The Life and Times of The Thayers: 3.1
[77 IMAGES, VIOLENCE, CHARACTER DEATH, BLOOD, AND A BABY]
PREVIOUSLY on the Life and Times of The Thayers: The kids went to college. There was music and romance all around. Meadow asked Dawn to be her heir, but Dawn said no. When we left off, Meadow had gone to her parents' home and discovered a journal she swore she had given to Dr. Hamalamba right before his death.
Unable to believe what I had just found, I decided to sit and wait for my parents to get home. I knew that must have had a good explanation. They just had to, right?
After what seemed like hours, the front door opened and my father walked in.
Meadow: Dad!
Allen: Meadow? What are you doing here?
I jumped out of my seat to meet him and tried not to look as if I were really worried.
Meadow: Well I came over to see you and Mom, but you weren't here. And I was looking in your study and I came across this journal of yours. It was one that I had found in a box back when I was living in our old house. But I'd given it to Dr. Hamalamba, who died a few days later and I never saw it again! But now I've found it, on your desk!
My dad listened to me in silence, and when I was finished he smiled reassuringly at me.
Allen: I can explain everything, Meadow.
Meadow: I knew you could! So why is the journal here, Dad?
Allen: Well before I can explain, I need you to take me somewhere. Our old home.
Meadow: You mean Nina's home?
Allen: Yes. I need you to take me there, so I can show you something. That will help me to explain everything.
I was rather confused. How was something he could show me at our old house going to explain a journal in his study here?
Meadow: I don't know, Dad. It's kind of late, and I think Nina might be upset with me already for running out during tea.
Allen: Please, Meadow. Do it for me? I promise I'll explain everything.
I still wasn't sure if I should or not. But this was my father! If I couldn't trust him, who could I trust? Finally, I made up my mind.
Meadow: Alright. I'll take you to Nina's.
Allen: Thank you, Meadow. I promise you won't regret it.
So we set off down the street, and I walked with my father over to Nina's house. Our old house, where I'd lived as a baby. I could hear faint music coming from inside, which at least reassured me that I wouldn't be waking Nina.
We went up to the front door and knocked. Nina opened the door a few seconds later, looking pleased to see me, but rather confused to see my father.
Nina: Hello Meadow... Mr. Thayer. Can I help you?
Meadow: I'm sorry to bother you, Nina, but I was wondering if my father and I could come inside for a moment? My Dad says there is something he needs to show me inside.
Nina: I'm not sure, Meadow...
Nina didn't look much like she wanted to let us in, but I gave her my best pleading expression.
Meadow: Please? It'll only take a moment!
Nina: Well... alright. But you'd better not break anything!
So I led my father through the front door of Nina's home. It looked a lot different from what it had when I lived there, and I'm sure even more so from when my parents had called it home.
My father pushed past me, ignoring Nina as he hurried towards the bedroom.
Allen: It's in here!
I moved to follow him, but right before I went into the bedroom, I glanced over my shoulder at Nina.
She was on the phone, calling someone, and I strained just enough to here.
Nina: Something just doesn't feel right about it, and I'd feel safer if-
I couldn't hear her anymore once I reached the bedroom. My father was already standing in front of the closet and as I watched, he opened it up.
Allen: Just right through here...
Meadow: What's right through there? There's nothing in there except clothes, Dad.
He ignored what I said and instead bent down towards the floor. As I watched in confusion, he reached out and pressed a tiny little button hidden in the grain of the wood.
To my amazement, there came a strange hissing noise and a panel in the floor slid down and away to reveal a staircase! How many years had I lived here, and I never noticed this beneath my closet floor?
My father immediately hurried down the stairs and I followed behind him, eager to see what was in this hidden room.
At first it was dark and I couldn't see a thing. But then my father reached out and hit a button on the wall and the lights flickered on. It was... some sort of laboratory! Strange machines stood against the walls and all around me where glass containers filled with some strange green liquid.
I walked slowly over to a table on which sat numerous small bottles of that same liquid.
Meadow: What are these, Dad?
Allen: Those were my life's work.
Meadow: But what are they?
Unheeding of my question, my father hurried to the corner behind the stairs and sat down at his desk. He seemed pleased that the computer still worked, and the sound of his mouse clicking filled the empty room.
Meadow: Dad? What are you doing?
Allen: Good, they're all still here. Now to just copy them and put them on this drive...
He appeared to have forgotten that I was there.
He appeared to have forgotten that I was there. As I quietly watched him work, I heard the sounds of footsteps coming down the stairs behind me, and I turned to see if it was Nina.
But it wasn't. It was Alexander Goth, dressed in his police uniform and holding a gun.
Alex: Stop what you're doing, Allen Thayer. Good. Now stand up slowly and turn to face me.
My father complied with Alex's demands, though he didn't seem very happy about it. Alex looked around the room, his gun still pointed at my father.
Alexander: I think you have some explaining to do, Mr. Thayer.
My gaze darted back and forth between Alexander and my father.
Meadow: Please, Dad. Just tell us the truth. Tell me what happened, tell me about your lab, tell me how you got that journal!
