"There's absolutely nothing going on, Pilar," Ivy claimed, hoping she didn't sound as tense as she felt.
Pilar scowled indignantly. "I do have a working brain, Mrs. Crane, and I can clearly see that something isn't right. You haven't been acting like yourself lately, and I know that you and Kay have a secret of some sort, and now there's that episode I just overheard with Laura. If I didn't know better, I'd say you didn't even remember who you are."
Although Pilar had not considered her accusation as a serious possibility, she saw to her surprise that she had struck upon something when Ivy only stared back at her miserably. "My God," the housekeeper gasped incredulously. "That's it, isn't it? You have no memory!"
Knowing that the jig was up, Ivy knew that the only thing she could do was attempt to keep her former friend from discovering the real cause of her predicament. "Not exactly," she admitted. "I know who I am and everything, but I have no recollection of anything that's happened to me or that I've done after a certain point."
"What's the last thing you can remember?" Pilar asked.
"Do you remember when Sam went to work on that fishing boat that one summer?"
"How could I ever forget?" Pilar sighed. "That was when your father intercepted the letters you two wrote to each other and made you think he was cheating on you. You ended up marrying Julian that same fall."
"So that's how it all happened exactly!" Ivy exclaimed. "How could my own father do that to me? Anyway, Pilar, the last thing I can recall is writing one of those letters, when the next thing I knew, Kay was standing in front of me and asking if I was alright. She then filled me in on everything that she knew, though there's a great deal about which I'm completely in the dark." Ivy was actually somewhat glad that Pilar had figured it out; it felt good being able to confide in someone, and even back where she came from, Pilar was the only one to whom she could entrust her secrets without the fear of becoming the subject of the next day's catty gossip.
"You mean, you really don't remember anything that's happened since?" Pilar asked, wide-eyed. "Marrying Julian? Having Ethan and your others? Scheming to get Sam back? Getting paralyzed?"
Ivy shook her head adamantly. "Nothing, Pilar; it's all a complete blank. As I said, it feels like I was just back there a week ago."
"Do you think it has something to do with your spinal injury, like a delayed malfunction of your nervous system?"
Thank you, Pilar, Ivy thought, thankful that the woman had just provided her with a ready-made explanation. "It could be. That is the only plausible reason, after all." Well, that's not exactly a lie. It IS a lot more reasonable than an incantation gone awry.
Pilar's face clouded over in doubt, as is she had just thought of another objection. "If what you're telling me is true, why did you pretend that nothing is wrong, and keep it a secret? Why didn't you seek out any help?"
"You see, Kay didn't think it was a good idea," Ivy asserted, relieved to have come up with something.
"And why not?"
"She said that it would be dangerous for me, that there are too many people who would be likely to use the situation to their advantage is they knew I was down for the count right now," Ivy explained, glad that this part at least had a grain of truth.
"I suppose she's probably right," Pilar conceded. "You have certainly had no trouble making enemies these past few years."
"I've come to realize that," Ivy said unhappily. "It's kind of funny, really. I always worried what others would think of me before I did anything. That's why I kept my relationship with Sam a secret, because I was afraid of being looked down on by my precious social circle and look where it's gotten me: lonely, mean, crippled and friendless."
Pilar shifted uncomfortably. "Yes, well, you don't have to worry about me saying anything. It would be wrong to try and get some sort of revenge on you when you don't even remember anything that you've done to me. However, don't you think that you should see a doctor to see if they can help you?"
"I can't," Ivy insisted. "Dr. Russell hates me, and it might attract too much attention if we brought an outside specialist in." Plus, I seriously doubt any of them have a PhD in magic reversal, she mused.
"That's true, I guess. She has detested you ever since you blackmailed her into helping to conceal Ethan's paternity by threatening to reveal the affair she had with Julian when she was young."
Yet another crime I've committed, Ivy reflected wryly. Why am I not surprised? "Thank you for agreeing to keep this a secret. So, how have you been doing, Pilar? Kay told me about Martin's disappearance all those years ago."
