Chapter 3

Laura opened her eyes to the sun shining through a tiny window above the cot she was sleeping on. She heard two familiar voices in this small room.

"Come on, Robert! Why am I trapped in this room with you and my ex-wife? You are supposed to be a fancy, schmancy WSB agent! Don't you know everything and anything?"

"Shut up Spencer! If I knew why you, me, or the lovely Laura were knocked out, trapped together in this little, miniscule room, and in some unknown place I would tell you. Now, let's try to think who has us, why, and how we are going to escape."

"When have you ever been a man with a plan, Scorpio?"

"I've gotten older and wiser. You've just gotten older, Spencer."

Laura couldn't take the constant back and forth anymore. "Would the two of you just shut up for a few minutes?", asked an annoyed Laura.

Luke smiled and said, "Hello Angel. You're up. Do you know why we all are trapped together? Again".

"I don't know why we are all trapped together. All of our known enemies are dead. Helena is dead and isn't after us anymore. Frank Smith is dead and gone. Kevin told me Faison is dead, so you and Robert don't have him to worry about."

"Kevin? Are you talking about Doctor Collins? Lucy's Doc? I didn't know the two of you were friends or even talked to one another at all."

Laura was confused. She would have thought Tracy told Luke that she was seeing Kevin. "Yes, I mean Kevin as in Kevin Collins. But he isn't Lucy's anymore. He's mine. We're married."

"Married? As in you, Laura Spencer, married a shrink?"

Robert interrupted the conversation between the two exes. "Sorry to break up the gab session about Laura's current romantic status, but we have bigger problems at hand. Do either of you remember anything before waking up in this claustrophobic sized room?"

Luke and Laura took a few minutes to think of any details that would help solve this mysterious puzzle. Luke said, "No. The last thing I remember is going to a little café in Amsterdam with Tracy in the morning and leaving her to go take a walk by the lake. That is the last thing I remember before waking up in here".

Laura remained silent. She kept thinking back to what she was doing before blacking out. She took Spencer to the doctor, then took him back to school, called her mother on her way to get brunch. She got out of a cab, began walking into the café, and everything goes blank.

Robert said, "I remember going to get coffee in the morning and walking towards the coffee shop before everything went dark. But I do remember feeling pressure near my eyes and shoulder. Those are odd places to feel the same pressure".

Luke laughed. "I think you are just getting senile, Scorpio".

Laura gasped. "Wait! I think I know why Robert felt pressure near his eyes and shoulder. I think I felt it there too!"

"Angel, Robert is old and senile. Don't let him persuade you into believing that nonsense."

"No, Luke. I'm serious. Kevin was telling me about.."

Luke interrupted. "No one wants to hear about what Doc was telling you about shrinky stuff. It won't apply here."

Robert said, "Let her finish. She might be onto something, Spencer. Laura is usually right when it comes to her intuition".

"Thank you, Robert. Anyway, Kevin was telling me about this mystery novel he has been reading. In it, the main character was abducted when one bad guy injected him in the shoulder with a tranquilizer that knocks him out, and another bad guy blind folds him. Therefore, there is pressure near your eyes and shoulder."

Luke and Robert looked at each other wide eyed. Laura was onto something. Luke said, "You know what, Laura? Doc Shrink ain't a bad choice after all".

Robert replied, "So, someone must have hired goons to inject us and blindfold us to capture all of us and bring us here. But why?".

Laura asked, "When was the last time the three of us were trapped together on a mysterious adventure?".

Luke rolled his eyes and said, "The Cassadines. The Ice Princess".

Laura replied, "But all the Cassadines that hate us are dead. The three of us defeated Mikkos and his weather machine. Helena is dead and gone. Thank God. Stavros and Stefan are dead. Even Victor is dead. And if a Cassadine was responsible for our captures, why would they want us together when they know we've defeated them once before?".

The three of them sat and contemplated Laura's question. Which Cassadine is alive to torment them? And why would a Cassadine allow the three of them to team up once again to only be defeated by the trio? The Cassadines are known for being sneaky, tricky, demented, and fatal. Whatever Luke, Laura, and Robert are roped into is or isn't as complicated as things may seem. Laura became wide eyed and gasped. She said, "It's Valentine! He is the only demented Cassadine alive. He was Mikkos' bastard son. He prides himself on that fact. He wouldn't only want to live up to Mikkos' legend and reputation, but he would want to surpass it".

Luke responded, "Angel, you are the only one of us who has firsthand dealings with this Valentine. All Robert and I know is that he is insanely dangerous. Are you one hundred percent positive that Valentine is behind this?".

"Luke, I can't be one hundred percent positive about anything dealing with the Cassadines, but I am ninety nine percent sure it is him. He knows everything about my past with the Cassadines and LuLu said he knows about your infamous fights with Helena. He knows how to play mind games. He's his father's son."

Robert interjected, "Okay, love. I believe you. But I have one question before we try to find our way out of here."

"Yes?"

"How do you think this Cassadine explained our absences to our families and friends?"

"Well, Valentine likes to play dirty. He aims for the jugular every chance he gets. What are you guys thinking he did to explain us being MIA?"

