I know I said this wouldn't be back until after May 11th… well the muse decided otherwise. I've been writing it each night after studying until I finished… I'm actually in the library right now. LOL. Took a break to finish this.
Your comments and questions are of course appreciated.
The continuous posting onto this site of this story is contingent upon interest.
UNEDITED
Chapter Thirteen
The Sins of Their Fathers
He stepped off of the private jet and walked directly to the car waiting for him. He was not sure he should have left her as she was still so fragile, but this needed to be done.
He held her in his arms. She sobbed long and mournful tears of a person who had lost… no who had been robbed of the most precious possession she had ever owned.
He looked at her, 15 years old and pregnant…
He looked at her, 16 years old and alone…
He looked at her, 22 years old and broken…
The man held the door opened for him.
--- "Good Afternoon, Mr. Cassadine. It's wonderful to see you once again."
Stefan nodded his head in agreement at his regular driver.
--- "Thank you, Alec."
The man noticed that Stefan was alone. He had been informed that his boss had decided to relocate to the States; but he was sure that upon hearing of his return, he would bring young Nikolas along, if only to say his goodbyes. It was disappointing.
--- "And how is Master Nikolas?"
He smiled at the mention of his son. He knew he should have brought him along, but this was not a social visit.
--- "He is quite well, thank you."
Alec closed the door once Stefan stepped into the car; it was clear his mind was preoccupied with other thoughts.
--- "I'm very happy to hear that, Mr. Cassadine. The staff is anxiously awaiting your return—"
Stefan interrupted him.
--- "No, actually we need to first make a stop elsewhere; I have a decrepit old bone that I must snap."
The driver viewed the man through his rearview mirror. He simply nodded his head.
She was his painting comprised of a multitude of colors, layers, and themes. They shared a common history, a common story, all painted on the same canvas. She was deep and mysterious to all who saw and perhaps knew her, but no one really knew her; not the way he did. He knew her better than anyone. He knew her inside and out; he knew everything about her… or so he had thought. His painting, which hung high against a wall above all others torn and taped… torn and retaped… without him knowing, was finally shredded into thousands of pieces.
He wondered at 15…
He suspected at 16…
He knew at 22…
He did not know how he missed something so big in the young woman's life. He looked out the window as the car passed over the bridge overlooking the vast Cassadine Estate. To the outsider, this 'home' was one's dream; how lucky it must have been to live there with servants at your feet, the finest wines, and the most exquisite meals prepared by the top chef in Greece? Oh, if only they knew the hell that existed behind those gates that separated the family from the common masses.
--- "Alexis, you have to compose yourself."
He held her as she continued to sob in his arms. He rocked her back and forth kissing the top of her head, and offering words of consolation. While he had suspected what had happened to her all those years ago, he never brought it to her attention as she had appeared to have come to terms with it. He saw how much she had loved her baby in spite of how she came to be; he could never taint the child's existence, even in the care of others, with questions of what must have been her mother's worst experience. Asking no further questions, he, as his cousin had done, closed the book and placed it onto the barely reachable top of the shelf.
--- "Alexis, I know that this isn't your intention, but you're scaring her; you're scaring Samantha. You have to get up and you need to reassure your daughter that you're alright."
For years they lived in that house being verbally and physically abused by both Helena and Stavros. It was as though the two lived off of his and Alexis'… Alexandra's…. misery. Why did it seem implausible to him that his brother… ugh, he used that word loosely… might take the further step of sexually abusing her? Why did it seem so out of the realm of possibility that someone so ignorant and feral as Stavros might harm someone so beautiful and innocent as she? He felt like a fool, and worse, he felt like an accomplice to her assault; he had underestimated Stavros' acts of hate at her expense.
She grasped firmly to his shirt. She looked directly into his eyes.
--- "She's not a monster."
He looked from her to the tiny child lying perfectly still in the bed; she seemed almost afraid to even breathe for fear that her mother might further slip into delirium. He smiled at her so that she might know that everything would be alright; he would not allow her mother to slip further away from her. She stared back at him with eyes so familiar he could not understand how he had missed them.
