At the old house on the Collinwood land, the walls seemed to ache with their ancient pain from all of the suffering and darkness they stood witness to for over 300 years. Down in the basement, more secrets were being revealed as Curtis Winters exposed himself to being the fully grown child of Kat and Caleb: Canan Collins.
Kat, was had been tied up for trying to free Siobhan from the coffin Kim had locked her in, was still in a confused daze. She felt that maybe she had heard the man standing above her wrong.
"What are you talking about? My son is a 1 year old child!" Kat said, jumping to her feet and quickly releasing Curtis' grip on her arm.
"That's what you've been led to believe, yes. But the baby you brought home with you from 1920 is not your child. He and I were switched before you even traveled back from the past. You had no idea who you were bringing home." Curtis quickly explained.
"That's insane! Who are you? What are you doing here anyway?" Kat questioned as she looked around the basement for answers to what was happening.
"Kat, listen..." Curtis began before being cut off by Kat again.
"Stop! I've seen and experienced some insane things since I've become a member of this family but this takes the cake. There is no way you are my child. We're practically the same age!" Kat complained.
"I can imagine that this is shocking, confusing, horrifying even. But the fact of the matter is, bending time to time travel causes break in the normal flow of how time passes. the time vortex to 1920, she bent that time fragment--it was bent again when you followed. I’ve actually grown up all these years in a different time dimension. Protected... from this family’s curse. Like you all wanted!" Curtis explained.
"Like we all wanted??? No, you have to be making this up, it's another one of Vicky's tricks. This cannot be true!" Kat said, her eyes filling with tears as what Curtis was saying seemed plausible. "Who was the other baby? Who did I bring home?" Kat questioned.
"Claudia Bochard's child. Before She left Collinsport in this time period, she had a relationship." Curtis said.
"Yes, with Christopher Reed." Kat confirmed.
"From that relationship she became pregnant. All these years Vicky has been raising me, keeping me safe from all the strange and horrible things in this time. But I’m back... and ... I am your son." Curtis continued.
"And Claudia? Did she know before she died." Kat said sadly.
"Claudia is not dead. She's alive, she survived the gunshot and secretly returned back to this time period. You know her as Sasha Beaufort." Curtis said adding to Kat's shock
"No.... no....this cannot be real. This cannot be real!" Kat said, her mind racing with the developments pouring into her head.
"It was a planned out since the day I was born. Curtis said.
"Vicky raised you?" Kat answered, trying to make sense of it all "away from the Collins family, and by switching you, and raising you herself, she succeeded... she kept you safe then?" Kat asked, the dots finally connecting.
"That's right. Vicky finally came clean to me and told me she wasn't my mother but that she was given the opportunity to raise me and keep me safe. She explained to me where I really came from and everything started to click for me. I never felt like I belonged where I lived." Curtis explained.
Kat was still in shock over what Curtis had just told her, so much so she never even noticed that Curtis believed that this was all a great plan they all had been in on, not that Vicky actually kidnapped him against Kat's own will.
Kat's whole heart felt like it was burning inside of her chest. She loved the little boy at her home so much, like he really was her own, how could she not notice that that baby wasn't really her child and that in fact he was now standing in front of her a full grown man, the same age as her!
She slowly walked over to Curtis, his eyes sparkling blue like Caleb's. His smile bright and welcoming like her own. She looked into his face and saw the baby's face that she remembered before everything had happened. She touched him on the cheek and looked deep into his eyes. She could see it, this could very well be her child.
"How did you know I was down here? How did you find me?" Kat asked, tears running down her face.
"I just knew. I felt it, I guess. This whole place feels like home." Curtis answered.
"I don't know what to do now?" Kat said, looking off to the staircase that lead her to this very moment in the basement.
"Well, first we should find the person that tied you up here." Curtis said with a giggle.
"Kimberly! Oh my god you're right. She's taken Siobhan somewhere. I have to find them." Kat said grabbing all of her belongings that had fallen off of her in the scuffle with Kim.