Luke knew immediately. "He faked our deaths. Cassadines aren't original. They copy each other and other people. Helena had your death faked, Laura. Her and Stavros faked mine so you would believe I was dead. Stefan faked Lesley's death for years. And we faked your death to scare Stefan. You said he goes for the jugular. Well, he faked our deaths to ruin our friends and families' lives. They're all probably planning our funerals right now."

Laura's funeral let out and everyone was heading to Kelly's for a social in Laura's honor. While everyone was leaving, Lucky remained inside standing near his mother's casket. His mother and he had many ups and downs, especially during his teen years after Elizabeth's rape and Nikolas' identity being revealed. His parents kept many secrets from him. When he was a kid, his mother and father were his heroes. He thought they could do no wrong, so when all of his parents' secrets came to light, his life was turned upside down. Looking back, Lucky wishes he would have handled the revelations differently. His parents, especially his mother, did not deserve the resentment and hatred he threw her way. She was so young when she was abducted by the Cassadines. Who was he to blame her for the decisions she made to survive?

Lucky caressed his mother's casket. He couldn't believe she was gone. She understood him better than anyone. "I am so sorry. I am sorry for putting you through hell twenty years ago. I am sorry I made you feel like a horrible person. You were everything but that. You were an amazing mother. You allowed me to be whatever I wanted to be, no judgement ever. You allowed me to play with bugs and run and aunt farm with Sly and Emily. You taught me and trusted me enough to let me take a cross country trip home to Port Charles when I was eleven years old. You gave me an amazing life. You gave me LuLu, when I never thought I would have a sister because we were always being chased by Frank Smith and in danger. But, you also gave me a brother. I am so sorry I made you feel horrible for just doing what was best for you and Nikolas. Looking back, I wish I gave the both of you less of hard time. He became my best friend and I hate that he is gone too. But now, the two of you are together again wherever good souls go. Maybe you'll see Ruby up there. I promise, mom, I'll come home more often. I'll be a better father, uncle, brother, and grandson. I promise I'll do it for you. I'll be here for LuLu, Cam, Jake, Aiden, Spencer, Grandma, and even Kevin. I'll do it because you showed me what being a great person is supposed to look like. You will be my hero, forever." Lucky finished his monologue and picked one sunflower away from the bunches surrounding Laura's casket. He wanted to keep something from this day that would remind him of his mom. When he turned to leave, he was shocked to see the one person he would never think to see at his mother's funeral.

Tracy Quartermaine.

Lucky noticed the loneliness and tears in Tracy's eyes. "Tracy? What are you doing here? Uh. Sorry, but you missed the service. It was beautiful. My mom would have loved it."

"I am sorry about your mother, Lucky. She was a very dear friend of mine. I know. I was shocked when we began to become friends. But, hey the say opposites attract. But that's not the only reason why I came home to Port Charles."

"Are you here to visit Ned and Monica?"

"No. I am here to talk to you and LuLu."

"Me and LuLu? Why? What's wrong Tracy? Is my dad okay? Is he taking mom's death hard? As soon as I make sure LuLu, the boys, and Spencer are okay without me for a little while I'll fly to Amsterdam to help dad get through this."

Tears were lumped in Tracy's throat. She took a deep breath and said, "Lucky, your father died five days ago".

Lucky's jaw dropped. "What?"

"I wanted to tell you and LuLu as soon as I was told, but I found out about your mother and wanted to give you time to process that loss before processing this one."

"Dad can't be dead. Luke Spencer has escaped death so many times. He can't die. He isn't dead."

"Lucky, I know this is so hard to hear. The coroner told me that it was a brain aneurysm. No one knew he had it, and he was just walking around when it burst and it killed him instantly."

Lucky sat down in shock and disbelief. Both of his parents were dead. His heroes were gone. He needed to leave. He needed to get out of town. His body was tremoring with anger and pain. He couldn't be in the town of which his parents were synonymous. He needed time to think. He needed to leave Port Charles. He knows he just promised his mom to stick around, but this is too much to process. He shot up out of his seat and began walking away. "Tracy, will you tell LuLu for me. I think she would rather hear this from you. I have to go. I have to leave."

Tracy grabbed Lucky by the arm and pulled him into a hug. She whispered, "I would usually yell at you for leaving your sister at a time like this, but I know what it's like losing parents who you idolized. Be safe. For your parents' sake".

"I promise", Lucky said near tears.

Lucky left the church and just started running. He needed to escape everything that was happening. Lucky kept running all though Port Charles and didn't stop until he reached the Catacombs. They were the only place in town that he still felt like he was the twelve-year-old kid roaming around Port Charles with Sly. He entered the Catacombs and collapsed in tears. He began to cry out, "Why is this happening? What did my parents do to deserve this? What did I or LuLu do to deserve this? My kids need their grandparents! This can't be possible. This can't be possible. Luke and Laura Spencer don't die in freak accidents or because of brain aneurysms. They beat the Cassadines and mobsters. This is insane!".

Lucky sat in silence and in contemplation for hours in the Catacombs. He is the son of Luke and Laura Spencer. Everything is never as it seems. Expect the unexpected, but the unexpected could be the expected. He kept reciting all the rules his parents taught him about life. He didn't think this was possible. As much as Luke and Laura loved each other, there was no way that they would die within days of each other. Something is going on and Lucky is going to find out what it is.