Thanks to all of those who reply. It means a lot.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~*
Her Greatest Mistake
Chapter 14
The Longest Night
~Penthouse 2~
Zander stared blindly out of the window into the night. This neverending day was about to be over, and yet he felt no relief. Too much had happened since Emily had failed to meet him the night before, so much had gone on he hadn't had the time to process it yet. It had been hard, harder then he thought it would be, to close out the anger and focus solely on Emily. Every time he saw her bruised face, every time she whimpered in pain, every time her eyes filled in horror and disbelief he wanted to kill Lucky Spencer. Yet he knew that if he ever did, it would cost him her forever. The last tears she had shed tonight had been over the loss of her oldest friend. The fact that she could still love Lucky after all he had done, was amazing to him. But Emily's capacity to love had always amazed him.
Emily whimpered on the bed and moved, fighting the covers, and he instantly moved back to the bed to try to comfort her. It was selfish but he wanted her to sleep as long as possible. As long as she was asleep she could hope that Elizabeth was still alive. Because when she woke up, they would have to take that hope from her, he didn't want to see the light die in her eyes.
"You're safe Emily," Zander whispered running a careful hand over her hair. "I'm right here and you're safe."
Moaning lightly she turned in her sleep to face him, and he saw the tears that were coming from her eyes. It seemed that even in sleep she couldn't escape this nightmare. Moving carefully he crawled on the bed behind her, pulling her to him in a loose hold, and murmured nonsensical words until she stilled again.
"Sleep baby, just sleep."
~Yacht~
"Lucky to what do I owe this unexpected visit?" Helena asked coolly, only the slight tremor in her voice betrayed her nervousness.
"I keep hearing your voice in my head and I don't know why." Lucky pressed the blade against her throat. "Why do I hear you?"
"I don't know Lucky. Perhaps if we move into the salon I can help you figure this out."
"I don't think so," he trailed the knife down the smooth column of her throat. "What did you do to me this time Helena?"
"I did nothing to you Lucky. Remember it was I who rescued you from Faison," she kept her eyes locked on him, but was very aware of the ice princess that was hidden in a box on her bedside table. All she had to do was get the diamond and Lucky would be under her control again.
"Is that what happened?" Lucky whispered his confusion. The memories were so fuzzy in his head that he didn't know what was real and what wasn't. The pain echoing through his mind didn't help either. But still there was a part of him that screamed she was lying to him. "You controlled me."
"No I did not, that was all Faison, remember?" Seeing the unfocused glaze enter the boy's eyes she kept her voice low to further her manipulation. "I helped you Lucky. You know that I always helped you."
Lucky drew back slightly, lowering the knife from her throat. "You gave me a job."
"That's right," Helena beamed at her prized pupil. If she could stall a little longer Andreas would come and check on her. "I helped you break free of your parents and all the lies that they told you."
Memories assailed Lucky, memories of fighting with Luke, with Laura, even with Nikolas.
His weight shifted again and Helena moved slightly trying to gauge the boy's awareness. He seemed to be in a trance. Slowly she extended a hand reaching for the box on the table.
"You slapped me," he cried out suddenly, his eyes lighting in anger. "You threatened me and slapped me."
"You admitted to spying on me, and I lost my temper with you," she explained calmly. "I apologized and I even helped you with Nikolas, don't you remember?"
"Nikolas?" His expression softened at the mention of his brother's name.
Helena's fingers gripped the corner of the box and drew it to the edge of the table.
"Elizabeth belongs with Nikolas," Lucky announced loudly. Furious again he brought the knife back to her face. "You made me say that and it was a lie."
Keeping her eyes trained on his face, her fingers worked desperately at the latch trying to open it. "My dear you believed that too."
"Where is Elizabeth?" The unreasonable anger was back, so too was the blinding desire to find Elizabeth. That was why he had come here, because he needed to find her. Helena had Elizabeth and he needed to know where. "What have you done to her?"
