66Hello everyone, sorry I keep adding things in the author's note. But Leo and Wiley will be in this after all as Lucas' sons. Let's just say he and Brooklyn were together and had them together, but are now just friends. And remember Lucas is Julian and Alexis' bio son. So, Lucas, Leo, and Wiley are biological Cassadines.
I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. It's going to be a bumpy ride! Enjoy!
Chapter 3- Cupcakes
"We found cyanide in her system," Lucas told Alexis and Julian in the ER.
Julian's eyes bulged. "Cyanide!?"
"She's twelve!" Alexis breathed heavily and fidgeted nervously. "How does a twelve-year-old get cyanide poisoning?"
"Sodium cyanide to be exact," Lucas said. "We have her on oxygen but I'm afraid she's slipped into a coma."
Alexis gasped and Julian wrapped an arm around her.
"Do you know if she's eaten anything out of the ordinary or inhaled something?"
Julian shook his head. "I can't think of anything."
"The police have ordered the school to shut down early so they can investigate," Lucas said. "They're also searching your house."
"Do you know when she'll wake up?" Alexis asked.
Lucas' eyes filled with tears. "I wish I did, Mom. But I don't even know if she'll wake up."
All the colour drained from Alexis' face, but Julian squeezed her shoulders. "Molly will be just fine. Go sit with her. I'll get Sam to pick up Kristina. I'm going to do some investigating on my own."
GHGHGH
"Why did school close early?" Charlotte asked as she plopped down on the couch next to Rocco. "I had a spelling bee today."
"Because… sometimes school needs to close early so the teachers have extra prep time," Lulu said from the doorway, carrying a box in. "This is addressed to your dad."
"I'm happy school finished early," Rocco said as he tossed his backpack on the coffee table. "Where's Dad?"
"He's working." She opened the box and scrunched her face. "Cupcakes? Maybe his work sent it. But it isn't his birthday or anything."
Rocco's eyes lit up. "I want a cupcake!"
Lulu shook her head. "We'll wait until your dad gets home, since they're his."
GHGHGH
"Why am I going home with you guys today?" Kristina asked as she sat in the passenger's seat.
Willow buckled her seat belt next to Scout and watched out the window at Michael and Nelle walking through the melting snow. Danny leaned back in his seat reading a comic book.
Sam frowned. "Molly's sick. Mom and Dad are at the hospital with her."
"Sick? Is she okay?"
Sam shook her head. "No. But she will be."
"I want to see Auntie Molly," Scout said.
"Dad wanted to know if you noticed Molly acting strange this morning, or if she ate something she shouldn't have."
Kristina shrugged. "I mean, she had one of Dad's cupcakes, but other than that just oatmeal for breakfast."
Sam raised an eyebrow. "One of Dad's cupcakes?"
"Yeah, they were delivered just before we left for school. Mom said to put them in the fridge, and we'll have them for desert later. But Molly snuck one."
Sam pulled into the driveway and her mouth dropped slightly when she spotted an unknown box on their front step. Everyone else started opening their doors.
Sam held her hand up. "No, stop! We're… we're going to Grandma Monica's… No…" She remembered hearing that Tracy had a seizure that day too. "We're going to visit Daddy at work. He's finished in an hour anyway."
GHGHGH
Nelle groaned and moaned as she carried her winter coat under the blazing hot sun. "Ugh. Why is it so hot?"
"I don't know." Michael unbuttoned the top of his shirt. "Feels like we're in the Sahara Desert. This morning it was freezing."
"I want it to stop! I shouldn't have to walk home in tropical weather."
Ring. Ring.
"Hello?" Michael pressed his phone to his ear.
Nelle scowled at him.
"Michael, it's your dad!" Carly said all out of breath. "I had to take him to the hospital, he stopped breathing and was complaining of headaches. I need you to go straight home to Morgan and Josslyn. I don't want to leave them alone too long and I can't get a hold of your grandmother."
Michael's eyes grew wide. "Okay. I'm sure he'll be okay. He has to." He tucked his phone away. "Gotta go!" He ran off in the opposite direction.
"What? Get back here!" Nelle shouted. "I don't want to walk alone in this heat!"
GHGHGH
Julian didn't bother shutting his door as he jumped out of his car after parking crookedly on his street. He ran over to his lawn and ducked under the yellow tape, ignoring Jordan's, "You can't come through there!" and made his way over to Dante.
"What the hell is going on?" Julian demanded. "Who did this to my daughter?"
"We can't find any evidence of a break-in," Dante said. "There's also a search team at the school."
Julian hung his head back and ran his hand through his hair when his phone rang.
He pressed his phone to his ear. "Yeah?"
"Dad, it's the cupcakes," Sam's voice came through.
"What cupcakes?"
"Krissy said cupcakes were delivered for you this morning and Molly ate one," Sam said. "They should be in the fridge."
"What?"
"There was a box on our doorstep too. So, I brought the kids to Aurora. I want to alert the police."
"I'm with Jordan and Dante right now."
"Drew is on his way home to investigate," Sam added.
"Good. I'll meet him there," Julian said.
Julian tucked his phone away and burst into the house.
"Julian!" Jordan shouted.
Julian returned with the box of cupcakes and handed them to Jordan. "Get these checked out. I'm pretty sure it's them. Sam got some too, I'm heading over there."
GHGHGH
Elizabeth, Steve, Hayden, and Audrey stared at Sarah awkwardly at Kelly's, as she babbled on about how badly Laura treated her at the airport, but what was odd was she kept slurring her words.
"Sheso two-fist…"
Hayden raised an eyebrow. "Two-fist?"
