Chapter 7

About fifty feet into the cave, Laura came to a door. She shook her head.

"The Cassadines seem to have a thing about building houses underground," she thought.

Laura braced herself for what she might find on the other side, then opened the door. She found herself in a brightly lit hallway. The hallway seemed to stretch on forever.

She slowly walked down the hall. She looked behind her every now and then to make sure her only escape route wasn't blocked. Finally she came to a door. She cautiously opened it.

Stepping into the room, she saw Luke, Lucky, Lesley, Lulu and Nikolas tied to chairs. She moved farther into the room and the door slammed shut behind her.

Laura turned around and found herself face to face with Helena.

"Well I see that you found my little vacation home. I hope your family enjoyed their stay here," Helena said with a laugh.
"Do sit down," she said pushing Laura down into a chair.

"Your idea of humor leaves a lot to be desire Helena. Why did you kidnap my family? Come on tell me what was the reason for this?"

"I was bored."

"Bored? You kidnap my entire family, tie them up and then run me all over the place trying to solve your stupid riddles because you're bored? I don't believe this."

"Oh Laura, don't you miss the little games I used to play with you when you were on the island?"

"You called those games? You dumped me in the middle of nowhere with no food and no water. You gave me a riddle to find my way back and told me if I wasn't back by dark you would send your attack dogs after me. That is not my idea of games," she said with fire in her eyes.

"I guess my little playmate has grown too old for games," said Helena. "Maybe your little girl would like to play in your place."

Helena started to walk toward Lulu. Laura sprang to her feet and ran up behind Helena. She threw her arm around Helena's neck and held her tight.

"You touch her and I'll kill you," Laura said as the anger built inside her.

"It was only a joke," said Helena. "I don't make war on children. I won't hurt your child. I grow tired of this game."

She snapped her fingers and two men rushed into the room. They pulled Laura off of Helena and threw her to the floor.

"You may be needing this," said Helena as she dropped a piece of paper on the floor next to Laura.

She and her men left the room. Outside the door, Helena flipped a switch. "Good luck at getting out," she called.

Inside the room, the walls started to shift. The door Laura had come in was covered by a wall. Another door on the opposite side of the room appeared. It was the only way out.

Laura quickly untied Luke, then together they untied the others.

"Let me check to see what's out there," said Luke. He disappeared out the door. He was gone several minutes before he came back.

"It's another one of Helena's mazes. I got lost trying to get back here. We could wander around in there forever."

Nikolas walked over and picked up the paper that Helena had dropped. "Maybe this is a clue," he said.

"What's it say?" Laura asked.

Nikolas read it out loud.


You can't go back the way you came,
So here is a new version of our old island game.
From where you are, to where you want to be,
this equation is the key that will set you free.

2R+2L times 2



Lucky grabbed the paper. "This one I can handle," he said. He sat down to work the problem.

"Lucky, don't bother with that. It's not a math problem."

"Are you sure Laura?" Luke asked. "It sounds like math to me."

"I'm positive. That's the kind of clues she used to give me on the island. I know how to get us through the maze. Come on."

Luke picked up Lulu and they all followed Laura out into the maze.

"2R that means we go right twice," she said. They did as she said. "Then 2L means we go left twice."

Luke smiled. He knew she was onto something. "What does the times 2 mean?"

"That means we do it again. We go right 2 times again and left 2 more times."

They all followed her instructions and soon found themselves outside.

Luke put Lulu down and hugged Laura.

"Good work Angel," he said kissing her. "You get everyone out of here. I'm going after Helena."

He took off into the woods. "Call the police!" he yelled.

"Nikolas, do you think you can find the way back to the car?"

He nodded.

"Good. Take everyone back there. I'm going with Luke. Here's my cell phone to call the police, tell them we've found Helena."

Before anyone could argue with her, she tossed the phone to Nikolas and ran after Luke.

A short time later, Luke caught up to Helena as she came to a clearing. He went through the bushes to get in front of her. As she passed him, he jumped out and pinned her arm behind her back.

"Going somewhere?" he asked.

She smiled at him. "I wondered when I would see you again."

"You know there is nothing I'd like to do more than to kill you right now for what you did." He could hear the faint sound of sirens in the distance.

"You'd never do that. You're too much of a gentleman to hurt a lady."

"Yes, but I don't consider you a lady," he said tightening his grip on her arm. He twisted it enough to make her cry out in pain.

"Luke, don't hurt her!" Laura yelled, coming into the clearing. "Let go of her."

Luke looked at her in surprise. "You're going to defend her after what she did to our family?"

"No, I don't want YOU to hurt her," she said walking up to the two of them. "I want to save that pleasure for myself."

Luke smiled understanding what she meant. He let go of Helena's arm. Laura made a fist and punched Helena in the face, knocking her out.

Luke came over and put his arm around her. "Good shot Angel," he said.

Mac and two officers came into the clearing. Mac looked at Helena laying unconscious on the ground and then looked at Luke. Luke shook his head and pointed to Laura.

Mac shook his head, trying not to laugh. The officer waited for Helena to come to, then handcuffed her.

I'll need you two to come downtown to make a statement," Mac said.

"We'll be down in the morning," Luke said. "Right now, we have to take our family home."

"Ten o'clock all right with you?" Mac asked.

Luke nodded. He watched as Mac and the officers led Helena away. He turned to Laura and hugged her.

"Let's get everyone home, then we can make up for a lot of lost time together," he said.

She kissed him. Luke put his arm around her and they started back to the car together.