Through the Darkness, Chapter Two

CHAPTER 2

August, 2013

It wasn’t that Blair had ever felt unwelcomed at Llanfair.  But she generally went with Todd’s feelings about his ancestral home and he had always felt uncomfortable there, to say the least.  Sure, there was a little bit of truth in what Todd’s letter had said.  Viki had always taken Todd’s side, kept his secrets and she had to guess that those actions factored into any feelings she had about the Lord estate and the chatelaine of the manor herself.

But, as usual, Viki was gracious when Blair and Jack stepped inside.  “This is a lovely surprise.  What brings the two of you here?”

Blair looked at Jack and began, “Well, we wanted to check in with you and…and see how Clint is doing.”  It was a lame excuse and she was sure that Viki had seen right through it.

Viki knew Clint was the last thing of Blair’s mind, but she let it slide as she led Blair and Jack into the library and closed the door behind them.  “Actually, there’s still the seventy-two hour hold on him, so I haven’t checked in.  And they wouldn’t let Natalie in to see him either.”

Blair nodded.  She tried to think of something else, but, failing that, she came out with, “I heard from Todd today.”  She glanced at Jack and added.  “We both did.”

Viki perked up at the mention of her brother.  “Is he alright?  Where is he?”

Jack noticed the change in demeanor.  He looked to his mother as she said, “He’s fine, but I don’t know where he is.  He didn’t tell me that.”  Blair took a deep breath.  “Viki, there’s been a lot going on since Todd came back to town.”

“You could say that,” Viki responded.  “And I suspect you’ve known about a good deal of it.”

“Todd has told me what’s been going on.  He didn’t want to worry you.  That’s why he hasn’t said anything,” Blair tried to cover.  Then, she reached into her purse and pulled out three notecards, handing the top one to Viki.  “Before Todd left Port Charles, he received this note.”

Viki read it and looked shocked.  “He knew Victor was alive before he came home?”

Blair nodded, but it was Jack who spoke.  “It was weird.  After Victor burst in at the hospital, we were all stunning.  But the look in Todd’s eyes…it was more like a confirmation rather than a shock.  You’d think that he’d go white at seeing the guy he thought he killed.  But it wasn’t like that at all.”

Viki looked at Jack as smiled.  She wanted to comment on his uses of her brothers’ names, and not Dad or Scarface.  It appeared as though Jack may have turned a corner with his father.

“And when we went to the coffee shop,” Blair added, “he was almost nonchalant about thinking he killed Victor.  If that had been me, I’d have been shaken.”

Viki remembered a time when Blair had shot a man and thought she’d killed him.  She’d nearly had a nervous breakdown.  It was Todd who had taken control of the situation.  “So Todd was aware that Victor was alive.  And of course, he wouldn’t have got to the authorities with this information.”

“He was more worried about Dani.  She’d been drunk dialing him and the first thing he asked me at the club was if I’d seen Dani,” Jack said.  “Then, she passed out right there and we all headed to the hospital and, well, that was where Victor showed up.”

“Viki, there’s a lot more than just Todd knowing Victor was alive,” Blair said, trying to get back on track.  “After he was back, after Victor left again, he came to the club, told me he had to show me something.  But before we could go, some took a shot as us…at me.” 

“Yes, I remember, he came over the next morning to see if I was okay,” Viki said.  Blair pulled out the next note and handed it over to Todd’s sister.  Her refined manner fell to the wayside as she read the names of on the card.  “Natalie…”

“All the family that’s at least in town, plus Starr.  We’ve all been set up as targets.  Todd thinks they got to Dani with the drugs and tried to get to me with the shooting.  He has Shaun on as security at La Boulaie for the rest of us,” Blair explained.

Viki looked from the second note back to the first.  “‘Finish what you started or else’.  Do they mean…?”

Blair nodded.  “Kill Victor.”  She took a deep breath.  “Todd had a plan for that.  He got a dead body and was going to have it tattooed with the same symbol Victor has, the same as the one on those notes, and dump it in the river.  When the authorities found it, he’d give Natalie his DNA sample so that it showed up as Victor’s.”  Pulling out the third note, Blair finished her story.  “Before the body could be found, Todd got this note.”

“Oh, God,” Viki gasped, her voice barely above a whisper.  She looked up and saw tears forming in Blair’s eyes.  She got up and gathered the woman in her arms.  When she pulled away, she said, “That’s why he had to leave?  Because this…this organization was forcing his hand?”  Blair could only nod her head, as she tried to keep her emotions in check.  “What does Todd, or Victor for that matter, have that they want?”

Blair was able to calm herself down.  “Todd doesn’t know.  And this symbol, it’s different from the one that of the group that held him for all those years.”

Viki heard the unspoken name Blair was thinking.  At one point, she had believed her father had been the root of all evil within the family.  Now she was seeing that Irene was just as bad, if not worse. 

“There was one silver lining to Todd leaving,” Blair began.  Her gaze fell to her hand and she slipped off a long gold ring she wore on her left finger.

Viki eyes grew bright as she smiled at Blair.  “Oh, darling,” she said as she hugged the woman again.  “When Todd first returned, that Halloween, he told me he was determined to get you back.  I’m so pleased to see that it’s finally happened, even under these circumstances.”

