EMERALD SQUARE

Scott Hart sat down on the edge of the water fountain in Emerald Square and closed his eyes. He needed a moment to gather his thoughts, since he was still pretty baked from the joint he'd smoked earlier.  

He ran his fingers through his hair while he attempted to remember where he was going later. Maybe he would call Ric to see if there was a party going on. Scott reached into his pocket for his cell phone and prepared to dial Ric's number when a bright light suddenly emerged from the fountain.  

Scott cried out and dropped his cell phone to shield his eyes with his arms. "What the hell is going on?"  

Once the light dissipated, a man emerged from the fountain dressed from head to toe in black. It was Curly, one of the three guards who had come to Marquette Cove in search of Ariel. He was dragging Akilah Moore along with him.  

"You are not the princess," Curly commented.  

"You think?" Akilah demanded, sweating profusely from the scorching temperatures she was exposed to wherever Curly had just dragged her earlier.  

"The princess is Ariel," Curly continued. "You are most definitely not her."  

"Hey, what tipped you off? Was it the fact that I'm not white?"  

Curly paused. "I don't understand white. Is this a popular term?"  

"Aww, that's sweet," Akilah said, before kicking Curly in the groin.  

When his only reaction was to stare at her, dumbfounded, Akilah shoved her hand into Curly's pocket to remove the crystal he had put there earlier. Once she wrapped her hand around it, Akilah took off, hurrying away from Curly as fast as she could.  

He frowned, wondering why Akilah had taken the gem wrapped in one of the princess's incantations from his pocket.  

"Stupid girl," Curly muttered.  

"What the fuck is going on?" Scott demanded, staring at Curly from his seat on the water fountain's edge.  

Curly ignored Scott and removed the crystal from the pocket Akilah missed. A bright light burst from the crystal once more. The light soon vanished, and Curly was no longer standing before Scott.  

Still confused, but wondering if he was imagining things, Scott shuddered and turned his attention to his cell phone. A quick search for it found the cell phone lying at the bottom of the pool in the water fountain.  

"Shit," Scott muttered.    

Ariel Hanley took Tim Black's hand and stared into his eyes. She smiled at him, causing him to blush. Tim could feel the blood in his veins rushing to the lower half of his body. He gripped Ariel's hand and smiled back at her.  

"Take me someplace a little more private," Ariel whispered.  

"I can take you back to my apartment," Tim said. "My brother should be gone."

Ariel leaned in and kissed Tim on the neck, hiding her brightly glowing eyes from him. "Lead the way."



LOPEZ HOME

Vanessa Phillips approached Alexis Lopez's home, with her sister Nikki Vicman, and her brother-in-law Marcus following her. Vanessa was becoming increasingly desperate to find her son after she had returned home earlier in the evening to find him missing. After the initial shock, Vanessa believed that her husband, Ryan, was responsible for Eamon's disappearance.  

But Ryan insisted that Alexis was the person responsible for Eamon's disappearance, and so Vanessa was now entertaining the idea that he was telling the truth for the first time in their relationship.  

Nikki and Marcus had insisted that Vanessa go directly to Detective Kincaid, but Vanessa rushed out of the police station before they could. She was trying to find her son; she didn't have time to run to the police.  

"Shouldn't Alexis be in police custody?" Marcus demanded. "She was being watched at the hospital, right?"  

"She was, but then she disappeared," Nikki explained. "I didn't even know she was back in Marquette Cove."  

"So how did Ryan know?"  

"He probably paid the little bitch to kidnap Eamon," Nikki snapped. "So he and his lover could raise Eamon by themselves."  

"Nikki, please," Vanessa cried. "We're going to get to the bottom of this, I don't need to listen to your crazy theories."  

Nikki looked taken aback, but Vanessa ignored her sister and walked up to Alexis's front door, pressing the doorbell. She waited a few moments and then rang it again, all the while impatiently tapping her feet on the wooden porch.  

It took a little over a couple of minutes and various doorbell ringing for a disheveled Alexis to finally open the door. She cracked the door and poked her head out, rolling her eyes once she saw who here visitors were.  

"What the hell do you want?" Alexis demanded.  

"I'm sorry we interrupted your being a fugitive from the law," Nikki said. "But we want my little nephew back."  

"Excuse me?"  

