Chapter 13

"Are you ready?" George asked his companions.

They all nodded. Howard's expression was grim, as if knowing what the outcome would be, but knowing that he could not steal away. Urien was cocky, as if trying to reassure himself . And Frances was stoic. She owed much to Barnabas she could not do else than what she was doing.

They all had guns "borrowed" from the sheriff's office. I was not strictly kosher, since George had been relieved from duty, but they had them. And George had also a solder's torch. And Howard had Kira's knife.

George laid the egg on the table before him. It was a beautiful thing, and maybe it was a pity that it had to be damaged. But beautiful things merit destruction when they house evil in them.

"I should melt it down, once and for all." he said "that would mean that they could not trouble us anymore, but I still hope to get our people back. I cannot kill them that way."

He turned on the soldering iron and brought it close to the egg.. He waited as the metal began to soften under the heat.

Laughter, strong laughter, came from all around him.

"You think that this will work? You may kill the people we have." A voice taunted him.

"They are better off dead than in your power."

"Abandon this and we will spare you., but if you persist, you shall be punished for your folly."

Urien's grip tightened on his gun. Where was the voice coming from? He ached for the chance to shoot at it.

George grinned as he thought of a better idea. He opened the egg and let the flame fall on one of the dancers.

A scream of deathly pain filled the air.

"Stop that!" the voice demanded angrily, and with a bit of fear in it.

"Return to us the ones you took, then I will let you live." and with those words George turned the flame on another dancer.

"No!" the voice wailed. "Stop!"

"Will you return the missing people to us?"

"Please stop, whatever you say, but stop."

Was it going to be that easy? Howard looked around. Maybe there was somebody or something ready to leap out of nowhere at them. Frances did the same. What was that they were fighting anyway?

Silvery dust began to fall on them.

"Now you stop!" George threatened with his torch in one hand and his gun in the other.

"How else can we cross over to your world? How else can we return o you those we have taken?

George's hand tightened around the torch. Frances, Howard, and Urien had their guns ready, scanning the room for any surprise attacks... hand how much good would the guns do to them, anyway?

A man appeared in front of them "My name is Vassily Petofi. Who are you?"

"We are the ones who come to demand that you cease the terror that you have subjected us to. And that you return the following people: George Patterson, Roger Collins, Zeb King, Jessica King, Derek Pearce, Sebastian Shaw, Amy Jennings, and Barnabas Collins."

"I can return all but one of them.. I cannot return Barnabas Collins."

"Have you killed him?"

"No, he lives. And will live for many, many years."

"What... what have you done to him?" Urien asked, lifting his gun.

Vassily laughed at him "Do you pretend to threaten me with that gun, Peasants like you cannot kill a king."

"I remember what happened to Nicholas the Second." Howard said softly "And before him Louis the Sixteenth."

"I am not either of them, and you may discover it. Out of my magnanimity I can return the others, as I don't need them now that I have the vampire. But do not threaten me or you'll feel my wrath and bitterly regret taking arms against me."

George's only response to this was to turn on the soldering torch again.

Vassily paled at this action. Emboldened, Urien put the gun against his face. Yet Vassily's pallor was not of fear, but of anger.

"You dare no threaten me! You dare not threaten your King!"

"You are not our King." Frances said. "We have no Kings in this country."

Another scream of pain came from the egg. A woman this time. Howard grated his teeth. He had heard such screams too often.

"Free all of them." George said "And I will let you live. And if you don't free them, then they will be better off dead than how they are now. So the egg will be melted down."

Vassily threw his head back and laughed. "You puny beings, do you think that you can withstand my power?"

A cloud of flies rose from the egg. As they reached up they became men mounted on gargoyles.

Urien shot at Vassily, while Howard and Frances shot at the enlarging figures. Two or three of them dropped, bleeding, but there were too many of them. A net fell on them. Howard slashed at it with Kira's knife and cut through it. But another one fell, and another. His hand was caught and he was forced to drop the knife.. The nets enveloped them tightly, and in spite of the guns still being fired, they were swept up in the air, helplessly.

Vassily rose, blood welling from his arm, and holding Kira's knife. he grimaced and gestured to his minions. The guns were then gathered, as was George's torch. They now hung helpless in the air.

George now realized how futile, how useless their attempt had been. Doomed from the start. Why had they done it? Why had he dragged Urien into it?

Vassily laughed at them, cruelly.

"You will see what I have done with Barnabas Collins." he promised them.

The gargoyles rose up, carrying the net behind. Then they began to shrink, as they approached the egg. They flew into it... into a forest, a jeweled forest... in spite of his situation, George could not help being awed by the beauty of it.

"It is beautiful, is it not? A marvel of the goldsmith's art. It earned him his freedom, this marvel, but with a bond set on him so that he could never fashion another... Yes, it is a masterpiece."

"And evil masterpiece." Howard said.

Vassily struck him across the face. "Evil? Why call it evil? Because you are one of those fools who insist that slaves be given rights? What rights have they, but that of laboring for their betters, and then, if they are truly worthy, they may receive their freedom. You,, men of this age, are weak fools. And yet, in your folly, you may rejoice that many of my slaves have been released from backbreaking toil since we have harnessed the life force of the vampire to turn our machines. He lies there. in the bowels of the castle, insensible to those around him, and the machines turn. And in gratitude for his freeing them, my slaves give blood to sustain him."

George shouted in pain... He had done that. The son-of-bitch had done that to Barnabas.

A castle came into view, tall and glistening in the air.

"This is my home, where all of you shall go."

A woman was a the door, smiling broadly at the conquering hero.

"Have you captured them, Vassily?" she greeted him.

"Yes. I have. They were foolish and shall now learn to regret it."

They were chained and made to walk forward.

"Take them to the dungeons." Vassily said. "later I will decide their fate."

They dragged them down, on long dark corridors and long damp staircases, down to a small cell. They were chained together and the chain fixed to the wall. Then they locked the door and left. them in darkness.