| Chapter 28 Lucky rolled over, still very tired from the pills his Aunt Bobbie had talked him into taking, but he was starting to come around. He slowly yawned and stretched. Lucky sat up still trying to shake out of his drugged sleep and said, "Hi dad." Luke watched in amusement as his son's mind started to work and the realization that his father was really sitting there sank in. Lucky did a double take at Luke and wondered if everyone was right and he was finally loosing his mind. "You are either real, or I have totally lost it," Lucky said, not hiding his confusion about any of this. "Yes, Cowboy, I'm real," Luke said and he reached and gently brushed a stray of hair out of the young man's face. Lucky jumped back and looked at his father with wide blue eyes. "You're dead!" He said. "I saw you fall." "I fell but didn't die. I broke my leg and almost my neck but my luck still holds out. I guess I have a few lives left," Luke told him, not blaming the kid for acting the way he was acting. He knew that if it were him, he would be just as rattled as Lucky. Especially, after everything that had happened to Lucky over the past few months. "Oh, my God. It is you," Lucky said and this time he reached and grabbed on to his father. Lucky started to cry and shake uncontrollably. After loosing Luke and just loosing Ruby, Lucky's emotions were on edge. Now that Luke was back, Lucky almost couldn't take it and it took a while to gain control again. Luke held him until he was sure that Lucky was fine and on more stable ground. "How?" Lucky asked finally as he slowly pulled away from his father. He didn't want to and if the truth were to be told he wanted to stay in the safety of his arms for a long time to come but Lucky needed answers to lots of questions. "Would you believe a dolphin saved me?" Luke asked his son with a cocky grin on his face. He was trying to lighten things up and get a smile from the kid. It worked, somewhat. Lucky did crack a smile, but only a small one that didn't reach his eyes. He just looked at his father and waited for the rest of his story. Luke took a few deep breaths and told the story again. "I should have know because you are too hard to kill, aren't you?" Lucky finally said. "Don't worry about it. From the little I found out while I tried to get home, everyone did all they could to find me. Besides, all that matters now is that I'm here. So, why not tell me what has been going on in your life?" Luke asked him with a look that told Lucky that he knew about Steven or at least some of it. "They told you," Lucky said. "Yes, they did, but I want to hear your point of view," Luke told him. "You're the first. Bobbie doesn't listen and neither do most of the others. Aunt Ruby was the only that was willing to give him a break and he didn't prove her wrong," Lucky said hoping to tell his father that Aunt Ruby was on his side and that this would help win his father over more easily. "So, Ruby gave the count a break. That isn't like her. What happened?" Luke asked, wondering what had been running through his Aunt's mind. "All I can tell you about the first part is what I was told. I was really out of it when we came home. Helena's drug did something to me and I couldn't tell who was who. I heard voices, but they harsh and frightening. So, I fought them every time someone came near me. Mom told me that I wouldn't even want her to touch me and to tell you the truth, I still don't. Your are the first person besides Liz that I actual reached out to. I just can't find a way to do that to the others. I'm not ready for it and I don't want them to touch me either," Lucky told his father as he sat up and pulled his legs closer to him. "I can't blame you for not wanting to be touched. So, what about Steven? Tell me his story or the stuff you know," Luke said sitting down on the edge of the bed making sure that there was enough space between him and Lucky. He didn't want to crowd the kid, but he wanted Lucky to know that he was still there. "Stefan found out when he came home from Alexis that Helena hid the truth about who his father was and that Mikkos knew. You see, Helena and Mikkos had a deal that to other's lover's child lived in their home as long as they never knew the truth," Lucky said. "Yeah, I bet lovers wasn't the word that was used," Luke said smiling at his son. "It wasn't but I'm not using it," Lucky commented and went on telling Luke about what he missed. "Mikkos' side of the bargain was a little more involved than Helena's. We think it is because Helena had Alexis's mother killed and that he found out about it. Helena was forced to give up all her lovers and let Mikkos do what ever he wanted. If she went back on the deal then the father of her lover's child would die," Lucky said. "Oh, great. My life depended on her being loyal to that creep. Why am I'm not surprised," Luke said knowing that there was a reason that Helena never came