HANLEY HOME

Blake Thomas took another sip from the soda Vincent Moore had provided him, while sitting on the edge of the couch in the Hanley mansion living room. Blake and Vince were still attempting to get all of their cards on the table as far as Antonio and Michael Thomas's resurrection went. At least, as much as they were willing to share with one another.

As excited as Blake was to finally get to talk about his brother with someone else, he couldn't exactly tell Vince the semantics of Thomas's resurrection. He especially couldn't tell Vince that he'd had to murder Damon Johnson for the resurrection spell to work. While Vince, on the other hand, had yet to share the fact that Antonio had given his psychokinetic abilities that allowed him to move objects with his mind.

"Anything else I should know about Thomas?" Vince asked. "Besides the fact that he's in some type of coma that makes him invisible to anyone but you?"

"No…not really," Blake said. "Only that —"

Blake was interrupted by the sound of Matt Holden calling out to them from the front door. Matt entered the foyer and closed the door behind him, while carrying Akilah Moore in his arms. Startled, Vince rose to his feet and turned to face the door.

"How did you get in here?" Vince demanded.

"I have a key," Matt explained, still out of Vince's view. "This is my uncle's house, remember?"

"No, I don't," Vince said. "Who are you, again?"

"Go to hell, Vince," Matt said, staggering into the living room carrying Akilah. He set Akilah down on the couch and turned back to face Vince and Blake. "What's going on here? Why's Blake here?"

Before Matt could get a response, Vince punched him in the jaw. Matt cried out and stumbled backward, reaching up to rub his jaw. He angrily glared at Vince, wondering why he was attacking him. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"What did you do to my sister?" Vince demanded.

Matt 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.

"Nothing," Matt insisted. "It was…it was Ariel Hanley."

"Ariel…" Akilah mumbled, beginning to regain consciousness. "She's…she's evil…have to…kill her…"

"I don't know how this is all possible, but there's something wrong with Ariel," Matt explained. "Her skin was really cold, and her eyes seemed to be glowing when I…I don't know what's going on."

"I think I do," Vince said, realizing what was going on.

Blake frowned. "Unfortunately, so do I."



MARQUETTE COVE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

"I have something important to tell you," Michael Hanley said, approaching Robert Bale and Melissa Maddock in the hallway outside Felicia Bale's hospital room. He was interrupting a conversation between Michael and Robert, in which she broke the news to Robert that their affair had resulted in a pregnancy.

"And that would be?" Robert demanded.

"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."

Robert rolled his eyes. "Oh, really? 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?"

"Kevin."

"Excuse me?" Melissa asked.

"I'm not talking to you," Michael snapped. "This is an adult conversation, so how about you go sit in the corner?"

"Don't talk to her that way," Robert said.

"I'm dearly sorry," Michael said. "I wouldn't want to upset Miss Maddock when she's your only future for offspring that aren't related to me."

At Michael's mention of offspring, Melissa felt tears forming in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away before they were visible to the others and excused herself to the bathroom. Once she was gone, Robert grabbed Michael by his shirt collar and pushed him against the wall.

"I'm getting really fed up with your games, Michael."

"They're not my games!" Michael cried. "They're all my father's…Felicia's father's...Kevin Hanley."



MITCHELL HOME

Julia Mitchell entered the kitchen, looking for something to eat. She had been studying all evening and now she felt as if she deserved a little break. Although, she hadn't really been doing much studying anyway. She had spent most of the time thinking about her past…about the holes that still remained in her memories of the previous year.

It pained Julia to know that there were huge gaps in her memory that she couldn't fill in, no matter how hard she tried. She had been attempting for months with no avail, and it seemed as if Julia would never discover what really happened to her.

"Maybe I'm going crazy," Julia muttered, opening the fridge.

She removed a loaf of bread and set it down on the table, preparing to make herself a sandwich. Julia opened the nearest drawer to search for a knife.

"I'd like to speak to you about something you said earlier," Antonio said. "Can I come in?"

