Thursday, August 29, 2013
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Barnabas + Julia = Weirdly Hand Colored Photo
Just received LP's new book in the mail today. Things not lookin good for the Jul-stress.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Monday, August 26, 2013
1991 Revival
I haven't paid much attention on this blog as of late to the 1991 revival series. Don't think that means I don't love it; I cut my teeth on that brief flare of awesome, keep in mind, and I feel like it's due a good watching through very soon. Oh yeah, yeah, I know there are issues -- it's amusing to me that a lot the same anti-Depp version rhetoric that has cropped up since last May is a lot of the same venom spilled post-1991 about the revival series -- but I love it nonetheless.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Shadows on the Wall Chapter 76
Chapter 76 - Mark of the Beast
by Midnite
(David Selby)
"Something cold is in the air over Collinwood, and before
this day is through, its residents will find
themselves filled with a mix of
dread and hope."
Despite the patches of dirty snow that remained, an
amazing show of green
would soon appear in the woods around the Old
House. Angelique knew this
because she had seen it, though Collinwood was new
then and the big trees
were much younger.
Suddenly she found herself missing the garden view from
her sunny kitchen on Little Windward Island and
thinking about the herbs she
should be sowing from seed to transplant next month
for no other reason than
that the cook would use them in her dishes. She smiled because it pleased
her to know that it was the only use she had for
herbal plants now that Sky
was in her life.
Angelique held onto his arm as they walked because
being this close to him
made her feel safe and warm. And that’s the way it ought to be, she told
herself, when you love somebody as much as she loved
Sky.
~*~
She was eyeing a fishing boat as it traveled toward
the harbor, a flock of
seagulls kissing its masts, and Vicki felt a little
shiver of envy as the
vessel headed for home as if nothing else was
happening. Humans will
continue to go about their lives, she told herself, as
surely as the sea
will endure and the sun will scrupulously rise and
set. But for her, life
was a constant battle to resist the spirit of
blackness within her-- it was
a moment to moment struggle to stay afloat.
Just last night she had considered ending it on this
very spot where Widows
Hill hung over the shore. The sea called to her then, but she had
returned
to announce her new attitude. The pain would end today, but on her terms.
She would avail herself of the unconditional love
offered by Quentin, but
only after severing the last connection to the
Leviathans. Vicki inched
closer to the edge to view where the face of orange
rock met the white spray
below. You’ll
claim your victim today, she informed the waves, but it won’t
be me.
The cries of the fleeing gulls startled her, but when
she glanced in their
direction she noticed that the boat’s silhouette had
blurred. Vicki blinked
and thought she saw something shiny and black in its
place; it must be a
whale, she told herself. It was covered in seaweed and seemed to be
sliding
across the surface of the water like oil moving through
water. And then the
stench of fish innards reached her. It was a dizzying shock and she felt
herself slip a little, her foot dislodging a spout of
gravel that rattled
down the steep and stony face and into the booming
surf below. She stepped
back quickly and felt relieved to be on the moist
grass, and when she looked
up again the hideous snake thing was gone and the
fishing vessel was once
again the only object on the widely spreading
sea. The boat continued on
its way, just as before, bypassing the swells as
easily as Vicki could
levitate a pencil.
She rubbed her eyes.
Vicki pulled the fat ring from her pocket and examined
it. I didn’t choose
them, she said to it.
You chose them for me, and now you can be with them
forever. Then
as hard as she could, she hurled the ugly thing that held the
essence of her father in its red stone and then
watched until its flight was
halted by the sea.
A fitting grave, she thought.
Content that the sea had received the Count, Vicki
headed for home.
~*~
An icy wind funneled through the trees and slapped
against the couple, and
then it was gone just as quickly. Angelique squeezed her husband’s arm.
“You felt it too?” Sky asked.
“Yes. It sent a
chill right through me. But what was
it?”
“It came from that grove of trees,” he said. “And beyond that is just ocean
” His handsome
features twisted into a frown. “The time
is getting close.
And after what I witnessed this morning…”
She felt like crumpling on the spot. “This morning?”
Sky avoided her gaze.
“I suppose you have a right to know,” he said. “I
woke up early and couldn’t get back to sleep,” he
continued. “It was still
a few hours before dawn and I didn’t want to wake you,
so I went downstairs.
When I looked out the bay window, I saw movement in
the night sky-- a lot
of it. But it’s
not the right time for a meteor shower.”
“Oh,” she murmured.
He was looking at her now and noticed she was
trembling, so he said, “Let’s get you inside.”
