Chapter 2

Elizabeth stepped back. Something warned her that she should not touch this woman. "Did Carolyn send you?" she asked.

Yolanda saw the shining eyes. And if she strained she could see the sharp teeth. She held her breath. She looked in her mind for the information that Judah had given her on how to control vampires. she'd have to use it now.

"Yes. Carolyn sent me. But not for what you think,"

"You did bring it, then?" Liz asked anxiously.

"Bring?" Yolanda did not understand the question.

"I need it. For the pain."

Yolanda understood. Liz had cheated death by becoming a vampire. But the cancer would not be cheated. It would keep on growing, feeding on her, and hurting.

"I have something better than that." Yolanda grinned to herself. "A way to make the pain go away without drugs. Just lie back and let me do."

Liz obeyed, extending herself on the floor.

"I am hungry, too." she said "I can catch rats, but it is all. I don't want to depend too much on Roger. I don't want to touch Carolyn... And I hurt too much to go outside.. I can't fly..."

Yolanda's fingers massaged Liz's temples as she began chanting the incantation that would both relieve Liz's pain and make her obedient. She was not sure that she could control Liz by her powers alone, but if Liz became dependent on her for pain relief, it would amount to the same thing.

She did not know how she was going to use Liz. But whatever plans she had for the future, Liz very likely would be part of them.

Liz closed her eyes, feeling the relief creep into her body... it felt so strange not to feel pain...


"So you fired Miss Oates?"

"Overton. Yes. I did. I had to, after the trouble she caused."

Barnabas shook his head. "I don't like her. But still it seems unfair. She did not look for trouble. She stumbled on it."

"You say that after what she tried to do?"

"If falling under Nicholas' spell is a crime, then you should be convicted, too. At one time you too were under Nicholas' power."

"Never like she did."

"Nicholas did not ask you much, for reasons of his own. But I did ask you. You would have helped me murder Julia, wouldn't you?"

"That's old history." Carolyn blushed "and, anyway, you did not kill her."

"There is hardly any one of us who can't fall prey to some outside force. I fell prey to the Leviathan and brought grief to everyone without being able to do anything about it."

"So what's your point?"

"That you should give Miss Oates... Overton, another chance."

"I won't. She gave me a false name. She did not come to teach Edmund, but to snoop around looking for evidence that Angelique was a bigamist and what else. As far as I am concerned, this is ground enough for dismissal."

"Mrs. Johnson came to spy on the family, too."

"There were extenuating circumstances. She was an old friend of mother's. She repented of her actions. She was an older woman with little money and family problems. Miss Overton is young, gifted, provided for. She was not trying to make ends meet. She was fortune hunting."

"Still, it seems too severe."

"Barnabas" Carolyn smiled "you are a real pushover, you know that? Yes, I know that you have turned Willie around and you have had good results with all your servants. But I can't control mine the way you can control yours. Miss Overton has to go. And anyway, she only wanted her job so that she could snoop. She may be hurt in her pride, but she did not care for the job itself."

Barnabas shrugged, uncharacteristically at loss for words.

"I am going to need a new governess for Edmund. That or send him to public school."

"I still think that it should be public school... or even a private one."

"I could get a pregnant governess for him."

"Vicky?"

"Sure, why not? She is qualified. She has, as far as I am concerned, good references. If she could handle David, she can handle anything. Sure, her pregnancy, and the baby later can present problems, but nothing that can't be handled. Actually, this is the best kind of job for her. The classroom would only be a few rooms from the baby, at most. She could care for it while teaching Edmund at the same time.

"I would have to talk to her about it."

"Oh, she'll take it. After all, she is staying with you on a charity basis. You do not make her feel that way, but that's what it is. I am offering her a chance to support herself. Do talk to her. I do need a governess, and I want someone I know that I can trust."


Yolanda knelt by the long dead body of Judah Zachary.

"I failed you, Master." she said "they surprised me and you were cheated of your revenge."

She touched the decayed, headless body. The power left in it was weak now, with the mask shattered, but some of it could be used. She had used some of it on Liz.

"But we will achieve revenge, you and I. It will take time and planning. Miranda will not escape us. They will not escape us. Maybe I will use this vampire, though she is weak. But however I do it, they'll pay for what they did to you."


Julia could not keep from wincing when she was Adam waiting for her at the office. he had always been correct in his behavior towards her, even since he had returned as Liz's husband. But she could feel the anger still burning in him. Or was it just her own guilt feelings?

"Doctor Hoffman" there was more than a hint of irony in the way he rose to greet her. "It was good of you to let me see you."

