Rollie let out an emotional groan as he reached out, and fell into the arms of Mangela and they stood there, with Aidan still submerged between them and strangely quiet.

When they at last released, Mangela looked beyond his boy’s eyes and into his soul, smiling; "I see you are beginning to have your sight return!"

"What? How? Never mind! How’d you get in?" Rollie asked, suddenly fearful for then, possibly Tony could get in as well.

"Phone booth, that’s one code you didn’t change, my boy. Still using your old post number from home," Mangela remarked as Rollie smiled, for he had only shown Mangela that entrance once.

"Ange, you never showed Tony that entrance, did you?" Rollie asked, finally acknowledging her presence in the room.

"NO!" she replied, her voice still shaken as she looked at adopted father and son with Aidan. Mangela held Aidan in one hand, along the length of his arm. It was a different kind of hold but yet, almost as if he had been doing it for some time.

"Angie, your son’s strong and fat with your mother’s milk!" Mangela told her, smiling down at Aidan as Angie started to protest Aidan being fat. But then, she held her tongue for he was right. Aidan had gained weight so rapidly after leaving the hospital and she smiled, relieved that it was a compliment. She walked over, as Mangela handed Aidan to Rollie.

"You scared me, Mangela!" she blurted out and he shook his head and then hugged her, his boy’s beloved wife and life.

"Sorry there! I didn’t mean to rattle you both. Surprised that Rol didn’t feel me coming but then again, I can already feel the climate in this house. You have some very dark things that have entered this place!"

"You can say that again, mate!" Rollie replied as Angie took Aidan from him and sat down in the rocker but Aidan was already asleep and she put him back in his crib. Mangela had some sort of wonderful effect on her son as she looked up at him and he winked.

"Care for some tea?" Rollie asked, moving toward the door, reaching out along the frame of it as Angie walked over to assist him.

"No, I’m good! Been traveling around a bit, feeling you every now and then but your songline is splintered like your life. I hope I came in time to get you back with the People. I can only see you not with us completely and it scared me, Rol!" Mangela replied, as he slapped Rollie lightly on his back and followed them out the door.

They sat down in the living area for awhile, Rollie catching Mangela up on the rescue, the hospital, Michael’s death, Germany and then what was happening right now with Rolph. Mangela smiled, listened intently and would once in a while look up, as if he was listening to something else but he would always return to his boy’s voice. He would not let Rollie see how worried he had been for him and now, for the future.

"That soul in that room over there is frightened but it is a good one. There’s truth in him," Mangela remarked out of the blue, looking toward the guestroom.

"Rolph? Yes, I got that impression," Rollie replied, smiling as Angie lay asleep beside Rollie, her overwhelming exhaustion with motherhood and all the other stresses having won over.

"Your Angie is so strong, she’s been carrying your songline in her heart as well as your little son, Rol. You need to mend your heart, your vision will return in full from there…"

Rollie kissed the top of Angie’s head, feeling so complete with Mangela returned to them. He started to say something, his thoughts or rather his fears from his captivity at that moment but Mangela touched his arm slightly, rising from his seat;

"I felt your pain, and your fears from that time. I lost you once and that is the place that you must find again so that you can mend your songline, my boy."

"I don’t want to go back there, Mangela. I am better, I know it!"

"Not from what I feel deep inside here," Mangela replied, taking Rollie’s hand and placing it against his own chest, over his heart.

"I don’t know where to begin," Rollie replied, his eyes watering slightly as Angie moaned and nestled closer to him.

"You’ve already started, your bond with Angie- I felt it very strongly just hours ago…" Mangela replied as Rollie felt an embarrassed rush in his cheeks. How did Mangela always know?

Mangela chuckled and touched the top of Angie’s head himself; "No, my boy- not that bond, although that one was…."and he felt his adopted son’s warming face.

"Bloody great!" Rollie responded, sheepishly as Mangela laughed and then seriously added;

"Your bond, the one of captivity and hopelessness. You must rid that from your body and the two of you have not resolved that totally yet. I can see there is something else between you and it is dark, evil."

"Does it have a name, other than Tony?" Rollie asked, sarcastically as Mangela sat back down, reading his son’s journey of the darkness so far and understanding only the past for the future was not clear.

"This evil is very strong and also, I’m afraid- very close to Angie. Keep her with you, my boy, protect her!"

"How? Can’t see yet, I feel helpless!"

"Your friends are around. They will help you and me! Besides, I like summer coming up here in New York…might just stay awhile!"

"Thanks, Mangela- I appreciate your help…best be getting this girl to bed and you, you must be tired. ‘Fraid either the couch or Aidan’s day bed are your choices, though!"

