Chapter 22 – The Morbid Origins of Orpheus
FLASHBACK (August 28, 2020):
Nelle felt herself being lifted closer towards the bright light, feeling relief from the cold water. It felt wonderful…until she realized that somebody was holding her eye open and shining a light into it.
Nelle: Wha…what are you doing?
Man's voice: Checking to see if you're alive, because if you weren't I'd cut you open!
Nelle: Cut me open?
Man's voice: It's what we do here in the morgue. It's called an autopsy, and seeing as you're not dead, there's no need to perform one. Which is a good thing for you, since we don't use anesthesia here!
*The man's voice sounds vaguely familiar albeit much more sinister than what she recalls. Her vision clears and she sees that he has dark, shoulder-length hair and a faint goatee, and is wearing a white lab coat. He moves away from Nelle and begins circling around the room and busying himself with various odds and ends.*
Nelle: Finn?
Man: I'm sorry?
Nelle: Dr. Finn?
Man: There aren't very many things that I'm afraid of in this profession, but I'm afraid I don't know whom you're referring to.
Nelle: Hamilton Finn. He's a doctor at General Hospital. He prefers to be referred to simply as Finn. His younger brother is Detective Harrison Chase with the PCPD.
*The man laughs.*
Man: I deal with detectives on a regular basis, and I'm pretty sure I'd know if one of them was my younger brother. But I did have an older brother who was a doctor, and we look a lot alike, though his name wasn't Hamilton Finn!
Nelle: So you're not a doctor?
Man: Not exactly. Some people call me a medical examiner, others call me a coroner, but the correct term for my line of work is a forensic pathologist, because otherwise I wouldn't be qualified to perform autopsies!
*The man laughs again; Nelle finds his laugh somewhat unsettling, especially since he looks and sounds so familiar.*
Nelle: You seem to find the thought of performing autopsies enjoyable! I don't see how a person could see so much blood and still be able to sleep at night!
Man: Well, that means I'm very well-qualified for my line of work, as I don't sleep at night. And I don't mind the sight of blood, as I've seen a lot of it!
*Nelle looks around trying to get a better sense of where she is. She is lying down on a table in a morgue in an unknown location. It definitely isn't at General Hospital. The place looks like a lab in the dungeon of some castle, where a mad scientist would conduct their experiments on their victims. The walls were made of medieval-looking stone, and though it wasn't dirty and grimy, it nonetheless didn't seem like the super sterile environment that a place like GH would be. She sees a portrait on the wall of a very familiar-looking woman with dark hair and eyes, whom she had felt like she had seen many times, including at one point being her cellmate at Pentonville.*
Nelle: Why do you have a picture of Sam McCall on the wall?
Man: Oh, that's not Sam McCall!
Nelle: Something's very weird here.
Man: Well, it's not every day that somebody is brought to a morgue when they're still alive!
Nelle: No, I mean the fact that you look so much like Finn but don't know who he is, and you have a picture of a woman who looks so much like Sam, and you seem to know who Sam is but you say that the woman in the picture isn't her, and...
*Nelle suddenly realizes that she's naked.*
Nelle: Where are my clothes? And my jewelry? I was wearing a necklace with a heart on it!
Man: It's standard procedure to remove a cadaver's clothing before an autopsy, but since you're alive, you can consider this a rebirth of sorts, so it's only fitting that you're in your birthday suit! You weren't wearing a necklace when you were brought here, but if you want to know where the rest of your stuff is, look no further than the table next to you!
*Nelle looks to next to her and recoils; there is a body of a woman who looks very similar to her, wearing the outfit she had been wearing when she fell off the cliff, including her wedding ring. She lets out a scream!*
Nelle: Oh my god!
Man: You sound frightened!
Nelle: I am! I've never seen a dead body before.
Man: That's a lie! Everybody knows you killed your ex-fiance.
Nelle: I never actually saw his dead body.
Man: Maybe not after he'd been dead for several hours, but there is a recording of you admitting to killing him. He even died the same way you supposedly did; by drowning. And that's how the woman next to you died as well. She's a Jane Doe, but she will be buried under the name Janelle Benson.
Nelle: But that's my name!
Man: Not anymore. Janelle Benson has been legally declared dead, and will remain so for eternity. But that never should have been your name in the first place. It was all a lie!
Nelle: I'm not lying!
Man: Oh, I know you're not lying. Not about the name you were known by anyway. But you have been lied to, your entire life, by that deadbeat Frank Benson, who DNA testing has proved is not your father!
Nelle: Oh…my…god!
Man: And this proves you don't have amnesia, since you clearly remember who you are, and your hatred towards the man who took you away from your real family!
Nelle: And took my kidney!
Man: Yes, and unfortunately organ transplants aren't my area of expertise, though I could try and get you on the list.
Nelle: Nah, don't bother. At this point I've gone most of my life without it, and I obviously survived the fall from that cliff, even though it should've killed me.
Man: Oh it definitely could've killed you, yet you are still among the living, albeit more than a little banged up.
Nelle: I guess the necklace was worthless after all. It was a half-heart pendant. Frank told me it had belonged to my grandmother and originally was a whole heart, and I always wondered what happened to the other half. I kept it as a good luck charm and hoped that one day I'd find who had the other half, but since he's not my father. I guess I can forget about it.
Man: My brother's mother-in-law may have had a necklace like that at one point.
Nelle: What's your brother's name? And what's your name?
Man: If you were to have encountered me in my previous life, my name would have been Caleb Morley, but after the first time that I was slain, I began a new life as a rock musician with a new name, Stephen Clay. It started out as a simply a stage persona, yet somehow it not only became my legal name, but it turned out that was the name that I should have had all along, though I still prefer to go by Caleb when I'm not on stage. And it also led me to discover that I had a brother, Silas Clay.
Nelle: Silas Clay…why does that name sound familiar?
Caleb: I believe you know Ava Jerome?
Nelle: Know her? I'm married to her brother, Julian! Even though it's strictly a marriage of convenience and am neither in love with nor attracted to him in the least.
Caleb: Then you must know of Ava's daughter, Lauren Katherine Jerome, or Kiki, as she prefers to be called. Silas is her father. He had an affair with Ava while married to his wife, Nina Reeves, and Kiki was the result.
