Lucy sat in the park with Danny while Christina played on the swings. She
smiled with happiness as she watched her daughter pretend to fly in the
clouds while Danny squealed with delight, clapping his hands as he watched
Christina play. Things were finally starting to become perfect in her
life. It had taken so long for things to finally be this way, but now, the
universe had spoken and life was really good...if only she could find
Kevin.
Danny caught her attention with a sudden outburst of giggles. She focused on the small boy, listening as he clapped his hands together and following his gaze to a butterfly which had chosen to land upon the toe of his shoe. She smiled as she touched his hair gently.
Lucy raised her eyes towards the swings, thinking to see Christina there. Instead, she was greeted with only the sight of an empty swing jostling in the wind, "Christina!"
She stood quickly, holding Danny in her arms as she rushed towards the swings, "Christina! Christina, you're scaring Mommy! Come out!"
Lucy felt all the fear of a previous episode in her life, memories of her child going missing flooding her mind. She clenched Danny to her as she raced around the park, "Christina!"
She rushed out to the sidewalk, glancing out at the roadway as cars zoomed by. Lucy never felt the tears sliding down her cheeks as she ran down the sidewalk, "Christina!"
Suddenly, she heard the sound of a car horn blaring loudly behind her. Lucy spun on her heel, just in time to see the car bearing down on a small child standing in the roadway.
Lucy watched as Christina stared at the car, watching the big metal beast bearing down on her. Lucy's heart leapt into her throat as the car's tires began to screech, gray smoke emerging from the asphalt while Christina stood motionless in the vehicle's path.
"Christina!" Lucy cried out, hoping to jar the child out of her trance like state.
Suddenly, Christina's small body was swept from the road and placed delicately on the sidewalk beside Lucy. Christina smiled brightly and clapped her hands before Lucy wrapped the little girl in her arms.
"Christina!" Lucy shouted as she hugged Christina to her tightly, Danny getting smushed in the mix.
"Mommy, you're squeezing too hard," Christina said gently before she squirmed from Lucy's arms, turned and looked around. She frowned, "Where did she go?"
"Where did who go?" Lucy asked, desperately holding onto her little girl as she attempted to determine that she was okay.
"Mommy."
"I'm right here, Sweetie," Lucy explained as she smoothed Christina's hair, "I'm right here," She swept Christina back into her arms and held her tightly.
Christina looked into the distance and smiled as she caught sight of her savior. Her smile widened as she waved to her hero.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chris walked into the emergency room, sipping on a cup of coffee he'd picked up on his way to work. While it couldn't be called truly digestible, it was at least non-toxic and it had enough caffeine in its dark fluid depths to sustain an army of buffalo. That was exactly what he needed due to his breakneck schedule at GH and the unavoidable sexual marathon with Doree.
Doree. While she had started out as fun, he was beginning to feel like she was more of a job than his work at GH. Her demands were growing more and more rigorous, and her desire seemingly more and more insatiable. While it sounded a lot like paradise, Chris was finding out with every passing day that sometimes paradise came with a hefty price to pay.
Karen glanced up from the computer screen and spotted Chris making his entrance to the hospital. She groaned slightly as she turned away from him, hoping he wouldn't be able to spot the wound she had sustained in her latest altercation with Frank. If there was anyone who would make a big deal out of it, it would be Chris. Unfortunately for Karen, Chris was more observant than even she gave him credit for.
"So, that shiner.courtesy of Frank Scanlon?" Chris asked as he leaned against the admissions desk.
"It's none of your business, Chris," Karen said sharply as she attempted to go back to her work.
"That kind of violence is everyone's business, Karen."
"No, it's really not," She said quickly as she picked up a file and stepped down the hall.
Chris followed behind her and continued, "What was it this time? Just deciding that he would up the ante?"
"Chris, you don't know what you're talking about. Just drop it," She spoke as she stepped into an elevator.
He stepped in beside her and studied her face, "Karen, look, I know we've been through some rough stuff in the past. But we do have something in common. We both lost our best friend in Eve. We don't have someone like that to turn to now. So why don't you let me do my one good deed this year and do something that Eve would want me to do? Let me help you."
"Why? So you can do something horrible to Frank and not feel guilty for it?" She accused quickly, "Don't think you can just make excuses and drag Eve into this solely for the purpose of making Frank miserable. I won't let you use me or Eve's memory as pawns in one of your twisted schemes."