Julia remained silent for a moment, then opened the door for Antonio to step inside. He walked inside, entering the foyer as Julia closed the door and glared at him. She closed the door and forced a smile as she offered to get him something to drink.

"A glass of water would be fine," Antonio said.

Julia nodded and walked into the kitchen, while Antonio talked to her from the living room. She approached the counter, opening a drawer and admiring a large butcher knife.

"I wanted to ask you about when you told me how you knew me all too well," Antonio called out. "I was wondering what you meant by that."

Julia picked up the knife and gripped the handle, closing the drawer.

"I honestly don't remember," Julia said, lowering the knife and preparing to exit the kitchen.

Antonio walked into the kitchen, causing her to quickly hide it behind her back.

Julia froze, startled by the memory that had suddenly flashed in her mind as she opened the drawer. She had opened that drawer countless times in the past few months…and yet tonight there seemed to be something more to the drawer than holding cutlery.

"Something's happening," Julia gasped.



ABANDONED CHURCH

Officer Jamie Grady stood outside his squad car, while surrounded by several other police cars. Standing to him were Vanessa Phillips, her sister Nikki Vicman, and Nikki's husband, Marcus. Vanessa clutched her sister's hand as she stared at the opening to the dilapidated church where Alexis Lopez was currently holding Eamon Phillips, Vanessa's son.

"Why can't we just go in there?" Vanessa demanded.

"We don't want Alexis to harm the child," Officer Grady insisted. "We're waiting for orders from Detective Kincaid…as soon as he can be reached."

"We don't have time for this!" Vanessa cried.

"Is there something we can do?" Marcus asked. "Besides waiting?"

"I'm afraid not," Officer Grady said.

"That's not good enough."

The four turned to find Ryan Phillips approaching them, with the sleeves from his shirt rolled up and a haggard look on his face. He paused when he reached the car.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Nikki demanded.

"My lawyer got me off on bail," Ryan said. "Melissa took care of the paperwork earlier, it just got processed."

"You don't belong here," Nikki said. "You deserve to be behind bars."

"Why can't you just admit you were wrong?" Ryan demanded. "You already see that Alexis is nuts. She kidnapped my child. She kidnapped our child, Vanessa. She kidnapped him because she deluded herself into thinking that she was ever pregnant with my child."

"You slept with her," Vanessa said.

"No, I didn't," Ryan said. "But you know what, no matter what I do it's going to come out wrong with you. That's why you jump to conclusions."

"We don't have time for this," Marcus said. "Lay off, Ryan."

"I don't give a damn about Ryan right now," Vanessa insisted, turning away from him. "I just want my baby back."

"No one is going to hurt you, baby," Alexis Lopez said softly, clutching Eamon close to her chest and she paced back and forth inside the abandoned church. "No one knows we're here, so no one is going to be able to take you away from me."

As Alexis walked back and forth near the church altar, she failed to notice the sewer hole that she was walking dangerously close to. It was the same sewer hole in which she had dropped Allison Gellar's lifeless body…and now there was a slight chance that in her haste, Alexis could slip and make it her own watery grave.

Hers and Eamon's.

"What are you talking about?" Matt demanded.

"Ariel is evil," Vince said. "She froze Jessica."

"Wait…what?!" Matt cried. "Ariel did what to Jessica?"

"Yeah, I'm confused too," Blake said, frowning. "I get that Ariel might be not human…but she froze Jessica?"

"When I came back to the mansion, I found Jessica talking about being turned into ice by someone," Vince explained. "So if what Matt is saying is true, then we have to worry about dealing with Ariel now."

"Ariel…"

Vince glanced over at his sister, who was once again stirring. Akilah opened her eyes and glanced up from the couch at the three teenagers standing near her. She struggled to sit up on the couch.

"Where am I?" Akilah demanded.

"You’re at my uncle's mansion," Matt explained.

"How did I get here?"

