Dark Shadows is the property of Dan Curtis/MGM and probably several other groups. No copyright infringement intended.

My name is Victoria Winters. Forces beyond anyone's comprehension have repaired a stitch in time. Once more surrounded by a sea of familiar faces, one young woman now knows the horrifying secret of a man she thought she might love. Another young woman remains under his spell. The greatest force of evil this house has ever known occupies the third young woman in the room, while far away a sudden silence provides another clue into the great darkness that awaits the inhabitants of Collinwood…

COLLINWOOD

As Vicki's eyes locked onto Barnabas's she, for the first time, was absolutely certain that her supposition had been correct. The palpable terror in his eyes confirmed it. Vicki's heart seemed to stop in her chest as she struggled for a calming breath.

Dr. Hoffman saw Barnabas freeze as Vicki looked at him. The girl's terror was evident. It would be a matter of moments before she screamed out the truth. Her hands went for the most potent medication in her bag, something that would silence Vicki.

The syringe was almost in Vicki's arm when the bedroom door burst open. "VICKI!" the young boy cried as he flung himself onto the bed.

"David," Vicki cried, equally happy. She hugged the boy tightly.

"Sarah said you'd just gotten here!" David exclaimed happily.

"Sarah…"Vicki replied softly. "Oh, David, did Sarah ever tell you how much you are like her brother Daniel?" Her heart tightened as she thought of a sunnier little boy than the troubled David who'd played with the same toy soldiers, and of the quick-witted girl in the white bonnet. For one moment she let her eyes lift back up to meet Barnabas's. As the horror unfolded around her she'd not had time to grieve the loss of little Sarah, and she wanted to commiserate with one other person who felt that loss. The pain in his eyes was there. Vicki swallowed hard as she returned her gaze to the boy sitting next to her.

"I've missed you, David. I'm so glad to be back."

"What was it like? What was Sarah like then? What was her family like?" David's asked the questions every adult in the room was dying to ask.

Pushing the hair back from her face Vicki looked up at Elizabeth.

"Come now, David. There will be time later to ask Miss Winters all about her unusual experience. I'm sure Vicki wants to change into something more comfortable and get some rest. Carolyn, take David back to his room, please."

Carolyn could barely tear her eyes away from Barnabas as she escorted David from the room.

Vicki stood up, noting for the first time the medical equipment grouped around the bed.

"We all would like to hear the answers to those questions," Roger said from his position behind Maggie.

Vicki stood quietly, wondering how she could answer any questions. "Elizabeth, Elizabeth looks like Naomi Collins." Grappling for another easy anecdote none came. She wasn't ready to talk. "I need to…process everything that happened, and I'm so very tired."

"Of course you are. Everyone, please go downstairs. Vicki can talk to us later. The important thing now is that she rests. Roger, ask Mrs. Johnson to send up a tray to Vicki's room." Elizabeth began sweeping people through the door, starting with Julia Hoffman, Roger, and Maggie who were standing closest to Victoria.

"Victoria," Barnabas said softly. No, she thought, no. Her mind filled with images. Daphne. Millicent. Sarah. Peter. Dancing in the old house. Kissing in Josette's room. Lowering her gaze to the floor she shook her head no.

"Barnabas, she needs rest," Elizabeth said in a voice that would brook no argument. "Let me walk you out."

Grateful for Elizabeth's interference, Vicki walked alone to her room. Standing inside the door the rush of the familiar hit her. The room had the unloved look of abandonment. The book she was reading lay on the sofa. Her favorite hairclip was on top of her hairbrush. The only difference was that someone had stacked her mail on her desk.

And, on her bedside table, was a music box. Vicki crossed the room, picking it up, before collapsing to the floor with only the moon for light.

"Don't you think we should question her, Elizabeth?" Roger asked, irritated at his sister, as they entered the Great Hall.

