Two centuries run concurrently on the great estate of Collinwood; for in the year 1677, two men from the present seeking to return to the year 1840, have found that they have somehow been transported to this time period instead. Meanwhile, in the year 1971, two others seek to gain entry into the great estate of Collinwood. But the mansion has been quarantined because of a deadly disease that spreads through its halls. On this night, Quentin Collins returns to a secret underground passage to rescue Willie Loomis, who has been trapped in a carefully concealed pit...
A haggard and disheveled Quentin Collins stumbles through the dark cavern with flashlight in one hand, coiled rope in the other. His clothes are torn and covered in dried blood. He ambles around turn after turn seeking to find the pit where he had left Willie. He finds the split in the tunnels and remembers that they used the tunnel on the right. He proceeds down the gradual incline until his flashlight reveals the edge of the pit. He half smiles and begins uncoiling the rope to feed down to Willie. "Sorry it took so long to get back, I ran into some trouble with the police. We'll have you out of there in a minute." He suddenly stops in mid thought and calls out, "Willie?" There is no reply. "Willie, did you hear me?" Hearing no reply this time, he hurriedly drops the rope and shines the flashlight down to see. One slow sustained note plays, followed by four more, then one sharp staccato note as the light reveals a quite empty pit. His mouth gapes in shock as camera fades.
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Scene opens in a dark corridor in the basement of the Collinwood mansion. Barnabas Collins and Julia Hoffman each carry candles. They approach a door at the end of a corridor. "Look Barnabas! A key has been left in the lock." Julia said with a look of puzzlement. Barnabas looked at the key with equal surprise and replies, "How very curious. It isn't at all like Elizabeth to leave a key in the open like that. Do you suppose it was perhaps David and Hallie?" Julia continued looking curiously at the key and replied, "I suppose it's possible, but somehow I have a strange feeling they had nothing to do with it. They've been confined to the upstairs bedrooms quite ill with the plague. Most likely they're dead now." A look of anger fills Barnabas face as he threateningly utters, "Two more of those dear to me that I must avenge. He has destroyed so many!" Julia looked at him, understanding the pain he must feel. Barnabas then turned his attention once again to the locked door. Slowly he moves his hand toward the door knob. Taking the knob in one hand, he turns the key with the other. A click is heard as the lock disengages. He cautiously opens the door and then looks at Julia for a moment. Then he proceeds into the room. (Two dramatic notes sound as the light from his candle reveals a woman tied to a chair with a gag in her mouth. "Mrs. Johnson!" Julia cried out. Both of them rush over to her and as Barnabas began untying the ropes that held her, Julia removed the gag. "Dr. Hoffman! It's Carolyn's husband! Trevor. He's gone mad! Mrs. Johnson looked at the strange old man and then at Julia as if to ask who this was. "It's Barnabas, Mrs. Johnson. He has contracted a rare disease that is causing him to age rapidly." Julia said, thinking quickly of a way to explain before the prying questions began. "Oh my, I'm so sorry Mr. Collins!" she said looking at him in disbelief. Hoping to change the subject quickly, he said, "You mentioned Trevor Halliburton and his strange behavior." Unable to completely dismiss what she was seeing, you replied, "He asked me to show him the way to the wine cellar, and when we got there, he said thank you, and then pulled a gun on me! He poked that gun in my back and brought me here. I felt a hard blow to my head, and when I came to, I found myself tied in that chair. He's lost his mind!" Barnabas looked at her and replied, "We know, Mrs. Johnson." Julia then said, "Yes! I remember now. Judah mentioned that he had locked Mrs. Johnson in the basement!" Mrs. Johnson looked at Julia and in shock asked, "Judah? Oh, that must have been the name of the other man!" Barnabas turned quickly back to her and said, "Other man? What other man?" Mrs. Johnson rubbed her sore wrists and said, "Another man, a very tall man! He came in here with a knife! He looked at me and then raised the knife high over his head! I looked up at him, and I just knew I was a goner. But he suddenly stopped! I looked up at him again, and I saw tears in his eyes, and then he screamed out so loud it made my ears hurt! He screamed out, 'NO!' and then he threw the knife over there. Then he turned and left the room. I was never so scared in all my life!" Julia then asked, "Can you describe this man, Mrs. Johnson?" Mrs. Johnson daudled about the small room and said, "As I said, He was really tall. Medium length wavy hair, and when I first saw him, he was hideous looking, and then, when he decided not to kill me his face changed! At first to somewhat handsome, and then to almost childlike as he left the room in tears." Barnabas had a knowing expression as he breathed the name, "Adam! Judah must be using him against his will." Mrs. Johnson then looked confused and asked, "Who is this Judah you keep talking about?" Barnabas and Julia exchange fleeting knowing expressions and then Barnabas says, "We will have to explain later, for now we must get you out of here! Come!" They file out of the dark room as camera fades and transition music rises.
