Greetings dear readers.
After the wonderful response I got for Reflections in Moonlight, I got a couple of requests to show the Collins family moving back into the rebuilt Collinwood manor. So, you asked for it. LOL
Someone pointed out that there wasn't any of the regular drama that seems to happen with the Collins family in my last fic.
Well, I figure that they have to have SOME quiet interludes between their times of great drama and danger. As well, I just didn't think it was right for them to have anything big happen until they're back in Collinwood again.
As well, the little "slice of life" stories that I have planned out, I thought would take place right after they've had their big, supernatural battles. LOL
The descriptions of Carolyn's feelings in the days leading up to her tranformation into a werewolf are borrowed from Stephen King's masterpiece Cycle of the Werewolf.
FYI, if anyone is wondering how I visualize Carolyn when she's in her full wolf form, I imagine she'd look like something between the werewolf in the illustrated Cycle of the Werewolf and the movie Cursed. (It was aterrible werewolf movie...but the actual werewolf actually looked pretty good.)
As you all know, I love reviews. :-)
And awayyyy we go. :-D
David Collins knew he wasn't very big. It didn't bother him though. His Aunt Elizabeth had told him that the Collins men were like that. They tended to be small when they were very young, but tended to grow tall and thin (his aunt had used the term lanky, which she then had to explain to him) when they reached their teenage years. His Uncle Barnabas assured him that was indeed the case. Even better, his mother had told him the same thing.
So, not being very big at the moment didn't bother David much. He'd be big someday. He just had to wait. What did bother him somewhat was the creeping knowledge that no matter how tall he grew, he'd never be that strong. Well, he'd be as strong as any normal man, he supposed. Maybe he'd lift weights and become as strong as those bodybuilders in the magazines he saw at the local drugstore. They were strong. But, he didn't think he'd be anywhere near as strong as most of the rest of his family. Mind you, his family wasn't exactly normal in their abilities. Case in point, the scene unfolding before him…
"Move a little more to your left, Barnabas." His Aunt Elizabeth directed calmly. "The stairs are coming up behind you. Be careful."
"I most assuredly am, Elizabeth." Barnabas intoned as he walked backwards, carrying an ornate looking sofa. David kept pace with him. He'd been holding the umbrella over his Uncle Barnabas to keep the sunlight –what little there was on this very grey and gloomy spring day- off of him as they unloaded the delivery truck. At the other end of the sofa, Victoria, now his aunt, carried it forward through the front doors of Collinwood. Willie Loomis, had been holding an umbrella over her in a similar manner. She was dressed the same way as Barnabas –in a long coat, oversized hat, large sunglasses and gloves. As Barnabas backed down the steps by the entrance, she effortlessly hoisted her end of the sofa higher to compensate.
David marveled again at the strength he was witnessing. The sofa was a very old-fashioned type, made specifically to look like the one that it was replacing. As such, it was very heavy. David had accompanied his Aunt Elizabeth and Willie to the furniture maker when they completed the purchase. It had taken four large men to move it. But now, Barnabas and Victoria were easily carrying the weight of it as though it were made of paper.
Once down the stairs, the vampire couple effortlessly carried it over to where the main fireplace would be and set it down. The fireplace, where he and Carolyn had actually first met Barnabas was still being finished. Craftsmen were working on putting the mantle is and getting it to look exactly like it had before the old Collinwood was destroyed. Luckily, much of the original had survived the fire without much damage and was actually being used in the same spot in the rebuilt mansion. Barnabas wanted them get it just right though and made it clear they were not to rush the job. As it was spring, the fireplace really wouldn't be needed in the next few months.
Barnabas stood up from where they'd set the immense sofa down and regarded the mantle, as if inspecting the work. All seemed to be to his satisfaction. The only thing missing was the portrait of himself that had once hung above the fireplace in the old mansion. Regrettably, that was not so easily replaced.
"David, would you do the honours?" He asked his nephew. David, ever eager to help, draped a dust cover over the sofa, to keep it clean while the mantle restoration work continued.
Victoria straightened up and removed her sunglasses, looking around the vast, if uncompleted manor. Her husband stepped over to her and put his arm around her shoulder.
"What are you thinking of, my dear?"
"Collinwood; it looks exactly the same, yet different." Victoria said she looked around the mansion with her now enhanced vampire senses. The structure was the same as the old Collinwood, but it felt...unfinished. Everywhere there were ladders, tools, paint cans, buckets of wallpaper paste, etc. She knew that the house was still a work in progress, but it was still a bit of a surprise when she contrasted it to how the old place had looked.
