Chapter 10

Barnabas recognized him. He was one of those who supported the old shaman Munsungan. And this one was more devoted than most.

"You want to see me?" he asked mildly to him.

"Yes." the man said, out of breath "Old Munsungan wants to see you." he gave Barnabas a piece of cured hide with painted symbols that Barnabas recognized as the shaman's signature. "We can help you defeat your enemy."

"Yes, the old man could. If anyone could help him it would be him. All the other ways were dead ends. Julia could not unlock David's mind and calling on Guthrie had almost led to Julia's breakdown.

He smiled at the man, who looked away, as if embarrassed (had it been only two years since he had seen first? Certainly it seemed impossible that this polite and helpful young man had once bound his hands so tightly for the firing squad.).

"Thank you." he said to the man.

"You will have to come with the other one. The young man."

"David"

"You two need to be there for what Munsungan needs to do."

"You want to go there?"

"I have to."

Oriana was not happy with that. "How much do you trust this shaman? You told me that once he had you before a firing squad."

"That is ancient history."

"Is it, really?"

"If someone can help us, it is he."

"Barnabas" she took his face in her hands. "I worry. This place is getting more and more unendurable by the minute. And that is what Laura is counting on. She will lure us out, one way or the other."

"I know the old man. He is not someone that Laura can handle. He has powers of his own. I know because I tried to tackle him. Laura would not do any better than I did."

He pulled her to him and kissed her deeply. "But it is good to know that you care about me. Maybe this is more than a casual relationship for you."

The fire raged as Redwolf stood in front of it. Munsungan lay on a heap, moaning, still unconscious from the beating he had received. They looked at him with less feeling than if he had been a dog, Redwolf noticed with satisfaction.

Hallie howled and danced, naked, a torch in her hand, calling Laura to them. Fire enveloped her, as she threw her head back to howl like a wolf ready for the kill.

Today... today Laura would reclaim her son. Tonight Barnabas Collins would die. Die by her hand. But the hand of Maude Browning.

She remembered his hands on her throat, remembered her fear, her pain, her wish to escape, to live... he had not cared at all.

Well, it was her turn now.

Her blood was boiling. it was a hunger that was not properly hunger. It was a need, a delayed pleasure, an explosion building inside her body.

"Laura!" she howled. "Laura, come claim your son!"

She could almost see Laura's figure. The Mistress, the Lady of the Fire. The ageless phoenix. The woman whose beauty had driven men to self-destruction and to bondage after death. The one who collected the hearts of her slaves in a small chest...

Hallie whipped her arms, dancing frenetically. So be it. She gave herself to Laura, gave herself to the power running through her. Laura would reward her faithful servant.

Her hands went to her head. For one moment she regretted that she did not have longer hair to cover her naked body. She whirled round and round the fire, as the flame began to take shape, to become a woman.

"Laura! Your son is coming to you!"

Frank flicked the lighter.

"Come baby" she begged the small flame "come to me."

He felt angry. Why was he punished? True, he had failed with Angelique. Still, he had delivered the sheriff and Redwolf. And he had been rewarded for that. Janet had come to his cell and had shared his cot once more.

Why didn't she come now? What had he done wrong?

Maybe it was nothing. Maybe Laura had not use for him anymore... Not with Hallie, and Brant and Redwolf, not to mention the women that Hallie had converted.

Hallie had failed, too. Why was she not rejected? Maybe it was because she had not been content with a salamander in her bed, maybe she wanted more...

Maybe he was wrong. Maybe Janet would not come because she had to be present when Laura claimed her son as her mate.

Maybe... and maybe Laura had just forgotten him, as she had Buffy.

She had not contradicted. He now expected more than the casual relationship that she had offered him. And she had never thought of it that way. Sure, being locked up made the camaraderie grow, and you got closer than you meant to be. She had wanted a bit of fun with him, and she stayed out of loyalty. But she had never meant anything permanent.

He was not someone with whom you could plan a future. She thought that he understood that. But he didn't.

She would have to tell him. But not now. Not when danger was still there...

And she had something to do...

It had been a long argument before they considered another attempt to contact Guthrie. Julia still objected to it. But still, as Oriana pointed out, they did not have other alternatives. Their choices were becoming fewer and fewer.

Julia didn't join them. Neither did Kenneth, for different reasons. but Willie, Louella, and Frances made up for it. Frances was well enough to try this, and she had insisted she wanted to help.

"Peter Guthrie" Frances said "Professor Peter Guthrie. Barnabas and David have gone to those who promised them help. Are they going to receive it? Are they walking into a trap?"

There was a slight movement in the air.

"Peter Guthrie." Oriana insisted "we need you help."

A small breeze stirred Frances' hair, chilling her.

Then Guthrie was there, looking fixedly at them.

But before Oriana could repeat the question, he was gone.

