The door opened, showing a girl with waist-length blond hair and blue eyes. "Yes?" the girl asked.

     "Hi, I'm Rachel Corrigan and this is my daughter, Kat," said Rachel. "Can we come in?"

     "Sure." the girl opened the door wider. "I'm Metis Tuxford."

     Once inside, Rachel noticed that, in despite of the castle's almost identical exterior to the house, it's different. Metis showed them into the living room (where back at the House would be the Den).

     "Do you want anything? Sorry, no alcohol here, just to let you know."said Metis.

     "I'd like tea, please," said Rachel. "What about you, Kat?"

     "Coke, please," Kat said.

     "Sure," Metis said with a smile. "I'll be back in a minute."

     She left the living room, leaving Rachel and Kat to look around the grand room. Rachel's eyes were caught by a portrait that hung over the fireplace. "No way!" gasped Rachel.

     ”Rachel and Kat are here," Metis said the second she stepped into the kitchen.

     "I know," said Kathleen as she unplugged the boiling kettle. "Right now, Derek is probably going through the package."

     "What package?" asked Metis as she took out a 600ml bottle of Coke out of the refrigerator.

     "Package containing everything about The Legacy," said Kathleen. "And I can't sense who sent the package." Then her face brightened. "On the bright side, Philip will be arriving soon."

     "Soon everyone in The Legacy will be here," replied Metis. "Now let's greet our guests, shall we?"

     "Hi, Rachel," Kathleen said, as she handed tea to Rachel. "This must be Kat."

     "How do you know?" asked Rachel in surprise.

     "She got some of you in her face," answered Kathleen.

     "Thank you," Rachel said.

     Metis handed Kat a glass and a bottle of Coke. "Thank you." Kat politely said.

     "You're welcome," replied Metis.

     "Excuse me," said Rachel. "I'd like to know who the man in the portrait is. He looked familiar to me."

     That's Winston Rayne. Kathleen thought. But, instead, she said, "I don't know. I found it in the attic."

     As they sat down, Rachel found herself looking over at Kathleen. She is gorgeous with shoulder-length black hair and nearly black eyes. She would certainly be perfect for Derek. Rachel thought.

     "Hi, Alex," said Philip. He stepped in and dropped his suitcase before hugging Alex.

     "Philip." Philip turned to face Derek and Nick.

     "Hey, Philip," said Nick as he shook hands with Philip. "What's up with the suitcase?"

     "Nick!" exclaimed Alex.

     "That's okay," Philip said, closing the door. "If that's okay with you, Derek, I'd like to explain why I'm here."

     Derek nodded and it wasn't long before they were in the Den. Philip noticed the package on the table but didn't say anything. With a sigh, he sat down on the couch.

     "I had a vision last night," Philip began to explain. "In the vision, a young woman appeared to me and said, `The Legacy will need your help soon.' It wasn't much but it was the urgency in her voice that got me moving the second I woke up," Philip looked up and frowned. "Where's Rachel?"

     Derek frowned. "Now you have pointed that out," he said, "where is she?"

     "Rachel is probably at the other castle with Kat by now," said Nick.

     "Why?" asked Derek.

     "Rachel didn't say," Nick answered.

     "Well, I'm sure they are okay there," said Philip. "But what castle?"

     Derek explained what had happened during the last couple of days except his encounter with Alicia and Winston.

     "There are now six people living at the castle," Nick said.

     "Ten minutes ago, that package arrived," Alex explained. "It appeared to contain valuable information about The Legacy.. as a human being."

     Philip looked a little shocked. "The Legacy.. as a human being?" he managed to said.

     "Seems impossible to believe, isn't it?" said Nick.

     "You could say that." Philip said. Then he noticed strange expression on Derek's face. "Derek?"

     "The girl in your vision –" Derek said. "What did she looked like?"

     "The girl had shoulder-length brown hair and hazel eyes," Philip said.

     Without a word, Derek walked out of the Den. Nick looked at Alex, who then shrugged. Few minutes later, Derek entered, this time with a photo.

     "Here," said Derek as he showed it to Philip. "Is this the same girl?"

     Philip studied the photo of Derek, Alicia and Hitchcock. "Yes," he said as he handed it back, "that's the same girl."

     "Her name was Alicia Summers," said Derek.

     "Can I see it?"asked Alex.

     "Sure," Derek answered, handing the photo over to her.

     When Alex finished examining the photo, she handed it back. "Thanks," replied Alex.

     "Excuse me, I have to return it back to where it belongs," said Derek before leaving the room.

     "Who was Alicia?" Philip asked once Derek was no longer in earshot.

     "She was Hitchcock's fiancee when Hitchcock and Derek were best friends," Nick said. "One day, they had to go on a mission. It was supposed to be simple – get in, get the data and get out. They brought Alicia along. `Stay in the car,' she was told. But, instead, Alicia got out of the car to look for Derek. That was when the `simple' mission turned fatal. She was killed by the same monster they were tracking. Hitchcock held, and still holds, Derek responsible for Alicia's death. They did not see or talk to each other for a long time." Nick cleared his throat before continuing. "Alex, you met Hitchcock but you were not here when it happened. Hitchcock, which you knew already, had donated an ancient scroll. Philip and I worked on the scroll. At the same time, Derek started to have visions of screaming and fire. He could not get a good night's sleep because of it. During that time, Philip and I have came upon two things about the scroll. First the language was unknown. Second the scroll was made of human skin and ink of human blood. The ink was moving which meant it was alive. A man came upon to him on the dock and warned him about the scroll. `Hitchcock never forgets nor forgives.' Derek went into Rachel's house and surprised her. He broke in by the back door. Derek told her what had happened and Rachel gave him advice."

