| Subject: ET Chapter 3 |
Author:
Becca
|
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
Date Posted: 18:16:02 06/04/01 Mon
In reply to:
Becca
's message, "Eternal Ties" on 17:53:29 05/24/01 Thu
ET 3
**The Brownstone**
Carly sat on the stoop outside of the Brownstone, where she was staying until she could find a more permanent place to live. Part of her wished she could just go back to the Penthouse and start over with Sonny. She still loved him very much, but so much had changed.
It wasn’t even so much that he had, in fact, had a past and, as it turned out, a child with Alexis. That happened before they ever met, before she fell in love with Sonny. That didn’t really bother her or stop her from going home to the first man she ever truly loved, who she felt ever truly loved her.
Carly couldn’t explain why she didn’t go back except that despite how much she wished she could, she didn’t want to. There was strength in the freedom she was feeling now. Carly had always heard how it is better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all. And of course she thought it was crap.
Until she experienced it herself. She’d never forget or trade the feeling of being loved and in love with Sonny. It made her heart soar in ways she never dreamed possible. And now that it was gone, there was a constant, dull aching in the place it used to be. But it meant something, having loved Sonny and been loved by him taught Carly that falling in love was possible, and that love could set you free. It was a lesson she hadn’t known before, but one that made her all the stronger now that she knew it.
“Oh, but by the pale moonlight the golden haired goddess smiles upon me and makes my heart sing.”
Carly looked up to see who was speaking to her. He was tall and handsome, his perfectly sculpted face grinning at her softly.
“Can I help you?” Carly asked, her curiosity already piqued by the mysterious poet.
“I’m sure you can,” he said suggestively, not moving from his place. “I’m somewhat new up here and need a place to stay. Would you happen to be able to point me in the direction of the nearest hotel?”
Carly nodded, studying the man’s features closely. “On one condition, you tell me your name, cause I don’t talk to strangers.”
“I’m sure,” he snickered. “Stavros Cassadine, the pleasure’s mine.”
“Carly Spencer,” she said, using the name Spencer for the first time really, before the name of the man even registered.
“I’ll be damned, of all the people, another Spencer,” Stavros muttered to himself.
Snapping back to her senses, Carly rose her hand and slapped Stavros across the face almost on reflex.
“What the hell!” Stavros shouted, stomping his left foot in pain. “You can’t possibly know me! Why would you do that?”
“I know who you are and you’re a monster,” Carly decreed, a funny expression coming to her face. “You are Nikolas’s father and you were married . . .to Laura . . .and why are you so young—and ALIVE?”
“I’m not explaining myself to an annoying Spencer,” Stavros hissed, stepping closer to where Carly was standing. “It’s none of your damn business—any of it.”
“You don’t know, do you?” Carly challenged. “This has to be the work of that psycho bitch Helena! You better run, man, because once my uncle finds out you are in fact alive—he’s going to kill you.” Carly paused, before adding, “For real this time.”
“Oh, I’m scared,” Stavros snipped. “You be warned Caroline, I’m not afraid of anything. I’ve obviously cheated death--.”
“And aging,” Carly muttered under her breath, amazed that Nikolas’s father looked more like a brother than a parent.
“—once, I’m not afraid of dying. I’m not afraid of Luke Spencer. I’m not afraid of my mother. And I’m sure as hell not afraid of you.”
Carly yawned, “Yeah, I get it Stavy, you’re not afraid of anything. Whoop de do, you’re the big bad non-dead Cassadine. I’m thrilled for ya’, really, I’m sure you’ll make this dull town interesting. Of course, that is if the 21st century doesn’t get you first.”
“Excuse me?” Stavros muttered.
“You’ve been dead for what? 20 some years? The world has changed greatly. See this?” Carly pulled out her cell phone. “Cell phone, I can call anyone, anywhere in the world with this tiny piece of plastic. Oh, and you know computers? They are like the size of a notebook and you can shop using it. And that’s only a tiny, little bit of how things have changed. If I were you, I’d go running back to wherever you came from and stay dead.”
