COLLINWOOD MANOR, NOVEMBER 1920
The night seemed to last forever. The starts peeked through an overcast night sky like tiny diamonds hidden behind a woolen curtain of clouds, sparkling and twinkling their way in the peripheral. Barnabas carefully made his way up to the mansion, his family's mansion, but this time in a century he was very unfamiliar with.
As he walked up closer and closer, he came to the courtyard that stood between the old house and the main mansion. Sitting on a stone bench, just beyond a flowing fountain and holding a bundled baby was Victoria Winters. The woman who's world had been turned upside down due to information on her past that was secretly held from her, and now the consequences of that secret brought her to the year 1920 for all the wrong reasons.
Vickie looked down at Caleb and Kat's baby boy, and smiled at him. Even with all the drama that surrounded her she could still recognize the sweet innocence of new life. The baby was bright eyed and sweet. His lips were pink and perfect. His large brown eyes looked up at Vickie with wonder and unconditional affection. To this baby, Vickie was the only person he had ever known in his one day of life.
"What have you done?" Barnabas asked growled from a safe distance at Victoria.
Vickie looked up from the baby who was bundled up to keep warm from the early autumn night chill. She smiled and shook her head from side to side, almost as if in she couldn't believe what she had done herself.
"I should have known you would some how find your way to me. You're like a moth to a flame, constantly attracted to everything you shouldn't be. You know, those moths often die when they get too close." Vickie said as she moved the baby boy closer to her chest and rocked him,
"Why are we here? Do you know the damage you have caused everyone?" Barnabas continued.
"Barnabas please! Do you think that I just decided to do this on a whim? I was trying to save this child from you and from everything you represent. I know the pain you can cause, I know it all too well... don't forget I've witnessed it first hand; I've always had a front row seat to your deeds. Maybe more then anyone on this earth. This baby needed to be saved." Vickie answered.
"Can't you see? You're done what was done to you: you've taken a child away from it's family under false pretenses. What you believed for so many years, it was all a lie. The priest confessed it! He told you the truth, and yet you continued with your plan. That is not the Victoria I know and loved. That Victoria was righteous and believed in the truth and all it represented, if the truth is what you were looking for, Victoria, then what you have done is opposite." Barnabas eloquently explained.
"How can I believe Joseph? I've been lied to for half my life Barnabas, how can I believe him now?Do you believe him? Do you believe Elizabeth and he are my real parents? That would make me a Collins. That would make me part of this family, a family I tried to destroy. How can I live with myself knowing that? Everything seems so uncertain now Barnabas, and I was so certain I was doing the right thing. I just wanted ...I just wanted to make things right." Vickie asked as the the guilt started to seep in.
"Victoria, you have always been apart of this family whether you knew it or not, and this blood relation now only solidifies it. We can no longer pretend that the truth doesn't matter because it does. Elizabeth is your mother, Joseph is your father. The most important part is that we have to go back and fix this, the baby needs to be with his parents. You can start anew." Barnabas said.
"We can't." Vickie relented as she began to take Barnabas' words to heart.
"But we can!" Barnabas said sternly.
"No, you don't understand, I only figured out how to take myself one way into the past. I never expected to back. This was going to be forever Barnabas. I was never going back." Vickie said looking around the small courtyard then down at the sleeping baby.
"What year are we in?" Barnabas asked as the grim truth of their situation began to sink in.
"It's 1920. We're in Collinsport 1920." Vickie said sitting back town with the baby.
"What were you going to do when you got here?" Barnabas asked.
"There's someone here at Collinwood that contacted me before I returned. She had her own grievances with the family. She and I share the same sort of loss and sadness of our parents, and working together made complete sense...at the time of course." Vickie responded now seeing the error of her ways.
"Someone here? In the past? I don't understand. Who were you going to come for?" Barnabas asked in a confused state.
"She was going to come for me. I've been here waiting." A voice said from behind Barnabas and beyond the courtyard at the small servants entrance to the main house.
Barnabas's facial expression turned grim when he saw who was standing before him. All he could do was whisper something quietly under his breath, a gasp of air mixed with words of pure and utter shock.
"Claudia."
