Wed. May 6, 1970
Dr. Julia Hoffman has returned to Collinsport… She has left her job at Windcliff to work at the local hospital. Julia is now renting the mansion, Seaview, not wanting to return to Collinwood and face the memories of Barnabas Collins… Julia does not realize that Barnabas has found a novel way to escape his chained prison…
When Julia came down the stairs at Seaview in the morning, she found that Quentin had already made some coffee for them. Julia noticed that a few lights were on. "I guess Roger had the power turned on, after all," she remarked. Quentin looked at her and nodded as he brought a tray out of the kitchen.
"I'm afraid there's no milk or cream," Quentin said, as he poured them some coffee in the parlor. "What was in the fridge was not edible…" The dusty sheets were off of all the furniture and placed in a pile in the corner of the room. Julia noticed that Quentin had a suitcase behind the sofa.
"That's all right," Julia said, as she sat down. She really wished that she could have showered, but it was going to take all morning for the water heater to do its job. "I'll just take a cube of sugar."
Quentin sat across from Julia and picked up his mug. He took a sip and said, "I guess this is it, Julia. I need to move on."
Julia put her mug down and stared at him. "Oh, Quentin! Can't you stay? Just a little bit longer?" she begged. "With Willie gone, and Barnabas… Well, I need someone around who knows what I've been through—what we've both been through!"
Quentin smirked. "Angelique is at the Old House… So there will still be one of the old "gang" left…"
Julia shook her head. "I don't trust Angelique! We made a truce—she helped us when I went back to 1897—and she helped against the Leviathans! But, I'm not foolish enough to think she wouldn't use us in a heartbeat!"
Quentin looked down. "Angelique and I have grown close since you left a month ago… I know she's selfish, but then, so am I. We have a history, she and I, and we're privy to each other's secrets. Well, she has her own secrets and I have my own, so I guess we're even in that respect…"
Julia leaned forward. "But why did she insist on staying at the Old House? With Barnabas hidden away there, it can't be that comfortable for her there—especially with all those bad memories! You told me last night how she's modernized the place, made it her own… How can she stand it, knowing Barnabas is still there?"
Quentin raised his eyebrows and sighed. "I really don't know, Julia, and I really don't care… With Sabrina, Chris and Dameon all dead, Amy staying at Windcliff, I just don't care anymore…"
Julia pursed her lips. "All right, Quentin. I need to go to Collinwood today and sign the rental agreement with Roger. Will you at least stay until I get back?"
Quentin nodded, but he did not look happy. He stared down at his coffee mug in contemplation…
Act One:
Later, as Julia left Seaview, she noticed that Quentin had parked his car away from the driveway, hidden by the trees from the main road. That was why she hadn't seen it when she arrived in the dark last night. Julia dreaded going back to Collinwood—she certainly wouldn't go near the Old House while she was there!
As Julia turned into the main driveway, she saw the caretaker's cottage, and her eyes began to well with tears at the thought of Chris. Julia gulped and steeled herself against another dam burst. "Not today, Julia," she told herself. "Chris is gone, and there's nothing you can do about it!"
When Julia arrived at the Great House, she got out of her stationwagon and stared at the mansion as it loomed above her. She could hear the crashing waves off into the distance. A pang filled her heart as she realized how much she missed this big house. Knocking on the front doors, she waited a minute and stared at the path that led to the Old House. The wind blew and Julia could have sworn she heard a disembodied voice in the wind's howl: "Help meeeeeeee…"
Julia shook her head and turned back to the front doors, knocking again. She heard footsteps, and the doors flung open. "Doctor Hoffman!" David exclaimed.
Julia stared with surprise at the light brown-haired youth. He seemed to have grown inches in the last month since she had seen him last. "David! How are you?" she gasped raspily. "My, you've grown!"
"I'm all right," David answered, as he stepped aside to let her in. "I thought you left here to go back to Windcliff," he stated matter-of-factly, as only thirteen year-olds could.
"I took a job at the Collinsport University Hospital," Julia said, as she stepped inside the mansion and looked around. Nothing had changed here, of course, everything was the same. However, close inspection revealed that the hall table was different, smaller… And, was that a chip in the fisherman statue? Julia looked up the stairs and noticed that the balcony railing was gone. Julia saw Barnabas portrait on the wall, and quickly turned away from it. "How was your trip to Boston, David? I heard Roger was taking you to look at schools?"