"Roger, there are no words for what that girl has been through! She needs to get her bearings back, and then I'm sure she'll tell you whatever it is that you want to know." Elizabeth said calmly, her protective instincts rising.

"This is ridiculous. Maggie, get your coat, I'll drive you home, since obviously I won't be needed here tonight."

The ringing phone reverberated through the walls of Collinwood. Carolyn answered the extension by the stairs.

"Roger," she called suddenly. "It's for you. It's England."

Mrs. Johnson entered Vicki's room without knocking, a decision she applauded when she saw that the girl was sitting in a heap on the floor, in a dirty dress that she would never be able to take off of herself, holding the silver box she kept by her bed. Placing the tray on desk Mrs. Johnson turned eagerly to the task at hand.

"I know it was an unusual trip, Miss Winters, but I expect like any trip you are ready to get out of your traveling dress. Why don't you stand up and let me help you? After all those years of Mrs. Stoddard's fancy dress parties I'm quite good at getting those dresses on and off. Then you can have a bath. Your dinner will keep."

Fancy dress. Vicki remembered her excitement over the party, her excitement at looking like Josette, her excitement at wondering what would happen next with Barnabas. Barnabas, who had turned away from her that night…

"Thank you, Mrs. Johnson," Vicki said automatically. As she stood up, she flinched as she saw Mrs. Johnson's face, remembering Abigail branding her a witch. Abigail, she reminded herself, not Mrs. Johnson.

THE OLD HOUSE

"Where is Barnabas?" Julia asked as she barged past Willie.

"I don't know. I ain't seen him since Sarah told him Vicki was dying. She didn't die, did she Dr. Hoffman? She's alright, ain't she?"

"Yes, she's fine, Willie. But Barnabas left Collinwood before I did, he should be back here by now. It's urgent that I speak to him."

"Here I am, Doctor. I was taking in the night air, the only air I can have since your chicanery with my treatment."

"Now is not the time, Barnabas! What are we going to do about Vicki?"

"What are we going to do? I didn't realize Miss Winters was any of your concern."

"What do you mean, do about Vicki? Is something wrong with her, Barnabas? Did they hurt her back then? Is she sick like your sister? Oh, I don't want anything to happen to Miss Vicki," Willie said.

Barnabas looked over, having forgotten Willie was in the room. He had also forgotten Willie's devotion to Victoria. A devotion that might be traded upon soon.

"No, Willie, she seemingly survived 1790 with no more than bruises."

"She could know your secret, Barnabas! I saw the look on her face when saw you."

"Do you think I didn't see it, Doctor?" Barnabas answered with a quiet menace that made Willie instinctively move away. The look on Victoria's face was etched upon his soul. It was the same look Daniel, Sarah, and Josette had on their faces when they realized what he was. It was the one look he had hoped to never see on Victoria's face.

"You'll have to stop her," Julia said, refusing to back down. "Or I will."

Barnabas's hands were around Julia's neck before the sentence had completely left her mouth. "Make no mistake, Dr. Hoffman, you will not touch Victoria. You will not harm her in any way. If I even think you might, I will make you wish you had never been born. Are we clear, Doctor?"

COLLINWOOD

"That was Ferncliff," Roger announced as he walked in the Great Hall, careful to avoid Maggie's gaze. "It's Laura. A few days ago she sank into a catatonic state. If she doesn't come out of it soon…well, decisions will have to be made."

"Oh, Roger. Would you like me to come with you?" Elizabeth offered, hoping her brother would say no. Carolyn had been acting strangely, Victoria needed time to recuperate, and David needed supervision.

"No thank you, Elizabeth. I'm going to leave within the hour. I've already booked a seat on the first flight out of Boston in the morning. Maggie…"

"I'll drive Maggie home," Carolyn said. "Are you ready?" Maggie nodded, still silent. Roger noticed that she didn't even look his way as she followed Carolyn out the door.

Victoria stood in front of closet, wrapped in towels. Without a doubt, she thought, that had been the longest shower of her life. Every bath product she owned she had used. Never again would she take for granted the ability to be truly clean.

