Chapter 14
Abe continues to scare the citizens of Harmony. Julian and Eve escape the Himalayas.
That stupid cow Alicia had failed miserably. Abe Carver had somehow escaped Stefano's clutches, and was now running around Harmony as a Sasquatch. Alistair Crane had decided he was through playing the zombie!
His plan all along, had been to seek revenge on Julian, and that Black woman he had sullied the Crane name with. Eve Crane! The very thought of that woman having the Crane last name...not to mention that Julian had passed his low class habits onto Fox, galled Alistair to no end! And he didn't even want to think about how Sheridan had darkened the family name, taking up with a Lopez-Fitzgerald!
When his nurse had come in earlier to feed him, Alistair had just flung his hand up, knocking the slop intended for his digestion, out of her hands! She had run from the room screaming, her intention being to find some doctor to examine him. Well, Alistair didn't need a doctor. He owned this town and now he was leaving this godforsaken place!
Why had he not been surprised, when Julian made that deal with DiMera, to save his nothing of a wife?! It was a good thing that he had kept that slick little piece of information about Chad Harris's true parentage, under his hat. For it was that, and that alone, that had insured his freedom.
The loss of his middle finger was a small price to pay for the revenge Alistair had intended on wreaking on his duplicitous son. The amputation of his finger, was just the price to be paid when dealing with savages like the DiMera's...and the price Alistair paid, for keeping Chad's true identity from Stefano, all of these years.
Alistair had met Alicia, years ago, during a business meeting with Stefano DiMera, on one of his estates. It had not taken him long to figure out, that she was one of his many mistresses, the flavor of the month, and that she also had strong feelings, and ambitions...one of them being, becoming Mrs. Stefano DiMera.
But, that never worked out for Alicia. And when she came to him, out of desperation, all of those years ago, Alistair had always wondered, what she saw in him, that would make her think, that he gave a good goddamn about her or her little bastard!
Alistair had been about to turn her away, when he realized the child could be used as leverage against DiMera one day. So, he told the young woman, that he would take care of placing her son in a good home. A home, where Stefano DiMera would never find him.
Of course, he didn't fulfill his end. Alistair had had enough problems on his hands at that time, one of them being, covering his tracks concerning the abduction of Julian and Eve's first little bastard!
For it was this child's whereabouts, that was going to get Alistair back, everything he had lost. He wanted everything that was Crane, signed back over to him. He was going to disinherit Julian and Fox, so that neither one of them, or their greedy wives and unfit heirs, would ever see a dime of the fortune.
Yes, Julian would bow to his wishes, if for no other reason, to pacify that Eve woman. She would want to know where her real son was. Julian would give him what he wanted, for that little piece of information.
The TV in the waiting room was blaring, as the media kept Harmony, and the rest of the country, informed about the Sasquatch. There was also news, that it was believed that the Sasquatch was not only Commander Abe Carver of the Salem Police Department, but, that he had disappeared into the Harmony Swamp, after an attempted attack on Rebecca Hotchkiss.
Alistair remembered when Abe Carver, and some other man...his name escaped him at the moment, were experimented on at Stefano's compound in the Himalayas. Alistair never could quite understand Stefano's motivation for turning men into monsters. But he did remember, that Stefano told him that the degree of violence, that lived within each creature, would depend on how violent the man himself was. Abe Carver, to Alistair, had always struck him as passive and weak. That's why for the life of him, he couldn't understand his attacking Rebecca.
Rebecca. It was only a matter of time before her house of cards came falling down, if they had not already. Alistair had seen Marlena Black's press conference, and had to concur with the lovely psychiatrist. Rebecca was responsible for handing her over to DiMera. It was too bad Mrs. Black couldn't prove it!
Alistair turned away from the TV, just as Dr. William Parks, husband of Dr. Carole Parks of Harmony Hospital, walked up to him. Alistair sighed with annoyance, as he flicked a piece of lint off of his suit sleeve.
'Mr. Crane, I can't let you leave. We don't know if your symptoms may reoccur...'
'Of course they won't, you idiot! Because there never were any 'symptoms'! Now, I'm leaving and I don't want any backtalk from the likes of you!'
William Parks raised a brow, then motioned for two security guards to come over.
'You son signed you in, Mr. Crane. Now, until I am satisfied that you haven't suffered any ill effects from your 'prolonged illness', you will be staying here!' Dr. Parks almost smiled. He hated Alistair Crane, as did most of the town. The very idea of this man taking up good bed space that someone who genuinely needed it, could've had, was revolting!
Alistair walked up to Dr. Parks, until their faces were inches away.
'If I were you,' Alistair whispered menacingly, 'I'd find a way to get me out of here very quickly. You see, I called a reporter, from that payphone over there.'
Dr. Parks glanced over that the phone against the wall.
'A reporter? About what?'
'About your filthy habit of molesting the older patients here. The older, MALE patients. My God! If that were to get out, you would be ruined, your wife's standing at the hospital, not to mention the charges that would be brought against you...'
