Chapter 5

Lucky sucked in his breath quickly as a shock passed between them. He let go of her hand and smiled. “It’s good to meet you, too, Elizabeth. What brings you out here at this hour?”

“I like to walk at night. It’s so much quieter, more peaceful. The moon is so pretty, the way it makes everything glow.” She smiled, looking up at the sky, then looked back at Lucky. “So, how come you’re lurking around here so late?”

“You probably won’t believe this, but I’m here for the same reason. I come out here to think sometimes, or to just relax. It’s calming, you know, looking at the water. Just don’t look at Wyndemere, it’ll give you nightmares!” he said, laughing.

“Why do you say that?”

“I take it you’re new in town. Well, for starters, just look at it. It’s spooky and dark, and trust me when I say it’s just as creepy inside.”

“You’ve been inside? Do you know the people who live there?” She was trying to keep her voice neutral, but was so starved for information on her mother, she couldn’t help sounding overly eager.

“You could say that, although ‘people’ isn’t really the right word. My dad prefers to call them blood-suckers. It’s his little pet name for the Cassidines. See, my family and theirs have been mortal enemies for a long time now.”

She felt like she had been punched in the stomach. “Really? Why? I mean, what did they do?”

He chuckled. “What didn’t they do? Let’s see, Helena Cassidine kidnapped my mother once and made her think my father was dead, then forced her to marry her son, Stavros, who raped her; her other son, Stefan, took my grandmother and made my mom think she was dead for the past 10 years or so; they’ve all tried to kill my dad more times than I can count; Stefan tried to kill me; and, oh yeah, Mikkos tried to freeze the world. And those are just the highlights.” He laughed again, amused at how ludicrous it all sounded once he said it out loud.

Elizabeth was shocked. How could those things be true? This was her family? “They did all this to your family for what reason? I mean, you guys must have done something to them as well, right?” She knew it wasn’t her place to ask, but she had to know. Maybe they were just as bad, and that way she could feel her family’s actions were justified.

Lucky shrugged. “Anything we did was only in our own defense, or in retaliation. They always started it. Helena blames my dad for killing Mikkos and Stavros, but both were accidents.”

“Accidents. Were they really?”

“Yeah, they were. Mikkos fell into his own weather machine when he was fighting with my dad, who was trying to stop him from freezing the world. Stavros fell down a flight of stairs after trying to rape my mother in front of my father. My dad was only trying to save her, he didn’t mean to kill him.”

She nodded slowly, letting it all sink in. For a moment when they first met, she had let herself feel hopeful that they could be friends, maybe even more, but now... She cleared her throat and looked up at him. “So, I guess that means you hate all Cassidines, then?”

He chuckled and shook his head. “I can see how you’d think that, but surprisingly I don’t. Believe it or not, my brother’s a Cassidine.” He couldn’t help laughing at the surprised look that crossed her face. “When my mom was married to Stavros, she got pregnant and had a son. She was forced to leave him behind to be raised by Stefan when she returned to Port Charles to be with my dad. We didn’t know about him until a few years ago when my baby sister needed a bone marrow transplant. I’ll admit, I hated Nikolas at first, but we’ve become pretty close over the years.”

“But, that’s the only Cassidine you like?” She knew she was going too far with the questioning, but she couldn’t help it.

“Well, I don’t know all of them, but yeah, I suppose so. Although, my dad is pretty chummy with Alexis Davis. She’s Stefan’s half-sister. I think they just like to tease each other, but she’s not like the rest of the Cassidines. In fact, sometimes I think she hates them as much as he does!”

Liz tried to conceal her shock at hearing him mention her mother. “Um, so it sounds to me like they’re not all that bad, right?”

He shrugged. “Everyone has their own opinions. Personally, I figure it’s safer to assume the worst of them until they can prove that they’re decent. It may not be the nicest thing in the world to say, but when you’re a Spencer, it could save your life!”

That wasn’t the answer she was expecting, and it threw her a bit. “Oh, well, it was nice to meet you Lucky, but I better get home. I’ve got an important meeting in the morning.” She started to leave, but he chased after her.

“Hey, would you like me to walk you home? I know you came here by yourself, but it’s gotten pretty late.”

Liz shook her head. “No thank you. I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you around then. Are you staying long?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know yet. It depends on how my meeting goes.”

“Well, in that case, I hope it goes really well,” he said with a smile so warm she thought she might melt. She smiled shyly and walked away without saying anything in response. Lucky watched her go, wondering if he had scared her off with all that talk about the Cassidines.

~*~

Luke turned around when he heard the front door open, and was surprised to see no one there. A moment later, Lucky walked in. He threw himself down on the sofa and sighed as the door shut, seemingly of its own accord.

“Okay, Cowboy, what’s up? You never do that door thing unless something’s on your mind,” Luke said, smiling at the goofy expression on his son’s face

“Hm? What door thing?”

Luke laughed. “The thing you just did, opening and closing it with your mind instead of your hands! Man, you don’t know how many times I’ve wished I could do that, especially when your mother makes me do the grocery shopping!”

“Oh, that. Nothing’s wrong, dad, I promise. I just... went for a walk, that’s all”

“Right, and I’ve got a bridge for sale. Look, son, I may not be a witch, but I can still read you better than anyone else in this house, so ‘fess up. What happened to you out there?”

Lucky sighed, knowing his father wasn’t going to give up until he told him. “Fine, if you really must know, I met a girl.”

“Out there? At this hour? You’re kidding, right?”

“No, I’m not. I was sitting on the docks, and she walked up and was looking at Wyndemere. Dad, I’ve never seen anyone as beautiful as her before. When we shook hands it was like an electric shock passed through me!”

Luke chuckled. No wonder Lucky had such a silly look on his face. He was infatuated. “Does this girl have a name?”

“Yeah, Elizabeth Webber,” he said dreamily.

“Webber? You mean, as in your mother’s family?”

“Hey, you’re right! I didn’t even think of that! Wouldn’t that be wild?” Lucky said, surprised that he hadn’t caught that before.

“Well, if she is, be careful. Those Webber women can be a handful!”

Lucky stood up and shook his head. “You only say that because your Webber woman is a witch. Don’t worry about me, I can take care of myself. I don’t even know if I’ll see her again.” He sighed and climbed the stairs to his room, leaving Luke behind, chuckling to himself over his lovestruck son.

Graphics Courtesy Of: