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Emily woke up to the sound of her alarm clock buzzing, signaling the start of a new day. She raised a hand to her clammy forehead and grimaced. Every little movement she made sent waves of pain through her battered body, but she couldn’t let it bother her. Slowly, Emily got up and moved herself into an upright position. Making her way towards her bedroom door, she made sure that it was locked this time. There was no use in having someone barge in on her again.
Carly tossed and turned as she dreamed about the past and things that she regretted. Jumping out of her sleep, Carly strangled a scream. Sweat poured down her face in streams. Shakily, she got out of bed and went to look at herself in the mirror. He face was pale and chalky. Shaking the feeling of foreboding out of her body, she prepared to face another day in the Quartermaine mansion.
After breakfast, Emily quickly made her way outside the mansion to wait for Lucky, who should arrive at any moment. The looks she got at the breakfast table from Carly were enough to make her go insane. She could take a look of hatred, but not sorrow and pity. Leaning up against a tree outside, she waited for her best friend. Then she got that weird feeling again. She was being watched. Emily hoped it wasn’t Carly. Emily was sure that Carly had told someone that something was wrong with her and she didn’t appreciate it. All Carly did was meddle and now people were going to get hurt. Thinking of this Emily began to cry. She swiftly brushed her tears away when she noticed a familiar truck coming up the road.
Lucky watched as Emily slowly leaned off the tree and started walking towards his truck. Emily approached Lucky’s truck with caution. He had a look on his face that did not bode well. Emily got into the truck and gave Lucky a smile.
“What’s up Lucky?”, she said.
Lucky turned and gave her a look like she had just grown a third eye.
“I think that I should be asking you that question Em. Was gym class bad yesterday?”, he asked, thinking about how slow she had been walking. It looked like it pained her to attempt any kind of movement. He’d have to talk to Jason about this.
Emily watched the emotions play across Lucky’s face. He was thinking about something really hard.
“Uh..yeah Lucky, I’m really beginning to hate gym.”, Emily said.
Lucky grunted and started his truck. As they dove down the private stretch of road Lucky noticed the car that was following them. It was one of Jason’s men, Johnny. Pete had the day off. So engrossed in trying to look casual around Lucky, Emily didn’t notice him. Digging through her backpack, she did notice a note that was placed in it. A note that she didn’t write. Emily visibly paled.
Lucky glanced at Emily, happy that she did not notice that they were being followed, but swallowed a curse when he got a look at her face. Taking one hand off the wheel, Lucky gently tapped her arm. Emily almost jumped out of her skin when Lucky touched her. He had mistakenly touched a fresh bruise that hurt immensely. Swallowing a cry of pain, Emily turned to Lucky. He was saying something to her, but she couldn’t hear the words. She was too wrapped up in watching AJ watch them across the street. He had a look on his face that promised retribution.
Lucky watched Emily’s face go blank and craned his neck to try and see what held her attention. AJ had already left. Seeing that Emily snapped out of her trance.
“Oh, sorry Lucky. What did you say?”, Emily asked.
Lucky narrowed his eyes. “I was asking you if you were okay. You’re white as a sheet.”, he said. “Are you okay?”, Lucky asked again.
Giving Lucky a wan smile, Emily nodded. “I’m fine Lucky. I was just thinking about school.”, Emily said, realizing how stupid it sounded just as she said it.
Sure, she liked school, but she wasn’t obsessed with it. Lucky knew this too, but he decided against it. They had reached the school.
Emily noticed that and jumped out of the truck as soon as Lucky stopped it. She was in so much pain that she didn’t even bother to give Lucky a smile, at least one that he couldn’t see right through.
“Later Lucky.”, Emily said as she left to make it to her first class before the late bell.
“Bye Em.”, Lucky said.
AJ drove by Emily’s school and watched as she went inside.
Once inside the high school, Emily walked to her locker and put her stuff inside. Carefully removing the note she found, she read the three words,
Emily swallowed her tears and stuffed the note into her backpack. Not able to hold her tears any longer, Emily raced to the girls bathroom to cry.
After that episode in the girls bathroom, Emily’s day did not get any better. Before now, school had actually been a place where she could escape from her life and now it was tainted. She knew AJ was watching her now and it showed. Emily walked down the halls like a ghost. Her face was pale and she knew that everyone probably thought she was on drugs again, but Emily didn’t care. Her attention was riveted on the shadows she passed, praying that no one was hiding in them, waiting for her. Emily knew that AJ wasn’t in the school, but that knowledge didn’t comfort her. She was paranoid.
