Chapter 13
Quentin watched Vicki's eyes flutter again and she began to moan softly and slumped to the floor. Quentin rushed forward grabbing her before she hit the floor, gracefully folding her into his arms. Cradling her close to his chest he looked down into the face of a woman he was beginning to have feelings. Watching her face he could see the spirit that was Josette had released her body and now she was back to being Victoria Winters, governess to David Collins.
Long lashes fluttered against the paleness of her cheekbones and then she opened her eyes to peer confused and perplexed into his eyes. The moment for Quentin was charged and he was reliving a moment in time so long ago. He lowered his lips to her lips and pressed them for a deep demanding kiss.
Victoria felt her arms crawl up around his neck and she returned the kiss. Feeling the bruising kiss she realized what she was doing and was the first to push against him and scramble back on her haunches to peer shocked and dismayed. "We should never have. . . I mean we should. . . I don't know you!" She pushed herself up on unsteady feet looked to the portrait and then to Quentin. "I must go." She turned and felt her wrist captured in strong fingers.
"No please I apologize. You have to forgive me. I did not mean to be forward." Quentin was apologizing for something he would normally have felt was very natural for him but this woman drove him to distraction and made him feel awkward and less than what he thought he should have been. The moment was charged with awkwardness for both of them.
"Well of course I understand you are over wrought with finding out about your daughter's death. I could never find fault with you for that. Now if you will excuse me, I really need to check in on David and let him know I am back." Vicki moved past Quentin and once again felt him reach out to grab her wrist.
Victoria tugged lightly on her wrist, looking down at his hand and then up to his gaze. "Mr. Collins, you really must stop grabbing my wrist. I must tell you that my affections are already entailed to another and this is very uncomfortable for me to be alone with you like this." She felt him release her wrist and watched the color of his chagrin move up his neck to his ears. "Thank you, now if you will excuse me, I shall leave you and I will ask that you finish your confessions to Josette within the week. Mr. Barnabas Collins will be coming home by then and he will expect to have his property returned. Now I will bid you good night."
He watched her walk through the door and a wave of unease and isolation washed over him. What had Josette said earlier? Oh yes, it was mad Carl threw Daphne from the cliff? That could not be right. Carl loved Daphne as a sister and had protected her against many perceived threats including him. This was something he needed to investigate further. Turning to look at the beauty in the portrait he turned he gaze to the closed door of his bedroom then back to the portrait. Shaking his head he moved to his bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth, he might as well go on to bed at least there he could see his little girl in the memories of his dreams.
Vicki moved down the hallway and heard David speaking softly behind the closed door. Looking down at her watch she frowned, it was well past midnight, what was he doing awake? Barnabas had talked her into returning with Elliott. She had wanted to stay with him but he had insisted telling her he would be home in a week. His concerns had been that Trask's spirit might come back and if she were back in Collinwood under the protection of Elliott Stokes, she would be far safer there than here with him.
So with great reluctance she had left him with a kiss and a promise to be waiting for his return and a promise that they would discuss their relationship. Biding him a near tearful farewell, she allowed Elliott to pack her into his car and drive to Collinwood. The weather had not cooperated very well with their travels and many of the main roads that were a direct route to Collinsport had already washed out. What with the winter melting of the snows and the now turbulent weather that appeared to be driving them towards certain destruction, Vicki watched through the windshield wipers thinking about her life and her feelings for Barnabas.
Victoria watched anxiously through the fast movement of the wiper blades as a streak of lightening lit of the night sky. Cringing she shrugged her shoulders and hugged her arms close to her seat belted body. "This does not look good Professor. I am not sure if we are going to be able to make it to Collinwood tonight, should we pull over?"
Elliott was concentrating on the road, reaching forward he tuned the car's radio to the emergency broadcast system. The canned tinny voice of a man's voice was broadcasting the warnings and road washouts for those that were foolish enough to be traveling in this mess. "In the glove compartment is my cell phone. Will you get it out and call Collinwood, find out if they know of any better places to make our approach."
Victoria blinked in surprise, she had seen mobile phones in various forms or another but only thought they could be used for business and not pleasure or personal use. Opening the glove box she found the odd shaped grey box shaped phone. "You open the mouth piece down and press the power button, I should have a full charge on it."
Victoria did as instructed and watched the buttons light up in an eerie green backlight. Dialing Collinwood she waited hoping that the answering machine would not pick up the call. "Hello Collinwood, Carolyn speaking."
