B9/Ch17: KING JACOB

Jacqueline comes for Johnathon 

The blistering sun hit the Island of Welshport like a bright white light. It almost felt as if it was sanitizing the entire village. Clearing away all of the decay and cruelty that had lived there for decade and decades. But this was only the surface. The truth was the darkness only hide from the light and would return again.

If anything, Churchill Green Asylum was proof that the sun in the sky shining so brightly was actually there to illuminate the sickness the village and island of Welshport held on to. And one woman was determined to get what she needed out of a day like today.

Jacqueline Gray, who had shapeshifted and posed as nurse at the asylum, walked into the ward as herself poised and stoic -- as the wife of Johnathon DeViana Lord would. She was dressed in her best dress, the shade of dark eggplant and long sleeved with a slight flowery trim and a hat with a long black feather that lifted high into the air. She looked around the lobby, feigning she had no idea where to go, but then clocked the front desk and a very curious nurse.

"May I help you madame?" A male nurse asked.

Jacqueline smirked smolderingly, her eyes devouring the handsome man in front of her but only for the male nurse's audience. "I'm here to see my husband, can you help me?" She asked.

"Your husband? Um well, it's a bit before lunch time and we usually don't allow visitors so close to when patients eat..." 

"I think he'd like to see me." Jacqueline jumped in.

The nurse sighed as he looked deep into Jacqueline's eyes. He noticed a spark, something daring even, coming from her. There was a scent in the air. Flowery, almost like gardenias in spring. The scent flowed over the skeptical male nurse like an invisible wave of air. It was a powerful pull to Jacqueline's gaze that the male nurse fell for, she knew he would. It was her favorite spell; in fact it was the one that nabbed her Johnathon in the first place. 

The make nurse, trapped in the beautiful witch Jacqueline's honey trap allure, agreed to let her see her husband. It was Jacqueline's final decision to return to the real world as herself. 

A first step of a plan.

The nurse walked Jacqueline down the many corridors to Johnathon's room. Dr. Julian Pascal was standing with another nurse looking over a patient's forms and watched Jacqueline pass. He furrowed his brow, wondering who the beautiful stranger was, her scent just as alluring to him, but not as spell binding. 

"He's right down there." the male nurse said pointing towards the room. "Room C12."

"Thank you James." she said with a seductive wink. The male nurse did a double take when she said his name. He had never mentioned it. 

"How did--- " James began to ask, but Jacqueline vanished into Johnathon's room. 

Inside the room, Johnathon was sitting at a small rectangular lattice framed window. The glass in each frame had been formed with a wire mesh for added confinement of the patients. Johnathon traced the wire with his fingers watching the day slipped away. A book open on his knee tempting him to finish the chapter. 

Jacqueline slipped in and held the unlockable doorknob with her hand while a powerful wave of heat came from her hand melding the metal inside creating a lock -- ultimate privacy.

"What are you doing?!?!" Johnathon shouted, seeing his wife in her true form, not as Isabel.

"I have an idea." She said.

"What? Did anyone see you?" He asked.

"Yes, they saw your wife." She said proudly. 

Johnathon furrowed his brow, unsure of where she was going. 

"Johnathon, listen to me, during your session with Dr. Pascal, you -- you gave away information that may have given him a bit more meat for his hungry studies of you." She explained.

Johnathon sighed, he knew what he said, the memory of the hypnosis that was supposed to be helpful and healing -- a form of therapy to expel his personal demons only brought more up to the surface and in his face. 

"I -- I didn't mean to." He replied, his voice like an embarrassed child.

"No, no, of course you didn't." Jacqueline reassured him rushing over to him and cupping his handsome face in her hands. "I would never think that. Celeste doesn't think that of you either." 

"Celeste?"

"She and I talked. She thinks we need to get you away from Pascal, somehow. It's just better for you to be away from here. Being subject to this kind of therapy is, well, helpful, but could put us all in a very difficult predicament should too much be revealed." 

"I would never do it on purpose. NEVER." he replied.

"I know, she knows, but there's already been a bit too much said. So, I've come up with an idea and it's bound to work. You see, I'm still your wife and even though you and I have had a rough way back to where we were, nothing can take away that I am your most powerful next of kin. Wife outranks sister. Even if she is Mrs. Jacob Lord." Jacqueline said.

"What is it that you are going to do?" He wondered.

Jacqueline smiled and grabbed his hand. She kissed his fingers. She put his hand on her breast, he could feel her heart beating deep in her chest. It was the heart of woman who would stop at nothing to keep herself and now her husband in control of every situation they'd be in.

"Your wife is back, she's here to stay and she's getting you out of here. Right now." 

"You can do that?"

"I know I can."

Johnathon hugged her, kissed her and hugged her again. "And then we can leave. We can leave this fucking town, this fucked up family and finally be together safe and sound away from all of it. Away from Jacob, and the money and the vamp---" he paused "and Sebastian." He said, holding his breath to see her reaction when he mentioned her former lover.

She smiled noting this. He loved her so much he feared losing her so quickly. "Together." she said and kissing him passionately. His body felt so hot. Her began to unbutton her dress. He reached in, felt her skin. It was hot to the touch. She reached down, undid his trousers. He pushed her back, slightly so that she would fall back on the bed, the small white sheeted cot. He lifted up her skirt, she pulled down his trousers and there in his hospital room they made love for the first time in a very long time. 

She felt him thrust into her. She ripped off his shirt and let her head fall back. His mouth began to follow the small lines of her throat down to her clavicle and down to her chest. Her legs accepting every part of him. She held on to his back, the passion reaching a moment they both could no longer hold back from. Like a breaking cloud finally releasing it's summer rain on a hot night the two became awash in love and lust.

As he lay on her, body sweaty and sticky, she played with his hair twisting the short curls around her finger tips. 

"We can't leave Welshport yet." She said softly in his ear, his hand on her breast.

"What?" he asked softly.

"There's something I have to do before we do leave." She replied.

He looked up at her, their bodies still tangled in a beautiful lover's knot. "What?" he asked.

"It's -- its Mary." She replied. "She's in trouble and I can't leave knowing she's not safe." 

"What do you mean?"

Jacqueline sighed and began to tell the whole story of Verity's return. It went into Johnathon's mind like a knife to his brain. A striking story of magic and sorcery taking control of a life fraudulently. It hurt Johnathon's heart to know Filipe was being manipulated. Johnathon had been there before -- suffered the lies of a witch, and even if his witch seemed reformed, he too wouldn't allow Verity to get away with it.

"Filipe deserves to know the truth." Johnathon said.

Jacqueline agreed. 

"So what do we do?" He asked her.

"First, lets get you out of here." She said with a smile. "Then we go and get Mary out of where she is. She's ill and it'll only get worse if I don't help her. Then when all is said and done you and I ... we're free."

He smiled back and kissed again, their bodies still slick with sweat.

Their future together was in grasp, but old ghosts needed to be vanquished before they could finally set their course anew. 

****

Jacob & Lear discuss business 

Meanwhile, Jacob Lord sat in Tirymor House's large study. The five long rectangular windows faced the west side of the mansion and were under the shadow of the trees from the edge of the close by garden area. Jacob, cloaked in this shadow, sifted through papers awaiting his cousin Lear.

As the clock struck a few minutes past one in the afternoon as Lear slowly made his way in.

"You're late." Jacob said with a snarl, his eyes never lifting from the pages in front of him.

Lear rolled his eyes. "You do know what's been going on don't you? I haven't exactly been able to get my rest, so you'll excu--" 

"Yes, yes, I do know." Jacob interrupted. "I've given Aaron some time off and I'm happy to pay for poor Cora's funeral arrangements. I’m very sorry. Cora didn’t get the chance at life she deserved." 

Lear’s eyes watered at his cousin’s words. “I don’t think I ever imagined saying you ever sorry about something.” 

Jacob arched a brow “I'm not a monster Lear.”

"Ah yes— You just choose to hide." Lear joked, finally getting Jacob to soften with a smirk.

"Listen, we should get down to why I asked you here in the first place. We have to act fast." 

"Yes, well, I have it all set up but I don't see how you think this will work. I've looked over all of the documents you had delivered to me and, honestly Jacob, the Board will not like the idea of you consolidating control of Lord Publishing to just you." Lear explained.

"They don't have a choice. My mother is divorced now, or widowed, which ever came first, and that goes against the loophole in my father's will giving her voting power so long as she was married. Plus, she's been convicted of killing someone. There's no one left but me. They'll have to choice but to--" 

Lear repaid the earlier interruption with how own and slammed three files on Jacob's long cherry wood desk. His young face expressed a blank stare. He hated dealing with the infighting of his Lord family cousins, it wasn't why he agreed to be their personal lawyer but here he was, doing the bidding of one of the very last blood family members at Tirymor.

"What's that?" Jacob asked of the files.

"Open it." Lear instructed.

Jacob did, it was a long list of family members the Board at Lord Publishing had put together to be sure that no single person in the family could control the entire company for themselves. There was Gabriel, and Fabian, two children who were alive and had rights to having someone represent them in the company board should it come to it. Then, as Jacob turned the other page, a sick feeling fell over him.

There on the list were Johnathon's name and Albert Lord's two siblings, Calgary II who had died years ago, Calgary's son Calgary III, Albert's younger sister Alixandria and her daughter Athena. 

"It’s a list of trustees for Fabian and Gabriel the board may look at." Lear replied. 

"Well, Johnathon's in an asylum, there's no way he'll be able to be involved." Jacob said.

