(Author's Notes- Hi!!! Chapter 18 is COMPLETE! Whoo!!! lol!! Well I hope you like. Please Read and Review!! Thanks!! --Am)
Chapter #18- Reflections, Fury, and Disbelief-
GH- Emily's Hospital Room-
"Oh no, not again...now what am I going to do? I can't run away again." Emily whispers quietly to herself as she finishes reading the threatening letter.
Nik's Cottage- Arianna's Room-
"Arianna? Hey, can I come in?" Lucky asked, waiting outside her door.
A still upset Arianna wiped away her tears, and went to unlock her door to let Lucky in.
"Hey, what happened at the hospital that you went so far to say you hate your mother? I know you don't hate her." Lucky said.
After some thought Arianna agreed.
"Yes, you're right, I don't really hate her, but I'm just so mad. She doesn't deny that she runs away when she's scared, but she won't stand up for herself. I just want to know why!! That's all! I don't want to hear the same answers again and again."
"Well, the way I see it – and I know you've heard this repeatedly – but the way I see it is, your mom's only trying to protect you." At Arianna's slight glare Lucky continued. "Think about this for a minute Ari. Put yourself in your mom's shoes for a minute or two. Now just go with me here...you're by yourself, scared, alone, have 4 children to raise by yourself, you have to take care of yourself in addition to providing for your kids, you don't have a home, and when you do you have to leave all the time." Lucky started.
"Yeah well, we're experts at getting up and leaving." Arianna said bitterly.
"Anyway, as I was saying...You're all alone, 4 kids to take care of, and being threatened by someone all the time. You know someone's always watching you, but you never know when they're going to strike. Now you and your 4 kids have settled down. But suddenly you sense something- like a sixth sense and it's something terrible. Can you honestly tell me you'd sacrifice your children's lives just to stay in one place? Would your really sacrifice their safety just because you didn't want to leave?"
Lucky knew he was getting through to Arianna.
"...No I guess not. But I wouldn't run away all the time!!" Arianna defended.
"Ok but if running was the only option at the time, or if you faced whatever monster or demon was threatening you and they hurt any of your children, would you say you made the right choice in staying?" Lucky asked.
"Fine! You win, but I'm still mad at her." Arianna relented.
"You can be mad at her, that's fine, but I still think you owe her an apology ok? Also I'd like you to apologize to Anthony for yelling at him." Lucky said.
"Ok." Arianna replied.
"Come on, let's go downstairs."
A Few Days Later-
Emily was released from the hospital, and Nikolas already had the guest room for her set up.
It felt very odd yet at the same time extremely comforting to be back in the one place where she truly felt she was home.
As Nikolas showed her to her room, she couldn't help but notice her old room. She had to remember that Nikolas and Lucky still thought she was Serena. She had to keep this up just a little longer.
The one thing that never left Emily's mind in 15 years- she has to keep those she loves safe - no matter what.
Arianna was still mad at Emily, and only talked to her when she had too. Emily was really pained at that, and hoped no one else reacted that way, when they eventually would find out the truth.
A Week Later-
After a few more sessions with Elizabeth, even though Emily found it a little more difficult to talk, seeing as Liz knew who she was, Liz felt she made some progress. Although harder to talk about, Emily was a little more open with Elizabeth about her 15 years on the run with 4 kids.
Emily was home alone, and now peeking into her old room at Elizabeth's suggestion. She realized how much of the later years of her childhood she never got to live. Emily left town at 16 and had to grow up very fast.
Emily reflected on her old room, smiling at the single pictures of her best friends, pictures of her and one of each, pictures of her friends with each other...
Her eyes finally rested on the picture of the 4 of them all together. Boys on the top of the picture, girls below them. Lucky and Liz on the left, and Nikolas and herself on the right. That was her favorite picture; she always carried a wallet sized picture with her, never to leave her hands. That was one picture she'd never destroy, no matter how depressed she got.
Emily loved her best friends dearly. She just hoped they would forgive her for all the lies she's told, and the secrets she's kept.
Crying (once more) Emily left her old room and went into her current room to adjust and clean her contact lenses. She felt a bit jumpy, but to Em that was usually normal. She was home alone so figured if anyone came in, she would hear.
Unbeknownst to Emily, Anthony and Lucky had come home quietly, figuring she was asleep – and therefore Emily had not heard them come in.
Lucky and Anthony had just come home from batting practice, and stopped at a store on the way home. Anthony had seen a stuffed bird- a Phoenix – on display and for some reason felt connected to it. He also wanted to buy something for his mom just because.
