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Leslie Moore stood outside Aaron Maddock's office, checking her watch. She was there with her daughter, Akilah, as they had both arrived after leaving their house together. At the moment, Leslie was waiting for her son Vincent to show. She'd told him he had an appointment that morning, but now she was hoping that her son would be able to drag himself out of bed for a ten o'clock appointment on a Saturday morning.

Honestly, Leslie had no idea what Vince's sleeping schedule or schedules otherwise were like now that he no longer lived under her roof. Though she resented the fact that he apparently preferred the company of Michael Hanley to her own, Leslie had reluctantly forced herself to accept Vince's living situation. For the time being, at least.

"Why did you schedule a doctor's appointment for us this early anyway?" Akilah demanded. "And didn't I have one a few weeks ago?"

"This is a different kind of appointment, don't argue," Leslie said, as Aaron stepped out of his office.

"Hello Leslie," Aaron said. "This must be your daughter, Akilah."

"Hello Dr. Maddock," Akilah said. "Wait a second…you're the doctor we're seeing?"

Aaron nodded. "Yes, I am."

"But you're a —"

"Shrink," Vince finished, appearing behind his mother and sister. "You made us an appointment with a shrink?"

"I'm a psychiatrist," Aaron said. "And this is a family therapy session, I thought you knew that."

Leslie frowned nervously.

"Leslie, you didn't tell your children?"

"They wouldn't have come otherwise, I'm sure," Leslie insisted.

"You see, this is why we need therapy," Vince muttered. "Because of all the lies going on in this family."

"Maybe we wouldn't need therapy if you'd just move back home," Akilah said.

"Is that what this is about?" Vince demanded.

"How about we talk about this in my office?" Aaron offered. "In a more private setting?"

"I'd say our family problems are about as public knowledge as yours, Dr. Maddock," Vince said, rolling his eyes as he entered the office.

Leslie and Akilah followed Vince into the office. Aaron grimaced as he walked in last, closing the door behind them.



Emerald Square

Julia Mitchell placed thirty-five cents onto the newspaper stand in the center of Emerald Square and took a copy of the Marquette Cove Messenger. She was on her way to the library so she could work on an overdue English paper, but figured she might as well see what depressing news Marquette Cove had to offer on a Saturday morning.

Julia's attention immediately turned to the front page, which had a small blurb about marriage in Marquette Cove. She laughed, wondering what type of person would ever want to get married there. As far as she knew, only one of her friends' marriages was intact — Kelli Anderson — and they weren't even all that close friends anyway.

But her best friend Akilah's parents were no longer together, since her father Sean Moore died in a car explosion three years ago. Blake Thomas's parents were murdered on their way back into town from a vacation. Even Julia's own parents weren't together, which Julia was grateful for, because she knew living with both her mother and father would drive one or all three of them insane.

Of course, that all paled in comparison to Alec Bale's parents. Robert and Felicia Bale's disintegrating marriage was all anyone could talk about in Marquette Cove. Whether it was kids at school making fun of Alec, or other parents looking down on the Bales, their divorce was messy and even worse, totally public. Everyone knew about Robert's affair with Melissa Maddock, and Felicia's alleged affair with Michael Hanley. They even knew that Felicia was accused of causing the recent miscarriage of Melissa's child with Robert.

Julia flipped to the newspaper article in question, and saw that it was in fact an article on the Bales. Julia sighed and prepared to throw the paper away, when she noticed Alec coming toward her.

"What the hell is he doing up so early?" Julia muttered.

"Hey Julia," Alec said, his voice sounding groggy.

Suddenly, Julia realized why. "Bad hangover?"

"Yeah," Alec muttered. "I spent the night with Farrah Louis."

"I've heard a lot about her parties," Julia said. "But I suppose a party for two would be even more intense."

Alec smirked. "Oh, the rumors are definitely true. So, what's up?"

"I'm on my way to the library," Julia said, lowering the newspaper. "I have a paper I need to finish."

"Aren't you in my Shakespeare class?"

"That'd be the paper," Julia said.

"Oh man…we had a paper due?" Alec asked, with a look of bewilderment on his face.

Julia sighed. "Yes. I'll let you see my notes."

"Thanks, Julia," Alec said. "You're the best."

The newspaper in her hands caught his attention, and he reached out to take it from her.

