Author's Note: I've gotten a lot of disapproval about the Delia and Sam thing, but you should know that Delia would be 19 or 20 and Sam would be 16 or 17. As many of you guessed, I tried to create a parallel between these two and the current Madison and Ephram thing (Delia as a vocalist in a band, etc). However, I understand that you guys don't dig it, and I promise to lighten up on the Delia and Sam stuff.

Chapter Three: 2AM to 3AM

2:02 AM

            "I can't believe this is happening."

            "Amy, I'm sorry…" Bright fell on his knees, quivering.

            Amy grabbed the cell phone from her purse. "Call the police. I'm going to call Ephram."

            Bright nodded silently and grabbed the phone on the wall.

2:05 AM

            "Did you call the police?" Ephram asked, waiting for a response. "Okay, good. Jesus…make sure Bright doesn't go anywhere. I'm leaving the hospital right now. I'll see you soon. No, don't worry. We'll get them back. I promise."

            Andy walked into the room. "What was that about?"

            Ephram paused for a second. "It was nothing. Listen, I have to leave. Can you manage without me?"

            Andy approached Ephram and placed his hands on his son's shoulders. "Is something wrong?"

            Ephram shook his head and flashed a fake smile. "Nothing I can't handle." Ephram added on a lighter note, "You know, you're getting better at this 'something's wrong' intuition. You better be careful or else you might actually become a great parent someday."

            Andy laughed lightly and left the waiting room.

2:14

Ephram left the hospital and realized that he didn't have a ride back; Amy had taken the car.

            A man masked in shadows stood casually in front of the bookstore across the hospital parking lot. "Need a lift?"

            Ephram walked over to him, trying to catch a glimpse of his face. "Do I know you?"

            "Oh, yeah. You and I go way back," the voice replied.

His voice seemed familiar, but impossible for Ephram to identify. "Who are you? If you could give me a ride back to my house, I'd be grateful…"

"You don't need to go back to your house. You have to get your kids back." The man chuckled. "And I'm here to tell you how to do that, Ephram."

Fear and anger burned in Ephram's mind. "Who. Are. You."

            "Still haven't figured it out? Well perhaps you should take a good look." The man stepped out of the shadows, revealing his face to Ephram.

            Ephram was startled to see the person that stood before him. "You?"

            Ephram's old mentor grinned maliciously. "I promised you we'd meet again in ten years... 'Want to compare notes?'"

2:19

            Andy and Nina left Delia's hospital room to get some coffee. Sam sat alone in the dark by Delia's bed.

            "I know you can't here me right now. That doesn't matter. I just need to tell you something, Del," Sam began. "The past couple months have been some of the best of my life. I've never felt this way about a person. I never believed I could feel this way about a person." Sam tried not to cry. "I'm sorry this happened to you. I'm sorry that you're here because of me." Sam quietly closed the door before continuing. "You were going to pick me up so we could go ice-skating tonight. But you never made it to my house, and now you're here…this never would've happened if I had my license; if I could drive. This never would've happened you were dating someone your own age or older. But it happened because you're dating me." Sam gently placed his hand on hers. "God, I'm so sorry."

2:23

            Ephram stared in horror as he conquered the initial tremors of denial. Matthew Lansing, the first piano teacher he got when he had moved to Everwood just over ten years ago stood in front him. "What is this about, Matt? Why are you here? Why am I here?"

            Matthew laughed. "Everything. Everything that has happened in the past three hours has happened for a reason. Everything that will happen to you today will happen for one, and only one reason: the game."

            "What are you talking about? I don't understand what you're saying…"

            "You will."

            "Everything that's happened…you're saying they're connected." Ephram waited for Matthew's nod before continuing. "Why? What is this about? How do you know this?"

            Matthew ignored his questions. "Now the real fun's going to begin. Let me ask you a question. What do you value most, Ephram?"

            Ephram remained mute, trying to run his mind a mile a minute.

            "Perhaps I should say, whom do you value most?"

            Ephram clenched his fists. "You know where my kids are, don't you?"

            "Always quick on the catch-on, that's one of the things I liked about you, Ephram. As for your children, I know that they are simply one of the chance cards; completely added to the game as a means for getting you to make a move."

            "Move? What move?"

            "To kill Dr. Andrew Brown. Your father."

            Ephram stepped closer to Matt. "What? What does my father have to do with any of this? What is this?"

            Matthew laughed. "It's my understanding that your father has everything to do with this."

            "You keep talking as if you don't know everything that's going on. But based on what you said earlier, it sounds like you're in on this 'game'. Is this some kind of joke?"

            "No, this isn't a joke, but yes, I'm in on it. My job was to get you to kill Andrew Brown." Matthew pointed to the gold watch on his wrist. "You see, you have until 6AM to kill your father. Or else your children will die."

            "Again, you're not making any sense. Who wants me to kill my dad? Why does he want me to do it?"

            Matthew shrugged cheerfully. "Your guess is as good as mine. One of his associates came to me with the offer. I was skeptical at first. The money didn't really appeal to me."

            "Then why are you doing this?"

            Matthew grinned. "To you see you suffer, Ephram."

            Ephram shoved Matthew against a wall and grabbed him by his jacket collar. "WHY?"

