Connor paused in the middle of cleanup duty and looked at his kinsman who was valiantly trying to remove the burn marks from the edge of the pool.
"Do you hear that?" the elder Highlander asked.
"What?"
"A sort of ... eerie howling noise coming from the East. It's very faint, but I think it's getting closer..."
Duncan stood up, head cocked and eyes closed, listening intently (a pose which suited him as well as every other one does, incidentally), then gave an abrupt nod.
"Yeah, I hear it now." he said. "It is getting closer, but I've got no idea what it is."
"Me either," replied Connor, then yelled into the house, "Hey, Methos? Can you hear that wailing noise? You ever hear anything like that?"
Upstairs, the ROG pulled his nose out of the book he'd been enjoying and dragged his senses back into the present. The noise was definitely louder now and seemed to be heading straight for their little sanctuary. He listened for only a split second before leaping to his feet with a panicked cry of "Oh shit!" and sprinting downstairs and outside. The two Scotsmen watched in surprise as he shot out of the door, nearly falling into the pool in his haste.
"What's wrong?" asked Duncan. "Do you know what the noise is?"
"Do I know? DO I KNOW!" yelped Methos. "Don't you two have the sense you were born with, you muddle-headed barbarians? That's the sound an incoming evil twin makes when traveling at supersonic speeds! Get the fairy lights, quick!"
The Highlanders paled and joined Methos' frantic search for the Christmas decorations. They didn't have anywhere ready to put another evil twin and k'lynn didn't like to share. If the new one got here before the defenses were up--it didn't bear thinking about...
"Who can it be?" Connor asked, as he upturned the toy drawer. "We've already got a spectre! And why now? There haven't been any amazing frus for a while and none of us would leave E.T. bait out by accident! Why didn't we have more warning dammit?!"
"I don't know," Duncan snapped back. "Just keep looking--it's getting louder and none of us will be safe if we don't get this sorted!"
Methos paused in the middle of searching under the sofa. "None of us... Wait a minute, where's Ryan?"
"I think he's still hiding from Connor behind the dishwasher. He should be safe enough there," said Duncan, just as Richie strolled through from the kitchen.
"Hi guys. Anyone else hungry? I found the most amazing chocolate mousse in the fridge, you gotta try it..." he said, then stopped in confusion. "What's up? Are you still looking for Connor's speedos, cause I think I saw one of the girls run off with them as a souvenir..."
The older immortals stood frozen as the youngest talked, a terrible realization dawning.
"Chocolate mousse?" Connor whispered. "You don't think - surely it couldn't be..."
just as Methos and Duncan came to the same conclusion and shouted in unison,
"Oh, no! Not Ennaj!"
There was a dead, shocked silence. Then Rich faltered, "She's coming here? But, but... she sets fire to things!"
"She better not" Duncan groaned. "I haven't cleaned up from the last one yet..."
"And she likes that bit in Endgame! What are we going to DO?"
"Do? We're going to hide, that's what. It's too late for counter measures! We have to split up and take cover!" commanded Methos. "It's every man for himself, now," he added as he bolted for the stairs.
Connor, Duncan, and Rich exchanged glances and looked skywards in dismay. The noise was near deafening now and in that instant, they realized Methos was right. The only hope left to them was to hide. As one they moved.
Richie nearly fell over his own feet as he headed back into the kitchen, the sudden panic making him clumsy. He jumped back into the space behind the dishwasher, praying that the mousse he had eaten didn't make him too big to squeeze back in...
Connor sprinted out into the garden and dived into the pool without even pausing. There was shrub overhanging the edge on one end and he intended to sit on the bottom where the shade was darkest until the whole crisis was over...
Meanwhile, Duncan followed Methos' example and headed upstairs. He remembered which closet was k'lynn's just in time to stop himself from jumping in it and quickly yanked open the next one,
"Find your own hiding place," hissed Methos, and slammed the door shut again.
Suddenly, the wailing noise stopped. Duncan looked around frantically, and then dived under the nearest bed. Just as his feet disappeared into the shadows, a new voice was heard in the CDC refuge...
"oh boy-oys! come out an play-ay! i've got lots of toys and i have the best ideas of what to do with em too... you had a flame thrower already so i didn't bring mine but i got everything else!
"boys?
"boys?
"oooh, i like hide and seek! here i come, ready or not!"
And the owner of the new voice (which was Scottish, and definitely female) gave a wikkid chuckle and skipped off to search for her new playmates...
The CDC house was still and quiet, the only sound the occasional scuff from Ennaj's shoes as she skipped around looking for people to play with.
