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.