"Where do you think they've gone? I can help you find them." Curtis said, as Kat turned around and looked again at her grown son.
"I don't know if that's a very good idea." Kat answered showing her discomfort. "I mean..." She began again as Curtis looked over at her with a hurt face.
"I just want to help you find Siobhan. Let's just let what I said go for now and find your friend. We don't have to tell anyone yet." Curtis replied.
Kat agreed and they both rushed up the basements steps, Kat trying to get Loomis on the phone with with no success, Curtis on his phone trying to get a hold of Caleb equally unsuccessful.
The rush of energy burning through them both, it looked like it would be up to them to find and save Siobhan's life, and even more secrets would be revealed.
*****
The evening shade began to creep over the town of Collinsport like a thick blanket, the purple twilight sky soon filled with the twinkles of tiny stars that dotted the heavens from millions of miles away. It was a cold and blistery early winter night, the town was covered in a fresh cold northern snow.
Inside the Collinwood mansion, David frantically tried to think of his next step now that Siobhan had left him. He stood in his bedroom staring down at the engagement ring he had bought for her that now lay in the palm of his hand. He paced back and forth and. his leather shoes marking a clear line of path of where he was pacing. The unbearable thought of not being able to contact and hear Siobhan's voice explaining what had happened was eating him alive.
He rushed over to his jacket that was hanging on the back of a plush chaise and dug through the pockets for his cell phone to call Siobhan one last time. He dialed her number, suddenly a second phone in the room began to vibrate.
David looked around the room confused, then looked at his own phone screen thinking perhaps he had dialed the wrong phone number, but as the phone ran on his line, the other vibrating phone rang too.
David went through drawers, opened the closet, slid his hand down the corner sofa and chaise in the bedroom searching for the vibration sound. He then remembered that Siobhan would leave her cell phone on a charging cord that was strung around her bedside table over night. He rushed over to her side of their bed and there it was, her phone still attached to it's charger, the way she left it, on silent mode. David's suspicions lit up. There was no way Siobhan would have left her cell phone at home if she was going to leave Collinsport forever.
David quickly detached the phone and went downstairs to find Kimberly. If anyone knew what was going on, it was his ex-wife who was the bearer of bad news when she announced that Siohban had left David. As David opened his bedroom door, his son Caleb was standing on the other side with a serious look on his own face.
"Caleb?" David asked noting Caleb's emotion. "What is it?"
"It's Kat, Loomis just called me, Kat didn't show up for work. She left hours ago." Caleb answered.
"Did you call her?" David questioned.
"I'm only getting her voice mail." Caleb responded.
David couldn't believe the thought that came into his head, but the similarities were starting to line up and become very obvious. Both Siobhan and Kat had disappeared without much of any notice and both were not answering their phones. It was a bizarre connection for both women who's jobs depended on the fact that they could be reached at any time via their cell phones. It was odd that Kat would have her's turned off, and the Siobhan would have left hers at home.
David was convinced Kim was behind Kat's disappearance as well, the reason still a mystery but it was all too clear. David opened his hand and showed Caleb Siobhan's phone.
"Who's is that?" Caleb asked, still standing with his father David at the bedroom door.
"It's Siobhan's. Your mother said she left town late last night while you and I were at the Blue Whale. Why would she have left her phone here? Why would she leave town without it? Why is Kat not answering her phone when she should be at work." David said attempting to connect the dots for Caleb.
"You think mom has something to do with Kat being missing?" Caleb said, his mind in disbelief.
"Are you going to tell me you don't think any of this seems odd? Why would they both go missing around the same time, why would they both leave their phones? And by the way, where is your mother?" David answered ready to accuse his ex-wife of something nefarious.
"There's got to be some kind of explanation for all of this." Caleb said, to a frustrated David who passed him by as the both began their way down to the main level of the house to find Kimberly.