The last thing she wanted to wear was a dress. Quickly she found a pair of jeans she'd owned since boarding school, her favorite white sweater, and her riding boots. An odd outfit choice, she acknowledged, but it suited her mood.

As she picked up a sandwich from the tray Mrs. Johnson had left she wondered if, right now, Peter was dying a painful death. Did he wonder where she was. Did he know she was all right.

No, she thought. Later she would mourn Peter. Later she would do all she could to discover his fate. Later she would ponder his last words to her. Now she needed to focus on the present.

She picked up the music box again, this time lifting the lid to let the music play. "Oh, Josette," she said softly. They had meant to save each other. How odd, Vicki though, that we both planned our futures with the same man, two hundred years apart.

No, she hadn't saved Josette. Or Sarah. But there were others that needed protecting now, and she was the only one who knew of the dangers lurking at Collinwood. Stopping to ransack her jewelry box Vicki failed to notice the return address on most of the letters Mrs. Johnson had stacked on her desk.

OLD HOUSE

"You think Angelique moved from you to Maggie?"

"I'm telling you, Barnabas, when I looked at Maggie after she unplugged the machines-well, what looked back at me wasn't Maggie Evans."

"She was trying to stop Victoria from coming back," Barnabus mused.

"Well," an unexpected voice said from the other side of the room, "she failed."

"Miss Winters!" Willie almost knocked Vicki over in his excitement at seeing her. "How did you get in here?

"You forget, Willie, now I've lived in this house with two small children who were very clever about getting places."

"Oh, Miss Sarah." Willie's face fell. "That must have been awful sad when she died, her being so little and everything."

Vicki felt guilty, but she was paying attention to Dr. Hoffman instead of Willie, suddenly remembering the doctor's bizarre interest in the music box and the way the doctor had watched her at the costume party.

Dr. Hoffman was jealous. Jealous, because a two hundred and thirty year old vampire liked her better.

Vicki giggled, then clamped her hand over her mouth, realizing what Willie had said. "Willie, it was all a bit like falling through the looking glass. And, really, I still feel like I'm just waiting for the Mad Hatter to invite me to tea."

"Oh, sure, Miss Winters," Willie said, confused. Maybe something had happened to her back then.

Barnabas watched silently. She looked different in some way he could not quite describe, and it was not only the ridiculous clothing she wore. Tired, yes, and grief-stricken. But she was here. She came to him without being asked. Perhaps he had misread what he thought he saw in her eyes.

"May I have a drink?" Vicki asked, suddenly needing something to help her along.

"Of course," Barnabas said as Willie ran to the sideboard and Julia rolled her eyes in disgust.

"Willie, please walk Dr. Hoffman back to Collinwood," Barnabas instructed as he reached for the brandy.

"Barnabas," Julia said warningly as Victoria moved to the davenport.

Willie moved quickly to get Dr. Hoffman out of the house. Barnabas handed Victoria the brandy and carefully sat next to her.

Never had she finished a drink so quickly before. Sitting in front of the fire, the brandy succeeding in making her warm where the shower had failed, Barnabas sitting quietly beside her, she could almost convince herself that the whole thing had been a dream.

"Victoria…"

She moved quickly, wrapping her arms around him, laying her head against his chest.

The movement caught him by surprise, but after a moment he wrapped his arms around her. Perhaps Angelique had not caused Victoria to be poisoned against him. Perhaps there was hope, after all.

She relaxed against him, remembering the times they had done this before. He was always so careful when he touched her. It had been easy to think that it was part of his good manners, but the proof was under her ear.

As her ear pressed against his chest Victoria heard no heart beat. Carefully she reached into her front pocket and wrapped the item around her fingers before she pushed back from him and lept to her feet.

The cross was in front of his face. Barnabas shrank back in pain.

"Now," Victoria said, "we can talk."