Chapter 3

Elizabeth woke up to the sound of Audrey calling her down to dinner. She looked around the room groggily, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. 'How long was I out?' she thought to herself, waving her hand at the lamp on the other side of the room. It came on instantly, bathing the room in a soft light. She sat up and stretched, ywaning.

"Who needs the Clapper?" she chuckled to herself as she stood up and looked at the clock. Her stomach growled, reminding her why she had woken up in the first place.

"I'll be right down, Gram!" she shouted, runing a brush quickly through her hair, and leaving the room, flicking the light switch on her way out to turn off the light.

Liz talked about her graduation while they ate, about what Sarah was up to, and how she planned to look up Alexis the following day. Audrey offered to go along with her for moral support, but she refused, saying she needed to do it alone. In reality, she would have loved to have her grandmother at her side, but she knew part of their discussion would turn to witchcraft, and Audrey didn't know about that aspect of her life. She was afraid of how she might take the news, so decided to keep it to herself for the time being.

"Do you know where she'll be? I mean, should I find her house, or look for her at work? I still don't know that much about her."

"I don't know dear. I don't think she has an office, really. Why don't you try the gatehouse at the Quartermaine estate? She's there quite often with Ned Ashton. If she's not there, I believe she lives in a suite at the Port Charles Hotel. I suppose if all of those fail, you sould try Spoon Island. Her brother, Stefan Cassidine, lives there. I think she still visits him every now and then."

"Thanks, Gram. I'll try those tomorrow. I've never heard of Spoon Island, though. Where is it?"

"Just go to the docks and you won't be able to miss it," Audrey chuckled, taking a drink of iced tea. "It's the only island we have, and Wyndemere is a very big, gothic-looking mansion. It looks quite imposing, actually."

Liz shivered involuntarily. "Now I'm getting nervous. I think I'll leave that as a last resort!"

Audrey smiled. "Yes, that's probably a good idea. I don't think it's very likely that she'll be there anyway. Her and Stefan are somewhat estranged these days."

"Thanks. I think I'll try the hotel suite first. Hopefully, when I find her, she'll be alone. This is going to be awkward enough as it is! If there are other people around, I don't think I'll have the guts to say anything to her!"

When dinner was over, she helped with the dishes and went outside to enjoy the night air. She sat in the porch swing, staring up at the stars, enojoying the quiet solitude that the darkness offered. It was so peaceful out there, so calm.

Suddenly, she saw a shooting star, and quickly made a wish, the same wish she always made, that she would find her soulmate someday and fall madly in love. She sighed and stood up, knowing what a silly wish it was. After all, how many people actually had the fortune to find their soulmates?

She went back to the house and poked her head inside. "Gram, I'm going to take a walk. I'll be back soon!"

"Be careful dear!" Audrey shouted back from the kitchen.

Liz checked to make sure she had her keys and set out to see Port Charles at night.

~*~

Dinner that night had been quite an event. Lulu wouldn't stop levitating her food, and Laura was getting increasingly frustrated with her. Lucky excused himself from the table and went outside to enjoy the peace and quiet. He was looking up at the sky when he spotted a shooting star and quickly made a wish. He sighed, knowing how impossible it was that it would come true. After all, most people never found their soulmates. His parents were the exception.

"Hey Cowboy, want some company?" Luke asked, sitting on the step next to him.

"Sure, dad. Trying to get away from the craziness too?" Lucky asked.

Luke chuckled. "Yeah, something tells me the princess is going to be quite a handful!"

"And I wasn't?" Lucky asked jokingly.

"Oh, sure you were. But you were a normal handful, you know, tracking mud in the house, playing with bugs, always disobeying us, that sort of thing. When it came to the witch stuff, you never really did much."

Lucky nodded, thinking. "You know, I always wondered how Nikolas managed to get through his childhood without Stefan or any of his servants noticing. Maybe he just knew instinctively that it was supposed to be a secret." He sighed, looking at the stars again. "Sometimes I wish I was normal, like you."

Luke laughed. "Me, normal? Surely you jest! Cowboy, I'm the most ab-normal guy you'll ever meet, haven't you noticed that yet?"

"Dad, you know what I mean. Sure, it's cool that I can do these things, but I hate always looking over my shoulder to make sure no one's around, and always being worried that someone will find out."

Luke patted him on the shoulder. "Trust me, Cowboy. You've been blessed with a gift that most people couldn't even dream of having. Enjoy it, and don't worry about what others think." He stood up and smiled down at his son. "I'm going to see if your mother needs any help in there. You coming?"

Lucky shook his head. "Not yet. I think I'm going to take a walk."

"Okay. Be careful." Luke said, opening the front door.

"Always am," Lucky said, walking away from the house.

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