Dr. Parks eyed the security guards, that were standing a short distance away. He lowered his voice as well.
'What are you talking about?'
'I'm talking about conversations, several TAPED conversations, I've had with some of the seniors in this facility. They were too scared to say anything, for fear of some sort of retaliation. But they told me that they had been subjected to nightly rapes, courtesy of you. I do so respect your wife, Dr. Parks. I wonder if she knows of your yen for the geriatric...'
'You are lying!' Dr. Parks hissed back. The guards moved closer. Alistair smiled.
'Yes, I am, actually. But it wasn't hard to spread money around this place...and I do actually have some of your 'victims' on tape. The allegation alone, no matter how untrue, will destroy you, and this nursing home. So, I suggest you call off the guards, and let me be on my way.'
Dr. Parks rolled his eyes, threw up his hands and shook his head. That Alistair Crane was a real piece of work! How could he have been so fooled by his symptoms?! How could he have not seen that the man was faking?!
Dr. Parks turned to the guards.
'Let him go.'
The guards looked at one another, then walked off into other parts of the facility. Dr. Parks looked at Alistair.
'You'll call the reporter? And tell him not to come?'
'Yes...today. But, any trouble out of you, and he might pay a visit here in the future...you know, just to hear your side of things.'
Alistair turned and walked towards the two glass doors, that served as the entrance. He began to whistle, as he thought of what his next step ought to be. He then began to think about someway of getting rid of Julian and Eve's newest bastards, when he stopped short.
For running at full speed towards the glass doors, and thus, towards him, was the Sasquatch! Alistair began to back back! He thought Carver was in the damned swamp somewhere!
The Sasquatch crashed through the doors, as if he had come through a paper banner. Unscathed, he focused his eyes on the man before him, Alistair Crane.
Alistair turned around to look at Dr. Parks and the guards, who had their guns drawn. The other residents screamed, but stood stock still, hoping not to agitate the creature.
'Do something, you fools!' Alistair screamed, having not felt this sort of terror since he was a child.
But Dr. Parks looked over at the guards.
'No! You see how many oxygen tanks are in here?! Plus all of the people...I'll call the police!'
'Police?!' Alistair screamed again. 'Shoot this animal, now!' he demanded.
Maybe it was being called an 'animal' that the Sasquatch took offense to, or either it was the fact that Alistair was standing right in front of him. But the creature growled, at first softly, then worked his way up to a high pitched whine.
Alistair tried to back away, but someone, and to this day, no one knows who for sure, pushed him into the creature, then ran themselves! The Sasquatch, wrapped his mammoth arms around the Crane patriarch, lifting him off of the ground and squeezing tightly!
Alistair began wheezing for breath. This was it! This was the end! He could feel it! Yet, there had to be some way to escape! For if he did not, Julian and Fox, and their unsuitable wives and heirs, would have control of the family money!
The Sasquatch then lifted Alistair up high, throwing him over his left shoulder. He turned and began running from the facility, through the wide opening that used to be the door, and out into the night!
Dr. Parks stared into Alistair's eyes, as his head bobbed against the creature's back. Alistair reached a hand out, as if seeking help. Dr. Parks, cowered back, then smiled.
****
Lexie sighed as she listened to Bo Brady on her cellphone.
'Bo, you don't even know if he's still in there! I can't talk some animal out of a swamp!'
'Lexie, this 'animal' is your husband! You know, the one you went on TV with and swore your undying love for? He needs you!'
'We don't know that he is this monster...'
'Good God, Lexie! Antonio Lopez-Fitzgerald saw him change into the thing in the Harmony Police parking lot! A place he wouldn't have been, if you knew how to treat people right!'
'What the hell does that mean?!' Lexie snapped. She liked Bo less and less, as the years wore on.
'That %$# thing you did to T.C. Russell, that's what I mean! I don't even live here, and people have been talking about it morning, noon and night! Russell takes a bad fall, defending your honor, why he thought you had any, I'll never know...'
'I'm hanging up!'
'And when his daughters realized just what a loser their father had hooked up with,' Bo continued, 'they confronted you! And of course, you somehow convinced Abe to go to the police station to file some bogus report where he CHANGED INTO A CREATURE! Now you get your ass down to the swamp, Lexie! Because if you don't I'll...'
'You'll do what?!' Lexie hissed, before hanging up. She took deep breaths. She was on a terrace at Harmony Memorial. When she looked down, she could see the media swarm. She brought her head up and touched her hair.
Damn Whitney and Simone! She had had to get her hair cut all the way up to her ears! She had never worn it that short!
She heard a noise and jumped, thinking it was a reporter. But it turned out to be Celeste.
'Darling, why aren't you at the police station?'
'Why would I be there?'
Celeste didn't like her tone.
'You would be there, because you would want to know everything that is happening to Abraham! Darling, they might have to use some sort of terrible weapon on your husband, if he continues to run around town like this!'
