Chapter 2:
The Enslavement Begins
--
(in this flashback segment Bold and Italics is Willie and Annie POV and Italics is Barnabas' POV)
Flashback: Earlier that evening . . .
"Stupid ol' geezer!" Willie said, "He actually thinks we're Collins' payin' our respects!"
"Shhh!" Annie said through a chuckle, a wide grin spread across her face, "D'ya want him ta hear us?"
"I don't think that's a problem. He so old he couldn't hear anything this far away ta save his life!" Willie commented, causing both of them to break out in laughter.
As the sun began to set upon them, they were approaching their destination . . . the Collins family Mausoleum . . .
Barnabas could tell someone was now in the mausoleum, he could smell the blood as it approached. Oh, how he craved it. How he needed it.
His breath hitched in his chest when he heard the sound. The secret panel couldn't be opening! No one had known about it in two-hundred years! . . .
Willie kicked his foot against Naomi Collins' coffin with an angry growl.
"Willie, don't start gettin' upset." Annie said. She looked over at their supplies and a pulley caught her eye, "Hey, Will, let's try this." she picked it up and handed part of it to Willie.
Willie smiled at her, "Annie Loomis, yer a genius." he said, taking the part she offered him and hooking it up to a ring hanging from inside the mouth of a lion-head on the wall. Once the hooks were in place, Willie turned to his twin, "Get on the other side of the coffin an' help me pull this." She did so, and much to their shock, as they tugged on the rope, it was not the coffin they opened, but a secret room . . .
Suddenly he heard chattering followed by footsteps.
The sound of hammer hitting chisel against his coffin made it shake. He smiled to himself, knowing his time had come, and he would be free once again.
After a few moments the hammering stopped and he could hear more excited talk of the people outside. He could tell there were two of them, a man and a woman . . .
"You ready ta open it?" Willie asked
The girl paused a moment before answering, "Yea," Annie said, "yea. I-I guess so."
"Annie, whatcha so nervous about? Don't tell me yer still afraid o'the dark." the man said, a hint of mischief behind his voice.
"Willie, let's just open this thing." Annie replied, avoiding the initial question . . .
Barnabas' heart began to pulsate faster when he saw a gleam of light piercing the darkness that he had lived in for so long.
Then, the coffin lid stopped rising. And he could hear the couple talking again . . .
"Didja hear that?" Willie asked
"Yea. W-we betta git outta here." Annie replied, "We'll finish this later tanight."
"Yea. I'd hate ta think about bein' caught by that idiot, Sheriff Patterson."
After Willie said this, the coffin was closed, and the twins left the mausoleum.
Barnabas slowly opened the lid to his coffin and he groaned slightly as he sat up. (As you can imagine, two-hundred years of being stuck inside a coffin didn't do wonders to his body.) He knew he had to find the two who discovered him. He would make them his slaves. 'Yes.' he thought 'My slaves.'
--
Present . . .
Barnabas snatched Willie up by the neck and could see the fear reflecting in the young man's eyes, "What's the matter, Willie? Don't tell me your still afraid of the dark." he said, and it was at that moment the twins realized that he was in the coffin they opened.
Barnabas then shoved Willie into a corner and grabbed his victims wrist.
"Barnabas, please don't! No!" Annie cried. But Barnabas ignored her pleas, sank his fangs into the young man's flesh, and greedily drank his fill of the young man's blood.
Annie began to get up from the bed and stop the vampire, but it was as if she was being held down. She was forced to turn her head away, and do nothing but wait helplessly while the vampire committed his evil deed.
When Barnabas had finished he released his victims limp form and Willie fell into an unconcious
heap in the corner.
The vampire then turned to Annie, "Look at me." he said
Annie opened her eyes and turned her tear-stained face in Barnabas' direction, slowly sitting herself up.
"Now, when you hear me call you, you both must come straight down to Eagle Hill cemetery as quickly as possible. Is that understood?" Barnabas asked
Annie squeezed her eyes shut and nodded. With her new master's will so powerful, and hers so weak, she couldn't help but obey.
"Ah good, you're being obedient so far. Maybe you won't be so useless after all." with that, and an expert twist of his cloak, Barnabas had turned back into a bat and flew out the open window.
