Chapter 1

This story takes place 100 years later than the third one and mostly involves Dana Reid, oldest daughter of Spencer and Michelle

100 years later

Dana Reid was over 100 years old and she had immediately set out for Hollywood as soon as she had finished college after a short visit back to New York to visit her parents and grandparents.

She knew that back when she had been younger, she had been something of a trial to her family because of her dramatics, but she had been so self-centered and self-absorbed back then, that she had never even noticed or cared. Everything that happened had centered around her, and she had loved being the center of attention, which is why she had resented the two siblings she'd had had until her little brother was born when she was ten, which only meant that she had three siblings too resent.

She remembered making her opinion known on her parents, giving her a third sibling as she had ranted and raved until they had gotten tired of listening to her, and simply left her to wear herself out.

Luckily, for her, her parents, Spencer and Michelle had not had any more after her little brother was born, a boy they had named Henry

Henry had been not quite eight when she had gone off to college. In college, she had finally begun to mature and she had slowly realized over many years that her parents had not wanted only her and that she shouldn't resent her siblings like she had when she had lived at home.

She now realized the psychology of wanting to be an only child as many children wanted to have no siblings, but they often did.

It was only after those children were grown up and had matured that they realized that they were not the center of the universe and that their parents could love more than just one child.

This was not a lesson she had understood for many years. The lesson was simple and also very complex and that was love was not finite, it was infinite. In other words, somebody could love more than one person at a time, they could love multiple people, but in different ways. There was a romantic love like her grandfather felt for her grandmother, or her parents felt for each other. There was also love of your friends or your siblings or a parents love for their child even when they wanted to throttle them, but didn't actually do so.

Dana well knew that her parents had wanted to throttle her a lot when she had been a child and that they had done so was a miracle, as she had pitched a fit at the drop of a hat when everything didn't go her way.

The reason they hadn't throttled her like she deserved was because they loved her despite her pitching fits or crying to get something she wanted. She could still summon tears at the drop of a hat.

There were all different kinds of love in the world, Dana had eventually realized after she had been in Hollywood for a while and had starred in several well received movies which had been the start of her career.

There was a temporary love that was nothing more than lust and a physical attraction, but that kind of love eventually faded sometimes leaving the couple bereft when they realized that what they felt for each other wasn't real love.

It happened in Hollywood all the time and very few marriages lasted for a lifetime. As for her, she had never been married, but then, she also hadn't met her mate yet which was why.

She was immortal, just like her family and she had been around for nearly 120 years now, but only if you counted when she had been born, as she had been in Hollywood for 100 years.

She had actually grown up in New York living with her parents, grandparents and all their kids.

Her grandfather's house was more of a mansion than a regular sized house, but then, he lived in an ultra-ritzy neighborhood.

Still, that meant there was plenty of room for his family, his two adoptive sons and his one adoptive daughter and also that daughter's family, which meant there were numerous children, her three siblings herself and her grandparents five kids all of whom were still alive since they were all immortal.

As for her Nana, Diana Reid, she was long dead, unfortunately, but then she had been mortal. Dana still missed her Nana to this day and was thinking about naming any girl children after her just like she had been.

Also, her father and grandmother's other two siblings were already dead, leaving behind their own legacy in the form of children. Her Aunt Roxie and Uncle Dan had had three children before they two had passed away. Those children had long since married and had children of their own, so their lines continued into the future. As for her uncle Rocco, more commonly known as Rocky, he had never married and had had only one child because of an accident, but her cousin Myrna had long since married as well and was also dead, leaving behind her own legacy.

Dana sighed and rose from where she was sitting.

She had many memories on shelves and bookcases all over the house and she wandered around, picking up small expensive objects and then putting them back down again. She had to admit she was lonely. She was also feeling rather restless, and she wasn't exactly sure why. She was only 120 years old after all. She'd had a good career in the movies, but was at the moment we retired, but she would go back to acting as soon as enough time had passed. She would have to change her hair color and the style of it so she didn't look exactly like the Dana Reid that starred in all those movies. She could be that Dana Reid's daughter for instance, one who had been named after her mother. She might go so far, as to change the spelling of her surname with two EE's instead of an E and an I for instance.

