| Chapter 49 The Cassadine Castle sits on a grand estate. There are miles and miles of empty grassland acreage. Not even the castle is seen from the main road giving the family as much privacy as they want. The main drive had huge bushes lining up on either side of the drive. This kept the horses off the road and it also gave it a grand old world look. The drive itself was a good mile and half long and it went over a hill giving helping to hide the castle from view. The first thing you saw as you drove over the hill was this old fortress wall that hide the main house from view. This wall was what was left of the original castle that burnt around 1100�s or so. The family had kept it up to keep out in attackers building the new part of the estate inside the castle. Mikkos had most of the old retaining wall taken down for safety sake. After years of neglect it was just to dangers to keep up any more. Mikkos did keep the old cobble stone path that made up the old estates drive. It went was in a horse shoe style that went around the front of the castle. The old retaining wall that Mikkos kept up was part of the old Stables. He turned them into parking garaged for the cars and other wheeled items he had there for the family to use. As for the walls of the castle, they were made of stone and they were covered in ivy. It stood seven stories high with three balconies that ran around the entire estate on the first, third and seventh floors. The roof was flat with an old iron fence around the top. One could on imagine what Victor had placed up there to keep the family safe from attackers. The windows were all painted glass. Some of the pictures were religious and others were a bit dark and demented. They all fitted the Cassadine family history. Some of the inside of the house kept its old world look but Mikkos did revamp a lot of it. He had to add electric, heating and water pipes. Thankfully this castle like other Cassadine homes had secret passages that Mikkos used to run things from one floor to the other. Mikkos changed part of the old layout of the house. He added lot more color and style to a very dark look. The only rooms that kept he kept the old world look to was the library, den and the chapel was located in the center of the castle. The other rooms got a brand new look. The first three floors of the castle had been revamped but the other floors still had to be worked on and Mikkos had them blocked off from the family. There was no fear of running out of room because this castle was three times the size of Wyndomere leaving plenty of room for family, friends and staff members. To bad the family didn�t see much of this place when they arrived later that evening. The only thing any of them really cared about then was getting out of the cars and going to bed. None of them bothered to turn their heads and look around at the place. Mrs. Carlson met the family at the front door. She smiled bright at the worn and ragged faces. �Good evening,� she said. Mikkos was the only one that replied, �Good evening. I think we are all worn out and ready for bed. Is the rooms ready?� �Yes, Mr. Cassadine, this way,� Mrs. Carlson said bowing slightly as she guided the family into the house to show them their rooms. ************************* The family slept in late while the staff went about business as usual. Mrs. Lansbury arrived with the other staff members early that morning with the family�s belongs. The staff went about unpacking while everyone slept. Mikkos was one of the few members that woke up because of the activity. He opened one eye to see a young maid hanging up his belongs. He looked at the clock and sighed. This notice started the young woman. Who turned around and said in Russian. �I�m sorry. I didn�t mean to wake you.� �No trouble,� Mikkos smiled back at her as he sat up. Ruby was still fast asleep beside him. He noticed the pile of clothes that still had to be unpacked. �How about doing that later?� Mikkos asked her. �Instead, you can go get me my morning coffee and newspaper.� �Yes, sir,� the maid said bowing slightly to him and quickly running out of the room. Mikkos laughed at this and wondered if the staff had been told not to bow when talking to Luke or Lucky. Mikkos knew neither one of them liked the idea too much and would rather treat the staff like people then servants. When the maid was gone, Mikkos got out of bed grabbed his rob from the hook and went into the sitting room to wait for his coffee. He opened the double set of french doors and stood there enjoying the morning. The sun had been up hours ago but this didn�t mean he missed all the morning action. The gardens were blow him tenting to the garden and cutting flowers for the rooms. Mikkos couldn�t help but notice how grand things smelled. He was enjoying those smells when the door opened to the bedroom and Ruby walked out joining him. She wrapped her arms around him and said, �Good morning!� �Good morning. You sleep well?� Mikkos asked her. �Yes, I did,� Ruby said looking around the room and smiling. �I can�t help but notice this place looks vaguely familiar. Did you copy it?� Mikkos smiled at her as he turned around and pulled Ruby closer to him. �No, it is all the same. This is the room where our son created and born. I never got rid of it. Helena, thought I did but then again she thought a lot of things,� Mikkos said with a smile on his face as he kissed Ruby on the cheek. Ruby kissed him back and said, �I don�t know what to say.