Shadows on the Wall Chapter Sixteen

CHAPTER 16: Falling Down That Hill
(Josette Collins Sees The Future)

by CollinsKid


TITLE CARD:

little fish, big fish swimming in the water
come back here man give me my daughter.
- PJ Harvey, "Down By The Water"

TITLE CARD:

You'll never have me.
- "Lost Highway"

FADE IN ON:

EXT. COLLINWOOD -- NIGHT


The house stands vigil. We've seen this before and will again.

ALEXANDRA MOLTKE
(V.O.)
"My name is Victoria Winters, and on this desperate, fateful night in the
year 1796, one woman is locked in a past and a tragedy not her own.
Propelled into this world by forces unseen, she is a pawn in a greater,
more sinister game and must simply do her best to play her part written,
with no deviations from the script brooked."




DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. WOODS -- SAME


Moving like a shadow on the leaves, BARNABAS COLLINS slinks
through the darkness.

ALEXANDRA MOLTKE
(V.O., cont'd)
"For on this night, a dead man will make a desperate pilgrimage to try to
regain all he has lost in the grave...and in the process, seal certain
doom."


Barnabas stares out into the night.


BLACK SCREEN.

TITLE CARD:
aunt natalie (the fates)

CUT TO:

A BLINDING WHITE SCREEN.

...Fading to incandescent crystal-blue, then sunrise-orange, then pink.
From this light, DR. JULIA HOFFMAN'S FACE emerges.

NATALIE DU PRES
(V.O.)
...And the cards said, 'there will be black clouds, and the stars will rip
the sky.' Blood will be drawn, and then, then the worst of it comes.
There will be an intruder running down that hill, and he will murder all
sleep.

DISSOLVE TO:


TINTED FLASHBACK; Julia in 1967, sitting in the drawing room of
the Old House, reading Natalie's words from a tattered little tome. She
turns a page.

FLASH OUT TO:


THE EYES OF JOSETTE COLLINS. Shut and slumbering. PULL
BACK as Josette moans softly, squirming under the covers.


INT. JOSETTE'S ROOM -- NIGHT


ANGLE on Julia, across the room, standing by an easy chair. She
watches Josette with unmasked apprehension and fear.

CLOSE ON JULIA


Mouthing the words.

JULIA
(remembrance)
"The stars will rip the sky..."


Julia stops short, and goes to the window. Looks out through the
curtains.

POV -- JULIA


The storm-swept sky over the woods; black, forbidding, and roiling with
gathering thunder and lightning.

BACK TO JULIA


Queasy realization.

JULIA
(to herself)
Black clouds...


Just then, Josette cries out in bed, writhing furiously. Julia rushes to her
side and begins shaking her.

JULIA
Josette. Josette!

JOSETTE
(hazy)
No...no...

JULIA
Josette, it is just a dream. You must wake up!


Josette rouses, bathed in sweat. Stares up at Julia, breathing hard.

JOSETTE
A-Aunt Natalie.

JULIA
You were having a nightmare, ma chere.

JOSETTE
I certainly was...

JULIA
But it is over now. You're safe, here, in Collinwood.

JOSETTE
Yes...yes. (weak smile) Oh, Aunt Natalie, you are so good to stay here
with me and mind me. It is an arduous chore.

JULIA
(firm)
There is no chore involved. Your mother left you in my hands when she
went to God. I am and have been enthusiastically up to the task. This is
a constant, Josette.

JOSETTE
What time is it?

JULIA
You needn't trouble yourself with that right now. You must continue to
try and get some rest --

JOSETTE
(sitting up in bed)
I cannot. That much at least is obvious and forthright. Something
burrowed away in the tiniest pockets of my mind insists on murdering
my sleep.

JULIA
(galvanized)
W-W-WHAT did you say?

JOSETTE
(stopping short)
Why, I said...Aunt Natalie, what on Earth is wrong? You look so very
pale and trembling! I knew that fall had done you harm. Here you are,
standing guard over me like a hawk when you are ill yourself!
(standing) I shall get Riggs immediately.

JULIA
(stopping her)
That is not necessary, ma petit.

JOSETTE
You said so before and look at you now.

JULIA
I am made of more iron than you give me credit for. And I am fine.
My one focus now is you.

JOSETTE
(giving up)
Must you martyr yourself endlessly, Aunt Natalie?

JULIA
(flippant)
It is my saintly nature. When the rest of Martinique has gone to the
dogs of the "Queen" and her British Isles, I will remain at the edge of
that sand, in the garden house. You will find me there, grappling with
those swordsmen over the very last bit of jasmine. I promise you that.
(crossing to dresser) Come. I shall make you some tea to pass these
dreary American hours. Is it true that the rain in fact a sentient being
capable of thought here in this new world?

JOSETTE
(sitting down in the easy chair)
You judge it all so harsh, Aunt.

JULIA
I am forced to. We are representatives of France, after all.

JOSETTE
Of Martinique, Aunt Natalie.

JULIA
Hmmph.

The women drink their tea.

