Series 12/Chapter 9: RUN AWAY, RUN FAR AWAY

Beau and Carolyn discuss the truth

An early evening wind brought in a cold storm that sprinkled a fresh coating of rain along the Collinsport shoreline. This marked a new milky moon that hung over a purple sky as the sun was finally setting, basking its final rays of light on the cycle in the sky.

Over in a small cottage style house on Cromwell Street, Detective Beau Cielvert quickly rushed around finalizing his prepared meal for his in-home date with Carolyn Stoddard. Candles were lit all over the living room where he had prepared a picnic style dinner where the two could snuggled up on a warm black and yellow gingham flannel blanket.

The day before, Carolyn had shown odd behavior under Barnabas' mind control. According to Carolyn, Arabella quickly left town leaving her hotel room covered in blood and with Vicky's coat plopped in the corner--another mystery. Where was Vicky? Why was her coat there? No one understood why.

The answers, were simple yet hidden. Barnabas had killed Arabella to protect Elizabeth's secret connection to Vicky that Arabella discovered. This secret, this thread of timeline events needed to be preserved in his attempt to right the many wrongs he had committed on his first time in 1967. Unfortunately for Barnabas, Carolyn found Arabella's body first and planted Vicky's coat hoping she would be considered a suspect in Arabella's murder; thus fulfilling Arabella's manipulative plot to rid Vicky of potentially becoming Elizabeth's soul heir. It was a gamble Arabella paid with her life and warped the otherwise good-natured Carolyn into a co-conspirator.


Despite all the chaos surrounding her world at the moment, Carolyn kept an evening date with Beay Cielvert. Their relationship was moving at a rapid pace and he was growing more and more in love with her despite his feeling that she was hiding something, something dark something terrible. For Carolyn's part--her world was in turmoil and Beau was her saving and calming grace.

Carolyn walked up to Beau's door and took a deep breath before she knocked on it. Softly at first, but then two more tougher raps altering him inside. He was eager to see her and, hopefully, straighten things out about his client Arabella's sudden departure from Collinsport.

He flung the door open.

"Come in! Come in!" Beau said, ushering the balmy faced Carolyn in from the drizzly evening outside.

"I hope I'm not early." She said, her big blue eyes gazing up at the handsome detective as their two bodies shined in the candle light of the front room.

"No! Perfect timing! Make yourself at home." Beau said as Carolyn removed her coat and Beau placed it on the sofa next to the picnic in the center of the room.

"Oh Beau, this is just adorable. Thank you! You didn't have to go to all this trouble just for me. But thank you." Carolyn said, her mind seemingly back to normal.

"This is just the first round." Beau said in reference to the courses of food he had prepared.

"You've thought of everything!" Carolyn said, her eye lit like two large sapphire blue lagoons.

"Well since it's it's so rainy outside tonight, I thought we could still have some sort of picnic but ---make it indoors." Beau said, adoringly as he pointed over to his small living room floor that had been created into a small carpet picnic with small baskets of finger foods and a blanket and fruits.

"Well aren't you cute." Carolyn whispered, her eyes deeply in love with the man she saw in front of her as the two sat on the floor of his living room.

She tasted each of the small plates he had prepared. An small bowl of French onion soup, then a cheese platter and later, hopefully, desert. Sweet Strawberries and Champagne.

"So can I ask you about something?" He asked as she nodded and sipped her soup while the rain poured down outside. "Yesterday you seemed so off, when we were asking about Arabella you....I don't know. You weren't yourself."

Carolyn paused her meal. She knew it too. She knew she was off. She knew everything.

"Beau, listen, I know what it looked like. I know that things are off the charts weird right now but ..." She paused again.

"But what?"

"It's Barnabas. There's just something about him. Yesterday is all a blur. I know that we spoke, I know what I said that my Aunt Arabella left town and I know about this thing with Vicky missing....but I don't remember it. I know it happened, but I don't remember the actual moments. Does that make sense?"

"That is strange. So you don't remember seeing Arabella in the lobby like you said you did?" Beau wondered.

Carolyn couldn't put-two-and-two together. She knew in her mind it happened, because Barnabas planted that in her mind, he controlled her thoughts and her brain came up with that lie to cover for his, but her instincts, her true womanly instincts were telling her it wasn't all she believed it to be. There was more. But what that was, was unclear.

"I think I do. I remember seeing her but....I don't .....I just can't say that I saw her where I said I saw her. I'm confusing you. I can tell. What I do remember is coming home upset and speaking with Barnabas. He ....was at Collinwood already. You know, ever seen he showed up and asked to live in the Old House things have gotten MUCH weirder around our place. More than  normal, I can tell you that." Carolyn confided.

"How so?" He wondered.

"Well, Vicky for instance. She just up and vanishes in the middle of her job!"

"Don't you think that has something to do with Arabella going to Europe so quickly?" Beau questioned as he fed Carolyn a nibble of French cheese on their picnic.

"I don't know. I just don't know." Carolyn confessed as her mind was still in a confused fog from Barnabas controlling powers the day before.

"I don't know much about Barnabas Collins--where he came from? Who he's been in contact with or what he's even doing here, but I can tell you I kind of do feel the same way you do. There is something extra strange or---different about him. He seems mysterious...not in the good way." Beau mentioned.

"There's a good mysterious?" Carolyn wondered.

"Yes. Like you. You're a mysterious woman Carolyn. Beguiling even. Sensual." Beau said as he inched closer to her.

"Tell me more." Carolyn cooed.

"About you or Barnabas?" Beau teased as Carolyn scoffed.

"Forget him...." Carolyn whispered as she sat up on all fours and walked over to Beau's side of the picnic blanket and kissed him deeply and passionately.

They're bodies soon became tangled up in each other. Locked in a lover's knot that twisted and turned on the small make-shift carpet picnic. They're eyes became locked in a titillating gaze that felt as if they were looking right through their physical bodies and into their souls. They began to remove each other's close, garment by garment slowly, revealing their bodies to each other for the first time. They could feel each other's heartbeat....the blood pumping through their veins was like a freight train charging through the night. Each touch felt like fire. Each kiss felt like warm sun heating the other's flesh as if they were sunbathing on a beach. In the middle of a spring storm, this room felt like a tropical rain forest.

As the thunder blasted across the sky lighting it for split seconds at a time exposing the dark clouds above the Collinsport tiny skyline, Beau and Carolyn connected like never before. It was a passion filled moment that seemed to last forever. Their two bodies linked now and always. His and hers, their naked flesh sizzling with each and every touch of wet kisses and passionate love. Carolyn had never felt this way for another man, not Joe, not Buzz. No one.

The rain poured down like a waterfall from the sky and a sudden flash of clarity lit inside of Carolyn's mind. Flashes of her memory of what she saw in the Hotel room came back like quick glimpses of a movie screen.

Arabella's face. Barnabas' face. Blood. The coat. Arabella's face again. Barnabas again. More Blood.

Her brain was telling her she knew more than she was leading on. During their moment of passion, her mind seemed to unlock. It was like a fever had broken and everything became clear to her. She grabbed Beau's head and pushed it down to her lips, passionately kissing him while she interlaced her legs around his body basking in the glow of candle light.

Carolyn suddenly remembered Barnabas did indeed have something to do with Arabella going missing.

Beau's love had unlocked all that was left of Barnabas's control of her brain. The fog had lifted. The terrible night when Arabella was killed, all the blood all of the screams and the body, the wounds on her neck. It was all so clear to Carolyn. She gasped and held her breath.

"Are you ok?" Beau whispered in the middle of their passionate embrace.

Carolyn smiled softly and wiped the sweat from his brow, unsure of how to answer.

Then, as the rain poured down outside causing small little rivers of water to trickle down the glass of Beau's windows and reflect on to their bare skin as they lay on the floor, naked, in love and now in afterglow. Carolyn decided she had to confess. Her relationship too new and too precious to start off in lies.

"You're going to hate me." She said glistening in the candle light as he sparked up a cigarette.

"What?" He asked, as his fingers danced in the smoke waving it away from her porcelain face.

"I think lied to you. To everyone."

Beau turned and looked at her, almost hurt.

"Go on." he said, unsure of what he was about to hear.

"My Aunt had a horrible plan to do something to Vicky. She....she knew something about her, I just...I can't remember what, but she wanted to get Vicky out of the way." Carolyn said, her mind still not all the way as unlocked as she thought.

Beau paused. He knew what Arabella had discovered about Vicky---he knew it because it was he who did the digging. It was he who handed off the proof to Arabella to use against Elizabeth. Because of his snooping, paid for by Arabella, these events were able to happen.

Beau's face turned solemn. Was he the reason Arabella or Vicky or both of them were possibly dead?

He continued: "So Arabella did kill Vicky and take off to Europe? We have to find her!!" Beau said getting half way up from the floor and attempting to put all the blame on Arabella and off of him.

"No! No....she didn't' have time to, you see, whatever she had over Vicky Barnabas discovered and for reasons I can't fully recollect, he made her go missing. I think.....I think maybe the blood was Arabella's. I'm trying to remember but ...its coming back in pieces." Carolyn said neglecting to remember she was the one that was in on the plan with Arabella to off Vicky and she was the one who left the coat as a plant to frame Vicky.

"We have to find that man and get him questioned. Patterson needs to know this right away! You have to tell him everything you remember now, because yesterday he took you at your word that Arabella left Collinsport." Beau said getting up and rushing to the phone.

"WAIT!" Carolyn screamed from the carpet. "Barnabas will kill me."