� �Don�t say anything. I thought that our first days together were here. I figured our new life should be being here as well!� Mikkos told her. �It is fitting,� Ruby said smiling. She knew that things would change for her when she finally married Mikkos but she really didn�t care. He was taken from her a long time ago. She never stopped loving him or wanting him. She figured the change was worth the price of a few years with the man she loved. **************************** Victor woke up before Mikkos did but he did sleep in a little bit more then he planned on. He went down stairs to talk to the guards. He was still trying to figure out what was going on with the bugs and the search of Lucky�s room. He knew someone had targeted the kid but didn�t know the way or what was going to happen next. After making sure the guards had everything taken care off. He decided to go for a run. As he ran he thought about the notebook on Lucky�s bed. What did the kid have in that notebook? Ok, Lucky did spend a lot of time writing in it. Victor always found him with this strange faded paper and that notebook muttering something in Russian. He never really caught anything Lucky said but he knew it was something. Victor thought about this and other things while he ran. When he was done, he was tired and no more closer to solving this puzzle then he was before. What Victor did know was he had to find out what Lucky was working on! He had this gut feeling that the answer to his problems led right to the kid. Victor could easily snoop around and find out the truth or he could go out and ask Lucky for it. Victor decided the latter would be better. It wasn�t that he wasn�t up for a changeling but then again finding things out about Lucky or Luke had been a bit hard. Those two just loved to hide things form him. It was like some kind of game to them or something. ************************* Speaking of Luke, he was fast asleep in bed when the maid showed up to up pack Laura and his belongings. Being on the run all these years did one thing for him. He always knew when someone was opening the door. Luke opened one eye to see this cubby maid go to the closet and start hanging up his suits. Laura had heard her as well. She put her arm around Luke and whispered. �Just forget about her,� Laura said moving closer to Luke. �Remind me to point out to Mrs. Carlson and Mrs. Lansbury that I am a grouch in the morning,� Luke muttered as he closed his eyes and tried to forget about the intruder. �How you feeling?� Laura asked noticing the tight look on Luke�s face. �Ok,� Luke said lying. Laura knew he was lying. She looked at the clock and realized that it was past time for him taking his medicine. Laura got out of bed and went into the bathroom. She got the pills and a glass of water. She then came back to bed and handed the pills to a frustrated Luke. �I would have taken them later,� Luke told her. �I know but since I have them. You can take them now,� Laura said smiling as she put the pills into Luke�s hand. Luke took the pills then looked up at his wife. �Are you worried about this?� he asked her. �A little,� Laura admitted. �Don�t be. I�m going to be fine,� Luke promised as he pulled Laura into his arms. Laura laughed and kissed him. �I just want make sure that you will be fine. Remember you promised me that you would never leave me again,� Laura told him. �I won�t,� Luke said as he helped Laura back into bed and they laid there enjoying the peace and quiet of their morning. ************************ Morning didn�t go as well for Alexis. She woke up with a bad case of morning sickness. She spent a big part of her morning in the bathroom. Sonny knocked on the door several times to see if she was ok but all he got in reply was a sharp go away. Sonny was a bit worried about this mainly because Tasha�s birth went relatively easy for Alexis. She never got sick once. Sonny couldn�t help but wonder if something was wrong with Alexis. When Alexis finally walked out of the bathroom. Sonny looked at his wife with a concerned look on his face. �Everything ok?� he asked her. �Yeah, I�m fine,� Alexis said smiling. �You sure?� �Yes, Sonny, I�m fine and so is the baby. I just have a bad case of morning sickness and it is perfectly normal. Every pregnancy is different,� Alexis told him. �Ok, but maybe you should talk to Alex about this?� Sonny suggested. Alexis laughed and said, �I did already. She is the one that told me this. Look, I�m fine. I just need to rest a bit and then maybe we can go for a walk or something?� A �Ok,� Sonny said trying to smile as he watched his wife climb back into bed and lay down for a bit. He didn�t know if she was just saying this to keep him for worrying or it was the truth. He was going to go to Alex this morning and ask her himself if things were ok with Alexis. He wasn�t ready to risk his wife�s health or the health of this baby for any reason. ********************************* Gia woke up to find Nikolas sitting in a chair staring into space. She sat up and asked, �You ok?� �Yeah, I�m fine,� Nikolas said. �No you�re not. We aren�t fine. Nikolas, if you talk to me then how do we work this out?