MARQUETTE COVE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

Robert Bale gripped his wife, Felicia's, hand and urged her to wake up. Felicia was hooked up to a respirator while unconscious, and Dr. Collins had informed Robert that they still didn't know what would happen to Felicia. She already had a damaged spine from getting struck by a car, so a fall down the stairs at the Hanley mansion wasn't going to help matters.

"I'm so sorry, Felicia," Robert said. "Why couldn't you have just told me that Kevin Hanley was your father?"

"Maybe because she wanted to divorce you, and needed a way to get you out of her life," Michael Hanley suggested, stepping into the doorway.

"Get out of here," Robert snapped.

"I have a right to be here," Michael said. "I'm family."

Robert stood up and spun around. "You're sick, you know that? You were a second away from committing incest, and now you're turning this situation into another one of your goddamn power plays."

"How very perceptive of you," Michael replied. "I can't imagine what would have given you that idea."

"Leave us alone," Robert repeated.

"Do you honestly think that when Felicia wakes up she's going to be rejoicing that you're here holding her hand?" Michael asked. "You've been sleeping with Melissa for weeks, and now you want her to just forget about that?"

"Michael."

Michael turned to see his sister, Valerie Hanley-Holden, standing behind him. Her arms were folded as she glared at him.

"What do you want, Valerie?"

"Simon doesn't think it's a good idea for both of you to be in here," Valerie said. "You'll only upset Felicia, and hurt her recovery."

"And you should be here?" Robert demanded.

"I'm the only one she trusted enough to tell her secret, so yeah," Valerie insisted.

Before Robert could respond, Melissa Maddock approached the doorway. Valerie rolled her eyes and groaned loudly, brushing past Michael and entering Felicia's room. Michael and Robert stepped out of the room, while Melissa waited to speak with Robert.

"Robert, there's something I need to tell you," Melissa said. "It's important."

"Let me guess, you're pregnant?" Michael asked. "Now you can have a son that's not my nephew, Robert!"

"Go to hell, Michael," Robert snapped, taking Melissa's hand and leading her away from Michael. "What did you have to tell me?"

"Robert…I'm pregnant," Melissa announced.



HANLEY HOME

Blake Thomas stood outside the Hanley mansion, nervously waiting for someone to answer the door. Up until now, Blake had never been to the mansion, although his brother Michael Thomas had visited often as one Matt Holden's best friends.

Mostly though, Blake was anticipating what he would be discussing with Vincent Moore. He had no idea how Vince had come into the knowledge that Blake resurrected his brother months earlier, yet didn't realize that he had murdered Damon Johnson to do so.

After a few moments, Riley Schaefer opened the door and frowned at Blake.

"Who are you?" Riley demanded.

"Blake Thomas," Blake replied. "I'm…I'm here to see…"

"Back off, Riley," Vincent said, descending the stairs. "He's here to see me."

Riley rolled his eyes and exited the foyer, leaving Vince and Blake alone.

"So, what's up?" Vince asked.

"You tell me," Blake said. "You're the one who invited me."

"We need to have a talk," Vince explained. "About Antonio."

Blake responded with a confused look. "Who's Antonio?"



EMERALD SQUARE

Matt Holden paused to remove a pack of Camels from his pocket. He opened the box of took out a cigarette. Placing the cigarette in his mouth, he returned the pack to his pocket and used his lighter to light the cigarette.

Matt inhaled smoke from the cigarette and then removed it from his lips to blow the smoke from his lips and into the cold air surrounding him. It was his third cigarette since he had left Quentin Blood's mansion, since he had left his heavier drugs at home in his room.

"I can't believe Chris and Blake," Matt muttered. "How could they go back to working for Quentin? They're better than that."

Matt knew both Chris and Blake had been surprised by Matt's sudden concern about their well-being, and truth be told, Matt was surprised as well. Lately, he had found himself caring about what happened to other people beside himself, and it was irritating him. It was Akilah Moore's fault too — she had made him care about her.

Luckily, Matt still found to time to keep his hatred of her brother, Vince, alive. Now that he had wormed his way into the Hanley mansion like he was Michael's long-lost son. His uncle Michael had never shown him the kind of attention he was paying to Vince.

Whenever Matt had to stay at the mansion while his parents were out of town, Michael acted as if it were a burden to live with his only nephew. He didn't act that way with Vince, however. He was like the second coming as far as Michael was concerned.