"I’ll sleep near your son. His songline is so strong and makes me soar!" Mangela replied as Rollie smiled, tapping Angie slightly and pulling her up from the couch.

"Come on, my lady- our chamber awaits, and our guest will be sleeping near Aidan," Rollie told her barely awake face.

"Great," she replied, yawning and helped him forward with Mangela behind them, "Aidan will love him near…"

Mangela smiled at her and followed them up the stairs. In his heart, he felt a pang of what he knew was fear that he had not told Rollie about…for as he saw the spirits that shown around their heads, he could not tell them apart. No, he would wait. He would tempt the songline’s fate on this, for tearing these souls apart was not going to happen as long as he had a spark of life left in his body.

Gregory Lamont woke with a start, like a finger of hot wax had just invaded his sleeping world and melted, covering the intense pleasure he had been experiencing. In his dream, he had taken Angie Tyler. He had shown her his world and ultimately had enjoyed the immense feel of her taking her last moments of life as he hovered over her, immersed in her warm blood.

Strange, he thought as the hardening wax formed a shell over his work and he woke, unsatisfied and his compulsion unfed. Somehow, he would get her alone. Forget the loft! He could enjoy her somewhere else…and then it came to him. Of course! Right here, right in his own home. How perfectly satisfying and rich! He smiled as he got up, whistling as started his daily routine. He could hear his mother already start from outside the bathroom door. Her voice was grating like fingernails on a blackboard and marred his happiness yet again.

He was cleverly thinking it all out. He would call her, not as Tony Alvarez but as Bret Eastman, the director of Derni Magic. It was perfect! Bret had an apartment in the Dakota, much smaller and way down on the second floor, but she probably didn’t know that. Yes! Have her come over to discuss some problem, how about a problem with him- Tony Alvarez. He knew she would come for that…if Tyler F/X was falling apart due to Tony not showing up and maybe something he had done, she would need to come and fix it herself. Rollie wasn’t going to be able to assist her on that! When? He wanted to do it today but yet, he would need to get mother out of the picture. He was finally picturing that scenario as well. He grinned and let the water run over him as the mental picture of warm blood re-entered his mind, soothing him.

"Morning," Rollie said, hearing Angie’s sudden intake of air as she cleared her throat and reached out for him.

She pressed herself against him, as he touched her face, kissing the tip of her nose.

"You were something last night, Angela…" he began, remembering her passion.

"Umm, you weren’t bad yourself," she replied, thinking about it as well and he suddenly felt the warm wetness spreading across his chest and laughed.

"Do those things have some sort of shut off valve?"

"Sorry," she said, starting to part from him but he held her tighter, kissing her neck and shoulders.

"I should say that you seem a lot more like your old self," she continued, knowing what he was doing to her, feeling that old Rollie- the one before Pollepel, starting to return to her.

"I don’t know, there’s just something about Angie Ramirez that gets me all worked up…" he replied, as she giggled, hearing him call her by her former name.

Rollie reached down, over her hip, feeling the smoothness of her skin as she felt his admiration growing, giggling into his chest, which was music to his ears.

The door opened with a resounding bang; "Uh, sorry there, sonny boy- the little man’s hungry and there’s not a thing I can do about that!" Mangela voiced, as Angie popped her head up, seeing what looked like true embarrassment on his face.

"I’ll be right in, Mangela. It was time for his feeding anyway!" she told him, as he nodded and backed out, shutting the door.

Rollie laid back on his pillow, sighing. Angie smiled down at him and asked; "What can you see today?"

"Um, only dark shadows, if you mean my sight…as for what I see in my mind- no peace and too many people in this loft!"

She bent over and kissed him quickly as he held her when she tried to move away, wanting to just feel her close against him again and moaned slightly as he released her then;

"Go on! But I expect a raincheck, hear?"

"Rollie Tyler! Was that a command or what?"

"Uh, yes…" he replied softly, and then louder, "yes! By God, it was!"

"This is new…"

"And?"

"I don’t know why, I shouldn’t, but …I like it!"

"Good, plenty more where that came from!"

"Now, don’t go overboard, buster!" and she left him smiling.

Breakfast was an eclectic bunch of souls sitting around the table. Rolph and Mangela, Aidan in his carrier, Rollie and Angie all eating heartily as the conversations drifted back and forth.

"Don’t know if I get your words, Rolph but I can feel you mean right by them!" Mangela told the graduate student from Bonn as he listened to the explanation about the implants.

"Mr. Mangela, I can’t begin to understand your words well either, but I think we are communicating excellently!"

