Saturday, January 14, 2017

Series 6/Chapter 12: THEY RETURN

**COLLINSPORT, PRESENT TIME**

In a modest home just outside of town deep in the woods Ezrabette Baptiste, a woman of great spiritual and supernatural ability sat with her eyes closed among the many lit candles covering the two main rooms of her house. Laying peacefully on her sofa, in a supernatural slumber, was Detective Kat Banning who had been sent transcendentally into the year 1920 to occupy the body of Catherine Collins in hopes that she could retrieve her baby that had been kidnapped to that year.

Ezrabette sat in the center of the room among Kat's sleeping body and the hundreds of lit candles. The air was warm but not for long. Soon a small cool breeze began to swim in circular motions around the room, the flow of air brushed up against Ezrabette's vail and the curtains in the room causing the sensation of things were moving in slow motion.

"The portal." Ezrabette said softly, her eyes stern and still.

"What? What's happening?" Loomis waking up from a terrible sleep in an arm chair next to his partner Kat.

"They've opened the portal back to this time. They've opened the portal back to this time! THEY'VE OPENED THE PORTAL BACK TO THIS TIME!!" Ezrabette said in a progressing scream.

"Where? Where are they? Where are they! Tell me!" Loomis screamed as he jumped out of the chair.

"Find them at the hill where the house known as Sea Cliff cottage stands. There is where they will be found." Ezrabette replied.

As the two spoke, Kat's sleeping body began to mystically fade as she slept on the sofa.

"My god what's happening to her!!" Loomis asked in terror was he watched his best friend and partner start to disappear.

"The body in this time and that of the time in 1920 are consolidating in the portal. As she passes though time the body here will combine with the body there back in to one person." Ezrabette explained.

"Will she be ok?" Loomis asked concerned as Kat fully disappeared before his very eyes.

"Find her and the baby at Sea Cliff. Go! Quickly!" Ezrabette replied.

Loomis took a deep breath and grabbed his coat and quickly dashed out of Ezrabette's house and into the icy cold winter winds outside, leaving Ezrabette in a quiet state surrounded by candles and a warm fire. Her heart pounded in her chest. Yet she sat still...she knew more was to come. She knew this was the end of just part of what she for-saw in Kat's tarot reading.

But those secrets, she kept close to the vest. They would reveal themselves soon enough. 

****

The Family: David, Carolyn, Caleb, Kim, Alex and Chris sat quietly in the drawing room. There was nervous hush over the entire group as they awaited news from the travelers from 1920. On his way from Ezrabette's house over to Sea Cliff cottage Loomis had called Collinwood with the good news that Kat had succeeded in jumping back through the time warp. The nervousness was whether or not she had been able to retrieve the baby. The family patiently awaited.

Off in a corner of the room, Christopher and Alex talked over tea. They were as close as they had ever  been and things seemed to be getting better every day. Their lives were connected now more than ever and Alex felt she needed a change of scenery.

"You know, when all this blows over...I think we should, just go, you know? We should just leave town for a while and see places and get this whole crappy situation out of ours minds!" Alex said gesturing wildly with her arms.

"Is that so!" Chris said giggling at her animated state. "Where do you think we should go then babe?" He added pulling her in close fora snuggle.

"London. I really want to go back home. I love Collinwood, and I know how much this place means to my mother no matter  how many times something horrible can happen, but I need to go back to London. What do you say? Will you come with me?" Alex asked.

Chris thought for a second and looked around the nervous room. He had been through so much, the death of his father at his own hands while he was a werewolf, the realization that his own mother had been the reason he was a werewolf in the first place. The warped relationship with Claudia, and the killing of Leopold, it was all so much. So it was settled, Chris agreed. When things became calmer, he would leave with Alex back to her home city of London.

"I'll do it. I'll come with you." He said smiling with a giant white grin.

Alex jumped into his arms and hugged him as tight as she could.

And just as Alex and Chris' happy energy started to spill into the nerves and anxiety of the rest of the room the front door slowly opened, and in walked Kat smiling ear to ear cradling her baby with Caleb in her arms. Loomis followed right behind her, smiling just as much causing an instant sigh of relief throughout the family.

