FINAL ACT
(the scene opens with Maggie's hand scraping a stone against the floor in a large circular motion, and the camera pans to her face, which seems to be a blank expression, suggesting she is under some kind of hypnosis)
-music cue: opening of "Night of the Pentagram" by Robert Cobert-
As David crossed over the last step that led into the tower room, he looked to his left and saw Maggie standing to her feet. She stood in the center of a large pentagram that she had formed from scraping the gallery floor with a stone.
David asked as he walked closer to her, "Maggie, what are you doing?"
Maggie stared at him, still holding the stone in her hand. "David...David...I don't know...Jeff...where is Jeff...?"
David's eyes turned cold, and his stare into Maggie's eyes made her turn away. "The descendant of Titus Clark is dead. He served his purpose of bringing you here. Now, you will finish what you began. The full moon of Samhain has risen, and the time has come that my spirit shall be complete within this vessel."
Maggie looked at the stone in her hand, and looked around as if she had just become conscious of her surroundings. She saw that she was standing in the center of the pentagram, and she was unable to move. "Jeff...?! David! No! Help me!"
"Silence!" David struck Maggie with the back of his fist. "No one is here to help you, Maggie. They're all dead! The boy who once inhabited this body is gone, as are all of his memories. I did not know who you were when I found you last night at that house. I only felt the blood of Titus Clark's descendant leading me to him. The blood from one of Titus' descendants is the only sacrament that will allow my spirit to dwell in this body and restore my powers. Now, you will do as I bid you to do!"
Maggie scowled, her eyes burning with hurt and anger. "If the blood of Jeff was what you needed, then why did you kill him?!"
David walked to a corner of the room, and from there he carried a large rectangular-shaped object covered with a black shroud. He set the large object down on the floor in front of her and removed the shroud.
There, inside a glass case, was the head of Judah Zachary. The dark eyes opened and fixed on David, who stared in delight. Maggie screamed out in terror as she saw the eyes turning toward her.
Staring down at her as he moved inside the pentagram, David asked, "Why? Did you really believe you could keep it hidden from me as well? You never told your husband, did you? How incredibly female you are. Your deception runs deeper than mine. I know that you are carrying the next descendant of Titus within you-his child, but now, the blood price must be paid! The blood of Clark's descendant will open the way for my spirit to dwell in this body."
Maggie tried to get up, but her body was unable to move. She choked sobs as she pleaded with him. "Please, don't...don't do this, David...You can't...please...You don't have to...have to do this!"
"Begging? Tears? Please go on...that will give me great pleasure while I watch you bleed to death. Only you will call me by MY name-Judah Zachary. It will be a name that will haunt you long into the eternity to which I am about to send you."
Seeing a set of medieval blades mounted on the wall, David unsheathed a dagger and walked back to where Maggie was on her knees. Standing behind her, David turned to look out the window.
The clouds had now separated, and the full moonlight illuminated the gallery, shining on the pentagram where they stood. David's lips curled into a wide, satisfied grin as his dark eyes gleamed in the moonlight. He placed the dagger directly in front of her heart, and he watched Maggie trembling.
-music peaks-
David drew his arm back, and clenched his teeth tightly. Maggie shut her eyes and braced for the blade to pierce her heart. Inside the glass case, the eyes of Judah stared intently before David moved to strike.
-pumm-pumm...pumm-pumm...pumm-pumm...pumm-pumm-
"What is that?" David said aloud as he lowered the dagger. "A heart beat? Where is it coming from?! Where are you?" His eyes wild with fury and confusion, David shuffled his feet around the room as he looked in all directions trying to find where the noise was coming from.
((movement is in slow motion, no audio except the heartbeat and music loop of the opening of Robert Cobert's "Meditations" is heard))
With each pulse, the sound of the heartbeating grew louder until it was almost deafening. David began screaming erratically and covered his ears as the noise echoed deeply within them.
Shattering a frame of the gallery window, a bat crashed through the glass and flew toward David, causing him to fall backwards on to the tower room floor.