"It's been very hard, and I've tried to hold my family together as well as I could. Right now, though, I don't know how good a job I've done, with Paloma away and Antonio and Luis missing and Theresa married to Julian. I really don't know what will happen." To Ivy's chagrin, Pilar sounded taken aback that she had actually asked about her welfare.
"I'm sorry; I hope your sons turn up. It's strange to think that they're fully grown, since to me it seems that they should still be rambunctious little boys. And Pilar, I'm sorry for everything I might've done, especially to Theresa. It was wrong, and I'm just so sorry that I've thrown away your friendship like this."
"I'm sorry that you did, too," Pilar responded, uncertain about how to act towards her now. "If you'll excuse me, I had better go now. There are some people that I need to speak with."
Ivy could tell, of course, that the real reason Pilar had left was so that she could think over these new revelations, and determine how she feels about everything. Ivy hoped that Pilar would be able to think of her as the person she'd been once, because, at this point, she desperately needed a friend.
*****
As Kay stormed away from Laura, one thought and one thought only occupied her mind. She's wrong, and my mother DOES love me!
It was just sour grapes, of course. Laura was just jealous of her good fortunes, and was trying to get back at her. All perfectly understandable: she'd probably do the same thing in her shoes, but that's all it was. She'd be able to prove it, too; as soon as she figured out to bring her mother back, she'd have the mother she'd always wanted once again. They had grown so close in that short time before the spell, it just HAD to be real!
But what if it wasn't? that little voice in the back of her mind intoned once again, against her most fervent wishes. Laura most likely knows what she's talking about, and you barely knew her. What if, soon after you do the reversal, she gets tired of you and starts neglecting you the way Grace did?
That was one thing she just couldn't face. It would mean that there really was nobody in the world who really cared about her. Many people were interested for what they could get from her, sure, but none of them would actually give a damn. Am I really that unworthy of any kind of love? Kay wondered, trying very hard not to cry at her own party.
Attempting to put all such thoughts out of her mind, Kay looked all around her, trying to focus on something, anything, else, when she noticed something that struck her as very odd indeed. Simone and Cassandra stood, a little ways from her, deep in some sort of conversation. Although she couldn't tell what they were talking about, she knew that her vampire ancestor had to be up to something. For a second, Kay worried that she might be sizing up her next meal, but promptly discounted that theory. Cassandra was too intelligent to drain somebody on this night, and if she were planning on it, she'd certainly be discreet enough that Kay wouldn't have noticed anything.
Kay stared at them intently, but a rather large man moved right into her line of vision, and by the time she moved enough to get a clear view, Simone was walking away. Damn. Well, she'd continue to keep a lookout for both of them, and if anything weird happened, she'd confront Cassandra about it.
*****
In the living room, Ethan literally bumped into Theresa, who looked at him in shock. "Ethan! I've barely seen you around lately! For two people who live in the same house, we certainly don't see each other very often."
"I know, Theresa, but to tell the truth, I've been avoiding you as much as I can," Ethan confessed.
"Oh," Theresa said quietly. "Avoiding me, huh? I'm sorry, I can't blame you; I must be the last person on earth you want to see anymore."
"No, that's not true!" Ethan insisted. "I should've made myself clearer. It's not that I don't want to see you. In fact, I want to see you far too badly."
"You--you do? Even though I left you and hurt you so much?"
"I don't blame, you, Theresa. You did what you had to do. We both made some mistakes, and here we are. It's just that it's so hard being around you when we both know that we can't be together."
Theresa smiled a bittersweet smile. "I've felt the same way. I just can't bear the thought of you being cut out of my life completely. Maybe we can still be together as friends. I mean, you are still my baby's godfather, and I'd like you to be in his life, especially since he has Julian for a father. Perhaps we can do things with him. It would be almost like we were a family," she added hopefully.
Ethan shook his head regretfully. "It wouldn't work, Theresa. I'll always be there if your son needs me, but we'd go crazy being together and yet not being together. Plus, people would talk, and I'm sure Alistair would not be pleased if you caused a scandal like that. You have to remember: if you displease him, he can take your baby away from you."
Theresa's face fell, her spirits crushed as quickly as they had risen. "I guess you're right, Ethan. We need to stay apart."
