Chapter 14

Barnabas sat up panting hard to catch his breath. His eyes wide he was experiencing life. He took another deep breath, and felt his chest swell. The air passed through his nose and filled his lungs again. He clinched his hand and felt the warmth in his palms. He felt pain from the sudden removal of the IV from his arm. His eyes widen and he felt alive! Reaching forward he hugged Julia close to his body and wept on her shoulder. He wept for the years he had laid in a coffin trapped with nothing but his memories and thoughts of how his life should have been, he wept for his death, he wept for his rebirth into the darkness of his new life and he wept for Josette.

Julia held him, not knowing what to do but wait. He found his control, he realized he did not feel Vicki any more. He was not in control of his powers, which meant that Vicki was in terrible danger from another predator in Collinsport. Pushing back from Julia; Barnabas spoke his voice emotionally charged, "You need to put me back as I was Julia! You need to allow me to return to as I was." As hard as that was to request, he knew that he needed to be as he was to battle this new evil that stalked Vicki like the darkness that had taken his soul.

Julia shook her head. "I can't take it back Barnabas we have already begun and we need to see it through, this is just a temporary fix. You will not remain this way for any longer than twenty-four hours. The permanent fix is the life transference, which we will try and do tomorrow."

Barnabas sat up and began to dress. "I cannot do this until I know that Victoria has been returned to me safely." He dressed hurriedly a part of him knowing that she was in danger.

Julia took off her lab coat and moved to the hallway of the first floor of the house. Dialing Collinwood she waited for someone to pick up the phone. "Quentin Collins speaking."

"Quentin, it's Julia. Has Eric arrived?" She held her breath waiting for the response.

"No, not at this time. Was he on his way over without his lady love?" Quentin glanced up to see Daphne looking concerned and panic ridden. "Julia, would you please hold on for a moment." Covering the mouthpiece to the phone waited for Daphne to come down the stairs.

"Quentin, Vicki has disappeared from her room. I found her on the floor earlier in a cold sweat and ill. I got her in the bed and went to get a cold cloth for her and when I returned she was gone. I have searched everywhere."

David appeared at the top of the steps, his face pale and his eyes wide. "Josette says that Vicki is in terrible danger, that a dark evil man has her."

Eric drove to the entrance of Collinwood and parked his car. Moving to the door he opened the door and walked into chaos of confusion and panic. "Oh Eric has just arrived Julia. I think you and Barnabas need to head this way. I think we have a problem."

Barnabas paced the drawing room floor of the old house. He paused turned to move to the window and look out. Where was she? Who had her? He knew that darkness always wanted to destroy the pure and pure at heart, that made Vicki all the more vulnerable. Anyone that looked upon her could see the purity and goodness she exuded without effort. "Cheri, she is in terrible danger, the evil one, Jubbah has her and he intends to leave with her. " Josette's body floated along the floor to stand next to Barnabas.

"Can you see where she is Josette?" His hope resting with the woman he had loved once. He watched her begin to fade from view.

"Josette? Where are you going?" He tried to prevent her leaving but to no avail the only sign she had been there was the scent of her perfume. Leaving behind a softly uttered, "I shall see if we can find her Mon chéri." Barnabas stepped to where she had stood earlier, trying to stop her leaving.

"Please Josette do not leave me. Come back!" His plea landed on air. The foyer doors opened allowing Julia, Eric, Elliott, and Quentin to enter the old house. Barnabas turned expectantly for some news.

He stood in human form; vulnerable, helpless, and sadly lacking the confidence he once held as an undead entity. Now he had to depend on the help of others and he resented the fact he was unable to think or function. Quentin looked at the flush pink features of his cousin and discovered he was living the life of being alive and not half alive half dead. He was also filled with concern, of all the times for Barnabas to have what he had wanted for nearly two hundred years he was now going to be forced to give it up for now.

"We are expecting some friends of Elliott's to join us here that might be able to shine the light on what is happening and whom we are dealing with at this time." Quentin followed the others into the drawing room moving to the fireplace to lean against the mantle.

Elliott moved to sit by the fireplace; sinking into the chair he looked distressed and upset. "I fear I have been keeping a secret form all of you. It is time that I put my trust in you my friends."

All eyes turned to Elliott as they waited for him to continue with his confession. "Let us begin with the fact, that I know that Vicki is being sought after constantly by darkness and evil. Evil corrupts and their biggest coup would be to claim the soul of an innocent or pure of heart individual that epitomizes what light means."