AJ Quartermaine hurried to the meeting spot to wait for his contact. Pretending to be reading the daily newspaper, AJ sat on the bench to wait. His eyes had an almost maniacal gleam to them as he thought about Emily.
“The little b**ch! I’ll teach her to cross me. Jason isn’t the only one who can get things done.”, AJ thought to himself.
So caught up in his thoughts, he didn’t see the person casually approach him. A well dressed man in his mid thirties to early forties passed by him and casually spoke.
“Mr. Moreno will see you tonight.”, the man known as Sorel said as he walked away.
AJ smiled behind his newspaper.
Emily glanced around herself nervously. She went outside as soon as school ended to wait for Lucky. As soon as she sat on the steps to wait, she got that funny feeling again. Now she was sure that someone was watching her and it was tearing her apart. After seeing AJ watching her talk to Lucky, she knew that he thought that she had told someone, but she knew that she didn’t. Carly did. Emily didn’t know who Carly told, but she told someone. It wasn’t Luke or Lucky. If it was, they would be all over her right now, trying to get information out of her. It couldn’t be Jason. Emily knew that if he knew that he would come straight out and say it. Whenever she talked to him, he didn’t sound like he knew anything was wrong. This left AJ himself.
When Carly saw her in her bathroom that morning, she threatened to tell her brother and it seems like she did. She probably went straight to AJ and spilled her guts to him. That thought made her grimace. Carly went and told the person who did it, ain’t that ironic? Now she was gonna lose them.
“It’s all my fault.”, Emily said to herself, not caring that she was crying or that anyone could walk by and see her. Emily wrapped her arms around herself and waited for Lucky to come get her.
By herself, Emily waited outside the school, panic in her eyes. Rocking herself like a small child, Emily stared into space. Lucky wasn’t coming. AJ came through on his threats, he took Lucky away. Moaning out loud, Emily thought of her best friend, guilt in her heart.
“All my fault. All my fault. All my fault. All my fault........”, Emily said out loud, over and over.
Tears streamed down her face unchecked. The man in the shadow watched as she sobbed her head off.
Jason Morgan sat in his penthouse thinking about his sister when he got a phone call. Picking up his private line, he answered.
“Morgan.”, he said.
His face stiffened as he listened to his caller.
“Stay there, I’m coming.”, Jason said tersely. Hanging up his phone, Jason grabbed his leather jacket and headed across the hall to Sonny’s place.
AJ drove home, his plans for the night set. As he drove, he thought about all that he would accomplish this night. Moreno was a mobster, but he was stupid. He would go for the plan that he was offered. He also hated Jason, which was good. Sometimes AJ couldn’t believe how Jason still managed to be ‘the little golden boy’ of the family. He was a criminal! People have died over him and his partner Sonny Corinthos, but AJ was going to win this time. He already had something that Jason wanted, Michael. AJ grimaced. Thinking of Michael made him think of his mother, Carly. That b**ch. Everyone thought that he married her to please Grandfather and become head of ELQ, but they were wrong. He did it because she wanted and ‘loved’ Jason. Even Emily loved him, that’s why she had to be punished. The little drug addict needed to see that Jason only brought pain to the people he ‘loved’. Then AJ would finally win. Realizing that he was almost home, AJ brushed his thoughts out of his mind and put on a happy face. All had to be well tonight so he could leave and go to his meeting.
Parking his car in the driveway, AJ got out and whistled as he walked to the door.
Once inside, he could hear Grandfather yelling. AJ rolled his eyes. Suddenly, the family room doors opened as Alan and Monica rushed to see who came through the doors.
“Oh, its just you AJ. We thought you were Emily.”, Alan said.
Hearing Emily’s name, AJ eyes narrowed, but no one noticed.
“What happened to Emily?”, AJ asked casually. The little brat better not have done anything. He would have to do something about that.
Edward answered his question. “Emily didn’t come home from school yet. It’s been two hours! She’s probably with that ‘Spencer boy’! Didn’t I tell you that he was no good?! Look at his father! They’re probably God knows where doing God knows what!”, Edward yelled.
Ned waltzed in the room with Chloe to see what the commotion was about. “Why is Grandfather yelling like a fool?”, he asked to no one in particular.
Everyone turned to him and stared. “Emily didn’t come home from school yet. She usually comes right home or at least calls.”, Monica said.
Chloe walked over to Monica and hugged her. “Maybe she’s with Lucky. They’re great friends.’, Chloe said helpfully.