~*~
Julia paused at the bottom of the staircase to survey
what she could see. A
wall next to her was lined with tables stacked high
with books, and the far
wall was covered with bookcases that reached the
low-hung ceiling. The rows
of bookshelves that occupied the rest of the space
stretched into the
darkness on her left.
She squinted in the dim light and called out, “Eliot,
are you here?”
It echoed, giving her a start.
“Julia!” he shouted back, and it was followed by a
cough. “There’s a light
switch next to the steps.”
She groped the wall until her hand found it, and
several overhead lights
snapped on. Now
she could see that the university basement was enormous.
She slapped a hand with her gloves before proceeding
down an aisle, a black
bag dangling from her forearm.
Not only were books and manuscripts spilling from the
shelves everywhere she
looked, but they were also piled high in random spots
on the floor. "Watch
your step,” she heard him say and responded with a
faint grunt.
She found him seated at an old desk that was crowded
with papers and lit by
one dusty lamp, and she set her bag on a corner. "I had no idea this was
here,” she said.
She was looking into his eyes, which were bloodshot and
surrounded by dark circles, and his skin was
sallow. He looked exhausted,
but he displayed a proud smile. “Rockport is renowned for its vast
collection of rarities," he replied.
“And certainly not for its heating system,” she
snapped while tugging at her
suit jacket, but he pretended to not hear. She was eyeing the large safe
behind him, its door ajar, when she added, “Your
message said you weren’t
feeling well so I came right away. You shouldn’t be down here without a
coat,” she scolded.
"And this dust is bad for your asthma.”
He gestured toward a metal chair behind her, but when
she realized what he
was pointing at she waved it off. He told her, “The message was only half
true. I’m fine,
but I needed to get you here without arousing any
suspicions.”
She slumped into the chair after all. “Well you don’t know how... I thought
..”
“You’ll understand once you’ve heard about the
discovery I’ve made,” he said
She fought the urge to smack him with one of the
gloves. His thick
fingers shuffled papers to reveal a document that was
yellowed and stiff.
“This scroll dates back to the 3rd century B.C.”
Julia touched it experimentally. “Hardly.”
“Yes, it IS difficult to believe that an ancient
papyrus could be in such a
fine condition.
It was found enshrouded with a body that had been mummified
2,000 years ago.
Until yesterday it was part of the private collection of a
renowned Egyptologist.”
She sniffed a little.
“Then how did you come to have it?”
She intended for
it to sound like a challenge.
“I am not without connections,” he boasted, and a
twinkle in his eye
reminded her that the spark was still in her old
friend. “I've made a full
study of it,” he continued. “The text is Aegean and it makes numerous
references to a primordial race that sought to devour
the world. The
Leviathans, Julia.”
“It mentions them by name?”
“Only that they were an ancient race with origins in
the sea. According to
what’s written here, their hopes were pinned entirely
on their leader. He
took the name Jebez, and he was part human and part
sea creature. He was
sought out and destroyed, and mankind, therefore, was
allowed to flourish.”
“How was he destroyed?”
The Professor shook his head. “That isn’t revealed. However, he was known
to carry an identifying mark-- the Mark of the Beast
is what they called it
” He continued,
his tone becoming grave. “The scroll
also contains a
prophecy. The
Leviathans will rise again and attempt to regain the power
they once lost.
And once the way is prepared for them, they’ll resume their
plan to destroy all humans.”
“Did the prediction say when this would happen?”
“No, but there will be signs. The sun will grow dark and the moon will turn
blood red, and the stars will fall from the
skies. What we may be facing is
an apocalypse.”
Julia sank lower in the chair. “Is that all?”
~*~
It was a square room, the austere furnishings arranged
in two conversational
clusters.
Quentin preferred the grouping near the fireplace because it was
a good place to get warm and it provided a convenient
spot for his glass,
but he chose it mostly because it faced the big window
that looked out onto
the rear grounds.
Amy had already dragged a stiff chair over to the
large table in a corner
and was now laying out her playing cards. She was dressed in a short, blue
dress trimmed in pale pink with stockings to match,
and Quentin thought she
looked like a neat, pastel package.
As if she knew the exact moment he was watching her,
Amy smiled and looked
over at him.
“She’ll be back soon,” she announced cheerfully.
“What?” It came
out sounding more irritated than he would have liked.
“Vicki,” she said matter-of-factly. “Isn’t that why you keep looking out
the window?”
He turned partly away from her in the way adults do
when they don’t want to
be bothered.
“Of course not. Vicki is a big
girl.” He raised his glass to
his lips and hoped that was the end of it.
Sometime after that, the music began. He didn’t know she had relocated to
the piano until she was playing it. He could hear the words to the tune in
his head-- “She loves you, yeah yeah yeah…” She played it carefully and
unhurriedly, and when the chorus was done she repeated
it again, and then
again. Quentin
could see where this was going.
