MITCHELL HOME

"Talk about a weird night," Blake Thomas muttered, standing in the foyer of Julia Mitchell's home, waiting as Julia and Vincent Moore discussed something in the kitchen. A cold breeze blew into the house causing Blake to shiver and wish he had brought a jacket with him.

It was rare that late August in Marquette Cove produced cold weather, even in the evenings and despite the fact that the town was located on a lake, but here it was close to freezing. Something odd was definitely happening, and Blake was glad he was with someone who was clued into it so that he didn't end up dead…or worse.

And going through what Blake had this past year, he knew that there definitely things much worse than death in Marquette Cove.

"The night is only going to get worse."

"Huh?" Blake turned to the front door, where he found someone was now standing. That person, however, was someone Blake knew all too well. But it was someone he had never expected to ever see again, and someone he certainly didn't want to see again.

"Oh my God…Damon!" Blake gasped.

"Yes, it's me," Damon Johnson said, smiling. "Surprised to see me…murderer?"

"You…you can't be here," Blake said. "You're supposed to be dead."

"I know. It's shocking, isn't it?" Damon asked. "I'll bet you didn't expect to see me ever again after you slit my throat."

"I didn't…I didn't mean to," Blake insisted. "I only wanted to help my brother."

Damon frowned. "Oh, well then that makes it all better! You murdered me for a good reason!"

"I'm still not sure I understand all of this," Julia said, gazing at the knife that Vince was still holding. "Or my role in this."

"You're connected to Zaliphyr," Vince said. "Probably more so than me or Blake. We need you."

"No, stay away from me!"

Julia and Vince turned their attention back to the foyer, where they could now hear Blake crying out. Vince rushed back to his friend as Julia followed him, and as they did, they found Blake standing face to face with Damon Johnson.

"Oh my God," Julia gasped. "He's supposed to be…he supposed to be dead."

"He's here for me," Blake gasped.

"But…why would he come here for you?" Vince demanded.



MARQUETTE COVE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

Stephanie Collins stepped off the elevator on the hospital's second floor and approached the receptionist desk. Kimberly Black was seated at the desk, reading a book while listening to headphones. Stephanie rolled her eyes at Kimberly's lack of work ethic, yet also secretly wished she were able to do the same at her own job.

Stephanie rapped on the desk and waited for Kimberly to look up. When she didn't, an irritated Stephanie snatched the book away from her. Kimberly angrily glanced up and removed her headphones.

"What do you want?" Kimberly demanded.

"You do work here, don't you?" Stephanie asked.

"That doesn't answer my question," Kimberly snapped.

"I'm looking for my father," Stephanie said.

"It might help if you gave me a name," Kimberly offered.

"My name is Stephanie Collins. My father is the Chief of Staff at this hospital."

Kimberly rolled her eyes. "How pleasant."

"You know, I could have you fired if I want," Stephanie insisted. "My dad is the —"

"That's nice, little girl," Kimberly said, cutting her off. "Your father isn't at work, so how about you run along and give his cell phone a buzz?"

Kimberly took her book back and continued with what she was doing before Stephanie interrupted her. Stephanie glared at Kimberly, but chose to leave the situation alone to call her father. She removed her cell phone from her pocket.

"No cell phones in the hospital," Kimberly commented, without glancing up from her book.

"Fine," Stephanie muttered, turning off the phone. "I'll use a payphone."



EMERALD SQUARE

Dr. Victor Collins scanned the crowds in Emerald Square, hoping to find Sean Moore. Michael Hanley was elsewhere looking for Sean, but Victor was hoping that he would be able to find him before Michael did. If he was the one to present Sean to Michael, then it would make up for Victor allowing Sean to slip out of the mansion in the first place.

"This is all my fault," Victor said, groaning. "If I don't find Sean, then Michael is going to kill me."

With Victor's wife dead, he was the only person left to take care of his daughter, Stephanie. He needed to be there for her now more than ever, and if he allowed himself to be killed over a stupid mistake, then he would have failed her. When Stephanie's mother first became sick, it was what led him to work for the Hanleys in the first place. Now he was bound to them, even more so now that he resided in Marquette Cove under the constant watch of Michael Hanley.

Victor removed his cell phone from his pocket to call his daughter, when he noticed the person he was looking for. Sean Moore was standing less than thirty yards away from him, nearing the Emerald Café.

