Patient Zero

Chapter 2 - Caught With A Stranger

Willie shoved his hands deep in his coat pocket, tucked his head down, and quickly headed back to the truck. Once inside, he popped open the glove box, dug out his lighter and pulled the note out. He held the flame to the paper and watched it turn to ash. Barnabas couldn't be allowed to find it; if he did, the girl would be as good as gone.

Is she crazy? Why on earth did she come here? How did she find me? He started up the truck and began heading for home. She's prettier than I remember. Stop, don't think like that. Willie sat at the stop light, tapping the steering wheel nervously. What on earth does she want? Were her eyes always that green? Loomis, keep it together!

Before he knew it, Willie was in the driveway, trying to figure out if he would meet her or not. I'll figure it out tomorrow; better just sleep on it.

The museum in Collinsport wasn't a normal one – with marble columns and piles of dinosaur bones - it was actually a lumber museum, which attracted adults and kids from all over Maine. The museum had thousands of objects, ranging from prehistoric stone tools to a variety of twentieth century chain saws. It sat on 100 acres of land and had interactive experiences, allowing visitors to simulate activities such as swinging an ax, sawing a tree, piloting a log raft, and racing locomotives. In the summer, the attraction would be swarming with people, but in the winter, most of the outdoor exhibits were closed. The walking trails, however, remained open and cleared of snow, allowing guests to walk through the old logging camp and peer inside the windows of log cabins. Willie stood in front of one of the cabins wondering if he would even find Emma on the vast property. Luckily, or unluckily for him, he didn't need to find her; she found him.

"I was beginning to think you weren't going to come." Emma snuck beside Willie and scared the daylights out of him.

Willie turned to her, her large green eyes staring up at him like saucers, and waited for what she was going to say next.

"I'm not crazy. It really happened, didn't it?" She leaned towards him, wanting to know she hadn't lost her mind. "Please, tell me I'm not crazy. No one remembers! They – they all keep telling me that I imagined you. They all think I'm insane. But, when you recognized me at the diner, I knew...I knew I wasn't crazy."

This is my out. Pretend I don't know her and she'll just go away.

"I don't know what you're talkin' about," Willie said, cringing inside for lying.

"Yes, yes, you do." She poked his chest, startling him this time with physical contact. "Explain then how it is you know me, and why you nearly pissed yourself when I showed up at the diner." Emma stood stoically waiting for an answer.

"I thought you were someone else. Now that I see ya up close, I know I was wrong; ya aren't who I thought ya were. I never seen you before." Another pang of guilt ran through him, and she looked genuinely hurt by his words.

"You're lying. Why are you lying? I – I took care of you! I held your hand and sat with you all day and all night when you were sick. I held you when the nightmares came." As she got more frustrated, tears started to slip down her cheeks. "I'm not crazy! Why would you lie to me? I saw that man strike you, and how afraid you were." Emma got uncomfortably close to Willie and in a voice slightly louder than a whisper, said, "I saw that thing suck the blood from you, right from your neck. Like a vampire… That thing isn't human."

Willie put his hands on her shoulders, and gently backed her away. "I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talkin' about." Willie put his head down, unable to look her in the eyes.

"Why? Why are you doing this?"

"I gotta get goin'. Sorry ya wasted your time." Willie started to walk away, a knot in his stomach forming as he left; listening to her plead was painful.

"I'm not crazy! I know what I saw! How can you lie to me?" Emma stood alone and sobbed as Willie walked away. He never looked back.

"Did you pick up everything for the party this evening?" Barnabas smoothed out the tablecloth as he walked past it.

"Yes, Barnabas. I did everything just as you asked." Willie watched nervously as his master inspected the preparations.

"And the wine from the cellar, you have brought that up as well? Dusted off the bottles and prepared the crystal?"

"Yes."

"Everything looks to be in order. You have done well this evening; I am pleased."

Although Barnabas didn't notice, Willie let out a sigh of relief that he had been holding in the entire day. New Year's Eve was the only night in which the guests were expected to stay through the night, and Barnabas could enjoy in the full festivities. It was also quite possibly the most stressful day of the year for Willie. In years past, he had made some mistakes, some so grave that he found himself locked in the cellar to think about his blunders. But tonight, he took extra care, waking up before the sun to start preparing. Hoping that all was perfect so that he could enjoy one night to do as he pleased, within the guidelines that Barnabas put forth, and put his encounter with Emma from several days before behind him.

