HIGHWAY

"Let's get a gurney out here, now!"

A rush of paramedics descend on the upside down vehicle, smashed into a wall and leaking gasoline at an incredible rate. There's no way of knowing when or if the car will suddenly explode in flames, killing the man inside. Two paramedics crawl to their knees on opposite ends of the car.

One, a buff and muscular male, reaches through the broken glass and attempts to undo the victim's seatbelt. The other, a blond woman, slips into the passenger's side.

"You got him, Vicky?"

"Yeah Dale, I've got a good grip!" Vicky says, holding onto the victim as he slides out of his seat. "He's still breathing, but barely."

"Let's go ahead and slide him out," Dale says.

Dale takes hold of the victim as Vicky pushes him forward, careful not to make any quick, sudden moves. Dale falls onto his back and slides through the broken shards of glass on the pavement. Several other paramedics surround him and help the victim onto a gurney.

As they wheel him toward an ambulance, Dale crouches next to the car.

"Come on, Vicky," Dale says. "We've gotta get you out of here!"

"Oh, I'm coming out!" Vicky says, smiling. "Ain't no way in hell I'm letting you walk down that aisle alone!"

Dale kisses Vicky as she crawls toward him, falling in love with his fiancée all over again. He moves back slightly to allow her room to escape the vehicle, but she remains still.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't move my leg," Vicky says. "It's caught on something."

"Well, go out the way you came back," Dale says.

"No, I think I can —"

Without warning, the car goes up in flames. The explosion sends Dale flying back, burning his skin and clothing. He howls in agony as he sees an enflamed Vicky flailing helplessly and screaming his name.

"Vicky! No! Vicky!"

As the doors to the ambulance slam shut, Kyle Maddock opens his eyes. He has no idea why there's screaming outside, no idea what the commotion is...all he knows is that he has to keep holding on. Love won't get him through the night.

Revenge will.



MARQUETTE COVE COUNTY PRISON

Robert Bale slumps in his seat at the prison visiting area, while he waits for Valerie Holden to arrive. He was intent on putting his life back together, and now with the funeral over, his only response to a voicemail from Valerie was to arrive in person and tell her she could go directly to hell.

He was done being blackmailed by her.

"Robert," Valerie says eagerly, hurrying to her seat. "I'm so glad you came, I need to —"

"Do you have any idea what's happened?" Robert says.

"So he's told everyone that he's alive?"

"What are you talking about?"

"What are you talking about?" Valerie says.

"Melissa."

"Oh, can we please not talk about that tired old bitch?" Valerie says. "Honestly, I wish she would just drop dead of —"

"She is dead!" Robert says, shouting as loud as he can and terrifying Valerie with his intensity. Even the guards surrounding them turn their attention to Robert to make sure everything is okay. "She's dead. I just came from her goddamn funeral."

The news hits Valerie like a ton of bricks. At first, she's not sure whether or not to believe him. But the combination of facial hair, red eyes, and general appearance of Robert tells Valerie that something is amiss. He's telling the truth.

"Oh my God," Valerie says. "I'm so sorry."

"No you're not."

"Yes I am," Valerie says, snapping at him. "How did it...how did it happen?"

"It was an..." Robert stops himself, narrowing his eyes at Valerie. "Wait a minute, why haven't you heard?"

"I've been in solitary confinement," Valerie says. "I just got out today, that's why I called you. Someone is back from the dead, and they're here to torture me!"

"What in the hell are you talking about?" Robert says. "There's no...oh, wait. Are you talking about Sean Moore?"

"No, I'm not talking about him!" Valerie says, becoming increasingly agitated. "He's still dead!"

"No he's not, he's...he's alive," Robert says. "That's actually a longer —"

"I don't care," Valerie says. "I'm only..."

As she speaks, her attention is diverted by the sound of a news bulletin on the overheard television screen. News of a horrible car accident on the highway. It isn't the news that upsets her, however. It's the photograph of the victim.

"Kyle," Valerie says, gasping.