Quentin continues about the deep cavern with the flashlight illuminating his way. "Willie!... Willie! Can you hear me?" he calls out watching and listening for some sign of Willie. (Thoughts heard aloud.) "Where could he be? I left him in that pit. It's too deep to climb out of! It doesn't make sense! How could he get out of there without help? There's no possible way he could have climbed out of there! There was no sign of dirt or soil disturbed. There would have been scuffs in the dirt when he climbed up!" Suddenly his face registered surprise, as if he had just realized something. He turned his flashlight back in the direction from which he had just come. He paused for a moment and then retraced his steps. He works his way back to the edge of the pit and shines the flashlight down in the pit once more. He saw four steep walls that no man could scale without mountain climbing equipment. Willie had nothing like that when he fell. He shined the light around further. Nothing but the scattered skeletal remains of some other poor souls who had apparently stumbled into this trap many long years ago was to be found. Nothing more! Quentin stood up with a look of exasperation and his thoughts are heard aloud again. "Let me see if there's some disturbed earth I might have missed before." He shone the light around the edge of the pit again, still finding no scuff marks. "The light shone on a small, very old piece of wood. Curiously, he picked it up and examined it. Etched into the wood, seemingly with a nail, was short rhyme. "The embrace of a loved one is pleasant, it is so. But salvation can be found in the arms of thy foe." Quentin shook his head in confusion at the nonsense and then with a look of resignation tossed the board into the pit and turned to go back the way he had come. (Sad music moans out as camera fades.)
Scene opens on an exterior view of Collinwood at night. Next we see a darkened room. A door on the far wall suddenly opens and light spills into the room. Barnabas, Julia, and Mrs. Johnson enter and look around. Mrs. Johnson suddenly asks, "What is it you're looking for?" Barnabas continued looking about the room as he replies, "I don't know, Mrs. Johnson. We're looking for anything that can help us defeat Trevor Halliburton." Mrs. Johnson then said, "And you think that's why he asked me where the wine cellar was?" Julia then replies, "No Mrs. Johnson, I'm sure his asking about the wine cellar was nothing more than a ploy to lead you down here so he could capture you, just as he did." Barnabas looked among the wine bottles finding nothing of any use to them. "He has the entire house under siege! We must find a place where he cannot find us while we seek a way to destroy him!" Barnabas sighed and said, "Well, there is nothing here of any help to us, perhaps we can..." Suddenly they are all taken in shock at a creaking sound on the far wall. A wine rack built into the wall begins to open in small increments. All three stare wide eyed at the sight. Not knowing what or who to expect, Barnabas slowly raises the silver end of the wolf head cane to strike whoever was about to invade the room. The rack is now open wide enough for a man to enter. It stops moving. "Barnabas' eyes now widen as he is preparing to strike. (Three dramatic notes sound.)