"Carolyn, it's Vicki." The static in the background made note of her poor connection due to the storm and good reception from a tower.
"Vicki hello, where are you?" Carolyn's voice had taken on a surprised and pleased tone. "Your connection sucks!" She was amused and waited for a response.
'I am calling from a friends car, we are trying to get to Collinwood from Portland and we were wondering if you know if any back routes we might take that have not flooded?" Vicki put a finger in her uncovered ear in hopes of hearing Carolyn better over the thunder and the now irritating crackle of static.
Carolyn thought a moment, "If you are coming in from Portland you might try Laughner's Pass, it is the last to flood and if you are close you should make it here before it is covered by the tides."
Vicki peered at Elliott, "Do you know about Laughner's Pass?" Elliott nodded and moved the care to the left lane to an upcoming exit. Concentrating back to the conversation with Carolyn she smiled as she responded. "Thank you Carolyn my friend seems to be familiar with Laughner's and we are headed that way now."
"Tell her we should be there in an hour, ask her if I might be able to spend the night since this is setting in and pretty well going to prohibit me finding any kind of lodgings for the night." Elliottt steered around a large down limb that laid across the roadway and moved forward.
"Carolyn, my friend was wondering if he could have a place to stay tonight when he arrives with me. I would have suggested the Old House but Barnabas is not home so could he stay at Collinwood?" Vicki grimaced as she lost her signal and the towers were being switched with their traveling down the roadway.
"Of course Vicki he can stay here, I will get a bed ready for him, is he cute? " Carolyn had to ask simply because she was young and unattached and interested in men.
Vicki had turned her attention to the man at her side and smiled. "I would say very distinguished and handsome." Elliott chuckled softly as he navigated around another downed limb.
"I see you must be comparing notes about the eligible bachelor in the car?" Elliott was flattered she thought he was distinguished and handsome, he had always likened his style to a unmade bed waiting for someone to come and make him up.
"Oh goody, bring him along, oh while I am thinking of it, Quentin has arrived home so you might make yourself acquainted with him when you get here and unfortunately, Uncle Roger's ex-wife Laura is here and she is a real witch with a capital B. If you get my drift." There was humor in her voice but there was also a hint of rancor when the mention of Laura Collins, David's mother.
"I see, will they still be awake when I get there?" Vicki cringed again at the bright flash of lightening and the roll of thunder low to the ground that vibrated their car.
"Quentin should be, Laura I believe has gone to bed or at least that is what I thought. Mother unfortunately is still at the hospital with Mrs. Johnson and Willie. It's a critical time for Mrs. Johnson so mother did not wish to leave her alone." Carolyn was going to go into more detail when the same flash of lightening struck nearby costing them the lights and their phones. "Damn, Vicki? You still there?"
Carolyn waited for the generator to click on but by the time the power was restored, Vicki's call had been dropped. Carolyn hung up her phone and went off to fix up a room for the distinguished and handsome friend of Vicki's.
"Carolyn! Carolyn?" Vicki sighed and looked at Elliott. "I think your phone is dead or Collinwood just lost their service."
Elliott shook his head. "More than likely the tower we were using for our service got hit by lightening and we lost our call on our end. Just close it and sit back and try to relax we should be there in about forty minutes and your friend was right, Laughner's is passable."
When they had arrived Carolyn met them at the door and immediately attached herself as the perfect welcoming committee to Elliott steering him towards his lodgings for the night. She had directed Vicki to the hallway that Quentin's room was to be found. Vicki was surprised to open the door and see an image of what she thought was Jeremiah Collins standing there peering at her as if she were a ghost.
What had happened after that had been totally upsetting and disturbing for her peace of mind. Then when he had kissed her she had felt a tingling sensation of familiarity with those lips upon her lips and that hand making a familiar move up to her left breast. That had been the most disturbing part of her experience with Quentin Collins. Though she felt he looked like Jeremiah, he had his differences. He was more rakish with his charms and not as reserved as Jeremiah had been and his eyes were a deep blue and not brown as Jeremiah's had been.
The fact he was drawn to Josette's portrait and had the audacity to take it from the old house had been equally disturbing and she had felt a need to protect what had belonged to Barnabas, as his birthright. The man had no shame but then again there had been that short period of time she had no memory other than waking up in his arms being held by him in such an intimate manner. She had pledged her love to Barnabas and it was with Barnabas she intended to give over her love.
