 |
| Justin Patterson attacked |
In the pink and purple dusk sky above Collinwood, just hours before the sun fully set on a day filled with trials and tribulation, India DoArco, trapped inside of Victoria Winters' body, sat in her bedroom in the great house looking out on to the horizon. She wondered about her release from Vicky's body. How would Vicky react? Would she know what happened and was she aware of what was happening the whole time India was trapped inside.
They were one woman all this time. They had melded together like two bits of iron fused as one by the hot fire of a blacksmith. But their minds, were they still two independent thought creating entities?
India wasn't sure.
As she observed the sun slowly descend behind the hills of Collinsport, Justin entered her room. He closed the door behind him and walked over to India, still looking out over the now shadowy pastures of Collin's family land that lead to the hill just passed the village below.
"You ok?" He asked as he carefully put his hands over her shoulders and looked out of the window with her.
"I'm just getting impatient. Barnabas said as soon as the sun set I would be myself again and Vicky would be herself again and...well, it's almost that time." India explained. "How's Julia?"
"Good. A car came and picked her up about 25 minutes ago from the old house. They took her back to Bangor and she seemed like she believed everything I told her about the other night. But we'll never know if the memories come back. If they do, I guess I'll have to deal with it. Maybe Vicky will help." Justin said in a hopeful tone and referencing that India would soon go back to her time leaving him and Vicky.
"Justin, I want to thank you for everything. You've been such a good friend to me-- you saved me! If you hadn't come along when we first met that night out on that road in the fog, I don't know where I'd be. I wish I could do more to show you how much I care about you." India said.
"The best thing you can do is go back to 2019 and live your life, no matter what happens India, live your life. And if, I'm an old man somewhere, stop by and say hello!" He joked.
She smiled, and began to cry. She was going to miss him. She had grown so fond of him, they were friends and he had risked so much to save her and believe in her that all she could do was step up on her tip-toes and kiss him. It was a quick kiss, a friend to a friend, but he looked deep into her eyes and it was as if he wasn't looking at Victoria, it was India's face he saw. It was India's eyes he was looking at it. It was India's lips he wanted to kiss back---and he did.
This time, the kiss was longer. Deeper. More passionate. He was in love. With India.
"India, I ...." He wanted to tell her, but wasn't sure how. He wasn't sure if she'd be in love too. It was a not a sudden feeling, he had fallen head-over-heels for her the moment he saw her rushing through the dark street the night they met.
And just as he was about to finally tell her, David burst into the room.
"David!! Don't you knock!!" India said, in Victoria's scolding voice.
"Sorry." David replied.
"What is it?" She asked as she and Justin separated from their embrace.
"I just wanted to tell you I was going to miss you and ....and that I really really like you." David replied.
"Miss me? What do you mean?" India asked, unsure of what David meant by that since to him he was Victoria.
"I feel like you're leaving. I feel like you're going to say goodbye to me. I don't know what it is but I have a sense that maybe this wasn't your place." David explained.
India looked at Justin who shrugged. She walked over to David and knelt down next to the boy that would one day become her father. She was staring at her dad, as a 10 year old boy through the eyes of a woman that would in part raise him. It was a complex bizarre situation but real none the less. She grabbed him by the shoulders and smiled.
"I'm not going anywhere David. I'm going to be here to help you and do what I can to make you a great kid...I promise." India said replying to David as Vicky would.
"No, you're not." David said softly. "Not really anyway." He added.
David smirked and hugged India tightly. She hugged him back and still wasn't sure what he was talking about.
"David," India said as he released himself from her grip.
"I'll see you again soon." David said, as he rushed off.
Justin and India watched as he ran out of the bedroom and into the hallway. They both felt as if perhaps David knew Vicky wasn't fully Vicky. Was it a hunch he had? Had he been listening? Was he somehow in-tune with everything that was happening this whole time and never led on to it? They didn't know the answer to any of those questions and David wold not be revealing what he meant any time soon, it was yet another layer of emotional connection India really had with her father, something that she would take with her back to 2019.
Carolyn grabbed her now filled suitcase and a card that she slipped into an envelope marked B.C; as She passed herself in a oak framed mirror with four feet shaped like lion's feet that was an heirloom from her great-great-grandmother's parlor, she took a deep breath, preparing herself for what was ahead. She gazed at herself and imagined herself pregnant. She shook her head and then laughed, then thought of Victoria.