Caleb instant darted up and ran towards Kat, planting a firm kiss on her lips and looking down at his son.

"You did it. You found him!" Caleb said kissing Kat again.

"Where's Vickie?" Carolyn asked.

"She thought maybe it was better for her not to come back with me. She's decided to go back to New York." Kat answered.

"I guess we should ask the other question...where's Barnabas?" David asked cynically.

Kat took a deep breath and sighed. "He didn't make it." She answered solemnly as Carolyn gasped.

"What happened?" Kim questioned.

"There was a fight and Jamison Collins, your grandfather," Kat said motioning to David and Carolyn, "He decided he wanted to make sure he protected his family. He put Vickie, myself and Claudia in a cage and then tried to kill Barnabas. Barnabas freed us. He saved our lives." Kat continued.

"Claudia??? What was she doing there?" Christopher asked in shock.

Kat only shrugged. After all, she didn't have all the answers. The most important thing was that Kat and Caleb had been reunited and that the family was finally back together.

"Where's Vickie?" David asked noticing she had not come back to Collinwood.

"I dropped her off at the Collinsport Inn. She said she had to make some phone calls and go down to St. John's Perish before she left town." Loomis explained.

"Left town?" Carolyn asked.

"She said it was time for her to go back to New York, that's all I know." Loomis continued.

"Well, it's so good to have you back Kat, I'm just so grateful that you made it back safe. Now, things will start looking up. We'll be together as a family. Stronger then ever. I can already feel that." Carolyn said hugging Kat as Kat handed off the baby to Kimberly.

"He's so delicious. What are we calling him?" Kim asking of her grandson's name.

"Well they gave him the name Canan, its actually quite beautiful. I think I'd like to keep it." Kat answered.

"I should let you all get reacquainted. Have a nice evening everyone." Loomis said as the family cooed over baby Canan.

"Loo! Wait up!" Kat said following her partner to the door. "Listen, I really owe you for having my back and letting me figure this all out for myself. As you can see, with this family there's always more than meets the eye." Kat explained.

"You're my partner, we need to stick together. Always. But ...I will say this, if I can stick by your side, I want to know that you can stick by mine. Once you get back on the force full time, I'm going to need to know that I can trust you. No secrets. Just like it was before you became part of this family." Loomis said as he opened the front door and made his way onto the snowy front step.

Kat smiled and nodded. "You got it." She answered with a grin.

****

Upstairs Carolyn knocked on Maggie's bedroom door. Maggie, who had taken David and Carolyn up on their offer to stay at Collinwood for a while had been resting while the commotion downstairs carried on.

"Maggie? Are you up?" Carolyn asked.

"Yes, come in, come in." Maggie replayed politely. 

"Maggie, it's all over, darling. It's over. They're back! The baby has come back safely" Carolyn said in a joyful tone as she sat on Maggie's bedside.

Maggie, who was standing on the other side of the bedding turning it down, suddenly froze. She looked up at Carolyn and took a gulp of air. Her fears were making her stomach churn.

"Is he....did he....? " Maggie asked struggling to get the words out.

"No. Not Barnabas. Just the baby--Canan, Vickie and Kat. They're all back. Barnabas, for reasons I don't quite understand yet, he remained in 1920." Carolyn confirmed.

Maggie took a sigh of relief when Carolyn answered. Her deepest fear was that Barnabas would return and begin to wreak havoc on her life again as he did so many years ago, and as he attempted to do this past summer when he went searching for her at Windcliff, where he inevitably killed Joanna Grayson in cold blood. 

"I know that he's not here and that I should feel safe, but to not know where he is, will always keep me in a constant terrified head-space. If you feel good about everything and safe, I'll do my best too." Maggie said as she jumped into bed.

"Maggie, he really has changed a bit. You'd surprised." Carolyn said.

"I think I'd rather not." Maggie said coldly.

