Chapter 17
The sound of a bullet being slid into a
chamber woke her. Ah, Luke. Come for another midnight visit. How thrilling.
“How nice of you to come, darling…come
for a romp or to tuck me in?”
“Not my style, grandmother…”
She turned over and was shocked to see
Nikolas sitting on the foot of her bed, his leather gloved hand around a pearl
handled 9mm pistol.
“Nikolas, put that down…you’ll hurt
someone…”
“Oh, like you did…you see I know what you
did to Gia…and to Chloe…and I’m here to tell you it’s not going to
happen again…”
“You had better watch your little friend
more carefully, Nikolas…that type of girl…might consort with a unseemly
element…”
He stood, straightening his grey floor length
coat… “The only unseemly element my fiancée has been consorting
with….is you, grandmother…and that stops now…”
“Fiancée?”
“Yes, congratulate me grandmother….I’m
going to be a father….the Cassadine line will be extended…aren’t you
happy? You’re going to be a great-grandmother…but then again, you have
really nothing to do with it, do you…?”
“You are not going to procreate with that
mongrel girl…”
He raised the gun… “I can, and I
have….and if you try anything like what you did to Chloe…well…I’m not
as subtle as my Uncle….I don’t care to imitate you with your
poisons….After all, didn’t my father prefer brute force….You’ve
inspired me with your recent actions, grandmother…. I’ve finally become
the Cassadine Prince in spirit as well as in blood…. Aren’t you proud of
me?”
“You wouldn’t hurt me…”
“You’re sure of that?”
“Yes…you don’t have a violent bone in
your body…”
The shot went off before she knew what had
happened….Her knee resounded in pain…blood began to seep over the white
silk sheet…..
“Now you have one less violent bone
yourself…” He adjusted the scarf beneath his coat, and calmly smiled at
her.
“Nikolas, this is not wise…you cannot
expect me to take this favorably….”
“No, I expect you to take it in fear….
and you should be afraid, Helena….I am the Prince after all…stay away from
my family and there will be no more problems….will there? This is your only
warning….Good night, grandmother…”
He stepped out the door which led to the
dock….Helena dragged herself to the phone to call the ambulance…the line
was dead…
“Andreas!!! Andreas, help me…!”
“I’m afraid Andreas, isn’t here,
darlin’….just me and your youngest….”
She looked up, and was confused to see Luke
and Stefan step from the door opposite where Nikolas exited.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Looks like we missed quite the floor show,
Count…”
“Yes, well, Cassadines don’t react well
when threatened, do we Mother….oh don’t worry, Mother…we wouldn’t kill
you in this wretched state….”
“Speak for yourself, batboy…”
“No, Mother…..We’re going to do
everything possible to extend your life, aren’t we Mr. Spencer….to take
away your pain…”
“Yup, that’s us….we’re regular good
time Charlies….and here’s the party favors…” Luke said, raising his
hand revealing a syringe filled with a smoky reddish liquid…
“Ah, mother…you recognize it…yes, the
first time I poisoned you I used a weaker derivative…I’m afraid I’ve had
to step up the dosage….this unlike the previous edition…has no cure….and
caused permanent, irrevocable paralysis…the sole difference is that you will
be allowed to speak…not that anyone will listen…”
“And he’s going to let me do the
honors…ain’t that a hoot..?”
“You never did have what it takes to finish
the job, Stefan….but you Luke, I thought better of you…why not just kill
me…”
“Oh call me an old softie, because when
Stefan told me what kind of party he had planned for you….I was awash with
sentiment….I almost cried, it was so sweet….plus old Steffie here threw in
the kicker…he’s leaving town.”
“Yes, Mother….I realized that Nikolas was
only in danger from Spencer so long as you or I were in Port Charles…I
really have no need of this provincial town…and Nikolas is man of his own
now…So, Mother…as you can plainly see…my patience is at an end…a
son’s love care only go so far…we are ending this petty feud that you
began...but I still love you, Mother…so know this…you are going to live a
very long life…you are going to watch Nikolas’ son or daughter grow into a
strong, vital young man or woman with many brothers and sisters…and you will
know…that they will never love you….Mr. Spencer , I think the time has
come…”
Luke grabbed Helena, his palm against her
forehead pulling it back. He inserted the needle into her spinal column right
below the neck…
“Say goodnight, Gracie…”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
She woke up and looked at the clock….4
am…turning over the space in the bed was empty….looking in the hall she
could see light flickering from down stairs…
The third stair creaked as she got to the
bottom, and Nikolas looked up from where he sat looking into the fire….
“Hey, Sparky….you should be asleep…”
“So should you…did you go out….”
“Yeah….I had something I had to do….”
“Why didn’t you take Zander…I mean
Darius…that’s going to hard to get used to…why didn’t you take him
with you….”
“He’s to protect you….”
“Well, I want my fiancé protected,
too….or are you going to scare people away with your immense
vocabulary…”
“No…”
“Or they could try your cooking…that’ll
scare anyone away…”
“C’mere…”
She moved to sit on his lap…
“Nikolas…are you okay…”
“Yeah…now I am….”
“Come up to bed…”
“I will. I’ll be up in a minute…”
As she started up the stairs, she looked
back… “And Nikolas…I love you..”
“I love you, too…”
She disappeared above the stairs….Nikolas
removed the gun from his coat pocket…looked at it, feeling the weight in his
hands…glanced back up the stairs to where Gia had been…and sat with the
gun in his hands.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Stefan had wheeled her into the same room
where she had been sequestered during his previous attempt to poison her.
“Here you go, mother…I trust the
accommodations prove comfortable….don’t worry though, it’s only
temporary….You, myself, and Chloe will soon be in Greece…home,
Mother….aren’t you looking forward to it….I knew you would be…”
Her eyes flashed at the sound of Chloe’s
name….
“Yes, mother…Chloe….yes Mother,
Chloe….I still plan to marry her…you have changed nothing…What? Oh I
can’t here you…let me…”
He removed her gag…. “This will prove a
Pyrrhic victory, Stefan…you know it’s only a matter of time….”
“Mother, you always promise so much….”
“And I deliver…”
“We shall see won’t we mother…. excuse
me, now…someone seems to be in need of a bedpan…”
She looked away in disgust…. she was left
alone in the room for what seemed hours, in her own squalid filth. She was
thankful she could feel nothing, but the smell was beginning to be atrocious,
especially the soiled bandage on her knee. A sound came from the hall….
“Finally, Stefan…you petty tortures are
becoming tedious…”
The door opened.
“Well, Chloe…. How lovely to see you…is
that my bedpan you’ve brought me…?”
Chloe raised her hand, which instead of a
bedpan, held a very large, very sharp knife.