|
|
A long drawn-out silence followed.
Maybe everyone was waiting for him
to say he was joking. He
never did.
"Lucky, what are you talking about?"
Laura asked.
"You wanted me to tell you what
I did, so I'm telling you."
"Well maybe you should start from
the beginning, Cowboy."
"You remember when we got separated?"
Lucky asked his parents.
Luke and Laura both nodded, worried
where this was leading.
"Well that's when it happened."
"Lucky, you were seven years old."
Luke said.
Tears started to well up in Lucky's
eyes now.
"I know."
No one seemed to know what to say,
so Jason just asked the obvious.
"Who did you kill, and how?"
"I don't really know who it was,
but I shot him."
"There had to be a reason, Lucky.
Why did you shoot him?" Luke asked.
Lucky mumbled, but could still
be heard. "Because I'm a horrible
person."
Luke was slowly getting angry now.
"Don't think for a second that
I believe that. I know that if what
you're saying is true, you probably
had a valid reason for it. Now
there is something you're still
not telling us about that time. Why
don't you start from the moment
you realized we weren't there, till this
happened."
Lucky sighed, and he trembled a
little. He opened his mouth, but no
sound came out. Nikolas wanted
to help him. Stefan didn't know he had
spent all of yesterday with him,
and that he was starting to like him as
a brother, but that didn't matter
right now.
"Lucky, it's all right. There's
no rush. Just take your time." He said
gently.
Lucky nodded and continued, still
not looking at anyone.
"It was at an airport, somewhere
in Canada, right?"
Lucky looked up just long enough
to see Luke's nod before continuing.
"We were in a rush, like usual.
Mom and Dad were hard to recognize
because they had hats and sunglasses
on, and looked just like everyone
else there."
"So you lost track of us, and found
my friend Luis there, right?" Luke
finished.
"Not exactly."
"What?" Laura said confused.
"Sweetie, that's what you told us
happened."
Lucky swallowed hard. "I
lied. I was keeping up with you guys, even
though it was hard. But then
someone, it turned out to be Luis, pulled
me back through the crowd."
Luke was confused. "What?
Why?"
"He said it was part of a plan
you had arranged. That we needed to
separate for awhile so it would
be harder for Frank Smith's men to
follow us."
Luke was angry now. "I never
told him to do that! The one thing I
always tried to do was keep us
together."
"I know that, but Luis was a friend.
One of the only ones we had…
Anyway, he took me out to his car,
and we drove for a long time. We
stopped off at a few hotels, so
I think it must have been three days
later that we finally stopped.
Luis took me to some big mansion. He
told me that you and mom where
inside, but I had to wait in the car for
a moment while he double-checked
everything. While I was sitting
there…"
Lucky suddenly dropped of his sentence.
Luke and Laura were sitting
there in shock, wondering how all
of this could have happened without
them knowing, and dreading what
Lucky still had to tell them. Stefan
and Alexis sat a little uncomfortably.
They were a little afraid as to
why they were here. All signs of
his story were pointing to yet another
evil act committed by their family,
since he had a medallion. Jason sat
there blankly, no one could really
tell what he was thinking. I mean,
he held the same expression when
he was having a good time with Michael,
and when he was changing his diaper.
Emily and Nik sat there with pity.
They'd never heard Lucky talk much
about life on the run, and now they
were thinking they didn't want
him too. Liz, though, crawled over
across the floor and took Lucky's
hand.
"What happened then, Lucky?" she
asked.
Looking up into her eyes, he felt
safe, and squeezed her hand as he
began again.
"Some man came up from behind the
car, and opened the door. I though it
was Luis, but it wasn't.
I tried going out the other door, but he
grabbed me. I struggled and
kicked, but he was way too strong. I
reached up once, and my hand grabbed
on to this medallion. As I kept
fighting, it broke off from around
his neck. Then… then something hard
hit me over the head and I blacked
out."
Lucky saw Liz crying and regretted
her being here.
"Liz, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking
about…"
"No, Lucky, I'm crying because
this happened to you." She said sadly.
