Never Tear Us Apart
Chapter
Eighteen
Chloe's fingers gripped on to the wall tightly as she rounded another corner of the hallway underground. She was sitting down, slowly but surely using what little strength she had to try to escape. It was just her luck, or Phillip's stupidity, that the door to the operating room had been left unlocked and now she was free. At least, she was free until someone caught her trying to escape.
For every few inches that she moved, Chloe grunted in pain and frustration. Her head felt like it was on fire and she was breathing heavily as she inched down the hallway. She was pouring all of her strength and determination into this one activity, ignoring the pain in her head as best as she could.
She didn't know how long she had been crawling, or even what direction she was heading in. For all she knew, there could be a dead end ahead of her, but the only thing that mattered was that she wasn't giving up. She had too much to live for than to let Phillip Kiriakis win.
Chloe was taking a moment to catch her breath when she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her and yank her to her feet. She screamed at first, thinking that it was Phillip or a DiMera employee here to take her back to the operating room. But, when the arms turned her around she found herself staring into the warm blue eyes of her husband.
Brady put his hand over her lips and gave her a quick warning. "Chloe, baby, you have to be quiet... No screaming..."
Chloe nodded as he removed his hand from her mouth and smiled gratefully. "You scared me half to death, Brady... Oh my God, I can't believe you're here. How did you get in?"
"It's a long story, can you walk at all?"
Chloe shook her head, her bright blue eyes filled with tears of joy. "I can hardly move anything... I was drugged... twice. But, I should be getting all the feeling back soon... It didn't take long for it to wear off earlier."
Brady nodded in understanding and easily lifted her up into his arms, helping her wrap one arm behind his neck. He smiled at her and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "It's okay, I can carry you..."
Chloe laid her head on his shoulder and sighed. "I know... You've been doing it for years."
Brady began walking down the hallway towards the secret exit to the outside. He knew exactly what Chloe meant by her last sentence. She didn't just mean that he could carry her physically, she meant emotionally as well. They had carried each other through every rough time that came their way, and this was no exception.
"Brady, we can't leave... find the antidote... We're not leaving without your father's cure. Not this time."
Brady paused in mid-step and stared at her in surprise. "Chloe... You need medical attention. I'm getting you out of here and then I will come back for the antidote. If Noah and Greta don't find it first..."
"Noah... Greta... Why are they here?"
"Noah... He... used Greta as bait so he could get information about Jake, and so they could distract Stefano while I came in to get you."
Chloe paused and shut her eyes for a moment, when she opened them again she was shaking her head. "No, Brady... Jake is dead. Which means Noah is probably in danger for even coming here. Now take me upstairs and we'll find that antidote."
His eyebrows wrinkled in confusion as he questioned her. "Wait a minute, how do you know that Jake is dead? And how do you know the antidote is upstairs?"
A sudden memory flash filled her brain, just words and sentences, vague flashbacks of conversations that she overheard as she arrived at the mansion. Conversations between Stefano and Phillip. Chloe gave him her steeliest gaze of resolve, her eyes locking with his as she basically demanded him to do what she asked.
"I just know. Take me upstairs and I'll tell you why I know..."
Brady sighed and turned the corner, heading past the door to the operating room, but not hearing the voices shouting at each other from behind it. He headed up the stairs with Chloe in his arms, thanking his lucky stars that he had not run in to anyone else yet.
~*~
Bart led the group down the stairs to the underground level of the mansion. He paused at the door to the operating room and laid his hand on the knob. The rest of the group stood behind him waiting not-so-patiently for him to open the door. Bart hesitated and made the quite sound of air being exhaled through clenched teeth.
He laughed nervously and turned to look at Stefano. "Whoops..."
Stefano raised both eyebrows, knowing that Bart did not have good news for him. "Whoops? What is it now?"
"I -- I guess, we, meaning me, Rolf and Mr. K... We -- we left in such a rush that we forgot to lock the door."
Phillip shrugged it off nonchalantly and pushed to the front of the group. "So what... It's not like Chloe has the strength to get up off that table and walk out."
Phillip rolled his eyes and turned the knob, leading them all into the room. Stefano was the last one in, still with his gun pointed at Noah and Greta, shutting the door behind them. The table where they had left Chloe was now empty, the only signs of her left behind were a few bloody fingerprints on the floor where she had crawled away.
Phillip snarled and groaned out of frustration and anger. He kicked the operating table and then turned around to knock over a shelf filled with glass bottles, shouting as let out his anger. "DAMNIT... How did this happen?"
Stefano gave him a bored look and shook his head. "Because you are the most inept criminal I have ever met, Kiriakis. Your intentions are respectable, but you're a fool."
"SHUT UP, OLD MAN! SHUT UP!"
"Don't you dare speak to me that way. It is because of *ME* that you are even standing here right now. You have screwed up, and I will not let my plans suffer because of your stupidity."
Stefano's tone was loud and stern, and Phillip knew exactly what that meant. In Phillip's fantasy world, he was in control of the situation. However, in reality, Stefano was the real power, and Phillip was just another pawn in his game, being used to further Stefano's plans. Stefano told him what to do, and Phillip always did as he instructed.
"Now, Kiriakis... You and Bart -- search the house for her. She probably didn't get far. Rolf and I will take care of Maguire. Rolf, make sure that my daughter is restrained."