"God, to think I almost tried to have you killed." Carolyn said to the imaginary Vicky in her mind, reminding herself that she had once plotted with Arabella to due away with the new Governess. At the time Carolyn saw her as a threat but now she realized perhaps Vicky's arrival was more than just good for David, but also good for her, that it was meant to be, given that now Carolyn had to leave under a cloak of secrets to give up a child she could not possible raise justly.
Carolyn soon made her way down the long staircase to the main floor and passed one of the maids that was quickly making her way to the back parlor to clean .
"Can you have this mailed out to Beau Cielvert please?" Carolyn asked, handing the maid the envelope marked B.C.
"Of course miss." the maid said.
The card from Carolyn was explaining to her lover Beau where she had gone, and that perhaps, he should move on from her. That her life was too complicated for him to be involved in and that, for now, and perhaps for ever, they should be apart. She did not tell him of her pregnancy.
As the maid nervously rushed back down the hall to the post office in town, Carolyn looked around at the paintings on the wall. One day she'd return. One day she'd come back and perhaps things would be different. Perhaps she could finally get herself up to par with those legendary family members that hung on the Gothic wood-paneled walls of her family home. But the child she was having had to be safe and away from all of it--- From the curses, the shadows, the secrets, her family, Collinwood. All of it. A new, better, more harmless family would take care of this new life, Carolyn could not.
Not this way. Not in scandal and secret.
"Ill say." Roger murmured under his breath.
The cab honked again outside.
Back inside the mansion, Roger was in a mood.
They were one woman all this time. They had melded together like two bits of iron fused as one by the hot fire of a blacksmith. But their minds, were they still two independent thought creating entities?
India wasn't sure.
As she observed the sun slowly descend behind the hills of Collinsport, Justin entered her room. He closed the door behind him and walked over to India, still looking out over the now shadowy pastures of Collin's family land that lead to the hill just passed the village below.
"You ok?" He asked as he carefully put his hands over her shoulders and looked out of the window with her.
"I'm just getting impatient. Barnabas said as soon as the sun set I would be myself again and Vicky would be herself again and...well, it's almost that time." India explained. "How's Julia?"
"Good. A car came and picked her up about 25 minutes ago from the old house. They took her back to Bangor and she seemed like she believed everything I told her about the other night. But we'll never know if the memories come back. If they do, I guess I'll have to deal with it. Maybe Vicky will help." Justin said in a hopeful tone and referencing that India would soon go back to her time leaving him and Vicky.
"Justin, I want to thank you for everything. You've been such a good friend to me-- you saved me! If you hadn't come along when we first met that night out on that road in the fog, I don't know where I'd be. I wish I could do more to show you how much I care about you." India said.
"The best thing you can do is go back to 2019 and live your life, no matter what happens India, live your life. And if, I'm an old man somewhere, stop by and say hello!" He joked.
She smiled, and began to cry. She was going to miss him. She had grown so fond of him, they were friends and he had risked so much to save her and believe in her that all she could do was step up on her tip-toes and kiss him. It was a quick kiss, a friend to a friend, but he looked deep into her eyes and it was as if he wasn't looking at Victoria, it was India's face he saw. It was India's eyes he was looking at it. It was India's lips he wanted to kiss back---and he did.
This time, the kiss was longer. Deeper. More passionate. He was in love. With India.
"India, I ...." He wanted to tell her, but wasn't sure how. He wasn't sure if she'd be in love too. It was a not a sudden feeling, he had fallen head-over-heels for her the moment he saw her rushing through the dark street the night they met.
And just as he was about to finally tell her, David burst into the room.
"David!! Don't you knock!!" India said, in Victoria's scolding voice.
"Sorry." David replied.
"What is it?" She asked as she and Justin separated from their embrace.
"I just wanted to tell you I was going to miss you and ....and that I really really like you." David replied.
"Miss me? What do you mean?" India asked, unsure of what David meant by that since to him he was Victoria.
"I feel like you're leaving. I feel like you're going to say goodbye to me. I don't know what it is but I have a sense that maybe this wasn't your place." David explained.
India looked at Justin who shrugged. She walked over to David and knelt down next to the boy that would one day become her father. She was staring at her dad, as a 10 year old boy through the eyes of a woman that would in part raise him. It was a complex bizarre situation but real none the less. She grabbed him by the shoulders and smiled.
"I'm not going anywhere David. I'm going to be here to help you and do what I can to make you a great kid...I promise." India said replying to David as Vicky would.