Nelle: Kiki…but she's dead though. Ryan Chamberlain killed her.
Caleb: Not exactly. Thanks to the controversial research project that Silas was very briefly involved with, Kiki is still among the living. Which makes sense, seeing that she's his daughter!
Nelle: Wow! Can I meet Silas? I'd like to learn about his research.
Caleb: His contribution to the research was very minimal, as was kicked off the project before it really got off the ground. And unfortunately, he is dead. He was killed by his mother-in-law, Madeline, and because he was kicked off the project, he wasn't among those who were brought back to the land of the living.
Nelle: Oh.
Caleb: However, he lives on through you! We ran multiple DNA tests, and they all showed that you're my niece, and therefore you are Kiki's half-sister, and Silas's daughter!
Nelle: Oh my god! If Silas was my biological father, and Ava is Kiki's mother, that means that my mother is...Nina Reeves? That woman hates me! Why couldn't she recognize that I'm her daughter? No, there's got to be a mistake!
Caleb: If you don't believe me, you can see the DNA test results, and if you still don't believe me, we can do yet another DNA test and you can watch as it's being done, though I guarantee that the results will be the same as the others. Silas Clay and Nina Reeves are your biological parents!
*The door to the morgue opens, and Kiki walks in, wearing scrubs*
Caleb: Kiki, perfect timing! Meet your sister!
*He laughs again. Kiki stares at Nelle with an expression of shock and horror on her face*
Kiki: Oh no!
*Nelle raises her head and looks up at her sister with an expression of disbelief, but then smiles*
Nelle: Oh my god! I don't believe it! I have a sister! A real sister!
Caleb: Kiki, please get your sister a gown and a wheelchair, and show her to her room.
*Kiki looks at Nelle with a disgusted expression, walks out of the room, and returns a few moments later with the items Caleb requested. She then helps Nelle put the gown on and get into the wheelchair.*
Nelle: I've always wanted a sister!
Kiki: We are not sisters!
Caleb: The DNA test says otherwise!
Kiki: The DNA test means nothing!
Nelle: Hmm, what should my new name be? I still like Janelle, but I can't go by Nelle anymore as people will recognize me and throw me back in the slammer. I suppose I could go by Jan. And Clay sounds kind of funny, like the stuff you make pottery out of. I know, maybe Clayton…
*Nelle's voice gets fainter as Kiki wheels her out of the morgue. Caleb takes a vial of red liquid from inside his lab coat and gazes at the portrait on the wall of Livvie Locke.*
PRESENT DAY
It was early in the morning and Esme and Spencer were both woken up by the sound of Ace crying. Esme heated up a bottle and handed it to Spencer.
Esme: Would you like to feed him?
Spencer: Sure.
*He holds Ace and gives him his bottle.*
Spencer: You have gotten so big!
Esme: I know! Before we know it, he'll be a teenager!
Spencer: Let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Esme: Um, about last night…
Spencer: Maybe we shouldn't talk about it while I'm holding the baby.
Esme: Okay. Even though I think we both are feeling similarly.
Spencer: We can't read minds. We have no way of knowing for sure how we're thinking any more than we can know what Ace is trying to tell us when he cries.
Esme: Well, that's kind of what I was going to talk to you about. Spencer, I really do miss you, and my feelings for you are real, but at the same time, I can't force you to be with me if you don't want to. I know your breakup with Trina was very sudden, and your mind must be a mess, especially after…what happened last night.
Spencer: That's right, it is.
Esme: The point I'm trying to make is that I don't want you to feel obligated to be with me simply because of Ace. Especially since neither you or any of your friends can forgive nor forget everything I've put you through.
Spencer: You're right that none of us can forget about it, but I do forgive you. I have to, in order to move on. But like we were just discussing, we have no way of knowing how Trina, Joss, and Cam would feel. Well, I do know that Trina feels like being with me isn't a good idea, even though she was feeling completely different before she asked everyone for their advice about going to the Sorbonne.
Esme: And that's my point. I can understand why you would probably choose Trina over me. She hasn't put you through everything that I put you through.
Spencer: No, but I put her through a lot of stuff. I even lied to her when I first met her. I told her my name was Victor, when that's actually-
Esme: Your great uncle's name, I know.
Spencer: And when she found out the truth, she was furious. And that's how our relationship has been like. Sometimes she can't get enough of me, other times she's furious and wants nothing to do with me. Now Joss and Cam might encourage her to stay with me, since we've known each other since we were kids, and Cam is both my friend and my cousin, though I've done a lot of stuff that has made them furious with me too. But other people in her life, her family, Ava, etc., all think I'm a horrible influence for Trina and are merely putting up with me simply because I sometimes make her happy. Her mom especially seems to be of the mindset that nobody can change for the better. If Trina and I were to get married, I'm pretty sure she'd object. And I don't want that for her. She deserves better.
Esme: You deserve better too Spencer, but I'm not sure if I'm any better than I was before I lost my memory. If you don't want to be with me I understand. I'll allow you to have a place in Ace's life as much or as little as you want. I won't get in the way. He's well looked after here. And I'm not hooking up with random guys I meet at bars or taking drugs, though I understand why it may have looked that way. I will admit I've been an emotional wreck since Carly was looking for a reason to evict me from the apartment above Bobbie's restaurant ever since I got back from Pine Valley, and Alexis unfairly fired me because I was "unable to perform my duties" even though I was in a coma-
Spencer: Would you like me to talk to Alexis? She's my great aunt after all, and has distanced herself from the Cassadine name, so she's a lot saner than the rest of my family even though she has demons of her own.
Esme: Don't bother. Valentin is the new owner of the Invader, and Alexis seems about ready to quit. I don't want to work for either of them, because while you might not think I'm a horrible mom to Ace, it's still a Cassadine company, and they'll probably try to take Ace away from me because he's their family too.