"If there is any way I could be of help to you..."

"Yes. There is. I can pay you well for it."

"If I can help you, you won't need to pay for it."

Adam smiled ironically "I prefer to pay for what I get, specially now that I can afford it."

"But..."

"But what? Are you going to say that you owe me something and that you want to work off your debt? Well, Doctor Hoffman, you'll have to live with your debt a bit longer. What I get out of you now I pay in hard cash." This time the insult wasn't veiled. He stared at Julia up and down. "I think that it would be useless to pretend that we like each other. But three is no reason why we cannot cooperate to a point. Is that good enough, doctor?"

Julia gulped. "I guess it is."

"Good. What do you know about the portrait that Charles Delaware Tate painted of Quentin Collins?"

"I know that Quentin should have it now."

"Does this portrait age?"

"It does. That's why Quentin doesn't"

"I see. And why was Tate able to do this?" Adam's eyes burned with intensity.

"Why do you want to know?"

"That is none of your business," Adam growled.

"It is. Tell me why you want to know."

"Doctor Hoffman, you still see me as that helpless creature that you put together in the basement and that could be pushed around. Well, doctor, you are wrong. I have changed. I have seen the world. I know what I want and how to get it. Don't make me show you how."

Julia gulped, tried to protest, but she did not. She felt guilty about Adam, and while she knew that he might be exploiting this he could not restrain herself. Adam was the closest thing she had to a son, and the knowledge of how badly she had botched her chance held her listening to her child.

"I don't see why I should be telling you this, except that I might as well get it out. Charles Delaware Tate was given this gift by Count Andreas Petofi, who wanted to use Charles in his schemes. According to Petofi, Charles; gift would last only while he, Petofi lived. He seemed to have taken it back sometime in 1897, but he might have given it back if he found a use for it."

"He probably did... But Petofi is dead, and the portrait is still effective."

"Well, take your pick. Petofi isn't dead. The end of the gift was not retroactive. Or simply Petofi lied to keep Charles obedient."

"Well," Adam smiled slightly "I got a name. Petofi. Tell me about him, Doctor."

Julia did. Adam did not interrupt her and only got up when she was done.

"Have I helped you?" she asked at the end.

"Yes. You did. You deserve payment." Insultingly, he laid down three one hundred dollars bills on her desk. "Is this enough?"


"Mrs. Collis fired me." Yolanda hoped that she sounded tearful and injured enough.

"She did?' Zeb asked.

"She believe what Mr. Collins told her. Mr. Barnabas Collins."

The name had the desired effect on Zeb. She saw him bristle and his eyes narrow angrily.

"Have you tried to explain it to her about him?"

"She would not believe me. Somehow he's gained an ascendancy over her. He comes to visit Edmund any time he likes. He is alone with him and when I tried to protest he said he'd have me fired. And he did..."

Zeb's face told her that she had calculated well. It was the kind of behavior that Zeb expected from Barnabas, confirming his worst suspicions.

"I need a job, Dr. King." she said simply "And I thought you could help me."

"I am looking for a specific person, to work with a severely disturbed child."

"I have worked with disturbed children" she would make it appear it so when he checked "I know about the boy who is living with you, Peter Upton."

Zeb King nodded. He thought about it for half a second. If her reference checked, he had found the right person to handle Peter. One who would not be swayed by Barnabas Collins..


He had a name. Count Andreas Petofi. And either he was alive, or a dead liar. Because Charles had painted another portrait, long after Petofi's supposed death. His own, Adam's, portrait. That was how his dependency on Barnabas had been removed. it was the only other portrait that Charles had painted. Petofi's gift scared him too much.

He had painted still lifes. Very realistically looking money. Food, which once created, ended in the kitchen and on the table. He remembered the caviar and champagne painting. That had been delicious. He sold some of the paintings afterwards. Not many. Realistic paintings were getting out of style. Charles could not see anything good in the modernist movement. Impressionism was the most he could stand. And, given his gift, it was wise to keep away from the modern school. What would have happened if he gave birth to a surrealist monster? Or an abstract shape moving about the house?

But still, he had painted Adam's portrait. And made him his son. That was where "Deale Atwater " came from. An anagram of "Delaware Tate".

But the one thing that Charles had refused to share with him was the origin of his gift. he did not like to talk about it at all. He was actually afraid to do so, as if somehow it could bring something unwanted back. As if by mentioning Petofi's name, he'd show up at the front door.

Well, he was not Charles. He was tough. And he was going to track Petofi.