A/N

**This story follows the continuity and makes a couple of references to Sam Hall's article in a 1971 TV GUIDE issue titled, "Here's What Really Happened to Barnabas & Co.". Although most of it will not be mentioned throughout the story, there are a few references made here and there. It's not necessary to read it to understand the story, but if you would like to read it, check it out! Interesting to see the direction it was going to take.**

ACT I

A chilly autumn wind blew across Willie's face as he emerged from the cabin of his own fishing boat. He put his hands deeply in his jacket pockets and walked from the stern up to the dock. He stood back and looked along the pier at the overcast sky. It was nearly Thanksgiving in Collinsport, and the smell of cold sea air mixed with the crispness of autumn lay heavily over the town. This was the time of year when all of the ship owners who worked for the Collins family would work from sunrise to sunset to prepare for the "Grand Collins Family Christmas Celebration", complete with the lighting of the giant Christmas tree in the town square and the entire waterfront of town. This was going to be the biggest year ever as this was the 300th anniversary of the Collins Fishing Fleet and Cannery. Willie had been hard at work since sunrise, and he decided to take a break and grab a bite to eat.

The ringing of bells and chimes echoed throughout the town, and the sounds of crowds talking and cars honking in the streets could be heard loudly in the background. The holiday season had definitely arrived in Collinsport, and Willie could definitely feel it in the chilly air as he walked along the docks.

He sat down on an old wooden bench close to the pier, but far enough from all of the noise of all of the workers getting the Collins family fleet in immaculate condition for the annual Christmas lighting display in Collinsport. They would all stop and take breaks for awhile, but his fellow captains had a signal to warn each other when the apprentice fleet manager, David Collins, would come by to check on their progress. Part of this year's memo was a mandatory Christmas carol sing-a-long by all crew members to get all of the townsfolk in the holiday spirit, but it only seemed to happen whenever David came near. Willie spent most of his time listening to a little stereo called a Walkman that his wife, Roxanne, had gotten him for a birthday present. He kept the headphones around his neck so that he could hear football games being played but also listen for a random burst of "Jingle Bells" or other Christmas carols.

Willie had been in the employ of the Collins family as a ship captain for the last 15 years. After Barnabas moved to Singapore and Julia went to stay with him, Willie had to find another way to make a living. Knowing that he had no chance of being hired on as long as Roger Collins was in the picture, Barnabas made a recommendation for Willie to Elizabeth, who was still working and very active as the family matriarch. Barnabas left Willie enough money to buy a somewhat modern boat so that he could begin a new path for himself and learn a life of responsibility.

For the last twelve of those fifteen years, he had been happily married to Roxanne Drew, a ginger-haired and cheerful young woman. She and Willie had been trying for years to have a family, but they were unsuccessful. Rather than ask for a special handout from the Collins family, the two of them decided to work together and save every penny on their own so that they would be able to adopt children and live in an appropriate family-sized home. Willie worked long hours for the Collins cannery as a captain of his own small fishing boat, and Roxanne worked part-time at the Collinsport Coffee Shop as a waitress and at home as a seamstress. Their hard work was paying off slowly but surely, but they still had years of saving to do. It seemed as though just when they were getting ahead, something would happen such as a vehicle or home repair that would set them back just a little. Willie and Roxanne stayed determined, however, and one day they would have their own family. Willie knew that, as he often told his wife, a lucky break will come "with Willie and Roxy's names written all over it."

He opened up his lunch pail and found a roast beef sandwich on rye wrapped in aluminum foil and a little heart-shaped note inside.

"Switched your hamburger with this. Can't sing your heart out if it's all full of grease and mayo! Will bring home a double with the works for both of us when we get home tonight. Sing loud for me, Silly Willie! I'll be listening for you. —Love, Roxy"

Willie smiled and tucked the note inside of his jacket pocket. He was almost finished with his lunch, and he noticed a man in a long black trench coat and fedora hat trudging along the dock. He kept looking at Willie's boat, and then talking to some of the crew members working on the docks. Not knowing to engage the man or leave him be, he sat still and watched him as he went from person to person, and then back and forth to his boat. Something was definitely amiss. Finally, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Joe Haskell making his way toward the man. His cover would probably be blown now. Most of the sailors and captains would cover for each other, but Joe was always too honest and did his best to avoid confrontation since his own psyche had been completely broken apart upon his entrance to Windcliff Sanitarium.

