The warmth of the sun slipped into the drawing room through a crack in the drawn thick drapes around delicate french doors that lead to a thawing porch just off of a court yard of the great house on Widow's Hill. There was a quietness, a stillness in the home. A stillness that reached every member of the household in what was a well needed and seldom achieved peace.
In the study, Carolyn Stoddard-Thorne wrote to her daughter Alexandra who had left in late January to her native London. Alex and Carolyn had been in Collinsport for over a year and with all the trials and tribulations that had occurred Alex felt she had to refresh herself back in her home town, taking her boyfriend Christopher and his mother Kimberly along for the adventure.
"Dear Alex,
The house has been oddly quiet for the most part. There are times where I can hear the waves from the sea crash up against the rocks and I think to myself something has to give, this peaceful feeling won't last. But it has! I'm grateful for that. Your young cousin Canan is doing very well, his three month birthday was yesterday. He's so precious, Kat and Caleb are wonderful parents.... he's growing so fast! I'll have to send you photos the next time I write. I miss you so much, darling. I hope to see you soon. Please give my love to Christopher.
Love always, Mummy"
Love always, Mummy"
Carolyn looked down at her letter and smiled, tilted her head slightly and wondered if she should mention Kimberly, even though they (almost) never got a long, they had been on better terms when she left. Carolyn digressed and folded the letter as it was and carefully slid it into a perfect white envelope already marked with Alex's London address.
She did miss her daughter. They were closer than ever, but Carolyn herself understood the constrictions Collinwood could pose on a young woman. After all she was a young woman herself once, haunted by the curses her beloved home possessed, troubled by the lingering danger that always surrounded it's halls. But it was home none the less.
As Carolyn placed her letter to Alex on the desk a phone that sat at the edge of the table, black and sleek, a relic of decades past with a cord strangling it's receiver to the base, suddenly rang, braking the silence in the room and startling Carolyn in her seat. She grasped at her neck with the jolt and laughed at herself then answered the phone call.
"Hello?" Carolyn said in a whisper of a voice.
"Carolyn, Hi, Its Vickie." Victoria Winters said on the other end.
"Oh! Vickie! How are you? Did you and Joseph make it to New York alright?" Carolyn asked with a smile on her face.
"We did! We've just gotten settled here. I just wanted to call and say that...well I wish things had gone a little differently. You and I have so much to catch up on and one day I hope we can." Vickie said waiting for Carolyn's response.
"Vickie, there's nothing I'd like more. My Mother....our mother," Carolyn said correcting herself. "would have liked that we did. So, when all is said and done, and you're all ready for visitors in the city, how about I come down and we just shop all day!" Carolyn continued, her voice eased and relaxed.
Vickie laughed in relief, the anticipated tension she carried on her shoulders felt like a weight on her shoulders lifted with simple phone call; a normal relationship with her half sister had bloomed. As they hung up, Vickie agreed to the future shopping excursion in New York.
Carolyn walked through the shiny black doors of the study and down a dimly lit hallway with the letter in hand for Alexandra. She stepped into the drawing room and opened one of the desk drawers searching for her stamps.
"A letter? Well, aren't we feeling very antiquated. Who's the letter for?" David said entering the drawing room with his signature bluster teasing Carolyn for her old style of communication.
"It's for Alex, I'd rather her get something handwritten then an impersonal email. David, a handwritten letter from your mother is priceless." Carolyn said in a snooty tone back.
"Well, then I wouldn't know!" David said with a twinge of sarcastic sadness; for his own mother Laura Collins hadn't been seen or heard from in decades.
He managed to push out a smile and gave his older cousin Carolyn a tight morning hug. "How are things this morning?" He continued as he sat on the sofa flipping through a news paper someone had left on the side table.
"Fine. I'm expecting my Goddaughter Anna any minute now. Her train should have come in from Boston about 20 minutes ago. I sent Powell our to fetch her." Carolyn said mentioning the family driver Powell.
"How excited you must be. I haven't seen Anna since her baptism. Have you kept in touch much over the years?" David asked sincerely interested.
"Here and there: proms, graduations, birthdays....but she's an actress now and in town to see what it's like to live in a town like Collinsport; research for a role she's playing. I'm excited to have her." Carolyn said placing the stamp on Alex's letter.