"He's still Albert's son."

"Bastard son.” Jacob corrected smugly. “I'm still working on that one." 

Lear looked at him disgusted. 

"And Aunt Alix and Athena have never shown interest in the family business  -- not ever. They've been very happy living off of Alix's dead husband's fortune in Vienna or Prague—no Munich. Why would we even think of them? They haven't lived in this country in decades. Alix would never leave the laps of European luxury for Welshport." Jacob scoffed.

"And Cal?" Lear asked.

"He's an artist or something out there too, the last I heard. Junior not interested in his late Uncle Cal’s connections. He’s only been here on summer vacations as a teenager and sat around all summer sulking. He wants nothing to do with Welshport. So I’ve heard." 

"Wrong." Lear replied. "They're all in Berlin. Together. Cal moved in with your Aunt Alixandria and has been there for 4 years. He's 36 now, Athena 25. They're of age and engaged. To each other.” 

“What??” Jacob asked in shock. 

“Some ways of keeping old money in the family never die. Jacob together, if given the power, Cal and Athena could vote on the board in their own names — and there would be nothing you can do about it." 

"That’s ridiculous! My grandfather built this company and the only child that wanted to be involved was my father Albert. Uncle Cal and Aunt Alix took their inheritance and went to Europe. There's no legal way this is happening. None, Lear! And you're going to convince the Board of this."

Then, a voice entered the room. "There's always me." 

Lear turned, Jacob looked around Lear who was blocking the door to the study. The shadowy gray light from the window beamed down and illuminated the face of Christopher Wesley, or as he was known from birth David Lord.

Lear turned back to Jacob realizing Christopher, as Jacob's brother was right. He did have rights to the company. 

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jacob asked. "You'd washed your hands of us." 

"I'm here about our mother. She was transferred to Augusta today." Chris said.

Lear looked at Jacob and nodded, confirming this. 

"Well, god speed to mother." Jacob said patronizingly. 

"How could you? How could you turn her in without talking to her first. You just through her to the wolves." Christopher protested.

Jacob stood up form his desk. He dropped the papers down and looked at his brother's face. The face he thought dead long, long ago. He stared at it as if it were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. David was extremely handsome and Jacob had always been secretly jealous of that and so much more. There was a fire lit inside Jacob every time David, or Christopher as he chose to be called now, entered a room or was around him. Those old jealousies roared again, like wind on a flame. It made him sick that he felt this, but it was raw and real and he hated it. 

"Get out." Jacob said. "You don't belong here anymore and you don't have any right to tell me what I should and should not have done about Rebecca. She killed someone, she committed a crime and she needed to pay for that." 

"This coming from you? Are you serious? Think about you own history Jacob before you cast stones, because everyone knows you've never once paid for a damn thing. Mother deserved to be punished but she should have been able to do it on her own terms, not by her own son. You know she would have come to her senses." Chris answered.

"You have no idea what she's like. You've been gone for years. She hasn't been in her right mind since..."

Chris interrupted "Since her eldest son killed her daughter-in-law and framed her younger son for the crime?" 

Lear's eyes widened. His stomach knotted as Jacob tossed down a pen he had been clutching in his hand down on the desk. "Perhaps I should leave." 

"NO, cousin, stay. You're family too. You should hear this." Chris said.

"He knows." Jacob replied.

Lear's eyes narrowed, he knew? He knew nothing really. He had always heard rumors and speculation and as the family lawyer he never wanted to know the real truth. It would have been harder for him to defend should he knew it all. "No, seriously, I should go." Lear said again.

"Sit down." Jacob told his cousin. "Christopher, is done here, it's too late for him to act like a loving son." 

Jacob's voice was now cold, stone cold. The darkness of his eyes was proof that he had no time to deal with Chris and his guilt trips. There was an Empire to take over and nothing was going to stop him, not Lear's new revelation that the Board at the Publishing House was about to envelope more outlying Lord family members to build a more secure family structure within the company and certainly not his wayward brother entering the room to cause a scene with old family secrets. 

"Loving son?" Chris asked with a chuckle. "You wouldn't know what a loving son was if Fabian came into this room and said it himself."

Chris's use of Fabian turned the fire in Jacob into a blaze. He rushed from around the desk and lunged at Chris. His fist tightened around his brother's lapel and pushed him back into a wall knocking over a small portrait of Sebastian, Chris's son. 

Jacob squeezed and the tightening began to restrict Chris' air flow. Jacob began to berate his brother. Calling him a coward, a petulant child, a con-artist and a man who abandoned his own son years ago, referring to Sebastian, who's portrait was shattered on the ground. 

Lear jump to separate them; he pushed Jacob back who quickly adjusted his coat and straitened his tie. Chris gasped for air and fixed his shirt as well. 

"I -- won't -- let you do this." Chris said, his breath finally catching.

"Do this?" Jacob asked.

"I'll go to the board. I'll tell them what I want and how I Johnathon still have rights to control the company with you." 

Jacob went silent. His eyes narrowed and his jaw set with tension. He wanted to see his brother bloodied right there in the study. He hated him, he loved him, he wished him gone, he wished him disappeared like when everyone thought him dead. 

There was a beat of silence -- Lear slowly made one step to block Jacob from getting any close to Chris, causing Jacob to finally break his stone face with a smirk to his cousin. Jacob patted Lear on the chest to calm the situation.

"You do that." Jacob said to Chris. "Go to the board. Tell them who you are, and we'll see who they choose. Tell them our crazy half-brother Johnathon wants in too, see how they react. I'll be there to catch it all, and I will relish it when they look at you as if you have seven heads because not a single member on this company's board with any sense in their brain's would allow you, a man who faked his death, ran away from his son, lived in London in hiding for decades, much less our mad secret half-brother Johnaton. It's me they'll choose David. I'm the one who's been here since father died. It's me who's made them millions and millions of dollars in printing and paper revenue, book sales, and so much more in licensing fees. Me. Rebecca was just the co-signer, but I am the one who brought those checks in. But yes, go there, and see how they'll laugh you out of that board room. A board room that I in fact paid to decorate. Lord Publishing has my blood sweat and tears wrapped in every chair, wallpaper, carpet fiber, book biding reem of paper, elevator button, brick and floorboard. Remember that." 

Chris said noting. He almost wanted to cry. He turned around and made his way out of the room, now unsure of his next move.

"You didn't have to attack him." Lear said softy.

"Oh, don't worry cousin. He won't sue me for battery." Jacob laughed. "And if he does show up at this meeting with the board, I have no doubt in my mind they'll see it my way." 

"How can you be so sure?" Lear asked. 

"This whole situation is to mitigate a family scandal. Chris, the back-from-the-dead David and Bastard son Johnathon aren't exactly ideal for scandal mitigation. You'll see." 

Lear collected his papers. "I guess we will. What about the other's?" Lear asked.

Jacob did not answer. He walked over to the 5 rectangular windows and watched as far off in the distance, Chris walked off towards the village. Two brothers so broken in their relationship were now in a new battle for the rights to rule the family Empire.

****

Jacqueline & Johnathon find Filipe

The sea had calmed. Waves now lapped up on the rocky shore of Welshport Island in slow washes of royal blue. On the docks, Filipe made haste making sure he garnered one of the small boats to get him to Goode Island to find Mary. 

At the very same time, Jacqueline and Johnathon had managed to get him signed out of Churchill Green. They'd come down to the docks to get to Mary themselves when they came face to face with Filipe.

Filipe was untying one of the thick woven ropes from around one of the iron mooring cleats that was attached to the dock. 

It was almost a slow-motion action, Filipe looked up and saw Johnathon and Jacqueline together. He was confused at first, why were they together, why was he out of the hospital and why were they at the docks coming his way. It was a chance encounter that perhaps had more to do with destiny and fate than anything else.

Filipe stepped out of the boat, the rope about halfway unraveled from the cleat. He stepped back up onto the dock as if to block Johnathon and Jacqueline from something, Goode Island perhaps.

"What's this?" He asked them, his words laced with distrust.

"I've discharged my husband from the hospital." Jacqueline replied. 

"Oh, have you now." Filipe answered, knowing full well Jacqueline was not to be trusted.

"We're going to leave the village and start a new life somewhere." Johnathon replied proudly. "But we had something to do first. Something you may be interested in knowing."

Jacqueline sighed. "It's about Mary."

Filipe's body tensed. Mary had been very different, he noted it, his mother noted it. There was something definitely wrong with his wife. She'd been forgetting, aloof, strange even. His suspitions had never guessed Jacqueline was involved, but suddenly that theory made sense.

"What have you done now witch?" Filipe said in a soft, low growl reaching for Jacqueline’s forearm as Johnathon tried to push him back from her.

"I haven't done anything." She shot back, yanking herself out of his grab. "It's Verity."

Filipe furrowed his brow "Verity? What are you talking about?" 

"She's back. She didn't die when they burned her, Filipe. She's taken Mary's place and she's holding her hostage on Goode Island." Jacqueline confessed.

"What do you mean she's taken her place?”

“Filipe she’s been posing as Mary since after the trials. I — I caught her weeks ago.”

Filipe balled his fist, grit his teeth and stepped up to Jacqueline. He had it in him to twist her neck into a knot just like the one tying the boat to the dock cleat.  

"Be calm, be calm." Johnathon said, noting the crowd around them seemed to start to circle. 

“Be calm…” Johnathon said. Stretching an arm between his witch wife and the sailor.