Once he was gone, Annie tied the scarf back around her neck and slowly got to her feet, grabbing an afghan off of her bed. Then, she stumbled over to Willie and collapsed next to him. She draped the covers over him, pulled a handkerchief out of her jean's pocket and began to carefully wipe up the blood running down Willie's hand.
"Oh . . .!" she whimpered at the site of how much blood was oozing from the wound.
"Ann . . .?" he asked, his voice barely audible
"Willie." she said softly
Willie's breath was coming out in short gasps, "Bar-Barna-" he croaked out, unable to finish his sentence.
"He's gone. Willie I'm so sorry. I thought that maybe by not tellin' ya anything, he wouldn't wantcha. But now look what's happened."
"Cold. 'M cold." Willie mumbled incoherently
"I know Willie, I'm trying to getcha warmer." Annie said, adjusting the blanket so that it came up a little higher on his shivering form.
After awhile they had both fallen to sleep, but were still haunted by dreams of darkness and death.
--
Jason McGuire was madder than he had ever been at the twins. 'After all I've done for them, they still choose to run off and leave me in the dust!' he thought angrily, as he approached the hotel door and knocked non-to-softly on it. "Willie! Annie, I know you're in there! Open the door!"
Annie was roused roughly from her sleep by knocking and yelling at the door. When she heard the voice she knew instantly it was Jason. "Go 'way! Jus' leave us alone!" she called mournfully.
"You know I won't! I'll break down the door if I have to!" he said, jiggling the door handle and finding it unlocked.
He burst in the room and saw the twins propped up in a corner. "What're you two doing on the floor?!" He cried in shock. As he approached them, he noticed their pale complexions and weary features, "What's the matter with you two?. What's been going on? You two just left Collinwood without one word of notice!"
To insure that the bite marks could not be seen, Annie tightened the scarf on her neck and buttoned Willie's sleeve. "Jason, please just go." she said, standing up and pulling her brother to his feet. Jason rushed over and helped place the man on his bed.
"Have either of you called a doctor yet?" Jason asked
"No! We're fine!" Annie said forcefully as she laid down in her own bed
"Fine? Lookit the two of you! You're sick! You could barely walk and Willie couldn't even stand up!"
"Jason, we're gonna . . . be alright." Willie said weakly, "We don't . . . we don't need a doctor."
Just then, the sound of a heartbeat reached the ears of the twins, Annie propped herself on her elbows and spoke, "Jason you gotta git outta here . . . now."
"You must be out of your mind! I can't leave you two alone, when you're like this."
"Jason, we'll be fine . . . jus' go." Willie tried to argue
But Jason was not to be swayed, "Oh no. I'm callin' a doctor, whether you want one or not. I'm goin down stairs to use the phone. Don't move, I'll be back in a minute."
Once Jason left the room, Annie got up and walked over to Willie's bedside, "I know yer weak Will, but we gotta git outta here. Barnabas' callin' an' we can't let anyone know about what happened, especially a doctor." she said, helping her brother out of his bed, and out the door.
When they got down the stairs, they used a back entrance to avoid being seen by Jason.
By the time they reached Annie's truck they were both exhausted. "I don't wanna go back there." Willie whimpered, "I don' wanna go back to that cemetery!"
"I know."Annie replied, "I don't either, but we have no choice." she then fired up the truck and they drove down to Eagle Hill Cemetery.
--
Jason was in the lobby and had just hung up the phone and turned around, in time to look out the window and watch Annie's cream colored truck driving away from the inn. He pounded a fist down on the counter in frustration, and dashed out the door.
He jumped in his car, revved up the engine and began to follow the twins.
'Why would Annie and Willie act that way?' Jason thought as he drove, 'It's not like them at all. Somethin's goin' on . . . but what? It's almost as if . . . as if they were afraid. How they kept tryin' ta get me ta leave. They know they can count on me for help if they're in trouble! I don't understand it. Somethin' has got to have them scared.'
At a safe distance, he continued to follow them, and soon Annie's truck stopped just outside some large gates. Jason pulled over and waited until the twins went inside before going back onto the road and pulling up just in front of the gates behind the truck. When he saw the sign on the gate, he was immediately disturbed. It read:
Eagle Hill Cemetery
Est. 1701
'They can't be!' he thought 'But why else would they be in a cemetery? Naw it's only one thing . . . grave robbery.' He took a deep breath and shook his head. Slamminghis palm against the steering wheel and got out of the car, determined to talk to the two siblings.
