Chapter 42- Silencing Hayley

Skye, AJ, and Emily followed Jason up to Kelly's.

Jason walked up to the counter. "Is Elizabeth here?"

Mike shook his head. "She was outside talking to someone. I heard something about the pier."

"What did this person look like?"

"I don't know, he had a hood on. Probably a little taller than you. But I had a customer, so I had to come inside. And she hasn't started her shift."

Jason turned to his siblings but looked at Emily. "Stay with AJ."

AJ set his hands on his hips. "I don't remember the last time you looked at me as a protector. Likely not since we were kids…"

"I want to go with you," Emily pleaded. "This is all my fault."

The door swung open, and Alan walked in smiling. "Give me a camera and let me record this for posterity. All my children in the same room together, even Jason and AJ, and they're not ripping each other's head off! How about we all sit down for dinner—?"

But Jason brushed past him in a hurry.

Alan's shoulders sunk. "I should've known it was too good to last. Can the four of us at least—?"

Emily chased after Jason and AJ followed her.

Alan frowned. "I guess that's a no then." But he walked closer to Skye. "How about a father-daughter date?"

Skye looked into her father's eyes and took a moment to respond. "I should go help them."

"Well, actually, your mother sent me to check on you."

Skye crossed her arms. "Oh! So, you had no reason to come see me other than you were told to?"

"I was planning to call you this week anyway," Alan said. "But your mother is worried about you, and after what she told me, so am I. Can we please sit and talk?"

Skye nodded. "Okay."

They found a small table and Skye had a view of the weather network on the TV. It seemed spring temperatures would be coming next week.

"Your mother thinks you're being threatened again," Alan said. "Is this true?"

Skye lowered her gaze. "I told Jason and AJ, so what's one more?"

"Rae told me about the previous threats. What is he telling you to do now?"

"He's probably watching us right now… although it seems he took Jason's chick somewhere, so maybe not."

"You can tell me. Did he order you to move out of Rae's?"

She nodded but avoided eye contact.

"I know it's difficult and I know you're scared, but you can't isolate yourself from the people that care about you, especially right now. I'm glad I at least found you with Emily and your brothers. I'd love to bring you home with me, but you need some stability, something Rae said your adoptive mother never gave you. I think I should take you home to Rae."

She finally looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "But he bugged her house just like Grandma's!"

He frowned and leaned forward a little. "Have you told Rae this? Or her boyfriend? I know he's a detective working on this case."

She leaned back in her chair. "No."

"Listen, I know you're frightened," he said softly. "And you're in a terrible position not knowing what to do, but by not telling that puts Rae and Myrtle in more danger. The police need to know so they can get rid of all the bugs in her place."

"Each time I talk to someone, that all makes sense, but then something happens that makes me regret telling."

"That's because he's messing with your head," Alan said. "If it helps talking to someone about it, then you need to keep talking about it, every detail. Whether it's to Rae, Myrtle, John, or if I should call you every day… you can't keep it all inside."

"But I just found out he's doing the same thing to Junior and Emily."

He nodded. "Emily has been acting strange. AJ has been her shadow these last few days. I want to talk to her too."

She nodded. "Okay, yeah… go talk to your little girl about it, I'll be fine."

He reached out and squeezed her hand. "I may have missed a lot of years with you, but you're my little girl too. And if I knew you were alive, I would have searched for you a long time ago."

Skye smiled sadly.

"Like I said, AJ is with Emily," Alan continued. "But you're alone right now so you need me more than she does. Please don't stay here, come home with me tonight, then I think I should take you back to Rae's tomorrow."

Skye started to nod when the news reporter caught her attention. "Wave talk show host and daughter of Adam Chandler, Hayley Santos was just admitted to Pine Valley hospital after an attack."

Skye gasped. "What…?"

"Mrs. Santos took a brutal stabbing to the throat," the reporter continued. "Her husband and father are unavailable for interview at this time and there is no word about the status of her unborn child."

"Oh my gosh…"

"Daughter of Adam Chandler?" Alan asked. "Skye, is Hayley your sister?"

"No, I'm not Adam's Chandler's daughter anymore and the little twerp is not my sister," Skye spoke really fast. "Here I thought Daddy didn't care about me because I wasn't the boy he always wanted in Adam Junior, then Hayley came along and he found out she was his daughter and that all changed. Then it became Hayley this and Hayley that. The truth is he didn't care about me because I'm not his daughter. Sure, it maybe wasn't Hayley's fault but she's always super annoying and really fake when she acts all nice to me and then I find out she's giving Daddy his first grandchild and she's like five or eight or ten years younger than me, I don't know I never asked how old she was. She was a teenager all goth and whatnot when I first met her, then suddenly she got rid of that look and Daddy thought she was his little princess and I hated her, but now she was stabbed in the throat because she overheard me and Junior talking and he's probably trying to silence—"

"Skye, calm down," Alan said. "Your mother always babbled when she was nervous too back when we were dating." He shook his head. "It's okay to care about Hayley. She's still your sister. And it is not your fault that she got stabbed. Why don't I take you to Pine Valley to check on her?"

Skye opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again. "I don't want her to die."

"Of course, you don't. Listen… there is nothing wrong with loving your biological family and your adopted family at the same time. Caring about one doesn't mean you're betraying the other. Take you and Emily for example. I have loved you since I knew Rae was pregnant with you and I thought you died."

Skye's eyes grew wide. "You love me?"

"But I love Emily just as equally even though she's adopted."

Skye's mouth dropped open. "Emily is adopted!?"

He nodded. "And I hope one day you and Emily will grow to really love each other as sisters. But you can have that with Hayley too. I can tell in your eyes and your body language that you're terrified for her. I really think you need to go to the hospital and be with her."

Skye's eyes started to tear up. "I hated her… I hated all of them… Hayley and Colby and Junior… Daddy treats them all so differently…"

"Favouritism can really be hard on children. Rae told me about Adam. But you can't let your father's inexcusable behaviour affect your relationships with your siblings. You said Hayley was fake each time she was nice to you, are you sure about that? Or was she trying to reach out to you?"

"I don't know. But I don't want her to die."

"Come on…" Alan rose from his seat and extended his hand to her. "Come, I will take you to her."

Skye stared at his hand for several seconds, then slipped her hand in his. As she rose, he wrapped his arms around her, and she cried into his shoulder. The moment was interrupted however, when AJ and Emily burst through the door followed by a wet Jason carrying a wet Elizabeth. Emily ran to the back and returned with a blanket. She wrapped it around Elizabeth.

"I still think we should call an ambulance to get you checked out," Emily said.

"I'm—I'm okay…" Elizabeth shivered.

Jason sat her down at a table and sat beside her. "It won't hurt."

Alan knelt in front of Elizabeth. "What happened?"

"The—the—the man in the—the hood… ski mask… said he ha—had Em… I went with him… he—he tied me to—to a rock… threw me—me... in…"

Alan gave Elizabeth a quick check-up while Emily called an ambulance. Alan told AJ and Jason to stay with Emily and Elizabeth until he returned home. And then he drove a blubbering Skye to Pine Valley.