Chapter 25

Seagull Lane Elias and Clarisse's house

Vicki lay on the bed with her arm stretched to the side and duct taped to the iron headboard. Everything appeared to be a blur or shadowed behind a web of some soft material. With the cognitive processes coming in to focus she blinked and realized her mouth was covered with duct tape, and the room was dark and had that odd odor. Where had she smelled that odor before? She knew it and it was horrible. It was bad enough she felt like she was going to wretch

With more awareness she felt there was a veil on her head, looking down at the dress she wore she saw it was a satin wedding gown. What was going on? Her mind was trying to put together what had happened. She could hear voices in the room next to hers. There was a woman's voice and a man's voice. Who created this nightmare? She began to twist her wrists back and forth feeling the sticky backing of the tape beginning to give.

Attuning her ears to the voices coming back and forth between two people, she enhanced her ability to hear. "Now, now, Melanie my dear. I told you she was coming and now you are jealous? Of course she is in my bed. She is going to be my wife and she has a right to now share my bed."

There it was again that high pitched almost falsetto voice that was whining. "But you said you would not forget me or the rest of us here. You said you would give us some of your attention." Vicki became aware that the voice was not another person's voice but the man's voice speaking in high falsetto. Her mind raced with what had brought her to this point and what madness was coming down on her.

Where had it begun? Early that morning, yes her and Barnabas had slept in each other's arms. Barnabas where was he? What happened to him? She shook her head thinking that if she treated her mind like that toy with dials, and when you shook it, you got a blank page and could draw the lines over again; maybe it would all come back to her if she shook her head.

Twelve Hours Earlier:

She had rolled over and felt his hand grab her wrist, his arms pulled her back into his hold and he had snuggled into her neck. "Where do you think you are going?" His voice was filled with the depth of his passion and was still sleep filled.

She had chuckled softly, "I was going to the bathroom and then I was going to get dressed and finally I was going down to fix you, and myself some breakfast and listen to the weather report." Barnabas nuzzled her neck laying small sensual kisses up to her earlobe.

"Although I would not keep you from your morning ablutions my dear. I must insist you return to my arms immediately so we may explore the depths of our chill and how to thaw that chill." He pushed back from his hold he held on her staring into her gaze with adoring eyes.

"My dear sir! You tempt me with your winsome ways and your charming offers. Do you suggest we stay in bed for the rest of the day and allow ourselves the luxury of being so decadent to ignore the world and only make it a world with just the two of us? Would you not become bored with me?" She snuggled close to him curling into his hold.

"I would think the world too perfect if it were only you and I but I do fear we must only allow ourselves a few more moments of this new world creation you have painted so beautifully for me with your sweet enticing words." He kissed her nose held her tightly to his chest and whispered in her ear. "I love you Victoria Winters a day without you in my arms is a day of pain and anguish in my heart."

Vicki touched by his words lifted her chin up to peer at him. "Then let us explore this new world of sensual pleasure and bask in our love for a few more moments." She licked his neck, struggled to go face to face with him, captured his lips and kissed him deeply. Barnabas returned her passion and once again they had found a way to relieve the sexual tension while still preserving her gift for Barnabas.

With a great deal of reluctance they separated from their cozy warm nest. Vicki went to shower and Barnabas to build up the fires and check the heat for the house. Dressed impeccably in his three-piece suit he walked to the drawing room and set a fire in the fireplace. From the blustering wind blowing across the summit a tink from the sleet could be heard pelting the front porch and windows of the drawing room. An involuntarily shiver crawled his spine leaving him with an unsettled feeling.

Vicki dressed in a cable knit sweater, corduroy pants, and knee high boots. She skipped down the steps smiling brightly at the impeccably tailored suit. Pausing she tilted her head. She smiled. "I always said the suit makes the man, but in this case, I really think the man makes the suit." She had folded her arms over her chest studying him.

"You know some day when you think you could handle it, I would like to take you shopping and get you something less formal and more relaxed. I think you would find that wearing jeans and a sweater would make the task you are doing right now less damaging to your suit." She advanced towards him reached for his hands leaned in and placed a light kiss on his lips. "Though I find this look very sexy."

He had pulled her close, held her tightly, and kissed her deeply. "We could always go back to bed and stay there." He whispered against her lips with a rakish smile.

Vicki chuckled." I kind of like that idea but we are both needing breakfast and from the sounds of that wind and the ice that is blowing in from an artic blast we might need to secure the house and make sure things are secure at Collinwood. I am afraid that Mrs. Stoddard may not have the help to secure the green house or stables." She was using her practical thinking hearing the wind whip the ice against the window.

Barnabas sighed. "If we lived in Martinique we would not need to bother with ice storms. Which reminds me, I do want us to go there, I did hire Trask to secure the plantation home of Josette's last month and I would like to take a trip to see it soon."

