A thick fog drifted along the lonesome city streets of Salem, and the dark clouds masked any soft moonlight from illuminating the loathsome world below.

As was usually the case, Jan Spears found herself alone, without any true companionship. After years of despising all those around her, Jan had finally succeeded in pushing everyone away. In all the world there was not a single person who loved her or cared about her. She was truly a solitaire figure in the universe.

Yet, Jan was not completely bothered by her separation from the rest of the living world. She had her money - the money she had sold her soul to Victor Kiriakis to get - and, that was all she had ever believed she needed.

There were rare moments when Jan allowed herself to ponder what life might have been like if she had chosen love over money. However, she had become far too accustomed to her privileged life to ever really regret her past decisions very much. She had been both Victor's lover and his cohort. Both were enjoyable positions that ultimately left her with quite a nice fortune.

Glaring out her front window, Jan recalled many of the mistakes that continued to haunt her. From torturing Chloe and the men who loved her to so easily letting go of Jason, Jan knew that she had all too often chosen the wrong path simply because it had the most amusing scenery and was less difficult for traveling.

"Dare I ask whom you're plotting against now?"

Hurriedly turning away from the window and the dark night outside, Jan found herself facing a rather annoying man that had been a thorn in her side for far too long . . . too bad he was such a damn good kisser.

Her voice laden with obviously false sweetness, Jan greeted, "Ah, Kevin, what makes you think I would ever plot against anyone?"

Kevin mirrored Jan's fraudulent amiableness as he replied, "What would make me think such a thing? I know you, Janice Spears. I honestly know you." His tone shifting to a darker, more serious state, Kevin quietly added, "And, that frightens me."

The playfulness gone from her voice, Jan asked with newfound boredom, "What do you want, Lambert? Don't tell me that you broke into my house just to annoy me."

"Far from it. I came here to warn you."

"Warn me? Oh, don't you even tell me that you're threatening me. Because, if you are, I swear that I'll . . ."

Laughing rather mirthlessly, Kevin dropped his body onto Jan's sofa and interrupted, "You'll what? Call me cruel names like you did in high school?"

Her lips curving into a sinister smile, Jan answered, "Hmm, considering everything you learned about me, Kev, you should know that I'm capable of so much more than name-calling. If you come after me, you'll be the one to suffer."

Adjusting his eye glasses, Kevin coolly responded, "Well, by my calculations, you won't have time to make anyone suffer. . . . you'll already be dead."

Jan's heart suddenly began to beat just a little faster and her cool exterior was flushed by a wave of anxiety. Attempting to sound in control, she demanded, "What are you talking about? Are you threatening to kill me?"

"Well, if no one else steps up to do the job, I guess I could do it. But, knowing how much some of our former classmates hate you, I feel quite certain that you will meet your demise at one of their hands."

Her fear seeping away, Jan retorted, "Whatever. There's no way one of my spineless enemies will try anything."

Ignoring Jan's comment, Kevin observed, "In the end, there's just two people that I'll honestly feel sorry for . . . Shawn Brady and Belle Kiriakis. All the other people that you've hurt just might have deserved it. Or, at least, were willing to fight back. But, not Shawn and Belle. How sad is it that the two innocent people will be the ones to suffer the most?"

Waving her hand as though she were dismissing Kevin like a child in grade school, Jan said, "Stop your babbling. You're beginning to give me a headache."

"Fine, I'll leave. But, if I were you, I'd sleep with one eye open . . . if I slept at all."

~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~

With a sense of bored fascination, Jason watched her stalk the room as though she were a caged animal searching for any escape . . . by any means. Other than a very mild sexual interest, Jason did not truly worry himself with the happenings of Chloe Lane. However, he found himself thoroughly intrigued by her current state of agitation.

Hoping to pry the hidden truth from Chloe's tight lips, Jason casually suggested, "If you talk about it, it might actually make you feel better."

Stopping in her tracks, Chloe shot Jason an annoyed glare and then responded, "Yeah, and if you drop dead, I'll really feel better."

"As your partner in crime, I deserve to know the truth. I have the right to know exactly what I'm getting myself into."

"Haven't we already made that clear? You and I are going to pay Jan back for every horrible thing she's done to us and everyone we love. We're going to pay her back for ever even being born."

Chloe's venomous words and chilling glare truly disturbed Jason. It seemed that the cruelness of life had affected the beautiful brunette more than anyone had ever guessed.

Dropping all subtlety, Jason simply asked, "What the hell did she do to you?"

"It doesn't concern you, Jason."

"Like I've already said, Chloe, we're partners. And, partners don't keep things like this from each other . . . even if they do hate each other."