Suddenly, the door to the gallery was thrown open, and Dr Guthrie struggled to hold himself up. He saw David lying on the ground, and he limped as quickly as he could toward him. Bruised and covered in blood, Dr Guthrie pulled the ring with the jet stone from his finger and held it out.
David turned around and bellowed as he plunged the knife into Dr Guthrie's chest. With his last ounce of strength, Dr Guthrie managed to shove the ring on to David's hand before collapsing on the floor.
((movement is still in slow motion, music begins to fade quietly as David falls to the floor))
David screamed in pain as he thrashed about on the floor, feeling life draining out of him as Judah's spirit began to dissipate. His eyes were fierce with fear and shock, and his screaming echoed thoughout the room as he felt Judah's life force fading from him. After the spirit of Judah Zachary had expired and the hold was broken, David's body lay still on the floor in a limp, unconscious state.
Maggie screamed and turned toward the glass case where Judah's head was encased. Right before her eyes, Judah's head was reduced to an empty skull. Covering her eyes, Maggie shook her head and felt panic gripping her. Then she heard a voice that rendered her completely motionless.
"Josette..."
The familiar voice reverberated within her ears, sending tremors down her spine. It called to her again. "Josette..."
Maggie uncovered her eyes and turned around slowly. There, in the moonlight by the broken window, stood the tall figure of Barnabas Collins.
Maggie turned to face him, and her eyes met his. She was unable to speak or run away.
Reaching into his cloak, he slowly pulled out a tiny object, and his hand removed the cover. The room was filled with the soft, beautiful sounds of the music box he held.
-music cue "Josette's Theme" by Robert Cobert plays-
"Josette, you have come back to me...as I have to you. Tonight, you must return to me from the land of the dead...please...your spirit must come back to me...Do you hear the sound? Follow the sound of the melody, Josette...let it guide you back to me..."
Maggie felt strangely inside. Though awake, she felt as if she was losing all control and slipping into unconsciousness. She felt her body and mind being taken by some unnatural force that was overwhelming her senses and will.
"Josette, you must return to me...the light of this moon shall guide you back to me...Josette...do you hear my voice? Do you hear your melody? Please...return to me so that we may be together again..." Barnabas begged.
Maggie felt all control lost as she began to speak. Her eyes blinked as if she were trying to focus and see for the first time.
((Maggie's voice reverberates slightly while she speaks, as if another voice is coming out through her own simultaneously))
"Barnabas? Barnabas...?" Josette asked through Maggie.
Barnabas' stern face elated to an expression of pure joy as he stepped toward her. "Yes, Josette, my love...I am here. Please...take this. I was going to give this to you the night of our wedding before they put this curse on me...before they caused me to lose you, Josette. Please...listen."
Maggie held the box in her hand, and smiled adoringly as the melody played. A tear rolled down her cheek. "Music?...That music...It's beautiful...I shall always treasure it, Barnabas. Tell me, why am I here?" She began to cry. "Please...you mustn't see me this way..." She turned her head away and looked downward, but Barnabas placed his hands on her arms, gently turning her back toward him.
"Josette, my darling...please, there must be no tears. Please...listen to the melody. Listen..." Barnabas pleaded softly with her. "Just as this has crossed the seas, so have I crossed the centuries...all for your sake...so that we may share the moment when I would give this to you."
Her eyes twinkling as she turned to stare into the dark eyes of her lover, the music captivated her, and she returned his smile.
Barnabas spoke softly to her, smiling as they looked down at the music box together. "This was to be given to you the night we vowed to spend eternity together, Josette. That night...has finally come for us."
"Eternity...together..." Josette's voice reverberated through Maggie's voice as she spoke. "Barnabas...I love you."
Barnabas brushed her falling tear with his thumb and held his hand against her cheek. "And I love you, Josette. You must understand that what I must do now...is so that we may spend eternity together. I cannot lose you again. We shall always be together. We shall never be apart again, Josette."
Barnabas' hand slid behind Maggie's ear, brushing her hair back and exposing her neck. "Always...never apart..." Barnabas leaned in and whispered in her ear before he slowly drew his head back.
