Dance with the Devil: Chapter 2

The moment the doors to the elevator closed, Starr Manning was on her feet headed to the elevator bank. Michael Corinthos was right behind her and got there faster than she did. “You promised your mother you would wait for her call, Starr.” He stood in front of her in much the same manner as his mother had stood in front of her father a few minutes before.


“Michael, you don’t understand!” she nearly shouted. When he would not move, she began to explain. “Ever since I was a little girl, I was the only one who could get through to my father, the only one he trusted completely. He and my mom spend years either at each other’s throats or missing every chance given to them. I was at least able to get through to both of them.”


“But this time, it’s different, right? Your mom is on your dad’s side,” Michael tried to reason.


Starr shook her head, moving away from the elevators. “This time it’s worse. My dad did something awful, something he couldn’t help, even though he tried everything he could. He feels all this guilt and there’s no one who can help him with that.”


“Except maybe his little girl?” Michael asked, putting his hand around her shoulders and resting his chin on the top of her head.


“I spent most of my childhood trying to put my parents back together. I tried every scheme in the book. Running away, giving them love potions, putting piranhas in my stepfather’s bath.” At that, Michael looked back down at her and she offered a sheepish smile and a shrug of the shoulders. “I also kept their secrets from each other. Like when my mom was pregnant with my brother Jack. Because of that secret, my dad thought Jack was another man’s and when my brother was born, he gave him away without knowing the truth.” The full horror of that thought hit her like a ton of bricks and she sprung from her seat. “Oh, god, that’s it! Dad’s worst mistake.”


She eyed the elevator bank again, but Michael grabbed her arm before she could move. He looked at her questioningly. “What mistake?”


For the next few minutes, Starr explained the convoluted story of her brother’s first few months. The initial lie, the birth in Mexico, the travels of baby Jack and then the truth coming out. “That should have been what destroyed them, but Mom forgave him of it. Jack still hasn’t and now with Victor’s death, Dad and Jack’s relationship is worse. Not that I can blame him.”


It was at that moment that a stretcher and EMTs crashed through the front doors of the hotel and headed for the elevators. Michael and Starr watched them go and something within Starr knew they were headed for the penthouse. The doors closed before she could reach them but after only a minute, Michael had summoned the second elevator and headed up. What they found on the floor was utter chaos. The door to the penthouse was open and Carly stood back from the scene, finally noticing her son and his friend. Michael grabbed Starr as she began to shake. On the floor was he mother holding her father’s head in her lap. The EMT’s were finally able to dislodge Blair from her position on the floor, blood staining her dress. She stared dumbfounded as they went they work on him.


“I’ve got a very weak pulse. Blood pressure is dropping fast. We are going to need a transfusion when we get to the hospital,” one of the techs said. He turned to Blair. “Ma’am do you know his blood type?” Blair stared at Todd on the ground, not answering. “Ma’am?” he tried again.


Starr steeled herself as she entered the room. “My father’s O negative,” she answered. When the tech nodded, Starr grabbed her mother’s hand, which had the effect of reviving her. She noticed Starr and hung onto her little girl for dear life. Starr guided her mother back from where the people were working.


Carly wrapped her arms around Michael’s shoulders and moved him out of the room. “Where is you father and Jason?” she whispered, know immediately that the first two suspects the PCPD would want to talk to were Sonny Corinthos and Jason Morgan.


Michael looked at his mother. “I have no idea where either of them are, but I know Dad won’t do this.” At his mother’s look, he explained further. “If anything happens to Todd, the story about Connie being responsible for the accident goes on the front page his newspaper. It was his insurance policy for Starr’s freedom.”


Carly looked back at the mother and daughter. Knowing this wasn’t the time to tell either of them, but still worried about Sonny, she tried to decide what to do. As she waited, the police commissioner, Anna Devane, and her loaner cop, John McBain came upon the scene. John assessed the scene and nodded to Anna. She took Carly and Michael aside, while John made his way to the Llanview contingent.


“What can you tell me?” Anna asked Carly.


Carly looked back. She then turned to Anna. “Todd came barreling into the lobby downstairs. I stopped him and asked him about what happened with Sam’s baby. He wouldn’t answered and said something about getting drunk. A short time later, Blair came looking from him. We talked until Michael and Starr came in and then Blair and I came up. We saw the door here and when we came in, he was lying on the floor. I called 911 and Blair went to try and help him.”


“Starr and I saw the EMTs come in and we came up seconds after them,” Michael added. He had the same look on his face as he did the night of Starr’s accident.


Anna nodded. “Alright, I’ll have an officer take a more formal statement from you. You‘ll be needed at the station.”


She was about to walk into the room when Carly stopped her. “Wait, just before got here, Blair took a call and I waited for her. Then as we got here, I noticed the door to the stairwell was closing.”


Anna looked at one of the uniforms. “Go to the stairwell door and see if you can pull any prints.” She headed inside.


John was already talking with Blair, trying to calm her down. The techs had gotten Todd onto the stretcher. John had gotten finished asking her and Starr many of the same question Anna had just asked when she grabbed the cop’s hand. “I did ask him if he saw who it was.” Anna was by their side upon hearing this. “But all he could say was ’He’. Then he lost consciousness.”


They were preparing to wheel Todd out when they turned to Starr. “We gotta get him to GH., STAT. You coming with us miss?”


Starr shook her head. “She’s his wife.” Right now, it didn’t matter if they weren’t legally married. She knew her mother needed to be with him, especially if anything happened to him. No, don’t think like that. He’ll pull through. And at least this time, he’s not in the trunk of a car, going over a cliff.


