Author's Note: I forgot to include this in the prologue, so I'm including it now. I did not create, nor do I own, any of the characters, settings, or plots of General Hospital. This is an alternate reality, and the characters seen before on ABC and created by the writers and producers are solely theirs. Everything else is mine!
Blackberries and Blood
Chapter One
The limousine was speeding along the Palisades Parkway at two in the morning. Carly yawned and turned to look at her boyfriend, Carlos Lopez. He was staring out the window, looking distracted as usual. She knew this move was worrying him, but she couldn't help but feel slightly hurt by the distance between them. She knew their relationship meant absolutely nothing anymore, but it hurt her that he hadn't noticed she was wearing her new dress for their late night escape—it was one he had bought her. He'd barely even given her a hello before they climbed into the car and sped off.
She sighed and tossed her purse on the seat of the car. "I still don't understand why we had to leave this early."
He shrugged. He didn't acknowledge her question with an answer, but opened the bar in the back of the car and took out one of the miniature bottles of whiskey. She rolled her eyes and went back to staring out the window, a look to imitate her boyfriend's. She saw a sign.
"Now entering Port Charles city limits."
She hated this. She saw nothing but trees and darkness outside the window. She heard nothing but the sound of the car moving against the roadway and she began to miss the neon lights of New York City immediately. It was her home and she had left it all behind now. She glanced out of the corner of her eye over at Carlos. He was still just staring out the window, taking sips from the bottle of whiskey. What had she gotten herself into? A few days before they'd left, Carlos had asked her if she was sure she was okay with the move. She'd said yes then, but now, as she felt tiny twangs of homesickness in her stomach, she missed New York City more than she could have ever imagined.
That was when it happened. They drove further and further into the city and her eyes widened. It wasn't the beauty or serenity of the small town that surprised her, but the familiarity of it all. That tiny diner across the way felt like home. People on the streets looked like ones she had seen before. Those same dark buildings were looming the distance. Was it possible to adjust to this new life this fast?
Inside those dark towers, the lights from the top floor penthouse were still lit up near three in the morning. Sonny Corinthos was pacing the floors up and down penthouse number four inside Harborview Towers, with a drink in his hand and an expressionless face. Anyone who saw him would think he just had a case of insomnia. The world had no clue Sonny was waiting for a phone call from his right hand man, and his best friend, Jason Morgan. He couldn't believe how quickly had been thrown into the middle of a mob war with some hot shot boss from New York City. He'd heard of Carlos Lopez before, and disliked him from the moment that he'd heard one single word about Carlos's business.
"Drugs," he muttered under his breath.
Carlos Lopez was one of the biggest drug carriers in New York. Three quarters of New York City's drug problem was due to the drugs that Lopez passed through his territory. He was powerful, Sonny couldn't deny that. But he didn't need this problem right now. He knew Lopez had chosen this specific time to come. It felt like only yesterday, but in reality it had been four months since the car bomb had gone off in Sonny's limousine. No, he hadn't been inside. But he watched his wife Lily and his unborn child die before his eyes. The bomb had gone off a bit too early, and Lily had been knocked off her feet and had severe burns from the explosion. Her body gave out only a few minutes after the explosion, but not before she could tell Sonny that she'd always love him. That car bomb had killed part of his soul along with his wife and child. Four months was a subtle way of Carlos Lopez moving in without making it very obvious that he was playing off of Sonny's current emotional weakness. The phone chose that moment to ring, and Sonny rushed over to answer it.
"Corinthos," he said, already knowing who it would be.
"They're here," replied the familiar voice of Jason Morgan. "Lopez just pulled up to the Metro Court with a woman, a brunette."
Sonny was puzzled. He'd never heard of Lopez having a wife. Could she be a woman in the business? No way. It didn't matter. She wouldn't be in the way of their business.
"Greet them. Tell Mr. Lopez I want a sit down with him immediately."