Beau suddenly saw that Carolyn was deathly afraid of her new cousin, the man that was so mysterious that it made her tremble where she stood. The fear was all over her face. The thought of Barnabas coming after her was too frightening even for Beau, who wasn't afraid of anything. He would do anything to protect Carolyn, but Barnabas, if Carolyn was telling the truth, had to be stopped.

"What should we do then?" Beau wondered. But Carolyn only shook her head without ideas.

"You see it too. You can see there is something dangerous about Barnabas that I can't put my finger on. Something that I don't want to cross...not again." Carolyn said.

"Again?" Beau wondered.

"I think he did something to me to make me forget what I know. I think he's done something to me Beau. I'm scared of him." She confessed.

"That settles it. We have to go to Patterson. He has to step in somehow." Beau said, exhausting all his ideas about what was really happening with Carolyn and Arabella and Vicky.

"What can he do?" Carolyn wondered as she blew out two of the candles next to her and she got dressed.

"He'll arrest Barnabas. He has to, if you're right he's the one that did something to those women."

Carolyn knew that the truth would come out, and she worried, was she remembering everything the way it happened? Was she more involved in these schemes than she had yet to remember, and if so would she lose Beau all together when he found out?

Carolyn was now worried she may lose the man she loved. Perhaps the truth,.the and nothing but the truth should not fully come out after all and remain with Arabella--where ever she was.

****

Siblings in conflict 

At Collinwood, the storm battered the branches of the large oak tree that shaded the French style windows of the great Drawing room on the first floor. The branches, like gnarled up and twisted fingers of a witch scratched the glass with all the energy of the powerful wet wind.

Dressed in a glamorous dark velvet purple robe, dripping in her trademark droplet pear-earrings  Elizabeth Collins-Stoddard stared down deeply into paperwork Arabella had left with her proving she was Victoria Winter's mother. The paperwork that Beau had found, handed off to Arabella and set off the events of the two missing women.

Liz felt awfully responsible for Vicky's life and her vanishing. She was wracked with guilt about where Vicky had gone and why. Perhaps Vicky too discovered the truth and was angry and went back to New York? Perhaps something happened to her that no one would ever find out?

Collinsport was notorious for strange and sudden disappearances, Elizabeth's husband being one of the most famous cases.

Whatever the real reason for Vicky's vanishing, Elizabeth had to be sure no one knew of these documents. The birth certificate. The government records. No one could know.

She stood up from her comfy green sofa and walked over to the roaring fire as a thunderclap startled her in her place. The shock of the sound in the sky caused her to knock of a table with a glass of water shattering it once it hit the hardwood floors her own great-grandfather had laid down centuries before.

As the orange glow from the hearth warmed her whole body Elizabeth threw into the fire those secret documents allowing them to quickly burn up. The bits of paper turned to ash gray and floated up slight above the flames then down again to the red hot embers forever detaching Elizabeth from the truth, and hopefully guarding her secret again.

As she did so, a hidden wall in the corner opened up a slight bit. This wall was created centuries ago by the mansion's designers to create a private entrance for family members who didn't want to walk the many halls to get from room to room. It was a doorway that opened into secret passages all around the house.

David knew of these. It was he watching from the crack in the door. His eyes saw everything.

But he wasn't alone.

A hand fell on his shoulder in the darkness. The sudden touch caused David to jump in his skin. He looked up and saw it was his own father. Roger Collins.

Roger too lurked in the secret passages of the house silently stalking his sister. And now he knew Elizabeth was keeping something so damming to her that she had to burn it. Her secret was now a mystery he needed to solve.

"What are you hiding, dear sister? What are you hiding?" Roger whispered as David looked back into the room watching Elizabeth dab tears from her eyes that reflected the crackling fire in front of her.

****

Julia and Patterson go after Justin and India

The storm continued to blow cold wind from the north down onto Maine. It was tearing trees and lifting the levels of the small rivers all around town.

A car carrying Justin and India, trapped in Vicky's body, fresh from the daring escape from Windcliff arrived in the blustery front area of the old house. The sun was now deep on the horizon hidden by the storm clouds. They were there to confront Barnabas and send India back to her time. It was now or never--too much happened, too much was at stake, and Barnabas had to figure his way without India's presence in 1966, no matter how much he needed her fresh energy force in this time period.

As Justin and India quickly rushed into the old house hiding from the rain and ready to state their case to Barnabas, another car pulled up, this one with this front lights out. It was Sheriff George Patterson, Justin's father and Julia Hoffman.

They had followed all the way from Windcliff in Bangor. Julia needed to see where this would lead and what this Victoria Winters was talking about.

"What is this place???" Julia said in the darkened car as a thunder clap lit her face in white light.

"It's what the Collins family calls the old house. The family used to live her before the big house was built in the late 1700's." George explained the family lore.

"Why would they come here?" Julia wondered of India and Justin.

"I don't know. To my knowledge Elizabeth didn't want anyone inside. It's been abandoned for decades. They were planning on demolishing it but Liz had a change of heart 12 years ago and wanted to remodel it and giving it to her brother Roger when he married his wife Laura, but..the marriage broke up. The plans fell through." George explained again.

Suddenly a call came in on the Sheriff's 2-way in his cruiser.

"DISPATCH TO SHERIFF, DISPATCH TO SHERIFF: COME IN." 

George rushed over to the opened door of his squad car and leaned his burly body in to pull on the two-way: "This is Patterson--Over."

"SHERIFF, REQUESTING YOUR ADDITIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE AT A POSSIBLE BURGLARY DOWNTOWN. OVER."

"I have to get downtown." George said in a disappointed sigh as he turned the ignition to his cruiser.

"I'll be fine." Julia said reaching for the car door.

"What? I'm not leaving you here. We don't know what's going on in there. I don't know the state of my son, it could be dangerous. No, i'll take you to the station and we can come back." George ordered.

"That's unacceptable, Sheriff Patterson, trust me, I'm very much capable of taking care of myself." Julia said, as she tipped her purse to that George could see inside revealing a small hand revolver with a white handle and silver trigger.

"I should ask you if you have a permit for that." George said with strange look to Julia.

"I can take care of myself." Julia said again.

"Dr. Hoffman, we've only known each other on professional terms, especially with what happened to my wife. But please, whatever you do, do not use that gun. Not on Victoria, and ....." George paused "Not on my son."

Julia knew her history with the a weapon. She had lived through a terrible event in her life that involved a similar pistol. She didn't want to use it, she in fact, hated to have it with her. But she knew she needed it. It protected her. It made her feel safe even if she never planned to use it, not like before. Not like the death she caused before many many years ago.

Tonight, she needed it however.

"I'll only use it to scare them, if God forbid something should happen. No one will get hurt. I promise." Julia said as she unlatched the door and headed for the Old House.


George drove off leaving Julia to enter the home alone. She was being truthful, she did not want to use her weapon unless she had to, but the darkness of the very first room of the old house she entered made her reach into her bag and grab it. She pointed it out in front of her and walked slowly.

Each room was darker than the last. It was as if someone had been staying there living among the dusty furniture from another time but she didn't see India and Justin.

She continued on her way upstairs as the torn wall-paper and water-damaged ceilings guided her way.

In the basement Justin and India, still in Vicky's body stood staring down at Barnabas' coffin. The room had been patched together in a hastened fashion as this time Barnabas did not have Willie Loomis to sort out his world for him. Willie had yet to arrive in Collinsport, and Barnabas had to fend for himself killing animals in the forest for blood, living off the land where no one would notice but still haunted by the murder of Arabella.

Justin and India waited for the last hours of the sun to drip below the sea and set when finally, he, the man, the monster, the conflicted killer would rise from his crypt.

As they waited to confront him, Julia made her way down the stairs after searching the second floor and back into the foyer. She turned the corner and saw a door at the end of a small narrow hall that she had not gone into. She went and slowly pulled the heavy door to the basement.

Julia, pointing the gun out in front of her, walked slowly down each step. One foot in front of the other. Her hand was shaking. She could hear people talking. She could see lanterns lit down below, then as she arrived, she saw Justin and India staring down at a coffin that was opening in the dimly lit room. Then a man appeared.

Barnabas.


"India." Barnabas whispered as he lifted himself out of the coffin by levitating his body.

Julia gasped at the frightful nature of the entire thing.

"You have to end this Barnabas. You have to send me back, I can't do this anymore." India begged.

"You have no idea what we've been through the last few days." Justin added.

"India where have you been?? We've been in search for you for days. Arabella ....is dead." Barnabas explained conveniently leaving blank the fact that it was  he who killed Arabella.

"WHAT? Arabella is dead? How....Do I want to know how?" India said knowing something was a miss about the way Barnabas was telling the story. It was clear he wasn't giving all of the details he was involved in.

"It's complicated."  He said

"Surprise, surprise." Justin said rolling his eyes.

"The family is beginning to think Arabella had something to do with your disappearance, they don't know she's dead, signs are pointing that you were killed, and not Arabella, again its a very complicated story. That's why it is important that you're back. Where have you been??" Barnabas questioned.

"I was trapped at Windcliff Sanitarium Barnabas! This doctor, she...she wanted to keep me there. She thinks I'm insane! I can't take this anymore. You HAVE TO SEND me home!!" India said, as Justin grabbed her to comfort her.

Barnabas took a deep breath and shook his head no.

"My job is not even close from being done, India. I need you here. Your power, the energy I see in your heart is what I need to correct all of the mistakes I have made, but terrible things have happened and again I have to correct them. The family believes Victoria dead. We have to prove that she isn't and allow then to think Arabella has moved to Europe without cause." Barnabas explained.

"What did you do to her?" Justin said, starting to figure out there was more to this than he knew.