The two men were in a rush to get to the bottom of everything. When yet another surprise hit them like a ton of bricks. When they got to the top of the stairs, Jonathon and Carolyn were in the foyer hanging their coats up. Jonathon was all smiles, while Carolyn looked like she hadn't had a good night's sleep in months.
"Carolyn?" David said, as he rushed down the staircase with Caleb right behind.
"Oh, Mr. Collins, so glad you're home." Jonathon answered for Carolyn.
"What are you two doing here? I thought you said Carolyn needed time to rest and that you'd be helping her at Windcliff. You said she was in such a state that she shouldn't be at Collinwood." David questioned in shock at their arrival.
"Yes, yes, you're right I did say that. But Carolyn and I have worked on a medical treatment to make sure that she starts to feel better and.....well, we actually have some other news as well." Jonathon replied.
"What news?" Caleb asked, the sour look of distrust on his face in Jonathon's direction.
Jonathon smiled and lifted up Carolyn's hand. Her face still pale, her expression foggy but still connecting to the conversation.
"What the hell is this?" Caleb said, pulling Carolyn's hand closer to his face to see the ring.
"We're married." Carolyn said in a slow, monotone voice.
"MARRIED? What the hell are you talking about? You married your psychiatrist?" David yelled, his emotions boiling over from the entire day.
"We're in love." Carolyn answered, again in a monotone voice, one that wasn't very convincing.
"This is out of the question. Carolyn has been under your car for medical reasons, Dr. Silva, and you've taken that and twisted it for your own benefit. This is absolutely ridiculous." Caleb shot back.
"It's not at all, Mr. Collins, you see, Carolyn and I have had shared a lot with each other over the last few weeks and we've come the conclusion that we are best suited for each other in a romantic sense. But she's still not well, as you can see. Earlier today we had these papers drawn up as well for your family and the company's usage." Jonathon said pulling out the notarized files that now made him the soul controller of Collins Enterprises.
"Company?" David said pulling the forms over and quickly glancing at them, the horror flashing across his face.
Caleb then grabbed them from his father, an equal amount of horror showing to the idea that they were now demoted and that Jonathon was now the CEO with Carolyn signing off and the change.
It was a plan straight out of the deranged mind of Jason McGuire. All those years of attempting to manipulate and coerce his way into the family was finally paying off. It made being murdered by Barnabas and then risen from the dead by Ezrabette 50 years apart all worth while.
"This is what Carolyn wants, and I am happy to make my new bride happy, now if you'll excuse us, I'm going to take her upstairs." Jonathon said, to a fuming David and Caleb.
"This is insane. He can't do this. Carolyn is not well." Caleb told his father.
"I know, we'll have to deal with them later. There's no way our lawyers will allow this. In the mean time we have to find your mother. Something tells me she's behind Siobhan and Kat going missing. Come on." David said as he grabbed his coat and keys with his son following in pursuit.
Inside the Collinwood mansion, David frantically tried to think of his next step now that Siobhan had left him. He stood in his bedroom staring down at the engagement ring he had bought for her that now lay in the palm of his hand. He paced back and forth and. his leather shoes marking a clear line of path of where he was pacing. The unbearable thought of not being able to contact and hear Siobhan's voice explaining what had happened was eating him alive.
He rushed over to his jacket that was hanging on the back of a plush chaise and dug through the pockets for his cell phone to call Siobhan one last time. He dialed her number, suddenly a second phone in the room began to vibrate.
David looked around the room confused, then looked at his own phone screen thinking perhaps he had dialed the wrong phone number, but as the phone ran on his line, the other vibrating phone rang too.
David went through drawers, opened the closet, slid his hand down the corner sofa and chaise in the bedroom searching for the vibration sound. He then remembered that Siobhan would leave her cell phone on a charging cord that was strung around her bedside table over night. He rushed over to her side of their bed and there it was, her phone still attached to it's charger, the way she left it, on silent mode. David's suspicions lit up. There was no way Siobhan would have left her cell phone at home if she was going to leave Collinsport forever.
