Stokes pulled the door open all the way and stepped back. Claude walked in, feeling evil and corruption exuding from the very walls of the house. He looked at Stokes with revulsion. Child beater! Child molester! He thought, his stomach turning over. He felt a moment's hesitation. How could he turn his Roxanne over to such a horrible man </div> <div> who would abuse his own daughters so vilely?</div> <div> Stokes put a hand on Claude's shoulder, and he almost flinched. In that instant, though, his hesitation drained away. "C'mon in the kitchen and siddown. We'll talk there," Stokes offered drunkenly. He won't use or abuse Roxanne, Claude thought. He knew it for sure. The hand on his shoulder had clenched itself into a fist to punch and beat the </div> <div> unfortunate Alexis. That same hand had been used to touch and caress Angelique in a most un-fatherlike manner. It was the hand of a lover. That was Stokes' obsession--he cared only to bring back the daughter he'd had an unnatural love for. He still loved her that way. Why her and not the other? After all, they were identical twins! Claude couldn't make out the reasoning; it was hidden behind a gauzy curtain of madness.</div> <div> He sat at the table and accepted Stokes' offer of whiskey. "How is it you can convince the girl to help me?" Stokes wanted to know.</div> <div> "We are bonded together," Claude said. "She'll do as I ask. You are going to use her in an experiment to bring back your dead daughter, isn't that so?"</div> <div> Stokes' eyes widened. "How--how could you know that? I've told no one!"</div> <div> "I know a lot of things," Claude said grimly. He looked Stokes up and down with contempt and then gave him a ghastly grin. "I know what you did," he whispered--just as he'd whispered to Dr. Longworth all those years ago when he'd been called Cy. "I know what you'd like to do again--you'd like to have her all to yourself, wouldn't you? You have a son-in-law though, don't you? Competition?"</div> <div> Stokes exhaled sharply. He searched Claude's face for condemnation and found only contempt--and power. He felt himself falling under a spell and could do nothing to stop it. "He can be dealt with," Stokes whispered.</div> <div> "How are you planning to conduct this--ah, experiment?"</div> <div> Stokes began speaking, outlining his research and his plans. Claude listened with contempt. The old, blathering fool--he thought he had the power to win over Death! Claude couldn't help himself--he began to laugh. Stokes' face purpled with fury. "What's so funny?"</div> <div> "It won't work--that's what's so funny! You need much more than what you've just told me. You need black magic--you need help from the Dark One!" Claude laughed, but his eyes were icy and hard.</div> <div> A cunning look came into Stokes' eyes. "And are you the Dark One, then?"</div> <div> Claude laughed again. The man was such an idiot, it was pathetic almost! "No, but I can call upon him to help." He slapped his hands on the table. "Well! I see you need my assistance in more ways than one! It'll cost you, my friend!"</div> <div> "I don't care--it doesn't matter to me!" Stokes burst out.</div> <div> "Very well," Claude said in soft, deadly tones. "I will deliver Roxanne to you. And I will call on the powers of the Dark One. We will bring your daughter Angelique back to life. In return, you will transfer this sum to my Swiss bank account." He unsheathed his knife and carved the sum he wanted onto Stokes' table. The man's jaw dropped slackly. "That's so you don't forget, my friend," Claude said with a sneer. He got up.</div> <div> "Wait! Wait!" Stokes cried. "When? When...?"</div> <div> "When you have delivered the money," Claude answered. "And when the holidays have passed." Stokes looked at him, puzzled. Ah, but I know what you don't know, Claude thought. Cyrus Longworth has arranged for a plastic surgeon to "fix" that monster's face the day after Christmas. Roxanne would be alone--and vulnerable. "I'll be in touch with you shortly." Claude put the knife back into its sheath again. "Don't bother--I'll see myself out."</div> <div> He closed the door securely behind him. What a foul place that was! It didn't matter that Hannah Stokes kept the house immaculately neat. The whole house reeked of corruption--no wonder Alexis had run away! Yes, my lovely Roxanne, you'll have to sleep in this horrible place, but not for long. And when I have saved you, you will be mine forever. The ghastly smile returned to his face as he turned and walked up the street.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="id90.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Puzzle Pieces: Roxanne"><U>Puzzle Pieces:  Roxanne</U></A>  <A HREF="id92.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Christmas Magick"><U>Christmas Magick</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id85.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Adam in Parallel Time"><U>Adam in Parallel Time</U></A>    <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cassies Writing"><U>Cassie's Writing</U></A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>