Rising out of the Aegean Sea, about 175 miles northeast of Eubonea, Greece, was a small island named Calypso. Spanning six miles across and 10 miles in length, it rose 8,100 feet above the sea. Calypso was a tiny diamond in the crown of the Northeastern Aegean Islands and quite remote from any neighboring land. It was that last fact that had made the island of particular interest to Helena Cassadine.
She spent three years acquiring it and another five building the state-of-the art compound that was her retreat from civilization. Rather, it was her safe haven when she was being pursued by various authorities or family members. It was a beautiful island, filled with olive and fig trees, lush foliage and flowers indigenous to the region. Helena had spared no expense on the Palladian home, using the finest marble and woods that money could buy. It had to be perfect. This is where she planned to bring her great grandson, when the time was right.
Helena sat at her dressing table beneath a magnificent painting of the Goddess Calyspo. It was inspired from a scene told in Homer’s " The Odyssey". Calypso was for whom she named her island. Helena smiled when she thought of her seemingly anonymous sanctuary.
Calypso. In Greek, it meant "I will conceal". That’s exactly what Helena had done, not only with this island, but many other things which gave her wicked pleasure.
Helena removed the substantial pin that adorned her jacket and placed it in its velvet box. She stared at the image of the black widow spider. The black diamonds sparkled incessantly. Slowly, she ran her fingers over the two triangular rubies that formed the hourglass. It gave her an instant thrill. She had made the sands of time run out for Luke and Laura.
It did, after all, seem only fitting. Luke had taken Mikkos from her, so she took Laura from Luke. Laura had taken Stavros from her, so had she taken Nikolas from Laura. Helena truly was an eye-for-an-eye woman.
Her strongest attribute was patience. Helena could wait for what she wanted. As the saying went, she had "the patience of Job"! It was something she had tried to instill in her beloved Stavros.
Unfortunately, her first-born son had been too much like his father: he wanted what he wanted, when he wanted it. It had been the un-doing of them both. Their shortcomings, which had led to each’s demise, had set Helena on her course for revenge. Some had come swiftly. Others had taken decades to achieve. For each one, Helena had been willing to wait as long as it took for her special brand of justice to be served.
She closed the box and pulled the painting from the wall, revealing her safe. Without thinking, Helena typed the four digit code into the digital lock: 1221.
It was delicious, really. Who would have ever thought that the combination to her safe would be the birth date of Laura Spencer? Laura. She had been more than an irritating thorn in Helena’s side ever since her presence appeared in their lives so many years ago.
Laura had been the bane of her existence for more years than she cared to remember! It had been Helena’s goal not just to punish Laura but to break her. She had to admit that Laura had proved a more worthy adversary than Helena had imagined. It wasn’t unheard of to admire one’s adversary, and part of Helena had admired Laura’s fortitude. She had withstood all of the atrocities that Helena had heaped upon her....except the last one.
Luke and Laura had taken everything that mattered to her in life, and Helena had answered in due kind. Laura was Luke’s Achilles heel and he had been fool to let the entire world know how much he loved her. If one wanted to get even with Luke Spencer, Laura was the pawn to use.
With Luke, it was more a game of cat and mouse. Helena did enjoy sparring with him - seeing whose wit could be outdone the most. He was both intelligent and clever, but he lacked the desire to go for her jugular. Helena had no such qualms.
Laura, however, was another matter entirely. She had wormed her way into, not only the lives, but the history of the Cassadine family. It was intolerable for Helena. If she could wipe out the fact that Laura Spencer’s blood ran through her grandson and great grandson, she would do it in a heartbeat. Yet, it was one of a few things she had no power to change. It was an injustice she had been forced to live with.
The only time she had been angry with Stavros was when he fell under Laura’s spell. The plan had not been for Stavros to gain a wife, but to punish Luke and Laura for their responsibility in Mikkos’ death.
Helena could still feel the anger rise up within her when she remembered the night that Stavros had told her that he was taking Laura as his bride. Laura Spencer would become the Princess Consort - the titlewhich Helena had held until Mikkos had been taken from her.