Edward snorted. “That’s what I’m telling you! He’s probably mauling her right now!”, Edward said.
Then Lila came into the room. “Edward! I’m ashamed of you! Lucky Spencer is an honorable young man!”, Lila said angrily.
Edward shut up after that, but he still glowered. Everyone fell silent as they tried to figure out what to do.
“I just got a call from Johnny.”, Jason said.
Sonny gave Jason his full attention. Johnny was watching Emily today. “What did he say?”, Sonny asked, knowing it couldn’t be good.
Jason was pacing the room. “He said that Lucky never showed at Emily’s school and she’s still there waiting.”, Jason said worriedly. He knew Lucky Spencer. When he said he was going to be somewhere, he was going to be there. Something had to be wrong. “Johnny also said that Emily is just sitting there mumbling to herself. He said that he was to far away to hear what she was saying, but he thinks that is isn’t good.”, Jason said.
Sonny looked at him thoughtfully. “What do you want to do? Do you want Johnny to reveal himself and bring her home or here?”, Sonny asked.
Jason frowned. If he told Johnny to bring her home or here she would know that she was being watched. Then she would suspect something. Lucky said that whoever is hurting her might hurt her more if he knew that someone else knew.
“No. I have to find a way to get in touch with Lucky.”, Jason said as pulled out his cell phone.
Lucky Spencer sat in his truck, knowing that Emily was probably worried, but he couldn’t worry about that now. He had other things to worry about now, like the fact that he couldn’t move.
Jason turned off his phone in frustration. He had just called almost everyone who might know where Lucky was and no one knew anything. Sighing, Jason turned on his phone to call the last person on his list, Luke. He hoped that he had information.
Luke Spencer sat in his office, going over some papers before the club filled up. So engrossed in his work (a rare thing for him), he didn’t hear the phone ring until the fifth time.
“What!”, he said as he answered the phone.
“It’s me Luke. Have you seen Lucky?”, Jason asked.
Luke frowned into his receiver. “Yeah, he left a couple of hours ago. He said he was going to get Princess.”, Luke said, referring to Emily. “Why you askin’?”, he asked suspiciously.
Jason sighed. Luke didn’t know where Lucky was then. “I got a call from Johnny saying that Lucky didn’t show and Emily is still waiting in front of the school, freaked out.”, Jason said. Luke paled.
“When Lucky left, he said that he was going straight to the high school. Oh man, this is bad.”, Luke said.
“Do you think he might have made a detour to see Laura or his sister?”, Jason asked hopefully.
“Nope. When he has to get Emily, he goes straight to her. If he wanted to visit Laura or Lulu, he’d get her first.”, Luke said, becoming alarmed. “Listen, don’t call Laura, she’d freak. Lucky has got to be somewhere. I’m comin’ over.”, Luke said, hanging up the phone. He then grabbed his jacket and walked out the door and out the club into the rain.
All argued out, the Quartermaine’s were trying to figure out a way to search for Emily.
“Should we call the police?”, Chloe asked.
Ned shook his head. “You can’t call the police until she’s missing for twenty-four hours.”, he said.
Alan glanced at Monica, who was on the verge of crying. “Why don’t we go out and look for her? We all have cars and cell phones. We can cover almost all of Port Charles together.”, Alan said.
Just then, Carly, who had been taking a nap, came down the stairs. “Call Jason.”
Everyone in the foyer turned to look up at her.
“What?!”, Edward yells. “I am not letting Jason’s goonies look for my granddaughter!”, he said.
Lila looked up thoughtfully. “He does have people that can help dear.”, she says to Edward.
AJ looks at Carly with narrowed eyes, which she chooses to ignore. “Why do we have to involve him, for all we know, its his fault in the first place!”, AJ says heatedly.
Monica turns to look at him. “Its true, most of the time its his fault. Remember when this place was over run with bodyguards?”, AJ says.
“Listen, I know you all hate Jason, but he can help.”, Carly says.
Alan turns to Carly and glares at her. “Jason left this family and we don’t need him anymore. We can do this ourselves! Let’s go.”, Alan says angrily.
Ned, Alan, and AJ leave to go into the pouring rain to look for Emily while the women and Reginald stay in case she comes home.
“I have no idea where Lucky is.”, Luke says to Jason and Sonny.
All three men are in Jason’s living room along with Renaldo, Francis and Pete. Jason, who is very quiet while everyone else talks. Suddenly, he gets up.