Spencer: You know, Trina and I went out to dinner at the Port Charles Grill a few weeks ago while you were still in the hospital in Pine Valley. That's the restaurant where my uncle Cyrus had been working. He came up to our table and practically demanded to lead us in this big, long prayer about guiding Ace safely back to his family while making sure that you were at peace. Apparently, Spinelli had planted an eavesdropping device near the table we had reserved so the PCPD could listen in on his interactions with us, and they interpreted the prayer he said as evidence that he had supplied Jonathan Kinder with those "Pensieve Pills" in an attempt to kill you so that Ace would be given back to my father.
Esme: Oh my god, really?
Spencer: Well, that's what the PCPD thinks, as he was arrested outside of the restaurant shortly after he had clocked out. There's no solid evidence supporting this and it's likely the charges will be dismissed.
Esme: I knew his "newfound faith" was a load of BS! And Ace wouldn't have been given back to your family if I had died, as I've trusted Jan to look after him should something happen to me. That was the deal we made when I became a trusted member of the group and she agreed to be my sponsor. It's required of everyone who wants to join.
Spencer: Huh, that's a little strange.
Esme: Oh don't worry, she normally doesn't sponsor people herself and instead leaves it up to the other trusted members to decide who joins the group, but she said she could relate to everything I was struggling with, and therefore decided that she wanted to be my sponsor. She's only sponsored one other person, and that was my friend Leann. She told me that she doesn't want to be "the old woman who lives in a shoe".
*Unbeknownst to them, Nelle is standing outside the door listening, on the verge of a panic attack, as Esme had shared too much information about their group.*
Spencer: Well, I'm glad that you trust her. I trust her too, as I see that Ace is happy here, and more importantly, safe.
*Nelle breathes a sigh of relief.*
Esme: Are you happy here though?
Spencer: I'm not sure. I feel like Trina should have decided to take a day or two to decide if she wanted to break up with me, so it felt kind of impulsive.
Esme: Just as we impulsively slept together last night. Spencer, I really do want to give our relationship another try, but I don't want it to seem like I'm forcing you to do it. If you need time to think about it, I understand.
Spencer: Okay.
*Ace finishes his bottle, and Spencer hands him back to Esme.*
Spencer: I'm going to go for a walk, and try to process how I'm feeling about everything.
Esme: Okay.
*Spencer exits through the front door. On his way out, he receives a text message from Trina.*
Trina's message: Spencer, I don't like the way we left things last night. Can we talk?
*Spencer walks away. Meanwhile, Nelle remembers what Shiloh said about Spencer in her dream*
Shiloh: He's a very valuable catch. Don't let him get away.
*Nelle begins panicking and rushes to the bathroom so that Esme won't see her.*
LATER
It was a little after 5 PM. Esme was watching Ace play. Spencer had been gone for several hours and she had accepted that he most likely wouldn't be coming back. Then her phone rang. She looked at her phone and saw that Leora was calling.
Esme: Hey Leann.
Leora: Hey Esme! I have some interesting news. But before I tell you, I need you to promise that you won't tell anyone, including Jan.
Esme: I promise. What's up?
Leora: You know that Slade guy?
Esme: Yes.
Leora: So I called him this morning, and we met up for lunch after he took his mom to her doctor's appointment, and we were chatting and-
Esme: Oh no, did something happen?!
Leora: No, no, everything's fine, but you're never going to believe this! He was telling me about himself, and his family. It turns out he's Erica Kane's grandson!
Esme: Wow…WOW! I never would have guessed!
Leora: Me neither. His real name is Ian Slater, and his mother is Erica's daughter, Kendall.
Esme: Wow…Erica Kane's grandson. That's practically Pine Valley royalty!
Leora: Definitely! In fact, it almost was actual royalty. as Erica had been married to Dimitri Marick prior to Dimitri's marriage to Alex.
Esme: Wow! Is Dimitri Kendall's father?
Leora: Sadly, no. Erica had Kendall long before she was married to Dimitri. Kendall's biological father was…not a good person.
Esme: I'm assuming this is the grandfather who was a serial killer?
Leora: No, that was Ian's other grandfather, on his father's side. It's a very long story. Ian had a strained relationship with his father after his parents divorced, as Kendall had had heart surgery a few years prior to the divorce, and the divorce took a huge toll on Kendall's health. Ian blamed his father for it and went low-contact, only seeing him for holiday gatherings. But then he was shown a document which listed the name of his father as Alexander Cambias Jr. He thought that Alexander Jr. was his biological father, so he completely cut his father out of his life, then did a DNA test, and it matched him up with an older half-brother of his, and through him, he found his grandfather, Alexander Sr.
Now Alexander had disinherited his older son, Ian's father. Ian told Alexander that he was there to make everything up to him, and so he legally changed his name to Alexander Cambias III. Then he helped his grandfather escape from prison. Now, during Alexander Sr.'s initial killing spree, he became known as the Satin Slayer, and all the people he had killed were people that Ian's father was close to. He was doing it to punish Ian's father for faking his death in order to get away from him, as Alexander was very abusive. Ian helped his grandfather escape, and rather than thanking him, Alexander immediately began another killing spree, this time to punish his younger son, who was…also not a good person, not that Alexander was any better. His younger son was dead, but Alexander wanted to "posthumously punish" his younger son for the things he did. And that's why Alexander decided that his next victim would be Ian's cousin Miranda, whom Ian was very close to.
Esme: Oh no!
Leora: I know, it's horrible. Ian feels awful about it and it was difficult for him to tell me, though he said he felt better after he did.
Esme: I'm glad. Do you mind me asking what happened?
Leora: Ian knew that he had to do something to get Alexander thrown back in prison, so he decided to set a trap. It had been a while since he had last seen Miranda, so he made plans for him and Miranda to get together and catch up. Then, he told Alexander where they were going to be. He didn't tell Miranda beforehand that the whole thing was a trap to stop Alexander before he could hurt anybody else, as he wasn't sure how she'd react. I think he was worried that she would find out that he was the one who helped Alexander escape in the first place. In hindsight he wishes he had handled it very differently. But anyway, Ian secretly followed Alexander to where he and Miranda were going to meet. Alexander grabbed Miranda, and was about to inject her with the same drug he used to kill his other victims, but Ian stopped him. Alexander was sent back to prison. Miranda was furious with Ian because he didn't tell her beforehand that it was a trap. His aunt Bianca was also furious. They eventually forgave him but Ian no longer felt welcome in the family.