Before they could part, though, the music began playing once more. "Ethan," Theresa said, only slightly above a whisper. "It'd be okay if we danced together, just this once, wouldn't it?"
Although he knew that it was probably a bad idea, Ethan nodded. "I suppose so." Without another word, he held her, and they moved slowly in unison to the melody. And so they danced, realizing fully the danger of being so close, but unable to pull apart, even after the music had stopped.
*****
David found Ivy, sitting in her wheelchair near a sofa, and sat down next to her. "Have you been faring all right, Ivy?" he asked.
Ivy shrugged. "I've found out a couple more horrible things that I've done, making me even worse than I'd already thought I was, if that's possible. Oh, and Pilar knows about me. Other than that, I'm peachy keen."
David stiffened, suddenly worried. "She knows? About the spell and everything?"
"No, not that much. She realized that I wasn't myself, and I had to tell her that I can't remember most of my life. She thinks it's some kind of amnesia stemming from my medical condition, though."
David breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God, we really don't want everybody else knowing about that. If we can just get through all of this quietly until Kay finds the reversal, no one need ever know."
Ivy looked at him quizzically. "Didn't Kay tell you?"
"Tell me what? All she said was that she wanted me here tonight."
"She found something about the spell, and while she hasn't found the actual counter-spell, she knows basically what it will do when we find it."
"Well that's great!" David enthused, until he realized that she didn't look nearly as pleased as it seemed she should. "It is great, isn't it, that you'll get to go back?"
"I'm not exactly going anywhere," Ivy explained matter-of-factly. "The reversal will take the other me and anchor her back into this body. "I'll be 'overwritten.' That's a good description of what'll happen, I think. I'll just be gone, with little bits of myself still in her, from what I understand."
"Oh," David said simply, unable to think of any words that would be appropriate at the moment.
"Yeah," Ivy replied, trembling a little but determined to act stoic about it all. "I'm scared, but I guess there's nothing else for it. I'm not supposed to even be here, after all."
David again had no comfort to give, though he couldn't help but greatly admire her courage in the face of such a frightening proposition. They sat together awkwardly for a minute, until the sight of Ethan and Theresa dancing together reminded Ivy of something important.
"David!" Ivy exclaimed in a low but urgent voice. "Theresa's in serious danger here! I've got to make sure that nothing happens to her."
"What do you mean?"
"If I can't think of a way to stop her, Rebecca will have her killed! She was plotting it, and wanted to enlist my help. If I absolutely have to, I'll turn her in, though that will implicate me, so I'd much rather find a way to convince her not to if I can."
David stared at her, astonished. "You're certainly risking a lot in trying to defend Theresa. You do know that she's the reason you and Ethan lost the Crane name, right? She's even been trying to bring you down lately. What, do you not hate her like your older self does?"
. "I don't like her at all, that's for sure. I think she's a crazed idiot, but that doesn't mean that she deserves to die. And I couldn't just sit back and let her get killed, even if she wasn't Pilar's daughter. I'm not a murderer." After thinking about her last statement, though, Ivy amended, "Not yet, anyway."
"It's amazing how much you've changed, Ivy," David murmured regretfully.
Ivy, however, didn't hear him. Instead, she sat, transfixed, watching her son and his ex-fiancée. "Oh my God," she gasped. "He really loves her. There's no mistaking that look. And, she truly loves him back. Anybody could tell. She may be a crazed idiot, but she's a crazed idiot who desperately loves my son, and he loves her back. "
"Yes, she does love him," David said gently. "She did 'die' for him, after all. I'd say Theresa must love Ethan a great deal."
"Oh my God," she repeated, "My father kept me away from Sam, and I've done everything I could to do the same with MY son and his true love! How could I do that, no matter how much I dislike her?"
"Well, you thought that you were acting in his best interests, protecting him from a woman who was going to ruin his life," David offered weakly.
"Yes, and I'm sure my father thought exactly the same thing, and look where I ended up. You know, if it weren't so horrible, this whole situation would be absolutely hilarious in its irony."
David had to laugh a bit at that, though he soon was interrupted by Ivy, who took in a sharp breath. "Oh, no! Look, David, that's Sam, and he's coming over here, and that woman with him must be his wife. I really don't know if I can handle this right now."