****
Inside the mansion in 1920, a beautiful woman walked through the dim hallway marking her way to one of the many bedrooms. Her hair was a beautiful auburn color pinned up with small pins dotted with real pearls on the end.
Her white floor length lace dress dragged lightly on the blood red carpet as she walked up to the small bedroom and peeked through the door. Inside the bedroom was a sleeping baby girl.
The woman quietly made her way into the room, the moon light lit a small walk way for her to take as she got closer and closer to the baby girl's crib.
"Ohh...my little Elizabeth, sleeping like an angel." The woman said as she softly stroked the baby's head.
"Catherine, you'll wake her!" An older woman whispered from the bedroom door.
"Shhh mother." Catherine whispered and walked back to the door. "I just can't stop looking at her mother, my Elizabeth is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." She added.
"Babies are a gift, aren't they?" Catherine's mother answered in a hushed tone.
As the two woman quietly made their way back down the hallway and down the stairs to another part of the house, inside baby Elizabeth's room seemed quiet and calm. But soon four shadows stretched from each corner of the bedroom directly to the center and began to grow in a large black mass.
The shadows connected and started to rise inside the room into a pillar of blackness that spun and swirled like a tornado of self contained black mist. The darkness flooded the room and spilled to each corner eventually breaking up into three separate pillars of the same dark mist.
From this, three entities began to emerge in human form. They seemed female in stature, dressed in period clothes from centuries past. The three entities came together and grasped hands as the slowly walked over to the crib, then carefully looked in. They were the spirits of Collins family members of the past who came to bare witness to the new baby of the family: Naomi Collins, Josette DuPres-Collins and Abigail Collins.
"Another Collins girl. May her life be filled with joy and fortune." Naomi said as her face became more and more clear in the dark room.
"Ha! Oh sister-in-law, thou knows as well as I that her life be fraught with the strange and twisted. She is a Collins after all." Naomi's sister-in-law Abigail scoffed.
"She is the most precious thing, is she not?" Josettte, Naomi's daughter-in-law whispered.
"Aye, precious." Naomi whispered back.
"She'll suffer. Is that humane? For us to watch the child grow in such a sorrow filled world?" Abigail question.
"What does thou suggest?" Josette questioned, her big brown eyes sincere and sweet.
"How canst we keep the child safe through life knowing what we know is true? The family is cursed! We take her life now to spare her!" Abigail coldly responded to the other two spirits.
"Abigail! Thou shouldn't speak such wickedness. Baby Elizabeth has much life to lead and as she grows....we shall guide her through, and thanks be to god, we know the best ways to maneuver through the darkest moments." Naomi responded sternly.
"Our guidance can only go so far. If she leaves this place now we spare her." Abigail responded with a wicked eye.
"She's of our stock, indeed she'll need our guidance throughout her life, knowing or unknowing, but I can see that the fire of a thousand braves burns inside her little heart as hot as the rays of the sun. Her life must be spared." Josette replied touching the baby's soft hair.
"By the grace of god may she never fear the darkness that will come. I pray thee is right Josette. I pray thee is right." Abigail relented.
"Then, let us go. May the soul of baby Elizabeth Collins forever be protected with our spirits in her heart for we know all that is coming, and all that shall test her and this family." Naomi said, as she grabbed the hands of her sister-in-law Abigail and daughter-in-law Josette.
"Wait! Shan't we leave her with a gift?" Josette questioned just before the spirits dissipated into thin air.
"What does thou suggest?" Naomi questioned.
Josette closed her eyes and took a breath. Her chest heaved large deep sounds of air that billowed underneath the transparent frost colored gown she wore. And when she opened her eyes again, they were no longer deep brown. Josette's eyes were an icy blue that were glowing and circling around within her eye-socket and when she spoke, her voice was deeper, darker and came like an echo from a cave.
"May the child of our daughters daughters bare the fruits of the pain and sorrow we've suffered here. This child shall have the power to link the future to the past and past to the future on her very first words, once uttered, she shall be the bridge and close the gap. Elizabeth shall see things for what they are: good and evil, dead and alive, truth and a lie. The power shall be hers." Josette said as her eyes slowly returned to brown from the icy blue.
"The power shall be hers." Replied the two spirits of Naomi and Abigail.