"This isn't about any scheme, Karen. Frank is out of control, and this," He lifted his fingers to point to her black eye, "Is proof of it."
"He's just going through a rough time, right now. That's all. It's really nothing."
"Karen, it's not nothing. You're a doctor. You see victims of domestic violence all the time. How can you just say that it's nothing?"
"It's not like that, Chris," Karen assured him, "Look, this is really none of your business."
"Karen," Chris took her arm gently before he pressed the stop button on the elevator, "Look, you need to face some facts. Frank Scanlon has went around the bend. If you're not going to take my word for it, go ask Ian how he feels about a man who would do this to a woman. Do you really think he's going to say yes you should give Frank a second chance?" He paused, "Listen, when I'm encouraging you to seek advice from Ian, that means I'm fairly serious about what I'm saying," He point out to which Karen acknowledged with a slight smile, "Don't let this get any worse, Karen."
"It's not that easy, Chris. I love him, and he loves me."
"If he really loved you, he never would have deliberately hurt you like this," Chris pointed out, "Trust me. I know about hurting people, and you don't set out to hurt those you care about. In fact, you do everything in your power to avoid it."
Karen nodded tearfully before Chris nudged the elevator button to resume movement.
"If you need anything, you know my number. Eve would tell you that I'm not trustworthy except in a few notable situations.and this is one of them," He touched her arm gently, "She wouldn't want to see you hurt, and to be honest, neither do I."
Karen nodded as the doors opened to the sixth floor, "Thank you, Chris. I'll think about what you said."
"That's all I ask," He gave her an encouraging smile before he stepped off the elevator and went on his way to start his work day.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Livvie stood at the corner of the Pink Rose, eyeing the building closely. It was the largest source of tension for her these days. Jack had turned against her, her father was missing and presumed dead, and now she was alone. There was nothing left for her in Port Charles.nothing but revenge.
She looked to the can at her feet and smiled. She was going to destroy everything that Alison held dear. She would make Alison feel just what real loss felt like. Her father deserved at least that much in return for everything he had done to help her in her struggles over the last few years.
She stepped away from the barn and removed a pack of matches from her pocket. She tore one from the pack before turning over the pack to strike the match. She held the flickering match in her hand for a moment before dropping it on the ground. The match ignited a trail of gasoline that led directly into the barn.
The flames licked across the ground and leapt into the waiting barn. Livvie smiled as she watched the orange talons spread across the barn floor, reaching for any edible prey that could be consumed by the fire. The fire cracked and popped as it continued to devour the barn.
Livvie reached out to feel the warmth of the raging fire before her. She closed her eyes and relished the heat, knowing that she had won the real battle against Alison and Rebecca. She lost herself in her moment of victory, oblivious to a large beam as it collapsed in the fire and swung towards her.
The beam struck Livvie in the head, sending her to the ground in an unconscious heap. While she lay upon the ground with blood seeping from the wound on her head, the ravenous fire crept around her, drawing her into its heated clutches and offering her the permanent heat of its domain.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ian sat back in his seat, thumbing through a photo album that Eve had put together for Danny. He saw the happiness in Eve's eyes, the love for her son, and the pleasure she derived in simply being with him. It was a feeling he envied, a feeling he had never been able to experience, a feeling he would kill for.
He sighed once more before he closed the photo album and tossed it into the box before him. He placed the top on the box and stood, switching off the lights of the loft and glancing around at the now dark apartment. Life was over here. He had to find a new life to begin.
Ian left the loft and made his way downstairs to his storage unit. He unlocked the small cage and stepped inside, placing the box on the top of a stack before him. He surveyed the boxes before him, each one having belonged to a special woman in his life. Now, they were all memories, their essence confined to the simplicity of a cardboard box.
He locked his storage unit and made his way back to the Lighthouse, hopeful to start a new life with Danny and find a way to move on.perhaps by helping Lucy move on with hers.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chris made his way into his apartment after a long day at GH. Too many strange things were going on around Port Charles these days. He was really looking forward to just enjoying a dry martini and sitting back to maybe watch a good action movie on HBO. He took off his jacket and tossed it into an empty chair before discarding his keys upon the coffee table. He groaned as he made his way towards the bar.
"Looking for one of these?"
Chris paused and closed his eyes. That voice was one he was all to familiar with nowadays. He opened his eyes and turned to face Doree.
