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A spot for all the fans of CSI: NY
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When Time Runs Out (Part One)
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So, this story took me a day to start and conclude the first chapter. I must have been on a roll. I actually had lots of fun writing this story and I can’t wait to continue it. I hope you all enjoy it.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters created for the television show CSI:NY. I just used them for my amusement and the amusement of my audience. GENRE: Drama RATING: PG-13 (Part One is not really worthy of the PG-13 rating, but I do anticipate this story achieving this rating down the road, so I figured I would label it right from the beginning) DEDICATION: To KrissyB (or just Krissy) who allowed me to write a story featuring her. We had a pretty nice conversation about a month back, but I was buried in other stories that were in the works, so I could not dedicate the time to her story until now. I hope the wait was worth it, though. The movie ended, coincidentally at the same time the popcorn ran out. Krissy hadn’t even realized that she had been perched on the edge of the couch until the end credits started rolling. Noticing this, she slowly scooted back so her back was flat against the couch. “What a great movie!” she exclaimed, turning to gauge her uncle’s reaction to the movie. Mac Taylor picked up the DVD box and surveyed the back as he thought about the movie they had just watched. Turning his gaze back to his niece, he had to laugh at her intense and patient appearance. Krissy’s face immediately clouded as she thought her uncle was laughing at her obvious enjoyment of the movie. She was about ready to retort angrily when he started speaking. “You look so serious, like you actually care what I think about a simple movie. I know how you kids think nowadays. You don’t care what your elders think or say.” He gave her a teasing smile. Realizing that he was having a little fun at her expense, she jumped up. “Don’t say that, Uncle Mac! I absolutely care what you think.” Giving him a mischievous smile in return, she continued, “You’re one of the few ‘elders’ I actually respect and listen to.” Mac seemed on the verge of saying something, but he stopped as his expression turned serious, yet thoughtful. He was thinking about what she had just said. How right she was. He knew all too well the lack of good, decent role models to be found in today’s society. He certainly had seen the worst that humanity had to offer. “What are you thinking about, Uncle Mac?” Krissy whispered quietly. Mac was brought out of his revere at her voice. “I was just thinking,” he paused, “of how much I dislike the title ‘Uncle’ Mac. Why don’t you just call me Mac? I was also thinking that it’s about time for bed. You’ve got a big day tomorrow.” Krissy stood up and was getting ready to leave the living room when she stopped. Turning back to Mac, she asked, “Speaking of my big day tomorrow, have you given any more thought to my request?” Her eyes were big and pleading. “I think I should be able to accompany you if that’s what you want. I’ll have to get to the lab at some point tomorrow, but I’ll go with you first.” Running over to him, she gave him a big hug. “Thanks, Un—, Mac!” Skipping off to the guest bedroom, she left him alone in the living room. He sat there for another couple of minutes before getting up to clear away the empty popcorn bowl and soda cans. Quickly washing the bowl, he placed it in the dish drainer to dry overnight. Moving back into the living room, he turned off the lights, casting the room into shadow. Pausing for a moment at the light switch, he heard the low murmur of Krissy’s voice as she called her mother to say goodnight. Turning away, he retreated to his bedroom on the other side of the living room. An hour later, darkness engulfed and silence reigned throughout the apartment as both occupants lay in their individual beds, still wide awake but seeking the solace of sleep. ~*~ Krissy rolled over onto her back for what seemed like the umpteenth time. No matter what she did, sleep eluded her. She attributed this sleeplessness to the opportunity that was awaiting her the next day. She was too excited to sleep, but she knew that she would need her strength. As she lay there, her thoughts turned to that day that had started all of this for her. She remembered the day vividly, as if it had just happened yesterday… It was the 26th of February and she had just arrived home after another mundane day at school and grabbed the mail on the way into the house. Sifting thru the small bundle, her eyes alighted on the letter. The letter that would make or break her hopes and dreams. The letter that she placed in front of her on the table and stared at for over an hour, waiting for her parents to get home. The letter that she had been waiting for for many months now. The letter that she had finally, slowly, painfully and eagerly opened. Pulling the letter out of the now-opened envelope was even more daunting. She had to look. She couldn’t look. She was hopeful. She was terrified. Finally, after pulling every fleeting shred of dignity back to herself, she quickly unfolded the letter. Scanning the official letter, she jumped up and started shrieking and screaming