Lucky thought it was a good idea and told Anthony more about his friend Emily who hasn't been seen in awhile. He told her how she originally came from Arizona, and was used to the desert heat.
"She had such a culture shock when the first winter hit Port Charles. It was one of the coldest in PC history too! But Em learned to love the snow – she made great target practice for snowball fights too!" Lucky said laughing hard at the memory of a young and freezing cold Emily in the snow, not willing to surrender in the battle of snowballs.
As they arrived back at the cottage, they tiptoed up to Emily's room. When they didn't see her in bed, they both figured she was awake, but wasn't sure where she was. However, they soon found the bathroom door open about halfway, light on.
Soon, even unknown to Lucky and Anthony, an exuberant Sierra ran into her mother's room to show her a good grade on a test.
Emily was inspecting her face – her eyes especially to see how much she's actually changed over 15 years – both physically and emotionally. Suddenly before Lucky & Anthony could react, Sierra flung her bathroom door open; with her mother unable to react quickly enough...Emily was caught like a deer in headlights.
"Mom?" Sierra asked confused at the sight of her mother with brown eyes instead of blue.
All 4 kids new that their mother would wear contacts, they just never thought she'd wear them all the time. They began to think blue was her natural eye color. So to see brown eyes completely baffled them.
Emily didn't make a move or a sound, just stared at her daughter through her reflection in the mirror. Sierra looked guilty at barging into her mother's room without knocking or permission even though she was excited. Sierra felt that the test was now completely insignificant, apologized, and slowly backed out of Emily's room to go into her own.
Lucky and Anthony however, 2 were very completely different stories compared to Sierra.
"Mom?" Anthony echoed his little sister, just staring back at his mother through her own reflection. Emily refused to move, refused to turn her head, couldn't. She just stared at her eldest son, almost as if she were in an unbreakable trance.
Her hands gripped the sides of the sink in a vice, her arms constricted tight as to not to shake – without much success.
She knew she was caught.
But what was worse than being caught for technically the 6th time in one week, (Liz, Luke, Laura, Sierra, Anthony, and finally Lucky) was the look in the eyes of Lucky Spencer.
"Emily?...Is it really you?" Lucky asked, not willing to believe his best friend who everyone's been searching for, for the past 15 years has been right under everyone's nose.
Lucky's response from Emily was a single tear drop that escaped her eyes while she so desperately tried not to cry.
"I don't believe this..." Lucky said, voice low.
A few seconds later...
...He exploded.
"I just can't! HOW could you do this! Where have you been! I am utterly LOST for words right now Emily!! WHY!!"
Anthony head snapped toward Lucky at his outburst. He never thought Lucky could nor would get so furious at his mother. He almost told him to back off, but was too stunned at his outburst to say anything.
Emily froze, and her breath caught in her throat at Lucky's yelling. She knew out of everyone Lucky would be the one with the most fury, and probably the one to be most vocal. However, she didn't think his fury would come this soon.
She wondered how her best friend (now looks to be former best friend) and eldest son could be so different in personalities right now. Lucky was beyond livid, while his namesake was just confused, calm, quiet, and patient.
Emily didn't blink, nor speak. Her tears of guilt, pain, sorrow, and silent apologies did all her speaking for her. However, Lucky, no matter how Emily was communicating (whether intentional on her part or not) was hearing none of it as he stormed out of the room altogether.
Emily sank down with a painful sob, and just like 5 years prior, a now 15 year old Anthony wrapped his arms around his mother, comforting her, telling her that with some time it will all be ok.
Emily also hugged and held on to her son for like dear life, pained, and scared a bit in general. She knew her relationship with Lucky especially, would never be the same.
Continuing to sob, she clutched her arms tighter around Anthony and held him to her as they heard a furious Lucky throw what was now shattered glass, as it made contact with something else, soon followed by the loud slamming of the front door.
Emily prayed Lucky was releasing his anger out on a baseball, but only cried harder at the thought that if she had just been truthful from the time she was 16, she wouldn't have had to see the ice cold stare and the pure red fire in Lucky's eyes today.
After a few minutes Emily finally gains the voice and courage to speak.
"This wasn't supposed to happen like this. I was supposed to let him know the truth gently. This completely blindsided him.'
"Mom, I'm sorry that's how Uncle Lucky found out, but I think this was supposed to happen for a reason. That reason of course, I don't know what it is. But I think it was supposed to happen just because." Anthony said, trying to give his mom some comfort.