"Oh my God," Victor gasped. "It's him!"

Robert Bale walked through a crowd of strangers, focused on what had transpired at his home earlier. He had successfully gotten his soon to be ex-wife, Felicia Bale, to sign away her claim to Kevin Hanley's inheritance and now he was feeling guilty about it. Not because he thought it was the wrong thing to do, but because he had to deceive Felicia to accomplish it.

It was odd, since he had been carrying on an affair with Melissa Maddock for months, but he hadn't felt guilty about that because he truly believed Felicia had been sleeping with Michael. Now that he knew that wasn't true, and that it was only Michael manipulating him, Robert felt horrible.

He felt even worse now with everything that had happened to Felicia since the truth about his relationship with Melissa was revealed. From being struck by a car to falling down a flight of stairs at the Hanley mansion, Felicia's entire summer had been one traumatizing moment after the next.

"Maybe I should just tell her what I did," Robert thought. "She'd thank me, and then maybe she'd be able to forgive me for…"

Robert stopped talking when he accidentally bumped into someone. Robert excused himself and continued on his way, until he realized he had recognized the person he just ran into. Robert quickly turned around and found that the person he had bumped into was now staring at him as well.

"Sean…oh my…oh my God, Sean!" Robert cried. "You're alive!"

Michael Hanley passed by the Emerald Café, also searching for Sean Moore. As he walked, he noticed Vanessa Phillips exiting with a container of coffee in her hand. She smiled at Michael and called out his name before approaching him. Michael didn't have time to speak with Vanessa, but he didn't want to be rude, so he allowed himself a few minutes to speak with her.

"Hello Vanessa," Michael said. "I heard that you're leaving for Paris? Is this true?"

"Yes," Vanessa said. "I'm sorry, I should have told you earlier. I already spoke to Janice so she could find a replacement for me when the fall semester begins."

"I wasn't concerned about that," Michael insisted. "I'm more concerned about you and Eamon."

"We'll be fine," Vanessa said. "We'll have Nikki and Marcus there with us."

"And Ryan?"

"He's not in the picture," Vanessa replied. "I know he's Eamon's father, and so I don't plan to completely cut him out of his son's life, but given everything that has happened recently, I just need some time to myself. Some time away from Marquette Cove."

"Vanessa, there's something I need to tell you," Michael said softly, thinking about Vanessa feeling guilty for keeping Eamon away from his father, Ryan. Little did she know, Ryan wasn't her child's father and Michael really was. She had no idea that Michael had been blackmailing Ryan into marrying Vanessa in order for him to keep quiet about Ryan switching Vanessa's paternity test results to make himself appear to be Eamon's father.

"What's that?" Vanessa asked.

"Something about Eamon that I should have told you months ago," Michael continued.

Vanessa frowned. "You're scaring me, Michael. What are you talking about?"



HOLDEN HOME

Matt Holden sat on the edge of his bed, with the left sleeve of his shirt rolled up. He swabbed his left arm with a piece of cotton he had soaked with rubbing alcohol, and then set the cotton on his bed as he picked up the heroin needle on bed. He injected the needle into his vein but before he could shoot himself up, he heard the doorbell ring.

Matt sighed and finished what he was doing, then removed the needle and set it on his bed. He covered the needle with his pillow and rolled his sleeve back down. Matt stood up and stumbled into the hallway and down the stairs, where he found the maid opening the door for Quentin Blood.

"Come on in, Quentin," Matt said, smiling and then dismissing the maid. Matt approached Quentin and closed the door behind him, leading him into the living room. "What's going on?"

"I have an assignment for you," Quentin said. "It's important that you — have you been using heroin?"

"What?" Matt demanded. "No, of course not."

"You're lying," Quentin snapped. "I can smell it on you."

"You can't smell heroin," Matt insisted.

Quentin grabbed Matt's left arm and rolled up his sleeve, finding several areas where Matt had injected himself with a needle. Quentin angrily tossed Matt onto the ground and stared at him. "You've been stealing from me!"

"No, I haven't!" Matt cried. "It's all paid for."

Quentin sneered. "You're a goddamn junkie! That, and a common thief and liar!"

"No, I'm —"

"You're cut," Quentin said. "You're fired. I don't want you working for me."