"A town like Collinsport? What exactly is this role?" David joked, hinting at the strange occurrences the town has to offer.
"David, please. Whatever you do, don't go there with Anna. I have no idea what she knows and what she doesn't know but I can assure you, I do not what her to think we're town full of crazies and ...whatever else." Carolyn said stammering.
"Well every town has it's crazies, cousin, it's the 'whatever else' we should be worried about; particularly the Collinsport 'whatever else'. It's our biggest export." David said with a laugh.
"Oh!" Carolyn said tossing a throw pillow at him.
Just as the cousins, David and Carolyn, continued to chat in the drawing room the Collins family drive Powell opened the front door holding a large Louis Vuitton suitcases in each hand and a smaller tote bag tucked under his left arm. He placed them down on the floor and ushered Carolyn's goddaughter Anna in.
"Please come in Miss." Powell said in his deep baritone voice.
Powell, who stood six feet three inches, dapper in his looks even if he was an older man with a white hair and beard. He was the spitting image of the last Tsar of Russia Nicholas II.
As Powell, closed the door, a strikingly beautiful blond blue eyed woman of 25 walked in dressed in a long coat of all black wool. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun, her eyes wide and curious.
"Thank you." Anna said quietly, removing one leather glove. She patted her forehead that was a glistening in the lights, the warmth of the room filling her body causing her to become flush and rosy cheeked.
"This way miss." Powell said bringing Anna to the closed double doors of the drawing room.
Powell turned the knobs and opened the doors announcing her:
"Miss Anna Tate." he recited.
"Oh!!" Carolyn laughed jumping from her seat. "So formal Powell, please Anna is family. Anna, darling come in come in!" Carolyn said ushering Anna over to the center of the room. "This is my cousin David, David, this is Anna Tate." Carolyn introduced.
"Anna it's a pleasure to meet you...again! You were just a baby the last time I saw you. We're very pleased to have you. Carolyn tells me you're here to research for a film role." David said politely as he reached for Anna's hand to shake.
Anna removed the other leather glove, took his hand and looked at David intensely. Her heart felt like it was beating out of her chest, pounding like a warrior's drum louder and louder. The heat from her body circulating around her like a storm.
David noticed her intense stare and hot hand too and quickly let go.
"Thank you, yes," She said shaking out of her mini trans "that's right. It's a love story. A woman who's been lost for many years and she comes home to this small little village. I thought......" Anna explained but suddenly stopping mid sentence to pat her face with the back of her hand, her skin now pale and clammy.
"Anna, honey?" Carolyn asked noticing Anna's sudden change in speech. "Something wrong?"
"What? No...just felt a little warm I guess." Anna said removing her coat, tiny beads of perspiration now sparkling like tiny diamonds on her forehead.
David looked over at Carolyn with a glare that signaled to her something seemed off. Anna's bright and beautiful face had changed, now a veil of concern and discomfort.
"Anna, you've had a very long trip. The other members of the family won't be home until later, around dinner time, why don't I show you up to your room where you can rest and relax a bit before they all come home. You seem very tired. We've put you a few rooms away from the baby, so you won't have to worry about any baby ruckus." Carolyn joked.
"I am feeling a little off. Maybe a nap would do me some good. On the airplane I was feeling like a cold was coming on. So strange, I felt fine in Boston." Anna said folding her black coat over her arm.
Carolyn reached over and felt Anna's forehead and noticed her temperature, she was burning up. She then placed her and around Anna's jaw just below her ear to feel her temperature again. Even hotter.
"Oh sweetie, you must be coming down with something, you're a blaze. Come on, let's go upstairs, David, Powell, will you grab her things please? I'll have the cook make you some soup." Carolyn said quickly jumping into her mothering role.
The group took Anna and her belongings up to the staircase and down the long hall. Anna, like all new visitors, marveled at the paintings of all the past family members who had once walked the same halls. Naomi, Quinton, Abigail, Joshua, and of course Barnabas.
Anna took a deep breath and continued on her way and entered her room. It was one of the smaller suites, a canopy bed in the center of the room adorned with light blue fabric, right above the headboard a giant C in crown molding fixed to the wall; the centerpiece of quaint but elegant room in a grand house.
"This is beautiful." And said softly as she spun around in a small circle looking at her new room.
