The Melaswen Paradox (Read 319,654 times)

[André DiMera]

Friday - 7/23

BLACK PATCH
John put the tape which Sonny had brought over earlier in a box containing all of the other tapes that had been found and given to the ISA since their appearances started.
JOHN (thinking): I know there’s a piece of this we’re missing, but what is it? Who’s the missing link in this cabal?
John’s thoughts were interrupted by the ring of his phone. He looked at it and saw it was an unlisted number. He raised an eyebrow, but answered it.
JOHN: John Black. I see, and how did you get this number?

DIMERA TUNNELS
DREW: My dear chap, surely you know the ISA aren’t the only ones capable of finding information that people don’t want getting out.

SALEM UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
Kayla sat in Steve’s room, holding his hand.
KAYLA: I really hope you can hear me in there. You had a visitor a few days ago. Not in the room, but he stopped outside of the room to check on you. Steven Hawk, Benjy’s son. It’s been a long time since we heard that name, right? You should see him now. He’s grown into a young man. He looks so much like Benjy. He’s come to help John with the case you all were working on. You need to come back to us, Steve. Not just because of the case, either, though I’m sure John, Steven and the others would appreciate as much help as they can get. But, we need you. Stephanie, Joey and I need you.
Kayla felt Steve’s hand tighten around hers. At first, she assumed it was an involuntary muscle spasm, which isn’t uncommon in coma patients. Then, the machines connected to Steve started beeping more than they had been.
KAYLA: Steve?
Kayla stood up and pulled her phone out.
KAYLA: This is Dr. Johnson, I need Dr. Sarah Horton in Room C327.

DIMERA MANSION
Bart walked into the lab with the card André had given him earlier in hand.
BART: Okay, Bossman. I got that info you asked about.
ANDRE: I’m delighted to hear you got something so quickly.
BART: I did my best, sir. Put 110% into it. 120, even.
ANDRE: Yes, that’s wonderful, Bart, just tell me what you’ve found on it.
BART: Okay, I ran this image through a bunch of databases. Turns out that this baby is a phoenix.
ANDRE: A phoenix.
BART: Yeah. And that got me thinkin’, what if it’s from him?
ANDRE: Him? Be more specific, Bart.
BART: I mean him. The big guy, the big Mr. D, the late great Stefmeister. I think that this card is from Stefano. He’s sending you a message from beyond the grave.

JAVA CAFE
The man stood outside the Cafe and walked over to a newsstand. We don’t see his face yet, but he’s wearing jeans and a hoodie. He picked up the top newspaper and flipped through the first few pages. He stopped at the business section, where there were articles on each of the major companies in Salem. He took a long look at the article about Titan, which featured an image of Philip and Brady.
MAN: Brady Black is one of the higher-ups at Titan. Interesting.

[tghca]

This mystery man it makes me wonder why he's so interested in Titan or why he is so interested in Brady and Philip, I wonder if it is Deimos, Victor's brother, back from the dead?

Or is it another one of Victor's brothers either Alexander or Titus? Or is it Victor's nephew Xander?

Steve it looks like he's waking up from the coma but I wonder if Steve will have any brain damage? Or if he will have amnesia when he wakes up? I mean Steve has had amnesia before so it wouldn't be that uncommon for him to have it again

A baby and a Phoenix...this message definitely has to be from Stefano but Stefano is dead...something tells me this message is a smoke screen and it is from Vivian and Luna or this message connects to Hawk somehow

I wonder who is calling John?

But I wonder who Drew is talking to?

[heroicmuse]

I wonder who the mystery man is.

I think Bart is on the wrong path as usual. LOL. I suspect the card has something to do with Hawk.

I hope Steve is waking up. All the machines going crazy doesn't seem like a good sign.

I wonder if Drew is the one who called John or if these are two separate conversations.

Great chapter André DiMera. Will there be previews?

[Kpatch]

Love it when John raises an eyebrow!

My guess is the mystery man is Ernesto Toscano who would be Brady's mother's father, or at least the man who raised her.

I hope Steve is finally waking up. He is needed by the readers as well as everyone else!

[tghca]

Jul 23, 2021 7:32:23 GMT -5 Kpatch said:

Love it when John raises an eyebrow!

My guess is the mystery man is Ernesto Toscano who would be Brady's mother's father, or at least the man who raised her.

I hope Steve is finally waking up. He is needed by the readers as well as everyone else!

Ernesto that is a name I haven't heard in decades but if it is him, Ernesto has been dead for decades. But definitely a villain I would love to see back in Salem.

The classic eyebrow raise...I just love it

[mae00]

Awwww Steve's waking up! At least I sure hope he is! I'm so glad Kayla was in the room with him.

Those dang eyebrow raises. LOL. John and Hope just can't help themselves.

Bart cracks me up with his nicknames for everyone. Too funny that he thinks it's Stefano from beyond the grave.

[André DiMera]

Thanks for reading and commenting, everyone!

---

Next week…

John gets a surprising offer.
JOHN: And why would I believe you?

But is it all that it seems?
DREW: If I wanted you dead, you would be.

Meanwhile, Kayla gets good news.
SARAH: He’s waking up.

And a mysterious man makes his move.
BRADY: What the…?

All this and more next week on THE MELASWEN PARADOX!

[heroicmuse]

I wonder what John and Drew have to say to each other (if that's not two separate conversations).