"I don't hav…" she trailed off in a hiss when Lucky pressed the blade to her throat drawing blood.
"I know you took her," he drew the tip of the blade down her throat opening a paper-thin cut. "I remember. You took her from me, and I want her back."
The latch finally gave and Helena wasted no time in gripping the oversized diamond in her hand. Before Lucky even realized she was moving she had the rock in front of his face. Lucky automatically focused on the rock and his eyes stayed there.
Recognizing the look of the lost, Helena smiled. "That's right Lucky, look at the ice princess and let all that anger come," she encouraged the boy. "You will hear my voice and obey. Isn't that right Lucky?"
"Right," Lucky murmured automatically.
"Good," nodding in approval she allowed herself an extra moment to relish her power over the boy, over Luke Spencer's son. "Put the knife down and get off of me," she ordered finally.
Pain coursed through his head along with her words, and his hand clenched convulsively at the knife. Her words were strong and the compulsion to obey them was very strong in him.
"Kill her Lucky."
Elizabeth's voice drifted to him, over the echo of Helena's words, and he clung to her voice like a lifeline.
"Lucky I said get off of me," Helena hissed.
"Kill her Lucky."
Turning his head he saw Elizabeth standing beside him, wearing the dress she had worn the first night he had taken her to the No Name. She had looked so pretty that night, and they had danced so sweetly. "You want me to kill her Elizabeth?"
Helena gasped at the question. "Lucky," she thrust the diamond in his direction again. "You must obey me."
"Get rid of that Lucky."
"Okay," Lucky knocked the ice princess from Helena's hand. The power it once held over him was gone. His broken mind had no master anymore, not even him. "What now?"
"Kill her Lucky," Elizabeth whispered, her smile strangely ghostlike. "Kill her for me. Please."
"Whatever you want Elizabeth," Lucky agreed eager to please her.
When his maddened eyes found hers again Helena tasted fear in a way she never had before. "Lucky you…" she broke off on a gasp when the knife blade pierced her skin. Shock quickly gave way to fiery pain that was radiating from her side when he twisted the knife n deeper. "Andreas," finding her voice she tried to scream, but the name came out on barely more than a whisper.
"What do I do now Elizabeth?" Lucky turned to look for her but she was gone. "Elizabeth?" getting off a lifeless Helena he began to search the stateroom. "Elizabeth."
Helena struggled to reach the phone on the table. If she could knock it off the hook, it would ring in Andreas' room, and he would know to come to her. All she had to do was reach it.
"What did you do with Elizabeth?" Lucky leaped for the bed, knocking the table over in his haste. He pulled her up and began to shake her by the shoulders. "Where is she?"
Fighting the darkness, Helena's head lolled to the side and she saw the phone, lying on the floor. The phone that was now off the hook, and knew it was only a matter of time. "I'll never tell you Lucky. But you should know that you just signed her death sentence."
Horrified he dropped her and staggered to his feet. The heavy scent of blood permeated the room, it was a stench he was becoming quite familiar with. "I'll find her. You won't win Helena," Lucky yelled before charging for the door.
"Andreas," Helena called out weakly, the darkness once again reaching out for her. He would be here soon, and then she would take her revenge.
Andreas waited for the sounds of Lucky's passing to fully disappear before stepping out of his hiding place and into the darkened hallway. It had been a very entertaining show, one he had enjoyed immensely.
Hearing Helena call for him again, he allowed himself a smile of triumph. It was time he finally got his revenge on her. Revenge for Ari, for his parents, for himself. The witch was finally dying and he couldn't be happier.
Straightening the cuffs on his sleeve he moved down the hall to his own stateroom. Tonight instead of the Merlot, he would open a bottle of Dom, after all what was a celebration without champagne?
"Andreas," Helena called out, she could feel the blood draining from her, but was still confident. She would soon have her revenge.
~Lighthouse~
"Why are you still up Lucy?" Kevin Collins moved wearily into the bedroom and saw his lover sitting up in bed reading, despite the lateness of the hour.
