| Chapter Seven The months went by slowly for the six-year-old, but as Christmas got closer, he started wondering if his parents might show up. Stefan had decided to pay a visit to Luke and Laura for another letter and some ideas of presents they would like to give him. He hoped Stavros would not destroy all of this for Lucas. The boy was trying so hard and was even excelling in his studies. When Stefan entered the room, he noticed that Luke wasn�t in sight. Laura tried to smile at him, but failed. �Luke is in the bedroom. He doesn't want to deal with you. I was wondering if you had any more news about Lucky?� she asked him. �He is doing very well in his studies and he is riding his pony almost everyday now. Lucas and Nikolas are becoming inseparable. He is asking if you and Luke are coming for Christmas and I was hoping you would write a letter to him and think of things you would like to get him. I�m paying for them and I will make sure he knows who gave them,� Stefan told her. �I have a letter all ready. I was hoping you would ask and the small list is of things he has wanted for a long time. He might all ready have them but if not, I would appreciate you getting them for him,� Laura said handing over the papers. �Is he still asking about us?� �Only, to me and Alexis. He avoids Stavros and doesn't know what to think of Helena. He has even started sneaking out of his room at night and climbing into bed with either of us. He will slowly grow out of it but I do kind of enjoy it. He is such a bright young boy. I�m looking after him for you. I just wish things were different, but you of all people know how much voice I have in the family,� Stefan said. �I know and I�m glad Lucky has you looking after him. I would be more worried if you weren�t there. He is everything to Luke and me and we love him a lot. If we didn�t we would be long gone by now,� Laura said, trying to hold back the tears. �Lasha, I�m sorry. I would love to make Lucas' wish come true but I can�t. I have to go. There is a party coming up and a lot to prepare for,� Stefan said, quickly walking away. He stopped and placed more pictures of Lucky on the table by the door. Luke walked out of the bedroom and said to her, �You right. He isn�t like the others. They would have never admitted that this was a mistake. I�m glad you told me the truth about you and him. I just wish things could have been different, because Laura, I�m dying without Lucky and I don�t know what to do. I dream every night about running from here and finding him dead. I miss our son and for the first time my life, I�m helpless.� Luke admitted to her, as tears of grief fell from his eyes. Laura didn�t say anything, she just walked to him and pulled him close. They stood there for a long time, hoping things would change because Lucky wasn�t the only one with a wish. Lucky and Nikolas ran down the stairs to find what was under the Christmas tree early that morning. Mrs. Landsbury placed the boys by the tree and ordered them to wait for the others. Stavros was the last to arrive and made sure that Lucky got his presents last. Lucky just sat and looked at the four presents in the corner of the room. He wanted them most of all. They had been there all week and he knew his parents sent them, but he opened the ones from the Cassadines and the ones that said Santa. Helena looked at him and said. �All right, Lucas you can open them now.� Stavros had moved to the other side of the room. He watched with an evil smile on his face as Lucky opened the presents. Stefan and Alexis were wondering what he was up to, but didn�t ask. They looked on as Lucky ripped at the presents and relished them. His favorite was a small teddy bear that Laura had lovingly made herself. She placed a card around its neck that read, �I�m the hug you always dream about.� His face showed all the joy and love he felt at that moment. �I love my presents and thank you for keeping me here. I hope I�m not too much trouble,� he said to them all. �You�re no trouble and we love having you,� Stefan told him. �Play with your toys until breakfast and then the servants will take them up to your room. You and Nikolas will attend the party for all the kids tonight,� Stefan told him. Stefan and Alexis joined the kids in the games and when it was time for breakfast, Lucky wasn�t about to put the teddy bear down. He carried it everywhere all that day. Stavros made him keep it in his room for the party. Lucky couldn�t wait for the party to end. He decided to go up and grab the bear. Lucky headed toward the staircase. Stavros waited until Lucky had reached the top of the marble staircase before leaving the party unnoticed and following Lucky up. He wanted to see what the little bastard was doing. Stavros looked inside Lucky's room when he reached it and saw the little boy searching the room wildly. �Lucas, what are you doing?� Lucky stopped his search momentarily and looked up at Stavros. He looked angry� very angry. �Master Stavros, I was looking for the presents that my parents gave me. The others are here, but I cannot find the ones from my parents. Master Stefan said that the help would bring them up� perhaps they forgot.� Lucky did not like the look in Stavros eyes and began to back away from him, instincts told him to get away� no good was to come from being in Stavros' presence at this time. Stavros clenched his fists together and walked slowly towards Lucky. �I gave those presents to the other children who were less fortunate than you. Children forget about toys after a few days, so what difference would it make, huh?� Lucky says the first thing that came to his mind. �They were from my parents.� One look into Stavros eyes proves that it was the wrong thing to say. Stavros rushed up to Lucky and grabbed him. �You little bastard. You will NEVER speak of them with such love in this house again! You understand?� He twisted Lucky's head so that Lucky was staring into his eyes� so that Lucky could see his rage. He shook Lucky, demanding an answer. Lucky whispers. �Yes�� Stavros shook Lucky again and then screamed, �LOUDER YOU LITTLE BASTARD! AND DON'T YOU EVER FORGET TO SHOW ME RESPECT!� �Yes� yes Master Stavros� please let me go� I won't ever do this again�� Lucky began to squirm out of Stavros' grasp. Stavros laughed evilly. �You are right about this not ever happening again. I am Master Stavros� the Cassadine. THE CASSADINE, YOU HEAR ME! I can do whatever I please� and I am going to start by giving you a lesson you will never forget.