Chapter 21

Elliott Stokes house Seagull Lane

Julia sat in front of Hallie; her voice was soft and even. "Now Hallie I want you to look at me." She watched the girl to turn her head like an automaton to peer at Julia with no sign of recognition. "Hallie do you hear me?" Julia tucked her chin to peer at the girl and into her lackluster gaze. She watched her nod her head. "Very good now I am going to show you a very pretty sparkly piece of jewelry. I want you to look at the wonderful colors that shimmer and turn with the light. Can you do that for me?"

Once again there was that short nod. "Now continue to look at the piece of jewelry." She put the broach in her hand. Hallie looked down at the broach and studied it intently. "Listen to my voice and keep looking at how the light catches the jewels are you doing that Hallie?" Hallie nodded again. "Very good now when I count back from ten to one you will feel very sleepy and you will still hear my voice."

"I will hear your voice and feel sleepy." Hallie repeated what Julia had said and this gave her hope that she was close to her conscious thoughts and her mind was receptive.

"Very good, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." Hallie's head bobbed then her chin dipped to her chest. "Hallie I want you to tell me what you remember about what happened that night at the dig." Julia glanced up with a warning for Elliott to not protest her method. Xavier led Elliott to a chair so he could observe and laid a hand of comfort on his shoulder.

"She has to do this to find what is trigging the break Elliott as painful as this may be, we all want to know and now is the time to relive it and give her a cushion against whatever is locking us out and keeping her locked in." Xavier's voice was very soft and comforting, as he became Elliott's voice of reason in this emotional upheaval of his life. All Elliott wanted to do was protect his sweet niece and it seemed he had failed in that.

Elliott sighed and nodded. "I know Xavier, it is very difficult to see her this way she has lost so much. I just feel I let her down."

Eric felt a vibration against his leg and reached into his pocket to pull out the hospital pager. A new system had been implemented in New York and the Manager of the local hospital had managed to get the same system for Collinsport's Hospital. Looking down at the summons on his pager he walked out of the living room of Elliott's home and to his study. Picking up the phone he dialed the hospital. "Dr. Lang here Judy what is going on?"

"Oh Doctor they just brought in Mr. Barnabas Collins with a gunshot wound. He and Miss Winters were mugged outside Lookout Pointe and unfortunately Mr. Collins had been injured."

Eric felt a quickening of his heart and glanced over to the window looking to the front of his house to see Adam standing on his front porch clutching his side. "I will be there in five minutes Judy. Place him in a room and make sure if he needs anything for pain to give it to him. What of Miss Winters?"

"She is with the police and is expected here any time. I don't think she was injured."

Eric hung up and quietly made his way out of the house going directly to Adam. "Uncle Eric it hurts really bad." He held his side and whimpered. "What is wrong why does it really hurt?" The poor man was pitiful looking with his face scrunched up in pain and tears edging his eyes.

Eric and Julia's House Seagull Lane

Eric led him back into the house and to one of the exam rooms in his basement. "Adam, I think you are feeling what happened to Barnabas tonight. He was shot and you are feeling his pain. Can you describe your pain?" Eric helped him on the exam bed, making him comfortable as possible.

"It burns and hurts Uncle Eric. I don't feel good." Eric drew up some morphine rubbing some alcohol over his arm he injected it into Adam's arm.

Eric rubbed his arm after giving him the shot and spoke softly, helping him off the exam table and to the stairs. "You will need to go to your room and go to bed Adam. You will feel better in the morning. This will help with the pain." Eric then guided him to the foyer where the staircase was.

Adam hesitated holding his side he looked with complete trust to Eric. "Are you sure it will be better soon?"

Eric nodded helping him to the stairs and helped him to the top of th stairs watching him go down the hallway. "Now off to bed with you Adam and I promise it will feel much better tomorrow morning."

He watched Adam enter his bedroom and listened for him to lay down. Turning he walked quickly out of the house and to his car. He was concerned to see how much damage had been done to Barnabas and he was not about to interrupt Julia with what she had to deal with at this time.