"Ah, I assure you it will look exactly the same once the work is done. To have it any other way, would yield victory to Angelique. By the time the leaves change, I will defy anyone to be able to tell the new Collinwood from the old."
Victoria knew that Barnabas spoke the truth. He and Elizabeth had painstakingly arranged to have the new Collinwood be an almost exact replica of the old. They had discovered a set of plans had been kept locked away at The Old House. (Which was actually logical since that was where Barnabas' family had lived when Collinwood was originally built.) That had allowed drawing up the blueprints for the rebuilding to be a very simple task. The only changes were the addition of such things that had not been invented when the house was first built –bathrooms, a more modern kitchen, etc. Indeed, the only real changes Elizabeth insisted on were making the kitchen and bathrooms a little more modern. Aside from that –and, of course, more modern (and efficient) heating and plumbing- the new house would be exactly like the old one was. Even the old wing that had not been used for decades had been rebuilt as it was.
Barnabas looked down at the floor and saw a seemingly insignificant notch and smiled to himself. Even the secret rooms had been rebuilt into the new Collinwood. This particular one had been the reason why new fireplace hadn't been completed yet. It led to where the Collins' treasure had been stored. Right now, the room was empty. Being well underground and made entirely of stone that didn't burn, the treasure room had been undamaged by the fire. In the nights following the old manor's destruction, Barnabas –aided by Carolyn and Victoria- had removed the vast quantities of gold and jewels- to a more secret spot; as they didn't want any of the workmen who'd be soon arriving to clear away the wreckage and begin the rebuilding to accidentally discover the immense riches. Thus, the Collins' treasure was now safely hidden within a secret room in the Collins' family mausoleum. If one could make it past the securely locked crypt door, they would see nothing out of the ordinary in the room filled with the caskets of deceased family members. But, where the lion looked at the dove…There was an entranceway to a secret underground room where now in more hidden places…and in an immense coffin sealed with a chain, the Collins family treasure sat safely. It would remain there until Collinwood was completely finished and all workmen departed the estate for good.
"Carolyn…" David heard his aunt call from the front door. "Be careful."
"I'm fine, mom." Was his cousin's reply as she walked in, carrying a heavy wooden chair that would go in Elizabeth's study. David looked resignedly at his cousin as she carried it in. He didn't think he'd even be able to be strong as Carolyn. Being a werewolf meant that even in her human form, she was quite a bit stronger than most people. Even though her strength could not begin to match that of Barnabas and Victoria, she could easily tote weights that large men sometimes struggled with.
Carolyn emerged from her mother's study and looked around the main foyer of the manor. So far, moving day was going well. Luckily the weather was grey and overcast. That made it far easier for Barnabas and Victoria to assist in carrying in the furniture that had been ordered.
She looked up at the ceiling and a smirk appeared on her fair features. It was right about there, she thought, that she'd dropped through the ceiling and landed in the foyer that night where her family learned that Angelique's desire for revenge on the whole Collins family had touched Carolyn as well. Her mother, she thought, handled it pretty well; all things considered, she had to admit to herself. Carolyn's biggest regret that night was that she hadn't succeeded in ripping that witch apart. She figured that it was largely due to the fact she wasn't fully transformed. In the months since, Carolyn had figured that it was Angelique's presence –combined with the stress of what was going on- that triggered her transformation as much as it did. She wound up looking somewhat like a teenage girl's version of the title character in that old movie The Werewolf of London. If she'd been in her full wolf form, well…She was pretty certain she could have easily ripped that bitch's head clean off with her claws or ripped out her neck entirely with her teeth. However, that only happened on nights of the full moon. As it was, she was thrown right into the steps, pretty much at her mother's feet. Carolyn looked towards the steps –which still had to be carpeted and the detailed work on the banisters completed and could well recall her mother's reaction to her sudden appearance.
In hindsight, it was lucky she was still human enough that she was able to talk and tell her mother not to make a big deal about it. She wasn't quite sure if she would be able to talk –and be understood- when in her wolf form. She'd never tried it. And, to be honest, when she was fully transformed, she felt more like an animal. The main urge was to run free…to hunt. Luckily, she still had control enough that she hadn't attacked anyone. She hoped that would stay true. (Just in case, Barnabas had constructed a room in the cellar that was made of stone and had a steel door that would hold her secure in case she ever felt she was losing control of herself during full moon.)
"What's next, mom?" She asked as she walked up to Elizabeth, who was supervising the activities. Her mother turned around to say something but was stopped short. She quickly recovered herself.