Vicki shuddered hearing the whipping wind and the ice hitting the windows and door. "The sound of surf washing on a sun drenched warm shore sounds lovely." She sighed, looked to the doors that lead to the kitchen. "But now we are stuck and when ever you are ready to take a trip then I am there with you. Now to see what is in fridge."

Vicki turned and entered through the louvered doors. Walking along the hallway that led to the dining room and kitchen she sighed thinking she was becoming quite the domestic goddess. Entering into the more modernized kitchen, she pulled out a frying pan, went to the refrigerator and collected the eggs, milk, and bacon. In no time she had a platter of bacon, scrambled eggs, coffee, and juice set nicely on the new bar.

Barnabas walked into the kitchen watching her cook their breakfast. Leaning against the door he smiled brightly watching her shift with expert ease around the kitchen. "I would think it is safe to say that," the sound of toast popping up stopped his thought.

"Oh would you hand me those pieces of toast and put two more in?" Vicki handed him a saucer plate. The plate held two pieces of bread. " Put those in and push the lever down." She smiled handing over the plate. Barnabas laughed.

"Like I was going to say, " he had taken the two pieces of hot bread out of the toaster looking at the marvel of perfectly toasted bread. Dropping in the untoasted bread he set the plate on the counter. Vicki buttered the toast. "I was about to say once we are married you would fit into this setting very nicely."

Vicki laughed. "Well don't get used to it my love. I will also still be running a multinational corporation and will probably need to set up an office for them here in Collinsport. I was hoping you would help me with these duties and give me advice. Maybe I could put you on the payroll as a consultant."

Barnabas slid onto a bar stool in front of her watching her use those long delicate fingers to curl around the knife and butter the toast. "Would you like some jam or jelly on your toast?" She smiled glancing up at the face of the man she had come to love and trust with her very life.

"Neither, I would love my love to give me a kiss and sit next to me to enjoy breakfast together." Vicki put the toast on the counter with two plates of eggs, bacon and toast. Pouring two cups of coffee she set them on the counter and then turned to get the other toast that had popped up.

"Hot, hot, hot.. . " She tossed the toast back and forth from hand to hand. Dropping the toast on her plate, she reached for the butter, and then slid next to Barnabas. Buttering her toast she turned to watch him eat his eggs and bacon. "Is it good?" She put her elbow on the counter cupping her chin with her palm. She watched him delicately pick at the eggs and chew the bacon.

"I have say it is the best breakfast I have ever tasted and it is all the more special because the woman I love made it with these delicate hands. These fingers buttered my toast, they poured my coffee and I feel I am the luckiest man in the world." He lifted her fingers and gently placed his lips against them.

Vicki flushed, "You have no idea how special you make me feel." She leaned over and kissed him on the lips. The kiss was chaste and simple. "Now finish your breakfast we are going to have to go out and face this cold."

Collinwood

They spent the next four hours at Collinwood, helping secure the house against the brutal onslaught of the artic blast that had settled in over Collinsport. The power was threatening to go off during the middle of the storm. "I am glad we got those generators put in to keep the house lit and heated. Carolyn had very bad night last night." Elizabeth was looking with concern around the room. Her mind was on the fact she watched her daughter nearly miscarry her child last night.

"Is Carolyn going to be all right?" Vicki stood looking cold and concerned having heard about the near miss Carolyn had.

"Yes, she just needs to rest. Julia was coming by later to check on her. For now Daphne has her on complete bed rest. She is have a hard time right now and we are going to do all we can to make sure that she and her baby are safe."

Vicki nodded. "She should rest. Is there anything I can do for her or you?" Vicki stepped over to Liz to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Liz smiled, turned and nodded.

"Yes as a matter of fact there is. I would like you to sit down Vicki, there is something I need to speak to you about and it is something that has been a long time coming."

Vicki was not sure what this was about but she was sure of one thing, with the tone of voice Elizabeth Stoddard had just used it was serious. Turning with a feeling of trepidation she sat on the edge of the sofa. "Mrs. Stoddard . . . "

"Vicki don't call me Mrs. Stoddard, call me . . . " The phone rang interrupting Elizabeth's point of confession. "Ignore it." Elizabeth snapped when Vicki stood to answer the phone. Vicki sat back down and heard David answering the phone.

"Vicki I need to talk to you, I need to tell you that I . . . " Again an interruption that was beginning to wear on Elizabeth's resolved.

"Aunt Elizabeth it's for Vicki, its Hallie Stokes, she says she is alone and she is afraid because there is some creepy guy sneaking around Dr. Lang's house and then he was coming over to her house."

Elizabeth Stoddard had lost her patience. "Then she should call the police."

