CHAPTER TEN

HARRY AND DORMAN slipped inside Sonny’s penthouse without any trouble. Being that it was daylight, Sonny’s guards had retired for the day just as their boss had done. “Where should we start to look first?” Dorman asked as he looked around.

“Upstairs would be the most likely place.” Harry replied. They checked several of the rooms and only came up with Michael and Leticia still asleep in the nursery. Finally, they opened the door to Sonny’s bedroom and found a metal barrier blocking their way. “My god, Sonny’s rest chamber is his bedroom. He’s turned his bedroom into an impenetrable metal tomb.”

“What arrogance.” Dorman scorned. “He doesn’t think anyone can harm him as he sleeps in the comfort of his own boudoir.”

“He’s right.” Harry replied. “How are we supposed to get through metal to get to him and finish him and his woman off.”

“Have you ever heard of a blow torch, Harry.” Dorman retorted. “We’ll just cut a hole in this barrier and show him just how safe he is from us.”

“With the kid and the nanny asleep in the room next door to them.” Harry pointed out. “Don’t you think they’ll hear us?”

“Fine.” Dorman sneered. “Will wait until the kid and the broad leave and then we’ll take a blow torch to the metal.” He added. “And if worse comes to worse we’ll nab the kid and lure the two blood drinkers into a trap they’ll never escape from alive.”

“Were supposed to get in and get out quickly.” Harry reminded him. “If we nab the kid the witches will find out and try to stop us.”

“The witches be damned.” Dorman exploded. “Let them try to stop us. By the time they realize what we’re planning it’ll be too late for them to save their two precious vampires.” He added. “Besides, if we can get through the metal barrier and take care of them we won’t have to nab the kid. Now let’s go and get those blow torches.”

WHEN STEFAN ENTERED Bobbie’s room she was all dressed and ready to leave. She turned to Stefan as he entered. “Stefan,” she began. “I want to thank you for saving me from Sorel. Considering our history I’m surprised you’d even care if I was kidnapped. Sometime I’d like to hear just how you managed it.” She added. “But I’m feeling fine now so it’s time that I went home.”

Stefan stepped into her path as she headed towards the door. “I’m afraid I can’t allow you to leave, Barbara.” He announced.

“Excuse me?” She asked in indignation. “Are you saying I’m a prisoner here? That I’ve exchanged one jailer for another.”

“Barbara, I can’t allow you to leave.” Stefan refused to back down. “There are things you don’t know that we must talk about.”

“Things like what?” She asked.

“Like those marks on your neck.” He replied.

Her hand went immediately to her neck. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Stefan grabbed Bobbie and shook her. “You must. If you don’t it could mean your very life.”

Bobbie pulled away from him. “What are you talking about?”

“Please sit down.” He motioned to the two arm chairs by the fireplace. Once they were both seated facing each other he got straight to the subject at hand. “I believe you know exactly how you got those marks on your neck, but you’re trying to pretend the knowledge of it away.”

She looked into the raging fire. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She replied. “I must have fallen and scraped my neck or something.”

“Look at me, Barbara.” He ordered as he enforced his will upon her to look into his eyes. “Tell me what you remember. tell me all of it.”

“It was crazy.” Bobbie declared. “Sorel said Sonny and Carly were vampires and that he was a vampire, too. That’s insane. My daughter is not a vampire.” She added. “Then he jumped on me and I could feel his teeth sinking into my neck. That wasn’t all he did. He made me do all sorts of horrible and disgusting things with him. Worse than that I enjoyed doing them. It had to be a dream. I would never do stuff like that and with all people Sorel.”

“It was no dream, Barbara.” Stefan told her. “Everything you are trying to convince yourself that you imagined actually did.”

“Stefan, that’s impossible.” She cried. “There are no such things as vampires. And for all this to be true that would mean that not only is Sorel a vampire, but Sonny and Carly are vampires, too. Stefan, my daughter is not a vampire.”

“Yes, she is, Barbara.” He sighed. “She is the way she is, because I am the way I am.”

“What are you talking about?” She asked in confusion. “What do you have to do with my daughter?”

“I’m her father.” He announced.

“That’s impossible.” Bobbie answered. “What makes you think you’re Carly’s father.”

“Because I slept with you when you were a hooker,” He informed her. “I’m the John who got you pregnant.”

“That’s impossible.” She repeated. “How can you possibly know you slept with me when I don’t even remember it, myself. And how can you know your the father of my daughter when I don’t even know who her father is, myself.”

“Because I’m a witch.” He announced. “When a witch impregnates a mortal or gets pregnant by a mortal the child that results from such a union as that is born vampire.”

“First, Sorel, Sonny and my daughter are vampires.” She laughed. “And now you’re a witch. Now I know I’m dreaming. I’m really at home on my couch in the brownstone and I fell asleep watching a horror movie. None of this is real. This is all just a dream.”