When Ian's father, Alexander Jr. faked his death, he legally changed his name to Zach Slater. Ian had been under the impression that Alexander Jr. and Zach were two separate people. After he found out the truth and disassociated with Alexander Sr. he slowly let Zach back into his life but has kept his distance from the family because he feels very guilty about what he did, even though they forgave him for it and still love him. He changed his name back to Ian Slater but isn't sure what to call himself anymore. Hence why he goes by Slade now.
Esme: Wow! That's quite a story! He did tell me about all of that but didn't mention any names, and now I know the reason why.
Leora: Yeah. He occasionally helps his older half-brother Spike and his aunt Bianca with caring for Kendall, and that's why he went straight to Pine Valley after his gig last night rather than going home to Nixon Falls. He took Kendall to a doctor's appointment earlier today, in order to give Spike and Bianca a break. He checks in with them pretty regularly and visits them whenever he's in town, but he only sees Zach at holiday gatherings now.
Esme: I still can't believe he's Erica's grandson. You know, when I first met Slade, it was at the Highsider, and initially I thought he was more than a little weird and shady. When I walked in, I noticed he was staring at me, and it made me kind of uncomfortable, but at the same time I got the feeling that I should talk to him. He told me he knew about my parents both being serial killers, which isn't exactly a secret as they were on the news when they escaped Spring Ridge and forced me to go with them, and that's how he knew. When he told me that his grandfather was a serial killer, I kind of got scared, even though he was trying to reassure me that it was more common than people think. He also claimed to hate Oz Haggerty and was glad he was dead, but that didn't stop him from enjoying this Icelandic beverage that Oz had smuggled in. He also enjoyed watching the fights that apparently are a regular occurrence at the Highsider. He even had this weird name for them. But still, there was something about him that made me feel like he was somebody I could trust, and that's when I asked him for his number.
Then last night, when I saw him performing with his band at the Savoy, I got a completely different vibe from him, and I actually thought he was hot! But even then, I would never have guessed he was Erica Kane's grandson. He's the polar opposite of her! The way he talked about his family made me think they were all really horrible people.
Leora: Well, you're not entirely wrong. He unfortunately is related to a lot of horrible people, but his mom, his brother Spike, his aunt Bianca, his cousins Miranda and Gabby, are all wonderful. And don't forget, Erica isn't perfect either. Far from it. Ian actually lived with her for a little while after the divorce, but he said that she really wasn't somebody he enjoyed being around. He said that she really has a hard time dealing with men, and not just her romantic partners, but also her blood relatives. Ian and Spike, and also a son whom she didn't know about until he was an adult, who's dead now. She loves them, don't get me wrong, but it's difficult for her really to relate to them. Not very many boys enjoy makeup and fashion.
Esme: That explains a lot. There was a line in the song he sang about not liking fashion, or something like that. And he didn't want to stay to see Blaze perform, as she's the new Face of Deception as well as a singer. He said he was tired of seeing ads for cosmetics companies. I guess that's why. But how did he go from such a glamorous lifestyle to hanging out at shady bars like the Highsider and associating with people like Oz Haggerty?
Leora: You know Selina Wu, right?
Esme: I don't really know her, but I know of her. She's head of the Wu crime family, and she's hosted poker games at the Savoy, and kept trying to get Curtis Ashford to sell it to her after he was shot and became paralyzed.
Leora: That makes sense, seeing as how she's the owner of the Highsider. Ian knew her because she had been involved with his father Zach's casino business at one point, and through Selina, he met Oz Haggerty. Ian would visit the Highsider whenever he was in Port Charles, and Oz would ask Ian for various favors, including being a go-between for his father and Selina Wu, in exchange for drugs and other illegal stuff Oz had smuggled in. Oz kept asking Ian for additional favors, and as a result Ian became heavily addicted to drugs, and he almost died as it affected his heart condition. After that, he went to rehab, and when he got out, he wisely kept his distance from Oz, Selina, and the Highsider. But when he heard that Oz was dead, he started going there again, though I think the other day when you were there with him, he finally realized what a toxic hellhole the Highsider was. So he says he's through with that place.
Esme: He mentioned that he had been a regular at a bar in Nixon Falls where he's currently living, but the bar burned down, and now one of the owners is the manager at Charlie's Pub. He said had he known she was there, he would have gone to Charlie's. But had he done so, we wouldn't have crossed paths.
Leora: Why were you at the Highsider anyway?
Esme: *Sigh* To see if it would jog my memory about my reasoning for getting the black-market phone in order to frame Trina. Oz was the one who gave me the phone after all, and while I remembered doing it, I couldn't really remember what I was feeling at the time.
Leora: Did you remember?
Esme: Some of it, yeah. Basically, I'm still in love with Spencer, and my memory loss showed me that I probably would have gotten together with Spencer even if my father wasn't making me date him in order to break up Nikolas and Ava's marriage. I must have been genuinely jealous of Trina, and despite all the messed up things he was making me do, my father actually didn't like my "vendetta" against Trina. But still though, resorting to framing Trina for revenge porn is so extreme. Am I really such a horrible person to resort to doing that?
Leora: That's something that Jan can probably help you figure out.
Esme: Well, I'm living with her now, so I might as well allow her to help me.
Leora: That's good. I'm glad she's allowing you to stay with her. She did the same for me. And she's helping you care for Ace as well. I can't imagine where we'd be without her.
Esme: She's been wonderful.
Leora: Indeed. Oh, I almost forgot. Ian and I are not related by blood, at least not that either of us are aware of, but we actually have a relative in common!
Esme: Really? Wow! Who is the relative, if you don't mind me asking?
Leora: So, David Hayward had two younger half-brothers. Same mother, different fathers. One of David's half-brothers was also Kendall's half-brother. Same father, different mothers. So this guy would be our half-uncle, and Ian and I technically are step-cousins, though none of our relatives were married. It's a bit confusing but I'm working on putting together a family tree. Ian is going to try to find our mutual half-uncle. He's going to be difficult to locate as he changed his name, and we aren't sure what his legal name currently is. He also went to prison years ago for, get this, burning down Erica's house! This happened over 20 years ago, before I was born, and most likely he's out of prison by now, but nobody's heard from him since and Ian says that he's hardly ever talked about. I don't think Erica's family has forgiven him, and given Kendall's weak condition, I don't think she's going to want to help Ian find him. So our best bet is one of those 23andMe DNA tests.
