21
Luke, Jason, and Carly groaned in frustration as they came to a dead end. All that walking was obviously for nothing.
"Damn it!" Luke angrily cursed, punching the wall. "Nothing."
"Luke," Carly looked at their surroundings. "Are we missing something?"
"What can we possibly be missing?" Luke growled, growing very aggravated. His son was once again missing and Helena was at large. He kept running into dead end after dead end. It all was enough to make him want to punch a wall.
"Liz," Jason stared blankly in the direction they had came from. "Where is she?"
"That’s what we’re missing," Carly threw up her hands, quite exasperated.
"Cowgirl? Damn, I knew taking her was a bad idea. If anything happens to her…Lucky will never forgive me…and I’ll never forgive myself neither."
"We have to back track," Jason
began to walk back to where they had come. He felt horrible. They
really should have kept more of an eye on Elizabeth. They knew
that she was in the back of the group, and being Lucky’s
girlfriend made her a prime target for Helena. How could they
have been so careless?
"Keep a look out," Luke warned.
So quietly, the trio went back the way they had came, hoping that they’d find Elizabeth before Helena did. Not one of them suspecting that Elizabeth was already in very hot water.
After what seemed like hours of walking, they came upon the programming room, which was now deserted except for a television in middle of the room, with a note taped on the screen.
Luke angrily tore off the message, knowing that it was from Helena. She knew that they were there obviously. "Turn me on," Rolling his eyes, Luke switched on the television and wasn’t surprised to see Helena appear, triumph burning in her eyes.
"Well, I must say Luke. I’m impressed. You’ve found my secret lab on your own. Not even a clue from me and all before I was ready to have you here. You didn’t disappoint me a bit. Ordinarily, I’d be very upset by this. But my plans have come to maturity sooner then expected. So I’m actually ready for you now. So come Luke. Find us if you can. Your son is waiting for you," Helena burst into maniacal laughter before the screen went black.
"Damn it!" Luke yelled angrily. "She has Liz! I know it!"
"She said to find her. But where do we look?" Carly asked.
Suddenly a soft, yet frightened voice called out for Luke. A voice he knew all too well. "Luke!"
"Laura…she has Laura," the eldest Spencer gasped, dread rising in his stomach. How? How could he have let this happen to his family? He’s always been on guard. Determined and willing to do anything to keep his family safe. But it hadn’t been enough, for the witch had his son and wife in her clutches.
"How do you know it’s Laura?" Jason asked. He couldn’t help being suspicious. Laura calling Luke was a little too convenient for his taste.
"Because I know the sound of my Angel’s voice when I hear it!" Luke stopped and listened to the voice. Anger flared up again he came to the realization that Laura sounded as if she was in pain. He was going to strangle Helena if even a hair on Laura’s head was harmed. "She’s hurt. I’ve got to help her!"
"Uncle Luke wait!" Carly yelled after him as Luke took off into the hall, following Laura’s cries.
"Come on. Let’s follow him," Jason grabbed Carly’s hand and pulled her out into the hall after Luke. Wherever Luke was heading, Jason was determined to be there too.
~*~
Following the sound of Laura’s voice, Luke led Carly and Jason to another closed door.
"She’s in here," Luke pressed his ear up to the door. "Ok. We go in nice and slow. We don’t want to scare Laura anymore then she already is."
"Oh please," Carly rolled her eyes. She couldn’t understand why men like Luke and Jason treated women like Laura, Liz, and Robin like Porcelain dolls. It made no sense what so ever to her.
"Carly, shut up," Jason warned, his nerves "we have no time for your rants right now."
Glancing once at Carly and Jason, Luke opened the door to an extravagantly dressed room, which must be Helena’s private quarters. In the middle of the room sat both Nikolas and Elizabeth, tied and gagged. A tape recorder sat on the floor, playing Laura’s voice calling to Luke, over and over again.
"Nikolas, Elizabeth!" Jason and Carly rush to untie them, while Luke angrily kicked the recorder across the room. The tape stopped abruptly as the machine crashed into a nearby wall.
Laughter entered the room. Helena entered from her bedroom, Lucky at her side. Jason frowned at the gun in Lucky’s hand and his blank expression. Obviously the programming was complete.
"Hello lover," Helena’s smile was cold and full of hate. "Oh, I see you’ve brought guests. How thoughtful of you. What did you tell them Luke? That you’d protect them? Just like you protected Laura all those years ago when my son took her for his own? Just like you’ve protected your son after he ‘died’ in that fire? Not a very good track record, is it Luke?"