in joy as she danced around in absolute exultation. The Juilliard School of Dance, Drama and Music is pleased to offer you entrance into our established dance program pending an official audition … Please get in contact with our staff to get your audition scheduled as soon as possible. We look forward to seeing you in due time. The letter had been signed by the president of the school, the dean of admissions and the head of the dance department. Krissy had almost fainted when she read those wonderful words. Granted, she wasn’t an official student of the school, yet, but she had been given the chance and she couldn’t wait to prove to herself, her family and friends, and the world in general that she was just the stuff that Juilliard was looking for. She loved to dance; she had been doing it for years and had high hopes of continuing to do it for years to come. That letter had opened up a very promising door to her and she felt sure that that door would, in turn, open up many other promising doors in her future. Her mother had to physically restrain her to keep her from pouncing on the phone. Pointing out that there was a three hour time difference between their Crescent City, California home and Juilliard, she recommended waiting until the morning to call. “I’ll get you up a little earlier so you can make the phone call.” Her mother looked at her as her eyes started tearing up. “Oh, gosh, honey, you’re growing up so fast!” With that, she grabbed Krissy and held her in a bone-crunching hug. “Mom? MOM!” her voice was muffled as she was pressed so tightly against her mom. “I can’t breathe!” Finally, extracting herself from her mom’s embrace, she collapsed back into the kitchen chair she had been sitting in. As she was turning back to the letter that was lying on the table, she caught her father’s eye out of the corner of her own. He winked at her and then rolled his eyes discreetly towards her mother. She stifled a laugh and stared intently at the letter in her hand trying to calm herself down before she looked up again. In the meantime, Krissy’s father pulled the wall calendar down and laid it on the table. Flipping through the upcoming months, he asked Krissy when she wanted to have the audition. “Well, that depends on when they can fit me in, but I was thinking Spring Break. It’s the middle of April, I won’t have to take any time off of school and it even gives me a month-and-a-half to get myself ready for the audition.” Tentatively, she said, “Maybe we could even have an extra day or two to sightsee.” She glanced back and forth between both of her parents to see what their impressions were of her idea. Her father bit his lip as he flipped the calendar open to the month of April and studied the days before him. Her mother shot a quick glance at her husband before turning back to Krissy. “Hmmm…” her father murmured as he looked down at the calendar where Krissy could see lots of writing already covering the week she was looking at. “It looks like both your mother and I have unbreakable commitments for that week. I have a business trip and your mother is in charge of a week-long convention.” Krissy’s face fell as she tried not to appear too disappointed. Her spirits immediately lifted as her father said, “But, never fear, I think we can still do this. If you remember, my brother lives in Manhattan. I could see if he’d be able to let you stay with him while you’re out there. At least then I wouldn’t feel so bad sending you off to a strange city with no supervision.” Looking at his daughter’s face, he quickly amended his last statement. “Not that you need supervision. You’ve proven yourself to be a very responsible daughter throughout the years.” Smirking at him, she accepted his praise with all of the grace of a beloved daughter. “I’ll give him a call tomorrow as soon as I get your audition dates from you.” “Thanks, daddy!” She hugged him and then moved over to hug her mother. Thankfully, she wasn’t crushed to incapacitation by her mother and it was quite a pleasant little hug. “You know, I haven’t heard from Uncle Mac in years. How has he been?” Shrugging, her father replied, “I’m not too sure. It’s been hard getting a hold of him since Claire died. He seems to have withdrawn from the family and doesn’t stay in contact too much with anyone.” “But, I remember talking to him a couple of years ago. So that means we’ve had some contact with him since Aunt Claire died. Maybe it’s something else,” she pondered. Brightening up, she jumped out of her seat and ran to grab the phone. “Well, I don’t know about you two, but I have lots of people to call to share my good news.” With that, she ran out of the dining room and up the stairs to her bedroom. With these happy thoughts flooding her mind, she quickly fell into a deep sleep, dreaming of Juilliard and dancing across a vast stage that dwarfed her small stature but feeling completely at home within its cavernous structure. ~*~ Mac lay in his bed staring at the reflections of the passing car lights dancing across his ceiling and walls. He hadn’t been able to sleep since his niece had arrived. It wasn’t even her presence in his apartment that kept him up at night, though it played a small part. Rather, it was a series of incidents at work that had caused his sleepless nights. He suffered from occasional bouts of insomnia, but nothing like