"Im sorry." Jacqueline noted, quietly.

"No, how am I supposed to believe this coming from you—after all you’ve done to us. This is some sort of trick of yours. I know that Mary hasn't been herself lately but that has more to do with the traumas you put her through during the witch trial. Don't think for a second Jacqueline that we all forgot that it was you who started this. If you hadn't set the people of this town on -- " Filipe began before Jacqueline lifted her hand up in the air and snapped.

Filipe fell silent with her magical control. His voice muted. 

"Now -- " She said as Johnathon watched in awe. "I may have been punished by my coven and many powers of mine removed but I still can silence a man when I need to." 

Filipe tried to speak but couldn't. 

"Are you going to calm down because there is absolutely no time for accusations. I may have done terrible things — I admit that — but I swear to you Filipe, this is no trick of mind and  I had nothing to do with Verity’s return and what she’s done . In fact, it’s been weighing on me day in and day not being able to help Mary out of this. I’ve been bound to intervene — but I can no longer hold on to this. I’ve seen Mary where Verity her her held and she is unwell. Time is of the essence." 

"We have to be sure we finger to her, Filipe, and get her back." Johnathon added. 

Jacqueline snapped again and Filipe's voice returned. He coughed, almost as if to refresh his vocals. 

"You knew about this? You've known about this?" Filipe asked Johnathon.

"I just found out." He answered.

"I want to know everything — no lies!" Filipe exclaimed.

Jacqueline agreed and explained in detail everything that happened shortly after the witch trials ended and Mary was allowed to go home. The council allowing Verity’s true self to rise from the ashes and live her own life only Verity instead chose to kidnap and switch places with Mary who had already established a life for herself. Instead of build her own, Verity chose deception. 

With this information, Filipe jumped back into the small boat he had rented to go to Goode Island where he had suspected Mary had gone to be alone, little did he know he was on the right track.

"Well??" He shouted from the boat as he began to untie the rope from the cleat again. "Are you coming??" 

Johnathon and Jacqueline were equally surprised by his invitation, but it was promise they'd made, to help Mary then leave town. Johnathon jumped into the boat first then helped his wife in by extending his hand. She took two carefully steps in and sat down on the back of the boat. 

They began to head out to sea, on the small boat through the small straight of ocean that separated Goode Island from Welshport Island, a 15 minute boat ride. 

Their mission was to save Mary from her lethal twin Verity. The clock was ticking. 

****

Rebecca’s note 

As the threesome went out to Goode Island from the docks at Welshport Village's marina, down the block and over two streets at the Police Station, Constable Justin Ryan sat at his desk looking over paperwork. He signed off on the final papers of Rebecca's transfer to a prison in Augusta when one of his officers entered his office with a worried expression on his face.

The handsome young Constable looked up and shook his head waiting for the officer to speak.

"Well? What is it?"

"We were cleaning out Casador's cell." The officer replied.

"Ok?"

"We found something, hidden under the bed cushion." 

Justin narrowed his deep brown eyes and shrugged "What? What did you find?" 

The officer handed the Constable a folded piece of white paper. It had been taken from the package of divorce papers Lear had brought Rebecca to sign, an extra blank sheet that was at the end of all the legal papers. It even had Lear's name printed at the top with his office address in light red ink, faint but still visible. 

Under the lawyers business information was a handwritten note from Rebecca herself.

Justin unfolded the note and read it. His eyes widened in shock. It was addressed to Aurora from Rebecca. 

It was one last final confession of something Asha had told Rebecca before the terrible accident of her poisoning. It was a confession via another confession. Rebecca explained the shocking truth about Asha's involvement in taking Caleb from Aurora at birth and giving it to Mary and Filipe. The new parents, Rebecca said in the note, did not know the truth and hand nothing to do with the plan.

The date the note was written was before Caspian had taken his own life at the cliffs. 

Justin folded the note and put it down on his desk.

"What should we do?" The officer asked.

"We have to think about this. Should we believe it?" 

The officer shrugged. "Why would she lie? What would be in it for her to lie about this?" 

"Nothing," Justin admitted "I can't think of anything that would give her less pleasure than to learn Caspian had another child linking him to another woman. That was the whole reason she wanted to frame Danielle for the poisonings. She wanted Caspian all to herself -- damn his past."

"It has to be true." The officer concluded.

Justin agreed. "I should get to the Jordan's -- or maybe the Bragas?"

The officer didn't know, even the new Constable felt a bit unsure of where to start revealing this new bit of information. 

"I'll take it to Aurora." Justin decided.

Soon, the final secret would be revealed and Aurora would finally know the truth about the child she was deprived of knowing when it was born. This new truth would change two families once again. 

****

Julian worries for Johnathon 

Later that hour, Dr. Julian Pascal came rushing down one of the Churchill Green's corridors. He was frantic. One of his patients was missing. As he approached the nurses' desk he threw down the patient's chart in a hurry, his face white a hospital sheet.

"I can't find him!" Julian said. "We were to have an appointment this afternoon, and I can't find him."

The two nurses panicked unsure of what Dr. Pascal was going on about. One of the nurses grabbed the chart that was strewn across the top of the desk. It had Johnathon's name on it.

"OH! This is about Patient DeViana?" She asked, almost relieved.

Pascal nodded.

"Sir, his wife came and discharged him. She took him into her own care." The nurse explained.

"His wife?!! Why didn't anyone tell me his wife was here?" 

"We thought you knew." The nurse said, lying.

"Why would you think that? I've only been working with his sister, I didn't know his wife, a wife that has been missing for months, was here and was taking him out of our care and into hers. This is outrageous! This man needs our help!" Pascal shouted.

In truth, Julian Pascal only wanted more information from Johnathon in a way that was slightly deceptive. The stories Johnathon was weaving about strange occurrences of those who were alive but were dead -- stories of witches and oddities, were stories Julian wanted to delve deeper into. There was more to the doctor than met the naked eye.

But for all his work to get close to the truth of what -- and who-- the Lords were hiding felt like it was quickly vanishing out the front door of Churchill Green. The opportunity squandered to know more about the mysterious Lord family and the curious members of their family.  

Then it dawned on him: Celeste. She was the key. They'd grown slightly closer over the short time they'd met and the time Johnathon was under his care. She would be the way to know more about the family. 

"Never mind. I'll speak to his sister." Pascal replied.

"Mrs. Lord? What can she do? His wife is his next of kin, she has full rights to remove him from here."  The nurse replied.

Julian smirked; a cold look came upon his face. He was not about to squander the opportunity of digging into the Lord mystique and unfurl the secrets they were hiding. Not now, not ever. He had gotten a small taste of if with Johnathon's shocking and revealing session under hypnosis.

And like a dog with a bone, Dr. Julian Pascal wasn't going to give it up very easily. He was on a very special mission, and Johnathon's reveal had gotten very, very close.

"We'll see about that." he said as his eyes glowed a sinister red.

He would dig up this secret like a grave robber and find out the truth he needed to fulfill his mission. 

One way or another. 

B9/Ch16: IN THE AFTERMATH

Tension at Danielle’s cottage 

Danielle's cottage was quiet. She sat on her sofa holding hands with Aurora as the clock ticked away the minutes, then the hours that the men had gone after Viktor Holten, the man who's mind had finally split into two distinct personalities and had taken Cora captive in an automobile. In that escape, he drove off the side of the Northside Cliffs and into the wild crashing sea below. 

Baxter sat with Aurora and Danielle too. Tapping his finger on the edge of a wooden arm rest of the chair watching the door hoping his sister Cora would walk in safe and sound.

"This is killing me." He said softly. 

"We have to stay calm. We'll know what happened soon." Aurora assured them. 

Danielle sensed in Aurora’s voice that she feared the worst as the hours got later and later with no news.  

**

The search for survivors 

Justin, Nik and Aaron had traversed down a long rocky trail on the back end of the cliff and followed the beach along the coast to the bottom where they found  smoldering, mangled car.

The waves were relentless. They plowed over the rocks and the car, washing away all of the horror that had just happened. The men slowly approached, at times shin-deep in sea water. Justin raised his gun.

"I need you both to stay back." He instructed. 

"But I can help if they’re injured." Nik said, reminding them he was a doctor.

"Just stay back." Justin said as the three slowly approached.

Aaron's heart raced. His new wife was in that car. Was she alive? She had to be. She had to be alive, he thought. They had only been married a day, their relationship still so fresh, still so new. It couldn't be that it had ended before it began.

"VIKTOR!? CORA!?" Justin shouted over the crashing waves.

There was no answer. 

The driver side door was bent and twisted outward. The entire car itself looked like it had been cut open with a giant can opener. The metal contorted in shapes they had never seen before.

They continued to approach. Closer and closer they got with only the moon light bouncing off the water to light their way. The waves washed up on them harder and harder; even the sea was angry at being witness to such a horrific tragedy. 

"BACK! STAY BACK!" Justin instructed.

"CORALINE!!" Aaron shouted.

Justin peeked into the car and saw her. She was slumped over on her side. Blood seeped from her mouth but would wash away with a wave. Justin could tell her neck had been broken.

Justin turned back to Aaron. His facial expression said it all. Aaron collapsed into the waves. The water overtaking him. He begged God to take him too. Take him to be with Coraline. Nik rushed to the car to see her, there was no pulse. 

Coraline Taylor Murphy-Hamstead -- had not survived.

It suddenly dawned on them, Viktor was gone. His body missing. He was not in the car, no sign of him. But there were traces of blood where his body would have been. 

