It was over, and she was finally free - again. Though in her mind, she wondered what that freedom really meant. Would it mean she could move on with her life and let go of her anger and thirst for vengeance? What if the price of freedom was too high?
The woman had been laying on the floor for well over an hour as tears streamed down her face and she pondered such questions. Other than her occasional sobs and sniffles, the vast mansion was void of life.
Deep down, she knew the answers. The events of the last two hours were a simple case of déjà vu. This wasn't the first time her heart had been broken. It wasn't the first time she writhed in agony on the mansion's cold living room floor over such a terrible loss. So she knew the answers. Freedom meant more obsession and resentment. Yes, the price was too high. She lost the chance to have everlasting love and happiness.
The tears stopped and the woman began to stand. On her feet, she wiped the cold remnants of her pain off her face and stumbled over to the bar. Grabbing the nearest bottle of scotch, she slowly poured the liquid into an empty glass.
In true soap fashion, Kristen Blake DiMera raised the glass in the air and bitterly toasted: "To you, Doc! May you live to regret the day you screwed with my life!"
William Horton stood on the edge of the dock and stared out coldly at the water. In that moment, there was so much conflict inside of him. So much emotion - yet he felt empty.
"I understand," a voice behind him stated from the shadows.
"I know you do," Will whispered without turning around to face the man intruding on his moment alone. "Grace."
"Yes," the voice agreed. "What you're feeling will never go away completely."
"Does it get better?" Will asked quietly.
"Yes, it does," the voice promised. "It helps when you have people who love you - even though some will never understand the kind of pain you're feeling right now."
"She would have been a good mother," Will whispered. "I think I could have learned to be a good father. Now my baby girl is all alone."
"Your little girl is not alone, Horton," Chad DiMera said as he stepped out of the shadows and closer to his heart-broken friend. "She's with Gabi - and Grace."
Will nodded as he turned around to face his friend, but he simply couldn't hold it in any longer. He knees gave out, and he felt his body fall into Chad's arms.
Sonny Kiriakis was going out of his mind with worry and concern. He had searched the entire hospital for Will and couldn't find him.
"Sonny!"
He turned around at the sound of his mother's voice and rushed into her arms. "Mom, I can't find him! I've looked everywhere! He's alone, and I can't find him!"
"Baby, it's ok," Adrienne tried to sooth her son's obvious distress. "I'm sure he's fine and probably just needs a moment alone."
"Son," Justin's voice was unmistakable. Sonny looked up as his father continued, "What exactly happened tonight?"
"Dad, it was terrible," Sonny told him. "It was just awful. The man shot Nick in the head in front of Will. If Hope hadn't arrived, Will might be dead too."
"Gabi and the baby?" Adrienne asked softly.
"Gabi and I escaped, but then she went into labor..." Sonny explained as painful snapshots of the events on the island reentered his mind. "I didn't know what to do and there was no one to help us. I tried to deliver the baby, but I...I didn't know..."
Sonny started to cry uncontrollably as his mother brought him back into her arms. "Oh, honey, it's going to be okay," Adrienne tried to reassure him.
"NO!" Sonny pulled away from his mother. "You don't know that! Will's baby is dead, and it's my fault! Now he's missing, and I can't find him!"
Justin stepped forward, "Sonny, you're not responsible for what happened tonight."
Sonny wiped away the tears and shook his head defiantly. "That's easy to say, Dad, but I don't know if Will will agree. He asked me to take care of Gabi, and I failed him."
"Will loves you," Justin reminded his son. "There's no way he'll blame you for this tragedy."
"Why not?" Sonny asked him. "I do."
Dr. Marlena Evans Black looked at her watch impatiently as the elevator continued the ascent to the 4th floor. She was exhausted after an evening of revealing the truth to Brady, verbally sparring with the woman she hated most in the world, and questioning her husband about why he spent the evening in that woman's hotel room.
However, when Marlena received a text message from her daughter, all of that pain was put on hold until Marlena could confirm the safety of her grandson. The elevator door opened, and Marlena hurried over to the waiting room. Inside, she found her daughter, Sami, and ex-husband, Roman.
"Mom!" Sami shouted and rushed into her mother's arms.
"Oh Samantha Jean!" Marlena embraced her daughter. "Is Will okay?"
Sami responded sadly, "Physically, yes."
Roman stepped in, "Nick Fallon and Gabi Hernandez are both dead. Nick was shot, and Gabi died in childbirth. From what Sonny described, Kayla believes it was eclampsia, and the kids were on Smith Island in the middle of nowhere."
