CHAPTER TWO: Rising from the Dust
It had been two months since Barnabas Collins, Julia Hoffman, and T.E. Stokes had returned from 1840. Upon returned, Barnabas was shocked to discover that the coffin in which Willie had chained Roxanne was gone from the secret room behind the bookcase.
"Perhaps," Julia theorized, "When Randall destroyed her in 1840, the vampire of 1971 ceased to exist."
This hurt Barnabas far more than he had let on. In his few meetings with the Roxanne Drew of 1971, he had felt a strange connection to her. She was almost a kindred spirit. Barnabas thought that he might be falling in love with her.
"She's not like you, Barnabas," Willie told him, "She's vicious!"
Was Roxanne evil? True, she was a vampire. Because of Roxanne, Maggie had almost died. Maggie, who was dear to Barnabas. Maggie, who now, like everyone else, remembered nothing of her experience with Roxanne. Only Barnabas and Julia remembered.
Barnabas was no longer a vampire. He was human, and more or less content with life. Why did he bother to even think about the past? About Roxanne and others he had known? These were his thoughts as he stared out the window of the Old House Drawing Room at the stars in the night sky. There were dark clouds on the horizon. A storm was coming.
"What are you thinking about?" Julia said as she walked down the stairs. Her red hair now hung to her shoulders. Her attire was a simple and severe white dress.
"Nothing." Barnabas told her.
His voice was deep and rich. It had always held such fascination for Julia.
"I should be leaving now. It's getting late."
"There's a storm coming," he cautioned her, "Maybe you should stay here tonight. I wouldn't want you getting caught in the rain."
At that very moment, there was a woman who was about to be caught in the rain as she tried to get back to Collinwood. Mrs. Sarah Johnson was housekeeper there, but right now she regretted it.
"I wish I'd never come to work here!" she thought to herself, "Since then all the Collins family's ever given me is trouble. Why can't they do their own errands?!"
Sarah Johnson was in her mid-fifties, with dyed black hair and rather plain features. In her bony arms she carried a bag of groceries. Her old, rusty automobile had broken down a while back on the long, twisting road that led to Collinwood as she was returning from the village. Now she was walking the way herself.
That wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't just started to rain!
As Sarah continued to whine to herself about her predicament, she mistakenly took a wrong turn. Before she knew it, she was lost in the dark woods of the Collins Estate.
"Ohhh!" she moaned angrily, "What am I going to."
It was just then that Sarah realized that she was on Eagle Hill. The cemetery!
Lightning struck, illuminating the darkness that enshrouded the graves. There was earth moving above one grave. The soil gave way to a horrible, filthy shape that resembled a hand.
Sarah was paralyzed with fear. Her eyes grew wider and wider in horrified fascination was the creature emerged from the ground.
The woman was covered in mud; her body was like that of a rotting corpse. Her hair was matted and brown from the mud. She wore fragments of what once was a long, filmy gown, but it was ripped to shreds and dirty beyond belief. The rain began to wash away the soil from her face and body. This creature was a ghastly color, a sickly yellowish white, and she had large, bloodshot eyes.
Sarah couldn't even scream as the woman approached her.
"The storm has broken." Barnabas told Julia.
"I'm glad I didn't try and go back to Collinwood." She responded.
Roger Collins was walking down the hall back to his room wearing his dressing gown and carrying a bottle of brandy under one arm. It was then that he heard a shriek of absolute terror. It was Maggie Evans' voice. He rushed toward Maggie's room.
It had been two months since Barnabas Collins, Julia Hoffman, and T.E. Stokes had returned from 1840. Upon returned, Barnabas was shocked to discover that the coffin in which Willie had chained Roxanne was gone from the secret room behind the bookcase.
"Perhaps," Julia theorized, "When Randall destroyed her in 1840, the vampire of 1971 ceased to exist."
This hurt Barnabas far more than he had let on. In his few meetings with the Roxanne Drew of 1971, he had felt a strange connection to her. She was almost a kindred spirit. Barnabas thought that he might be falling in love with her.
"She's not like you, Barnabas," Willie told him, "She's vicious!"
Was Roxanne evil? True, she was a vampire. Because of Roxanne, Maggie had almost died. Maggie, who was dear to Barnabas. Maggie, who now, like everyone else, remembered nothing of her experience with Roxanne. Only Barnabas and Julia remembered.
Barnabas was no longer a vampire. He was human, and more or less content with life. Why did he bother to even think about the past? About Roxanne and others he had known? These were his thoughts as he stared out the window of the Old House Drawing Room at the stars in the night sky. There were dark clouds on the horizon. A storm was coming.
"What are you thinking about?" Julia said as she walked down the stairs. Her red hair now hung to her shoulders. Her attire was a simple and severe white dress.
"Nothing." Barnabas told her.
His voice was deep and rich. It had always held such fascination for Julia.
"I should be leaving now. It's getting late."
"There's a storm coming," he cautioned her, "Maybe you should stay here tonight. I wouldn't want you getting caught in the rain."
At that very moment, there was a woman who was about to be caught in the rain as she tried to get back to Collinwood. Mrs. Sarah Johnson was housekeeper there, but right now she regretted it.
"I wish I'd never come to work here!" she thought to herself, "Since then all the Collins family's ever given me is trouble. Why can't they do their own errands?!"
Sarah Johnson was in her mid-fifties, with dyed black hair and rather plain features. In her bony arms she carried a bag of groceries. Her old, rusty automobile had broken down a while back on the long, twisting road that led to Collinwood as she was returning from the village. Now she was walking the way herself.
That wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't just started to rain!
As Sarah continued to whine to herself about her predicament, she mistakenly took a wrong turn. Before she knew it, she was lost in the dark woods of the Collins Estate.
"Ohhh!" she moaned angrily, "What am I going to."
It was just then that Sarah realized that she was on Eagle Hill. The cemetery!
Lightning struck, illuminating the darkness that enshrouded the graves. There was earth moving above one grave. The soil gave way to a horrible, filthy shape that resembled a hand.
Sarah was paralyzed with fear. Her eyes grew wider and wider in horrified fascination was the creature emerged from the ground.
The woman was covered in mud; her body was like that of a rotting corpse. Her hair was matted and brown from the mud. She wore fragments of what once was a long, filmy gown, but it was ripped to shreds and dirty beyond belief. The rain began to wash away the soil from her face and body. This creature was a ghastly color, a sickly yellowish white, and she had large, bloodshot eyes.
Sarah couldn't even scream as the woman approached her.
"The storm has broken." Barnabas told Julia.
"I'm glad I didn't try and go back to Collinwood." She responded.
Roger Collins was walking down the hall back to his room wearing his dressing gown and carrying a bottle of brandy under one arm. It was then that he heard a shriek of absolute terror. It was Maggie Evans' voice. He rushed toward Maggie's room.