"I don’t believe you!" She had ranted to her son. "Have you lost your mind?"
"It is done, Mother!" he had exclaimed, dismissing her tirade. "Laura has agreed to marry me and will become my wife at noon tomorrow."
"She does not love you, Stavros."
"What does love have to do with it, Mother?" He had said, sarcastically. Stavros knew she did not love him - would never love him. He did not have the power to change to whom Laura’s heart belonged. He would find a way to make her pay for it. "I want her, and I shall have her."
Helena certainly understood the desires of men. Sex was not something she was prudish about. Still, a dalliance seemed more in line. "Then keep her as a mistress, but do not make her Cassadine royalty."
"I already have a mistress," he retorted.
"She is partly responsible for your father’s death!" Helena angrily reminded him.
"Which will give me all the more pleasure when I have my way with her," he said, cruelly.
"Stavros," she had pleaded. "Do not let your fleshly desires make you weak. She will destroy you!"
"No, Mother," he had said, disagreeing. "I will destroy her, and take great satisfaction as I do it."
"I have given everything to you, my son," Helena stated with authority. "But I will not allow you to make a mockery of me by giving her such importance in this family."
Stavros took his mother’s face in his hands and lightly kissed her lips. It was a gesture of both assurance and defiance. He looked deeply into her eyes and said, "I am the head of this family now. She will be my wife."
Helena looked helplessly into her son’s eyes, seeing that her argument had been lost. "When she brings shame to you and this family, remember that I warned you, and make your revenge swift."
Helena shook her head at the memory of it. It had all been such a waste. So many women would have killed to take the station in life that Laura had been handed.
Her thanks had been that she neither wanted it and resented it. Laura had no respect or appreciation of centuries of history and tradition that governed the Cassadine family. She had no interest in her position as Stavros’ wife. It had been a dagger to her heart when Stavros had informed her that Laura was pregnant.
Helena had hoped that he would have tired of her before an heir was conceived. Her anger seethed. It was the one thing that had given Laura validity within the Cassadine family: being the mother to the heir-apparent. Helena could not deny that commonality between them.
It had been a glorious day for Helena when she learned that Luke was alive. It meant that she could rid herself and her family of Laura once and for all.
She had supplied Laura with a means off the island and enough money to return home, in exchange for the promise that she would not return for Nikolas, and would relinquish her claim to him. Laura proved, in that moment, her loyalty to the Cassadine family. It was as Helena had always known: Laura could not jump on the launch fast enough. Her Stavros deserved so much better. The only satisfaction Helena had been given was that Nikolas would not grow up under
the influence of that wretched woman.
Stavros had proven fool hearty, once again, when he had gone after her. Helena had known when he left the island that it would end badly. Stavros was formidable but Luke Spencer was equally so. Certainly, his anger would be lethal when he learned that the Cassadines had been responsible for Laura’s disappearance and deprived him of two years with his wife. She had begged him not to go, but he had ignored her again. It had brought him untimely dead and Helena one more endurance of earthly grief...
She looked at the photograph of Mikkos, prominently displayed on her night stand. Fifty years. They would have celebrated 50 years of marriage in September had he lived. She had married him for love.
He had married her because she was two months pregnant with his heir. She often wondered, had she not gotten pregnant, if the outcome would have been different. Helena had been naive back in those early days. She had hoped that Mikkos, once married, would settle down, but his penchant for women had only grown.
The discovery of the first affair had devastated her. The second disillusioned her and the third caused her to seek her own comfort in the arms of others. She had initially believed that Mikkos would be jealous over her indiscretions, but he had seemed not to care, providing she remained discrete. His reaction had sent her into a destructive rage for which his bastard children’s mother had paid the price.
Mikkos had been surprised by what Helena had carried out. He had underestimated her ability to commit murder, and the delight she had taken in it. She had been at her wits end when Mikkos brought Alexis into their home. Helena had been so enraged that she threatened to leave him. The possibility seemed to both excite and anger her husband. It was the one time he had taken her by force, branding Helena as his. Still, she loved him. Mikkos, not a man who made apologies, seemed to feel a tinge of remorse over the incident. He made one small, conciliatory gesture to Helena by granting her wish that the second daughter, a baby, be put up for adoption.
