The man they knew as Barnabas Collins stood in the door way. His face blank, expressionless. His gaze seemed to lock on some far off distant item in the room. He stood there, like an empty shell without words, without movement. It was as if everything around him was invisible, just his breath pouring out in puffs of white smoke from his nose.
Ezrabette reached out to his body, her hand shaking in the cold icy air that pushed it's way into the room from the open door Barnabas was standing in.
"What's the matter with him, he doesn't speak?" Ezrabette said, the candle light flickering an orange light on her mocha skin.
Claudia came over to her coven sister and the man that looked like her father standing in the doorway, she pulled Ezrabette's arm down from Barnabas' shoulder and helped the man into the house and sat him down.
"This isn't really my father. He's only been created so that we could use his body. The only way Jason will let this family be is if he sees Barnabas again. There's no way to know where my father really is, the shroud that connects the world of the living and the dead is sometimes too thick to pass through. At least we can use his body's image as a start." Claudia explained.
"It's believable enough." Ezrabette said with a shudder. "But it wont work if he doesn't speak." Ezrabette added, her voice frustrated with lack of real Barnabas.
"Don't worry. I have a plan for that. When the time comes, I'll infuse myself into this body and act as Barnabas. It's the only way to end Jason's hold on the family. From what I know of him, and what you've said to me, his plan could have disastrous ramifications for years to come." Claudia explained.
"I'm afraid we might be too late. Acting as Jonathon, Jason has had a lot of influence over this family. He could have killed them all by now and we wouldn't know until it's too late." Ezrabette confessed.
As the two witches spoke in the living room with the mute and empty vessel that was Barnabas Collins, a car began to drive up to Ezrabette's cottage unnoticed by the people inside.
It was Maggie Evans coming to visit her old friend as she often did.
Maggie made her way out of the car and walked up to the front door. She noticed the door was slightly open, just a small one inch gap. Maggie swayed her head to see between the gap and noticed that inside was dark with only the flickering of a few candles. The voices inside were murmuring inaudibly. Maggie worried something nefarious was happening and quickly pushed the door open surprising the witches inside who jumped in fright at the sight of Maggie.
"Bette!?!" Maggie said calling out to her friend.
Ezrabette, who had grasped at her chest in the surprise entrance turned around towards the door that her friend lunged through and as she turned to greet Maggie, she stepped to the side revealing the man sitting on the sofa.
Maggie screamed and backed away at the sight of the man who was responsible for so many terrors and horrors in her life.
In seconds Maggie's life flashed before her eyes. Her kidnapping, her time locked in Barnabas' secret room at the old house, the vampire's teeth, paintings of Josette, little Sarah Collins ...a voice in from her memory began to sing London Bridge is Falling Down over and over.
Ezrabette and Claudia quickly went over to Maggie who was still on the floor of Ezrabette's cottage screaming in terror. They tried to calm her, but the face she saw, the man sitting in that very room no matter how real or imagined he was, no matter if he was made of flesh and bones or created through magic was like a dagger in her heart. The damage to her younger years could only come out in this dramatic screaming fit.
"Maggie, honey, shhhh! It's ok! It's ok!!!" Ezrabette said trying to calm her friend.
"What are you doing with him? Why is he here! Why is he here!!!" Maggie screamed.
"He's not real! Maggie! Listen to me, he is not real! He is not real!"
"Carolyn was right! She's been dreaming of him! He's been in her head while she slept, she warned us! Why is he here!" Maggie continued.
"No! No, no, no! He isn't, Maggie, listen to me, that is not really Barnabas, Stop! Please!" Ezrabette said grabbing Maggie's face with two hands.
"She's telling you the truth Maggie." Claudia said.
As Claudia spoke, Maggie looked at her, now even more confused. It was the first time she noticed she was there, but seeing her as Sasha, Canan's governess.
"Sasha." Maggie said in a whisper.
"Listen to me, listen to me....We're going to need your help. Jonathon Silva is not who he says he is, Maggie. He's someone very evil and very cruel and we need to stop him. Carolyn, David, Canan...everyone at Collinwood is in danger with him around. We have to stop him!" Ezrabette explained.
"What do you mean? I don't understand." Maggie said, sitting up on the floor with Ezrabette's hands still tightly placed around her face.