Elliott's house Seagull Lane

Julia watched Hallie noting how her brow furrowed when she began to recall that night. "I remember I had been helping mother cataloged some of the artifacts and there was this coldness. Then it was like a hissing sound. Almost like what you hear when air is being let out of a tire only it was taking on a tone that were growing into words." Hallie handed Julia the amulet and stood walking to the center of the room. "I heard 'Let me out child. Let me out now and I will lay the world at your feet.' The voice kept whispering against my ear to let it out." Her voice filled with confusion over hearing a voice but not seeing anyone. She covered her ears with her hands. She shook her head back and forth in a signal of no.

The Dig the night Hallie's parents disappeared

She paused and turned looking around the room, and the room had dissolved and she was back in the chamber. Her mother was sitting at the table brushing off various pieces of broken pottery. Her father was taking her Uncle's translations to the light to read them and then the argument happened between her parents. Hallie sounded so upset as she described what was happening in the inner chamber.

"They are arguing about whether or not to open the door. Father is very upset and mother seems to be possessed to know what lies behind the door. Finally they both read more of Uncle Elliott's notes and they agree the room should remain locked. Mother looks frightened by what was translated. Uncle Charles is coming down the roadway he is bringing the rest of Uncle Elliott's translations for father."

Hallie frowned, "The voice is tempting me to come to the door and open it. I can't control my self I must go to that door and open it. I hear a soft chuckle and encouragement to come and open the door. Uncle Charles comes down the stairs and hands father the other pages and he forgets something he leaves and I open the door and darkness, oh my god it's the darkness it swarms over the room bringing the smell of death and coldness. Mother grabs my hand and jerks me to her Father is protecting us from the advancing darkness that spreads around the room."

Hallie's voice began to shake and she was starting to cry. "It covers father and I hear him scream out in terror and mother pushes me to the stairs where I am met by Uncle Charles who rushes me up the stairs and tells me to go to my tent." Hallie turned her face twisted in terror. "I hear mother scream it is a horrible scream then it is cut off." Hallie covered her face and began to cry. "Oh my God! I killed my parents by opening that door!" Hallie began to weep long heartfelt anguished filled sobs.

Julia stepped to her pulling her around to face her. "Hallie look at me." She watched Hallie glance up at her and look at her with wide horror filled eyes that told of her anguish and grief. "Hallie you will forget that you opened that door. Your parents are missing they are not dead. Do you understand?" Julia had accented with emphasis the 'Do you understand' so it was filled with a command and force.

Hallie nodded slowly and quit crying. "You will never remember that you opened that door. Do you understand?" Again she nodded slowly. "Now dry your eyes go sit on the sofa and when I snap my fingers you will awaken feel tired and want to go to bed. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I will not remember, I will awaken when you snap your fingers and I will be tired and want to go to bed." Julia smiled and snapped her fingers and watched Hallie blink look at Julia and smile.

"Now my dearest child are you not a little tired? You had a very busy two days." Julia's voice was light and cheerful.

"Yes actually I am exhausted. I really did not sleep well at Uncle Charles and will enjoy being in my own bed tonight. Will you all excuse me?" She looked apologetically to those in the room.

Elliott stood and opened his arms, "Of course my dear. Off to bed with you." He gathered her into his arms for a big hug and kissed the top of her head and watched her with so much relief it was apparent in his stance and his gaze. Once she was from sight he turned to Julia, "Thank you Julia once again you have rescued me from something that I was not prepared to handle."

"What was in that cavern Elliott? Did you or the Illuminati ever find out what had been buried there?" Julia was moderately curious at such a trauma being projected on a girl of such tender years as Hallie.

"We believe it was an ancient evil that predated Christ. It had been loose on the world for some many millenniums that it was finally contained and sealed back into that vault. The runes were warding spells to keep it locked in there. We believe that Al Guzzalli had found this evil and had placed its essences in a phylactery. Once the phylactery was broken he had to ward the room to contain it. We believe from the renderings we were able to translate that the priests all gathered together to seal that room and lock it with the runic charms and seal that had been in place until Hallie broke it and opened that door."