Dana's thoughts wandered to when she was nearly 10, and she had listened outside the door of the large parlor where all the family had been gathered.

It had been a gathering of all the family, except the children who had been in another part of the house being watched over by Bertha and Millie. She had snuck away though, wondering what her family was up to, her curiosity getting the better of her, and nobody had noticed she was missing for a few minutes.

She had arrived just in time for her grandparents to start their announcement. Dana remembered how they had each taken turns as if on the same wavelength to tell the family that they had both endowed scholarships for those were strong, musical talent that came from families that couldn't afford to go to some musical school like Juilliard in New York and also didn't get a scholarship if they applied.

Dana was a smart little girl, so she had understood most of the conversation, but what she hadn't understood is why her grandparents would waste the money to help someone with musical talent go to a school for future musicians. She hadn't understood why they would bother or why they would care, but she had later learned that this was their way to help those whose parents simply didn't have the money to send them so they could see their children's talents realized.

She had asked Bertha why her parents would bother to do such a thing once she got back to where the other children were all gathered and then had explained what she had overheard.

She might've had trouble with some of the words, that were unfamiliar, but she still managed to pronounce them.

Both Millie and Bertha had taken turns explaining that her grandparents were very generous with their money and didn't keep it just for themselves or to use on their family.

It was simply they felt like paying it forward, and in this case, since their grandmother was a musician professionally, this was their way to encourage young people with the talent, so they too, might one day become famous.

Dana knew that those scholarships continued even today, paid for, through one of her grandfather's many companies and handled by his lawyers.

Dana still hadn't truly understood why her grandparents would waste millions of dollars to help some teenagers, who weren't family despite the two nannies explanation. It had taken her many years to understand that generosity was its own reward and those that were selfish eventually got what was coming to them, even if that wasn't until after they were dead.

When you had money, then some rich people liked to support a cause they believed in and in her grandparents case that was to help future musicians by sending them to somewhere like Juilliard and also buying their first musical instrument.

Perhaps it was time for her to start thinking about leaving behind her own legacy Dana mused as she wandered around the house.

Perhaps she could endow a scholarship for drama students who wanted to go into the theater or become a movie star or something like that.

Finally, Dana left her house, telling her cook that she wouldn't be there for dinner so that the Reggie wouldn't prepare food only to have to put it in the refrigeration unit, just because her mistress wasn't there to eat it.

Besides, it would've been rude not to tell someone who prepared something for you that you weren't going to be there, and she did have manners, even if she was often imperious and domineering not to mention dramatic.

Her parents had certainly drilled manners into her head when she had been young, and she had often resented them for it, but now Dana realized that they had done so for a reason. You often got better service with politeness then you did by being rude and demanding.