"Jonathon Silva is really Jason McGuire. Jason McGuire is alive and pretending to be this Jonathon person to harm the family." Claudia explained.
"But you said you knew him?" Maggie said looking at Ezrabette.
"I lied Maggie. I had to, I've been blackmailed for weeks, I had to do what he told me to make sure you and Kat and baby Canan weren't hurt, but I realize that was wrong of me, he was going to hurt everyone no matter what." Ezrabette said helping Maggie up from the floor even though she was still terrified of the Barnabas sitting blankly on the sofa.
"Why is Barnabas here...how is he here?" Maggie questioned stepping back towards the front door again.
"He's not really Barnabas, and my name isn't really Sasha. Maggie I'm afraid there's a lot we need to catch you up on. Trust me, I'm here to help." Claudia said revealing herself to Maggie.
Maggie's eyes watered. She began to feel the coldness of terror reach into her heart and grab hold. She had no idea the story Ezrabette and Claudia were about to share was going to change everything forever.
What Maggie saw with her own eyes, has never, ever been as it seemed.
*****
"Listen, listen to me. What's your name?" Carolyn questioned.
"He's not a doctor!!! Don't you see??? He is not who he says he is. Look, if you just help me get out of here I promise you won't lose your job, everything will make sense if you just get me out of this jacket and out of this room and out of this hospital. Rick, please, I can pay you. My family has lots of money and can pay you." Carolyn said, her voice sounding more and more desperate for freedom.
Locked away in the white room at Windcliff, Carolyn began to fall asleep. She had no idea what time it was, she had no idea if it was night time or daytime. Her windowless room smelled fresh linen and bleach. Her eyes could not stay closed because of the brightness of the room. She began to feel herself break. Her mind slowly cracking under the pressure of everything.
As she lay there, her face buried in the soft padded floor, her arms tangled in a pure white straight jacket that squeezed her body like a canvas boa-constrictor she heard tapping at the small square window in the padded room's door.
She looked up at the door, her blond hair tossed in her face obscuring her vision. Then the door unlocked and in walked an orderly, smiling at her with his crooked teeth.
"You hungry?" The orderly asked pushing a tray of some sort of porridge and bread out in front of Carolyn.
Carolyn quickly sat up and steadied herself up against the white padded wall, her tired body losing it's breath.
"Listen, listen to me. What's your name?" Carolyn questioned.
The orderly looked at her strangely but answered "Rick."
"Ok, Rick, do you know who I am? Have you heard of me before?" Carolyn continued.
"You're Carolyn Stoddard." Rick, the orderly replied.
"Yes, that's right. Carolyn Stoddard-Thorne. Carolyn Collins Stoddard-Thorne." She said again, emphasizing on her middle name, the most powerful of them all. "My family is very, very wealthy. I can get you anything you want if you just get me out of here. Please. I'm begging you. I'm here under false pretenses, and I need help!"
"Do you know how many times a day people say they shouldn't be in here? All day. And you're getting help, that's why you're in here. Now what you would like to start with? A bite of bread of a spoon full of this porridge." Rick said brushing off Carolyn's offer.
"No, no! Listen, I'm telling you the truth, I really am not supposed to be here. There's been a very big mistake and someone very bad has my family confused, or tricked, or under some spell, I don't know but I'm not supposed to be here and I have to get out --now! They need to know what this person has done!" Carolyn explained without mentioning any names.
"Mrs. Thorne, you're having delusions. Don't you see? You're in the right place, we're here to take care of you. Dr. Silva is the perfect person to help you." The orderly answered.
"He's not a doctor!!! Don't you see??? He is not who he says he is. Look, if you just help me get out of here I promise you won't lose your job, everything will make sense if you just get me out of this jacket and out of this room and out of this hospital. Rick, please, I can pay you. My family has lots of money and can pay you." Carolyn said, her voice sounding more and more desperate for freedom.
"That's enough Rick. Thank you. I'll take it from here." A voice from the open door said.
Carolyn looked up and past Rick, and standing at the door, smiling with his evil grin, was Jason McGuire still as his alter ego Dr. Jonathon Silva.
Rick looked at Carolyn with a small bit of compassion, but grabbed the tray of food and left anyway.