Once the three dead spirits of the Collins women agreed with Josette's wish, they bowed their heads in unison and disappeared into the shadows of baby Elizabeth's dark room as quickly as they appeared leaving nothing but the sleeping baby alone in her crib, safe and sound.
Down in the study, Catherine and her mother Jacqueleen sipped on their night caps when Catherine's husband Jamison walked in.
He was a handsome, strapping man with a thick head of black hair. Jamison's eyes were so deep and dark they would seem to go right into your soul once he looked at you. He was, in fact, one of the most handsome Collins men of them all. Catherine fell in love very easily.
"Are we having a pleasant evening?" Jamison said with a sideways grin as he leaned down kissed his sitting wife on the lips.
"Claudia got the baby to sleep earlier then I expected. Mother and I just left her bedroom. She's so adorable when she sleeps."
"Where is Claudia?" Jamison asked as the two women continued their night caps of a sweet sherry.
"I think she's preparing for her family's visit. Her mother and child are supposed to get here soon from New York." Catherine said.
"How do you feel about her having her mother and child here darling? Will it interfere with her work with Elizabeth?" Jacqueleen interjected.
"I'm sure it'll work out fine." Catherine said optimistically as Jacqueleen looked at Jamison with a twinge of skepticism.
"Well, whatever Catherine thinks will make this a happy home, I'll believe in. Its about time happiness swells in the walls of Collinwood rather then everything this family has suffered over the generations, and if that means having Claudia's family join us here, then so be it." Jamison said countering Jacqueleen's snobbish vibe.
Her white floor length lace dress dragged lightly on the blood red carpet as she walked up to the small bedroom and peeked through the door. Inside the bedroom was a sleeping baby girl.
The woman quietly made her way into the room, the moon light lit a small walk way for her to take as she got closer and closer to the baby girl's crib.
"Ohh...my little Elizabeth, sleeping like an angel." The woman said as she softly stroked the baby's head.
"Catherine, you'll wake her!" An older woman whispered from the bedroom door.
"Shhh mother." Catherine whispered and walked back to the door. "I just can't stop looking at her mother, my Elizabeth is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." She added.
"Babies are a gift, aren't they?" Catherine's mother answered in a hushed tone.
As the two woman quietly made their way back down the hallway and down the stairs to another part of the house, inside baby Elizabeth's room seemed quiet and calm. But soon four shadows stretched from each corner of the bedroom directly to the center and began to grow in a large black mass.
The shadows connected and started to rise inside the room into a pillar of blackness that spun and swirled like a tornado of self contained black mist. The darkness flooded the room and spilled to each corner eventually breaking up into three separate pillars of the same dark mist.
From this, three entities began to emerge in human form. They seemed female in stature, dressed in period clothes from centuries past. The three entities came together and grasped hands as the slowly walked over to the crib, then carefully looked in. They were the spirits of Collins family members of the past who came to bare witness to the new baby of the family: Naomi Collins, Josette DuPres-Collins and Abigail Collins.
"Another Collins girl. May her life be filled with joy and fortune." Naomi said as her face became more and more clear in the dark room.
"Ha! Oh sister-in-law, thou knows as well as I that her life be fraught with the strange and twisted. She is a Collins after all." Naomi's sister-in-law Abigail scoffed.
"She is the most precious thing, is she not?" Josettte, Naomi's daughter-in-law whispered.
"Aye, precious." Naomi whispered back.
"She'll suffer. Is that humane? For us to watch the child grow in such a sorrow filled world?" Abigail question.
"What does thou suggest?" Josette questioned, her big brown eyes sincere and sweet.
"How canst we keep the child safe through life knowing what we know is true? The family is cursed! We take her life now to spare her!" Abigail coldly responded to the other two spirits.
"Abigail! Thou shouldn't speak such wickedness. Baby Elizabeth has much life to lead and as she grows....we shall guide her through, and thanks be to god, we know the best ways to maneuver through the darkest moments." Naomi responded sternly.
"Our guidance can only go so far. If she leaves this place now we spare her." Abigail responded with a wicked eye.
"She's of our stock, indeed she'll need our guidance throughout her life, knowing or unknowing, but I can see that the fire of a thousand braves burns inside her little heart as hot as the rays of the sun. Her life must be spared." Josette replied touching the baby's soft hair.