--- "No, my dear, she is not. She is a beautiful little girl who is fearful for her mother right now. You have to compose yourself—"
He realized that he was asking much of her, but he knew her and of what she was capable. She beat considerable odds in her life to allow the ghost of an animal bring her to her knees; he would not allow her to give Stavros such satisfaction… even in death. Stefan was prepared to battle that man for her soul.
--- "Stefan, I can't! He's coming for her!"
He held her face in his hands. He stared into her eyes.
--- "He will not touch her. Do you hear me?"
Tears continued to roll down her cheeks.
--- "How—"
Using his thumbs, he wiped them away.
--- "Darling, he's already dead."
--- "Mr. Cassadine?"
--- "Yes?"
He had been so lost in thought that he did not realize that the driver had pulled up to the house and had opened the door for him. He quickly stepped out as he was unsure how long the man had been standing there.
--- "Thank you, Alec."
--- "Would you like me to pick you up at a certain hour, sir?"
He was unsure of how long this might take, but he would be damned if he spent the night in that dungeon; although the man continued to live in Greece with his young son, it had been approximately five years since Stefan had stepped foot onto Cassadine Island. He planned to say his peace, procure the information for which he had made the trip, then leave and never return again.
--- "Please stay within calling distance; I'm not certain as to my departure time, but I cannot imagine I'll be here for very long."
The driver nodded and closed the door once Stefan had cleared it.
--- "Very well, sir."
Stefan approached the house as though her were entering the dragon's lair. From a distance, the island was beautiful, warm, and inviting, however once one stood at the door, it was evident that one had been duped. There was no love or warmth there. The stone columns elicited more warmth than what could be found inside the home. This was a place filled with anger, despair, and secrets of which he was there to unravel.
He rang the doorbell seeing as he no longer had a key; the butler promptly arrived. He was, to say the very least, quite shocked to see the youngest Cassadine man standing at the doorstep.
--- "Master Stefan! It is an absolute pleasure to see you once again."
Stefan had always been kind to the staff; in essence, they had raised him and treated him more like family than those with whom he was actually related and share blood. He smiled and extended a hand to the man who had taught him to tie his shoe.
--- "It's wonderful to see you again Peter. How is the family?"
The butler took the man's hand with both of his own.
--- "Everyone is doing quite well, sir. I am sure your little one is quite grown?"
Nikolas had just been born when Stefan left… or escaped… from the home.
--- "Yes, he's five years old and quite intelligent for his age."
The man did not realize that he had never released his former master's hand. Petter, being of service to the Cassadines for over three decades, had watched Stefan grow up from infancy. He had witnessed his 'mother's' deplorable neglect and his 'father's' absolute indifference. Having a young son of his own, whom he had not spent nearly as much time with as he would have liked, he easily took Stefan under his wing.
--- "Life is not the same here without you or Miss Alexan—"
Stefan cautiously eyed him; the walls had ears. It had always perplexed him why the name was not to be spoken in their home and his father was quick to make it seem as though that quiet girl did not exist; now he questioned whether the man knew what his eldest son, the heir to the fortune, had done. It disturbed him how fiercely people of such low moral character fought to preserve the high honor of their shameful Cassadine name. If only the vast public knew of the surreptitious ways in which this 'family' operated; it was nothing but a house of cards awaiting a gentle breeze to blow and collapse it upon itself. Stefan prayed that when that die finally arrived, he would have the honor of witnessing his mother, and his father, if he were in any way involved in this cover-up, buried beneath the rubble; perhaps in that way they would know Alexis' pain.
--- "Alexis, Peter, is doing very well; she asked that I send you her regards. Now, if you'll excuse me I must pay my mother a visit I am certain she unhappily awaits."
The old butler finally, with some embarrassment, released Stefan's hand.
--- "Well, I hope you are successful in your endeavors here, sir."
--- "Success is relative, isn't it? Thank you."
Stefan, with a mission on his mind, steadily and confidently walked towards the library. It was seven in the evening; she would be nowhere else awaiting the clock to strike eight so that she might enjoy her dinner alone and in silence. In the most grandiose fashion imaginable, he widely opened both doors to the large room allowing them to slam against the wall, lest she fail to notice his arrival.