JULIA
(cont'd; careful)
You have, I trust, put all notions of a rendezvous with Barnabas Collins
from your mind, haven't you, dear?

JOSETTE
(steadfast)
What I saw in that dream was real, Aunt Natalie. I shall not discuss it
with you further.

JULIA
Your man is in the ground, ma chere. You must believe that! It is a
royal tragedy, but we must go on --

JOSETTE
(gripping her teacup hard)
He would not go on without me! If Barnabas thought I could come
back, he would search to the ends of the Earth and he would wait until
the end of time and he would sit and he would wait for me! I shall allow
him the same consideration. You are a woman of mysticism, Aunt
Natalie. You believe in your cards, and you too have had many
prophetic dreams. How can you call my dream fantasy?

JULIA
Because, I have learned the hard way where prophecy stops and
fantasy begins, Josette --

JOSETTE
(raging)
You do not know!


The teacup shatters into a thousand shards in Josette's claw-hand.
Josette shrieks as the porcelain shards burrow into her flesh...and draw
blood.


Julia reacts with horror.

JOSETTE
(mortified)
Aunt Natalie!


Julia quickly snaps out of it and rushes to Josette's aid, clucking over
her.

JULIA
Oh, ma petite...(dabbing at the cuts with a hankerchief) Here, here.
(eyeing the trembling Josette) You must try and calm down.

JOSETTE
(sobbing)
I cannot. I shall never be calm again. My fate is binded to his. Without
him, it is aimless and orphaned.

JULIA
Life continues, Josette --

JOSETTE
But I do not continue! Unequivocally and inexorably, I fade, Aunt; it
is all over every inch of my body. Even now, whiling away the days in
this room, it has begun.

JULIA
Do not talk like this, Josette. You must lie down, lie down and try to
rest --


Just then, a shower of lights flicker in the window. Julia and Josette
rush to the glass.

POV -- JULIA/JOSETTE


A series of brilliant lights in the sky, glowing orbs, are crackling and
burning in the tempest above. Multi-colored and radiant, we (and Julia)
recognize them as passing meteors.

BACK TO JULIA


Aghast.

JULIA
(inner voice)
"Stars will rip the sky..."

CLOSE ON JOSETTE

Spotting something, crying out with joy.

POV -- JOSETTE


Down there, amidst the trees, far below -- Barnabas stares up to her
window.

JOSETTE
(V.O.)
It is him!

BACK TO THE ROOM


Josette rushes to the door, grabbing her cloak, as Julia tries desperately
to bypass her. 

JULIA
Josette, Josette, please --


But Josette rushes out the door as it swings closed behind her -- with a
KLIK. Julia is locked in.


Julia spins around, desperate. She looks to the dresser mirror.

POV -- JULIA


Cassandra (with Angelique's head superimposed) smirks through the
glass in her place, laughing hysterically.

CUT TO:

EXT. WOODS -- SAME


Josette races down the path through the rainstorm and rushes headlong
into Barnabas' arms. The two kiss, hard and passionately, as thunder
sounds.

BLACK SCREEN.

TITLE CARD:
"the woods (i'm all around you) "

TITLE CARD:

you'll be given love
you'll be taken care of
you'll be given love
you have to trust it

maybe not from the sources you have turned towards
maybe not from the direction you are staring at

all is full of love
it's all around you.
-Bjork, "All Is Full Of Love"

FADE IN:

EXT. WOODS -- SAME

Josette and Barnabas are still wrapped in each other's arms, kissing
passionately. Thunder rolls and the earth continues to spasm as the rain
batters the trees.


They disconnect and stare into each other's eyes -- mortal angel and
damned prince.

BARNABAS
You.

JOSETTE
Us.


She buries her head on his shoulder.

JOSETTE
I knew my mind. I knew it was not deceiving me. I felt your force in
everything - I - touched.

BARNABAS
It is the same for me.

JOSETTE
How did you survive?

BARNABAS
A spell. A cruel -- trick. I am the denouement of a grand black joke.

JOSETTE
You speak in riddles.

BARNABAS
Perhaps I prefer them to the harsh reality. (pause) I would not wish this
place I have gone to on you.

JOSETTE
But I seek it.

BARNABAS
You will want no part of this. What you seek is still in that ground.

JOSETTE
I do not believe that. Not when I can still feel you.

BARNABAS
What you feel is a dream.

Josette turns away.

JOSETTE
You call to me and then you ask me to throw you away. You ask me
the impossible. (turning to him) Without you, my world is compact. My
heart goes through the motions, nothing more. (pause) If you are a
ghost, then I will go with a ghost. But you are my one absolute.

BARNABAS
(grabbing her)
Josette --

JOSETTE
(grabbing his hands)
Get me away from here.

CUT TO:

THE NEARBY BUSHES -- SAME


A dark, murky POV watches the pair from the shrubbery,
accompanied by heavy breathing.

CUT TO:

ANGLE ON THE BUSHES


We see that it's none other than Lieutenant Nathan Forbes.

CUT TO:

TITLE CARD:

"come back"

i'll let you catch me.
- Lori Carson/Graeme Revell, "Fall In The Light"

SMASH CUT TO:

INT. JOSETTE'S ROOM -- NIGHT


Julia is still banging on that blasted door.