However, as Sam and Grace were almost upon them, Ivy and David had no chance of escaping. After a round of polite greetings, Sam, clearly suspicious at seeing Ivy and David chatting together, remarked, "Well, you two seem to be getting along very well. What are the two of you up to?"
David stood up, eyeing Sam defensively. "I believe we all have a right to speak to anyone we wish to at this party without the fear of an inquisition. If you must know, Ivy wanted to hire me again to do some photography." "Photography?" Sam asked, not quite believing the excuse.
"Yes," Ivy interjected quickly, knowing that she needed to support David's cover story. "I thought it would be appropriate to have some new family portraits done, now that Kay has turned out to be my daughter. I figured why not get David Hastings to do it. He is an excellent photographer," she continued, hoping that he was, "so I knew that he would do a splendid job. We were discussing times and prices when you interrupted us. We weren't 'up to' anything, Sam."
Good work, Ivy, David thought, impressed by her quick thinking, especially since he was fairly certain she didn't even know previously that he was a photographer.
"Alright," Sam conceded reluctantly, "I guess that sounds reasonable enough."
Suddenly, David's son John came trotting up to them, a goofy smile plastered on his face. "Mom, Dad, I really think that the two of you should dance one dance together again."
"Now John," David protested, "I hardly think that that would be appropriate in these circ—"
"Aw, c'mon," John insisted. "It's just one dance, and I'm sure that Sam won't mind."
"Sam, do you?" Grace asked, uncertain.
Although Sam obviously did mind quite a bit, he didn't want to appear ridiculously jealous and insecure. "I guess not, go ahead."
John grinned even wider and, mission accomplished, walked away. Grace and David danced off together, leaving only Sam and Ivy behind.
*****
"Okay, Ivy," Sam said as soon as Grace was out of hearing distance. "What's going on?"
"What are you talking about?" Ivy had tried to steel herself against the possibility of an encounter with Sam tonight, but it hadn't worked at all. He may have been twenty some years older, but he was still Sam, and the sight of him with another woman as his wife cut her to the core. Much worse, though, was that look of suspicion in his eye when he looked at her that she had never seen in him before.
"Don't play innocent with me," Sam ordered with a wry half-smile. "Whenever we're somewhere together, you always have some sort of scheme cooked up to get me to leave Grace. So far, you haven't pulled anything, as far as I can tell. It's all a little too quiet."
"Maybe I've just run out of schemes and I've given up," Ivy argued halfheartedly, hating to hear Sam talk to her this way.
"I wish I could believe you, but you've claimed that you saw the truth, that I'll never leave Grace, before, but you've always had something else planned. I really hope you have seen the light, Ivy. After all, it has been over twenty years."
Ivy wanted to tell him that it hadn't been over twenty years for her, that, for her, they were together just weeks ago, but all she said was, "I know I need to accept it if I'll have any peace." Only, she couldn't accept it.
"Yes, you do need to. After all, I'm not even the one who left in the first place. You made that choice, Ivy; you're the one who gave up on us."
But I didn't give up on you, Sam. I haven't even started seeing Julian yet. And if I could only go back knowing all this, I never would leave you. "It was the biggest mistake I ever made, and I'd fix it if I could," she said aloud.
"Well, you can't" Sam maintained. "What's done is done, and I'm actually glad you can't change it. I love Grace, and the life we've built together. I wouldn't trade it for anything, not even the life I might've had with you."
Ivy felt like she was going to throw up, and decided at that instant that she hated this Grace with every fiber of her being. Did Sam really mean it? She loved him so completely, and she thought that he had felt the same way, once, at least. Was he actually glad that things had turned out the way they had? "Please, Sam, this is a very painful subject for me. Could we talk about something else now?"
The sincerity in her voice shook Sam, and he felt slightly remorseful in spite of himself about the severity of his words, though he knew that he had to remain firm with her. "I'm sorry, Ivy. I just need you to realize that once and for all. How is Kay doing here, really? Grace and I have been worried about her. She's so angry, and we don't know why, and we just want to stay a part of her life. She still feels like our daughter, no matter who she's related to genetically." Realizing who he'd just said that too, he apologetically added, "No offense, Ivy."