"If you need anything, please let us know. ....and welcome to Collinwood." David said with a bright smile, his handsome was striking, and brought a strange sense of pride to Anna.
She nodded back shyly and thanked him.
"Absolutely!" Carolyn agreed. "...And I'm glad you like the room, listen, I won't keep you any longer. Go ahead and get comfortable and rest. I'll come up in just a little while to check on you." Carolyn said as she made her exit with David and Powell.
Anna smiled and watched as the door closed behind Carolyn. She threw her black coat on the bed and took in a deep breath of air, feeling the muscles in her chest contract and twist relieving the stress of a long trip. She then took off her shoes and felt the fluffy white carpet between her toes as she slinked over to the window and slowly drew the curtains closed, but then opened them again changing her mind on more light in the room...the warmth of the sun seeped into her skin like water into a sponge.
Anna looked out into the foggy Collinwood yard and smiled.
"Collinwood." She said to her self in a sigh, shaking her head as if she found a strange irony to the house.
From the window she made her way to a small bathroom attached to her little bedroom. She turned on the faucet and splashed water on her face. The water seemed to bubble up on her skin as if it were boiling. Each little drop popped and fizzled and instantly dried up. She wiped her face clean with a tender white towel with the family's double "C" crest embroidered in around the edge and looked at herself deep into the mirror, her face cooling from the bubbled water and inside her eyes came a flicker.
A dazzling light in each of her irises that turned them from ice blue to a fire like orange and red burning and bright like there were actual flames in her eyes. Anna quickly blinked and rubbed her eyes gently and when she opened them again seconds later her eyes were back to their icy blue.
She took a deep breath again and turned off the light and left the bathroom for the comfort of the bed. She lay there for a minute and smiled to herself.
"I'm back." She whispered.
As Carolyn placed her letter to Alex on the desk a phone that sat at the edge of the table, black and sleek, a relic of decades past with a cord strangling it's receiver to the base, suddenly rang, braking the silence in the room and startling Carolyn in her seat. She grasped at her neck with the jolt and laughed at herself then answered the phone call.
"Hello?" Carolyn said in a whisper of a voice.
"Carolyn, Hi, Its Vickie." Victoria Winters said on the other end.
"Oh! Vickie! How are you? Did you and Joseph make it to New York alright?" Carolyn asked with a smile on her face.
"We did! We've just gotten settled here. I just wanted to call and say that...well I wish things had gone a little differently. You and I have so much to catch up on and one day I hope we can." Vickie said waiting for Carolyn's response.
"Vickie, there's nothing I'd like more. My Mother....our mother," Carolyn said correcting herself. "would have liked that we did. So, when all is said and done, and you're all ready for visitors in the city, how about I come down and we just shop all day!" Carolyn continued, her voice eased and relaxed.
Vickie laughed in relief, the anticipated tension she carried on her shoulders felt like a weight on her shoulders lifted with simple phone call; a normal relationship with her half sister had bloomed. As they hung up, Vickie agreed to the future shopping excursion in New York.
Carolyn walked through the shiny black doors of the study and down a dimly lit hallway with the letter in hand for Alexandra. She stepped into the drawing room and opened one of the desk drawers searching for her stamps.
"A letter? Well, aren't we feeling very antiquated. Who's the letter for?" David said entering the drawing room with his signature bluster teasing Carolyn for her old style of communication.
"It's for Alex, I'd rather her get something handwritten then an impersonal email. David, a handwritten letter from your mother is priceless." Carolyn said in a snooty tone back.
"Well, then I wouldn't know!" David said with a twinge of sarcastic sadness; for his own mother Laura Collins hadn't been seen or heard from in decades.
He managed to push out a smile and gave his older cousin Carolyn a tight morning hug. "How are things this morning?" He continued as he sat on the sofa flipping through a news paper someone had left on the side table.
"Fine. I'm expecting my Goddaughter Anna any minute now. Her train should have come in from Boston about 20 minutes ago. I sent Powell our to fetch her." Carolyn said mentioning the family driver Powell.
"How excited you must be. I haven't seen Anna since her baptism. Have you kept in touch much over the years?" David asked sincerely interested.
"Here and there: proms, graduations, birthdays....but she's an actress now and in town to see what it's like to live in a town like Collinsport; research for a role she's playing. I'm excited to have her." Carolyn said placing the stamp on Alex's letter.