"I'll bring in her sleeping meds shortly." Rick said to Jonathon just before leaving the room.
Jonathon's face soured. He quickly closed the door and came over to Carolyn who was trying to move as far away him as possible. She scooted towards the back of the room and cornered herself between two walls.
"Leave me alone." she hissed at Jonathon.
"You're a clever little snake, aren't you? You thought he'd believe you? Carolyn you're a patient in a mental institution that's been having waking dreams of a man you say is a vampire. He was never going to believe you." Jonathon said slightly smiling at Carolyn's misery.
"You know what I saw! You've been purposefully triggering those memories while I slept all this time, haven't you? It's been you all this time!" Carolyn said connecting the dots.
"I promised you a way out of all this, Carolyn. There's always been a way for you to get yourself where you want to be: home with you family." Jonathon reminded her by pulling out the paperwork for their marriage certificate.
"I won't marry you, you monster!" Carolyn responded.
'Tsk tsk tsk....I was hoping you'd reconsider. What if I told you I could make sure that everyone you loved suffered a terrible and nightmarish death if you didn't do this? Because you know, my dear, I have nothing left to lose. When Barnabas took my life all those years ago, my soul went into the red hot flames of hell and I've never looked back." Jonathon said crudely.
Carolyn spat at Jonathon who was now kneeling next to her face. His eyes squinted in anger as he pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his cheek.
"You know, nothing would stop be from going over to London and making sure Alexandra never saw the light of an English day again either. Do you understand what I'm saying?" Jason said referencing Carolyn's daughter Alex who was still in London living with her boyfriend Christopher.
"Don't you touch her, I swear to you Jason if you hurt her I will ...." Carolyn said using Jonathon's real name.
"You'll what? Kill me? I'm already dead!" Jonathon laughed. "And I've told you before, love, call me Jonathon. Now here. Sign it and I'll leave little Alexandra alone." He added pushing the marriage forms over to Carolyn.
Carolyn was caught between a rock and a hard place. Jason was brought back to life under the spell of Ezrabette to fulfill a revenge plot created by the ghost of Marie Clotilde. If she married him, he would gain access to the entire company by way of his dubious prenuptial agreement. If Carolyn didn't sign it, there was no way she could be sure he wouldn't harm her beloved Alexandra. If she did sign it, there was no way to trust that he would keep his word.
Carolyn sat up, her white clothes light as a feather, clean and crisp in the blazing florescent light of the padded room. She scooted over to Jonathon still kneeling down and pulled off the cap of a pen.
"Untie me." Carolyn said.
Jonathon looked at Carolyn, her face had relaxed, her voice had calmed. There was something about her that seamed defeated. He unlatched one side of her straight jacket. She quickly turned around but Jonathon grabbed her by the throat.
"Don't you try anything funny." He said with a grown.
Carolyn's eyes began to water as he squeezed her throat. She reached down and grabbed the pen, for a split second she thought if she just jammed it into his neck she could incapacitate him just long enough to escape, but she knew that Jonathon would catch her. She only had one arm free, and she needed to keep Alex safe.
With tears in her eyes, and her throat tightening, Carolyn signed the paper work officially making her Jonathon's wife and Jonathon officially becoming the soul owner and executive officer of Collins Enterprises.
He suddenly released his grasp around her neck and grabbed her arm and placed it back into the straight jacket. She struggled with him but he was too strong. He then pulled out a syringe from his jacket pocket and stabbed it into her arm.
"What are you doing??? You said you'd release me!!!" Carolyn screamed but soon began to feel the sedative rushing through her veins.
"And I will! But not until this is notarized. If it isn't legal then how can we move on? Don't worry love, you'll be out by sundown. Just sit tight." Jonathon said as he bent down and kissed his new, disgusted wife, on the lips leaving her in the room again to dwell on what she had just done.
Rick looked at Carolyn with a small bit of compassion, but grabbed the tray of food and left anyway.
"I'll bring in her sleeping meds shortly." Rick said to Jonathon just before leaving the room.
Jonathon's face soured. He quickly closed the door and came over to Carolyn who was trying to move as far away him as possible. She scooted towards the back of the room and cornered herself between two walls.
"Leave me alone." she hissed at Jonathon.