"It was fine," David answered, but his tone indicated that it was anything but. "But I'm glad to be back. All Maggie talked about the whole time there was Quentin this, Quentin that… I'm glad she's gone to look after her aunt!"
"Oh, Maggie's gone?" Julia asked. "Do you know when she'll be back?"
David shrugged. "Who knows? She said when her aunt was better." He turned towards the door and narrowed his eyes, as if he heard something outdoors.
"I see," nodded Julia. "David is your father home?" She noticed him staring at the front doors. "David?" she asked again.
David turned back to the red-haired woman. "No, he's already at the cannery."
The Drawing Room doors burst open. "Julia!" Angelique exclaimed. She was just as surprised to see Julia standing there as Julia was to see HER. Angelique narrowed her eyes. "I didn't know you were coming back!"
"I'm just here to see Roger, but David told me he's already left," explained Julia. She raised her eyebrows at Angelique. "What are YOU doing here?"
Angelique turned and went into the Drawing Room. "Tea, Julia? I was just sitting here, with David…"
Julia followed her. Angelique sat on the sofa, and Julia sat down next to her. "What are you DOING here?" Julia hissed.
Angelique poured some tea into a teacup and handed it to Julia. "That's not very polite, Julia! I was just waiting for Quentin, that's all." She picked up her own teacup. "Quentin hasn't been seen since yesterday… There's was an unfortunate accident yesterday after the funeral—a houseguest died falling from the balcony!"
Julia nodded as she sipped the tea and set it down on the saucer. She leaned back and smiled. "I know, Quentin told me!" Angelique stared at Julia with surprise…
Act Two:
While Julia followed Angelique into the Drawing Room to sit on the sofa and talk, David stood outside in the Great Hall, preoccupied with his own thoughts. He had felt uneasy all morning. He had awoken earlier to the sound of someone calling—begging for help. He had thought nothing of it at first, just a passing dream…
It came again, first when Angelique had arrived to see an absent Quentin, David thought he heard it in the wind: "Help meeeeee!" the voice called, disguised by the wind howl. David tried to clear his thoughts, but he heard it again when Doctor Hoffman arrived. While Julia stood there and asked him questions, David could not shake the feeling that it was not the wind howling outside, but the cry for help. After Angelique took Julia into the Drawing Room to talk, David stood out in the hall, and found himself drawn to Barnabas' portrait, for some reason…
David stood and looked at Barnabas' face—it seemed to be staring at him today, pleading with him. David tried to look away, but, as he tried to head back towards the Drawing Room to join Julia and Angelique, he heard a voice in his mind…
"Help me, someone… I'm in the dark—there's nothing here—nothing! I can't move… Please, someone find me and let me out…"
David stared back at the portrait, and was transfixed by Barnabas' eyes. "Help me… Let me out…" the voice continued to say.
"I will," David answered. He did not know where the voice was coming from, but he felt himself being guided, as though by some unseen hand. He walked across the Great Hall, saw Julia and Angelique transfixed in their own conversation in the Drawing Room, and headed towards the front doors.
In the Drawing Room, Angelique and Julia heard the doors slam shut and looked out the door. "Oh, it's just David, probably going out for a walk, or something," Angelique said. She turned back to Julia, "All right, Julia, I want to see him!"
Julia turned away. "He doesn't want to see anyone, Angelique! He wants to leave town and get away from all this… I don't blame him, a month ago I felt the same way!"
"The police were here yesterday, after the 'accident', asking all sorts of questions," Angelique told her. "The detective found a button near Mr. Edwards' body… It was Quentin's button, from the jacket he was wearing yesterday!"
Julia turned pale, as if a woman a pale as she was could get any whiter… "What did you tell him—the detective?"
"I told him I never saw the button before, of course!" Angelique's eyes glittered. "I need to see Quentin—he needs to burn that jacket, wherever he is!" She leaned forward in her seat. "And I need to bring Quentin back! If he leaves town, it will only look that much more suspicious to the police!"
Julia looked away from the blonde witch and thought for a moment. Would it be better for Quentin to leave town—or to stay and face whatever accusations came his way? Julia decided and turned back to her. "All right, Angelique! Meet me at the cannery in half-an-hour and we'll go together!"