"The waves, they must of washed him out. Look!" Justin said, as the water did indeed come into the car. 

Nik helped Aaron up out of the sand and on to the rocks. He was completely soaked from head to toe. "Come on, come on. I'll take you back up."

"NO! I can't leave her!!" he screamed. "NO!!"

"Aaron! Please!" Nik said.

"I WANT TO SEE HER! I WANT TO SEE HER!" He shouted.

"No, Aaron! You shouldn’t have that in your mind."

But the heartbroken man did go back into the sea, pushed passed Justin and looked into the car and lifted Coraline’s body out of the car and brought it back to shore.,

Aaron sobbed over his lifeless new bride shattering him into a million pieces. 

****

The next day, as the warm air filtered through a stream of tightly locked clouds, the village of Welshport awoke to the blistering news of the tragic car accident on the cliffs the night before. The police, led by Constable Justin Ryan, held most of the truth close to the vest. Justin wanted no one to know what really happened -- in hopes to keep the reality of the strange case of Viktor Holden & Caspian Casador private with only the families involved knowing.

The Welshport Globe, for its part, was just as in the dark as anyone despite their prized journalist Baxter being directly involved. Even he couldn't muster the courage to write up something so real as his own sister's obituary. Not now. Not ever.

The body of Caspian Casador, or Viktor Holten had not been found. Garments of his clothes did wash up on shore in the morning. His body though, lost at sea thanks to the pulling of the strong sea current that night. 

****

Young Love in bloom 

In Village Park, as the warm air floated beneath the trees and the gurgling giant stone fountain splashed like the cadence of a river, 14-year-olds Morgan and Charlotte shyly walked hand-in-hand along the park path. He reached over and picked a small yellow flower and handed it to her. She blushed and smelled its sweet scent and then slipped it into his jacket pocket. 

"I think it looks nice here." She said.

The two youngsters had gotten closer. She had seen him as a best friend for so long, but their first kiss had changed all that. And she knew that it was the right next step. Morgan, for his part, had always loved Charlotte. From the moment he set eyes on her the second he arrived at Tirymor he knew one day he’d marry her. 

Their happy young love felt natural and easy even if the bog of reality was always trying to pull them under. Their youth seemed to shield them from the sadness anll around them: Coraline and Caspian's shocking deaths, Rebecca's imprisonment, Asha's death. Everything that has happened in darkness had to step aside to allow young love to bloom in the sun. 

Yet even then they could not ignore reality forever. 

"Have you spoken to Aaron? I know how close the two of you are." Morgan asked, Charlotte shook her head. "Do you want me to go with you to see him?"

"He’s like a big brother." She answered, "Tallest man I know. It’s so sad -- I just can't think of how he must be feeling." She added.

"Are you sure you don't want to go see him?"

"I want to give him some space. Everything has happened so fast." She replied. "I did write him a note though. I sent it out earlier today."

Morgan looked at Charlotte, who was wise beyond her 14 years. She had an angelic face; her blonde hair sparkled in the sun with curls that crowded her shoulders. He could tell that everything all around her had taken its toll. And it wasn't fair, not for a girl her age. Not for kids their age. They shouldn't have had to deal with so much adult struggle and pain -- yet here they were. Forced to face the dark shadows cast by the mistakes of their own family members over and over again.

Morgan held on to Charlotte’s hand as they moved to sit on the park bench. She smiled and scooted over to him, closer, so their legs touched. They had one more obstacle to worry about. What would happen when her uncle Christopher and his mother Genevieve got married. The coming marriage would change a lot in their relationship, they’d essentially be step-cousins. 

The biggest worry though was for Morgan who worried that Genevieve would want to move them away from the prying eyes of the Lord family and Welshport.

It was something Charlotte and Morgan had not talked about, hinted in quick chats, but never fully discussed: a possible separation. 

She looked at him, his face slightly turned away from as if he were too shy to look at her. She played with the yellow flower in his jacket. Charlotte didn't need to use her psychic ability to know he had something on his mind, more than about Coraline's tragedy. 

"What is it?" She asked.

"Huh?"

"Morgan, what is it? I can tell there's something else you need to say." She said.

He gulped. "I was just thinking about — things." He replied.

"Like?"

"My mom. Chris. What happens next."

Charlotte sighed "I've thought about that too, my father's hasn't made it easy for Uncle Davi---Chris, Uncle Chris--" she corrected -- to come back into the family fray. “Not with your mother who looks so much like aunt Sabrina." Charlotte added. “It’s haunting.”

"Haunting to you too?" The boy asked.

Charlotte thought about it for a second, the time when the spirit of the late Sabrina Lord inhabited her body and made her do some questionably deadly things. 

But that was years ago, Charlotte had been able to move past Sabrina's powerful and ghostly manipulations and helped her move into the light, but Genevieve’s strong resemblance was jarring. 

"I'll manage." She said with a smile to ease his anxiety. "And I think I can convince daddy to ease off of Uncle Chris too." She added.

"You think he'd listen to you?" Morgan wondered. 

 "Maybe -- now that my grandmother is gone away, he can focus on other things. His business. His control over everything the Lord family’s name and Empire touches. That's what he's always wanted. We can be sure that there won't be any drastic changes knowing he'll be preoccupied with all of that." 

"I hope you're right." Morgan siad.

"I'm sure of it." she replied. 

Morgan looked at the beauty in front of him and smiled, wondered to himself how could she be so confident. Then asked her "How? Huh? How can you feel so sure?" He asked.

Charlotte once again played with the flower in his jacket pocket. She didn't know how to say it in words, it was just -- there. She knew. She could feel it when she wanted to and turn it off when she didn't. How does one explain something so natural as her psychic tendencies?

She closed her eyes and, in her mind, went somewhere. Somewhere deeply inward and quiet where she could see people, places, things that were not visible to the naked eye. 

She went there, often, this place in her mind, to find solace. To find peace. Because there she could see the future. Her visions were not always clear and often times there was nothing to see. She would see images that made no sense, or places she had never heard of.  Many times those images were too vague for her to make sense of them. But even with those confusing visions she would go to this place in her mind that calmed her.

Such was this time. She didn't see anything specific. Not a face. Not a place. Just a feeling. A calming warm feeling that told her in this moment in time the thing she was most worried about would turn out to her favor. When? She had no idea, but it would.

Her young age still blocked her from truly harnessing her full powers. With time, she'd learn how to use them and control them and make sense of them, but for now, Charlotte would hold on to just knowing and settling into the feeling and emotion that washed over her when she entered this place in her growing powerful mind.

"I just know, I know things will work out for us and we’ll be able to stay together." She said to Morgan.

"What little shard of trust are you holding on to that makes you feel so sure?" He asked innocently.

She smiled and grabbed his hand and squeezed.

He then realized it was him. It was them. She trusted him and in was he that made her hold on. Charlotte knew that somehow someway they'd find their way through everything that was thrown and them. 

Charlotte snugged up under his arm on the park bench. The warn sun kissed their young faces and he lay his head on hers as the watched the fountain prattle on -- both hoping for brighter days ahead. 

**** 

The Braga house 

Across town, Filipe Braga hurriedly got little Caleb dressed for the day. The baby, pink cheeked and plump, giggled as his father put on a warm white long sleeve shirt and buttoned it to the top. The tickle of the collar made the baby laugh a bit more despite the worried face his father had on.

As Filipe laced up the baby's leather shoes, Filipe's mother's Fatima entered the nursery. 

"Where's Maria?" Fatima asked realizing the baby's morning ritual was usually done by his mother.

"She didn't come home last night. I -- I don't know what's going on. I have to go out and find her. Do you think you can watch Caleb?" he asked. 

"Claro que sim, querido." Fatima confirmed in her native Portuguese, happily taking the baby in her arms. "She never came back?"

"She’s been having a hard time." Filipe explained, nodding. "I know she's still trying to break free from what happened to her but to just leave the house and not tell us when she'd return. That's unlike her." Filipe said.

"And the island." Fatima replied.

"The island? What do you mean?" He asked her as they walked to the kitchen. 

"She left Welshport, I saw her near the docks. I assumed you knew." Fatima replied.

"NO!" he yelped. "I did not know. Why didn't you tell me. Did she go to her mother's cottage?" He wondered.

"Talvez." Fatima replied, agreeing. "Its her home, it's where her roots are. Its where her mother and little Louise are buried. Perhaps she went there to reconnect and find herself again." 

"I have to get there, I have to get to her. She's been --" Filipe sighed, "just not herself. I worry for her." 

"Go. Go. I'll be here with this little bundle and you take care of your wife, filho meu, go." 

Filipe kissed his mother on the cheek and his little boy on the head. He grabbed his coat hanging on a hook near the door and noticed Mary's cloak was still there. She didn't have it with her. This worried him more. A small boat ride from Welshport Harbor to Goode Island was quick but cold, especially at night. Something was definitely. off. 

****

Trapped twins 

Verity had been knocked unconscious after the fall into the pit with Mary. She had awoken only once but thee pain that came from a broken leg was excruciating enough to have her faint and sleep through the night.

The morning light peeked in from above through the ground level windows of the basement and eventually both twins began to regain composure.

Mary reached for her head, it was throbbing from the impact when she fell. She tilted her neck, stretching it half way around to help ease the pain, to no avail. The fall from the mouth of the pit had also given her a fresh concussion. She was weak and dizzy, but could not muster energy to lift her head up.

