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Continued...

Emily Landon stops dead in her tracks when she hears the name spoken aloud. She instantly has a flashback of the last time she saw her ex-husband, Hal McCullough.

A horrific scream is heard down the tormented halls of Landon Manor. Through a maze of hallways that lead to a constant hell, a bloodcurdling sound can only prompt one of the many of Landon's "hired help" to realize what had occurred. It has been years since such a horrific sound was heard, but the shadows that roam the night can whisper of many times the chill was felt before.

Outside the Grand Study, Emily Landon slowly turns the knob and peers out towards the noise. Her eyes grow in horror as Kayla stands before her.

"Kayla." Emily mutters as she stumbles closer into the darkness.

"Aunt Emily...I can't believe...I don't know what," Kayla continues to trail off in a rambling that Emily can not make out.

"It's okay honey, it's okay...I'm here now. You have nothing to worry about"

Emily put her arms tightly around a frozen Kayla as they glanc at the body below. The frozen dead body that lies in a puddle of blood was Hal McCullough....Blood that Emily notices on the hands of the young woman she was holding so tightly.

Kayla begins to whimper in disbelief as Emily caressed her hair gently. "Don't worry Kayla, it's all over now...everything will be okay...everything will just be fine."

Emily quickly snaps back to reality when the man extends his arm out to greet her. Still suspicious, she's apprehensive about furthering any conversation with the stranger. She notices Steve playing with his knuckles...she knows it's a sign of anxiety on his part.

"McCullough you say? As in a relation to the late Hal McCullough?" Steve finally inquires.

"Indeed, you are right. Hal was my Uncle and basically raised me since I was a young child." Braden reveals.

Emily shakes her head in confusion. "This makes no sense...I was married to him and he never mentioned that he raised a nephew. I just can't believe it."

"Well, you must. He was the closest thing that I had to a Father. He would speak of you, but not always in the kindest of ways. I understood you had a bit of trouble in your marriage. It was his fourth marriage- I certainly can't say you were all to blame."

Emily smirks at Braden's attempt at sarcasm. She certainly doesn't want to reminisce about her ex-husband, let alone meet a supposed close relative.

"So why are you here? I hope you're not trying to reopen the case?" Emily replies. "You know they ruled his death as a suicide."

"Suicide, you say?" Braden chuckles and then looks back at her intently, "we both know he wasn't the type. But we can get into that another time. I didn't come here to debate my Uncle's cause of death."

"Then why are you here?" Steve cuts in.

"Well, as you know, when Hal passed away he was part owner of Landon Points Publishing. In his will, if you do remember, he expressed that in the event of his death he would like a family member to take his position on the board. That's where I come in."

"Why now? Your uncle, if you are who you say you are, died nearly two years ago. Why are you so interested in the business now?" Emily demands.

"That's a great question." Braden offers a short response before setting his briefcase on the table. "I'm sure you're aware of the present condition of the Company. It's not a shining moment for LPP."

Emily raises a brow and sighs. "Get to the point."

"Well, I suppose that I've always had a passion for going to the top. I've been involved with many companies like your own and I love seeing the turnaround. The process a company makes when they truly get out of their former critical condition. I suppose I have the same hopes for this one- no, I'm certain I do."

"So you're coming in like some knight in shining armor to save the company? You have to be kidding..." Steve smirks.

"As suspicious as you may be, the company is my only concern. I have no ulterior motives. I know this was very important to my Uncle and he'd want me to help out all I can."

Emily shakes her head at the young man. There are simply so many unanswered questions looming in the air. Steve seems as equally apprehensive about trusting him.

"Now if you'll please excuse me," Braden cuts in as he looks down at his phone, "I do have a call to take from a business partner. We'll reconvene in just a moment."

Emily finally can't hold it in and bursts out with laughter. The gull, she thinks, for a younger naive man to tell her when a meeting will reconvene- especially one as impromptu as this.

______________________________________________________________


Scene: Jason Summers' Condo.

Jason holds up the phone intently as he awaits a response.

"Keith and I were friends," Lucas finally replies before taking another moment to pause. "That's all."

"That's all? How did you guys meet?" Jason asks next.

"Just at a local bar. It had to have been last winter. He seemed like a pretty chill guy and we exchanged numbers. We hung out quite a bit last spring...before, well, you know..."

"Yes, I know." Jason cringes at the thought as tears begin to swell up in his eyes. "Did you know we were together last spring? That's when we broke up..."

"Yes, I do. He did talk about you- quite a bit. It wasn't like he was trying to get with anyone or dump his problems on me. The guy was in pain; I did my best to listen." Lucas reveals.

"Pain? You don't know a damn thing about pain...and why do you think Keith never mentioned you to me?"

"Well, you're coming off right now just as he explained you to be sometimes...in all due respect, you seem a bit jealous already. You haven't even met me- and Keith is gone, man."

"Excuse me? I don't think you have any damn right to judge my character. You certainly know nothing about me, and we were both angry with each other when the break up took place. Of course we weren't going to say the best things about the other...that's only natural."

"Well, in that case, don't judge me then. You seem like you're really on the defensive. I don't know what's going on, but I certainly didn't do anything to break you and Keith up. I hope that's not what this is about..."

"No, it's much more complex than that...if you only knew. Although perhaps you do" Jason trails off at the thought that Lucas could be lying and was truly the one who gave Keith the disease.

"Look man, we can talk in circles all afternoon- but we're not going to get anywhere. I understand you're in pain...I was too when I first heard the news of Keith's death. Look, I'm an R.N. at SF General and I need to get back to work. Why don't I call you this week and we'll do coffee? You seem like a nice guy...I understand you're in pain, man."

Jason takes a moment to consider what his next move should be. He certainly didn't get any answers this time around- would a live meeting offer different results?

"That sounds good," Jason finally answers. "I'll be expecting your call and I look forward to meeting you. I do apologize if I came off defensive in anyway; it's just been a really rough week for me..."

"No problem, Jason. Take care and we'll chat soon."

Jason sets the phone down as he thinks for a moment about slamming it against the wall. Could he have possibly hit another dead-end? He realizes he can't cope with anything if he doesn't understand it...It was the understanding of why he contracted it that he was so desperate to learn.

He then looks down at the phone list and sees Kayla Preston's number. He knew they were good friends at the time of his death, and realizes that she'll perhaps give him a little more insight into the situation. If not, he would have to start from square one...and at this point, that seems like an unbearable reality.

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