Oh no! Hurry!! Before it's too late!
[Clark]Not again, damn it! We lost Cordy again! My heart racing, I try to hide the fear I'm feeling but Tilly sees it. Looking at her eyes I know she's feeling it as well. Cordy is her best friend in the world. And my first crush. Working next to Tilly, watching her as she puzzled through the code with me made my heart swell with love and pride. This beautiful, intelligent woman is the mother of my daughters. As much as I will always love Cordy, the one thing I am the most grateful for is that infatuation led me to find this perfect woman. As soon as we crack the code, I am ready to race from the room. Tilly squeezes my hand to calm me as Atlas' brain catches up to our conclusion. I can see the location clearly in my mind. I know where we'll find her, and I know where he wants to go. The map is wrong. It isn't empty water. I'm not sure how I know this, but I see a jungled paradise clearly in my mind with a building hidden deep in the canopy. My head hurts at the fading vision, som
[Atlas] My heart seizes as I feel a sudden stab of pain. I can't see straight, my world spins as my heart skips a beat and for a moment I feel like I'm dying. "Cordelia will be fine," I take a deep breath with my hands over my head as I lean against a wall. This isn't the first panic attack I've ever had, but it has been a very long time. The first time was when my parents died. It happened again the day I learned Angelica was "dead." "She isn't dead," I swear to myself. I won't let her be dead. "I'd know if she were dead." And I believe that. My heart would stop beating as soon as hers did because she is my heart—she and Jasper and that new little angel growing within her. The Captain got straight to work. It isn't enough to just turn a key and release the controls to change course, there are other elements to moving a boat like this, especially at the rapid rate we want to move her in. Things could go wrong, engines could fail. Waiting for the first mate to arrive so that
[Clark]Atlas comes around the table and lets me lean against him as I cry. I feel guilty, falling apart like this while he's so worried about Cordelia. I'm worried about her too, but right now my family is on the bottom deck suffering. Dying. "So much blood," I repeat, unable to shake the vision of her lying on that bed, drained of color as blood and other fluids continued to flow from between her legs. I know she wanted to rush the babies along, but I can't help but blame myself for yesterday afternoon and the emotions that led to her need for comfort. If we hadn't made love, would she be dying now? If we had just waited until we were close to a real hospital, would I be praying for her and my girls like I am right now?She's right, I am selfish. I wanted to give our family something to cheer about and show the world we are powerful and not broken from everything that has happened, and in doing so I broke my love's happiness. She deserves a dream wedding, not a rushed elopement th
[Atlas]Clark draws our attention to something reflecting the light on the surface of the water. A member of the crew sends down a net and brings it to the surface.The aluminum casing of the item shines brightly in the sunlight and I blink. It takes me a moment to recognize it as my eyes adjust. It's just an empty water bottle. In any other circumstance, I'd just dismiss it as old sea-trash. But as I rotate it in my hands I realize how big a mistake that would be. The logo for Steele Industries is engraved on the side. This water bottle came from this ship, a ship that has not sailed these waters in 25 years. Clark reaches forward and takes the bottle in his hands. His eyes closed, he rotates it, feeling it with his fingertips as he makes his own observations. "Jude threw this overboard. He's going through the water rapidly," His voice is rasping and quiet, sounding like they are coming from far away. "We need to hurry. Cordy is hurt. We are running out of time.We all stand there
[Cordelia]The sun shines in my eyes as I blink awake, my head pounding, each small stroke of the boat sounding a bit like a wet drum hitting the side of my head. Wait, stroke? We're moving again. Jude must have found a way to keep going to wherever the hell it was he wanted to go. I hope we get there soon, preferably before I need to vomit over the side. While I was knocked out by whatever Jude had given me, he had somehow managed to maneuver the boat onto another course. Jude's shoulder and arm muscles are impressive as he uses a large paddle to move the small boat forward, his skin tanning darker in the noonday sun. I want to demand to know what was in that shot that he gave me, why every muscle in my body still screams in pain, but I can't do more than open and shut my mouth uselessly. My mouth is so dry that it feels cracked, the inside of my throat is without even a hint of moisture. I am so thoroughly dehydrated that I can't swallow.Trying to talk, I make a strange dry raspi
[Cordelia]The water is so cold that when my body hits the surface I feel the shock of being dumped into a bucket of ice as my fevered skin dives below the surface. I scream in agony as the salt goes into every blister and cut, but nobody can hear me. I'm already sinking in the water. Nobody saw me fall this time. There was nobody ready to catch me. It's funny that just moments after Jude had saved me from falling over the edge, my family's rescue attempt flings me directly into danger. It was an accident, but an unfortunate one. The wake of the much bigger boat tipped this boat just enough for me to roll out once more, only this time Jude was too busy raising his hands above his head to see that his prisoner was escaping after all. I'd laugh if I wasn't terrified. I don't want to die. Not like this. Not with so much work left to do. My son is still sick and there are dangerous people following my family. Even people we thought were our friends. I just want a moment of peace. The