Verity’s body too felt battered, but she had no time to worry about herself, she had to think fast. A bone in her right leg cracked in half and had caused a huge bruise and she could not walk. She lifted up the dark skirt of her dress and looked down at the damaged leg. She closed her eyes and put her hands around the injury. She took a deep breath and with everything she had in her squeezed the injury causing her to scream in agony. 

Mary, startled by the animalistic yell, scooted away from her twin to one side of the dirt pit and covered her ears. A sudden glow of Verity's hands began to warm the injury. The powerful light was bright like the sun, and it began to heal her leg. 

It was Verity's true first time using her own magic for good, a good that benefited only herself. 

In just moments, the broken leg was healed, and Verity was good as new. 

"That was easy." She said in a hushed voice. 

"You've learned so fast." Mary replied. "How were you able to use your powers in here? There's a ring of salt around the edge." 

Verity rolled her eyes, she couldn't believe her own sister was this naive about the powers they both possessed, even when it was the subject of how to suppress those powers like the ring of salt.

"I placed the salt, Mary! It only keeps you from using your powers, not me. That's how spells work, or have you forgotten? I need to get out of here and back home, Filipe will be worried sick." 

"Verity, listen to me," Mary began, slowly getting up, only moving as fast as her ill body could muster. "you have to let me go home and back to my family. We can work all of this out together. We don't need to fight." 

Verity sensed a kindness coming from the woman in front of her. Her twin. Their faces created perfect likeness. 

Mary noticed this too, it was fascinating to see her own face standing in front of her and it not be a mirror. 

"We're sisters, after all." Mary said.

"Always the consummate actress." 

"I'm not acting." 

"Mary, what do you think would happen to me once we're back out there in the world together? I was not meant to live in this world for you. My life at conception was never fulfilled. You were the twin that lived and was born, I was gone -- gone before mother could ever know I was supposed to be alive. But the council knew this, they concocted this idea for me to live my own life as I should have -- but its too late for me to start fresh. Your life, however, is ready for me. A family. A husband. A world for me to step into and live, so fully. That's what I did, and I won't turn back now." 

"That's not true, you can still live your own life in your own way and I can help you, I would help you. I would be so proud to have a sister." Mary said.

Verity thought about it for a second. She didn't sense deception. Mary was saying things that Verity could only trust was the truth.

"You're so sincere, but this is now too far gone." Verity said.

Verity dusted her dress off. The mud fell to the floor in clumps. Verity reached up and closed her eyes. Her feet lifted off the ground, floating there as an invisible wind that began to blow, filling the pit and allowing Verity to rise slowly from her sister's possible future grave.

Verity had no intention of ever allowing Mary out of the pit. She had no intention of giving up the life she felt she had deserved and was entitled to but was not given the chance to fulfill. Destiny, as it happened, had kept Verity from this life: of a mother, a wife a sister.

But Mary had no intention of rolling over either and allowing her life to be usurped by her dreamed up twin. She lunged at Verity and pulled her down. Verity's concentration broke and she fell to the ground. Mary got on top of her sister. She began to hit her, Verity fought back and then like a stray bullet from a gun an energy blast from Verity's hand exploded between them knocking them both back, each slamming against the side of the pit once again knocking them to the ground unconscious. 

The blast was so large, that it shook the ground. A wide ripple effect went through layers and layers of dirt and soil and sea causing large waves to lift and build over the ocean. The waves were so large, smaller boats in the strait between both islands grew larger and larger almost capsizing them in the sea.

Filipe went down to the docks and started towards one of the small boats that were rented for a few hours to go out and fish or, for him, carry him over to Goode Island.

He reached down for the rope that had one boat tied to the dock. But someone walked over and grabbed his hands.

"No-can-do, Filipe. Look at these choppy waves. Can't let anyone on the sea using these little boats. Not until things calm down." the boatman said.

"Oh, I'll be alright, I just have to get to Goode Island, I won't be out long and it's just across the strait." Filipe said. "Please, it's an emergency."

"No-can-do. Come on up, we'll wait this out." the man said. 

"You're not listening, this is an emergency. I have to get out there now!"

"I heard you!" The man who managed all of the boats shouted. "But I said to get your ass back up and wait out the waves. We don't want anyone going out in this condition. You know the sea; it won't last long. Once it calms down again you'll be good to go. Now come back up here." 

Filipe sighed frustratingly. He looked over at Goode Island in the distance and worried Mary was in danger. More danger than he himself could have ever guessed. 

****

Saying goodbye 

On the top of the cliffs, just a day and a half after the shocking end to Cora and Caspian's lives, their closest loved ones gathered together there with large bundles of white flowers to throw into the sea in their memory. It had not been lost on them how fast it had all happened. The escalation of Caspian's mind splitting this way felt almost impossible to be real.

But it was real and they were gone. 

Baxter stood next to Lear. Her two brothers' (one by adoption the other by blood) held a large wreath of white roses. Lear couldn't believe he was at Cora’s memorial service. They had just gotten to know each other after years and years apart. It was as if the universe had only teased him with the love of his returned sister. 

Lear's partner Lucas walked over and held his hand. "Its going to be ok." He whispered.

Baxter noticed their closeness, a slight flash of jealousy hit him. He and Lear's relationship had fizzled many years ago, before Lear had even returned to Welshport. Now that Cora was gone, he felt a sense of longing for Lear again, an attachment, a connection to Cora too.

Lear began to move closer to the edge of the cliff, pulling Baxter with him. The two tossed the wreath into the sea and watched go out into the water like a little floating raft of roses. 

Aaron, Cora's new husband, and now widower, stood alone. He had a bouquet of white lilies. He was frozen in place. He couldn't get himself to move to the edge. He wasn't sure he could even move anywhere backwards or forwards. The shock of losing Cora so quickly after their wedding was too much for him. He choked up, tears rushing down his face. The bouquet fell from his hands and he began to sob uncontrollably. Aurora went over to him and hugged him. 

"I'm fine, thank you, I'm fine Mrs. Jordan." He said picking up the flowers. "Can you please do this for me, send the flowers to her in the sea. I have to -- I can't bear it." He added handing Aurora the bouquet.

"Of course, Aaron, of course."

Aaron wiped his tears and left back down the hill where he had parked the Lord family's car that he borrowed to make the trip. He couldn't stay there, not where it happened. It was all too painful, too fresh to devastatingly real to even comprehend much less participate in. As he walked back towards the car he passed Danielle and Nikolas. Aaron and Danielle’s eyes locked. The expressions on his face undeniably hurt. He stared at her as if to say “you don’t belong here”. 

After all, the mad man that took Cora’s life was her father Viktor.

Once Aaron had gone, Danielle took her turn. She had only a single white rose. Nothing fancy. She walked over to the edge, alone, and smelled the rose. She closed her eyes and said a little prayer for her father Viktor who'd taken back his mind via Caspian, and tossed the rose into the sea, vanishing into the white rush of waves when it hit the bottom. She began to sob and Nik rushed to her side. 

Eden stepped aside from Aurora and grabbed Lear's arm.

"I'm very sorry for your loss." He told his lawyer friend, whom he'd often find across from him in court.

"Thank you." He replied as he looped his arm though Lucas'. 

"I wrote to the facility your Aunt Rebecca is being held in and let her know about Caspian. I don't know if anyone in the family had reached out to her, but I didn't want her to read it in the papers." Eden added.

"Thank you, I think Jacob did as well." Lear said.

"I see, well, again I'm very sorry." 

"Why did he chase him?" Baxter asked.

Eden turned unsure what he meant, Baxter continued. 

"Justin. Why did Justin chase them like that. Caspian was out of his mind. He forced Caspian to do this." 

"No, I don't think I see it that way. We had no idea what Caspian was going to do. He had attacked us all -- even you -- and we knew that ---" Eden paused, seeing it was not the right place or time to go into details. "Look, I think you should speak with Justin about what happened. It's better coming from him." 

"Oh, I will." Baxter shot back walking as quick as he could with his limp, the injury still plaguing him from Caspian's attack on him, to a waiting cab.

"I'll never ever forgive myself." Danielle said quietly as the waves crashed below.

"Dani," Nik began.

"It's really all my fault. Did you see Aaron’s face? He thinks it too!” Danielle said. 

“Dani, no. He’s suffering. He knows the only person to blame is Viktor.”

“Everything is because of me. If I had left Welshport after I settled my mother's estate, I would have never seen my father again. I would have always assumed he died too. I would have never tried to reunite with him and Rebecca would have never wanted me out of the way, she would have never hurt Asha. Caspian would have gotten the help he needed and not stopped seeing Dr. Ward and Viktor would have never come back out the way he did. It was all me, Nik, It was all because of me." 

"Dani, I want you to stop this," Nik said grabbing Danielle by her shoulders, their faces locking in concentration that not even the loudest wave below could break. "None of this your fault. We can't go about blaming ourselves or others for what happened. Rebecca chose to hurt people and so did Viktor, no one forced them. Not you not anyone. You would never wish any of this on anyone and we all know that. Do you hear me?" 

She nodded. "I'll do my best." 

A tear ran down her face and Nik wiped it away and kissed the stain it left on her cheek.

Danielle then walked off to her own awaiting cab. Aurora came next and dropped Aaron's lilies for Cora over the edge for him and went over to her son Nik. She hugged him tightly and kissing his cheek. It pained Aurora to see the hurt for Danielle. There was nothing a mother could do but hold her son and hope for a better tomorrow.

"Give her time." Aurora said. "Just give her time, she'll understand." 

