Duke rapes Adrienne/Duke is killed

Players:

 

 

The Story:

 

Adrienne Johnson showed up in Salem looking for her long lost brother, Steve, whom didn't even know she existed. Steve was reluctant to accept Adrienne as his sister and tried to push her out of Salem. As Adrienne was getting ready to say goodbye to Salem her mother showed up, badly beaten and was taken to the hospital.

Duke Johnson showed up at University Hospital where his wife Jo had come after being severely beaten by him. Steve and Adrienne were determined not to let Jo go back to Duke and would do whatever it took to prevent it. Jo was scared what Duke would do to her children and didn't want to leave him. Sure if she was with Duke he wouldn't come after them.

While checking out of the hospital Adrienne called Steve and gave him one last plea to help their mother. Steve was reluctant at first, not wanting anything to do with his family who abandoned him when he was a child. But after Adrienne told him their father had come to take Jo home, Steve decided he had to do something. They came up with a plan. Adrienne would tell her mom and dad that she was going home with them and they needed to stop by her apartment to pick up her things. Steve would meet them there and do whatever he had to do to keep his mother and sister in Salem.

Kayla Brady had found a battered women's shelter in Salem that would take Jo, if she were willing to go. She went to the hospital to tell Jo and Adrienne only to discover Jo had been checked out by her husband, the same man who'd put her in the hospital. Neil Curtis told Kayla they'd gone to Adrienne's apartment to get her things. Kayla called the apartment in a last ditch attempt to get Jo into the shelter. When she called Steve answered the phone. He was alone in the apartment waiting and told Kayla he wouldn't let his mother leave with Duke. His tone was frightening to Kayla and when Steve abruptly hung up the phone Kayla headed over to the apartment to stop Steve from doing anything crazy.

At the apartment Duke had just come in alone, leaving the girls in the car, and saw Steve waiting for him. They fought violently as Steve said he would not let Duke take Jo or Adrienne back with him. Kayla came in as the punches were being thrown and tried to break it up. Duke turned around and hit Kayla, throwing her against a wall. This set Steve off. He reached into his pocket and said, "Hey old man, you just hit your last woman." And pulled out a gun aimed directly at Duke's chest.

Kayla pleaded with Steve not to kill his father and stood as a shield in front of Duke knowing Steve wouldn't shoot her. After tense moments where Steve seriously considered shooting Kayla to get to Duke, she managed to get him to put the gun down, just as Adrienne and Jo came into the room. Steve, Kayla and Adrienne managed to talk Jo into staying in Salem and Duke left, outraged that his wife wouldn't be returning with him.

 

Jo feared she'd made a mistake and her children were now in danger until Kayla told her about the Salem women's shelter. Jo agreed to go and it seemed all matters were worked out. However Duke showed up at the Emergency Center, where Adrienne was working, and threatened her trying to find out where Jo was. When someone came in and Adrienne took the man to the back Duke found the brochure on the Salem women's Shelter and called Jo telling her one of them was coming home with him, and if it wasn't Jo it would be Adrienne. Jo left the shelter and went to the Emergency Center where Duke started beating her up again. Adrienne went for help and ran into Steve and Kayla along the way. They went back to the Emergency Center with the cops and broke up the fight. But Jo refused to press charges on Duke and he once again left a free man.

After the altercation at the Emergency Center Adrienne decided to stay at the shelter with her mother if only just to convince Jo and Steve she would be safe. As she was going to her apartment to get her things she found Duke there. He ordered Adrienne to call her mother and get her to come back to Duke. Adrienne refused over to tell him even as he prepared to beat her up.

Meanwhile Jo had been trying to call Adrienne's apartment; worried that it had taken her too long to get her things and that something was wrong. The phone at her apartment had been disconnected. (Duke had thrown it in his temper). This farther worried Jo. She called Kayla's loft looking for Steve and found him there. (This was before the days of cell phones folks.) She told him she was really worried about Adrienne and asked if he could just go by her place and see if everything was okay. Steve agreed.

Duke was still terrorizing Adrienne. He had her pressed up against a wall and was threatening her when he took a small step back and said, "I never noticed it before. You're a woman now ain't ya?" He threw her down on the bed as Adrienne screamed.

