Chapter 21- Matteo's Reign of Terror

It took Sam and Lulu 20 minutes to get Willow and Charlotte to calm down after Matteo left. The events that transpired in the next few weeks happened very quickly. Scout was very upset that they ended up moving into Jax's house. Willow agreed to let Sam tell her about the rape when she tried to sneak out to find Danny one day. She never asked to see him again after that and was extra nice to Willow. The households in the village switched up drastically. Drew and Sam moved into Jax's house with Willow, Scout, and Franklin, so they'd have a fresh start away from the house that Willow was raped in. Josslyn and Cameron decided to live with Jason, Elizabeth, Jake, and Aiden, while Dante, Lulu, Charlotte, Rocco, and their dog Max moved in with Kevin and Laura. The doctors and nurses that lived at Kevin's dispersed throughout the village and Chase and Kristina moved into Drew and Sam's old house with Natalie, Julie, and a young lady named Sapphire. Nikolas, Ava, and their kids shared a house with Finn, Hayden, and Violet across the street and Willow lost track of the other houses. Though she heard that Harmony, Sasha, and Elias moved into the castle.

Willow worried it would be awkward, for Drew especially, living in the same house as Willow's father and Sam's ex, but she couldn't believe how well Drew and Jax got along as if they'd been best buds their whole lives. And there was absolutely nothing romantic between her mom and dad, they just acted like good friends and co-parents. Willow couldn't hide the fact that she liked being with her parents under one roof, though it made her wish she had that growing up. Carly kept coming most days to visit Jax though, which Willow still didn't know how she felt about it. She still had nightmares some nights and when Sam checked on her she'd come in and sleep with her.

Surprisingly, other than the change in a lot of living arrangements, not much had changed on the island since Matteo took over, other than the fear in people. School was out, so Willow didn't leave the house much. They only had scraps to eat so they had to hunt some of the wild animals which almost made Willow want to become a vegetarian when this was over. But finally, the crops started to grow, and they had to hunt the wild animals no longer. Jax, Drew, and Sam would take turns meeting with Nikolas and Dante regularly to come up with a plan to take down Matteo once the food shortage was no longer a problem, but they wouldn't leave Willow and Scout alone.

Either Willow was starting to get the flu or her nerves were getting to her knowing that Elizabeth would be turning in the evidence soon because she kept throwing up, and what was worse some people were starting to support Matteo for saving the island from famine. Willow wasn't sure if it was because they were mind-mapped, thought he was Danny, or just didn't care who he was and saw him as their hero.

One night while Jax and Drew were meeting with Nikolas and Dante, Sam sent Willow and Scout to the basement when Matteo showed up on the doorstep surrounded by his cousins Luca and Rafaele, as well as a few other men covered in armour as if they were knights, but they all held rifles. The basement door was open a crack and they spoke loudly so they could hear.

"I am here to make an announcement," Matteo said. "I have chosen my wives. Charlotte Cassadine, my betrothed, will be my first wife. I intend to marry her right away, but her family is hiding her from me. Willow, my second wife, I'll marry shortly after Charlotte."

Willow's heart pounded rapidly. Scout's mouth dropped open.

"Over my dead body!" Sam shouted.

"Don't tempt me," Matteo said before continuing. "Julie Teeger will be my third wife. Trina Ashford my fourth. Sasha Gilmore my fifth. And Harmony Miller my sixth. Six is my favourite number. I might take some concubines as well."

"You are sick…" Sam said.

"Harmony is already pregnant with my child. But she's so old. I need more suitable heirs, especially through Charlotte."

Willow suddenly felt nauseous.

"You are not getting near my daughter again! Now get out of our house!"

"Oh, I will be getting near her again," Matteo said. "I will have my body pressed against hers. I will do anything I want with her. And once she's my wife I will own her—"

Smack.

Sam must have punched him. Scout wrapped her arms around Willow's waist.

"You disgusting monster!" Sam shouted. "Willow is not a plaything that you can do whatever you want with."

"Punch me again and one of my knights will put a bullet in your younger daughter's head."

Willow gasped and held Scout tightly.