Outside in the pool, Connor was getting bored. He couldn't hear any explosions or screams--perhaps the new spook wasn't as bad as they had feared? He cautiously floated to the surface and took a look around. Nothing. The only sign that there was a visitor was a large box sitting at the door into the house. He hesitated, then shrugged and pulled himself out of the water to go and take a look at it.
Upstairs, Methos was still ensconced in the closet and Duncan remained under the bed. They had heard Ennaj go skipping past, but she hadn't looked in either of their hiding places so they were feeling fairly safe, though still a little nervous. The footsteps came back along the corridor then tripped lightly back downstairs and they both sighed in relief and tentatively ventured out in the open. Duncan looked over at the ROG and had just taken a breath to speak when there was a sudden yelp of surprise from the garden and they froze in place.
"Aaargh!"
"That sounds like Connor, " whispered Duncan. "She must have caught him"
"Better him than us" replied Methos fervently just as a whoop of joy came to their ears, followed almost immediately by a muffled yell from Connor.
"What did he say? I can't make it out..." said Duncan.
"I think it was something about his shirt. Maybe she's trying to steal it?"
There was another yell from below, this one carrying clearly to the listeners.
"Hey, point that squeezy bottle somewhere else..." *squirt* "What the?... Chocolate sauce?!"
"Oh, dear," said Duncan. "Hide?"
"Hide" agreed Methos.
At the front of the house stood another new arrival to the CDC house. She was looking at the building with a rather determined expression on her face, when she too heard the first yelp of surprise from Connor. Rolling her eyes resignedly, she picked up a large coil of fairy lights from the ground, slung it over her shoulder and wandered round the back to the poolside. And was stopped in her tracks by the scene that met her eyes... Connor MacLeod was shirtless and lying dazed on the ground while a small figure painted patterns on his chest from a squeezy bottle.
The new arrival examined the situation briefly, dropped the fairy lights to the ground, and spoke (with a Scottish accent, natch).
"Ennaj? Do you really think you should be doing that?"
Ennaj looked up in surprise, then nodded enthusiastically. The new person (who, it could now be seen, bore a striking resemblance to Ennaj) started to speak again, then paused, raising an eyebrow.
"Wait a minute, is that chocolate sauce?"
"uh-huh" replied the spook with a wicked grin. "he's tasty. wanna play? we can make a sundae"
On the ground, Connor collected himself enough to look up, hoping that this new arrival would be able to extricate him from his position. But as soon as he saw the unholy grin spreading across her face, he gave it up as a lost cause and resigned himself to his sweet, sticky fate...
"OK" said the newcomer. "Pass the bottle", and pounced.
In contrast to the earlier silence, the garden was now filled with sound. Yelps and giggles and strange squirting noises filled the air, followed by happy sighs and soft moans.
Eventually, a voice spoke.
"too much sauce. i feel sick - want to play mirrorball now, twin?"
"Nope, here's good for me. I'm still hungry," came the reply.
"Do I get an option?" asked Connor faintly from the bottom of the pile of bodies. The two heads shook rapidly and there were twin sniggers as he tried to look miserable and put upon (and failed miserably).
"Don't be silly. Anyway, you know you're enjoying this. Ennaj, why don't you go find some of the others? I'm sure they'll play mirrorball with you."
Ennaj looked sulky. "looked. couldn't find em."
Her twin thought briefly. "Did you try under the beds? Or in the cupboards?"
"oooh. good idea," Ennaj carolled happily and bounced to her feet. "music?"
"NIN," came the distracted reply.
"perrrfect"
And Ennaj cartwheeled off inside the house, pausing only to pick up her box and the discarded fairy lights. After a short silence, the heavy bass of industrial rock could be heard. The new arrival grinned, settled more comfortably on top of her prey and picked up the bottle again.
Ok, Connor admitted to himself after a while. The chocolate sauce thing was actually quite good fun but he was a little worried about what might be in store for his kinsman.
"How do you play mirrorball?" he asked.
"Oh it's quite easy... Ennaj sets the mirrorball spinning and treats every dot of light it produces on someone's body as a target. She likes to use the chopsticks..."
"She's going to skewer Duncan?" Connor gasped in alarm.
"No, I persuaded her to only do that with vampires. Everyone else she just tickles. And she's quite good at sneakily removing people's clothes while they're wiggling about too"
There was a sudden series of thumping noises from upstairs in the house followed by a burst of laughter and shouts of protest.
"Duncan" muttered Connor.
"Mmmm-hmmm. Hold still..."
After a bit, there was a further commotion in the house. Footsteps ran along the upper floor and stopped abruptly with a loud thud. The two in the garden stopped their play and grinned as more laughter started, mixed with swear words in several languages.