Allen: Fine! I'll tell you the truth. But I don't think you'll like it.
My name isn't Allen Thayer, like you've been raised to think. I am Edward Summerholt and my wife, your Mother, is Isabel Summerholt. Years and years ago, we lived in Summerholt Manor with our newborn daughter, Victoria Summerholt. You.
As I worked most of the day, you spent your time with your Mother. Or rather, your Nanny. You see, your mother preferred to spend most of her time admiring herself in the mirror on her vanity.
You may remember that vanity, I'm told it was the only piece of furniture left behind in the nursery. Mainly because your mother had it bolted to the floor.
I was a highly paid scientist and the Vice President at Goth Pharmaceuticals, where I worked alongside Mortimer Goth, the companies founder and President.
We were working on a top-secret project that had possible military applications. But Mortimer was so caught up in being a "true scientist". He went on and on about research, and the implications on science as a whole. He didn't realize how much money that project was worth! But I did.
So one day I took all our samples and data from the project, and sold them to a rival company that operated out of Strangetown. I made millions.
But Mortimer wasn't pleased. When he found out, he cornered me in the laboratory and railed at me about how immoral what I'd done was, and how I'd pay for stabbing him in the back.
He told me that in payment for what I'd stolen, he'd ruin me forever in Pleasantview.
And so he did. He sued us for everything we had and won. Not to mention he ruined our family name and made sure that everyone in the town new how horrible he thought we were.
There was no way we could stay in Pleasantview any longer. So Isabel and I packed up what belongings we had left, and moved with you to Strangetown.
I began working in the very lab to which I'd sold the product. And for over a year, everything was quiet.
We'd planned it that way, wanting to wait until the fervor over my betrayal had died down. And finally, once everything was quiet again, we put our plan into action.
In order to avoid recognition by Mortimer Goth and anyone else in town, we changed our identities. My vain wife Isabel became the sweet innocent housewife, Laura Thayer. I, the so-called evil scientist, became quiet and studious pharmacist Allen Thayer. And you, our sweet little toddler, became Meadow Thayer, the name you bear to this day.
We had no plans beyond that point, at least nothing beyond the vague idea of revenge.
And then one day, the perfect opportunity presented itself. Bella Goth ran down our sidewalk, tears streaming down her face.
I hurried to meet her, against your mother's warnings. But I needn't worry about Bella recognizing us, because she didn't even know where she was or who she was. She'd lost her memory. It was all so perfect.
I took her down into the laboratory which I had built after moving in. It was here that I experimented on her, running tests to see what had happened to her memory, and others to test her endurance and overall health.
In those months she stayed in a small room off the lab, with only a bed and a toilet and one bare light bulb.
Finally, I deemed she was ready to test my life's work. The Elixir of Life. For years I'd been working on it, a serum that would stop a person from aging, so long as they took it once a week.
Your Mother and I wanted to use it for ourselves, but we weren't about to try something that hadn't been tested for safety first. And who better to test it on then the beloved wife of the man who'd ruined my life.
At first we tested her on the weaker Elixir. And when she showed no harmful side effects, I decided it was time to test her on my most recent development. It was a necklace which held a special self-regenerating form of the elixir. As long as the crystal which held the formula was kept close to or on the skin, the wearer would never age. Surely you've both seen the effects on Bella by now, haven't you?
Everything was going perfectly. Until one day that nosy bastard Mortimer walked by and happened to glance through our window just as I was feeding Bella lunch.
He banged on the front door and ordered me outside. The loss of his wife certainly hadn't been easy on Mortimer. He seemed to have aged immensely since I'd last seen him.
To my amusement, he proceeded to scream at me, threatening the lives of myself and my family. He said he'd do anything to get his wife back.
He threatened to call the police. I told him not to bother. By the time they arrived, I said, his wife would be gone and he'd never see her again.
Unable to do anything now, he left. But I wasn't stupid enough to trust him to stay away.
In a way, Mortimer helped us find an escape. I'd had cameras set up all over the house so I could monitor them whenever I pleased. The moment Mortimer walked into the house, he set off a silent alarm. I waited quietly in bed and pretended to sleep while he checked on your mother and I, and then you.
When I was sure he had moved on, I made my way down to the lab and brought up the security system on my computer. I watched as he first stood silently in the kitchen, going over his plan.
And from another camera, I watched as he fiddled with our oven and then spread gasoline outside.
The moment he was gone, your Mother and I made our plans. Immediately we cleaned up the gasoline from around the house. It wouldn't do any good if the house burnt to the ground and my lab was discovered.
Then we took a test subject, a townie no one cared about that I'd grabbed off the street and had been using for additional tests of the Elixir. I had a plastic surgery machine, left over from experiments in my youth.
Within a few hours, it was complete. The test subject was now and almost-perfect clone of me. We didn't need to bother with a clone of your Mother. It was our plan that her body be 'burned beyond recognition'.
Your mother put you into your crib. We didn't take you with us, because we thought- your mother thought- you'd have a better life if you weren't living it on the run.
