Chapter 49- The Fire

Willow tried to move through the flames, Amelia's cries calling out to her. The heat was so intense that Willow panted.

"Amelia? Amelia? Where are you?"

Finally, in the distance, she could see her baby floating amongst the flames wailing.

Willow jolted awake when something touched her hand.

"I'm sorry!" Sasha was sitting beside her. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay? You're sweating."

"I—I had a bad dream. Amelia was in a fire." Willow's heart sped up. "I have a really bad feeling." She tried climbing out of bed. "I need to find my baby."

"Willow! You need to rest."

"But my baby…."

"It was probably just a bad dream," Sasha assured her.

Willow shook her head. "No, something's wrong. I can feel it."

Sasha sighed. "Okay, well are the kids with Nina? Want me to call her to check on them?"

"No, the kids are with Michael."

Sasha frowned. "Oh… didn't you hear? Michael was arrested."

"What?"

"I don't know the details. Chase told me."

"Then where are my kids?"

Sasha shrugged. "I don't know."

GHGHGH

Nelle pushed her way through the flames. The heat so intense that she was panting.

"Mommy!" a little boy's voice called out to her. "Mommy, save me!"

"Who are you?" she called out to him. "And where are you?"

Finally, in the distance, she could see the little blonde boy from her other dreams, only he was a bit bigger, standing amongst the flames.

Nelle jolted awake to find Morgan at her bedside, holding her hand.

"Hi Isla," he said. "Did you have another bad dream?"

She sat up straight and placed her hand over her clammy forehead. "It was the baby from my dreams… but he was bigger. And he needed my help." He hung her legs over the side of her bed. "I have to help him."

"Whoa, whoa," Morgan said. "It was just a dream."

"No… I feel like it was more than a dream. He was in fire."

Morgan's mouth dropped slightly. "Impossible. Everyone was out of the house. Mom went to see Michael, and Donna is with Dad…."

"Wh—who are they?"

He shook his head. "No one. I—I gotta go."

GHGHGH

Wiley kept close to the stroller as fire spread over the couch and along the floor. He started sweating in his snowsuit. He glanced all around. "Auntie Josslyn? Auntie Josslyn!?"

Amelia started crying.

Wiley stood on his tiptoes to peek in at his baby sister. "It's okay, Amelia. I'll protect you." He stood there in thought. "Stop, drop, and roll. Stop, drop, and roll! That's what Mommy and Daddy said." He pressed his arms to his side, dropped to the ground, and rolled in his spot, but away from the fire. He stood up, stared out at the flames, and cried, "It didn't work."

GHGHGH

"Tell me what's in the envelope," Elizabeth insisted.

"It's—It's nothing," Jeff said, his hand halfway in his jacket.

Elizabeth grabbed his hand and yanked the envelope from him.

"Elizabeth!" Jeff snapped. "You need to give that to me."

"No. If you really want to make things up to me … then stop keeping things from me. What has you so scared about this envelope?"

Jeff sighed. "I know you don't trust me. But you need to trust me on this. I can't tell you."

"Or how about you trust me? Is this a threat?"

His eyes bulged. "Why would you ask that?"

Elizabeth gulped. "Because I received one too."

GHGHGH

When Dex arrived back at Carly's house, he chose to go in through the back, the same way he left. He thought he'd less likely to be seen that way. But even when he hopped the fence into the backyard, he could see flames through the windows.

Who would set fire to Carly's house or was it an accident?

He rushed to the back window, looking into the kitchen. Amongst the flames, Josslyn laid there unconscious.

Dex kicked the backdoor open. He pushed his way inside and coughed through the smoke. He bent over and scooped Josslyn up. He carried her out the back door.

GHGHGH

Sonny buckled Donna into the backseat, then climbed in front with Nina.

"So, you're going to play with me and Wiley?" Donna asked.

Sonny grinned at her from the rearview mirror, and he started driving to Carly's house. "We sure are."

"I know it's only been a little over 24 hours, but I miss Wiley and Amelia," Nina said.

"That's understandable. They've been living with you full-time since Willow's transplant," Sonny said.

"Is Mommy gonna be there?" Donna asked.

"Mommy went to see Michael," Sonny explained. "But Josslyn is with your niece and nephew right now. We'll stay for a bit to visit before we go."

GHGHGH

"Okay, I just got off the phone with Brooklyn," Sasha said. "The kids stayed at Carly's last night."

"Carly's?" Willow groaned. "Okay, would you mind calling Carly to see how the kids are?"

Sasha tried calling Carly's number but it went to voicemail. "Sorry, she's not answering."

Willow frowned. "Something is wrong."

"If you want, I can drive by Carly's place to check on them."

Willow smiled. "Oh, thank you. That would be great."