Lexie said nothing, but calmly put her phone away in her purse. She turned it off. Celeste lifted a brow.
'What are you doing? Turning your phone off, will make it all the more difficult for the police to keep you informed!'
Lexie shrugged.
'I can watch the news. Listen, I've decided to take your advice.'
Celeste squinted at her daughter. What the hell was Alexandra running on about?!
'My advice?'
'Yes...about T.C.. I was wrong in my actions...I don't know what made me realize that I do love T.C.. And with my love and support, he'll be walking again in no time.'
Celeste's mouth dropped open! Good Lord! For at that moment, Celeste realized that Alexandra was very much Stefano DiMera's child!
'Have you lost your mind?' Celeste asked, drawing out every word in the sentence.
'No, Mother! I just realized that I owed T.C. much more than the nothing I've given him. And I don't blame Whitney or Simone for being upset with me. If someone had mistreated my father that way...'
'Oh please! You don't really think that T.C. is going to be stupid enough to fall for your 'change of heart'?'
'What change of heart? I always loved T.C.! It's just that with Abe coming back like that, out of the blue, I was confused! I always thought it was right not to embarrass Abe publicly, by telling him of my love for T.C.. But now I think Abe needs to know. Unfortunately...'
Celeste suddenly slapped Lexie! Lexie veered back, holding a hand against her cheek.
'Mother!' she squealed.
'Go to your husband, Alexandra!'
Lexie sniffed, picked up her purse and moved around Celeste. She whipped open the door that lead back into the hospital, then walked down to T.C.'s room. She rubbed her cheek, then knocked on his door. When she heard him yell, 'come in', Lexie opened the door.
T.C. was sitting in a wheelchair, staring out of the window. He turned the chair to see his visitor. The look on his face, was one of clear surprise.
'Lexie?'
Lexie walked in, letting the door close behind her. She smiled down at him.
'Bet you thought you'd never see me here again, hey? Do you like my hair?'
T.C. looked embarrassed.
'I have to apologize for Whitney and Simone...they were just upset.'
'And I can understand why.' Lexie answered.
T.C. shook his head slightly. He still looked deeply puzzled.
'Are you alright? I heard about Abe.'
'Yeah, well, who hasn't heard about Abe. I still can't believe my father would be so cruel.'
T.C. nodded slightly.
'Actually, I can. I mean, when you think about why your father would keep Abe a prisoner, all of this time...it had to be about more than just keeping the two of you apart.'
Lexie nodded as well.
'Yeah, I guess. But listen, I don't want to talk about Abe now. How have you been?'
T.C. eyed her.
'Why don't you want to talk about him? Lexie, this has got to be terrible for him.'
'I realize that, T.C.. But what you have to understand is that Abe knew I loved you.'
T.C. sucked in a breath!
'What are you saying?' he asked, his heart filled with hope. Was it possible that Lexie had loved him, all of this time?
'That what you saw on TV, between us, was no more than an act, a facade. I couldn't just humiliate him like that, on TV. He asked me to play the loving wife, until the circus died down. And if I had come to visit you, well, then that would've looked suspicious.'
T.C. just stared at her. Lexie kneeled down and picked up his hand. She then kissed it.
'T.C., I love you. Theo and you are my life.'
T.C. was at a loss for words. Yes, there was a small part of him, that wondered if Lexie was telling the truth, or had she had a change of heart, now that her husband was a monster?
He decided to trust his instincts and believe the former, that the woman that he had fallen in love with on that island, had just been confused, when her husband that she thought was dead, had turned up. He decided to believe that if she really loved Abe over him, she would be out trying to help him. He decided that Lexie Carver, would not be that cold or callous, that she would just dump a man, because he had a problem controlling a monster inside of him, or because he was crippled.
T.C. reached out for her hands. Lexie clasped them. She then kissed him.
****
HIMALAYAS
Julian, Eve and Tony, heard the terrible cries, and began to run faster. Eve was in the lead, and Julian marveled at how well she was doing, despite her pain.
When they came to the clearing before the compound, Eve stopped short, gasped, then covered her mouth! Liz lay up against the steel door of the back of the compound, bloody and mangled. But one could still make out that it was her.
Eve began to sob. Julian hurried over to her, turning her face away, so that she was crying into his chest. Tony stood back a bit, wanting to be the one comforting Eve now. He then looked from Julian and Eve, to Liz's dead body. He then looked up and around.
There were cameras that watched every part of this compound, inside and out. Stefano, or either some of the guards, had to know what was happening out here!
Tony then inched over to Liz's body. Stefano had not done this. Some animal or something...Tony looked around, then hurried back over to Julian and Eve.
'We have to get out of here!' he whispered urgently, his eyes scanning the surrounding forest.
'We know that, DiMera! I say we look for Boon, overpower him, then stay at his cabin for a few days.' Julian suggested. Eve pulled away from him.
'What are you talking about?! I thought that Boon man did this?! Isn't this why we're here?! We were supposed to keep this from happening!'