Blinking she leaned her head against the door and heard two voices in the room. Knocking softly she spoke, "David? Are you awake?" She opened the door and saw David sitting up in his bed with Sarah sitting at the foot of his bed. Vicki smiled at the sweet child who had been her charge in the past and to her current charge she sighed. "I thought you were suppose to be asleep what are you two doing up at this hour?" She moved into the room looking from Sarah to David.
"Sarah says that the blond evil lady Angelique has been sent home to her master and is no longer here, that she is the reason Mrs. Johnson had a heart attack tonight."
Vicki frowned moved to sit next to the cold spot that emanated from Sarah's body. Shivering slightly she drug a blanket up over her shoulders from the foot of the bed. "Really? So Angelique is no longer here?" she looked from one to the other for confirmation of her question.
Sarah nodded, "She is gone for now. Her dark master was upset with her for not doing as he asked and still trying to make Barnabas fall in love with her." Sarah had folded her hands together in front of her.
David yawned and nodded, "When he left she got mad and she left Maggie's body and moved into Mrs. Johnson's body, then some strange man came in here and took possession of Angelique drawing her out of Mrs. Johnson's body and Mrs. Johnson could not handle the sudden separation and so she collapsed having a heart attack." David had stated is so simply that Vicki was amazed at the grasp he had on the situation that had played out in Collinwood.
"But you Miss Winters must be careful, Daphne's father is here and he has darkness around him. He is not a nice man and should be avoided. He will hurt you and those he touches. He wants vengeance and he will not care who he hurts to seek it and be satisfied."
Sarah had slid from the bed and drifted in a gliding fashion across the room to look out to the driving rainstorm. "You were followed by an evil man. The Reverend Trask has found someone to attach his vile evil to and you should use caution when you are around them." With those cryptic words she shifted into ethereal form and disappeared from the room leaving only the soft scent of roses and a coldness that was soon dissipating with her departure.
Vicki looked at David with true fear edging her eyes. "Trask was in Portland when I was at Eric Lang's clinic he said he had come back to make me pay." David feeling sorry for her crawled form the comfort and warmth of his bed to encircle Vicki in his arms and lay his head on her shoulder. Patting her back he spoke softly, "Don't worry Vicki, I will protect you."
Vicki felt a knot of emotion choke her with his simplistic words of comfort and his vow to protect her. She held him close and whispered in his ear, "Thank you David and I shall protect you too."
Helping him back to his pillows, she covered him with his blankets, bent to kiss his forehead and stroke his hair from his forehead. "I love you David, you sleep now." She watched him roll over pulling the blankets up over his shoulder.
Turning off his light she moved to his door, opened it and turned to close it to feel someone behind her. Vicki paused for a moment then turned finding a blond woman standing and staring at her intently. "Is he awake?" Her words were more of a demand than a request.
"No he is asleep, how may I help you?" Vicki was not about to stand aside as she seemed so insistent to allow her access to the room where David slept.
"You can start by getting the hell out of my way so I can go check on my son." She shoved Vicki aside and opened the door to stop and see David laid sleeping soundly in his bed.
Vicki had followed her into the room and paused watching the look of concern motherly love wash over her face as she gazed at her sleeping son. She moved over to David's bed, bent to kiss his forehead then turned and glared at Vicki. "Outside now." Her tone was one that to anyone else would have sounded harsh and demanding.
Vicki frowned folded her arms over her chest and inclined her head. "You outside now, he is my charge and until I know you have rights to be in here, I am not giving one inch madam."
Laura's nostrils flared and her eyes grew wide with anger and a mood of one about to have a temper tantrum was showing through in her manner. She pushed past Vicki into the hallway waiting for her to exit David's room. Vicki followed pulling the door behind her. "Before you presume to start with me Mrs. Collins, I will remind you, this is Elizabeth Stoddard's home and she is my employer and the boy's guardian. So do not presume to think you will be dressing me down. Now if you will excuse me, I just arrived home and would like to unpack, goodnight to you."
It was Vicki's turn to push past Laura and in that moment Laura had marked Vicki as a target for her ire and a new sacrifice to be made to her god. Eyes intently glaring a hole in Vicki's retreating back Laura spun around and moved down the hallway moving past Quentin's room.
"So Laura looks like you met your match with that firebrand." Quentin had leaned against the door watching the play between the two women in the hallway. "She is right. He is her charge and she is her under the employ of Elizabeth, She does not know you and she is doing her job."
