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RETURN OF THE BRUJO

CHAPTER ONE

by

BlackFury



Peter woke up, drenched in sweat even though it was the

middle of January. He hadn't turned up the heat in his apartment and

yet, he felt like it was mid August in Texas! He sat up, suddenly

shivering as if the January wind had come through his room. He

pulled the quilt around him as he slid out of bed and padded into his

kitchen. He put on a pot of coffee and stood there, trying to

remember what woke him up so suddenly. He had his eyes closed,

trying to think, when he heard it.



He slowly opened his eyes, hoping against hope that he was

wrong. He wasn't. Standing across the room was that grey wolf

again, snarling at him and suddenly, it all came back to him. He

remembered five years ago, when that, Brujo, his father called him,

had come to try and force Peter to assassinate Enrique Campos, a

foreign diplomat visiting the city. If it hadn't been for the

intervention of Peter's father, Kwai Chang, Peter doubted that he

would be here now.



The coffemaker buzzed and Peter poured himself a large mug,

cradling it between his still ice cold hands. He sipped as he moved

to the living room and sat on the sofa in his usual half lotus

position, quilt pulled tightly around his still shivering body. The

young man tried to clear his mind but that growl came again. In

spite of the steaming liquid going down his throat, he shivered as

the wolf disappeared as quickly as it had appeared and he heard that

voice whisper in his mind,



"I am not through with you yet, Peter. Remember, My voice

you will hear and my will you will obey, Remember, I prepared you a

long time ago." Peter shook his head, trying desperately to dispell

that image from the temple, the wolf head on the wall, painted from

shadows. The sorcerer grabbing him by the tunic, whispering into his

ear that phrase again and again.



There were a lot of things that had happened during that

sorcerer's visit to the temple that Peter had never told anyone

about, no one. His father didn't know, nor Paul, Kelly, Jordan, no

one. This was one secret Peter was keeping inside out of sheer

desperation. He tried to meditate but he couldn't find his center.

He had been depressed lately, especially when Kermit had taken off

two weeks earlier, without telling anyone where he was going or when

he would be back.



Peter knew that the older man was hurting after the

acrimonious break up with Karen Simms. Kermit had been confused,

hurt, dumbfounded when all of a sudden, Karen had called off their

developing relationship. Peter and the others at the 101st had not

found out exactly what had happened between the two but, Kermit had

been more shuttered than ever and Karen was living up to the

monkier, "Ice Queen".



No one had dared to ask either of them what had happened but

it had to be bad to affect Kermit the way that it did. Kermit hadn't

even spoken to any of them when he had come to the office three days

after the split happened. Karen had not even acknowledged his

presence unless it was offically, in the course of their duty. Peter

could sense the bewilderment radiating from his friend and partner.



As Peter finally opened up his eyes to look around, he really

wasn't suprised to see his father standing there in the doorway. The

look on his face told Peter that his father had sensed his disturbed

dreams and had come to check on his only child. The young man took

another sip of coffee and grimiced as he found it was cold. He

looked up, puzzled.



"Father, how long have you been standing there?" Caine

smiled slightly.



"About an hour. You appeared to be in deep meditation and I

did not wish to disturb you. Your dreams have been...disturbed?"

Peter smiled ruefully as he got up to get more hot coffee. Caine

took the cup from him and looked down, suprised. He took his son's

hands in his.



"Peter, your hands...are like blocks of ice. What has

happened to you, tell me, my son." Peter looked into those warm,

loving grey eyes and felt safe. Caine then handed Peter another

steaming mug of coffee and father and son sat on the sofa. Peter

took a few more sips, feeling the invigorating warmth rush down his

throat and spread throughout his extremities.



Finally, Peter sighed and looked at his father. Caine

waited, knowing some of what Peter had been feeling, that was what

had brought him here to his son's side. Peter set the mug down

carefully and pulled the quilt around his shoulders again.



"Father, he's back. The Brujo. The wolf was in my bedroom

when I woke up. He's gone, for now, but, he's back for me. There's

something he wants me to do and I don't know if I can stop him.

Father, I'm scared." Caine saw the fear in his son's hazel eyes and

pulled Peter's head onto his shoulder.



"We will fight him, my son. You have grown in strength and

ability since the last time he was here. Remember my son, you are

now Shaolin. I know that you returned to your career as a cop but

you still bear the brands and you are, indeed Shaolin. He will not

find it so easy to control you, this time. We will fight him,

together. Now, what else troubles you. It is Karen and Kermit, is

it not?" Peter nodded.



"I don't understand it Father, they were getting along so

well and then, Karen's the one who cuts it off. Kermit was

bewildered, hurt and angry and, as for Karen, it's as if......" His

voice trailed off as he thought it over. He then looked at his

father, comprehension dawning on his mobile face.



"It's as if she's a different person. Father, is that

possible? Or is someone forcing her to do this?" Caine shrugged one

shoulder in a characteristic gesture.



"I do not know, my son, but, perhaps we can...find out?"



Peter nodded and went to his room to get dressed. Five

minutes later, Caine heard a blood curdling scream and ran into the

room to aid his son.



TBC