As mother and son went over to the same cab Danielle was in, Aurora made eye contact with Eden. She smiled at the handsome Barrister who smiled back, blushing even. 

"Baxter doesn't seem like he's going to let Cora rest in Peace." Lucas said to Lear. "Do you think we should be more friendly to him?"

Lear took a breath and shrugged. "I guess we're all he's gone for now." 

After the flowers had floated and sank away there was no one left on the top of the cliffs. There was only the sound of seagulls blaring their alarms for all to hear and the crashing of the waves below. The spray lifted into the air and sprinkled down like a light rain over the mourners who made their way back down into the village. 

The lives lost there would never be forgotten. Coraline's body would be buried the next day and Caspian's would be lost at sea forever. 

****

Tirymör 

Later that evening, as the sun slowly sunk behind the hills of mainland Maine, a warm fire in the hearth at Tirymor's larger drawing room flickered it's yellow flames on the pristine caramel toned face of young Fabian Lord who sat on the floor coloring a page with wax colors. He was a beautiful child. His dark curls of hair bunched at the top of his head while shortened at the sides made him look a bit older than his 4 years. His mother, Celeste, sat in a chair next to him, one hand on his head playing with his curls, the other flipping through the evening news edition of The Welshport Globe. 

"When is grandmother coming back, she was to read to me before bed, and she hasn't in so many nights." Fabian asked, his eyes never leaving the colored page.

"Darling, you remember what we talked about don't you? Grandmother Rebecca has gone away for a while. When she returns, she'll read to you. But, in the meantime, mummy can read to you." Celeste replied to Fabian's acceptance. 

As they chatted, Jacob entered with his own copy of The Globe. His face seemed pale. He'd read about Coraline and Caspian's deaths. For all his cold and callous plots and schemes, the idea that Cora had died in such a manner did not sit well with him. Even Jacob had a heart at times. She was, after all, his cousin and one time spy that ran a few trips of espionage for him. 

Never did he imagine this for her. 

"Did you read the paper?" Jacob asked Celeste.

She nodded and lifted up her copy. "Horrible. What's happening?" She asked rhetorically. 

"Sometimes I think I know, and then I realize I don't." Jacob replied, uncharacteristically sensitive to someone's loss.

"I expect you gave Aaron time off." Celeste replied.

"I'm not an animal, Celeste." 

Celeste rolled her eyes "Not always." 

"I told him to take as much time as he needed."

"Where is Aaron?" little Fabian asked, adding another difficult question to his roster. 

"He -- he's at his own home for a while." Jacob replied.

"Is he coming back?" the boy wondered.

"Of course he is, he's one of the family." Jacob said.

"Why is he going to be away?" Fabian continued.

"Well, darling, something has happened in his own family that he needs to take some time to adjust to. Do you remember when we talked about when someone dies? What that means?" Celeste asked calmly as Rebecca's white Maltese BeeBee entered the room and jumped into Fabian's lap.

"BEEBEE!!" The little boy giggled. 

"Son, do you remember?" Celeste asked the distracted boy.

"Yes!" The boy replied as the dog licked his face.

"Well, Aaron lost someone who died. Someone you know too." Celeste said. "Do you remember Coraline who used to live here and helped with Gabriel's tutoring?" 

"Of course he remembers, Celeste!" Jacob shot back. "Don't do this." 

"I like her. She helped in school too." Fabian recalled. "She died?" 

Celeste, ignoring her husband nodded, solemnly. "And Caspian."

Fabian's little heart broke knowing Caspian as a sort of Grandfather figure. His little eyes began to water, he held on to Beebee tightly, his only comfort in the split second of the news of two people he knew dearly had gone to another world. 

Fabian didn't understand death in it's literal sense. He was too young, too much of an innocent to grasp the terrible reality of what it meant for someone to die. All he knew was that when someone "died", they went to another world forever. Never returning, although in his intelligent little mind, he knew that was not always the case. People, in his own family even, returned from that world. He knew of this to be true. 

Fabian, stood up next to his mother who was sitting. He looked at her now at eye-level, dog in arms, and shook his head not trusting that these two new deaths in his world meant Coraline and Caspian would be gone forever. It wasn't over.

"They'll come back, somehow." He said.

"No, son, they wont." Jacob replied sadly. "Remember? They're in the other world." 

"Sebastian was in that other word too once. He came back. He came back and took Evie and Gabriel. I know this!" Fabian said. 

"Darling -- that's different." Celeste said.

"How?" 

No one could answer. When his parents stared at each other, both unsure how to reply the young Lord heir became frustrated. Beebee jumped out of his arms and the two rushed to the exit of the drawing room.

"I HATE WHEN PEOPLE DIE!!!"  he screamed. 

Jane came over in the corridor and watched the young child run up the stairs as BeeBee followed.

"I'll check on him." Jane said. 

"I hate this." Celeste replied. "It impossible to live under this kind of --- I don't even know what. Death. Loss. Horrors!" 

"It's life, Celeste." Jacob said, flipping his newspaper open already pushing the sad state of his son to the back of his mind.

"Aren't you even the slightest bit worried about Fabian and how he's going to deal with all of this in the coming weeks? His grandmother is gone, Caspian, Cora. What else is going to happen? He's already lost Gabriel and Johnathon too!"

"Gabriel and Johnathon aren't dead. Gabriel is somewhere off enjoying his parents and Johnathon is getting the help he needs. You said yourself he's doing fine at Churchill Green." Jacob replied.

"Well, I'm not so sure about that anymore. The other day when I went to witness his first hypnosis session with Dr. Pascal he began to say things that got Pascal suspicious." Celeste confessed. 

Jacob slowly dropped the paper lower, dropping it just below his chin, yet still open wide to the news page. "What exactly did he say?"

Celeste quickly realized her mistake. Jacob, she recalled, should not know Johnathon's confessions of the strange goings-on with the Lords and Tirymor. It was the whole reason she married Jacob in the first place to protect her brother from Jacob's cold hand of vengeance. Johnathon was already a symbolic threat being the bastard son of Jacob's father Albert, a new heir to the fortune Jacob so greedily protected for himself. 

"Mostly about Jacqueline." Celeste replied, lying. 

"That's all?" 

"Yes. Of course it all sounded like the fantasies of a mad man, married to a witch, but I had to caress it out of Pascal's mind." She said.

"Caress, huh? That doesn't really bode well for a married woman, caressing other men." 

"You're disgusting. You know what I meant. Pascal fixated on what Johnathon was saying about it all and I made sure I stopped it from getting worse." Celeste replied.

"Then I think you'd better make certain our little brother doesn't give anything else away while he's there. If anything, and I mean anything, gets out about Sebastian it could spell disaster for all us all. Johnathon remains a very big liability for this family, Celeste. Its your family too -- don't forget that." 

"I want nothing more than for Johnaton's time at Churchill Green to be free of any thing the Lord family name touches and poisons. He deserves that much. But what do you want me to do? I can't insist on being there all the time. I have to be invited by his doctor." Celeste replied.

"Of course you can insist! Don't you know who you are??? You're Celeste Lord! You're my wife! You wanted more, you wanted to be your own woman and get out from my shadow, well here's your shot woman. Get involved and make sure Johnathon keeps his mouth shut! This is about all of us, not just him. My mother's sentence, David's return, Caspian's insane end -- all of that has put me up against the wall with the Publishing House's shareholders. We can't risk anymore." Jacob explained.

Celeste felt a sinking feeling in her gut. She had finally crossed into the place within the family she had always wanted to be. She'd become the matriarch of the Lord family. This title came with the freedom she craved from Jacob, it came with it's own power, it came with protection just as she had always wanted. It was there right in front of her, but it also meant she was the matriarch of a family in crisis and there was no time to waste in making sure her brother Johnathon kept his quiet on the remaining secrets the family held under lock and key at Tirymor House. 

Celeste remembered she'd made a pact with Jacqueline. Together they'd be sure to keep a lid on Johnathon. For all their sakes. 

"I'll take care of it." she said softly as she looked up over the hearth and saw a large painting of Rebecca Lord staring down at her. 

Their roles reversed. Rebecca was now the old guard, watching down on her from a place or reverence and memory. They'd had a rough patch in the last few months, but now Celeste looked to her and wondered "What would Rebecca do now?"

The answer was simple. Everything and Anything. 

 In Celeste's care, the Lords would rise again. She'd make sure of it, to her dying breath, she'd make sure of it.

B9/Ch15: NOSEDIVE

The Murphy house in Welshport village 

A half-moon floated in the sky above Welshport. The village grew quiet, a seemingly normal night where the waves off the coast crashing up against the rocks was the only noise breaking the silence of the village.

With most things in Welshport, however, looks were deceiving.

Near the center of town off a small, sloped street, the newlywed couple of Aaron and Coraline Hamstead, carried their suitcases down a small flight of stairs at the Murphy home. She was dressed in a tight coat that covered a heavenly white dress, mirroring her virginal wedding dress. The honeymoon called.

Aaron, at the bottom of the stairs, looked up at his new wife. His face shining with adoration. The look in his eyes as she carried the heavy suitcase filled the room with a brightness that could have come from a thousand suns. 

"Are you just going to watch my sister lug all of that down those stairs or help her?" Baxter said, slowly making his way into the foyer with a limp. His body still healing from attack. 

"OH!" Aaron said, quickly rushing up the remainder of the stairs and grabbed the suitcases. "I was just transfixed by my new wife." He chuckled.

