Chapter 17
MELASWEN ISLAND
Lucas: Do you remember what happened when you got abducted?
Sami: Like it was yesterday. It was Christmas. I was waiting for you at the Horton’s, and Billie told me you weren’t coming, so I left to find you. I guess I was speeding, because I got pulled over. The cop turned out to be one of Stefano’s goons. He chloroformed me and I don’t remember anything else after that. I think I was unconscious for a really long time. Eventually I woke up here on the island and started exploring this place. At first, there were a bunch of guards on different shifts, but one by one, they disappeared. I heard one of them say something about budget cuts. I tried again and again to find a way to escape but ...
Lucas: But the place is surrounded by a 20 foot-high electrified fence.
Sami: That’s right. Hey, how did you get in???
Lucas: I climbed the fence.
Sami: So you are a superhero! Which one? Spiderman?
Lucas: No. I cracked the code. There’s a keypad outside the fence.
Sami [skeptically]: Oh really? Piece of cake, huh?
Lucas: For someone like me it was.
Sami: Smartass. I guess that’s why Chloe fell in love with you.
Lucas: You’re not gonna let this go, are you? Okay, here’s the Reader’s Digest version. The Dimeras orchestrated the whole thing. I was just as much a victim as you. You see, Chloe was used by them as a distraction to keep my mind off of you. The truth is ... I’ve never so miserable as I was these last two and half years because even though you were in my life, you weren’t part of my life. Sami, there’s never been anybody else for me but you. You know that.
Sami: I know. I just needed to hear you say it.
Lucas: So finish your story. How did you survive by yourself all this time?
Sami: Every so often, a helicopter dropped food and supplies here. Along with a note telling me which family member died.
Lucas: Unbelievable. ... So what did you do with the food?
Sami: What do you mean what did I do with the food? I cooked it.
Lucas: Are you sure you’re not an imposter?
Sami [stifling a laugh]: Shuddup. I also taught myself how to make a campfire and tried signalling planes.
Lucas: What do you mean you taught yourself? I taught you how to make a campfire years ago.
Sami: Anyway, the smoke signals didn’t work. But the last guard accidentally left his cell phone here. He must have stopped paying for it because the phone itself didn’t work, but for some reason, the Internet did. I was able to get on the Internet and I found this site called Facebook, so I tried looking you up. I saw a few Lucas Hortons, but they turned out not to be you. I would have tried to find other people in my family, but I thought they were dead. Eventually it occurred to me to look you up under Lucas Roberts. Did you and Mommy make up? Why are going by Lucas Roberts again?
Lucas: Well, I’m not. But when I registered on Facebook, I used Roberts instead of Horton because I wanted to get in touch with some of my buddies from the academy. They only knew me as Lucas Roberts.
Sami: Uh oh. I just remembered something.
Tune in tomorrow for the final chapter of Lucas’ Last Stand...