Doree smiled as she sat back on the sofa. She held a martini in her hand, wearing nothing but her smile, "Why don't come over here and have this drink?"
"Doree, it's been a really long day," Chris sighed as he sank his hands into his pockets.
"Well, I can't think of anything better than for you to sit down here, and let me take care of you," She smiled as she made her way over to him. She placed the martini into his hand. She directed him towards the sofa and helped him to sit down. She sat behind him and began to gently rub his shoulders, "You're so tense, Chris. We really need to help you relax."
"It's been a long day. All I want to do is sit back, relax, enjoy this martini and rest tonight," He explained as he closed his eyes, "You have a great technique with your hands."
"You should know that by now," She smiled as she pressed a kiss to his neck, "But I'll give you a proper reminder."
"Doree, I really just want to rest tonight."
"You'll get plenty of rest, Chris," Doree whispered as she removed his tie and continued to nibble on his neck, "I'll make sure you do because I'm going to find a way to make sure you use all your energy."
"Doree, really, I don't think tonight would be," He was interrupted as Doree's lips closed upon his own. He sighed as he stopped trying to fight her, knowing that trying to dissuade Doree would use more energy than he could spare because in the end, she would have her way.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Karen stepped inside her apartment and groaned as she thought of how her life was falling apart. Life had been perfect with Frank, they were so close to finding their happiness, but now things were so far from perfect that she wasn't sure they could ever be fixed.
She made her way to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. Deciding that there was nothing she wanted at the moment, she closed the door and turned around. She gasped as she saw Frank's figure emerge from the shadows. She placed her hand over her chest and sighed, "You scared me."
"We need to talk," Frank said tersely as he approached her.
"Yes we do. We need to talk about a lot of things, Frank," She agreed as she stepped towards him.
"I saw you with him, Karen," He said with disgust as he seized her arms in his strong hands. He drug her to him roughly, "I saw you smiling at him like a whore."
"Frank," She winced as his grip upon her arms tightened, "Frank, you're hurting me."
"You think you can make a fool out of me and I'll just let you? Think again," He shouted as he hit her with the back of his hand.
Karen went limp in his arms from the shock of his blow. She tried to recover but failed as he began to shake her violently.
"I won't let you screw around with Ramsey and every other loser in town just to spite me," He shouted as he shoved her across the room.
Karen fell upon the table, losing her breath as the corner of the table jabbed her in the stomach. She pushed herself off the table and looked towards him as he approached her, "Frank, please, stop this."
"Don't try begging for forgiveness now, Karen. You should have thought about that before you started screwing around with all those other men," He raised his voice as he moved towards her quickly.
Karen quickly slipped out onto the patio and tried to close the door between them. The door closed against Frank's arm, causing him to cry out in pain before he shoved the door open and continued after her. He made his way towards her again, his eyes blazing with fury.
Karen cringed in fear as she saw the dangerous intent in his eyes. She cried as she raised her hand, "Frank, please, please don't do this."
Frank grabbed her arm and hauled her upwards, drawing back his fist to deliver a powerful blow.
Suddenly, a figure swept out of the darkness and tackled Frank onto the ground. Karen fell to the ground, trembling in relief that she had been spared from the power of Frank's fist.
The mysterious figure wrestled with Frank for a moment. Fists began to fly, each figure delivering powerful blows before the dark figure wrested Frank's arms behind his backs and secured his wrists with handcuffs.
After Frank was subdued, the figure moved to check on Karen. As Karen's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she focused on the figure in front of her. She could tell the figure belonged to that of a man, a strong and powerful man from the look of things before her. She focused upon his eyes, seeing dark and mysterious eyes before her. His spotted mask hid his face from her but his eyes drew her in.
"Will you be okay?"
Karen blinked as she felt a familiarity with the figure before her. She looked into his eyes and saw something she thought the recognized. Unable to reply verbally, she nodded.
"The police are on their way. They'll take care of him and they'll take care of you." He touched her cheek softly, "You don't have to be afraid anymore."
She nodded, "For some reason, I'm not."
Sirens grew closer to the apartment building causing the mysterious figure to look around quickly. He stood and quickly leapt into the darkness.
