Author's Note: So I saw Dark Shadows, and instantly fell in love with Barnabas and Angelique. This was inspired by the end of the movie, in that second or so that Barnabas lingers near Angelique before he leaves Collinwood. So enjoy! By the way, I like reviews. Wink wink nudge nudge.
It was over. It was all over.
Collinwood was burning down. Flames were licking every square inch of the manor, snaking into every corner, igniting everything in sight. However, Barnabas Collins wasn't looking at the fire surrounding him. He was looking at something much more unpredictable and much more destructive.
Angelique Bouchard.
The crystal chandelier sparkled like thousands of tiny diamonds, like snowflakes, binding their ice queen. Angelique's lean body was caught in the chandelier, never to move again. Her platinum blonde head lolled to the side, her dead eyes staring dejectedly at the ground. Those eyes...those eyes reflected a multitude of emotions. Emotions experienced by a woman that had lived for two centuries, craving what she could never have. Pain, hurt, longing, desire, rage, jealousy, love, hatred. Angelique had experienced it all.
The flames of the fire flickered upon her beautiful face. That perfect porcelain face, marred by cracks. A single tear glittered within a crack on her pale white cheek.
Barnabas could not help but stare at Angelique, her inexplicable beauty too great for words. Looking at her, the memories of centuries past came flooding back to him.
Back when he had first made love to her. So innocent...a forbidden relationship between master and servant. They had made love everywhere...the sofa, the piano, the floor, the bed. So much heat, so much passion...
Back to the night he had broken her heart. She had professed her love to him, and he had rejected it. Why? He himself could not say.
Back to when she had locked him in a box for two hundred years. Oh, how Barnabas had detested her, despised her, absolutely hated her for that. He wanted nothing more than to send the witch to hell, where she belonged.
Back to when they had reunited at Collinwood. That straight blonde hair. Those devilishly red lips. That killer body. The feel of her hand in his. It was like it all came back to him. The attraction was still there, and he knew it. However, it frightened him to think about how he still craved her despite all that she had done to him...
Back to when they had both given in to temptation and made love in Angelique's office. Her lips upon his...his body upon hers...two centuries later, and he still had a weakness for her. She knew exactly how to get what she wanted. Beautiful. Dangerous. Diabolical. Angelique was Barnabas' heaven, but she was also his hell.
What about Victoria? Barnabas' mind flitted to the other, the one who he claimed to have fallen in love with. She was sweet, kind, gentle, docile. Angelique was the complete opposite, comparable to a wild animal who couldn't be tamed. Angelique was everything Victoria wasn't, and never could be. Perhaps her mysteriousness, her ferocity, her passion was what attracted Barnabas to her, even after all she had done to him.
Snapping out of his reverie, Barnabas extended a trembling hand to touch Angelique's delicate face. The cracks in her cheek shattered as Barnabas ran a finger over them. He gazed at her cracked exterior with sympathetic, remorseful eyes, searching for answers. Why didn't I love you before? Why didn't we spend eternity together? Can you see me looking at you like this? Do you know what I'm feeling? He paused. All these years...why am I realizing this now? After you've left me?
Barnabas' eyes lingered over the large gaping hole in Angelique's chest. Just moments before, she had professed her love to him for the last time. Her last words had been, "I love you, Barnabas...take it..." and she had given her heart to him. Literally. Angelique had extracted her glowing, beating heart from her chest. "Take it..." Suddenly her heart had turned black, shattering before him. Her broken heart now lay in pieces, scattered carelessly along the cold floor.
Tears sprang to Barnabas' eyes. It was too late. Far too late. He realized now that Angelique was his first. The first woman he was ever attracted to. The first woman he fell in love with. She was also his last. The last woman he would ever make love to out of lust. The last woman whose heart he would ever break. She was his everything. They'd had a rocky relationship, and were never destined to be together. However, he would never forget her, or her wayward passion for him. She would be a part of him forever.
Barnabas picked up a single piece of Angelique's heart, making sure to handle it with great care, delicately putting it in his pocket. He took one last glance at the woman that he still loved, the beautiful but flawed witch that he would always love, before leaving to rescue Victoria.