"Probably...but I still don't like it...can you do me a favor and check on Sierra? I hope she didn't get too scared by Lucky. I'm going attempt to get some sleep."
"Ok, I'll check on you later. Sleep well Mom...or as well as you can."
"Thanks Anthony. I love you." Emily said, still crying a little.
"I love you too." Anthony replied as he left the room, heading toward Sierra's.
A Few Hours Later-
Earlier, when Anthony went to check on his little sister, he found her asleep, curled up in her blankets, her favorite stuffed animal in her arms. Anthony smiled softly at the innocence of the young girl, and pulled another blanket over her to keep her warm.
After he was sure Sierra didn't wake up, he went into his own room to do some homework. But because he himself was tired, and he really wasn't getting that much homework done, he fell asleep too.
Nikolas and Elizabeth returned from work together, looking forward to a relaxing night. Unfortunately, that's not what they got.
They found Sierra cleaning up something on the floor, but wasn't sure what it was.
"Glass." Sierra simply responded.
"Did you break it?" Nikolas asked neutrally, not blaming or accusing, just asking in general.
"No" Sierra said, a little distracted.
"Here, let me finish that." Nikolas said as he took over, not wanting Sierra to get cut by the shattered glass.
"Sierra, what happened today?" Liz asked, as she brought the girl over to the couch.
"Mom and Uncle Lucky got into a big fight...Although mom didn't say that much."
Nikolas and Elizabeth locked eyes wondering why Lucky and Serena got into a fight in the first place.
"It was my fault though. If I hadn't barged in, none of this would have happened." Sierra said, starting to cry.
"Sierra, none of this was your fault. Yeah, it may seem like it, but you know Mom wouldn't blame you." Said Anthony, as he came downstairs.
"But—"
"Sierra, come on, Mom would not and is not blaming you for this. If anything...well she's blaming herself. Either way, I actually think it was bound to happen. Whether it happened today as it did or another day in another situation, it was bound to happen one way or another. Look sis, don't get all worked up over it k? Why don't you go back upstairs and try and get some more sleep, you're exhausted. If you're hungry, I'll bring you something to eat." Anthony said.
"Okay, thanks Tony." Sierra said, still feeling very guilty.
"Love you sis." Anthony said.
"Love you too, bro." Sierra said as she went upstairs, nodding toward Elizabeth and Nikolas as she went.
"Anthony what happened?" Nikolas asked, now even more intrigued than before.
Anthony groaned, "It's been a long day...too long."
"Why is Lucky mad at your mom?" Liz asked, getting the feeling that Lucky now knows the truth and is not happy about it.
"Well, Uncle Lucky and I stopped at a store, and I picked up a stuffed Phoenix for Mom as a gift just because. I felt connected to it for some reason but I don't know why. Anyway when we got back we thought she was asleep, but when we realized she wasn't, I was going to leave the Phoenix on her bed, and leave her room. We also saw the bathroom light on, but regardless we didn't want to disturb her incase she was having a bad day of sorts. But before we had a chance to put the stuffed animal down, Sierra comes running through, and pushes the bathroom door open, and Mom just froze. She had her contact lenses out..."
After a small pause, Anthony continued.
"We knew that while on the run Mom would change her appearance constantly. Us kids had to do it a few times ourselves. I don't know, I guess it's the fact that we always though Mom's natural eye color was blue, because that's the only color we ever saw. I guess she never told us the truth out of safety. I'm defending her yes, but I'm not happy. I'm not angry enough that I'd turn my back on her."
"I don't think Lucky will either, but he's just beyond livid right now. He just needs to sort out his anger, get it out now before it hurts someone. Mom completely though she betrayed him and figured that she'd never be able to look him in the eyes again. I can actually say right now that Mom was a little afraid of him...I just hope he can cool off enough to have a civil conversation with her."
"So, Lucky is angry at your mom for just taking out her contacts? That's it? Liz I think Lucky needs to have his own session with you." Nikolas said.
"It's more than that..." Said the quiet voice atop the staircase.
Emily slowly descended the stairs, blue contacts once again in her eyes. Her eyes red and puffy, she's all cried out for now.
"Serena! You look like hell, what happened? Lucky didn't hit you, did he?" Nikolas asked astonished at the dark circles under 'Serena's' eyes.