As Matt continued walking, he noticed how empty Emerald Square was. Usually it was bustling with people, even on a weekday, but for some reason there appeared to be no one outside. It probably had something to do with the odd thunderstorm that had occurred a few minutes earlier.

Before he had a chance to give the thunderstorm a second thought, Matt noticed a girl lying unconscious near a bench. Matt hurried toward the bench and bent over to see who the girl was. A closer look revealed that it was Akilah.

"Oh my God, Akilah!" Matt cried.

He tried to wake her up, hoping that she wasn't dead. It was a morbid thought, but you could never be too safe in Marquette Cove without thinking morbidly. When Akilah didn't respond, Matt began to think the worst.

"Akilah, please wake up," Matt whispered. "I don't know what happened here…but I need you. I need you to wake up."

As if in response to Matt's declaration, Akilah coughed. She slowly blinked and glanced up at Matt, smiling.

"Akilah," Matt said, smiling back. "You're alive."

"Alec?" Akilah asked, still disoriented from being struck by a bolt of lightning minutes earlier.

Matt's smile quickly faded into a frown.



KINCAID HOME

Detective Joel Kincaid sat on the edge of his bed and removed his gun from its holster. Joel placed the gun on his dresser and removed his holster next, before setting his cell phone next to it. He needed his phone with him in case he received any word on Alexis Lopez.

They didn't need a warrant to enter her house since she was still wanted for questioning in Allison Gellar's disappearance, but Joel hadn't want to barge into her house if there was a chance she was holding Eamon, Vanessa Phillips's child, hostage.

For the moment, he had a plainclothes officer watching Alexis's home to see if she tried to make a move with the child. When she did, as Joel fully expected her to, he would fine Alexis and take the child back before he arrested her and had her thrown in jail, right alongside Ryan Phillips, the man responsible for raping Alexis and sending her into a downward spiral.

Joel took off his shirt and dropped it onto the floor, and then he laid down on his back in his bed. Joel stared at the ceiling, hoping to drift off to sleep so he could get some rest before his shift actually started.

As he closed his eyes, Joel felt a hand touch his bare chest. A finger ran across his pecs, followed by the feeling of lips on his neck. Joel quickly opened his eyes and found a woman in bed with him. But it wasn't a stranger — it was his wife, Kelly Crane.

The only problem was that Kelly had been dead for over twelve years.

"Kelly?" Joel gasped.

Kelly didn't respond, she merely sat next to Joel, smiling.

"You're not my wife," Joel insisted.

Kelly laughed.

"Get out of my bed," Joel snapped.

When Kelly didn't respond, Joel reached over to his dresser and grabbed his gun. He turned back to Kelly to aim the gun at her, but she was no longer in the bed with him. Joel angrily tossed his gun to the floor and buried his face in his hands.

"Why do you keep doing this to me?!" Joel cried.

"I'm sorry, Joel."

Joel glanced up and saw that Kelly was now standing at the foot of the bed. Joel pulled open one of the drawers in his dresser and removed a bottle of whiskey. Joel opened the bottle and took a swig, hoping that this would succeeded in getting Kelly out of his mind.



Lopez Home

"There's no need to cry anymore, honey," Alexis Lopez said, carrying Eamon Phillips as she stood in the living room of her home. Having kidnapped Vanessa's child, Alexis was now under the belief that Eamon was the child she had with Ryan Phillips. But in actuality, Alexis aborted that child months earlier.

However, Alexis's fragile mental state had caused her to believe otherwise. She had Eamon wrapped in a blanket so that he wouldn't get cold when she took him outside, and so that no one would recognize him and try to steal him from her.

Detective Kincaid had been at her house earlier, and that was exactly what he was trying to do, so Alexis was going to stay cautious from now on. But if she had to, Alexis knew she would kill Detective Kincaid before she let him lay a hand on her child…like she had to Allison Gellar, a teacher at Marquette Cove High School.

"Time for us to leave, baby," Alexis said, stepping over a puddle of blood that was one of the few pieces of evidence showing that Alexis had murdered her father, Victor Lopez, earlier that evening. "We have to get somewhere safe."

Officer Jamie Grady glanced up when he saw Alexis leaving her home carrying something in a large blanket. Assuming that she was taking Eamon with her, Officer Grady turned on his car and began to follow her.

"You just ran out of luck, Alexis," Officer Grady said.