� she asked him. Nikolas smiled and said, �I don�t know. I guess I don�t know what to say really.� �Then why did you call me?� Gia asked him getting out of bed pulling on her rob as she walked towards Nikolas. She sat down beside him and looked intently at him. �Grandfather told me too. He said I should stay away from the family until I can tell him who Nikolas is. He also said to find out if I loved you or not. If didn�t then I should let you go,� Nikolas said sadly. �Do you?� Gia asked scared to know the truth. �I don�t know. I can�t say that I thought about someone else. I have. My trouble is I don�t know if that is because of us or because of me,� Nikolas admitted. �Robin,� Gia said coldly. �Yeah, Robin,� Nikolas admitted. �I should have know. I�m not blind. I saw how you look at her,� Gia admitted trying hard to hide her rage. �What about you and Zander?� Nikolas shot back. �Zander is fun be around. He doesn�t lock up me like you do. You know, maybe you and Robin belong together because you are as cold as she is,� Gia snapped. She didn�t how they started to fight but they did. They always did. That is all they ever did. Nikolas was going to say something but he stopped himself. This wasn�t right and he knew it. He just didn�t know what to do about it. Nikolas got up and walked out of the room without saying a word. He left Gia sitting there hurt and frustrated. She knew she loved him. She knew that she had to fight for him. She also knew that Robin was a treat. The problem was how did she deal with that threat? ************************************ Nikolas and Gia weren�t the only couple having troubles. Jason and Carly were having troubles of their own but a different kind of trouble. All during the ride hear, Carly thought about Alexis and Sonny having a baby. She knew her and Jason talked about it and at the time waiting was a good idea but now. Carly wasn�t so sure. She wanted to be a mother again. She wanted to know the joy of holding that little life in arms again. Jason found Carly thing about this on the balcony. �What�s wrong?� He asked with a knowing look on his face. �Nothing,� Carly replied. �Please, don�t try to lie to me because it isn�t going to work. So, out with it! What is on your mind?� Jason asked her. Carly sighed and said, �I want to have another baby.� �I thought that was it,� Jason said. �That all you going to say?� Carly asked Jason as she turned to face him. �What do you want me to say? We talked about this before and I though we both agreed on waiting,� Jason said. �I know and at the time the ideas were good but now I don�t know. I have this growing need to holding a baby again,� Carly admitted to Jason. Jason smiled at her. He pulled her to him and said, �Carly, I love you. I love our kids but I want to wait a bit longer before adding another child. I love our time together. I love the idea of just being alone with you without worrying a feeding a baby. I�m sorry.� Carly nodded her head. She understood why he was saying this. They didn�t exactly have a lot time together before the twins came. Carly knew this was the reason why Jason wanted to wait. She also knew that there was no way that she was going to change his mind on the matter. She was just going to have to wait until he was ready to be father again. She had no other choice in the matter. **************************************** Lucky was fast asleep when he heard screaming. He sat up in bed and looked around trying to figure out where the screaming was coming from. At first he didn�t realize where but then he realized where it was coming from. The scream sounded like Lu and it was coming from the other room. Lucky jumped out of bed and ran out of the room. Lucky burst into the room and found his sister standing on the bed looking around at the floor. �What�s wrong?� Lucky asked. �It tried to eat me. It was big and ugly with these red eyes,� Lu said looking around for where the creature that tried to bite her. Lucky tried hard no to laugh at his sister. He figured Lu must have been dreaming but he knew better then to tease her. He figured he would just go along with it and humor her. �Let me look under the bed,� Lucky said as he walked to the bed and got to his knees. Lucky stuck his head under Lu�s bed. At first, he didn�t even see anything not even dust bunnies. Then he spotted something hiding near Lu�s nightstand. Lucky smiled as he picked up the creature. �Ah, Lu are you sure this thing didn�t try to lick you and not eat you?� Lucky asked his sister as he stood up. Lu looked puzzled until she spotted what Lucky was holding. Lucky was holding this little cat. It mewed as Lucky held it out to her. �Ah,� Lu said grabbing the cat. �Better?� Lucky asked his sister. �Yeah, but this isn�t want I saw. What I saw tried to eat me,� Lu said holding up her hair and Lucky noticed that some of her hair was missing. Lucky looked around the floor one more time then he saw it. A rat making its way towards the fire place. �Lu, don�t scream!� Lucky told his sister as he walked towards the fireplace very slowly picked up the shovel. Then in one quick move he brought the shovel down on top of the rat. �EW,� Lu said wrinkling her nose. �Its dead,� Lucky said smiling as he scooped the dead rat up and threw it into the fireplace. That is when Lucky spotted the loose brick and the hole. Lucky bent down and looked into the hole. He noticed that the hole went into the room right next door. �Whose room is behind this wall?