"He protects us! I know what you're thinking, I've fallen under some kind of Barnabas spell like my mother did 50 years ago, but truthfully I don't know if any of us would have survived these last few moths if it werent for Barnabas. He has his faults, and at times, they can put him in a dark place, but..." Carolyn said before being interrupted by Maggie.

"Carolyn, I don't mean to be rude, but spare me. You know more than anyone what he's capable of, and if he's trapped in 1920 then so be it." Maggie reiterated.

"I understand. I guess you'll be happy to know that he's there with my grandfather Jamison who we all know wasn't exactly the sanest man in the world, so whatever happens it's safe to say that Barnabas' fate my just be sealed there with Jamison." Carolyn relented.

"That's my hope." Maggie said getting into her bed. 

"You get some rest now darling. Tomorrow you'll meet the baby and Kat." Carolyn said as she headed for the door.

"Wait....I'm sorry. What did you say the baby's mother's name is? Kat?" Maggie said suddenly paying attention to something that wasn't Barnabas' name.

"Kat. Caleb's fiance, Kat Banning." Carolyn asked confused.

"Kathryn Banning." Maggie repeated.

"Yes." Carolyn answered. 

"Oh, ok....well Goodnight Carolyn." Maggie said abruptly. 

"See you in the morning. Rest up!" Carolyn said grabbing Maggie's feet from outside the blankets.

As soon as Carolyn closed the bedroom door behind her, Maggie jumped out of bed and walked over to the telephone that sat on a fancy side table near the bedroom window that looked out on to the side lawn that faced the old house, the house where she had been help captive many years ago by Barnabas Collins. 

After all this time she knew the other shoe was about to drop and now knowing the name of Caleb's fiance she could see where that shoe would drop...someplace she never thought she'd see again.

Maggie picked up the phone and dialed a number she also thought she'd never dial again.

"Hello....." Maggie said apprehensively. "....I knew you'd be expecting my call. I should have just gone right to you and never come to Collinwood. Why didn't you warn me?" She added  before listening to the person on the other end of the line.

"I've gone through too much, I can't do that." Maggie said responding to the person's idea.

"No...I won't do it. I won't!" Maggie said continuing to resist the person's advice.

"Yes. I think that will work instead. Tomorrow morning I've leave before everyone is awake and I'll come see you. Kat cannot know I'm here. She must never ever know." Maggie said before she hung up the phone and stared off  into the black night and the shadow of the old house beyond her bedroom window.


***ST. JOHN'S PERISH, COLLINWOOD***

As the Collins family had a well deserved and happy reunion, another reunion was about to take place across town at St. John's Perish where Father Joseph Helsing lived.

The Perish was quiet and calming with a few parishioners praying in the pews, and off in the corner lighting candles under a portrait of the blessed mother was Father Joseph, Victoria's biological father the man that created the lie to bring Vickie back to Collinsport over 50 years ago...the man Elizabeth Collins-Stoddard once loved.

"A mother's love is one of the most previous resources we receive as we grow, isn't father?" A women's voice said from behind as the priest lit his last candle and turned around to see Victoria standing behind him.

"Victoria." Father Joseph said in a whisper.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you or anyone. I just came to say goodbye, and that I'm sorry." Vickie said equaling Joseph's whispery tone.

"Are you...are you a vision? Are you real?" Joseph said shaking, unsure of if he was seeing Vickie in life or as a spirit.

He reached out and she reached  back. He grabbed her hands and squeezed feeling her flesh and bone, then a tear crawled up to the edge of his eye and slowly trickled out.

"How did you get back, how did you ..." Joseph said before Vickie interrupted.

"None of that matters now, really, father. It doesn't. What does matter, is that I've seen the error in my ways and I understand what you did and why you did it. We all make mistakes, it's just a shame I ran from mine. Fear puts us in an odd place: some of us rise to the occasion and conquer that fear, and other's just fade off. I want to conquer mine from now on." Vickie said with a slight nod to her possible future. "I hurt so many people father, I think it's time I everyone heal." Vickie continued.