Meanwhile, David stood at the front door of the Old House. "Are you in here?" he asked out loud. He wondered who it could be—was it Barnabas? Had Barnabas gone back to England like everyone said, or was trapped somewhere inside the Old House?
David gulped and opened the front door and peered inside. "Hello?" he called out quietly. He knew that Angelique had hired a new handyman, but David had not seen him yet. Hearing no reply, David stepped into the foyer and closed the door behind him.
"Hello? Where are you?" he called out. Suddenly, he heard the faint beating of a heart. He stepped towards the basement door, but heartbeat silenced. David stepped away from the basement door, and the heartbeat became faintly audible again.
"Help me…" he could hear the voice in his mind. David stepped into the drawing room of the Old House, and the heartbeat grew louder. As he stepped towards the bookcase, the heartbeat sounded like the drums of a marching band…
Act Three:
David remembered that there was a secret room behind the bookcase—he had first learned of it about four years ago when Victoria Winters had been kidnapped by Matthew Morgan. He reached behind the last book on the shelf to feel for the secret lever when…
"What are you DOING here?" demanded Angelique, grabbing David by the arm. The heartbeat stopped, as David was no longer in tune with it.
"I-I thought I heard something!" David stammered. He looked back at the bookcase again.
"You shouldn't come here, David!" Angelique insisted. "I'm glad I needed to come back and pick up something, or I never would have known you were here!" Angelique saw that David was staring at the bookcase. "You know about the secret room, don't you?"
David nodded. "Yes, I've known about it for years. I thought someone was calling for me from in there—calling for help."
Angelique smiled evilly. "Someone WAS calling for you, David—Barnabas!" She let go of David's arm and walked over to the bookcase. She reached for the secret lever.
"Barnabas?" David's eyes narrowed. "But, everyone said he went back to England!"
Angelique shook her head, "No, David! Barnabas is in there, waiting for you!"
"What? No, why would Barnabas be in the secret room?" David asked confusedly. "Are you holding him prisoner?"
Angelique nodded. "Shall I let him out, David? Shall I?" she demanded. "I heard what happened a few years ago, when no one would believe you about Barnabas… No one would believe you because you were just a little boy…"
David stared at her, realizing for the first time how evil she truly was. "You know about that? Barnabas tried to kill me, but no one would believe me! I gave up trying to tell everyone—even Doctor Hoffman told them I was imagining things!"
Angelique nodded with glee. She pressed the lever and the secret room made a grinding noise as it opened. David peered into the dark room and saw Barnabas' coffin there. "Oh my God, it was true!" He exclaimed in shock. "I wasn't imagining it!"
Angelique stepped toward him and extended her hand. "Come, David… Shall I open the coffin and let him out? Isn't that what you came here to do?"
David backed away from her hand. "No… No, I don't want to let Barnabas out!"
"Don't you want to at least SEE him, David?" Angelique asked sweetly.
"No, no!" David practically shouted. Memories of a large vampire bat swooping towards him in his bedroom came flooding back. It had taken months... No, a year... to forget. David turned and ran out of the Old House.
Angelique smiled triumphantly as she watched the boy run out. She knew that he would be too scared and ashamed to let anyone know. She stepped into the dark room and placed a hand on Barnabas' coffin. "Why do you keep trying, Barnabas?" she asked. "You'll never leave this place…Not until I say you do…"
After Angelique closed the secret room, she left a note for John and went to meet Julia at the cannery. Angelique did not tell Julia about David, and the two women followed each other to Seaview.
Upon pulling into the driveway of Seaview—Angelique's car on her tail—Julia noticed that Quentin's car was no longer parked in the trees. In fact, it wasn't parked anywhere. Julia got out of her stationwagon and hurried into the house. Angelique followed her.
"Where is he, Julia?" Angelique asked, looking around. She did not like being there again. Memories of being Nicholas Blair's vampiress filled every room. She saw the redhead pick up a note in the parlor.
Julia read the note and turned to Angelique. "He's gone!" Julia gasped. "He's left town for good!" Angelique stared at Julia in disbelief…
Cast:
Dr. Julia Hoffman… GRAYSON HALL
Quentin Collins… DAVID SELBY
David Collins… DAVID HENESY
Angelique Rumson… LARA PARKER
The Voice… ANTHONY SACCO