Barnabas turned to Justin and said in a very matter of fact voice "Corrected her course."

"I need to feed." Barnabas suddenly said. "I need to feed." He repeated.

"My god!" India said understanding what he meant.

 As they spoke in the basement a loud creaking sound came from the staircase. They all turned and stranding there was the woman, in another time, Barnabas would marry and adopt a child with.

Julia Hoffman pointing a gun directly into Barnabas' face.

"Alright, I've heard enough of all this. I don't know what's going on,  but I certainly heard you confess to a murder!" Julia said stepping now into the bottom of the basement.

"Julia." Barnabas whispered.

"How do you know me? Who are you? WHO ARE YOU?" Julia shouted with her gun ready to shoot.

"Dr. Hoffman, please you'd don't know what you're doing. Please put the gun down so that we can explain everything. There is a truth to what I told you at the hospital. I was telling you everything. Truthfully." India said.

Barnabas turned to India and fumed at her realizing that included about him.

"Everything?" Barnabas growled.

"Everything." Julia repeated. "I can't for the life of me understand what is happening, or who is telling the truth but as soon as Sheriff Patterson comes back you're all going to jail. Someone is responsible for a death, that much I heard." Julia said.

Justin didn't know what to do, all he could think of India and how the clock was ticking on her to get back to her time safely. As much as he was beginning to feel love for the young woman he met in the middle of the street in the late fog, he did want her to be happy and back in her time.

Justin lunged for Julia and grabbed her by the wrist that was holding the gun. She screamed and shot the gun into the ceiling of the basement. The two began to struggle over the weapon then Julia launched her leg into Justin's groin knocking him to the ground. India screamed in Victoria's pained voice as she rushed over to Justin rolling around the stone cold basement floor in pain.

Julia, her hair mussed and pulled, her clothes jostled by the quick fight with Justin, pointed the gun at Barnabas.

"Julia put the gun down, you don't know what you're doing." Barnabas said with his hands out to the sides slowly walking up to Julia.

"Don't take another step! Do NOT take another step!" She screamed.

Barnabas' eyes darkened to blackness like his onyx ring. He hissed and showed his long sharp fangs that thirsted for blood, blood he needed to survive.

"Perhaps you should take another step Dr. Hoffman, up the stairs and out of this house." Barnabas said.

Julia's eyes were as big as saucers. She screamed at the sight of the vampire's hungry grin as he continued to come closer to her. Her hand was shaking, the gun was shaking, the moment came where the monster was only two feet from her.

She shot three times.  India and Justin lowered their heads hiding from shrapnel or ricocheted bullets.

Once the smoke cleared Julia saw the vampire still standing without a wound to count.

Barnabas lunged at Julia, he grabbed her arm and yanked her back close to him. She screamed and tried to pull away, stretching her neck in the process: a disastrous mistake.

Barnabas, thirsty for the nectar in her veins, furious with his exposure, hissed and opened his mouth showing the daggers that were his teeth. He sunk his mouth into her neck and bit into her flesh. She screamed, blood oozed out of her neck and down his lips and onto their clothes. Then, Julia in complete shock of what she had just seen and felt, rolled her eyes back and fainted there on the first step on the staircase to the basement.

****

At a quiet corner booth table at the Collinsport Inn cafe, under an orange light Beau's psychic sister Noelle Cielvert sat with an empty dinner plate and a cup of piping hot coffee. She pulled the quaint curtains back from her booth window and watched as the storm blew across outside in strong gusts of wind and rain. She shivered at the notion of being out in the elements.

She went into her wool jacket pocket and pulled out a deck of her Tarot cards. She hated them. She wished she didn't know how to read them,  but something in the air, something in the wind, something in the storm told her she needed to let go of her fears of her powers and read them that night.

She pushed her plate and coffee cup to the other side of her table and shuffled her cards then placed them down in a stack. She cut the stack and removed four cards facing them down in a line.

One by one she flipped the cards:

THE QUEEN OF CUPS | THE VAGABOND CHILD 

THE DARK LOVE | THE NEW MOON

"What do they say?" A woman said standing next to the table.

It was Maggie Evans, pouring Noelle a fresh cup of coffee. Maggie was smiling, entertained by the whole idea of the magic, the supernatural and the tarot card.

But Noelle was in no happy mood. The cards she pulled told her everything was about to change. And not for the good. Not in the slightest.

"Well? Noelle? What do they say?" Maggie asked again. Noelle remained silent. "Hon--are you ok??"

Noelle flipped the cards back and cut the other half of the deck then flipped over one card.

THE WOUNDED HEART

Noelle flipped the card back face down.  She knew what the combination of those cards meant. It was a horrible sight. A terrible fate. For someone. For everyone.

"I think I need......." Noelle said as she stood up putting one hand on the booth's table and as she got her footing, her eyes rolled back into her head and she fainted.

"OH!! OH MY GOD! Noelle? Honey?? Are you Ok? Honey????" Maggie said gently slapping Noelle's cheek as the other guests gasped of the shocking sight.

Noelle opened her eyes and looked up at Maggie's face and in a faint, labored voice warned:

 "run away.....run....far away."

Series 12/Chapter 8: GOD HAS FORSAKEN ME

Confrontation at Collinwood 

The chaos at the great house began to boil over on this night. Two women were missing and only the remnants of blood and a ransacked room at the Collinsport Inn were left with many unanswered questions. Vicky's vanishing to the whole family was a true mystery, no one knowing she was locked away at Windcliff Sanitarium, for his part, Barnabas knew the answers to what happened to Arabella. But his lips were sealed.

Victoria's vanishing was about to become yet another hurtle for Barnabas to leap over. Time was of the essence. For everything to work in Barnabas’ favor, “Vicky’s” whereabouts needed to be solved with the least amount of exposure of the truth as possible. He needed to find India, who was still inside of Vicky's body to finally reverse the effects of his family's cursed future and end their torment once and for all, but with her location unknown, Barnabas was left to do major damage control in order to keep to his plan and get himself out of these new messes of his own making.


In the main drawing room Elizabeth could not get the missing governess off her mind. Liz had not seen her secret daughter in almost 24 hours and no one knew where she could have gone. Roger, seeing Carolyn and Barnabas rush out of Collinwood earlier and still feeling the effects of the alcohol in his system, stumbled downstairs and saw Elizabeth's worried face.

"Oh Liz, she'll turn up. They always turn up." Roger said, dropping files on the desk in the room. “One way or another.” He added with his eyes signaling an oncoming hangover.

“What does that supposed to mean?” Elizabeth growled.

“My god Liz, really, we’ll either find Vicky alive and well and we’ll just move on or.... well the alternative is that we’ll have to bury another governess. You know how it goes around these parts.” Roger coldly replied.

Elizabeth glared at her hung over brother with an icy stare. They very notion of Vicky’s disappearance leading to her death sent shivers up Liz’s spine.

"Don’t go there. Don’t you dare go there.” Liz scolded as she twisted a strand of her pearls.

“Alright alright —I’m sorry. I’m sure she’ll be fine.” Roger acquiesced.

“I don't understand where she could have gone. Why wouldn't she tell us if she didn't want to work with the family anymore? It just doesn't make sense." Elizabeth commented not knowing Vicky, was trapped at Windcliff with India inside of her body.

"You worry too much. You always have." Roger replied slurring his words.

"Roger, you've had too much to drink. Just...go upstairs. Go to bed." Elizabeth said waving her brother away.

"Stop! YOU STOP that! I came down here to comfort you on your horrible loss of an employee...or whatever she was and that's how you react???" Roger said, his boozy attitude starting to show face.

"Roger. Go upstairs, I'll have someone bring you some coffee to sober you up." His older sister ordered.

"I DON'T WANT ANY DAMN COFFEE!!"

"Fine then go upstairs and go to sleep!" Elizabeth screamed back, both of their frustrations starting to come to a boil. "I really don't understand why you have to behave this way so often. Now is not the time for you to just roll over and drink yourself into a stupor." She added.

"Oh, yes, that's exactly what I'm doing. Drinking myself into a stuuuupor." Roger slurred. "You know you're so consumed by Vicky, what you should be worried about is why your daughter is running out of this house at all hours of the night with Barnabas Collins, who may or may not really be related to us. That's...yeah---that! That is what you should be worried about." Roger said, confessing to have seen Barnabas and Carolyn seemingly leave the mansion earlier that evening.

"What? What do you mean? When did Carolyn leave late at night?” Elizabeth wondered.

"He means he saw Carolyn and myself go in search of Miss Winters." Barnabas said entering the room and covering for the fact that he had controlled Carolyn's mind to go and remove Arabella's body and bury it before the police found it.

"Barnabas, I didn't hear the door." Elizabeth said, embarrassed that she and Roger were caught talking about him behind his back.

"I hope you don't mind, I let myself in. In times like these who can think of answering doors." Barnabas said charming the Collins matriarch and not revealing his transported through the walls.

"Yes, of course." She said smiling as Roger rolled his eyes. "You and Carolyn went in search of Vicky? Did you find anything?" Elizabeth asked.

"Unfortunately we did not. And I assume she hasn't made contact here at home?" Barnabas asked, genuinely concerned with Vicky's missing body and India who was inside.

Elizabeth frowned. Her heart sank unsure of what to do next.

"It's been hours, Barnabas and no one has seen a thing. It’s just very frightening that Vicky would just leave like this—not saying a word. I called the police department yesterday and they said to wait one more day, that perhaps Vicky would turn up." Elizabeth said.

"You....called the police???" Barnabas said, shocked to know this detail.

"Well of course." Liz replied.