Angry, Luke took a step to strangle the life out of Helena, but the sight of Lucky aiming the gun at his chest stopped him. He looked at his son, who just stared blankly back at him. Luke frowned. Those eyes were empty. No sign of Lucky anywhere. "Oh Cowboy, what has she done to you?"
"I made him the better Spencer," Helena grinned, proud of her handiwork. "The kind that follows directions. Lucky, kill him."
"Lucky no!" Elizabeth gasped, knowing that it’d do no good to protest. Lucky was Helena’s puppet now. There was no way he was going to listen to her again.
Luke shook his head, not able to believe that Helena had won. That she had somehow broken her son and now the end was here.
Lucky’s finger was just squeezing the trigger, when Jason tackled him to the ground, causing Lucky to lose focus and shoot the wall just behind Luke instead. Seeing his chance, Luke disarmed his son and aimed at Helena’s head, who glowered at the scene angrily. Her beautiful plan was ruined.
"Checkmate," Luke growled, pulling the trigger. The smell of blood and gun powder filled the air. Helena laid on the floor, her eyes glazed over in death. Her reign of evil had finally came to an end. No longer would she plaque the Spencer or Cassadine family with her evil.
Everyone looked down at the corpse of the evil woman, relieved that it was over. That Helena was gone from their lives forever.
"She’s dead," Nikolas walked up to stand `walked up to stand next to Luke. "After all she’s done…she’s finally dead."
Elizabeth knelt down next to Lucky, who sat up against a wall, still in the trance Helena had put him in. Her heart broke once again. Her poor sweet Lucky. All the life sucked out of him by that vengeful witch. How were they ever going to get him back? Were they even going to be able to? If not, if he had to go into an institution…how would she ever be expected to move on with her life? She had once before, when she had thought he was dead and had no choice…but with him alive…"Luke…what about Lucky? How are we going to bring him back."
Luke looked at his son, his heart also breaking. This was all his fault. Lucky was nothing more then a puppet all because Luke was his father. He wished at that moment that he had ignored Laura’s pleas when Lucky was born. That he had given Lucky up for adoption. If he had, the boy would have had a normal life. No running from the mob, no Cassadine mess, and no Helena making him into her puppet so she could have revenge on his father. He would have been a normal and happy teenage boy. "I don’t know Cowgirl. I don’t know."
"I can help," Faison stood in
the doorway, entranced by the sight of Helena’s dead body.
He had came back to watch Helena’s plans unfold, but what he
found instead was Helena dead and their plans destroyed. Self
preservation was number one on his list. Helping Luke Spencer get
his son back was a sure way to save his own life. "I’ll
tell you how to wake the boy up if you promise not to kill
me."
Luke looked at the man he had known as Herr Krieg with utter
hatred. He didn’t trust the man at all. But what choice did
he have? He had to try something to get his son back to normal.
"Fine. What is it?"
Faison grinned at the irony. He and Helena had beaten the broken the boy with hate. Only the opposite of hate can break their spell. "Love."
"What?" Carly frowned.
"It’s like Sleeping Beauty. Only true love’s kiss can break the spell."
"I think this calls for Elizabeth," Nikolas said, a hand on his friend’s shoulder. "Liz. Only you can bring Lucky back to us."
Nodding, she turned back to her boyfriend. It all made perfect sense for her to save Lucky. He had saved her after all, and now it was her turn. Closing her eyes, she pressed her lips to his, willing him to come back to her.
She pulled away and looked into his eyes. It was like the lights had come back on. The life had returned. Love and confusion shaped his face. "Elizabeth? Dad? What happened?"
"Luke killed Helena, Lucky. It’s over. She’ll never bother your or anyone else again," Elizabeth explained, hugging him tightly. "You’re free Lucky. You’re free."
Luke watched the scene, his heart happy. But he was still angry about what had happened. That Helena and her henchman had played with his son’s mind. Gripping his gun, Luke changed his mind about letting Faison live. The man deserved the same fate as Helena. He turned around, the gun ready to fire, but Faison was gone. He probably knew that Luke would change his mind and made a run for it.
"I’ll have Sonny put some men on it," Jason laid a supportive hand on Luke’s shoulder. "He won’t get away with this."
Luke nodded, watching Lucky and Elizabeth getting to their feet, still clinging to one another. "Let’s blow this joint."
"About time," Carly snorted, leading the way out.
Looking at Helena’s body one last time, Luke gave it a good swift kick, before following the others out of the secret lab. Yes, Helena’s reign of terror of his family was over. Now life could return to the way it should have always been. Happy.