"What?"

Before she has a chance to continue, Valerie clutches at her chest. She feels as if her heart is pounding at a thousand miles a minute. And without warning, without having the chance to even cry out for help, Valerie collapses.



MARQUETTE COVE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

Vincent Moore enters the hospital, feeling slightly refreshed after a brief trip to Starbucks. If he had to drink the hospital's coffee one more time, he probably would have vomited from its awful, stale taste.

As he approached his father's room, he sees Michael Hanley leaning against a table, also debating whether or not to succumb to the coffee.

"Don't do it," Vince says.

"It's awfully tempting," Michael says.

"Is the funeral over?"

"Yes."

"Sorry I missed it," Vince says. "And about earlier...I didn't mean to..."

"I know."

"I just want to know what's happened to my...to Sean," Vince says. "But as far as I'm concerned, he's not my father. You're still more of a father to me than he ever was."

Michael isn't quite sure how to take this in. It's quite a wonderful feeling, actually, being loved by someone. It's something he's rarely felt in his own life, particularly from one of his children. They either view him as a bank, or they greet him with outright hostility.

But despite the rocky relationship he's had with Vincent, he's felt more like his son than merely a guest in his home. And it's the best feeling in the world to know that Vincent feels the same.

"How about I go in and talk to Sean for a moment?" Michael says.

"Go ahead," Vince says, waving Michael off. "I can barely stand to look at him."

Michael nods and goes toward Sean's room, coffee in hand. He opens the door and steps inside, letting the door swing shut. But what he sees is something incredibly disturbing.

Sean isn't alone in his bed. Like a child fearful of nightmares, curled up next to his mother is Michael's own son, Eric. Michael's coffee slips from his hands and crashes to the floor.



EMERGENCY ROOM

Tiffany Jonas hurries into the emergency room, following Valerie's gurney. She quickly gets Valerie hooked up to an IV and takes her vitals, relaying the information to the surgical interns surrounding her.

"She suffered a mild heart attack, which is rare in a woman her age," Tiffany says. "I'm assuming it was brought on by stress, seeing as how she's an inmate at the county prison."

Tiffany looks up at the burly man next to the bed, his eyes fixated on Valerie.

"Can you give me some room?"

"I need to stay with the inmate," he says.

"I really don't think she's going anywhere," Tiffany says. "I need to quickly check on my other patient."

"And where is that?"

"No need to get sassy, he's right here in the room," Tiffany says, pulling back the curtain and going to her next patient. A John Doe who survived a car crash.

As she reaches over to check his vitals, his hand shoots up and wraps around her neck. His eyes are still closed, as if he's unconscious and acting out of some killer instinct.

Tiffany cries out for help as best she can, though it takes a few moments for either the interns or the guard to notice she's in trouble.

"Dr. Jonas!"

An intern rushes to help Tiffany, pulling her back and accidentally knocking over a tray of surgical tools. The guard goes to Tiffany's aide, but as Tiffany moves back, her erratic arm movements hit the guard and send him flying to the floor.

As the guard falls on his back, he is impaled by a surgical tool. Blood squirts from his wound, splashing onto the helpful intern and painting Tiffany's face red. She screams at the sight of the dead guard and clutches at the nearby intern.



OUTSIDE SEAN MOORE'S ROOM

"Vince, what are you doing here?"

Vince turns to see a haggard Robert heading in his direction. Slightly irritated at the prospect of having to interact with Robert, Vince looks around for a quick exit.

"Oh, Robert," Vince says, unable to escape quick enough. "You know, visiting my father? The man who used to be your best friend?"

"Oh, of course."

"But I guess you've been too busy molesting kids to visit him?"

Robert glares at Vince. "Watch your mouth, Vincent."

"I'm not Alec," Vince says. "You can't boss me around."

"I find it incredibly odd that you care so much about someone you once had no qualms about sending to jail by committing perjury," Robert says.

Vince shrugs. "It's only perjury if it's said under oath."

