Chapter 3
Roger closed the door behind him. Nobody had seen him come in. Now he only had to find Barnabas' coffin.
And Barnabas would never hurt Carolyn again.
Jake went downstairs. He felt silly worrying like that. What could happen to Roxanne? Still, he wanted to check on her.
Roxanne would be gone soon, and things would go back to normal. But until she did, he had to serve her as she wished.
There was no one downstairs. It had just been nerves..
But the door was not fully closed...
Roger opened the coffin. It was not Barnabas. It was the girl who had attacked him and sent him to the hospital. His lips curled as he pulled the stake up, ready to strike...
...But no, he had only brought one stake along, and he had come for Barnabas.
"I'll come later for you, darling." he said to her.
He went out the back door, trying to find Barnabas.
Jake went into the room. No one here...
But Roxanne's coffin lid was up...
He raced to her. She was unharmed.. whoever was here was not after her...
But there was someone here, and he'd better find him.
He listened to the sounds, tracking the footsteps...
Roger found Barnabas at last.
"So you are here." Roger said to him. "I am now going to kill you, and you can do nothing about it."
He wished that Barnabas knew what was going to happen to him.
He would know soon enough when the stake went through him. How painful would it be? He put his hand over the point. It should hurt plenty, he decided.
But not as much as Carolyn was hurting.
He placed the stake over the slow beating heart, picturing to himself who the flesh would be mangled by the wood tearing it.
He lifted the mallet.
And Jake, rushing thought the door, caught his arm, turned him around, and knocked him out with a blow to the jaw,
Iris felt uneasy. It was easy for everyone to advice that it was best to reconcile with Trask's flock. But they did not know how hard it was for her.
She had to swallow her pride and go see those people. Let's see if she could put the bitterness behind her. Let's see if it was worth it.
She gritted her teeth as her knuckles hit the first door. She hit it again, hoping that there was no one home, and that she could leave, and not subject herself to this.
But the door opened, and as the woman who opened it saw her, her expression changed form the conventional welcome to hostility.
"I don't have anything of yours, Mrs. White" she said coldly. "So why not go on your way?"
"I did not come for that. I want to talk to you."
"Talk to me? About what?"
"I want to say that I am sorry I said the things I said. I shouldn't have carried on a grudge for so long."
The woman's face did not soften. "You called me a thief and kept throwing the police at me. And now you want me to forget it?"
"I was angry with you. And I had a right to be! After all, you tried to kill me, didn't you? And my shop was looted, and it was someone like you who took my things there..."
The woman slammed the door on Iris' face."
"Georgie?" Dave hovered over the desk where Brant was pretending to work. "Brooding again?"
"Yes." George answered quickly "got plenty to worry about in this job."
"It has to do with what Mitch told you, isn't it?"
"He's a creep."
"He has a point. I did exploit boys sexually."
"Dave, I loved you. I know that you did not love me as much as I loved you. I know that I wasn't the first."
"And you would not have been the last."
"Still, you cared about me. More than anybody had done before. You were good to me. You were good for me."
"I was a sexual predator, Georgie. You have to face up to it."
"If you were, you were decent about it. Maybe that's all anyone has the right to ask."
"You should stop mourning me. I was not the great love of your life. You should find somebody whom you can love and who can love you."
"I already have."
"Ah, yes, Barnabas. But he does not swing that way."
"Do you mind my.. loving him?"
"It tickles my sense of humor the possibility of seeing him getting mounted by my old lover... but you are not going to get him. For your own sake, forget him. And forget me too."
"I can't"
Dave sighed. "I really screwed you up, didn't I?"
"How are you doing?" Angelique held the phone as if it was truly Sebastian's hand that she was holding.
"I am fine" Sebastian reassured her.
"You don't sound it." she insisted.
"But I am fine."
"Did you have a talk with her?"
"Not yet." Sebastian admitted "anyway. things seem to be getting back to what they were."
"I am worried about you."
"Don't be. There is nothing wrong."
"Just be careful. And if you need help, call me."
"Are you sure that you want to go to Collinsport with me?"
"Might as well meet your other brother." Oriana shrugged.
"And Barnabas." Amy added, shrewdly.
"Him, too, of course."
Amy nodded "Don't put up your hopes too high. He and Iris are back together again."
"But he can be seduced..."
Amy shook her head in exasperation. She should not have accepted Oriana's idea. Did Barnabas need more woman trouble? Certainly, neither Iris nor Oriana could cause as much trouble as Angelique. Still, it could be plenty of trouble...
Xavier munched a carrot while going over his accounts. He wasn't doing too bad. Grudgingly he admitted that Sandy Miller's business had proven productive, even if he had taken her in as a result of Barnabas' twisting his arm behind his back.