"You may go, Willie. I do not expect to see you until tomorrow evening. Please ensure that the mess is thoroughly picked up prior to my waking."

"Yes, Barnabas." Willie didn't hesitate to grab his coat and keys, and out the door he flew. Today was a good day, he thought to himself. Sure, he was still nursing a wound on his face and a limp in his step that Barnabas had caused, but today he managed to steer clear of another assault. If anyone would have asked him prior to arriving at Collinwood if he would ever get beaten over a set of napkin rings, he would have laughed in their face. But now, he understood the consequences of accidently having one thrown into the trash, and ruining a complete set. And even though he wasn't the one who threw it out, that it had been Carolyn, he took the blame.

His first stop was the diner. Willie ate a quick meal and then ordered a second one to go, with two slices of pie and extra mashed potatoes. It would be cold by the time he ate it, but he figured once midnight came he would at least have something to eat, even if he was alone.

Next stop was the Blue Whale. Getting drunk was not within the guidelines, but maybe a little buzz would be okay.

"Hey, Willie. What can I get ya?" Bob put his newspaper down and slid off his barstool.

"Beer, and make it a big one, would ya?" Willie put a five-dollar bill on the bar and settled in. If there was one safe place to be on New Year's - where he wouldn't run into anyone - it was the Blue Whale. Other townsfolk were with family and friends, and he didn't have either.

"Barnabas havin' his big party tonight?" Bob asked. He already knew the answer, but attempted to make small talk.

"Yeah." Willie continued to drink his beer and chat with the bartender, as if he were any normal patron, until their attention was turned bu the sound of a sneeze on the opposite end of the bar. Willie hadn't even noticed someone there.

"Who's that?" Willie asked, handing over his glass for a refill while looking at the lump slumped over.

"Don't know. She came in here 'bout an hour before you. Pretty thing too. Already had a few in the bag when she walked in, then passed out there. I figured when she woke up I could get her in a cab to wherever she's goin'. Safer if a girl like that passes out where I can keep an eye on her, versus out in the street somewhere."

"You ever see her in here before?" Willie couldn't get a good look at the woman's face.

"Nope. First time tonight." Both men turned towards the woman as she began show signs of life. When she raised her head from her folded arms, and the waves of curls unfolded; Willie knew her instantly.

Shit.

It took a minute for her to come around, but when she did, she had laser focus on Willie.

"Y-You…", she seethed, "you ruined everything!" The previously motionless woman was now standing at attention and holding onto the bar as if it were a railing attached to a boat on rocky seas.

"Seems she knows you." Bob watched as the girl walked towards Willie, gripping the bar as she moved.

"I walked away from my entire future because of you. Your lyin', no good … hic … no good ass." She turned towards Bob as she pointed at Willie. "Did you know he's a liar? A no good, lyin' bastdard?"

"Yes, ma'am." Bob nodded and grinned, finding the situation amusing.

"Bob, you aren't helpin' any." Willie stood up as she approached him.

"E-everyone thinks I'm nuts! But I – I know what I saw."

"What are you doing in here? You should go home."

"Don't you …hic… tell me where I should go." Emma was boiling mad. "You know what I saw?" She turned her attention back to the bartender. "I saw a vampire suck the blood right out of him. Saw it with my own two eyes." Emma went to sit on the bar stool next to Willie, but missed, and Willie caught her before she hit the ground.

"Is that so?" Bob asked, jokingly.

"She's drunk, talking crazy. Can you pour me two coffees to go? And some aspirin? I'm gonna to take her to get somethin' to eat and help her sober up a bit."

"I'm not crazy. I saw it." Emma muttered, and then tumbled into Willie's arms and grabbed onto him as she stared up into his eyes. "You're a good-looking liar though. I can't stop thinking hic thinking about you."

"Come on, let's get you outta here." Willie got her tucked around him, grabbed the coffees and left. He didn't have a choice and needed her to shut up before Bob got suspicious. "Let me help you up." Willie helped Emma into the truck and then ran around to the other side. "Here's a blanket if you're cold. It takes a bit for the heat to kick in. Drink this and take these." He handed her the coffee and little white pills, and she took them, mumbling something in between sips.