"But this was only one mistake!" Matt cried. "Give me another chance!"

"You don't think I noticed the other times?" Quentin demanded. "This has become a nasty little habit and I'm not going to advocate or fuel it."

Quentin turned and walked for the door, leaving with a disgusted look on his face. Matt stared out into the night as Quentin walked away, and tears began to form in his eyes. He quickly wiped them away and stood up. Matt slammed the door shut and returned to his bedroom.



MITCHELL HOME

"I don't…I don't know," Blake said quickly. "I never talked to —"

"Liar," Damon snarled. "You had very close relations with me. Those of which I cannot reveal to —"

"He doesn't know what he's talking about," Blake said, interrupting. "We have to get out of here. I mean, he's dead! This isn't supposed to be happening."

"It must be a ploy," Vince said. "Zaliphyr or someone sent Damon here to keep us distracted."

"Yeah, that's right," Blake agreed.

"I still don't get what's going on," Julia said.

"He can't harm us," Vince said. "He's just an apparition or something…we have to get out of here. We have to go to the cave I saw in my visions. I think it's where all of this began."

"Then let's get out of here," Blake said, casting another glance in Damon's direction. "Before someone else that's not supposed to be alive gets here."

"Let's go," Vince said. "Julia, are you coming or not?"

Julia sighed and reached for a pair of shoes that were lying near the front door. "I'm going."



EMERALD SQUARE

As Victor approached Sean, his cell phone began to ring and vibrate in his hands. Startled, Victor dropped the phone onto the ground. As it fell, he quickly bent over to pick up the phone. He saw that it was his daughter calling, so he quickly answered the phone.

"Stephanie, I can't speak right now," Victor snapped.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Stephanie demanded.

Without bothering to respond, Victor turned off the phone and glanced up at Robert Bale, who was walking in the opposite direction of Sean Moore. Victor cried out and shoved his phone into his pocket as he hurried to grab Sean before Robert saw him.

Robert gasped when he saw Sean standing a few feet away from him. At first, he didn't know if it was really Sean, or if he was imagining things, but Robert had a strong feeling that this was his best friend standing before him.

"Sean, is that —"

Robert was interrupted as his cell phone began to ring. He reached into his pocket to answer it while continuing the stare at the man he thought was Sean. When he spoke into the phone, he was soon met with Melissa sounding frantic on the other end.

"Robert! I need you!" Melissa cried.

"Melissa, I don't have time for sex right now," Robert insisted, turning to speak to her.

"I'm not talking about that," Melissa gasped. "There's someone here in the house with me, and she looks like…she looks like Erin!"

"Are you serious, Melissa?"

"Yes, Robert," Melissa said, crying. "I locked myself in my bedroom. Please! Just get here!"

"I'll be right there," Robert said, realizing that what was happening to Melissa might have something to do with Sean standing in front of him. He hung up the phone and then turned back to Sean.

"Sean, how did you —" Robert paused when he realized Sean was no longer standing in front of him. "What the…"

"Let's go, Sean," Victor said, grabbing Sean by his arm and leading him away from Robert as quickly as we could. "We have to go meet your brother."

"Who are you?" Sean demanded. "Why are you —"

"Stop talking, Sean," Victor said.

On Victor's command, Sean ceased speaking and followed Victor on his way to find Michael Hanley. Victor removed his cell phone and began to dial his employer's number.

"What is you have to tell me?" Vanessa demanded. "Is there something about my son that you've been keeping from me?"

Michael opened his mouth to respond, but as he did, he noticed Victor grabbing Sean Moore by his arm and dragging him through a crowd of people. Michael remained calm to keep Vanessa from turning to see Sean herself.

"I love your son," Michael said quickly. "As if he were my own. I know I reacted horribly when I found out that Eamon wasn't mine, but I truly do wish that he was."

Vanessa smiled, wiping a tear from her eyes. "Thank you, Michael. I'll always remember what we had together."

"I love you Vanessa," Michael said.

"I love you too, Michael," Vanessa said, gently touching his shoulder. Once their quiet moment was over, Vanessa continued on her way. Michael turned to watch her leave, then he returned his focus to Victor and Sean.

His phone began to ring, and Michael answered it, knowing that it was Victor on the other end. "I can see you."

"We're heading back to the mansion," Victor said.

Michael grinned. "Excellent."