JULIA
Josette! Josette! Anyone! Please! (sighs; voice drops back to 'normal'
tones) Oh, for God's sake...


Julia rushes over to the dresser and grabs a heavy-looking, ornamental
statue of the Countess'. She wields it like a rock, and proceeds to use it
to bash away at the door handle. After six or seven solid blows, the
door knob gives way. Julia slams her frame against the door, and it
gives, too.


Julia races out the door and down the hall.

FLASH TO:

EXT. WIDOWS HILL -- NIGHT


The famous cliff is razed by wind and rain as the storm takes up
residence in the sky directly above.

INT. THE WOODS -- SAME


Josette and Barnabas make their way through the forest, hand in hand,
and arrive atop the Hill.

EXT. WIDOWS HILL -- SAME


Josette and Barnabas stand at the edge of the forest and nuzzle, safe in
each other's arms, ignoring the storm.

BARNABAS
(softly)
I'll take you away from here. From everything. Ben Stokes has helped
me arrange things. We can go wherever you want.

JOSETTE
I believe it. I believe every word.

BARNABAS
(gentle kiss)
Wait for my return.

Barnabas turns and starts down the path into the woods. Josette takes
refuge under a large tree and sits down on a rock.

SMASH CUT TO:

INT. WOODS -- NIGHT

Julia, racing through the bushes and brambles and thunder and rain.
Horror in motion.

CUT TO:

INT. WOODS -- NIGHT (ELSEWHERE)


Forbes, still creeping down the path, retracing Barnabas and Josette's
steps.

CUT TO:

EXT. WIDOWS HILL -- SAME


Josette still sits on the rock, awaiting Barnabas' return. Just then, A
RINGING NOISE fills the air -- a siren. Josette's brow furrows, and
she stands hesitantly. The NOISE grows to drown out the sounds of
the storm. Confused, Josette looks up.

POV -- JOSETTE


The stormy sky, slowly fading...giving way to a simple, pitch-black calm
sky. The earth's shaking quells; the lightning and rain are gone. It's a
black horizon.


Below Josette, beyond the cliff, the sea is an opaque mass of darkness.
Only the ringing sound and an EERIE WIND can be heard whistling
through this sudden still calm.

GHOSTLY VOICE
(V.O.)
Mademoiselle.


We recognize the voice as Angelique's. Josette reacts instantly,
shocked.

JOSETTE
Who - Who is out there? Where are you?

ANGELIQUE
(V.O.)
You know who this is.

JOSETTE
(petrified)
Angelique! What do you want of me?

ANGELIQUE
(V.O.)
I bring you truth. Since no one would do it for you, I was obliged to
come.

JOSETTE
What are you talking about?

ANGELIQUE
(V.O.)
You. You and Barnabas. Don't you know? Haven't you guessed?

JOSETTE
(shaking her head violently)
You can do nothing to hurt us anymore!

ANGELIQUE
(V.O.)
My hand is absolved. You will do it all yourselves. You called me a
witch, Josette. They blamed it all on me. They were right. Do you want
one last magic gift from me, Josette? Do you want to see your
magnificent future as the BRIDE OF DEATH?

JOSETTE
You lie!

ANGELIQUE
(V.O.)
He was put in the ground, and from the ground he rose...to take you
back with him.

JOSETTE
That is not true!

ANGELIQUE
(V.O.)
You know it is. Watch; see.

JOSETTE
(turning away)
I will not!

ANGELIQUE
(V.O.; laughing)
You will. This is the way it all happens.


Suddenly, the world around Josette SHIMMERS, as if some strange,
misty field had been erected around her immediate surroundings.
Everything is gauzy, prismatic, slightly out of focus. Everything seems
to move in slow-motion.


Josette turns, and looks out onto the abyss-sky beyond the cliff.


A DARK FIGURE stands there, floating in the darkness, watching her.


Fascinated, Josette steps closer and closer to the edge. The figure
mimics her, drawing closer, and closer...until the light finally falls over
the figure's features.

CLOSE ON JOSETTE'S EYES


Wide and full of primal terror. 

SUBLIMINAL JUMP CUTS:

- Angelique, smirking evilly into the camera.
- Barnabas' funeral; a dreary fall day.
- Barnabas and Josette, long ago and happy, kissing passionately.
- A grinning skull.
- Dr. Julia Hoffman, back in 1968, loading a syringe.
- Cassandra, smirking evilly into the camera.

BACK TO THE CLIFF


The world spins as Josette stares into the eyes of the figure next to her
-- it is JOSETTE HERSELF. A thousand bloody stake-wounds in her
abdomen and chest below a tattered nightdress; her hair tangled and
ripped, and her face white and blue-lipped, her eyes opaque white --
with huge, monstrous fangs protruding from her mouth and slicing into
her lower lips, blood dripping down her chin.

CLOSE ON THE EVIL JOSETTE


The creature smiles into the camera, and its animal incisors rip its lips
open.