Julian put his hands on both sides of her arms.
'Darling, we can't stay up here much longer. Now I'm sorry about Liz. That is a horrible way to die. But if we don't want to end up like her, we need to get out of here!'
Tony nodded, still scanning the woods.
'He's right, Eve! We don't know that that medication you found, doesn't have something to do with what happened here!'
Eve looked from Tony to Julian, then over at Liz. She then shook her head and looked back at Julian and Tony. She nodded.
A loud animal cry, echoed through the woods. Julian put an arm around Eve, who shivered against him. Maybe Roy Boon didn't kill Liz? Maybe some animal did?
Eve tried not to look back at Liz. But from what she had seen, it had to have been an animal! What normal man had that kind of strength?
The sound of a helicopter approaching the compound, got the trio's attention. As the three of them looked up at the sky, they never saw the Sasquatch grab Tony and lift him off of his feet! The thing then threw Tony against a tree!
'TONY!' Eve screamed, as Julian jumped in front of her, looking around for a weapon. Mother of God! This thing had killed Liz, of that, Julian had no doubt! But what was it?!
The back door to the compound flew open, knocking Liz's corpse into nearby piles, of bags of salt. Two guards, and Stefano himself, came running out, towards the creature! The Sasquatch was closing in on Tony, who had been knocked unconscious, when he was thrown into the tree.
'TONY! GET AWAY FROM MY SON!' Stefano yelled, as the guards began firing. The bullets were ineffective, and annoying to the creature. It turned and rushed up on one of the guards, picking him up and breaking his neck! The guard's gun dropped from his hand.
Meanwhile Stefano, who after witnessing his wife's murder, decided he couldn't allow such a thing to happen to his son, was trying to make his way past the Sasquatch, and over to Tony. More guards poured out of the compound to shoot at the beast.
Julian, eyeing the gun that had dropped from the dead guard's hand, hurried over to it, picked it up, ran back to Eve, pulled her by the hand and together, they ran back into the compound! Eve gave her sister one last glance, before disappearing inside with Julian.
They ran down a long hallway, then burst into a stairwell.
'Where are we going?' Eve asked, ignoring her pain, as Julian began pulling her up the stairs.
'We're getting on that helicopter, darling, that's where we're going!'
'But what about Tony?' she asked.
Julian didn't break stride, he also didn't answer.
'Julian!'
Julian stopped, but did not let go of her hand. She could tell by the look on his face, that his patience was being sorely tried!
'I'm sure the DiMera's can handle themselves against that beast! In fact, I'm sure the DiMera's are responsible for the CREATION of that beast! I don't know how or why, but I'd be willing to bet our fortune, that they know something about that walking carpet out there! I'm sorry about Liz! I'm even somewhat sorry for Tony, but we have lives and children to get back to! We can't go back for him!'
Eve just nodded. She was numb from everything: the kidnapping, the avalanche, finding out that Stefano had murdered her father, and Liz's murder.
Eve nodded again, but tears slipped down her face. Julian pulled her to him and kissed the top of her head.
'The Crane's have jets all around the world, darling. When we get out of here, and on to ours, you can have a good cry....and a nap. And I will be there, by your side...I promise.'
Eve wiped her face with her other hand and nodded again.
'Let's go.' she said.
****
The helicopter pilot, was busy writing on a clipboard, when he heard someone knocking on his door. Who he saw was not Stefano DiMera. It was a man and a woman. The man had a gun, and was pointing it at him. The pilot swallowed, then opened up his door. Julian smiled at him.
'Oh, please, keep your seat. You'll be flying us out of here.'
'But...but what about Mr. DiMera? He'll kill me if I...'
Even over the roar of the helicopter, a loud, screeching could be heard. Julian opened up the back passenger side, letting Eve get in first. He then followed suit, closing the door. Julian pointed the gun at the back of the pilot's head.
'We have a plane waiting. Do try and hurry. And I wouldn't worry about Mr. DiMera if I were you. He's temporarily 'engaged'.' Julian almost purred, happier than hell to be out of there, and without Tony DiMera hanging around! Tony could catch the next helicopter, for all he cared!
But he knew that deep down, Eve cared about Tony, as a human being, if nothing else. And Julian knew she was deeply horrified by Liz's murder. If Eve had ever known that Alistair had hired Liz to come and cause her all of her misery, she might not have shed a tear over her heartless sister!
The helicopter lifted off. As it flew over the compound, Julian and Eve saw Tony still lying under the tree unconscious. There were also dozens of dead guards on the ground.
Eve looked at Julian. Julian looked from her, back to the ground. He knew what she was thinking: where was Stefano?
They all got their answer, as the helicopter flew over the forest. The Sasquatch was running with Stefano, draped over his shoulder, like a sack of potatoes. Julian tried to keep from smiling. Stefano's fate was sealed, hopefully for good, this time around.
He then looked over at Eve, who stopped looking out of the window to look back at him. His picked up her hand and kissed it. They were going home!