Willie started to drive, trying to figure out where to take her. Can't be where people are, too risky, and she's gonna feel terrible; don't want her to be embarrassed. There was only one place he could think of - an abandoned cottage tucked away on the shoreline. Willie went there every so often to be alone; it was his sanctuary, and his master allowed it. In fact, Barnabas had encouraged it, as it gave Willie a place to go when he was feeling melancholy, and Barnabas wouldn't have to deal with him. However, ever since Willie's return from Beals, the visits became more and more frequent, and Willie's mood grew darker and darker with each passing sunset.

With a barely manageable bundle of firewood in his arms, Willie walked into the room and quietly set the logs on the crumbling hearth. He took his time stacking it, knowing that she was awake and probably staring at him. His leg began to twitch nervously as he crouched down, waiting for her to say something. After stalling for as long as he could, he turned around, avoiding eye contact, and sat cross legged on the floor a good distance away from her and the fire.

"I won't bite." She said softly. "It's cold over there, come closer to the fire where you can be warm." She patted the floor beside her. "Come on."

"I'm good right here."

"Fine, I'll just come to you, and we can both freeze."

Emma scooted backwards, away from the fire, until she was right beside Willie, and she sat quietly. An uncomfortable tension radiated between them and they both were shivering in the cold, but a standoff had begun. Neither of them wanted to be the one to give in. They sat beside each other like stubborn children, until Willie saw that her teeth were chattering.

"This is ridiculous." Willie stood up and moved towards the fire and plopped down in front of it, warming his hands close to the flames, knowing she would come closer too, and warm up.

Emma silently chuckled as he got up, happy with her small victory of not giving in first. She joined him next to the fire, wrapped the blanket around them both, and sat a little closer to Willie than he would have liked. The warmth of her beside him, a contact that wasn't intended to do harm, was a feeling long forgotten, and suddenly he ached for it.

"What time is it?" A simple question. Break the ice, she thought.

"Huh?" The memories of happier times, and the warmth of a beautiful woman, had him dazed.

"The time?"

"Oh..uh..eleven thirty." Willie looked at her through blond sweeps that had fallen over his eyes. "How are you feelin'? Are you hungry?"

Emma thought about it and, to her surprise, realized that she was starving. "I could eat."

Willie pulled out a bag and ripped it, flattening it out on the ground. He grabbed a second bag and revealed several pieces of fried chicken, a container of mashed potatoes, and the extra pie from the diner. "I'm sorry, it's not much, just diner food - and it's cold- probably not very good, but it's all I got. I didn't realize that –"

"It's perfect." Emma interrupted and smiled sweetly at him, realizing that this probably was all he had, possibly all he had in the world, and he was offering it to her. She studied him as he picked at his makeshift dinner, noticing the fresh bruises on his face and a cut on his cheek. She saw his limp when he came in with the firewood. His jacket was terribly thin for this kind of weather, and he looked as if he hadn't slept in days. He was a broken man, with hauntingly beautiful eyes, and she was drawn to him like a moth to the moon. She had been since she laid eyes on him at Beals.

"What?" Willie snapped his head up, taking her by surprise. "Why do you keep staring at me like that?" Her attention was making him uncomfortable. He could feel her eyes on him all night, studying him, making him feel like an animal at the zoo or a freak. Everyone in town stared at him, watched him come and go, sneering behind his back. He hated it and hated everyone who did it.

"You need someone to take care of you."

Willie gave a snort of derision. "I'm just fine."

"Really? You sure as hell don't look fine, and you weren't fine at Beals. You look like you haven't slept in years. You're obviously hurt, and you don't hide the limp very well. You aren't dressed appropriately for this kind of weather and your hands are cracked from the cold. Not to mention that you're spending New Year's Eve in an abandoned, broken-down building on the edge of nowhere. And my guess is that your little blood condition hasn't changed either."

"Anything else?" Willie said flatly, anger starting to light up his eyes.

Emma's voice softened. "I'm worried about you. Please, tell me. Tell me what's going on. Maybe I can help." She moved closer to him again, her eyes looking up and pleading, taking his hand in hers. "What was that thing that came into your room? I saw it suck the blood from you, like a vampire. I know I did. It was horrific."

"Finish up, and then I'll drive ya to a hotel." He ignored her questioning, removed his hand from hers, and began to stoke the fire a bit more, turning his back to her.

"Why did you bring me here anyway? Surely it wasn't to impress me." Emma looked around at the ruins that surrounded them. Secretly, she thought that it was a bit charming, or at least could be with some hard work.