BACK TO JOSETTE

She screams in mortal horror, as the storm, the wind, and the rain all
return.

CUT TO:

INT. WOODS -- NIGHT

Barnabas turns mid-stride, hearing the scream, and rushes back down
towards the hill.

CUT TO:

INT. WOODS -- NIGHT (ELSEWHERE)


Julia hears the screams, too, and picks up her pace.

CUT TO:

EXT. WIDOWS HILL -- SAME


Josette continues to scream wildly, terrified by what she's seen. When
Barnabas rushes onto the scene, she backs up further against the cliff,
shrieking.

JOSETTE
My God! My GOD! What are you?

BARNABAS
Josette, what's happened -- you must listen to me --

JOSETTE
(yelling over the storm)
NO! I -- I saw -- our future -- there is no future!

BARNABAS
Josette, come away from there --


Julia creeps onto the scene, watching from the shrubbery. Horrified.

JOSETTE
(yelling)
Stay away from me! Don't touch me! WHAT ARE YOU?

BARNABAS
(anguished)
You don't understand -- please, just listen to me --


Barnabas reaches out to her, and Josette lashes his arm away, leaping
back.

BARNABAS
(softly)
I'm begging you.


They stare into each other's eyes.


A long moment.


The wind howls as Josette stares into Barnabas' eyes with blank horror
-- and sinking realization.


Barnabas is confused. Then, he looks down.


Josette's feet are wavering on the lip of the cliff. Barely balancing.


Barnabas' eyes widen. He reaches out to her and -- as it has always
happened and will again --


SHE FALLS.


Josette hurtles off the hill, screaming wildly, through the air.

Barnabas howls with insane grief.

BARNABAS
(mad with grief)
COME BACK!


In the corner of the scene, crouching amidst the shrubs, Angelique is
there. Laughing silently. Then, she's gone.

CUT TO:


JOSETTE FALLING.


And falling.

SUBLIMINAL JUMP CUTS:


- A beating heart.
- Josette's portrait.
- The chained coffin.
- Barnabas, spotting Nathan Forbes in the woods.
- Julia, in 1968, smiling up at a near-human Barnabas.
- Cassandra, twirling her engagement ring around on her hand.
- Victoria Winters, smiling.
- Barnabas, snapping a screaming Forbes' neck deep in the dark woods,
his face a mask of insane grief.

FLASH TO:

Julia, watching from the woods -- her face a rictus of frozen horror and
sadness. Her head weighted down with the full understanding of
Barnabas' years of pain.


Just then, a WHITE LIGHT ENVELOPES THE SCREEN.
ANGELIQUE'S LAUGHTER floods the audio, and we FLASH to:


- Julia, turning around in 1968.
- Cassandra, smirking at the camera once again.
- Cassandra and Julia, in a black room. Cassandra sticks something into
Julia's chest with a shredding noise, and Julia recoils.
- Cassandra, leering at Julia with maniacal, opaque white eyes and a
black-lipped mouth with jagged teeth.

SMASH CUT TO:

INT. COLLINWOOD DRAWING ROOM -- 1968

We're back, and --

CASSANDRA IS GASPING FOR BREATH.


ROGER, sitting on the couch, rises instantly, as do CAROLYN and
DAVID, also sitting around.

ROGER
Darling! My God, what's wrong?!


Roger and Carolyn rush to Cassandra's side, who is swaying on her
feet and dizzied. Roger instantly grabs Cassandra and sits her down,
tending to her, while Carolyn keeps a slight distance while expressing
slight concern. David just stays where he is, watching the tableau with
unreadabable intensity.


Then, he walks out of the room.

ROGER
(to Carolyn)
Kitten, call the doctor at once. (Carolyn exits) Cassandra, can you hear
me? Are you having trouble breathing? Darling, please!


Cassandra takes a series of shallow, ragged breaths, then blinks a
number of times, and stares at Roger.


For once, she's shellshocked.

CUT TO:

INT. THE OLD HOUSE -- NIGHT

A FLASH OF WHITE LIGHT FLOODS THE ROOM, and a noise
like a SONIC BOOM erupts, and suddenly -- Julia is back in her seat,
in her old clothes.


Julia starts, blinks, and rouses from her daze.


A clatter of noise off-screen, and then BARNABAS is rushing into the
room from the basement door.


BARNABAS
What on Earth was that noise?

JULIA
(dazed)
B-Barnabas...

Barnabas moves to her side, perplexed and concerned.

BARNABAS
Doctor...Julia, are you quite all right? Should I summon Woodard?

JULIA
(shakes her head rapidly)
No; no. I'm all right, really. I just need -- need a minute to catch my
breath... (pause) I guess I must have dozed off. I had the strangest
dream...

BARNABAS
(smiling)
Dream? Here I was so sure you were immune to such night flights of
fancy, Doctor. Your brilliant work seems to have caught up with you;
are you aware it is eight o'clock in the evening?

JULIA
(blinking)
Already? Why, I was just reading in the afternoon.

BARNABAS
Would you like to share the dream with me?