"Get out of my house. NOW!" Sam yelled.

"I don't appreciate your tone," Matteo said. "I will be back when I'm ready to marry Willow."

"GET OUT!" Sam repeated and Willow heard the door slam shut.

GHGHGH

When Willow missed her period, she started to panic. She couldn't be… she just couldn't. She kept it to herself feeling like if she said it out loud it would be true…

Now that Matteo had gained some followers, he placed guards, or knights as he called them, around the village night and day. He claimed it was to protect everyone from the Almighty V. All the knights had helmets covering their faces, so they weren't recognizable.

When Jax returned home from seeing Dante one evening, he told Sam and Willow that they were still hiding Charlotte and she just found out she was pregnant. Willow felt the colour drain from her face and her hands started shaking.

"She's decided to give the baby up for adoption," Jax said. "Though Dante and Lulu aren't too sure how they're going to do it without Matteo finding out."

When Jax went to his room, Willow burst into tears and finally told Sam that she thinks she might be pregnant too. Sam told her everything would be okay and that she'd talk to Elizabeth privately about getting a home pregnancy test secretly (the clinic carried a handful of them).

Sure enough, the next day Sam brought home a pregnancy test and some bad news. The evidence from the rape had been stolen.

They waited until Jax and Drew left the house, then Sam sent Scout to her room. It felt like they waited for an eternity before the test was ready.

"Can you look at it?" Willow turned away and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Of course…"

Willow inhaled deeply.

"It… it's positive," Sam said. "Sweetie, you're pregnant."

Tears sprang to Willow's eyes.

Sam walked over to her and squeezed her arm. "Honey? Talk to me…"

Willow swallowed hard. "I just… I thought… I thought the next time I'd have a baby that it would be different. That I'd be married and in love… with a good guy. Maybe with Michael."

"I'm so sorry, baby. I wish I could erase what happened to you, I really do. But I want you to know that I will support you in whatever you decide. If you want to give the baby up for adoption or—"

"I'm keeping my baby," Willow said, placing her hands on her belly.

Sam nodded. "Then you have my full support."

"I don't know what's going to happen. I don't have a plan. But I'm not making the same mistake I made last time."

"Willow, that wasn't your fault."

"If I kept my first baby, he might not have died. My new baby needs to be with me, always. No matter the situation."

"My only concern is Matteo finding out about the baby," Sam said. "He already wants you. Now he'll make it his mission to have both of you, at all costs."

"Then I'll say someone else is the father. I'm sure Michael would agree to say he is…"

"But just knowing you're pregnant, he'll demand to have a DNA test," Sam said. "I have another idea."

"What's your idea?"

"I think we need to hide you. I know it's not ideal to hide out for 9 months, but maybe we can hide you at Molly's. Curtis and TJ will protect you. And I'll pretend I'm pregnant. When the baby is born, we'll say that it's mine and Drew's."

Willow felt like a knife went through her gut and she opened her mouth to respond.

But Sam continued, "Hopefully it won't take that long for us to bring him down. You'll still be your baby's mother, but this way we can protect both of you."

"I don't want to leave you," Willow said softly.

Sam hugged her. "I don't want you to either, but this might be the only way until the baby is born."

Suddenly, the front door swung open and Jax and Drew hurried in, out of breath.

"We have some bad news," Jax said. "Rocco turned Charlotte in to Matteo."

Willow's heart sped up.

Sam gasped. "What?"

"They were hiding her at Nikolas' place and Rocco told Matteo where she was," Drew said.

"They think he was mind-mapped," Jax added. "When Dante and Lulu confronted him, he left and said he was moving into Wyndemere to be a knight for Matteo."

"What about Charlotte?" Sam asked. "Matteo didn't get his hands on her again, did he?"

"I'm afraid he had Nikolas arrested for hiding her there, then he took Charlotte to Wyndemere with him," Jax said.

"He plans to marry her by tomorrow," Drew said. "And Rocco told him about her baby."

Sam held Willow's hand tightly. Willow felt a huge weight on her chest. Would Matteo find out about her baby too?