GHGHGH

Wiley glanced around the flames again as they grew bigger and bigger. He reached up and grabbed the handle of the stroller with both hands. "Come on, Amelia. I don't know where Auntie Josslyn is, but there's way too much fire."

Amelia kept wailing.

"Don't worry, Amelia," Wiley said, pushing her towards the front door. "I'll take care of you."

He pulled open the front door and pushed her onto the porch.

GHGHGH

Once Sasha left, Willow yanked out her IV and threw her clothes on. She sneaked out to the elevator and followed Sasha to the parking garage.

Sasha looked up as she unlocked her car doors. "Willow… what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry… wait no, I'm not sorry…. I need to go with you," Willow said, out of breath and dizzy. "Make sure Wiley and Amelia are okay."

Sasha sighed. "Nina will kill me if I take you with me."

"I won't let her," Willow said, climbing in the front seat.

"Willow, this is a bad idea…."

"The sooner we go, the faster you can bring me back here."

GHGHGH

Morgan sped past the speed limit to get to Carly's house as quickly as possible. Was Nelle's hunch correct? Was Wiley in the house? He was certain no one would be there. Both Carly and Donna, the ones who lived there, were out.

He almost swerved the car when Nelle sat up in the backseat.

"Isla?" He groaned. "What are you doing here?"

"I—I don't know," Nelle said, confused over the matter. "Something inside me told me to go with you. Maybe it was the spirits… or something else."

Morgan groaned, thinking it's probably her mother's instinct. But he didn't like the fact that she had a child with Michael… but he still didn't want his nephew to get hurt. "All right, well, it's too late to turn back now. Just stay in the car when we get there! And stay out of sight!"

GHGHGH

Jeff took Elizabeth up to his hotel room so no one would overhear. He shut the door and locked it behind him.

"Is Mom here?" Elizabeth asked.

"No. She's at the hospital."

Elizabeth turned to him and crossed her arms. "Tell me the truth. The whole truth and nothing but the truth. What is going on?"

Jeff sighed. "These threats… they've been happening for almost 27 years."

"27 years? You mean… since I killed Reiko?"

He nodded. "They started shortly after that."

"Do you know who has been sending them?"

"Yes. Her brother, Hiroto."

"So, it was about revenge?" Elizabeth asked. "But why was he threatening you and not me?"

"You see, he suspected you at first and you were the one he was threatening. Then your mother and I convinced him that we killed Reiko."

Elizabeth's face softened a bit. "What? You took the blame for what I did?"

"What you did was an accident. It wasn't your fault. You were only 14 and in shock after seeing me with Reiko. You didn't push her on purpose. But Hiroto didn't see it that way. He wanted revenge. When we tried going to the police, you woke up one morning with your hair chopped off."

"Why don't I remember that?"

"Because your mother hypnotized you into forgetting all this. We couldn't prove it to the police, and they started investigating our family. We didn't know what to do. So, we mailed a confession to the police, your mother hypnotized you, and we left you with the neighbours. We didn't have time to take you to Audrey because the police were on their way. That's when we fled the country and joined doctors without borders. But whenever we wanted to get hold of you, the threats came. Some days I thought your mother wouldn't survive, she was in such agony over not being able to see you and Sarah. The only thing that kept us going was the hope to see you girls and Steve again. And now I know that Hayden is my daughter too….

"So, last year Hiroto died, and we came back to the country," Jeff continued. "We thought the threats were finally over. That's why we tried to reach out to you and the boys through social media. Jake was the most open and we exchanged emails. It was a delight getting to know him and learning more about your family. But shortly after that we received more threats, this time from Hiroto's son. He said he wanted to finish what his father started. When we heard you were in a coma, we were worried it was Hiroto's son, because just before your attack we received a threat saying he was going to target you. That's why we rushed here."

Elizabeth avoided eye contact. "This… this is a lot to process. I received a threat just before I was attacked too. I have no idea if it was related to the kidnappings or not. Do you… have any idea who Hiroto's son is?"

He shook his head. "We don't. But Lizzie—Elizabeth, I'm so sorry we stayed away. We felt we had no choice. But I'm glad it's all out in the open now. Your mother and I will do anything we can to protect you and the boys."

Elizabeth nodded. "Then we need to figure out who Hiroto's son is."

GHGHGH

Wiley looked back at the burning house and back down at Amelia. He pushed the stroller down the ramp and a little away from the house.

He jolted when Dex started walking over to him.

"Hey, Wiley, right?" Dex asked. "I'm a friend of your aunt's."

Wiley's eyes widened. "You're a scary man!" Wiley stomped on Dex's foot and pushed the stroller as fast as he could into the bushes and out of sight. He crouched down hoping the scary man wouldn't come near him and Amelia.