"A town like Collinsport? What exactly is this role?" David joked, hinting at the strange occurrences the town has to offer.
"David, please. Whatever you do, don't go there with Anna. I have no idea what she knows and what she doesn't know but I can assure you, I do not what her to think we're town full of crazies and ...whatever else." Carolyn said stammering.
"Well every town has it's crazies, cousin, it's the 'whatever else' we should be worried about; particularly the Collinsport 'whatever else'. It's our biggest export." David said with a laugh.
"Oh!" Carolyn said tossing a throw pillow at him.
Just as the cousins, David and Carolyn, continued to chat in the drawing room the Collins family drive Powell opened the front door holding a large Louis Vuitton suitcases in each hand and a smaller tote bag tucked under his left arm. He placed them down on the floor and ushered Carolyn's goddaughter Anna in.
"Please come in Miss." Powell said in his deep baritone voice.
Powell, who stood six feet three inches, dapper in his looks even if he was an older man with a white hair and beard. He was the spitting image of the last Tsar of Russia Nicholas II.
As Powell, closed the door, a strikingly beautiful blond blue eyed woman of 25 walked in dressed in a long coat of all black wool. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun, her eyes wide and curious.
"Thank you." Anna said quietly, removing one leather glove. She patted her forehead that was a glistening in the lights, the warmth of the room filling her body causing her to become flush and rosy cheeked.
"This way miss." Powell said bringing Anna to the closed double doors of the drawing room.
Powell turned the knobs and opened the doors announcing her:
"Miss Anna Tate." he recited.
"Oh!!" Carolyn laughed jumping from her seat. "So formal Powell, please Anna is family. Anna, darling come in come in!" Carolyn said ushering Anna over to the center of the room. "This is my cousin David, David, this is Anna Tate." Carolyn introduced.
"Anna it's a pleasure to meet you...again! You were just a baby the last time I saw you. We're very pleased to have you. Carolyn tells me you're here to research for a film role." David said politely as he reached for Anna's hand to shake.
Anna removed the other leather glove, took his hand and looked at David intensely. Her heart felt like it was beating out of her chest, pounding like a warrior's drum louder and louder. The heat from her body circulating around her like a storm.
David noticed her intense stare and hot hand too and quickly let go.
"Thank you, yes," She said shaking out of her mini trans "that's right. It's a love story. A woman who's been lost for many years and she comes home to this small little village. I thought......" Anna explained but suddenly stopping mid sentence to pat her face with the back of her hand, her skin now pale and clammy.
"Anna, honey?" Carolyn asked noticing Anna's sudden change in speech. "Something wrong?"
"What? No...just felt a little warm I guess." Anna said removing her coat, tiny beads of perspiration now sparkling like tiny diamonds on her forehead.
David looked over at Carolyn with a glare that signaled to her something seemed off. Anna's bright and beautiful face had changed, now a veil of concern and discomfort.
"Anna, you've had a very long trip. The other members of the family won't be home until later, around dinner time, why don't I show you up to your room where you can rest and relax a bit before they all come home. You seem very tired. We've put you a few rooms away from the baby, so you won't have to worry about any baby ruckus." Carolyn joked.
"I am feeling a little off. Maybe a nap would do me some good. On the airplane I was feeling like a cold was coming on. So strange, I felt fine in Boston." Anna said folding her black coat over her arm.
Carolyn reached over and felt Anna's forehead and noticed her temperature, she was burning up. She then placed her and around Anna's jaw just below her ear to feel her temperature again. Even hotter.
"Oh sweetie, you must be coming down with something, you're a blaze. Come on, let's go upstairs, David, Powell, will you grab her things please? I'll have the cook make you some soup." Carolyn said quickly jumping into her mothering role.
The group took Anna and her belongings up to the staircase and down the long hall. Anna, like all new visitors, marveled at the paintings of all the past family members who had once walked the same halls. Naomi, Quinton, Abigail, Joshua, and of course Barnabas.
Anna took a deep breath and continued on her way and entered her room. It was one of the smaller suites, a canopy bed in the center of the room adorned with light blue fabric, right above the headboard a giant C in crown molding fixed to the wall; the centerpiece of quaint but elegant room in a grand house.