"What's going on in Marquette Cove for people without massive hangovers?" Alec wondered aloud.

Julia stepped back, trying to keep the newspaper from him.

"Not much," Julia insisted. "Trust me."

"Huh? Why won't you let me see the paper?" Alec demanded, snatching it from Julia. "It's just the — what the hell?"

"Alec, I'm sorry," Julia said. "But you know, you shouldn't believe what those tabloids say about your family."

"This isn't a tabloid," Alec snapped.

"Alec —"

"Save it," Alec said, tossing the paper onto the ground. "I don't even give a damn."

As he stormed off, Julia bent over to pick up the newspaper and shook her head in sadness. She was worried about Alec and how he was dealing with his parents' divorce. She only wished that someone else was as concerned as she was, if not more.



Alley
London, England

Ariel Hanley stumbled out the dark warehouse and ran as fast as she could. She entered an alley and noticed a busy street at the far end of it. The distance between her and the street was the equivalent of five American blocks. Ignoring the pain in her side, Ariel raced toward the street.

Once she was halfway there, Ariel began screaming as loud as she could for someone to help her. Ariel accidentally tripped over her own feet and crashed into a row of nearby trash cans. Ariel fell onto her chest in the muddy alley, staining her already bloodstained leather jacket. She used all of her strength to climb to her knees and continue running.

Unable to move as quickly as before, Ariel hobbled toward the street, knowing that she was only a few feet away from being saved. She could almost feel the heat of the sun on her face and prayed for it to come sooner, having been locked up without sunlight for longer than she could even remember.

Ariel finally reached the street, where several cars were speeding by. There was no one standing near her at the moment, so no one had heard her cries. She glanced across the street and saw that there was a parade occurring.

The street was busy, but no one could hear her screams over the loud noises from the parade. Spotting a payphone only a few feet away from her, Ariel ran into it and picked up the phone.

"I just hope I can reach someone before it's too late," Ariel gasped.

Love is eternal. Life is forever. Yet things shall always remain...guasti cose.

Julia placed her backpack down on an empty table in the library and crossed over to the nearby stacks, looking for something that definitely had nothing to do with her overdue Shakespeare book. Julia removed a large book with a pentagram on the cover and began to carry it to the table when someone touched her shoulder.

Julia cried out, dropping the book, and spun around to find Morris Anderson staring back at her. Julia took a deep breath and tried calming herself down.

"Morris…what are you doing here?" Julia demanded.

"Hey….Julia Mitchell, right?" Morris asked. "You're friends with my sister?"

"Kind of," Julia answered. "Why?"

"I need to pick up some assignments for her, but I forget to do it yesterday," Morris said. "I was looking for someone who might be in some of her classes to make it easier, so I don't have to travel back to the depths of Marquette Cove High School."

"So you're patrolling the library for people in your sister's classes?"

"No, I was coming by for books," Morris said. "I might be enrolling in night classes."

"Since you dropped out of college?"

"Boy, I'm sure glad everyone in town knows my business," Morris said. "I've missed living in Marquette Cove."

"Mostly, you just have to keep your business away from Vince," Julia joked.

"Good to know."

"But yeah, I'm in a couple of advanced classes with Kelli," Julia replied. "I can get that stuff for you, and get the other assignments by Monday."

"Thanks," Morris said. "Do you need my cell phone number, so you can call me or something?"

Julia smirked. "Unless it's changed recently, I already have it."

Morris narrowed his eyes at her.

"What can I say? Every girl my age had your number when you were a senior," Julia said, bending over to pick up the book she'd dropped. "You might remember my anonymous phone calls from Thursday nights after Friends."

Morris laughed as Julia turned around and headed back to her table. Once he left the area, Julia flipped open the book to the last page she'd read when she was at the library a few days ago. She wasn't quite done with everything she needed yet.



The Luminary

Alec walked into The Luminary, a gentleman's club near the outskirts of Marquette Cove. He popped the collar on his track jacket and walked toward the bouncer, who was dressed in a dark blue pinstriped suit. The bouncer eyed Alec, waiting for him to produce and ID.

Alec reached into his back pocket and removed his wallet, where he had a fake ID. He handed the ID to the bouncer, and was let into the club a few moments later. Alec glanced around the building, which had been modeled in crimson red plexiglass. In the center of the main room was a large, circular stage with levels almost like a humongous birthday cake.