*Esme is reminded of her agreement to get a DNA test to see if Spencer is Ace's father. She hopes that he was the father, as she is disgusted with herself for doing the nasty with Nikolas, and not telling Spencer about it before they had sex shortly afterwards. She also is low-key hoping that it would turn out that Ian and Leora are blood-relatives, as that would mean that Esme would be free to date Ian should he come back to Port Charles, which, in turn, would mean being able to forget about Spencer and start afresh with someone new, and perhaps even move to either Pine Valley or Nixon Falls.*
Esme: Um, yes, it is. It's definitely better to do research first lest you blindside someone with the news that you're their relative, only to then find out otherwise.
Leora: Exactly. I also have another potential relative whom I'm going to try to find. His name is Aidan Devane, and he's Anna and Alex's nephew, and therefore my cousin, assuming that I really am Anna's daughter. Ironically, he also went to prison, much more recently. If I can find him and have him agree to get at DNA test, if he hasn't already gotten one, and we share the right percentage of DNA, it would tell me some stuff. I have a feeling that my mother most likely is Anna, not Alex. So finding out who my father is first would save me from the trouble of telling Anna that I'm her daughter and potentially put my life in danger only for it to turn out that she's not my mother after all. Just like how…nevermind.
Esme: What?
Leora: While you were still in the hospital in Pine Valley, after spending most of the day researching my family, I went to the cemetery where David and most of my relatives on his side are buried, sat down on a bench to collect my thoughts, and dince it was late at night, I fell asleep. I had a dream where I encountered Alex's son, Peter August, who initially believed that Anna was his mother, who watched him die in front of her. Since Anna and Alex are identical twins, they had to do more extensive DNA testing to determine who Peter's mother was. And Anna didn't tell him until several months later.
Esme: Oh my god, that sounds so scary!
Leora: It was, but I feel it's a sign that I'm on the right track. I had gotten a lot of my information about Peter from a conversation I had with Anton, and later did my own research about him, so when I woke up I immediately knew that it was a dream. And I interpret it as a further indicator that I should steer clear of Anna until I'm sure I have all the facts correct.
Esme: I didn't want to tell you this, but I actually know about Peter, and everything that he did. He shot and killed my much older half-brother Franco.
Leora: What?! I had no idea! Oh my god, I'm so sorry!
Esme: Don't worry, it was long before I found out that Heather was my mother, so I never knew Franco, or even knew that I had any biological siblings.
Leora: Still that's horrible. Anton said that Peter wasn't a good person at all, and that people are relieved that he's dead, but it doesn't do anything to ease my fears about Anna. So that's why right now I'm focusing on David's side of the family.
Esme: You mentioned that David had another half-brother?
Leora: Yes, but he also died. He fell into a waterfall and was washed away by the current, and even though they never found his body, enough time has passed to the point where it's unlikely he survived the fall. This also happened before I was born. So there's not a whole lot of information to go on, but it's a start. And in the meantime, I enjoyed hanging out with Ian today and getting to know him, and he's agreed to help me with my family research. We're following each other on Instagram. I know I haven't posted much on there, but since you and I follow each other, you'll be able to find him.
Esme: So what's he like? I know a little bit about him of course, but you obviously have spent a lot more time with him.
Leora: He's…interesting. He definitely has some strange tastes in music. Not the kind of stuff I like to listen to, though he does have a nice voice. He enjoys being edgy, and deliberately avoids anything he sees as "mainstream" as you probably noticed. He tries to be as different from Erica as he can possibly be, and prefers a simpler, less glamorous way of life. I guess you could say he's a black sheep.
Esme: I noticed that about him too. I don't really understand why he's rebelling against Erica, when he has so many relatives who have done much worse things than she has.
Leora: He still sees Erica periodically at family gatherings, and I wouldn't say he's rebelling against her. I think he just wants to find his own path in life. Which makes sense, sees how he's on the road a lot. He told me he's happy with being a traveling musician and doesn't necessarily want to be famous, but if he does become famous, it will be because he earned it, as opposed to being famous simply because he's Erica's grandson.
Esme: I don't blame him. I'd want the same thing, especially given who my parents are.
Leora: So how are you doing?
Esme: I don't know. After I called you, I was going to head back to Jan's house, but then I ran into Spencer. He and Trina broke up, and when he saw me, he started arguing with me, and demanded to know whether the last time we had sex was before or after I had sex with his father, and if Ace was his son or not.
Leora: And?
Esme: I had been sitting on this for a while and it was eating away at me. Yes, Spencer and I did have sex one last time after I had sex with Nikolas, and I didn't tell him about it until afterwards. I don't want to get into it now because I'm pretty burnt out after Spencer and I argued about it. And as far as Ace goes, I don't know for sure if his father is Nikolas or Spencer, but I think it's more likely that Nikolas is his father. Which sucks because even though Spencer has moved on, I've realized that I actually have feelings for him. I asked Jan if she was okay if Spencer came over to see Ace, and she said yes.
Leora: She did? That almost never happens with anyone who isn't a trusted member. Then again, Jan hasn't sponsored anyone except for the two of us, and she's the one who started this group, so if she wasn't okay with it, she would have said so. Did Spencer end up spending the night?
Esme: Yes.
Leora: Did you and he, you know…
Esme: *Sigh* Yes we did. But as much as I would like him to stay, I encouraged him to take some time to decide. If he doesn't want to be with me, that's fine. I'll still allow him to be part of Ace's life as much as he wants to, but I'm not going to try to get in the way of him and Trina. Now that being said, we were going to go get a DNA paternity test to see if Spencer is Ace's father, but I guess he changed his mind. He said he was going to go for a walk, but that was hours ago, and he hasn't come back. And I'm not expecting him to come back. If he wants to be with Trina, so be it. I'm not going to stop him.
