| Subject: Entropy Chapter 15 |
Author:
Becca
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Date Posted: 15:55:38 08/06/02 Tue
In reply to:
HeyBecca
's message, "Entropy" on 19:23:01 02/10/02 Sun
Entropy 15—Destination Known
“Everybody knows the dice are loaded, everybody rolls with their fingers crossed. Everybody knows the war is over, everybody knows the good guys lost.”
--Leonard Cohen, “Everybody Knows”
**Greece**
Lucky, Nikolas, and Elizabeth sat in what was once the grand dining room in the Cassadine mansion. At the far end of the table, closest to the door, the threesome was discussing what Nikolas found in his childhood bedroom.
“I just . . . how did Helena know we were here?” Lucky managed. He had one hand firmly on Elizabeth’s shoulder. He could feel the energy coming from her, and he knew she was doing everything she could to hold it together.
“Where is she?” she croaked, staring at the photo Nikolas found. In the photo was Sarah, bound to a chair, gagged, and blindfolded. “She looks so scared—Lucky, we have to find her.”
“We will, I promise,” he whispered, looking helplessly at his brother.
“I know she wasn’t the best sister, or the best friend, but she had her reasons and she doesn’t deserve to die,” she continued.
“Helena and whoever is working for her will not kill Sarah,” Nikolas insisted. “She’s leverage, the carrot on the stick, so to speak. They won’t kill her until they get what they want from us.”
“And then what? They’ll kill her?” Elizabeth asked, looking Nikolas directly in the eye. “You can’t let that happen, Nikolas. She was your friend, she only came to that stupid party because she wanted to be near you.”
Nikolas’s head dropped in shame, but before he could speak Lucky’s cell phone rang.
“Yeah?”
“Buddy, it’s me, we’ve got . . . well, a lead.”
“That’s great, we need all we can get,” Lucky told Sly, looking at Elizabeth hopefully.
“There is this guy, Colin Lynn—before you say anything, I don’t think we should jump to conclusion about who he is just yet. It could be a coincidence. Anyway, my source says he was rather chummy with Kristina and, get this, just left California. Now where he went is left in question, but there are two places Mary thinks he went.”
“Yeah, I’m listening,” Lucky said, the name of the guy sticking in his head anxiously.
“Moscow or Italy.”
“Nothing more?”
“Not really.”
“Sly, can you hold on, I have someone on call-waiting,” Lucky said quickly before clicking over. “Hello.”
“Let me say, Pennsylvania was a bust.”
“Yeah, LA was only a little better, I have Sly on the other line. Let me switch to a conference,” he suggested. “Ok, Carly, tell us what you’ve got.”
“Not much, but the guy is named Colin Lynn and he’s not hiding that. Also, he mentioned to the folks he bought the van off that he’ll be moving to Quebec. So, I’m thinking we should head to Canada and find this creep.”
Lucky dropped his head; “This is not good. Sly just said this Colin guy was going to Russia or Italy. Now Canada? How do we know where to go?”
“We may have the answer to that!” Zander declared as he and Alison entered the dining room. “With this.”
Zander slammed down on the table a card that looked like a wedding invitation.
Lucky quickly snatched it and read it aloud, “Greetings and Salutations, I’m sorry to have you running around the world trying to gain a clue as to the location of my assistant and Kristina, and their hostage. However, have you ever known me to be anything but a challenge? If you are reading this it means you’ve chosen right and have come to Greece. Whether you got here in time or traipsed around following other leads is something I will not take responsibility for. Let’s not dwell on that, though. You’ve made it to Greece, and you have until Saturday to get to your next stop. What? You thought I’d come right out and tell you? How about a tiny hint? Come for the ball in the only city where you can see the lights of Paris, travel the Canals of Venice, and eat the food of New York. If you make it in time, O will mark the spot. Good Day, Helena Cassadine.”
“I know that,” Carly declared.
“It’s rather obvious,” Sly, on his end, noted with a chuckle.