"Liz likes to worry Barnabas. Worry, all the time. She worries if she's not worrying. She's always been a worrier." Roger said, still slurring his words.

"Roger go to bed." Elizabeth demanded again, her jaw tightly wound with disdain for her brother's drunken attitudes.

Roger lifted both of his hands in the air, a sign of surrender and frustrated with Elizabeth's managing of his life and sighed. He pointed to the stack of Collins Fishing Fleet paperwork on the desk and said "Sign it.", then made his way through into the foyer but not before yelling back into the drawing room with a wicked grin  "Don't worry sis....everything going to be just ----- horrible."

As Elizabeth apologized for her brother's behavior a sudden knock game on the great oak doors. Elizabeth's heart jumped thinking it was Vicky! She rushed over and opened the doors revealing Sheriff  George Patterson and detective Beau Cielvert.

"Sheriff!" Elizabeth said, her heart now right back in place but beating with fear in her ears. "Whats happened? Have you found Vicky???"

The Sheriff kept his mouth shut on Vicky's whereabouts fearing that the coat found at a murder scene would also connect his son Justin, a known friend of “Vicky’s”, could potentially be linked to a possible murder.

"Uhhh ...we haven't heard anything from Vicky, not yet anyway. Mrs. Stoddard, we did find this." George said motioning for Beau to show the coat he found in Arabella's hotel room.

"Its Victoria's." Elizabeth said recognizing the coat right away.

Elizabeth let in the two officers and they walked into the drawing room where she introduced them to Barnabas. Barnabas was suddenly stuck between a rock and a hard place unsure of what the two men knew and why they had Vicky’s coat.

"I assume by your reaction to the coat that Vicky has not made it home." Beau said.

"No." Elizabeth answered.

"We’re assuming she and Arabella Stoddard were together sometime last night, & this coat that you've identified as Vicky's, was found on the floor of the hotel room. The question is why were they together and what happened. Mrs. Stoddard, Mr. Collins, there was a lot of blood in the room." Beau continued.

"Blood!" Elizabeth gasped as Barnabas lifted an eyebrow.

Barnabas was confused. He had not seen Vicky when he went to the Inn to kill Arabella. Now he had more questions, did India, in Vicky’s body see Arabella before he sent Carolyn to move the body? His mind was racing and frantic. He needed to procure and harness the innocence and light inside of India to secure the future of the family---but Carolyn's planting of the coat, a fact Barnabas still did not know, was another hurtle he had to overcome.

"A great amount of blood. And Because there wasn't a body in the room we don't know who it belongs to and no one at the hotel seems to know either. They saw nothing. No one. Would there be any reason for Miss Winters to go see Ms Stoddard at her hotel room so late?" George asked.

Elizabeth’s was frozen in speech. She could only imagine the worst: that Vicky someone how discovered that Arabella knew she was Elizabeth’s illegitimate daughter and went to confront her. That, of course, was not the case, Vicky was at Windcliff and the true culprit was standing right next to Elizabeth the whole time. His breath still hot with Arabella’s blood.

"How can that be Sheriff? How could no one have seen anyone go in or out of the hotel room?" Barnabas asked, pretending he had no idea what was happening even though he was the cause of it all.

"That's what we'd like to know." Beau added. "I was supposed to meet with Arabella to discuss some business and when I arrived the hotel room was a mess with this coat on the floor in a puddle of blood. It just seems very suspicious that Arabella would have left without meeting with me. We had important things to discuss." Beau said making the case that Arabella may have been murdered.

"Well she's left town." Carolyn said, entering the room still under Barnabas' mind control.

They all turned shocked at Carolyn's statement.

"Who's left town?" George asked unsure of which women Carolyn was referring to.

"Aunt Bella. I met with her last night. After I went looking for Vicky, I stopped by the hotel and she was going to leave. She had had enough of Collinsport." Carolyn said lying and covering for the murder.

"Carolyn, that doesn't make sense, she and I .....well, we were working on things." Beau said.

"Just what exactly were you working on .....I did't catch your name?" Elizabeth asked Beau.

"Detective Beau Cielvert, Mrs. Stoddard, I was hired by your sister-in-law to make sure she was safe when she was here. In Collinsport." Beau said, hiding the fact he was hired to look into Elizabeth's history and neglecting to add he knew about Vicky being her daughter.

"Odd." Barnabas whispered to Elizabeth.

"Alright I’ve had ENOUGH!!! None of this is making any sense. None of this. Why would Arabella just up and leave? Why would Vicky go to that hotel room then vanish just as mysteriously? We can assume at some point Vicky was there and at some point one of them left in a bloody mess...but which one?” Elizabeth wondered aloud.

Barnabas then had an idea. Carolyn had to be the person to throw the police off of Arabella's tracks. He put his hands in his coat pocket and made a fist, squeezing it tightly forcing all of his telepathic energy into Carolyn's mind.

"Aunt Bella said ...." Carolyn was beginning to feel her mind filling with the power from Barnabas as he forced her to say something that was not true, forcing her lips and tongue to come up with a cover: "She said she did something terrible and that she had to leave. I saw her in the Lobby as she left." Carolyn said lying.

"Something terrible? You don't think....you don't think this is Vicky's blood, do you?" George wondered.

"No!!!!!" Elizabeth gasped.

Barnabas was shocked. He did not expect Carolyn to say that, he did not expect her to cover for Arabella's disappearance by implicating her in the murder of Victoria Winters. But he still did not know where Vicky was, perhaps is was true, perhaps Vicky was dead too. He knew Carolyn was out for Vicky’s blood, could Carolyn have done something to her own half sister?

The thought made Barnabas’ heart sink. In his attempts to correct the past even more horrors were occurring. Still, no one knew Vicky was at Windcliff this whole time, except for George Patterson, still holding that secret close to his vest to keep his son out of trouble.

"I think we shouldn't jump to conclusions." Barnabas answered as everyone turned to him for a better idea.

"Listen, everyone, it’s all speculation at this point. A bloody coat doesn’t mean much until we see a body and at this point we don’t have one much less two. If Vicky or Arabella contact you, Mrs Stoddard please tell me right away. In the mean time we'll get back to the station and see if any of my officers have any new leads. We'll also try and track down Arabella, it’s possible she hasn't left the city yet." George added attempting to calm the nervous energy in the drawing room.

"No. She's gone. She got on a cruise ship earlier today and left for Europe." Carolyn said lying.

Beau could sense something about the way Carolyn was speaking was off. This wasn't how she normally spoke. The woman that he was secretly seeing, the woman that he was secretly dating, had never been this monotone; never been this distant and vague with how she worded her speech. It was like watching someone reading off a script. There was a vacancy in her eyes that he didn't recognize, all side-effects from Barnabas mind control.

"Are you ok?" He whispered as the other's chatted about possible leads at the station.

Carolyn suddenly snapped out of Barnabas' spell and mind control, her eyes fixed on the man she was falling in love with. They're connection unlocking what Barnabas had done to her for a split second. She smiled and touched his hand without anyone seeing.

"I think so." She said feeling strange but safe now that she was looking in Beau's eyes. He smiled back, but wasn't happy with her answer. Beau could tell something wasn't right.

"Again, Mrs. Stoddard as soon as we hear more we we’ll let you know." George said ushering Beau out of the room.

"Thank you Sheriff." Elizabeth said.

Now that the Collins were alone they could speak freely and Elizabeth was furious.

"Carolyn, tell me the truth. Where is Arabella????" She ordered.

Carolyn, seeing that Barnabas' control had momentarily lifted because of her connection to Beau,
knew Barnabas had controlled her to say it. She could feel him starting at her directly, his eyes piercing her soul. She was scared of him. She was terrified of what he could do to her, to all of them if she told the truth.

Carolyn took a gulp of air and continued to spread lies, her life and all those that she loved was at stake.

"I told you mother," Carolyn began softly, as Barnabas looked on waiting for the moment that Carolyn would expose him and everything would be destroyed. "I saw Aunt Bella in the hotel Lobby and she was leaving town. I don't know where exactly in Europe but she's gone. She's gone for good."

Barnabas took a breath of relief that his murderous secret was safe...for now. Elizabeth was plagued with worry and asked them to leave her alone to work on the Fishing Fleet paper work so she could focus at one thing at a time. Barnabas and Carolyn complied and closed the drawing room doors behind them leaving Elizabeth alone.

Now in the foyer, Barnabas confronted his cousin Carolyn about the coat in the room.

"What have you done? How did Vicky's coat get in Arabella's room?" Barnabas growled.

"I left it there. ...it....was an accident." Carolyn said lying.

"That was a mistake Carolyn a mistake that may cost me dearly." The vampire said worrying about what was happening. He was unsure how to fix this giant error in Carolyn's behavior. But Carolyn was now free to confront her mysterious cousin too--and she was not going to hold back.

"You listen to me....I don't know what you've done, to me....I don't know why...or what, you are but I can tell that something inside of you isn't right. There is blood on your hands, literally and now you've involved me Arabella........you...killed her." Carolyn began as her voice began to crack remembering her aunt's bloody body.

"Carolyn, please I can explain everything but it won't make any sense right now if I did." Barnabas said.

"No....no....you're....you're cold. I should tell everyone the truth. I should just come clean and tell everyone right now what you did to Arabella and how you're making me lie!" Carolyn shouted as Barnabas quickly covered her mouth.

"Carolyn, if you do that everything will be destroyed. I had to make sure Arabella was out of the picture, please, you must understand me! This was for the good of the family. All of you. Now...here, and in the future." He said, as a muffled Carolyn quickly ripped Barnabas' hands from her mouth.

