As Leopold wiped away the blood from his mouth and his fangs retracted he heard the sound of fire engine sirens off in the distance. It was coming from Collinwood! Leopold ran off in their direction, never noticing to growling and glowing green eyes watching his every move; hidden in the brush.
The eyes moved slowly and suddenly jumped from behind the bushes, it was Christopher, in werewolf form feasting on the remains of the hare Leopold left behind on the icy ground.
Leopold quickly came back to the house and saw some of the rooms on the first floor burning. Without thinking he leapt into the house through a window in the rear east wing and made his way to the main entrance of the house, there he saw Kimberly laying on the floor covered in soot and ash. Thick black smoke billowing out from the other end of the room circled him as he covered his mouth and called our to an unresponsive Kimberly.
Carolyn and Caleb were racing down the main stairs, Caleb helping a slower Carolyn by guiding her with by the hand slowly and carefully cover her face from the heat with his leather jacket.
"Hurry! This way!" Leopold said, grabbing Kimberly and putting her over his shoulder.
The four quickly ran over to the west wing of the house and burst through a side door to safety.
Kat, and Loomis stood in front of the Collinwood Mansion in utter shock as east wing smoldered in front of them. Claudia still inside of Alexandra's body cautiously kept her distance as to not be detected.
Leopold placed Kimberly on the ground as she started to come to and the paramedics helped with oxygen masks. All Claudia's disappointment, she had hoped no one would survive. Still playing the part of Alexandra, her rage remained deep inside.
"Mom!! Thank God you're ok!?" Claudia said in a perfect mime of Alexandra's voice approaching her mother who was now sitting on the back of an ambulance.
Carolyn smiled through her oxygen mask and put her hand on Alex's head.
"What the hell happened?" Kat asked Caleb as she knelt down near him whoon the front lawn shivering with cold and covered in ash.
"I don't know, we were clearing up a room for my mother to stay in and all of a sudden we smelled smoke. That's when Leopold came in." Caleb explained.
Kat stood up and looked at Leopold sideways. There was something familiar about his face but she couldn't quite tell.
"They're lucky you were around. I don't believe we've met." Kat cautiously said extending her hand.
"Leopold Divernet. I'm Jack's cousin." He said as looked over at Caleb and Carolyn who were hearing the explanation for his identity for the first time. "I'll be staying in the old Collinwood house behind the main house, Carolyn has been so kind as to let me renovate it."
"So you saw the smoke and came out to help?" Loomis asked.
"Exactly." Leopold responded.
Claudia fumed, her eyes filled with hatred and anger. Leopold thwarted her revenge again. She'd have to come up with something much more foolproof and soon.
"Darling, what's wrong? I'm ok." Carolyn said noting Alexandra's strange facial expression.
"Oh! Nothing, nothing. I'm just glad you're ok." Claudia said in Alex's voice.
* * * *
Morning came and the full moon that had brought some much chaos and danger to Collinsport was finally gone. In the woods just behind the estate, laying in tattered clothes and on frozen grass lay Christopher who's life had been altered forever the night before.
His memory was cloudy and his head was pounding. All he could remember was that he had a scuffle with his father outside the coffee shop where he was supposed to meet Alex. But he didn't understand why there was a scuffle in the first place. The next memory he had was seeing a man in the forest, then waking up where he lay. In the cold alone with a horrible taste in his mouth.
He gathered himself and hoped to recognize where he was. As Christopher moved through the forest he recognized the Collinwood estate and knew exactly where he was. He dashed off to the road and tried to get home undetected, hopefully his father could explain what in the world was going on.
* * * *
Kimberly stayed in the hospital over night. Her breathing was much better and the doctors were going to release her that afternoon. She quietly ate the mess of eggs the nurses had given her for breakfast as Victor walked in. He had received her voice mail and heard about the fire through his Police scanner. Kimberly's face lit up as soon as she saw him.
"Come here! Come here!" She said motioning for Victor to come to her bedside to hug her.
"Are you ok? What happened?" He asked.
"There was a fire. I don't know how it started. I had a little breathing trouble and they brought me here. My god what happened to you?" Kimberly asked of Victor's injuries from the brawl with Christopher.
"It was Chris. He went off last night to find Alex right before he changed. I couldn't get him home in time. This is what he did to me, he escaped. " Victor said to a stunned Kimberly.
"He was out there alone like that? Have you heard from him today?" Kimberly said whispering.
"No, not yet. But I'm sure he's out there completely confused. I'm going to go look for him as soon as I leave here." Victor assured.
Victor smiled and leaned in. He kissed Kimberly passionately. And whispered "I'll find our son."
"Your son? What is he talking about mom?" Caleb said as he stepped into Kimberly's hospital room. Caleb knew who Victor was from town, but had no idea Victor knew his mother, especially knew her this well.
* * * *
Back at Collinwood, Carolyn and Alexandra (who was still possessed by the witch Claudia) surveyed the damage from the mysterious fire. All Carolyn knew was that the fire Marshall said it started in the Library. Possibly by a candle that had turned over lit the drapes on fire. But Carolyn swore there was no one in there.
"It's going to be quite expensive to get all this fixed, on top of all the regular repairs were already had planned for the house." Carolyn said inspecting the library with Alex and Leopold.
"Strange, when I left I didn't see anyone in the Library as I had to pass it to to leave. How do you suppose it happened?" Leopold said bringing in the undamaged painting of Barnabas Collins from the other room.
"I don't know. But, it happened! So we'll have to fix it. I refuse to continue to see all this as a negative. It's going to be a fresh start for Collinwood. My family has lived here for over 300 years, in both houses. And now it's time to really give this place the renovation it deserves! What do you say?" Carolyn said trying to make a depressing moment into a happy one. "We're together, and that's what matters!" She continued as she gave Alex a great big hug.
As Carolyn embraced her daughter Alexandra, Alex smiled a half smile and hugged her back. She stared into the mirror that was across the room. Only in the reflection was the face of Claudia Bauchard looking back; the witch set on revenge against the Ancestors of Barnabas Collins and had set the fire and tried to kill the family.
Even though that plan failed, she had many, many more plans in store. Her revenge on Barnabas Collins for kidnapping her and taking her away from her family would be paid on his ancestors, one way or another.