Karen stood and looked around for any signs of her savior. She had no idea who the masked man had been or how he had known she needed his intervention. She only knew that she was grateful for his presence.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"I can't believe the barn is gone," Alison said tearfully as Jack escorted her into the Lighthouse, "Rebecca is gone, Kevin is gone, and now I'll never be able to be close to Rafe again."
"What happened?" Lucy asked as she made her way across the living room to meet with them.
"The barn burned down today. The fire department said it looked suspicious, but they wouldn't know for a while if it was arson or just an accident," Jack explained.
"The barn..but the portrait.." Lucy gasped.
"It's gone," Alison cried, "It's all gone."
"Oh Alison," Lucy placed her arms around the young girl, "I'm so sorry."
"What's wrong?" Ian asked as he stepped inside the Lighthouse with a package.
"The barn is gone," Jack repeated the story, "So is the portrait."
"No, it's not," Ian explained as he placed the package down. He unzipped the leather case and withdrew the portrait, "I have a friend who does restorations of old portraits. So I thought it would be best to have the painting restored since Alison thought it held the answer to finding Kevin."
"Rebecca," Alison called out as she spotted the portrait. She rushed out of Lucy's arms and lightly ran her fingers over the portrait, "Rebecca, you're okay. Oh Ian," She looked to him, "I owe you so much."
"You don't owe me for anything. Let's just hope that the portrait does have the answer to finding Kevin," Ian said softly as his gaze turned to Lucy who looked to him with gratitude and hope in her eyes.
Upstairs the sound of Danny's crying alerted them all to the end of his quick nap. Ian turned and made his way up the stairs to attend to his son. He opened the door to the nursery and stepped inside, seeing Danny now laughing as he looked to the open French doors.
Danny smiled as he pointed to the doors, a happiness in his eyes that Ian hadn't seen in months. Ian paused as he felt a chill run over his neck. He turned and looked around as Lucy stood in the doorway.
"Ian, what's wrong?" Lucy asked softly as she looked to Danny then back to Ian.
"Someone was here," Ian spoke as he turned back to his son.
"No one could have been in here. We would have known," Lucy explained as she moved to the French doors and closed them.
Danny suddenly burst into tears before Ian lifted the boy from the crib. Ian soothed him softly as he looked to Lucy, "I don't know why or who, but someone was here. I felt it. I'm worried, Lucy. I'm afraid that things in Port Charles are about to change, and I don't think that change is for the better," He spoke as he held his son closely, soothing the small child's cries while trying to calm his own discomfort.
Danny caught her attention with a sudden outburst of giggles. She focused on the small boy, listening as he clapped his hands together and following his gaze to a butterfly which had chosen to land upon the toe of his shoe. She smiled as she touched his hair gently.
Lucy raised her eyes towards the swings, thinking to see Christina there. Instead, she was greeted with only the sight of an empty swing jostling in the wind, "Christina!"
She stood quickly, holding Danny in her arms as she rushed towards the swings, "Christina! Christina, you're scaring Mommy! Come out!"
Lucy felt all the fear of a previous episode in her life, memories of her child going missing flooding her mind. She clenched Danny to her as she raced around the park, "Christina!"
She rushed out to the sidewalk, glancing out at the roadway as cars zoomed by. Lucy never felt the tears sliding down her cheeks as she ran down the sidewalk, "Christina!"
Suddenly, she heard the sound of a car horn blaring loudly behind her. Lucy spun on her heel, just in time to see the car bearing down on a small child standing in the roadway.
Lucy watched as Christina stared at the car, watching the big metal beast bearing down on her. Lucy's heart leapt into her throat as the car's tires began to screech, gray smoke emerging from the asphalt while Christina stood motionless in the vehicle's path.
"Christina!" Lucy cried out, hoping to jar the child out of her trance like state.
Suddenly, Christina's small body was swept from the road and placed delicately on the sidewalk beside Lucy. Christina smiled brightly and clapped her hands before Lucy wrapped the little girl in her arms.
"Christina!" Lucy shouted as she hugged Christina to her tightly, Danny getting smushed in the mix.
"Mommy, you're squeezing too hard," Christina said gently before she squirmed from Lucy's arms, turned and looked around. She frowned, "Where did she go?"
"Where did who go?" Lucy asked, desperately holding onto her little girl as she attempted to determine that she was okay.
"Mommy."
"I'm right here, Sweetie," Lucy explained as she smoothed Christina's hair, "I'm right here," She swept Christina back into her arms and held her tightly.