--- "Hello, Mother."
There was a knock at her dormitory dorm. She wondered who it might be as she had not yet made any friends at the school seeing as it had only been a few days since she had arrived. She put her books on the desk and walked to the door.
--- "Yes?"
--- "Miss Alexandra?"
She slowly opened the door as she realized speaking through it was quite rude.
--- "How may I help you, sir?"
He smiled kindly at the girl.
--- "Mr. Cassadine asked me to pick you up."
Her heart jumped. She was beyond grateful that Mikkos had decided to send her to the states for schooling. While he claimed it was to further her education, she knew that he sent her thousands of miles from the country she had come to know as home for one reason… well, two reasons… he was protecting her from further abuse at the hands of his wife and elder son. Although she was happy to be away from their evil clutches, such distance meant the same between she and Stefan. It had only been three days, but she missed him terribly. She was overjoyed at the thought that he might miss her too.
--- "St—"
He interrupted her.
--- "He asks that I take you to his hotel room. He had meant to come by and get you himself, but unfortunately, he was otherwise indisposed at a meeting."
She smiled happily as she grabbed her jacket and the key to her room.
--- "That's not a problem…"
--- "Ronald."
She nodded.
--- "Ronald, thank you. I'm happy to accommodate his schedule seeing as he came here to see me!"
He stepped aside to allow her to lock her door.
She smiled and looked at the city's scenery as Ronald drove her to the hotel. She was happier than she had ever been; she had, in fact, spent months away from her cousin, but this had been the first time she were so far from her that a car ride or train ride could not have easily bridged the distance between them.
--- "Alright Miss, he's in room 808."
She nodded her head as she stepped out of the car.
--- "Thank you, Ronald."
--- "You're very welcome."
She walked into the extravagant hotel, found the elevators, and took it to the eighth floor. She found the room and knocked on the door, but careful to not do so in a way that might have the man tease her for her excitement.
Unfortunately, when the door opened, her joy quickly turned into fear and astonishment.
--- "Hello, pet."
She felt his arms around her waist gripping her tightly; she was terrified that he might tear her clothing from her body again. She forcefully pried the arm from her.
--- "GET OFF OF ME!"
And then the sound of the whimper resonated through her ears, shattering her as she realized that she had been dreaming about him again; unfortunately, with her outburst, she managed to terrify her still traumatized daughter. She attempted to pull Sam, who moved as far away from her mother on the bed as she could without falling off, back into her arms; the girl resisted.
--- "I'm sorry, baby. Mommy just had a scary dream."
Sam clutched her teddy bear to her. She shook in fear that at any moment her mother might spank her as Evelyn always had.
--- "I'm sorry—"
Alexis extended her hand to wipe Sam's tears, but the child flinched; it hurt her to realize that her behavior had had such an effect on her daughter. She needed to get her nerves under control; she could not raise her little girl in a fear-filled home.
--- "No, you don't have anything to be sorry for, chipmunk. It's Mommy who's sorry; she shouldn't have yelled at you."
Sam wiped her nose with the back of her hand.
--- "Do I make you sad?"
Alexis looked at the child who, despite having been created through the most horrible of circumstances, meant the world to her. Now that she had been in her life for several weeks, she could no longer remember what her life had been like without having her there. It astounded her that there had been a time when she was able to function without her baby girl.
--- "You could never make me sad, Sammy. NEVER."
Sam loosened her grip onto her bear. She looked attentively at her mother. Although the woman attempted to smile in her presence and act as though everything were fine, Sam was not stupid; she had experienced enough strife in her life to recognize the pain behind her mother's laughter.
--- "But you cry all the time… I hear you."
She sat up in the bed so that she could better look at her daughter.
--- "Oh honey, I do cry, but it's not you who makes me sad—"
--- "Then who?"