Carly didn’t wait for Stavros to answer before she went inside the Brownstone, intent on calling her not so loving Uncle with her news.
“What do you want?” Luke barked on the other end of his cell phone.
“Uncle Luke, I just adore your warm greetings,” Carly chirped.
“How’d you get this number Caroline?” Luke asked, clearly not happy. “I’m kind of busy at the moment, so what do you want?”
“I think you should know people are coming back from the dead, well, one person in particular. And I think you should come over here so I can tell you who it is.”
**Kelly’s**
Elizabeth sat up in her bed, flicking casually through the channels of the television.
“Elizabeth are you asleep?” a soft voice asked following a couple of knocks.
“No, come in Em,” Elizabeth said. Emily rushed into the room, shutting the door behind her. She jumped onto Elizabeth’s bed, already in her pajamas, a worried look about her. “How are you holding up?”
“So you know?” Elizabeth muttered. “I can’t sleep, my mind is working over time—Lucky’s in jail for attacking Stefan? What universe have we stepped into?”
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there Liz. I was on my way to meet Zander at Kelly’s so we could head over to the Grille, but some major things came up in his life and—by the time I got to the Grille everyone was gone. I called Nikolas on his cell and he told me that Lucky was arrested. I couldn’t believe it, so I headed to the police station. Someone down there must have called my family and told them I was there. They immediately thought it was because of Zander and tried to force me to move back home once again. I swear, they are aggravating the hell out of me!”
Elizabeth chuckled at Emily’s story, thankful for the momentary reprieve of her own life.
“So, did anything else happen tonight? Is there anything I can do?” Emily asked her best friend.
“Well . . .something sort of did happen tonight,” Elizabeth explained, her eyes lighting up momentarily. “I went outside to get some air and ended up dropping my hair tie. Well, this guy caught it. So, I ran downstairs to get it. The guy, his name was Spence, which is kind of weird, don’t you think?”
Emily shrugged her shoulders, “You mean because Lucky’s last name is Spencer? Sort of ironic, I guess.”
“Wait, it gets better. He’s kind of joking with me and I tell him I better head back inside and go to bed. And right after I say goodnight he tell me ‘dreams of gold’.”
“Wow, he seems sweet, is he cute?” Emily asked with a teasing grin.
“Extremely, but that’s not the point,” Elizabeth said quickly. “The only person who ever told me ‘dreams of gold’ was Lucky. He said it was something his mother used to tell him.”
“Now THAT is weird,” Emily confirmed. “What did he look like?”
Elizabeth thought back, Spence’s image burned into her brain. “He was about average height, but lean and sort of built. He didn’t look like the type who worked out a lot, but keeps himself in shape. He had brown hair that was a little long, but not really. An earring, blue eyes, and a beautiful, perfect smile. He looked really familiar.”
“Wait . . .I think I ran into him on the docks earlier. Did he have on a white tee shirt, the sleeves ripped off?”
Elizabeth bit on her bottom lip as she tried to remember, “He might have had it on under the flannel he was wearing.”
“It was weird, when I saw him he acted like he knew me at first . . . and he seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place it. You know?” Emily recalled with a sigh. “Strange.”
“Extremely,” Elizabeth shook her head, pushing a smile to her face. “Hopefully I’ll run into Spence again, get to the bottom of this. Anything to distract me from Lucky being in jail.”
**PCPD**
“Spencer, wake up.”
Lucky laid on the caught, jolting awake at the familiar voice. He pried his eyes opened and glared at the man standing outside his cell.
“What do you want?”
Andreas smirked as he stepped closer to the bars. “Madame is not pleased that you’ve been thrown in jail.”
“Like I care? As if you don’t remember, I hate your Madame,” Lucky sneered as he stood up and walked to the cell door. “Towel boy, take a message to Helena.”
“Yes?” Andreas said with an amused smile.
“Leave me, my family, and Elizabeth the FUCK alone,” Lucky spat the last two words, his hands curled tightly, angrily around the bars.
“I’ll make sure to pass that along,” Andreas noted with a chuckle as he pulled his left hand from around his back.