"She can die with me at the next rising." Laura muttered under her breath. Quentin's hand had snaked out and grabbed her close to him. His blue angry eyes peered into rage fueled blue eyes. "Let me go Quentin."
"Not until you hear what I have to say you fire breathing bitch. You will leave her alone. It was bad enough you took our child into your stupid fire that day, I am not going to see you hurt another Collins as long as I live and believe me, I can live a very long time."
Laura relaxed in his hold; running her arms around his neck she backed him into his room pressing into his body. "You were never able to resist my charms before Quentin, are you able to resist them now?" She pressed her lips against his lips forcing a deeper kiss between them. Quentin ran his hand up to her neck, his fingers snaking up into the thickness of her hair where he grabbed a handful of hair and returned her passion fueled kiss.
As quickly as he allowed the kiss he broke it and threw her down on his bed. "Yes, as a matter of fact I can. I will never forgive you for what happened to our child and for what you had done to Daphne, it was you that had turned Carl loose that night was it you and your damn witchy ways that made Carl go mad with anger and rage and throw Daphne from Widow's Hill?"
He pinned her with a contemptuous look of disgust. "If I did what of it? You did not want to be married to her, you married someone else after you were married to her. I should have offered her to Baal as my own sacrifice but thought what better way than have Carl take care of what was in my way."
Quentin was on her with his hands locked around her throat, his fingers were slowly closing around her throat. He smiled watching her eyes grow wide and the appear to bulge out, her hands clawed at his hand choking the life from her. "Die you insane bitch, die as you should have died long ago."
Laura closed her eyes and began to concentrate, her neck began to glow red. Quentin felt his hand begin to burn and he released her neck. "Next time Laura, I won't let go, it might hurt in the beginning but you don't know me as well as you think."
"You think that damn painting can protect you forever Quentin? I can assure you if that picture is destroyed you will go with the painting and everyone will see exactly what you are and have become. That painting is the only thing that saves you at this point in your life, remember that."
Laura was surprised that her charm, which had always caught him and held him under her control was no longer affective, something had changed and he had information she knew he had not known before. Rubbing her throat with her fingertips she looked up at the mantle and it all became clear. "So that bitch is back protecting the Collins family again. Is she the one that told you about Carl and Daphne?"
Quentin rolled off of her lying on his back. "What if she did, what difference does it make it does not make her any less dead." Quentin's voice had fallen deadpan. He sat up and moved to the mantle to look up at the portrait of Josette. "She was honest with me, more than I can say for you Laura."
Laura laughed, "Oh really, honest, have you wondered why she jumped from Window's Hill that fateful night sooo long ago?" Laura sat up rubbing her throat and feeling the constrictor had compressed her vocal chords had been sorely abused causing her voice to take on a raspy tone.
"Do you realize you look like her lover? Yes it is you Quentin, who so closely resembles Jeremiah Collins her husband and lover. She had come to the Americas to marry Barnabas Collins not Jeremiah. But another of the eldritch decided she wanted Barnabas so she cast a spell on the two stars crossed lovers and they eloped breaking Barnabas' Collins heart for their betrayal. Barnabas found them together caught in a lover tryst and challenged Jeremiah to a duel. He killed his own brother for her."
She continued with her taunt she was not about to tell him, that Barnabas had been cursed by the witch known as Angelique, it was something she was not prepared to divulge just yet and it was something she was most certainly going to keep and use to her advantage. "Barnabas over come with grief and despair left and moved to England. With the death of her husband and then the departure of her true love Barnabas, she became despondent and threw herself from Widow's Hill. So idolize her all you want but she was no better for her actions than your precious Daphne."
She watched the rage boil beneath the surface. "Don't speak her name. You have no right to say her name. She was a good and righteous woman, something you would know nothing about."
Laura' s taunts grew. "And you think you do? You did not want to be married to her. You could have cared less about her hell she died a damn virgin Quentin, you never consummated your marriage to her." Laura rolled from the bed and stood facing him with arms crossed and an accusation of her truth facing him head on.
"Oh there you are wrong Laura, we did consummate our love and our marriage, after Jenny's unfortunate death, we found each other and we loved one another and that night when she went to think about what you had told her she had just told me she was pregnant with our child. So you sent her with my child to her death, just like you did with our child Laura, and I will never forgive you for that."
Laura was stunned; she had no idea they had slept together let alone giving Daphne a chance to become pregnant by Quentin. With a softly uttered snort of derision she turned. "Then I did you both a favor that night." Laura turned leaving Quentin to sulk in silence.