Lucky looked at the group with him and forced a smile, “Guys, we’re going to Las Vegas.”
**
Carly placed her cell phone in her purse and turned to Jax. “Ok, Jasper, call your pilot. We’re busting out of this joint.”
Jason sat behind the driver’s seat of the van. As he stared out ahead of him, his jaw clenched, he knew that he had lost complete control of the mission. He only hoped V was having better luck.
“Where are we going now?” he gritted.
Carly looked at Natalie excitedly. “Sin City, baby!”
“Where?” Jason sighed.
Maxie, who had been sitting in the passenger seat, stood up and walked to the seats in the back of the van. “Las Vegas, you idiot,” she shot.
“You little brat,” Jason muttered, resisting the urge to throttle the college student.
Maxie looked at him and smirked. “What you gonna do, tough guy? Gonna beat up the teenager? Oh, maybe point your gun at me? Come on, tough guy, I took self defense—I can drop your ass!”
Jax folded his arms across his chest and laughed, “This is better than the movies.”
Carly smacked his arm and pointed to the air.
“Huh?”
She rolled her eyes and handed him her phone. “Call the people who baby-sit your plane, cause I’m not driving to Las Vegas. It’s bad enough that these two,” she motioned between Jason and Natalie, “can’t recognize the sexual tension and resolve it. But I don’t really want to witness Jason and Maxie putting on another act of Punch and Judy. Do you?”
Jax nodded and smiled, “Let me just—make that call.”
“Good,” Carly said happily, patting her beau on the arm. “Now,” she rubbed her hands together deviously. “I’m driving to the airport.”
“Whoa, no,” Jason said, not budging from the driver’s seat.
Natalie, who knew Carly was a shady driver at best, debated whether or not to side with Jason.
“Why, because she’s a woman?” She chose not.
Jason groaned, wishing he were anywhere but in the van with the people he was with. “No, not because she is a woman. I’ll let you drive. I’ll let the brat drive. But Carly is not getting behind the wheel. No way, no how. She’s a terrible driver.”
“How do you know, Jason? You’re an absentee friend. You pop in from time to time, but you’re not around nearly enough to know if Carly’s gotten better at driving. She has her own car, I’ll have you know,” Natalie argued, a smug look on her face as she stared down Jason.
“Yeah, and I bet Lucky is the only person who drives it.”
Natalie cracked her neck before continuing. “Again, you know this how? Let me guess, your good buddy Lucky told you? I sincerely doubt that, buster.”
“Buster? Buster? Wow, that’s mature. But seriously, Natalie, you’re either a good driver or you’re not. And Carly is not.”
“Um, in my own defense, I’ve gotten better,” Carly tried. “I’ve had lessons.”
“Let me guess,” Jason groaned in frustration. “Lucky gave you lessons?”
“No,” Carly scoffed. “Sly did . . . he played a race car driver once. So HA.”
“You’re still not--.” Before Jason could finish his sentence Maxie stormed to the front of the van, grabbed the keys, and shoved Jason out of the driver’s seat.
“Screw this, I’M driving,” she declared as she started the engine, put it in drive, and floored it out of the Interstate rest stop’s parking lot.
**
Sly leaned against the hood of his classic car, and smiled.
“What’s he doing? Smiling?” V asked in frustration.
“It’s been known to happen,” Emily quipped.
Steven sat behind the wheel of the Chevy, with Gia by his side. “So we’re going to Vegas? Believe it or not, I’ve never been there.”
“Really?” Gia asked in shock. “They have some amazing clubs and the best restaurants you can imagine. Do you know how to play Black Jack?”
“Well, I am good with numbers,” Steven said mock seriously.
“Oh, we’re going to have so much fun, baby. I cannot wait to get there,” Gia exclaimed, kissing Steven passionately.
Sly, Emily, and V stared at them in disgust.
“Yeah, I’m not . . . I don’t . . . STOP!” Sly yelled, jolting Gia and Steven back to reality.
“Sorry, caught in the moment,” Steven blushed.
