§ § § -- June 6, 1993
It was ten minutes till six. In the cave known as Te Reinga, Lorna Hendricks lay on a flat stone slab, bound and gagged, unable to move or cry out. Stephanie stood guard nearby like a small statue, her face and eyes devoid of expression or intelligence. In one corner, Megwa—the instigator of all these horrors—stood with eyes closed, arms outstretched and palms facing upward, chanting a long, gloomy singsong incantation in the Maori tongue. Lorna was more terrified than she had ever been before in her entire life; her desperate attempts to catch Stephanie's eye were useless, as the child never moved. Their walk up here in the soft morning drizzle had begun so innocently; Stephanie had even turned her face up to the rain and laughed the way she always used to. Lorna had begun to feel real hope that Stephanie was returning to normal. Now that walk seemed like last year; she felt her life being measured in moments. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
"The covenant awaits fulfillment," Megwa intoned in strange, archaic English. "The seed of the earth shall be destroyed, and the bonds of earth be fresh-broke. Karakia returns to us." With that, she turned to Stephanie, pointed at the child and nodded once. Like an automaton, Stephanie slowly revolved to face Lorna and raised a long, lethal knife whose blade glinted in the light of the ceremonial fire Megwa had built. It was clear that she was going to plunge it right through Lorna's heart.
"No, Stephanie!!" Roarke voice shouted then, freezing the child, startling Megwa and making Lorna all but break her neck from twisting her head, trying to see him. Leslie, waiting out of Megwa's sight in the shadows in the cave entrance, wrapped her arms around her stomach. Was that a tremble she heard in Roarke's voice? "In the name of all that is holy," Roarke entreated, "I command you to put down the knife."
Stephanie's eyes focused, then lit with something terrible. She opened her mouth—and two voices emerged, her own and that of the demon that inhabited her. "The struggle is over, Roarke! The timeline cannot be stopped." The demon's voice overrode that of Stephanie as he spoke through her. "I, Karakia, now rise up from the endless nights of Te Reinga. The son of darkness is reborn!" With that, Stephanie made a gesture, and the floor directly in front of Roarke burst into a column of flame. Roarke backed hastily away, his eyes never leaving Stephanie's, and took up a post behind the slab where Lorna lay supine and helpless.
Megwa grinned with malicious triumph and lifted one arm in Roarke's direction, splaying her fingers; in response, another plume of fire exploded forth. Lorna struggled on the slab; Stephanie stared unblinkingly at Roarke; and Leslie watched helplessly. Roarke ducked away from the second explosion and tucked himself into a niche in the wall that was just big enough to shield him from any further harm. Stephanie turned away and stared at Megwa instead, as if awaiting further instructions.
But Roarke saw something none of the women did: in the eastern wall of the cave, there was a tiny crack that glowed with soft light. Narrowing his dark eyes and focusing every last ounce of his concentration, he directed his considerable mental powers toward that crack, knowing that this could well mean all their lives.
Inexorably the crack began to widen; dust issued from the lengthening fissure and small pebbles began to rain down while Megwa again gestured at Stephanie to stab Lorna with the knife. So far they hadn't noticed what Roarke was doing, and it took all Leslie had to stand where she was. The sight of the tumbling pebbles had caught her attention alone, and now she too gazed with intense hope at the crack in the wall, as if somehow she could help her father in his intent. Hurry, hurry, before Stephanie carries out that awful woman's command, she thought frantically.
Roarke's powers gathered momentum finally: a whole chunk of rock suddenly broke away from the long crack in the wall, leaving a hole no one could possibly overlook. The first rays of the rising sun poured into the cave, illuminating the grisly scene as the last of the fires died out. Stephanie was caught directly in the blast of sunlight; the knife fell out of her hands and she cringed, her mouth gaping open and expelling Karakia's roar of excruciating pain. Like an apparition, the specter of a stunningly ugly humanoid form rose into the air over Stephanie's head and drifted slightly aside before solidifying into something corporeal. Stephanie crumpled senseless to the floor of the cave.