Alexis tried once again to bring her daughter to her; this time she was successful. She held the girl against herself as she leaned back against the headboard. She thought about how she would possibly tell her child that the person who made her cry from the time she was as small as she, was the corpse that haunted her dreams, thoughts, and reality; in fact, he was standing in the corner of the room watching her… watching them. She closed her eyes to block him out and concentrate on her child.
--- "Baby, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that even when I am sad or crying, only you can make me feel better—"
--- "Cousin Stefan helps."
Alexis laughed to herself; she loved that her daughter had become attached to the man who protected her for the entirety of her life.
--- "That's true, Cousin Stefan helps; he's always good at making Mommy smile, but that's not it. It's you, Sammy; having you here with me makes everything so much better and that's the truth. Even if Stefan could make me smile and laugh, I'd still be sad if I didn't have you with me. Do you understand me?"
Sam nodded her head.
--- "I don't like to see you sad, Mommy. It makes me sad, too."
Alexis let out a deep sigh before kissing the top of the girl's head. She had been so enwrapped in her nightmares that she never imagined that her false smiles and façade of happiness might be so transparent as to Sam that she might too be affected. She had never wanted Stavros' hate to touch her daughter and yet it seemed through her own actions that it had.
--- "Well, you know what? You don't have to worry about Mommy, okay? She's going to be just fine. She might be a little sad sometimes and cry, but she doesn't want you to feel the same way; she wants you to be happy. Do you want to know why?"
Sam looked up at her mother.
--- "Why?"
Alexis cupped the girls face into her hand ignoring the man who stared intently at her; he would not ruin this moment. She had allowed him too much power in her life; for the sake of her daughter, it was going to stop.
--- "Because you, my little chipmunk, you make me happy. When you smile, I have to smile because then I know that you're fine and you're happy being here with me. When you laugh, I laugh because your laughter is incredibly infectious; I love it almost as much as I love you."
--- "Really?"
She kissed her daughter on the forehead.
--- "Really. You are my world, honey, and I only want to see you happy. Okay? Don't worry about me when I cry; just know that when I'm with you, my tears are instantly dried."
Sam put her bear down and wrapped her arms around her mother's neck.
--- "I love you, Mommy."
Alexis eyed Stavros as he smiled at her. He put his finger to his eye and dragged it down his cheek, mocking the moment she shared with her daughter. She stared him in his decaying and rotting eyes daring him to come any further. When he failed to move as though glued in his place, she smiled and made a gesture she would not have dared make to the man when he walked the earth.
--- "F*ck you, Stavros."
He seemed rather amused by her candor. While he would have loved nothing better than to smack the air of bravado she had developed over the years out of her, he simply blew her a kiss.
--- "That you did, my love. Take care of our little chipmunk, little mouse."
With that, he disappeared. She held her daughter tightly, reminding her how much she loved her. She was going to get through this hellish torture the dead man insisted on putting her through; she would never become his victim.
Mikkos continued to go through the paperwork he held in his private files concerning Alexis. He had done nothing but attempt to protect her throughout her life, but it seemed to him as though with every effort, he failed miserably. Regardless of everything he had done to save her, he only caused the young woman more pain.
He had taken her in against his best interests, and perhaps even her own, but he could not deny his brother's dying request. He should have known the problems that would follow the innocent child upon entrance into his home, but he disregarded all forms of logic; he replaced them with his own selfish desires. A part of him had looked at her as a reincarnation of his little Sofie; having her there could have been a chance to raise the daughter he and his wife had lost. He had hoped that she would fill the hole the still-born baby had left in their hearts. So he, in Sofie Alexis' honor, had renamed his brother's child, Alexandra.
In doing so, as he sat there going through the amount of paperwork he had accumulated throughout her life, another part of him knew that her very existence in their lives, regardless of her name, had been his grave error; that was the starting point of the egregious wrongs he had committed in her life.
Flashback
Helena slammed the door behind her as she stormed into his office after the children had been put to bed. She could not believe that it was possible for him to anger her more than he had several years prior; and yet he did by bringing that child into her home.
--- "How DARE you, Mikkos! How dare you bring that child into this house for me to raise!"
He had been awaiting her arrival; he knew that she would not take his decision lying down.
