MARQUETTE COVE HIGH SCHOOL
"And you're positive you have no idea where Alexis is?" Officer Jamie Grady asked, standing on the stairs outside the high school talking to Alec Bale.
"Positive," Alec replied. "I don't even talk to her that much. If you want to find someone who might know where she is, then you can talk to Jessica Reyes. They're best friends."
"Thank you," Officer Grady said.
"So, Alexis was under police custody?" Alec asked. "I thought she just had amnesia."
"I'm sorry, I can't discuss it any further," Officer Grady explained.
"Yeah…I understand, I guess," Alec said.
Officer Grady went into the school so that he could question other students, while Alec tightened the strap on his backpack and started to leave. As he did, he noticed Akilah Moore exiting the school.
He wasn't sure she wanted to speak to him, especially after their previous argument in the computer lab, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. He wanted to apologize to her for being a jerk about Jessica the other day.
"Akilah," Alec said.
"Leave me alone, Alec," Akilah snapped, continuing on her way.
To her credit, Akilah figured that Alec was probably attempting to apologize to her, but she wanted to keep up the illusion that she wasn't interested in him. When he called out to her again, Akilah paused and turned around.
"Look, I wanted to apologize about before," Alec said. "I shouldn't have said what I did."
"No, you shouldn't have," Akilah agreed. "I was only trying to help."
"I know," Alec said. "And I — I want to make it up to you."
Akilah folded her arms. "Really?"
"Yeah, really. What do you say we had over to Emerald Square, get something to eat?"
"What is this, a date?" Akilah demanded.
"Well, you can call it that if you want," Alec offered.
"Fine…let's go."
Akilah remained behind for a couple of seconds as Alec started toward Emerald Square. She had to conceal the big grin she had on her face.
YORK HOTEL
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
Vanessa Phillips hung up the phone next to her bed, just having finished a conversation with the police in Marquette Cove. Alexis was missing, and since she had been released for Vanessa's wedding, Vanessa received a call to see if she had any information.
But Vanessa was surprised that Alexis was missing since she hadn't seen her since the wedding. She also hadn't spoken to her sister, Nikki, yet. Vanessa would have to call her later and tell her that she gave birth to Eamon already. During an earthquake, no less.
Ryan Phillips, Vanessa's husband, returned to the hotel room and slammed the door shut. He looked like he was just about ready to collapse.
"I finally got rid of her," Ryan said. "Dodged her down at the continental brunch…lunch? I don't think it's continental if it's lunch. Or brunch, for that matter."
Vanessa smiled, knowing that Ryan was referring to the woman who had helped her deliver her baby during the earthquake, and then proceeded to latch on Ryan and Vanessa for the next few days.
"The Marquette Cove Police Department was on the phone," Vanessa announced. "Looking for Alexis."
"God, what's she up to now?" Ryan demanded.
"Went missing after the funeral," Vanessa said.
"Probably hopped the border and went back home," Ryan said. "Good riddance."
Vanessa didn't respond. Now that Alexis was missing, she'd never have the chance to find out what secrets she and Ryan had been hiding before Alexis got amnesia. All that work to help Alexis regain her memory was for nothing.
Alexis Lopez stood in the hallway, watching Vanessa and Ryan's room. When she first arrived at the hotel, the concierge had refused to give her their room number, so she hid outside all day and night until they returned. Then she followed them up to their hotel room.
"I've got to save you, Ryan," Alexis said. "I've got to get you away from that bitch Vanessa and the child she's using to hold on to you."
MITCHELL HOME
Hearing the doorbell, Julia Mitchell set down the book she was reading and walked over to the front door. When she opened the door, she found her father, Detective Joel Kincaid, standing there. She wondered if he was off-duty, but then she noticed the badge on his belt and realized that he was just stopping by to dispense more of his unsolicited advice.
"Dad…what do you want?" Julia demanded.
"I called yesterday," Joel replied. "Did you go and see your uncle, even after I asked you not to?"
"Yes, I did," Julia said. "And I should have asked him about the apparent jail time he served before arriving in town, but I didn't. I'll figure it out on my own, though."
"No, you won't," Joel snapped. "I don't want you involved in any way with your uncle's life."
"I'm not an idiot, Joel," Julia reminded him. "If I want, I can always Google an answer. I'm just trying to give you an out here."
"Julia!" Joel cried. "Why the hell can't you ever listen to me?!"
"Maybe she could if you were around more."
Julia turned his head and saw Anna Mitchell, his ex-wife, walking down the stairs and joining her daughter in the doorway. She placed her arms around Julia and glared at Joel.
"You should be ashamed of yourself, Joel," Anna said.
MARQUETTE COVE POLICE DEPARTMENT
Chris Server entered the cell where his boyfriend, Blake Thomas, was lying on a cot. Though they had been dating for months, no one else besides their mutual friend, Kelli Anderson, knew about their relationship.