"God forgive you Barnabas Collins....god forgive you." Carolyn said, as she rushed up the stairs unsure of what her next move would be.

Barnabas began to feel the weight of guilt on his shoulders and in his heart. He knew what he did was the monstrous act but it had to be done, to save his family, it had to be done. Arabella's place in Collinsport threatened the future. Their future....the family, was Barnabas only concern.

He turned around and stared at his own painting on the wall. It was as if he were looking into a mirror. His face, the same face, painted centuries ago was looking down at him with disdain and embarrassment. Shame. A tear fell from his eye, and it almost looked as if the same tear came down from the painted eye.

"God has long forsaken me, Carolyn," Barnabas' said to himself. "I am on my own."

The Forsaken Barnabas 

Outside the mansion getting into their respective cars under the shadow of the main turret, private detective Beau Cielvert wondered to George Patterson about what was really going on. The whole situation was confusing them both.

"As soon as I can get you something I will." Beau said to George who hastily shot him down.

"Detective, I think its better if you leave this up to my department. I really do. You're no formal detective at our prescient, however your help this far has been appreciated, but I think this is where you part of this story ends." George said trying to contain the investigation to himself and himself alone thereby protecting Justin from any connection to a murder.

"But she's my client." Beau replied.

"Who's gone to Europe, if you need her to pay you for your services, that's something you'll have to take up with a court, but as far as I'm concerned, Arabella's a suspect in the disappearance of Victoria Winters and having her paid P.I. dabbling in an investigation where she’s the main suspect just doesn’t sit well with me. " George continued, still hiding the fact he knew where Vicky was this whole time.

Beau felt defeated. George had all the power, all control and the investigation was indeed his, all Beau could do now was allow the hefty Sheriff get to get in his squad car and drive off. George’s order for Beau abandon his involvement and discontinue his part in the search was beating at his brain.

Beau knew something was wrong with Carolyn he could tell she was hiding something, but it wasn't clear why, or why she didn't come clean to him right there in the drawing room.

And George himself was hiding something, he too knew the truth. He knew exactly where Vicky was: Windcliff Sanitarium. And he felt her better off there--gone and forgotten than in his son Justin's life.

****

Beau meets with his sister Noëlle

The next morning, Beau arrived at a small cottage in the south part of town near the docks and the Blue Whale. It was a small green colored building with only 4 small windows front windows that reflected the overcast sky above town. Beau slowly pushed open the iron gates and walked slowly into tiny front courtyard that was so lush with green shrubs that it looked more like a small mock jungle than a Collinsport garden.

He was there to see his younger sister Noelle. Noelle Cielvert was a gifted woman. She was open to the other world, the world from behind the vale of the living and the dead. This gift she inherited at birth and was passed down by her mother's mother and her mother's mother before her. It was part of the Cielvert family, a family of creole linage that was deep rooted in the world of magic and COPD that reached as far back as to freed slaves from New Orleans; only one woman in the family at a time could occupy "the gift of the third eye".

And in This Generation, it was Noelle.

 With this gift, Noelle could knowledge of the future. but she knew things in vague terms because of her preference not to use her gift. She was constantly pushing back--hating the fact that if she used her ability to it's full potential she could know all, see all, be all. She was a reluctant psychic of much power.

But her brother Beau---needed her to tap into those gifts now more than ever. He walked into her gauzy comfortably decorated home without knocking, a very sibling thing of him to do. He looked around, and fed her three gold fish that swam up to greet him as he sprinkled in their flaky food. He tapped on the glass of their bowl, his regular way of saying hello.

"You're going to kill them one day. I already fed them this morning." Noelle said, coming from her kitchen in the other room.

They greeted each other with a very French style double kiss on the cheek.

"Listen, I have to cut right to the chase." Beau began, his sister quickly rolling her eyes knowing what he was there for, but not due to her psychic abilities, he always started his sentences that way when he needed her to use her powers.

"I've already told you, I don't push what I don't want." She said referencing her abilities.

"But this time it's important, it really really is!" Beau said, begging like a boy to his younger sister.

"You always say that." She said in a hushed tone scooping the extra food out of her fish's bowl.

"Its about Carolyn." he shot back as she quickly turned around at the sound of that name.

Carolyn and Noelle were old friends, since they were children. Noelle and Carolyn were just months apart in age and had grown up together, but as they grew older and Noelle began to see things about Carolyn's connections to dark forces, through no fault of her own, Noelle decided that the friendship needed to end. This was almost a decade ago, when they graduated from high school.

"What about her?" Noelle asked, not knowing her own brother was secretly dating Carolyn.

"I don't really know how to tell you this without upsetting you. But Carolyn Stoddard and I have been seeing each other for a few months now. Things are getting serious, and I really am falling for her. But today something told me there was something wrong, something wasn't right. Noelle, there is this case I was working on and it's gotten very strange. The woman I was hired to work for has suddenly vanished. She's just gone---no trace of her. And Carolyn is hiding something about her. I can feel it. But I just can't pin point what it is." Beau explained, waiting for his sister to tear into him for keeping his relationship a secret.

"That is a lot to take in but you know that I've always had my reservations about Carolyn and her family. Why would you keep this from me?" She wondered.

"Honestly? I thought you'd ....just know." He joked, hinting at her ability of knowing all.

"That's not funny." she shot back. "Beau I can't tell you who you can fall in love with or who you can't but ....there is and always will be something about Carolyn and her family that I just cannot trust. I refuse to be some sort of police psychic for you, I wish I could but instead of hoping I would just get this done for you and tell you what you need to know why don't you listen to your gut? Hmmm? You're gut is telling you something is not right, is it not? Listen to it, please, take heed of what the universe is telling you drop her. Today." Noelle insisted.

"It's not that easy. I'm falling---" Beau began before she stopped him.

"No, Please. Don't say it. I don't want to hear any of it." His sister replied, hurt by the notion he was falling in love with a woman she felt she could not trust.

"I'm seeing her tonight, Noelle. I really wish I knew more about what was happening with  her. You can help me. You can make that happen. Please....think about it, won't you?" He asked.

Noelle turned back around after refusing to look at her brother. She looked deep into his eyes and allowed her emotions and walls drop and let the rush of energy from her powers fill her body. He kissed her on the cheek and left her to decide on whether or not she would use her abilities to help him find out what was really happening with Carolyn and the rest of the Collins family and if they knew where Arabella and Vicky really were.

Noelle, now alone in her cottage, contemplated her brother's request. Would she finally allow herself to tap into the things, the powers, the third eye, she had inherited from her creole ancestors? For Noelle, this was a no-brainer. She knew she had to, if her brother's own safety was at risk she had to see what she could do to protect him—even delve into a world she feared. A world of shadows and darkness.

She quickly pulled the front curtains of her living room closed cloaking the room in dim light. It was dark now and she sat with a single candle burning on her coffee table allowing the tiny flame to flicker just inches from her hazel eyes that she slowly closed to allow her powers to take over.

She took a deep breath and held it allowing all her energy to pull her out of her body and into the void of the supernatural. Her dark grey cat sitting in the corner of her green couch hissed in the dark sensing the world of shadows creeping in. The television flickered on by itself and fizzed white noise over the cat’s hiss.

She could feel flashes of light, energy coming from within her, spinning all around. The energy was different colors, different shades, different hues of light; and then, like a the moment you wake from a dream Noelle found herself in a black room all alone.

A single spotlight snapped on just in front of her. Then another. Then another. Like a path of stones forming a path for Noelle to follow. And she did. As she got to the final spot of light in the path she saw her great-grandmother sitting in a chair in the black room all alone.

"Nana! Nana....How did I get here?" Noelle asked her, but the old woman only pointed to a black wall the opened up leading the young Noelle in.

“What is this?” Noelle asked her.

The old woman did not respond, all she did was snap her fingers and Noelle was instantly transported into the hotel room where she saw the figure of a beautiful woman with red hair. The redhead was standing in front of a figure... a man, another in shadows. Suddenly the woman screamed and the shadow lunged at her then vanishing into a black smoke, leaving the woman laying on the hotel room floor.

Noelle was shaking. She stood in the hotel room and slowly walked over to the woman on the floor bleeding from the neck. Her eyes were open...death was on her face. Blood poured from her wounds and pooled in a crimson circle around her head.

Then, a wind filled the room and Noelle noticed all the clocks spinning forward 5 hours ahead. And just as the the night sky turned a dark purple another woman entered the hotel room— in walked Carolyn, who screamed at the sight of the dead woman, Carolyn rushed to the door, but then came back leaving a coat. Victoria's coat, in a puddle of blood.


Noelle was confused, what was Carolyn doing in this room. Who was the woman? Noelle slowly walked over to the body on the floor and looked into the face of Arabella Stoddard, as Noelle looked closer in her dead eyes she saw the reflection of a man so cold so lost that it shook Noelle to her core.

Arabella’s eyes reflected the face of the man who murdered her. The man of shadows. Barnabas.

Noelle screamed at the site of all the blood and of the man’s face and woke herself up on her own sofa in her own  living room. She knew now, Arabella was dead and that Carolyn knew she was dead all along, and that Vicky has nothing to do with any of it.

Beau had to know.

****

Justin woke up on the side of the road, still in his car that was hidden in a deep embankment under a grove of trees just around the corner from Saynes Street in Bangor.. Had had driven all night back to Windcliff to save India. He had to find her. He had to get to her and get her out of that hospital. Finding Julia was his idea and Julia did not make things any better. In fact, they made them worse.