Abe continues to scare the citizens of Harmony. Julian and Eve escape the Himalayas.
That stupid cow Alicia had failed miserably. Abe Carver had somehow escaped Stefano's clutches, and was now running around Harmony as a Sasquatch. Alistair Crane had decided he was through playing the zombie!
His plan all along, had been to seek revenge on Julian, and that Black woman he had sullied the Crane name with. Eve Crane! The very thought of that woman having the Crane last name...not to mention that Julian had passed his low class habits onto Fox, galled Alistair to no end! And he didn't even want to think about how Sheridan had darkened the family name, taking up with a Lopez-Fitzgerald!
When his nurse had come in earlier to feed him, Alistair had just flung his hand up, knocking the slop intended for his digestion, out of her hands! She had run from the room screaming, her intention being to find some doctor to examine him. Well, Alistair didn't need a doctor. He owned this town and now he was leaving this godforsaken place!
Why had he not been surprised, when Julian made that deal with DiMera, to save his nothing of a wife?! It was a good thing that he had kept that slick little piece of information about Chad Harris's true parentage, under his hat. For it was that, and that alone, that had insured his freedom.
The loss of his middle finger was a small price to pay for the revenge Alistair had intended on wreaking on his duplicitous son. The amputation of his finger, was just the price to be paid when dealing with savages like the DiMera's...and the price Alistair paid, for keeping Chad's true identity from Stefano, all of these years.
Alistair had met Alicia, years ago, during a business meeting with Stefano DiMera, on one of his estates. It had not taken him long to figure out, that she was one of his many mistresses, the flavor of the month, and that she also had strong feelings, and ambitions...one of them being, becoming Mrs. Stefano DiMera.
But, that never worked out for Alicia. And when she came to him, out of desperation, all of those years ago, Alistair had always wondered, what she saw in him, that would make her think, that he gave a good goddamn about her or her little bastard!
Alistair had been about to turn her away, when he realized the child could be used as leverage against DiMera one day. So, he told the young woman, that he would take care of placing her son in a good home. A home, where Stefano DiMera would never find him.
Of course, he didn't fulfill his end. Alistair had had enough problems on his hands at that time, one of them being, covering his tracks concerning the abduction of Julian and Eve's first little bastard!
For it was this child's whereabouts, that was going to get Alistair back, everything he had lost. He wanted everything that was Crane, signed back over to him. He was going to disinherit Julian and Fox, so that neither one of them, or their greedy wives and unfit heirs, would ever see a dime of the fortune.
Yes, Julian would bow to his wishes, if for no other reason, to pacify that Eve woman. She would want to know where her real son was. Julian would give him what he wanted, for that little piece of information.
The TV in the waiting room was blaring, as the media kept Harmony, and the rest of the country, informed about the Sasquatch. There was also news, that it was believed that the Sasquatch was not only Commander Abe Carver of the Salem Police Department, but, that he had disappeared into the Harmony Swamp, after an attempted attack on Rebecca Hotchkiss.
Alistair remembered when Abe Carver, and some other man...his name escaped him at the moment, were experimented on at Stefano's compound in the Himalayas. Alistair never could quite understand Stefano's motivation for turning men into monsters. But he did remember, that Stefano told him that the degree of violence, that lived within each creature, would depend on how violent the man himself was. Abe Carver, to Alistair, had always struck him as passive and weak. That's why for the life of him, he couldn't understand his attacking Rebecca.
Rebecca. It was only a matter of time before her house of cards came falling down, if they had not already. Alistair had seen Marlena Black's press conference, and had to concur with the lovely psychiatrist. Rebecca was responsible for handing her over to DiMera. It was too bad Mrs. Black couldn't prove it!
Alistair turned away from the TV, just as Dr. William Parks, husband of Dr. Carole Parks of Harmony Hospital, walked up to him. Alistair sighed with annoyance, as he flicked a piece of lint off of his suit sleeve.
'Mr. Crane, I can't let you leave. We don't know if your symptoms may reoccur...'
'Of course they won't, you idiot! Because there never were any 'symptoms'! Now, I'm leaving and I don't want any backtalk from the likes of you!'
William Parks raised a brow, then motioned for two security guards to come over.
'You son signed you in, Mr. Crane. Now, until I am satisfied that you haven't suffered any ill effects from your 'prolonged illness', you will be staying here!' Dr. Parks almost smiled. He hated Alistair Crane, as did most of the town. The very idea of this man taking up good bed space that someone who genuinely needed it, could've had, was revolting!
Alistair walked up to Dr. Parks, until their faces were inches away.
'If I were you,' Alistair whispered menacingly, 'I'd find a way to get me out of here very quickly. You see, I called a reporter, from that payphone over there.'
Dr. Parks glanced over that the phone against the wall.
'A reporter? About what?'
'About your filthy habit of molesting the older patients here. The older, MALE patients. My God! If that were to get out, you would be ruined, your wife's standing at the hospital, not to mention the charges that would be brought against you...'