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Barnabas stands poised ready to strike with his cane, the unknown intruder. "Barnabas! No!" Julia cried out. Barnabas stopped the downward motion of the cane just short of striking Willie Loomis who now appeared in the newly discovered entrance. "Willie! What are YOU doing here?" Willie seemed equally surprised to have stumbled upon the three of them in this unlikely part of the house and replies, "I remembahed ya tellin' me about the tunnel at the bottom ah Widow's Hill that came out heah in the wine cellah, so Quentin an me decided to try to get in to help ya." Barnabas looked expectantly at the opening expecting Quentin also to appear. When he did not, Barnabas looked questioningly and asked, "Where IS Quentin?" Willie ran his hand thru his hair and said, "I dunno, he went back to the Old House to find a flashlight an rope when I fell inta the pit. I waited for him to come back and he nevah did." Barnabas then asked, "You fell into a pit?" Willie then continued, "Yeah, it was covahed ovah and I fell through. When Quentin couldn't find nuthin long enough to get me out with, he left his lantun with me and went back to get a rope." Julia stepped closer and asked, "But Willie, if he never returned, how were you able to escape?" Willie looked back and forth at all three of them and said, "It was wid. I was sittin' in the bottom ah that pit just lookin' at the walls an' the bones of all the people that have fell in theah an died. I figuahed I was gonna be one of 'em. I saw this boad that somebody scratched some wuds in. It said that salvation could be found in the ahms of ya foe." Barnabas looked baffled at this and listened for Willie to continue. "Well I just sit theah thinkin how dumb that was. Then I saw this hole in one of the walls. It was too little to reach into, so I picked up the ahm bone from one the skeletons down theah. I stuck it inta the hole an this secret doah opened and they was this staihcase that led up outta the pit to that cave out theah." He said indicating behind the wine rack. Mrs. Johnson stood looking stunned and said, "Well I thought I knew all the legends about Collinwood, but I sure never heard about any tunnel under Widow's Hill!" Barnabas then turned to Willie and said, "Willie, the house is not safe. I want you to take Julia and Mrs. Johnson out of here. You need to see that they are taken to the Collinsport hospital. They are in desperate need of treatment for a deadly disease." Julia immediately protested saying, "I won't leave you here alone to face Judah Zachary!" Barnabas then replied, "But you must, Julia. I will not live much longer. There is no reason why you and Mrs. Johnson should die as well!" Mrs. Johnson then looked at Barnabas and said, "You say this disease spread all through the house, but except for that blow to my head, I've never felt better! If any of us need a doctor, it's you! I'll tell you right now, I won't take one step through that door unless you go too!" Barnabas' eyes lowered as he realized they both would not budge unless he indeed went with them. "I suppose you're right. Perhaps if the doctors can arrest this condition I will be in a better position to fight Judah. Come, let us go." The four of them entered the dark cavern and Barnabas closed the rack behind them. (Music rolls out.)
Trevor Halliburton drags Selena along with him in an attic room. "You may as well come out, Collins! I have your beloved Selena with me! If you value her life, you'll come out and surrender!" Selena looked at him with hatred and then turned calling out into the air, "Don't listen to him, Barnabas! He won't let me go if you surrender; he'll still kill me anyway!" Trevor turned in a rage and slapped her. The force from his slap caused her to fall to the dusty old floor. She looked up at him once again with utter hatred and screamed out, "You DEMON!" Trevor simply threw his head back and laughed and exclaimed, "Why thank you, My Dear!" Then his face changed in an instant to fury as he reached down and roughly grabbed her arm once again pulled her to her feet, dragging her along as he continued searching the dark attic corridors. "I mean what I say, Collins!" He then mockingly chides Selena saying, "Isn't his devotion touching, my dear? He has abandoned you! When push came to shove, he decided to save his own neck!" A door at the end of the attic opened. Trevor quickly pulled the pistol out of his waistband and pointed it. As it swung wide open, he sees it is