Chapter 24

The Monday morning newspaper revealed shocking news. Sipping his coffee, the man stared at the large black print: "Collins Enterprises Says Goodbye to CEO's Father" Then he read the article:

"Today, the family will pay homage to Mr. Roger Collins, brother of late Elizabeth Collins
Stoddard, surviving heir and son David, and niece Carolyn Collins Stoddard Hawkes. Friends
and family may give their respects to the family between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Monday afternoon.
At dusk, a quiet burial ceremony will be held at the Eagle Hill cemetery."

The man finished reading the article and then folded up the newspaper. He grabbed his coat and left the hotel room in a hurry.

William Loomis just finished eating his breakfast and reading the newspaper. Today will demand great patience and discipline while he performed his duties at Collinwood. As he grabbed his coat and sunglasses, his thoughts were on the article in the paper. He was beginning to understand more but he decided to keep it to himself. Suspecting the truth was different from 'knowing' the truth.

As he exited the cottage, William walked to his car and looked down the path towards the great house. Something was moving on the path, in the shadows of the trees. William loved this cottage in the woods because of all the trees. It gave him freedom to move around outside with considerable protection from the harmful rays of the sun. Having so little light also prevented him from seeing what was approaching from a distance.

The figure moved into the thickness of the trees and out of sight. 'Maybe it was just an animal,' William thought. 'It looked almost like a man. No, IT wouldn't have any reason to come here. It's just my imagination.' William walked to his car, got in and started the engine. After a few minutes of staring at the trees and looking for the shadowy figure, he drove to Collinwood. As the car turned a bend, a figure came out from behind the trees. The figure looked at the disappearing car and then back at the cottage.

Although Anita worked hard cleaning the kitchen after breakfast, her thoughts were on the events of last night. Mr. Roger Collins, dead and lying in a coffin in the drawing room, made her skin crawl. She even had a nightmare, which was still vivid in her mind. She started to remember the details:

'She and William were at the cottage, enjoying their time together. "I love you," she told William, holding and kissing his face. "I love you too," William replied and kissed her neck. She jumped back and looked at him with a frighten look on her face. "What's wrong, darling?" he asked. "I don't know. It hurt when you touched my neck." "But you love me kissing your neck." She looked away from him and felt a tear roll down her face. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me." Just then, Anita felt a piercing pain on her neck and cried out. She tried to move but couldn't. Something was holding her from behind and she didn't know what it was. "William, help me." She looked where William was standing a moment ago but he was gone. "William, please help me." Then she heard hideous laughter near her ear and a whisper, "You are all mine." Then the piercing pain started again around her neck and she cried.'

Anita's eyes were very wet as she remembered her dream. Even her neck throbbed with pain where it did in the dream. All of a sudden, she felt an arm slip around her waist and lips on her neck where she felt the pain. With fear, she swung around forcing her arm to hit the 'individual' across the face, knocking the person off bounce.

"What did you do that for?" William yelled in pain, rubbing his cheek.

"I'm so sorry," Anita said when she saw who it was. "You frightened me." She reached out and slapped his shoulder gently, and snapped, "Don't ever sneak up on me again."

"What's wrong, darling? I thought you love me kissing your neck."

Anita stared at William, listening to words she heard in her dream. This frightened her even more. Can she trust him? She never distrusted him before.

"Anita, are you alright?" William stared deeply into her eyes. "You look like you've seen a monster." Worried, he asked, "You aren't afraid of me, are you?"

Anita cried and placed her hands over her face. William went to her and slowly hugged her. She did not resist him this time and continued to cry.

He walked through the woods, looking at the Old House in the distance. It's been a long time since he was around these parts and at once, many memories came back to him. Pulling out a cigarette and lighting it, he puffed hard hoping to calm himself. As he continued to walk towards the great house on the hill, he thought about what he was going to do next.

"Are you feeling better?" William asked Anita, kissing her forehead.

"Yes, thanks." She looked up into his familiar face and smiled. "I love you William," and then she kissed him.

"I love you too, Anita. I'm sorry I scared you. Can you tell me what happened?" he asked concerned.

"I had a nightmare last night and I was thinking about it when you came in. You just frightened me, that's all. I'm okay now."

"Do you want to tell me about your dream?"

"No, I'm not ready to talk about it." She walked over to the sink to continue her cleaning and then looked out the window. It was a beautiful autumn day and she loved to look out this window while she worked. Then she thought of Mr. Collins.

"William, what happened to Mr. Roger? Did he die of old age or was it something else?" She wondered if her nightmare related to Mr. Collins' death. She wasn't afraid of death but something bothered her about this one.

"I don't know sweetie." William had his suspicions too but refused to bother Anita with them. She didn't know everything about him and he was concerned she wouldn't understand. "What else could it be?"

"WILLIAM!" Anita yelled.

"What?" He rushed to her side, next to the sink and looked at her, worried.

Pointing towards the window, she said, "I just saw something out there."

He looked outside and didn't see anything. "What did you see?"

"It, it looked like a man but, but I couldn't see him clearly to know who he was." She looked at William and cried. "I don't even know if it was a man!"

William looked outside and saw that the sun was shining brightly and wondered what she could have seen. He looked to the left and right of the house, and then at the trees. Those trees made good hiding places. He remembered the figure near his cottage and wondered. "Do you want me to go out and look around?" She looked at him and shook her head. She didn't want to be alone right now.