Wed. May 13, 1970
Now that Angelique Rumson realizes that the mind and spirit of John Jaeger is inhabiting the body of Barnabas Collins, she has decided to hold another seance... This time, a newly freed Quentin, who has spent the last few days in jail, has joined her and John in an attempt to put right the soul swap that has taken place…
"I can't wait for Hannah," Angelique told the two men. "Let's start without her. Come, sit on either side of me at the table." Angelique sat down, with Quentin on her left, and John on her right. Barnabas' portrait sat directly across from her.
"We must touch hands," Angelique instructed. She stared over at John, slightly disturbed that it could still be Barnabas playing a trick on them. The three of them let their fingers touch, and they concentrated for someone or something to appear to corroborate John's claim.
John looked down at his hands, well, Barnabas' hands. How odd they looked to him, even now. The hands of a blood-sucking creature... John shivered. What other secrets had been kept from him while living in this house? He turned his attention to Angelique.
"We seek a being who knows the true identity of this man—this man who looks like Barnabas Collins…" Angelique called out to the dark shadows of the room.
A gust of wind blew the front door of the Old House opened, making the flickering candles in the room blow out. A dark, caped figure hovered in the doorway. "Who are you!" Angelique called to the figure. John stared over at Quentin with fright, but Quentin was no longer phased by the sight of spirits.
"I am the Ghost of Joshua Collins! Father of Barnabas and Sarah Collins! That man is not my son!" the ghost bellowed as he floated towards them.
John smiled in relief, despite seeing an honest-to-goodness ghost appear right before their very eyes. Both Quentin and Angelique turned and stared at John with surprise on their faces.
Angelique, in particular, who now wondered where the real Barnabas was, and what he planned to do! "Where is your son?" Angelique asked the ghost.
Angelique and Quentin were astounded after the Ghost of Joshua Collins confirmed that John was telling the truth. "Where is your son?" Angelique asked the ghost.
"He is in another body, in another house!" the ghost bellowed.
"Where is this house?" Quentin asked.
"It is a house by the sea! It is…" The ghost disappeared as Hannah du Noir noisily burst through the front door from outside.
Act One:
"Hannah!" Angelique gasped with dismay.
Hannah looked around, her eyes wide. "What happened? What did I miss?"
"Now do you believe me?" John asked quietly, anger flashing in his eyes at Angelique.
"Where is the real Barnabas, then?" Quentin wondered out loud. "A house by the sea… That described almost any house around here—including Collinwood!"
Angelique shook her head. "It doesn't matter where he is… all that matters now is that we have confirmation that John is in Barnabas' body…" She looked at John. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you, but… Barnabas has played tricks on me before…" John nodded, but he still felt miffed that it took a ghost for her to believe him.
"There is only one being who can switch the two souls back into their rightful bodies—my Master…" Angelique told the group. "We must summon him…"
Hannah looked around the room, confused. "Am I to understand this is not Mr. Barnabas Collins standing here before me?" She recognized him from around town the last couple of years. "This is... John Jaeger?" She looked at Angelique for confirmation.
"Yes Hannah! This is John in Barnabas' body!" Angelique told the black-haired witch. "That is why we must ALL help to summon the Master-before this night is over!"
"If you say so, Angelique…" Hannah reluctantly agreed.
"What if I LIKE being this way?" John demanded. "Maybe I'd like to try out being a vampire for a little while longer?"
"I liked you better the way you were before…" Angelique said quietly. Quentin looked back and forth at the two and realized that there was more to Angelique and John's relationship than he realized.
As everyone sat around the table to start the séance again, the phone rang, and Quentin got up to answer it. "Hello? Rumson residence?" It was David calling from Collinwood.
"Maggie called," David told Quentin. "She's coming home tomorrow, and she wanted you to meet her at the trainstation."
"All right, David. Thank you for letting me know," Quentin agreed, and tried to get off of the phone as quickly as possible.
"Aunt Elizabeth wanted to see you tonight," David pressed. "She wondered where you were..."
"We're having a little get-together here at the Old House this evening. I'll see Elizabeth later," Quentin told him. He hurriedly said good-bye and hung up the phone.
At Collinwood, David wondered to himself what was going on at the Old House. He decided he was going to find out…
Act Two:
Angelique removed Barnabas' portrait from the chair for Hannah to set down at the small table. She propped it up against a chair next to the fireplace and began to shut off all the lights again. While she was doing this, Quentin lit the black candles.
Hannah leaned forward towards John at the table. "What does it feel like to be inside someone else's body?" she whispered.