Christina looked into the distance and smiled as she caught sight of her savior. Her smile widened as she waved to her hero.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chris walked into the emergency room, sipping on a cup of coffee he'd picked up on his way to work. While it couldn't be called truly digestible, it was at least non-toxic and it had enough caffeine in its dark fluid depths to sustain an army of buffalo. That was exactly what he needed due to his breakneck schedule at GH and the unavoidable sexual marathon with Doree.
Doree. While she had started out as fun, he was beginning to feel like she was more of a job than his work at GH. Her demands were growing more and more rigorous, and her desire seemingly more and more insatiable. While it sounded a lot like paradise, Chris was finding out with every passing day that sometimes paradise came with a hefty price to pay.
Karen glanced up from the computer screen and spotted Chris making his entrance to the hospital. She groaned slightly as she turned away from him, hoping he wouldn't be able to spot the wound she had sustained in her latest altercation with Frank. If there was anyone who would make a big deal out of it, it would be Chris. Unfortunately for Karen, Chris was more observant than even she gave him credit for.
"So, that shiner.courtesy of Frank Scanlon?" Chris asked as he leaned against the admissions desk.
"It's none of your business, Chris," Karen said sharply as she attempted to go back to her work.
"That kind of violence is everyone's business, Karen."
"No, it's really not," She said quickly as she picked up a file and stepped down the hall.
Chris followed behind her and continued, "What was it this time? Just deciding that he would up the ante?"
"Chris, you don't know what you're talking about. Just drop it," She spoke as she stepped into an elevator.
He stepped in beside her and studied her face, "Karen, look, I know we've been through some rough stuff in the past. But we do have something in common. We both lost our best friend in Eve. We don't have someone like that to turn to now. So why don't you let me do my one good deed this year and do something that Eve would want me to do? Let me help you."
"Why? So you can do something horrible to Frank and not feel guilty for it?" She accused quickly, "Don't think you can just make excuses and drag Eve into this solely for the purpose of making Frank miserable. I won't let you use me or Eve's memory as pawns in one of your twisted schemes."
"This isn't about any scheme, Karen. Frank is out of control, and this," He lifted his fingers to point to her black eye, "Is proof of it."
"He's just going through a rough time, right now. That's all. It's really nothing."
"Karen, it's not nothing. You're a doctor. You see victims of domestic violence all the time. How can you just say that it's nothing?"
"It's not like that, Chris," Karen assured him, "Look, this is really none of your business."
"Karen," Chris took her arm gently before he pressed the stop button on the elevator, "Look, you need to face some facts. Frank Scanlon has went around the bend. If you're not going to take my word for it, go ask Ian how he feels about a man who would do this to a woman. Do you really think he's going to say yes you should give Frank a second chance?" He paused, "Listen, when I'm encouraging you to seek advice from Ian, that means I'm fairly serious about what I'm saying," He point out to which Karen acknowledged with a slight smile, "Don't let this get any worse, Karen."
"It's not that easy, Chris. I love him, and he loves me."
"If he really loved you, he never would have deliberately hurt you like this," Chris pointed out, "Trust me. I know about hurting people, and you don't set out to hurt those you care about. In fact, you do everything in your power to avoid it."
Karen nodded tearfully before Chris nudged the elevator button to resume movement.
"If you need anything, you know my number. Eve would tell you that I'm not trustworthy except in a few notable situations.and this is one of them," He touched her arm gently, "She wouldn't want to see you hurt, and to be honest, neither do I."
Karen nodded as the doors opened to the sixth floor, "Thank you, Chris. I'll think about what you said."
"That's all I ask," He gave her an encouraging smile before he stepped off the elevator and went on his way to start his work day.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Livvie stood at the corner of the Pink Rose, eyeing the building closely. It was the largest source of tension for her these days. Jack had turned against her, her father was missing and presumed dead, and now she was alone. There was nothing left for her in Port Charles.nothing but revenge.
She looked to the can at her feet and smiled. She was going to destroy everything that Alison held dear. She would make Alison feel just what real loss felt like. Her father deserved at least that much in return for everything he had done to help her in her struggles over the last few years.
She stepped away from the barn and removed a pack of matches from her pocket. She tore one from the pack before turning over the pack to strike the match. She held the flickering match in her hand for a moment before dropping it on the ground. The match ignited a trail of gasoline that led directly into the barn.