Justin slowly made his way back into the hospital through a service entrance that a kitchen aide had left open. And like a hungry lab mouse searching the maze for a bite of cheese, Justin furiously searched the halls for India's room. He needed to find her. He needed to get to her. He needed to get her our.

He kept going, stealthily, hiding in shadows once a doctor or nurse passed him in the hall, quickly darting into closed off rooms, swiftly bouncing behind large potted plants and support beams all under cover so that no one knew he was back in the building.

As he frantically searched, room and room after room he finally came to room number 1256. There was India, in Victoria's body sleeping with cuts from the glass of the window she fell out of in her fight with Julia the night before.

He slowly pushed the door open and as it creaked, India opened her eyes, she gasped and he put his finger up to his mouth motioning for her not to make a sound.

He whispered: "we have to get you out." India nodded her head. He helped her out of bed, and she rushed over to a closer that had her street clothes hanging.

"I thought you'd never come back. I didn't know what was going to happen to me." India said in Vicky's voice as Justin cracked the room door to check if the coast was clear.

"I couldn't just leave you here." He said.

"No one believes me Justin. No one believes anything I've said and Julia....Julia thinks I'm crazy. She thinks I'm making all of this up." India exclaimed.

"I know, my dad....its a long story but he doesn't believe me either. We have to find Barnabas. He has to take you back, this HAS GOT TO END!" Justin said, his frustration now showing.

India looked at Justin. She couldn't believe how kind he was, and how brave he was to come back for. It was risky. All of it. But he did it. For her.

"Ok. Come on, come on!" Justin said

 India slowly put on shoes and a pair of dark green slacks and tucked in the flowing over-sized  hospital shirt in them. She then tied Vicky's thick luxurious dark hair up and out of her face. Justin grabbed India's hand and slowly two slipped through the halls of Windcliff on their way to the back exit: through the kitchen.

As the two slowly passed through the halls, Julia Hoffman was in her office, equally cut and bruised from her fall with India, she was alive and well; not even a fall from a 4th story window could take Julia Hoffman out, she had so much more to do.

As the stoic and cut up Julia sat in her glossy red leather chair, she turned it slowly ---she was not alone. As her chair went  on its circular trip it stopped  to face her visitor.... George Patterson.

"So Justin hasn't been here to see Vicky?" Patterson wondered.

"No, I was with with Miss Winters all night there was...." Julia paused ..."an indecent." Julia said being vague about her physical altercation with India.

"It's important that you tell me if he comes here. He rushed out of the house and the first place he'd come back to was here. Not to mention the Collins family will be wondering why you haven't let them know you have their governess." Patterson said.

"You didn't tell them either." Julia said in a snarky tone as George rolled his eyes at her.

"I didn't tell them. Something has come up...and having Justin linked to this derranged young woman could put Justin on the brink of something...." George said as Julia interrupted.

"Like his mother?" She asked pointing out Justin's mother's issues with mental illness.

"I owe you for helping Rebecca. You don't know to remind me." George revealed.

"Yes, you do." Julia shot back. "Listen, Sheriff I know what you want me to do but I can't just pretend your son doesn't also have issues going on inside his mind too. I'm almost sure these issues are residual effects from what happened to his mother. I would really hope you reconsider bringing him back here yourself so that I can monitor not only Vicky but Justin too."  Julia explained.

"Doctor, I can handle my son. I can take care of him like I've always done, for years now, what I need from you is to keep Vicky Winters here. Under no circumstances can she and my son be seen together." Sheriff Patterson said trying to cover up for his son possibly being involved in the murder of Arabella with Vicky.

 Suddenly Julia saw India and Justin pass her office window.

"Damn it!! Look!" Julia screeched pointing to India (as Vicky) and Justin sneaking out passed the office windows.

George and Julia got up quickly and rushed to the door. Justin and India were gone.

Julia and George quickly jogged down the hall after them and found them in the hall hugging. They were just steps from the kitchen exit.

"We're going to get you back India, back to 2019. Barnabas will help!" Justin said.

India looked at Justin, her eyes watering. He had risked so much to come back for her. She lifted herself up on her tippy-toes and kissed him.

"Thank you." She said with tears in her eyes. They hugged again, then escaped through the back door never noticing they were being watched.

George started after them.

"No!" Julia shouted, her arm bolting across George’s chest freezing him in place.

"Why? We can't let them go. That woman has done something to my son! He keeps calling her India! They're not well, doctor I'm afraid they're involved in the murder of someone...we need to stop them." George shouted.

"Yes. I know." Julia said, her voice calm and collected, a stark contrast to George's frantic state. "Let's let them get to wherever their car is and then....we'll follow." She added.

"Follow?"

"Follow. I want to know where they're going. I want to know who they think this Barnabas person is." Julia said.

"Barnabas...Collins. He's the man staying at the old house at Collinwood. I met him last night." Patterson confirmed shocking Julia.

"He's....real????" Julia asked.

"Very much so." Patterson said again.

"Very well then...let's see what this Barnabas person has over them. I need to meet Barnabas, and I need to know exactly what he's doing to both Justin and Victoria." Julia said.

Julia and George waited. She looked at her watch and then smirked as minutes passed since Justin and India vanished in his car.

"Let's go." She said in a deep and cold voice.

The two, doctor and town Sheriff then left the hospital hot on the trail of India and Justin and soon would come face to face with a force not even Dr. Julia Hoffman could have ever imagined in her whole life she would encounter. She would soon face a man that would change her life forever, not a figment of India's and Justin's imagination; a real life man with deep dark secrets and lusts....Barnabas Collins.

                                         

Series 12/Chapter 7: SHATTERED GLASS

Barnabas & Carolyn discuss a shocking death in town 

A man on a mission to change the course of his and his family's history has come to a deadly impasse. He's killed two people in hopes that the future will be saved, but in doing so, has risked the whole reason for his return and tragedy has branched out like a shatter to a window. On this night he straddles the devastating idea that, perhaps, it was all for nothing.


Barnabas, fresh from his killing of a man in Arabella's hotel room and Arabella herself attempted to calmly make his way up to the front door of Collinwood manor. His eyes were glazed over with worry that he had made a huge mistake by removing Elizabeth's enemy. Was it for her? Was it for the future? His mind, blackened by distrust, told him it was for the best, but his heart, equally as damaged by his constant struggles with his curse told him his murders would come back to bite him---one way or another.

As he reached for the door knob to enter the home, his cousin Carolyn rushed up in a clear panic after seeing with her own eyes, Arabella's bloody corpse slumped over on the hotel room floor. Her heart was racing and she knew that leaving Vicky's coat, monogrammed with her initials on the inside lining would lead to her being the main suspect. The perfect trap.

Yet the horror of Arabella’s bloody corpse still flashed across Carolyn’s mind like a vengeful ghost haunting her every thought. Seeing Carolyn’s frantic demeanor, Barnabas jumped to her aide.

"Carolyn, what's the matter? You're sweating." Barnabas asked noticing Carolyn out of breath and her hair tattered from the windy outdoors.

"Oh!! Barnabas! You ...you can't imagine what I've seen! It's Arabella! She.....She's dead Barnabas!!!" Carolyn screeched hysterically falling into her ancient cousin’s arms.

Barnabas froze. Again--this was not part of his plan. No one was to see Arabella's body. He had only enough time to remove the man and bury him and then thought of sending Justin back to retrieve Arabella before morning. Things were spiraling out of Barnabas control and Carolyn's involvement now could cause even more damage to his plan of finally erasing all the destructive effects on this generation of this family from his own existence. He was stuck--he was troubled. And he was beginning to feel panic for the very first time ever.

Barnabas, tried to compose himself, unsure of what to do next and took a second to reply.

"Carolyn, please calm down, tell me what happened...slowly...Your Aunt? I don't understand. How could she be dead?" Barnabas said lying about not knowing.

Carolyn, who had only met her new cousin Barnabas only a short time ago, could not imagine his involvement in the death of Arabella --especially not knowing just how much of her blood was on his hands---and lips.

"Earlier today Aunt Bella was supposed to be here at the house to have breakfast with us. She didn't come. She never arrived so I went out for the day and when I finally got to the hotel, I found her. She was killed Barnabas! MURDERED!" Carolyn said screaming. “I have to call the police!” she added.

“You mean you haven’t?” Barnabas said in relief.

“I.... I didn’t know what to do. I panicked and came home first.” Carolyn tearfully confessed, her mind still weary of her own plot pinning the murder on Vicky.

“Carolyn,” Barnabas said calmly, “I need you to calm down.” He said as Carolyn began to lose control of herself.

Carolyn's cry would soon arouse suspicious and alarm to those inside. Barnabas had to think quick, he reached for his young cousin by the shoulders and shook her until she looked at him, confused, but dead in the eyes.

"What are you doing!?" She asked, unsure of why he was holding her so tightly.

Barnabas lifted his hand in front of Carolyn's face and in a quick motion snapped his fingers in her eyes and spoke: "Understand me once and for all, you did not see Arabella Stoddard that way, you will tell everyone you did NOT see her dead. Carolyn, you must listen to me and listen to my voice: as you enter this house, vanquish what you think you saw and say not the truth but that your Aunt has decided to leave Collinsport. For good. No one will hear from her again, therefore you must repeat what I have told you here....repeat what I have told you here....repeat what I have told you here."

Barnabas' voice filled Carolyn's mind like an echo. It was deep an enchanting. He filled her brain and touched every nerve that connected to each part of her body like an electrical charge that zapped through wires across miles and miles of land.

Carolyn's eyes glazed over and she said slowly back to Barnabas "I will repeat...what you have told me...here.....I will repeat what you have told me here...."

