My Life Closed Twice
Chapter 28: My Dear Lady Disdain
Disclaimer: General Hospital and all its characters belong to ABC, Disney, etc.
Author's Notes: Thanks to my faithful beta reader. Please read and review!
When I woke up the first time I was on a boat. I could feel the floor moving beneath me and hear the water lapping against the side. I couldn't stay awake long. The sedative and the movement of the boat lulled me back to sleep.
When I woke up again I was no longer on a boat. I kept my eyes closed and stayed still for a minute trying to get my bearings. I knew I had to be on land since the floor I was lying on was stone. I didn't hear anyone breathing or footsteps so I was probably alone. I waited for another minute before I opened my eyes. The room was weakly lit from above. I was indeed on a stone floor surrounded by stacked boxes. It looked like someone had turned a dungeon into a storage room. There was even an extra freezer next to me.
I sat up. The drug had left me a little woozy, but not too bad. I sat back against the freezer and waited for the room to stop spinning. Well this was great. It had taken me months of whining in addition to flipping the bodyguards to get Uncle Stephan to ease up on the mother hen routine. I didn't even want to guess what I would have to go through this time.
But, first things first, I had to get out of here. It would be nice to figure out where here was and who had brought me here also. However, I was not going to be stupid enough to give up a chance at freedom for the answers to those questions. The dizziness had receded so it was time to start investigating the room.
I began with the door. It was straight off some old movie set, big and oak with iron hardware. Just for grins I tried the doorknob. It didn't budge. Well, I wasn't getting through that door without someone opening it. That meant I would need something to attack the guard with. So I made a circuit of the room. There were no conveniently left crowbars or baseball bats. Before I could start pulling open the boxes I heard footsteps outside.
Since I didn't have a weapon, I would have to go with bravado. I went back to where I had been left. I remained standing and faced the door.
The door opened to reveal a non-descript bad guy. I wondered if he was ordered from the same Henchmen-R-Us catalog that Hollywood always seemed to use. "Come on, she wants to see you," he said in a gruff voice.
"Well you can make an appointment with my secretary for next week. I'm sure I can fit her in then," I couldn't help saying.
It didn't even rate an expression. Henchman 1 (I assumed there would be more) just walked over and grabbed my arm.
"I'm coming, there is no need to shove," I said.
He didn't let me go. He just pulled me out the door and along the hall. After traveling through dim and dirty corridors we came out through a bookcase into a study of some kind. It looked your standard modern office done in gothic revival. In fact it reminded me strongly of Uncle Stephan's office at home.
Sitting at the desk was the crazy old lady from the park. She didn't look up as we came in. Obviously she wanted to show me how low on her priority list I was. Well I had learned that trick from some of the best. As soon as my arm was dropped I walked over to the bookcase, picked a book, sat down on the sofa and began to read.
When I didn't start shifting in my seat after a minute of this silent standoff she lifted her head and told Henchman 1 to go. I didn't even acknowledge that she had spoken. I knew she was watching me, but really I hadn't gotten a chance to read "Much Ado About Nothing" in years.
We continued this standoff for another minute or two. Then she got frustrated. "I would have thought someone would have taught you better manners."
She was kidding me, right? She had kidnapped me and was worried about my manners. I didn't even bother to raise my head. I finished reading the scene.
I deliberately closed the book and returned it to the bookshelf. "Did you want to talk to me about something?" I asked.
She gave me one of those fake non-smiles, "I just wanted to see if there was anything of my dear Mikkos in you. However, you are far more Madam Bergman's. Good, that will make this so much sweeter."
I walked directly in front of her. "I am Miss Davis-Ashton," I said.
"I am Mrs. Helena Cassadine," she returned.
"Are you from the Romanian-Bronx branch of the Cassadines? I have been meeting a lot of them recently," I said.
Helena seemed insulted, "Don't you know who I am?"
I knew this answer. "Mata Hari."
She smiled again. "How droll. Luke has obviously been filling you in. So how much do you know?"
Nothing actually, but I wasn't going to say that. "Enough," I bluffed.
"Did he tell you how I killed your Grandmother, my husband's strumpet?" Helena asked.
How do you answer that? I knew my Grandmother had been killed when Mom was a little girl. It had been one of those things that Uncle Stephan had told me to try to explain why Mom had gone silent on us. He hadn't explained much about how she had died, only that she had. I had done research later to get as many details as possible.