[Atlas}Jude raises his hands above his head, placing them in clear view but my eyes aren't there.My eyes are on the water next to the boat. A series of ripples set my heart on edge. "Cordelia," I gasp. I don't think. I don't feel. I just act. Stripping off my coat and shoes I dive off the ship so close to Jude's boat that the wake almost tips him over. The water is murky and dark and it is impossible to see anything. My lungs burning with the effort I refuse to quit. I will not let my wife die because another selfish megalomaniac interferes in our life for their own benefit. The weight of the water above me is pushing down and I wonder if I will drown trying to find her.But then I see it, a flash of light off of one of her emerald rings as she struggles against the bindings at her wrists in a fruitless attempt at swimming. Following the light flicker of movement I kick even harder, struggling to reach her before she's too deep for me to get us to the surface in time.How long is
[Tilly]Clark carried me as far as he could until his knees buckled under my weight. With all of the weight I gained with these babies, I'm almost twice my original pre-pregnancy weight, and even though Clark works hard on his body every day, his strength has its limits. Especially when he's scared, and right now he's terrified. "I should have never convinced you to come with me," the veins in his neck are bulging with strain as he takes a few more stuttering steps forward. "You should be in the hospital. This is no hospital." Lifting a hand to his face I try to soothe his wrinkled brow. My hand leaves a red trail and I try not to show panic at the sight of my blood on his cheek. "The doctor will help us. Don't worry.""Yes, the doctor will make this all better," his smile is tight. "And I'll stay with you the whole time. It's you and me and babies make four.I know he's trying his best to keep his cool, to let me know that I'm loved and that everything will be all right, that our b
[Cordelia] Today is our 20th second anniversary. We've lost count of the first one, forgetting it entirely as a moment of sadness. Instead, we honor the day when we took our vows and meant them, 7 years later in Napa. Usually, we leave Los Angeles and take the week for just the two of us. Even after two decades, we haven't lost our hunger for one another and I look forward to our time away where we can just be two people together and in love. But this year, my husband is feeling a bit nostalgic. This is why I'm in the lobby of the Steele Hotel and Resort, recreating a memory I wish I could forget. When he sent me the cryptic text this afternoon, I confess I was more than a little bit confused. Why, of all places, would he want me to meet him there? At least this time I'm not wearing a hoodie with a dress tucked into a pair of loose sweats. And while my face is covered with large sunglasses, it's more to protect my identity and not draw too much attention. I am far too recogniza
[Clark] "Come on. Dad!" My daughters pull me along by my arms. I've never been able to deny them anything they wanted but tonight they are asking too much. "It's only a blind date!" "Girls," I admonish, "What have I said, I'm not ready to let someone new into my heart. Your mother was more than enough for me." Cassie stares up at me with her starlight eyes, as deep and black as her mother's, and doesn't relent. "You promised you'd let us have anything we want for our birthday. Grandma helped us pick her out. You have to try, Dad. For us!" "Grandma Suzanna or Grandma Jenny?" I grump, "Who do I need to send a thank you note." "Both!" the girls giggle. "You owe us, Dad," Cassie counters. Her red curls bounce as she stomps her foot. "Do you know how weird it is to look on a DATING AP for potential girlfriends for our father? It's so gross. You should be grateful" "Yeah," Maddie chimes in, swinging her hair over her shoulder as she twists her lips just like Tilly used to, her hand
[Jude]If the universe were fair, I wouldn't have lived to see today. If karma took her toll, I wouldn't be friends with Clark and Atlas Steele, our children growing up side by side. Once the shadow of Magnus was lifted from our shoulders, and Angelica and I were finally able to go about our lives the way we always should have been able to do, It became easier to make good with my life. Angelica and I were married shortly after Mathilda's funeral. It was a small ceremony on the family medical boat, just before the two of us set sail with our daughters, Melanie and Veronica. When the DNA showed that they were indeed my children, and NOT Magnus', that his experiment had never stuck, it was easy to adopt them. In their mind, Angelica is their mother. When they are old enough, we'll tell them the truth about Aunt Sydney, but for now, we are sparing them the burden of her insanity.And we give them love, all the love of a couple who has always wanted children of their own.Angelica, it tu
