PROLOGUE

	Lisa Spencer-Cassadine sat quietly on the bluff on Spoon Island,
overlooking Port Charles.  It was late March and they were in the middle of an
unexpected snowfall.  It wasn't one of the snows that paralyzed the city, but it did
inconvenience things a bit.  
  
	Something was wrong, she could feel it down to her bones.  As far as she
knew, everyone was where they should be.  She hadn't been in town in a couple of
days because of the weather.  Her youngest daughter Rebecca was napping, and
Lisa had gone out to get a breath of fresh air and to watch her older daughter
Anreya play in the snow. 
  
	Anreya was behind her, playing quietly.  "Look Mama," Anreya called out
to Lisa, "What do you think?"
  
	Lisa looked back at the snowman and laughed, "That's great, Sweetie! 
How did you get him so big?  He's bigger than you are!"  Lisa couldn't help but
laugh, but the snowman was at least twice as big as Anreya.
  
	"I had some help," Anreya admitted as Stefan stepped out from behind the
snowman and smiled.
  
	Lisa shook her head and smiled, "You know Rebecca's going to be really
jealous when she finds out that Papa helped you build a snowman while she was
asleep."
  
	Anreya just shrugged, "Can I make..." she started before Stefan cleared his
throat loudly.  Anreya sighed before starting again, "May I make a snow angel?" 
She smiled up at her father genuinely.
  
	Lisa tried very hard not to smile.  "Okay, but that'll be the last thing before
we go inside."
  
	"Do we have to go back inside?" Anreya asked.
  
	"Perhaps Mrs. Lansbury will make us all some of her famous hot chocolate
to help warm us back up," Stefan suggested.
  
	"Okay," Anreya said brightly before flopping on the ground.

*****

	The road was deserted except for the car that was brutally smashed against
the guardrail facing in the opposite direction than it was supposed to.  Both of the
occupants of the car had been thrown like ragdolls from the car.  At least one of
the victims, a young woman, had obvious broken bones and bleeding lacerations
that provided a stark contrast against the pristine, white snow.

	The young man stirred and pulled himself along in the snow towards the
young woman.  He desperately called out her name in the faint hope of getting a
response from her.  Her only reaction was silence.

	She could hear him calling out to her, but her body wouldn’t react the way
her mind wanted it to.  She could feel as he touched her face, but her eyes still
refused to open.  “I’m okay,” she told him, before she realized it was just her mind
speaking, and not her lips.  The darkness shrouded her again no matter how hard
she fought it.


*****

	Back at Wyndemere, Lisa still couldn’t shake the feeling that a piece of her
world was getting ready to tilt on its axis.

*****




CHAPTER ONE:

	Luke and Laura Spencer cuddled quietly on their sofa, watching TV.  Luke
was making faces at the screen.  “Oh come on Baby, do we haveta watch this
again?”

	Laura playfully hit Luke on the shoulder, “This is a different one than the
one we watched the other week.  This is the new one.”  She looked back at the
screen and frowned, “Kiss her, you dork!” she fussed.

	Luke looked from his wife to the screen and back again.  Sighing he kissed
her on the temple, “So, what is it with you and this Riker guy anyway?”

	“I just think that he and Troi belong together.  After seven years of
watching them back and forth on the show for so long, I just wish they’d get
together now that it’s in the movies.”

	Luke sighed again, “Women,” he fussed good-naturedly as he leaned over
and nibbled on Laura’s ear.

	The reception on the TV suddenly went haywire, just before the power
went out.  Luke pulled Laura tightly to him as the ground began to shake and the
pictures of his family began to fall off the mantle and break.
	
*****

	Lisa continued to stand outside, just inhaling the fresh, crisp air.  Stefan
had taken Anreya inside for her promised hot chocolate.  Another strange feeling
grabbed her, but this time it wasn’t internal.  The ground literally began to shake
beneath her.  Earthquake, her mind processed instantly.  She knew she couldn’t
make it to the house until it stopped, so she knelt down quickly to avoid losing her
balance.

*****

	At the accident site, the young woman felt the ground rumble beneath her,
but was powerless to do anything about it.  Minutes passed, but it felt like an
eternity to her.  Still unable to come completely back to consciousness, she was
fighting the pain and the darkness.  She heard a loud crash, like an explosion and
suddenly felt surrounded by an intense heat.  She could even swear she heard
someone laughing.

	If Elizabeth could have opened her eyes, she would’ve seen that Lucky was
no longer anywhere around the wreckage.

*****

	As soon as the shaking stopped, Stefan bolted up the stairs two at a time. 
He ran to Rebecca’s room first and was relieved to find both Rebecca and Anreya
sitting in the floor clutching each other tightly.  Even though both girls were crying
and upset, they were safe and unhurt.

	Stefan quickly knelt down next to them and pulled them both close.  Both
of them held on to him for dear life, each crying into one of his shoulders.  “It’s
okay, you are both safe.  Papa is here,” he told them soothingly.

	“Oh thank God,” Lisa exclaimed as she flew around the corner and took in
the sight before her.

	“Mama,” Rebecca cried and reached out for her mother.

	Lisa sat down in the floor across from Stefan and pulled Rebecca into her
lap, kissing her on the top of her head, “It’s all right, baby,” she assured her
youngest daughter.  At the same time, Lisa looked up at Stefan for her own
reassurance.

	Stefan nodded slightly, “The structural integrity of Wyndemere is sound.”

	Anreya looked from Stefan to Lisa, “Why did the ground shake like that?”

	“It’s called an earthquake and it just means that the ground shakes for a
few seconds, then stops,” Lisa replied somewhat lamely, wishing she had a better
response.

	Anreya seemed satisfied enough with that answer and moved on to more
important things, “Will it happen again?” she asked slowly, as if she didn’t want
the answer.

	Stefan kissed the top of his daughter’s head, “It might, Princess, but do not
be frightened.  Either your Mama or I will be nearby.”  Anreya nodded bravely. 
Stefan moved to get up, “I should look around and see what damage we have
sustained.”

	Anreya practically threw herself at her father, “Papa, please don’t go!”

	Stefan hugged her protectively to him, “Would you like to go with me?”

	“Please?” Anreya asked with a whimper.

	They all stood up with Lisa still carrying a clingy Rebecca.  Stefan took
Anreya by the hand.  As they passed through the doorway, Stefan turned to look at
Lisa.  She smiled slightly, her emotions still on a bit of a roller coaster.  Stefan
remembered what significance earthquakes had to his young wife, so he reached up
and caressed her face gently with his free hand, then leaned forward and kissed her
gently on the forehead.

*****