We watched as the fire spread through the kitchen, and as soon as we were sure you were safe, we fled, taking Bella with us.
It was back to Strangetown again, though this time with the Elixir of Life. Now that we would live forever, we could wait until Mortimer Goth died, and there would be no one to recognize us in Pleasantview anymore.
I kept Bella with us and continued charting her progress with the elixir in her necklace. Your mother wanted us to use it, but I didn't think it was ready yet. I hadn't observed enough to be sure, but I thought that something about it was manipulating Bella's genes.
But before I could come to any conclusive results, the bitch escaped. It was your mother's fault, letting the 'poor woman' come outside for fresh air.
I went after her, with the intent of bringing her back to my home. But someone found her before I could. Once she was in the clutches of Tony Simprano, there was nothing I could do but watch her quietly from afar.
I had no plans of ever coming back to Pleasantview, at least not in your lifetime. But the one day I was surfing the internet when I came across a Dr. Hamalamba making not-so-discreet inquiries about some research and figures that looked suspiciously familiar. It turned out that Doctor had somehow come across one of my old journals.
So I took care of it.
Your mother and I continued to live of the Elixir we'd brought with us. But unable to be sure of the safety of the special elixir, we could only drink the weaker version. And soon our supplies ran out. Even if I'd wanted to make more of the special elixir, I couldn't. Like an idiot, I'd left my notes and formula on the computer in my lab back in Pleasantview. And so, your Mother and I came home. And you know what happened after that.
Oh, except for one thing. It was I who broke into your friend Nina's home a few days after we arrived. It was my intention to take as much Elixir as I could and retrieve my data. But I barely had time to grab a few bottles of Elixir before the security system alerted me to someone entering upstairs. I had just enough time to run up the stairs, close the secret panel and jump out the window. I haven't managed to get back in since. Until now, thanks to you.
I was shocked and I didn't know what to say. Before I could even open my mouth, Alex spoke up.
Alexander: You. It's all your fault. You took my mother away from me! You ruined my father's life! You ruined MY life!
There was a loud "BANG", so loud that my ears were ringing. I glanced up, and through a strange cloud of smoke I saw my father clutching his chest as blood seeped through his hand.
He fell to the floor, blood coating his fingers and staining the front of his sweater. It almost looked as if he were trying to speak, but nothing came out.
And as the blood pooled out around him I realized the truth.
My father was dead.
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My mother never recovered from the shock of learning the truth about her parents and their past. We buried Grandpa Thayer (Mother insisted that would always be her families name, no matter what the past said) a few days later. Grandma Thayer was convicted of fraud, accessory to murder and numerous other charges, and was locked away for basically the rest of her life. In the year that followed, my Mother seemed to age prematurely. Dad said it was the stress of everything she'd finally learned.
The only time she seemed happy then and even now is when she spent time with my father. It was good to see her smile, if only for a few times a day.
In the meantime, I'd graduated college summa cum laude, with Lucy at my side.
A year or so later I proposed to her in a tiny but romantic restaurant on our anniversary.
And of course, she said yes.
It was the happiest moment of my life.
After leaving school, I'd begun my official training at the SCIA. At first it was tactical and endurance training and all hours of day and in all types of weather.
Then I moved to indoor training, practicing moving silently and unseen through any sort of situation. Lucy thought I was training for a desk job. I wasn't allowed to tell her the truth.
A little more than a year after we'd become engaged, Lucy and I were married in a small ceremony outside.
We exchanged vows and rings in front of our family and friends.
And finally we were pronounced Mr. and Mrs. Dusk Thayer.
Everyone in our family cheered, and I had a smile a mile wide for the rest of the day and evening.
And did I mention the best part? Just a few months later, Lucy became pregnant with our first child.
Speaking of my lovely wife...
Dusk: Lucy! How are you feeling today?
Lucy: Dusk... I don't feel so good.
That's not something you want to hear from your pregnant wife, trust me.
Dusk: What's wrong, Lucy? Are you ok?
Lucy: I-I- I think I'm going in LABOR!
I was filled with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. Luckily, my calmer side prevailed and I managed to get to the phone and call and ambulance to bring Lucy to the hospital.
A few days later, I brought my beautiful healthy wife, and my new and healthy daughter home for the first time.
Our daughter's name was Becca Thayer, and she was the most beautiful little angel ever.
-------------------PRODUCTION NOTES----------------------
- Carefully labeled large picture of the Wedding Party for your pleasure! It was too big and got cut off during the shot above. Oh, um, Lilith isn't there because she wouldn't come, same with Kevin. Dirk Dreamer was there but he didn't make it to the wedding arch in time. Same with Lucy's parents. We also cannot tell Timmy and Tommy apart in pictures. :)
- Meadow is impossible to work with! She's always smiling! Even when she was crying over her dad's death she was SMILING!
- In lieu of photoshop notes and such this week, you have the bloody pictures of Meadow's dad! The bloodstains in each of the two pictures were painstakingly hand-drawn by Amy (with direction and advice from Jessi) in photoshop!
- Lucy says: Shoeflee?
- Amy and Jess say: Diet Coke?