After being sure the Carolyn was under his control, he snapped his fingers and and she blinked. She gave him a faint smirk and then tuned to the front door, pushing it open and allowing them both to enter.

As soon as they entered, there was a rush of energy from the drawing room. A worried Elizabeth rushed into the foyer to meet Barnabas and Carolyn.

"Carolyn, where have you been all day?!? You were supposed to bring back Arabella. No one has heard from you! What's going on!?" Elizabeth said as Roger slowly made his way into the foyer too, looking less worried than his sister.

Barnabas turned to Carolyn and waited...would she repeat his lie?

"Well mother you won't have to worry about Aunt Bella anytime soon. She's gone. She's left us. For good." Carolyn said vaguely, Barnabas looked on with a bit of caution.

"Gone? Kitten what do you mean? She just left?" Roger asked sipping a cocktail.

"That's right...I was....with....yes, I wish with her all day and she.............." Carolyn froze.

"You told me she decided to leave town." Barnabas said finishing Carolyn's story for him.

"That's right." Carolyn said under Barnabas’ control.

"But that doesn't make any sense!" Elizabeth said to herself knowing Arabella had been blackmailing her about Vicky's connection to her.

"Well I am assuming things didn't work out for her here and that her European vacation came calling much earlier that expected. Isn't that right Carolyn?" Barnabas continued.

Carolyn looked confused. Her mind was fighting the power Barnabas had over her. She wanted to tell everyone that her aunt was dead, that she had been brutally murdered, that someone --or something--had taken to her throat and slashed, it ripped it ---or bitten it, to a pulp. But couldn't come out. Nothing, none of the words she wanted to say came out. She just slightly grinned again and said.

"Yes. Her vacation came calling." Carolyn parroted in a monotone voice.

"Carolyn, darling, are you alright? You seem different. What is it?" Elizabeth asked grabbing Carolyn's hands in hers.

"I'm fine mother. I just suddenly feel very tired. Perhaps it was being with Bella all day. Maybe I should go up to my room and lie down." Carolyn said, still feeling odd but unable to break Barnabas' lock on her.

"Yes, well, I guess I should be going up to my office too. There are lots of things I need to sort out for you Liz. Paperwork never seems to die down from the Cannery. Can we meet up in an hour down here after I put them all in order?" Roger asked as Elizabeth agreed and ushered her new cousin Barnabas into the drawing room where they were alone and she poured him a drink.

"Well, as you can see Barnabas, there is never a dull moment with your new family. I can honestly say I did not expect Arabella to give up this easily I was ready to sign over a check to her later today. She never showed." Elizabeth confessed as she poured Barnabas tea.

"Perhaps its all for the best. Ms. Stoddard did not seem to be a very good influence on Carolyn, and now that she's gone things will...." Barnabas paused and looked deep into Liz's eyes and saw how relieved she was, and the happiness exuding from her now that threat Arabella had pushed down on her was gone. The exposure of one of Elizabeth's darkest most personal secrets was safe and perhaps things were finally going to work out thanks to his quick action in neutralizing Arabella.

"You were saying?" Elizabeth said as she squeezed a lemon into tea she had been drinking.

"I'm sorry, I was just saying that perhaps things will finally get back to normal around here."

"As normal as it could get." Elizabeth laughed knowing that most likely wasn't true.

As the two cousins continued to make small talk David entered the Drawing room with his books. He looked disappointed and frowned at his aunt and new cousin Barnabas who he had yet to warm up to.

"I told you." David said out of no where.

"Told me what darling?" Elizabeth replied.

"She's not coming back. She's not here. She wasn't here all day. She missed my lessons." David replied.

"She missed your lessons? Vicky? Vicky wasn't here today? AT ALL?" Elizabeth said, embarrassed that she hadn't even noticed.

"Victoria is not here?" Barnabas said, his voice sounding worried, knowing India was Victoria and that he needed her at Collinwood to begin the transfer once he saw things were finally safe for the family. Without India at the mansion, none of his plans could continue.

"I told you. I said she wouldn't come back." David said.

"How could that be? How did I not see she wasn't here?" Elizabeth gasped.

"David, when was the last time you saw her?" Barnabas asked.

"I don't know." David replied flippantly.

"David, now tell the truth. When did you last see Vicky? Was it yesterday? the day before?" Elizabeth said, beginning to panic as her preoccupation with Arabella had turned her eyes away from the rest of the family at home.

"Yes, I guess yesterday." David said.

"I'll call George." Elizabeth said, getting up quickly to the phone to call the Sheriff who was always ready to help the Collins family.

"WAIT!" Barnabas yelped startling Elizabeth on her way over to the drawing room phone.

"What is it?" Elizabeth asked quickly turning to her cousin.

"I might know where she is, if you give me an hour, perhaps I could get a hold of her. I ran into her yesterday and she did seem overwhelmed. I think I can find her." Barnabas said hoping his hunch was right.

"Overwhelmed? Well perhaps a bit homesick, but I wouldn't have guessed overwhelmed. Are you sure you can find her?" Elizabeth asked.

"You won't." David quipped.

"DAVID!" Elizabeth shouted.

"Just give me a few hours, please cousin Elizabeth." Barnabas replied as  he suddenly saw his plans again begin to crumble right in front of his eyes.

Elizabeth smiled and sat down with David to go over his school work in Vicky's stead as Barnabas scrambled up the main staircase and rushed down the hall and into Carolyn's room where she was lying down.

He pushed open the door and startled her out of a light sleep. Her breathing began to shallow. Her mind, now clearing from Barnabas control, was able to see that something was very strange about her new cousin.

"What ...are you? Tell me what you are, I can feel somethings strange about you....something isn't right about you Barnabas Collins! TELL ME WHAT YOU ARE!" She exclaimed, gripping the sheets on her bed so tight they began to cut off circulation from her fingers. "What did you do to me? Why did I say those things that were not true?" She added.

"Carolyn, listen to me," Barnabas began pushing aside her panic.

"NO! I don't want to hear your voice again! Who are you?? What are you?" Carolyn said, tears streaming down her face.

"LISTEN TO ME!" He yelled, Carolyn's whimpering suddenly subsided like a child being chastised by a parent. "You need to go to the hotel, under cover of darkness and remove Arabella's body. You must do this. I cannot, the family will be expecting me to locate Victoria. Do you understand? Carolyn....listen to the words I cam saying...go to the Inn ....retrieve Arabella's body....bury her. Bury her deep in the woods and do not return home until her body is gone for good. Do you hear me?" Barnabas said as his voice once again took control over Carolyn's mind.

"I hear you." She said softly under the vampire’s control again and as the remnants of her mascara tinted tears slowly dripped from her eye lid down to the blue satin bedspread marking it like period at the end of a sentence.

"Go now...." Barnabas said softly, as Carolyn got up slowly...paused and looked back at Barnabas once more....unsure of what he was....and then went on her way.

The clock was ticking. Barnabas Collins needed to find India before day light. His whole plan was once again at stake.

Carolyn made her way down the stairs and minutes later after taking a moment to compose himself in her room, so did Barnabas. But they were not truly alone. From an open crack in the second floor study Roger watched them leave seemingly together ...suspiciously close and their whereabouts so late in the evening unknown. He lifted his eye brow and turned back into the study, picked up his drink and guzzled it down.

As the fire place in the room warmed Roger he looked at the painting above the hearth. It was of his father Jamison Collins. The, cold, distant father that he saw started this all. To Roger, he had no idea of the true dark secrets that lurked in this family tree, but his father, the man he looked up to and tried to live up to his whole life was Roger's blame for all their misfortunes: vanishings, madness...death.

Roger believed his father never loved him, but hated him. To Roger, Jamison was the end-all, be-all reason for all of his problems in life: Divorce, drinking, anxiety, stress, gambling. It was all his father's fault, because of the lack of love.

Again----So Roger thought, not knowing the supernatural and historical reason that contradicted his impression of his father.

Roger filled his class again and looked over at the study desk filled with nicely organized files he was to bring down to Elizabeth to sign for the Cannery. Roger sipped one sip of his refreshed cocktail and suddenly lashed out and through the half full glass as the painting of his father shattering the cup to smithereens.

"Monster!!" He yelled to Jamison's painting, clearly drunk and still mistakenly attaching his suspicions of whatever obvious dark deed Carolyn and Barnabas were cooking up to his father's face.

To blame Jamison Collins was easy for Roger. He blamed him for all their troubles. And perhaps his father did deserve some blame, but for all the evil that lurked around the corner of every corridor of Collinwood Jamison was truly innocent....this time.

****

Vicky/India confronts Julia 

"You didn't eat." A female voice said as India do Arco, still trapped in Victoria Winters' body and at Windcliff opened her eyes.

It was Julia Hoffman, back with her pen and pad ready for a second session.

"I'm not hungry. And besides you have my arms tied, how can I eat?" India said in Vicky's voice.

"A nurse would have fed you." Julia said taking her seat beside India.

"Dr. Hoffman, we're wasting time. Please. Keeping me here could put so many people in danger. All I want to do is get back to my time and get back to my family. Barnabas can help but he's so caught up in everything going on I don't know if he's trust worthy. But perhaps you can make him see what he's doing is wrong and refocus him. That's why I came to you." India pleaded.

"You speak of this....Barnabas, as though he is real and as though what you've suffered at his hands is real. Do you know what a psychotic break is Miss Winters? It's when our mind is so overwhelmed with the stresses of our lives, so overwhelmed that we begin to see cracks in our reality and things of our fantasy begin to spill in, blurring what is real and what is not. It can be very distressful to the person suffering. I see you in distress. Now, I wouldn't say that you're in the worst shape that I've seen. In fact if you were, I wouldn't be explaining any of this to you, I would just sedate you and work from scratch." Julia said pulling out a syringe from her coat pocket and placing it on a table attached to India's hospital bed that held her food and  went across her abdomen.