The ringing of the phone pulled Helena from her thoughts. "What is it?"
"Madame," the voice said. "The assistant to Dr. Bourgogne made contact with Shadybrook this morning. He was inquiring about Laura Spencer."
"And?" Helena questioned.
"I’m not certain, but I believe he questioned the results of some tests."
"What kind of tests?"
"I do not know," the voice replied, knowing this would make her very unhappy.
Helena was curt. "Well, then find out," she said.
The phone went dead. Helena knew that the janitor she had placed as her mole at Shadybrook would not contact her again until he had the information she requested. She thought for a moment what her next course of action should be. She dialed her contacts in Paris.
"Ceci est Helena Cassadine. J'ai besoin de pour vous tout découvrir vous pouvez sur un Dr. Bourgogne et son aide. J'ai besoin de cette information tout de suite." This is Helena Cassadine. I need for you to find out everything you can on a Dr. Bourgogne and his assistant. I need this She did not wait for a response. She was not interested in a response. She had given instruction and did not want to hear anything until the requested information was supplied. Helena turned her attention to her safe. She placed the velvet box containing her brooch beside the folded paper. Helena ran her hands across it and thought about its power.
Beneath its folds, contained the valuable formula, and its antidote. It was her insurance policy.
information immediately!
She had made certain that her chemist at CyllInc had destroyed all traces of evidence regarding the drug. It was so valuable to her that she had been the one to mix the ingredients whenever another dose was needed.
She had never imagined that Luke would have allowed LS-49 to be experimented upon his precious Laura. It only attested to the depths of his despair and added more delight to her sense of victory. Laura’s return had sent Helena scrambling to undo its seeming cure.
She had returned stateside just in time for their ridiculous renewal of wedding vows. Helena had delighted in toying with Laura over her happiness that would prove all too brief. Helena had claimed victory once again.
She closed the door to her safe and returned the painting to its normal place. Then, she went to the surround-system that was installed throughout the house and pressed the start button. Her favorite aria filled the room. Savelli’s haunting tenor washed over her. It gave her strength.
Helena walked across the room and opened the French doors leading to the terrace. The warm, August air that rose off the Aegean warmed her face as Savelli’s voice renewed her resolve. She went to the railing, looking out over the sea as the moonlight cast dim shadows of light as far as one could see. Her eyes rose to the stars as she listened to the operatic symphony. She had acted on behalf of her princes: Mikkos and Stavros. She had achieved retribution.
She would not allow it to be undermined.
Savelli bellowed the words of the Prince: "Nobody shall sleep! Even you, O Princess, in your cold room...." Helena closed her eyes as those words washed over her. Her revenge had been sweet. Luke Spencer’s torment had been more profound than she could have imagined. His precious Laura was locked in a living state of suspension, deprived of all that was sacred to her. It was the same cruel fate that Helena experienced because of them. She had frozen Laura in time and Luke in hell. It sent thrilling shivers through her each time she thought about it.
As the crescendo rose, Helena caressed her neck and let her hand move down to her breast. At the final proclamation, her hand balled into a fist, and she squeezed the power of those words into her spirit - into her resolve. "I will win! I will win! I will win."
When she thought again of Luke and Laura Spencer, her face broke into a devilish smile. The only ones who would sleep peacefully would be her princes, Mikkos and Stavros. She would let nothing disturb them.
The stars had lined up against Luke and Laura, and their fate had been sealed. Helena had seen to it.
She stood alone on the terrace savoring her victory. She could not help but gloat. Vincer! Vincer ! Vincer ! Helena Cassadine had finally won...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dda2kNFPGU0
Words to Nessun Dorma
The Prince: Nobody shall sleep!... Nobody shall sleep! Even you, o Princess, in your cold room, watch the stars, that tremble with love and with hope.
...But my secret is hidden within me, my name no one shall know... No!...No!... On your mouth I will tell it when the light shines. And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!...
Vanish, o night! Set, stars! Set, stars! At dawn, I will win! I will win! I will win!
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