David quickly detached the phone and went downstairs to find Kimberly. If anyone knew what was going on, it was his ex-wife who was the bearer of bad news when she announced that Siohban had left David. As David opened his bedroom door, his son Caleb was standing on the other side with a serious look on his own face.
"Caleb?" David asked noting Caleb's emotion. "What is it?"
"It's Kat, Loomis just called me, Kat didn't show up for work. She left hours ago." Caleb answered.
"Did you call her?" David questioned.
"I'm only getting her voice mail." Caleb responded.
David couldn't believe the thought that came into his head, but the similarities were starting to line up and become very obvious. Both Siobhan and Kat had disappeared without much of any notice and both were not answering their phones. It was a bizarre connection for both women who's jobs depended on the fact that they could be reached at any time via their cell phones. It was odd that Kat would have her's turned off, and the Siobhan would have left hers at home.
David was convinced Kim was behind Kat's disappearance as well, the reason still a mystery but it was all too clear. David opened his hand and showed Caleb Siobhan's phone.
"Who's is that?" Caleb asked, still standing with his father David at the bedroom door.
"It's Siobhan's. Your mother said she left town late last night while you and I were at the Blue Whale. Why would she have left her phone here? Why would she leave town without it? Why is Kat not answering her phone when she should be at work." David said attempting to connect the dots for Caleb.
"You think mom has something to do with Kat being missing?" Caleb said, his mind in disbelief.
"Are you going to tell me you don't think any of this seems odd? Why would they both go missing around the same time, why would they both leave their phones? And by the way, where is your mother?" David answered ready to accuse his ex-wife of something nefarious.
"There's got to be some kind of explanation for all of this." Caleb said, to a frustrated David who passed him by as the both began their way down to the main level of the house to find Kimberly.
The two men were in a rush to get to the bottom of everything. When yet another surprise hit them like a ton of bricks. When they got to the top of the stairs, Jonathon and Carolyn were in the foyer hanging their coats up. Jonathon was all smiles, while Carolyn looked like she hadn't had a good night's sleep in months.
"Carolyn?" David said, as he rushed down the staircase with Caleb right behind.
"Oh, Mr. Collins, so glad you're home." Jonathon answered for Carolyn.
"What are you two doing here? I thought you said Carolyn needed time to rest and that you'd be helping her at Windcliff. You said she was in such a state that she shouldn't be at Collinwood." David questioned in shock at their arrival.
"Yes, yes, you're right I did say that. But Carolyn and I have worked on a medical treatment to make sure that she starts to feel better and.....well, we actually have some other news as well." Jonathon replied.
"What news?" Caleb asked, the sour look of distrust on his face in Jonathon's direction.
Jonathon smiled and lifted up Carolyn's hand. Her face still pale, her expression foggy but still connecting to the conversation.
"What the hell is this?" Caleb said, pulling Carolyn's hand closer to his face to see the ring.
"We're married." Carolyn said in a slow, monotone voice.
"MARRIED? What the hell are you talking about? You married your psychiatrist?" David yelled, his emotions boiling over from the entire day.
"We're in love." Carolyn answered, again in a monotone voice, one that wasn't very convincing.
"This is out of the question. Carolyn has been under your car for medical reasons, Dr. Silva, and you've taken that and twisted it for your own benefit. This is absolutely ridiculous." Caleb shot back.
"It's not at all, Mr. Collins, you see, Carolyn and I have had shared a lot with each other over the last few weeks and we've come the conclusion that we are best suited for each other in a romantic sense. But she's still not well, as you can see. Earlier today we had these papers drawn up as well for your family and the company's usage." Jonathon said pulling out the notarized files that now made him the soul controller of Collins Enterprises.
"Company?" David said pulling the forms over and quickly glancing at them, the horror flashing across his face.