"Must be Methos"
"Mmmm. Must be."
"Think we should rescue them?"
"Nah, wait till it gets quiet--it's much safer! My turn for the bottle..."
"No it's not--I'm nowhere near finished with that..."
"C'mon, give me a turn! Give it here"
"Hey!"
There was a brief struggle before the victor raised the bottle triumphantly. *squirt...thhhpt...ffff*
"Damn. It's empty," said a disappointed voice.
"Relax, we've got more in the larder," said Connor.
"I knew you were enjoying this..." grinned the newcomer.
Entering the house, the sticky pair stopped dead in shock and then collapsed in hysterical laughter. If they hadn't been so busy fighting over the possession of the chocolate sauce they would have realized that the only sounds from the house were from the NIN CD. And the reason why was waiting for them in the living room.
They laughed so much that Mathos and Duncan dragged themselves up from the exhausted puddles Ennaj had left them in and staggered downstairs to find out what was going on, trailing bits of clothing behind them. (Duncan's shirt was hanging from one arm and Methos had managed to lose his trousers, though he wasn't entirely sure how that had happened). Once in the room, they too were unable to keep from laughing.
By now, Connor, was sliding helplessly down the wall. Methos discovered he hadn't breathed for a few minutes and turned away to try a reclaim some oxygen and Duncan just leaned against the doorframe and whooped, tears sliding down his face.
In the centre of the room sat Ennaj, looking upwards with a rapt expression. And above her...
...suspended from the ceiling fan...
...was Richie. Wrapped in flashing fairy lights and spinning gently like a large, human shaped mirrorball.
"Guys? Guys?" he hissed. "Stop laughing! Get me down, I'm getting dizzy!"
"But you look so festive," gasped Methos, sending Duncan (who'd almost managed to stop laughing) back into fits of giggles. "I think we've found the perfect decoration for the next par-tay!"
Richie's look of disgust only made them laugh more but after a long time, the shoulders stopped shaking and the peals of mirth died away into gasps for breath. Throughout it all, Ennaj sat mesmerized beneath her bauble, oblivious to the commotion around her. A phenomenon that Methos eventually noticed.
"Rich, we'll get you down in a minute. I promise. But this may be our best chance to get this new evil twin under control"
"You're righ,t" said Duncan. "She's completely hypnotized! Let's grab her, quick!"
They surged forward only to be met by a ferocious glare from the newcomer (who they'd temporarily forgotten about) that made them back off rapidly.
"God, if looks could kill..." murmured Duncan. "Connor, who's your friend? She glares worse than you do!"
"Gentlemen, I just prevented you from making a very foolish move. No one with any sense would try and grab this particular evil twin. Just stand back and I'll show you how it's done..."
She rooted around in Ennaj's box before moving to the hifi. The music suddenly changed from rock to Celtic flavored dance, soothing and melodic. Then she quietly walked over to Ennaj and sat down beside her.
"look. pretty." said the sprite.
"Very. I like the lights." There was a pause while the two of them watched Rich revolve, eerily similar smiles on their faces. Then the less manic one spoke again.
"Have you introduced yourself to k'lynn yet?"
"uh-uh"
"Don't you want to give her those presents? I think she's really going to like them. Why don't you go and find her and try and make friends? She's in the closet with the locks on the outside and I know she has lots of fun things to play with..."
There was another silence.
"o-kay" said Ennaj, climbing to her feet and wandering up the stairs humming happily along with the music. They heard a door open and a quiet "k'lynn?" then the door slammed shut and everyone sighed in relief.
"See? Subtlety is always best," said the strange female. "I think you can take care of the rest by yourself. Here's a list of the stuff in her box. I've got to go." She sauntered out the house, casually tossing back a final remark, "You'd better find somewhere for Ennaj to stay permanently quick though, she likes a lot of space to dance and if you don't find somewhere, she will." And then she was gone.
Duncan and Connor began trying to lower Rich from the ceiling and untangle him while Methos picked up the list and began trying to find out what the music playing was.
"Ok, Connor, who was that?" asked Duncan as he unwound the lights from Rich's feet.
"You didn't get her name before you let her rip your shirt off? I'm shocked" replied the elder Highlander.
"Not Ennaj, the other one!"
"Well, from the resemblance I'd guess that was Janne," put in Methos from across the room.
"I think you're right. Though as far as wikkidness goes, there isn't really much of a difference" smirked Connor.
There was a chorus of "what does that mean?" from the rest but Connor just grinned infuriatingly and began winding up the string of lights. He'd just stood to put them with the box when Duncan asked a final question.
"Connor? Why do you have chocolate sauce in your belly button?"
The End
Written by JanneCDC
December 2002