The darkness that looms over Collinwood seems darker tonight; but even greater than the darkness of the night sky, is the darkness to be found inside walls of the Great House. The evil Judah Zachary, has at last gained entry into the very heart and soul of the Collins Estate. Tonight, Barnabas Collins, Julia Hoffman and Professor Timothy Stokes will attempt to contact one whom they hope will provide a way to bring the evil warlock to his final destruction...
Barnabas, Julia, and Stokes sit around a round table in the center of the East wing drawing room. Stokes then begins to speak, "Our hands must be placed face down on the table, our fingers must touch. Whatever happens, we must not break the circle. Fenton mat choose to use one of us as a medium. That person will go into a trance. We must not disturb that person or break the circle for any reason. Do we all understand?" Both Barnabas and Julia quietly nod their understanding of his instructions. "Then we should begin." He said as he momentarily closed his eyes. He then opens them and gazes upward and speaks, "Hear us Oh spirit world! We call upon one who was taken from us who holds knowledge that could help us defeat an enemy. We seek Gerald Fenton. Come to us Gerald Fenton. We beseech you to join us here in this very room. Come to us, spirit of Gerald Fenton! Come to us." All three look alternately at each other then about the room expectantly. A quiet pause continues as they continue to look for a sign that they have been heard. Stokes then again says, "Come to us, Gerald Fenton, Come to us!" Suddenly the double doors open to reveal a silhouetted figure standing there. All look at each other, then at the figure. (Three sets of three rapid notes sound, then one dramatically sustained note. Camera fades to black)
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The three seated at the table continue their gaze at the shadowy figure in the doorway. Then it speaks, "Oh my gosh, a séance! We used to have these as children!" The figure steps inside the room and the light from the candle reveals it to be Selena. All three rose and Stokes reaches for the lamp, when Selena cried out, "Oh no, don't stop what you're doing on account of me! I'll join you!" Stokes turned the lamp on anyway and said, "Miss Parker, What we are doing here tonight is not a child's parlor game. There are things we need to know that can only be revealed from someone who has passed on." She looked at Stokes and replied, "Gerald Fenton. I heard you as I approached the door. I read in the paper where he had died." Barnabas then approached Selena and said, "Selena, There are things that you don't understand. Things which defy anything you have ever experienced. They are dangerous and deadly things. The three of us in this room are experienced in matters such as this." Selena then looked directly at Barnabas and declared, "I care very much about you, Barnabas. I care about the things that affect you. I intend to be part of what you're doing. Don't try to talk me out of it." Barnabas eyes dropped slightly at her admission of her feeling toward him. He almost burst with the desire to tell her everything. Julia sensed what he was thinking and placed her hand to her mouth and coughed loudly. Barnabas glanced slightly in her direction and then returned his attention to Selena. "Selena, to participate in what we are trying to do would require you to know what we are dealing with. It is far too complicated and involved for you to understand. It would require that you know all that we know; it has taken us several weeks to acquire the knowledge we have. Also, that knowledge would put you in far greater danger than you already are!" Selena's eyes grew wide as if to ask, "Me? In Danger?" Stokes bit his lip slightly and Julia winced at Barnabas' slip up. "Well now I insist you tell me what this is all about if it already involves me!" Stokes stepped forward and said, "If I may, Barnabas?" He then turned to Selena and said, "Miss Parker, the potential danger to you is through your association with us and what we are doing. The less you know about the situation, the more your safety is insured." Selena looked back at Stokes and said, "I could accept that explanation, if it weren't for the fact that I heard Barnabas say, present tense, in far greater danger than you already are!" Barnabas looked at Stokes and then Julia, and then said, "I already know what both of you think, but I don't think we can wait any longer. Selena, I want you to come with me. I will tell you the whole dreadful story." Julia's eyes widened and her mouth parted in protest, but the words did not come forth. She already knew it was hopeless to try to dissuade Barnabas from his intended course of action. Stokes, with a less emotional reaction also realized the futility of trying to change the mind of Barnabas Collins once his mind is made up. Barnabas offered his arm and Selena placed her arm in his and they left the drawing room. Julia approached Stokes and said, "I can't help thinking he's making a dreadful mistake!" Stokes bottom lip shot out as he heard her words but did not look at her. His gaze was fixed just off the side of camera as he uttered contemplatively, "We shall see, Julia... We shall see.