"You're a clever little snake, aren't you? You thought he'd believe you? Carolyn you're a patient in a mental institution that's been having waking dreams of a man you say is a vampire. He was never going to believe you." Jonathon said slightly smiling at Carolyn's misery.
"You know what I saw! You've been purposefully triggering those memories while I slept all this time, haven't you? It's been you all this time!" Carolyn said connecting the dots.
"I promised you a way out of all this, Carolyn. There's always been a way for you to get yourself where you want to be: home with you family." Jonathon reminded her by pulling out the paperwork for their marriage certificate.
"I won't marry you, you monster!" Carolyn responded.
'Tsk tsk tsk....I was hoping you'd reconsider. What if I told you I could make sure that everyone you loved suffered a terrible and nightmarish death if you didn't do this? Because you know, my dear, I have nothing left to lose. When Barnabas took my life all those years ago, my soul went into the red hot flames of hell and I've never looked back." Jonathon said crudely.
Carolyn spat at Jonathon who was now kneeling next to her face. His eyes squinted in anger as he pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his cheek.
"You know, nothing would stop be from going over to London and making sure Alexandra never saw the light of an English day again either. Do you understand what I'm saying?" Jason said referencing Carolyn's daughter Alex who was still in London living with her boyfriend Christopher.
"Don't you touch her, I swear to you Jason if you hurt her I will ...." Carolyn said using Jonathon's real name.
"You'll what? Kill me? I'm already dead!" Jonathon laughed. "And I've told you before, love, call me Jonathon. Now here. Sign it and I'll leave little Alexandra alone." He added pushing the marriage forms over to Carolyn.
Carolyn was caught between a rock and a hard place. Jason was brought back to life under the spell of Ezrabette to fulfill a revenge plot created by the ghost of Marie Clotilde. If she married him, he would gain access to the entire company by way of his dubious prenuptial agreement. If Carolyn didn't sign it, there was no way she could be sure he wouldn't harm her beloved Alexandra. If she did sign it, there was no way to trust that he would keep his word.
Carolyn sat up, her white clothes light as a feather, clean and crisp in the blazing florescent light of the padded room. She scooted over to Jonathon still kneeling down and pulled off the cap of a pen.
"Untie me." Carolyn said.
Jonathon looked at Carolyn, her face had relaxed, her voice had calmed. There was something about her that seamed defeated. He unlatched one side of her straight jacket. She quickly turned around but Jonathon grabbed her by the throat.
"Don't you try anything funny." He said with a grown.
Carolyn's eyes began to water as he squeezed her throat. She reached down and grabbed the pen, for a split second she thought if she just jammed it into his neck she could incapacitate him just long enough to escape, but she knew that Jonathon would catch her. She only had one arm free, and she needed to keep Alex safe.
With tears in her eyes, and her throat tightening, Carolyn signed the paper work officially making her Jonathon's wife and Jonathon officially becoming the soul owner and executive officer of Collins Enterprises.
He suddenly released his grasp around her neck and grabbed her arm and placed it back into the straight jacket. She struggled with him but he was too strong. He then pulled out a syringe from his jacket pocket and stabbed it into her arm.
"What are you doing??? You said you'd release me!!!" Carolyn screamed but soon began to feel the sedative rushing through her veins.
"And I will! But not until this is notarized. If it isn't legal then how can we move on? Don't worry love, you'll be out by sundown. Just sit tight." Jonathon said as he bent down and kissed his new, disgusted wife, on the lips leaving her in the room again to dwell on what she had just done.
*****
Deep in the forest grounds around Collinwood, Kimberly was digging a whole through dirt and snow fit for a coffin that she had dragged all the way from the Old House. Her arms were putty and numb from the frosty chill, her muscles ached, and her face and body were covered in the dirt and soil of the ancient land of Collinsport.
She could smell the years and centuries of earth and roots as she dug through the frozen ground. The minerals in the ground gave off the smell of hard mettle. With each shovel that pierced the ground Kim got closer and closer to feeling the freedom of having David back in her life, alone, without anyone to take her place.
Her simmering madness was now a full on boil, she was about to bury alive the one person that could have probably saved her from the voices in her head that made her do the evil things she did.
The coffin sat on the open ground with Siobhan laying inside; Kim kept digging and as she dug, Siobhan began to hear the sound of the dirt falling to the ground from Kim's digging.