"That's…not important," Matt said. "You should stay on the couch, you've been through a lot."

"I'm…I'm fine," Akilah said. "I need to get home."

"No, you should stay put," Vince insisted. "Go upstairs in one of the guest rooms and sleep if you have to."

"You know, this isn't your house," Matt snapped.

"Shut up, Matt," Blake snapped.

"You're on his side now?" Matt demanded. "Don't tell you've decided to dump Chris and move on the banging Vince now?"

"You son of a bitch. You're disgusting."

Matt laughed. "I'm disgusting? I'm not the one who knows what it feels like for a girl."

Blake balled his hand into a fist and punched Matt in the jaw, causing him to stumble back and fall onto the floor. As Blake hovered over Matt, Vince moved next to them to grin at Matt while he nursed another bruise on his face.

While the boys were busy arguing, Akilah rose to her feet and stumbled toward the door. She regained her composure enough to stand up straight and disappear out the door before anyone noticed that she had left.

"I should have you thrown in jail," Matt said, climbing to his feet. "Again."

"Well, you were the person who helped Quentin send me to jail, right?" Blake demanded. "I mean, that's the only possible reason why random drug dealer Adrien Konieczka would see fit to frame me for murder by planting evidence in my basement, right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Matt said. "I only came here to bring — Akilah?"

"Do you always make declarative sentences sound interrogative?" Vince asked.

Blake glanced over at Vince and rolled his eyes. "Huh?"

Vince shrugged. "I have SATs in three months."

"What is wrong with you two?" Matt cried. "I'm talking about Akilah! She's not here!"

Blake and Vince turned around to look at the couch, causing both of them to realize that Matt was right. Before they could comment, someone else walked through the front door and entered the living room. It was Ariel Hanley.

"Matthew," Ariel spoke.

"Ariel," Matt said, smiling. "I've been waiting for you."



MITCHELL HOME

Julia pulled open the drawer completely and picked up a knife from inside, gripping it tightly while hoping that more memories would return to her. Something seemed to be odd about the entire night in general, and whatever it was, Julia figured it was leading to the return of her memories.

That still didn't change the fact that Julia had no idea why she had ever waved a knife at Antonio Gomez, a student at school she barely knew. She was also wondering why he hadn't ever confronted her about the incident, assuming he still remembered the event at all.

Julia Mitchell gripped the butcher knife that she had plunged into Antonio Gomez's chest.

"Does this feel familiar?" Julia asked, sliding the knife out of Antonio's chest and holding it in front of her.

Julia grinned as blood dripped from the knife onto the kitchen floor. Antonio tried to speak, but he instead fell forward. While he lay on the floor in a pool of his own blood, Julia walked to the sink to rinse the blood from the knife.

"That was easier than I thought," Julia said, turning on the faucet.

She put the knife blade under the running water and let the blood drip off into the sink. Once it was clean, she dried the knife with a towel and put it back in the drawer.

"Oh my God…did I kill him?!" Julia cried.

It didn't make any sense. Julia was sure she had seen Antonio recently, which made the fact that she remembered killing him insane. Nothing was making any sense whatsoever…and now Julia was more confused than before.



EMERALD SQUARE

Akilah headed toward Julia's house, hoping that her friend was at home so she could find someone to talk to. As she walked, she began to feel faint. She was still in pain from whatever had happened to her before she arrived at the Hanley mansion.

Akilah stopped and leaned against a bench to catch her breath, when she felt a hand touch her shoulder. Akilah cried out and spun around to find a teenage boy standing behind her. Akilah recognized him from around town, but she didn't know his name.

"Who are you?"

"Timothy Black…are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Akilah insisted. "I'm trying to get to my friend's house."

"You don't look fine to me," Tim said. "You look like you haven't eaten anything today."

"I said I'm fine," Akilah repeated. "I don't need a damn babysitter."

"I'm not trying to be," Tim said. "I don't think you could afford my services anyway, I charge by the minute."