"Oh, really? Because, I seem to remember you mentioning that Jan possibly had some incriminating photographs of you. And, as I recall, you never did tell me just what you had done. Maybe we should discuss that. After all, we don't want to keep secrets."

Feeling as though he were now the caged animal, Jason retorted, "Fine, you win. I'll let it go."

From his usual position on Chloe's hotel room bed, Jason watched his cohort glide across the room in her rather alluring black leather attire. Her hair piled atop her head, Chloe glared at Jason and demanded, "Are you going to lie there all day and stare at me, or are we going to actually go through with our plan?"

Jason took a deep, fortifying breath before replying with some reluctance, "Let's do it."

~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~

After hearing Belle and Katrina enter the penthouse next door, Mimi carefully slipped out of her home and into the area near the elevator. Pulling her sleek black coat tighter to her body, Mimi kicked away the hesitance that seemed to snip at her heels.

Knowing that too many people might see her if she used the elevator, Mimi reluctantly made her way to the stairwell. It may be a long walk down, but she knew it was well worth it if it meant no one knew she was going to see Jan Spears.

And, just as Mimi disappeared into the dimly lit stairwell, Shawn Brady stepped out of the elevator. He had taken special care to make certain that Philip's Mercedes was not in the parking garage before making his way up to the penthouse. Shawn only hoped that he would be able to finally convince Belle to leave her husband before Philip returned from wherever he had disappeared.

With slow steps, Shawn nervously approached the door that separated him from the only woman who had ever been able to truly capture his heart. Raising his right hand into the air, Shawn gently pressed the doorbell.

Nearly immediately, the door opened to reveal Belle. Her beautiful blond hair was pulled back in tight pony tail and a dark v-neck shirt clung seductively to her body.

Her frustration evident in her tired voice, Belle questioned, "Shawn, what are you doing here?"

"I had to see you again, Belle."

"You shouldn't be here . . . Philip might come home any minute, and he would be really upset to find you here."

Fighting the various emotions that were pulling him in so very many directions, Shawn quietly responded, "A love like ours never dies, Belle. You and I both know that. So, please, don't try to deny what we feel for each other."

Moving away from the door, Belle walked to the plush sofa and sat down. As Shawn shut the front door and followed his high school sweetheart, Belle said, "We were just kids, Shawn. But, we've both had time to grow up and change."

Slightly losing his temper, Shawn loudly demanded, "What is wrong with you? How can you even say that stuff? We love each other. That's the truth and you can't change it. And, neither can Philip."

Her pretty eyes becoming tainted with tears, Belle softly responded, "You just don't understand, Shawn. Philip and Katrina are my life. They're the reason I wake up every day. Sometimes, they're the only reason. I won't lose them."

"I would never ask you to abandon your daughter. All I want is for us to find some way to be together. Set Philip free and come be with me, Belle."

"I can't."

His own eyes covered by the faintest mist of tears, Shawn responded, "You say that like you don't have a choice, but you do."

"I've already made my choice . . . I made it a long time ago. I'm sorry, Shawn. No matter how much I do love you, I won't leave my family to be with you. I just can't."

Simply stating what his own heart knew to be the truth, Shawn said, "Our love is eternal. So, no matter which paths we choose right now, someday we will meet up again. Our paths will cross, and we'll be reunited, Belle. I know it."

Unable to give Shawn a true response, Belle glanced at her watch, which read 10:15, and stated, "Shawn, it's getting late. Maybe you should just go back to the hotel and forget you ever even came to see me. Let me stay here safe and sound with my daughter. Just go."

"Is that what you honestly want me to do?"

"Yes."

Unable to deny the woman of his dreams anything she requested, Shawn regretfully stood and walked to the front door. After taking one last look at the back of Belle's head as she stared down at her own hands, Shawn left the penthouse, the door gently shutting behind him.

Though he felt incredibly lost as he shut that door, Shawn knew exactly where he had to go and what had to be done. What was done could never be changed, but he was determined to salvage the future. And, he would do whatever it took.

~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~

The sound of the gunshot was almost deafening - as was the silence that followed. As her body fell to the carpeted floor, Jan stared up at her darkly clothed attacker with blurry eyes that fully conveyed her shock.

As Jan's dark blood departed her body and soaked the cream-colored carpet, she fought to draw each and every labored breath. Even as she lay on the ground gasping for air, Jan continued to focus her fading gaze on the person who had pulled the trigger - the person who stood frozen in the living room.

Then, just as the hands of Jan's grandfather clock marked 11:30, the attacker slowly backed away from the blood-covered victim who lay wheezing on the floor.

As the person silently fled her home, Jan took her last breaths. The pain becoming too severe to be handled, Jan allowed herself to finally lose a battle . . . the battle for life.