Chapter 1
1973 – Collinsport Hospital, 3 a.m.
A woman dressed in a white nurse's uniform quietly strolled into Room 325. Every night, for the past three months, the nurse attended to the patient assigned to this private room.
Stepping over to the bed of the sleeping patient, she checked the monitors and looked at the clipboard used by the doctors. She glanced over her shoulder towards the doorway and noticed no one passing by at this early morning hour. The fewer people around meant she can do what she had to without being disturbed. Affectionately, she looked down at the bed and leaned over to touch the patient's face. As the nurse made the patient comfortable, the patient woke up.
"Hello," the nurse whispered. The patient weakly smiled and held up a hand. The nurse took the hand and they exchanged loving tender looks. Too weak to talk, the patient looked over at the side table and motioned to the nurse to open the drawer.
The nurse went over to the table and gazed into the drawer. She retrieved several sheets of paper written by the patient. Examining the contents of the notes, she nodded to the patient in acknowledgement.
"It will be done as you requested," the nurse said to the patient.
2003 – On a Midwest highway at 3 a.m.
After driving for hours, her eyes started to burn from staring into the oncoming headlights coming straight at her on the other side of the highway. Looking over to the right, she saw her passenger looking out into the blackness. She thought about asking him to drive for a while. Why not, his eyesight was keener then hers.
"You want to drive for a while?" she asked.
He looked at her and chuckled. "Are you sure you want me to drive?" He knew his driving skills have not improved over the last month since she had been training him.
"Well," she hesitated, "If you don't want to drive, we need to stop so I can rest my eyes. I am feeling quite tired."
"Good," relieved not to take the wheel, "let's stop at the next truck stop so we can have some coffee," he offered. He had been feeling a familiar urge, and she knew it, as she gave him a suspicious look. He smiles at her, impressed with how she always knew when he needed 'it'.
"Be careful, Barnabas," she warned him.
"I know, Maeve," he sighed, "I have not killed anyone for months and I always wipe their memories clean." This had become so complicated since she had come into his life. He loved her and didn't wish to be without her, however, he was getting tired of all the complexities that go with trying to be so careful.
They arrived at a truck stop about fifteen minutes later. As they sat in the parking lot, they watched truckers climb out of their big rigs to fill their tanks and then stroll over to the restaurant or bar. Over to the left of the service station was a small restaurant with a few night travelers resting and eating. A bar just to the left of the restaurant had its music blaring, and lights flashing on the marquee as seedy patrons came and went.
"I'll go over there," Barnabas nodded towards the bar, "while you get some coffee." He looked into Maeve's concerned eyes. "Don't worry, I'll be careful." He got out of the car and strolled to the bar. Exiting the car at the same time as Barnabas, Maeve watched him as she slowly stepped up to the restaurant door. While traveling with Barnabas, she had learned to keep her eyes open and her equipment handy. Patting her jacket pocket and feeling the necessary apparatus, she walked in to order coffee.
Barnabas approached the bar slowly just in time to watch a burly man mistreat the woman with him. "I told you NO," the stout man yelled slapping the fragile woman across the face. "Now get in the car while I get us a bottle to go." He pushed the woman towards a SUV making her fall. He laughed as he entered the bar and disappeared. Getting off the ground, the woman stammered towards the vehicle. Barnabas approached the woman and gently touched her shoulders, frightening her.
"I'm sorry to frighten you miss, but are you ok?" Barnabas asked. He saw tears in her bloodshot eyes. When he focused on her long neck, his lust started to heighten.
"No, that bastard makes me so sick," she coughed into her hands and a little blood dripped from her nose. "I'm ill and he prefers liquor over me goin' to the hospital."
"Let me take a look," Barnabas said, lifting her head to look at her face. "Come with me. I can help you." He led her between two trucks so they were out of the light. Before she could protest, his two incisors elongated and he bit her on the neck. Already too weak to fight him, the woman submitted to his will. After a few minutes, Barnabas released his hold on her and looks into her eyes. "Listen to me very careful. First, cover your neck." She did as commanded. "Now, go back to your vehicle and wait from your friend. I promise you everything will be different when he returns." She looked into Barnabas' mesmerizing brown eyes and nodded. He let her go and she walked away from him. Barnabas disappeared.
In the bar, the man was drinking his last beer. After demanding a bottle to go and paying the bartender, he stomped off into the men's room for a few minutes, unaware of what awaited him. As the man stood in front of a urinal, Barnabas walked in. The door mysteriously locked behind him. As he strolled over to the sink to wash his hands, Barnabas sensed the man finishing up and tramping toward the sink. Stepping away from the sink, Barnabas stood behind the man waiting and staring. The man abruptly turned around.
"Whatcha looking at, asshole?" the tipsy man growled and shoved a finger into Barnabas' shoulder causing him to take one-step backwards. The man froze once his eyes lock onto Barnabas' gaze. As he approached the frozen man, Barnabas opened his mouth and the man's eerie expression changed into a placid stare as blood left his body.
After getting his fill, Barnabas woke up the man. "Listen to me careful," he snarled in a reverberating tone. "You will follow my instructions but you will not remember what has happened to you. Do you understand?" The man nodded. "You will leave this bar, take your woman home and nurse her to health. When you see the marks on her neck as on your own, you will remember my words ONLY. You will treat your woman with loving care and forget this night ever happened." Barnabas led the man into one of the stalls and sat him on the commode. "As soon as that door closes, you will wake up and forget you ever saw me." Barnabas quickly left the men room, disappeared and rematerialized outside in the parking lot.
A minute later, the man walked outside and turned his coat lapel up over his neck. Barnabas purposely walked in front of him. The man acted as if he did not see Barnabas and proceeded to his vehicle. As Barnabas watched the SUV drive away, he returned to Maeve's car. She was waiting for him.
"Well, I see that went smoothly," Maeve said satisfied.
"Oh, that. Yes it did," Barnabas said as he stared at her, realizing she knew what transpired. Ever since their psyches merged months earlier, they had been able to keep track of each other's every move.
"Where are we going now?" he asked changing the subject. Impulsively, Barnabas climbed into the driver's seat and Maeve sat in the passenger's seat, buckling her seatbelt.
"Maine."
Barnabas shot her a cautionary look.