"I was waiting for you Doc," Lucy Coe closed her magazine. "I saw the news. I wanted to come to the hospital, but Serena is here tonight and I couldn't leave her. How bad was it?"
"It was pretty awful," Kevin slumped on the bed. "Audrey had a stroke when they told her about Elizabeth. They managed to revive her, but they doubt she will live through the night."
"Oh no," Lucy's eyes filled with tears and she draped her arms around his shoulders and hugged herself to him. "How are you? I know you've been treating Lucky."
"Me? I'm just fine. I didn't even do anything wrong, at least not ethically," Kevin spouted off sourly. "Except Bobbie blames me. They will all blame me."
"That's not true. Doc you were only doing your job," She tugged on his shoulder until he looked at her. "You didn't know Lucky was going to snap like this. If you had known, ethics or not, you would have told someone. You would have done something."
"Would I?" He whispered. "I'm not so sure. 4 people are dead, Audrey may die before the night is out. Nikolas is lying in a hospital bed. All because no one knew about Lucky."
"You can't take responsibility for this. You were trying to save him from what Faison and Helena did to him. You didn't cause this," Lucy's dark eyes pleaded desperately with his to listen to her.
Kevin just shook his head and went to work on his shoes.
"Have you seen Luke or Laura yet?" Lucy switched tracks. Her heart was breaking for her friend and ex-partner all over again. Loosing Lucky the first time had nearly killed Luke, she had no idea how he would handle this. "Luke is going to be in so much pain."
Snorting in disgust Kevin headed for the bathroom.
"I know Luke won't believe that Lucky is capable of this kind of violence. It's hard for me to believe he's capable of this. He was the sweetest kid, this will destroy Luke," Lucy continued on.
"What make you think Luke didn't know what Lucky was capable of?" Kevin demanded angrily his derision evident in his eyes.
"What do you mean?" Lucy asked, seeing the disgust on her lover's face she went on slowly. "You mean Luke knew he was violent?"
Angry with himself for telling her that much Kevin turned and headed into the bathroom. "I need a shower."
"Oh my god. Luke knew," Lucy whispered, the horrifying realization of that made her feel ill.
~General Hospital~
"Here, it might help, but then again it might kill you," Alexis held out a cup of coffee that looked and smelled even worse then her own. "It might be safe to drink, if not we are in a hospital."
"Sometimes your sense of humor eludes me," Stefan informed his sister, yet he took the paper cup from her hand.
"That's because you have no sense of humor anymore, you have dour expressions," Alexis countered, before easing on the plastic chair next to him.
Staring at the dark liquid, he acknowledged the truth of her words, yet ignored the implications. "Perhaps you should get some rest, Nikolas will more than likely sleep the rest of the night."
"He's my nephew as well, I'll be here until he's ready to leave."
Stefan looked around carefully, checking for curious ears before shifting closer to her on the chair. "We need to talk about what Nikolas wants to do."
"You mean with Helena?" Alexis pitched her voice equally low.
"Yes. I know he wants vengeance for Ms. Campbell and for his brother, but I do not think he fully realizes what taking that step will cost him."
"Maybe he does," as a lawyer Alexis was very good at playing devil's advocate. "Maybe he's finally showing those latent Cassadine kill, kill, kill, instincts."
When Stefan merely frowned at her, Alexis grew serious. "We can't let Helena get away with her madness anymore, Nikolas is right about that."
"I agree, however, I do not want Nikolas to cross that line if he can help it, and he can," glancing around he lowered his voice once again. "If we handle it for him."
"If you're waiting for me to argue against this you will have a long wait. I already tried to kill Helena once I have no compunction over trying again."
"This time we would succeed, because you won't be relying on the games that Luke Spencer insists on playing," he snapped crossly.
"That brings up another interesting point. We might not have to do anything. Once Luke hears what Helena did to Lucky he may just end this once and for all," Alexis reminded him.
