Chapter 20
Sonny waited alone in his penthouse. They had planned the way they wanted to play out the next hour down to the last detail. He placed two chairs in front of the fireplace facing the front door. When his cellphone rang he breathed deeply cleansing his lungs and calmly answered it.
"Diego?"
"Si señor, we are here."
"Bring them in. You and Manuel stand to the side of each one of them. If either of them move, stop them. Do not lose control of your actions. We do not want them harmed."
Sonny stepped toward the staircase and waited for Diego to enter with Helena and Stavros.
"Helena, Stavros. Welcome to my home. I am so glad you could join me. Diego, please escort them here to sit in front of the fire where they will be comfortable."
Looking warily at Sonny, Helena allowed herself to be guided across the room. "Mr. Corinthos, how charitable of you. I could say that you took your sweet time in summoning us from within the prison you held us."
"I do apologize Helena if you were inconvenienced. My schedule today was interrupted by an unforeseen circumstance. Please, allow me to introduce you to the circumstance that prevented me from seeing you earlier."
Sonny, upon the entrance of Helena and Stavros followed them to their chairs. However, as he made his last statement he retreated and went to stand behind the sofa as the front door opened.
In single file, Alexis, Johnny, Kristina and Dixon entered the penthouse and took their place beside Sonny. They indeed presented a overpowering force standing there proudly wearing sardonic albeit satisfied smiles. There was not one hint of fear or trepidation in any of them. This was their moment. The years of torment would end today. They would all be free.
Giving Alexis the privilege they felt she deserved for bringing them all together, they all took one step back in honor and looked to her to deal with Helena and Stavros.
Alexis stepped around the sofa to stand in front of Helena.
"I hear you've been keeping tabs on the activities of my family and I. Well, here we are. All of us, just for your enjoyment. You are now, for perhaps the first time in your life in the presence of true royalty. How does it feel?"
"Ah, Natasha dear, such a dry wit. Do you seriously want to provoke me in this manner? You know I do not take kindly to being summoned by anyone, least of all the bastard offspring of my dear Mikkos."
"Well, I thought it appropriate. I simply wanted you to see us all one more time. Not, mind you, separated and spread around the world as you intended. But, here together." Alexis turned sweeping her hand toward Johnny and Kristina, uniting them with her in action. "Do we not make a handsome family?"
"Do not test me, Natasha. You will regret it."
Laughing softly Alexis let her eyes linger on each of her companions.
"We do make a formidable force, don't we? And you should be a little apprehensive at the moment. I am told that Sonny has had his hands full with keeping you in one piece. Is that not true, Mr. Diego?"
"Si, senorita. I would be greatly honored if you would allow me my greatest wish at the moment."
"Let me reassure you that I have often felt that way myself, Mr. Diego. I do apologize for requesting you be restrained from hurting our guests. You see, your captives have been a thorn in our side all of our lives and I'm sure you can understand that their future should be ours to determine. Can you see the appropriateness of my request, Mr. Diego?
"Si Senorita. It is your right. No one can take away your right to avenge the cruelties against you."
"Thank you, Mr. Diego for your understanding."
Alexis smiled her gratitude toward him and turned to glance at Sonny effectively telling him that Diego would not be a problem for either of them any more in this situation. And Sonny would not be viewed as soft because he hadn't allowed Diego to kill them. Sonny bowed respectfully once in acknowledgement of her success with the head of his Mafia.
"Now, Helena, it is time to deal with you one final time. From this moment on you and Stavros are dead to all of us. You are not to contact any of us, you are not to follow us, stalk or threaten any of the five of us or anyone related to us in any way. In effect you are to forget you ever laid eyes on any of us. Take your sorry excuse of a son and get out of Port Charles. Get out of the country. You are not welcome here. Should any of us, or any of our relatives ever have cause to even suspect you are anywhere near, you and your son will pay the price. Am I making myself perfectly clear to you?"