David was getting frustrated. "She did and they are coming, but she wants Vicki to come and get her to bring her here. She says she lost power and the house is getting cold." David was holding the phone to his leg. 'Are you going to talk to her or not Miss Winters?" David looked pointedly at Vicki with a sense of aggravation on his face because his aunt had been so terse with him.

Vicki looked to Mrs. Stoddard for permission to take the call. Elizabeth sighed and nodded, "Go get her Vicki. I am sure the child is scared out of her mind. Elliott I am sure is trapped at school." The resignation was prevalent in her voice as she instructed Vicki to go and get Hallie.

Vicki stood turned to David moving taking the phone from him. "Hallie, its Vicki Winters. I will be there in a few minutes. Get your things together, keep the doors locked." She glanced up to see Barnabas entering from the back of the house. "Hallie just be ready no one should be out in this mess. I am going to bring Barnabas and we will be there as quick as we can." Vicki hung up; turned to Barnabas smiled.

"Hallie is by herself and is afraid she is seeing boogeymen every where. So I am going to go pick her up and bring her back here. You coming with me?" Vicki had hung up the phone and walked to the vestibule to get her coat.

Barnabas nodded. "I am not about to let you go out in this by yourself. Of course I am coming with you."

Seagull Lane

The roads were treacherous with each passing minute the rain fell, it froze the moment it hit the ground and in some cases it was turning to sleet. The roads were slowly turning into blacktops of black ice. Vicki felt the wheels of the car slide a couple of times but managed to keep it under control as she drove slowly towards Professor Stokes.

Clarissa and Elias' house

Seagull Lane

Clarissa had come in to find her father and Maggie had escaped, she was unsettled and upset. Rushing to the house she found Elias sitting in his dollies room talking to his girls. "So, soon we will have my new bride and I don't want you to be jealous or upset and I don't want no whining."

Clarissa could hear him through the door. Knocking softly she waited for him to come to the door. Unlocking the door, she waited for him to come out of his room. "Elias, we have a problem. Apparently, something is going on and the police are doing regular checks in this neighborhood. They are driving by every forty minutes. So, if you want to complete your nest you are going to have to do it tonight. Unfortunately, my father has taken one of your mothers."

Elias frowned. "Who did Nicholas take?" He paced to the end of the hallway and looked out to see Hallie running from Dr. Lang's house to her house. With the next gust of wind the lights flickered and then went out for the whole block. He looked around the darkening house and waited for his sister to light the hurricane lamps.

Clarissa sighed walked to the end of the hallway and down the stairs to find the hurricane lamps and lit them. At least they had gas heat so the house would stay warm. Lighting the lamps she stooped down to the tender laying in the fireplace and lit it to get a fire going more for light than warmth. Picking up the lamp she went to the top of the stairs and called. "Elias come down here please."

His eyes glowed red in the darkness upstairs. She heard him shuffle down the stairs to the bottom stopping on the last step. "Now which mother did Nicholas take Clarissa?" His words had been bitten off in a clipped fashion.

"Elias you knew he had feelings for the Evans girl and you took her. You must have known he was going to take her away from you. He was very angry and he threatened to hurt you so I had to take steps to stop him. However he found a way to escape and take Miss Evans with him."

Elias stepped off the stairs and began to pace back and forth; his breathing was becoming labored with his anxiety. "Then I need to find a replacement. Clarissa what if the police are watching this house or us. I need to speed up my collection of mothers. I want to get the pretty blond girl tonight and the blond woman at the doctor's house. Once I have them, I will have one of them call Vicki to bring her here."

Clarissa looked at her watch. She calculated the last pass through the squad car had made. "You have exactly a half hour to get both women if you want them now."

"Did you get the wedding gown?" He looked at his sister his face set in a thoughtful pose. He was getting excited and nervous. The two blonds would not be that hard to take in the next half an hour. The problem would be if Vicki came and brought the dark man with her. He would have to die.

Working quickly, he secured the taking of Hallie. It had been a matter of tapping on the back door, then running to the front door and opening it. He had noticed she rarely kept the door locked and just as before, she had come home and left the door unlocked. Sneaking up behind her, he had grabbed her turned her around and taken enough life force from her pure little body to make her go unconscious. Taking her to his room he turned to Clarissa. "She needs to be dressed in her bridesmaids dress sister."

Locking her in his room Elias walked from the house to Dr. Lang's house. He had watched them come and go from the rear and figured that would be the best place to make entry into the house. He felt really proud of what he had accomplished. The Beth woman was going to the holding cell where he had put Maggie. Making his way into the house he waited for Beth to come into the kitchen, just as he had done countless other times, he had come up behind Beth, grabbed her and put her against the wall.