Steve arrived at the door of Adrienne's apartment and knocked. He heard gun shots and ran into the room only to find his father dead on the floor and Adrienne, her clothes torn and covered from the waist down, holding a gun. He crept to her and she looked at him confused. Steve begged her to tell him what happened but Adrienne couldn't remember. She'd blocked the incident from her memory. Steve took the gun from her and told her he was going to help. He wiped her fingerprints off the gun and place the gun in his hand then took Adrienne in an embrace as she sobbed into his chest.

 

Kayla came a minute later with Abe Carver, fearing the worst. And she found it. Abe asked what happened and Steve said, nonchalantly, "He came after her. I shot him." Steve was arrested for murder and Adrienne was taken to the hospital, still having no memory of what happened.

At the hospital Kayla called Chris Kositchek as Steve's legal counsel then went to help Adrienne. Here it was revealed that Duke not only beat Adrienne but that he raped her as well. When Jo told Adrienne she said, "No, I don't remember that." And hugged her mother telling Jo it's okay.

Steve had confessed to killing Duke and was being interrogated by Abe Carver when Chris came in as his lawyer. Steve and Chris have had their differences in the past, one of them being Kayla. So Steve was not too eager to cooperate with Chris. Chris said they could make a case for justifiable homicide and perhaps Steve wouldn't have to do prison time. Steve asked what was involved in that as Chris replied they would have to go to trial and he and Adrienne would have to testify. Steve replied, "No, I don't want Adrienne to testify. I confess, I killed him, there's no need for a trial." Steve was put in jail to await a trial.

Kayla came to see him and told him that Adrienne was raped. Steve became angry with her and told him that she robbed him of that perfect moment to kill his father. They fought and Steve went back to his cell leaving Kayla in tears.

Steve was released on bail, but knew he'd be spending the rest of his life in jail. He'd tried to avoid Kayla, but couldn't. He told Kayla he had a precious few days left on the outside and if he wanted to stay out of trouble he had to stay away from her. He told her they couldn't go back to the way things were and he had to stop seeing her. This left Kayla heartbroken. Steve told her he was doing her a favor. To look at her life years down the road. Steve would still be in jail but she would be married to a great man, living in a white picket fence house and have great children. He was doing her a favor. He left.

During this time Adrienne was in counseling to help her deal with what had happened, and to help her remember it. Kimberly Brady was part of her counseling and told her it would be far worse for her to remember later on, so she needed to try to remember now so she could deal with it.

While sitting on a park bench one day Adrienne suddenly remembered everything. Her father beating her up, raping her and Steve coming in and taking the blame for her. At that moment Justin Kiriakis happened by and saw her sitting there crying. He offered her a handkerchief but she refused it. She told him she needed to be alone. Justin left the handkerchief and walked out of the park. Adrienne picked up the handkerchief and used it to wipe away her tears.

The trial seemed short and simple; Steve confessed and therefore was convicted. Just as he was being sentenced Adrienne stormed into the room and told the judge everything that had happened. She was so adamant to take the fall for Steve that the judge believed her. The case was closed as it was ruled self defense on the part of Adrienne.

 

The Aftermath:

 

Adrienne had flashbacks and nightmares of the rape for months to come. It was Justin who showed her how to work through that.

Steve continued to avoid Kayla. Jo and Adrienne tried to play matchmaker for them. After a dinner that was supposed to be just Steve, Jo and Adrienne, Kayla showed up. Unbeknownst to Steve, she'd been invited as well. Coincidentally, Jo and Adrienne had something come up and couldn't make it to dinner.

They went home after the dinner and Steve asked Kayla why she wouldn't just walk away from him. She replied, "Because I love you." Steve didn't respond and told her to leave. After being alone with his thoughts he decided he needed to tell Kayla he loved her and headed to her loft. He knocked on her door when a man answered it. Jack Deveraux, an old friend of Kayla's. He told Steve Kayla was in the shower but that he would leave her a message. Steve told him not to bother and left.

The incident with Duke cemented Steve and Adrienne's relationship. And though it would take several more months for him to accept his mother he and Adrienne now had a special relationship.

 

 

Thanks to Destyne for writing this summary.

 

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