Reaching quickly to grab Stavros arm as he went to stand, Helena pulled him back down. She was very aware that Diego was on a short leash. Not taking her eyes from Alexis, she patted Stavros on the arm.
"Natasha, you are making a grave mistake. You should know from experience not to threaten me or my son. There have been too many imbeciles over the years who have paid the ultimate price for far less."
"Old woman, your threats no longer have the power they used to. As you can tell by the ease and confidence of my family as they stand here, we simply don't have the time of day to give you anymore. You are worthless and were tired of playing your games."
Stavros was becoming quite impatient with the tone of the conversation and wanted to make his own point; after all he was the prince. No one would ignore him and not feel his wrath. Alexis so far had the upper hand and he would not tolerate it. Looking for a way to disturb her calm he spoke to her with disdain.
"I can see by the marks on your face the result of our earlier game, little sister. You always did bruise so easily. Why don't you get rid of this audience of yours and let's continue our game. We used to have so much fun together."
Alexis knew that Stavros would be too arrogant to stay quiet. With a condescending smile toward him she walked over to the desk and picked up a stack of documents, made her way back over to the others and calmly handed each one a copy of the document. When there was only one left, she walked back to Helena and handed it to her and finally spoke to Stavros
"You will never lay a hand on me again. You sit here in all of your self-imposed glory only because I did not want your blood on my hands. How does it feel to owe your life to me?"
Stavros moved quickly to stand reaching for Alexis and was sharply pulled back down into his seat painfully aware that his arm would be broken if he moved the least bit in any direction.
Diego, sneered cruelly at his captive and twisted his hold a bit more causing Stavros to yelp with pain before releasing him. "I am in control only because the senorita wishes it. Make one more move and my control will be no more."
Satisfied that Diego had Stavros in hand, Alexis turned back to Helena and handed her the final copy of the document everyone else now held.
"Please Helena, with my blessing, read..."
Alexis watched both Helena and Stavros begin to read the documents. She took two steps backward and glanced at Diego. She knew which one would react first and was proved correct when Stavros leapt up from his chair and jumped toward her screaming his rage.
"You... you will not get away with this. I'll see you in he... aaagghh."
Stavros had been so intent on his target he forgot Diego who stood beside him and suddenly found his air cut off. In one swift move Diego caught him, threw him to the floor and pulled his blade. The blade came to rest against Stavros' throat.
Alexis noticed that the blade Diego held was not in fact a knife, but a tool that was used in harvesting grapes. It had a wooden handle and the metal part looked like a knife that had been curved into a half circle. She had seen the tool used in harvesting grapes. The inside of the blade was laid against the vine and with a swift jerk and lift the grape cluster was severed from the vine neatly and cleanly. Alexis could only imagine what Diego would use that particular weapon for.
Diego was looking at Alexis waiting for permission. He respected this lady. She was muy importante. He would do as she asked.
Alexis watched Diego take Stavros down and then look to her for his next move. Instead of answering him right away, she turned her attention to Helena who had tried to protect her son and was being held still by Manuel.
"Either you keep him under control or Mr. Diego will. Your choice."
Helena looked at Alexis with hatred and spoke to Stavros.
"Stavros, my son, this is not the time to lose your temper. I am sure our captors mean us no harm. They simply wish to be rid of us. While I share your contempt of them, I do not believe it would serve our interests to further ingratiate ourselves at this time."
Alexis nodded at Diego to let Stavros return to his seat. Diego could not resist a parting shot though and bent close to Stavros ear while waving the tool in front of him.
"Señor, do you see what I have here? Can you imagine the damage it could do? Please, I beg you, give me a reason to..."
Alexis heard enough of Diego's whispered remarks of physical torture to Stavros to understand the shiver that went through him. No man could listen to that kind of threat and not be affected. Glancing at Helena, she noticed the woman pale visibly and shiver. She heard the threat as well.