The flames licked across the ground and leapt into the waiting barn. Livvie smiled as she watched the orange talons spread across the barn floor, reaching for any edible prey that could be consumed by the fire. The fire cracked and popped as it continued to devour the barn.
Livvie reached out to feel the warmth of the raging fire before her. She closed her eyes and relished the heat, knowing that she had won the real battle against Alison and Rebecca. She lost herself in her moment of victory, oblivious to a large beam as it collapsed in the fire and swung towards her.
The beam struck Livvie in the head, sending her to the ground in an unconscious heap. While she lay upon the ground with blood seeping from the wound on her head, the ravenous fire crept around her, drawing her into its heated clutches and offering her the permanent heat of its domain.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ian sat back in his seat, thumbing through a photo album that Eve had put together for Danny. He saw the happiness in Eve's eyes, the love for her son, and the pleasure she derived in simply being with him. It was a feeling he envied, a feeling he had never been able to experience, a feeling he would kill for.
He sighed once more before he closed the photo album and tossed it into the box before him. He placed the top on the box and stood, switching off the lights of the loft and glancing around at the now dark apartment. Life was over here. He had to find a new life to begin.
Ian left the loft and made his way downstairs to his storage unit. He unlocked the small cage and stepped inside, placing the box on the top of a stack before him. He surveyed the boxes before him, each one having belonged to a special woman in his life. Now, they were all memories, their essence confined to the simplicity of a cardboard box.
He locked his storage unit and made his way back to the Lighthouse, hopeful to start a new life with Danny and find a way to move on.perhaps by helping Lucy move on with hers.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chris made his way into his apartment after a long day at GH. Too many strange things were going on around Port Charles these days. He was really looking forward to just enjoying a dry martini and sitting back to maybe watch a good action movie on HBO. He took off his jacket and tossed it into an empty chair before discarding his keys upon the coffee table. He groaned as he made his way towards the bar.
"Looking for one of these?"
Chris paused and closed his eyes. That voice was one he was all to familiar with nowadays. He opened his eyes and turned to face Doree.
Doree smiled as she sat back on the sofa. She held a martini in her hand, wearing nothing but her smile, "Why don't come over here and have this drink?"
"Doree, it's been a really long day," Chris sighed as he sank his hands into his pockets.
"Well, I can't think of anything better than for you to sit down here, and let me take care of you," She smiled as she made her way over to him. She placed the martini into his hand. She directed him towards the sofa and helped him to sit down. She sat behind him and began to gently rub his shoulders, "You're so tense, Chris. We really need to help you relax."
"It's been a long day. All I want to do is sit back, relax, enjoy this martini and rest tonight," He explained as he closed his eyes, "You have a great technique with your hands."
"You should know that by now," She smiled as she pressed a kiss to his neck, "But I'll give you a proper reminder."
"Doree, I really just want to rest tonight."
"You'll get plenty of rest, Chris," Doree whispered as she removed his tie and continued to nibble on his neck, "I'll make sure you do because I'm going to find a way to make sure you use all your energy."
"Doree, really, I don't think tonight would be," He was interrupted as Doree's lips closed upon his own. He sighed as he stopped trying to fight her, knowing that trying to dissuade Doree would use more energy than he could spare because in the end, she would have her way.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Karen stepped inside her apartment and groaned as she thought of how her life was falling apart. Life had been perfect with Frank, they were so close to finding their happiness, but now things were so far from perfect that she wasn't sure they could ever be fixed.
She made her way to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. Deciding that there was nothing she wanted at the moment, she closed the door and turned around. She gasped as she saw Frank's figure emerge from the shadows. She placed her hand over her chest and sighed, "You scared me."
"We need to talk," Frank said tersely as he approached her.
"Yes we do. We need to talk about a lot of things, Frank," She agreed as she stepped towards him.
"I saw you with him, Karen," He said with disgust as he seized her arms in his strong hands. He drug her to him roughly, "I saw you smiling at him like a whore."
"Frank," She winced as his grip upon her arms tightened, "Frank, you're hurting me."
"You think you can make a fool out of me and I'll just let you? Think again," He shouted as he hit her with the back of his hand.
Karen went limp in his arms from the shock of his blow. She tried to recover but failed as he began to shake her violently.
"I won't let you screw around with Ramsey and every other loser in town just to spite me," He shouted as he shoved her across the room.