"I'm sorry honey…It's your eyes. They just startled me." Elizabeth stammered apologetically to her daughter. Carolyn sighed and gave her usual half- smile. She knew what her mother was referring to. Her eyes, usually blue, began to turn green as the full moon grew near. The night of the full moon was two nights off now and Carolyn knew that her eyes had begun to show it. On the day of the full moon, they would start to go from green to a more green-gold as night drew near. Other symptoms would appear too. She'd just feel…different. She would feel really good and strong –even stronger than normal. She would feel other things too: a great restlessness, an impatience that was almost joyful and a sense of tension within her body. It was like her body knew that the time of the moon was coming and the change was almost there again. Carolyn scarcely sat still the day before the change. It was sheer hell on her if she had school that day. The day after, was a different story. Then, she felt very mellow…becalmed was more of an appropriate word. The day after, once she'd had some sleep, if given a choice she liked to sit quietly and read; maybe play something by Joni Mitchell or Judy Collins.
"It's alright mom." Carolyn said quietly. She had to admit, her mother really did seem to have an ability to take almost anything in stride. In hindsight, she thought that maybe she should've gone to her mother right after her first transformation –which had occurred around the time of puberty setting in- and told her what was happening. At least, she might have spared herself having to keep everything a secret. Overall, her general demeanor had improved since everyone found out. That's not to say she still didn't have her times of moodiness and general crankiness –she was a teenage girl, after all. (In March her time of the month had –unluckily for everyone- coincided with the full moon. Her mood that week was…memorable; David hid, Willie decided to spend a few days helping out at the cannery, even Barnabas had taken to his coffin for a few days then. Elizabeth had busied herself with overseeing repairs to Collins Cannery as well them having taken over ownership of Angel Bay Cannery. Victoria, who'd become Carolyn's closest friend in the preceding months, was about the only member of the family brave enough to go near her to offer support.)
Carolyn walked out to the truck to grab something else, passing Barnabas and Victoria who were carrying something another load into the foyer. Barnabas seemed energized everytime he looked around the rebuilt mansion.
Elizabeth noted the new patriarch's changed mood once across the threshold of the house.
"I think that the rebuilding's going well. Don't you, Barnabas?" She said as she approached Barnabas and Victoria.
"It is indeed, Elizabeth." Barnabas declared. "In time, the destruction of the old Collinwood will fade from memory, I am sure. I have waited most anxiously for this day. This is the day we mark our victory, dear family. Now that we are living again in Collinwood manor, we have defeated that whore of Satan. The Old House is indeed a part of the family's heritage and we shall always preserve it. But Collinwood…This is our family's true home and birthright. This is where we truly belong. This is our most hallowed ground." Barnabas looked around his assembled family proudly. There were only five of them now; five members of the Collins family left. He automatically discounted Roger. So far as Barnabas was concerned, Roger's behaviour was so unforgiveable he no longer deserved the honour of being regarded as a Collins. He still found it unfathomable that Roger had opted to leave rather than remain and be a father to David. When Barnabas gave him the choice, he'd hoped –for David's sake- that Roger would choose to remain and prove himself worthy of both the Collins name and having a son as fine as David was. That's what Barnabas had hoped for. However, he'd had a suspicion that Roger would take the option of leaving. Barnabas had prayed he'd be wrong in that suspicion…But he wasn't. As Barnabas had expected, David was heartbroken and didn't understand why his father went away. Watching the boys' tears Barnabas had sworn that he would step in and act like a father to David. And so he had…and now felt that both he and David were far much the better for it. (It was as much for David's sake as much as a desire for an exact rebuild that Barnabas had made sure that the secret rooms and passages were built into the new Collinwood…along with quite a few new ones. He'd told David that it was up him to discover them all for himself. The boy's face had nearly broken with the smile he'd had of anticipating the hours he'd spend exploring the mansion, looking for these new secret places.)
"Yes…We have returned to our beloved Collinwood." Barnabas declared grandly. He looked towards the staircase where the entertainment for their 'happening' had performed. "Why, once everything is finished, we should hold another ball…" He caught a look from Carolyn and nodded slightly "Pardon me…another 'happening' to celebrate both the house and the cannery being rebuilt." The family seemed to like that idea as they all seemed to nod their heads to the notion.
"Maybe we can get that Cooper woman to perform again. I daresay, she was the ugliest woman I believe has ever walked the earth, but she certainly held the crowd in thrall." Barnabas stated as Victoria snickered and Carolyn rolled her eyes.