Chapter: 8 Shadows From the Past Special Thanks: Special thanks to Vernie for her help with this story. Rating: PG 13 Characters: Luke, Damian Grimaldi, Noah, Mike Disclaimer: This site is no way associated with "As the World Turns", CBS, P&G, or Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann. This is not for profit. No copyright infringement is intended. Authors submit and write their own work.

Luke had spent the day with his mother. He came home to the empty apartment, wishing that Noah was there to talk about how terrible his day had been. His mom had offered to order up some dinner, but he wanted to get home. He stopped by Al's and picked up a burger to go. He was just sitting down to eat, when the phone rang. "Oh, who is that. I don't want to talk to anyone."

He started not to answer the phone, but what if it was Noah calling early. He picked up the phone. "Hello"

The person on the other end said, "Hello son."

Luke frowned into the phone. "Who is this?"

The person seemed annoyed. "I know that it's been awhile, but you don't recognize your father."

Luke realized who he was talking to. It was Damian Grimaldi, his biological father. Luke hadn't seen him since he had returned to pass over the ancient Grimaldi ring. Luke's mom had told him that Luke was gay and he had tried to "reprogram" him, but when Luke refused Damian tried to make him believe that she wanted to send him to a "becoming straight again" camp. Luke had pushed his mother down the stairs in a moment of rage and she ended up in a coma. After Luke found out she never wanted to send him to camp he became furious with Damian.

Luke hadn't forgot any of what had happened. "I told you when you left Damian, Holden Snyder is my father."

That moment was burned into Damian's memory. He had said then that he would find a way to get his son back. "I remember that well."

Luke was starting to get upset. He didn't want to talk to Damian. "I'm glad. Then we don't need to finish this conversation."

Damian knew that he needed to get Luke's attention. "So I hear that you have a boyfriend?"

He was about to hang up the phone, but then he stopped. "Where did you hear that?"

Damian could tell that he had caught Luke off guard. "I have been keeping up on you."

Luke knew that Damian was up to something. "Oh really. You don't need to bother."

Damian feel that Luke was getting nervous, by the tone of his voice. "Yes, I do. You don't think that I would just give up on you?"

Luke could tell this conversation was going no where. "Well I don't want to see you, or talk to you."

Damian knew that Luke wasn't going to be easy. After all he was his son. "You might want to listen to what I have to say."

Luke didn't want to listen to Damian, but he was curious. "What could you possibly have to say, that I would want to hear?"

Damian smiled to himself. "Your boyfriend's name is Noah. Right?"

Luke didn't like the tone in Damian's voice. "Yeah."

Damian continued to slowly torture Luke. "I hear that he is outside of Chicago. In a town called Oak Park."

Luke was starting to get nervous. "Where is this leading?"

Damian could tell that it was time to let Luke in on his plan. "Noah is meeting with someone. Who will give him a package. It is up to you, whether anyone discovers the contents of the package."

Luke was now starting to get scared. "What's in this package?"

Damian paused to let Luke stew a bit. Then he slowly began. "Let's just say that it's something that the authorities would find very interesting."

Luke bit his lip. "Why are you telling me this?'

Damian finally got to his intended goal. "I want to see you. If you agree to meet me Noah will come back, drop off the package and be no worse for the wear. If you don't, I will see that the package is discovered by the appropriate parties and Noah will be sent to jail for 5-10 years. Bad things happen to young boys in jail. Not pleasant. Even if they are gay."

Luke thought that he was going to be sick. "What's keeping me from calling Noah and warning him?"

Damian shook his head. "You don't want to do that. There is someone watching him and the minute that he tries to dispose of the package, he will be picked up. You can't save him."

Luke didn't want to meet with Damian, but he knew he had no choice. "Okay, I will meet with you. Where?"

Damian smiled. "Tomorrow morning. I will send a car."
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Noah and Mike had just left the Art Institute. They were walking down Michigan Ave. "That museum was awesome. There were some incredible pieces."

Mike nodded. "Yeah, Chicago is a cool town. I don't get down here too often. Sometimes I hang out at the bars. Your Dad said you go to Oakdale U. Right?"

Noah continued to look at all the buildings. "Yeah. Have you heard of it?"

Mike stopped and looked down at the river. "Well, I do know one guy that goes there. His name is Eddie Wilson. Do you know him?"

Noah stopped for a moment and looked at Mike. "Yeah. I know Eddie. We were on an intramural basketball team together. We're sort of friends."

Mike looked at Noah. "Really? Small world. Do you see him often?"

Noah shrugged and walked over and joined Mike at the railing. "From time to time. How do you know him?"

Mike move closer to Noah. "I wouldn't want my father to know, but I have been known to swing both ways. Sometimes when I'm hanging out in town, I head down to Boys Town up north. We hooked up once and we e-mail from time to time. Send pictures and stuff."

Noah was shocked. "Really?"

Mike nodded. "You know. You could do me a favor. I made a video for him. If you could deliver it, I would really appreciate it."

Noah looked at Mike. "A video?"

Mike looked embarrassed. "I know I don't look like the type. If you don't want to do it I understand. I just don't feel comfortable sending it through the mail."

Noah thought. "Well, I guess I could give it to Eddie for you."

Mike smiled. "That's great. Let's get some chow. I'm starving."

Noah followed Mike as he headed down the stairs to the Billy Goat Tavern.

Coming Soon: The Meeting
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Chapter 9