Lucky’s eyes immediately went blank, a haunted look in them as he stared at the object in Andreas’s hands.
Andreas looked down at the rock in his hands, “Amazing effect this chunk of crystal has on you. Imagine if it were really the Ice Princess?” Andreas shook his head, getting back to his plans. He reached into his suit coat with his right hand and removed a gold lighter. “Give me your hand Lucky.”
He complied, sticking his left hand out the cell, palm open. Andreas placed the lighter in Lucky’s hand, “Good boy. Now, what can you do with a lighter?”
“Start a fire,” Lucky said darkly, a diabolical glint in his eye. “Like at the bike shop. That was a big fire.”
“Imagine how the police station will light up,” Andreas pressed. “But be sure that you get out safely and then report to Mrs. Cassadine. Understood?”
“Yes,” Lucky smoothly. Andreas nodded his head and left the jail cell.
Lucky returned to his cot, fingering the shiny lighter like it was the most beautiful thing in the world.
“How’d that guy get down here?” asked the man in the cell next to Lucky.
Lucky snapped out of his haze long enough to look innocently at the prisoner. “I don’t know. I should report him, huh?”
“Kid, that would be a good idea . . .he was working some black magic on you,” the man said, his voice shaking somewhat.
“Yeah, report him . . . but first I have something to do,” Lucky said robotically as he lit the lighter. He did it repeatedly, mesmerized by the orange and blue flame. “Something to do . . .”
**Helena’s Yacht**
The two guards sat in front of her. Both looking as if they had both just pissed their pants and were about to do it again. Helena simply paced in front of them, shaking her head disapprovingly.
“I hire people to do a job,” Helena began, not looking at either guard. “I expect that job to be done properly. Not only did you two fail miserably. You may have jeopardized everything. I’m not really sure what to do about your pathetic incompetence. I can kill you both, torture is always fun . . . what would you two prefer?”
The guards exchanged nervous glances.
“I know, I’ll allow you to choose the others punishment. Doesn’t that sound fun?” Helena cackled. She stopped pacing, her face turning serious. “Tell me what the hell happened to Lucky Spencer and my son. How did they disappear? Who got out first?”
“That would be your son Madame,” Lucky’s guard said first. “He came to the cell and then . . .I don’t remember. But when I woke up, the Spencer boy was gone.”
“Is that so?” Helena looked to Stavros’s guard expectantly. “If my son, was in fact, the first one gone, why did he leave?”
“He seemed somewhat urgent to be leaving. Didn’t want me to phone you Madame,” the guard explained nervously. “He asked a few questions about where we were, when it was, that sort of stuff.”
“I understand . . .my son wanted a few hours of independence. He won’t get too far—Lucky, on the other hand. His escape . . .”
“Um, Madame,” Lucky’s guard spoke up. “Would it necessarily be an escape if Stavros let him go?”
“Stavros would not let him go,” Helena corrected, even if she knew it was the truth. “Either way, he must not be allowed to be free. Do you understand the kind of damage that can be done if he is free? My hold on his family and friends and the people of Port Charles is not absolute! It won’t be too hard for him to break through the work the dear, late Cesar Faison and myself have done. Because of that . . . you two must be eliminated.”
“But!” Stavros’s guard rose his hand in protest.
“Did you honestly think I’d let you live? Either of you? Mikhail!” Helena called out, a strapping, dark haired man entered the room. “Take the one on the left first. Dispose of him. Come back for the other and do the same. They are worthless.”
“Yes Madame, anything else?”
“Has Andreas returned yet? I want to know how my other project is going.”
**Penthouse 2**
Zander slid his key into the door of the place he lived, a place he was learning to call home. He had a instinctual feeling that Alexis was most likely sitting in the living room, a bowl of popcorn in her lap, anxiously reading over paperwork for Sonny or a case or something. It was her usual habit when he was out. But now it had a distinctly different feel to it. She wasn’t waiting up as his lawyer or friend. She was waiting up as his mother.
It felt both good and bad.