"Oh, just Mangela…there’s no mister to me, my boy," Mangela replied, crunching down on his sixth strip of bacon.

"I saw Angie’s eyes last night, Rolph- could see the blues, the lash and then poof, gone!" Rollie remarked, taking a sip of coffee as Angie smiled.

"Good, that’s very good. It is coming back gradually, you say also, the light factor is coming back, the shadows are lighter?" Rolph asked.

"Yeah, starting to see parameters of objects, sorta hazy but the curves of my wife are starting to appear here," he said, pinching Angie’s waist.

"Rollie!" she remarked, blushing.

Rolph raised his eyebrows, not knowing what to say as everyone laughed, and the strange bushman beside him winked at him. When did he get here? Rolph wondered and when was that Lucinda Scott coming back?

Lucinda woke up very happy. Marvin Vanduran was such a nice guy and so normal. No spy business, no stunts, no movie biz, just a guy who ran a police force. She liked how he was all business-like, barking orders and then once you got him alone, he was almost shy. Not that she could live his life, she thought as she remembered she had only a week before she went back to Hollywood. Her life was movies! She smiled softly but heck, that didn’t stop her from enjoying the outer firmament of life as she knew it.

She beeped Marvin but there was no answer forthcoming. She figured he was out doing police work, whatever that was… and she took her time, dressing and ready to go over to the loft and see what was cooking there. She was very curious about the Tony thing and if he had come back to the loft that morning. She was going to just confront him herself, without Marvin if need be. That liar would soon be exposed and she was just the one that wanted to do it!

Between Aidan and Rollie and all the cleaning up from breakfast, Angie knew that she needed to get down to the set. It had been too long since she had been there and she knew that Bret Eastman would be stewing by now!

"You aren’t going to the set alone, you know!" Rollie warned her as she smiled.

"Of course not! I can take everyone down there, if it makes you feel better," she replied, "We can all face Tony together."

"Great, I’m for it!" Rollie said, as Mangela looked up from the couch where he held Aidan on his lap, letting the baby hold his necklace.

"Careful there, my boy. Don’t let your emotions rule your head on this…"

"We will see," Rollie answered, determined to make this man a distant figure from their life.

"Rolph, would you like to see a movie set?" Angie asked, seeing him raise his head from his journal.

"Sure, that would be fascinating."

"Good, I’m changing and we’ll be off," Angie replied and left the men downstairs.

When she emerged from her shower, she was surprised to see Lucinda sitting on their unmade bed, grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey!" she acknowledged, smiling.

"Oh, Ange! Let me see your scar!" Luce asked, bouncing slightly on the edge of the bed.

"Come on, Luce!"

"Please!"

"Okay…"and Angie pulled the towel up, letting Lucinda see it.

"Hey, it looks like a smiley face," Lucinda remarked, giggling as Angie quickly covered herself again, rolling her eyes; "God love you, Angie. I couldn’t get one of those. It would ruin my career!"

"Yeah, I guess. But you know, it doesn’t bother me, Luce. It’s like a reminder of what I did for love. My son…you know!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Luce replied, waving her on and then laid back on the bed, "well, aren’t you going to ask me how the date went?"

Before Angie could answer, Luce was telling her! Angie smiled at Luce. She needed a regular joe like Marvin Vanduran to keep her feet on the ground.

"How’d he kiss?" Angie asked then, for Lucinda hadn’t mentioned that yet.

Lucinda covered her face with Angie’s pillow, "Wonderfully, oh my!"

Angie smiled, fully dressed and ready to go; "come on, let’s all go to the set and you can continue your fawning descriptions of your date."

"Oh! But what about Tony? Or whatever his name is? He might be there!" Lucinda reminded her.

"Good, with everyone there, I can fire him and it will be over," Angie replied, nonchalantly as she walked out of the bedroom.

"But! I don’t think that will be the end of it, Ange!" Lucinda warned.

"Well, that’s why I figure Mira and Francis and ‘Marvin’ would like to come over once we spot our boy on the set."

"Cool! Marvin and I were going to tail him this morning anyway… oops!" Lucinda said, putting her hand over her mouth.

"Great, just what I need- Nancy Drew and Ned going after the culprit!" Angie replied, as Lucinda giggled;

"Oh, come on- we were just going to help!"

Marvin Vanduran sat in his car with Mira Sanchez, drinking coffee. There had been no sign of the guy that morning around the loft. He was beginning to think he was going to be a no show.

"So Sanchez, you see me ever settling down, you know- with a wife and kids…"

Mira looked over at him, her eyes and ears not believing this conversation.