India's eyes followed Julia's hands as she lay the syringe down.

"I don't know how else to make you believe me. I really don't." India said as tears began to fill her eyes.

"I want you to give yourself a break, Miss Winters. Why don't you tell me more about this Barnabas and tell me what he is and what  he is to you?" Julia asked.

"I already told you. He's from another time, as am I. I am not Victoria Winters, I am India do Arco and I've come from the year 2019. Barnabas is a member of the Collins family and he's come back to this time to right the wrongs of his life. He needed my help but I don't know I can trust him. You trust him, at least you do in my time." India said.

"So you and I have met?" Julia asked playing along.

"Yes. Briefly. At Collinwood."

"Collinwood, and why would I be at Collinwood in the year 2019? That would make me over 90 years old." Julia replied.

India just shook her head, knowing Julia would never believe her, could never believe her. It was all too fanciful. The night was getting later and the threat of never getting back to 2019 to her own world and time was becoming a reality. She now had to put all her faith in Barnabas doing the right thing: fixing what he needed to fix to secure a better future for the Collins family and then setting her free. But it was getting scary--India was losing hope.

Julia saw that India was not going to answer anymore. India was upset, hurt, frightening that this was how it was going to be forever.

Julia, frustred with her new patient and how she wasn't giving up more information decided she'd untie her hands to at least allow her to eat. Perhaps an olive branch of ease around the wrists would help.

"What are you doing?" India asked.

"You have to eat Miss Winters. You're no good to anyone if you get sicker. So please, go ahead and have your dinner." Julia said as India, still attached to the bed by her ankles smiled and sat up to reach for her food.

Julia sat back in the chair next to the bed and began to read through her notes on India while India picked through the salty potatoes and cold meatloaf on her try. India scattered the peas over the gravy and snickered at the seemingly coagulated ketchup that had hardened like a skin over the meat.

India reached for a fork and knife and and saw the syringe next to her tray that Julia had forgotten there, open without a cap ready to inject.

This was her chance.

India grabbed the syringe in a split second with one hand and lunged at Julia's right leg and plunged it deep into The flesh then released the medicine into Julia's body but pressing down on the needles’s plunger.

Julia screamed in pain as the needle carved its way down into her leg muscle. India then grabbed the tray of food and threw it into Julia's face to create a diversion so that she could reach for the ties around her ankles.

While Julia continued to scream in pain, India untied herself and leaped off the bed and dashed to the room’s door as Julia groaned in pain.

The door was locked, and Julia had the key in her coat pocket.

"Where's the key!!!" India asked, as Vicky's voice rang out in complete panic.

Julia only moaned in pain as the sedative slowly seeped into her veins.

"WHERE'S THE KEY JULIA?!” India screamed again as she searched every corner of Julia's body as Julia attempted to push India off— to no avail.

India searched and searched and finally she found a key chain with several silver and gold keys that unlocked various doors at the asylum and ripped it from Julia’s coat pocket And rushed  back to the door to unlock it.

As India struggled to find the correct key on Julia's key-chain to fit the door lock, Julia mustered enough energy to limp over to India. Julia was drooling, and weak, the medicine was slowly making her legs and arms more and more like jelly. But she was able to grab India by the back of the neck and squeezed hoping to pull her away from the door.

India was gasping for air  and turned around. She and Julia were now locked in a bear-hug; pulling and tugging at each other, each woman hoping one would give in or fall down flat on her face. They continued to struggle knocking over a side table, pushing back chairs and slipping on the spilled food  from India's tray that she had thrown into Julia's face just moments before.

India was now fighting for her freedom and her life! But Julia was relentless despite her slow mobility from the medicine India injected into her body; to Julia, India was a sick woman who’s mind was possessed by a terrible psychotic break, thus the key to her medical success.

Julia was in this fight to win too. Her life’s work lived and died on the assumption that Julia could crack the code of this "Vicky's" supposed illness. If Julia could,  she would be one of the most famous psychiatric doctors in the nation, she could not allow "Vicky" to escape. No matter what.

The women struggled—back and forth pushing shoving, hair pulling slapping, tugging. The in a moment that turned the tables Julia’s foot slipped in  some of the water from a cup that came from the food try. Her ankle twisted to the side and Julia yelped in pain and suddenly her body went backwards.

Julia  began to fall backwards and in India's eyes, it was happening in slow motion. Julia grabbed onto India's hospital gown to sturdy herself and as she did, she yanked India, in Vicky’s body forward as they both fell through a fourth story window bursting through the glass in a loud and alarming crash and falling 4 stories down on to the grass of Windcliff's grounds below.

 The fall knocked them both Instantly unconscious.

The two women were face down in the grass. Glass all around them from the window they fell through glistened in the moon light. Orderlies from inside who heard the crash quickly came running out to find their boss and her patient's bodies in the grass scraped up from bush that had broken their  fall.

Shocking the orderlies, India gasped in a deep breath of air showing a sign of life.

"Jesus!!" One orderly exclaimed jolted by India's loud breath of air.

But Julia was motionless.

****

The following day, a brilliant sun shined down on Beau Cielvert as he walked into the Collinsport Inn for a meeting he had scheduled two days before with his employer Arabella Stoddard. He slowly walked up the large front staircase with wall to wall red and gold carpet and entered a mezzanine floor with elevators that would take him to her hotel suite on the top floor of the small Inn.

As he approached her room Beau began to feel a strange and eerie coldness. Almost as if he were being watched from the shadows and corners of the hall. He turned around, and there was only a cleaning lady at the far end of the hall emptying out her trash bin.

He shook his head, and continued just a few feet to Arabella's room. Her door was slightly open but not enough to look into the room, just enough for Beau to notice something seemed off.

He pulled his gun from his strap and slowly pushed the door open with his shoulder, his gun drawn.

He knew something was wrong. His detective instinct was screaming in his ears that something was very much wrong.

"Arabella? Arabella!?" He called out into the room that still had the draped drawn to block out the morning sun.

No one responded.

Beau walked over to the drapes and dragged them across the large framed windows, pulling them to the edge so that all the sun that could, would, enter. When Beau turned around he saw an awful sight.

Not of a body. But of a bloody carpet and bed.

His eyes widened, his jaw dropped.

His instinct was right.

He rushed over to the bed and saw on the floor, a stained coat. With a pen from his pocket, he lifted the coat and saw the initials V.W.

Victoria Winters.

****

In a small house in town, just blocks away from Maggie Evans and her family's cottage, Justin awoke from a restless sleep. He tossed and turned all night thinking of the horrible situation India was in...alone.

He stood up quickly from his bed, not showing a sign of rest and walked over to his window that was barred off. In the reflection, he saw his father had forgotten to close the door when he came in during the night to leave food.

At first Justin was shocked that he actually did fall asleep, enough that his father entered in without waking him, but then, the sudden light bulb moment to run and thought that came into his head

Run out of the room. Save India!

Justin quickly grabbed his keys and ran for the door, opened and rushed passed his father who did not see it coming. George reached for Justin and grabbed the corner of his plain white t-shirt. They struggled and fell to the floor. George, a hefty man fell on top of his son. They began to struggle again, just before Justin got one arm free and punched his own father square in the nose splashing red droplets on Justin’s white ‘T’. The blow to George’s face allowed  Justin  to break free from his large father's hold on the orange shag carpeting.

Justin jumped to his bare-feet and looked back at his poor father writhing in pain from his bloody nose. There was no time to act for a Justin to act,  had to leave him there....Justin rushed out of their home and jumped into his car and blasted down the street as fast as he could to Bangor.

"Shit! Shit! JUSTIN! COME BACK!” George screamed for the open door as blood continued to seep from through  his fingers from his nose.

George knew had made huge mistake and that Julia would not be happy.

George managed to get up off the floor, and reached for his car keys to go after Justin just as the phone rang.

"Sheriff Patterson." He answered, flustered and bloodied, with a slight slosh to his voice as the blood fell over his lips.

"Sheriff, I'm Detective Cielvert....I've been in town working on a case for a private party who I was supposed to meet here at The Collinsprot Inn. I think you should get over here right away." Beau said holding up the coat Carolyn had planted.

"Is everything ok?" George asked strapping on his thick black police belt.

Beau didn't know how to answer. How could he fully explain what he saw in the room? Blood. Lots of Blood. No body. A strange coat that did not belong to the victim, or supposed victim.

Beau only answered the way he knew how. "Not in the slightest."

It was true. Nothing was "ok". Not with Barnabas, or Justin, or India and certainly not with the dead Arabella, who's body was carefully and secretly moved in the early hours of the morning by her own niece Carolyn who was under Barnabas' mind control.

In the dark of the night Carolyn sneaked the bloodied body out through a side employee entrance at the Inn and buried her deep in the woods where Barnabas told her to take Arabella near the man from Arabella's hotel room that Barnabas has also killed.

Arabella lied there, the dirt tossed over her face in large clumps from the cold  cold night. Carolyn stared down at her dead aunt with two gashes in her neck that took her life and turned to throw up onto a heap of dead leaves. Carolyn’s stomach was in knots.

She felt revolted with herself. Carolyn was now fully entangled in a web of her own making but the spider keeping her trapped on the web's sticky threads was no longer Arabella and her lies...it was now Barnabas Collins and his quest for redemption—and the body count had only began to rise.