"You know —"  

Nikki stopped talking when she heard what sounded like a child crying inside the house. Nikki grabbed the doorknob and pulled the front door open, sending Alexis stumbling out onto the porch.  

"Ow!" Alexis cried. "What is wrong with you?!"  

"I heard Eamon," Nikki insisted. "Where is he?"  

"I don't know what you're talking about," Alexis said. "Leave me alone."  

Nikki stormed into the house with Vanessa and Marcus following her. Nikki wildly glanced around the hallway, hoping to catch a glimpse of her nephew. That when she noticed what looked like blood lying on the nearby kitchen floor.  

"Oh my God," Nikki gasped. "You killed my nephew…you killed Eamon!"



ANDERSON HOME

Blake Thomas sighed heavily as he wondered why Vincent Moore was at his house. Not that it was actually his home, but it was where Blake was currently staying until his last surviving relatives could be contacted.  

With his parents the victim of a homicide and his brother in a mystical coma Blake couldn't even begin to comprehend, Blake couldn't live on his own until he was an adult. Not that it would matter if Michael Thomas that weren't a problem, Thomas was Blake's twin brother and therefore not an adult either.  

"What are you here for?" Blake demanded.  

"Your brother," Vince said. "Michael Thomas."  

"What about him?"  

"I know you brought your brother back to life," Vince said. "And I know who helped you do it."  

"This is insane," Blake insisted, turning away from Vince to shield his reaction. "My brother had cancer. He died. You were at his funeral."  

"No, I wasn't," Vince corrected. "But that's not the point."  

"The point is that you're nuts?"  

"No, the point is that you're hiding something," Vince said. "How long have you been keeping your undead brother on the down low?"  

Michael Thomas' body rested firmly on the table. As Blake stood over his brother's body, it was as if music was blaring in the room, compelling Blake to move to the beat and mouth lyrics that he didn't know. And yet, his lips moved on instinct.  

Blake was carrying Damon Johnson's heart in his hands, the heart he had ripped from Damon's dead body after Blake slit his throat in the hospital morgue. The heart was going to bring his brother back to life.  

Blake used his free hand to pry open his brother's mouth, then he shoved the heart into it. The heart still felt warm, though it shouldn't have since Blake had kept it in his freezer for weeks since the Thanksgiving evening when he murdered Damon.  

Next to Thomas on the table was a large book filled with a language Blake didn't understand and couldn't read, but Nicholas informed him that he didn't need to understand the words for the resurrection spell to work.  

And so he chanted the words from the book as he held his left palm over his brother's forehead. He picked up a dagger that was lying next to Thomas and placed the sharp blade of the dagger into his right palm, then closed his hand. Blake quickly slid the dagger out of his hand, cutting his palm.  

Blood trickled from the dagger and Blake's palm onto Thomas' forehead. As the blood slid onto his brother, Blake clenched his teeth to keep from crying out in pain. Nicholas stood next to him, a wide grin forming on his face.  

The blood didn't continue to flow from Blake's palm. Once he finished the chant, his wound was sealed and the remaining blood on the dagger evaporated. Blake glanced down at his brother's forehead…it was now dry as well. Even the heart that Blake had placed into his brother's mouth was missing.  

"Here comes my hero," Blake whispered as his brother's eyes began to open.  

"I…I…" Blake stammered, attempting to form a response.  

"It's alright, that's not important," Vince assured Blake. "What I'm really concerned with is how you did it."  

"Vince, this is —"  

"But I already know how, so relax," Vince said. "I already know that you killed Damon Johnson to resurrect your brother."  

Blake gasped, shocked that Vince knew everything he had done to bring his brother back to life. He tried to respond once more, but all Blake managed to do was collapse onto the floor.

Detective Joel Kincaid groaned, placing a sweaty palm upon his forehead to ease the pain…no such luck. His brain was still trying to escape from the prison that was his skull, bashing against it with force. He had enough. He wiped his face with his hand, feeling the unshaven stubble around his mouth, scraping against his fingers like sandpaper.  

Thump.  

He used his might to turn on his side, using both his hands to push upwards from the bed, leaning back into a seating position. He swung his legs over to the side, looking down as they tried to work.  

Thump.  