Dana left the house and got into her brand new air car that happened to be one of the most expensive brand names on the market.

~~~Dana and Celine~~~

Several weeks later

Dana was wondering around in the open air Lancaster market in disguise looking at the various crafts, and other things for sale like food. This was not a crafts market or not only a crafts market she should say. There was some tables with various crafts, but there were also food stalls and other merchandise, and there were musicians throughout the market playing for the money that all the tourists would drop in their hats or bowls or even cups that had been placed in front of them in order to collect donations.

There was no music being piped out through speakers, just the musicians playing as the people flowed by.

They were little crowds gathering around each musician as the people listened for a few minutes to them playing often leaving a few dollars or credits behind when they left to continue their shopping.

Dana listened herself to several musicians who were very good though they could hardly be considered professionals but were likely self-taught and hadn't gone to a musical school like Juilliard. This was probably these musicians way to make some extra money perhaps for their families or perhaps for themselves.

Dana wandered away after a few minutes and was looking at a variety of T-shirts that had different sayings. One simply said get out of my face or get punched in it asshole! Then there was another one that said get out of my face or face the consequences butthead!

The T-shirts that said get out of my face or face the consequences butthead came in all different colors and had the picture of a closed fist on it with part of the saying above and the rest beneath. The other shirt had a picture of a donkey braying, as if in laughter and also came in all different colors.

Dana couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips and told the vendor, "I'll take some of these! These shirts are fantastic! I sure could've used one of these when some people get in my face and don't want to go away."

"Yeah, I've had that problem myself," the vendor and older man grinned. "People simply have no manners anymore."

"That is so true!" Dana laughed merrily.

"You know, I recognize your laugh from somewhere," the vendor said suddenly, looking at Dana with a speculative look on his face, as if trying to remember where he had heard her laugh.

Dana had made sure that she wore big, oversized sunglasses that concealed the upper part of her face and had also put on a wig so her trademark brown locks were not visible beneath the long blonde hair of the wig.

She shouldn't have laughed, Dana thought. Her laugh alone was recognizable because of numerous movie that she had been in.

"I've never seen you before in my life, sir," Dana told the man politely remaining calm.

"I'm sure I would remember, as I don't often come across people with such an outrageous sense of humor and believe me, I know plenty of people."

The man studied her again, and then his face cleared, as if he finally remembered where he had heard her laugh and was about to reveal it, and he began to speak, but Diana shook her head, frantically glancing around.

Dana put a finger to her lips to silence him, and the man snapped his mouth closed before he could've announced her identity to the rest of the market.

"You're Dana Reid," the man said more quietly than he had been going to initially.

"That would be my mother," Dana lied smoothly.

"I'm her daughter though, and I would appreciate you not announcing it loud enough for others to overhear."

Dana lowered her big sunglasses and winked at the man who smiled.

"You look just like her and have her laugh," the man finally said in a whisper. "How is your mother?"

"She's just fine, though she's retired and trying to keep busy."

"I'm sorry to hear that she's retired," the man said.

"Yes, but we all get old and she just got to where she couldn't handle it anymore. Dealing with often nasty, demanding directors or stars that want to take her place so try to sabotage her. It just got to be too much, too much crap. Too much of people coming up to her wanting her autograph, too many of the paparazzi trying to corner her to get a quote or a soundbite."

"I can't really blame her," the man said. "I'm Walter Mosley. I was always a big fan of your mother's back when she was still working. I hadn't realized she was retired, but I should have, as I just now realized I haven't seen anything new with her in it in at least five years."

"Her retirement was very quiet, Mr. Mosley," Dana said. "She's enjoying her retirement, even if she finds it difficult to keep herself busy."

Since Dana was talking about herself, she spoke nothing but the truth but Walter believed she was talking about her mother, which is what she wanted to believe.

"That's why I didn't realize that your mother had retired because it was kept quiet. It certainly wasn't in any paper as I would have noticed," Walter said.

"It was her wish that she be remembered, but she also wanted to fade into the background, so that the paparazzi wouldn't keep trying to follow her everywhere she went hoping for a soundbite. Now that it's been over five years since her retirement, she's yesterday's news and the paparazzi don't follow her anymore, so she's free to go where she likes, but she still has to wear a disguise whenever she goes out and so do I because I look just like her just a younger version. I might have blonde hair instead of brown, but that's about the only difference."

Dana had been careful when putting on one of her many wigs so you couldn't tell that it wasn't her real hair. Over the years, she had learned how to disguise herself due to her movie career.

She had learned how to add winkles to her face and how to apply makeup to where she looked totally different by the time she was done. This time Dana hadn't done anything much other than put on a wig and wear big, oversized sunglasses and with the scarf to cover her chin nobody would recognize her or at least it wasn't likely.

Dana spun her story without pause.

"I suppose I could leave California as I'm not as likely to be recognized if I was to go somewhere like New York, where my family lives. I might even be able to convince my mother to move back there where she's originally from."

"You and your mother would have more privacy out of Los Angeles," Walter suggested, and Dana nodded.

"We would and I might just mention it to my mother next time I see her.

"Anyway, I guess I never did introduce myself. I'm Dana Lynnette Reid, because my mother never officially married my father, so I took her surname and as you know, my mother is Dana Leslie Reid, so we basically share the same name or at least the same initials."

Dana had chosen Lynnette because that was her grandmother's name and it was just coincidental that the first letter was an L just like her middle name,

"Having a baby out of wedlock isn't exactly a great sin in this day and age," Walter commented.

"No, it isn't, especially not in Hollywood where actors and actresses have out of wedlock babies all the time," Dana agreed smiling

"I'll take half a dozen of each shirt, as I have plenty of family that would love them. My grandparents had plenty of children and I know of one in particular that would love these shirts. If you could give me two larges, two extra larges and half a dozen each of small and medium."

When Dana said grandparents, she was really talking about her parents, Spencer and Michelle Reid, but since she was playing her own daughter, she had to change it to grandparent. She knew that her real grandma Lynnette would appreciate a shirt as well, as she had a wicked sense of humor. Her real grandparents Dave and Lynnette Rossi had had some more children over the last 15 years or so and had moved to New Zealand over 60 years ago, as an immortal couldn't stay in one place for too long.

It was time for them to move on really, but the house they were living in was isolated, and there were no close neighbors, so they had decided to stay put at least for the next few years until their children were grown. They might even have a few more for this generation.

Besides, there were ways to disguise yourself to where nobody could tell that you were somebody you knew was dead.

It had been over 70 years since her grandparents had had any children, and it had just been the two of them, But finally, they had decided it was time to have some more just 15 years ago.

Their oldest was a boy just like the first time who they had named Skyler, though he went by Skye and Dana couldn't blame her cousin for that since Skyler was rather pretentious. The second had been a girl instead of a boy like last time and they had named her Serenity. Dana didn't understand why they couldn't have picked Serena, which meant the same thing and it was much more common than Serenity, though Serenity was more common than it used to be.

Her cousin went by Rena though, instead of Serenity and Dana couldn't exactly blame her. Dana did understand why her grandparents wanted unusual names and at least Serenity wasn't as bad as some names.

The third child they'd had was another boy and he had been named Lucian.

Finally, their fourth and last child at least the moment was another girl that they had named Aria. Aria was light and airy and was also a star. It also had musical connotations Dana believed. It was a good choice, considering that her grandmother was a musician, even if she wasn't playing professionally at the moment.

"Here you go, ma'am," Walter said handing her several bags and then told her the price and Dana paid him with her credit card.

"Thank you for your business ma'am please come again. I hope you enjoy the shirts.

"Oh, I will," Dana promised him, smiling. "They will be presents for some of my family, who will appreciate them."

Dana walked away and Walter watched her go until she faded back into the crowd.