He reached over to the passenger's seat and picked up his cell phone. Officer Grady dialed Detective Kincaid's number and waited for a response.

"You…you're pregnant?" Robert asked, his voice shaking.

"Yes, I'm pregnant Robert," Melissa said.

Robert bit his lip. Having a child with Melissa would certainly curb his plans to work things out with Felicia, but Robert was sure that he was still in love with Melissa. Having a child in the mix, however, wasn't a part of the equation.

"How did…how did this happen?" Robert asked.

"Do I really need to map it out for you?" Melissa demanded.

"Here, let me help you," Robert said, dabbing at Melissa's shirt again.

As he did so, he stared into Melissa's eyes, allowing his hand movements to slow down. Before Robert knew what he was doing, he leaned in to kiss Melissa. After a few seconds, he pulled away from her and froze.

Melissa took the initiative and returned his kiss. Robert dropped the paper he was holding and pushed Melissa away from him so that he could begin to unbutton her shirt. Once he removed her shirt, they continued to kiss as they made their way to the couch in his office.

"No, you're right," Robert said. "I'm sorry, this is just…it's a shock."

"I know," Melissa said. "I was surprised myself…but I shouldn't be telling you about this. Look at what's happened with Felicia, I mean…what did happen? When I called and you told me you were here, I just…"

"Felicia fell down the stairs at the Hanley mansion," Robert said. "After we found out that…"

"Found out what?"

"After we found out that she's a Hanley," Robert finished.



EMERALD SQUARE

"No, not Alec," Matt said. "It's Matt."

"Oh…Matt," Akilah realized. "Where am…the paper."

"What?"

"The paper, where's the sheet of paper?" Akilah demanded.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Matt explained. "What paper?"

"Whatever you do, you can't touch it!" Akilah cried, attempting to climb to her feet. She was still shaken by the lightning attack, so Matt helped her stand up regain her composure. Akilah backed away from Matt. "I have to…I have to get out of here, someone's after me."

"Someone's after you?"

"Yes!" Akilah cried. "I need to find…I have to get out of here."

"No, you need to calm down," Matt insisted. "Let me get you home."

"Matt, I don't have time for this," Akilah said. "I need you to shut up right now."

"Akilah, you need someone to help you," Matt said. "And I want to do it."

"Matt, seriously —"

"We've been dating for a while now…"

"Yeah, I know," Akilah said. "We've been pretending to date so I could make Alec jealous. Which isn't working, by the way. I think I need something else to finally get him over Jessica."

"But you don't need Alec," Matt continued. "I'm in love with you."

Akilah stared at Matt as if he were speaking in a foreign language. "Huh?"

"I love you," Matt said, taking Akilah by her arms and pulling her closer to him. "I'm in love with you."

Before Akilah could react, Matt leaned in and kissed her on the lips. After a few seconds, Matt Akilah pulled away from Matt. At first she appeared to have enjoyed the kiss, but her expression quickly turned to an angry one.

Akilah pushed Matt away from her. "Matt…I'm sorry."

Matt's face fell. "No, Akilah — don't be sorry."

"I'm sorry," Akilah repeated. "But I can't —"

"Don't say it, Akilah."

"I can't be with you," Akilah finished. "We can't do this anymore. I'm in love with Alec."



HANLEY HOME

"Okay, you seriously have a guardian angel?" Blake demanded.

"Yeah, I do," Vince said. "Although he's never really around. And when he is, it's like he's always talking to himself about something. It's really weird."

"The weirdest thing is that this doesn't sound all that weird to me," Blake said.

"Yeah, how did you do that thing with your brother anyway?"

"I…um…I found a book on spells," Blake said. "It's all very complicated."

"Well, I want to hear more about it, can I see him?" Vince asked. "I mean, wow…it's been ages. I mean, I was at his funeral."

"No one can see him, he's in a coma," Blake said softly.

"Huh?"

"Some demon stuck him in a coma, the same demon who helped me bring him back to life," Blake explained. "I have no idea what he was up to, or why he helped me in the first place."

"So your brother's out of commission?"

"Yeah, and I don't want anyone to know he's —"

"I won't say a thing," Vince promised, walking toward the living room. "Now, I don't want to worry you…but I think something even weirder is going down here in Marquette Cove, in this mansion."

"Michael's up to something?"

"No, I'd know if Michael was up to something," Vince insisted. "I'm talking about his daughter…there's some serious shit happening here that's probably going to get messy. You up for it?"