Caleb then grabbed them from his father, an equal amount of horror showing to the idea that they were now demoted and that Jonathon was now the CEO with Carolyn signing off and the change.
It was a plan straight out of the deranged mind of Jason McGuire. All those years of attempting to manipulate and coerce his way into the family was finally paying off. It made being murdered by Barnabas and then risen from the dead by Ezrabette 50 years apart all worth while.
"This is what Carolyn wants, and I am happy to make my new bride happy, now if you'll excuse us, I'm going to take her upstairs." Jonathon said, to a fuming David and Caleb.
"This is insane. He can't do this. Carolyn is not well." Caleb told his father.
"I know, we'll have to deal with them later. There's no way our lawyers will allow this. In the mean time we have to find your mother. Something tells me she's behind Siobhan and Kat going missing. Come on." David said as he grabbed his coat and keys with his son following in pursuit.
*****
On the other side of town, in a small secluded cottage, two witches began to take back control of the evils that had plagued the last two months in Collinsport. Ezrabette and Claudia had bound themselves in a coven and were ready to take on Jason McGuire, the monster who was full on his way to destroy the Collins family, and the only way Claudia saw that they could thwart him was if her father Barnabas put an end to him one more time.
But bringing back Barnabas wasn't going to be easy, so Claudia did the best thing she knew how to do. By using some of the most power witch craft Ezrabette had ever seen, Claudia created a man that looked exactly like the vampire himself. His mind was empty, his soul gone, his eyes blank and vacant.
"I'm ready." Claudia said as she sat across the table from the impostor Barnabas.
"I'm ready." Claudia said as she sat across the table from the impostor Barnabas.
Maggie, who had walked in on everything the witches were doing, stood silently paralyzed with fear. She knew the dark forces that Barnabas could bring to people, but she had no idea he could do it without even being in the room. The plan, to Maggie's understanding, was that Claudia would subsequently transfer herself into the body of the impostor Barnabas, and as him would go to Collinwood and vanquish the evil Jason, as Jonathon, back to the world beyond the living.
"Claudia breath in and closer your eyes." Ezrabette aid grabbing Claudia's hands in her's. "Listen to my voice and let me guide you into the body, the vessel that you will need to end the madness of Jason McGuire, the plague that I so ignorantly set forth on this earth again." Ezrabette added.
Claudia closed her eyes and began to breath slowly, Maggie stepped backwards into the corner of the living room, the flicking candles shape shifting in silhouette along the form of her body.
"In this form you take a new, inside you'll see the world askew, body, mind, soul into....." Ezrabette said with her own eyes closed.
Soon the room began to shake. The candles began to react as if a large gust of wind had been swirling and turning and twisting right there inside of the living room. Maggie clutched on to the wall with every ounce of strength she could. Her nails scratching the paint, peeling it off like old skin from bones.
The two witches were now surrounded in an energy field that sparked above their heads like thunder, lifting their hair and other objects in the room in mid air breaking laws of gravity. Ezrabette continued to chant over and over again, the spell to push Claudia's soul into that of the impostor Barnabas. The light flickered. The room still shook.
Then in a sudden blast of energy it all stopped and there was silence.
Ezrabette opened her eyes, and she was still holding Claudia's hands.
"It didn't work." Ezrabette said confused.
Claudia opened her eyes, and saw impostor Barnabas stand up on his very own.
"Oh my god." Claudia said as Barnabas walked over.
"I'd rethink that if I were you Ms. Baptiste." Barnabas said, his trademark voice sweeping through his mouth like a poem from beyond the grave.
Maggie, still trembling in the corner gave one look at Barnabas, the man that was supposed to be just Claudia inhabiting a void body, fell to the floor fainting at the sound of the man's voice that brought her so much torment over the years.
The real Barnabas Collins had returned, against all odds. The spell had broken through the veil of the living and the dead, the damned and the blessed. He had come back once more to stake his claim on Collinwood and save his family from disaster.
But would it be too late?