� Lucky asked his sister. �It�s the nursery,� Lu said wondering what Lucky had found. �Damn,� Lucky cursed. �Lu, go get one of the adults, now!� he ordered as he ran out of the room carrying the shovel. Lu knew better then to argue with her brother. She just got out of be carrying the cat in her arms and doing what he ordered. **************************** Lu ran down the hall right into Jason and Carly. They were going down for breakfast. �Uncle Jason,� Lu cried as she ran into him. �What is it?� Jason asked. �I don�t know. Lucky found a rat in my room. He then noticed something in the fireplace. He headed towards the nursery. I think there is trouble,� Lu told him. Jason looked at Carly and said, �Go wake up Sonny or Luke. I�m going to check on the kids,� Jason told his wife leaving Lu and Carly standing in the hallway. ************************ Lucky walked into the nursery and saw two things at one time. Tasha reaching for rat that had her bottle and the other was a rat sitting on top of Victoria. Lucky pulled Tasha out of bed over turned the bed as he yelled at Michael,� Get up!� Lucky called. Michael sat up and looked around with rubbing sleep out of his eyes. �What�s wrong?� �Later,� Lucky told him handing Tasha to Michael. �Go out in the hall,� Lucky told the boy and watch where you walk.� Lucky didn�t know where the other rat went to or if there was another one. �Ok,� Michael said not realizing his twin was in trouble. As Michael headed out of the room, Lucky went towards Victoria�s bed. �Don�t move,� he told the little girl. �I�m not,� Victoria said in a small voice. She didn�t know what these creatures where but she didn�t like them. Lucky had two thoughts as he swung the shove towards the bed. One these rats were brave for not running away with all this noise and the other one was he hoped he didn�t miss. Jason had busted into the room right as the shove hit the rat right square on. The rat went flying as across the room and Victoria jumped out of bed running towards her father. �Daddy!� Victoria cried. Jason pulled his daughter into his arms and smiled at Lucky. �Thanks.� �Don�t thank me yet because I think there is one more,� Lucky told Jason. Jason looked down at his feet and saw a rat near by. He took his boot and slammed it down on top of its head. �Come on,� Jason said to his daughter as he turned around. Lucky was walking behind them when he heard this noise. Lucky thought it was coming from behind the wall. Lucky walked to the far wall and felt around. It didn�t take him long to find the passageway. �Bingo,� Lucky said smiling as he passageway opened. Lucky heard the noise better when the wall was opened. Lucky picked up the Barney flashlight from the floor and walked into the passageway. He didn�t have to go far. He found this mother cat defending her family of kittens from three very large rats. �Ok, you dirty rats,� Lucky said as he took the shovel he was holding and swung it at the rats. Lucky hit one rat and sending the other two running. �Ok, its safe,� Lucky said once the rats were gone to the mother cat. He bent down and started to pick up the cat and her three little kittens. Lucky guessed the other kitten he found today had to belong to this cat. ************************** Lu and Carly not only got Luke and Sonny but they got Mikkos as well. The group walked down the hall to find Jason holding Michael, Victoria and Tasha in his arms. �What happened?� Sonny asked taking his daughter from Jason. �Lucky found some rats in the room. He took them out before any harm came to the kids,� Jason told Sonny. �Where is Lucky?� Luke asked looking around for his son. �I don�t know,� Jason said realizing that Lucky wasn�t there. �Damn that kid,� Mikkos muttered as he walked towards the nursery with Luke on his heels. Mikkos and Luke spotted the open passageway and were about to go in it when Lucky came out with his arm full of cats. �Hi,� Lucky said smiling. ***************************** Down stairs in the kitchen, the rats were all but forgotten about at least from the kids. They were standing around a box where the mother cat laid while her kittens ate. Carly and Alexis hovered near by to make sure that no harm was going to come to their kids. Mikkos had gone off to make sure all fireplaces were checked out and rat traps were put in the passageways. He wasn�t about to have this happen again. He was worried next time they wouldn�t be so lucky. While all this was going on, Alex was trying to check out if Lucky had been bit. So far, the teen was going along with her. �I�m fine,� Lucky said trying to shove Alex away from him. �Lucky,� Laura begged. �Mom, they didn�t bite me. I�m fine,� Lucky said backing up a bit. �Cowboy,� Luke said smiling. �You might as well let them check you out. They aren�t going to let you alone until they are sure you are ok.� �Dad,� Lucky begged. Luke just smiled at him. Lucky finally gave in and let Alex check him out. �Happy?� Lucky asked when she was done. �Yeah,� Alex said grinning. Lucky didn�t have a comment for her. All he could do was stick is tongue out at her as he walked way. He knew it was childish but he jus couldn�t help it. Chapter 50 Back to Trials of Love |