"No, you're not." David said softly. "Not really anyway." He added.
David smirked and hugged India tightly. She hugged him back and still wasn't sure what he was talking about.
"David," India said as he released himself from her grip.
"I'll see you again soon." David said, as he rushed off.
Justin and India watched as he ran out of the bedroom and into the hallway. They both felt as if perhaps David knew Vicky wasn't fully Vicky. Was it a hunch he had? Had he been listening? Was he somehow in-tune with everything that was happening this whole time and never led on to it? They didn't know the answer to any of those questions and David wold not be revealing what he meant any time soon, it was yet another layer of emotional connection India really had with her father, something that she would take with her back to 2019.
Justin walked over to India and helped her up from her position on the floor where she was speaking to David. He turned her around and kissed her again freely and passionately perhaps for the very last time before she went back to her own world forever.
****
 |
| Carolyn departs Collinwood |
Carolyn's illness had come and gone for several days. She had gone to see a doctor just a day after Victoria's return and had her blood drawn. The test results had arrived earlier that morning by courier straight from the village. In secret.
Carolyn sat on her bed and looked over to her right where an open suitcase looked up at her like the open mouth of a Venus Fly trap just waiting for it's pray--in this case, Carolyn's clothes. She took a deep breath and re-opened the letter from the doctor's office that she had already read---but she needed to re-read. It was as if she needed to make sure, to be positive she was reading exactly what she thought she had read.
It was true. Carolyn was pregnant. Beau was the father.
Her sickness was morning sickness.
Her sickness was morning sickness.
The reality of it was too much for her and she couldn't imagine what her mother would think. The idea that she was pregnant before getting married would destroy the often strained relationship she had with her mother, this too would bring it to a whole new level of dysfunction. Carolyn was in fight or flight mode...she chose flight, which is where the open suitcase came in.
As she packed her bag all of the memories of her childhood at Collinwood came flooding back. Most of them fog and rain filled. Her heart sank thinking she'd leave her mother alone, but in a way she wasn't alone. She had Roger and David, and most importantly Victoria; the daughter Elizabeth gave up for adoption 25 years before. After all that she had plotted with Arabella, Carolyn felt a twinge of happiness. To her everything happened for a reason. Victoria's survival meant that Elizabeth wouldn't be alone, and Carolyn could deal with her pregnancy without scandal.
In truth, Carolyn loved Beau with all her heart. But she could not imagine bringing a child up inside the mansion, inside the wild dysfunction of the Collins family. She couldn't keep the baby. She had to give it up. It was her only real option.
The idea that Carolyn had to vanish to give birth and give the child up for adoption while leaving her mother in the care of Victoria--the child Elizabeth gave up--was an irony not lost on Carolyn who grinned to herself as she folded up the doctor's letter and placed inside her purse.
Carolyn grabbed her now filled suitcase and a card that she slipped into an envelope marked B.C; as She passed herself in a oak framed mirror with four feet shaped like lion's feet that was an heirloom from her great-great-grandmother's parlor, she took a deep breath, preparing herself for what was ahead. She gazed at herself and imagined herself pregnant. She shook her head and then laughed, then thought of Victoria.
"God, to think I almost tried to have you killed." Carolyn said to the imaginary Vicky in her mind, reminding herself that she had once plotted with Arabella to due away with the new Governess. At the time Carolyn saw her as a threat but now she realized perhaps Vicky's arrival was more than just good for David, but also good for her, that it was meant to be, given that now Carolyn had to leave under a cloak of secrets to give up a child she could not possible raise justly.
Carolyn soon made her way down the long staircase to the main floor and passed one of the maids that was quickly making her way to the back parlor to clean .
"Can you have this mailed out to Beau Cielvert please?" Carolyn asked, handing the maid the envelope marked B.C.
"Of course miss." the maid said.
The card from Carolyn was explaining to her lover Beau where she had gone, and that perhaps, he should move on from her. That her life was too complicated for him to be involved in and that, for now, and perhaps for ever, they should be apart. She did not tell him of her pregnancy.
As the maid nervously rushed back down the hall to the post office in town, Carolyn looked around at the paintings on the wall. One day she'd return. One day she'd come back and perhaps things would be different. Perhaps she could finally get herself up to par with those legendary family members that hung on the Gothic wood-paneled walls of her family home. But the child she was having had to be safe and away from all of it--- From the curses, the shadows, the secrets, her family, Collinwood. All of it. A new, better, more harmless family would take care of this new life, Carolyn could not.