JULIA
No, please. It was rather unpleasant, and just the -- the product of an
overcooked brain, I'm sure.

BARNABAS
You've worked so already, Julia. Perhaps you should take a few days'
respite.

JULIA
(shaking her head vigorously)
Your treatment is the most important thing, Barnabas.

BARNABAS
Well, at least allow me to get you some tea.

JULIA
That would be lovely, Barnabas.


Unexpectedly, she takes his hand, gently. Their eyes lock.

JULIA
(smiling)
Thank you.


Barnabas clears his throat and withdraws his hand slowly. He smiles at
her awkwardly.

BARNABAS
I shall find Willie and get that tea.


He exits. Julia stays seated, and sighs, oddly wistful.


After a few moments, she stands. Circles the room, pacing. Cocks her
head; cracks her neck.


Then, Julia slowly runs a hand across one of her hands...and then the
other. Then, she runs a hand across her face. She blinks her eyes,
once, then twice.

CUT TO:

INT. JOSETTE'S ROOM -- NIGHT


The door opens, and Julia slowly enters. She crosses to face the
portrait of Josette.

POV -- JULIA


The painted face of Josette, frozen in time.

BACK TO JULIA


An uncharacteristically sinister smirk crosses Julia's face as she stares
up at the portrait.

ANGLE ON THE ROOM


Julia, staring up at the portrait. A shadow floats through the room, and
the candelabra blow out.

BLACK OUT.

TO BE CONTINUED...

More Pictures from the Upcoming Movie

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=32089

From the upcoming issue of Empire magazine, a brief article and these two tantalizing shots.  Michelle Pfeiffer is so regal, and as for Barnabas ... well ... um ... those fingernails ... THOSE FINGERNAILS!

Shadows on the Wall Chapter Fifteen

Chapter 15: The Sick Rose

by Gothick

The Sick Rose

O rose, thou art sick!

The invisible worm

That flies in the night,

In the howling storm,

Has found out thy bed

Of crimson joy,

And his dark secret love

Does thy life destroy.

William Blake

Prelude (read by Alexandra Moltke): "My name is Victoria Winters.

Collinwood in the Summer of 1967 stands shrouded in a mist invisible

to the naked eye. We who dwell in the Great House perceive but the

barest twinkling of an eye ... but to one woman who has embarked on

a strange and terrifying journey back to the past, to the year 1796,

uncounted days and nights still must pass ... new horrors must be

endured, new agonies faced, and her own life must hang in the

balance ... as she, a stranger in a sea of familiar faces, searches for the

clue to the survival of another woman ... an innocent ... whose life

could mean the difference between hope and despair for a man she

will come to know and love ... two hundred years in the future ..."

Julia Hoffman paused thoughtfully. Where was she? It was warm, and

the bright sunlight was making her squint. She looked about herself,

puzzled. She was standing in an intricately laid out formal garden, such

as she had visited when she took a year's sabbatical to visit England

and work with her colleague, Dr. Catherine Gale. High hedges

expertly trimmed rose about her, living green walls that seemed almost

to sigh in the rich English summer heat. She was wearing her favorite

electric blue dress, the one with the slightly daring neckline ("Can I get

away with THIS at the next professional conference?" she had

pondered aloud to her companion, with one of her whiskey baritone

chuckles, as she stood modeling the dress the day she had bought

it - he had assured her that her colleagues would thank their lucky stars

she had chosen to enliven an otherwise dull meeting with such a

delightful ensemble.)

She followed the green walls and came to a clearing. And there he

was, standing moodily by a sundial. When he saw her, his face came

alive with smiles, his warm brown eyes shimmering with delight, and

he almost ran towards her with arms extended.

"Julia!" he exclaimed, pulling her into an embrace that set her pulses

raging, but he simply hugged her, and then let her go, to look at her, at

arm's length. "It's been so long!"

"Has it, Barnabas?" she asked, her own voice hoarse with emotion.

"Yes," he murmured, tilting his face so that the word was a delicious

buzz against her ear. He laughed a moment, and smiled fondly into her

eyes, then held up one hand to softly caress her mouth. "And I owe it

all to you..."

His face came towards her, and she felt all her senses soaring into the

most heightened state of awareness she had ever known. He's going

to kiss me, she thought. And it will be the beginning ... of everything I

have ever dreamed ... and of things I haven't even known existed ... 

"WHAT do you owe Doctor Hoffman?" The chill voice was like an

icy scythe slashing through the bright midsummer air. "And what

exactly is the meaning of this ... tete a tete?"

Barnabas' face fell, and he and Julia swiveled with comically

synchronized timing to look at the woman who stood, her mouth a

tight line of silent rage, her fists dangerously knotted and clenched

against the sheer fabric of her yellow sleeveless Mary Quant trapeze

mini dress with the huge buttons that seemed to glitter with sinister

power in the tranquil afternoon sunlight.

"Cassandra," he said simply, acknowledging her with an oddly

antiquated, formal little half bow. "I wasn't aware you had taken to

eavesdropping."