"By the grace of god may she never fear the darkness that will come. I pray thee is right Josette. I pray thee is right." Abigail relented.
"Then, let us go. May the soul of baby Elizabeth Collins forever be protected with our spirits in her heart for we know all that is coming, and all that shall test her and this family." Naomi said, as she grabbed the hands of her sister-in-law Abigail and daughter-in-law Josette.
"Wait! Shan't we leave her with a gift?" Josette questioned just before the spirits dissipated into thin air.
"What does thou suggest?" Naomi questioned.
Josette closed her eyes and took a breath. Her chest heaved large deep sounds of air that billowed underneath the transparent frost colored gown she wore. And when she opened her eyes again, they were no longer deep brown. Josette's eyes were an icy blue that were glowing and circling around within her eye-socket and when she spoke, her voice was deeper, darker and came like an echo from a cave.
"May the child of our daughters daughters bare the fruits of the pain and sorrow we've suffered here. This child shall have the power to link the future to the past and past to the future on her very first words, once uttered, she shall be the bridge and close the gap. Elizabeth shall see things for what they are: good and evil, dead and alive, truth and a lie. The power shall be hers." Josette said as her eyes slowly returned to brown from the icy blue.
"The power shall be hers." Replied the two spirits of Naomi and Abigail.
Once the three dead spirits of the Collins women agreed with Josette's wish, they bowed their heads in unison and disappeared into the shadows of baby Elizabeth's dark room as quickly as they appeared leaving nothing but the sleeping baby alone in her crib, safe and sound.
Down in the study, Catherine and her mother Jacqueleen sipped on their night caps when Catherine's husband Jamison walked in.
He was a handsome, strapping man with a thick head of black hair. Jamison's eyes were so deep and dark they would seem to go right into your soul once he looked at you. He was, in fact, one of the most handsome Collins men of them all. Catherine fell in love very easily.
"Are we having a pleasant evening?" Jamison said with a sideways grin as he leaned down kissed his sitting wife on the lips.
"Claudia got the baby to sleep earlier then I expected. Mother and I just left her bedroom. She's so adorable when she sleeps."
"Where is Claudia?" Jamison asked as the two women continued their night caps of a sweet sherry.
"I think she's preparing for her family's visit. Her mother and child are supposed to get here soon from New York." Catherine said.
"How do you feel about her having her mother and child here darling? Will it interfere with her work with Elizabeth?" Jacqueleen interjected.
"I'm sure it'll work out fine." Catherine said optimistically as Jacqueleen looked at Jamison with a twinge of skepticism.
"Well, whatever Catherine thinks will make this a happy home, I'll believe in. Its about time happiness swells in the walls of Collinwood rather then everything this family has suffered over the generations, and if that means having Claudia's family join us here, then so be it." Jamison said countering Jacqueleen's snobbish vibe.
****
COLLINWOOD-PRESENT TIME
Kat circled Father Joseph as if she were trying to see if he were real or fake. She could't believe what she was hearing. How could Barnabas and Victoria take her child into some sort of vortex and just disappear? To Kat, who's work as a detective involved hard evidence; see to believe attitude; could not begin to fathom the story she was hearing.
"None of that make sense! This isn't some science fiction drama you're watching Father Joseph, this is real life.' Kat yelped forgetting where she was.
"Kat, calm down please." Carolyn consoled.
"Do you believe this Carolyn?" Kat questioned.
"She has to. It's not exactly the first time it's happened. The problem is, we're not sure how we can get them back here.' David explained in a calm voice.
"What do you mean it's not the first time? David, you believe this?" Kat scoffed.
"Kathryn, I know how it sounds. It sound insane, it sounds absolutely insane! But I saw it with my own to eyes. I can't explain how she did it, or where it came from but it happened. You have to believe me." Father Joseph said grabbing hold of Kat's hands.
"Joseph, why don't I take you to one of our guest rooms where you can rest. David can explain it further to Kat. Come along." Carolyn said grabbing hold of Father Joseph and taking him out of the room and up to rest.
David walked over to the mini bar, and started to pour himself a drink. He shook his head and smiled, even laughed a little, to Kat's dismay.
"It's not even 10 in the morning and you're having a drink? I don't see how any of this is funny." She said angrily as she walked out of the room.
