(black screen appears, followed by white letters spelling out "A Dan Curitis Production")
-"Night of the Pentagram" by Robert Cobert begins playing, as the words, 'Omen of Dark Shadows' appear in white letters. Red slowly oozes down over the letters until they are completely covered in red, creating the title sequence-
-black screen fades into the dream kaleidoscope sequence as the 2nd half of the song begins to play. No cast members' names displayed for spoiler reasons-
ACT I
-the kaleidoscope effect subsides, and a white mist border appears around the screen to indicate a dream-
-the music piece, "The Secret Room" by Robert Cobert begins to play-
-the stairwell leading to the gallery is shown, and Angelique Collins is seen coming up the stairs, a troubled look on her face, her eyes dilated. All is silent except for the music. Angelique is calling out a name, but her voice is not audible-.
Angelique opens the door to the upstairs gallery and passes through.
-Before cutting away, Jeff Clark is seen following closely behind-
Bewildered, Jeff gets an impression that he is in a dream, and is observing something happening. He doesn't know who this beautiful woman is, or where exactly he's going. He only knows that she can't hear or see him. He follows closely behind Angelique; his face shows fright and confusion as if he doesn't know how or why he's there.
Walking slowly up the gallery staircase, Jeff finds Angelique screaming. Her eyes are filled with burning tears as she turns away from an impossibly old man lying helplessly on the floor in front of her. Her hand covers her mouth in shock and disbelief. She looks in horror at the painting of Charles Collins, which only a moment ago, showed Charles offering a young woman to her. Now, Angelique finds that the portrait that Charles once "brought to life" has been altered in a most horrific manner. Jeff's eyes gaze in wild disbelief at the grisly image on the portrait.
In the portrait, Charles has aged over a century, and his body is lying on the ground, looking exactly like the Old Man in front of him. Angelique is depicted as reaching out toward the Old Man. The portrait now shows the sky is blood-red. A pair of dark, almost black eyes open in the red sky above Angelique's image in the portrait. Frightened as if she suddenly recognizes whose eyes they are, Angelique runs past Jeff, still oblivious to his presence there.
Angelique runs desperately to open the gallery door and escape, but it's shut tight. She runs back to the Old Man who is lying in a frail, fetal position on the floor, and holds him. Jeff cannot hear her saying the name of the Old Man she is holding, but he is able to read her parting lips saying the name, "Charles".
Because of his aging, Charles is unable to speak, and Angelique looks in panic at the eyes in the portrait staring at directly at them. Her hand finds a sharp metal object lying on the floor. Gripping it tightly and with the ferocity of a scorned lover, she runs toward the portrait to pierce the eyes. Before she reaches the painting, she and Charles are engulfed in flames. The room does not burn, but their bodies are completely consumed. Charles' body slowly vanishes, and Angelique screams in torment as her body fades away.
-music cue "A Darkness at Collinwood" by Robert Cobert-
Jeff stands helplessly, not knowing what to do. Silence is broken as a loud voice echoes:
"CLAAAARK! I COMMAND YOU TO COME TO ME! YOU WILL OBEY ME!"
As the shrill reverb echoes through the house, Jeff runs down the stairs, through a door, finding himself in a dark corridor. A thick blue fog covers the room and is waist-high around him.
-as Jeff runs, the music grows louder and more erratic-
Jeff turns around frantically, seeing that he has nowhere to turn. Across the room, Jeff notices a man in a black robe with a hood covering his face standing there.
The man moves very slowly toward Jeff. The robed-figure pulls a small, black book from his robe. With each stride, the hooded-man's hand extends the book toward Jeff.
Forcefully, the man thrusts this book into Jeff's hand. Jeff looks down at the book, and looks again at the hooded figure whose hood is now removed. A strange, golden mask with many precious stones set deeply inside the face is revealed.
Jeff hears an unfamiliar voice reverberating as it speaks to him, "The time is come, Titus. You must return here..." As the words are spoken, the masked-phantom fades away and is gone.
-music cue "Night of the Pentagram" begins playing again-
Jeff, shaking his head in disbelief, tries to reassure himself through inner monologue: "I'm...I'm not really here. I'm only...watching. Nothing can hurt me. I'm just...watching."
Suddenly, a pair of hands with a familiar onyx ring reach from the darkness behind Jeff and grab his throat. No face or form can be seen, only the hands and gold ring with the black stone are visible. Jeff struggles to breathe, and begins to lose consciousness as he feels life slipping away from him.
Covered in perspiration, Jeff quickly sits up in his bed, choking and gasping for air.
-music stops-
(I do not own the rights to Dark Shadows. My fanfic is only intended for the enjoyment of the reader :)= )