~~~Dana and Celine~~~

Dana stopped to listen to several more musicians after making her purchase, but then she heard a voice that was so strong and pure that she just had to see who it was.

The voice was female, singing her heart out, while playing some kind of stringed instrument. The instrument was slightly out of tune, As if the musician had tuned the strings before starting her performance. Otherwise, despite the string instrument, being a little out of tune, it was a very pretty song.

Dana located he voice and just stood to listen.

The guitar she was playing looked like it had been thrown away and then been retrieve from the trash. One of the strings was broken Dana noticed, and the others were getting rather frayed and would probably soon break and to go along with that broken string the case was damaged and had scratches along the wood. It was clear that it had likely been thrown away until this girl had retrieved it or maybe she just couldn't afford to have it fixed Dana speculated. Couldn't even afford new strings for it, which was why all the strings were fraying so badly while one was snapped completely.

This girl looked like she was homeless, as she was dressed in jeans with big holes in the knees, and they were also sagging off her thin frame.

It was surprising if child protection services hadn't scooped her up as she couldn't be more than 13. On the other hand, Dana, well knew that child services didn't scoop up every kid and this girl might've been on the street since she was five or six living by her wits and eating out of trash cans or doing odd jobs to earn a little money.

If that was the case she had survived and hadn't been picked up by child services. There were plenty of people that lived on the street, including children, younger than this girl.

This girl certainly had talent as she was playing like she had been born to it, and Dana doubted that she'd ever had formal lessons.

She would certainly be a good candidate for one of her Grandma Lynnette's scholarships, so she would need to tell her about the girl, but she also needed her name first.

Dana was sure that this girl would be suspicious just on principal, so she was going to have to be very careful and how she approached this.

"So, what's your name?" Dana asked the girl once the girl was done with her performance and the crowd had mostly dispersed.

