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Emily and Robin knocked on
the heavy front door. They were greeted by
a very somber butler and ushered
in. Both girls suppressed giggles as
the man took their coats without
even a smile. “This place always makes
me feel like I’m at a funeral.”
Emily joked. Robin nodded. Suddenly
Nikolas appeared and both girls
gathered up all their books. He led
them down the foyer, and into the
conservatory. Emily grinned, “I like
this room so much better than all
the rest Nikolas, how do you stand
living in the darkness of this
house?” Nikolas smiled, “I ... used to
... it.” He replied slowly.
Emily broke into a wide smile. “That’s
great!” She said. “I
just don’t think I could stand it. This room is
nice and bright though. Definitely
a change.” Robin pulled out her
books. “Ready to do some
more reading guys?” She asked. “I thought
maybe today we’d kind of do a book
club deal. We’ll each read a chapter
and then discuss what happened,
what we liked or didn’t like. That
okay?” Both nodded their
approval, and set off to find private places
to read. Emily settled onto
the window seat attached to the huge bay
window. Soon her thoughts
drifted to Lucky, and the events in the
park. She wished she had
insisted Lucky come home with her and Sarah.
“Wherever you are Lucky Spencer,
I hope you’re alright.” She whispered
to the sky. Nikolas sat close
to the fountain, while Robin found
herself snuggled in the big armchair
in front of a small fireplace.
Soon, all were lost in their thoughts
and the book, with its twisting
plot twists and turns.
~*~*~*~*
Alexis pulled on her bathrobe.
The long bath had helped to ease her
nerves. Dealing with Helena
the day before had worn her out. She was
extremely surprised that Helena
knew nothing of Lucky’s absence. “I
was sure she had had him kidnapped.”
She mused to herself. But she knew
that Helena had other plans for
the Spencers. She, on the other hand,
was a different story. Helena
had given her her next instructions in
becoming Katherine's friend.
Alexis sighed and placed around the
apartment, Katherine’s trust was
coming slowly, but after their last
talk concerning Helena, Alexis
felt that Katherine was beginning to
trust her. The door bell
rang, Alexis jumped, on edge. She peered out
the door and smiled broadly.
Ned smiled back, “May I come in?” He asked
smoothly.
~*~*~*~*
Lucky, still unconscious, lay on
his stomach at the bottom of the
catacombs. He dreamed of
life on the run with is parents. Images
flashing though his unconscious
memory. The diner, and their life in
Canada. Memories flooded
him, as his third night in the catacombs
began. Hypothermia had set
in, and Lucky’s temperature was dropping
slightly every few hours.
Alexis offered Ned his coffee.
He took it and sipped it. “Am I coming
at a bad time?” Ned asked, peering
at Alexis questioningly. She shook
her head, “I’ve just been
having a bad couple of days. Helena has been
giving me a hard time as usual.”
[Ned knows about Alexis’ past and he
has promised to keep quiet and
help her] Ned began to give Alexis a
back rub. “What does she want you
to do this time?” Alexis leaned
against him, “Nothing serious
yet, I just have to keep Katherine
informed of where Helena is, and
listen to her if she wants to talk.
Right now Helena wants me to keep
her informed on Luke and his son’s
disappearance.” Ned nodded,
“Anything I can do to help?” he asked
turning her around and looking
into her eyes. Alexis felt her chin
tremble, “No, just be here for
me.” Ned pulled her close. “Lex, you are
so strong, don’t let this woman
beat you down. We’ll have the last word
I promise.” Alexis took a
deep breath and smiled up at him. She could
feel her strength returning with
his every word. She put her hands on
his face and leaned her forehead
against his. “Thank you," she whispered.
“It’s my pleasure.” Ned said huskily.
He gave her a gentle kiss, and
the two of them sat together, listening
to the music playing on the
stereo.
~*~*~*~*
Robin stood up, “Have you guys finished
the chapters yet?” Nikolas
jumped, startled at her voice.
He had been lost in the book,
transferred to another world. “Yes,
finished.” He stammered. Emily
jumped off the window seat, “Me
too. That last chapter was the best,
in my opinion.” Nikolas nodded
his agreement. They all settled around
the fireplace. Robin opened
a notebook. “We took notes on each chapter
at school. How did you guys
feel when Pierre and Marie-Claude were
condemned and exiled?” Emily
shook her head, “That was awful. Just
because they disobeyed their parents
and fell in love. It was just like
Romeo and Juliet. I hope
they get away.” Nikolas smiled, “Such a ....
rom..rom...” “Hey!” Emily
snapped, “I can’t help it if I’m a
sentimental romantic!” She
punched Nikolas affectionately. “I love
romances.” Robin laughed.
“I can see that!” Nikolas smiled broadly,
glad to have gotten his message
across, and to be participating in the
conversation. “Marie-Claude
... reminds me of Juliet. But ... she
won’t enjoy life on the run.”
He looked extremely proud of himself for
that long sentence. Robin
agreed, “She does seem kind of fragile, I
don’t know. I think she’ll
adapt.” Emily stood up and stretched. “I
remember when Lucky and I ran away.
We slept in the desert, and I was
so afraid. I’d never slept
anywhere except in a real bed. But Lucky
was completely comfortable.