He wasn't about to rely on Luke Spencer for anything. "So we're agreed then? We'll take action before Nikolas can?"
"Agreed," her dark eyes actually shined at the prospect of ridding the world of Helena once and for all.
~Penthouse 4~
Sonny watched the faint light of daybreak enter the penthouse, chasing the darkness and shadows from the room. All the visible shadows anyway, but there was so much darkness in this place, no amount of sun could banish it all. He hadn't slept in days and was beginning to wonder if he ever would. Ever time he blinked, every time he closed his eyes, he saw the look on his best friend's face when he told him that it had been Elizabeth's body in the river.
He didn't know how to banish the image from his mind, from his memory. He wondered if Jason's expression in that moment, would haunt him as long as Jason's expression had haunted him when he'd seen Carly walking down the stairs in his shirt all those years ago. Christ he hoped not.
"You need to rest."
Sonny nodded but kept his position at the table.
Sighing Carly took the seat next to him, blocking the view of the window. "If you don't sleep you won't be any good to anybody."
"I'm not tired."
Carly knew he was lying but decided not to call him on it. For once she didn't feel like fighting. "Have they found him yet?" She had to ask even though she could see the answer in her husband's eyes.
"No."
Carly glanced past him to the clock on the wall. 6:30, Jason had been missing for close to 10 hours. At first she hadn't been able to deal with the realization that Jason was gone. She'd had to focus on Emily and getting her settled, without finding out about Elizabeth, and Jason. Then she'd had to deal with Queen Monica who had descended on the penthouse demanding to see Emily. Her ex-mother-in-law was capable of giving her a headache on her best days. But last night even the sound of the strident voice had been enough to make her want to shove Monica out of the window.
Sonny's presence and the fact that Emily seemed to love her mother, was the only thing that had saved the Queen's scrawny butt. But she had put her foot down, when Emily had refused to go home with Monica, and Monica had then announced her intention to stay there with Emily. Perhaps sensing the imminent bloodshed if they did stay under the same roof again, Emily was wise enough to ask her mother to leave. By the time all of that had sorted itself out, hours had passed, and she finally let herself deal with the fact that Jason was still missing.
She'd had all night to deal with that fact, and to deal with it alone. For the second night in a row, Sonny had failed to come to their bed. And even though she knew it had nothing to do with her, she was still worried. "Are you ready to talk to me?"
Sighing Sonny sipped at the coffee that had long since turned cold. "I don't want to fight with you."
"I don't want to fight either," she placed her hand over his. "You have so much on your mind you need to let some of it out."
Sonny was quiet for a long time, weighing the implication of what would happen if he did decide to speak. Would he be able to stop if he went on?
"I don't know what else I can do with you Carly. You know I love you, you know the respect I have for you as my wife. I married you before God, in our church, and yet you still doubt me."
"I don't doubt you. I know you love me."
"Then what's it going to take to get you over this insane jealousy you have?" He focused bloodshot eyes on her. "Am I not supposed to talk to any other woman other than you for the rest of my life?"
"No, of course not," Carly denied it even as her heart leapt at the thought.
"Then why didn't you tell me that Elizabeth called? Do you honestly think that I was interested in her as more than just a friend?"
"No, yes, I don't know," she tried to think up an excuse but her mind was too tired. "If it had been anyone else I would have told you."
"Even Alexis?" Sonny smirked at the way she frowned and had his answer. "Why do you do this to us?"
"I can't help it," she admitted quietly. "She called and all those old feelings just welled up in me. I didn't like her, I'm not going to lie and change my story now. I never trusted her."
"You should have trusted me," he whispered.
"I do, it's just…" she trailed off for a long minute. "Elizabeth was one of the reasons we got together. You goaded me with her that night, telling me how much you respected her, how much better she was for Jason then I ever would be. You defended her to me time and time again, she had your respect automatically and I had to earn it. I can't … couldn't get past that."