V stepped towards the driver’s side door; “Do I have to remind everyone, once again, that this isn’t a vacation? Just because we are going to Las Vegas doesn’t mean, by any stretch of the imagination, that we are there to gamble or go to clubs or anything like that. Just because we are going to Vegas does not mean we’ll be on the Strip. You do realize this, right?”
“Yeah, whatever, Mom,” Sly muttered as he tossed the keys to Steven. He jumped in the back seat with Emily sitting in the middle. “15 North, my man.”
“You people are . . . ARGH!” V yelled.
“You might want to get in the car, V,” Emily suggested. “We’re about to leave for Las Vegas.”
**
Lucky walked towards the front of Nikolas’s jet, taking a seat next to his half-brother.
“How is Liz doing?” Nikolas asked, glancing back to where Lucky had come from.
“She’s sleeping, which is good. I don’t think she’s done much of that lately,” he observed with a sigh.
“Has anyone?” the Cassadine Prince questioned. He rubbed his chin. “I haven’t slept, or shaved, or had a moment to reflect on anything in days. Gosh, I can’t even recall how many days it’s been.”
Lucky let out a soft chuckle. “It’ll bet two weeks on Saturday . . . so what is today?”
“Wednesday? Tuesday night?”
“Yeah, that sounds right.” Lucky turned in his seat and looked back at Elizabeth. He had to find Sarah and she had to be safe and sound and ready to get on Elizabeth’s last nerve again. Lucky wouldn’t settle for anything less. He wasn’t going to make Elizabeth lose another person in her life.
“She’ll get through this, Lucky,” Nikolas tried to assure his brother. “Come on, this is Liz we’re talking about. She’s the strongest person I’ve ever met. She’s been through a lot, she’ll survive this no matter what happens.”
“That’s exactly it, man,” Lucky countered as he faced his brother. “She’s been through so much. What if losing her sister pushes her over the edge? Pushes her to a point she can’t come back from? What do I do then? I can’t lose her. I just can’t.”
Nikolas felt helpless. No matter the chaos in his own life, for some reason his brother always had it worse. He wished for once that he’d be able to shoulder Lucky’s heartache. But it just wasn’t possible. So, the only thing he could do, Nikolas resolved, was stop Helena and whoever was doing her bidding. This game had to be ended once and for all.
Towards the back of the jet, Zander was studying the palm of his hand intently, every few seconds glancing up at the plane phone.
To his right, Alison was sleeping, and he was glad. Zander wasn’t sure what was going on, but there was something about Alison that was confusing the hell out of him. He wasn’t sure if it was the circumstance, or just a simple chemical thing, but he could kick himself for even entertaining the idea of being with Alison Barrington.
Not now, just as things were falling into place for him. The woman of his dream’s, Nicole, was waiting for him back in the States. He’d be stupid to jeopardize what he could have with his starlet just because of a physical attraction to this girl.
But was it just physical? Alison made him laugh and she was fun to talk to.
No, it had to be just a physical attraction.
“Don’t blow this, Smith,” he muttered, reaching for the phone. He pulled a slip of paper out of his back pocket. His fingers hovered over the numbers, but he couldn’t get himself to dial.
“Making a phone call?” Alison asked, obviously awake from her nap.
“I was going to call my . . . a friend,” he muttered as he hung the phone back up. “But I don’t think I should. The last thing she needs is to be involved in this mess.”
“That’s noble,” she noted, glancing at the slip of paper in Zander’s hand. “But you don’t have to be noble all the time.”
He smiled at her, an uncontrollable action that he wanted to kick himself for. “Why are you here, Alison. Really?”
“Kristina was my roommate, she involved me in all of this. You know this, Zander.”
He shook his head. “But you could have just filed a police report or something. You didn’t have to come with us—you didn’t have to believe me that day I found you.”
Alison reached out and touched his face gently. “I didn’t have a reason not to believe you, Zander. Besides, I want to be here, I want to help. Why? Are you sick of me or something?”
