Victor stood in a wall of flames, glaring openly at Spencer from the firey railings of the Haunted Star.
"It is your fault, my boy! My death is on your hands!"
"No," Spencer shook his head, his eyes wide with horror. "I didn't know…"
"Isn't that always your excuse, Spence? You didn't know?" Esme spoke up from behind him. He turned around and cringed away from her as he saw the blood seeping from her slit throat. "You didn't know how dangerous I was. You didn't know that my father was Ryan Chamberlain. You didn't know that I was sent to seduce you and use you to split your dad and Ava up. You just didn't know. What will be your excuse when it's Trina's turn, huh? You didn't know?"
"Trina? What about Trina? She's safe! I'm keeping her safe!"
"Are you? I mean, she's at ground zero. Under the same roof as the Cassadines! There's no way she's safe! It's only a matter of time," Esme began to laugh.
"No! You're lying!"
"No, I'm not and you know I'm not. Soon, Trina will end up like me or Victor. She'll do something to piss the family off. Or she'll be in the way of some mysterious plan. Or maybe she'll be deemed not good enough for the Cassadine prince. She is a commoner after all. Not to mention black. I mean...yes you guys seem to like them black, but we all know that's not acceptable in royal circles. I mean look at Harry and Megan."
"I'm not listening to this," Spencer tried to turn his back to her, but she appeared in front of him again, forcing him to face her words.
"You will get Trina killed Spence! Sooner or later! It's only a matter of time until she's like me. Until she's like this…"
Suddenly Esme morphed into Trina, but this time Trina was the one with the slit throat, and her big brown eyes, usually bright and full of life were dim with death. Her lips were blue and her voice was accusing.
"I'll end up like this and it'll be all your fault…"
…..
"NO!" Spencer screamed, sitting straight up in bed. Panting heavily, he stumbled out of bed as Trina woke up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
"Spencer? Was that you? What's going on?"
Panting heavily, the nightmare still at the forefront of his mind, Spencer was now certain more than ever of what he had to do and he had to do it now! He couldn't give them a chance to hurt her! He had to save her now while he still could...while he still had the willpower that the nightmare he just had infused him with. He went to the closet and grabbed Trina's suitcase and began packing her clothes.
"Wake up...you have to go...you have to get away…," He mumbled, not looking at her as he packed.
Trina frowned, confused about what was going on. What was going through his mind? Why was he packing up her clothes? "Spencer? What are you doing? Why are you packing my things?"
"Because you're leaving me...you're leaving me right now while you still can...before something bad happens and then...it'll be too late…"
"What? Spencer, you're not making any sense. Just calm down and tell me what's going on!"
Spencer closed the suitcase and looked at her with tear-filled eyes. "I need you to leave. Please, don't fight me on this...I'll take you home to your mom...or to your Aunt...you can't stay here. You can't...just please, Trina. Don't fight me on this…"
"How can I not fight you on this, Spencer?! You're not making any sense! Why on earth would I leave you?!"
"Because you're not safe with me!"
"I am!"
"You're not! I know you're not! If I listen to you...and let you stay...you'll end up like...Esme or worse! And I can't let that happen!"
"Is this about what happened earlier? Because if it is…"
"You have to go! I am not going to change my mind, Trina! You have to leave me!"
"Like hell, I will, Spencer! I'm not just up and leaving you because you have some insane idea that I'm in danger! Not when I know that you love me just as much as I love you!"
"Trina please...don't...don't make this hard…."
I am going to make this hard because I love you and I know that you love me and whatever this is, we can get through it together!"
"No we can't," Spencer sobbed, wishing that Trina would just let it go. That she wouldn't hang on so tightly...that she wouldn't make him do something desperate...something that he couldn't take back…
"Why can't we? What is stopping us, Spencer? We have a bond, a connection that…"
Spencer turned his back to her so she couldn't see his face because she'll know that he was lying. He hated to lie like this, he hated to hurt her, but it was the only way to save her. "Because I...I don't love you anymore! I haven't for a while!"
Spencer squeezed his eyes shut at the pain that shot through him at those words. They almost sent him to his knees, but he had to say them. They were the only words that would make Trina let him go...that would save her from his dastardly family.
"What?"
He tried to keep his voice steady. He tried to keep his voice free of the tears that were streaming down his face. "I...don't….love you anymore...I haven't for a while. I just didn't know how to tell you…"
"You're lying!"
"Trina…"
"No! You are lying! You told me you loved me at the zoo! Remember? It was in your voice...in your eyes! Earlier, when you were ranting, you said you loved me, and that's why you couldn't stay away. You weren't lying then! Not like you are now!"
"Trina please...you're making this harder than it needs to be. I...need you to believe me...and I need you gone. Ok? Don't make me say those words again...please…," He turned around to look at her, unaware that his eyes were full of pain and sadness and yes, love….love that he was denying her at the moment, but it was there as clear as day.
"I know you're lying to me," Trina simply stated, her own voice full of hurt and pain that this whole situation was causing. "I don't know why you think that I'd believe those words coming out of your mouth. But...I do believe that for some reason, you need me to believe them. So for you...I will. I'll believe them. I'll leave. For now. I'll leave and I'll wait for you to come to your ever-loving senses, Spencer! God! Do you know how much you're hurting me right now?!"
Spencer looked away from her, unable to say anything else. Afraid to say any words at all, because if he did, he'll take it all back. He'll beg for forgiveness. He'll declare his love and doom her once more. That was something that he refused to do to her.
Trina just shook her head and began to get dressed, wiping away her falling tears as she did so. "You can take me to my Aunt Gia's."
Spencer simply nodded, slipping on a hoodie and a pair of sweats before grabbing his car keys and Trina's bags. He was dying on the inside, but he had to do what he had to do to save her. There was no other way.
…..
Spencer didn't say a word as he pulled up in front of Gia's apartment building. He was too afraid to say anything because he knew that if he did, he'd take it all back. His willpower to let Trina go was quickly fading away and soon, he'll be too weak to do what needed to be done. So this had to be it, quickly.
Trina looked at him with tears in her eyes, willing him to look at her, to see the love in her eyes, to see her tears, but he kept his eyes straight ahead, not looking at her at all. His tears were the only sign that this was hurting him too. She just wished that whatever was causing this decision, he would let her help him. But maybe this was something that she couldn't help with this time.
"I don't know why you are doing this. I do know one thing. You need help, Spencer. You need professional help and I hope to god that you get it. Because it's killing me seeing you like this. Even when you hurt me, all I can think about is wanting to help you."
"Well, you can't…"
"I know. I know I can't. That's why I'm letting you have your way. You want me gone. You want me out of your life. I'm giving that to you. I just hope that you get the help you need and you can find it in yourself to let yourself be happy and loved. That's all," Trina sniffed, before getting out of the car and gathering her bags from out of the back.
Spencer kept his eyes straight ahead as she walked away from the car and out of his life. He waited until she was inside the apartment and out of sight before allowing himself to break down and bury his face against the steering wheel as he cried.
Finally, after five minutes, he pulled himself together and started the car, and pulled off, driving away from the love of his life, believing that he was keeping her safe from the demons that haunted his family.