Luke didn't want to interrupt,
but he had too.
"Cowboy, why have you waited until
now to tell us this?" he asked
softly.
"I didn't remember it. I
mean, I blocked it out, or at least my mind
did. But I've been having
these dreams, or nightmares, that brought
everything back."
Luke swallowed hard, remembering
how he and Laura had finally found
Lucky. This story was not
going to be pleasant.
"All right kiddo, go on."
Lucky kept hold of Liz's hand as
she rested her head on his knees.
"When I woke up, I was in some
room, in the mansion. Luis was standing
over me, along with another man.
The man that I saw the.."
He broke off, realizing he had
only told Liz and Emily about Daniel
Forst. Luke became very anxious,
though.
"The man that you saw where, when?
Has this been recently?"
"I- I saw him on the docks two
days ago."
"That was why you came rushing
in here looking like the sky had fallen?"
Luke asked, already knowing the
answer.
Lucky had nodded.
"What was he doing on the docks?"
"He was talking to someone."
Luke got a little impatient.
"Who, Lucky?" He changed his voice to
sound more caring. "Cowboy,
this could mean trouble. I just want you
to tell me so I can help you.
Now who was he talking to?"
Lucky answered in a whisper.
"Helena."
Liz and Emily knew that was coming,
but everyone else had shock and
anger on their faces. Well,
except for Jason, who still held the same
look. Luke began to rise,
but Laura stopped him.
"Luke, sit. We have to hear
the rest of the story."
Alexis and Stefan exchanged a glance.
Yep, this all led back to their
family. Lucky got a nod from
Laura and went on.
"They were both standing over me,
I was asleep on a bed, and I asked
them where mom and dad were.
The man that I saw, on the docks, he said
his name was Daniel Forst, but
I don't think I ever knew his name
before. But Daniel told me
that you guys had been killed by Frank
Smith's men. I didn't believe
him, and I got up and tried to run out
the door. But he grabbed
me by the shoulder and turned me around and.."
his voice cracked as he continued,
"he hit me with the back of his hand,
and I fell down. He kept
kicking me and hitting me" Lucky breathed in
deeply, sobbing now. Laura
got up and walked over to her son, as Liz
moved back. She enveloped
him and big hug and stroked his hair.
"It's all right Lucky, it's all
right." She comforted him.
Lucky pulled back and wiped his
eyes. He was trembling but forced
himself to go on.
"I'm not done yet."
Laura smiled at him encouragingly,
and sat back down by Luke, who was
wiping his own tears away.
"The next couple of days, they
kept me in my room. Luis wouldn't talk
much to me. When they let
me out, I saw that Daniel ran a sort of
organization. He was an assassin.
People would come there a lot.
Daniel was normally angry at them.
And when he was angry at someone, he
would have them…killed. I
had to stay in the house, and one day I was
finishing up breakfast when Daniel
walked by. He said he had a meeting,
and that I should sit in on with
him. The person he had the meeting
with messed up some job.
Daniel wanted to punish him, but he thought……"
Lucky stopped and just sat there.
Alexis was more than curious by now,
and prodded on to find out about
this Daniel had gotten the medallion
from.
"He thought what, Lucky?"
Lucky covered his mouth and tried
to hold the tears back.
"I can't say."
"Why Lucky?" Laura asked.
"Because you'll hate me if you
know."
Luke and Laura both felt their
hearts break. They wanted to tell their
son that that wasn't possible,
but they couldn't make their mouths work.
Stefan realized this. He
felt saddened, but why? This was only the
little Spencer brat, who had been
chosen over Nikolas. That wasn't his
fault, though, Stefan realized.
Lucky was an innocent child, who seemed
to have been hurt badly in the
war between their families.
"Lucky, your parents could never
hate you." Stefan said. "I'm sure
they'd tell you that themselves
right now, if they weren't shocked at
you even thinking that."