"Why do you want to know?" the girl asked suspiciously.

"I'll tell you my name if you tell me yours," Dana suggested.

Dana looked around to make sure that the crowd had totally dispersed before she did what she was about to.

"And why should I agree to that?" the girl asked.

"Because you'll be one of the only ones in this market, that will know my true identity," Dana told her with a smile. "Believe me, if anybody else knew who I really was that would be a riot."

"You're saying you're someone famous?" the girl asked, her tone of disbelief speaking for her.

"Keep your voice down," Dana gently admonished, looking around nervously.

The last thing she needed was to be recognized as she was sure she wouldn't escape without at least a few bruises, and she couldn't afford to heal in front of everybody's eyes, especially if the bruise was in an obvious place like on her face.

The girl looked at her as if she was crazy, and Dana nearly laughed out loud, but she also didn't want to scare this girl away, who was suspicious enough. She also didn't want to insult her as she might never be able to find this girl again if she wasn't careful.

The girl looked at the woman before her, one who was wearing a big pair of sunglasses that covered half her face, and also a broad brimmed hat to shade her face from the sun. She was also wearing a light scarf to cover the chin, so that all that could be seen was her mouth.

The girl had no idea who this stranger was, but she was doing a good job of protecting her identity. She wasn't sure if she believe that this lady was someone famous but why cover up your face so well if you weren't and didn't want to be recognized?

The girl whose name was Celine wasn't exactly unaware of the evil in the world considering she'd been living on the street since she was five at least she believed she had been five.

She had been found by a musician who had been living on the street for years and he had been nice and showed her the ropes.

He had then found her this instrument that had come from a trashcan still in decent shape considering. Someone obviously hadn't recognized the value and had thrown it away as being a piece of junk likely because of all the scratches that were along the body of the guitar.

Once the Maestro, Which was the only name that Celine knew him by, had found her had realized how talented she was, and how pure her voice was he had taught her how to play, as he was something of a musician himself. Unfortunately, her mentor and her friend had died just last year when she was 12.

She had been on her own ever since and she missed him every day, as he had been like a father to her since she had never known her real father.

Celine supposed that giving this lady her first name wouldn't do any harm as there's no way she was going to be identified without a last name.

"I'm Celine," the girl finally said.

"I'm Dana," Dana introduced yourself and then put her sunglasses on top of her hat and lowered her scarf so Celine could get a good look at her.

"Your…," Celine began, and Dana put a finger to her lips in order to shush her.

"Shush," Dana admonished the girl quietly before putting her sunglasses back on and raising the scarf to cover her chin once again.

"I don't want to be recognized," Dana continued quietly, even as she led the girl to a quiet corner, where they could talk more privately so long as they kept their voices down.

"You're Dana Reid, the famous movie star," Celine said her voice having gone from suspicious to awed. "What are you doing in a place like this? I mean, I would think you would be in production for some movie and would have servants to come to places like this for you."

"I like to come to places like this all the time and look at all the merchandise, as just because I'm a movie star doesn't mean I'm not still a woman with many hobbies and interests," Dana told her. "I have servants that's true, as they simply make life easier, but I'm also perfectly capable of doing for myself. I have a cook, because I've never learned how to prepare a meal and eating out all the time isn't healthy. I have a cleaning service come in once a week to clean my house, because I hate cleaning. I also have a laundry service to wash my clothes for me, but still the only servant I have that lives in my home is the cook.

"And as for being in production for some movie, I am retired and have been for five years," Dana added. "I hope that answers all your questions. I know I don't look it, but I was getting too old for movie directors to want me except for to play older parts. There's only so many ways to make yourself look younger," Dana said.

Dana wasn't exactly lying when she said that most directors didn't want her for major parts in films anymore because according to her birthday she had been over 70 when she had finally retired. She hadn't looked it, of course, because she was immortal, and she had simply told people that asked how she could look so young that she had major work done and also took care of her skin to reduce the winkles. Still, most people in the movie business would see her age and dismiss her for the part as not being young enough anymore to play the part that they wanted her for without actually ever meeting her and therefore never realized how young she still looked.