So this woman was claiming responsibility for slitting Grandmother's throat. I tried to keep the hatred from my voice and eyes, "I'm supposed to believe my Grandfather was stupid enough to marry you?"
"Oh Mikkos was mine. He had his affairs of course. Women would throw themselves at him and he was only a man. I was his wife though. Mother to his only legitimate heir," Helena answered.
"Pretty desperate to keep his interest weren't you?" I couldn't help saying.
Helena gave me a hard look, "Mikkos was mine. It was not his fault that Miss Bergman thought she and her brats were enough to keep him."
"She won though," I said. "Her descendents are in charge. Nicholas, Uncle Stephan, Mom, the twins, and me are the Cassadines that anyone cares about."
She laughed, "Stupid girl, Nicholas is the Prince like my precious son Stavros was before him. Stephan, my mistake of a son, is nothing. The twins will take after Stavros like their father before them. As for dear little Natasha, well she has not been of note for years. I wonder if she will even know you are gone? She hasn't noticed you in some time has she?"
She was nuts. However, I had every confidence she did mean to kill me. Somewhere along the way this strange woman had become obsessed with my family. I needed to keep my head.
"If you want me dead, why am I still here?" I asked. If I kept her talking she couldn't be killing me.
"Insurance. It never pays to underestimate Luke. His children are temporarily out of reach and I'm afraid I already spent my other insurance years ago,' she answered. "Luke has always had a fondness for Natasha. I'm sure he would think twice before forcing me to leave her another gift. It almost makes me glad that Alonzo missed you the other day. How is young Mr. Corinthos by the way?"
I wanted to be sick. She had ordered me killed and had ended up getting Michael shot. I wasn't going to tell her anything about Michael. "Does it really matter?" I asked in a cold voice.
"No. You are alive for now. It will give me a chance to make your death more appropriate," Helena answered.
There was a knock at the bookcase. "In the meantime you can make yourself useful by keeping my other guest quiet. Enter," she commanded.
The bookcase opened and Henchman 1 was back with a friend. Between the two of them they were holding Uncle Stephan.
Chapter 28: My Dear Lady Disdain
Disclaimer: General Hospital and all its characters belong to ABC, Disney, etc.
Author's Notes: Thanks to my faithful beta reader. Please read and review!
When I woke up the first time I was on a boat. I could feel the floor moving beneath me and hear the water lapping against the side. I couldn't stay awake long. The sedative and the movement of the boat lulled me back to sleep.
When I woke up again I was no longer on a boat. I kept my eyes closed and stayed still for a minute trying to get my bearings. I knew I had to be on land since the floor I was lying on was stone. I didn't hear anyone breathing or footsteps so I was probably alone. I waited for another minute before I opened my eyes. The room was weakly lit from above. I was indeed on a stone floor surrounded by stacked boxes. It looked like someone had turned a dungeon into a storage room. There was even an extra freezer next to me.
I sat up. The drug had left me a little woozy, but not too bad. I sat back against the freezer and waited for the room to stop spinning. Well this was great. It had taken me months of whining in addition to flipping the bodyguards to get Uncle Stephan to ease up on the mother hen routine. I didn't even want to guess what I would have to go through this time.
But, first things first, I had to get out of here. It would be nice to figure out where here was and who had brought me here also. However, I was not going to be stupid enough to give up a chance at freedom for the answers to those questions. The dizziness had receded so it was time to start investigating the room.
I began with the door. It was straight off some old movie set, big and oak with iron hardware. Just for grins I tried the doorknob. It didn't budge. Well, I wasn't getting through that door without someone opening it. That meant I would need something to attack the guard with. So I made a circuit of the room. There were no conveniently left crowbars or baseball bats. Before I could start pulling open the boxes I heard footsteps outside.
Since I didn't have a weapon, I would have to go with bravado. I went back to where I had been left. I remained standing and faced the door.
The door opened to reveal a non-descript bad guy. I wondered if he was ordered from the same Henchmen-R-Us catalog that Hollywood always seemed to use. "Come on, she wants to see you," he said in a gruff voice.
"Well you can make an appointment with my secretary for next week. I'm sure I can fit her in then," I couldn't help saying.