"Can't get messier than my life," Blake said. "I'll help any way I can."

Vince and Blake shook each other's hands.

"All right, let's get started," Vince said.



MARQUETTE COVE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

"I can't believe it," Melissa said. "Felicia is Michael's brother…and they were sleeping together?"

"No, Michael was lying," Robert said. "As usual, he's been manipulating us for months to make me think my wife was cheating on me."

"Well, Felicia certainly didn't help matters," Melissa sighed.

"Don't go blaming Felicia, you homewrecker," Michael said, cutting in.

Robert rolled his eyes. "Can't you go away? Ever?"

"I have something important to tell you," Michael insisted.

"And that would be?"

"I can tell you who's to blame for all of this pain you and your wife have been experiencing for months," Michael said. "Because it certainly hasn't been me."

"Oh, really?" Robert demanded. "Then who the hell was it, Michael? Who's responsible for every bad thing that's happened to me since I came back to Marquette Cove?"



EMERALD SQUARE

"I need to…I have to go," Akilah said. "I have to get back to the mansion and warn Vince."

Matt, still reeling from Akilah's earlier comments, was unable to respond. At that moment Matt's cousin, Ariel Hanley, stumbled across them. She was breathing heavily and appeared to be upset about something.

"Ariel, what's wrong?" Matt demanded.

"Matthew…thank God!" Ariel cried, taking her cousin's hand.

"Get away from him!" Akilah shouted, pulling Matt away from Ariel. "Do you want to freeze him too?"

"Huh?" Matt asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Yes, sister of Vincent Moore," Ariel echoed, glaring at Akilah. "What are you talking about?"

As Ariel focused on Akilah, Matt noticed that Ariel's eyes were glowing a bright blue color. Thinking he was imagining things, Matt rubbed his eyes. As he expected, Ariel's eyes returned to normal.

"Matt, you have to get away from her," Akilah insisted. "She's evil, she's not even human!"

"That's enough," Matt said. "Stop attacking my cousin."

He took Ariel's hand and was immediately struck by how cold her skin was. Matt ignored that fact and turned to Ariel.

"Of course, I'll help you."

"Matt, you can't be serious!" Akilah cried. "She'll —"

Before Akilah could finish, Matt released Ariel's hand and balled his own hand into a fist. Then he swung at Akilah, connecting with her face. Akilah cried out, sliding back and collapsing onto the ground.

"Moves as fast at lighting," Matt muttered.

"I have to go," Ariel said.

"I'll get rid of her and meet you at the mansion," Matt said, kneeling to make sure Akilah was unconscious.

"Thank you," Ariel said.

Ariel hurried off while Matt watched her leave. He continued to stare at Ariel and not a single emotion appeared on his face. Not even when he returned his gaze to Akilah.



ABANDONED CHURCH

Alexis slowly walked down the aisle of the church, holding Eamon closer to her. She felt safer in the church when she was holding Eamon, especially since this was the place where she had first confronted the woman who stole her child and killed her.

Alexis sat in a pew and smiled at Eamon, promising him that nothing would ever harm him ever again. Alexis gazed out at the sewer hole in the floor, remembering the night she had killed Allison.

Alexis blocked out the screams that were echoing in her ears, along with the sound of a gunshot. Alexis cried out, jumping to her feet and nearly dropping Eamon. Tears forming in her eyes, she sat Eamon down on a bench and grabbed at her hair strands.

"Leave me alone!" Alexis screamed. "Leave me and my baby alone!"

Still watching from the entrance, Officer Grady met Alexis's behavior with a shocked look on his face. He hoped back-up would arrive before Alexis actually hurt Eamon…otherwise Officer Grady would have to step in himself.

"Come on, Joel," Officer Grady whispered, dialing Joel's number again. "Pick up the damn phone…"



KINCAID HOME

Joel opened his eyes at the sound of a phone ringing in his room. He attempted to get a look at his surroundings, but the only thing he noticed was that he was lying on the floor now.

He was no longer lying in his bed, and the bottle of whiskey was now resting next to him. In falling out of the bed, Joel had accidentally spilled the bottle's contents onto the carpet. That is, whatever he hadn't drank from the bottle.

"The phone…" Joel moaned.

He raised his head, but soon allowed it to drop back to the floor. He was too exhausted to grab his phone and answer it, too exhausted to do much of anything at the moment. Joel just hoped that whatever reason the call was for, it wasn't important.