Julia pursed her lip thinking about what she was told. "This darkness has it escaped or did it stay in the cavern?" Julia was slightly concerned that if it claimed the mother and the father then it could easily claim the child and she did not wish to see Hallie harmed by something as vile as what had been described.

"We lost track of it during World War Two. We think a kindred of it had taken control of Hitler and thus why he was setting about to destroy the Jewish nation. We believe there are four of them and Al Guzzalli contained one of them. They could very well be the remaining four horsemen revealed in Revelations." Xavier looked concerned about what they had learned when Hitler's bunker had been breached and what they discovered about his pursuit of seeking all things supernatural.

His own group had to go into hiding in Europe. To avoid being found out by this insidious evil that had crawled across the land corrupting everything in its wake. "It obviously is related in kind to the other darkness or evil that has taken control over men of power." The words from Xavier bordered on being a portent of an approaching doom.

"Do you think it remembers Hallie and is still searching for her?" Julia had to ask she was truly fond of the young woman.

"We believe he searches for her but has been unable to locate her because of the amulet she always wears. If she looses that amulet she will be vulnerable Julia so we make sure she is always surrounded by good and pure people."

Collinsport Hospital

Emergency Room

Eric arrived at the hospital and entered the private room that Barnabas had been placed. Stepping over to his prone figure on the bed he lifted hospital gown and sighed. "It appears to be more of a flesh wound and needs maybe three stitches." Eric patted Barnabas' shoulder. "You are going to feel a little sting then it will numb the area and we will take care of this for you." He had spoken with a clinical point of view and was all business and ready to be the physician that Barnabas knew.

"Has Victoria arrived? She was very upset. We were set upon when we left the hospital they followed us on the highway and we thought we had evaded them when they began to ram our car with their car." Barnabas sounded tired and in pain. He continued to explain to Eric the events as they happened. "Victoria was rather amazing with how she handled the car being rammed she reversed the position on the two assailants and she rammed them and I believe she said she had spun them out. However when they met up with us as we got out of the car they had guns. We fought with them and unfortunately they shot me."

The soft voice of Vicki spoke from the open doorway. "They have put out an alert statewide looking for them. They were in a car with New York Plates; the car came back stolen from lower New York City. It was abandoned on the interstate and there were reports that another car came and picked up two men seen walking away from the car. How is he Eric? He is not hurt too seriously I hope? There was a doctor at Lookout Pointe he said it was a flesh wound and it might need stitches." She smiled looking at Barnabas then peering up at Eric hoping to get a reassuring nod.

"Well I believe the doctor was right. He has three stitches and will heal faster than most. He just needs to take it easy for the next couple of days so he does not tear his stiches open and we will take them out this Friday. I am sure with the properties in your blood you will be well healed by then." Eric returned her smile.

Vicki leaned over and placed a light kiss on his lips. "I am going to make sure he takes it easy. I am going to take him home and be his nurse for the next four days." She smiled seeing the look of surprised delight ignite his eyes with the tender look of love.

Clarissa and Elias' House Seagull Lane

Elias lay next to Annalisa and smiled. "You did very well tonight my dear. Did you out do yourself because you are afraid I will forget you when I take my new bride?" He rolled to his side and looked into the glass eyes of his dolly. In his mind he mimicked a high-pitched feminine replay "You know I love you Elias, how could you think of replacing me with her? Is she as beautiful as I?"

Elias stroked her hair from her face and smiled. "She is very beautiful. Her hair is not blond but it is dark and lays like a cape of silk down her back. Her eyes are not blue like yours but they are green and sometimes they are grey and then they are what they call today hazel. They shift with her emotions and change colors like a chameleon."

"But Elias you always said I was your favorite. Did I not please you tonight?" He spoke the words for her but heard her own voice in his mind.

"You will be one of my favorites but when I take a bride. You know I must devote my time to her for a while until she joins you and the others." He smiled and was beginning to get aroused just thinking about his future bride. "She has soft beautiful skin, and her voice is as delectable as the rest of her. I bet when she screams it will give all of us excited chills."