Wearily rubbing at his eyes, Sonny leaned on the table. "I respect you."
"Now you do, but you haven't always. Girls like Elizabeth, they got your respect automatically, they got Jason's respect automatically while I was distrusted on sight, or on reputation." For once her voice wasn't accusing, it was just matter of fact. "I've dealt with girls like that all my life, and I react the same way. I knew you didn't want Elizabeth, but I still didn't want her around you."
"So you didn't tell me she called."
"No I didn't, and I wouldn't have. I didn't know anything like this would happen, it never even crossed my mind. All I knew was that she was calling, and we were going to dinner," her smile was ironic. "There was no way in hell that I was going to interrupt our night, you can't be surprised that I reacted like this. You know me."
"I know, but I'm tired of it Carly, and now with what happened, it's hard to just dismiss it as the way you act," he got up tiredly from the table and moved to the wet bar for water. "It doesn't just affect us this time. I can tell you to stop acting like this to trust me. And you will agree, I know you will. But it's too late for that."
Uncertainty and a trace of fear compelled her to move towards him. "I can't go back and undo what I've done. You're right I can say I'm sorry and promise not to do it again, but will that be enough for you? Or do you need more? Get angry with me, yell at me, whatever, just don't shut me out."
"I can't get angry with you," turning to face her he saw the surprise on her face. "You're alive, I can't take that for granted."
At his words she closed the distance between them and hugged him. "I'm not going anywhere. You and I will get through this, and we will help Jason get through this."
Sonny sank into her embrace, drinking in the smell and feel of his volatile wife. It was frightening how much he needed her in his life. Seeing the devastation on Jason's face only made how much he loved her, hit home with him. And yet at the same time and despite his statement to the contrary, he couldn't help but be a little angry with her as well. All she had to do was tell him and maybe this could have been averted.
In tune with her husband, more so at that moment then at any other time, Carly felt his slight withdrawal and wanted to change it. She knew she had to do something, something desperate to help him. She only hoped it wouldn't cost her him in the process.
"No more of this Carly, no matter what," Sonny murmured in her ear before stepping away.
Every part of her screamed that she should take the out he had unwittingly given her. But as she focused on him as he moved tiredly to the couch, the part of her heart that was reserved solely for him wouldn't let her.
"There's something else you need to know." Carly spoke before she could lose her nerve. "Something about Elizabeth," she saw him focus on her and forced herself to go on, "and me."
He couldn't help but brace himself when he saw her expression. Searching for anger all he could come up with was weariness. "What did you do?"
"I'm telling you this, when ever single fiber of my being is screaming at me to shut up. To keep my mouth shut, because there is no way that anyone can ever find out the truth. All of those involved, except me, are dead now. So I should just shut up and let this all die, right?" Breathing heavily she moved closer to the couch. "God I want to do that, you have no idea how much. But I can't. I need this to be over, I need you to know the truth, all of it."
Sonny caught her hand before she could move away and pulled her on the couch. "Tell me."
~Brownstone~
Bobbie eased down in the rocking chair next to her sleeping son. The relief she normally felt after finally being able to sit after twelve hours on her feet was strangely absent. The memory of having to do CPR and then use the shock paddles trying to restart one of her oldest friend's heart was one she knew would never leave her. She knew, better then most, how much Audrey had loved Elizabeth. But even she had been surprised at the depth of that love until Garcia had told her Elizabeth was dead. Adding to her own pain and fear over Audrey was the knowledge that her own nephew was responsible for all of this.
Being a nurse she had some knowledge on the workings of the human mind, because of that she was terrified that a part of the Lucky she once knew still existed somewhere in that fractured mind. That part of the boy they had all fell for was still there, the boy that would cut off his hand before he used it on a woman, was still in there. She hoped, no she prayed that, that boy was already dead. Because, if not, and by some miracle he was able to fight his way free of the control other's had over him, she knew the knowledge of his actions would destroy him.
