Chapter 11

"You went overboard,." Julia commented.

"I know. I pushed him too hard. "Willie admitted.

"You must have scared him."

"Yes. I know. But you did not see him, and I did. He was kneeling on the ground, bending over the bucket, lapping the blood like a dog... I just could not see him that way. I just had make him see reason."

"Well, it might have worked, I grant you. But it may also made him run away from you."

"I know. I should have been more subtle. Used more psycho logic, but I am not good at this sort of thing..."

"It just hurt you too much to see him like this..."

"Yes."

Peter wandered outside. The sun was shining. It was warn and pleasant...

But he could not care less. All that he knew what that Yolanda was not there.

The butterflies fluttered around him, a frog jumped a few steps away... He did not see any of it.

All he sensed was a great emptiness inside him.

If only Yolanda would come back...

"Why didn't you tell me what was going on?" George shouted angrily at Julia, It was the same tone in which he interrogated his prisoners, only harsher.

"Why did you keep me in the dark about it? Why you let me believe that there was noting wrong?"

"It was... safer..."

"Safer?"

The amount of human stupidity was staggering. And he was facing a large amount now...

"Barnabas attacked you when you were in bed together."

"He didn't precisely attack me."

"He just bit and drank without even being aware that he was doing. He barely managed to realize what he was doing and stopped himself."

"How do you know? He told you?"

"Yes. It scared him to be so out of control."

"So he got carried away ..."

"And when I was examining him, he went for my throat."

"So you told me."

"He stopped himself, but to do that, he had to attack Jake. I saw him do it, and I never saw him so desperate before."

"And that's when you decided to call on Willie for help."

"It was the best idea I could come up with."

"Well, doctor, your best ideas stink. You could have told me the moment he disappeared. Instead you called Willie, who came up with half-baked scheme, that, as you tell, managed to freak out Barnabas. It might well that Willie pushed Barnabas to the point of killing himself... and in the meantime he is roaming free, which makes him a hazard to anybody who is out in the woods after dusk."

"We though it best."

"Well, it wasn't. Sometimes I wonder what it is with a University education that makes people stupid. The smart thing to do would be to call on me. After all, I know how to conduct a proper manhunt. I know how to talk sense into him. And I am willing to shoot tranquilizer darts at him... With enough dosage they 'drop him. Instead you let Willie come up with bright ideas..."

"We thought..."

"Well do not think any more. I am now in charge."

Practice, practice, practice... She had to get the mirror trick right before Angelique came back. And the vanishing trick. And turning into a bat and...

No, whatever the cost, she would to get in bed with Angelique. She would find a way around it.

Maybe she could keep Angelique away longer. Send her in some wild goose chase... She had Megan's knowledge of her cases, and she could come up with a reasonable request that kept Angelique safely busy and away...

Yes, she would get Angelique back, because she should be here when retribution came calling. But not until she had learned how to vanish from the mirror, and all the other vampire tricks that she must learn to fake.

She stared at the mirror. Her image was still there, but more blurred. With a bit more work it should vanish completely.

"Are you sure that you want a small wedding?" Adam asked Carolyn.

"Yes. I already had my spectacular wedding."

"To Quentin,?"

"Yes. It was all for show. Quentin was never my husband, just a convenience. And it was convenient to me to have a spectacular wedding. Do I shock you, darling?"

"It sounds a bit... cold blooded."

"I was quite cold-blooded then. A real bitch, to tell the truth. Always trying to find a way to make life more difficult for Barnabas. I wonder who come he had so much patience with me."

Adam could not keep himself from scowling when he heard Barnabas' name.

"Do you have to keep talking about him?"

"You still hate him, don't you?"

"It is not an easy burden that he put on me. Damn it, he could have cared for me a bit! He could have given me some affection. It was not as if I wanted too much.."

Carolyn hugged him. "He was never a father to you, is that it?"

"Yes. And then I hear how he adopted a street kid, and how loving and kind he is to him... to him he is a good father. But to me? Who was I? Less than nothing. A trash can where he dumped the less lovely parts of himself."

"He's changed since then. Now maybe he could be a good father to you."

"Now I am not interested. And what kind of answer is that? That people do change?"

"Well, they do. Look at Roger. He was an awful father to David. David does not want to see him. He will visit Barnabas, but not Uncle Roger. But Roger is proving to be a devoted father to Edmund. I guess we all get second chances, but not with he same people."

"Well, and where does that lave me?"

"It leaves you as my husband. And a person he needs to placate if he wants anything at the Old House."

Adam said nothing. He felt anger fill him, and he had trouble holding it back.

"You don't have to come with me." George told Willie.

"Barnabas is my friend. It is the least I can do for him."

"There is no need for you to come."

"Why?" Willie said defiantly "Just because I don't screw him does not mean that I care less for you than you do."

"You have a small daughter, Willie." George said mildly "You owe it to her not to take unnecessary risks. I am paid to take risks. And I have a duty." is voice became low and painful now. ""As much as I love him, if he became a menace I would get silver bullets in my gun and go looking for him. I want Barnabas out of there before I have to make that choice. And I don't want you exposing yourself to danger. Your safety is my responsibility too. Don't put me into a position where I will have to choose between your life and his."

"I still want to help look for him. You could deputize me."

"I could, but I won't. I owe it to Louella and Pearl not to."