He wondered if he should have been in such a hurry to get rid of Barnabas. Of course, he now had little time to devote to him, what with Julia Hoffman keeping him busy that way. And he and Redwolf were the best of friends now. So the main reason for keeping Barnabas on the payroll was gone.
Sure, Barnabas could make things easier, here and there. But he could also get on your nerves...
Maybe when he was not so busy and wanted to go back to his U.F.O. study, he could hire Barnabas again...
Then Frank Torrance stepped in.
"Mr. Torrance" Xavier said acidly "what brings you here?"
"I'd like to check your center for violations."
"Are you?"
"It is the law. Look, I let you off easy because Barnabas asked me to. And also because..." his voice lowered " because I felt too guilty to do it. Still, I got a job to do, and since Barnabas isn't here to tell me to lay off, I can start on it.."
Xavier wished he had never fired Barnabas...
...Roger came here to kill me." Barnabas said calmly.
"Yes. Jake stopped him just in time."
"I owe it to Jake, then." he licked his lips nervously "Where is Roger now?"
"In a padded cell."
"We'll have to let him go, you know that, Julia."
Julia shook her head. "We can get him committed. I can arrange that."
"No." Barnabas said emphatically.
'He almost killed you. Do you want him to try again? And know that you are not the only one that he's threatened."
"We have to let him go." Barnabas insisted.
"Why?" Julia asked with exasperation.
"Because he's all Carolyn has now. We cannot take him away from her."
"He could have killed you. A few more seconds, and he would."
"I know that. But still we can't take Roger from Carolyn."
Julia lifted her hand to her forehead "This is going to be a long night." she said "Roger should be locked up for everybody's safety. Ask George Brant. He will tell you how Derek stopped him from murdering Quentin. Or how he attacked Delia."
"Do you know what this will do to Carolyn, if we put Roger away?"
"It is a risk that has to be taken."
"No!" Barnabas protested "You are not risking Carolyn like that. She lost her child. She lost all hope of having another. She lost her mother. She lost her friends. She lost Vicky. Roger is all she has left now. I am not going to sit here and watch whether taking Roger from here will drive her over the edge."
"She has Quentin." Julia pointed out.
"Quentin does not help any. She needs Roger."
"What if Roger tries to kill you again?"
"We'll keep Roger under surveillance, then. I can arrange it with Derek and Chris. He'll make sure that Roger does not leave Collinsport again."
Julia shook her head.
"I am taking him back" he extended his hand "give me the keys to his cell, Julia."
"This is my clinic."
"I can tear the door open. I believe you do not want that. Give me the key."
Julia threw the keys over the desk. "You are a fool, and if he succeeds in killing you, don't blame me."
"If he does" Barnabas smiled "You have my permission to say 'I told you so' as many times as you want at the funeral."
Phillip folded the laundry. That job that Barnabas had arranged for him was not the most mentally stimulating you could think of, but it kept him busy. Much better that sitting alone in his room, wondering how long until Barnabas pushed that bottle into his body...
He wondered how much this job at the laundry depended on his further cooperation with the sessions. Barnabas had not said that openly...
Anyway, there was no session tonight. Barnabas had gone off to Collinsport, so tonight he was safe.
Roger had tried to kill Barnabas, and Barnabas had driven him back to Collinsport..
He knew that he should be worried about Barnabas... and in a way he was, but he could not stop thinking that at least tonight he did not have to lie down and watch Barnabas move over to his side and rest one hand on his hip.
He would not do anything else. Not until this simple action stopped frightening him."
But the next steps would come. Not for a nigh or two, but it would come. And the next, and the next.
Until he had to take the bottle in... Just as it had been with Tom.
Barnabas had promised him that it would not be like that, but yet...
...It was the only way he could be free of it.
Why couldn't Barnabas just bite him and get it done with?
Because Barnabas was afraid of pushing him. He had pushed him once and it had led to his breakdown. He would not push Phillip again.
For the first time he wondered how it felt for Barnabas to have to live that way. Biting necks for his supper...
He was not totally happy with it. But usually he was too busy to be unhappy, either. And he had found a way to make it bearable, both for himself and for his victims..
But the word victims did not really apply. He had seen how they responded to him, how they asked him favors, and how they came to him for advice and comfort..
And the way he held them, that they held him... It was a gesture of friendship what he saw, not predation.
...And when he had done it to him... the first time he had gotten extra vacation out of it, and then, just after Tom had attacked him... He had been in the middle of that dark place, and did not know anything except that he was hurting. And then he had been pulled back... It hurt going back, but at the same time he was aware that there was somebody who cared, somebody who felt his pain...
Then he was crying on Barnabas' shoulder. His throat stung, and there was blood smeared on Barnabas' mouth. He did not connect it then... would not connect it for a long time...
Barnabas had done it twice to him. Once for Oriana's sake, and once for his, Phillip's sake.