Elizabeth, Audrey, Gia, Nikolas, the girl in the boxcar, Sonny's guard, they were only the known and obvious victims. But they weren't the only ones, and in some respects they were the fortunate ones. Lucky's reign of terror had so many far-reaching consequences, it affected so many people, two of which were in the garden apartment of this very house.
Wrapping her arms around her waist she began to rock in the chair. She hadn't been able to look Taggert in the eye when he had made a request to sedate his mother. Seeing the grief, that Florence, and him, were feeling made her feel even worse. The fact that she hadn't known what Lucky was doing, wasn't important, what was important was the fact that her nephew was the one that was destroying these lives.
Lucas rolled over in his sleep, his hand opened and an X-Men comic book fell to the floor. Would he be the next casualty in the neverending Spencer/Cassadine war? Focusing on him in the dim light she was struck by his resemblance to the boy Lucky had once been. The boy, who had lived here for a short time with his parents when they first returned to Port Charles. A boy, with the pet spider, a giant pet spider, who had gotten loose one day and had destroyed her dinner party. A boy who had apologized so sincerely it was almost possible to ignore the laughter dancing in his eyes, and the teasing glint to his smile.
The first of the tears she had been holding in splashed on her hands, moving quickly she pulled a pillow from the bed and pressing her face in it, she wept bitterly for the boy she'd never see again.
~General Hospital~
Nikolas waited for the nurse to leave his room after checking his vitals to open his eyes. Sleep was impossible for him, even with the drugs they wanted him to take. If he closed his eyes, if he let the day end, then it would be true. Then Gia would be dead. He wanted to hold off the day for as long as he could.
Sitting up the room only spun slightly, ignoring that he reached in the drawer of his bedside table. He pulled out the shirt he had been wearing today, the shirt they had wanted to take from him. He hadn't allowed it and wouldn't, even though it was torn. Even though it was stained, with his blood, with Lucky's blood, with Gia's blood, he still needed it. Pressing the shirt to his nose he inhaled deeply, it still smelled like her, and he needed that.
~Brownstone~
Marcus Taggert eased the door closed and waited another moment, listening for movement on the other side of the door. Hearing none he finally moved down the short hall to the living room. After hours of sobbing, and railing against God, his mother had finally broken and fallen into a fitful drug-aided sleep. Asking Bobbie to sedate her had been easy, watching her in the apartment had been hell. He could all but taste the guilt rolling off of Bobbie, yet he hadn't cared. He hadn't felt a thing, and no other words had been said between them. He thought momentarily of the easy relationship he'd once had with his landlord and knew it was gone for good.
Walking into the empty room, it seemed more hollow then normal. His footsteps sounded harsh to his ear on the polished hardwood floor. The steps reminded him of another hardwood floor he'd been on earlier in the day. The one on which his sister had bled to death.
Shaking the thought and the memory away Marcus glanced at his watch and moved towards the fireplace. Eleanor a friend of his mother's from work would be here soon, once she was, he could get back to work. He could get back to finding Lucky Spencer and ending his reign of terror. Staring hard at the second hand on his watch he willed it to move faster, yet it seemed only to go slower.
Forcing his eyes from the watch, they had the misfortune of landing on the picture on the mantle. His hand shook as he picked the silver framed, autographed photo up. Rubbing a finger over the images under the glass he couldn't help but smile.
"Open it already Marcus, or this outfit will be out of style," Gia ordered, dropping on the couch beside him.
Loving to torment her, Marcus continued his slow and careful removal of the overly decorated wrapping paper. "I can reuse this."
Grumbling under her breath, Gia reached out and ripped at the paper, exposing the box underneath. "See how easy it is?" Rolling her eyes when he just stared at the box, she prodded him. "Open it."
"Whose birthday is this? Yours or mine?" He demanded, and seeing the threat of violence in her eyes, he decided to comply.
"Well?" Gia asked after a minute. "Do you like it?"