Willie's attempt to stand up to vanish inconspicuously failed as Joe Haskell made direct eye contact with him and pointed in his direction. Willie turned his back and gathered up his things to try and walk away casually and ignore the man. In his mind's eye, he could see and feel the man in black coming toward him.

"Your name Loomis, mister?" said the man in a deep voice. Willie answered nothing and fastened his lunch pail shut, trying to ignore the man. Willie had become more sociable since Barnabas had gone away, but he was quick to avoid anyone he thought was trouble. Walking away and not looking back, Willie pressed forward to walk away in any direction, just as long as it was away..

"You know that by not saying anything you're telling me all I need to know, right, Loomis?"

Annoyed, Willie stopped and turned to face the stranger in black. Quickly sizing him up, the man stood slightly taller than he did, and he had a stereotype gumshoe look complete with the loose tie and scruffy, unshaven face. Willie paused for a moment and did his best to hold his composure.

"Alright, ya found me. If you're lookin' for somebody, I ain't the guy, okay? Now just turn around and go do whatever it is you gotta do and leave me out of it, okay?" With a quick turn, Willie walked away as quickly as he could. The man in black side-stepped and circled around in front of Willie, stopping him in his tracks.

"Mr Loomis, I don't need anything from you. Here...", Reaching inside his long black coat and pulling out an aged, yellowed envelope bound with string, the man continued. "I was sent to give you this and deliver a message. Tonight at 8:00, a man named Captain Clarney will be waiting for you at the Blue Whale. He says your life depends on it."

Willie stood completely still and looked down at the envelope, but he refused to take it. "I don't care 'bout who you are or what you say. Nobody controls me no more, so why doncha just get outta here before somebody gets 'imself hurt, huh, Mac?"

Unphased by Willie's boldness, the man never broke eye contact with him and dropped the envelope on the ground. "Anything you say. I couldn't care less what happens to you. I'm just here doing a job. Whether you open the envelope or not means nothing to me. I did my job, and I'm going to collect my pay." The man tipped his hat to Willie. "Say hello to your wife for me."

Willie felt a hot rush of anger suddenly wash over him, and the man in black was thrown instantly against the closest wall that Willie could slam him into. The stranger winced in pain, but he kept eye contact with Willie. Drawing his fist back, Willie swung with all of his might and knocked the man to the ground. He leaned over to pick him up and knock him all the way into Logan's port with the next hit, but he was soon interrupted by a loud, collective bellowing:

"I saw three ships on Christmas day, on Christmas day, on Christmas day. I saw three ships on

Christmas day, on Christmas day in the morning! On Christmas day in the morning!"

He knew that the Collins family members had to be coming, and that song was a code that meant that all three of them were on their way. David with his wife Hallie Stokes-Collins and Elizabeth Stoddard had to be mere seconds away.

With a hard shove, Willie pushed the man away and snapped, "Get outta here!" Before the man in black collected himself and walked casually away, he knew that his nonchalant pace would probably making Willie even more angry. Willie hurried and picked up the envelope before the sea breeze blew it over the pier and into the water below.

Stuffing the envelope into his pocket, he walked down the pier back toward his fishing boat as fast as he could to stay ahead of the mighty Collins trio who were making their rounds. He did his absolute best to appear busy. Of course, he had to join in with the other members of the fleet and pretend that all was well. He had been working hard all week, and his ship looked very fine and well-taken care of. When the three monuments of the Collins family walked by him, they said nothing and gave him a slight nod of the head in approval of his work.

After the three had passed him by, Willie slipped away into the boat's cabin and pulled out the envelope. He loosened the string holding the envelope shut and turned it over on its side. He could feel something rattling inside, and so he shook whatever it was down into his hand. Staring in bewilderment, Willie gazed down at the tiny, off-white cardboard square he was holding inside his hand.