Forcing her to open her mouth he took some of her life force and caught her as she fell unconscious. Picking her up he made it back to the holding area of the other mothers before the police car drove by flashing his alley light on the house. Laying her in the cell that had held Maggie; he stood back and tuned to the hag in charge. "Clarissa will need to dress her in her bridesmaid's dress. She is to be bound and brought to the house after I get my bride."

He walked away from the three hags that had huddled together watching him. "He is not a normal Incubus. He is only a half-breed." They all three watched him disappear through the door with a soft frown edging their lips. "What makes him so special that he can command a nest and three hags?"

Clarissa had come up from behind; her cold clinical stare looked past the hags. "Because his father is the most powerful Incubus that ever lived. If you do not wish to disappoint him or have him come visit you, I would suggest you keep your thoughts to yourself and never refer to him as a half breed again." Clarissa handed Murag the pale organdy bridesmaid's dress. "Put this on her and let me know when she is dressed."

Clarissa had so enjoyed her previous night. Roger had been very entertaining. He had been tender and then very demanding when he was exerting his needs and his demands. She had thought she could have been entertained by him for the whole night but knew better than to leave Elias alone.

When she had headed back to the house, she had heard the weatherman on the radio sounding like Chicken Little with the prediction of dire ends and the sky falling. She sighed and knew that this would be a perfect time to get Elias his last mothers and deal with her father. It was rather distressing to find that her father had escaped.

Elias held a blindfolded Hallie around the waist and throat. "You know what to say, so be sure you are convincing she must come to pick you up because you are afraid. Do you understand?" He whispered against Hallie's ear. Hallie's body was trembling so badly, her breath was coming in short gasps and she was about to hyperventilate. She knew she would have collapsed if he had not been holding her.

Making the phone call she was fearful that no one would answer or the lines were down. Then David had picked up. Trying to calm herself as much as possible she begged for Vicki to come and pick her up. She closed her eyes when Vicki hung up. Elias took the phone from her tightly clinched hand. "You were very good. Now come with me." He lead the young girl wearing a lovely organza dress to the rear of the house, out the door into the driving wind and ice to a strange place that sounded like others occupied.

Taking the blindfold off, he handed her over to the hags. "Lock her up and when we are ready to do the wedding, you will need to bring her and Beth to the main house. Is that understood?" The hags nodded but said nothing to his face. Murag took the girl by the hand ad led her down the hallway to another cell and shoved her through the door and secured it.

Hallie stumbled then caught her balance. She lifted her trembling fingertips to her blindfold and took it off. Looking down she saw Beth and rushed to her side. "Beth!" Stooping down she began to lightly smack her face. "Wake up Beth, please wake up." Hallie was near tears.

Elliott's House Seagull Lane

Vicki felt the car begin to slide just as she pulled up in front of Elliott's house. The house was dark. Barnabas got out of the car, and felt his feet slip; catching his balance he half skated, half walked towards the front door and knocked. When his hand hit the door, it creaked open and he turned looking at Vicki.

Turning the car off, she carefully stepped out of the car and sliding slightly she stepped to the rear of the car watching Barnabas enter to the house. She frowned watching the house and any signs of Hallie. When Barnabas had been in there for a sufficient amount of time to find Hallie, she gingerly tried to make her way towards the house, and felt a strong pair of arms come down around her. A small yelp escaped and her reaction was to throw the person over her shoulder.

Feeling her feet slip out from under her, she watched in horror as Barnabas came to her rescue only to see a figure behind him slam a bat down on his head and he fell unconscious to the ground. Vicki felt the arms around her tighten to the point that she was having the very air squeezed out of her body. She was slowly loosing consciousness and then she saw a face and her whole world went dark.

Elias' and Clarissa's house Seagull Lane

Elias had gotten excited when he saw her pull up and then frowned when he saw Barnabas get out of the car. "It is the dark one Clarissa he needs to die tonight. He cannot interfere with my wedding. You need to kill him."

Clarissa had sighed, rolled her eyes, and then uttering a soft chant disappeared. Elias took his cue to sneak up behind Vicki and grab her. The fact he did not need to use his feet to the ground but could float over the icy conditions of the ground he was easily able to grab Vicki and hold her until she began to go unconscious. When she slipped down he turned her and drew only a short amount of essence from her and just the little bit she held was intoxicating.

Taking her back home he put her in his room. He waited for his sister's return he had to tell her how special this one was. She had more to her than just essences she was like an immortal. Her essence was so sweet and exhilarating. He waited for her return by pacing up and down the hallway. Glancing occasionally to the room that held his dollies.

Clarissa drug Barnabas out the back door and left him to lie in the near sub zero conditions, ice beginning to collect on his body. "You can lay here and die." Moving her fingers in an intricate fashion she disappeared from sight to appear back in her house brushing the ice form her hair and arms. "You can come down now Elias. He is dead."