Barnabas drove as David sat next to him. David had a faraway look in his face. He knew why. In her determination to unlock him mind, Julia had used drugs on him.

Drugs again. David had first taken them to escape the incestuous embrace of his mother. Then the drugs had become a need of their own. Then the werewolf curse and the vampire bite had offered better protection, and by then David had forgotten why he had turned to drugs.

Clean, his curse a thing of the past, his link with his vampiric cousin slowly fading away, the had hoped to start a new life. Instead he had found Laura waiting for him.

"This better work" Barnabas told himself. David could not spend this life hiding from Laura. He could not go on getting high regularly, or keep coming back to his cousin to be bitten. He could not plan his future on that basis.

Even if the second alternative was possible, Laura could easily stop it. She only had to have him staked, and David would be hers for the taking.

He realized that he had been looking for Priscilla. But, of course, she was not there. He had watched impotently s Laura recaptured her.

It was painful to think of her. All the thoughtless cruelty that he had been capable of, once. He could get away with it, and that was reason enough.

He knew that he had changed over the years, but never before had he realized how much. It was as if it had been a different man who had done those things. A man that he didn't think he' care to meet.

"Which one of you is the real one?" that had been Maggie's question as she laid there, trying to find her way back from the morass that Kira had thrown her in.

He did not know the answer to that. He hoped that the was now the real one, not the other. Yet he also knew that he could not deny the other's reality. He shared too much with that man to be unable to deny him.

It was still a few more miles to the tribe and the roads were icy. He wasn't a very good driver. Usually he did not need to drive. Flying was good enough for him, but now with the responsibility of David he cursed himself for his lack of skill in negotiating the difficult roads. Should have kept up with the driving lessons that Megan offered him.

Should have... his life was but a series of should haves. Should have kept away from Angelique. Should have avoided the duel with Jeremiah. Should have kept his head...

Should have, but never did. His ability to do the wrong thing was unmatched. Even now Julia was suffering for something that had started when he had panicked and began making wrong decision after wrong decision.

At least he could claim temporary insanity to that. But what could he claim about his treatment of Priscilla? Being a true son of his father?

David smiled encouragingly at Barnabas. It worried him to see the expression in his cousin's face. He had been more shaken by Julia's action than he admitted. For some reason he was blaming himself for it.

And that wasn't fair. If anyone should be blamed it was him, David. He had brought nothing but trouble for everyone. He recalled with shame his days as a drug pusher. He had even used Barnabas' home for a center of operations.!

Barnabas had fought for him, refusing to give up hope when everybody else shrugged him off, and rightly so. He had put him back on his feet, and sent him off to college (how had he managed to get the money?)

And now everybody was in danger. It had gotten to the point that Barnabas could not even trust Frances Jackson.

And the worst of it was that Barnabas was now somehow blaming himself for it.

"Barnabas" David said.

Barnabas nodded to show that he was listening.

"I want you to know that I am grateful for everything you've done and that I am sorry I keep bringing you trouble."

"It is all right, David." Barnabas smiled "It isn't your fault what is happening."

"If it wasn't for me you'd not be in this mess."

"I have to face Laura, and not just for your sake. I owe somebody a debt and this is the only way I can pay it."

"Still" David insisted "It would be easier without me around. Why do you fight so hard for me? Why did you decide that I was worth the trouble?"

"You are worth the trouble."

"Why? You know what I was. A junkie and a pusher. I was a problem kid. Brought nothing but headaches for everybody. You know what I did to Amy. Do you still think that I am wroth saving?"

"Yes. You are." Barnabas said calmly, then added with a sad smile "It wasn't that long ago that I asked Julia the same question. What she had seen in me that she decided that I was worth saving."

"You were."

"It didn't seem so at first. I don't know what makes us take on hopeless cases and decide that something can be made out of them if only we can figure out the right way. I guess that sometimes we get glimpses of what is going on beneath the surface. Not enough to tell us what it is, but enough to know that it is worth fighting for. I saw enough of what's in you, David. There is a lot more than just a junkie and pusher. Just as there was more to me than just... what I was when Julia found me... And unlike me, you never killed anyone."

'How can you be so sure? The kids I turned on, they might have well died of overdoses or any other drug-related deaths...And if they are not dead, just looking desperately for the next fix?...Barnabas have you ever thought about junkies? How them and you...I mean..."

"Yes. I am aware of the similarities. I keep clear of them because one monkey on my back is all that I can afford. But luckily, unlike them, my mind is clear and I can, to a certain extent, control myself. Still, it would be a good idea to decriminalize it and let addicts get their stuff legally so they don't need to hustle to come up with the fifty dollars they need for their fixes, which if you think of it, is quite a formidable task. Addicts, even if they don't kick their habit, could still lead useful lives. Of course, it would be even better if they kicked it for good...Well, here we are." he parked the car and got down as the half-naked man approached them.