Collinwood; The present day. Judah Zachary has followed Barnabas Collins, Julia Hoffman, and Professor Stokes from the year 1841 on a mission to destroy the Collins line once and for all. He has possessed the body of Trevor Halliburton, an attorney in the nearby town of Collinsport. To aide in his treachery he has summoned Nicholas Blair back from the pit where he was consigned after failing his last mission on earth. Together they plot Judah's 279 year old revenge…"
Nicholas Blair sat across from Judah Zachary in Trevor Halliburton's office. "So, you plan to get to Roger Collins with a lawsuit for slander. That hardly seems an adequate way of dealing with him. Even if you win, he'll simply lose a very insignificant amount of money considering the wealth of the Collins family." He said snidely. Judah stood up and walked around the desk looking at Blair and replied. "No, I shall not seek to ruin him through this foolish lawsuit. The lawyer himself never intended to continue pursuing it. He was expecting that Collins would approach him and secretly pay him a sum of money to discontinue the litigation to avoid a scandal. He bought himself time by having the plaintiff draw up some long worthless testimonial to give Collins time to approach him. He is a fool. If I did not need this body, it would amuse me to see his client kill him for his deceit. We shall have to find a way to dispose of the matter. I intend to ingratiate myself upon the Collins family. I can best accomplish my task if I have a foothold in the house. I should not be welcomed if I approach them as an enemy. Now I must find a way to dispose of Gerald Fenton." Nicholas raised a hand to remind him of his earlier warning against leaving dead bodies around, but Judah stopped him by adding, "No, I shall not kill him. I have other plans for Mr. Gerald Fenton. Other plans indeed…" (Dramatic music rises to a crescendo)
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Nicholas smirked in his chair as he sat across from Judah, relishing in the
pure evil the man exuded. "You never did tell me how you came to be here,
Judah." Nicholas prodded as he looked questioningly at him. "Ah yes,
Collins, The female doctor, and Stokes, were concluding their plans to
return to this century. I heard them discussing it with a Desmond Collins
from the 19th century time period. I was reveling in my triumph over
Miranda, and almost missed it. They spoke of a stairway through time that
brought them to that time, and that it was their planned means of return."
He said excitedly. Nicholas looked a bit puzzled and said, "You mean they
actually alerted someone from that time of their true nature?" Judah nodded,
"Yes, and I knew that when they ascended that stairway, that I would follow
them to fulfill my revenge. As they smugly made their way back to this time
certain that they had defeated me, invisible to their eyes, I ascended the
stairway right behind them. As they relaxed their guard, I learned all I
could of all of them. I watched earnestly to see which would be a suitable
vessel for me to inhabit. When I observed the lawyer seeking to oppose the
Collins, I knew I had found my place. It wasn't until I took control and
probed his thoughts that I found it all to be a farce." Nicholas tugged at
his gloves musingly and said, "But you decided to remain with him. Knowing
that the case he planned was hopeless? I must admit, that puzzles me Judah."
He said awaiting Judah's reply. "I admit it does place me at some
disadvantage, but it also has its advantages as well. Those who suspect I am
here will be looking at those nearest to them for clues of my presence. Only
the one called Roger has had any contact with Halliburton, he is of no
consequence. He is more mouse than man. I shall crush him easily. Are all
20th century men as spineless?" he said snarling. Nicholas began to reply,
"20th century men are a bit different than…" They were interrupted by the
sound of the outer office opening. Nicholas straightened in his chair and
adjusted his tie. The door opened and Selena Parker peered into to the
office. "Oh, I saw the light on and didn't expect to see you here so early.