Laura nodded to agree with him
as she bit down on her lips to try and
regain herself. Nikolas was
a little surprised that his uncle had
spoken up, but decided he shouldn't
be. He always knew his uncle had a
good heart. He caught Emily's
eye and smiled at her. She crawled over,
and Nikolas held her close.
Liz took Lucky's hand again, and kissed it.
Lucky trembled violently now.
"He thought that I should do it.
That I should learn a lesson in how to
make people obey me. He stood
up, and walked over to a cabinet, and
pulled a gun out of it. He
placed it in my hands. I instantly dropped
it, and he slapped me for it, and
made me pick it up. He forced my
hands around it.."
The tears were streaming down his
face, but he made no effort to wipe
them away. Everyone realized
that right now he wasn't with them. He
was back in that mansion, in that
'meeting,' holding that gun.
"The person that had messed up
his job for Daniel was a man in about his
thirties. His hair was blond
and his eyes were blue. His face was so
scared, and his eyes… they were
so disturbing. They had regret and
sadness and pity in them.
Pity for me, when I was the one that had to
hurt him. I tried to run,
but Daniel had a hold of me."
Lucky dropped Liz's hand and brought
his feet up on the chair, and
hugged his knees to his chin.
No one made a sound.
"He put his hands over mine, and
forced me to pull the trigger. I
killed a man I didn't even know!"
Lucky's last words had come out
as a shout, and he completely broke
down. Liz backed up crying
and went over to Emily and Nikolas. Luke
and Laura were over to Lucky's
side in a flash. But he was too much in
pain at the moment to realize they
weren't going to hurt him like Daniel
had. He fought them, and
Luke had to physically hold Lucky's arms and
legs down as Laura spoke softly
to him. Eventually he grabbed on to
both of his parents, and cried
until he fell asleep. Luke sighed as
looked down at his son. There
was still much to be told, done, and
talked out, but it would have to
wait. Right now all that was important
was that his son needed him, and
he would be there.
Lucky slept for a few hours.
No one left, though. Alexis and Stefan
sat back by themselves, discussing
the situation.
"Who do you think this Daniel is?"
Alexis asked.
"I have a pretty good idea, but
I might as well wait and explain it to
everyone." Stefan answered her.
"Does that mean you are going to
help them?
"We, Alexis, we are. It has
nothing to do with Spencer, but Lucky is an
innocent child, and Nikolas seems
to have started a relationship with
him. Besides, this has to
do with my mother, and she needs to be
stopped."
Nikolas himself was sitting talking
to Emily and Liz.
"I feel so bad for him." Liz said.
"He helped me through, well, a lot
of stuff, and I don't know how
to return the favor."
"Liz, just you being here helps
him." Nik told her.
"The same could be said for you."
Emily said. "I think he likes having
a brother".
"We just spent one day together,
because we both happened to have
nothing else to do. It doesn't
mean we are on the greatest of terms."
Emily smiled at him. "No,
but it does mean those terms have improved."
Lucky woke up, and came back out
from his room, where his father had
moved him. Everyone prepared
themselves once again.
Lucky was little uncomfortable now,
after pretty much having a break
down in front of everyone.
"Where did I leave off?"
Lucky asked, his voice dry.
"Not so fast." Luke said.
"There's something you need to know first.
What happened was not your fault.
You're not a bad person. You did not
commit murder, Daniel Forst did.
He is the one that pulled the trigger.
If he hadn't put his hands over
yours, you wouldn't have done it." Luke
leaned forward. "Lucky, you
can't blame yourself for that. Your mother
and I don't. You did nothing
wrong. You have to believe that."
Lucky let the words sink in for
a little while, but didn't know if he
still fully believed it.
"I guess I know that in my head, but I can't
convince my heart."
Luke felt his own heart break yet
again for his son. He would find this
demon soon enough, and he would
be punished for what he did.
"Anyway, that happened about four
months after I was taken there.
Before that, I had only….. seen
him kill people himself. The whole
time, though, he tried to teach
me his… business."
Now Stefan looked up outraged.
"This man tried to teach a seven-year-old
child how to kill people?"