Dr. Parks eyed the security guards, that were standing a short distance away. He lowered his voice as well.
'What are you talking about?'
'I'm talking about conversations, several TAPED conversations, I've had with some of the seniors in this facility. They were too scared to say anything, for fear of some sort of retaliation. But they told me that they had been subjected to nightly rapes, courtesy of you. I do so respect your wife, Dr. Parks. I wonder if she knows of your yen for the geriatric...'
'You are lying!' Dr. Parks hissed back. The guards moved closer. Alistair smiled.
'Yes, I am, actually. But it wasn't hard to spread money around this place...and I do actually have some of your 'victims' on tape. The allegation alone, no matter how untrue, will destroy you, and this nursing home. So, I suggest you call off the guards, and let me be on my way.'
Dr. Parks rolled his eyes, threw up his hands and shook his head. That Alistair Crane was a real piece of work! How could he have been so fooled by his symptoms?! How could he have not seen that the man was faking?!
Dr. Parks turned to the guards.
'Let him go.'
The guards looked at one another, then walked off into other parts of the facility. Dr. Parks looked at Alistair.
'You'll call the reporter? And tell him not to come?'
'Yes...today. But, any trouble out of you, and he might pay a visit here in the future...you know, just to hear your side of things.'
Alistair turned and walked towards the two glass doors, that served as the entrance. He began to whistle, as he thought of what his next step ought to be. He then began to think about someway of getting rid of Julian and Eve's newest bastards, when he stopped short.
For running at full speed towards the glass doors, and thus, towards him, was the Sasquatch! Alistair began to back back! He thought Carver was in the damned swamp somewhere!
The Sasquatch crashed through the doors, as if he had come through a paper banner. Unscathed, he focused his eyes on the man before him, Alistair Crane.
Alistair turned around to look at Dr. Parks and the guards, who had their guns drawn. The other residents screamed, but stood stock still, hoping not to agitate the creature.
'Do something, you fools!' Alistair screamed, having not felt this sort of terror since he was a child.
But Dr. Parks looked over at the guards.
'No! You see how many oxygen tanks are in here?! Plus all of the people...I'll call the police!'
'Police?!' Alistair screamed again. 'Shoot this animal, now!' he demanded.
Maybe it was being called an 'animal' that the Sasquatch took offense to, or either it was the fact that Alistair was standing right in front of him. But the creature growled, at first softly, then worked his way up to a high pitched whine.
Alistair tried to back away, but someone, and to this day, no one knows who for sure, pushed him into the creature, then ran themselves! The Sasquatch, wrapped his mammoth arms around the Crane patriarch, lifting him off of the ground and squeezing tightly!
Alistair began wheezing for breath. This was it! This was the end! He could feel it! Yet, there had to be some way to escape! For if he did not, Julian and Fox, and their unsuitable wives and heirs, would have control of the family money!
The Sasquatch then lifted Alistair up high, throwing him over his left shoulder. He turned and began running from the facility, through the wide opening that used to be the door, and out into the night!
Dr. Parks stared into Alistair's eyes, as his head bobbed against the creature's back. Alistair reached a hand out, as if seeking help. Dr. Parks, cowered back, then smiled.
****
Lexie sighed as she listened to Bo Brady on her cellphone.
'Bo, you don't even know if he's still in there! I can't talk some animal out of a swamp!'
'Lexie, this 'animal' is your husband! You know, the one you went on TV with and swore your undying love for? He needs you!'
'We don't know that he is this monster...'
'Good God, Lexie! Antonio Lopez-Fitzgerald saw him change into the thing in the Harmony Police parking lot! A place he wouldn't have been, if you knew how to treat people right!'
'What the hell does that mean?!' Lexie snapped. She liked Bo less and less, as the years wore on.
'That %$# thing you did to T.C. Russell, that's what I mean! I don't even live here, and people have been talking about it morning, noon and night! Russell takes a bad fall, defending your honor, why he thought you had any, I'll never know...'
'I'm hanging up!'
'And when his daughters realized just what a loser their father had hooked up with,' Bo continued, 'they confronted you! And of course, you somehow convinced Abe to go to the police station to file some bogus report where he CHANGED INTO A CREATURE! Now you get your ass down to the swamp, Lexie! Because if you don't I'll...'
'You'll do what?!' Lexie hissed, before hanging up. She took deep breaths. She was on a terrace at Harmony Memorial. When she looked down, she could see the media swarm. She brought her head up and touched her hair.
Damn Whitney and Simone! She had had to get her hair cut all the way up to her ears! She had never worn it that short!
She heard a noise and jumped, thinking it was a reporter. But it turned out to be Celeste.
'Darling, why aren't you at the police station?'
'Why would I be there?'
Celeste didn't like her tone.
'You would be there, because you would want to know everything that is happening to Abraham! Darling, they might have to use some sort of terrible weapon on your husband, if he continues to run around town like this!'