--- "She had nowhere else to go, Layna—"
She scoffed at his excuse.
--- "That's BULL and you know it! That child could have gone to her mother's family; she did NOT have to come here—"
He thought about his dead brother.
--- "I couldn't turn him down."
She slammed her hand on his desk.
--- "I do NOT want her here, and you need to send her to those people. I won't have you have me raising—"
He quickly stood. There was nothing she could say in the matter; this was his brother's child, his home, and his decision as the head of the household. He knew she did not like it, but that was the way he ran their home.
--- "You will, Helena. That child has just lost her parents and she is still recovering from her injuries from the accident. She's an innocent child who needs a home."
She shook her head in disgust at her husband. They had long ago lost the passionate flame in their relationship, but she had expected better of him than this. She never thought that he could ever reopen her wounds by having that child… this Alexandra… in her home. It was cruel; in some way she had expected better from him.
She stared at him for a moment.
--- "Do you hate me this badly, Mikkos?"
He walked around the desk so that he might come face to face with her. He looked into her eyes; he saw anger, hatred, and buried below, hurt. He gently put his hands on her shoulders.
--- "No I don't."
She looked at him in another light; he was not the man she had married and loved. He was someone she did not recognize… no, she did recognize him, and that's what further fueled her anger. She furiously pushed him away from her; he had no right to touch her.
--- "You son of a bitch. I hate you more than I had ever thought possible."
He was shocked by her admission. Despite the difficulties of their marriage, his love for her never fully wavered; after everything they had gone through, it simply changed. Alas, he was not sure if it had been for the worse or the better.
--- "You don't mean that—"
She slapped him hard across the face until she saw his face transform into one more appropriate for his current actions; she was disgusted.
--- "I mean every word. I have EVERY reason to hate you. That child might be here, but I will not raise her. You may change her name so that she could be like my daughter, but she is not. I will NOT now raise your daughter!"
He held his face in shock as he watched her storm out of the room as quickly as she had entered. He wondered if he could turn back the hands in time and refuse his brother's request.
End of Flashback.
Unfortunately, he could not. He had, in seeing how miserably the girl was treated, attempted to do just that by handing her baby to the people who should have raised her mother, but the damage had already been done. In taking the girl into his home, he had sealed her child's fate; he just did not understand how.
--- "Daddy, look at me!"
The young four year old slid down the slide head first, giggling as her father caught her just before she fell to the ground. He lifted her into the air as she squealed in delight; her two deep dimples highly visible as she smiled widely at the man she admired. She was a Daddy's girl.
--- "You're my brave little girl, Natty."
She laughed as he brought her to him. She took his face into her hands and gave him a kiss on the nose.
--- "I want to go again, Daddy!"
Alexis sat on the bench amusingly watching her daughter play with the other children. She was unsure from where that memory had come or why she had been called 'Natty,' but it made her smile; she wondered if her life had been, at one point, as carefree as she was creating for her daughter. She watched as her daughter climbed to the top of the ladder; she waved in her direction.
--- "Mommy, look!"
She smiled as the child slid down the slide for what appeared to be the forty-fifth time. When she landed on the sand-filled ground, Alexis flagged her over.
--- "Come here, chipmunk!"
Sam, who had never before been to a park, was in heaven. Since she and Alexis had been cooped up in the house for the past month as a result to her casts, this was a welcomed change now that she had been freed of them.
With her face lit up with a smile, she ran to her mother; this was the happiest she had been in a long time. This had truly gotten her out of her shell.
--- "Yes, Mommy?"
Alexis held a bottle of water opened for her to take a sip; it was obvious she was out of breath. It amazed her how different the girl was from a month prior. Sam, while still rather small for her age and could easily pass for a four year old rather than a six year old, was finally at a decent weight, the bruises that had once riddled her body were all gone, and any other physical sign of abuse she once had had all disappeared. Although she continued to carry her emotional scars, she was nevertheless healing from the trauma inflicted upon her by the evil of the McCalls. She did not think she had ever, in the time she spent with the girl, seen her smile and laugh so openly.
