Dance with the Devil: Chapter 66

“You look surprised to see me,” Irene said.  “Don’t worry, I’m merely here to collect you when they’re through.”

“Get away from him!” Merrie cried.  “He’s not dying here today.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Irene smiled, viper-like.  “I’d just like to wait and see.”

Merrie was about to make a move towards the woman, when Todd held her by the arm.  “No, let her stay.  Since I seem to have the time, I’d like to have a chat with my mother.”  Todd turned back to Irene.  “I’d really like it if you could answer some questions, since we’ve got the time.”  Irene sat there, quiet and unaffected.  “My first question is, how did you pull it off?”

“Pull what off?” came Irene’s response. 

“Right after Victor was shot, I didn’t remember any of it, except standing down by the docks in the rain.  After we were sharing a jail cell and as I was recovering from a bullet wound, thanks for that by the way, I have a crystal clear memory of shooting my jackass of a twin.  In fact, it was so clear, it kept playing on a loop, the gun firing and me saying ‘You take my life, Victor, I take yours.”  So tell me, Mother, how did you get me to believe I killed my brother?”

Irene contemplated his request.  At last, she said, “You remember that note you were given, the one that had the disappearing ink?”

“The one that threatened to kill everyone I loved and Tina too?  That note?”  Todd thought back to that stint in lockup.  He had thought he was going crazy at first, seeing the writing on the paper and then seeing a blank sheet.  Thank God he had a scientific genius for a daughter, as it was Starr who had explained to him what it was.

“The reason no one else saw the writing was you had already been conditioned to see it.”  Irene told him.  “It was a souvenir from our time together.  You seeing the writing would trigger the memories.  I would have thought you’d have remembered it sooner, by say the time we had our chat.  That was probably from the blood loss.  But it finally kick in and you saw me and I told you what you had done.”

“But I hadn’t done anything this time.  Victor was alive!”  Todd exclaimed.  “How did you do that?  He bled out, was in the body bag, hell, I think they even autopsied him.  And yet, he’s sitting in there, acting like he cares if I make it through this surgery.  How did you manage to fake his death?”

“That was easy.  The emergency personnel were all my people.  A doctor was paid off to sign a death certificate and he was whisked away from Llanview by an associate,” Irene answered, unaffected. 

Todd was shocked by her nonchalance.  “Well, I’m glad that’s all cleared up,” Todd returned the attitude.  “So, what was the whole purpose?  Why got through all the machinations of faking his death and pinning it on me?”

Irene looked at him.  “Were you always this obtuse?”  When he didn’t answer, Irene replied as if explaining to a five-year-old.  “The money, Todd.  I could have put all that to much better use then either of my sons.  Can you imagine what I could have done with the media empire you two built?”

Todd gave her a confused look.  Finally, he said, “A lot of good it did you after you died,” he said with disgust.  “And why did you leave it to Tina, of all people?”

Irene harrumphed.  “That was obviously not part of my plan.  But you insisted on fighting back and trying to get the gun away from me. As for leaving your sister the money, I will admit is was a moment of weakness.  I never did expect that she would hand it all back to you, though.”

“Well, Tina is a good person,” Merrie said, knowing the reaction she get from mother and son.  “She also recognized what was really important in life, and it wasn’t money.”

“Yes, sweet little Merrie.  You seem to have found a defender, my boy,” Irene sneered.

“If you ask her, a guardian angel,” Todd said.  “Now, back to me.  So, this whole plan was to get the money?  You know, there were easier ways of trying to get your hands on it without trying to kill your kids.”  Todd walked away, trying to reign in his emotions.  “What happened to you to twist you up like this?  You’re not the woman in the diary.  The one who loved me, and regretted giving me up.  What made you like this?”

“Learning what kind of man I loved,” Irene said.  “Discovering what lengths he’d go through to cover up all his indiscretions, seeing how much he’s pay to keep them quiet.  I loved Victor Lord and we could have been happy together.  But he had his secrets.  And there was no price too high for him to keep them.”

“You really loved that monster?” Todd asked, screwing his face up.  “A man who could do…what he did to his own daughter, your best friend?”  Todd finally saw the extent of the sickness he was born of.  “You know, it’s no wonder why Victor and I are as screwed up as we are.  Rape, murder, manipulation, abuse.  Those are a cakewalk compared to our parents.”  Todd walked away and felt the overwhelming need to laugh.  “Wow, did I hit the jackpot with you two.  Throw in Peter Manning…it’s a wonder I’m even civilized.”

Merrie followed him.  “That’s because of the people who love you.  Blair, Viki, Starr, Jack, Sam, Sarah, Tina, they’ve all helped you make up for being her child.”  Merrie grabbed his head in her hands.  “You need to hear me and this time, you really need to listen.  You are not Father and you are not Irene.  You’ve transcended their nature and Peter’s nurture and you did it because you have people who love you and who you love.”

Irene seemed to materialize right there next to them.  “”You will always be my son, my son with Victor Lord.  You will never escape that,” she almost cackled.

Todd looked into Merrie’s eyes and took a deep breath.  He nodded at his sister, silently communicating his thoughts to her and she released him.  Todd turned to Irene and in a calm voice, which his enemies knew was more deadly than his rage, said,  “I’m not going to be seeing you again.  Not today, not tomorrow, not whenever I die.  There’s a woman in there who saved me, years ago and right up until now.  I’m going to marry her and I’m going to be happy.  You are never going to taint that, taint our children, taint anyone who you spawned.”  He got right up in her face.  “Get out of here.  You’re not wanted.”