Joel winced in pain, holding his head in both hands…memories of his dream of heading to the morgue and having to collect evidence off the body of Kimberly Black…and evidence pointing to Joel's brother, Duncan Kincaid…a nightmare being relived all over again. Except that it wasn't the body of Kimberly…but that of Kelly Crane…  

Thump.  

Another groan as Joel looked down to see an empty bottle of whiskey on the floor…did he drink all that? Yes. He did. This was a hangover. Joel bent over to pick up the bottle, squinting as he brought it closer to examine. It was dry.  

Thump.  

Joel used all his energy to get up as the daylight hit him directly. He squinted and looked out of his bedroom window, walking his hand shadowing his eyes. He needed to get something for this hangover; there probably was something in the bathroom.  

Thump.  

"Aah!" Joel screamed, jumping back — dropping the glass, smashing it to several pieces across the bedroom floor. Joel looked ahead in fear as the figure of his first wife; Kelly was staring at him, smiling.  

Thump.  

He shook his head and rubbed his eyes, looking again. She wasn't there. He leaned back on the window, breathing heavily…closing his eyes as his head continued to pound. Joel looked down at the broken glass and decided he had to do something to clean it up.



REYES HOME

Jessica Reyes sat next to her boyfriend, Alec Bale, watching a movie as he massaged her shoulders. Alec was comforting Jessica after she had declined a visit to the hospital to see if anything had happened to her when she blacked out for a day and her family and friends thought she had been seriously hurt or kidnapped.  

Alec and Jessica's mother, Natalie, thought her decision was due to the fact that Jessica hated spending time in hospitals, but the real reason was that Jessica knew she had become a victim of Ariel Hanley…or whatever demon was currently posing as Michael Hanley's daughter.  

After being freed from her icy prison, Jessica told Vince everything she remembered and Vince promised that he would deal with the situation himself. He told her to stay put until he could find some way to deal with Ariel…but Jessica was worried about Vince. She didn't want him to get hurt because of her.  

Alec tried to concentrate on the movie they were watching, but his mind kept floating back to Vince being the one to find Jessica. He couldn't help but wonder if Vince was going back on their shaky truce and attempting to squirm his way back into Jessica's life.  

Alec rolled his eyes and stared at the television, where a black and white screen showed a man driving a car down a dirt road. Alec blinked, wondering why the man looked familiar…then he realized that he was staring at Vince on the television screen.  

"Thought I was over Jessica, didn't you? Well I'm not. But it wasn't from lack of trying, I can tell you that. Actually, I like to think it was my love for Jessica that put me in that coma," Vince spoke, a cold glare creeping onto his face. "A coma I was to lie in for days. When I woke up, I went on what the movie advertisements refer to as a 'roaring rampage of revenge.' I roared. And I rampaged. And I got bloody satisfaction. I've manipulated a hell of a lot of people to get to this point, but I have only one more. The last one. The one I'm driving to right now. The only one left. And when I arrive at my destination, I am gonna kill Alec."  

"No!" Alec cried out, pulling away from Jessica.  

"Alec, what's wrong?" Jessica asked, frowning.  

Alec took a deep breath, realizing he had only been dreaming. But his point was still valid, nonetheless. "I think you're spending too much time with Vince."  

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Not this again, Alec."  

"I'm serious," Alec said.  

"Maybe that's not the real problem," Jessica said, rising to her feet. "Maybe the real problem is that I'm spending too much time with you."



HANLEY HOME

"I know for a fact that Michael didn't sleep with Felicia because he had to get her drunk just now to do it!" Valerie Hanley-Holden said, standing in her brother's bedroom.  

Her brother, Michael Hanley, was seated on his bed next to Felicia Bale, whose husband Robert was standing next to Valerie. After Valerie found that Felicia was getting drunk with Michael at the mansion, Felicia rushed to stop Michael from taking advantage of a woman he didn't know was actually his sister.  

It was enough to make Felicia want to vomit.  

"He had to get her drunk because Felicia would have never slept with Michael while she was sober," Valerie continued. "Not even if someone held a gun to her head!"  

"Why are you doing this, Valerie?" Michael demanded. "Felicia and I have made love countless times, and Robert needs to accept that. Felicia has already accepted the fact that he's sleeping with his law partner!"  

"Why, Michael? Because it's a lie!"  

"You could never care about anyone but yourself, could you?"  