“I was wondering if you were going to come back,” Alexis said from her spot on the couch. Only she didn’t have popcorn or legal paperwork in front of her. “Before you lash out in anger come over here, I need to explain some stuff to you.”
Zander nodded his head silently. Emily had helped him work through some of his anger and resentment. She told him that the best thing to do would to at least let Alexis explain her side. If he couldn’t get through that much, then there really was no saving what had become one of the most important relationships in Zander’s young life.
“Here, I’ve been writing these for the last eighteen years. Wanting to send them. Coming close so often. But I wrote them, and I thought about you . . .everyday since I had to give you up.” Alexis handed Zander a bundle of letters. “I probably wanted you to find out, I had to, why else would I leave the evidence in my closet. It’s been killing me, not being able to tell you.
“When you were shot on Christmas . . . I didn’t know what to do. All I wanted—I wanted to be by your side, but I couldn’t and it killed me Zander, it tore me apart. But if Helena found out, she’d retaliate and take you from my life. I know she would. She killed my mother, your grandmother, in cold blood. She has no heart, she wouldn’t care. And I couldn’t bare losing you again, after I was given a second chance to have you in my life. I would do anything to protect you, you are my heart.”
Zander looked to the ground, wiping a tear from his eyes. “You don’t know how often I’d lie in my bed upstairs and wish that I had known you growing up. Never in my life had I met someone who care about me the way you did. I thought it would have been so cool if you had actually been my mother. I know you had your reasons and all . . .but it still hurts.” Zander looked up, meeting Alexis’s eyes, finding a warmth and home in them. “But I … need you Alexis. Not as a lawyer, not as my guardian . . .as a friend, as my mother. And I’ll try to see why you had to protect me. I just need one more thing, one more answer that I need to know.”
Alexis moved closer to him, holding his hands in hers. “Anything.”
“Tell me who my father is. You don’t have to worry, I’m not going to go hunt him down or anything, I don’t even want to meet him. I just want to know his name.”
Alexis closed her eyes and took a deep breath, “Sonny.”
“Hmm?” Zander wasn’t sure if he heard her right.
“We were young, I was in college and he was an incredibly charming and good looking young guy. It just happened and I ended up pregnant. We barely knew each other at the time, so I wasn’t about to burden him with the news. I didn’t tell Sonny about you until a few months ago. But Sonny Corinthos is your father.”
Zander’s face drained of all color as he absorbed the news. “No wonder he was so willing to put all that money up for me. Knowing you’re my mother, it gives me comfort. But I don’t know what to do with this . . .” Zander got up and walked to the stairway. He glanced back at Alexis, “Don’t tell Sonny I know yet. I need to deal with this first.”
“You have my word,” Alexis said as she followed him to the stairs. “Zander.”
He turned to face her, smiling slightly. “Yeah?”
“Good night my son,” she whispered, kissing him softly on the cheek.
“Night,” his voice shook as if he was about to cry and he turned and nearly sprinted up the stairs, all the while clutching the letters Alexis had written so many years ago.
**The Bike Shop—Alison&Jamal’s Apartment**
Alison sat on the couch, tapping her fingers on the notebook that sat on her lap. She glanced at Jack, who was sitting on the opposite end of the couch, his attention focused on the television.
“I don’t get it, how could someone control an entire town, make them think one person is someone else—when they don’t even really look alike,” Alison groaned, going over Lucky’s situation in her head for the one millionth time that night.
“Why couldn’t Livvie’s dad be helping us, I’m sure he’d figure this one out,” Jack noted as he looked over at Alison with a smile. “You know, when Livvie and Jamal get wind of all this time we’re spending together, they’ll really think there is something going on with us.”
“Well, let them think that Jack. Our friendship shouldn’t threaten them, and besides, we are doing this for a much higher cause,” Alison said proudly.
“Yeah, yeah I know . . . it’ll just appear suspicious, that’s all. Livvie called from Texas, where she’s visiting her grandmother, and told me that she’s staying for a little while longer. She wants me to come and visit . . .when I told her I couldn’t she understood but wasn’t happy. Maybe I’ll just say there’s something in the water that’s making me act like a first class jerk as a boyfriend,” Jack joked with a laugh.