"This is beautiful." And said softly as she spun around in a small circle looking at her new room.
"If you need anything, please let us know. ....and welcome to Collinwood." David said with a bright smile, his handsome was striking, and brought a strange sense of pride to Anna.
She nodded back shyly and thanked him.
"Absolutely!" Carolyn agreed. "...And I'm glad you like the room, listen, I won't keep you any longer. Go ahead and get comfortable and rest. I'll come up in just a little while to check on you." Carolyn said as she made her exit with David and Powell.
Anna smiled and watched as the door closed behind Carolyn. She threw her black coat on the bed and took in a deep breath of air, feeling the muscles in her chest contract and twist relieving the stress of a long trip. She then took off her shoes and felt the fluffy white carpet between her toes as she slinked over to the window and slowly drew the curtains closed, but then opened them again changing her mind on more light in the room...the warmth of the sun seeped into her skin like water into a sponge.
Anna looked out into the foggy Collinwood yard and smiled.
"Collinwood." She said to her self in a sigh, shaking her head as if she found a strange irony to the house.
From the window she made her way to a small bathroom attached to her little bedroom. She turned on the faucet and splashed water on her face. The water seemed to bubble up on her skin as if it were boiling. Each little drop popped and fizzled and instantly dried up. She wiped her face clean with a tender white towel with the family's double "C" crest embroidered in around the edge and looked at herself deep into the mirror, her face cooling from the bubbled water and inside her eyes came a flicker.
A dazzling light in each of her irises that turned them from ice blue to a fire like orange and red burning and bright like there were actual flames in her eyes. Anna quickly blinked and rubbed her eyes gently and when she opened them again seconds later her eyes were back to their icy blue.
She took a deep breath again and turned off the light and left the bathroom for the comfort of the bed. She lay there for a minute and smiled to herself.
"I'm back." She whispered.
****
Across town at The Blue Whale pub, Kat (who had returned to her detective work after her maternity leave) was having a small lunch with her partner Detective Loomis McGovern. It had been 3 months since Kat had returned to work and everything seemed to finally be fitting back into place. She was back to a normal routine, as was her husband Caleb who had gone back to work at the Collins Fishing Fleet with David. But as with all things in Collinsport, the steady pace in life never lasted longer then the thought of it. As Kat and Loomis talked and laughed over their lunch, the small wooden front door opened and in walked Kat's brother Sebastian who had gone missing the night Kat gave birth, which he forcibly induced for the purposes of helping Victoria kidnap the child.
The night of Kat's induced labor was also the night Christopher changed into his werewolf alter-ego stirring chaos in and around Collinwood. Sebastian...became Chris' third victim, a victim that strangely survived.
Kat had her back turned to the door of the pub when Sebastian walked in.
As she carried on with her conversation with Loomis his reaction to what they were talking about suddenly changed. His eyes glazed over and looked beyond her straight at Sebastian. Loomis' face froze and he turned serious...it was as if he was seeing a ghost. But Sebastian was no ghost. Kat furrowed her brow confused at Loomis' abrupt change in demeanor and turned around to see what he was looking at so sternly.
"Oh my god, Bash!!" Kat said jumping out of her seat and grabbing Sebastian by the shoulders to pull him in for a great big hug. "Where the hell have you been? What's happened??" She asked.
"I have a lot of explaining to do I guess." He smirked.
"You do, you really do!" Kat yelped.
"I've missed you so much sis!" Sebastian said, holding his younger sister close.
"We've been so worried about you. How could you just disappear like that without telling anyone? Especially me. What happened?" Kat pressed.
"I, I can't really explain it, I mean...." Sebastian started before his excited sister cut him off.
"Listen, forget it, I don't want to rehash what happened, Victoria is gone, my son is back and now you are too. But I hope you've changed your ways." Kat said in a serious voice as she had moved on from what Sebastian had done.
"You do, you really do!" Kat yelped.
"I've missed you so much sis!" Sebastian said, holding his younger sister close.
"We've been so worried about you. How could you just disappear like that without telling anyone? Especially me. What happened?" Kat pressed.
"I, I can't really explain it, I mean...." Sebastian started before his excited sister cut him off.