"You were stone drunk. I didn't want to just dump you off on some stranger." Willie shifted uncomfortably, and nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

"I think you were looking out for me. Just like you did when you didn't tell that thing about me, or my brain would have been zapped just like the others."

Willie looked back up at her, almost about to say something, but then simply shook his head and kept quiet.

"I'm right. You don't need to answer. I took care of you, and you took care of me."

Willie rolled his eyes, a feeble attempt to pretend she wasn't right. "Are you done?"

"No, I'm NOT done." Emma was irritated, he'll know when I'm done!

Willie pointed at the food. "With the food. Are you finished?"

Embarrassed at misunderstanding, she smiled at him. "Oh, um…yes, thank you."

The pair sat in silence again. Emma watched as Willie gathered up the bones from the chicken and tossed them into the fire. The remaining potatoes and pie got wrapped carefully back into the foil it came in, and placed back into a bag. Emma took notice, thinking that food was something this man did not take for granted. If fact, it was something he may not have gotten much of, and her heart sank further for him. For the next several minutes they both watched the flames dance around in the fireplace, and Emma kept track of the minutes as they ticked on towards midnight.

"Happy New Year."

"What?" Willie looked over at her, and had no time to react to the young woman as she quickly scooted close to Willie and kissed him on the cheek.

"It's midnight. You need to kiss someone at midnight, or it's bad luck." She watched his cheeks turn rosy with embarrassment, and then leaned to kiss him again, and for a brief moment he forgot that his life was not his own. It was a moment he wanted to last a lifetime, but when she pushed slightly on his leg to balance herself, the pain from a fresh punishment yanked him back to his nightmare.

"Don't. I can't." Willie stared at the ground, and she gently ran her hand through his hair.

"I feel it, don't you? There's something between us. I felt it the minute you arrived at the hospital. Even when you were screaming at me like a lunatic. Believe me, I wouldn't have blown my entire future for just anyone."

Their conversation was shattered when a booming voice came crashing down on them from the outside of the house, yelling Willie's name. If it had been anyone or anything else, Willie would have welcomed it to get out of the conversation that almost took place.

"Willie?"

Willie scrambled to his feet and ice instantly began to flow through his veins. Panic and fear. Emma jumped to her feet as well, and Willie stood in front of her, his arm stretched back to keep her from coming forward.

"Willie!" Barnabas, dressed in all black with menacing cane in hand, came charging through the front door.

"I'm here, Barnabas."

"Ah, excellent. I need you to return to the Old Hou –" Barnabas noticed the girl and paused for a moment to inspect her. "And who is this?" he asked with a hint of charm in his voice.

"I – I just met her tonight. She was –"

"Emma. Pleasure to meet you." Emma walked around Willie, stuck out her hand, and with all the confidence of a prize fighter, strode directly to Barnabas, looked him in the eyes, and introduced herself.

"Willie was kind enough to keep me from making a ridiculous fool of myself this evening."

"Is that so?"

"Can you believe my boyfriend, of four years I might add, dumped me on New Year's Eve?" Emma forced a few tears to make it more believable, "I mean, who does that? So, regrettably, I drank myself silly while feeling sorry for myself, and passed out at the Blue Whale. That's where I met Willie."

"And how, might I ask, did you wind up together here?" Barnabas looked directly at his servant, and Willie knew that it was he who was supposed to answer, not the girl.

"I – I didn't want to just leave her there. Bob wanted to close, so I brought her out here to sober up. I was just plannin' on takin' her to the hotel now."

"I see." Barnabas wrapped his hand around Willie's wrist, and his iron grip squeezed tighter and tighter.

Willie looked up at his master, his eyes beginning to water from the pain. "Please, don't, " He whispered, one second before the young man heard something crack, which was immediately followed by a sharp pain that radiated through his elbow and into his shoulder. Emma heard Willie's breath hitch, and a muted gasp escape him as his eyes glossed over and flooded with fear.

"Well, I came to retrieve you as we have a small problem at the house and your assistance is required."

"Yes, Barnabas. I'll take her to a hotel and then head straight there."

Barnabas didn't buy a single word of their story, and knew that bringing them back to the house would force the truth out of them. "Nonsense. Emma, it would be my pleasure to have you stay with us for the evening. Willie can drive you where you need to go in the morning."

"Oh, I don't want to be a bother."

"I insist. Willie, put the fire out here, and then return post haste."