"Oh, you." Cora said, kissing his lips. 

"So, what exactly is it you both want to see in Charleston, huh? I don't think I've ever heard of anyone going down there for a honeymoon." Baxter asked.

"Aaron's family is there." Cora replied. "I need to meet my new mother-in-law." Cora giggled. 

"She's very excited." Aaron added. "We should get going, Mr. Lord is only letting use the car for just a week." 

"Always on a schedule, that one." Cora added.

The threesome headed out to pack the car and begin their new journey. 

**

Aurora, Eden & Justin at Danielle’s house 

Just one block over, the frantic Aurora Jordan, Eden Sydney and Constable Justin Ryan made their way up the small stone path to Danielle Holten's cottage that was hidden on a street that was thick with trees. The dark surroundings made by the lush brush put Aurora's nerves on an even thinner edge.

The mad Caspian, the man they were here to warn Danielle and Nik about, could be hidden anywhere. 

"Quickly." Justin commanded as he placed one hand on his gun holster. 

The lights inside Danielle's home were on. Danielle and Nik cuddled on the sofa as the light of the soft lamps hit them, casting a warm glow on their faces. 

Danielle, in a soft cool-toned dress, lay her head on Nik's chest. He held her, tightly to him, comforting her as the finally felt safe from the danger that surrounded them just weeks ago after Asha's death.

"Dr. Ward was so gracious welcoming us back to the hospital." Danielle noted, her voice muffled by her face's close proximity to Nik's chest.

"We deserve to come back to work." Nik said kissing Danielle on the head. "We didn't do anything wrong."

"I just wish -- I... everything could have been done so differently." She said.

"I know. The whole thing just went left. I never should have lied to Asha. I should have been up front with her and told her..." 

As Nik continued, a frantic knock came to Danielle's door yanking the two quickly out of their private conversation.

Danielle sat up, she turned towards the clock on the wall, it was half past eight o'clock.

"Who could that be?" She wondered. But she didn't to wait long. Aurora shouted outside, announcing herself.

Nik quickly ran to the door and opened it to find his mother, the barrister and the constable. 

"What's happened?!" Nik asked, his mother's face showing no signs of calmness.

Aurora, Eden and Justin pushed into the house "Is everything alright here?" Justin asked, quickly closed the door behind him and locking it. 

Danielle froze in her own living room. "What's going on?" She wondered.

Aurora turned to her. She reached over and grabbed Danielle's hands that were tightly wound in one giant fist of 10 fingers in front of her. "Its your father. Darling, I'm sorry to tell you this but the headaches he's been having have worsened, they've created something inside of his mind that have turned him -- I don't even know how to explain it."

"He's ... he's not like he was before is he?" Nik asked, rushing over to hold Danielle.

"Before?" Danielle asked, forgetting the story of her father's demonic possession. 

Nik looked at her, his reaction explained it all. "No, he -- he can't be. Not again!" She said.

"We don't think its that. No." Aurora replied, also hinting at Caspian's previous possession. "We think that the blow to his head when he fell at the coves caused an injury in his mind that has made split. He's not himself, or perhaps he's back to himself. It's hard to know." 

"I don't understand."

"Caspian is calling himself Viktor now." Eden said. "Viktor and Caspian have had a sort of battle inside the one mind. When Viktor takes over bad things happen. We believe he's the one that attacked Baxter. He also attacked Aurora, he strangled her." 

"NO!" Danielle exclaimed.

"Are you alright???" Nik worried.

"I'm fine, yes, yes. But we came here, rushing, to be sure you were both ok. If Eden hadn't come to the beach house to hand Caspian papers about this divorce from Rebecca, I would have been dead. He saved he." Aurora said reaching for Eden and holding his hand.

"Thank you." Nik said to Eden, his eyes filling with tears as the thought of his mother's attack. 

"Are you both sure there's no one else here?" Justin wondered.

"We're sure." Danielle said. "After Cora and Aaron's wedding we came right home." 

But Justin was not sure. His face froze in an expression that sent shivers up Danielle's spine. He slowly reached for his gun holster and removed his weapon pointing towards a doorway in the living room that led into the darkened kitchen. 

Everyone followed his Justin's eyes towards the kitchen and the open kitchen door. It was a back door that led to a small path through a back garden. 

Danielle gasped. A small gust of wind blew through the back garden and a shadow slithered out from behind the wall revealing Caspian Casador -- but his face was cold. His eyes blackened and void of the warmth that had lived there since the horrors of his possession. This was Viktor Holten, the battered, withered, mentally deranged father Danielle had thought died. 

His reinvented self, as Caspian, was actually a saving grace for him. The cooling of the volcanic mind of Viktor wouldn't last forever and now he stood there, dangerously homicidal. 

Aurora reached for Danielle and pulled her close behind Eden and Nik who themselves were behind Justin and his gun. 

"I'm only here for what's mine." Viktor said. 

"Get out." Nik shot back.

"Danielle, come to your father." Viktor said.

Danielle didn't move. 

"Caspian, you're ill. There's something very wrong with you and we can get you help, but you have to listen to us and let us take you to Churchill Green. There's a new doctor, he can help you. He can help do something for you." Aurora said.

"SHUT UP!! I don't want to hear anything from you. I'm here for my daughter and I'm here to take back what's mine." he said stepping forward.

"BACK AWAY!" Justin said, his gun straight in front of him. 

Viktor grinned evilly and lunged towards Justin. 

In a split second, Justin pulled the trigger, Danielle screamed, "NO!!!" and reached around and lifted Justin's arms up and the bullet went into the ceiling. 

Viktor slammed down onto the Constable. They rolled around on the floor. Nik and Eden quickly tried to pull them apart, Justin got up, Viktor pulled out of Eden's hold and yanked Danielle out of Aurora's arms. 

The two women screamed as Viktor held Danielle, his daughter, in a choke hold. 

"This is all I've wanted. My family back. My -- my family." He said.

Justin lifted the gun up and pointed it at ready to shoot him dead.

“Now, now constable, careful where you point that.” Viktor crudely joked. 

“Why are you doing this??” Nik shouted. 

“Vomit, listen to me. Don’t hurt Danielle. Just let her go and we can figure out what’s going on with you. It’s nothing that can’t be fixed.” Eden added. 

“Fixed? I am fixing it! You all think that Caspian is th real personality. On the contrary my friends, this is who I’ve always been and will always be. I’m just here to reunite with my dear sweet Danielle.” 

“Please, please let me go.” Danielle said through a clinched nervous jaw. “You’re hurting my neck.”

“That’s what your mother said once.” Viktor replied coldly. 

Then, in her mind, Danielle finally recalled her childhood. A house with just herself, her father Viktor and mother Lina. It was not the happy healthy world she pretended to always come from. It was a house of pain, abuse, and alcoholism. Viktor was a sinister cold man who kept his family on eggshells. It was what the devil saw so appealing of him. His pure sick way to keep a family he was supposed to love in constant worry and pain. When Danielle left for nursing school, encouraged by her mother, she was saved. Lina however sacrificed herself to Viktor’s abuse only to die later of a broken heart. 

The memory shot through Danielle’s mind like a lightening strike. She suddenly stamped down on Vikto’s foot with her heel. He roared with pain, releasing her from his grip. Danielle rushed to Nik’s arms and Justin shot his gun, missing Viktor by an inch. 

Viktor, seeing he’d never get his daughter rushed out the back door with Justin and the deputy on his trail. 

“Are you alright??” Nik asked holding Danielle close.

“I — I don’t know.” Danielle said. “That man was my father.” She added.

“No, no darling he’s not well. He’s been fighting these problems for many years.” Aurora said. 

Danielle shook her head. “No. That was him. That’s how he’s always been. I remember now. He hurt my mother. He was a drunk — violent. He’d lock me in my room and they’d fight and he would hold her down and — and smother her in a drunken rage.” 

“I’m so, so sorry.” Nik said holding her again in his arms, a place she felt comfortable and safe. 

Eden sighed as Aurora began to cry watching Danielle speak of her terrible childhood. Stepped over to her and let her cling to him too. He held her tightly as she cried. 

**

Baxter & Aaron packing the car 

Outside the  Murphy’s small house around the corner, Aaron and Baxter lifted a few suitcases into the small automobile's front compartment. Cora eagerly awaited her new husband inside. She thought about the life they'd soon lead. She felt strong enough now, knowing everything about her own life and where she came from to finally live happy and married.

Aaron and Baxter exchanged a few silly teases about being sure Cora had a good time on their honeymoon, when out of the shadows of the evening the mad Viktor Holten rushed in. He was sweating profusely, almost foaming at the mouth. 

"WHAT THE DEVIL!?" Baxter shouted. The silhouette of the man all but solidified the memory in his mind. "It's him!" 

Aaron turned and saw Caspian, as he knew him, looking incredibly vicious and maniacal. Before Aaron could do anything, Viktor launched a fist to his face knocking him to the ground. 

Inside the running car, Cora screamed and tried to get out, but with the adrenaline in her body running, her mind shocked by what she saw, she forgot to unlatch the small lock. 

Baxter yelped as Viktor approached. "It was you!" the reporter said, recognizing his attacker. 

Viktor said nothing, just glared at him as Justin and the deputy came rushing towards them from the same bushes their guns drawn.  Seeing this, Viktor pushed the limping Baxter to the ground and jumped into the Cora and Aaron's car. 

"MR. CASADOR WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!?" She shouted at him.