            Matthew's grin never faded. "Don't you remember? I told you that in ten years, you'd have done things you would've never thought possible. I think killing your own father ranks up there."

            Ephram shook his head. "You're assuming that I'd actually do it."

            Matthew smirked. "Like you have a choice."

            Ephram nodded coolly. "I do. I could just beat the crap out of you until you told me where my kids are."

            "Haven't you been listening, Ephram? I don't know where your kids are! The only two things I was supposed to do were telling you that you have until noon to kill your father, and then to watch you reel in denial and agony." Matthew grinned. "The latter part is what really got me in the game."

            Ephram winced. "What assurances do I even have that I'll get my kids back?"

            "That's the beauty of it: none whatsoever! However, you can be assured that if you don't do this by noon, your kids will be dead."

            "Why are you doing this to me? Is it about what I said to you when you left?"

            Matthew chuckled once more. "Oh no, I got over that pretty quickly. You may find this hard to believe, but I very seldom take the judgments of fifteen-year old boys to heart. No, this is far more than that. This is about where you are today." Matthew pulled last month's issue of Time magazine from his coat. "'One of the greatest musicians of the modern world.' You have no idea how much that disgusts me, Ephram. You. You are everything I strived to be. I always held myself in such high regard, believing that my time would come, and one day I would live up to my full potential. I never did. I live in a small apartment above a music store in England: no magazine articles, no music albums, no royalties, no autographs, NOTHING. And there you are; on top of Mount Everest. Your mere presence taunts me. That moody sonavabitch that I gave weekly-lessons to just over a decade ago is now the Leonardo of music. I had serve justice because life wouldn't do it for me. I had to find a way to restore the balances of fairness."

            Ephram clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned pale white. "So in other words, I got lucky with the piano and now you want me to kill my dad just to keep things fair. Sure, I'm surprised at the things I've accomplished since we last saw each other. But I'm more surprised at the things you've done since then. You've grown bitter. Vindictive. Willing to endorse the killing of two innocent children and one of the best doctors in the world just so you can feel better about yourself."

            Stars dazzled in Ephram's eyes has he felt the force of years of bottled anger smash into his face in the form of a fist. Ephram fell down, rubbing his face.

            Matt stood over him with a satisfied smirk on his face. "I've waited a long time to do that; to silence your sharp tongue."

            Ephram lashed out at Matt but was swiftly knocked back down by a deft kick to the stomach.

            "Pitiful, Ephram. You have three and a half hours to kill your father. And don't try anything clever, or they WILL kill your children." With that said, Matt began to leave.

            Ephram coughed, trying to get back up. "Wait…please…you can't do this."

            "I'm done. My part in the game is finished. Goodbye, Ephram." Getting into his car, Matthew Lancing drove away, leaving the street as if he had never been there to begin with.

2:38

            Laynie Hart shivered as soon as she stepped foot outside the airport, looking for a taxi. After a couple aggressive attempts, one finally stopped for her.

            Laynie got inside as the cabdriver loaded her suitcase into the trunk. "Where to, miss?"

            "I need to get to a town called Everwood. Know where that is?"

            "Yeah, I think so," the driver mumbled, searching for the town on a GPS map. "That's about three hours away. It's going to be pretty pricy. You sure you don't want to take a bus?"

            Laynie nodded. "I'm sure.

2:45

            Amy constantly wiped tears away from her eyes as the police asked Bright some questions in the kitchen. Another trio of cops began taking fingerprint samples, hoping the abductor touched something.

            Officer Davis approached Amy. "Is there anything more you can tell us, Mayor Abbott?"

            Amy set the box of Kleenex down. "No, I've told you everything I know."

            Davis kneeled down by Amy. "This seems like a standard ransom case. If it is, you'll get a phone call soon to set-up the deal. I already have a couple deputies bringing down some tracing equipment and the station is setting up a 'tap' on your phone line."

            Amy just shook her head. Ephram, where are you?

2:57AM

            Andy's phone rang. "Hello? Yes…No, it was an accident. What? Well no, she's not awake yet…no, you must be mistaken. Are you sure? Yes, thank you…"

            Nina woke-up on her chair. "What was that about?"

            Andy's face bore a grave expression. "It was the police. They had a closer look at Delia's car…"

            Nina rubbed her eyes and yawned. "A total wreck?"

            "No, not that. They…" Andy began, trying to fight his own disbelief. "They found evidence of sabotage. Delia's crash was no accident."

3AM   

 Author's Note: Next chapter is going to cut down on the action and sink deeper into the drama.

Preview of 3AM-4AM

            "What are you going to do?"

            Ephram shrugged and sighed. "I don't know. I just don't know anymore."

            Amy placed her hand on Ephram's cheek. "Then I'll stay with you. We'll figure this out together."

            "No, we're not. I want you to go find Bright and leave Everwood as soon as you can. Find a motel somewhere and lay low until…"

Amy cried into Ephram's shoulder. "Ephram…"

            "Please, do this for me. I have no idea what all this is about, and I don't know what these people want. All I know is that they're dangerous and no one can be trusted. Please go. It's not safe here." Ephram's lip trembled. "If anything ever happened to you, my life wouldn't be worth living."

            Amy nodded and kissed Ephram. It was a kiss of complete, unimpaired love; a kiss only shared if it were to be the lovers' last.