Thursday - 1/20
SALEM UNIVERSITY
The car pulled into the parking lot outside of the boy’s dormitory. Charlie got out. He was no longer wearing the cast on his arm. He opened the trunk and smiled at its contents. Then he closed the trunk and walked inside of the dorms, whistling the same tune that had been playing on the radio earlier.
PALACE VON AMBERG
GRETA (under her breath): You’ve gotta be kidding me.
KATALIN: You can’t be our father.
EMMALINE: Our father died when we were five years old. And you look nothing like him.
KATALIN: Exactly. We’ve each got a locket with a picture of our parents. Nana gave them to us when she took us in. That proves that you can’t be him.
WINSTON: Oh, but I am, my dear girl! I very much am. It is true that I do not look quite as I used to, but I can assure you that I am, indeed, your father.
GRETA: If this is true, and I’m not exactly convinced that it is, what happened to you?
WINSTON: So much. For years, I didn’t even know that I was a royal. I was a product of the same affair that created you, Greta. However, I was born a few minutes earlier, for what it’s worth.
JOHN: Yeah, we know that part already. Miss Faversham raised you so no one would get suspicious that you looked nothing like Gina’s husband. We also know that when the girls were five, you and your wife were killed in a boating accident.
WINSTON: To begin with, that was no accident. Oh, it was made to look like an accident, and it did cost me my beloved Louise, but it was no accident. It was planned.
GRETA: By who?
WINSTON: The Alamains. It seems that, many years ago, our mother stole a priceless artifact of theirs. Somehow, one of the Alamains uncovered the secret of my true parentage. They decided to take revenge. They rigged the boat Louise and I were on to explode, and one of their lackeys rescued me. The incident left me badly scarred and with almost no memory of what had occurred. They used this to their advantage. They had a plastic surgeon alter my appearance and made me believe for many years that I was one of their servants. Then, one day there was a royal gathering in Alamainia. You and I met, Greta, and we took a liking for each other. You requested that I be allowed to accompany you back to the Palace here, and paid a handsome sum. That, combined with the fact that they had brainwashed me, led to them agreeing.
GRETA: I remember when we met. You were so kind to me. I had no idea-
WINSTON: Of course you didn’t. Nobody did, not even me. But that all changed a few months ago, when the girls moved into the Palace.
KATALIN: Us?
EMMALINE: What did we have to do with all this?
WINSTON: Seeing you sparked my memory. The first time you came, I had the intense feeling that I had met you before, but I’d no idea where or when. After the two of you moved in, my memories began to return rapidly. At first, I didn’t understand how you could be my daughters and yet be Greta’s nieces. Then, I received a visitor.
GRETA: From whom?
WINSTON: His name isn’t important. What is important is that he helped me fill in the gaps. He was able to undo the brainwashing the Alamains had done, as well as fill me in on the secret of my true parentage. All he asked in exchange for this information is that I help him with a few projects he was working on, which I was happy to oblige. And why not? After all, now I can get my revenge on our mother and get what I deserve.
JOHN: I hate to tell you this, man, but your mother has been dead for years, so it’s a bit late to get revenge on her.
WINSTON: I’m not a simpleton, father! Of course I know that mother is dead! But that doesn’t mean that I can’t get my revenge. I was cast aside by her from the time that I was born. I grew up never knowing my true parentage.
KATALIN: But Nana was a wonderful person to be raised by, wasn’t she?
WINSTON: Oh, Miss Faversham was a lovely mother. But she, too, is complicit in the lie that is my life. And she will suffer the consequences, just as everyone else will.
JOHN: What exactly do you think you’re gonna do?
WINSTON: What do you think? I’m going to take what’s rightfully mine. By rights, the throne in the Palace Von Amberg belongs to me, as I am both the eldest child and only son of the previous monarch. Prepare to say goodbye, dear sister.
Winston turned the gun on Greta.
JOHN: Come on, man, you don’t really want to do this!
WINSTON: You’re right, father. I want to make sure that all of you pay the price of my mother’s mistake. That’s why I’ve rigged the palace with explosives. All I need to do is press a button and this whole place goes sky high! It could happen at any moment that I decide. Obviously, I’ll wait until the girls and I are gone, I’m not stupid enough to blow myself up, and the girls don’t need to suffer more than they already have. They’re the only innocent ones in all of this.
EMMALINE: We’re not going anywhere with you!
KATALIN: You tell a good story, sure, but how do we know you’re even our father?
JOHN: That’s something I’d like to know, as well. Your story is interesting enough, but I can’t just take it at face value. However, I do have a way to prove whether you’re telling the truth about you being my son.
WINSTON: And what is that?
JOHN: A simple blood test. We can even do it right here.
Winston narrowed his eyes.
WINSTON: Do you take me for a fool? After I was told the truth by my employer, I did some research on you. Wanted to get to know my real parents. How do I know that this isn’t a trick to get me to lower my guard so you can take me in?
JOHN: You’re the one with the keys to an explosive in your hand. I may be a secret agent, but even I’m not stupid enough to do something that would get me blown up. Heck, if you’d prefer, I can have one of the girls do it, since you trust them. It’s as simple as taking a blood sugar test like diabetics do on a regular basis.
Winston pointed the gun in Katalin’s direction.
WINSTON: Take the testing kit from your grandfather. If I detect that one or more of you is trying to trick me, I’ll end this whole thing immediately.
John put his hands up.
JOHN: No tricks.
He handed a small device to Katalin.
JOHN: Just put the pointed end up to his finger, get a droplet of blood on it and wait. The results take a minute or so to come up.
Katalin nodded and did what John told her to do. A moment after touching Winston’s skin, the machine beeped.
WINSTON: Well, girl? What does it say?
Katalin looked at the machine.
KATALIN: I can’t tell. I’m not sure how to read it.
WINSTON: Show it to your grandfather.
Katalin walked over to John and showed him the device.
JOHN: I’ll be damned.
Winston is John's son? John is getting about as bad as Stefano with all these dang children just popping up. And Winston helped with a few projects for all of this info......sounds like Andre got to him and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he did some brainwashing of his own.
