Old Loves, Old Lies

-by Baron Karza von Karnstein

-dedicated to Diane Neal

N.B. I do not own any of these characters. Dan Curtis owns all the Dark Shadows Characters. Joel Soissons and Patrick Lußier own all the Dracula II: Ascension Characters

V

"Where's Luke?" asked Tanya.

"Out in my minivan." responded Lowell, as he used a disposable plastic pipette to siphon blood from the vial-full Liz had extracted from Barnabas. "I need more agar plates. Now, pay attention, this is important."

Lowell sat at the head of the rectangular folding table converted into an ersatz laboratory station. To his right lay a rack full of vials, the one with Barnabas' blood closest too him. To his left, a hand held DG-2 microscope. Directly in front of him lay a Petri dish holding an enlarged human heart. Further down the table, amidst other test-tube racks, tongue-depressors and swabs sealed in their sterile wrappers, and empty Petri dishes, lay the Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry machine, another DG-2, a couple of laptops and monitors. The laptops had speakers, and one of them was linked to the web cam Eric had set up in the empty pool.

"If I pour some of our subject's blood on this heart, taken from the victim of a myocardial infarction," Lowell continued, squeezing the rubber bulb attached to the pipette and spraying a small stream of blood unto the heart on the Petri dish, "The dead cells should come back to life."

Lowell put down the pipette, picked up and turned on the DG-2, and then looked through its camcorder-like screen at the newly-infused heart.

"Anything?" asked Eric, on Lowell's right, opposite Tanya. All of them, save Liz, had gathered in the back room. Kenny stood to Tanya's left, turned rightwards to face Lowell as he proceeded through the steps.

"Yes…Yes…YES! See for yourself!"

Lowell handed the DG-2 to Eric.

"I see a lot of movement…" commented Eric "What does it mean?"

"It means our friend's blood is the freaking Fountain of Youth, Eric! It means I don't have to waste away any more." There was an enthusiasm in Lowell's voice, but there was also something else, something vaguely malevolent which neither Kenny nor Tanya liked at all.

Eric put down the DG-2 and looked at Lowell.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, Lowell…" interjected Tanya "In physiology, we learned that tissues and organs all function as parts of self-regulating systems, that experiments on individual extracted tissue samples are meaningless unless they can be replicated in situ."

"In situ? What does that mean?" asked Eric.

"It means inside the living animal, where the tissue can interact with the blood and all the other organs and tissues." explained Kenny. "That way, we can find out if…well, first of all, if the immune system doesn't destroy it, and then if it has any negative side effects on other tissues, organs and systems."

"Correct, Kenny!" praised Lowell, with a hint of condescension. "I'll have to give you a couple of points on your final grade for your concise and accurate summary and your ability to deliver it on the spot. We need an experimental animal to test our friend's blood on…Something as human as possible…"

"Where are we going to get one of those?" asked Eric.

"Wait a minute!" interrupted Tanya. "Has anybody thought about the ethical implications here? I, mean…I'm not to sure about this…"

"You want to convene an ethics review panel, Tanya, is that it?" asked Lowell with a sardonic sneer. "What do you think they're gonna say about all of us holding our friend over there all trussed up, not to mention all of us conspiring to steal the body. That's a criminal offence, by the way. Ever try to get a medical license with a rap sheet?"

Tanya said nothing. She and Kenny just stared at Lowell in a powerless rage. They had known that bringing the body was against procedure, but, up until this moment they had believed Lowell would take responsibility. Their naiveté and the trap it had just led them into angered them.

"You would do that to Liz, Lowell?" Tanya's voice was calm, but everyone in the room could feel the fury within it.

"Relax, Tanya! I'm not going to say anything. Besides, we have our perfect experimental subject right here."

"Who?" asked Kenny.

"Me!" answered Lowell.

"What?" burst out Eric. "Lowell, are you sure?"

"Certitude is less common in this field, than you think Eric." asserted Lowell. "That's why you need someone to step up to the plate. And think of the implications, here. If we patent this—well think of all the people we could help."

"Patent this?" Kenny broke in. "You can't patent a natural substance."

"Ah, but our friend is hardly natural, is he?" retorted Lowell. "But let's worry about the fine print later. Hand me that syringe."

Tanya and Kenny made no move. Eric picked up the syringe, and handed it to Lowell.

"One small step for man…declared Lowell as he uncapped the syringe, and thrust the needle into the vial with Barnabas' blood.

"One giant step for manki—I mean humanity. Damn, but PC sure ruins some great quotes!" he continued as he thumbed back the plunger, drawing the blood into the barrel.

Luke held up the loaded syringe. His eyes were the picture of madness. Gripping the syringe by the barrel with the palm of his hand, he rolled up the sleeve of his other arm with his fingers. Then, he made to inject himself.

"Shouldn't you sterilise the area first?" asked Tanya. She had noticed that Lowell had not even bothered to push the plunger in slightly, to eliminate any air bubbles, before he made to inject himself.

"Not to worry, Tanya my dear!" answered Lowell. "This stuff'll kill any little punk-ass microbes that want to crash this party!"

Lowell found a vein, thrust the needle into it, and then pushed down on the plunger. Once the entirety of what had been in the barrel had been propelled into his circulatory system, he withdrew the syringe, and just dropped it on the table. All eyes were fixed on him.

For the first few seconds, there was no change. Then, a look of sheer panic, like that of a drowning man, came across Lowell's eyes. He started to shake uncontrollably.

"LOWELL!" cried out Eric.

But Lowell did not hear him. His eyes had rolled up and he was convulsing as if he was seizing. Kenny and Tanya stared on in terror, but made no move to intervene. Finally Lowell stopped convulsing, and sagged forward.

"LOOOOWELL!" screamed Eric, rushing to the limp form in the wheelchair. Tanya burst out of the back room and into the pool room. "LIZ! LIZ! Come HERE!" she shouted.

Liz, who had been facing the Saint Andrew's Cross in the empty pool, turned when she heard Tanya calling her. Seeing the urgency on her friend's face she rushed to her.