[Cordelia]15 hours later I place my feet back in LA for the first time in 6 months. We have been gone for so long that I had forgotten how loud it is, or how oppressively hot it can be in summer. Clark met us at the runway alone, the girls with their grandparents. "I hope you don't mind, but I wanted to drive you home. We could have sent a driver but," he explains, "I wanted to be the one to welcome you home." He does his best to smile, but as his melancholy grin drifts to how I hold on to my husband's hand, I can see how much this is costing him. "I'm glad it was you," I reach forward to give him a hug. "Thank you." Atlas, who has been receiving a slew of messages from Theo as soon as we landed, asks to be dropped off at the new Steele Industries building. "Looks like they need me," he apologizes, kissing my hand. "I'll make it up to you tonight," he whispers in my ear and I shiver in anticipation. "I'm going to hold you to that," I whisper discretely in his ear, trying to be mi
[Cordelia]The rest of that day went by in a blur. I insisted we rush back to the compound even though everyone had received the news that Tilly was gone. I couldn't believe it. My mind couldn't process the possibility of a world without Mathilda Madison. She wasn't just my best friend, she was my sister. So I couldn't let her go. Clark was distraught. He and Tilly took a while to find one another, and when they did finally make the right connection, they fell for one another hard. It was beautiful watching my two best friends fall in love--they were perfect for one another. But not all stories end with a happily ever after. That was a hard lesson for me to learn as well. I wanted nothing more than to watch Tilly raise her daughters. When we made it back an hour later, her body had already been collected. I had wanted to see her, to give it a chance to see if I could have brought her back: just one touch, one spark. I was convinced that I could have been the one to save her. The
[Sydney]Why can't they just let me die? It would be so easy, I'm already cut and bleeding. Why bother with the IVs and the monitors? It doesn't matter anymore. Did it ever matter?My entire existence has been a fraud. If my hands were free I'd count the ways on my fingertips all the ways I've been lied to and used.A madman altered my DNA and injected me into the wrong mother. I was raised believing I was special only to discover I was the offspring of my enemy. The man of my dreams was married to the daughter my mother was supposed to have, and I was just a cheap copy of the woman he once loved, my genetic twin, Angelica. Was this life ever really mine to begin with? Even now they aren't honoring my desire to die. "She needs more blood," the doctor announces over my head, her clear voice cutting through the din of the operating room chatter. "Her blood pressure has dropped to dangerous levels. We can't use the anesthesia. She'll need to be awake for the procedure."Procedure?"I d
[Clark]The dissection of Magnus' brain was one of the most intensely fascinating and uniquely horrifying things I have ever experienced. Using my computer to guide the charge, we attached wires to his brain, fed through a divide that my mother had retrieved from her vault. "This will disrupt his signal. It will keep him from making a full memory transfer. Hopefully whomever he's jumped into will have a fighting chance." Everything my mother has said since I volunteered for this task has sounded like something from a science fiction movie. The duplicates we had seen in Delilah's footage of her father's secret lab were all designed to hold Magnus's memories in an artificial extension of his life. Not all of them looked like his current body, as often it was useful for him to become someone entirely different for spying purposes. "Is this how he always seemed to know everything?" I ask aloud. We had wondered how he managed to get around all of our codes, to find ways to learn about wh
[Cordelia]"Wally?" Holding my hand above his head, I pause, hesitating. Just a moment before I was about to take this man's life without even the smallest shred of remorse. It was necessary to protect my family. My children and my husband. "Cordelia," He blinks, his eyes roving my face and the surroundings like a caged animal. Licking his dry, salty lips, his body is otherwise completely still. "I don't have much time. He's fighting me...I..."Wally's muscles spasm, shaking Atlas as well as he holds him in place. Closing his eyes, his body stills, as if the effort of keeping still is so great that he cannot do anything else at the same time. He whispers something that I can't quite make out, so I lean in, trying to capture his words.As my hair brushes his cheek, he repeats himself. "You need to end this, Cordelia. Don't let him escape to harm another. His other mind is gone, Suzanna saw to it, but he can still jump to someone else.""Wally, what are you saying," I shake my head. "No
[Cordelia]Atlas and I raced down the hall to the exit, soldiers moving out of our way as we passed, nobody bothering to stop us as my husband's icy glare and dominant aura kept them pinned in place. Magnus is dead and I have never been more terrified in my life. The door to the outside pushes open and we are instantly blinded by the overhead sunshine that covers the beach with an oddly bright gray that stings the eyes. It is warmer than it had been earlier, the wind having died down, trapping the moisture of impending rain, held in place by the gathering storm. "Jasper," I call out gently, scanning the beach. "Wally?""Atlas do you see Jasper?" I grab my husband's arm. His pulse is rapid beneath my fingertips as we move forward as one and find the abandoned picnic blanket and Jasper's little galoshes next to a much larger pair. "Wally!" I scream out towards the waves and find him standing in the water, at the far edge of the beach. There is no sign of my son. None. It's as if the