She had played in some minor roles over the last few years, but Dana was well aware that it was time for her to disappear from Hollywood for a while so she retired five years ago.

She also told some people that she was the daughter of Dana Leslie Reid instead of the lady herself depending on the situation. Saying she was the daughter explained why she still looked young and also people suspicions died before they could even be fully formed.

The fact that she didn't have a daughter, nobody ever knew, as it wasn't like any of them had access to hospital records to see if she'd ever given birth.

It was a relatively safe option to tell people that, as she'd been an actress after all, and she knew how to tell a lie about how she'd had a daughter out of wedlock.

The studio was in Burbank and it was humongous, so Dana had been able to act for many more years without people, realizing that she didn't look her age. As she was never just at one studio just like every actor that had ever played in a movie or a television show. Besides, she used make up to give her a few wrinkles on her face and hands and used hair dye to put gray in her hair, to make her look a few years older.

"I suppose that makes sense," Celine said. "Still, that doesn't explain what you want with me and why you wanted my name. Still, I never heard anything bad about you being a kidnapper or pornographer or something else seedy, so I suppose you're OK."

"All I can say is, you're way too young to know about things like that," Dana said, shaking her head.

"Still, I understand why you do it considering you've been living on the street."

"And how do you know I've been living on the street?" Celine challenged.

"It is obvious is the nose on your face. Dana told her, as she led Celine to the nearest fast food restaurant.

"Here, let's get something to eat. I'm hungry," Dana said.

Dana knew that Celine would likely turn down the offer to buy her a meal if she didn't buy something for herself as well.

"That's OK I don't need anything," Celine protested automatically.

"I don't want to buy something for myself and not get anything for you. That would be rude," Dana told her.

"I suppose I could eat later, but I'm really hungry now, still I won't buy anything unless you join me," Dana continued.

"You sure do know how to back a girl into a corner," Celine sighed seeming and resigned to let Dana feed her.

"Is that what I was doing?" Dana faked surprise, but under her scarf she was smiling.

"I didn't realize that was what I was doing. You simply look like you could use a good meal and I heard your stomach growl a few minutes ago and since I'm hungry anyway, I was just going to get food for both of us."

She was hungry, Celine admitted, but she had been sure that Miss Reid hadn't noticed. Apparently she'd been wrong about that.

"I can buy my own food with my earnings," Celine told her taking out a few one dollar bills from her pocket. She had picked the money up the bowl she had placed down for donations and now was carrying it but had stuffed to cash into her pocket.

"Oh no," Dana told her firmly. "Don't be too proud to let someone help you. You need that money for later and you know it. You're not going to waste it or buy the cheapest thing on the menu. I was a movie star before I retired and do you know how much most movie stars are worth unless they're stupid and waste it?"

"But I want to pay for my own," Celine protested again.

"Absolutely not, so you can stop arguing about it, as you're beginning to attract attention," Dana said to people who was starting to look at them curiously. "I'm sure that's the last thing you want and that is to attract attention, which is definitely something I don't need."

"All right, fine," Celine said, giving up the argument in defeat because Dana was very right. People were beginning to notice their argument and starting to stare. It wouldn't be long before at least one of them came to see what the problem was, as human beings could be nosy by nature something that Celine already knew.

Celine didn't need the attention and she knew that Dana didn't want that kind of attention, as she had come in disguise after all just a regular woman enjoying a day of shopping.

"Besides, there's something I want to talk to you about and we could talk about that as well over a meal Dana added, and Celine followed the ex-actress into the fast food place where they took a seat.

Dana, removed the scarf that covered her chin and then said, "Why don't we order and then I'll tell you what I want to talk to you about."

Both of them went up to order their food, and Dana added a chocolate milkshake and fries to Celine's order when she just would have gotten a burger without cheese since that was the cheapest thing that was on the menu.

"And if you could add cheese to that burger, please along with lettuce and tomato I would appreciate it," Dana told the server with a charming smile.

"Of course, ma'am," the server said who was dazzled by Dana's brilliant smile, though that didn't mean he recognize Dana with her big, oversized glasses and blonde wig on.

~~~Dana and Celine~~~