Thursday - 9/19
SALEM HIGH SCHOOL
The bell rang. Sydney, Silver and all of the other students got up from their desks and made their way to their next classes.
SYDNEY: You’re coming over tomorrow night, right?
SILVER: Yep. Gotta carry on our tradition of going to the opening of Fall Fest together!
SYDNEY: I can’t wait! It’s gonna be so much fun!
SILVER: Yeah. Plus, it’ll be a good way to take my mind off of stuff.
Sydney put a sympathetic hand on Silver’s shoulder, but wasn’t sure what, if anything, she should say. After a few minutes, she at last decided on something.
SYDNEY: You okay?
Silver nodded.
SYDNEY: What’s going on?
SILVER: I think I might finally be ready to talk about…you know, tomorrow night.
SYDNEY: Okay. Like I said, whenever you’re ready, I’ll be here.
SILVER: Thanks. Well, I hope Italian goes well for you.
SYDNEY: Thanks. It’s still kinda weird doing it, after everything that happened with my Dad over the summer, but I figured that this would be a way to tap into my roots without getting involved in my family’s mess.
Silver nodded again.
SYDNEY: Anyway, have a good time in Choir.
SILVER: Thanks. See you in Study Hall.
SYDNEY: See you then.
Silver and Sydney hugged before going their separate ways.
Meanwhile, Tate was putting things in his locker. Holly walked up.
HOLLY: Hey.
TATE: Hey.
HOLLY: So, there’s this annual fall festival starting tomorrow. Wanna go?
Tate considered.
HOLLY: Come on, Tate. I wanna show you that I’m serious about wanting to be with you. Give me a chance, please?
TATE: Alright, we’ll give it a shot.
HOLLY: Cool!
DIMERA MANSION
Rudolfo paced around the room.
RUDOLFO: So let me get this straight, you told my cousin Nicholas and Philip Kiriakis that Octavius is alive so they wouldn’t learn the truth about what happened to Melanie?
ANDRE: Bart told them, but yes. It’s hardly the most convoluted way of getting out of something.
RUDOLFO: So now you want me to go around town pretending to be my brother?
ANDRE: From time to time, yes.
André put a hand on Rudolfo’s shoulder.
ANDRE: I know you can do this. You’re my son, after all. There was a period of nearly 20 years where I had this whole town convinced that I was my sainted cousin, Tony. Someone that I had spent, at most, a few years living with. You, on the other hand, have spent nearly your entire life living with your twin brother, up until his untimely demise at the hands of your Aunt Kristen.
RUDOLFO: Speaking of which, whatever happened with that? She killed Octavius and tried to kill Bart, then seems to have disappeared. Where is she?
ANDRE: Kristen’s whereabouts are not your concern at the moment. She has been dealt with. Your concern is making sure that you can convincingly pass as your brother. It shouldn’t be hard, you’ve done it once before.
RUDOLFO: That was when he was still alive.
ANDRE: I hardly think that his death will have impacted your ability to pretend to be him.
RUDOLFO: Okay, if I do this-
ANDRE: You will.
RUDOLFO: If I-
André gently put a hand on Rudolfo’s cheek.
ANDRE: There is no “if” about it, my son. You will assume your brother’s place.
Rudolfo gulped.
RUDOLFO (quietly): Yes, Father.
ANDRE: If you need any encouragement, think of it as getting revenge on your cousin for turning his back on the family.
RUDOLFO: I still can’t believe he would leave Mother like that. All right. But can you promise me one thing? After I’ve done it, I want to know exactly what’s being done about the woman who murdered my brother.
André smiled darkly and patted Rudolfo on the cheek.
ANDRE: And you shall, my son. You shall.
SALEM JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Ari and Liv sat together in the cafeteria.
ARI: So, just one more day and Fall Fest officially starts.
LIV: Which means we can finally hang out outside of school again!
ARI: Yep! I’m so excited!
LIV: Me too! Especially since we got teamed up together for that project.
Ari nodded.
LIV: I have some other news.
ARI: Okay, what’s up?
LIV: So, you know how I said I’d do some digging into that ancestry report thing my Dad had our family do? Well, I did.
ARI: Oh, awesome! What’d you find out?
Liv pulled out her phone and set it on the table so she and Ari could both see.
LIV: I don’t know yet. I found the results, but didn’t open them yet. I want us to see it together.
ARI: This is really exciting!
LIV: It is!
Liv took a deep breath and tapped her phone, opening the Ewe D.N.A. app. She tapped on the icon for “Results”.
LIV: Okay, so this is supposed to show other people on the app that I share common D.N.A. with.
Ari nodded. Liv scrolled through the page.
ARI: Well?
Liv stopped scrolling and looked at her phone.
LIV (under her breath): Wow…
ARI: Olivia, what did you find out?
Liv cleared her throat.
LIV: So…I found someone. I don’t share much D.N.A. with them, like maybe 3 or 4 percent, but there’s a match. We share great-grandparents. And her last name is Merritt.
ARI: Okay, so if this girl is a Merritt, and she’s got the same great-grandparents as you, that must mean her grandparents are one of Esther’s siblings!
LIV: Yeah. They’ve gotta be a grandchild of either George or Jesse.
ARI: Can you see this girl’s first name?
Liv nodded.
ARI: Well, don’t keep me in suspense! Who is it?
Liv slid the phone over to Ari. She picked it up, took a look at it, and her eyes went wide.
ARI: You’re kidding!
LIV: It’s what the test says.
The page Liv showed Ari had the name Sapphire Merritt at the top. Right below the name was a picture of Sapphy, the girl they had been roommates with at Camp Walden for the first half of the summer.