Elizabeth Stoddard sits in the drawing room reading the Collinsport Star. The audience sees the headline, "Suspect Fenton found dead in asylum." Roger Collins wheels into the drawing room grumpily and heads immediately to the brandy supply behind the door. He strains to reach up and grab one of the bottles and a glass. Elizabeth looks up from her reading and says, "Well the hermit finally emerges from his hiding place!" Roger, now pouring replies, "It seems that Mrs. Johnson has lost her way to the wine cellar. She hasn't brought a bottle to my room in days." Elizabeth folds the paper in her lap and says, "Mrs. Johnson has been following my instructions. I told her not to bring anymore brandy to your room. You spend your entire days and nights just getting drunk. You're not doing yourself or anyone else any good simply brooding your life away. I've been meaning to talk to you about your absence from the company. It's high time you resumed your responsibilities at the cannery." Roger shot the drink down quickly and poured yet another as he replied, "Oh yes, wouldn't that just be a delightful sight. Roger Collins, trying to drive a wheelchair up the stairs? That should provide a barrel of laughs for everyone!" A scowl crosses Liz's face as she reminds him, "There are elevators in the building, Roger. You know good and well there are." "Ah yes, and I can just see how everyone will react to the cripple. No one will take an invalid serious, Liz. I will have lost my influence." Roger said, downing the second drink. Liz now stood and looked Roger straight in the eye and declared, "You're only making excuses, Roger!" Then she grabbed the brandy bottle from him, and said, "You will have no more this until you're ready to stop acting like a child and resume your duties!" She then took the bottle and left the room with it.
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Barnabas and Selena enter the caretaker's cottage. He closes the door behind them and takes her wrap and hangs it up. "This is where it all began, Selena. My ancestor, Amadeus Collins served on a tribunal that convicted a man as a warlock. He practiced the black arts in the town of Collinsport nearly 300 years ago. As he was being beheaded for his crimes, he swore vengeance against the families of all the judges that sat at his trial. The other families have long since been destroyed. Only the Collins family has survived. He still wanders about and will not rest until we too are destroyed." Barnabas said as they sat in the cottage. Selena sat listening, taking it all in and staring in wonderment at what she was hearing. Barnabas continued, "Every generation has faced one heartache and evil after another. Now he has made his way across the centuries. He has possessed someone in our own time, that person is doing all he can to finish what he started centuries ago. He was involved in the attempted murder of Roger Collins." Selena's eyes grew wide as she asked, "Gerald Fenton? Then, if he's dead shouldn't your troubles be over?" Barnabas eyes lowered momentarily, then his gaze met Selena once again as he said, "Gerald Fenton was not the person that Judah Zachary possessed. Fenton had a spell cast on him that influenced his behavior. That spell was cast by another. By one who had influence over him. When he had accomplished all he could with Fenton, he killed him. Fenton was just on the verge of revealing what had been suppressed when he died. It is that information we sought to obtain from him tonight. It is imperative that we know what he knew." Barnabas then turned to Selena and said, "I'm sure this story may sound like the ravings of a mad man to you. I realize many are skeptical of things that deal with the supernatural." Selena managed a smile and replied, "No Barnabas. You've been to my apartment. You never noticed the books on my bookshelf?" Barnabas nodded negatively that he had not. Selena then said, "Before I met you, I spent my evenings curled up at home reading books that involved the paranormal. I've always been fascinated by such things, though I've never actually seen any actual manifestations." Barnabas sadly declared, "I've seen far more than I wish I ever had. How I long for a normal life, free of the evils this family has known for so long." Selena, moved by his statements, arose and walked over in front of him. He stood and looked back at her. He then takes her into his arms. They kiss tenderly as music strains out.