Not this way. Not in scandal and secret.
From the foyer, Elizabeth and Roger saw Carolyn dressed up and with two suitcases full of clothes. Elizabeth rushed in.
"Darling, what's going on? What are you doing?" Liz asked.
"Mother, I've decided that I have to go find Arabella and make sure she comes back and answers for what she has done." Carolyn said lying.
"What??? How do you expect to do that?" Roger asked sipping on his drink from the drawing room doorway.
"Aunt Bella and I are very similar, in some ways, and I have a feeling I'll be able to track her down in Europe. I'm a big girl uncle Roger, I can do this on my own, I promise." Carolyn said sounding as assertive as her mother.
"But darling, you've been so sick, I think you should stay here and get better before you run off to ...Europe! Besides this is really a matter for the authorities, not you." Liz replied, never being able to say no to Carolyn before.
"I'm fine mother." Carolyn said coldly.
"But..." Elizabeth began before being interrupted.
"Mother please, I need to do this. I feel responsible for what happened and I need to do this for myself and no one else. I have a cab coming shortly, so please don't make this difficult for any of us." Carolyn replied her tone a warning that she would not be deterred.
"Carolyn, listen to me, I don't know why you think you're responsible for anything. I really don't but I just want you to think about this, darling, its almost 9:00 at night and you're heading to Europe out of no where and you've been sick, don't you think you should rest before you just pick up and take off to the airport and leave the entire country for parts unknown? It's.....it's..." Elizabeth began.
"It's what mother? Crazy? Insane?" Carolyn shouted.
"Ill say." Roger murmured under his breath.
"Is it as crazy as staying in this house for almost 2 decades without ever leaving expecting the man who abandoned you and your baby to come waltzing in as if nothing ever happened?" Carolyn said cruelly as she brought up her mother's own sketchy past to her face.
"She'g got you there sis." Roger said again under his breath.
"Oh shut up Roger!" Both Elizabeth and Carolyn screamed.
Roger giggled.
"Carolyn, I don't know why you're so angry and why you feel you have to lash out at me this way. Whats more, I don't know why you feel like you have to go after Arabella in the middle of the night, but I can assure you my situation here is different in every way. Arabella is proven to be dangerous, she may have killed a man in her hotel room. You heard Beau, he's explained it. The blood was some man she took up to her room from the hotel. Do you really expect me to be fine with you traveling the globe, alone and sick, for a woman capable of that?" Elizabeth said.
"I am NOT a little girl. I can handle myself and I'm not afraid of Aunt Bella." Carolyn continued knowing full well Arabella was dead and buried and that her whole trip to Europe was to have the baby she was carrying and give him up for adoption mostly to save her mother from scandal, but also to keep away from the overbearing and dangerous eye of the ghosts of the Collins family---real or unreal.
Elizabeth could see there was no talking Carolyn out of her idea. She had to agree. She had to allow it. And, again, in truth, she could never say no to her only child---her only child with Paul that is.
Carolyn's heart sank. She saw the concern in her mother's eyes. She saw the hurt and even though she was often the cause of this hurt it did break her heart. Her mother was, after all, all she had in terms of family. David and Roger were often in their own worlds. She had no siblings that she was close too, certainly not Vicky. Carolyn broke down and hugged Elizabeth tightly just as the cab honked it's horn outside. Carolyn loved Elizabeth. They were two raging storms of passion build by the same weather front and often crashing up against each other in a wild thunderous fight. But it was love that always brought them back together.
Elizabeth was constantly looking out for Carolyn, and Carolyn in her own way, was always at her mother's side ready to fight to the death to protect her mom. This was just one of those things she had to do to protect her mother once again. The less Elizabeth knew the better
Arabella's supposed location in Europe, hiding from the authorities from a supposed murder of a man she met in her Collinsport hotel room---all just a fabrication for Carolyn to distort for her own secret 9 month departure to give birth.
Elizabeth was constantly looking out for Carolyn, and Carolyn in her own way, was always at her mother's side ready to fight to the death to protect her mom. This was just one of those things she had to do to protect her mother once again. The less Elizabeth knew the better
Arabella's supposed location in Europe, hiding from the authorities from a supposed murder of a man she met in her Collinsport hotel room---all just a fabrication for Carolyn to distort for her own secret 9 month departure to give birth.
The cab honked again outside.
