12
The next day was bright and sunny. It was too nice to drive to Kelly’s so Elizabeth decided to walk, but she had gotten distracted and the only way she could make it on time was if she went through the park. It’s been two years since the rape, but she still hated walking through there by herself. She knew all too well that despite the park’s beauty, bad things happen there. But there was no choice but to go it alone today. Lucky was checking out bus ticket availability at the Greyhound station and she was running late and the park was the quickest way to Kelly’s. So taking a deep breath and pushing back the bad memories that threatened to rise up, Elizabeth stepped through the gate, unaware that she was being followed.
She took in her surroundings, thinking of all the times her and Lucky had walked through together. He always held her hand extra tight, making sure to keep any possible memories of the rape away. He was so sweet and she loved him more then she could ever describe. She wished she could make all these troubles with Portia disappear.
She was almost out of the park when a strange smelling rag pressed against her nose and mouth, cutting off the fresh air from her airways. She tried not to breathe as she struggled against the arms that seemed to have wrapped around her in an iron grip. But all too quickly, her strength faded away and she couldn’t resist any longer. Her world went black as she breathed in the toxin. Her last thoughts were of Lucky as she slipped into darkness.
~*~
Elizabeth inwardly groaned as she woke up from her deep slumber. Fear gripped her as she looked around at her unfamiliar surroundings. Where was she? Who was behind this? What did they want? Well, whoever it was, she had news for them. She couldn’t stay. She had a job to get to. A very protective fiancée expecting to meet her at the docks after his shift was over.
The fear tightened its hold on her heart as she realized that she couldn’t move. Her arms, legs, her entire body was paralyzed. The only thing she could move were her eyelids. She couldn’t even call for help, because her mouth wouldn’t open.
"Well, well, well. Look who’s awake."
Elizabeth’s eyes widened with outrage to find Portia leering down at her, an evil glint in her eyes. She should have known it was Portia. She must have overheard her conversation with Lucky and decided to retaliate.
"You should have kept your mouth shut Elizabeth. "But you had to go and blab my plan to Lucky. Now he’ll never trust me again and my plan to destroy the Spencers will be harder then it would have been if you had never found out. But then again, I would have done this anyway. I couldn’t have my newly found brother leaving Port Charles, taking my ammunition with him. Now with you out of the way…he’s not going anywhere."
Elizabeth glared up at Portia. She had never hated anyone as much as she hated her at that moment. What did Portia do to her anyway? What else was she planning to do?
"You must be wondering why you can’t move. Well, I’ve injected you with a drug that renders you immobile. There is only one anecdote. My Uncle Stephan has it. I have plans for you Elizabeth. In fact, I would think you’d be grateful to me. I’m going to make it so much easier for you. Soon, I’m going to inject you with a drug that will make you forget the Spencers. All the Spencers. Including Lucky."
Elizabeth felt the first wave of panic wash over her. Forget Lucky? No! She couldn’t forget Lucky! He was her lifeline, her whole reason for living! Portia couldn’t take him away from her! She just couldn’t!
"You see, if you don’t remember the Spencers, or myself, you can’t rat me out. Plus, you won’t miss the people you never knew, so you benefit from this as well."
Elizabeth felt tears leave her eyes. She couldn’t believe that this was happening. That the past wonderful years with Lucky were about to be taken from her, and who knew if they could ever be regained. If she could move, she’d scratch Portia’s eyes out for what she was doing to her and the Spencers.
"There, there Lizzie. Don’t cry. I’m not a heartless witch like you think. I’m going to do you another favor. I’m going to wait. You see, I’m going to leave you with your memories up until tomorrow night. I’ll be back tomorrow morning to check on you and tomorrow night, I’ll administer the drug. How’s that?" Portia patted Elizabeth’s head, a small smile on her lips. She just knew that Helena would be proud if she could see her now. "Don’t cry Lizzie. It’s unbecoming."
Picking up her purse, and winking one last time at her helpless victim, Portia walked out the door. Confidence in her plan soaring.
~*~
6 hours later…
Lucky was at the docks, packing back and forth, glancing at his watch continuously. He was deeply worried about Elizabeth. She didn’t show up for work and now she was one hour late for their meeting. For four hours he had kept his panic in check, but now he was coming apart at the seams. Where was she? Was she hurt? Did Portia do something to her and now she needs help?
"Elizabeth!" Lucky whirled around, just to find Nikolas looking at him with concern.
"Hey," Nikolas greeted, not sure what his relationship with his brother was now. "What’s going on?"
"Elizabeth. She didn’t show up for work today and now she’s one hour late meeting me here," Lucky explained, continuing his pacing. "Man, something’s happened to her. I just know it."
"Lucky…what could possibly have happened to her? Why?"
"…She overheard some stuff."
Nikolas frowned. He didn’t understand Lucky at all. "Man, stand still and tell me what Liz overheard that would cause her to be in danger."
"She overheard Portia talking to herself," Lucky forced his feet to stay in one position. "Portia’s the murderer and she’s using Helena’s programming to make me and everyone else think it’s me. She wants to destroy the Spencers once and for all. She probably listened in on our conversation at the boxcar."
"Ok, calm down…"
"Calm down? Elizabeth’s in danger because of me! How am I supposed to calm down? I have to save her man…before Portia hurts her or something."
"Ok, but let me help. We work well as a team. Remember? Plus, Liz is my friend. I don’t want anything to happen to her because of my crazy family."
"What do we do? I don’t even know where to start looking."
"Hey, why don’t we get Luke in on this, man? He’s pretty good at finding people."
"No. No, we don’t bring my dad into any of this Nikolas. He can’t even know about Portia."
"Why? He has to know that she’s a little Helena! It makes no sense to keep him in the dark."
"Because he loves her. I can’t take her away from him, not after all the time he’s lost with her. Besides, Elizabeth already tried to tell him and he wouldn’t believe her."
"He’d believe you."
"Nikolas, are you deaf? We’re not telling my dad about Portia. End of discussion. Either except it, or step aside so I can find Elizabeth by myself!"
"Ok. Don’t have to yell. I won’t tell Luke about Portia," Nikolas sighed in defeat, not understanding Lucky’s reasoning. "So…what do you want to do?"
Lucky sighed, pacing the dock once again. He had no idea how to find Elizabeth. But time was of the essence and it was running out. "I…I don’t know."
Nikolas bit his lip in deep concentration. How will they find Elizabeth? What was the quickest way possible? Suddenly, a light bulb went off in his head. He had a plan. It was so simple, he was surprised that Lucky hadn’t thought of it himself.
"We follow her. She’ll have to check on Liz sometime."
Lucky just looked at his brother and smiled. Nikolas was indeed beginning to think more and more like a Spencer.