“No,” he said a bit too quickly. “I mean, I’ve got no problem with your presence or anything. I just don’t want you to get hurt. You’re a nice girl.”
“That’s sweet,” she said before glancing down at his still bandaged hand. “How is your hand?”
“Healing, I guess. I should probably change the bandage, though.”
Alison patted his shoulder and grinned. “Lucky for you I’m here.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I volunteered at GH years ago. I’m an expert bandage changer. Come with me,” she insisted as she got up to go to the restroom.
**
Colin cracked his knuckles as he circled his newest “guest.” He stopped at his equipment table and snatched a vile and a syringe, chuckling to himself like he was watching a repeat of some sitcom.
“How are you doing, Dillon? Are you comfortable? I really did want to make sure that the accommodations I provide my guests are first rate,” Colin explained.
“Who are you?” Dillon asked. He was trying as hard as he could to pretend he was calm and not the least bit scared. But it was getting harder, especially as he watched Colin circle him like a shark circling its prey.
“The name’s Colin Lynn,” Colin said with a wink. “So, where to begin?”
“How about at why you kidnapped me? Is it money? Cause, dude, I’ve got plenty. My brother has money. My entire family is loaded.”
“You think I want money?” Colin asked, a perverse twinkle in his eye. “No, I just want to have some fun, for once. Can you imagine I am not allowed to do anything to my other guest? Not yet, anyway.”
“Other? Who?” Dillon asked. Panic was about to overtake him. Did this guy take Maxie? “If you hurt her, I’ll kill you. I swear to God, I’ll find a way out of these shackles and I will kill you.”
“I had no idea you felt so strongly about her,” Colin noted as he flicked his remote control in the direction of a television monitor. Dillon’s face softened when he realized it wasn’t Maxie. “Oh, is that relief on your face?”
“I thought you had . . .”
“You’re blonde little friend, Miss Jones? Hardly, however,” Colin walked towards Dillon and knelt down in front of him. “I’m seriously reconsidering killing your right away. After all, you seem to have no concern about Sarah Webber. Maybe I’ll save killing you until I kill her—until I make you watch me destroy her.”
Dillon moved his head forward, as close to Colin’s as he could get it, but the restraints across his chest prevented him from moving much. “You won’t get away with this, you sick bastard.”
“Why, because the Calvary’s coming?” Colin stood up and walked behind Dillon. “They don’t know about you. They’re going to try to save Dr. Webber. But you? Nobody thinks you’re missing. I’ve made sure that anyone who even thinks you are missing will be led to believe you went on a bender underground. See, you should never have gotten mixed up in drugs.”
“Damn, I knew I went wrong with my life somewhere,” Dillon scoffed. “Is that how you are going to kill me? Is that what the vile and needle are for? An over dose, how original, Colin.”
“Actually, I wasn’t going to give you enough to kill you. Just enough of my special serum to make you want more, crave more. It’s always fun to watch someone go through withdrawals. Granted, I’ve changed my mind,” Colin returned the syringe and the drug to the table, then moved back towards Dillon.
“Should I be happy about this?”
“Well, what I now have in mind for you, my boy, will probably end things faster. On the other hand, it may hurt a hell of a lot more,” Colin explained, placing his hand on Dillon’s shoulders.
“I don’t care. I have no use for this world—why do you think I like to get high? Since I’ve been a kid, all I’ve wanted was to escape my miserable existence,” Dillon said smoothly.
Colin moved his hands across Dillon’s shoulders, up his neck, until his fingers were laced through the younger man’s blonde hair.
“I like you,” Colin whispered into Dillon’s ear. “If I was so excited by the prospect of playing with you—you know, torturing you—I’d consider taking you on as my protégé, and maybe more.”
Dillon swallowed down the fear that was rising up in his throat. “Why all of this talking, Colin? Just kill me already.”
“All in due time, child. Just as I have been enjoying Sarah’s presence here, I think I’m going to have some of the same fun with you,” Colin breathed. He glanced at the monitor. “I just hope the good doctor doesn’t get jealous.”