"Felicia didn't sleep with you, Michael!" Valerie cried. "She wouldn't sleep with you because — goddamn it, Michael, she's our sister!"  

Michael's jaw dropped when he heard what Valerie said. Robert was equally shocked, and wondering if what Valerie was saying was really true.  

"This is…Felicia has been sleeping with him!" Robert cried. "Michael told me so!"  

"He was lying to you!" Valerie snapped. "Are you that stupid, Robert? What makes you think you can believe a single word that comes out of my brother's mouth?"  

"One could say the same about you," Michael said, rising to his feet. "This is low, Valerie. Even for you. How could you have the audacity to even insist that Felicia and I are related!"  

"You're the one who's sick, Michael," Valerie said. "What, were you going to rape her? Were you going to rape your own goddamn sister?"  

"I don't even know what to believe," Robert said, pacing back and forth in the bedroom. "This is…this is insane."  

"I can tell you what to believe," Felicia said, struggling to climb to her feet.  

"Felicia, don't try to stand up, you'll only hurt yourself," Michael insisted.  

"I'll be fine," Felicia managed, standing up. "I need to tell all of you the truth…about everything."  

"About how you've been sleeping with Michael?" Robert demanded.  

"No!" Felicia cried. "About how everything Valerie said…it's true."  

"No…" Michael gasped.  

"I told you," Valerie said. "It's true! She's our sister."  

"I told you not to tell anyone," Felicia continued, turning to Valerie. "I told you what Kevin Hanley would do to me if he found out."  

"Felicia, you don't understand —" Valerie began.  

Felicia slapped Valerie across the face. "You ruined my life, Valerie! Don't you see? You've ruined my life and the lives of everyone I care about!"  

"You're drunk, Felicia," Valerie said, ignoring the pain from the force of Felicia's blow. "When you're sober, you'll understand that I did this for your own good."

"You ruined my life!" Felicia repeated, nearly collapsing onto the floor.  

Felicia gripped the dresser next to Michael's bed to keep her balance, then turned to look at Robert.  

"I'm so sorry," Felicia cried. "I'm so very sorry."  

"This is disgusting," Michael said. "I can't…how could you not tell me this?"  

"Michael, this isn't about you," Valerie said.  

"I almost slept with my sister!" Michael cried. "I think it's about me a little!"  

"I can't…I can't do this," Felicia said, stumbling toward the door. "I have to get out of here."  

As Felicia exited the room, Valerie sighed and rushed after her. "Felicia, stop! Don't do anything stupid!"



EMERALD SQUARE

Akilah unwrapped the gem she was carrying and realized that she had stolen the wrong item from Curly's pocket. Akilah swore loudly as she realized she was holding some type of useless gem instead of the crystal Akilah needed.  

The same crystal had allowed Akilah to free Jessica from whatever Ariel had done to her. Akilah unfolded the sheet of paper and flattened it against her leg. Then she raised the sheet to her face and tried to look at it.  

Written on the paper were words that Akilah couldn't understand, partly because the paper seemed to be water-damaged and it was written in a foreign language. Probably whatever foreign alien language Ariel and her stupid henchmen spoke in when they weren't busy impersonating people.  

"Boy, Kevin Hanley really knows how to come up with crazy offspring," Akilah muttered.  

As Akilah spoke, the paper began to heat up. Akilah cried out as the sheet exploded into flames. She dropped it to the ground to avoid burning herself, but once the paper fell the flames had dissipated.  

Akilah cautiously bent over to look at the sheet, realizing that it was now written in English, and she could understand perfectly what was written there.  

"What the hell is going on?" Akilah demanded.



LOPEZ HOME

"I didn't kill anyone!" Alexis insisted loudly, attempting to block the others' view of the blood on the kitchen tiles.  

"I can see the blood," Nikki said.  

She pushed Alexis out of the way and stalked into the kitchen, while Alexis nervously looked at the closet across from them, where she had stashed her father's body earlier. She couldn't let them figure out that she had attacked her father.  

"It's blood from the meat I'm cooking," Alexis snapped. "It fell when you knocked on the door, and I had to rush to…get out."  

"No," Vanessa said. "I came here for Eamon, just tell me where he is."  

"Get out or I'm calling the police!" Alexis cried.  

"Do it, wanted criminal," Nikki replied.  