“That’s it!” Alison snapped her fingers.
“What’s it?” Jack asked confused.
“How could Helena Cassadine and that Faison guy reach all of the people in Port Charles? The water . . .they put something in the Port Charles water supply that makes everyone susceptible to suggestion. And then all Helena Cassadine would have to do would be make those suggestions,” Alison declared happily.
Jack thought but then shook his head, “Nah that doesn’t fit Alison. Because, then this entire town would be walking around like zombies.”
“Actually, that’s probably what Helena did do,” Lucky said from the doorway, smiling at the duo. “It’s actually what I was thinking she had to do.”
“Hah, Lucky agrees with me,” Alison said, nudging jack in the side with her foot. Lucky sat down in the armchair, taking a deep breath. “My idea,” Alison continued, “was that this was some sort of major drug she was using, probably what she originally used to make that other guy think he was you. It probably has to be triggered somehow—with a word or maybe another drug or something. And then you could throw subliminal hints and information.”
“But how?” Lucky scratched the back of his neck thoughtfully.
“You know what man, you just got out of hell tonight, why don’t you get a real night’s sleep and we’ll discuss this all in the morning. Take your mind off it for a while,” Jack suggested, going into Alison’s kitchen and pulling out two beers from Jamal’s stash. He tossed one to Lucky and smiled, “Nobody is going to suspect you are with us, you’re safe here.”
Lucky popped the can open and smiled at them, “Thanks you guys. You two have basically saved my life, I’ll owe you forever.”
“It’s nothing,” Jack insisted.
“So, where did you go when you left earlier? I was worried that maybe Helena would catch you and take you back,” Alison said, having seemingly already grown attached to Lucky.
“I went for a walk,” Lucky noted with a far off look in his crystal blue eyes. “Ended up running into an old friend . . .”
“Let me guess, Miss Elizabeth Webber,” Alison prodded warmly.
“Yep . . .and amazingly, the second I saw her, I forgot all the reasons why I’m supposed to me mad at her and hurt and . . . it didn’t matter, just getting to see her for a minute brought me back three years to the best summer of my life.” Lucky paused and took a sip of his beer. “I just don’t know how I’m going to stay away from her.”
Sleepless nights and endless days
And all I do is promise to change my ways
Leave the lights on, you know I’ll pretend you’re on you’re way
You used to say that there’s a time we all deserve to lose our minds
So I lost my mind now I’m ready to find my way
Once Emily returned to her own room, Elizabeth desperately tried to get back to sleep. But it was futile. Images flashed before her eyes. She saw Lucky, she saw Spence, she remembered her past, thought about her present, and dreamed about her future.
But despite what she wanted, she couldn’t see her future. She wanted to be with Lucky, but she couldn’t see him anymore. It was like she was looking at Lucky through a fog, and for some reason the fog was starting to lift. But it didn’t mean things were becoming clearer. In fact, it was just the opposite.
Desperately wanting to clear her head, Elizabeth got up and head back out to the balcony outside her window. She looked down; secretly wishing Spence would be down there again.
There was something about the stranger, something she couldn’t quite understand. But it shook her to the core. When he looked at her, it was like he was really seeing her. And the softness in his voice had a familiarity, like he felt totally at home standing there, under the moonlight, talking to her.
“Dreams of gold,” Elizabeth whispered to the moon. She closed her eyes tightly as it hit her. Why she couldn’t take her mind off of Spence, why his saying those words struck her so deeply. Why the way he looked at her sent a chill through her body unlike anything she had felt in a long time.
He reminded her of Lucky.
Who was Spence, and what was he going to mean to everything in her life. Elizabeth was certain she wasn’t going to get a minute of decent sleep until she figured it out.
Back home
Today
To stay
The way you wished I would
And I swear
To stay
The way you wished I would
Zander stared down at his hands, the watch Alexis had given to him shining in the light coming from the moon outside his window.
In a matter of hours his entire life, his identity was flipped on its head.
Alexis was his mother. Sonny was his father.