"Mr. Diego, I do believe you have made your point very clear to our guest and I thank you. As you can see, Helena, my brother, sister and I have made quite a few friends and they are extremely loyal to us. Oh, I am so sorry, please excuse my rude behavior. I don't believe you've had the pleasure of speaking with Dixon recently. I know our level of activity has really skyrocketed lately and a report from him should be well over due by now. Would you care to speak to him or better yet... I have another idea. Dix? Would you like the opportunity to deliver your report now, my friend?"
Dixon was grinning from ear to ear. He simply loved Alexis. He had watched the whole scene and found it extremely difficult to restrain his laughter. Alexis had Helena's number and was dialing it every chance she got. He walked over to Alexis, put his arm around her and lifted her hand to his lips for a brief kiss.
"My friend, you are amazing and I bow to your expert finesse." Dixon lifted his head, winked at Alexis and turned his attention to Helena.
"Ah, my sweet former boss. Why did you not tell me there were greener pastures elsewhere? I find it so much more exhilarating working with Miss Davis than I ever did working for you. My family is safe now thanks to Mr. Corinthos and you dear lady, are finished. However, I, unlike Miss Davis do not have a problem calling Mr. Diego and his associates should you get out of line again. I am assured he has just the proper blade for slicing the heart out of a woman. Please do not make the mistake of underestimating me ever again." With that Dixon returned to his place in line.
Alexis turned to Johnny and offered him the chance to rid his heart of the filth of Helena and he gratefully accepted just as Dixon had. Walking toward Helena, he stopped just in front of her and knelt down so she had a direct line of vision into his eyes.
"Do you remember me? Can you see him in my eyes? What does it do to you to know that he loved me more than he loved you or your precious son?" He waited for her to meet his gaze.
Helena did see her precious Mikkos in the eyes of Johnny and screamed her agony at him. Her face became a hideous mask of anger, hatred and pain. She spent her life plotting the demise of his bastard children and they were all three here in the same room with her. Her entire life's mission had been to preserve the family fortune for her precious Stavros. And Mikkos foolishly placed three illegitimate heirs on this earth. She looked into Johnny's eyes again and forgetting her precious dignity spat at him.
Raising his hand to stop Manuel, Johnny noted the fist full of hair that Manuel had pulled from Helena's head as he violently jerked her head backward. Johnny reached into his back pocket, pulled out his handkerchief, wiped his face, and smiled sweetly at her and stood back up. "That one's on the house, dear lady."
Taking one step backward, Johnny took accurate aim and leveled his last verbal assault. "Please, take one more look at the lineage of Mikkos Cassadine and Kristin Bergman. Our Father and our Mother. This is the legacy of Mikkos Cassadine. A legacy that will forever travel through the eons of history. One generation at a time. "
With deliberate ease Johnny turned to Alexis and Kristina and beckoned them forward to stand with him in front of Helena.
"Look at us, Helena. Rest your eyes on the legacy of Kristin Bergman and Mikkos Cassadine. What they shared so long ago will forever remain alive and stand as a true testament to the fact that love, above all else survives."
The torment that was consuming Helena at that moment had reared its ugly head many times before. Always when the torment came upon her she had taken it and fed her hatred with it. She would do the same now. But, she could not have imagined in her wildest dreams, that the continual fueling of such an all-consuming hatred would one day take over her mind and she would lose her sanity.
In the moment that Johnny, Alexis and Kristina joined hands in front of Helena, she lost her sanity and slid head long into a catatonic state of void. All of the hate, the need for revenge, the constant quest for bloodline purity, it was all gone. Helena was reduced to a mere simpleton unaware of anyone or anything around her.
Sonny who had been watching with pride and amusement witnessed Helena's loss of sanity and nodded to Diego and Manuel. The boys lifted their captives by the elbows and guided them out the door to deliver them back to their lonely little island in Greece.
As Johnny and Alexis watched the retreating backs of their tormentors, they each smiled at the relief they felt and wrapped their arms around each other. For the first time in their lives they relished what true freedom felt like. They had faced the enemy and won, without violence. Their mother would have been proud of them. Today they conducted business honorably.