There was a young blonde woman in the center level, in the middle of performing a song. Alec was mostly interested in the fact that she was wearing only a thong and matching bra, and a pair of high heels. He found himself a black leather chair to sit in, and waved over a brunette waitress who was wearing the same.

"Vodka on the rocks, Priscilla," Alec said.

Priscilla smiled. "Todd, you're a regular around here these days."

"What can I say?" Alec asked. "You keep pulling me back."

"I'll go get your drink," Priscilla said, disappearing to the bar.

As she left, Alec grimaced and leaned back in his chair. This was the perfect start to a Saturday where he'd hopefully forget all of his family's issues. Even the fact that he had a new ally in his cousin, Darren, didn't help him. If Alec couldn't figure out a way to solve his family problems, there was a chance things would never go back to how they were supposed to be.



Marquette Cove Memorial Hospital

Less than an hour into the session, neither of the Moores were speaking to one another. Aaron had an exasperated look on his face, since several of his attempts to elicit responses from them had failed in the past ten minutes.

"This is getting us nowhere," Vince finally said. "Can I leave?"

"Shut up, Vince," Akilah snapped. "Not everything is about how you feel."

"Dr. Maddock told us to make 'I' statements, so I think it is, sis," Vince countered.

"You two arguing isn't helping," Leslie insisted.

"Helping with what, Leslie?" Aaron asked.

Leslie frowned. "With us becoming a solid family unit."

"Okay, now spare me the Dr. Phil bullshit," Aaron said. "How do you really feel?"

"Well, I feel that…I don't think Vince is with his family enough. What if something happened to us, or to him? None of us would be there to help him," Leslie said.

"I can't live at home my entire life," Vince insisted.

"But you're not even out of high school," Aaron said. "Don't you think you need to be at home with your mother? And be a brother to your sister?"

"Vince do something for someone not himself? Imagine that," Akilah said.

"And what about you?" Vince demanded. "You're always busy using people and going after things you don't need. Like Alec. Or Matt. I mean, who's next, Akilah? And what, are you going to kidnap someone and lock them in a cage if they don't want you? That's self-destructive."

"Like stalking your ex-girlfriend?" Akilah offered.

Before Vince could respond, a small timer on Aaron's desk went off. He picked up the timer and turned it off. "Looks like we're out of time."

"Thank God," Vince muttered.

"We'll be meeting at the same time next week, however," Aaron said. "And we'll be digging a little —"

"Yeah, I know, deeper," Vince said, getting up to leave.

Akilah left soon after, leaving only Leslie and Aaron remaining in the office. She picked up her purse and stood, walking over to his desk.

"Thank you, Aaron," Leslie said.

"Don't thank me just yet," Aaron said. "Your family's going to need to work a little harder if you want some real results. Yourself included."



London, England

Mosley stood across the street in the middle of the crowd. His eyes weren't on the parade, however, they were focused on the blonde girl across the street. He watched as she staggered out of the alley and moved closer to a nearby payphone.

He unbuttoned his jacket and reached into his waistband for his handgun. He wanted to use it, but he knew that it would create too much of a scene on the crowded street and Mosley doubted the bullet would reach that far. Besides, he knew that his benefactor didn't want Ariel Hanley dead just yet.

Mosley instead reached into an inside jacket pocket and removed his mobile phone. He flipped it open and dialed a number. Once someone answered, Mosley gave them instructions on what to do. Mosley watched as Ariel picked up the payphone and tried to dial a number.

Seconds later, Ariel paused for a moment. She reached up to touch the back of her neck, as if something had just bit her. While she checked, she dropped the phone receiver and stumbled forward. Mosley grinned as Ariel collapsed onto the ground, unconscious from the poisoned dart that had been fired into the back of her neck.

"Perfect," Mosley said, finishing his phone call.

As soon as Ariel fell, two men emerged from the alley and picked her up. Without a single person noticing, they carried Ariel back into the alley and out of sight. He hung up the phone and disappeared back into the crowd.

executive producer
Ira Madison

next time...
Lori and Duncan confront Monique.
Thomas threatens to rape Kelli.
Giselle reveals herself to the captives.