This is a story about Liz and Johnny. They are going to meet in New York City and become friends and then more. Liz has never been married and has no children. Johnny is running away from his past and Liz is trying to get over her own past. I don't own any of the characters, they belong to General Hospital and ABC.
Liz has always been a fighter. She needed to fight because she felt that no one was paying attention to her or even cared about her. Her parents were always trying to help everyone else but seemed to forget that they had a child. Her older brother and sister were already in college to be doctors like their parents.
Liz didn't want to be a doctor but she wanted to be an artist. This is the reason why her family just let her go off on her own. She lived with her grandmother for a couple of years in upstate New York. She lived in a town called Port Charles. She fell in love with one of her classmates but he was only interested in her older sister. She was raped one night because the boy she liked, went to the dance with her sister instead of her. She had asked him first and he said yes, but when her sister asked him afterwards, he decided to go with Sarah and so Liz told everyone that she had another date to let him off the hook. She went to a movie instead and then to rest in the park before going home. While she was sitting alone in the park, she was attacked and raped.
The rape changed her in many ways. She was always a bit skittish around people but now she was much more guarded. She couldn't wait to finish high school and leave the small town of Port Charles. She picked New York City to help her discover herself and her dreams.
She decided to go to Cooper Union in NYC. She wanted to get her degree in Studio Arts and learn about architecture. She knew that she needed to have a degree that could be used in different ways. She loved looking at all the older buildings and trying to figure out who designed them. She also wanted to be able to design her own buildings and she knew that going to the city was the best way to get it done.
She took her time and enjoyed living in the city. She dated but she never fell in love because her heart was too guarded. Things changed when she was walking home late one night after going to a friend's gallery opening. Her friend was someone she had trusted and he was someone who had a great talent but he was a bit twisted.
He was an up and coming artist but he had a dark side and if it wasn't for a stranger, she would have been his latest victim. Franco was her friend and she never realized that he was a serial killer until that night.
Liz was amazed at Franco's work even though it was a bit unsettling. He saw her as someone who would be a beautiful addition to other portraits that he had created. He just wasn't sure how he wanted to make her his next masterpiece.
She was the perfect victim because she kept to herself and had no family nearby. She was breath-taking in a way that he had never seen before and that made him want her even more. Franco invited a few of his classmates to his gallery opening and Elizabeth Webber was the top one on his guest list.
The night of the opening, Liz dressed in a beautiful light blue dress that matched her eyes. She had on light make-up and her hair was in a bun making her look like a ballerina who just left her show before changing. Liz never thought of herself as beautiful or someone that anyone would want to obtain or be obsessed by or captured. Franco wanted all that and more.
She felt a bit unsettled as she left the gallery and was happy that her apartment was not too far away. Unfortunately, Franco also knew where she lived and started to follow her when she left the gallery. She was almost there when he grabbed her from behind. He put a rag over her face and she was soon unconscious. Johnny had been walking the same street and saw a man come up behind a beautiful young woman. He saw that he had grabbed her and did something to her.
He followed the man at a safe distance to see where he was taking her. Johnny knew that the only way to save her was to kill him. She was going to be his next target and Johnny could not let that happen. The good thing that happened though was he was taking her to the Brooklyn Bridge. Johnny had something that he could stab the man with and push him over the bridge.
Franco carried the young woman over to a certain point on the bridge. He was going to let her wake up on the bridge and then he was going to watch her fall off the bridge to her death. He felt that it would be a new way to kill someone and make it look like she was an angel just trying to escape him. He would do the painting in different scenes till her untimely fall. It would be his greatest masterpiece.
Johnny saw what he was doing and couldn't figure out why he was doing it. She was beautiful and almost angelic in the light. He couldn't watch him hurt her so he went over to confront him.
"I don't know who you are or why you have brought this beautiful young lady here but you are not going to do anything to her. I will make sure that you don't hurt her any more than you have already."
"I know who you are Johnny Zacchara. Your father is one of the head guys in the mob. What are you doing here patrolling the streets like a vigilante. I don't think that your pops would approve of something like that. You can't have my Elizabeth. She is my creation and she is going over this bridge whether you like it or not."
Johnny then walked by Franco and when Franco believed he was safe, Johnny stabbed him and pushed him off the bridge. Elizabeth woke up then seeing the man that had attacked her was now going off the bridge. She saw the struggle and heard what they were saying. Franco wanted to kill her and Johnny was not going to let it happen. She was so scared of what just happened and what almost happened.
"I am sorry, I hope that I didn't scare you. I could not let that creep try to kill you. That guy was going to wake you up and then push you off the bridge for a painting. I don't understand why someone would want to do that to someone who is beautiful like that. What was his purpose."
"I am Elizabeth Webber and I am very grateful for what you just did for me. I think that I can explain it to you but it is going to sound very weird. He is a painter, a very good painter but I think the paintings that I saw were something from his imagination but now I am thinking that he did to the women in the paintings to them in real life. I need to find a cop. I need for them to know that I believe that Franco is a serial killer and I was next on his list."
"I am Johnny Zacchara and I am happy that I could help you but I can't be involved because they will arrest me for killing this creep."
"I think that you are wrong about that, but I will leave out your name if you like. You are a true hero. Thank you for what you did for me."
Johnny watched her call the police and he stayed by her till the cops got there. Johnny was sure that he should have left but Liz was so distraught that he couldn't leave her.
"I am Officer Nathan West. How can I help you?" Elizabeth was terrified by what just happened but she needed to tell the officer her story and then she wanted to go home and take a nice long shower.
"I was invited to one of the newer art galleries but someone who I thought was a friend. He is an artist like me and he had his first showing of the paintings that he did. He was a huge success by the way the people were buying his paintings. I thought at first that they were from his imagination but I think that he created the paintings from things that he has done to other women. He goes by "Franco". I don't know his last name but we were in a couple of classes together. I think that I was his next victim. I left the gallery which is a few blocks from my apartment. I was almost there when he came up from behind me and put something over my face to knock me out. I was lucky that this gentleman here, Johnny saw him do that and followed us. Franco told me that he was going watch me wake up and then push me off the bridge. I was terrified. Johnny heard him as I was coming too and they argued. Johnny told Franco that he was not going to let him hurt me. Franco told him it was none of his business. I saw the two fight and then I saw Franco go off the bridge. Johnny here is my hero. If he didn't follow me, it would be me falling from the bridge."
Officer West took it all in and wrote down what he needed for his report. He had a feeling if they dredged the river that they wouldn't find Franco's body because the current was too fast. He gathered all the information that he needed from the two of them and said he would be in contact with them in a few days.
Johnny and Officer West walked Liz home making sure she got into her apartment safely. She asked Johnny to stay with her and told her that he would. Officer West left and the two of them started a bond that could never be broken.