Leora: Are you sure about that?
Esme: Yeah.
Leora: Are you sure that you're sure?
Esme: No, I actually really want Spencer to come back if I'm being honest, but I also have to live in the truth. I did a lot of things that made him not trust me, and NOBODY in Port Charles likes me except you and Jan.
Leora: Just be patient. It will work out.
Esme: I hope so.
Leora: Well I should probably get going now.
Esme: Okay yeah. Thanks for the update! Please keep me posted on any new developments.
Leora: I will, and good luck with Spencer.
Esme: Thanks.
*They hang up.*
Esme decided to check out Ian's Instagram profile, but the battery on her phone was nearly dead. She plugged her phone into the charger, then went to Nelle's office, sat down at the computer, and logged into Instagram. She went to Leora's profile. Leora only had two posts and only a few followers, so it didn't take long for Esme to find Ian's profile.
Unlike Leora, Ian had many posts going back several years. Most of them were pictures of him with his various bands. He apparently had been in several bands over the years, his first one being a Slayer tribute band named Satin Slayer. Esme remembered that was the name that Alexander Cambias Sr. came to be known as during his initial killing spree. This must have been around the time he helped his grandfather escape prison, as she noticed that in the comments, people were referring to Ian as Alex. There were a few videos of him performing as well. She liked his voice and his bass playing but overall was not a fan of the music.
Scrolling down a bit farther, she found a picture with a face she recognized; Erica Kane! Her two daughters; Kendall and Bianca, and her four grandchildren; Miranda, Gabrielle, Spike, and Ian, were in the picture too. Ian looked a lot younger but she could clearly tell it was him by his face and the way he was dressed. There was also a rugged-looking man standing next to Ian, who clearly was his father, Zach Slater. They had the same dark eyes, dimpled chin, and wavy hair, though Zach's hair was considerably shorter. The picture was captioned "The only picture of my family you will ever see." Below the caption, there was a comment from Leora, and a reply from Ian.
Leora: I thought you said your parents were divorced.
Ian: They are. This was one of the last pictures of us all together. Despite their failing marriage, both my mom and my aunt Bianca insisted that my dad be in the picture too. I think it's pretty obvious that I didn't want to be there.
And indeed, Esme noticed that unlike the rest of them, who were smiling enthusiastically, Ian looked bored, and like he really didn't want to be there. She concluded that this likely was when his rebellious streak began, but his parents hadn't become aware of it yet.
Scrolling down a little farther, she saw a picture of a man with dark, shoulder-length hair and a faint goatee. He appeared to be performing at a concert as he was holding a microphone. He looked familiar, and Esme was sure she'd seen his face many times, but wasn't sure where. The picture was captioned "Rest in darkness Stephen Clay, aka Caleb Morley. This guy was a literal monster, yet he wrote some killer songs!"
Esme was confused. She felt strongly like she'd seen this man in person, yet the caption seemed to imply that he had died, and the picture was dated February 28, 2013, which was nearly 11 years before. She decided to do a search for Stephen Clay, and the results were a mix of various pictures of Stephen on stage with his band, the Stephen Clay Experience, and articles about Stephen being a mentally ill serial killer ("Great, just like my parents," Esme said to herself) who believed he was a vampire named Caleb Morley. She listened to one of his songs, entitled "Naked Eyes". His low, smooth voice was very seductive. If he believed himself to be a vampire, she thought maybe this was how he lured his victims to their fate. The articles mentioned him being obsessed with a woman named Livvie Locke. That name rang a bell; she remembered Ryan saying that Livvie Locke was the name of his twin brother Kevin's daughter. If this was the same Livvie, it meant that Esme and Livvie were cousins!
Trying to make sense of it all, Esme swiveled the chair away from the computer screen and looked around the room…and noticed a picture of a man who looked exactly like Stephen Clay on a nearby shelf! Judging by his white coat and stethoscope, Esme concluded that he was a doctor. She walked over to the picture to have a closer look. She could see his ID badge very clearly, which read "Silas Clay, MD". There was another picture of Silas with Nina, who looked much younger (and a lot like Nelle), and it appeared to be a wedding photo as Nina had a veil on her head and Silas was wearing a tuxedo. Next to this picture was a picture of Nelle as a little girl, wearing her half of the heart necklace. Esme wondered if Silas Clay was Nelle's father.
She sat back down at the computer and Googled "silas clay md". She found an obituary for him stating that he had died in 2015. Esme had only been in Port Charles since 2021, but was sure that she'd seen a doctor at General Hospital who looked just like him, but couldn't remember his name. Esme looked through the various images, and stumbled on a picture of Silas with two other doctors, one of whom she recognized as her own father, Ryan Chamberlain! The picture looked as if it was from long before she was born, as everybody looked younger, especially Silas, who looked like he was around the same age she was now. Ryan had a beard and his brown hair was rather long, coming down to his shoulders, and Esme could tell that she got her hair genes from him. Even though he was smiling for the picture, she recognized the crazed expression in his eyes, which his twin brother Kevin Collins thankfully didn't have, seeing how he was a psychiatrist. Silas's hair was also rather long. He looked as if he didn't want to be there, similarly to Ian not wanting to be in the photo with his family. Standing between Ryan and Silas was a third man she had never seen before. Esme thought he was quite handsome; he reminded her somewhat of Aladdin.
Curious, she clicked the link, which took her to a page on the Internet Archive. It was an article in Tempo magazine. It looked like most of the article had been taken down, but not the first page.
She looked at the caption of the picture, which read "Left to right: Ryan Chamberlain, David Hayward, and Silas Clay at Crichton-Clark Clinic in 1991."
Her heart began racing with excitement! Was the third man Leora's father? She thought she could see a little bit of him in Leora's face. She scrolled down and read further…
ARTICLE TEXT:
THE MORBID ORIGINS OF ORPHEUS
How a controversial medical research project that saved many lives nearly began with taking them.
By Brooke English
Published May 10, 2019
Disclaimer: This article contains details surrounding medical experiments conducted without the consent of the patients or their families, which some readers may find disturbing.