"I have to go." Carolyn said.
Elizabeth wiping a tear from her eye nodded her head understanding. Carolyn and Elizabeth continued to hold hands, Elizabeth would not let go, finally as the front door finally began to close, and their inter-locked fingers unlatched Elizabeth said one last thing to her "Europe" bound daughter:
"Carolyn, wait!" She called out.
Carolyn held the door open and adjusted her scarf and paper-boy at.
"Yes?" The often thorny young Collins heiress said but in a soft voice with tears in her eyes.
"I love you." Elizabeth cooed.
Carolyn smiled, a tear rolled down her cheek and puddled in the corner of her mouth.
"I love you too." Carolyn whispered, then she let the door close and rush to the awaiting cab and paid him to take her to the airport in Bangor. In the cab, Carolyn sorted through her purse and pulled out a folded white paper with her notes on it. They were instructions of which Terminal she needed to get to to reach her airline and her final destination. Circled in a large red ink was the word LONDON.
"Carolyn, wait!" She called out.
Carolyn held the door open and adjusted her scarf and paper-boy at.
"Yes?" The often thorny young Collins heiress said but in a soft voice with tears in her eyes.
"I love you." Elizabeth cooed.
Carolyn smiled, a tear rolled down her cheek and puddled in the corner of her mouth.
"I love you too." Carolyn whispered, then she let the door close and rush to the awaiting cab and paid him to take her to the airport in Bangor. In the cab, Carolyn sorted through her purse and pulled out a folded white paper with her notes on it. They were instructions of which Terminal she needed to get to to reach her airline and her final destination. Circled in a large red ink was the word LONDON.
 |
| Elizabeth says goodbye to Carolyn |
Back inside the mansion, Roger was in a mood.
"Well you've done it again Liz...you've pushed away another one." Roger said.
"Excuse me?" Elizabeth replied as she entered back into the drawing room.
"First my wife, then Paul, and now Carolyn. Who's next? DAVID? No, you wouldn't push young David out, you need him too much to make you feel like a mother, perhaps your precious Victoria." Roger replied with attitude.
"Roger why don't you finish your drink and get out of my face. Go upstairs or go to down and visit with your lady friends, as you do, and just leave me alone. I really don't want to hear your voice right now." Elizabeth replied to her drunk brother as she closed a French style windows of the drawing room that was letting out the warm air.
Roger got up as Elizabeth moved on to tend to the fire place. It warmed her whole body as she poked at the red hot logs with a fire poker. She twisted the poker into the log breaking it in two; allowing the cinders to crumble to the bottom and heating her whole face. She looked at the fire poker and remembered. She could feel her hand tighten around it's grip. She remembered something about it. About her husband.
"I know what you've done." Roger growled from behind.
Liz stood up from the fire quickly, the fire poker in her hand, still red hot from it being used to break the logs. Liz looked at Roger, then the fire poker, then her memory of what she did to her husband Paul with that fire poker.
"What? What do you know?" Elizabeth asked in panic as she slowly walked towards her brother, fire poker in hand.
"I saw you burning something in the fire place the other day Liz. You're hiding something. Something that you don't want anyone to know. Not even me. Well, I'm not letting you keep secrets from me anymore. No more secrets. I'm a Collins too and I do all the work. I do everything. I go to that cannery and I work my ass off to make sure we're able to live the life we do every single day and all you do is sit up here in this house in a mood. Well no more. I'm going to find out what you're hiding dear sister, and when I do, I promise, we'll see who's in charge around here." Roger said to Elizabeth who was slightly relieved that Roger had still no idea what she did with the fire poker.
Roger then left Liz in the room alone to simmer with this news that he saw her burning papers. She was relieved that her secret about her husband was safe, but how much longer until Roger broke the secret about Vicky and the papers that proved Vicky was her daughter, records that Roger could easily find again with the right amount of money. And as a Collins, investigations and money were no object.
Liz looked down at the poker, it was still hot to the touch. She replaced in on it's hanger near the fireplace and closed her eyes breathing in slowly though her nose and out through her mouth.
In his frustration with his sister's controlling nature, Roger finally had had enough. He picked up a phone in the hallway and dialed. Roger knew one man who could tilt Liz's world and make her sweat. A man that would not only come to his rescue but keep it a secret that Roger was the one pulling all the strings as to why this man, from Liz's past, was suddenly back in Collinsport.