He smiled and leaned forward towards her. "I must admit it's very strange," he whispered back at her. "The heightened senses—taste, touch, hearing—in fact I can hear your heart beating right now. It sounds like a drum in a marching band."
"Really?" Hannah was intrigued. She wondered how switching bodies could do that to a person.
"Yes," John continued. "But the worst is the bloodlust. I bit that man, Willie Loomis, earlier this evening, but I find myself wanting to go out and drink someone else's blood!" he confessed to her.
"Oh!" Hannah was horrified. She leaned away and brought her hands up to her throat. Angelique had not told her that part!
Everyone was seated again, but just before Angelique could begin her incantation, she thought she saw a face peering through the window. "Who is that?" she gasped. John started to get up to see who it was, but Angelique stopped him, since he would be seen as Barnabas.
"I'll go," Quentin went to investigate instead. Striding outside, Quentin found David hunched over in the bushes. David's eyes grew wide as he saw Quentin towering over him, and started to run away. Quentin grabbed his arm. "David Collins, what on Earth are you doing here?"
"Nothing… I—I saw Barnabas through the window!" a fearful David told him. "What's he doing home? I thought he went back to England?" David knew he was really locked away in the Secret Room, but he did not want Quentin to know that he knew. Quentin just stared at David for a moment, wondering how to answer…
"Barnabas returned from England just this morning," Quentin explained. "Now, what were you doing, spying inside through the window?"
"Why were you inside with the lights off, sitting at a table?" David demanded, but Quentin was impatient to get back inside.
"We were just playing a parlor game, David," Quentin insisted. "Now can you make your way back home by yourself, or do I need to walk you back and tell your father you've been spying?" Quentin asked.
"No!" David exclaimed. "I'm not a child! I can go home by myself!" David turned and ran back down the path to Collinwood, and Quentin could only breathe a sigh of relief…
Act Three:
At Collinwood, Roger Collins held a glass of brandy in one hand, checking his watch on his wrist on the other, glancing up at the grandfather clock with the mermaids bestowed upon it, shaking his head with dismay. "Where is that boy?" he asked aloud.
Just then, David came in through the front doors. "David!" Roger exclaimed. David turned away from the front staircase and looked guiltily towards his father. He knew that Roger was going to want to know where he had been. "Where have you been at this hour?" Roger demanded.
"I-I was just down by the shore, walking down by the beach..." David explained. "It's been too weird here at Collinwood lately, what with Amy gone now... I guess I've felt a little bored since we got back from Boston. I-I haven't really known what to do with myself..."
Roger shook his head. "Well, now that your Aunt Elizabeth is back from her trip with Carolyn, I think it's time she and I discussed sending you somewhere this summer... Maybe summer camp would do you a world of good! Now, march your backside upstairs and get ready for bed!"
David nodded sheepishly, and Roger stared and sipped at his brandy as he watched David slowly make his way up the stairs and disappear into upstairs hall. "He's probably been spying on Angelique at the Old House..." Roger muttered to himself, bringing his drink into the study where Elizabeth was looking at the latest reports from the cannery...
"I don't think David Collins is going to say anything!" Quentin announced as he came back into the drawing room at the Old House. "I threatened to tell his father he was spying," Quentin explained as he sat back down at the table.
"Good," Angelique answered with a smile, and the séance was continued. Angelique, Hannah, John and Quentin concentrated for someone to help them switch the minds and souls of Barnabas and John back to their rightful bodies.
Quentin began to feel lightheaded. A ringing started in his ears, and he could feel vibrations travel across his entire body. His mind began to fade away, and darkness overtook him…
Angelique heard Quentin breathing heavily, and his head slumped forward onto the table. "Quentin?" she asked tentatively. Quentin chuckled, and he lifted his head up off the table. Hannah gasped as she felt electricity coming from Quentin's fingers. "Master?" Angelique whispered.
"Angelique…" The Master spoke through Quentin. "You dare to summon me here?" He looked around the table and his eyes stopped and stared at John's. "This man is in the wrong body…" he declared. He turned back to Angelique.
"Master, can you switch them back?" Angelique begged.
The Master stared at her. "Of course I can…" he said matter-of-factly, "But a sacrifice will have to be made…" The Master glanced around the table at each person—and smiled evilly…
Cast:
John Jaeger… JONATHAN FRID
Roger Collins/Ghost of Joshua Collins… LOUIS EDMONDS
David Collins… DAVID HENESY
Angelique Rumson… LARA PARKER
Quentin Collins/The Master… DAVID SELBY
Hannah du Noir… PAULA LAURENCE