Dr. David Hayward is a controversial figure in the world of medicine. His personality has been described as volatile, with various colleagues stating that at times, they were afraid of being in the same building with him, let alone the same room. His unorthodox and often unethical treatment methods have landed him in trouble with the law on many occasions. But if you were to ask the man himself, he will tell you that he is simply doing what he is passionate about, saving lives. And indeed, many residents of Pine Valley owe their lives to him.
I had previously interviewed Dr. Hayward on Talk Tempo back in 2013, shortly after he was released from prison after serving a five-year sentence for the attempted murder of his former son-in-law, J.R. Chandler. Hayward insisted that he reacted in a moment of grief and shock after watching J.R. shoot his daughter Marissa, who sadly died. Hayward had wrenched the gun from J.R.'s hands and shot him, rendering him comatose. He did not hold back in saying that he wished that J.R. had met the same fate as Marissa. However, in that same interview, Dr. Hayward vehemently emphasized his many triumphs over the years.
One such triumph was Project Orpheus. Although the project is credited for saving the lives of many of Pine Valley's residents, it nonetheless attracted controversy when it was discovered that Dr. Hayward conducted his experiments on human subjects in secret, without the consent of the families of the deceased individuals. The first known individual whose life was saved through Project Orpheus was Dr. Maria Santos-Grey, who was presumed to have died in a plane crash in 1997. She returned to Pine Valley in 2002, and although her husband and children were beyond thrilled to know that she was alive, she had severe amnesia, which took over a year for her to recover from. However, it wasn't until 2011 when several additional individuals who had previously been believed to be deceased turned up alive that the experiments behind this life-saving technology were brought to light. Charges were brought against Dr. Hayward for conducting these experiments without consent, though they were later dropped.
Now, in a new interview, Dr. Hayward sheds some light on some previously unknown details about his controversial project, much of which, Hayward admitted, he had been keeping quiet about for nearly three decades.
Brooke English: Thank you Dr. Hayward for agreeing to this interview.
Dr. David Hayward: No problem, and thank you for agreeing to allow me to finally get the closure I need after nearly thirty years.
Brooke: I must admit that it took me by surprise when you told me that there were details regarding Project Orpheus that you hadn't shared with anyone before, including the individuals who owe their lives to you.
Dr. Hayward: Well, as you and I both know, the project itself was quite controversial. As grateful as said individuals were, I nonetheless faced significant backlash, not to mention criminal charges, which ultimately were dropped.
Brooke: This seems to have occurred many times throughout your career.
Dr. Hayward: Indeed it has. It's not something I try to keep secret, since everybody who knows me or even knows who I am has heard about the countless times that my work has landed me in trouble.
Brooke: And yet your research in bringing people back from the dead was something you had been keeping secret for a long time.
Dr. Hayward: Yes, it was.
Brooke: Why was that? Why not go public with your research when you first started it? Everybody knows how passionate you are about saving lives.
Dr. Hayward: Because the project nearly began with deliberately taking lives.
Brooke: Really?
Dr. Hayward: Yes. I don't want to make light of all the other horrible things that I have done over the years, but this could have put an end to not only my career, but potentially my life.
Brooke: You said a few moments ago that you're doing this interview in order to get closure after nearly thirty years. Why have you waited for so long to share these additional details, and why are you choosing now to come forward?
Dr. Hayward: Well, as I just said, this information could have resulted in me losing my life. And as for the reason why I'm choosing to come forward now, it is because the two other people who initially were involved with the project during its early stages are now deceased. But to understand everything that happened, I need to start from the beginning.
Brooke: Please do.
Dr. Hayward: I began researching ways in which to keep people with would-be-fatal conditions alive back in 1991. I recruited two other individuals to help with the research; a young oncology student named Silas Clay, and a pediatrician, Ryan Chamberlain.
Brooke: Ryan Chamberlain, as in the serial killer who terrorized Port Charles? Multiple times, I might add?
Dr. Hayward: Yes, unfortunately. This of course was before all that happened.
Brooke: When you were interviewing Ryan to see if he might be interested in helping you with your research, was there anything about him that concerned you?
Dr. Hayward: Obviously not. If I had, I would've found someone else.
Brooke: Okay. What was your reasoning for selecting these particular individuals for your project?
Dr. Hayward: Ryan was a pediatrician, and Silas was studying to become an oncologist. I thought they were ideal for the project given the things they specialized in. Cancer can strike anyone at any age, and no parent should have to bury one of their children...
*He pauses for a few seconds.*
Dr. Hayward: Sorry, I'm getting emotional thinking of my three daughters, all of whom are dead.
Brooke: Nothing to apologize for. It's understandable why you would be emotional. I lost my own daughter when she was only five when she was hit by a drunk driver.
Dr. Hayward: That's so horrible!
Brooke: Let's get back to your research. How long were Silas and Ryan involved with Project Orpheus?
Dr. Hayward: Roughly a year.
Brooke: And how long was it before you noticed any red flags with either of them?
Dr. Hayward: There were no red flags with Silas. But I got the sense that something was up with Ryan about six months into the project, and I'm ashamed to say that was dismissive of it at first.
Brooke: What were some of the things you observed with Ryan that you were dismissive of?
Dr. Hayward: Ryan was suggesting that he could procure patients for us to experiment on. I dismissed it as him saying he could take dead bodies out of the morgue and revive them. And on that note, I would like to point out that there is no way to revive a person who is truly dead and whose body has begun decomposing. The assumption that many people have when they learn about Project Orpheus is that we can bring dead people back to life. That's not how it works. What we do is keep people who are barely clinging to life from letting go. This entails administering the first phase of the treatment, then placing the patient in a medically induced coma so that their body can heal. Once they've recovered enough, they will be ready to be administered the next phase of the treatment that would help them further heal and eventually regain consciousness. It can potentially be several years before they're ready. Part of our research involved carefully observing the subtle signs that a person who has been officially pronounced dead might still be barely alive, and we were developing technology to check if a person was alive that ordinary devices aren't able to pick up on. However, once a person is truly dead, they can't be saved.