“If you insist I can prove to you what I am.” He sat back and stared at her in stony silence. “Would you like me to perform a few parlor tricks for you?” He doesn’t wait for an answer. Suddenly the fire comes raging out of the fireplace. A painting flies off the wall and begins floating through the air. The radio comes on as it tunes in a classical music station. The cork of the brandy decanter pops out and it tips over and fills a brandy snifter. Then the snifter floats through the air until it lands into Stefan’s hand. He takes a sip of the drunk. “Convinced now, Barbara?”

“Why are you telling me all this?” She asked in terror. “Why are you revealing to me what you are?”

“Because Sorel will be coming for you, tonight.” He told her. “To make you what he is.”

“CAN I GET you a drink?” Damian asked Heather Webber as she entered his chambers.

“No, thank you.” She demurred. “Something has come up that I thought you might want to know about.”

‘So, how are things going on the Stefan front?” Damian sat down in his throne chair and sipped his drink.

“Stefan Cassadine has told me my services are no longer required. “ She told him. “He no longer wants to produce a child with me or any other witch.”

“Why?” Damian lurched in his chair. “Why would he suddenly give up his plans so suddenly. He was determined to thwart Helena and Edward Quartermaine, now all of a sudden he’s dropping his plans. He must be up to something.”

“I think it has something to do with the woman he’s got staying at him house at the moment.” Heather offered up as an explanation for Stefan’s change in plans.

“What woman?” Damian wanted to know.

“I doubt you know her.” Heather answered. “Her name is Bobbie Spencer.”

“Bobbie Spencer!’ He spat. “Oh, Heather, I know. I know her far better than I ever wanted to. So what is that bitch up to now?”

“Sorel, the vampire.” She explained in case he didn’t know who and what Sorel was since Sorel was too lowly for Damian to even bother to have any knowledge of him. “He kidnapped Bobbie Spencer and began the process of enslaving her to his will.” She added. “Anyway, Stefan saved her and now he seems determined to stop Sorel from completing the process.”

“Bobbie Spencer enslaved by a vampire.” He mused. “Sorel is a vile and disgusting man who would use and abuse her to no end until he grew tired of her and cast her off like so much worthless garbage. I love it. It’s exactly what she deserves. I want you to help Sorel succeed.”

“How?” Heather asked.

“Does Stefan have any idea when Sorel will next try to initiate Bobbie into the Brotherhood of Vampires?” He asked with a devilish smile on his face.

“He thinks he’ll come for Bobbie, tonight.” Heather informed him. “As we speak he’s talking to Bobbie about it now.”

“Excellent.” Damian almost purred in pleasure of the mental picture he had of Bobbie being the vampire bride of Sorel. “You must do everything in your power to assist him in his goal.”

“Look, Damian.” Heather replied nervously. “Stefan is far more powerful a witch than I am. He’s only second in power to his mother and Edward Quartermaine. If he finds out that I’ve crossed him I won’t live to regret it. He’ll make sure of that.”

“I’m not suggesting you take Bobbie to Sorel.” He assured her. “I’m only suggesting you make it easy for Sorel to succeed at his goal. I assume Stefan will take measures to prevent Sorel from being able to get to Bobbie. I just want you to make sure that Sorel can.” Then he suggested. “Leave the French doors to Bobbie’s room open. When you sense Sorel is near distract Stefan. Try to lure him into bed. Do whatever you have to do so Stefan will relax his guard on Bobbie and Sorel can get to her and finish what he started.”

“I don’t know.” She sighed uneasily.

“Do it, Heather.” Damian urged. “And Jeff Webber will finally be yours after all these years.”

“WHAT DO YOU mean?” Bobbie asked. “Sorel will be coming for me, tonight.”

“He’s far from finished with you, Barbara.” Stefan told her. “That’s why you can’t go back to the Brownstone. He’d be able to get to you too easily there. Even staying here may not prevent you from going to him.”

“I would never go to that disgusting man.” Bobbie declared indignantly. “Especially now I know what he has in mind for me. Not to mention the memory of all he‘s already done to me.”

“Barbara,” Stefan informed her. “When Sorel calls you to him you will be most eager to go to him. You will crave for Sorel to do all that and more to you again. When a vampire feeds off a mortal he injects a chemical into your blood. It’s like a drug of sorts. You become like a junkie and the vampire is the fix you crave. He will call to you until the craving inside you is so strong you’ll be unable to resist it. You will offer yourself up to him gladly so that craving will be satisfied.”

“Well, why don’t I just go to Sorel now.” Bobbie exploded hysterically. “From what you’re saying I’m powerless to resist him. It’s a foregone conclusion that Sorel is going to succeed.”

“Barbara, that’s not what I’m saying, at all.” He assured her. “I just want you to be aware of what you will be facing, tonight. But I will help you fight it. I won’t allow you to give into the craving, tonight.”