"Will you stay in Collinsport?" Joseph questioned.

"No, no. I think for now, my time is up. I'm going back to New York to be where I started out. Collinsport is where so much of my life happened, but New York is my home. New York is where I began and I've lost touch with that and who I was really meant to be." She answered.

"I wish that we could get to know each other better, Victoria, there's so much I wish to tell you, so much I wish I knew about you. I'm sure--your mother Elizabeth--were alive today she'd feel the same. She's want us to get closer." Joseph said.

"I thought that too.  You see, I still have my home there, in New York, and of course I still have a home here in Collinsport, anyway, what I'm saying is, if it's possible maybe you'd like to come with me to New York for a while. You've spent so many years here at St. John's, I'm sure you can use a small vacation." Vickie said bashfully.

"You want me to go with you? You want me to travel back with you to New York and live with you?" Joseph said with a bright smile.

"I do." Vickie confirmed as she reached into her hand bag and pulled out two one way train tickets to New York City that was leaving in just two hours.  "I took the liberty of buy a ticket for you just in case....all you have to do is pack a bag." She continued.

It had come to this. Father Joseph had set off so much chaos with his initial lie about the fake organization and who Vickie needed to come to Collinsport in 1966 and observe the mysterious family so that Elizabeth and Vickie could be close... only to have the lie blow up in his face and go on a life of its own. Vickie's plots came back to haunt her too and now everything came full circle.

The path to forgiveness and redemption for both Vickie and Father Joseph came in the form of train tacks in the direction of New York City.

It didn't take much convincing on Vickie's part.. Father Joseph quickly and happily dashed up a small winding staircase inside the back area of the St. John's Parish where he and another priest lived. The quarters were cramped and modest, but suited the two holy men fine.

With a childlike grin, and a skip in his step, Joseph quickly packed a bag and headed back down the staircase. He looked around the sanctuary of the church that had been such huge part of this life, 60 75 years to be exact. He smiled at the alter and made the sign of the cross across his chest.

He was off with Vickie to the Collinsport train station. The tracks and platform were covered in the freshest frozen snow. Vickie and Father Joseph were bundled up in the the winter air as they waited for the coming train to the city.

When it arrived, it bounded into the station like a steel arm, pushing through the snow and burning through the tracks like a hot knife through butter. The steam from it's engine raged and filled the air around all the people awaiting it's arrival. Vickie looked over at her father the priest who had a never ending smile on his face. She picked up her bag and motioned for him to follow her on board.

"It's now are never." She said with a grin.

"I've had a lifetime of never's." Joseph said with a grin.

"Will they miss you at the perish?" Vickie asked.

"They will. But nothing is forever." The priest grinned again as the both took their seats on the train with the foggy window reflecting the frozen WELCOME TO COLLINSPORT sign in the glass.

As the train pulled out, Joseph looked out on the platform and standing there was a woman waving goodbye at them. He squinted and cleaned the condensation from the window and squinted. He looked closely and he could see that the woman was dressed differently, she was dressed in what looked like 1940's clothes.

Joseph shook his head and opened his eyes again, thinking the night and his mind was playing tricks on  him but when he opened his eyes again the woman in the 1940's clothes was still standing there.

And as the train pulled closer to her, Joseph saw her more clearly, in almost perfect clarity. It was Elizabeth Collins-Stoddard as she when he knew her. Her spirit had come back one last time to say goodbye to him and to Victoria.

One final wave. One final farewell to the man she truly loved long long ago.

The train chugged on through the winter icy and snow. Soon, the cabin conductor came by for their tickets.

"Ticket, sir." He said as Joseph handed his ticket. "Name?" The conductor asked to confirm his identity.

"Father Helsing." Joseph replied.

"Thank you father, ma'am, ticket please?" The conductor asked Vickie.

She smiled and handed her ticket.

"Name ma'am?" he asked again for confirmation.

Vickie looked at the cabin conductor and smiled.

"My name.......my name is Victoria Winters." Vickie answered as she looked out of her window one last time to Collinwood slowly fading in the background.