Chapter 23

This time Barnabas was dreaming. In front of him was a table with medical equipment on the left and bottles of plasma with a wine bottle and glass on the right. The sound of a door opened as two women, Julia and Maeve, walk in together. Julia didn't seem to be aware of Maeve but Maeve looked at Julia as she walked over to the left side of the table. Maeve smiled at Barnabas and walked over to the right side of the table. Both women stared straight at him. He watched Julia first. Julia took the liquid mixtures and blended them together. Next, she added small amounts into several syringes. Then she packed the syringes except one into a medical bag. Closing the bag, she inserted the syringe into her vein. When she was finished, she stared straight at Maeve. Next, Barnabas directed his attention on Maeve.

Maeve was mixing a blend of herbs together then added a small amount into a wine bottle. Picking up a bottle of plasma, she poured a measurable amount into the wine bottle and mixes it together. Selecting the wine glass, Maeve filled it with the blood mixture and then turned her attention to Barnabas. Smiling, she offered the wine glass to him. He gasped at the thought of her poisoning him. As though she heard his thoughts, she shook her head but said nothing. She turned her attention again on Julia, both pairs of eyes locked on each other.

All of a sudden, a loud alarming sound interrupted the silence. "What is that?" Barnabas exclaimed. Both women continued to stare at each other.

The sound got continuously louder until it was so deafening that he had to cover his ears with his hands. He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them again, Barnabas saw Julia standing by his bed smiling down at him. When he took his hands away from his ears, he could hear an alarm clock. "Good morning, sleepy head. I thought maybe you were never going to wake up," Julia joked, "luckily the alarm was on and woke you up."

"What time is it?" Barnabas looked around for the clock.

" Nine o'clock in the morning," she answered, looking at the clock sitting on the nightstand. "If you hurry, you can have breakfast with me. I have to run off to Wyndcliff for a while but I will be back this afternoon." Julia started to walk to the door to leave when she turned her head towards him and said, "Oh, by the way, I am glad to see you have decided to stay here and not return to the future," she smiled and then left.

As Barnabas got up and dressed, he was glad Julia stayed at the Old House more than Collinwood. He remembered from the original 1971 she stayed with him more as time elapsed. Reviewing his "dream" with Julia and Maeve, he had more questions and fewer answers. He looked around the room and in the dresser drawers. It all looked the same as he remembered it. As he made his way to the door to leave, he wondered if he really time traveled back to 1971.

As Barnabas sat eating his breakfast, he watched Julia from across the table. He marveled at how beautiful she looked. Julia glanced at him and saw him staring. He gazed at her beautiful auburn hair and stared into her 'Betty Davis' green eyes. As he thought of touching her, he wondered what his mission was, to learn or make changes. "Is there something you want to say, Barnabas?" she asked. He has never stared at her like this before, the attention was very appealing but strange behavior for him.

"Only that I am enjoying the view," he smiled noticing a slight blush on her face. He chuckled to himself.

"Barnabas! I have never heard you talk this way. Are you feeling ok?" She wanted to hear more but did not have time now.

"Julia, I am still a bit confused by everything that has happened. I want to share my experience with you." He saw she was distracted.

"Oh my, I have to get going," Julia said suddenly looked at her watch. "Can we talk later? I would love to hear more about your dream, it sounds fascinating." She looked into his eyes and saw a shining light that she never noticed before. There was something different about him. He was not acting like himself, she thought, although she enjoyed the attention. She smiled at him as she got up and walked over to a table where she left her purse. She opened it and pulled out a cigarette and lighter. As she lit her cigarette, she noticed Barnabas still staring at her. Only this time he was frowning. "I will see you later Barnabas." He is looking strange at me again, she thought, I wonder if he knows. I will deal with that later too, she thought.

"Julia," Barnabas hesitated, "Please don't go."

"I have to," she said but thought how much she wanted to stay. It was not like him to ask her to stay like this. "Barnabas, I will see you later." Julia smiled and left the Old House.

Feeling restless, Barnabas did something he had never done in over two-hundred years, he cleared off the table. Then he cleaned the dishes, hoping no one would walk in and see him. Surprisingly, he actually enjoyed himself. After he finished, he decided to do some snooping. Looking around the first floor of the Old House, everything looked the same as he remembered it. He walked over to the cellar door and tried it. It was unlocked. I guess I am not hiding anything down there nowadays he chuckled. He felt like a stranger in his own house. Is that the effects of the dream, or the outcome of traveling back in time? As he kept his hand on the cellar door, he thought about going downstairs. Instead memories came back to him. He recalled hiding his coffin down there at different intervals. Another thought came to him, the memory of walling up the terrified Reverend Trask in 1795, making the brick wall the entrance to the reverend's tomb. During another time, Barnabas bit his cousin, Carolyn, in order to reverse the aging process from the botched experiment he received from Julia. So much tragedy happened in that cellar, he thought. He let go of the door and turned around.