“You’re a witch.” She spat. “Why don’t you do something to help me. Can’t you mix up some sort of potion that will get whatever chemical Sorel injected into my blood out of it?”

“It doesn’t work that way, Barbara.” He told her. “Once a mortal has been enslaved by a vampire a witch can reverse the process, but only if it’s what the vampire wishes. That’s what happened with Tony Jones. “

“Tony!” Bobbie repeated. “Carly enslaved Tony?”

“It was the only way she could be with him being what she is.” He told her. “Then she had too much to drink one night and accidentally enslaved AJ, as well. When she married AJ, he wanted to be the only one enslaved to Carly so he told her he could set Tony free if she wished it, and she did, so Edward Quartermaine freed Tony from her. From what I understand Carly would love to do the same thing with AJ, but the old man wants AJ to remain enslaved to her in hopes of luring Carly back into the Quartermaine fold some time in the near future.”

“You’re telling me the Quartermaines are witches, too?” She asked shocked.

“No,” Stefan explained. “Only Edward and Tracy Quartermaine and Ned Ashton are witches. The rest of the family are of mixed blood and have no powers. Edward and Ned are the only two witches Carly knows who she could go to to have them perform the ritual to free AJ from her enslavement. I told you why Edward won’t. As for Ned, he’s enjoying watching AJ self--destruct because the vampire he’s enslaved to has rejected him and wants nothing to do with him.” Stefan added. “It’s not a pretty sight when an enslaved mortal is rejected by the vampire they’re enslaved to. Some vampires like Sorel enjoy rejecting the mortals that they’ve enslaved so they can have the pleasure of watching them suffer craving for them and having that craving go unappeased.”

“Like Carly, I suppose.” Bobbie commented bitterly. “I’m sure she loves watching AJ suffer craving for her the same way Sorel will enjoy watching the same thing happen to me.” She added. “God, what kind of monster did I give birth to.”

“I doubt Carly even gives AJ a second thought these days.” He told her. “Let alone relishes his misery. From what I’ve heard being with one of her own kind is allowing her the freedom to be comfortable in her own skin for the first time in her life and to be at peace with what she is. I’ve heard the same reports about Sonny Corinthos. No longer trying to fit into the mortal world has been very freeing for both of them.“ He added sternly. “It would be a shame if her own mother were to make her feel ashamed of what she is, again, by calling her a monster.”

“Let’s get back to me, shall we?” Bobbie snapped. “Just how are we supposed to keep Sorel from succeeding in turning me into what...” she made a face of revulsion. “...Sonny and Carly are.” She looked around the room. “Do we need to put garlic over the door or something to keep Sorel out and for me to wear a cross around my neck?

“Barbara, those are silly mortal superstitions.” He said with disgust. “If you can resist going to Sorel tonight, tomorrow night the craving will lessen. Each night you resist the pull of him will make the craving grow less and less until it finally disappears altogether. That is the only way you can fight Sorel and finally grow free of him. Not with cloves of Garlic or a cross around your neck.”

“But if Sorel manages to feed on you twice more.” Stefan continued. “There will be nothing I can do for you. You will be completely at Sorel’s mercy and the only thing I can do for you then will be to kill you.”

“If he succeeds.” Bobbie said in horror. “You intend to kill me?” She didn’t know who was more of a threat to her. Sorel or Stefan.

“Would you really want to go on living as Sorel’s slave?” He asked. “He will never free you. He’ll take perverse pleasure in watching you crave for him when he no longer wants you. Do you really want to live like that?”

“No.” Bobbie swallowed deeply. “You’re right. It would be better off if I were dead if that‘s the way I‘d have to live.” She took a deep breath. “How will you do it? Will you have to pound a wooden stake through my heart.”

“No, Barbara.” Stefan rolled his eyes. “I would simply give you something that would put you to sleep and you would never wake up again.”

“So be it.” She nodded.

Stefan stood up. “Now, I think you should try to get some sleep while it’s still daylight. It’s going to be a long night. When the dusk comes so will Sorel.” With that he walked out of the room leaving Bobbie behind whose world was no longer the same. It was now a frightening place were nothing was the way she thought it was.

HARRY AND DORMAN watched as Leticia and Michael left the penthouse. They‘d been waiting for hours for them to leave. But finally their patience was being rewarded. “Come on, let’s go.” Dorman urged. “I thought she’d never leave.”

“We don’t have much time.” Harry reminded Dorman as they slipped inside Sonny’s penthouse and rushed upstairs to his bedroom door. “We only have a couple of hours of daylight left. Maybe we should wait until dawn to try this.”

“What’s the matter, Harry?” Dorman sneered. “You starting to run scared. This isn’t going to take long. We’ve got blow torches. Once we’re through the metal it’ll only take us a few moments to dispose of the vampires inside. “ He added as he lit his blow torch and aimed it at the metal barrier. “This is going to be a piece of cake.”