At least he still had Emily. She grounded him, she made him feel comfortable in his skin for the first time in his life.
But if Alexis was right, and considering what he knew about Sonny, he was now in more danger than ever. Zander knew he was going to be in for a fight once the truth about his parentage came out. And he was going to do anything to keep Emily safe from his newfound families.
Even if it meant embracing what came with being part of those families, Zander wouldn’t lose what made him a man.
I don’t know if I’m gonna have to redesign my mind
But tonight I made a wish and I sure hope that it comes true
Cause it’s been too long without you
It’s been too long
Lucky sat on the edge of his bed in the room Alison had made up for him. The bed was soft, the room was comfortable, and the fact that Alison poked her head in, holding a glass of milk and a smile, made Lucky think he could actually feel safe there.
They were great people, Alison and Jack, Lucky could already tell. There was something about them, something good, that he knew he could trust. And he even had a feeling that once this was all said and done the friends may have found more than they expected, but everything they wanted.
Lucky only hoped the same could be said for himself. Seeing Elizabeth was both the best and worst thing he could have done. He was supposed to hate her. She slept with another man, thinking it was him, and couldn’t tell. She almost left Port Charles with Jason.
But he couldn’t hate her. She kept him alive. She gave him hope that one day he’d be free again. For every part of Lucky that wanted to hate her, there was twice as much that loved her.
The vows they made in that church so long ago he still held close to his heart. There would never be another girl for him. Even if he lost Elizabeth, he couldn’t move on. She was it. She was his absolute.
Lucky just had to figure out how to get that back. He had to break Helena’s hold on Port Charles and take his life back. To go home, to find his heart, to be with Elizabeth.
Come home
Today
To stay
The way you wished I would
And I swear
To stay
The way I wish you would
Luke sat on the couch in the Bobbie’s living room, listening to and believing every word Carly was saying. This is what “awakening” meant. It didn’t have to do with Lucky. The discs had nothing to do with his son. It was her son. It was Helena’s son that was to awaken.
A chill went through Luke as Carly explained the man she met, the man that was Stavros Cassadine. There was no denying it. And if he was back, it couldn’t mean anything good for his family.
Luke had to protect Laura and Lesley Lu and Lucky.
Lucky.
What did this have to do with Lucky? What did Helena do to him? What did she have planned? And how was he connected to Stavros?
Luke couldn’t let Helena win. Not after this long, she couldn’t win.
And even if I left it all behind
There’d be reason to come back
And even though I left you far behind
I always thought that you’d come here to find me
Come find me
Stavros lounged out on the bed in the suite he had procured using the credit card he had lifted from one of the hapless guards. He chuckled to himself, fully pleased with his reunion with life.
Not only did he manage to get away before his smothering mother could get to him, he also met a woman who had captured his imagination.
Of course, she was a Spencer, and that pissed him off. But there was something about her, something different from what he had wanted out of a woman in the past. She certainly was nothing like Laura.
Stavros flicked through the channels on the television, marveling at the number of channels and what was on them, thinking for sure that Miss Caroline had to be wrong about the 21st century strangling him. He was going to like this new world. It was going to be a load of fun.
He couldn’t wait to explore it.
I don’t know if I can wait this long
To be what I used to be
And I don’t think I can wait much longer
For the tide to come back to me
Come back to me
Lucky crouched down on the floor in his jail cell, the sheets from his cot balled up in his left hand. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure the other prisoner was asleep, a blank look in his eye. He lit the lighter Andreas gave him and took a deep breath as he held it to the sheet.
As he watched the white cotton slowly go up in the flames, his expression changed from blank indifference to fear and panic.
He ran to the bars and screamed for help, not even realizing he had caused the fire.
His world was crumbling out of control, and he no longer had autonomy over it.
Helena was winning.
Back home
Today
To stay
The way I wish you would
And I swear
To stay
The way I wish you would
The way I wish you would
“The Way You Wish I Would”, words and music by Train, Drops of Jupiter, © 2000 Sony Music Entertainment, Inc.
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
| |
Feedback: 