Lucky looked at him a little surprised
that he spoke up like that, but
nodded.
"Anyway, a few days after that,
Daniel had a big job going down. Some
terrorists had hired him to bomb
a post office, I think. But someone
double-crossed him, and the bomb
ended up in the mansion. I was
supposed to be in the car, because
we were taking off. I thought it was
my chance, though, so I got out
to take off. I got up to the house to
get some cash, when I saw Daniel
and Luis arguing in some room. Daniel
was saying that Luis betrayed him,
but he swore he didn't. Then
Daniel," Lucky swallowed hard,
"picked up a knife and plunged it into
him. He was dead before he
hit the ground. Then the bomb went off. I
was trapped underneath some beams.
A month later I woke up in the
hospital, not remembering what
I've just told you. Another month mom
and dad showed up. I told
them what I could remember. That I got
separated from them, and that I
found Luis. I thought there was some
plan, so I said that Luis made
us lay low for awhile."
"That's why it took us awhile to
find you." Luke said dully. "We
finally started checking all the
hospitals. The doctors' told us they
thought you and Luis had mistakenly
gotten in the middle of a terrorist
job gone bad. They told us he was
dead, and you were okay. Is that
everything?"
"Yeah, except for when I woke up,
the nurse gave me the medallion. She
said I had it on when I came in.
I think I wore it the whole time I was
gone. I'm sorry I never told
you about it, but something about it
scared me, made me think that I
shouldn't tell about it because it would
only cause trouble."
Laura reached out patted his knee.
"Thank you for telling us Lucky.
I promise you that we will try to make
everything all right now."
Stefan looked at Alexis, and she
nodded.
"That goes for us too." Stefan
said.
Everyone, including Nikolas looked
at him surprised. Stefan and Alexis
looked back a little uneasy.
They answered everyone's looks together.
"What?"
"Um, you just said you would help.
To the Spencers." Nik said.
Alexis sighed. "I realize
we aren't the best of friends, but this
obviously has something to do with
Helena. I don't think anyone here
could deny that even we are not
on the best of terms with her. For once
I think we could work together
to bring down a common enemy."
Stefan nodded in agreement, and
Nikolas and Laura smiled at them. Luke
looked a little angry. Work
with Cassadines? Then he glanced over at
his son. His son who had
been through so much when he should have been
growing up in a normal town, leading
a normal life. All right, for his
son he would do this.
"Fine. But how can you help?"
Luke asked.
"I believe we can easily find out
who these two people, Luis and Daniel,
are." Stefan said. "Lucky,
did Daniel say anything to you when you saw
him talking to Helena?"
"Yeah. Helena had asked me
how I was, and I asked her why she cared.
Then he turned around and said
that was no way to talk to a lady. He
came over to me, and stuck his
hand out. He said his name was Daniel
Forst."
"What happened then?" Alexis asked.
"Well, I couldn't move. I
was too stunned. And he just stood there
smiling at me, like he knew that
I remembered him."
"How'd you get out of there?" Luke
asked.
Lucky answered, his voice sounding
surprised, like even he didn't
believe it.
"Helena. She shook my shoulder,
and told me I should probably get home
before dinner. It was kind
of weird, though. Normally when I see her,
she has all this hate on her face
for me. This time, I don't know, she
was different."
Stefan was a little worried about
that, but put it aside for now.
"All right. I think I can
tell who Luis is. Luke, did this man have
brown hair, that looked nearly
grey?"
Luke nodded. "And brown eyes."
Then they finished together.
"And a thin moustache."
"So you knew him?" Luke asked.
"I was related to him. The
man you're describing is Luis Traken,
Helena's brother. He wasn't
blood to my family, but he still wore a
medallion. He and Helena
were up to something, and hired Daniel many
years ago. But I believe
Daniel started to take over. He believed
himself more worthy of ruling our
family, and even had medallion
himself, the one Lucky now has."
"And what plan was it that he was
hired to do for Helena? And why is he
back now?" Luke pushed.
"That's what we have to figure
out now." Stefan said. "Before it's too
late."