But as he stepped out of the vehicle, he failed to see the car swerving out of control until . . . too late.
--
Barnabas was pacing back and forth in the cemetery, anxiously awaiting the arrival of his newly acquired servants. "Where are those two fools?" he muttered angrily to himself.
Suddenly, his sharp hearing picked up the sound of soft, shuffling footsteps steadily approaching him. Barnabas' eyes lit up with a dark glimmer, and he spoke cooly "Well now, you've decided to come when you've been summoned." his voice then turned deep and harsh, "Stop hiding and come out where I can see you!"
Annie and Willie both jumped at this sudden outburst, and nervously shuffled forward, trembling visibly.
Barnabas smiled evilly, smelling their terror, and seeing the fear in the twins eyes.
Annie's heart rate was accelerating as Barnabas slowly advanced toward her and Willie. Her nerves had reached their peak, when all of a sudden, there was a horrid screeching of tires followed by a loud bang. The sudden commotion caught Annie off-guard. She gave a gasp of shock and took a step backwards, but was unaware of the freshly dug, 7 ft deep hole in the ground behind her, meant for a coffin. She screamed as she fell and landed with a sickening thud.
"Annie!" Willie shouted frantically, whirling around and falling to his knees beside the hole, "Annie, are ya alright?! Can ya hear me?!"
Annie moaned as she opened her eyes and groggily sat up. She attempted to stand, but gave a shout of pain and collapsed back in the dirt. "Willie!" she called
"Annie, whassa matta?" Willie shouted down to her, "Are ya hurt?"
"It's my left ankle, I think I twisted it when I landed." she called back, "Listen, I'm gonna try ta stand up again, and when I do, I need you to lay flat on the ground and hang yer hand as far down over the edge as ya can. Got it?" Annie asked as she slowly stood up, putting all of her weight on her right foot. "Alright Willie, I'm gonna grab yer hand and then ya gotta help me up, ya ready?" she asked.
"Yea." Willie replied, "C'mon let's getcha outta there." Annie then pushed herself up from the wall and reached up, grabbing Willie's arm with one hand and gripping the wall with the other. Slowly and painfully, Willie managed to haul Annie back over the ditch and back above ground.
They were now both sprawled on the dirt trying to regain their breath.
"Get up you idiots!" Barnabas hissed, "Something just happened outside. Go see what it was. Now!" He commanded.
Willie slowly sat up, "Barnabas, cantcha jus' give us a minute? She jus' . . ."
"No!" Barnabas interrupted, "Go outside the gate and see what happened!"
Annie pushed herself into a seated position, "Willie, jus' do what he says, I'll be fine."
Willie looked over at her and nodded, giving her a wane smile. Then walked over to the cemetery entrance leaving Barnabas and Annie alone in the darkness.
--
A minute later, Willie was back, his eyes wide and face pale.
"Willie?" Annie asked, "Willie, what happened out there?"
"There was a car accident. It was real bad an' . . ." he paused, "Jason was in it."
"Jason? Willie, are you sure?"
"Silence! Both of you!" Barnabas shouted at them, "Whatever happened out there does not concern us. Now you two have a job to do."
Both Annie and Willie looked at each other, then Willie spoke up, "No . . . no please Barnabas don't make us do that. Not now . . . Jason could be dyin'. He-he might need a docta'."
Barnabas ignored Willie and backhanded him roughly to the ground in a fit of rage.
"No, Willie!!" Annie cried out. She looked up at Barnabas, "Barnabas why are ya makin' us do alla this?" she asked, on the verge of tears.
"Because I have too!" he shouted. And for the tiniest moment, Annie thought she saw a flicker of sadness reflect in Barnabas' eyes, but it quickly dissolved when he spoke again, "Very well. You must get them out of the way to avoid suspicion. Now, go and take care of them. Quickly!"
Annie held her hand out to Willie so he could help her to her feet, but he stubbornly shook his head. "Annie, you twisted yer ankle an' yer stayin' here."
"I'm better off with you, than with . . ." she glanced over at Barnabas, "Well? Are ya gonna help me up?"
Willie gave in and reluctantly helped his sister up, "Alright but if your ankle get's any worse yer comin' straight back here, ya got it?" Annie nodded and they walked off to do Barnabas' bidding.
TBC . . .