This cardboard was deeply stained around the corners with age. Other stains and smears were scattered across this piece of cardboard, but none so obvious as the one on the opposite side—a large black ink spot. Willie's stomach grew sick when he saw this. Being a man of the sea for so many years, Willie knew exactly what this was a sign of: Final judgement. By death.

His hands shaking furiously while stuffing the black spot into his coat, Willie leaned forward as he sat, rocking back and forth nervously with his thoughts racing. What would happen to him if he went to the Blue Whale? Who was Captain Clarney? Was he the one who was meant to carry out his death? Who would send him the black spot? Why? He hadn't been out to sea since he had settled in Collinsport nearly twenty years ago. Should he take a chance and go to the Blue Whale, or should he just ignore it all?

Maybe this was some kind of trick that Haskell or someone was playing on him. Somehow, though, Willie's gut was telling him that this was for real. Searching everyway possible to rationalize reasons for staying away, Willie came to the conclusion that, if he didn't go to the Blue Whale to meet Captian Clarney, the one or ones who delivered this to him would come to him...and Roxanne.

Willie looked at his watch and saw the time was only 4:30pm. Minutes suddenly seemed like hours, and he could no longer concentrate on what he was doing. He kept thinking of what he was going to do and tell Roxanne and rehearsed what he was going to say, "Honey, I might not come home tonight. I don't know if I'm gonna be killed or not, and it's too dangerous to spend my last moments with ya b'cause whoever's here might try to kill you, too. Maybe it's just best if ya forget about me. But I might be okay. I might be away and nothin' happen. But will they be waitin' for me to be home with you? Wanna run away with me?" Each explanation sounded worse than the previous, and he felt like he was getting nowhere. Before he knew it, the sun had set, and it was now 7:30pm.

He knew that Roxanne would be closing up the coffee shop at 8:00pm, and so the time had come for Willie to call her. Whatever was the first thing that came to his mind, that's what he was going to say. He put a quarter in the payphone and called the coffee shop. Sure enough, he heard Roxanne's voice on the other side.

"H..hey, hey Roxy, it's Willie. H..how ya doin' sweetheart? How's your day been?" Even though he felt that his heart was ready to beat out of his chest, he still couldn't hold back a smile when hearing her voice.

Willie paused and took a deep breath, and he told Roxanne the first thing he thought of. "Listen, honey, they're makin' us stay a little later tonight than usual, it bein' the big anniversary year 'n' all. They're sendin' us to the Blue Whale for a quick dinner and coffee and then we're headed back to work for a little while longer. I'm on my way now, and then I have to be back here as soon as we're done eatin' and the cup of coffee is gone. I'm really sorry honey. Ya don't know how bad I've missed you, Roxy. I promise I'll be home as soon as I can, okay? I promise I'll save some room for that special burger you're bringin' home for us."

Reluctantly agreeing with him, Roxanne and Willie said goodbye and exchanged their sentiments before hanging up the phone. Willie sighed and hung his head. This was the first time he was ever dishonest with Roxy. He promised to always tell her everything, but this was the first time that doing so could possibly put her life in danger. At least this way, he knew she was safe for the time being. He hung his head and held his coat together as he left the pier and walked toward the Blue Whale.

Sticking to his face as he walked the streets of Collinsport, a light dusting of snow began to fall and blanket over the ground. When he neared the Blue Whale, he could see the swirling lights against the walls and a poorly hung set of worn Christmas wreaths with less than half of the blinking lights working on them. The cold wind blew his hair and made him sink inside the warmth of his coat as he crossed the alley that led to the welcome mat in front of the Blue Whale's front entrance. Pausing with his hand on the door, he swallowed hard and turned the knob and to quietly slip in.

**I do not own the rights to DARK SHADOWS. My story based on characters and the tv show created by Dan Curtis is solely meant for the enjoyment of the reader**

**"I Saw Three Ships" is a traditional Christmas carol; "Jingle Bells" was written and composed by James Pierpont**