David could only shake his head. For all he knew everything that was happening around him a dream. It was like the worst of his childhood was happening again and again and all he could do was shake his head and laugh. He knew the outcome of these situations. He knew how they would play out. All he could do was wait, and see.
"What's going on?" Christopher asked as he and Alex walked into the room, noticing Kat storm out.
"Well it's another fine mess the Collins family has gotten themselves into of course. It seems Kat's baby..." David said before Alex interrupted.
"The baby! Did they find him?"
"Not yet. They're still looking, however there was one witness to where the baby went." David said with a smirk.
"Whats so funny?" Chris asked of David.
"The witness is a priest, who happens to be the man my late aunt Elizabeth had an affair with, by which she became pregnant." David said hysterically, as if not believing the words coming out of his own mouth.
"Wait what?" Chris asked confused.
Alex rolled her eyes and grabbed Chris' hand to take his attention off of David. "I'll explain later." She said.
Chris looked at Alex confused, and saw that the pressure of the night had started to get to everyone it seemed.
"None of that make sense! This isn't some science fiction drama you're watching Father Joseph, this is real life.' Kat yelped forgetting where she was.
"Kat, calm down please." Carolyn consoled.
"Do you believe this Carolyn?" Kat questioned.
"She has to. It's not exactly the first time it's happened. The problem is, we're not sure how we can get them back here.' David explained in a calm voice.
"What do you mean it's not the first time? David, you believe this?" Kat scoffed.
"Kathryn, I know how it sounds. It sound insane, it sounds absolutely insane! But I saw it with my own to eyes. I can't explain how she did it, or where it came from but it happened. You have to believe me." Father Joseph said grabbing hold of Kat's hands.
"Joseph, why don't I take you to one of our guest rooms where you can rest. David can explain it further to Kat. Come along." Carolyn said grabbing hold of Father Joseph and taking him out of the room and up to rest.
David walked over to the mini bar, and started to pour himself a drink. He shook his head and smiled, even laughed a little, to Kat's dismay.
"It's not even 10 in the morning and you're having a drink? I don't see how any of this is funny." She said angrily as she walked out of the room.
David could only shake his head. For all he knew everything that was happening around him a dream. It was like the worst of his childhood was happening again and again and all he could do was shake his head and laugh. He knew the outcome of these situations. He knew how they would play out. All he could do was wait, and see.
"What's going on?" Christopher asked as he and Alex walked into the room, noticing Kat storm out.
"Well it's another fine mess the Collins family has gotten themselves into of course. It seems Kat's baby..." David said before Alex interrupted.
"The baby! Did they find him?"
"Not yet. They're still looking, however there was one witness to where the baby went." David said with a smirk.
"Whats so funny?" Chris asked of David.
"The witness is a priest, who happens to be the man my late aunt Elizabeth had an affair with, by which she became pregnant." David said hysterically, as if not believing the words coming out of his own mouth.
"Wait what?" Chris asked confused.
Alex rolled her eyes and grabbed Chris' hand to take his attention off of David. "I'll explain later." She said.
Chris looked at Alex confused, and saw that the pressure of the night had started to get to everyone it seemed.
****
Kat opened the door to her bedroom where Caleb was finally waking up. He moaned a little, then rolled over in the big bed and looked up at Kat who was standing at the foot of the bed. A bitter/sweet happiness lingered over her face. She was elated that Caleb was back, but broken-hearted that the baby was missing.
She walked over to the bed side and quietly opened the top drawer to a side table and pulled out an old address book. The book had belonged to Kat and Sebastian's mother who died years ago and left them orphans as children. It was one of the only thing Kat had been able to keep when she and her brother were taken to live with their aunt.
Kat skimmed through the front pages and stopped on the B's section and circled a name and an address.
She walked over to the bed side and quietly opened the top drawer to a side table and pulled out an old address book. The book had belonged to Kat and Sebastian's mother who died years ago and left them orphans as children. It was one of the only thing Kat had been able to keep when she and her brother were taken to live with their aunt.
Kat skimmed through the front pages and stopped on the B's section and circled a name and an address.
"Good morning." Caleb said in a sleepy voice as Kat stood next to the bed with the address book in her hand.