Cam, Anastasia, and Lorenzo stood near the counter waiting for their desserts. Cam looked over when Violet spilled her milk. Hayden rushed over to clean it up, but returned to her siblings.
Sarah lifted her water glass with a shaky hand. "Shihits me…"
"Sarah, dear, are you okay?" Audrey asked.
Cam and his cousins returned to the kids' table. Violet and Anastasia were the only ones talking.
"And I love tea partieth with my thtuffies," Violet said.
"How many stuffies do you have?" Anastasia asked.
Violet beamed. "Lotth and lotth!"
Cam played with his food as Lorenzo glared at him. Jake and Aiden sighed in boredom.
"I have kittieth and bunny wabbitth! They are my beth fwends. And Thcout, she my beth fwend too."
"Is Scout one of your stuffies?" Anastasia asked.
"No. She'th in my clath."
"Laurajust…" Sarah suddenly threw her hand over her chest and gagged for air.
"Sarah…" Steve rushed over to her and Elizabeth followed.
"Hayden, call an ambulance," Elizabeth ordered.
Moments later the paramedics arrived.
"Gram and I will stay with the kids," Hayden offered.
Lorenzo walked over to the waitress and whispered something to her.
Steve and Elizabeth helped Sarah onto a stretcher, and they hooked her up with oxygen. They hurried her out to the ambulance.
"Okay kids let's get you home to your dads," Hayden said. I want to head over to the hospital."
The waitress walked over to Cam. "Turn out your pockets please."
Cam raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
Hayden scrunched her face.
"I think you may have stolen something," the waitress said.
Lorenzo smirked.
"Cam steal something?" Hayden laughed. "Cam wouldn't do such a thing."
"There is $500 missing from my cash register," the waitress continued. "He was standing near it."
"So were Lorenzo and Anastasia," Cam said.
Hayden rolled her eyes. "Just turn out your pockets, Cam. You have nothing to hide, I know you didn't steal anything."
Cam sighed and reached inside his pockets. His eyes grew wide when he felt paper in his right pocket. He brought 5 one hundred-dollar bills and turned to Lorenzo, gritting his teeth. "You framed me!"
"No, I didn't," Lorenzo said.
The waitress pressed her phone to her ear. "I'm calling the police."
"Aunt Hayden, I didn't, I swear," Cam said. "Enzo must have sneaked it in my pocket when I wasn't looking."
A few moments later, Nathan and Mac arrived.
"You can't arrest my nephew," Hayden pleaded. "He would never do something like this."
Violet started to cry and hugged Hayden's side.
"This is absurd," Audrey added.
"Listen, Cam," Hayden said. "I'll take Jake and Aiden home with Violet and get your dad to meet you at the PCPD."
Cameron frowned and stared at Enzo as he was escorted outside.
GHGHGH
Lulu stared out the window. It was so dark now after having such a hot sun an hour ago.
"Hello?" she answered her phone. "Dad, slow down… both Tracy and Tony had seizures today? Is Aunt Bobbie with you? Do you need me to come sit with you? Okay. Okay. Well, I love you."
She tucked her phone away and headed to Charlotte's room and then Rocco's to ensure both were doing their homework.
"I'll just be in my office working on my next article," Lulu said. "Let me know if you need any help."
Once Rocco heard his mother's door close, he sneaked out to the hallway and made his way to the kitchen fridge. He grinned at the box of cupcakes. Surely, Mom and Dad wouldn't noticed if just one went missing… He pulled one out and took a bite. Mmm… very sweet, yet bitter… he scrunched his face but continued eating it anyway.
GHGHGH
"Emma? Noah? Are you finishing your homework?" Robin called down the hallway.
"Yes!" Emma shouted back.
"Yes, Mommy!" Noah Jr. responded.
"Let me know if you need any help!" Robin said and dragged her feet to the living room. She plopped down on the couch when her phone rang.
"Hey, Robin," Patrick's muffled voice said. "I have to work late. Lucas' son Leo was also brought in with a seizure."
"Oh no. Is he okay?"
"I'm just afraid of him slipping into a coma like Tracy and Molly."
"Do you think it's related?" Robin asked.
"It's suspicious, but we don't know."
Robin slipped her phone away and switched on the news.
"Weather reporters around the globe are growing increasingly frustrated as weather satellites have collided in space," the female reporter explained.
Robin's eyes grew wide. "What?"
"The extremes in temperature today have left everyone flabbergasted. From zero degree Fahrenheit to 100 degrees in a matter of hours. Dark clouds currently fill the heavens so it is likely a storm will hit tonight, though the weather is unpredictable today."
GHGHGH
Helena removed the portrait of Valentin's family that Nina disobediently hung earlier that day. She stuffed it inside Mikkos' closet and sat down at his desk.
"Stavros, how was the flight?" she asked.
"Successful, Mother. Wasn't difficult to put it in Sarah Spencer's drink. Though Lucky's young brats kept looking at me. And I never want to fly economy again."
"And your endeavour at Cyanco with Valentin?"
Valentin cleared his throat. "Success."
She turned her gaze to Victor and Dimitri. "And your warnings?"
"Also a success," Victor said. "The warnings were delivered to the doorsteps today."
"I'm certain that once their spouses are eliminated, they'll know that their families won't have much time left," Dimitri added.
"I heard that Natasha's daughter consumed a cupcake, not her husband," Victor said.
"Even better," Helena said. "They'll all be dead soon, regardless. Well, you've all proven some use to me. But this is only the beginning. Mikkos' weather machine appears to be working and we've destroyed the satellites. Tonight will be the first thunderstorm to test the waters. But each day it will be worse and worse." She rubbed her hands together and grinned.