after him all those years ago. "Why she did it, we don't know but she kept her side of the deal. Mikkos didn't, at least in the end. He told the truth in his will and took all of Stefan's birthrights from him. He said that it was up to Helena to give him what he earned," Lucky said. "You mean kill him? That is what Mikkos wanted her to do, so why didn't she?" Luke asked. "Why wasn't this told before hand?" Luke asked. "Revenge? Steven thinks it was because it would make Mikkos roll over in his grave," Lucky told Luke. "That I see. Go on," Luke told him. "Ah, after we were taken, she told me and Nikolas the truth. He didn't believe it but something inside me told me that this wasn't a lie. I saw her face and I knew that she wasn't lying," Lucky said. "So, it was Helena that told you before everyone else," Luke said. "Yes, she took Nikolas' birthright way and that was why he was in the servants quarters," Lucky said. "Oh, God. Why didn't she tell me this before? Why wait this long to tell me?" Luke asked himself but it was Lucky that answered. "Stavros," Lucky said. "Oh, the first born son," Luke said and things feel into place. All of Helena's plans or most of them came clear to Luke. She might have kept quiet to use this a different way before Stavros' death, but afterwards, Stefan became her revenge against him. "Do you believe it?" Lucky asked. "Yes, but things are not going to be easy between us. There is so much bad blood there," Luke told his son. "Can you try? He isn't as bad as you think. He's been where I was and maybe worse. He was used just as much as the rest of us and he earned a chance to change. Can you give it to him?" Lucky asked his father. "I don't know. I have to think about this entire situation, but as long as he doesn't hurt you or use any of this against you, I'll not interfere. That is all that I can offer you," Luke told Lucky. "I know that this is hard for you. So, I'll take it as a start. I just hope that things work out, because I hate the fighting and I don't want to fight any more. I have nothing left inside of me to hate anyone but Helena. It is her that I want to hurt, but I know that it isn't going to happen," Lucky told Luke. "What about Helena? How do you feel about all of this?" Luke asked. "Creepy. I can still feel her hands on me and see what she tried to do to me. I can't forget that, but sometimes it isn't as bad. I get better some days and then I go backwards on others," Lucky told him. "Cowboy, you did nothing wrong and you didn't ask for it. She was the one that did all of it," Luke told him as he raised his son's head to meet his gaze. "I know that, but it still hurts. I keep thinking about what if she had done this or that, would it have changed anything?" Lucky said. "All the what ifs in the world are not going to change what happened. She tried to molest you, Lucky. You didn't do anything to earn it. She was sick and out of control. You have to see that because it is the only way that you're going to get past all of this," Luke told him. "How can I? What can I do to change how I feel?" Lucky asked him with tears filling his eyes again. "Talk about it. Tell me what you remember and what you felt while it was happening. Trust me enough to tell me your darkest secrets," Luke told him as he pulled Lucky to him. Lucky sat there in his father's arms and told him everything. He told him about her hands and the thoughts that they had caused. He talked about the how she controlled his body and left mind screaming for her to stop. He told him about wishing to die because dealing with what she was doing was too much for him to handle. He told Luke about not living up to what he thought his father wanted out of him. He told about thinking he should fight back and win, but found that he couldn't do it. Luke looked at Lucky after he was done talking and smiled. "You think that what she did to you changed how I feel about you?" Luke asked him. "Yes," Lucky said, not looking at his father's face for fear of seeing disgust in his eyes. "Cowboy, she couldn't do that, because no matter what, I'm proud of you," Luke said and Lucky looked up right then, surprised to hear those words coming from his father after all that he had said. "You fought back. You were smart enough to see her trap. I didn't. I thought that I could walk away at any time and not lose a part of me. I was wrong. Dead wrong. She not only took my pride but a part of me that I can't get back. I sold it to her; for money that didn't last, and for a place to stay that vanished after she was done with me. Money couldn't replace what I lost and I regret what I did. I would rather live in the streets than face life with her again. I was young and stupid and I'm glad that my son was a hell of a lot smarter then I was, because you see her as she really is: a cold, heartless woman that destroys everything that she touches" Chapter 29 Back to Luke's Secret Past |