Cracked chapter 4

Willie opened the door of the families light-blue Chevy as Barnabas gazed in awe at his beloved home, completely returned to it's original state. He put one foot out at a time, keeping his eyes on his mannor.
"My god", Barnabas said under his breath.

"Ya", Willie responded in his usual, hungover tone, "It's completely unharmed inside as well". Barnabas walked up to the double mahogany doors and looked up at his home. Memories flooded through his head as he opened them and stepped inside, inhaling deeply.

Elizabeth stopped with an open mouth as she turned around at the end of the hallway and saw Barnabas standing in the middle of the entryway, looking around the room.

"Barnabas", she quizzically stated, "You're here". He turned his eyes from the chandelier to her and replied,

"Yes", he said blankly.

"What happened to you? We haven't seen you in days, is Victoria with you?", she asked with a stern, confused expression. Barnabas replied,

"I thought that Angelique had died, and went to look for Victoria", he said walking towards her with an unreadable expression, "I found her atop widows hill, she was going to throw herself from the edge. Just as Josette did...". He trailed off as Elizabeth covered her hand with her mouth and stepped away from him. He quickly added,

"But arrived just in time to break Angelique's hypnosis on her, but she insisted on it".

"And as she fell I thought of nothing else but to turn her immortal on the fall down. After I saved her, we went back to Collinwood. To our surprise, Angelique was still alive. Soon after she incinerated Victoria", He stated looking down at the floor.

"Angelique told me I was in a post traumatic shock coma for four days" He said, still looking at the floor next to Elizabeth. She was astounded at his strength, after all that had happened to him, he still seemed almost mentally stable.

"You talked to Angelique?", she asked.

"Yes, I woke up in her home", Barnabas answered. Elizabeth looked at him with deep confusion. He seemed totally stable and unharmed.

"You must be devastated", she mentioned out of concern for him. He blurted out,

"Yes, but things of this sort are rather familiar to me", looking into Elizabeth's eyes. After a while of looking around he spoke again,

"Is the rest of the family alright?".

"Mostly", she said with eyes full of sadness and horror, "Carolyn got pretty beat up, her leg is broken and she has a rib fracture".

"I am so sorry Elizabeth", he stated sincerely. She thought about his remark for a second before asking,

"What are you sorry for, you saved David's life and have helped us so much", She remarked. Barnabas sighed and let out,

"Yes, but if I had thought threw my decisions in my early life more I wouldn't be here, and this family would be much better off. I would have died a very long time ago and Angelbay most likely would not exist. As well as many innocent lives would not have been ruined", and he added,

"I am the one to blame for this families suffering.. in a way".

"That might be true, but do also realize the wonderful things you have done for us, you still care about your family. And you're willing to deal with your own personal suffering to help us", she admitted and included a small

"Thank you", before walking up the stairs to tell the rest of the family of his return.