With the reflection of the moon gleaming on his fangs, Barnabas began to move in to take her one last time.
"Maggie, NO!"
David, now fully conscious, saw Maggie about to be taken by Barnabas and grabbed her arm, pulling her away with his hand that wore the black jet stone ring. Maggie cried out in pain as the stone began to draw the spirit of Josette from out of her.
Barnabas' eyes flashed with distress as he shouted in despair, "Josette!"
"Maggie!" David held on to her tightly, completely unaware of the fact of what he was doing by holding the stone against her body. The spirit of Josette screamed loudly through Maggie as it finally faded into silence, leaving Maggie falling limply in David's arms as he lowered her to the ground.
-music cue "The Chase" by Robert Cobert-
With a quick turn, Barnabas lunged toward David, holding him down on the ground. His hands were tight around David's throat, and his grip was like a madman's. The last shred of his resolve gone, Barnabas forced all of his strength into the grip around his victim's throat.
David's hands grabbed furiously at the vampire's arms, thrashing about and struggling to free himself. David's knees managed to push Barnabas slightly off to the side, loosening the grip just enough to slide away and move.
In a split second, David's eye caught an image of a crucifix hanging loosely on the wall. His fingers barely touched the base of it before he felt himself being dragged down again. The crucifix fell from the wall and hit the wooden floor of the tower room. Barnabas quickly pulled David back toward him when he hit the ground, but his foot broke free, giving him a quick second to propel himself toward the crucifix and grab it.
David turned around and held the cross directly in front of Barnabas, who cried out and turned away. David quickly jumped to his feet and moved toward Barnabas with the cross.
In a moment of pure agony that he felt from within the depths of the remnants of his soul, Barnabas wailed and cried out in deep despair, shattering all the glass in the tower room. The night sky echoed with the reverberation of his scream as he quickly transformed into a bat, flying out of the window. David dropped the cross and covered his ears, shutting his eyes and gritting his teeth as the shattered glass crashed around him.
-music stops-
After opening his eyes, David darted across the room, looking out the window into the night sky. The moon was still, and the heavy clouds rolled past and covered its beams. David looked behind him. "Maggie! Maggie?"
He knelt beside her and placed his hands underneath her head and back, elevating her slightly. "Maggie? Maggie, are you okay? Maggie?" David shook her gently,and kept calling to her. As she came to, her eyes beginning to flutter.
Suddenly, her eyes were wide open, and she began to gasp for air and hyperventilate as David held onto her. "Shhh! It's okay, Maggie, he's gone. It's okay, it's okay. We've got to get out of here, come on!"
Maggie sobbed and held on to David tightly. Helping her stand to her feet, David walked her slowly across the floor. He looked down at the body of Dr Guthrie lying dead on the floor. Maggie stopped and stared at it, cupping her hands over her mouth and turning away. David nudged her,to keep moving, and together they walked down the stairs.
-scene fades, and the outside of Collinwood is shown. David is seen helping Maggie walk as they leave the mansion together-
They walked across the grounds and paused to see that snow had silently began to fall. Maggie stopped when she saw Jeff's broken body lying on the ground and the deep red pool of blood-stained snow around him. Maggie fell limp, and David caught her.
David tried to carry her along but struggled as Maggie was completely limp as he tried to walk with her. Hearing the ringing of an approaching engine, David looked up and saw Dr Guthrie's station wagon pulling up nearby.
A tall man opened the driver-side door and came toward them. He was dressed in coveralls, and he walked slowly toward them, not saying a word. David and Maggie stared as he came closer, but Maggie slightly came to and recognized him. "A...Adam..."
Adam walked slowly toward them, rubbing his hands together nervously while looking down at the ground. "I don't mean ya no harm, Miss. I came back even after that man drove away. I tried to warn him, but...he didn't listen to me none. Fool thing for him to do to come up here like that and drivin' the way he did." He turned toward the vehicle. "I fixed it up the best I could, but If he'd listened to me, you'd all still be here. Are they still in there?"
Maggie didn't answer. She struggled to walk forward with David toward the running station wagon. Adam watched as David walked Maggie around to the passenger side door.