"That's okay," Ivy assured him. "I know how you feel, with Laura. It's just so unbelievable, and of all the people this could happen to, our children had to be switched with each other." Again, she felt another pang of guilt about that incident with Laura earlier, though she had no idea how to even attempt to correct it. Right now, she'd better just play her role the best that she could. "Kay's doing remarkably well, for the most part. I'm extremely lucky, because she's really opened up to me, and we're getting along very well."
"I'd heard something to that effect, and I'm glad to hear it's true," Sam replied, though she could detect a little resentment that his "daughter" had really bonded with another parent. "I only wish we were so lucky with Laura. She's polite enough, but she's very guarded, though she does seem to be starting to talk to Jessica more. I think she might be nursing some resentment towards you and Julian."
"Kay's the same way; she seems furious with your wife, though I don't think she's angry with you very much, if at all."
"Well, there's no reason why she should be that way," Sam declared defensively. "Grace is a wonderful mother."
Oh really, Ivy thought spitefully. If Grace is so wonderful, then why does Kay hate her so much? However, she actually said, "I'm afraid Laura has every right to feel like this about me. I was never there for her like I should've been."
Sam studied Ivy's features, as if trying to discern her motivations. "I don't know, Ivy," he stated finally. "I can't figure you out tonight. The words you're saying make you sound like you're up to something, but there's something…different about you. I can't put my finger on what it is, but I know it's there."
More than anything at the moment, Ivy longed to tell him everything, that she was different, or rather, the same as she used to be, that she wasn't the monster that he had come to know. She realized that she could not tell anybody, however, and even if she could, what would it accomplish? Sam would be thrown, if she could even get him to believe her, but it wouldn't change anything between them, and she was only here temporarily anyway. No, it was better that she kept silent, so Ivy resignedly replied, "I don't know what you're talking about, Sam. I'm just the same as always."
Sam still looked uncertain, but didn't argue with her. Looking for an excuse to leave, he said, "I think David's been dancing with Grace for long enough now, so if I'll be going now."
With that, Sam left, and Ivy silently watched him go to dance with his wife, too devastated for tears.
*****
"How is the annulment coming along?" Grace asked David as they danced together. "It's not that I don't trust you, which I most definitely do. It's just that Sam's starting to get suspicious about you and your motives again, and I want to be able to tell him how wrong he is about you."
David sighed, hating to deceive Grace in such a way, but unable to do anything about it. True, Ivy wasn't breathing down his neck at the moment, but if he let the annulment to their "marriage" get pushed through while she was out of commission, she'd almost certainly nail him the second Kay managed to bring her back to herself again. He knew that this respite from Ivy's plotting was only temporary, and that once she was back she'd restart the blackmailing straight away, though if he were completely honest with himself, that wasn't the only reason he dreaded getting the other Ivy back. "I've been talking with my attorney, and he's drawing up the papers. He's hit a snag, unfortunately, but he'll hopefully have them ready in a few weeks."
"I knew that I could trust you," Grace smiled before her features darkened with worry. "At least that's something that's going right."
"What do you mean?"
"It's just that evil has entered our lives again. I'm certain of it. Kay not being my daughter, and then her becoming the Crane heir. Somehow, I just know it was evil that took her away from us and brought her here. As if that weren't enough, Charity and Timmy nearly died a few weeks back. Evil was definitely behind that. Now, Charity and I have been having premonitions of evil more and more frequently. I'm afraid that these forces of evil have targeted my family again, when I'd so hoped that the evil had left us after my house was destroyed and I'd lost my baby. I'm especially worried about Charity right now. After all, she's more sensitive than anybody to the evil in our lives, and it always seems to go after her more than anyone else. I'm so scared that evil will try to kill her."
"I'm sure that everything will turn out alright," David muttered absently. After about the fifth "evil," he had found his mind wandering. He was convinced that she had to be right about these supernatural forces, what with Ivy's condition and all, but couldn't she talk about anything else? The more he thought about it, all that she ever did was worry and fret about something or other. In fact, he couldn't recall one instance in which she'd made a witty remark or even laughed at something that struck her as funny. If Grace didn't have the threat of evil to talk about, would she even have anything to say?