Deciding not to go into the cellar, Barnabas strolled upstairs to his room to rest. He wanted to compare his experiences in the past with that of the future. As he was walking past Julia's room, he noticed the door was open. He felt a strong urge to go inside. Noticing a handkerchief on the floor, he picked it up as he stood in the middle of the room, a memory surfaced, but it was not his own. Glancing down at the square linen, it felt like he was playing the 'game' again. An image started to form in his mind. During a terrifying stormy night in 1967, Julia was in the mausoleum looking for the ghost of Sarah, Barnabas' sister, but she found herself locked in. Suddenly, there was a ghostly crying sound. Julia called out.

"Who are you? Sarah? Is that you? Are you trying to frighten me? Please answer me!" The crying stopped. Julia wondered, "What was it? Who was it? Maybe it was just the wind. Yes, that's it, only the wind." Suddenly, the room filled with the sound of ghostly laughter. Julia shouted, "Why are you doing this to me, why? It must be Sarah doing this to me. Why, Sarah, why? Why don't you answer me? I have to find a way out of here! I've got to think!"

She brushed against the wall and she was surprised to feel a wet feeling. She looked at her hand and was shocked to see it covered with blood. She looked at the wall and saw that blood was leaking from Sarah's nameplate. She screamed, "Blood! Blood oozing from the walls! I have to get out of here! I have to get out of here! Let me out!" She flung herself onto a coffin in frustration. She heard a squeaking sound and looked up to find the gate had opened by itself. She ran out. Making it back to Collinwood, Julia learned she was to be alone in the huge house. Weird unexplained happenings occurred all around her that frightened her up to her room.

"Nothing, nothing can get in here, I'm safe!" She turned on the lamp and listened, "No sound at all, except for the storm. Maybe whatever it was went away and I am safe. Was it you I saw, Dave? Were you returning from the grave to haunt me, Dave? Was it you?" The lights went off. Julia remarked, "It must be a power failure. I can't stay in here. I've got to leave the house and get some help!" She tried to open the door but couldn't. She screamed, "NO! I can't be locked in here, I can't be! Help! Help! No one can hear me! No one's in the house but me and whatever's trying to destroy me!" She got an idea. She went to the phone and picked up the receiver, but found that there was no dial tone. She put the receiver back onto the cradle and tried to reassure herself, "Roger will be home soon. He's probably on his way now. Please let him be on his way, please! The lights, if I only had some light, I wouldn't be so afraid." She lights a candle and said, "There, that's better, that's much better." The candle blew out. Julia gasped, "The wind! Where did it come from? The windows were shut tight." She looked over at the window and was shocked to see a ghostly figure standing there. The figure was dressed in what looked like doctor's clothing, but it was covered, hiding the face. Julia screamed, "Who are you? What are you doing here? Is it you, Dave? Please! Leave me alone!" The figure disappeared. The phone rang.

Julia answered. She heard a voice on the other end say, "Julia!"

"Who . . . who is this?"

"Julia, don't you recognize my voice?" the voice replied.

"It can't be. It's Dave Woodard! It can't be! You're dead!" she cried.

"Yes, and soon you'll be dead too. Do you hear me, Julia? Soon, you will die, soon, very, very soon, you will die!" the voice replied.

Julia slammed the receiver down. She saw that the doorknob was turning. Something was trying to get in. Terrified, Julia's vision started to blur. She screamed, "AHHHHHHHHHHHH! Who is there!"

The door opened. It was Barnabas. He came in and said, "Hello, Julia."

The vision ended and Barnabas felt the anguish and terror as though he had been Julia that night. Looking at the handkerchief, he knew it acted as the catalyst for the vision. He also knew he was responsible for frightening and planning to kill Julia that night. Barnabas grabbed his face with his hands and felt the perspiration. He now knew what she had gone through and wanted to make it up to her. Barnabas looked around Julia's room and wondered why she ever forgave him. Something caught his eye that was partially sticking out from under her dresser. He walked over to the bureau, bent down and picked it up. It was an old photograph but before he could look at it, he heard someone coming down the hall. Sticking the photograph in his housecoat pocket, he hid behind the curtains.

Barnabas heard someone came into the room, opened and closed a door, then sat on the bed. Then he heard a deep sigh and the person lying down on the bed. It had to be Julia. He waited a few minutes until he thought she might be asleep and peeked out to look. She appeared to be asleep so Barnabas slowly walked past the bed and towards the open door. He had to look at her one more time before leaving so he walked up to the foot of the bed and glazed at Julia's sleeping face. He was not prepared to see her sit up and look at him.

"Barnabas!" said a surprised Julia.