Phillip and Bart went to the door as Rolf began tying Greta to a nearby chair, but Phillip turned around with a question. "What about Brady? What if Brady is here and that's why she's gone? What if your daughter and her boyfriend led him straight to us?"
Stefano hesitated and turned to stare down Greta. "Well... Did Mr. Black follow you somehow? Come on, Greta... Tell me that he didn't. Because, if he did, I'll kill him."
"First off, Noah isn't my boyfriend, Phillip." Greta made sure to answer quickly, knowing that any hesitation would cause suspicion. "Secondly, no, he didn't. We left him in the townhouse... There's no way he could have followed us. He knew the risk... You said come alone, so we did."
Stefano nodded and then looked back at Phillip to give him one more instruction. "Go, find Chloe. If either of you see Mr. Black anywhere near this house, shoot to kill. I have had about enough of that family..."
Phillip and Bart made their exit just as Rolf was tightening the last knot on Greta's wrists. Noah looked around the room for some means to escape, but with a gun pointed at him and no weapon of his own, it didn't look promising. Moments later, he felt Rolf stab a needle into his arm and then led him to the gurney. Noah floated quickly towards unconsciousness as he laid down on the table that had previously been occupied by Chloe. The last sound he heard before he fell completely unconscious was Greta's soft crying.
~*~
Brady and Chloe roamed the ground level of the house until they found the living room. She remembered hearing Phillip and Stefano speak to each other when she first arrived at the mansion, and that Phillip mentioned that the antidote was hidden in the living room. Brady set her down on the couch and paused for a moment to catch his breath.
"Chloe... How -- How do you know that Jake is dead?"
"Because -- because Phillip is alive."
Brady put his hands on his hips and shook his head in disbelief. "Chloe... Maybe you're a little delirious from whatever drugs Stefano put in your system... Are you sure?"
Chloe's face scrunched up in anger, but she tried to keep the volume of her voice low as not to attract any unwanted attention. "It's not the drugs, Brady. Damnit... You HAVE to believe me this time. Stefano did have a part in my kidnapping, but it was PHILLIP who planned it. I saw him, with my own eyes, I talked to him... Everything... He's as alive as you are. I think Jake is dead because somehow... they switched places... so Phillip could fake his death... At least that's what I think happened."
There was a long silent pause as Chloe pleaded with her eyes for his acceptance. She spoke again, her voice filled with certainty. "Brady... You HAVE to believe me... Phillip is alive... Just like I thought..."
Brady nodded in understanding and sighed softly. There was no one in the world who he trusted more than Chloe, and even though it didn't seem possible, he knew she was right. "I believe you, Chloe... Of course, I believe you..."
Chloe used the back of her hand to wipe her tears from her face and sighed loudly. "You didn't believe me before... When we were at the townhouse..."
"But, I should have... Chloe, I'm sorry. I should have trusted your instincts... Maybe if I had we wouldn't be here right now."
"Brady... This -- We don't have time to play the blame game with each other. We've got to find that antidote and get out of here."
Brady nodded in agreement and began walking around the room looking for the location of the safe. His eyebrows wrinkled thoughtfully as he looked closely at every object on the walls and all around the room. "So... If you were a safe containing a rare antidote to a rare type of poison... Where would you be?"
Chloe had feeling and movement back in her legs so she stretched them in front of her as she thought about it. "Uhm... I don't know... Behind a painting."
Brady lifted the frame of the oil painting in front of him, but found only the blank wall behind it. "No, no, no... Too cliched for a guy like DiMera."
Chloe leaned forward and laid her elbows on her knees. There was an ornate wood music box on the table in front of her, and out of curiosity, she picked it up off the table to look at it. She tried to lift the lid, but it was sealed shut, unable to be opened. Her fingers ran over the design of the phoenix on top and as she held it in her hands, she realized that it felt extremely heavy for something of it's size and shape.
"Brady... Brady, come here..."
Brady walked over to stand next to her as she turned the music box over to reveal an electronic keypad embedded in the bottom. She looked up at him, her eyes wide with surprise and smiled slightly.
"I think we've found what we're looking for..."
"In the music box?"
Chloe nodded and lightly ran her fingers over the keypad. "Now, we just have to figure out the code to get it to open..."
Brady sighed loudly and then smiled at her. "We'll just take it with us... Maybe the ISA can lend us a professional safecracker. But -- if it's not what..."
Chloe stood up slowly, finally able to have full, if not slightly weakened, use of her limbs. She laid her hand on his arm and smiled back at him, interrupting him before he finished. "It is. I just -- I have a really good feeling about it. It has to be the antidote."
Brady took her into his arms and embraced her tightly, kissing the top of her head lovingly. Chloe melted into his solid form, welcoming the comfort that his presence always gave her, and conversely, the comfort that she gave him too. Brady loosened his arms slightly and Chloe looked up into his eyes.
He breathed in deeply and motioned back towards the hallway. "Now come on, we better go rescue our friends..."
Before either of them could make another move, they heard the sound of a gun being cocked echo loudly through the living room. Brady whirled around and immediately locked eyes with Phillip. His heart jumped in his chest, and had he been a weaker man, he probably would have regurgitated right then and there. Phillip had nearly been the death of him, and if his luck didn't hold out, he might finish what he started that night in the Basic Black parking garage.
"Phillip..."
Phillip ignored him and looked at Chloe, who was clinging tightly to Brady's side. "Chloe... Get out of the way so I can shoot my nephew, please."