     "I came into the Computer Room in the morning and found Derek asleep on the top of the glass case. He woke up and told me it was the first written confession by Cain of murdering Abel," said Philip. "It made more sense to be '11,000 years old'. Derek and I went to where the man lived. When we arrived, the house was burned to the ground. We got back in the car.. and found the same man in the back seat. Derek called Hitchcock and when he arrived, confronted him. To made it short, the man grabbed the scroll and threw himself into the fireplace. He died, Hitchcock escaped and Derek no longer had the sign of Cain on his forehead."

     While Nick was telling Alex what had happened when Hitchcock was in town, Derek had been listening in. How did Nick know about Alicia's death? he thought. What about how I got into Rachel's house? Rather than to stay in the hall and eavesdrop on them, Derek went into the Den. "Nick,"he said. "how do you know about how Alicia died and how I got into Rachel's house?"

     Nick's face suddenly turned blank. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "The only thing I have talked about is the present situation."

     "You were talking about it," Alex replied.

     "Yeah?" Nick said. "Then how come I don't recall that? The only thing I recall is feeling like I'm out of my body but can't made sense of what was going on. The feeling lasted just a few seconds."

     "I believe you," said Derek as he exchanged looks with Philip. That look did not go undetected.

     "What do you think happened?" asked Nick.

     "It may be hard to believe," warned Philip.

     "Try me," replied Nick.

     "Someone may have spoken through your mouth," said Philip. "It must have taken some serious spells to do that."

     "Why would someone goes to all the trouble to tell us?" asked Alex. "Even so, how would this person know?"

     "Yes but who?" Nick wondered out loudly.

     "I have been cursed by Hitchcock," said Derek. "a curse that no woman will ever loves me."

     Alex gasped. "That's awful," she said. "There must be something we can do about it."

     Derek sighed, upset with the curse. But he carefully did not show any sign of that emotion. "If you'd excuse me, I have something I must finish."

     Before anyone can say something, he was gone.

     Alex looked at Philip and Nick. "Any idea?" she asked. Silence followed her question. "There must be something we can help Derek with."

     "We would have to know some more about the curse to help Derek to begin with," said Nick.

     The sounds of the front door opening and closing stopped Nick from saying anything else. "Excuse me," he said and went into the hall.

     Rachel was hanging up their coats in the hall closets and Kat was holding a 600ml bottle of Coke.

     "Back early?" teased Nick.

     "We had been there long enough," replied Rachel with a little smile. "The visit was pleasant."

     "I'm glad to hear it."said Nick. "There's a surprise in the Den." Rachel looked at Nick in surprise but said nothing.

     "Philip!" Kat exploded with happiness the second she went into the Den and saw him.

     "Hi, kiddo." Philip grinned as he scooped Kat up in his arms.

     "Hi, Philip." Rachel said warmly. She turned to Nick with puzzlement in her eyes.

     "We'll explain later," said Nick.

     The sounds of the car told her they have arrived. In the first half hour, she helped them unpacked the groceries into the cabinets and refrigerator in the kitchen. Then Kathleen called for a meeting.

     "Peter," said Kathleen. "this meeting is about you."

     "Me?" replied Peter. "What did I do?"

    "Plenty," said Justis. "We have suspicions that you are working with Randolph Hitchcock and might be responsible for the curse he placed on Dr. Derek Rayne."

    At the sound of Derek's name, Peter's face tightened.

    "We got phone calls from Mr.Hitchcock asking us about the activities of Dr.Rayne. Something that an old archenemy would not care about," replied Dara.

    "We do not know a Mr.Hitchcock," Metis said. "And when news reached us that Dr.Rayne had been cursed by a Mr.Hitchcock, we became suspicious."

    "I recognized the spell," Kathleen replied. "A terrible, terrible spell but the ingredients that you put in it are extremely rare. So, I went into our bedroom and found the ingredients in  the little safe under your bed."

     "We checked our phone bill," said Dara. "and it turned out someone was making phone calls to Mr.Hitchcock."

     "You kept disappearing from time to time on suspicious matters," Justis said. "Today we tracked you to the meeting place where you met this man who you called Mr.Hitchcock."

     "But it could not be," Metis said. "You called him `father'."

     Kathleen turned to Peter. "Now you may tell your side of the story."

     "I am not guilty of anything," Peter said. "Derek Rayne deserved this spell for a long time and we have seen it that he had gotten it."

     "Why?" Kathleen wanted to know.

     "Because Derek killed Hitchcock's fiancee," replied Peter. "I am Hitchcock's son and I stand by his side."

     "And betrayed us," Dara said angrily.

     "Small price to pay," said Peter.

     "Get out," Kathleen said, calmly.

     Peter couldn't believe it. "Excuse me?" he asked.

     "You heard me, get out," said Kathleen. "Anyone who chooses to behave in this way, who choose to betray his friends, don't deserve to be in this castle. Derek Rayne is innocent."

     "Father does not accu—" Peter began to speak.

     "Derek Rayne is not a killer," Kathleen said. "Be sure to tell Hitchcock that."

     Peter's face darkened. "And there was never any relationship, was there?" he spitted out.

     Kathleen said nothing as Peter stood up and stormed out of the room... and out of the castle.