“Amy. Would you
like to play cards with me?”
She was off the bench in one bounce and picked up her
cards, now in a tidy
pile. It was
almost as if… he laughed out loud, and she frowned as she came
over to him.
“What’s so funny?” she asked as she sat next to him.
“I’m laughing because I’ve been had.” He was smiling broadly, but she
showed she had excused him by dealing five cards into
a pile in front of him
“What are we playing?” he asked.
“It's a game I made up,” she explained while dealing
another five for
herself. “We
each pick up our top card and look at it at the same time.
Are you ready?”
“Okay, but what am I…”
“On the count of three,” she told him. “One, two, three!”
Quentin picked up the card on top and found himself
staring at a terrible
sight. The
thing depicted was various shades of green, and it had two heads
that glared at him with four red eyes.
“Isn’t it beautiful, Quentin?” she asked. “The eyes are the best part. If
you stare at them long enough, they start to look back
at you.”
The image had so mesmerized him that he didn't see her
take the amulet that
bore the same likeness from her pocket, or notice its
chain being slipped
over his head.
After tucking it under his sweater, she reached up to his
ear and whispered "forget" before kissing
his cheek. "I win!" she cried
out
before collecting all the cards.
~*~
Roger was pacing when the doors opened wide and Amy
stepped out. “Well?” he
asked her. He
waited for her answer, his mouth a straight line, but her
huge brown eyes regarded him passively. They both knew that Roger had been
ordered to join her in the drawing room to help with
the preparation, but he
had retreated instead to his bedroom with a bottle of
brandy when he lost
his nerve. But
he had to find out if the task was completed, he thought
foggily, so he could head back upstairs and peacefully
pass out on his bed.
“Well,” he repeated, “did you do it or not?”
“No thanks to you,” she answered, shooting him a dark
look.
Roger opened his mouth again but closed it. It made no sense to antagonize
her because the truth of it was that he was terribly
afraid of her--
frightened of this thin girl who was half his size.
A smile began to form on Amy’s lips as if some private
thought had slowly
occurred to her.
She was looking at a point just past him as if there was a
black spot there when she announced coldly, "The
world will know the beast,
and the beast will know the world."
~*~
Quentin was lighting the last of the candles when he
heard the soft knocking
He was at the door in two steps and found Vicki on the
other side, her
arms wrapped around herself. She smiled apologetically but he looked back
at her seriously.
“Come in,” he said, and she stepped inside.
After having been to his room many times, she thought
she knew all its
possibilities-- how it could feel warm and welcoming
when she barged in to
cry on Quentin’s shoulder, how it loomed large when
she awoke alone because
he was elsewhere in the house, and how it could
deteriorate into an
unpleasant mess that badly needed Mrs. Johnson’s
attention. But this was
the first time she had seen it lit by candlepower, and
she thought it made
the space seem romantic.
“Where were you?” he asked from a spot in the middle
of the room.
She sat down on the foot of his bed and watched the
tiny flames make his
shadow wither and then blow it huge again. “I was walking in the woods,”
she lied. “I
had a lot of thinking to do.”
He said nothing.
“I want to make this work,” Vicki added and then held her
breath.
Quentin flashed a reassuring smile. “So do I.”
“I won’t pretend it was an easy decision.”
“I’d never think that.” He was seated next to her now. “Watching this
thing take hold of you,” he said, “it’s like watching
an avalanche coming
toward you. If it gets large enough, it can bury
you. And I can’t stand
around doing nothing while you get smothered by it.
“Every time you do magic,” he continued, “its hold on
you grows. That’s why
I think you shouldn’t ever use your powers again.”
“Excuse me?”
“You have to quit.
Cold turkey. No matter how
tempted you are to use your
powers, you have to resist.”
“Quentin, that’s…”
Insane was the word she nearly used, but thought better
of it.
“I know it won’t be easy. Especially in this house.”
“So many things have happened,” she said. “Horrible things.”
“Exactly. But
my family will have to learn to make do without your help.
Dammit,” he said angrily, “if I have to remove you
from Collinwood to keep
them away from you, I will!” Then he sounded sweet again when he told her,
“You’re not alone in this, okay?”
She nodded, and as he moved closer she knew she wanted
nothing more than to
touch him. He
tasted her and then his wet, insistent tongue explored her
mouth. Her arms
encircled his neck and they fell onto the bed together, and
Vicki could feel the terrible darkness inside her
begin to abate.
He began to unbutton her sweater, and every part of
her was saying yes,
including her toes.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
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