He said he could sleep anywhere.” She
turned away. “I wonder where....is?”
Nikolas asked. Robin closed her
notebook. “Maybe we aren’t
into this tonight. I think our minds are
elsewhere. What do you say
we take this up tomorrow? After dinner?”
Emily and Nik agreed. “We’ll
read up to where Marie-Claude and Pierre
escape the riot through the catacombs.”
The three began to pack up
their books, when Emily put her
hand over her mouth. “What?" asked
Nikolas. Emily shook her
head, “I can’t believe I didn’t think of it.
I think I know where Lucky might
be!”
Luke sat in the darkness of his
living room, picture frame in hand. He
stared down at the picture of Lucky,
upon his return to Port Charles.
He was so young, the triumph of
completing the journey all on his own
evident in his small face.
Bobbie came into the living room from the
kitchen. Things had improved
vastly between her and her brother in the
past two days. She brought
him plate of chicken and a cup of coffee. He
barely acknowledged her as she
sat next to him. She gently removed the
picture from Luke’s hands. “Luke?
You need to eat something. You won’t
help Lucky at all by making yourself
sick.” He looked up at her, “I
can’t eat, I can’t sleep,
I don’t know what to do Bobbie. What if I
never find him?” Bobbie put
her arm around him, “He will come home
Luke, I promise.” He took
a small bite of chicken and collapsed against
the back of the couch. “I can’t
get the picture of his face out of my
mind. He’s never going to forgive
me.” Bobbie shook her head, “He
needs his parents right now.
If you and Laura sit down and explain to
him what happened all those years
ago, I’m sure he’ll come to terms with
it. Why don’t you call her?”
Luke stood up and walked over the window,
“I can’t. She’ll never forgive
me for telling him. I’m going to lose
everyone Bobbie.”
~*~*~*~*
Nikolas jumped up, “Where ... he
is?” He was frustrated at his jumbling
of the words. “The catacombs!
Lucky always used to go there when he
was upset about something.” Emily
shook her head. “He hasn’t gone there
for a while, I’m not surprised
that no one thought to check there.”
Robin shuddered, “It’s so gross
down there, why does he go there?”
“Because no one else goes there,
cause it’s too gross, as you say. The
city warns people to stay away
from them, because the floors aren’t too
stable, and its supposedly unsanitary.
But Lucky knows his way around,
he’d be at home there.” She
shoved her coat on, “Come on, we have to
look. If he’s there maybe
we can convince him to come home.” Without
words, the trio rushed down to
the docks, and loaded into a launch.
Luke lay in his bed and recounted
the events of the past three days. It
had been Friday afternoon when
Lucky ran out of the house. Saturday and
Sunday he had spent looking frantically.
It was now the middle of
Monday morning, about three a.m.
and Luke still couldn’t sleep. He felt
drained, and about to die from
exhaustion. Bobbie had practically
pushed him into bed. His mind flew
over his plans for the next day. All
the hotels in the surrounding areas
had been contacted, and three had
reported giving rooms to teenagers.
His plan was to drive out to them,
explain his situation and search
each room. If he did not find Lucky
within the next 24 hours, he would
have to contact Laura. She could not
be kept in the dark any longer,
but she’d be plenty mad when she heard
what was going on. Lucky
could not be with her, or she would have
contacted him by now, Luke reasoned.
She would have to come home. He
needed her.
~*~*~*~*
Emily, Robin and Nik paused at the
entrance to the catacombs. It was
cold out and the three could see
their breath in the air as the
breathed. Emily held up her
flashlight, “Let’s go guys, everyone stay
in line and be real careful alright?
Let’s not split up, none of knows
the catacombs that well, and if
we got lost, well we don’t need another
missing person here.” Robin
nodded gratefully, “I haven’t been here in
years, not that I knew them well
enough to go around in by myself in the
first place.” She grabbed Nik’s
arm, “Don’t go to fast, we don’t know
what’s coming up ahead of us.”
The three teens slowly entered the
catacombs, the only light being
the thin beam of Emily’s flashlight.
After a few hours of wandering around,
Emily was about to give up.
“This is hopeless, I have no idea
where else he could be. He’s not
answering any calls and I’m not
brave enough to go deeper into the
passages.” Nikolas shook
his head, “Keep ... going ....” Robin nodded
“Let’s just follow this last pipe
and see where it leads. We haven’t
gone down here yet.” Emily
consented and the group followed the large
pipe, until they came to a thin
ledge which led to more tunnels. “Oh,
that’s so narrow, do you think
we should try it?” Emily asked. Nikolas
took a deep breath, “I’ll go.
I have good balance.” Emily looked at
Robin, “We’re not separating, you
could get lost in there. We’ll all
go.” Robin nodded, and in
single file, the group began to cross the
ledge. Emily shrieked as
a mouse skittered across her foot, she kicked
it violently. She listened as the
mouse fell. Robin followed the wall
all the way down with the flashlight,
“Look how far that is.” She
grimaced, “I wish I hadn’t
looked.” She shone the flashlight at the
bottom, the beam was fading.
Emily glanced around, suddenly out of the
corner of her eye, she thought
she saw a shoe. “Robin, flash the light
over there.” She commanded. Robin
obeyed and the teens looked down to
the bottom, where the body of Lucky
Spencer lay.