Whisper My Name

Chapter 39

March 15, 1992

San Cristobal, Galápagos Archipelago

And I'm asking you to save a place for me

To rest beside your heart

And feel I'm free

Now what good does feeling strong do

When I am here without you?

~ Treat Me Well ~ Heart ~

Camron and Molly MacDonald drove from Niagara Falls to Cincinnati, Ohio. After resting for the night, the following day Mark and Karen Johnson drove to Birmingham, Alabama. It was Frank and Susana Hoffsteader that flew out of New Orleans destined for the island of Santa Cruz in Ecuador. From there, the happy newlyweds took a ferry to the island of San Cristobal. To everyone around them they were nature lovers looking for adventure, who had planned a romantic trip that involved birdwatching. John's beard had grown thicker, and even though it was barely tolerable in the heat, he refused to shave. Marlena had kept her hair pulled back, and she'd worn sunglasses and a baseball cap for most of the trip.

They settled into a bungalow with a private beach, miles away from everything, and immediately got to work with John's hypnosis sessions. Marlena used John's notebook to guide many of them. She spent their time adding additional information as they went along, careful to document as much information as possible. What they discovered, astounded them, and in many cases, continued to confound them. None of it was making sense, and none of it was connecting until their third day.

Marlena watched John with warm, caring eyes, and continued to speak in a calm reassuring voice, "John, I'd like you to see if you can go back further, before Stefano had you taken from Grenada. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes," he replied softly, drifting in his mind back even further. A soft look came over his face, followed by a frown.

"Where are you?" she asked him kindly. "Can you tell me?"

"My high school graduation... my mother is angry..." he said softly.

"Why is your mother angry, John?" Marlena quickly wrote, high school - graduation - mother in the notebook.

"I joined the military a few days ago. I didn't tell her. I knew she would try to stop me. She wanted me to go into the family business... she's angry, because she is surprised." John smiled mischievously. "She doesn't like to be surprised."

Hoping to get a name, Marlena asked him, "Do you have your diploma with you?"

In his mind he looked down at the square folio in his hand. "Yes," he whispered.

Softly she asked, "Can you read it? What does the name say?" Marlena watches as John's face scrunches in concentration.

"Forrest..." he said. "My diploma says Forrest."

Still hoping for more information, she pressed, "Is there a last name on the diploma?"

"...Alamain..." he said. Marlena was surprised for a brief moment. Alamain wasn't a common name, and she was almost certain that a businessman by that same surname had recently moved to Salem. He wasn't well liked by Bo, she knew that much. John continued speaking quietly, "My mother... she's yelling at me... but I keep telling her it's my life. It's my life!"

"Is it possible that she's afraid for you?" Marlena asked. John went silent for a moment, as if he were thinking, but he didn't respond. She scribbled very quickly in her notebook, Forrest Alamain.