**
Lucky led Elizabeth into her hotel room. He had his arm around her shoulders, giving her a feeling of absolute security even if she knew everything was inches from falling apart.
“Well, here you are,” Lucky said with a smile as he handed her two room keys. “Welcome to the world class Bellagio hotel and casino. If you need anything, just ask,” he said, pretending to be the bellman. He held out his hand as if he wanted a tip.
Not really noticing Lucky’s gag, Elizabeth sat down on the bed and released a heavy, heartfelt sigh. “How did we end up here?”
“At this hotel?” Lucky asked, sliding his hands in his pockets. “In the note from Helena, she said O marks the spot. The Bellagio has a show called O. A couple of us are going to the eight o’clock show tonight to see if there are any clues to where Sarah or Kristina may be.”
“That sounds smart,” Elizabeth noted. She stared up at Lucky, so grateful that he was back in her life. Looking up at him, she felt like was a teenager again and could rely on him for anything. “What time is it now? I think I slept the entire flight.”
“You did, and I’m glad,” Lucky told her sincerely. “It’s about two-thirty in the morning. You should probably get some more rest.”
“I don’t want to sleep. I close my eyes and I just see that picture of my sister. Lucky, I can’t do this. I can’t lose . . . not another person I love,” she said, a catch in her voice as she spoke.
“I know,” he whispered, sitting down on the bed next to her. “What if we do something distracting? Maybe go down to the casino, gamble with Nikolas’s money? It can take your mind off of your sister, and I can do a little reconnaissance, put my feelers out there, see what’s going on. What do you say?”
“Lucky, I don’t know,” she said with a sigh. “I just want to escape . . . from everything, everyone.”
Lucky ran a slightly shaking hand through his light brown hair. “Is that code word for: get lost, Spencer?”
“What?” she asked, her downfallen eyes shooting up to his. “No, not you. You’re the only person I don’t want to escape from. If I had to go through this without you I don’t know what I would do.”
“Good thing you don’t have to worry about that. I’m here for you—always,” he told her sincerely. “I’m going to keep that promise this time.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
They looked into each other’s eyes, lost in the intensity of the moment. It had been so long since they felt this close, this connected to another person, let alone each other. It made Lucky panic. He didn’t want to do anything that she didn’t want or wasn’t ready for. They had finally acknowledged their past, it almost seemed too soon to be moving towards anything but friendship.
But as Lucky sat on the bed with Elizabeth, he had an overwhelming urge to kiss her and hold her and be with her in ways he had only ever dreamt about.
Fortunately, someone was knocking on the door, which jolted Lucky back to reality.
He jumped off the bed and rushed to open the door.
“Emily, what’s up?” he asked, practically breathless.
“Am I interrupting something?” she asked, looking into the room curiously.
“No,” he insisted, “Elizabeth and I were just talking. Is that why you are here? You want to talk to her?”
Emily shook her head. “Not right now. I was looking for Nikolas, but he wasn’t in his room. Do you know where he might be?”
“He said he was going down to the bar. I think he was with Gia,” Lucky said, not really noticing the jealous look on his friend’s face. “Give him a call on his cell, I’m sure you’ll be able to locate him.”
“He went with Gia? Where is Steven? They told me they were retiring to their room for the night.”
“Retiring to their room? What?” Lucky muttered. “No, Steven got all freaked when he saw the picture of his sister so he went to the bar to get drunk. Gia went after him, Nikolas followed.”
“Ok, if you see him before I do, tell Nikolas I have to talk to him. It’s important,” Emily told Lucky seriously.
“Will do,” Lucky said before Emily turned to go to the elevator. He shut the door and turned back to Elizabeth. “So, what do you want to do?” He crossed the room, trying to smile.
“Only one thing,” she whispered.
Elizabeth kneeled on the bed and grabbed Lucky around the waist. She pulled him towards her, into a long, hungry kiss.
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