I thought maybe you just forgot to turn the light off when you left last
night." She said with embarrassment. Judah receded to allow Trevor to
surface. "Not to worry my dear. Come in, there's someone I'd like you to
meet!" Selena closed the door and approached. "Selena Parker, I'd like you
to meet an old college and law school buddy of mine, Nick Bentine." Trevor
said smiling. "Nice to meet you Mr. Bentine." She replied returning the
smile. "Now that will never do! Call me Nick. We don't want to get off on
too formal a beginning now do we?" he said turning on the charm. Selena
glanced at Trevor with a puzzled expression. Halliburton stood and walked
from behind the desk and said, "Selena, dear. Nick has just moved to
Collinsport from Phoenix. I've asked him to partner with me. He'll be taking
over Carver's old office. I'm sorry I didn't have time to give you more
warning, but he just arrived last night. I met him at the train and we
talked here all night, I'm afraid" Nicholas rose and extended his hand. When
she offered hers he kissed it. Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked at
Trevor and said, "My, are all your old friends this charming?" Nicholas and
Trevor both smiled and Nicholas replied, "I just hope my being here doesn't
burden you down with too much extra work. I can get my own secretary after I
get settled in if I'm too much bother". "Nonsense, things have been much too
slow around here of late as it is." She replied, "I can handle a little more
with no problem at all, Nick" Nicholas rubbed his palms together and said,
"Marvelous, I do so hate interviewing prospective help. This will work out
just fine then, I promise not to be to hard on you, not right away, until
the practice grows, then we just may need that extra secretary after all"
Nicholas chuckled.
Trevor looked at Nicholas and said, "Let me have a moment to discuss
something with Selena, we have an unfinished matter from yesterday I need to
clear up with her." Nicholas waved him off saying, "By all means, I wouldn't
want to get in the way of daily business; I'll just step out in the
reception area for a moment." He turned and with Selena's back turned to
him, gave Trevor a look of warning, he then grinned an evil smirk as he
closed the door.
Trevor motioned for Selena to have a seat. She sat down in the chair
Nicholas had been in. Trevor then sat behind the desk and said, "Selena, I'm
afraid I must apologize for my behavior yesterday afternoon. When I was in
college, I took drama as a minor, and did some Shakespearean acting. I was
recalling one of my roles and somehow just got stuck in the part. I'm so
sorry if I offended you. I know I was a bit short with you." Selena smiled
and replied, "Oh, I'm glad that's all it was, I though maybe you were ill.
Well, I better get to work, don't forget, you have a 10 o'clock with Mr.
Fenton." Trevor nodded, "Ah yes, so I do! Thank you, Selena. He rose and
walked her to the door giving her a peck on the cheek before opening the
door. She went to her desk and Nicholas came back inside. "A very charming
young lady you have there, Trevor. We sure wouldn't want anything bad to
happen to such a fine secretary as her, now would we?" Nicholas said with a
sneer as he pulled at his gloves. (Three dramatic notes sound)
Joe Haskell knocked on the front door of the old house. A moment later, the
door opened and Willie Loomis stood in the doorway. "Hey Haskell, Been a
long time since I seen ya. You heah to see Barnabas?" he asked fidgeting
nervously. "Yeah, I ran into Julia Hoffman in town, and she said Barnabas
heard about me coming to see him a couple days ago and wanted to see me.
Strange though, because when I was out here nobody was home. I wondered how
he knew. Joe replied with a puzzled expression. Willie looked down at the
porch and shuffled his shoe nervously. "That's cause somebody was heah. I
seen ya come to the door, and I wasn' feelin so hot, so I just didn't ansa
the door. I'm sorry about that Haskell" he said still watching his shoe
shuffle. Joe smiled and carefully chose his words, "Hey, look Willie, I know
we've had our differences in the past, and I'm willing to give it a fresh
start and begin all over again, whadda ya say?" Willie looked up and smiled
hesitantly, and said, "Sure Haskell." Joe held up a hand and said; "Now the
first order of business is for you to call me Joe, Ok?" Willie smiled a
little more convincingly this time, and said, "Sure Joe." He then realized
he was making Joe stand outside and he turned toward the door motioning as
he said, "Come on in, Barnabas just went up to the big house to take Maggie
some history books, he won't be gone long." Joe followed him inside to the
drawing room. "So, speaking of Maggie how is she?" Joe asked. Willie
scratched his head and said, "She's ok, I reckon. I don't see huh very much
between huh teachin' the kids and goin out with Quentin." Joe looked
confused as he asked, "Quentin?" Oh yeah" Willie replied, "You was gone when
Quentin showed up heah. Quentin Collins, he was some long lost relative that
showed up heah bout 2 yeahs ago." Joe looked alarmed and said, "The Collins'
trusted him? That he was telling the truth?" Willie nodded and replied, "Oh
yeah, he had a relative back in the last century that looked just like him,
they got pitchas' an everything." Joe rubbed the back of his neck and said,
"Kinda like the way Barnabas showed up, huh? With a guy way back there
looking just like him?" Willie nodded and said, "Yeah, something like that.