Lexie said nothing, but calmly put her phone away in her purse. She turned it off. Celeste lifted a brow.
'What are you doing? Turning your phone off, will make it all the more difficult for the police to keep you informed!'
Lexie shrugged.
'I can watch the news. Listen, I've decided to take your advice.'
Celeste squinted at her daughter. What the hell was Alexandra running on about?!
'My advice?'
'Yes...about T.C.. I was wrong in my actions...I don't know what made me realize that I do love T.C.. And with my love and support, he'll be walking again in no time.'
Celeste's mouth dropped open! Good Lord! For at that moment, Celeste realized that Alexandra was very much Stefano DiMera's child!
'Have you lost your mind?' Celeste asked, drawing out every word in the sentence.
'No, Mother! I just realized that I owed T.C. much more than the nothing I've given him. And I don't blame Whitney or Simone for being upset with me. If someone had mistreated my father that way...'
'Oh please! You don't really think that T.C. is going to be stupid enough to fall for your 'change of heart'?'
'What change of heart? I always loved T.C.! It's just that with Abe coming back like that, out of the blue, I was confused! I always thought it was right not to embarrass Abe publicly, by telling him of my love for T.C.. But now I think Abe needs to know. Unfortunately...'
Celeste suddenly slapped Lexie! Lexie veered back, holding a hand against her cheek.
'Mother!' she squealed.
'Go to your husband, Alexandra!'
Lexie sniffed, picked up her purse and moved around Celeste. She whipped open the door that lead back into the hospital, then walked down to T.C.'s room. She rubbed her cheek, then knocked on his door. When she heard him yell, 'come in', Lexie opened the door.
T.C. was sitting in a wheelchair, staring out of the window. He turned the chair to see his visitor. The look on his face, was one of clear surprise.
'Lexie?'
Lexie walked in, letting the door close behind her. She smiled down at him.
'Bet you thought you'd never see me here again, hey? Do you like my hair?'
T.C. looked embarrassed.
'I have to apologize for Whitney and Simone...they were just upset.'
'And I can understand why.' Lexie answered.
T.C. shook his head slightly. He still looked deeply puzzled.
'Are you alright? I heard about Abe.'
'Yeah, well, who hasn't heard about Abe. I still can't believe my father would be so cruel.'
T.C. nodded slightly.
'Actually, I can. I mean, when you think about why your father would keep Abe a prisoner, all of this time...it had to be about more than just keeping the two of you apart.'
Lexie nodded as well.
'Yeah, I guess. But listen, I don't want to talk about Abe now. How have you been?'
T.C. eyed her.
'Why don't you want to talk about him? Lexie, this has got to be terrible for him.'
'I realize that, T.C.. But what you have to understand is that Abe knew I loved you.'
T.C. sucked in a breath!
'What are you saying?' he asked, his heart filled with hope. Was it possible that Lexie had loved him, all of this time?
'That what you saw on TV, between us, was no more than an act, a facade. I couldn't just humiliate him like that, on TV. He asked me to play the loving wife, until the circus died down. And if I had come to visit you, well, then that would've looked suspicious.'
T.C. just stared at her. Lexie kneeled down and picked up his hand. She then kissed it.
'T.C., I love you. Theo and you are my life.'
T.C. was at a loss for words. Yes, there was a small part of him, that wondered if Lexie was telling the truth, or had she had a change of heart, now that her husband was a monster?
He decided to trust his instincts and believe the former, that the woman that he had fallen in love with on that island, had just been confused, when her husband that she thought was dead, had turned up. He decided to believe that if she really loved Abe over him, she would be out trying to help him. He decided that Lexie Carver, would not be that cold or callous, that she would just dump a man, because he had a problem controlling a monster inside of him, or because he was crippled.
T.C. reached out for her hands. Lexie clasped them. She then kissed him.
****
HIMALAYAS
Julian, Eve and Tony, heard the terrible cries, and began to run faster. Eve was in the lead, and Julian marveled at how well she was doing, despite her pain.
When they came to the clearing before the compound, Eve stopped short, gasped, then covered her mouth! Liz lay up against the steel door of the back of the compound, bloody and mangled. But one could still make out that it was her.
Eve began to sob. Julian hurried over to her, turning her face away, so that she was crying into his chest. Tony stood back a bit, wanting to be the one comforting Eve now. He then looked from Julian and Eve, to Liz's dead body. He then looked up and around.
There were cameras that watched every part of this compound, inside and out. Stefano, or either some of the guards, had to know what was happening out here!
Tony then inched over to Liz's body. Stefano had not done this. Some animal or something...Tony looked around, then hurried back over to Julian and Eve.
'We have to get out of here!' he whispered urgently, his eyes scanning the surrounding forest.
'We know that, DiMera! I say we look for Boon, overpower him, then stay at his cabin for a few days.' Julian suggested. Eve pulled away from him.
'What are you talking about?! I thought that Boon man did this?! Isn't this why we're here?! We were supposed to keep this from happening!'