Her scowl twisted into a bitter, twisted little half-smile. "I hardly

regard attending to the affairs of my own husband eavesdropping,"

she announced with icy hauteur. "And how are you today, DEAR

sister-in-law?" she purred, and Julia shivered involuntarily.

Why did she call me that? she wondered. But before she had time to

question her, Barnabas took a step towards her:

"Cassandra, why can't you simply accept the inevitable? Must we

continue to play out this game, over and over again, like children on a

merry-go-round? Don't you think it's time we both did something

different with our lives? Even people like us have the need for life ...

for warmth ... for love!"

His words were like repeated slaps across her porcelain-pale cheeks,

and yet they were spoken with utter sincerity. Her lower lip trembled

violently and her eyes seemed to shake with painful, unshed tears.

"Love?" she said, and her voice cracked, half scream, half wail.

"Barnabas Collins, you don't know the meaning of the word love.

You never have, and you never will! You pretended to love me, those

nights in Martinique, yet all the time you were using me ... deceiving

me. You were never aware of what I was thinking or feeling ...

whether I even had a mind of my own. I was just ... just a

convenience to you!"

"Must we go over all this again?" he asked her wearily. Julia tried to

speak, to move, but found herself in a dreamlike paralysis. She

stared, suddenly sensing what was about to come, but incapable of

doing anything to prevent it.

Cassandra shook her head angrily. Her brow glistened with sweat;

her ravenswing black hair, ornately styled in terraced waves bove her

steep patrician brow, shone in the sunlight like a dark helmet, hinting

at the powers of destruction that lurked at her slightest command.

Then she seemed to slump forward. Alarmed, Barnabas rushed to her

side, grabbing her shoulders. "Cassandra! What is it?" he gasped.

Her head hung down, and she seemed to half swoon, as he held her,

and she grabbed onto his arm with one delicate pale hand ... that

suddenly became as sharp and pincer-like as a crab claw. "Nothing ...

DEAR husband," she crooned horribly, her features distended in a

smile that, strangely, grew wider and wider, as she nuzzled his neck

playfully. "Nothing at all ... now that I've got you where I want you.

Haven't you wondered HOW I came back, Barnabas? How I have

been able to live in this time? THIS is what I am ... and THIS is what

you will become!" 

 

The fangs, sharp and lethal, glistened between the two pink lips, and

Julia nearly vomited where she stood as she saw the glossy lipstick

mingled with the gushing fount of Barnabas' blood ... Her own

screams, ragged and tortured, howled in her ears and echoed against

Cassandra's hellish peals of cacchinating laughter as she fell down ...

down ... down ...

Darkness, and chill moonlight shining over half broken grey stones.

Someone calledher name. She turned at the sound of the familiar

voice.

"Vicki! Oh God, I'm so glad to find you!" Julia had no idea why it was

now night and she was in a heavy cloak. Perhaps she had fainted and

Barnabas had brought her here to safety?

"I'm glad too," Vicki said softly. "But you shouldn't be here, Julia."

"I don't even know how ... how I got here!" sputtered Julia, feeling

royally rattled by the whole experience of the past few days. "I mean,

I was having this nightmare where I was back in the eighteenth

century, for starters, and then-"

"Then?" Vicki looked at her cryptically.

"Vicki ... why ARE we here?" Julia asked. "What are we doing

here-in Eagle Hill cemetery, of all places?"

"Why, Julia," said Vicki calmly, "I should think you of all people

would know the answer to that. You know that I have to die."

"You have to ... die?" she felt like an idiot, parroting the words back.

Dear God, none of this made any sense at all!

"Yes," said Vicki, calm and resigned and slightly demented, all at

once. "I have to die to be with him. To be with the man I love."

She had turned, and the moonlight shone on her silken, dark hair. And

suddenly she turned again, and Julia screamed at the face ... half eaten

away, as if the flesh had been gnawed by rats ... the lips shrivelled and

withered ... the teeth ... yellow fangs glistening in the night air. 

Vicki, or what had been Vicki, laughed and began walking towards

Julia. "Come ... join me, Julia," she purred seductively. "He wants you

too. He wants you for his latest bride ... Julia Hoffman ... bride of

Barnabas Collins ... bride ... of death!"

Julia's screams rang out again and again, and the laughing fanged skull

blurred and puddled and melted, and suddenly she wasn't in a

cemetery or a garden, but in her own bedroom at Collinwood. And

someone was knocking repeatedly at the door and calling for Aunt

Natalie. 

Julia's hand flew nervously to her bosom, to the antique (wrong word,

she thought absently, this night robe is probably brand new) lace

embroidery and satin ribbons that were her attire. "Come in ...

Josette," she called wearily.

A single candle was burning by her bedside, and as Josette rushed to

embrace her, Julia saw the dark rings that circled her "niece's" eyes.

"Oh, Aunt Natalie," Josette exclaimed, "are you all right? I was awake

in my room and I heard you screaming terribly. I can't think why half

the house isn't here to make sure you haven't been robbed and

murdered in your bed!"