Emily was shocked at Nikolas question, but could probably understand his reasoning. Em wasn't getting that much sleep this past week, worrying about Liz, Luke, and Laura knowing the truth, and worried if Arianna would ever speak to her again.
"No, Nikolas. I'm positive. Lucky didn't touch a hair on my head, nor ever raised a hand to me." 'Thank goodness, otherwise I would have lost it completely and just huddled in a corner thinking he was Juan or something.' Emily silently thought. "Although...I can't say the same for whatever that shattered glass used to be..."
Emily decided to take the one chance she never wanted to take before now. Knowing Elizabeth already knew the truth, and knowing she would support her, Emily directed her story, and what ultimately she decided would be her true revelation, to Nikolas.
'Why not? Lucky and Liz already know. It wouldn't be fair to leave Nikolas in the dark anymore. Besides, the Quartermaine's will hopefully be the very last to find out...' Emily thought.
"As my son has said, I myself as well as my children at one time or another has had to change our appearance. Whether to run from the actual monsters chasing us, or for me a sixth sense that they were close. I wasn't about to take any chances."
Emily went to the mantel above the fireplace and fingered the picture frame of The 4 Musketeers, the cool glass tickling her hot and shaking fingertips. Or in Emily's mind what used to be. She didn't consider herself a Musketeer anymore, not since the summer of 2000.
"I could change the color of my hair monthly if needed, and when I felt safe enough, I settled on the blonde color you see me in now. But my eyes always changed from one shade of blue to another, sometimes even going to green. I knew if I ever went back to my natural eye color and someone who used to know me ever saw me...my cover would be blown out of the water."
After a pause Emily started to silently cry, but continued.
"My cover was blown when I woke up out of the coma. I was caught as if I had my hand in the cookie jar when I wasn't supposed to. Elizabeth was the first to find out. She was the first one to see me without my contacts. I begged her to keep my secret. She agreed to keep my secret for a little while, but all was null and void if I ran away again. I felt that was fair, because it wasn't fair that I'm now dragging her into the mud as well."
"Next, Lucky apparently found out I had woken up, and sent Luke and Laura to see me. I blew my cover with them because I had to open my mouth about something..."
"Next was this whole bombshell with Lucky. I don't think I've ever seen him this angry before. I knew he can be a hot head at times, but never thought he'd react this quickly. I don't know why I thought that, but I did. He stormed out, and now here we are."
By this time Emily had taken the picture off the mantel and simply held it. Remembering the good times, and the bad times, and reflecting on 15 years.
Unseen by Nikolas, but seen by Elizabeth with one hand, Emily took her contacts out and threw them into the burning fire.
"Nikolas, please know I never intended for you to be the last person to find out. It just happened that way. I think I planned to tell everyone all at once, so I wouldn't have to rehash it more than once. Living through it was enough, but to repeat it? I just can't do it. I barley got through most of it talking to Elizabeth prior to getting hit by the car."
Emily slowly turned around, making a little eye contact with Elizabeth, who had pride in her eyes at Em for being so brave. To Anthony, this was a little new, but knew it took his mother a lot to say all this after so long.
Emily finally made eye contact with Nikolas. His eyes were unreadable. This made Em very concerned because she was always able to read Nikolas through his eyes. The fact that she couldn't...it was just unsettling to her.
"Serena was never real...Serena and Emily Quartermaine were one in the same." Emily said, barley audible, shaking a little as well as bracing for her friend's reaction.
"WHAT!!!" Everyone's head instantly turned toward the figure at the door.
(Author's Notes- Well I hope everyone enjoyed that chapter. Now everyone knows who Emily is. But alas! Who's the mystery guest? Dun Dun Dun...
And before you read on to the next chapter, I must make a few recommendations to my loyal readers about other stories that I promised I would promote:
The 1st 3 Author's Stories can be found in the General Hospital section.
Cleopatra1's: "A New Face" Series (Please check her profile) She is currently working on "A New Face After The Race." However, you will need to read the previous 2 "A New Face In the Race" and "A New Face Out of the Race" to understand what's going on.
ILETUDRIVE's: "What If...", "The Ripple Effect", and "Her Greatest Mistake".
Loke's: "Fettered Ties", "Somewhere In Between", and "Shifting Paths"
gabriestar013's: "The Gods Unknown" in the Xena section. This is the current story she's working on.
To find most of the stories, they are all in the author's profile.
Well that's enough of my rambling. Chapter #19 should be up sometime within the next week (hopefully.) Please Read and Review!! Thanks!! --Am)