Roger would act as this man's secret benefactor to come to town and give Elizabeth hell--drive her mad, push her to the brink, drag her into one of the darkest places she could ever go all at the behest of her brother...and thus force her to tern over all control of the company to Roger.
"Hello, It's Collins." Roger said in a hushed voice on a phone line in the hall. "Yes, I know I said I'd call earlier but I couldn't. I had to wait for an opening for your arrival and things have taken a different turn.........yes, in my favor........ I think I need you to in the next few days. Liz seems to be in the perfect head-space for you to....do your thing. Good...alright McGuire, I'll see you soon."
The man, Jason McGuire, was a shifty Scotsman who was in Roger's back-pocket for years. He knew more than he had shared with Roger about his old friend and Liz's husband Paul, but together Roger and Jason had a plan to take Liz down and get Collins Fishing Fleet to work and benefit them both. It was a betrayal that Roger, perhaps, would eventually regret. It would lead to a battle Roger was most definitely not equipped for.
The tangled web Roger just forged with that phone call would become usurped by a spider that would attempt to eat them whole: Jason was not to be trusted.
In town, Justin was finishing up his dinner at the Cafe. Maggie Evans had heard some rumors about what had happened to him over the weeks but fearing exposure of the truth, Justin kept mum. He wanted to be sure the truth of who Vicky really was, or for that matter who was really inside of her and what Barnabas had done to Julia was never told again; the story, its bare bones, was too strange for truth and he feared a return to Windcliff should anyone hear it again from his own mouth. And Maggie at times, could be the town busy body.
Just shook his head, no story would come from him.
"Oh come on you can tell me! You can tell me anything!" Maggie said filling his mug with more coffee.
"Mags, look, it's just been a crazy week. I just want to get a good meal in and get to my own bed and sleep really well. I just want to put it all behind me, as best I can." Justin said.
"And Vicky? She ok?" Maggie wondered unsatisfied with his answer.
Justin thought for a second, he wasn't sure if she was even Vicky anymore. He left Collinwood after their kiss by her request so that he wouldn't be there when she switched back. If she switched back.
"She's fine." Justin said, as Maggie skeptically look down at him in the Cafe booth.
He thanked her for her service and dropped $15 on the table, tipping her well. She smiled and thanked him as he bolted towards the door almost bumping into a tall man with thick dark hair entering from the hotel lobby door that was attached.
"WHOA! Slow down kid!" The handsome man said.
"Sorry mister!" Justin said as he rushed off, trying to get away from Maggie's prying questions.
The man then sat himself over at Justin's table as Maggie came to take his order.
"That kid looks familiar, I think I remember him ...maybe when he was younger." the man told Maggie.
"Oh yeah? Are you familiar with the Pattersons? That's the Sheriff's son." Maggie informed him.
"That's little Justin Patterson?" The man asked.
"That's him. Not so little anymore." Maggie replied to the man who she had waited on the night he arrived over three weeks ago, the same night the real Victoria Winters arrived on the train from New York. He was back in town after a long time away. For business. Maggie wasn't unfamiliar with him historically. She knew him. Her father knew him. The Collins family knew him.
"That's amazing how much has changed, but....really nothing at all has." He remarked stirring sugar in his coffee.
"Yeah," Maggie said uninterested in any more towns-people talk with the man, "Anyway, what'll it be Mr. Devlin?" Maggie finished identifying the man as Burke Devlin, a Collinsport native back for a long stay.
"Just a cup of joe please. Black no sugar." Burke replied.
"You got it. It's good to see you out and about. You've been back in town for, what? Three week? Four weeks? Haven't seen you around." Maggie replied knowing Burke's full story. "Gonna be around for a while?" She added.
"I've been biding my time, you know how it goes." He said.
"Excuse me?" Elizabeth replied as she entered back into the drawing room.
"First my wife, then Paul, and now Carolyn. Who's next? DAVID? No, you wouldn't push young David out, you need him too much to make you feel like a mother, perhaps your precious Victoria." Roger replied with attitude.
"Roger why don't you finish your drink and get out of my face. Go upstairs or go to down and visit with your lady friends, as you do, and just leave me alone. I really don't want to hear your voice right now." Elizabeth replied to her drunk brother as she closed a French style windows of the drawing room that was letting out the warm air.
Roger got up as Elizabeth moved on to tend to the fire place. It warmed her whole body as she poked at the red hot logs with a fire poker. She twisted the poker into the log breaking it in two; allowing the cinders to crumble to the bottom and heating her whole face. She looked at the fire poker and remembered. She could feel her hand tighten around it's grip. She remembered something about it. About her husband.