Julia stroked Josette's long auburn hair absently. "It's all right, ma

chere," she said, using the endearment she had found so frequently in

the Countess' diary. "A nightmare, that is all. " 

Josette gasped. "It can have been no ordinary dream, to have given

you such a fright! Will you read your tarot cards to learn what it

means?"

Julia smiled in spite of herself. The child really was quite endearingly

naive, and she was already feeling an aunt-like fondness for her. "No,"

she said, "but, if you would be so kind as to pour me a brandy-I have

a decanter over there-on the escritoire-and a glass. I think it would

help to soothe my nerves..." The fact was, she hadn't had a cigarette

in days, and it was getting on her nerves more than she cared to

admit. She genially felt as if she would have killed for a pack of

Newport News at the moment.

And all she had on hand was ... tarot cards!

Still, the brandy was good. She allowed herself just a sip, carefully

supporting the delicate little glass with both hands, before she moved

it over to the little table next to her bed. She sat up, pulled the pillows

behind her to support her back, and took both Josette's hands in hers.

The girl snuggled near with one of those little sighs that, Julia was sure,

were regarded by Barnabas as one of her many charming attributes.

"I missed our walk this afternoon, ma chere," Julia said, thoughtfully

beginning the work of untangling Josette's absurdly matted tangle of

curls. Really, it looked as if the child had spent half the day doing

gymnastics, something she knew was impossible. Whatever the

reason, her hair was a rat's nest, and desperately needed the attention

of a proper hairdresser. What a pity darling Pepe was 200 years in

the future ... along with her cigarettes, and so many other things that

made the stress of living somewhat more bearable. 

Josette heaved a more profound sigh, and her mouth trembled. "I

really didn't have the heart to go out today, Aunt Natalie..." she

began, "because..." and then her voice broke and she flung herself on

Julia, sobbing frantically into Julia's shoulder.

Julia shushed her, rolling her eyes at the ceiling. She understood how

the girl felt, but honestly, did she have to be so melodramatic about it?

Josette seemed woefully lacking in fibre or backbone. Nevertheless

she did her best to comfort the distraught child. "I know, ma p'tite,"

she crooned. "It's been two days since he ... left us, and Joshua would

only tell us that the ... the interment would be today." She frowned. "I

have no idea why such extreme secrecy must be preserved. I

concocted that story about the plague for the doctor's benefit. I hardly

see what right Joshua had to deny us attendance at dear Barnabas'

obsequies!" 

Josette's sobs had calmed into faint whimpering, and now she

swallowed mightily, and lifted her tear-soaked cheeks to grab a small

lace kerchief she had bundled inside one voluminous sleeve. She blew

her nose with ladylike delicacy, and dabbed carefully at her eyes. "I

don't understand it either, Aunt Natalie," she said, "and I found my

thoughts disordered .... my fancies all at cross purposes ... thinking

about him all the day. And tonight," her voice descended oddly in

timbre, "tonight I dreamt of him. That was a comfort ..."

"You ... dreamed of him, Josette?" Julia asked curiously.

"Yes!" She smiled at the thought, and her smile transfigured her face,

making it almost radiant as the dim orange glow of the candle

flickered over the lines grief had left there. "Yes, he came to me,

dressed in a long black travelling cloak, and bade me wait for him.

'Wait for me, mon amie,' he whispered, as he always used to do when

we would speak privately, 'Wait for me ... tomorrow night ... on

Widow's Hill. Wait for me ... and I will come to you!' Oh, Aunt

Natalie," Josette gushed with sudden girlish enthusiasm. "Wouldn't it

be wonderful if it were true!"

Julia felt the blood drain away from her face, and despite the

voluminous robe she wore, she felt as if icewater were pouring down

her back. Abruptly, she hopped out of bed (realizing suddenly that

her movements were too clumsy for those of a proper lady ... but

perhaps Natalie had also displayed a certain decisive awkwardness,

since nobody had commented upon it). The image that came into her

mind suddenly unnerved her. "Josette," she said, turning deliberately

away from her companion, "you ... you mustn't say that. You mustn't

even THINK it! Barnabas ... Barnabas is dead."

She turned to look at the maiden who stood by her bed, looking up at

her, mouth agape, tears welling again in the dark sensitive eyes. "But

he came to me, Aunt! He came to me in my dream."

"The dead don't come back," Julia said abruptly, wishing she could

shut out that taunting voice that cackled in her inner ear: "Oh yes, they

do. They come back, and when they do, they are HUNGRY."

"Josette," she said, with a characteristically sudden change of topic, "I

want us to talk about our plans."

"Plans?" the girl asked, looking up at her vacantly. "What plans?"

"I think with all that has happened here, it would be unwise for us to

stay here much longer," Julia said matter-of-factly. "Your father and I

discussed it today, and we are both of the opinion that you need a

complete change of scene." She fidgeted with the satin ribbons on her

breast, choosing her words with care. "Thanks to the turmoil in

France, we are not welcome at home, and I do not think Martinique

at all the right climate for your convalescence. Andre and I have

talked about London."

"London!" Josette gasped, and her doe's eyes suddenly seemed to

say: are you mad?

