The Softball Game
By Twig
~*PART 6*~
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters on the show "Passions".
They
belong to NBC and James E. Reilly. If I owned any of these people,
trust me,
Luis and Sheridan would have been married off a LOOOOONG time ago.
Since this
story is solely for amusement, and I have no ulterior motives (well,
not too
many) please, don't sue me.
Grace stood in the kitchen, talking on the phone, while Sam towel
dried
his hair. They had dropped Kay, Miguel and Charity off at the hospital
and
were now relaxing in relative peace and quiet.
"Oh my," she said suddenly, and hung up the phone.
"What's wrong?" Sam asked her.
"That was Father Lonagon. He said somebody important just died."
"Someone died? Let's go find out who it was," Sam said to her, and
having no
lives of their own to speak of, that's just what they did.
Moments later they stood outside the funeral home, talking to the
rather
unhappy priest.
"I hear that it's Julian Crane," the priest said sadly.
"Oh no! Sam, Julian died!" Grace sniffled, making her way into the
dimly lit
parlor. She and Sam stood in front of the coffin and peered in.
Julian lay peacefully inside, flask still clutched in his pale hand.
"Oh Sam, this is horrible," Grace sobbed, "Poor, poor Ivy! She's been
such a
good friend to us lately, hasn't she Sam? She doesn't deserve this!"
"She's been a wonderful friend," Sam told her tightly.
"I should call her," Grace was bawling now, wiping at her eyes with a
handkerchief, "she should get this news from a friend. Oh, poor Ivy!"
She hurried towards a pay phone.
<<<~~~>>>
Crane Mansion
The phone jingled sharply, and Pilar picked it up, her voice calm.
"Crane Residence."
"Pilar?"
"Grace? Is that you?"
Grace was sobbing into the phone, "Pilar, I need to speak to Ivy."
"What's the matter? Is something wrong?"
"Oh Pilar…Julian's dead!" Grace wailed.
"Dios mio!" Pilar exclaimed in dismay, putting the phone down. She
hurried to
the foot of the stairs and called up, "Mrs. Crane!"
Ivy stepped down the stairs lightly, "What is it Pilar?"
"Grace Bennett is on the phone. She needs to speak to you."
Ivy rolled her eyes and grabbed the phone, "Hello Grace."
"Ivy " Grace was almost inaudible past her sobs, "Ivy oh I'm so
sorry"
"What's wrong?" Ivy asked, alarmed, "Did something happen to Sam? Is he
all
right?"
Grace sniffled, "No, Sam's fine. It's It's Julian. He's dead!"
Ivy gasped and hung up the phone, uncertain whether it was horror or
elation
she was feeling.
"Julian is dead?" she asked the air around her. And suddenly,
inexplicably,
she felt sad.
<<<~~~>>>
Harmony Funeral Home
The small funeral parlor filled up rapidly. Grace sat bawling in
the
corner, while Sam did his best to comfort her. Kay, now on crutches,
hobbled
around next to Simone, who's arm was held in a sling. Charity had a
tight
bandage wrapped around her head, and was being followed very closely by
Miguel. Ethan and Theresa stood talking, matching bruises standing out
on
their foreheads.
"Gwen was just leaving for a business trip," Ethan said softly, "So she
couldn't come to the funeral."
"Ethan, I'm so sorry about your father" Theresa said earnestly,
gazing into
his eyes.
"Me too," he said with a sad little smile, sitting down in one of the
plush
chairs.
TC and Eve entered, TC wincing with each step he took.
"So Julian's dead," he commented, "and I didn't even have the pleasure
of
killing him."
"This is all my fault," Eve said suddenly, "If I hadn't lied to Grace
about
why we were moving, she never would have organized this softball game,
all of
these people never would have gotten hurt, and Julian never would have
died!"
"How do you know Julian's death had anything to do with the game?"
"Father Lonagon said the person drowned while walking home. Julian was
walking home from the game and fell in the harbor," Ivy said sadly.
"Well, one less Crane to worry about," TC shrugged.
Sheridan and Luis sat towards the back, out of view of most of the
people in attendance.
"I can't believe Julian's dead," Sheridan said in a small, sad voice.
"I know," Luis said sympathetically, rubbing her back, "I'm really
sorry."
"I never got along with him that well," she was shaking her head, "But
I
didn't want him to die. He's still my brother."
Luis said nothing, just wrapped his arm around her and pulled her
closer to
him. She sighed and laid her head on his shoulder.
"It's gonna be all right," he whispered to her.
The doors flung open and an unusual apparition drifted in.
"Is that Ivy?" Grace had come out of her melancholy stupor long
enough to
notice the startling sight.
Ivy was decked out, head to toe, in black clothes. She clutched a
crumpled
handkerchief in one black-gloved hand, and a heavy black veil covered
her
face.
"Mother," Ethan said, hugging her.
Ivy said nothing, merely approached the casket with a grim slowness.
"She looks like the grim reaper's evil sister," TC chuckled, and Eve
whacked
him in the leg, causing him to yelp in pain.
The whole room fell silent as Ivy stood regarding her dead husband.
After a
moment, a loud wail echoed across the room, bouncing off the walls.
"JULIANNNNNNNNNNNNNN!" Ivy sobbed into her handkerchief.
There was an uncomfortable silence following her outburst. Everyone in
Harmony knew that Ivy and Julian's marriage was far from perfect, and
most
thought that Ivy despised her husband and wouldn't care one way or the
other
whether he lived or died.
With unparalleled curiosity, the residents of Harmony watched as she
leaned
over the casket and looked at her dead husband's still face.
"Julian," she whispered to him, "there's something I need to tell you.
I've
always love-"
Julian sat up abruptly, blinking in the light. "Wha? Huh?"
As the spectators gasped in horror, Ivy recovered from the shock
gracefully.
"JULIAN!" she snapped, slapping him across the cheek.
Julian, having woken up from the blue-powder-induced stupor he had
fallen
into, tumbled out of the coffin and staggered back up the isle, past
the
horrified spectators.
Ivy took a step back, watching him leave with a stunned expression
on
her face. Ethan came up behind her and touched her arm.
"Then who really died Mother?" he asked, glancing towards the coffin.
All attention turned to the casket in the front of the room once more,
everyone holding their breath in anticipation. Ivy made her way back
over
slowly, peering in with a certain dread.
Her eyes widened briefly and she took a deep breath before wailing,
"MILLICENT!"
Continue to Part 7
Story Wrote by TWIG Thanks so much for sharing your story with us.
You can write TWIG at [email protected]
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