Alexis rolled her eyes as Marcus took his wife's hand to calm her down. He walked her to the door and tried to get her to leave.  

"Nikki, there's nothing we can do here right now," Marcus said. "We're trespassing."  

"She stole your nephew, Marcus!" Nikki shouted. "Don't you even care?"  

"Of course I care," Marcus said. "But you're being irrational right now."  

"You're always taking someone else's —"  

"Get the hell out!" Alexis cried.  

"Let's go," Vanessa said, suddenly agreeing.  

She started toward the door while Nikki reluctantly followed her out onto the porch. Once Marcus left the house, Alexis slammed the door shut and breathed a sigh of relief.  

"Why did you just leave like that?" Nikki demanded.  

"We have somewhere to go," Vanessa said.  

"Where?"  

"To get some answers."



REYES HOME

"You're spending too much time with me?" Alec demanded, joining Jessica by rising from the couch. "I've been barely seen you since Vince's uncle died! You spend all of your damn time with Vince now."  

"Maybe because he doesn't yell at me and talk down to me like I'm a child!" Jessica countered.  

"This is ridiculous," Alec said. "If you would rather spend time with Vince, then by all means, do so."  

"Maybe I will," Jessica snapped.  

"Fine. But when he breaks your heart again, don't come crawling back to me," Alec said.  

"He won't break my heart," Jessica insisted.  

Alec nodded. "Oh yeah, that's right. You're the one who dumped him the last time, isn't? You're done using me so you want to get back together with your first lover?"  

Jessica slapped Alec across the face and glared at him.  

"You already broke mine," Alec said, turning to leave.  

As Alec left the house, Jessica stormed over to the door and slammed it shut. As she closed the door, Natalie exited the kitchen and approached her daughter.  

"Jessica, I'm going to the grocery store," Natalie said.  

"Just leave, mom," Jessica said. "I don't feel like talking."



ANDERSON HOME

Blake opened his eyes to find Vince staring at him from a seat at the kitchen table. Blake was lying on the floor, and Vince was sitting with his arms folded. He rolled his eyes and motioned with his head for Blake to climb to his feet.  

"I just…I didn't kill Damon!" Blake cried, standing up.  

"Huh?" Vince demanded. "I know that, you were acquitted."  

"Then why did you bring him up?" Blake asked nervously. "You said that —"  

"I said I didn't want you to think that I'm going to turn out like Damon and start blackmailing you," Vince said. "I'm not a bastard, Blake."  

Blake sighed heavily. "Then what do you want?"  

"I'm not going out on a limb when I say some pretty weird shit has been going on in Marquette Cove," Vince said. "And I'm betting you know something about it."  

"A little?"  

"Which is why I think we should compare notes," Vince continued. "Something big is going on here that I think we need to deal with sooner than —"  

Vince stopped talking when his cell phone began to ring. Vince picked up the phone.  

"Hello?"  

"Vince, it's Jessica."  

"Jessica…what's up?" Vince asked.  

"I need to see you right away," Jessica said. "At my house."  

"I'll be right there," Vince said, hanging up the phone. "Blake, I need to talk to you later."  

"Of…of course," Blake agreed.  

Vince exited the kitchen, leaving Blake standing alone. He picked up the copy of Tom King's Revelations that was lying on the kitchen table and frowned.  

"When exactly did my life become a soap opera?" Blake demanded.



GREGORY BLACK'S APARTMENT

Tim unlocked the door to his and Gregory's apartment, quickly checking to discern if his brother was home. When Tim decided that the coast was clear, he led Ariel inside and closed the door behind them. Before Tim could turn on the lights, Ariel grabbed him and pulled him into a kiss.  

"Where's your bedroom?" Ariel asked, removing her lips from his and blowing her icy breath into his face.  

"To the right," Tim managed, not even feeling the cool air as his body continued to heat.  

Tim took Ariel to his bedroom where she immediately closed the door behind him. She ripped open his shirt and began to unbutton his pants, while Tim moaned and leaned against the door.  

"Shouldn't we…get…a condom or something?" Tim asked, through heavy breaths.  

"I'm not afflicted with your human germs," Ariel snapped.  

As if that were an answer, Tim nodded at continued to allow Ariel to undress him, concentrating on how his insides were burning. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell that his skin was slowly turning to ice…