--- "Take a sip."
Sam let her mother hold the bottle as she drank from it. Alexis wiped the sweat from the child's brow.
--- "Are you having fun?"
The girl hopped onto her mother's lap.
--- "Uh-hmm. But Nikolas… he… he doesn't know how to have fun. He keeps saying he wants to read!"
Alexis laughed and gave her daughter a squeeze. Nikolas, like Sam, had never been to a park; Stefan never found the point in having a child run around getting themselves filthy when they could certainly find better ways to occupy their leisure time.
--- "Well, that's probably because he's not used to this."
Sam leaned into her mother. They both watched the young boy playing in the sound box; he looked quite bored.
--- "I've never been to the park either! I'm still having fun! Can I go on the swing?"
She kissed the top of her daughter's head.
--- "Let's see if Nikolas wants to go too."
Seeing as the boy had been watching the two from his seat at the sandbox, he made his way over to them once he noticed they appeared to be leaving.
--- "Cousin Alexis, are we leaving?"
His face was incredibly hopeful; she felt horrible that she was on the verge of disappointing him. She wanted to smack her beloved Stefan for not showing the child how to have a good time.
Before Alexis could respond, however, Sam, holding her mother's hand, answered for her.
--- "No! We're going to swing. Are you going to come with us or are you going to read?"
--- "She's so much like me, my dear."
Alexis closed her eyes and counted to three; she wanted his voice out of her head. The little girl's emerging personality shocked her; the child, who had always been calm and quiet, was sassing her younger cousin. She knew he was taunting her, willing for her to react to his hauntings; she would not give into his provocations. Instead, she pulled the girl against her, tapping her lightly on the chest.
--- "Samantha—"
Sam smiled up at her mother with raised eyebrows.
--- "Hmm?"
Alexis could not resist the child's cute smile; she bent down to kiss her on her forehead. She spoke softly, yet sternly so that the girl might know certain attitudes would not be tolerated.
--- "Chipmunk, that's not nice. Your cousin doesn't have to like being at the park; it's not for everyone, you know. Now, apologize to him."
Sam pressed her face into her mother's leg; she hated that she had disappointed the woman. She felt the tears forming into her eyes, but she did not want them to emerge. Without moving an inch, she mumbled to the young boy.
--- "I'm sorry, Nikolas."
The boy went to reach for a tissue in his pocket until he realized that Alexis had purchased pocketless sweatpants for him to filthy as he played in dirt. He put his hand onto her shoulder.
--- "It's alright Samantha. I suppose you're right; I think I would prefer to read. This just isn't much fun."
Alexis smiled at her young cousin's mature sincerity towards her upset daughter. She lifted Sam into her arms; the girl hid her face into her mother's neck.
--- "Nikolas, we're going to leave soon, but we're going on the swings. Why don't you come with us?"
The boy, although displeased with his cousin's decision to remain at the park, reluctantly nodded his head.
--- "Okay."
She passed her hand along his chubby cheek amazed at how easily he could have passed for her daughter's older brother; alas, now that she was able to admit what had happened to her, it dawned on her that the two children were first cousins and Stefan was her daughter's uncle.
--- "Come on, silly goose; it'll be fun."
--- "Can we first call Father… please?"
Alexis frowned.
--- "For permission? Honey, I don't think Stefan will mind… entirely… that you're going on the swings. I mean, you are with me; he trusts my decisions."
The boy shook his head; his father had left the night prior for a business meeting in England, but he had not spoken to him since. Although a busy man, Stefan had always made time for his son; he refused to raise him the way his father had raised him. There was never a day in which the boy did not know that he was loved and the first priority in his father's life. Having not spoken to his father in nearly twenty-four hours, Nikolas missed him.
--- "No, I just… I just would like to speak with him."
Since he was always far more mature for his age than any standard child, Alexis tended to forget that the boy was only five.
--- "I want my Daddy; I don't know you."