Akilah frowned.

"Something to eat. It's all I'm asking."

"Fine," Akilah said. "I'll eat. We'll eat."

"Good."

"So what, you out trolling for girls to take out to dinner?" Akilah asked.

"No…more like, it's been a really long night and I needed some air," Tim said.

"How weird?"

"Trust me…it's weirder than anyone can comprehend," Tim insisted. "Even I can't."

"Well, even if you did…I'm sure my night would win," Akilah said, starting to walk.

Tim took her hand to help her keep balance.



HANLEY HOME

"You've been what?" Vince demanded.

"Three men came for me to take me home," Ariel said, ignoring Vince. "Back to a place that's dark…it's sad and lonely, Matthew. You have to help me."

"What's wrong with going home?" Matt asked. "It's supposed to be where the heart is!"

"I don't want to go home!" Ariel cried. "I want to stay here. I want to start a new life, and you have to help me."

"Matt…what the hell is going on here?" Blake asked, cautiously staring at Ariel.

"Then I'll help you," Matt said.

"You will?" Ariel asked.

"Yes," Matt said. "But I need you to do me a favor."

"Anything," Ariel said, approaching Matt and taking his hand. "As long as you'll help me stay here."

"Get rid of Blake and Vince," Matt said. "Can you do that for me?"

"Hey!" Vince cried. "You son of a bitch! What do you think you're —"

"Kill them," Matt continued. "If you kill Vince and Blake for me…I'll help you."



ABANDONED CHURCH

"We have to do something about this," Ryan said, addressing Officer Grady. "That psychotic bitch has my son. We can't sit around all day waiting for Detective Kincaid to show up."

"I've tried calling him…" Officer Grady's voice trailed off.

"Officer!" Ryan cried. "You have to save my child!"

"Calm down, sir," Officer Grady said. "I have to go and make another phone call."

He walked away from Ryan and the others, leaving them to stare at the church wondering what would happen next. That's when Ryan decided he would take matters into his own hands…and he bolted toward the entrance.

"Ryan, stop!" Vanessa cried.

Officer Grady turned around just in time to see Ryan disappear into the church entrance. He swore loudly and stalked back over to his squad car. "What the hell is going on? Why did Ryan just run into that church?"

"I thought you were a police officer," Nikki snapped. "Figure it out."

"Alexis!"

Alexis paused and turned her head to see Ryan rushing toward her. Instead of being surprised, Alexis smiled at him. She appeared to be pleased to see him, almost as if she had forgotten that he tried choking her to death earlier.

"Ryan, thank God you're here!" Alexis cried. "We have to get out of here now! Before the police try to take away our child again!"

"Don't worry," Ryan said, realizing that he could deal with Alexis calmly since she was still enamored with him. "Everything will be fine. I just need you to hand Eamon…I mean, our baby, over to me."

"Why?"

"So I can hold him, honey," Ryan said. "You look so tired."

"I am," Alexis said. "I'm very tired…"

Ryan approached Alexis, reaching out to take Eamon from her. But before he could touch the child, Alexis kicked him in the groin and shoved him to the ground. "…but I'm not stupid."

"Alexis, what are you —"

"I know you've been carrying on with that whore!" Alexis cried. "But it's going to end right now. You'll never touch Vanessa again."

Ryan tried to reason with Alexis while squirming on the ground in pain, next to the open sewer hole. Still holding Eamon, Alexis loomed over Ryan as a devilish grin formed on her face.

"I'll see to it that you never touch anyone ever again," Alexis finished.



MARQUETTE COVE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

"Kevin Hanley? What the hell does he have to do with anything?" Robert demanded.

"He's been ruining our lives for years," Michael answered. "You know as well as I do that Felicia didn't keep that secret on her own. Our father forced her to keep that secret, otherwise he'd harm her family."

Robert sighed and released Michael from his grip.

"Not to mention the fact that Michael has been terrorizing the Moores for years…killing Sean Moore…putting their family through bankruptcy…among other things."