"Uh, Cap- whatever…You deserve the finer things in life. So, whose the lucky gal?"

"No no, just thinking about how people see me and I know, they think I’m just some red tape pushing autocrat!"

"More like dictator," Mira muttered as he looked at her sharply but they both looked toward the loft garage as the door opened, and the F/X van pulled out.

Francis Gatti ran up from his position, tapping on the van door as Angie opened the door, surprised to see him standing there.

"Hi Angie, uh, where you going?" he asked, knowing he sounded stupid.

"Jeez, Francis- where’d you come from? We’re all going down to the set. Got some guests here and all, thought I might get back to the business, you know?" Angie replied, looking at him strangely.

Francis could see Rollie wave at him, a little off-center and Lucinda popped her head up, grinning.

"Well, I just wanted to know if I could get that security video, you know…we are trying to show some people around NYU if they can recognize this Tony guy."

"Ah, sure- wait a moment. I think it’s here with me in the van. I put it in my knapsack." She put the break on and reached behind her seat. Finding the video, Francis breathed a sigh of relief.

"Here you go, and Francis! Make sure that when you find out who he really is, to come over to the set. I have a feeling he is showing up today there, and it isn’t going to be pretty, you know what I mean?" Angie told him as Rollie echoed her sentiments.

"Come on down, Francis. We’re going to relieve Mr. Tony Alvarez from his post but good!"

"Ah, you guys go slow, huh? Remember, some people take on an alias for a reason," Francis warned them, as Angie frowned slightly. Francis could have shot himself for forgetting to appear as though nothing was really out of the ordinary.

"Whatever, that sicko isn’t going to come back to my loft!" Rollie warned as Angie released the break and pulled out, leaving Francis holding the tape and worried now, very worried.

He walked back over to where Vanduran and Mira sat, showing them the tape in his hand. They pulled out, following at a distance, the van. If Tony Alvarez showed up at the set, they were going to nab him before Rollie could get near him.

Francis went back to the precinct, made a print picture of the Tony Alvarez from the video and headed for NYU and the real Alvarez. He was playing on a big hunch but then again, Francis felt like this one was going to pan out.

On the set of Derni Magic, Tyler F/X pulled up in full regalia. Many crewmembers and cast welcomed Rollie back with enthusiasm. Luce loved the attention she was getting from her fellow thespians as she disappeared into the thick of them as they set about for morning reads. Angie, carrying Aidan and with Rollie at her side, climbed up into the F/X trailer and looked around. The place was a disaster. Stuff was strewn about everywhere. The masks that Tony had done were lying in a box, crinkled and folded over- useless!

"Great!" she muttered, "He would have gotten fired just for this."

Rollie could feel how useless the masks were and touched her on the shoulder, "Don’t worry, love- I can help out a bit."

Angie couldn’t help how stupid she felt! She had hired this guy and he was going to put them out of business for sure with this delay now! Bret Eastman was sure to raise Cain about it!

Mangela sat in the F/X van, not really into the movie-making world. He had seen all that before. He was relaxed, letting the dreaming come on as he felt the terrible darkness and evil fill his mind once they entered the set. He had told Rollie he needed to just sort his mind, get his bearings and Rollie had accepted that.

Rolph went with Lucinda as she dragged him into the world of movie magic. His usual scientific demeanor was replaced with awe as he grinned frequently, on the arm of the beautiful woman who never stopped talking.

Aidan slept soundly in his carrier beside Mangela. Mangela could feel his little songline in the background and smiled. The union of his sonny boy and Angie had produced such a tribute to life. This soul would do wonderful things!

Vanduran and Mira sat outside the set in their car. Everyone who entered the set had to come through these doors. The security gate was manned and well enforced as Vanduran had inquired about Tony just after arrival. At first, they would neither confirm or deny he worked on the set. When Vanduran had showed them his badge, they confirmed that Tony was not on the set at present, so they waited.

Francis had made it up to NYU and was busting his hump getting over to the film school. After receiving directions to the real Tony Alvarez’s classroom, he stood, watching as the colorful and emotional man weaved a tale of experience before his class. After waiting for some time, he knocked. He couldn’t wait any longer. Once Alvarez saw him, he came outside, for Francis held up his badge against the glass as the class whispered their suspicions.

"You know this guy? He’s been using your name. Has he been in your classroom, a student?" Francis asked, cutting to the chase as he handed Alvarez the picture from the video.

"Hmmm, poor quality filmstock and the lighting is terrible!" Alvarez winced as he made a face, "but, that little dickens! He was using my name? He’s a cheeky boy, isn’t he?"