"I know what you've done." Roger growled from behind.
Liz stood up from the fire quickly, the fire poker in her hand, still red hot from it being used to break the logs. Liz looked at Roger, then the fire poker, then her memory of what she did to her husband Paul with that fire poker.
"What? What do you know?" Elizabeth asked in panic as she slowly walked towards her brother, fire poker in hand.
"I saw you burning something in the fire place the other day Liz. You're hiding something. Something that you don't want anyone to know. Not even me. Well, I'm not letting you keep secrets from me anymore. No more secrets. I'm a Collins too and I do all the work. I do everything. I go to that cannery and I work my ass off to make sure we're able to live the life we do every single day and all you do is sit up here in this house in a mood. Well no more. I'm going to find out what you're hiding dear sister, and when I do, I promise, we'll see who's in charge around here." Roger said to Elizabeth who was slightly relieved that Roger had still no idea what she did with the fire poker.
Roger then left Liz in the room alone to simmer with this news that he saw her burning papers. She was relieved that her secret about her husband was safe, but how much longer until Roger broke the secret about Vicky and the papers that proved Vicky was her daughter, records that Roger could easily find again with the right amount of money. And as a Collins, investigations and money were no object.
Liz looked down at the poker, it was still hot to the touch. She replaced in on it's hanger near the fireplace and closed her eyes breathing in slowly though her nose and out through her mouth.
In his frustration with his sister's controlling nature, Roger finally had had enough. He picked up a phone in the hallway and dialed. Roger knew one man who could tilt Liz's world and make her sweat. A man that would not only come to his rescue but keep it a secret that Roger was the one pulling all the strings as to why this man, from Liz's past, was suddenly back in Collinsport.
Roger would act as this man's secret benefactor to come to town and give Elizabeth hell--drive her mad, push her to the brink, drag her into one of the darkest places she could ever go all at the behest of her brother...and thus force her to tern over all control of the company to Roger.
"Hello, It's Collins." Roger said in a hushed voice on a phone line in the hall. "Yes, I know I said I'd call earlier but I couldn't. I had to wait for an opening for your arrival and things have taken a different turn.........yes, in my favor........ I think I need you to in the next few days. Liz seems to be in the perfect head-space for you to....do your thing. Good...alright McGuire, I'll see you soon."
The man, Jason McGuire, was a shifty Scotsman who was in Roger's back-pocket for years. He knew more than he had shared with Roger about his old friend and Liz's husband Paul, but together Roger and Jason had a plan to take Liz down and get Collins Fishing Fleet to work and benefit them both. It was a betrayal that Roger, perhaps, would eventually regret. It would lead to a battle Roger was most definitely not equipped for.
The tangled web Roger just forged with that phone call would become usurped by a spider that would attempt to eat them whole: Jason was not to be trusted.
****
 |
| It's Burke's turn |
In town, Justin was finishing up his dinner at the Cafe. Maggie Evans had heard some rumors about what had happened to him over the weeks but fearing exposure of the truth, Justin kept mum. He wanted to be sure the truth of who Vicky really was, or for that matter who was really inside of her and what Barnabas had done to Julia was never told again; the story, its bare bones, was too strange for truth and he feared a return to Windcliff should anyone hear it again from his own mouth. And Maggie at times, could be the town busy body.
Just shook his head, no story would come from him.
"Oh come on you can tell me! You can tell me anything!" Maggie said filling his mug with more coffee.
"Mags, look, it's just been a crazy week. I just want to get a good meal in and get to my own bed and sleep really well. I just want to put it all behind me, as best I can." Justin said.
"And Vicky? She ok?" Maggie wondered unsatisfied with his answer.
Justin thought for a second, he wasn't sure if she was even Vicky anymore. He left Collinwood after their kiss by her request so that he wouldn't be there when she switched back. If she switched back.
"She's fine." Justin said, as Maggie skeptically look down at him in the Cafe booth.
He thanked her for her service and dropped $15 on the table, tipping her well. She smiled and thanked him as he bolted towards the door almost bumping into a tall man with thick dark hair entering from the hotel lobby door that was attached.
"WHOA! Slow down kid!" The handsome man said.
"Sorry mister!" Justin said as he rushed off, trying to get away from Maggie's prying questions.
The man then sat himself over at Justin's table as Maggie came to take his order.