Viktor said nothing, he moved the car into drive and set off.

"CORA!!!" Aaron screamed getting up from the ground, his lip busted into two large bloody pieces.

"Get the car! GET THE CAR!!" Justin shouted at the deputy.

"Take mine! HERE!" Baxter said, tossing one small key into Justin's hand.

The deputy and Justin jumped into Baxter's parked car and started it. He stalled. They tried again. Stalled again. One more time, and finally the older model T started and the car drove off after Viktor and Cora. 

**

Worry grows inside Danielle’s cottage 

Back at Danielle's cottage, she paced back and forth along the perimeter of an oval Persian carpet that had small details of several beautiful flowers along its border and inside in the same oval shape. She gnawed on her finger nail, but not hard enough to break it, just little nibbles that help her keep her nerve.

Aurora walked over and handed her tea, a fresh pot she brewed to keep everyone calm.

"Sit." Aurora said. "Sit."

Danielle nodded and followed Aurora's direction to the sofa. 

"How could this have happened? How could I have forgotten everything he had done to us?" Danielle wondered.

"Its actually very common." Eden replied. "People who have gone through very troubling times in their lives often push them to the furthest part of the minds. Its a way to cope. A way to carry on living without having to be confronted with the dark past of their lives. I see it often in cases that I try when the trauma is high." 

"I wish I could have helped him more." Danielle said.

"You were so young when it all started, Dani, you didn't know." Nik said.

"Once Justin is able to get control of Caspian -- or Viktor -- we can get him the help he needs and hopefully in a few months the two of you can restart." Aurora replied optimistically.

Eden and Nik shot each other a look. They weren't convinced of that.

** 

The car chase 

The two cars drove manically around the winding roads and streets of Welshport. Viktor was on a mission to get away from anything that would try and stop him from doing what he wanted: Self distruct. 

Cora could see it in his eyes. The sickness of wanting to destroy without care for anyone else invovled. They were all driving at fast speeds. The streets were like snakes twisting and curving upwards towards the Northshore Cliffs. Cora's heart sank, she did not know where this would end.

"Mr. Casador, please, please stop the car and let me out. I don't know what's going on!" She shouted.

"QUIET!" he roared back. 

"Please, I just got married, see?" She said showing him the ring. "We were about to leave on our honeymoon and -- and I don't know what's happened, but you have to know I have nothing to do with what's going on. Please, let me out!" 

Viktor said nothing, Cora continued to grip her hands around anything she could to steady herself in the car. The speeds now were too fast for her to even look out the window. The velocity was raging, like a shooting star blasting through the atmosphere at break-neck speeds.

"They're going to crash!" The deputy said to Justin.

"Just keep on them, we have to make sure he doesn't hurt Coraline Hamstead." 

"But they're going too fast. I can't catch up to them at this speed up these hills." the deputy reminded.

"Keep up, you're doing fine." Just added, knowing they probably would never catch up.

The cars went faster and faster and faster through the eastern edge of the Tirymor Forest on a street that was paved poorly and headed upwards towards the Cliffs. Viktor had no intention of getting out, he had no intention of helping Cora. His mind was on one thing and one thing only, THE END.

"PLEASE!!! SLOW DOWN!!!" Cora screamed.

"QUIET!!!!" Viktor shouted. 

He looked at himself in the review mirror. The face suddenly changed. It was Caspian, looking back. Their eyes, the same eyes locked. Caspian was now trying to regain control of the body they shared. 

"NO!!! NO!!!" Viktor shouted, as he began punching the side of his own head. 

Coraline gasped and shouted as their car began to bounce back and forth over the line on the two way street going up the hill towards the top of the cliff. She could see the edge of the road become a gaping hole of a giant ravine out of Viktor's window. The ravine became larger and larger and wider and wider as the car went up the hill.

"FUCK FUCK!!!" The deputy said, watching Viktor and Cora's car drive erratically.

"Jesus! Did she grab the steering wheel?!?" Justin wondered out loud. 

Caspian continued to pull back into control in the mind and body he shared with his once old-self Viktor Holten. The two were struggling for power over bodily and mental autonomy while driving a car that was speeding up a hill side like a bullet from a gun. It's intended target no one knew.

Cora continued to scream as the car veered to the left, her side, hitting the side of a hill. Her window cracked and then shattered. Glass flew into the air and all over her body and face as Viktor shouted for Caspian to stop trying to take over.

"ITS NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN!" Viktor's menacing voice shouted as his fist slammed into the side of his own head blasting into a full-blown headache. 

The pain was intense, like a thousand hot knives cutting through his brain. The car was going back and forth in the dark on the hill. Viktor managed to open his bloodshot eyes to see they were finally making the turn towards the top of the hill. He spun the car around and stopped it. 

Dirt, dust and fog filled the air around the car.

"GET OUT!" He shouted; she did not move.

Justin and the deputy's car finally arrived. They could only see the headlights in the dark as the dust settled.

"GET OUT!!" Viktor shouted again.

She refused. She didn't know what he was going to do to her. 

Justin and the deputy got out of their car. Guns drawn. 

"Jesus. Jesus. Jesus." the deputy whispered to himself, fearing what was about to get out of that car.

"VIKTOR! Let Coraline go!!" Justin shouted.

"GET OUT!" Viktor said to her.

She was paralyzed with fear. She was in the same white dress that was a smaller, more walkable version of her wedding dress. It had specs of blood from the little cuts she sustainted from the broken glass. her arms were stretched out, bracing herself for whatever this monster was going to do. Her breathing was shallow and she had no sense to get out of the car as he instructed. 

**

"We have to go after them." Aaron said.

"We don't know where they went!" Baxter replied.

"We can figure it out. We have to go!" Aaron shouted again.

"How? They took your car and I gave Justin mine." 

Aaron then recalled where Viktor and Justin had come from. The block over, where Danielle lived. "Nik! Maybe Nik is at Danielle's and has a car we can use." 

They quickly rushed over to Danielle's cottage where the found the lights on. There was a car out front, The deputies car. The two quickly came to the front door and banged on it. 

Everoyne in the house felt the jump of fear in the heart, startled at the knock.

Eden slowly got up and went to the door and opened just a small crack, then when she saw who it was opened it all.

"We need the keys to that car!" Aaron said, through a mouth full of blood.

"What happened to you!?!" Danielle asked, the nurse in her quickly rushing to help aide his wound.

"It was Caspian, he came out of nowhere looking like the devil himself and got into Aaron's car and drove off -- with Coraline inside!" Baxter explained.

"Oh my god!!!" Aurora exclaimed. 

"Contsable Ryan went after them, but I have to get to her. I have to get to Coraline." Aaron said as Danielle cleaned his busted lip.

"Why was Justin after Caspian?" Baxter wondered. 

No one replied keeping the reporter in the dark.

"Well someone better tell me what the hell is going on, my sister is with that psychopath!" 

Danielle gulped, she felt the guilt once again fill her like one the cup of tea Aurora was refilling for Baxter to sip from. 

Nik grabbed the keys the deputy let fall on the floor to the car "I'll explain on the way. Let's go."

"Nik wait, you're not going with them are you?" Danielle worried.

"I'll be alright." He answered.

Then, Aaron, Eden and Nik left Danielle's house. Baxter stayed behind still injured from his own attack weeks before. 

**

Tragedy 

"GET OUT OF THE CAR, NOW!" Justin shouted, his gun still pointed the direction of the driver's seat.

"I'm not going to tell you again," Viktor said to Cora "Get the fuck out of the car." 

"What's happening, Mr. Casador, why are you doing this?" She asked, her voice tiny and breaking with fear.

Viktor did not answer, his headache was taking over, the pain was too high and he could not bear to speak. He banged his head on the steering wheel, hoping to stop Caspian's pull into his mind. 

"You need to end this, end what you are doing." Caspian's voice said inside the mind.

"GO AWAY!" Viktor shouted.

"You need to stop this. Stop what you are doing." Caspian said again.

"I SAID GO AWAY!" Viktor yelled again.

Coraline then realized she needed to get out of the car, just as she did, Aaron Nik and Eden's car arrived. 

The two new beams of headlights from that car shined into the car with Viktor and Cora. The brightness broke Viktor out of his talk with Caspian. He stared into the turning beams as they approached.

Cora reached for the lock, unlatching it. She pulled the door handle and at the same time Viktor pulled the car in reverse. Her door swung open, the bottom of her skirt flew out flapping in the air like a white flag flailing in the wind.

"OH MY GOD, NO!!" Aaron said as Viktor's car spun around, towards the edge of the cliff. Their headlights shined into the spinning car showing Coraline with the most fearful expression anyone had ever seen and then as Aaron and the rest of the men watched Viktor drive the car off the edge of the cliff.

The car flew for a few seconds, suspended in air. Then it tipped at the front nosedived towards the bottom of the rocky shoreline. 

Justin and the deputy rushed to the edge of the cliff. The fog flew passed them like smoke from a fire and as the puffs of white fog parted they saw the mangled remains of an automobile at the very bottom of the cliff being engulfed with crashing sea water. 

Aaron, Nik and Eden jumped out of their car and rushed to the side of the cliff too, seeing the same thing.

"WE HAVE TO GET DOWN THERE!!!" Aaron shouted. 

"Quick, this way! There's a path there that can take us to the bottom. We have to hurry, the waves are rough." Nik instructed as they all quickly followed him. 

At the bottom, a mangled car twisted into the rocks, the waves continued to pound filling the car to it's rim with sea water.