Elliott continued to think about his next words he was organizing his thoughts in his mind his heart was sick with the thought that Vicki was now being held by the vileness of darkness the very core of evil. "Victoria is a what we call a true innocent. She believes in the goodness of others and the rightness of what is light, so she attracts evil. That coupled with the fact that she has a talent of being a light for those that have passed on, a medium if you will, does not help her situation."

They all sat waiting while Elliott seemed about ready to gear up for one of his famous lessons. "Now as such she is now being held by a member of the Illuminati that met her when she went back to the past. The reason for that journey was for my benefit. You see, Vicki had to go back and save my great, great grandfather so that I might be born and live." Barnabas was searching his newly acquired memories he listened he was trying to discern who was the member of the illuminati that would want Vicki.

"I had a need for her to go back in time and be there when Ben Stokes suffered a heart attack, I am the one that summoned the wraith that took her back. The problem was I did not get to choose how and where she went back and who was to trade places with her while she was there." Barnabas was aware that she had ended up in Martinique and Josette had ended up here in the old house in her place. He figured it was because of the ring he had given her had been the catalyst for the exchange. He remembered their walks on the beach and he knew he was beginning to fall in love with her.

"Unfortunately, at that time, she was to take the place of a young woman by the name of Victoria La Finnier, which she did. However it was not Miss La Finnier that made the trip to this time until later. That is also the reason one of the darker members of our group made acquaintance with Vicki and took an unhealthy interest in her. He viewed her as his property because he believed she truly was Victoria La Finnier."

"Unfortunately, when he did finally meet up with the woman he had 'bought' as his wife, he discovered it was not the woman he believed her to be but a very shallow and pale comparison to the vibrant, bright young woman he had met on the beach that day so long ago." Then it hit Barnabas like a lightening bolt. He was up against Jubbah Zachary, the very man that Victoria had fled from Martinique to avoid. His face clouded with the thought that now Vicki was in his hold and he was unable to help her.

"Now as to my other secret. As some of you that have studied the dark arts and the supernatural as Quentin and I have, you will have read about a secret society called the Illuminati. It has been in existence since the mid seventeen hundreds and some of those that were members then are still members because of their own abilities. The Head of this organization came to my home earlier today with his enclave of board members. That is what alerted me to something going on and the potential that this could be a global affect if the whole enclave had come to Collinsport."

"You see, when I was still a young man filled with high and lofty ideas and a thirst for knowledge, I had traveled as a visiting professor around the world. That is when I was approached by one of the oldest secret organizations to become a member of the Enlightened."

Quentin was listening with rapt attention and spoke softly. "So you were approached by the Illuminati to join them and become a part of this group?"

"Yes, I was approached and because they had access to some of the oldest volumes of dark arts books and a veritable endless resource and library to draw from. I was seduced to join their organization and have been a member since the late 40's right after the war. Obviously with our connections we were able to obtain most the documents and books that Hitler had been gathering in regards to the darker arts which he was trying to tap into in order to sway the war efforts in his favor."

"So you are telling me those men that came to Collinwood earlier and to your cottage are the main organizers of this group?' Quentin was definitely interested and wanted to know more about this group.

"Yes, and what they told me has me convinced that Vicki is now with Jubbah Zachary, a vampire and menace and now a threat to those of us that keep our society a secret. That is why Xavier and the others have come. They hoped to capture and leave with Jubbah."

Barnabas slumped down on a chair near the window and looked around the room. "Jubbah murdered his wife Victoria La Finnier. The original reports were that she had died in childbirth. However, from what I knew of the man he was vindictive and vicious and he hated our family."

"Why?" It was a fair enough question and one that deserved an answer.

"Because of me. You see, I only recently gained memories of Vicki being in the past as Victoria La Finnier, I was the one that helped her leave the island and brought her back here. I can surmise the reason he hated me was simple enough. You see; while she was here and not in Martinique he could not control her or claim her as his future wife. " Barnabas was feeling disjointed and upset. He had longed to feel human again and here he was human and unable to help the one he loved. He found it ironic that the one thing he had loathed and needed was the very thing he had hated.

Eric had sat listening quietly to the conversation when he stood. "I think we shall delay this transference event until such time that you are able to proceed without distraction, I need to get back to the lab and put the body in the cryogenic tube Julia. Will you join me later?"