Anyway, him and Maggie, they been seein' each otha for quite a while now. I
think they ah kinda serious." Joe looked heart broken, and again rubbing the
back of his neck said, "I see"
(Sad music trails out)
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Joe walked over to the desk spotting the telephone. "A phone, Are we going modern here, Willie?" Willie acknowledged and replied, "Yeah, Barnabas thought it would be a good idea to have one heah, you know, in case something came up." Joe grinned and said, "Next thing ya know there'll be electric lights burning too!" Willie nodded in the negative saying, "Oh no, Barnabas, he'll nevah go that fah." Joe then said, "Hey, look I need to be getting back to town, Willie, can you just tell Barnabas I just wanted to ask him for a room to stay in till I got back on my feet, but that Roger Collins advanced me enough that I was able to rent a room for the rest of the month..? That's really all I wanted when I came here that day. Everything's fine now." Willie replied, "Sure, I'll tell him, see ya Joe." "Yeah, see ya around, Willie." Joe replied. Willie watched as Joe disappeared through the woods. He shook his head as if to say, "whadda ya know."
Judah sat behind the desk twirling a small vial between his fingers with a wicked grin on his face. He chuckled aloud. Suddenly the intercom came on. "Mr. Halliburton? Mr. Fenton is here to see you." Trevor emerged and pressed the reply button and said, "Send him in, Miss Parker." He hurriedly put the vial inside the inner pocket of his jacket. The door opened and Gerald Fenton entered with a binder under his arm. Halliburton motioned him to be seated. "Well now, let's see what we've got." He said reaching for the binder. Fenton handed it to him and he opened it and began perusing it. Occasionally he let an audible "Hmmm" come forth. Then he would occasionally widen his eyes or raise an eyebrow as if something really struck his interest. Then he closed it suddenly and said, "Looks promising at first glance. I'll go over it in more detail later…" Fenton then protested, "Now wait a minute, I've spent a week on that, I was hoping I'd leave here knowing exactly where we stood!" Halliburton rose and assured him, "Not to worry my good man, from what I've seen already, I'm sure the rest will be equally captivating. Let's celebrate with a drink!" Fenton shrugged and said, "Ok." Halliburton took two glasses from the small bar in the corner. He retrieved the vial from his jacket and poured it in the first glass, then topped it with brandy. He then took both glasses to the desk and gave one to Fenton. Halliburton raised his glass in mid air and said, "To our case!" Gerald not quite as enthused, raised his glass and repeated the toast. He raised the glass to his lips. A smug self assured look came over Halliburton's face as he watched the liquid disappear down Fenton's throat. (Three dramatic notes sound)
Willie Loomis…
JOHN KARLEN
Nicholas Blair…
HUMBERT ALLEN ASTREDO
Joe Haskell…
CHRIS BERNAU
Gerald Fenton…
MICHAEL STROKA
Selena Parker…
KATE JACKSON
Judah Zachary/Trevor Halliburton KEITH PRENTICE
Written By RUSS WILLIAMS
Directed By RUSS WILLIAMS
Story Developed and Created by ART WALLACE
Fashions courtesy of ORBACH'S
Music composed by ROBERT COBERT
Series created by DAN CURTIS Executive Producer