"Listen, forget it, I don't want to rehash what happened, Victoria is gone, my son is back and now you are too. But I hope you've changed your ways." Kat said in a serious voice as she had moved on from what Sebastian had done.
"Kat, I'm so sorry. I should have never helped Vickie take your baby. I wish I could take it---" Sebastian said before being interrupted again.
"Stop. It's over. It's been over. I'm just glad you're here and you are alive. Where have you been?" Kat asked again circling back to the real mystery of where Sebastian was this whole time.
"It's really weird. After I went out to get the car to bring you to the hospital....I just remember lots of fog and and feeling really uneasy. To be honest, I think Vickie slipped me something before I came by Collinwood that night, because I don't remember much after that. The next morning I woke up miles away at some hospital in Bangor. I must have been in a fight or fallen or something because I was pretty banged up. I don't remember anything at all. I blacked out for days." He explained.
"How'd you get from Collinsport to Bangor? Your car was left running in the driveway that night?" Kat asked, her detective instincts kicking in.
"I don't know. I really don't know." Sebastian answered honestly.
"How'd you get from Collinsport to Bangor? Your car was left running in the driveway that night?" Kat asked, her detective instincts kicking in.
"I don't know. I really don't know." Sebastian answered honestly.
"Well...." Kat said taking it all in and dismissing any obvious holes in this story.
"And you know that Vickie's organization has been dissolved right?" Loomis asked from his seat at the table.
"And you know that Vickie's organization has been dissolved right?" Loomis asked from his seat at the table.
"Yeah, when I came out of my mess the other day I called up Vickie. I guess she's back in New York...she told me everything. Kat, sis, I'm really really sorry. Thank you for forgiving me." Sebastian said kissing his beloved sister on the forehead.
"Why don't you two catch up. I'll head back to the station. Meet you there?" Loomis asked standing up in his seat and dropping his white napkin down on the table with a $20 bill, his towering body standing over everyone like a giant sycamore tree.
"Ok." Kat said with a gleeful grin. "Are you hungry?" Kat asked turning back to her brother.
Sebastian smiled happily and nodded yes.
Sebastian smiled happily and nodded yes.
"I just have to wash my hands really quick." Sebastian said excusing himself to the bathroom before he had a meal.
Kat nodded back and walked over to the bar to order Sebastian a bite to eat while he washed his hands. They were always so close growing up and even in their adulthood despite Sebastian's many secrets. She knew just about everything there was to know about him, they were practically twins despite his 3 year age advantage.
Sebastian pushed on the bathroom door slightly and peeked in to see if there was anyone else inside. He expected one of the many sailors and fishermen who stopped by The Blue Whale on their way out to see to be inside dressed in their thick wool sweaters smelling of the sea and sweat and sun.
But the bathroom was empty. Just a dripping faucet and stained mirror await inside.
The relief flowed over Sebastian like a giant waterfall.
The relief flowed over Sebastian like a giant waterfall.
He let the door close behind him and went into one of the stalls. There was a sharp pain coming from his chest, a normal feeling since his attack from Christopher. He slowly unbutton his shirt and pealed it open exposing his mocha skin. His thick hands ran down his chest carved with vicious scars.
Remnants of the night his life changed for ever. Scrolled across his chest by claws.
The mark of a werewolf.
The mark of a werewolf.
Inside of a shaded office room with dark cherry wood furnishings a white ceiling fan with wooden blades resembling banana leaves turned slowly continuing its circular flow of the warm south-Asian breeze that crept in through the shuttered windows that cast striped shadows across the entire room.
The noise from the busy street below filled the room: a car honking, motorbikes zipping through the streets, the dinging of a street car.
In the center of the room a large desk and leather bound chair. A woman sorted through papers while simultaneously packing suitcase with other files and paperwork she cherry-picked from the piles. She would open a folder, glance at the first page, turn the page, glance at the second and in a split second decide whether or not she needed to pack in the suitcase that was left gaping open on the floor beside her.
The woman, an American by birth, was a strikingly beautiful woman with bright blue eyes and dark hair. Her lips were like two pink pillows bunched together on a face like porcelain art.
She stood up and fiddled through more files. She was looking for something very specific. She bit her lip in though as if she knew she was missing something. She stopped and looked around the misty room filled with large green potted tress hoping for some kind of mind break that would allow the memory of what she was looking for to finally come to light.