"Oh lord, no!" Marlena proclaimed. "The baby?"
"The baby didn't make it," Roman informed his ex-wife. "I'm sorry, Doc."
"Where's Will?" Marlena asked as she held back the tears from learning the fate of her great granddaughter.
Sami shook her head, "He ran out after learning about Gabi and the baby. I don't know where he is now."
Jennifer Rose Horton was pacing the living room of her grandmother's house. She had been calling family all evening to share the horrifying news of Nick's untimely death. Obviously, Jessica and Marie were the most emotionally charged and draining calls. Both women were simply devastated by the news.
At this point in the evening, Jennifer was numb and simply couldn't cry anymore. She dialed another number.
"Hello?" a familiar male voice answered the phone.
"I need you," Jennifer choked back the tears. "Can you please come home?"
"Jen?" the voice asked. "What's wrong?"
"It's just too much," Jennifer cried. "Nick Fallon is dead. Jack is dead. Gran is gone. Abigail transferred to NYU, JJ is still at boarding school in London, and Daniel..."
"Nick Fallon is dead?" the voice asked in shock. "Wait, what happened to Daniel?"
"Daniel left town to be with his daughter, Melanie," Jennifer explained. "He asked me to go with him, but leaving Salem...honestly, I'm not sure why I didn't go. There's nothing here for me anymore."
"Sis, I'm sorry. I had no idea."
"Please come home, Mike," Jennifer pleaded with her brother. "I need you right now."
"I'll be on the next plane," Mike Horton reassured his sister. "I can't wait to see my favorite sister, and I'm long overdue for a visit anyway."
Jennifer smiled, "Do I need to remind you that I'm your only sister?"
Roman was emotionally exhausted by the time he got back to his office at the station, but as police commissioner, he carried an extremely work-load. There simply wasn't time to mourn the loss of his great grand-daughter at the moment.
There will be a better time, Roman thought to himself. I need to find out how that son of a bitch managed to get out of prison.
Sitting at his desk and sorting through some files, he sensed a presence in the doorway to his office. He looked up to find his distraught sister-in-law and best detective. "Hope, I'm glad you're here. I didn't get a chance to tell you at the hospital how sorry I am about Nick Fallon...it's just terrible."
Hope didn't respond. She silently remained in the doorway. Roman noticed the redness and puffiness surrounding her eyes. "Hope?"
Without saying a word, Hope walked towards Roman. Standing in front of his desk, she unholstered her firearm and unclipped her badge from her belt. She placed both items on Roman's desk.
"Hope, I know you're upset, but we're gonna find out how that bastard managed to get out of prison without any of us knowing about it," Roman promised and continued, "I promise the person responsible will pay."
"You don't have to look far," Hope said gently as tears started to stream down her fancy face. "It's me, Roman. I'm responsible for the deaths of Nick, Gabi, and that precious unborn baby. It's all my fault, and you're absolutely right, I deserve to pay for what I've done to my family."
Roman couldn't believe the words coming of out of her mouth.
Hope held out her wrists and whispered. "You need to arrest me."
Will followed Chad into his small studio apartment. "I really appreciate you letting me crash for the night. I just can't deal with..." He paused. "...With anything right now."
"Will, I'm here for you," Chad promised. "Whatever you need. Besides, it's nice to have company every once in a while. It gets lonely."
"You must miss Melanie," Will acknowledged. He quickly considered that Chad had basically been alone and single since Melanie left town nearly a year ago.
"She made her choice," Chad bitterly responded.
Will shook his head. He never understood why Melanie left town so abruptly and without the man she claimed to love. "What she made was a mistake. You're an incredible guy, Chad DiMera. One day, Melanie will realize what an idiot she was for letting you slip through her fingers."
"Thanks," Chad flashed a wicked grin. "So you think I'm incredible, huh? I'll have to tell Sonny to watch-out. I might steal his boyfriend!"
Will's smile faded at the mention of Sonny's name. Chad took notice, but decided to remain silent on the subject. He wasn't sure why Will wanted to spend the night away from the apartment he shared with Sonny, but after all he had been through, Chad wasn't going to question his reasons.
Will finally broke the silence and changed the subject. "So I can crash on the floor if you have an extra blanket and pillow."
Chad frowned, "I'm not letting you sleep on the floor, Horton. There's plenty of room in the bed for two."
"Are you sure?" Will asked with hesitation. He couldn't imagine many straight men who would be okay sharing a bed with a gay man.
"Of course!" Chad stated without reluctance.
To be continued...?