"Y-yes Barnabas."

Willie started the truck and the pair headed down the coast.

"Who is he?"

"My boss."

"No, I mean who is he. His name, where is he from?" She turned to face him as he drove and studied his face as she listened, what she saw she could only describe as terror twisting around him like a suffocating vine.

"Barnabas Collins. He and his family own this town and everyone in it."

"Including you?"

"Yes, includin' me."

"Did he give you this?" Emma reached up and gently touched the side of Willie's face, gesturing to the cut on his cheek. Willie flinched back as if she had struck him herself. "He did, didn't he. You're frightened of him. I saw the same look in your eyes when you were at Beals." She gently placed her hand on his arm. "I know what I saw, and I saw that man…that thing…with you…and what it did to you. Somehow he managed to wipe everyone's memory of the event."

Willie tried to ignore the pressure on his arm, the light touch that felt like an anvil crushing his bones. Willie swallowed hard and then yanked the steering wheel with one hand, and pulled the truck over to the side of the road. Once parked, he turned and looked at her. "You are a loose end, and if he finds out, he'll kill you; you won't be lucky enough for him to just make ya forget. He won't even think twice about it. If he finds out I lied, I'll be lucky if he kills me." Willie stared out towards the road, his hands starting to tremble.

"Why not just leave?" Emma asked, confused.

"He isn't human. He – He's …"

"He's a monster, that's what he is." She brushed the hair that slipped over his eyes away once again and cupped his cheek gently, but a second later the sad eyed man twitched his head sideways to remove it, and swallowed hard.

"He's cursed…and so am I. That thing made it so I can't leave him." His voice tremored with confusion and a touch of anger. "I - I don't understand how, but if I'm away for too long, my body just shuts down. I've tried so many times to get away, but he's infected me with somethin'; somethin' only he can cure. He feeds from me to keep me alive and under his control. I can never leave him, never…if I do…" His voice trailed off and tears started to well and escape down Willie's face; he couldn't stop them, no matter how humiliated he felt. Talking about this to someone else, saying the words out loud, made it painfully real. As if before, when no one knew, it wasn't really happening; it was just a bad dream.

"I tried to kill myself in the beginning. One step. One little step off the cliff and this nightmare would've been over. But he showed up, he knew somehow, and caught me. The punishment afterwards was so awful I wouldn't dare try again." Willie's breathing started getting jagged as he remembered those first few days, and his heart started to race while his leg bounce furiously.

"What did he do?" Emma was horrified listening to Willie.

"He told me that if I wanted to die, jumpin' off a cliff was too good for me. A grave robber deserved a far worse death. He tied my hands and feet, gagged me, and locked me in a coffin." Willie started to feel sick at the memory.

"For how long?"

"Don't know. Three or four days, that's how long people say I went missin'" Willie picked at the seat cushion of the truck. "That's why I can't stand the dark; why I made ya keep a light on all night at Beals." His wrist began to throb harder and grow more painful; he reached over with the other hand and held it. "Jesus, I think he broke it…"

"Oh, my God." Emma reached over and gently pulled Willie into her arms and held him. She could feel him shudder against her. "I'm sorry, Willie. So sorry." She held him for several minutes, stroking his back, until eventually he calmed and pulled away.

"I don't know why I told you all that. I shouldn't' have."

Emma held his hand and brushed the hair from his eyes. "And no one else knows?"

"No." Willie laughed sadly. "Who would believe something like that? People stay away from me, Emma. They think I'm some kind of freak… It's better that way"

"It must be so lonely."

Willie didn't acknowledge the last comment. It was too hard to think about a lifetime of aching loneliness.

"So, you live with him?"

"Yes."

"Are there others like you?"

"No." Willie had no intention on bringing up Maggie.

"I assume he was in the grave you were robbing?"

He rolled his eyes at the question. "Obviously." With the turn of the key the truck started to hum.

"So, where should I take you?"

"Well, back to the house, with you, I assume."

"No, that's not safe."

"If I don't go, it looks rather suspicious, doesn't it?

"You'd be risking your life. Emma, I can't protect you there."

"What happens to you if I don't show up?"

Nothing Good.

"Doesn't matter."

"I'm coming with you, then I'll leave in the morning."

The two drove the rest of the way in silence, each thinking of what would happen next. Willie wondered what his punishment would be, and Emma worked on ways to kill the monster.