Then it came to her.
She rushed over to a filing cabinet that sat directly across from her on the other side of the room. She dashed past a old Chinese coffee table delicately crafted and made of the finest wood she had ever seen. She pulled open the filing cabinet and flicked through the first four or five rows of folders and picked one, then two, the a third thick folder of paper work out and slammed the drawer closed dashing back to her desk.
She opened the first file, then the second then the third. They were exactly what she was missing.
Then a knock at her door.
"Yes?" She said loudly.
"Doctor, the customs agent is here to see you." A man's voice said in a thick Chinese accent from the other side of the door.
"Please see him to the den, I'll be with him very shortly." The Doctor replied.
She quickly gathered all her paperwork that was still yet to pack and stacked them neatly on the side of her desk for further review when she returned from her meeting with a customs agent.
As she turned and left the room, the light from outside trickled in through the shuttered windows casting more stripes all across her dark cherry wood desk.
The three files she had retrieved from the cabinet and left on the corner of the desk read:
EVANS, MARGARET 1967,1970; EVANS MARGARET 1986; COLLINS, DAVID 2000
EVANS, MARGARET 1967,1970; EVANS MARGARET 1986; COLLINS, DAVID 2000
"Ni Hao!" The woman said in her best Chinese to the customs agent.
"Ni Hao, Doctor." The agent said greeting her as she walked into the freshly painted white den with it's white wicker furniture and more potted green trees and more ceiling fans with wooden banana leaf shaped blades.
"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice. I gather you received my note, and that everything is in order for my travels?" The woman questioned.
"Yes, I did receive your paperwork but there is one more question as to what exactly you are traveling with." The customs agent replied. "You may very well be able to leave Singapore but I doubt you will be able to enter the United States without declaring what is inside." he continued.
"Mr. Chow, if there's anyway we can keep this in the most private of factions I would greatly appreciate it. Can't we come up with some sort of resolution without going into the gritty details of ...well...my business." The Doctor stated.
"This day in age, Dr. Morgan, there's no way I can agree to that. You'll have to either tell me what is inside such a large crate or I'll have to look myself to fill out this paperwork. The United States government will not let you off the ship in Boston without the declaration." Mr. Chow asserted.
Dr. Morgan, irritated and defeated, smirked and stood up motioning for Mr. Chow to follow her into another room. He obliged and grabbed his belongings and followed her as she led him down a dark hallway the smelled of candles and fresh rose water.
The heat of the South Asian afternoon had Mr. Chow drenched in sweat. He followed Dr. Morgan down the hallway, removing his blue sports coat and rolled up the sleeves of his crisp white button up then loosened the tie from around his neck that was beginning to feel like a noose in the humid house.
"This way." Dr. Morgan assured.
As they turned a slight corner, Dr. Morgan finally brought Mr. Chow to a room where he instantly discovered where the smell or candles and rosewater came from. Dr. Morgan pushed the door that was slightly left open further and entered the room where a large rectangular crate sat in the center of the room surrounded by candles.
The scene seemed odd and Mr. Chow felt an uneasieness in his stomach. Something told him he would regret causing such a fuss over whatever was in that crate, but the law was the law.
The scene seemed odd and Mr. Chow felt an uneasieness in his stomach. Something told him he would regret causing such a fuss over whatever was in that crate, but the law was the law.
Mr. Chow looked over at Dr. Morgan as she stood to the side of him looking at the object in the center of the candle lit room. She lifted one eyebrow and extended her hand out towards the rectangular crate. "After you." She said in a hushed tone.
Mr. Chow pulled out his pen and the customs forms he needed to file for Dr. Morgan's travels and took two dragging steps forward to see what was inside. The sweat was now dripping down his back and puddling at the top of his pants just as he placed his hand on the lid of the crate.
Mr. Chow looked back at Dr. Morgan just before he opened the lid.
"Go on." She said.
He turned back around and licked his lips that had dried with his anxiety, he gripped the lid and lifted it open, Inside the crate, a coffin holding the remains of a woman who died over 30 years ago: Dr. Morgan's American mother who had lived in this very house, in this very city since 1973, a woman that was known by many in her seaside hometown of Collinsport, Maine.
These were the 30 year old remains of Dr. Julia Hoffman.