Megwa's face filled with horror as she realized what was happening. Leslie could no longer stand by and merely watch; disregarding Roarke's explicit instructions, she dashed into the cave and pulled off Lorna's gag, then began to work frantically on the knots of the ropes that bound her. The moment the gag came off, Lorna gasped hoarsely, "Stephanie!"
"Wait," Leslie hissed at her with wide, fearful eyes. "It's not over yet…"
As if to confirm this, Karakia let loose another furious howl, freezing both women and drawing their aghast attention. From behind them Roarke's voice filled the cave. "Karakia!" he thundered. "The god of light casts you back into the pit of Te Reinga—back to your underworld of perpetual darkness!"
Too frightened to move, Leslie and Lorna gaped helplessly while Karakia cranked around to face Roarke, lurching to one side in the process, and raised one hand with the clear intent to strike Roarke down. However, the sunlight was doing its job, and he fell back in agony, trying vainly to shield himself from it.
"Back to your darkness!" Roarke commanded again.
Moaning in pain, Karakia pulled himself to his feet, marshaling what remained of his fast-fading strength to advance on Megwa. "You failed me," he snarled at her.
"No," Megwa pleaded hoarsely, backing away from him. "No…" She raised her hands in supplication, her expression frantic. "No!"
"You failed me!" Karakia roared and expended the last of his energy in a blinding fireball that swallowed Megwa, whose scream was the last sound she ever made. The cave floor rattled with the explosion, and Megwa disappeared forever. At the same time Leslie let out a reflexive cry, drawing Karakia's attention momentarily; but the demon wasn't capable of doing anything more. With a final howl of agony, he too vanished in the dissipating smoke.
Leslie had managed to undo Lorna's bindings enough that the latter woman had been working herself free; now Lorna broke loose and threw the ropes aside, scrambling off the stone slab. She gathered a weeping Stephanie into her arms and held her close, rocking her. "Stephanie," she murmured joyfully. "Oh, Stephanie…Mommy's here, darling…"
"Mommy," Stephanie sobbed, clinging to her. Lorna seemed oblivious to everything around her as she closed her eyes and smiled through her tears.
Roarke slowly approached his own daughter, who was watching the reunion with her own eyes full of tears. He reached for her and pulled her to her feet and into his arms, smiling at her. Somehow he couldn't find the heart to reprimand her for disobeying his instructions to her; he understood her motives.
"You did well, Leslie," he said quietly, making her tears spill over then. He brushed them away, only now allowing himself to relax and exhale with relief.
§ § § -- June 7, 1993
Lorna and Stephanie Hendricks both looked renewed with life and energy as they stepped out of the car at the plane dock. "I feel as if I've been through a horrible nightmare," Lorna said, "and you let me out of it, Mr. Roarke. How can I ever thank you?"
"Believe me," Roarke assured her, "that smile on your face—the loving smile of a proud mother—is payment enough, Mrs. Hendricks."
Stephanie, bouncing in place with restless energy, broke in then. "Mommy and I're gonna spend a whole month on the beach when we get home!
"Oh!" said Roarke with interest, returning her huge grin.
"We both need some sun," Lorna remarked.
"And each other," Leslie agreed, mirroring their beaming looks. They all traded farewells, and Roarke and Leslie watched mother and daughter playfully race each other to the dock before the pair turned and waved one last time.
"Oh…" Leslie exclaimed, remembering something. "Was there ever any explanation for that black panther Mrs. Hendricks insisted she saw?"
Roarke nodded. "It was Megwa," he said. "Karakia gave her the power to transform herself into a panther, so that it was ultimately she who was responsible for Eric Hendricks' death in New Zealand. Fortunately, it will be at least another thousand years before we need worry about him again."
"We?" Leslie echoed, eyeing him; he raised an eyebrow at her, and she grinned.