Julia paces the floor in the East wing drawing room, a worried look on her face. "How much will he tell her? If he tells her too much, and if Judah can reach into her mind, he will know everything! It's a mistake, Eliot!" she said turning to him in the hopes he was thinking the same thing. Stokes now sits in the armchair in much the same pose Barnabas held before. He looks up at Julia, his eyes widening slightly, and replied, "Barnabas is well aware of the dangers to Miss Parker. He may be enamored of girl, but I seriously doubt he would jeopardize all we've worked for, and I can't believe he would put her at further risk." Julia interlocks her fingers placing both hands against her bottom lip and says, "I hope your right, for her sake, as well as his." Stokes then with a knowing look, rises and says, "Could it be, you have other reasons for wishing Selena were not involved, Julia?" She turned full well knowing what he was alluding to, but feigned ignorance and defensively turned and asked," What other reason could there be? No. I assure you that my concern is for all the reasons I've stated." Stokes, realizing she was not about to admit her true reasons, mildly shrugged and said, "It was simply a thought." He decided to allow her to remain in denial, and pursued the issue no further.
Camera focuses on the grandfather clock in the foyer of Collinwood. It reads 3 AM. Inside the drawing room, Roger sits moping by the fireplace. Elizabeth again enters the drawing room and says, "Still brooding, Roger?" He looked up from his far away distant thoughts and replied, "You seem to be enjoying this immensely, Dear Sister." She raises her eyebrows and replies, "That's where you're wrong. What I did, I did for your own good! You haven't left that room for weeks! The company has been in capable hands, but not in the best of hands. When you assumed the reigns after Bill Malloy's death, I was proud. Malloy did a fine job, but you were much better! Your leadership is needed there. I've already had the word spread that you will be returning, so you'd best get used to the idea." Roger looked up painfully at her and said, "Liz how could you?" With a slightly haughty air, she replied, "As I always do. I did what was best for the company and for you." She then reached down and picked up the paper from the sofa and said, "I don't suppose you saw the morning paper?" He shrugged and replied, "I hardly find it interesting to read about yet another 200 year old building being condemned or other such nonsense." She carried the paper over to where he sat and said, "I really think you should see this." He half heartedly took the paper reluctantly looked at the front page. His eyes widened and he looked at Liz and said, "Fenton, Dead?" Liz replied, "A heart attack according to the coroner." Roger then wheeled over next to a lamp, quite interested in reading the rest of the story. Liz eyes lowered a moment and she turned to leave him to his reading.
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Professor Stokes sits reading a book while Julia sleeps in a nearby chair. The double doors open and Barnabas and selena once again enter. The sound of the doors opening stirred Julia from her nap. Stokes looked up from his reading and lays the book on the chair side table and rises. Julia also stands. They look at Barnabas expectantly. "I have told her about Judah Zachary." Both continue to watch him, waiting to see if there was more." Selena then spoke, "A 300 year old ghost trying to destroy your entire family. I'll be glad to try to help you find out where he is." Stokes eyes lowered in an assured manner and Julia silently sighed in relief. He hadn't told her of Halliburton's involvement. Stokes then approached Selena and said, "You told us earlier that you had participated in a séance when you were young. Did you experience any kind of manifestations?" Selena looked back at him and said, "No. We were just children. We probably didn't do it right anyway. It was all for fun. We never had a real and present danger to make us serious about it." Stokes continued, "Unlike your experience as a child, Miss Parker, in a real séance, there can be quite real manifestations. Frightening ones, it is not something for the faint of heart." Selena looked knowing at him and replied, "Barnabas told me on the way back some things that can happen. I'm ready, Professor. I want to help you end this nightmare." Stokes smiled slightly and said, "Very good. I simply needed to know that fully understood the risks." He then turned to all and said, "The hour is quite late. We should proceed immediately. All nod acknowledgement. As music rises, they all head for the table. (Music stings out as camera goes to black)
Elizabeth Stoddard.
JOAN BENNETT
Barnabas Collins.
JONATHAN FRID
Julia Hoffman.
GRAYSON HALL
Roger Collins.
LOUIS EDMONDS
Professor Stokes.
THAYER DAVID
Selena Parker.
KATE JACKSON