"That's a shovel. She's taken me outside. She's shoveling." Siobhan said in the pitch black coffin. "Oh my god, she's not really .....she's going to bury me." She added as her foggy mind began to connect the dots.
Kim was exhausted. The amount of Adrenalin and fear of getting caught had slowly dissipated. Her body was screaming for rest. But the grave was still four feet too shallow. She had to make it deep enough that no one would ever find her buried secret.
"Kimberly, please! Please! Just open this casket and let me out. Whatever you're going through I can help you. Kim? Kimberly!! Please!!!" Siobhan screamed with all the strength she had.
Kim heard every word. She wiped her sweaty forehead and jumped out of the grave. Her clothes were clogged and bogged down with dirt and mud. Her finger nails caked in the brown clay from deep under the surface of the forest. She walked over and sat on top of Barnabas' old coffin and lit a cigarette.
"There's no turning back now. I've come this far, and I can't go backwards. Everything is riding on the fact that David thinks you've left him. Forever. I'm going to make sure that's a reality." Kim said puffing from her lit cigarette.
"By burring me alive? You'd leave that on your conscious? David will find out what you've done and he'll never, ever forgive you for it. I promise you, he will make sure you never see your sons or grandson again if he finds out, but he doesn't have to Kim, if you let me out....I'll..... I'll leave town. I'll go back to Singapore and never turn back, I swear! Just let me out...PLEASE!" Siobhan begged her eyes still searching for some kind of light from the outside, but she was in pitch black. The air getting thinner and thinner.
"You'd leave Collinsport on your own without fighting for David or telling him what I did?" Kim questioned, her cigarette smoke swirling around her like it came from a chimney.
"Yes! Kim please, you and I can work on this, and I won't tell anyone." Siobhan promised.
Kim grinned and stood up from the coffin and threw her cigarette on the floor. She stepped on it forcing into the dirt making sure that it's tiny spark was out. She dusted her hands on her pants and knelt down close to the coffin so that Siobhan could hear her clearly.
"You're clever, but not more than I am. The very second I freed you from here you'd be back at Collinwood so fast telling David what I did that I wouldn't know what hit me. No, you're not getting out of this coffin Siobhan, not now, not ever. Say good night." Kim said to Siobhan's panicked screams.
Kim went over to the coffin and grabbed on to the handles around the area closest to the feet. She grabbed and began to drag the coffin with Siobhan tossing around inside screaming bloody murder. The forest ached and twitched with the screams coming from the coffin, but it was too late for Siobhan, Kim's Adrenalin returned and she dragged the heavy coffin in to the grave she dug and plopped it down into the hole.
Siobhan's body was jolted and bounced inside causing her to bash her head on a small wooden corner of the inside of the coffin causing a gash and blood to rush down her face.
Siobhan screamed but no one but Kim could hear. Kim took a second and looked down at what she was doing. She began to think of how horrible it might be for Siobhan to be laying in a coffin awaiting her own death. But her mind was made up. It had to happen.
Kim picked up the shovel and began to pour the dirt over the casket. Siobhan heard shovel by shovel full of earth falling above her. Her screams were soon muffled by the amount of soil covering her up. She was now under a layer of mud that concealed her completely.
"Are you ok?" The man said looking down at her, his eyes crystal blue, his hair dark and clean cut. His skin a mocha color, tan and handsome. It was Curtis Winters.
"You don't recognize me? Of course you don't. I've aged." Curtis responded with a chuckle.
"What?" Kat said confused, her breath freezing in mid air as she spoke in the damn and cold basement.
"It's me. It's Canan. I'm your son." Curtis said to a shocked and confused Kat.
She could smell the years and centuries of earth and roots as she dug through the frozen ground. The minerals in the ground gave off the smell of hard mettle. With each shovel that pierced the ground Kim got closer and closer to feeling the freedom of having David back in her life, alone, without anyone to take her place.
Her simmering madness was now a full on boil, she was about to bury alive the one person that could have probably saved her from the voices in her head that made her do the evil things she did.
The coffin sat on the open ground with Siobhan laying inside; Kim kept digging and as she dug, Siobhan began to hear the sound of the dirt falling to the ground from Kim's digging.