It didn't even rate an expression. Henchman 1 (I assumed there would be more) just walked over and grabbed my arm.
"I'm coming, there is no need to shove," I said.
He didn't let me go. He just pulled me out the door and along the hall. After traveling through dim and dirty corridors we came out through a bookcase into a study of some kind. It looked your standard modern office done in gothic revival. In fact it reminded me strongly of Uncle Stephan's office at home.
Sitting at the desk was the crazy old lady from the park. She didn't look up as we came in. Obviously she wanted to show me how low on her priority list I was. Well I had learned that trick from some of the best. As soon as my arm was dropped I walked over to the bookcase, picked a book, sat down on the sofa and began to read.
When I didn't start shifting in my seat after a minute of this silent standoff she lifted her head and told Henchman 1 to go. I didn't even acknowledge that she had spoken. I knew she was watching me, but really I hadn't gotten a chance to read "Much Ado About Nothing" in years.
We continued this standoff for another minute or two. Then she got frustrated. "I would have thought someone would have taught you better manners."
She was kidding me, right? She had kidnapped me and was worried about my manners. I didn't even bother to raise my head. I finished reading the scene.
I deliberately closed the book and returned it to the bookshelf. "Did you want to talk to me about something?" I asked.
She gave me one of those fake non-smiles, "I just wanted to see if there was anything of my dear Mikkos in you. However, you are far more Madam Bergman's. Good, that will make this so much sweeter."
I walked directly in front of her. "I am Miss Davis-Ashton," I said.
"I am Mrs. Helena Cassadine," she returned.
"Are you from the Romanian-Bronx branch of the Cassadines? I have been meeting a lot of them recently," I said.
Helena seemed insulted, "Don't you know who I am?"
I knew this answer. "Mata Hari."
She smiled again. "How droll. Luke has obviously been filling you in. So how much do you know?"
Nothing actually, but I wasn't going to say that. "Enough," I bluffed.
"Did he tell you how I killed your Grandmother, my husband's strumpet?" Helena asked.
How do you answer that? I knew my Grandmother had been killed when Mom was a little girl. It had been one of those things that Uncle Stephan had told me to try to explain why Mom had gone silent on us. He hadn't explained much about how she had died, only that she had. I had done research later to get as many details as possible.
So this woman was claiming responsibility for slitting Grandmother's throat. I tried to keep the hatred from my voice and eyes, "I'm supposed to believe my Grandfather was stupid enough to marry you?"
"Oh Mikkos was mine. He had his affairs of course. Women would throw themselves at him and he was only a man. I was his wife though. Mother to his only legitimate heir," Helena answered.
"Pretty desperate to keep his interest weren't you?" I couldn't help saying.
Helena gave me a hard look, "Mikkos was mine. It was not his fault that Miss Bergman thought she and her brats were enough to keep him."
"She won though," I said. "Her descendents are in charge. Nicholas, Uncle Stephan, Mom, the twins, and me are the Cassadines that anyone cares about."
She laughed, "Stupid girl, Nicholas is the Prince like my precious son Stavros was before him. Stephan, my mistake of a son, is nothing. The twins will take after Stavros like their father before them. As for dear little Natasha, well she has not been of note for years. I wonder if she will even know you are gone? She hasn't noticed you in some time has she?"
She was nuts. However, I had every confidence she did mean to kill me. Somewhere along the way this strange woman had become obsessed with my family. I needed to keep my head.
"If you want me dead, why am I still here?" I asked. If I kept her talking she couldn't be killing me.
"Insurance. It never pays to underestimate Luke. His children are temporarily out of reach and I'm afraid I already spent my other insurance years ago,' she answered. "Luke has always had a fondness for Natasha. I'm sure he would think twice before forcing me to leave her another gift. It almost makes me glad that Alonzo missed you the other day. How is young Mr. Corinthos by the way?"
I wanted to be sick. She had ordered me killed and had ended up getting Michael shot. I wasn't going to tell her anything about Michael. "Does it really matter?" I asked in a cold voice.
"No. You are alive for now. It will give me a chance to make your death more appropriate," Helena answered.
There was a knock at the bookcase. "In the meantime you can make yourself useful by keeping my other guest quiet. Enter," she commanded.
The bookcase opened and Henchman 1 was back with a friend. Between the two of them they were holding Uncle Stephan.