The little girl had tears in her eyes as the man handed the nurse an outfit in which to dress her. She did not know this man who stood before her informing her that she would be going to live with him. This man had entered her room at the hospital and informed her that he was her uncle; she did not want him. She wanted her mother to hold her, but most of all, she wanted her father to reassure her that everything would be alright. Where was he? Who was he?
--- "It's alright, Alexandra."
She frowned at the man. Who was he calling Alexandra? That was not her name, she was sure of it… but… but what was her name? She could not remember.
--- "That's not my name!"
The nurse sympathetically looked at the girl. She knew that her parents had just died and she had suffered a head injury; the poor child was being forced to start a new life when she had no idea what her former life had been. Her young confusion broke the nurse's heart.
--- "It's alright, honey. He's your family—"
She began to cry harder knowing that something was wrong, very wrong. How could she have an uncle, but not mother and no father? He could not be her family.
--- "I just want my Mommy and Daddy… please."
He stepped closer to her bed. For the first time, he touched her; she flinched to his touch, but calmed when he grinned kindly. He looked familiar… perhaps like her father?
--- "I'm sorry, Alexandra; they're gone. They're not coming back."
The memory flooded her brain just as the previous one had; she did not know what to make of it. She knew that her parents had died in a car accident when she was quite young, but she had blocked out all memory of them and the life that she had had with them. Her memory began the moment she walked into the Cassadine library.
--- "The moment you met me."
She wished he would leave her alone. His presence in her consciousness was causing all of this; she was not sure if she wanted to know all of this. As much as Nikolas wanted to speak to his father, she needed him too.
She pulled her phone from her back pocket and hit the first speed dial button; there was no one else she would have in that position.
She listened as the phone rang through until voicemail. She smiled apologetically at the young boy.
--- "I'm sorry, buddy, he isn't picking up."
She saw the disappointment in his eyes. She handed the phone to him.
--- "Leave him a message."
Nikolas sighed and took the phone from her. He cleared his throat before speaking.
--- "Hello Father, it's Nikolas calling. I was calling to find out if you arrived safely and were enjoying your time in London. I hope to hear from you soon."
Alexis, still holding an embarrassed Sam in her arms, took the phone back from the young boy before he could hang up; she spoke French into the receiver.
--- "Stefan, call your son; he's too proud to admit it, but he misses you… I suppose I do as well. I need to speak to you… I've been… well, I guess I can tell you when I see you. I love you—"
She leaned her head onto Sam's.
--- "Baby, do you want to leave a message for Unc—Cousin Stefan?"
She had not yet attempted to come up with a way to tell the girl that the man she had introduced to her as her cousin was in fact something more to her by reason of the way she had been conceived. She knew that it would not have made a difference to her six year old, but Alexis felt that in some way admitting the "truth" to the girl would put a burden onto her; she would not have been able to handle the child's questions concerning the sudden change in her familial make-up. So, she kept quiet.
Sam nodded her head and allowed Alexis to put the phone to her ear.
--- "It's Sam. I miss you too, Cousin."
Alexis hung up the phone and placed it back into her pocket. She looked at the two children both upset in their own ways. The mood had been ruined for the swings; she could tell they wanted nothing more than to return home… she felt the same way.
--- "You know, how about we buy some popcorn and watch a movie at home?"
While Sam, who Alexis could tell was not so much embarrassed, but tired, whispered in agreement, Nikolas grabbed his cousin's hand.
--- "Can we see Avatar?"
For once, he looked like a child his age. She gave him a kiss on the cheek.
--- "We can watch whatever you want."
Helena was seated in the library reading quietly as she awaited the clock to strike eight for dinner. She enjoyed her silence and the peace that came with it. She was grateful that her husband did not put up airs that he loved her as she would not be forced to do the same toward him; they had had their time of love and play, but now she knew the truth. The only person who had ever shown any type of love toward her was her Stavros; he was all that she had ever needed.
--- "Hello Mother."
The voice came at approximately the exact moment in which the image of her dead son beaten and bleeding flooded her memory. She turned angrily at him… the cause of her pain and anguish.
--- "Get out of my house."