Shaking his head in disbelief for a minute all he could do was stare. Wondering if what he was seeing was the truth, he finally reached in the box and pulled out the framed picture. "Is this real?"
"It better be I paid enough for it," Gia groused.
He couldn't quite keep the grin off his face when he studied the autographed photo of Mohammed Ali and George Foreman, which had been taken sometime during the famous Rumble in the Jungle. They were in their boxing trunks, and judging from the lack of bruises, it meant that it had been taken before the fight. "Where did you find this?"
"You can't believe what you can find on E-bay these days. So did I do good?"
Looking into her dancing eyes, and glowing face, he matched her grin with his own. "You did great."
Gia threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. "Happy Birthday big brother."
Hugging her back, Marcus couldn't help but tease. "So what exactly is this going to cost me?"
Drawing back she smacked him in the head. "You need to get a new job, you're entirely too suspicious."
The shattering of the glass, drew Marcus from his memories. Glancing down at the photo, he watched a thin trail of blood work down the glass, obliterating the boxer's faces. Closing his eyes tightly he gripped the frame harder, and battled back the emotions threatening to overwhelm him. It wasn't time to lose it yet. He still had so much to do.
~Spencer House~
"Look Roy I need you to do your best. I've left word in all of our old ways and in the old places, but I don't know if it will be enough. I can't leave and look for him now, I can't leave Lucky, but someone needs to find Luke," Laura shoved some papers in her old friend's hands.
"Did he leave you any clue where he was heading this time?" Roy asked.
"I think Greece, but that's just a guess," Laura wasn't ready to talk about her fears over why Luke had left and where he had gone. She just wanted him back, and knew that Lucky needed him here. "I need you to find him."
"I'll leave today. I won't quit until I find him," Roy vowed moving towards the door.
"Thanks," she hugged him goodbye, before closing the door slowly behind him. Unwillingly the words that Stefan and Bobbie had hurled at her, reverberated in her ears. She couldn't believe them, she couldn't believe that her son was capable of this. And yet, a part of her was terrified that he had done them. Even more she was terrified that Luke had known something was wrong and hadn't told her.
Moving back in the room she opened the photo album on the table. Instantly she saw her son, he was covered with chocolate cake. He'd been 3 and had decided he'd rather wear his cake then eat it. Luke had tasted the cake she'd made and agreed with him, smearing some on his face as well. Try as she might she couldn't help but laugh at the sight of the men in her life covered in cake, they had charged her to invite her to play along, and in truth she hadn't tried very hard to get away.
The laughter from that day seemed to echo in the house around her. "Please come home Luke. Please help me with this," Laura whispered. "I can't do it on my own."
~Yacht~
Moving stealthily but determinedly, he moved through the darkened salon. In spite of the unfamiliarity of the room, and the darkness, he had no trouble picking his way through the room without coming into contact with anything. Reaching the narrow hallway he looked right and then left, unsure of which way to go first.
Inhaling deeply a smell he recognized drifted towards him from the right, gripping his gun he moved in that direction. He hesitated at the partially opened door, a faint light was coming from somewhere in the room, yet he could see no movement. Pressing lightly on the door, it swung silently open. He spotted the woman instantly she was lying half in the bed, half on the floor. Seeing the blonde hair his eyes moved on scanning the rest of the room.
Seeing no one he entered the room and quickly checked the closets and bathroom. Again finding no one he hesitated in the bathroom doorway. The light spilled out from behind him and the shadow he cast fell on the woman on the bed. Closing the distance between them he took in the blood dripping from the bedspread and pooling on the floor.
Feeling nothing at all he reached out with a gloved hand and checked for her pulse. Helena stirred against his hand and moaned. Moving quickly he pulled her up so she was resting against the pillows again and watched while she forced her eyes open.
"H-help me," moaning she tried to focus on the person in front of her.
"Why should I?" Jason leaned closer to the old woman. "Why don't I just help you die instead?"