§ § § -- November 19, 2005
Christian whistled softly when they finished. "Herregud. Yes, I guess I can see why that one would qualify for scariest fantasy ever. Especially if it was so terrible that you felt it was the only one you should grant that weekend."
"Considering the circumstances, I felt it only fair to devote my full resources to the problem," Roarke said. "Even Mephistopheles never chose to take that route, although I must say that Karakia was rather more primitive in nature than he."
"Definitely one of the weirder entities I remember encountering," Leslie agreed. "Now, my love, if that doesn't give you nightmares, nothing will."
"You'll have to pardon me if I disagree with that," Christian said, raising his brow at her with a teasing gleam in his eyes. "For me, if Karakia didn't give me nightmares, then you can rest assured that the rising of my father from the dead certainly would."
Leslie burst out laughing despite herself; even Roarke chuckled. "Oh, my dear Christian, that was indeed quite cruel," he said, shaking his head in mock remonstrance.
"But the simple truth," Christian bantered, grinning. "Ah, well. I think we've killed rather more time than we should have at this. It's been great fun, and I've learned quite a lot, but I think it's time we wound up this little talk and got some rest."
Christian and Leslie made their way upstairs and began to prepare for bed; the phone rang downstairs as Christian headed for the bathroom to brush his teeth, and when he came back he found Leslie putting her shoes back on. "Where are you going?" he asked.
"Something's popped up with one of the fantasies," Leslie said, "and Father's asked me to go with him. He promised me if I did this tonight, I could sleep in till nine tomorrow morning." She winked at him. "Sound like a deal to you?"
Christian laughed. "I guess I can't resist that. All right, my darling, but as you so often like to tell me just before I have to make some beastly-long trip to open another branch of Enstads Datoservice somewhere, be safe. After that story about the Maori demon, I have to admit to a slight case of nervousness."
She grinned at him. "Aha, I knew that had to've gotten to you at least a little bit. It'll be fine, my love—Father won't let anything happen to us, and anyway, there's nothing really dangerous happening this weekend. Nothing like that one anyway. Would you do me a favor and look in on the triplets for me? See you in a little while."
"All right, my Rose, I'll be waiting," she heard his voice follow her down the stairs, and smiled. In a way she was sorry it had grown so late; reminiscing with Roarke could easily have taken the whole night, and none of them would have really noticed, in all likelihood. But she suspected that one day she and Christian would come across some other little mystery about this island, and maybe they'd have another night like this, reliving fantasies of years ago and maybe learning a little more about the history of their home, this place that Leslie loved more than any other in the entire world.
A/N: Possibly the longest tribute to Ricardo Montalbán on the whole web (grin). But I had so much fun writing this that it pretty much got away from me. Thank you all for the many great reviews I've gotten!
In order of their appearance in this story, these are the fantasies I transcribed and adapted:
The Challenge / A Genie Named Joe : original airdate February 13, 1982; starring Vic Morrow, Dick Sargent, Jane Powell, Kim Darby, Larry Linville
Unholy Wedlock / Elizabeth : original airdate January 13, 1980; starring David Cassidy, Misty Rowe, Eddie Mekka, Tina Louise
Backbone : an original fantasy by me…
Beautiful Skeptic / The Lost Platoon : original airdate November 27, 1982; starring Connie Stevens, Herb Edelman, Jimmie Walker, Ruta Lee, Gary Frank, Steve Kanaly, Don Stroud
Baby / Marathon: Battle of the Sexes : original airdate October 5, 1979; starring Barbi Benton, Arlene Golonka, Peter Isacksen, Dick Martin, Paul Petersen, Bob Seagren, Barbara Luna
The Case Against Mr. Roarke / Save Sherlock Holmes : original airdate February 6, 1982; starring Nicole Eggert, Laraine Stephens, Ron Ely, Peter Lawford, Donald O'Connor
Possessed : original airdate November 22, 1980 (stand-alone half-hour episode that aired prior to a 90-minute Love Boat and a regular 60-minute Fantasy Island); starring Barbara Parkins, Missy Gold, France Nuyen