only Adam. "In disappointment, he returns the gun to his waistband. "Have you searched the entire West wing?" he asked Adam. "Yes. He is nowhere in the West wing." Adam's replied. With a look of exasperation he declares, "He has to be in this house somewhere! He no longer has his vampire powers, so he can't just vanish!" Adam and Selena both looked at Trevor in disbelief. "Oh, so you mean the fact that Barnabas Collins was once a vampire somehow escaped you both? How else could he look just like a man that lived nearly 200 years ago? I've been away from the other for too long! Adam! Take her back to Barnabas' drawing room and tie her up till I return there. I must check in on the others." Roughly he slung her at him. "I will be back to deal with you shortly, my dear!" He then left through the door Adam had entered through. Selena looked up at Adam and said, "Adam. You've got to help me escape. You see what an evil man he is?" Adam looked back at her piteously and said, "I know, but I can't let you go. If I do, he will kill Carolyn!" Selena looked into his eyes and said, "You're in love with her, aren't you?' Adam paused a moment and then replied, "Yes." Selena then said, "Don't you realize that nothing you do will stop him from killing her? You'll do everything he orders you to do to save her life, and when everyone else is out of the way, he will kill her too! We have to fight back, Adam! It's the only way to save her and everyone else!" Adam looked at her, and something inside him told him she was telling the truth. He searched his heart trying to find a way he could indeed help fight this wicked man. His soul wrestled with his reasoning. Everything in his expression said she was winning him over. Then suddenly a fearful look overtook him again. "No! As long as she stays alive there is hope that I can free her, but if he kills her... No! I won't listen to you! You're trying to trick me! Go!" He grabs her by the arm and pushes her toward the door. "I won't risk Carolyn's life!" He then shoves her through the doorway then follows her out, closing the door behind him. (Camera focuses on the closed door, and then fades as sad music plays out.)
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A dark cavern is seen as camera fades in. A light appears from around a corner. The sounds of footsteps are heard and a shadow crosses over the doorway. Willie Loomis leads the way through the dark musty passageway. "How much further is it to the outside, Willie?" Julia asked. "Oh, it's still a long way, we jus got stahted. It'll take a long time to get to the outside." Willie replied. "Well I hope you're wrong because I get claustrophobia in tight dark places like this." Mrs. Johnson echoed through out the passageway. Julia squinted as she looked trying to find a light at the end of the tunnel despite what Willie had said. She then said, "It's terribly damp and musty down here too. In your condition, Barnabas, this could make you quite ill." No reply is heard. Julia's eyes widen. "Barnabas?" she called out hoping maybe he just hadn't heard. "Willie, shine the lantern behind us!" she said with urgency. He was not there. Willie then said, "We betta go back an see if he's hut!" Julia's eyes dropped as she quietly said, "He isn't hurt." Scene switches back to the wine cellar. Camera ever so slowly pulls in on the closed secret doorway. A large timber is now wedged into the floor and against the rack to insure it cannot be opened. One slow sustained note plays, followed by four more, then one sharp staccato note as the camera fades to black.
Barnabas Collins.
JONATHAN FRID
Julia Hoffman.
GRAYSON HALL
Willie Loomis.
JOHN KARLEN
Quentin Collins.
DAVID SELBY
Mrs. Johnson.
CLARICE BLACKBURN
Adam.
ROBERT RODAN
Selena Parker.
KATE JACKSON
Trevor Halliburton/Judah Zachary.
KEITH PRENTICE
Written and Directed by RUSS WILLIAMS
Story Developed and Created by ART WALLACE
Produced By PETER MINER
Associate Producer GEORGE DiCENZO
Fashions courtesy of ORBACH'S
Music composed by ROBERT COBERT
Scenic Design SY TOMASHOFF
Music Supervisor SYBIL WEINBERGER
Costume Design MOSTOLLER
Make up VINCENT LOSCALZO
Associate Producer KEN McEWEN
Assistant to the producer HARRIET ROHR
Unit Manager PATRICK PLEVEN
Technical Director J.J. LUPATKIN
Lighting Director MEL HANDELSMAN
Audio FRANK BAILEY HENRY PLIMACK
Sound Effects ED BLAINEY
Video RUDY PICCIRILLO ROSS SKIPPER
Series created by DAN CURTIS Executive Producer
Had this been an actual episode, the air date would have been June 29, 1971.