Julia stood with Eric, "I think this is something we both need to attend to preserve all we have done so far. So, if you will excuse us we really need to leave and it is probably best before the members of the Illuminati arrive. You see I tried to get into their illustrious organization and they would not contact me so I fear I may be a problem for you all."

Elliott was shocked. "What reason did they give for now allowing you admission Julia, I find that you would have more than qualified with your background and your intelligence."

"They had read my dissertation and found my work too radical for their tastes and denied me access." Julia had a bitter taste left in her mouth over that insult and backhanded slap to her face when she had been rejected. She still burned with resentment from their rejection and she would in her way like to reciprocate the favor by denying them her presence when the arrived.

Eric and Julia left the old house leaving Barnabas, Elliott and Quentin awaiting the arrival of Xavier and his enclave. "Do you really think they can help us find Vicki and end this night mare?' Barnabas looked from Elliott to Quentin.

"Barnabas, if anyone can help us on this. It will be Xavier and his enclave. They are experts when dealing with the likes of Jubbah, this much I can tell you, they do know about you Barnabas and they know about you Quentin and both of your unique abilities." This information did surprise both men.

"I am wondering how it was that Jubbah was able to transcend his death to become a member of the undead?" Barnabas sat back and tried to think, to rationalize.

"He has access to the dark arts and a darker master to attend. I am sure he made a deal with this dark master to get what he wanted."

Xavier stepped fully into the room, having found the door unlocked he opened it and entered with his enclave behind him. "I beg your pardon for barging in like this, but considering that time is of the essence, we felt it necessary to not stand on formalities or ceremony and meet as quickly as possible."

Barnabas stood, "Gentlemen, shall we adjourn to my library, there we will not be interrupted." Barnabas led them to his library and made them comfortable, before excusing himself for a few moments. Moving to the drawing room he called for Willie, "Willie, join me in the drawing room please." Barnabas anxiously awaited Willie's arrival.

"Willie, I want you to get ready to leave here on a moment's notice, I will need silver bullets, stakes, and crosses, silver crosses and holy water and do not mess up with the holy water like you did the last time. This time I am not as strong as I was, and we cannot afford to make any mistakes."

Willie looked at his friend and boss with some concern edging his face. "Barnabas, its bad, really bad isn't it?" He waited for confirmation.

"Yes Willie it really is bad and we could loose Vicki for good this time if we do not react with haste. She is in far more danger than you can imagine."

Willie bean to pace back and forth like an angry tiger. His face filled with worry and his hand running over the back of his neck, a habit he had picked up when he was agitated. "I will take care of what you need, you don't worry. I won't mess this up. I promise."

Barnabas patted his arm and smiled tensely, "Thank you Willie, it means a lot to me that you want to help me with this situation." Barnabas returned to the library. Moving to his desk, he sat and waited for the conversation to begin. He wanted an explanation as to how this esteem group could allow a cold blooded killer to be a prominent member of their organization and would deny Julia access.

Xavier was the first to begin with his story. "First of all, I want it understood that by divulging this information I must indoctrinate you both into our order of the Illuminati. By accepting the membership, you will only be called up should a global catastrophe is about to occur and your unique abilities would be needed."

Quentin frowned, "And if we choose not to join what then?"

"We get up and leave and take care of this situation on our own and not involve you, either of you. I further cannot guarantee that other members may try to seek you out to silence you."

"Not much choice there is there?" Quentin said dryly he shifted uncomfortably and with a degree of anger in his chair.

"You must appreciate our situation Mr. Collins. We would not have involved you at all had it not been for the fact that one of your own is now in terrible danger from a dark entity we thought to contain and keep secured."

"I want to know how he managed to bring himself over to the other side." Barnabas fixed his gaze directly on Xavier.

"Perhaps a bit of back history is needed here Xavier." Chastain stood and moved to pour himself a drink from the decanter on the sideboard.

Xavier nodded, "Yes, I suppose it won't hurt since you Mr. Collins lived a part of it." Xavier thought a moment and then began to explain how this all came about.

"After meeting you and Miss Winters on the beach that day, he saw how pure she was and what a true innocents that she had maintained despite all she had been through and that temptation was not a part of her world. He became obsessed.