Karen fell upon the table, losing her breath as the corner of the table jabbed her in the stomach. She pushed herself off the table and looked towards him as he approached her, "Frank, please, stop this."
"Don't try begging for forgiveness now, Karen. You should have thought about that before you started screwing around with all those other men," He raised his voice as he moved towards her quickly.
Karen quickly slipped out onto the patio and tried to close the door between them. The door closed against Frank's arm, causing him to cry out in pain before he shoved the door open and continued after her. He made his way towards her again, his eyes blazing with fury.
Karen cringed in fear as she saw the dangerous intent in his eyes. She cried as she raised her hand, "Frank, please, please don't do this."
Frank grabbed her arm and hauled her upwards, drawing back his fist to deliver a powerful blow.
Suddenly, a figure swept out of the darkness and tackled Frank onto the ground. Karen fell to the ground, trembling in relief that she had been spared from the power of Frank's fist.
The mysterious figure wrestled with Frank for a moment. Fists began to fly, each figure delivering powerful blows before the dark figure wrested Frank's arms behind his backs and secured his wrists with handcuffs.
After Frank was subdued, the figure moved to check on Karen. As Karen's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she focused on the figure in front of her. She could tell the figure belonged to that of a man, a strong and powerful man from the look of things before her. She focused upon his eyes, seeing dark and mysterious eyes before her. His spotted mask hid his face from her but his eyes drew her in.
"Will you be okay?"
Karen blinked as she felt a familiarity with the figure before her. She looked into his eyes and saw something she thought the recognized. Unable to reply verbally, she nodded.
"The police are on their way. They'll take care of him and they'll take care of you." He touched her cheek softly, "You don't have to be afraid anymore."
She nodded, "For some reason, I'm not."
Sirens grew closer to the apartment building causing the mysterious figure to look around quickly. He stood and quickly leapt into the darkness.
Karen stood and looked around for any signs of her savior. She had no idea who the masked man had been or how he had known she needed his intervention. She only knew that she was grateful for his presence.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"I can't believe the barn is gone," Alison said tearfully as Jack escorted her into the Lighthouse, "Rebecca is gone, Kevin is gone, and now I'll never be able to be close to Rafe again."
"What happened?" Lucy asked as she made her way across the living room to meet with them.
"The barn burned down today. The fire department said it looked suspicious, but they wouldn't know for a while if it was arson or just an accident," Jack explained.
"The barn..but the portrait.." Lucy gasped.
"It's gone," Alison cried, "It's all gone."
"Oh Alison," Lucy placed her arms around the young girl, "I'm so sorry."
"What's wrong?" Ian asked as he stepped inside the Lighthouse with a package.
"The barn is gone," Jack repeated the story, "So is the portrait."
"No, it's not," Ian explained as he placed the package down. He unzipped the leather case and withdrew the portrait, "I have a friend who does restorations of old portraits. So I thought it would be best to have the painting restored since Alison thought it held the answer to finding Kevin."
"Rebecca," Alison called out as she spotted the portrait. She rushed out of Lucy's arms and lightly ran her fingers over the portrait, "Rebecca, you're okay. Oh Ian," She looked to him, "I owe you so much."
"You don't owe me for anything. Let's just hope that the portrait does have the answer to finding Kevin," Ian said softly as his gaze turned to Lucy who looked to him with gratitude and hope in her eyes.
Upstairs the sound of Danny's crying alerted them all to the end of his quick nap. Ian turned and made his way up the stairs to attend to his son. He opened the door to the nursery and stepped inside, seeing Danny now laughing as he looked to the open French doors.
Danny smiled as he pointed to the doors, a happiness in his eyes that Ian hadn't seen in months. Ian paused as he felt a chill run over his neck. He turned and looked around as Lucy stood in the doorway.
"Ian, what's wrong?" Lucy asked softly as she looked to Danny then back to Ian.
"Someone was here," Ian spoke as he turned back to his son.
"No one could have been in here. We would have known," Lucy explained as she moved to the French doors and closed them.
Danny suddenly burst into tears before Ian lifted the boy from the crib. Ian soothed him softly as he looked to Lucy, "I don't know why or who, but someone was here. I felt it. I'm worried, Lucy. I'm afraid that things in Port Charles are about to change, and I don't think that change is for the better," He spoke as he held his son closely, soothing the small child's cries while trying to calm his own discomfort.