At first it had been uncomfortable for Chris to admit that he was in love with another male, but once he was finally ready to come out with their relationship, Blake became reluctant to. Now, it seemed like they would never be able to have any type of relationship with Blake locked in prison.
"Blake," Chris said.
Blake opened his eyes and turned to look at Chris. He smiled.
"Chris!" Blake cried. "God, I missed you."
When the police officer that had let Chris into the cell left, Blake stood up and hugged Chris and kissed him. Chris returned the kiss, and then he pulled away from Blake and backed away from him.
"What's wrong?" Blake demanded.
"This is just…it's weird," Chris said. "You're in jail. I've visiting you in jail."
"I didn't murder Damon," Blake said. "You have to believe that."
"Of course I do," Chris said. "It's just…no, it's fine. I'm just wilding out right now over all of this. You'll get out of jail once you go to trial and they don't have a case."
Blake grimaced and turned away from Chris.
"What if I get convicted, Chris?"
"Don't say that," Chris said. "You didn't kill anyone."
"It looks like I did," Blake said. "All of the evidence is there."
"I know," Chris said softly.
"If I go to prison for good, I don't think I'll make it," Blake said. "I'll die in there."
"Blake, you won't die in prison."
"Yes, I will," Blake insisted. "If I get convicted…they'll give me the death penalty."
Antonio sat on the ground, leaning against the headstone that Zaliphyr was sitting on. They had been waiting there for a while, and now Antonio was bored enough to start reading a novella called St. Laurent, which was basically a trashy soap opera set at a ski resort. He felt guilty for reading it, but it was incredibly enjoyable.
"Oh man, another cat fight on a ski lift!" Antonio cried. "That makes five in this chapter alone!"
"Antonio, will you pay attention?" Zaliphyr demanded. "This is incredibly serious."
"I know that," Antonio said, closing the book and setting it down. "But this is taking forever, so stop being ridiculous."
"You knew how long it would take," Zaliphyr reminded him. "You knew that once you zapped Vince and buried him in the ground, it would take a while for the effects to happen."
"Yeah, but I did bury him alive," Antonio reminded them. "So if this doesn't happen soon…he's probably dead."
"That'd be a shame," Zaliphyr said.
Antonio grinned. "I'll bet."
At that moment, the grave they had buried Vincent Moore in began to shake violently. Seconds later, dirt began to fly out of the grave. As the dirt left the grave, a hand shot up through the ground.
"I'll bet he did that on purpose," Zaliphyr muttered.
"It looks cool, though," Antonio said.
Vince slid out of the grave, shaking off all of the dirt covering him. Then he cocked his head and looked at Antonio. "What the hell did you do to me?"
"I made you a man," Antonio answered.
MARQUETTE COVE POLICE DEPARTMENT
"They won't give you the death penalty," Chris said. "Trust me."
"Why not?" Blake asked. "I've already had bail denied, because they think I'm a cold, heartless murderer."
"I'm sorry, Blake. But I'm going to get you out of here, I promise."
"To where? I don't have any family," Blake reminded Chris. "And I can't keep living with the Andersons, they probably hate me now."
"The don't hate you, Blake."
"I lived with them, and now they think I'm a murderer!" Blake cried.
"That's not true," Chris insisted. "They're paying part of your legal fees to Robert Bale. They want to help you, Blake. All of us do."
Blake turned back around to face Chris. "Really?"
"You know it," Chris said. "Now stop whining and give me a hug."
Blake and Chris embraced, sharing another kiss before they heard the door at the end of the hall opening up. The guard was coming back to tell Chris it was time for him to leave.
"I love you," Chris said. "You know that, right?"
"I love you too," Blake said, wiping away tears. "I'm just…I'm really scared, Chris."
"Don't be," Chris said.
"I have to get out of here," Blake continued. "I won't survive in here. I can't survive in here. I'd kill myself before I got sent to death row —"
Chris froze.
"— where every single minute of every day, I'd be thinking about dying."
Chris broke apart from Blake, just as the guard arrived to unlock the cell. He told Chris his time was up, and so Chris said goodbye and left the cell. Once the cell was closed, he turned back to Blake one last time.
"Whatever it takes, I'll get you out of here," Chris decided. "Trust me."
EMERALD SQUARE
"All right, no talking about Vince, Jessica, your uncle Derek, Matt, or anyone else," Alec said, as he and Akilah took a seat with the lunches they had just bought from the pizza parlor in Emerald Square.
"That's fine by me," Akilah said, agreeing.
"It's nice to just get out for a while, have some fun without thinking about stuff like that," Alec continued. "I know I've been trying to live life a little more ever since I almost got sent to jail for Damon Johnson's murder."
Akilah frowned. "I thought we weren't talking about that."
"Oh…right," Alec said. "Because that was the…yeah. Okay, what are we going to talk about, then?"