"So you will not totally replace us with her?" He smiled looking into the dead gaze of his favorite dolly.

"Only for a short time my sweet Annalisa. She will be my bride and you know what that entails. She must share my bed and be my wife and be dutiful to me. It would have been different for us if you had not tried to betray me. But I forgive you."

"Oh Elias I never wanted to betray you. I just did not understand how special our love was and what it meant to you to be with me. If had known I could have always been there for you."

"But you did betray me and look what happened. At least I did not make you a husk. I just had you stuffed. Now you belong to me forever. Now I can stuff you when ever I want." He chuckled at his age old and repetitive joke.

"I think I would like to have you make love to me again Elias will you make love to me?"

Elias smiled his eyes gleamed with the thought of having sex with her once again. "Of course I will. But you can't be too greedy with me once Victoria comes to live here and be my wife." He leaned over and pressed his lips to the dead sewn together lips of his dolly.

Q's between Portland and Collinsport

Clarissa pulled her car into the parking lot of Q's. Getting out she stepped with a seductive sway to her hips on her stiletto heels to the doors and entered. She stood looking like a statuesque model with her blond hair lying in a silken wave down over her shoulder. The dress she wore was shimmering with the lights. She drew attention the moment she stepped into the room and smiled inwardly. Like a predator on the prowl she nodded to the mater d and headed to the bar.

Sliding on a bar stool she laid her evening purse on the counter and smiled at the bartender. "Scotch on the rocks please." She glanced around the room and saw the man that had cornered her father at the Blue Whale. What was his name? Collins, Roger Collins. He smiled at her and lifted his drink in a little salute. She smiled and nodded at him narrowing her eyes to see if he was alone.

The bar tender saw that Roger had finished his drink and since he indicated he wanted a refill brought him another drink. When he had refilled Roger's drink he returned to her and pushed her money back. "The gentleman over there bought your drink and wonders if you would like to join him at his table."

Clarissa lifted the glass and slid with a seductive sway of her hips to the table. "I think I should thank you for the drink?" He watched the man with obvious breeding and hints of snobbery rise and button his jacket then pull out a chair for her.

"Not necessary, no beautiful woman should pay for her drink let alone drink by herself. Please join me." He waited for her to sit then joined her at the table. "I think we sort of met one night at the Blue Whale, you were meeting a friend of mine. Nicholas Blair?" He studied her over the rim of his glass.

"Oh yes I now recall you stopped him when he was coming over to my table. Business friend?" She lifted her glass to sip and studied him from her peripheral.

"No it was not business it was personal. His sister and I were engaged and had planned to be married and she just ran away. Did not help my ego much. We were madly in love and did not want to wait and before we could get to the courthouse, she had disappeared. Even poor Nicholas could not tell me where she had run off to or what happened. He was as stumped as I."

Clarissa found this fascinating that sister must have been his bitch Angelique. "Oh which sister? Nicholas has five sisters." She waited to hear his response.

"Cassandra Blair, lovely thing dark hair, incredible blue eyes and a lovely disposition that melted my heart immediately." He spoke wistfully of his love for Cassandra also known as to Clarissa as Angelique.

"Oh yes Cassandra. She is the flighty one that likes to be a bit of a drama queen sometimes. She does some of the most bothersome antics and is constantly embarrassing the family."

It dawned on Roger that this woman might be Cassandra sister and Nicholas sister so he hinted at this when his next question. "Know her pretty well do you?" He sipped his drink and sighed setting it down and looking at her then to his drink.

"I should know her I am related to Nicholas but not that close, he would be more like a favorite Uncle to me." She smiled having deftly side stepped his inquisition of her association with Cassandra and Nicholas.

"Oh I see, so will you be in Collinsport for a while?" Roger had perked up sensing he would not be treading on sensitive toes by having a flirtatious drink with this woman who had yet to give him her name.