"That kid looks familiar, I think I remember him ...maybe when he was younger." the man told Maggie.
"Oh yeah? Are you familiar with the Pattersons? That's the Sheriff's son." Maggie informed him.
"That's little Justin Patterson?" The man asked.
"That's him. Not so little anymore." Maggie replied to the man who she had waited on the night he arrived over three weeks ago, the same night the real Victoria Winters arrived on the train from New York. He was back in town after a long time away. For business. Maggie wasn't unfamiliar with him historically. She knew him. Her father knew him. The Collins family knew him.
"That's amazing how much has changed, but....really nothing at all has." He remarked stirring sugar in his coffee.
"Yeah," Maggie said uninterested in any more towns-people talk with the man, "Anyway, what'll it be Mr. Devlin?" Maggie finished identifying the man as Burke Devlin, a Collinsport native back for a long stay.
"Just a cup of joe please. Black no sugar." Burke replied.
"You got it. It's good to see you out and about. You've been back in town for, what? Three week? Four weeks? Haven't seen you around." Maggie replied knowing Burke's full story. "Gonna be around for a while?" She added.
"I've been biding my time, you know how it goes." He said.
"Mmmm Hmmm." Maggie replied with a wink.
"But I do have a lot to take care of. A lot of ....old friends to see." Burke replied as he looked out of the window into the night towards the Collins' mansion sitting on Widow's Hill on the foggy horizon.
"Well that's not at all cryptic." Maggie joked.
"I've been back for a little over a month and things are just starting to get back up and running. It'll take some time but I think it's finally here." Burke added.
"I've been back for a little over a month and things are just starting to get back up and running. It'll take some time but I think it's finally here." Burke added.
"Up and running?" Maggie asked.
"Well, you know how things are around here Mags, slow and steady wins the race." Burke added as he sipped his black coffee.
"Burke, just keep in mind you don't want to fall into a bad spot again...not after, well you know, what happened." Maggie added as she began wrapping napkins around cutlery.
"Oh, don't worry about me, I know exactly what I'm doing and exactly who I'm going to do it too." Burke assured.
Maggie lifted an eye brow and smirked nervously. "I bet." she said softly.
As Justin walked towards his car that was parked just down the street from the Cafe, the fog from the night followed him like a lost puppy at his feet. He bundled himself up as the night chill touched the stubble on his face.
A feeling of cold came over him, like ice surrounded his whole body. It was a feeling he was very familiar with. It was a feeling of someone's hunger. A hunger for blood. A feeling of thirst. Something was following him, thirsty. Blood thirsty.
Justin looked everywhere. He could sense the eyes hiding in the shadows. He fumbled with his keys and started to run down the long street towards his cars away from the hungry thing that was trailing him. As he continued to rush down the street he tripped and fell in the road busting his lip on the pavement.
Just slowly got up, aching from this fall. The clouds of foggy air suddenly surrounded him as blood began poring down his chin from his ripped open lip. He reached to wipe it away when suddenly a cold hand from the mist of fog snatched at Justin's hand and held it tightly.
Just squinted through the clouds and saw a figure in silhouette then suddenly he recognized the person in front of him.
"Oh my god! Its YOU!!!" Justin said, his eyes wide with hear. "What are you doing? No...Please NO!"
The person did not respond, only licked the blood from Justin's hand that had come from his lip.
The person then slowly, and powerfully, pulled Justin close, Justin could now feel the person's eyes staring deep into his soul like they were tearing him apart limb by limb with just a cold glance.
They were now so close, he could feel the person's breath.
"No, please, WHAT DO YOU WANT! NO PLEASE! STOP!!!" Justin screamed.
He had no control of his body, no control of anything around him. The person in front of him, suddenly opened their mouth revealing long, sharp, violent fangs and bit down on Justin's neck quenching their thirst for his blood.
The person drank from Justin's throat then wiped their mouth with Justin's own sleeve. The person from the fog, that stalked Justin after he left the Cafe, then dragged him to his car and placed him in the driver seat slumped over, leaving him, alone, in the fog and now the latest victim of the un-dead. And now Justin too would be the newest member of the un-dead club.
The person, who vanished into the shadows and fog knew what they had done. They knew what was coming by leaving the afflicted man in his car waiting for the sun to come and burn him to ashes.
Justin would never have the chance to quench the thirst for blood that would soon come....it was a cold-hearted quick and malicious death.