Shocked to have been thinking such a thing about the woman that he loved, David stopped himself and tried his best to hold an interesting conversation with her. Eventually, though, Sam tapped him on the shoulder, clearly impatient to dance with his wife again. David complied, strangely enough not as reluctantly as he'd expected, and went off to find Ivy, not because he really wanted to see her that much or anything, of course, but because he felt obligated to check up on her after what must have been an extraordinarily difficult meeting with Sam.
*****
It didn't take long for Simone to find Chad and Whitney in the crowd. They were dancing together. Big surprise. Go ahead, have your little dance, the teen thought maliciously. Cuz in just moments, you'll be mine, Chad, and Whitney'll be sorry she ever betrayed me.
Smiling, she strolled leisurely up to the happy couple and stood right in their way. "Simone, what are you doing?" Whitney asked nervously, fearing a huge fight out in public. Simone had been nothing if not unstable ever since she had found out, but, while Whitney had been angry at Chad for not letting her tell her sister the truth, she had tried not to let her sister's insane rage shake her resolve to be with Chad.
Without a word, Simone raised her right hand, opened her palm, and pointed it at Whitney. Her eyes briefly turned gold, and Whitney practically flew several feet away, gaping at her sister incredulously.
Chad stared at Simone with a mix of shock and anger. "What the hell did you just d—"
"No words," Simone ordered calmly, and Chad found that he could no longer speak. "Now, it's such a wonderful party. Let's dance."
Although Chad certainly had no intention of dancing with her, his arms automatically reached out to hold her, and his legs began to slowly move to the music. Unable to stop himself, all he could do was to throw a stunned Whitney a panicked, apologetic glance.
"Ah, Chad, isn't this sooo nice?" Simone looked up at him, creepily content. "See, this is how things are supposed to be with us! We're just meant to be together, there's no escaping it."
Having had more than enough, Whitney ran back at Simone, intending to drag her off of her boyfriend, but Simone saw her coming, and distractedly blasted her away once more
"C'mon Chad, it's much too crowded in here. Let's go out onto the grounds. It'll be so much nicer out there." Grinning from ear to ear, Simone began leading an unwilling Chad towards the nearest exit. Neither Whitney nor Chad could believe what was happening, but were powerless to do anything about it. Fuming, Whitney followed Simone at a safe distance, unsure of what to do, but certainly not about to let her sister literally abduct her boyfriend.
*****
Semi-hidden behind a corner, Kay had witnessed the whole spectacle. "Alright, Simone," she said to herself, "Unless you've gotten yourself a new hobby in the last few weeks, and somehow I really doubt it, you shouldn't have been able to do magic like that."
Come to think of it, what was it that she had done exactly? It didn't appear to be the sort of magic she was used to, that was for sure. Aside from the lack of any discernible incantations that puzzled her, Kay was beginning to get a sense for magic due to her experimentation in the arts, and it didn't feel like any sort of magic that she knew, though it was undeniably supernatural in origin.
Whatever it was, at any rate, Cassandra no doubt had something to do with it. Knowing that she had to do something, Kay began systematically searching all of the rooms open to guests, and, after a few minutes, found the vampire standing expectantly in a little side room.
"Kay!" Cassandra exclaimed, her voice dripping with a smug cheerfulness. "How sweet of you to think to check up on your lonely old ancestor! I was thinking about the matter of your education, and it occurred to me that we need to set a schedule up soon."
"Can it," Kay snarled, not caring that she was in fact addressing a vampire. "What in God's name do you think you're doing?!"
Instead of flying into a violent rage, as someone like Alistair might have expected her to do, Cassandra reacted to Kay's outburst with a decided approval. "I admire your spirit, Kay. There aren't many, especially of your tender age, who would dare speak to me in that tone. It's refreshing, actually. However, I'm sorry, but I have no idea as to what you might be referring."
"Ha ha," Kay laughed sarcastically. "Very funny, but you know perfectly well what I'm talking about. What the hell have you done to Simone, and why?"