� Stavros pushed Lucky to the ground and quickly undid his belt. In a matter of seconds, he was striking Lucky with all his strength and after each blow he said, �You are nothing. Don't you ever go around this house talking as though you are anything. You do what I say and how I say it. You are only here because your parents didn�t want you around. Nikolas wanted a playmate and you are it. He is the heir and that means you don�t ever win in anything, but you better not straggle behind him, either. I�m going watch you like a hawk. You mess up and you�re mine. You little bastard� What are you? What are you? Say it and don't forget it!� Lucky closed his eyes and tried not to scream from the pain of the blows. Stavros words hurt him worse then the blows. His parents dumped him here with these monsters. Didn�t they love him? What could he have done to make this happen? His thoughts were interrupted when Stavros turned him over and slapped him across the face. �I asked you a question, boy! Answer it! What are you?� Stavros struck at Lucky again causing his nose to start bleeding. �I am a little bastard�� Lucky managed to get out, despite all the pain� physical and mental. He wanted so much to be away from here� he wanted to go to a place where the monsters never win� where Stavros could never do this to him again� Stavros got up and stared at Lucky in contempt� a real heir. Lucky is the heir� but he was nothing because of his worthless grandfather, who didn�t have the guts to hold on to the power of the Cassadines. �WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT RESPECT?� He grabbed the nearest object, which happened to be a crystal paperweight and hurled it at Lucky. Lucky covered as much of his face as possible as the glass cuts through his skin. He let out an agonizing scream of pain, which caused Stavros to go at him more. �I SAID WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT RESPECT?� Lucky screamed out the words as he felt the blows from the belt. �MASTER STAVROS, I AM A LITTLE BASTARD! Please�stop. Please stop this.� Monsters� everyone is a monster� Master Stavros is a monster� and so are his parents for leaving him here with these people� with Stavros as a father figure� Stavros grinned, he has gotten to the boy. �No, I am not finished with the lesson yet.� He continued to strike at Lucky with the belt. Blow after blow� Lucky's screams get louder and louder, but for the most part, the screams were drowned out by the party below. �Yes, you are Stavros,� Stavros turned around to see Helena, Stefan, Alexis, and Nikolas. He ignored his mother's words and continued to strike at Lucky. Helena finally had to call for the guards to separate Stavros from Lucky. As Stavros was being dragged away, the others look in horror at Lucky, who was curled up in a ball, crying� lying among a pile of broken glass� bleeding� open wounds all over his young six-year-old body� whispering over and over again� �I'm sorry� I'm sorry� I am just a little bastard as you say�I'm sorry� I'm sorry�� Helena motioned for the others to leave the room, except for a doctor and one maid to clean up the mess. After seeing a reluctant trio of Cassadine's leave she walks over to the bed, where the doctor was tending to Lucky. She waited until he finished, before sitting beside Lucky. �You poor, poor little child. I promise that I will do everything in my power to keep him away from you� from your body in the future� we cannot have you marked up now can we?� Helena began to touch Lucky's cheek, which was a bright red color� �You aren�t what he says you are, Lucky. You are far better than what he says you are� Go to sleep now� and tomorrow we will have a new room made up for you� you don't have to ever see this room ever again�� Lucky looked up at her with frightened eyes, as she called him by his name. She slowly began to rock him to sleep� �One two, Michael's through� Three four, Luke for sure� Five six� Lucky's fixed� seven eight� Spencer's Gate� nine ten� Helena wins�� Helena continued to rock him late into the night� until he had cried all the tears in him� and finally fell asleep from pure exhaustion. Lucky didn�t respond when Helena kissed his forehead, before leaving the room� he was to busy thinking� Monsters� they were all monsters� except for Helena� she kept him safe. She stopped the monster� she stopped Stavros. Why did my parents leave me with that monster? Master Stefan said that they were good friends� Dad couldn't be friends with a monster like that� could he? Maybe dad was a monster too� and mom� but not Helena� she made it all stop. Helena headed down stairs and on the way, she ran into Alexis who was bringing up the bear for Lucky. Helena looked at the bear in disgust and said, �take that back to Laura and tell them he didn�t want it. The same for the other toys.� Helena walked on, trying to hide her discomfort from her actions. �God, I hope Michael was right when he predicted that the Cassadine's fall will come by his children�s hands. I just hope Luke is the one that topples us all.� Stefan walked into Luke and Laura�s prison carrying the bear and some pictures. He put this meeting off until he was sure Lucky was all right. The boy started crawling into bed with either him or Alexis at night. He was avoiding Stavros all together and Helena had ordered that Lucky�s old room be closed off as it was. He put the pictures down and the bear in front of Laura. �We gave them to him, but Stavros took them away later that day. I have the pictures of him opening them. I did try to talk Helena into at least letting him have the bear but she wouldn�t relent,� Stefan told them. He hopped he could lie well enough to keep the real truth from Luke or he might not get out of this room alive. Luke got up and grabbed the bear. He looked at Stefan and said, �they won�t allow it? He is just a little boy and in game he doesn't understand. Go back and tell your darling mother, that I�m getting out of here and I will come for her. Then, we will see what is allow and not allow.� Luke turned and walked out of the room. He could almost see Lucky�s big blue eyes asking why? And Luke�s heart broke even more. Chapter 8 Return to Cassadine Revenge |