"You're right," Robert said. "Your father's a monster. And the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

"I am nothing like my father," Michael snapped. "That man would kill his own children to protect himself…he damn near destroyed Felicia by making her harbor his damn secret, he made my own wife's life a living hell while she was on her deathbed, and Valerie…God knows that man deserves to burn in hell for what he did to my sister."

"Why are you telling me all of this?"

"I'm telling you because this is the final straw," Michael said. "I nearly made love to my own sister tonight…all because of my father's mind games, and I've had enough."

"What are you prepared to do?"

"Whatever it takes," Michael said. "I'm ending this now…I'm going to find my father and stop him."

"Then I'm going with you," Robert decided.

"Melissa will be back," Michael reminded him.

"She can call me," Robert snapped, heading for the elevator doors. After a few steps, he turned back to face Michael. "Are you coming?"

"Of course," Michael said.

Valerie Hanley-Holden opened the door to Felicia's hospital room, clutching her purse as she peered inside. Before Valerie had a chance to open her mouth, a bowl flew across the room and collided with the door. Valerie cried out and moved to the side, only narrowly avoiding being hit.

"Get out," Felicia snapped.

"Felicia, I'm sorry…I just went to get some air," Valerie said. "I told you I'd be back."

"Really? Did you tell me that while I was sleeping?" Felicia demanded. "Because I don't think I'd have wanted to see you."

"Don't get angry, you're in bad shape," Valerie insisted.

"And whose fault is that?"

"Felicia, get a grip," Valerie snapped, closing the door and approaching the bed. "If I hadn't stopped you before you got horizontal with my brother, you would have committed incest."

Felicia frowned. "I don't want to talk about this right now."

"You're going to have to something," Valerie said. "You can just sweep this incident under the rug, Felicia. People are going to find out."

"What?"

"People are going to find out you're related to Kevin Hanley," Valerie said. "I wouldn't be surprised if the tabloids knew by now."

"Lucky you, your son runs one," Felicia said. "You can ask him."

"I'm serious," Valerie continued. "They won't find out about you and Michael almost sleeping with each other…but everyone will find out about you being a Hanley sooner or later. Everyone in Marquette Cove…your friends…your family."

"You can't let that happen!" Felicia cried. "You know what Kevin Hanley will do to my family if this gets out! Please, Valerie, you have to make sure no one finds out about this!"

Valerie frowned and rested her hand on Felicia's shoulder. "I'll do my best."

Valerie knew that there was no possibility any of the papers in Marquette Cove knew about Felicia's secret, but she was using the fact that her family was always in the public eye to make Felicia think otherwise. It was the only way Felicia could think to calm her half-sister down.

Valerie and Felicia remained silent for a moment, before Dr. Victor Collins opened the door to the hospital room and stepped inside. He was carrying a clipboard in his arm and solemn look on his face. Felicia knew that he wasn't there to bring her good news.

"Oh my God, what's wrong?" Felicia demanded.

"Maybe we need to speak alone," Victor said. "I have something important to tell you."

Felicia took Valerie's hand. "No…I want Valerie here. She's family…I mean, she's just like family. She's a close friend."

"Okay," Victor said reluctantly. "I'm afraid that after running some tests…I've come to a conclusion that there was damage done to your uterus during the fall. It was in part due to your previous accident, but this most recent one has done more damage."

"What are you saying, Dr. Collins?" Valerie asked.

"I'm saying that Felicia has done irreparable damage to her uterus," Victor explained. "Felicia…I'm afraid you will be unable to have children. Not just in the near future, but anytime."

"No!" Felicia cried, turning to face Valerie. She embraced her sister and began to sob as Valerie stared off into space with a stern look on her face. Not soon after learning Felicia's news, Valerie was already beginning to formulate another plan in her mind.

This was the final straw. She was going to make everyone responsible for terrorizing Felicia pay…now she had been given another reason for revenge.



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.