"Caleb! Good morning, how do you feel?" Kat asked quietly as she placed the address book down and sat on the bed Indian style next to him.
"A little foggy but things are coming back to me. I kind of feels like a big crazy dream." He said as he leaned over and kissed her on the knee.
"I just wish things under better circumstances. I feel like everything is so out of control all the time and I can't get ahead of it!" Kat said slumping down in the bed next to Caleb and burring her face in his chest.
"Vickie took the baby didn't see?" Caleb said softly.
"Yes." Kat sniffled, as she looked up at him. "How did you know?"
"When I was under her control I heard her plans. I heard her plot this whole thing. I didn't really understand what was happening or that she wanted our child. I could have stopped it! But Sebastian...." Caleb said before Kat interrupted.
"Sebastian, what did he do? Did he have something to do with this?" Kat questioned.
Caleb just nodded 'yes' with a regretful look on his face as he saw Kat's heart break even more knowing her brother was working for Vickie too.
"Well, it doesn't matter. He's gone now and no one can find him. Caleb, how is Barnabas going to get our son back?" Kat cried.
"Barnabas?" Caleb asked, in stunned voice.
"He went after Victoria, and where ever they are, he is." She answered.
Caleb thought for a moment and remembered all the horrible photos and film clips from the 1960's that Vickie used to brainwash him against Barnabas, but he also had the memories of the calm, mysterious man that came to his rescue when Leopold tried to frame him for attacking Kat in a dark ally in town.
These were conflicting imagines in Caleb's healing mind, but deep down in his soul he could feel that Barnabas would not let them down. They were Collins, and the family always stuck together no matter what.
Caleb thought before answering his beautiful girlfriend.
"Don't worry. Barnabas won't let us down. He knows better than anyone just how precious life is and how quickly and viciously it can be taken away from us. He'll bring our baby back." He consoled.
Kat smiled, still with tears in her eyes and buried her face again in Caleb's bare chest. They held each other for what seemed like hours, hoping and praying Barnabas would pull through. But in the mean time Kat had another plan, a plan that would get her as close as possible to find their child.
She turned her head and looked over at the side table where she placed the the address book opened to the B's, where there was one name circled. The person Kat believed would help her.
"I hope so." Kat responded to Caleb as she looked at the open page with the name Ezrabette Baptiste circled in red ink.
"Vickie took the baby didn't see?" Caleb said softly.
"Yes." Kat sniffled, as she looked up at him. "How did you know?"
"When I was under her control I heard her plans. I heard her plot this whole thing. I didn't really understand what was happening or that she wanted our child. I could have stopped it! But Sebastian...." Caleb said before Kat interrupted.
"Sebastian, what did he do? Did he have something to do with this?" Kat questioned.
Caleb just nodded 'yes' with a regretful look on his face as he saw Kat's heart break even more knowing her brother was working for Vickie too.
"Well, it doesn't matter. He's gone now and no one can find him. Caleb, how is Barnabas going to get our son back?" Kat cried.
"Barnabas?" Caleb asked, in stunned voice.
"He went after Victoria, and where ever they are, he is." She answered.
Caleb thought for a moment and remembered all the horrible photos and film clips from the 1960's that Vickie used to brainwash him against Barnabas, but he also had the memories of the calm, mysterious man that came to his rescue when Leopold tried to frame him for attacking Kat in a dark ally in town.
These were conflicting imagines in Caleb's healing mind, but deep down in his soul he could feel that Barnabas would not let them down. They were Collins, and the family always stuck together no matter what.
Caleb thought before answering his beautiful girlfriend.
"Don't worry. Barnabas won't let us down. He knows better than anyone just how precious life is and how quickly and viciously it can be taken away from us. He'll bring our baby back." He consoled.
Kat smiled, still with tears in her eyes and buried her face again in Caleb's bare chest. They held each other for what seemed like hours, hoping and praying Barnabas would pull through. But in the mean time Kat had another plan, a plan that would get her as close as possible to find their child.
She turned her head and looked over at the side table where she placed the the address book opened to the B's, where there was one name circled. The person Kat believed would help her.
"I hope so." Kat responded to Caleb as she looked at the open page with the name Ezrabette Baptiste circled in red ink.