"That's a shovel. She's taken me outside. She's shoveling." Siobhan said in the pitch black coffin. "Oh my god, she's not really .....she's going to bury me." She added as her foggy mind began to connect the dots.
Kim was exhausted. The amount of Adrenalin and fear of getting caught had slowly dissipated. Her body was screaming for rest. But the grave was still four feet too shallow. She had to make it deep enough that no one would ever find her buried secret.
"Kimberly, please! Please! Just open this casket and let me out. Whatever you're going through I can help you. Kim? Kimberly!! Please!!!" Siobhan screamed with all the strength she had.
Kim heard every word. She wiped her sweaty forehead and jumped out of the grave. Her clothes were clogged and bogged down with dirt and mud. Her finger nails caked in the brown clay from deep under the surface of the forest. She walked over and sat on top of Barnabas' old coffin and lit a cigarette.
"There's no turning back now. I've come this far, and I can't go backwards. Everything is riding on the fact that David thinks you've left him. Forever. I'm going to make sure that's a reality." Kim said puffing from her lit cigarette.
"By burring me alive? You'd leave that on your conscious? David will find out what you've done and he'll never, ever forgive you for it. I promise you, he will make sure you never see your sons or grandson again if he finds out, but he doesn't have to Kim, if you let me out....I'll..... I'll leave town. I'll go back to Singapore and never turn back, I swear! Just let me out...PLEASE!" Siobhan begged her eyes still searching for some kind of light from the outside, but she was in pitch black. The air getting thinner and thinner.
"You'd leave Collinsport on your own without fighting for David or telling him what I did?" Kim questioned, her cigarette smoke swirling around her like it came from a chimney.
"Yes! Kim please, you and I can work on this, and I won't tell anyone." Siobhan promised.
Kim grinned and stood up from the coffin and threw her cigarette on the floor. She stepped on it forcing into the dirt making sure that it's tiny spark was out. She dusted her hands on her pants and knelt down close to the coffin so that Siobhan could hear her clearly.
"You're clever, but not more than I am. The very second I freed you from here you'd be back at Collinwood so fast telling David what I did that I wouldn't know what hit me. No, you're not getting out of this coffin Siobhan, not now, not ever. Say good night." Kim said to Siobhan's panicked screams.
Kim went over to the coffin and grabbed on to the handles around the area closest to the feet. She grabbed and began to drag the coffin with Siobhan tossing around inside screaming bloody murder. The forest ached and twitched with the screams coming from the coffin, but it was too late for Siobhan, Kim's Adrenalin returned and she dragged the heavy coffin in to the grave she dug and plopped it down into the hole.
Siobhan's body was jolted and bounced inside causing her to bash her head on a small wooden corner of the inside of the coffin causing a gash and blood to rush down her face.
Siobhan screamed but no one but Kim could hear. Kim took a second and looked down at what she was doing. She began to think of how horrible it might be for Siobhan to be laying in a coffin awaiting her own death. But her mind was made up. It had to happen.
Kim picked up the shovel and began to pour the dirt over the casket. Siobhan heard shovel by shovel full of earth falling above her. Her screams were soon muffled by the amount of soil covering her up. She was now under a layer of mud that concealed her completely.
*****
Back at the old house Kat was laying on the floor. Kimberly had placed her unconscious and tied her up in the basement after Kat had caught her tormenting Siobhan.
Kat began to moan as she felt two hands slowly unraveling the ropes around her wrists. She slowly came to and wriggled out of the ropes. Her eyes opened to a foggy figure standing above her. Her fear was that it was Kim back to finish the job she had started with Siobhan, but as Kat's eyes began to adjust to the dim light in the basement she saw that it was a man, a handsome man smiling back at her.
"Are you ok?" The man said looking down at her, his eyes crystal blue, his hair dark and clean cut. His skin a mocha color, tan and handsome. It was Curtis Winters.
"Who are you?" Kat said, sitting up on the floor, rubbing the pain away from her wrists.
"You don't recognize me? Of course you don't. I've aged." Curtis responded with a chuckle.
"What?" Kat said confused, her breath freezing in mid air as she spoke in the damn and cold basement.
"It's me. It's Canan. I'm your son." Curtis said to a shocked and confused Kat.