Stefan grinned mockingly at the woman. His heart was filled with hate. He had always wondered whether it was normal for a child to have such feelings of disgust and revulsion towards the woman who gave him life, but it did not matter; the feelings were requited.
--- "Oh, is that how you speak to your beloved son?"
She stood up to face him. She hated the mocking look he gave her. If she could have flown over the chair to smack the look from his face, she would have; instead, she threw the book she still held in her hands at him. It disappointed her that had just missed him.
--- "You are NOT now, nor will you ever be my beloved son. You are a disappointment and a disgrace, Stefan."
While he was used to her disparaging words, they never ceased to stab in his heart. He had no feelings of love toward the woman, but to be told by his mother that he, a man who had never failed in his life, was a disappointment and disgrace, was hurtful. Nevertheless, he never gave her any indication that that she had wounded him. He could never allow her such satisfaction. Instead, he sneered at her with the anger his dear cousin could never display toward her.
--- "If I, a man who has established himself in the Cassadine Corporation apart from my father's—"
She rolled her eyes. He continued.
--- "—name, is a disappointment and disgrace, what would you call Stavros?"
She squinted her eyes at him wondering in what direction he was taking this conversation. She would not tolerate any word of disrespect to be spoken against her son; she would kill for him and for his honor. She walked around the table toward the desk closest to him.
--- "I would call him my pride and joy. I would call Stavros the best thing that had ever happened to me. I would call my son everything that you are not: honorable, trusting, loyal, protective—"
He smirked at her delusional sentiments concerning the dead man.
--- "Rapist."
She felt her temper rising; she attempted to control it.
--- "My son was NOT what you say."
Stefan let out a laugh that echoed throughout the large room. He knew his brother and his mother well enough to know that any harmful act he had done against Alexis and to some extent to him, Stavros was quick to run to Helena for approval. There was no way the boy did not do the same once he raped Alexis and taunted her for months afterwards calling her vicious names and threatening to kill him if she ever told him what had happened. No, Helena knew exactly what happened six years prior; she simply wanted confirmation that he was aware of what had happened to his beloved cousin.
He moved toward her; he wanted to see the devil's reactions up close.
--- "The hell he wasn't, Mother. You know damned well that that bastard—"
She pointed a threatening finger in his direction.
--- "Be careful. You're treading think ice; I don't think you want to fall in."
Stefan, tossing his head back, crossed his arms and laughed.
--- "You have threatened my life more times than I can count. In fact, your threats were so frequent, they were more like words of endearment."
--- "Don't tempt me; you won't like the result."
He shrugged his shoulders and continued to pace in front of her.
--- "I don't know how I spent all of these years ignorant of what he had done to her. How did I not know that he, a man with such a low sense of scruples, had RAPED an innocent girl such as Alexis… no, ALEXANDRA? Your son, MOTHER was a raping Monster!"
The ice broke beneath him. She pushed him against the wall holding a letter opener she had retrieved from the desk to his neck.
--- "YOU, my dear BASTARD son, are the MONSTER—"
The door once again swung open; it was Mikkos. He had been walking past the library when he heard his son's voice. As he stood there watching the scene, he was not sure as to what he should be shocked: the fact that his son had returned to their family home, the fact that his wife held his life within her hands, or… no… that was not it.
--- "HELENA! LET HIM GO!"
She sneered in her husband's direction.
--- "Ironic you should say that to me now, Mikkos; I asked you to allow me to do that YEARS ago!"
Stefan looked into the woman's eyes. He wanted, if she were to kill him dead in that moment, to have her stare into his eyes and know that he would haunt her until the day she burned in hell.
--- "You've hated me from the moment I was born—"
Helena shook her head.
Mikkos rushed toward his wife before she could make any sudden moves. He gripped her weapon-possessing arm tightly.
--- "Let him go, Helena! I will NOT allow you to kill him."
She struggled against the grasp he had of her arm. She finally gave up and dropped the sharp letter opener.
--- "You should have let me kill him from the moment he was conceived."
She forcefully pushed Mikkos away from her and raged from the room leaving the two men to stare at each other.
Stavros' ghost sat at the desk chair laughing at the men.
Back to studying.