“I’m going to get Emily. Its pouring outside and Johnny said that she’s still out there.”, he says, reaching for his jacket.
Then Luke’s cell phone starts to ring. “Spencer.”, he says. Everyone prepares for the worst as Luke visibly pales.
“What?! When?! Are you okay? Yeah, Jason is here, hold on.”, Luke says as he hands the phone to Jason.
“Who is it?”, Jason asks.
“It’s Lucky. There was an accident."
Everyone’s ears pick up when they hear the word ‘accident’. Jason takes the phone and talks. “What happened Lucky?”, Jason asks.
Lucky sighs through the phone. “There was a car accident at the intersection by my apartment and one of the cars hit me. It backed up all the traffic and I couldn’t move until the tow people came. I’m cool though.”, Lucky said. “Did anyone go get Emily?”, he asks.
Jason sighed. “She’s still at the school. She was panicking and Johnny was afraid to go get her. She’s freaking out.”, Jason said, unsure of what needed to be done.
“Go get her Jason. Tell her that I’m okay.”
Luke, Sonny and the bodyguards watched as Jason spoke to Lucky. Everyone was relieved but still nervous. Emily was still out there.
“I’ll go get her and tell her that you called me.”, Jason said as he hung up the phone. Turning back to the curious group, Jason began to speak. “Luke, I think that you should go to the hospital. They have Lucky there because he bumped his head.”, he said. Luke turned and left, happy that his son was alive and okay. “Renaldo, go bring the limo around. Sonny, will you come with me?”, Jason asked.
“You know that you didn’t have to ask. I love Emily as much into action.
Emily sat alone on the steps of the school all cried out. Fierce rain fell from the sky soaking her body to the bone, chilling her.
“Its all my fault. Its all my fault.”, Emily said over and over.
Johnny watched from the shadows as Emily cried and talked to herself, his heart breaking.
Jason and Sonny sat in the back of the limo as Francis drove them to Emily’s school, both caught up in their private thoughts. Suddenly, Jason speaks out loud.
“This is my fault. I should have seen something sooner.”, Jason says, almost like he’s talking to himself.
Sonny shakes his head. “You can’t blame yourself for this Jase. You couldn’t have known what was happening.”, Sonny says.
Jason looks at him. “How can you say that? She’s my sister! I should have seen something or known that something wasn’t right. Emily has been pulling away for months.”, he says sadly.
Sonny had noticed that too, but decided not to comment on it when he saw it. He just thought that she wanted to spend time with Lucky. Jason turned and looked out the window, anguish on his face.
Carly sat on the couch in the family room of the mansion and watched as Monica paced the room. Lila sat in her wheelchair, sipping tea. Chloe was on the phone with someone. Hanging up the phone, Chloe turned to the three women.
“I just called Jax and Alexis. Jax is going to look for Emily and Alexis is going to come here.”, she said to no one in particular.
Monica glanced at her, but was too caught up in her thoughts to sleep. Staring into space, Carly didn’t realize that she was silently crying until Lila looked at her.
“Don’t cry dear. I know Emily will be all right.”, Lila said.
Monica and Chloe turned to look at Carly. They both knew that there was no love lost between Emily and Carly and couldn’t understand why Carly would cry for her. Lila understood though. She saw the way Carly looked at Emily sometimes, like she wanted to reach out to her but didn’t know how.
Carly brushed the tears from her cheeks and looked at Lila and tried to smile. “I know Lila.”, she said.
Monica and Chloe watched as Carly picked up the phone and dialed Jason’s private cell number.
“Come on Jason, pick up.”, she thought to herself.
As the limo pulled up to Emily’s school, Jason watched his sister sitting on the steps, his heart in his throat. Sonny swore to himself as he saw Emily rocking herself like a child. Johnny quietly walked over to the limo and opened the door. Jason came out at took a good look at him.
“She’s been like that for hours.”, Johnny said.
Jason nodded as Sonny got out the car and stood next to him. “Go on. Go get her.”, Sonny said. He knew that Jason wanted to see her alone right now.
Walking slowly, Jason made his way over to his crying sister. Getting closer, Jason could finally hear what she had been saying for the last few hours.
“Its all my fault. Its all my fault. Its all my fault.”
Those words floated to him on the night wind. Finally, Jason stood in front of his broken sister.
“All my fault. Its all my fault.”, Emily said to herself. Suddenly, she noticed a presence before her. Trying to look through the rain and the haze of tears, Emily spoke one word. “Lucky?”
General Hospital's Friendship Forever