Chapter 21

"Barnabas!" screamed Alondra and Willie in unison. They rushed to his unconscious body lying on the floor next to the chair where he was sitting moments before. Maeve jumped out of her chair and started to give orders.

"Hurry, let's get him to the couch!" All three picked up the unconscious man, carried him several yards into the living room, around some furniture, and plopped his body comfortably on the sofa.

"What happened to him?" Willie asked unnervingly. He looked from Alondra to Maeve.

"Why are you so concerned about him after what he did to you?" questioned his wife in an exasperated tone.

"Alondra!" Willie exclaimed surprisingly. "Ya didn't do nothin' to him, did ya?"

Alondra turned around quickly so her husband couldn't see her facial expressions. Blinded by the visions in her head from the 'game', she felt betrayed and angry that her husband could still have goodwill towards 'that' creature on the couch. Now he accused her of poisoning his tormentor. She wished she had but when she looked at Barnabas on the couch, her heart softened. Then the visions returned and she didn't care anymore. She knew the truth now and Barnabas deserved his punishment. Besides, she didn't worry too much, if it was poison, it probably won't kill him, she thought. However, when he awakes, he'll probably think she did poisoned him. She certainly had the motive and the determination to do it.

"Oh Alondra, please talk to me," Willie pleaded. "Tell me ya didn't do nothin' to Barnabas." He was facing her but she kept turning from him. He stopped questioning her because he realized that whoever did poison or drug Barnabas had a good reason. When Barnabas wakes up, he's gonna blame me or Alondra, Willie thought, he'll be real angry and we'll be in trouble. Willie was now contemplating all the implications of the situation.

Maeve sat next to Barnabas' unconscious body, held his cold hand, and touched his flushed head. She looked into his face and thought, oh Barnabas, you will have to work through this yourself, my love. She felt his consciousness drifting away, knew she still had a huge part to play in this new 'drama'. She needed time alone with him so Maeve stood up and walked up to her friends. She didn't want them fighting with each other over something they didn't do nor understand.

"Please let's not loose our heads." Wanting to relieve their minds of any blame, she said, "Anything could have happened, the blood could have been bad." Maeve placed her arm around Alondra and padded her shoulder. Her angry eyes met Maeve's soothing stare and the two women connected. Telepathically, Maeve sent feelings of compassion to Alondra. It was not to change Alondra's mind or feelings about Barnabas but to allow her to find her own way, to see him as he was now. Maeve wanted Alondra to replace her anger with love. "Come, let's sit and try to calm down. When Barnabas wakes up, I will tell him no one poisoned him. I have a feeling he will not be mad at either of you. He IS trying to change." She couldn't reveal that the "Powers-to-be" had a hand in this.

Willie and Alondra sat holding hands, shared into space and thought about what happened. Maeve went over to the table, picked up the spilt glass of blood and started to clean up the table. She looked back at the close-mouthed couple and sent both waves of solidarity. Willie spoke first. "I'm sorry I accused ya, Alondra. I lost my head. I don't want nothin' to happen to Barnabas. I know it's hard for ya to understand, 'cause I don't understand it all myself, but I care for him." Willie held her hand and looked over at the unconscious body. "Just tonight, he apologized to me. I couldn't believe it, I was so shocked but he actually stood over there," Willie pointed to the spot Barnabas stood earlier, "and told me he was real sorry for treatin' me so unkindly all those years. You shud have heard him, Alondra. I remember his exact words. He said, 'I am sorry for beating you for not obeying me and ordering you to carry out cruel demands. I do not expect you to ever forget but I hope you can forgive me.' Alondra, he never apologized to me, never been as kind as he was tonight. I think Maeve is right, Barnabas is tryin' to change."

"Thank you for sharing that with me honey." She kissed him passionately. Then she said, "Willie, I don't think I will ever forget what I saw in those visions. I felt like I lived through it with you. Maybe I'm not as compassionate as you are, darling, but I will try to forgive Barnabas. I don't believe I will ever have the same feelings I once had for him, though." She started to remember her first meeting with Barnabas back in 1971. He was very cordial to her and he made her laugh. Of course, he was not a vampire then, so he was quite different. Willie must have seen many different sides of Barnabas that she didn't see in the 'game', so she decided to trust her husband's judgment, for the time being. Then she added, "Willie, honey, I didn't poison his drink." Willie squeezed her hand.

Maeve returned to the living room. She looked into the couple's faces and saw they had reconciled their differences. Good, she thought, she didn't want to worry about them and Barnabas. She sat down next to Barnabas and shared her plans with them. "I need to move Barnabas so he isn't a burden on you. Willie, would you help me move him to my car? I will take him back to the hotel and care for him there. We must not get doctors involved, otherwise they would find out his secret."

Willie stirred in his chair and looked at Alondra. She looked into his eyes and knew what he was planning. NO, she thought, he doesn't really what to do that, oh Willie. Her whole body slumped in the chair and he knew she understood. Willie turned his attention to Maeve and smiled, "Why don't we just leave Barnabas here? We have an extra room where ya and he can stay. We won't bother ya and if ya need anythin', I can get it for ya."

Maeve looked at Alondra and could tell she had reservations about this. She wasn't arguing with her husband so Maeve wondered if she should accept Willie's invitation. If she did and Alondra was not in agreement, there could be big trouble for her and Barnabas. Maeve addressed Alondra by looking directly into her eyes. "I appreciate Willie's offer and it is very kind of him but I cannot accept unless you are in full agreement. This is your home too. What do you say?"

Alondra looked into Maeve's face, thought about all she had done to help her learn the truth about Barnabas and Willie's connection. Of course, she was not at all happy about it. Looking at Barnabas' lifeless body, she thought how she would like to tell him off face-to-face and slap him again, that actually felt good. She wanted to do to Barnabas what Willie was afraid or unable to do. She sighed. Looking into Maeve's eyes, Alondra felt a kindness, gentleness, she couldn't deny. Where did this woman come from and why was she so interested in helping Barnabas instead of killing him? Wasn't she a slayer, for heavens sake? "Ok, he can stay in the guest room and I'll fix it up so the both of you can be comfortable. Please let me know if you need anything." Seeing that Maeve had a suspicious look, Alondra added, "I will not do anything to Barnabas that will hurt him." She looked at Barnabas and added honestly, "I truly hope he recovers."

Alondra went to prepare the guest room while Maeve and Willie attended to Barnabas' lifeless body. Eventually they managed to get him into the bed. They all looked down at Barnabas as he started to stir.