"Yes," Julia said firmly. "We can stay with the Hampshires; they are

charming people, and they have enjoyed our hospitality often enough,

the good God knows! Once you are well enough, when it is Spring

and the flowers are out, you can go to parties ... the theatre ... take

the waters at Bath ..."

"Aunt Natalie," said Josette, almost giggling with embarrassment, "you

can't be serious!"

"I am serious," said Julia gravely, lifting her chin and staring at her

"niece." "I have never been more serious in my life. It is my

opinion-and one shared by your Father-that your health-indeed your

life itself-is imperilled if you remain any longer at Collinwood!"

"Really," said the girl, tossing her head with a surprising show of spirit.

"Aunt Natalie, you were right. I have been in bed too long. Tomorrow

I mean to have a council with my Father. I must make him realize one

thing. I would rather die than leave Collinwood now!"

"But-but Josette-"

"Save your breath, Aunt," the girl announced with sudden

imperiousness. "I firmly believe that Barnabas has sent me a message

to wait for him. And I intend to wait for him if it means spending the

rest of my days as a widow at Collinwood!"

And with that, she swept from the room, leaving Julia to sip

distractedly at her brandy, wondering of the futility of trying to

out-manoeuvre Fate.

****************************************

In a slightly shabby room in the Collinsport Inn, a room furnished with

so few of the comforts with which the Countess du Pres had

surrounded herself, it might as well have represented another plane of

existence altogether, two men lay together, innocent of clothing but far

from innocent in heart or mind.

Nathan Forbes ravished Todd Jennings' mouth with a kiss that started

slow, then built to a throbbing climax as their tongues met and danced

and slid around in each other's mouths. Their passion was violent,

covert, and unstoppable. It had gone on for months, ever since that

night at the Eagle when the shy, muscular man-of-all-work had caught

the notoriously dark and roving eye of Collinsport's most dangerously

ambitious man about town. The liaison had continued throughout

Forbes' successful courtship of Miss Millicent Collins; it had

continued in addition to Forbes' many dalliances with various doxies,

hussies and street strumpets. Forbes' sensual appetites were on a truly

epic scale, and it was truly to be regretted that his station had not

fitted him with the means to indulge those appetites with the style and

equipage he dreamt of attaining. Jennings did not care about all the

women; he knew enough of what went on behind his back to know

that he was the only man whose bed Forbes frequented, and that was

all he cared about. The casualness with which men of the 1790s

entered into sexual adventures would no doubt have fascinated Ricki

Lake, but, fortunately for Nathan and Todd, she wasn't around to

interrupt their interlude with her pointlessly repetitive questions.

'Mmmmm," Forbes crooned provocatively, nibbling Todd's ear and

admiring the way the candlelight glittered in his brown, dancing eyes,

"you're like a fine ale that just gets better with every draft, my dear

fellow."

"And YOU, " Todd riposted, grabbing Forbes' ripe and rounded

hind-cheeks with strong, calloused hands, "are like a toper running

four sheets to the wind who doesn't know the meaning of the word

'enough'!"

Forbes brayed loud laughter, caught Todd's hands in his own, and

moved Todd's right hand onto his swelling yard which leapt with

renewed vigor at Todd's slightest touch.

"Yer gonna help me, arentcha, Toddy boy," he grinned, his words

slurring with the effects of too much drink and too much swiving. "Yer

gonna help me get rid of her ... and we're gonna get all the Collins

money ... and go to sea together ... with our own company. We'll see

the riches of Asia and make a fortune!" 

"And how are we goin' to do that, Lieutenant Forbes," crooned

Todd, his hand where Nathan liked it best.

"You know. I told you," Nathan said sleepily. "My dear wife is going

to go quite mad. And that will be just the beginning ... just the

beginning ... hmmmmm...."

Nathan Forbes would have laughed with delight at the thought of a

mad, helpless Millicent, had his mouth not been suddenly occupied. 

It was shortly before dawn, and Forbes was staggering back to his

lodgings, when he tripped over something. He leaned down, and

gasped. It was a body. And not just ANY body, but the body of one

of the most notorious (and, he thought with a sudden sad stab of

regret, one of the most hot blooded) strumpets in Collinsport. She

was quite dead now, all her gyrations and her laughing gaiety come to

this. Forbes frowned: even in his drunken state he could see quite

clearly that the killer, who had strangled her (the marks were

beginning to swell on her neck) had mutilated her beforehand. Long,

bloody gashes stared at him from the white, exposed flesh of her

swanlike throat He moved her, and her eyes stared stonily upward at

the first streaks of dawn bloodying the sky along the horizon.

And the first streaks of dawn fell upon something else--something

strange and a little exotic at first, yet ultimately familiar. 

It was a cane. A man's cane, with a silver wolf's head ornament. And

suddenly things began to become clear in the mind of Lieutenant

Nathan Forbes and he smiled one of the open, guileless smiles that

made him so excessively popular with both ladies and gentlemen.

"Fortune smiles upon Forbes," he murmured, grabbing the stick and

swaggering homeward. He had much to do before the next evening's

fall-but first, sleep.

TO BE CONTINUED ......