Blair followed them out, then turned back to her daughter. “Call your Aunt Viki. She called just before we came in.”


Starr ran to give her mother a hug then they left for the hospital. She then sat down on the couch in the room and dialed her Aunt’s number.


“Starr, did you mother tell you to call me? She was going to talk to you father so I got off the phone,” Viki Banks said.


At hearing her aunt’s voice, the emotions she had been feeling since arriving on the floor flooded out of her. “Aunt Viki, it’s…Dad.” At that, she couldn’t continue. Michael and Carly were at her side in a minute and John took the phone.


“Viki, it’s John McBain,” he began. Even with the relationship he’d had with this family, he wasn’t even sure how to tell this woman her brother was shot and possibly near death.


In the library at Llanfair, Viki sat down, knowing that the news she was about to receive may be devastating. Her fiance, Clint Buchanan, noticed her slow movements and got up from the couch. He took her hand as he listened to John on the other end.


“Todd was found with multiple gunshot wounds in his hotel,” he informed her, unsure of how to break it to her. “They’re taking him to General Hospital right now.”


There was a pause and a masculine voice came on the line. “John, it’s Clint. Tell Blair and Starr the family will be down as soon as possible. I’m going to have the Buchanan jet ready to go for them.”


“Thanks, because they may need a blood donor. I heard one of them say something about that,” John said. He ended the call with Llanview and turned to Starr. “Let’s get you to the hospital. I know your mom will need you.” He help Star up and the left the room.


Carly turned to her son. “Go over to your father’s and see if you can find him.”


But before he even got to the door, Anna blocked the door. “Not so fast. If you need help finding Mr. Corinthos, I have a department that is more than willing to look for him. Mr. Morgan as well. Why don’t we wait to see if they are brought to the station, shall we?” With that, she left, leading Carly and Michael out.


Meanwhile in Llanview, Clint was getting off the phone with his pilot as Tina and Cord Roberts walked back into the house. Viki looked up to see her sister and ran to embrace her. Tina was taken aback. This was very unlike her older sister. “What’s wrong?” she asked.


Cord moved behind his wife, knowing something was up. Viki broke away from Tina. “John McBain called from Port Charles.” She took a deep breath. “Todd’s been shot.”


“What?” She looked back at Cord then at Viki and Clint. “Who’d want to shoot Todd?” She paused, remembering this was her brother. “OK so he has his share of enemies, but-”


“Tina we don’t have time for this,” Clint interrupted. “I just got off the phone with John, they may need to do a blood transfusion.” Viki put her hand to her mouth in shock. She had lost so many in her family, now it looked like she may loose Todd. “Look, I can’t go--”


“You don’t need to say anything more, Pa. I’ll make sure they get up there,” Cord told his father.


Tina took in Clint’s words. “I…I have the same blood type. I have to go,” she said, an ancient conversation at Llanview Hospital coming to the forefront of her memories.


With that, Tina and Viki made their way up the stair but Viki turned towards one of the guest rooms. With both Blair and Todd in New York and unsure if Addie Cramer could handle a teenager and a little boy by herself for an unknown length of time, Viki and Clint had taken in Jack and Sam Manning. While the younger boy was excited about staying, Jack had put up a very vocal protest but had finally relented. Jack had stayed in his room for most of the time, so being able to hear Jack’s ipod playing, she knew he was in his room now. “Jack get up. We need to go.”


Her nephew glared at her, the very image of what she imagined her brother to have been as a teenager. “Where do I have to go?” he asked resting his head on the pillow.


“Port Charles, New York. It’s a family emergency,” she said.


“I don’t have any family I care about in that dump of a town,” he retorted, turning away from her.


“Jack, I really don’t care what you think about your father, but your mother needs you know,” she said. She had contemplated lying to him to get him to go, but she figured enough lies had been told in this family for one hundred lifetimes. “Todd’s been shot, and your mother and sister need you.”


“Good, someone plugged him? He deserved it after killing Victor,” Jack yelled, his attitude getting worse.


Viki stared at the boy. “Please Jack, just come with us, put an appearance at the hospital for your mother and Starr, than you can stay at the hotel for the rest of the time. But Blair needs you and so does Starr and so does your father, even if you don’t think you need them.” Jack look at his aunt and huffed his way off the bed, throwing things into a duffle bag.


With him moved along, Viki met Clint in the hallway. “Let Nat and Jessie know, but don’t ruin this time out for them.” As she moved into their room she was rambling off business point to Clint, who could tell she was barely holding it together. “Keep an eye on Sam, we don’t need Blair worrying about him. And don’t say anything about this to him until we know anything more. I know Tea’s still there, but Blair didn’t mention her. Maybe we should call her so she can be there for Blair until we…get…there…” At that moment, she broke down. “Oh, Clint, I can’t lose anyone else. Merrie and Victor And now maybe Todd.”


He embraced her, trying to find the words to sooth her. “This is Todd Manning where talking about. If going over a cliff in Ireland and eight years of torture can’t kill him, nothing will.” He broke away from her. “Besides, he’s as ornery as Asa Buchanan. And we know it took a lot to put him down.” He may have had more than a few run-ins with Todd over the years, but right now, Viki needed to know that he would do almost anything for her brother.


At the comparison of Clint’s late father to her baby brother, Viki had to laugh. Neither of the men would appreciate it, yet it was very true. Hell, there were times she saw more of her father-in-law in Todd then their own father. With that, she made her way down the stair to find her sister, brother-in-law and nephew ready to go. Clint waved them off, sending a silent prayer for Todd, for Viki’s benefit at least. As the plane took off for upstate New York, Viki sat back, trying not to think of a world without her brother, a life without Todd Manning.
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