"WHO IS HE?" Francis asked, his voice sounding impatient and loud.

"Oh, sorry- why that is one of this school’s leading contributors, I mean the family of this young man’s. Oh, he has been here and out…but he is quite the strange one. It must be all that blue blood!" Alvarez remarked, fanning his hand out.

"What’s the NAME?" Francis asked again, as Tony Alvarez looked at him in shock.

"Okay, don’t get in a huff, that’s Gregory Lamont! As in Lamont, top floor of the Dakota Lamonts…" Alvarez fumed as Francis repeated the name.

"Okay, thanks there, Alvarez! Sorry about my attitude, just wanted to find him pretty quickly here!" Francis replied, apologizing as he started to leave.

"Oh, okay, detective! By the way, you married?" Tony asked, batting his eyes.

"Oh God!" Francis replied, waving at him, without looking back, why did these guys always try to pick up!

Francis phoned into Vanduran with the name and possibly his address. Vanduran raised his eyebrows at the mention of the address. He looked over at Sanchez and smiled; "seems our boy Tony’s real name is Gregory Lamont- of the Lamonts that live in the penthouse at the Dakota."

Mira smiled, rubbing her hands; "Francis is on his way over with back-up at the Dakota?"

"Yes, and we are to wait here, in case, he shows up. I don’t think he lives at the family residence so just getting where he lives from them, will be a start."

"The plot thickens…"

"Yes, it does."

Angie was throwing the masks out, as Rollie grabbed the phone that had rung inside the trailer.

"For you, it’s Bret Eastman…" Rollie said, stumbling slightly as he handed her the phone. He was starting to see the full outline of shapes, the light filtering not vivid in color yet but like looking at everything through burlap.

"Mr. Eastman, so sorry about the delay…" Angie began and she grew silent. Rollie was tapping the counter with a pencil as he waited. He knew the business was on the line here and he knew Angie was doing everything possible to save it.

"Okay, right. I will meet you there in, what? about an hour?" Angie said, as Rollie made a face. It didn’t sound good.

"Okay, yes. I will bring the schedule and the cost projection sheets. Right, don’t worry, Mr. Eastman. I do have some explaining to do. Thanks for your understanding."

Angie hung up. She looked over at Rollie and bit her lip. Eastman had sounded pissed. She knew he would be. She had never met him before, just Tony had said he was a bear on the set. She had gone into this movie blindly, relying on Tony for everything.

"Okay, gotta go meet with Bret Eastman, like now! I have to go over projections, cost and the schedule. He wants me to meet him at his apartment. He has Cy Berlain there as well. Jeez, he sounds like he’s getting another quote from Cy to take over our biz, here, Rol!"

"Okay, alright. Maybe it’s better that you are away from here when Tony shows up. Look, whatever happens, I just want to say, Angie- you have done incredible things with the business since I’ve been out of the picture, don’t forget that! I love you, sweetie. Knock him dead, eh?" Rollie told her as she smiled, kissed him softly and grabbed her papers and clipboard. He would have gone with her, but he knew she would have protested. This was her picture, her show.

Angie had wished she was in better dress, having put on her usual attire, jeans and a T-shirt. Cy would probably be there in a suit. She walked toward the front gate and then suddenly turned around. She didn’t want to go out and hail a cab. That would take too long. She went over to the motor pool board, getting a key from John for a car just to use for the trip over and back. Luce waved at her as she got in the car.

"Hey, where you going?" Luce asked with Rolph in tow, his face flushed.

"Gotta go save our business on this movie. Bret Eastman is having a meeting with me and Cy Berlain over at his apartment at the Dakota. Wish me luck, huh?"

"You go, girl! Eat him up! Cy can’t even hold a candle to Tyler F/X!" Luce told her, with a thumbs up.

"Thanks Luce! See ya later, Rolph! By the way, Rollie says he’s seeing images now, vague but there! That’s good, right?" Angie asked, frowning slightly.

"Yes, very good! I am thinking yes, by the end of next week, maybe full recovery." Rolph answered.

"It’s a mystery to me, medicine and science, Rolph! You gotta explain it to me one day!" Angie told him back, then waved as she pulled the car out, going out the back entrance to the set and off to Bret’s. She was determined that she was going to reinvent the wheel here today!

Gregory Lamont smiled. He had fooled the great Rollie Tyler. Soon, Angela would be here. Here, in his own home! At last, he would finish this and get his reward. Part of it was already in play. He walked past his mother’s room. He couldn’t believe it. He had finally made her stop talking and he didn’t feel an ounce of remorse!