"Let's talk about us," Akilah suggested.
"Us?"
"Sure," Akilah said. "Like, how come we've never had lunch together before? Or hung out before, without anyone else around?"
"I don't know," Alec said. "But maybe I should rectify that."
"Maybe you should."
Alec smiled, knowing that in some way he was getting back at Jessica. He wasn't interested in pursuing a relationship with Akilah, but she wasn't that bad to hang out with at times, especially when she was always paying attention to him.
Besides, maybe it would give Jessica a wake-up call. Spending time with Vince wasn't just her being friendly, and she should know better than to be hanging out with her ex-boyfriend constantly behind her current boyfriend's back.
Everything would work out in the end between. Jessica would come back to him when she realized that Vince was still a bastard, and would always remain one.
MITCHELL HOME
"Excuse me?" Joel demanded. "What the hell are you going on about now, Anna?"
"Julia, go to your room," Anna said. "Your father and I need to have a discussion."
"I'm not five, mom," Julia insisted. "I've heard you two argue before."
"Julia…now."
"Fine," Julia muttered, spinning around and heading toward her room. Once Anna was sure that Julia was out of earshot, she turned back to Joel and resisted the urge to slap him.
"Do you know that Duncan is in town?" Joel demanded. "Do you know he's been talking to Julia?"
"Yes, I know," Anna said. "I also know that if he's in town, his case must have been reopened and he was acquitted."
"No, he wasn't," Joel insisted. "Quentin Blood sprung him jail."
Anna frowned.
"I want Julia to stay away from him," Joel said.
"He's her uncle, Joel," Anna reminded him. "I don't see her staying away from him."
"He is a rapist!" Joel cried.
"You know I never believed that," Anna said. "I always thought that Duncan was innocent, and so did everyone else. He only went to jail because an eyewitness said that he saw Duncan leaving Kelly's apartment."
"And that's not damning evidence?"
"No," Anna replied. "You might not want to face it, Joel, but the reason Kelly left you is because she was in love with Duncan."
"No she wasn't," Joel snapped. "He was clouding her mind, turning her against me. Kelly loved me. We would have been together if he hadn't raped her and murdered her, and you know there was more evidence against him, Anna!"
"Sketchy at best," Anna said. "Duncan had a horrible lawyer. Anyone else would have seen that the evidence was circumstantial and would have gotten him off."
"So you're saying he's innocent?"
"I'm not saying he is for sure, but I'm saying that if he's free, then the court thinks he is," Anna said. "And I don't see a reason to keep Julia from her uncle. I also don't see a reason for her to know about his past right now."
"I'm going to keep him away from her if it's the last thing I do," Kincaid insisted.
"Joel, if you plan on resuming your vendetta against your brother for sleeping with your wife, then by all means, go ahead," Anna said. "But I refuse to let me or my daughter get caught up in it."
"Anna, please —"
"Goodbye, Joel," Anna said, slamming the door shut.
EMERALD CEMETERY
"I don't understand," Vince said, looming over Antonio. "But you'd better make sure I do, before I kill you for burying me alive!"
Antonio rose to his feet. "How do you think you got out of the grave?"
"I climbed out," Vince said.
"Yeah, we saw the whole Carrie thing," Zaliphyr said.
Ignoring him, Antonio took Vince's arm. "Yes, you crawled out. But you were at least six feet under the ground. There's no way you could have just crawled out."
"Then how did I get out?" Vince demanded. "Enlighten me."
"With your mind," Antonio answered. "Psi. Psyche. Psychokinesis."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Vince demanded.
"Move the dirt back into the grave," Antonio said.
"Huh?"
"Try it. Just think about it happening."
Reluctantly, Vince turned to look at the dirt now in mounds around the open grave. He thought about the dirt falling back in, but nothing happened.
"Nothing," Vince said.
"Try again," Antonio said. "And actually concentrate this time."
Vince tried once more, and as a result specks of dirt began to fly into the grave. His mouth fell open in shock, as Antonio walked up behind Vince and placed his arm around his shoulder.
"And that's just the beginning."
YORK HOTEL
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
"Did you see her go anywhere once the wedding was over?" Vanessa asked. "I know we were all pretty shaken up with the explosion, but…did you happen to see Alexis?"
"No, I didn't," Ryan said. "Hopefully, she was in the car with Derek."
"Ryan!" Vanessa cried. "That's disgusting. How can you say that?"
"Face it, Vanessa. She killed Allison. I don't know what happened to throw her off the deep end, but Alexis is nuts."
Upon insulting Alexis, Ryan heard someone cry out in the hallway. He suspiciously walked over to the front door and opened it, wondering if someone was listening outside their hotel room. As he did so, he found someone standing directly in front of the room…it was Alexis.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" Ryan demanded.
"I came to stop you from making the biggest mistake of your life," Alexis said, jumping into Ryan's arms and pulling him into a kiss.