this. It had all started one week earlier. Mac and Lindsay had been called to a crime scene, much like any other crime scene. Even now, he couldn’t think of anything out of place at it and yet he felt there had been something. Since the initial investigation of the scene, Mac had gone back to the scene of the crime each night hoping for something illusive to present itself to him. So far, he had nothing. Nothing…until the threatening phone calls had started the day after the first time they had visited the scene. No matter what his team did, they could never pinpoint the source of the calls. Ironically, Lindsay never received any calls of her own; it was only Mac that was targeted. The caller was taunting him about his inability to catch the murderer responsible for the body they were investigating. It was getting to the point where Mac no longer answered his phone. The only people he absolutely needed to keep in contact with already had their numbers programmed into his phone. Their names would come up, leaving him free to ignore any unknown callers. That worked fine for a couple of days until the envelope arrived. It was delivered to his desk having come through the lab’s mailroom. It was simple and ordinary and Mac had no reason to think it contained anything nefarious. Upon opening it he discovered a photo. One solitary photo. It was even a harmless little photo, but Mac detected something deeper in its meaning. Staring intently at the photo of the front entrance to Juilliard School, Mac knew it wasn’t just a coincidence, especially as his niece was arriving in New York the next day to attend her audition at Juilliard. He felt strongly that whoever was behind the taunting phone calls to himself, had sent this photo. All the rules had just changed as they had now turned it into a personal matter against him. Upon receiving this picture, he had immediately called his brother to let him know exactly what was going on. He didn’t want his niece coming over without knowing what she may be walking into. Mac reassured his brother that he knew exactly what this audition meant to his niece and how hard it would be to reschedule. He said he would do his absolute best to keep Krissy safe while she was here, if she still chose to come. He had ended the phone call with his brother and got back to work while waiting for the return call. Three hours later, his niece had called back and told him that she was still planning on coming, but if things got out of control, she would cut her vacation short and return home. “Maybe you could even give me some self-defense tips.” They had chatted for another couple of minutes before ending the call, talking about fun stuff she could do while in the city. Mac smiled. He adored his niece. She had always been his favorite and he felt a twinge of guilt that he had neglected her, in a way, over the last couple of years. When Claire had been alive, and they had been living in Chicago, they had invited Krissy to spend a couple of summers with them when she was younger. The last time she had actually seen them was when she was eight years old. It was the last summer they had lived in Chicago. They had had so much fun that summer. Krissy still counted it as one of her favorite childhood memories, not the least of which was due to the fact that it was also the last time she saw her Aunt Claire. A couple of years later, Claire had died in the 9/11 attacks. Mac rolled over as the bittersweet memories made him uncomfortable. Not able to fall asleep, he finally left the bed. Walking into the bathroom, he pulled open the medicine cabinet. Taking a small bottle off of one of the shelves, he popped the cap and poured two sleeping pills into the palm of his hand. Filling a cup with water, he turned and left the bathroom with the pills and water in his hands. Strolling over to his bedroom window, he watched the minimal traffic driving by his apartment building. Checking the time on the bedside alarm clock, he saw that it was almost one o’clock in the morning. If he didn’t get to sleep soon, he was going to be good for nothing for the rest of the day. Quickly swallowing the pills and water, he placed the cup on the nightstand and lay back down. Sleep was still long in coming, but when it did, he slept deeply and peacefully. ~*~ Across the city, in a rundown, decrepit house, the figure of a man put the finishing touches on a small looking device. It was so complicated in nature, that anyone casually glancing at it would not recognize what they were looking at. Placing it ever so gently in a briefcase sitting nearby, he closed it and snapped the clasps shut. Picking it up carefully, he set it next to the door. Turning back into the room, he grabbed a dirty, grimy blanket and moved over to an equally dirty and grimy couch. Collapsing onto it, a large cloud of exploded up into the stuffy air. Closing his eyes, he slowly began counting down the hours until he could put his plan into action… ~*~ To be continued… ~*~ © Copyright held by Becca85 |
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BECCA THAT IS SO AWESOME OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!
I'm hooked!
Wooo Uncle Mac hahaha, Love it! :D
You've done such a brilliant job, Thank you so much for doing it *MASSIVE HUG!*
Can't wait for more! :o
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