“The thing is, Viki, it’s supposed to be a secret.  I told Tea, because we’re in the same boat, and I told Jack.”  She put her hand on her son’s shoulder.  “He had a right to know.  But Todd gave me the choice to tell you everything, and it has to remain a quiet.  I know how good you are at keeping his secrets.  I need you to keep mine.”

Viki understood what she was saying.  She nodded her assurance.  “Is there any help you need?  I would do anything to bring my brothers home, you know that.”

Before Blair could answer, the doors to the library opened to Natalie and Liam.  The redhead stopped in her tracks at the sight of Blair and Jack.  “Oh, hey Mom, I didn’t know you had company.”

Viki stood up.  “Blair and Jack just stopped by to see about your father,” Viki explained, easily keeping up the appearance of a simple visit, out of concern.

“Yes, your mother said they didn’t let you see Clint when you went to the hospital,” Blair remarked.

Natalie had a faraway look in her eyes for a moment.  Then, as is a spell had been broken, she replied, “Yeah, the doctors were going to be doing an evaluation all night and I wasn’t allowed to see him.”  Then, swinging Liam’s arm, she said, “So we decided to come and check up on Grandma!”

Liam ran over to a crouching Viki and gave her a hug.  “Well, I’m so glad you did.”

“And I also came to tell you that I spoke to Kevin this morning.  We had an impromptu board meeting and Cord’s coming back to Llanview to run BE while Dad’s incapacitated.  He and Aunt Tina should be here in the morning,” Natalie informed them.

At the mention of Tina Lord Roberts, Blair couldn’t help but roll her eyes.  “Viki, I have a feeling that you’ll be needing to batten down the hatches.  Jack and I’ll get going.”

“Blair, I’ll walk you out,” Viki told her.  She looked down at Liam.  “Why don’t you and your mommy go into the kitchen and we’ll have a snack.”  Liam jumped up and down a few times and ran off, his mother following him.  Blair, Jack and Viki went into the foyer.  As she opened the door, she said, “I will keep all you told me a secret.  I realize how dangerous the situation is.”

Blair smiled.  “Thank you, Viki.”

“But I would like to be the one to tell Dorian about your marriage,” she added with a wicked smile.

Blair was somewhat unsurprised by the idea that the prim and proper Viki Lord would still be an adolescent bitch given the right circumstances.  She tried not to hide the smirk on her lips as she gave an acquiescing acknowledgement to the request. 

When they got to the car, Jack turned to her.  “Aunt Viki’s gonna have a field day with that one, isn’t she?”  He shook his head.  “Why do they hate each other so much?”

“I think they’ve gotten to the point that even they don’t remember why,” Blair admitted.  They pulled into the driveway at LaBoulaie and noticed an unfamiliar car there.  “Wonder who’s here.”

“Yeah, that’s not Uncle David’s car,” Jack agreed.

They walked into the house and could hear Dorian’s laughter wafting through.  A male voice could be heard, apparently continuing whatever story Dorian was reacting to.  “So I told the Senator, ‘That’s not what that’s used for.’  Not that he’d know, being that he’s around a hundred years old.”

“Oh, I can only imagine,” Dorian replied after she calmed down.

Blair and Jack walked into the living room to find Carl Peterson sitting next to Dorian, sipping a glass of wine.  Dorian caught Carl’s gaze and turned around.  “Oh, darlings, I didn’t even realize you two were out!  Come and join us!”

Blair took the sight in.  “Actually, Dorian, it’s been a long day and I’m kinda tired.”

“And I have some reading I need to finish up for class tomorrow,” Jack said.

“Not before I introduce you to my friend, Carl Peterson.  Carl, my nephew, John Cramer” Dorian swallowed as she said, almost under her breath, “Manning.”

“Hello, John,” Carl said holding out his hand.

“It’s Jack.  Aunt Dorian just likes saying my full name,” Jack replied, grimacing.  He hated whenever his full name was used.  It usually meant he was in some kind of trouble.  And as he thought that, he also realized he had a reaction to Dorian’s almost choked out addition of his surname.  For once, he kind of liked the fact that Dorian had a hard time saying it.

“Manning.  Almost as big in this town as Lord…or Cramer.  A rather unique lineage you have.  They grand-nephew of a senator on your mother’s side and the grandson of a publishing magnate on your father’s,” Carl said.

At that, Dorian almost choked on her wine and Blair and Jack’s eyes widened.  Jack had always tried to not think of who his grandfather was.  Even Victor had instilled in him a loathing of Victor Lord Sr.

“Um, like I said, I have work I need to do,” he repeated as he hustled up the stairs.  He got to the top step and turned at the sound of Dorian’s voice.  “We all try not to think about that man in this house.”

The reply came, “That’s right, you were married to him for a brief time.”  Jack had been aware of that, somewhere in the back recesses of his mind.  That probably had something to do with Aunt Viki’s request earlier. 

“Yes, and it was not a happy marriage,” Dorian’s voice trailed off as she returned to the living room.  Jack had become engrossed in trying to hear the rest of the conversation he didn’t notice his mother standing over him when she found him there.

Blair looked back down the stairs.  “That would be the main reason why they hate each other.  And I think that’s also the reason Viki really wants to spill to Dorian when the time comes.”