Brook: Thank you for the explanation. I'm sure many of our readers will want to know, though I'd imagine those who have lost a loved one will be heartbroken to know that even Project Orpheus has its limits. But let's not get sidetracked. What was it about Ryan that you were observing that you could no longer be dismissive of?
Dr. Hayward: Well, as time went on, he became increasingly eager to provide us with patients, and knew exactly how to do it; by deliberately killing people, then attempting to revive them.
Brooke: Really?
Dr. Hayward: Yes. Doctors take an oath to do no harm, and Ryan was implying that he was going to violate this oath. This should have been the moment when I fired him. But I didn't.
Brooke: Why didn't you fire him?
Dr. Hayward: Because I was young, immature, and eager to see the results of our experiments. Don't forget this was thirty years ago. I would never agree to join a project that involved deliberately killing people, let alone start such a project. My goal has always been to save lives.
Brooke: Yes, you have made that very clear. But what was it that Ryan was doing that you couldn't ignore, and made you take action to stop him?
Dr. Hayward: It involved Silas's mentally ill brother, Stephen Clay, who believed himself to be a vampire. At the time I thought he merely was obsessed with stories about vampires. It wasn't until several years later that I learned that he not only believed that he was an actual vampire, but had an entire alternate identity, calling himself Caleb Morley. At one point he even was convinced that Caleb Morley was his actual name and Stephen Clay was the stage name that he was using when he began his career as a rock musician, and it was around that time he became obsessed with Ryan's niece, Livvie Locke.
Brooke: I remember hearing about him. So just to clarify for our readers, Stephen Clay was his real name, and Caleb Morley was his "vampire" alter ego, and not the other way around as was reported many years ago?
Dr. Hayward: Yes it was.
Brooke: I'm sure our readers who are fans of his music or familiar with his story will be interested in this new information. So how was Stephen involved with the project?
Dr. Hayward: Stephen wasn't supposed to be involved with the project at all, as he's not a doctor, nor was interested in becoming one. But thanks to Ryan, he knew about what we were doing, and once he knew, he wanted to be involved.
Brooke: And what did Ryan do that made Stephen want to be involved?
Dr. Hayward: This makes me sick to my stomach just by thinking about it. Ryan told Stephen that he could collect blood from the patients for Stephen to drink. I became aware of it when I noticed the amount of blood that the patients were losing after being brought to the clinic, as well as the amount of blood Ryan said he was taking for testing. He wasn't taking small vials of blood or even the amount of blood that one would typically donate. I'm talking liters of blood from a single person, and since many of the patients had already lost a lot of blood when they first were brought in, draining the remaining blood in their bodies resulted in them dying. The average person's body contains around 5 liters of blood, and most of the patients had lost enough blood to the point where they're just barely clinging to life. Thanks to Ryan and Stephen, many of these patients could not be saved.
Brooke: Wow, I don't blame you for feeling sick to your stomach! That is both extremely sickening, and extremely horrifying.
Dr. Hayward: I know.
Brooke: And how did you find out about what Ryan and Stephen were doing?
Dr. Hayward: Silas wasn't very close to his brother, but one day he went to see him. They talked for a few minutes, then Silas went to the kitchen to get a drink, and found all these containers of red liquid in the fridge. He asked Stephen about it, and of course Stephen denied it and insisted it was vegetable juice and that he was on a special diet. But Silas persisted, and Stephen eventually admitted it was blood. Silas asked him where he was getting it, and he eventually admitted that Ryan was giving it to him. Silas relayed this information to me, and we observed what Ryan was doing, and sure enough, we saw him collecting blood into pouches and putting them in his medical bag to take home with him.
Brooke: That is horrible!
Dr. Hayward: No arguments there.
Brooke: I want to come back to this, but a few minutes ago you mentioned Livvie Locke. You said that she was Ryan's niece?
Dr. Hayward: Yes. She was the daughter of Ryan's twin brother, Kevin Collins. They are identical twins yet the two of them couldn't be more opposite. Kevin is a well-respected psychiatrist, and he didn't know about Livvie until she was an adult, when she began seeing him for therapy, and long story short, he found out she was his daughter. But what baffles my mind is that years later, he somehow he didn't remember ever having a daughter. Maybe he was so traumatized over what happened to her that he blocked the memory out. I don't know for sure because I wasn't there to witness it, but had Kevin known about what Ryan and Stephen were doing, I would hope that he would have put a stop to it. Having a serial killer for a brother is bad enough, but Ryan being an enabler for Stephen's sick obsessions and helping Stephen take advantage of Kevin's daughter is even worse. But I find it strange that a psychiatrist of all people wouldn't be able to remember having a daughter, let alone what happened to her, but I'm not a psychiatrist, so I don't know how they think.
Brooke: I'd imagine something like that would be quite traumatizing for anyone to witness, but I agree that it definitely is strange that a psychiatrist wouldn't remember.
Dr. Hayward: The only logical explanation is a repressed memory, but again I'm not a psychiatrist, so I can't say for sure. But in any case, Silas and I now had the proof we needed to nail Ryan.
Brooke: So did you do it?
Dr. Hayward: We told him we would report him. After that, I didn't see him collecting blood anymore, and as a result, fewer patients died.
Brooke: So that seemed to work? By telling him you'd report him?
Dr. Hayward: Somewhat.
Brooke: So what finally happened that made you disassociate yourself from him?
(Continued on next page)
Esme reached the end of the one page that was able to load. While she was very curious to see the rest of the article, she also remembered that Leora said that she had talked to Brooke, who mentioned that she had done two interviews with David, one of which was never published, but assuming this was the same interview, it clearly had been published, then taken down, but someone managed to save part of it and uploaded it to the archive.
She looked at the date that the article was published; May 10, 2019. She then Googled David Hayward and found his obituary, which listed his date of death as May 12, 2019. This meant that David died only two days after the article was published. She also knew that Ryan, having previously thought to have died, was revealed to still be alive not long afterwards.
Even though she only saw part of the article and there still were a lot of unanswered questions, she felt pretty sure that she knew what happened to David Hayward. Her father must have killed him.
She went to the living room and sat on the couch for several minutes, wondering how in the world she was going to go about telling Leora about what most likely happened to her father, when Spencer walked in.
Spencer: Esme?