Opening the door, David helped her inside. He walked around and looked up at the hill, and Adam had disappeared. Looking around in every direction, David saw no trace of anything or anyone except the blanket of snow that had covered the ground.
-music cue, "Memories of a Lifetime" by Robert Cobert-
David went around to the driver-side door and got in. He looked over at Maggie, who was sitting down quietly as if in shock, keeping her eyes forward. The wipers slowly glided across the windshield, brushing powdery snow as David pulled forward, leaving Collinwood one last time.
-music fades as the scene changes-
((the camera zooms on Maggie who is still staring forward, and her hands move over her stomach, caressing over where she feels her child inside of her))
((Scene fades to the moon in the distance with the sound of waves crashing. The camera pans back slowly to Barnabas staring out over Widows Hill, holding open Josette's music box in his hand as it plays its melody))
((Barnabas stares out over the sea in deep contemplation. His inner monologue recites as the melody of the music box plays))
"When I am dead, my dearest, sing no sad songs for me. Plant thou no roses at my head, nor shady cypress tree...I shall not see the shadows, I shall not feel the rain. I shall not hear the nightingale sing on, as if in pain. And dreaming throughout the twilight that doth not rise nor set, happily I may remember, and happily...may forget." (*)
Barnabas lowered his head and knelt to the ground. Standing on the spot where he said good-bye to Josette the first time, he set the music box down on the ground. He turned and walked away as it sat there, quietly playing its melody.
((camera fades to black and holds as if the film is over))
((An approaching headlight comes toward the screen as a train roars by. White text letters appear at the bottom of the screen))
OCTOBER 31, 1993
-music cue "Collinwood Opening Theme" by Robert Cobert-
A young woman with raven black-hair is sitting by herself on the passenger train with a briefcase overhead and a journal in of front her. Bundled up in a long coat she is holding together with her hands, she looks out the window at the evening sky as the sun sets.
((Her voice narrates))
"My name is Victoria Winters. Dusk has settled over the town of Collinsport, and my mind is filled with many questions. My journey is beginning with a place I have never been, and with someone I have never met. I received a letter one month ago addressed to the foundling home where I grew up in New York. The author of the letter stated that this town was the place of my birth, and that he had information as to whom my parents and family were. Included in the letter was an invitation to come live in a house high atop Widows Hill-a house known as Collinwood. With only a few months before my nineteenth birthday, I decided to make the journey to unlock the mysteries of my past."
"Until now, my only link has been a note that was pinned to the cardboard box left on the doorstep with me by whom I was told was a young boy that vanished from sight before he could be identified. The note read:
'Her mother died from complications during chidbirth. Her name is Victoria. I cannot take care of her.'
"With my destination nearing an end, I am certain my real journey is only beginning with the man who knows the secrets of my past..."
Victoria closed her journal and set her pen to the side. When she closed the book, the letter and invitation she received was lying underneath. Taking the letter in her hand, she stared out the window.
((camera pauses as Victoria looks out, her voice echoes as she speaks))
"...Barnabas Collins."
-music cue "Memories of a Lifetime" by Robert Cobert plays as the ending credits begin to roll-
-THE END-
MAGGIE EVANS...KATHRYN LEIGH SCOTT
JEFF CLARK...ROGER DAVIS
DR PETER GUTHRIE...JOHN LASELL
DAVID COLLINS...DAVID HENESY
BARNABAS COLLINS...JONATHAN FRID
JUDAH ZACHARY...MICHAEL MCGUIRE
ANGELIQUE COLLINS...LARA PARKER
CHARLES COLLINS...DAVID SELBY
ADAM...ROBERT RODAN
VICTORIA WINTERS...ALEXANDRA MOLTKE
-All music composed and conducted by Robert Cobert-
Story written and edited by IBarnabas
(C) 1974 Dan Curtis Productions
(*) Quote taken from "When I Am Dead", music by Robert Cobert, narrated by Jonathan Frid
**I do not own the rights to DARK SHADOWS. My fanfic is only meant for the enjoyment of the reader**