I'm excited for Steve to wake up!

And I wonder who the mystery man is and what they have to do with Brady.

Thanks for the previews André DiMera.

[tghca]

I have a feeling John and Drew are talking to each other

Who is this mystery man and why is he so concerned with Brady? I thought his main target would be Titan but he is so focused on Brady like what is the connection?

Steve is waking up but what kind of shape will he be in?

[Kpatch]

I'm especially interested in these two stories.

Jul 24, 2021 10:08:06 GMT -5 André DiMera said:

Meanwhile, Kayla gets good news.
SARAH: He’s waking up.

And a mysterious man makes his move.
BRADY: What the…?

[André DiMera]

Monday - 7/26

SIDE-BY-SIDE: BLACK PATCH/DIMERA TUNNELS
JOHN: Yeah, I should’ve figured you’d be able to track us down somehow.
DREW: Indeed. Between my dear brother and I, he got the looks while I got the cunning.
JOHN: What is it you want?
DREW: We need to meet, Mr. Black, and I would like my brother to be there when we do. I have some information that may be of interest to the ISA.
JOHN: What sort of information?
DREW: Well, as you may know, I am part of André DiMera’s little...cabal, as you call it. However, I’ve grown weary of being his lapdog. I’m willing to tell you what I know about his, I mean our recent exploits, for a price.
JOHN: Is that a fact?
DREW: It is.
JOHN: And why would I believe you?
DREW: I’ve nothing to lose. In most men, that would be considered dangerous, but as I’m sure you know, I always find a way out. I’ll be on dock 3 of the Salem Pier tomorrow night at 10.
JOHN: And how do I know this isn’t a trap by you and André?
Drew chuckled.
DREW: So untrusting. My dear Mr. Black, if I wanted you dead, you would be. There’s no tricks, not this time. I just want to cut a deal. I expect to see you there.
HAWK: I expect you’ll see him a lot sooner than that.
Drew turned around as Hawk grabbed a stun gun from his belt and shot him with it. Drew went limp, but Hawk caught him. He took the phone from Drew’s hand.
HAWK: John, I’ve got him, but I’m gonna need help moving him.
JOHN: Good work, Agent Hawk. I’ll send Agent Carver to assist.

SCOOPY’S
Scoopy’s was an ice cream shop in the Horton Town Square. Will sat on a picnic bench outside of it. He stood up as Sonny and Ari approached.
WILL: Hey.
SONNY: Hey.
Will kissed Sonny, then gave Ari a hug.
ARI: Daddy Sonny said we could get ice cream!
WILL: He told me the same thing, that’s why I’m here.
ARI: Good. I’m glad you’re here.
WILL: Me too! So, how was camp?
ARI: It was awesome! We did archery after lunch and I got a bullseye!
WILL: Whoa! That’s awesome! Good job, sweetheart!
ARI: Thanks! Let’s go get some ice cream!
SONNY: Sounds like a good idea to me!
The three went inside of the store, and a few minutes later they came out again, each carrying and eating an ice cream cone. They sat down on the bench Will had been sitting on earlier.
ARI: So, what was in that package outside our door this morning?
Will and Sonny looked at each other.
WILL: Well, it was a video tape.
ARI: A video tape?
SONNY: It’s sort of like what blu-rays are now. Video tapes were popular when Daddy Will and I were your age, and younger. Instead of being on a CD, they would put movies on these things called cassettes that were about the size of your head.
Ari giggled.
WILL: You think Daddy Sonny’s joking, but he’s not. They were huge.
Will pulled out his phone and showed Ari a picture of a video cassette.
ARI: That’s cool. What kind of movie was on the tape?
Sonny hesitated.
SONNY: It was a scary movie. A movie that reminded me of something bad that happened a long time ago.
ARI: Why would someone send us a scary movie?
SONNY: I don’t really know. But, I took the movie to your Grandpa John, and he is going to find out who sent that movie to us and why.
ARI: That’s good.

[tghca]

At least Will and Sonny were sort of honest with Ari without telling her the whole truth about Will shooting EJ on his wedding day to Will's mother Sami. I mean if they had told Ari the whole truth, she would have been traumatized. So I respect Will and Sonny for explaining it in a way that Ari could understand.

But when Ari gets older, she is going to realize that Will and Sonny lied to her about what actually happened especially if she hits her teenage years and she does research about this online. I wonder how they explain things to her then?

I knew Drew would set up John but luckily Hawk and John got the drop on Drew first but since they did and Drew is in ISA custody, I wonder if they won't just transfer him to another ISA prison facility considering their HQ was compromised before?

[heroicmuse]

I'm glad Will and Sonny told Ari what they could. Hopefully, she won't fill in any blanks with her imagination and worry needlessly.

Wow! I'm glad that John and Hawk caught Drew. I am curious as to what Drew was up to.

Great chapter André DiMera.

[mae00]

I'm glad that Sonny and Will were honest but vague enough about the tape with Ari. So weird that VHS tapes are to kids today what 8 tracks were to me at that age. LOL

I'm afraid that Drew is up to something. I could see him being one to turn on Andre when he lost interest, but this seems too easy. I'm glad Hawk was there....even tho I doubt that Drew will be as forthcoming as what he wanted them to believe.

[Kpatch]

Go Hawke!

I'm glad the men were careful with how they explained the tape to Ari.