Clarissa smiled sipped and set her glass down, she liked this man who seemed to be vulnerable and lonely. "I have a home in Collinsport. I live there with my brother. Oh by the way I failed to give you my name. Clarissa Blair, nice to finally meet you Mr. Collins."

Roger smiled, "Clarissa, what a perfectly lovely name you look like a Clarissa, aristocratic, cool and you almost seemed to be unapproachable at first but then you smiled at me and I thought why not?" He waved for the bartender to refill their drinks.

Clarissa smiled with the amount of liquor he was having she was sure she was going to get lucky this night and would probably have him in a no tell motel before the night was over.

Road to Collinsport

Beth had left Willie and was heading home when she saw the car ahead of her veer off the roadway and to take a horrible plunge over the side of a cliff. She bit back a scream in the back of her throat, the car crashed below and burst into flames. Driving back to the hospital she ran into the emergency room and told the hospital staff what she just witnessed. They called the police and told her that they officer wanted to speak with her could she please return to the sight of the crash.

Beth did not trust her shaking limbs she had just seen someone die and it did not sit well with her. Sitting down for a few minutes the nurse at the front desk got her a glass of water. From the back exam rooms Dr. Lang walked out into the lobby and stopped seeing Beth sitting and looking pale he spoke softly, "Beth?"

Beth sprung up, rushing into his arms and held onto Dr. Lang's neck. "Oh Dr. Lang it was terrible! A car just crashed off of Logan's Cliff. It burst into flames. I saw them die. Those poor people in the car." Eric could see she was very upset.

"My dear you are in no condition to drive home. Allow me to take you home."

"No I have to go back and meet the officers I saw what happened and they want to question me." She began to cry and he could see she was almost hysterical.

"Come along Beth I will take you back to the sight and we will wait for the officers so you can give your statement you obviously are in no condition to drive." Eric wrapped his arm around Beth's shoulder and walked her to the door. Putting her in his car he drove to Logan's Cliff where he could see a series of lights and up ahead and the occasional figure moving as a silhouette in the lights.

"Looks like emergency crews are here and the police. Wait here in the car my dear and I will let them know I have you in my car and if they need a statement they can come back to my house and get it from you. You are in no condition to sit here and wait for them to clear this scene." Eric stepped out of the car in search of he lead officer on this case.

Seeing George Patterson standing by his car he knew he had found the senior officer on the scene. He frowned noting George was wearing a business suit and not his uniform. Walking up to George he paused in front of him. "George?" He looked around to see there were two other deputies and a State Police Officer present.

"Hello Doctor, what are you doing out here? From what I understand the occupants of that car do not need a doctor they need an undertaker." His voice was filled with sadness and his eyes reflected the grief of his recent loss.

"I have Beth Chavez in my car, she witnessed the accident and is very upset. I thought you had your wife's visitation today?"

"I was at the funeral home when the call came out. This was not an accident Doctor; those people had been shot before their car went off the cliff. Beth may have witnessed a murder tonight so I will need to speak with her. Would you like to bring her to the station tomorrow so I can talk with her?"

Eric felt sorry for the man that was dealing with this and now a double homicide. "I was going to tell the senior officer if they wanted to come to my house tonight I will have her calm enough to be able to take her statement if that would work out better for you?" He clasped a hand of comfort on George's shoulder and squeezed.

"I would appreciate that very much. I am going to be here for another two hours. They are just now trying to get the bodies out of the car. The car was stolen from upstate New York and it appears to be two white males that have been shot."

Eric grimaced. "Tourist that got caught off the beaten track?"

George shrugged. "Not sure but I got a lot on me. I have six missing women and now this and what happened up at Lookout Pointe I have a feeling this is going to be related before it is all said and done."

Eric was stunned to hear about the missing women but said nothing. "Well I am taking Beth home and won't say anything to her until you are ready to question her."

"Thank you Doctor. I will have the office call you at your house when I am on my way." George sighed he was tired and wanted to go home and to bed but then it would remind him that his wife was dead. So, he sucked up his tiredness and waited. This was going to be a very long night for him.