Julian put his hands on both sides of her arms.
'Darling, we can't stay up here much longer. Now I'm sorry about Liz. That is a horrible way to die. But if we don't want to end up like her, we need to get out of here!'
Tony nodded, still scanning the woods.
'He's right, Eve! We don't know that that medication you found, doesn't have something to do with what happened here!'
Eve looked from Tony to Julian, then over at Liz. She then shook her head and looked back at Julian and Tony. She nodded.
A loud animal cry, echoed through the woods. Julian put an arm around Eve, who shivered against him. Maybe Roy Boon didn't kill Liz? Maybe some animal did?
Eve tried not to look back at Liz. But from what she had seen, it had to have been an animal! What normal man had that kind of strength?
The sound of a helicopter approaching the compound, got the trio's attention. As the three of them looked up at the sky, they never saw the Sasquatch grab Tony and lift him off of his feet! The thing then threw Tony against a tree!
'TONY!' Eve screamed, as Julian jumped in front of her, looking around for a weapon. Mother of God! This thing had killed Liz, of that, Julian had no doubt! But what was it?!
The back door to the compound flew open, knocking Liz's corpse into nearby piles, of bags of salt. Two guards, and Stefano himself, came running out, towards the creature! The Sasquatch was closing in on Tony, who had been knocked unconscious, when he was thrown into the tree.
'TONY! GET AWAY FROM MY SON!' Stefano yelled, as the guards began firing. The bullets were ineffective, and annoying to the creature. It turned and rushed up on one of the guards, picking him up and breaking his neck! The guard's gun dropped from his hand.
Meanwhile Stefano, who after witnessing his wife's murder, decided he couldn't allow such a thing to happen to his son, was trying to make his way past the Sasquatch, and over to Tony. More guards poured out of the compound to shoot at the beast.
Julian, eyeing the gun that had dropped from the dead guard's hand, hurried over to it, picked it up, ran back to Eve, pulled her by the hand and together, they ran back into the compound! Eve gave her sister one last glance, before disappearing inside with Julian.
They ran down a long hallway, then burst into a stairwell.
'Where are we going?' Eve asked, ignoring her pain, as Julian began pulling her up the stairs.
'We're getting on that helicopter, darling, that's where we're going!'
'But what about Tony?' she asked.
Julian didn't break stride, he also didn't answer.
'Julian!'
Julian stopped, but did not let go of her hand. She could tell by the look on his face, that his patience was being sorely tried!
'I'm sure the DiMera's can handle themselves against that beast! In fact, I'm sure the DiMera's are responsible for the CREATION of that beast! I don't know how or why, but I'd be willing to bet our fortune, that they know something about that walking carpet out there! I'm sorry about Liz! I'm even somewhat sorry for Tony, but we have lives and children to get back to! We can't go back for him!'
Eve just nodded. She was numb from everything: the kidnapping, the avalanche, finding out that Stefano had murdered her father, and Liz's murder.
Eve nodded again, but tears slipped down her face. Julian pulled her to him and kissed the top of her head.
'The Crane's have jets all around the world, darling. When we get out of here, and on to ours, you can have a good cry....and a nap. And I will be there, by your side...I promise.'
Eve wiped her face with her other hand and nodded again.
'Let's go.' she said.
****
The helicopter pilot, was busy writing on a clipboard, when he heard someone knocking on his door. Who he saw was not Stefano DiMera. It was a man and a woman. The man had a gun, and was pointing it at him. The pilot swallowed, then opened up his door. Julian smiled at him.
'Oh, please, keep your seat. You'll be flying us out of here.'
'But...but what about Mr. DiMera? He'll kill me if I...'
Even over the roar of the helicopter, a loud, screeching could be heard. Julian opened up the back passenger side, letting Eve get in first. He then followed suit, closing the door. Julian pointed the gun at the back of the pilot's head.
'We have a plane waiting. Do try and hurry. And I wouldn't worry about Mr. DiMera if I were you. He's temporarily 'engaged'.' Julian almost purred, happier than hell to be out of there, and without Tony DiMera hanging around! Tony could catch the next helicopter, for all he cared!
But he knew that deep down, Eve cared about Tony, as a human being, if nothing else. And Julian knew she was deeply horrified by Liz's murder. If Eve had ever known that Alistair had hired Liz to come and cause her all of her misery, she might not have shed a tear over her heartless sister!
The helicopter lifted off. As it flew over the compound, Julian and Eve saw Tony still lying under the tree unconscious. There were also dozens of dead guards on the ground.
Eve looked at Julian. Julian looked from her, back to the ground. He knew what she was thinking: where was Stefano?
They all got their answer, as the helicopter flew over the forest. The Sasquatch was running with Stefano, draped over his shoulder, like a sack of potatoes. Julian tried to keep from smiling. Stefano's fate was sealed, hopefully for good, this time around.
He then looked over at Eve, who stopped looking out of the window to look back at him. His picked up her hand and kissed it. They were going home!