"I don't have time to argue with you," Robert says. "Did you see where they took Valerie?"

"Valerie?" Vince says. "That nutcase is on the loose?"

"She's your family, not mine," Robert says.

"No, I..." Vince voice trails off as his attention is drawn toward the hospital entrance.

"What?"

"Oh my God," Vince says, gasping. "This isn't..."

Robert turns around to follow Vince's gaze and finally sees what the young man does. And Robert, given everything that he's heard about her disappearance, is as surprised as Vince to see a young woman stumbling into the hospital...dazed, disoriented, seemingly unaware of her surroundings.

"Akilah," Robert says.

At the mention of her name, Akilah Moore looks up at Vince and Robert. There's not a smile on her face, nor is there a frown. She looks emotionless. Her expression is entirely blank.

"Vince?" Akilah says weakly.



SEAN MOORE'S ROOM

"What in the hell is going on in here?" Michael says, his voice thundering loudly.

Eric snaps to attention, sitting up in the bed. He sheepishly rubs his eyes and looks at his father, confused.

"What's up?" Eric says.

"Are you seriously asking me that, when you're in bed with Sean Moore?" Michael says. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"You wouldn't understand."

Michael can barely contain the disgust on his face. "Were you planning to drug him? To have your way with him like you did with Darren Reynolds?"

"I didn't drug Darren!"

"You always wanted to accuse me of being homophobic, Eric. I never hated you because you were gay. I was disgusted because you resorted to something so utterly horrendous to get what you wanted."

Eric climbs out of the hospital bed and charges at Michael. "You shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

Michael grabs Eric's arms and shoves him against the wall. The force of the blow is enough to shut Eric up, momentarily. He remains silent, fuming at his father.

"What is this sick obsession?" Michael says. "You want to have your way with Sean now?"

"He's not Sean!" Eric says. "He's my mother!"

Stunned, Michael releases Eric from his grip. He's speechless.

"She's back," Eric says. "And it's like you don't even care!"

Michael points an accusatory finger at Eric. "Now you listen to me, Eric. That is not your mother. That is Sean Moore. He has her memories, and that is it."

"She wishes you would visit her more," Eric says. "But you're too busy fucking the help!"

"Don't you ever talk about Leslie like that! Do you understand me?"

"I'll bet you wish I'd never come back from Europe. You shipped me off to keep me quiet!"

"I shipped you off because I hate looking at you," Michael says, grabbing Eric's arm and dragging him toward the door.



OUTSIDE SEAN MOORE'S ROOM

"Akilah!" Vince says, hurrying to embrace his sister. "Where have you...where have you been? You've been gone for nearly two weeks!"

"I don't...I don't remember," Akilah says softly. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Robert says. "Did someone do something to hurt you, Akilah?"

"Stay out of this," Vince says, positioning his back toward Robert. "Akilah...do you need to see a doctor?"

"I'll call your mother," Robert says. He starts to move toward a payphone, but stops suddenly as Michael bursts out of Sean's room, Eric in tow. "What the hell?"

Vince and Akilah turn to the door. Vince is surprised to see Eric, he had no idea he was even at the hospital.

"Michael, what's going on?" Vince says.

"Nothing you need to worry about," Michael says. "I'm just...Akilah? Akilah! Vince, when did this happen?"

"She just showed up. I don't...I don't know how it happened."

A sudden, loud shriek draws everyone's attention to the emergency room. Michael and Robert both recognize the scream immediately, but for everyone else, it takes the owner of said shriek to rush out of the emergency room for them to realize who it is.

"He's in there!" Valerie screams, clawing at Robert's jacket as she runs toward him. "Robert, he's in there! I told you he was back!"

Michael throws up his hands at the sudden bout of surprise appearances at the hospital. "Valerie? What are you doing here?"

"Michael!" Valerie says, noticing her brother. "Someone has to help me! He's back from the dead and he's here to get me!"

"Someone is what? What's wrong with you?"

"Kyle! Kyle Maddock is in that emergency room! And he's alive!"