After you and Miss Winters left the island and came back here to Collinsport. Jubbah became incensed and out of control. He ended up killing six slaves and burning off part of the crops of his neighbor." Xavier had to pause so he knew he got the events right and the order of the stage of the downward spiral of Jubbah Zachary.

"After he was convinced that you had taken his intended, he made it a point to get on the next ship. Now you can imagine how he reacted when he arrived at Collinwood and discovered the woman that he had thought was Victoria La Finnier was in fact Victoria Winters from this century he flew into a rage. He had made a deal with Victoria La Finnier's father to take her as his wife and he did. However once they got back to the island he made it clear that he intended to only use her for his sexual needs to produce a heir. When she had become pregnant she was sick a lot and soon it was time to deliver. She delivered a stillborn son. This sent him into a rage, an uncontrolled rage that allowed him to turn his back on his wife who was hemorrhaging and left her to bleed out in her bed."

Xavier was recalling all the events as they unfolded. "Free from that encumbrance, he tried to figure out how to travel into the future to pursue the one woman that he felt had gotten away. That was Victoria Winters. So he made a deal with his dark master, to allow him the knowledge and the ability to transcend time and to either travel to the future as Vicki had traveled to the past or allow him to live long enough to find her and bring her back to his plantation."

Quentin saw where this was going and nodded, "So he made a pact to become a member of the undead and wait out time. Thus arriving here when he knew she would be here."

"Yes, he did not realize that he had arrived here in this time at the same time she had returned from the past. That is when he took her nearly killing her with his blood lust."

"That was horrendous, what would he have accomplished by killing her before he had a chance to turn her?" Quentin was truly flabbergasted by the audacity of the man's actions.

Barnabas answered for them, "If he had succeeded and she would have died, she would not have died, she had shared my blood and she would have been converted to a state of the undead and he would then have domain over her by being the one that took her life thus making her over into what he was. She would have been bound to him."

"But it was your blood that made the transformation possible. How would that supersede your claims?" Quentin was trying to understand and Elliott was listening fascinating at seeing and learning about this part of the vampire's life.

"Because he would have been the one to end her life, that would give him domain over her body and soul." Barnabas explained in as simple terms as he could think of to make it understood.

"I see, so now the question is gentlemen how do we contain this evil that has taken a member of our family and send him back to hell where he belongs."

Xavier studied both men, "Then you accept membership into our ranks?"

Quentin nodded, "I accept under one condition." He locked his eyes to Barnabas and then to Xavier.

"And that is?" Xavier did not feel Quentin was in a position to demand conditions but allowed him his say.

"That you allow Dr. Julia Hoffman into the same ranks as we join, do you agree Barnabas?"

Xavier stiffened and then relaxed. "I will consider her application again. At the time of her original application she was way too radical to trust into our rank and file and not what we were recruiting."

Barnabas studied his fingertips, "A woman that can design a drug that could cure vampirism is not worth recruiting?" He fixed that gaze on Xavier who was suitably impressed.

"Has she cured you Mr. Collins? Are you no longer a member of the Undead?" Xavier had noted his skin and the flush of the blood that ran through his veins.

"I have a heartbeat something I lacked for nearly two hundred years. I do not crave blood and once Dr. Hoffman and Dr. Lang complete the treatments they are hopeful that I shall walk in sunlight for the rest of my natural life and will be able to father children, which I plan to do with Miss Winters."

All five men were intently interested in what he had to say while Barnabas explained the process he had been undergoing over the past several months.

Then he explained what had happened to him earlier in the evening when for the first time since he died, his heart began to beat, his veins held blood and he did not crave blood. "We shall gladly look at her application again, now my question is, do you accept admission into our society?" Xavier waited patiently while the room grew in exaggerated silence waiting for his answer.

"I accept." Quentin said with an exhale of breath, then he looked to his cousin "And you Barnabas?"

Barnabas nodded his head. "I accept, now we plan and this much I can tell you. If I get my hands on Jubbah Zachary, I plan to send him back to his dark master for messing with what is mine and mine alone."

Xavier felt it would be a fair trade; smiling he nodded, "And we will help you send his unrepentant soul back to hell if that helps you any Mr. Collins."

"Now, how do you propose to find him and capture him?" Barnabas sat forward and for the first time this night felt he was back in control and he would be bringing Vicki home for good. An inner light glowed inside him as he listened to the plan to bring down Jubbah before he could corrupt Vicki and take her soul from her.