Irene looked only mildly intimidated.  “You keep thinking that, but you’ll never be rid of me.”  With that, Todd and Merrie were left alone.

From the observation platform, Dorian could see Todd’s numbers stabilize.  She let out a breath she hadn’t noticed she’d been holding.  A nurse turned to see her and gave the current Senator a thumbs up.  Dorian made her way back to the waiting area.  Stepping inside, all eyes in the room looked up at her.  “They’re still working on Todd, but it seems to be going well,” she announced to the group that had now included John McBain and Natalie Banks.

Blair approached her aunt.  “Are they finished?  Can we see him?” she asked.

“No, they’re still in surgery, and there was a minor problem, but the procedure seems to be working.  If you’d like, I can go back and stay until their done?” she asked.

Blair was near tears.  “Yes, please, just watch over him…”

Dorian nodded and left again, surprising herself for wanting to do whatever small thing she could for Todd Manning.

When she left, Victor checked his cell phone and saw he had a voicemail.  “I’m going to step outside for a minute,” he told Viki.  Making his way, he heard Helena Cassadine’s message.  Listening to Helena’s order, he never saw John approach him.

“What’s the message?” McBain asked, startling the other man.  When he tried to deny anything, John stopped him in his tracks.  “Your face gives it all away.  It’s from Helena Cassadine, right?”

Without answering, Victor played the message again.  John listened to it, then handed the phone back to Victor.  He walked back into the waiting area and told the family that he and Victor were going to go out for a bit.  He tried to make it seem as relaxed as possible.  When they left the hospital, instead of going to the station, McBain took them to a bar called The Floating Rib.  They sat down at a table.

“Okay, what does Helen Cassadine want?” John started off.

Victor let out a sigh, realizing he was cornered.  “She says she want her great-grandson.  If I get him for her, she’ll give me back Tea and my son.” 

“Her great-grandson?” John asked.  “If I remember the file correctly, he’s in Switzerland with his father.”
Victor shook his head.  “No, she told me the kid’s name is Jason Morgan , Junior.  His mother’s involved with  local mobster and she doesn’t feel that he’s safe in that environment.”

You could hear John’s intake of breath.  “Sam Morgan’s son is Helena’s great-grandson?”

“You know this woman?” Victor asked.

“Yeah and the kid.  I delivered him,” John said.  “It was the night your son was born.  Sam went into labor at the motel we were both staying at.  He came so fast, I had to do it.  Then afterwards, I left to get help and some…associates of Jason’s delivered a message to me.”

“Ah, well, you seem to know the story,” Victor said. 

John shook his head.  “I know that Sam’s mother is Alexis Davis and Alexis’ father was Helena’s husband, but I don’t think Helena is Alexis’ mother.” 

“Well, Helena acted like the kid was family and she wants him and is willing to do a trade,”  Victor said.

“Okay, we need to get more information.”  John grabbed Victor and they headed over to the Harborview Towers.  They arrived at the Morgan’s door, which was answered by Jason.  “I need to talk to you and Sam, right away.”

Jason merely blinked, but seeing the determination on the other man’s face, allowed them entry.  Sam came downstairs at hearing the voices.  “What’s going on, John?’

John made a quick introduction of Victor Lord, Jr., to the Morgans. “I need to ask you, what relation is Helena Cassadine to you?  It’s very important.”

Sam looked at Jason then answered John.  “She’s not any relation, well, any blood relation.  My grandfather, Mikkos Cassadine, was married to her, but my grandmother was a woman named Kristin Bergmann.”  She saw the look that John gave Victor.  “Why?  What’s this about?”

Victor began to explain.  “I was approached by her and offered a trade.  My wife and son for, what she said was her great-grandson, your baby.”  He went on to explain the reasoning he had been given for her wanting the child.

“But that doesn’t make any sense.  I’m in no way related to her.  In fact, she’s always been more libel to  want to kill me and my mother than try to take us,” Sam said.  Then she thought about it for a moment.  She had never had any real discussion with her mother or Nikolas on the subject of Helena.  Since Nikolas was not available at this time, she thought it best to call Alexis.  Maybe she had some idea what Helena meant.

It took a little bit, but Alexis arrived with both Kristina and Molly, reasoning that if Helena was involved, as Sam had mentioned on the phone, it was safer for all her girls to be with her. 

When Alexis arrived, John gave her a brief synopsis of what had been happening.  “The question is, why would Helena be interested in Sam’s baby,” he asked finally.

Alexis’ facer went white as a sheet.  “This isn’t happening,” she said, almost to herself.  She kept repeating it, almost a mantra to herself.

“Mom, what’s the matter?” Molly asked, concerned.

“Mom?” came Sam’s voice.  Alexis looked up and saw a figure behind her eldest daughter.  Sam could tell her mother wasn’t focused on her.  A pit began to form in her stomach.  “Is this about my father?”

Alexis looked up at Sam.  Tears were forming in her eyes.  “I…no, you can’t know,” she said.  The figure was still there, putting his hand on Sam’s shoulder.  Alexis squeezed her eyes shut, but when they reopened, he was still there.

Sam had always wondered about her father, but had never asked.  Alexis had been young when she was born and had tried to block it out, that much had been obvious to the young woman.  But she could also see that that one question was at the heart of Helena’s plans.  She needed to know the answer to her questions.  “Who is my father?”

Alexis looked up again and he was still there.  She saw the urgent look in Sam’s eyes and at last, the full magnitude of Helena’s bargain hit her.  She wanted her great-grandson.  The tears were falling fast as she said in a near whisper,  “Stavros Cassadine is your father.”  


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