Chapter 2

The crystal glowed in Roger's hands.

"I don't understand why we have to do this again." Derek complained. "she is already pregnant."

"We have to make sure of certain things." Vicky said softly.

Roger moaned in pain.

"Try to bear it." Derek put his hand on Roger's shoulder, then looked at Nicholas "For how much longer do we have to put him through this?"

"I didn't know you liked Roger."

"I don't. But this is inhuman."

"Kitty, come here, kitty." Barnabas tried to coax the black cat from the upper shelf were it moved dangerously among several breakable objects.

And another was clawing at his pants' leg, trying to get his attention."

"They are quite grown, aren't they?" Iris asked as she picked up still another cat. "You should take them to the vet for fixing."

"I already got an appointment for that."

The cat on the top shelf stood at the edge, considering whether to jump or not.

"Kitty?" Barnabas repeated.

The cat watched him with inscrutable eyes.

"Come, kitty, come." Iris coaxed him.

The cat jumped and landed on Barnabas' shoulder.

"There, that's a nice kitty." he cradled it, pleased, as it snuggled up and purred.

"You better break him of the habit of going there. That or keep all fragile ornaments under lock and key."

"If you find a way to teach a cat anything, let me know."

Roxanne faced the steely eyes that Megan turned on her.

"Why did you come?" she asked.

"Because I want the whole story, Roxanne. We want to know everything that is going on."

"I have told you already."

"Except the parts that you didn't. If you know what Vicky Winters and Nicholas Blair are doing, and who is the father of Carolyn's child, why aren't you doing anything?"

"We don't have Chris back yet."

"We can use David and Sandy. I trained Chris, I can train them."

"There are other considerations."

"What other considerations?"

"We need to find the other girl."

"What other girl?

"Surely you don't think that Carolyn is the only one they picked for their eugenics experiment? Carolyn might well be just a decoy for the real one. Same as last time... It was just that something happened to the other girl then."

"What happened to her?"

"An unfortunate accident. She lived, but she can never have children now."

Megan thought that she knew now what Third World people caught between the CIA and the KGB must feel...

"Who are you working for?"

"You would not know them. Suffice to say that they want the Leviathan stopped, and they mean us no harm as a species, though quite willing to remove inconvenient individuals."

"And what are your plans for Carolyn?"

"We hope to sterilize her. Or kill her, if that becomes too complicated."

"Is that why you came here in 1970? To finish Carolyn off?"

"No. There was no need by then."

"But if it came as a byproduct of brining in that time staircase from another Parallel Time, then so much the better?"

Roxanne looked shaken "How did...?"

"Find out? Easy. All I had to do was ask Barnabas some questions, and then check his answers with the historical record.."

"We did not meant to destroy the family. It was part of a chess game between the Leviathan and us. Barnabas had to get some things for us in that parallel reality, and not be aware of what he was bringing back...Also they had to secure me to bring me to the present... Barnabas did bring what we needed. Actually it was Professor Stokes, some curious artifact that he found... And of which we relieved him as he traveled in the staircase. It was a complicated move, but it worked."

"How about Barnabas?

"What about him?"

What body is he wearing now? The 1970 body he left behind, of the 1840 he brought back?"

"The 1970 body, of course. He could not keep that other body. He might tap into some memories he was not meant to have. In that Parallel Time the witch who cursed him was Nathalie du Pres, who had her own agenda with her niece Josette - who was not as innocent as she seemed. As for their Angelique, she went to England to escape Josette, as she was pregnant with Barnabas' child."

"But our Angelique"

"We arranged a time ripple to take her to that Parallel 1840. She did not realize it, as Collinwood looked very much the same, and there was a vampire chained in the coffin there too..."

"And Julia's headstone, was that a prop too?"

"Yes, it was a prop, to convince them that it was their own timeline."

"And that's why Barnabas reverted when he came back."

"He returned to a cursed body. The other Barnabas got to enjoy a normal existence. Or some such. I do not know what happened to him. And we gave our Barnabas a few curse free days so that he would not get suspicious."

'And you went through all that trouble for some artifact."

"That Quentin fellow was most ingenious with his inventions, and we put what Stokes brought with him to good use. Also, the destruction of Collinwood served to convince the Leviathan that we had taken the bait of Carolyn and stopped looking for the other girl."

"What about Phillip?"

"Phillip was held prisoner by them and escaped. He doesn't' remember what happened to him, and they arranged for Tom's attack to keep him from remembering more. Just as they arranged for Tom to possess Chris to get rid of a dangerous werewolf in a way that no one would suspect their hand."

"Well," Megan said. "It seems that I have more than one account to settle with them. And next time do not feed me information with an eyedropper."

It was cold. Carolyn huddled herself under the blankets, but it was not enough. She wasn't awake enough to get up and look for another blanket. She just stayed there waiting...

Pregnancy did these things to you. That's what Dr. Taft said, and not to worry. but Taft was not the one hurting...

The air over her felt heavy and strange. She turned he head and saw a phosphorescent glow near the ceiling.

She lifted her head, perplexed. The glow intensified and then Jeb's head was in the middle of it.

"Jeb!" she said, extending her arms.

Jeb's expression was cold, distant. He moved to her side and laid his hands on her swelling abdomen.

"You take good care of this child. Carolyn." he said, remotely "it is going to be a boy and strong. Very strong."

"Jeb!" she tried to hold his hand.

"I will help it to be strong. Just let me." He pushed his hands on her abdomen, hard.

"Jeb!" she complained "you are hurting me!"

He continued pushing, even as she tried to pull away his hands. She caught his wrists, and they were burning.

"No! It hurts! Please, Jeb! Let me go!"

There were soft scurrying steps and Vicky was now by her side.

"Vicky, help me!"

Vicky put one hand over Carolyn's mouth, and pinioned Carolyn's arms with the other. And Jeb's burning hands kept pushing, his fingertips searching for the child growing within Carolyn's flesh.

"You are going to be born." Jeb spoke to the child "And I'll make sure you will be strong."

The child' body twisted, seeking the prying fingers, gathering strength from them.

Carolyn twisted, tried to escape Vicky's hands, to free herself from the pain...

..."Wake up! Wake up!" she felt herself being shaken.

And Vicky was now hovering over her.

"You had a nightmare, Carolyn" Vicky said, helping Carolyn to sit up. "I was worried for you.,"

Carolyn looked at her angrily "Why did you do that?"

"Do what?" Vicky looked innocently at her "It was only a dream, Carolyn, only a dream."

The tie felt uncomfortable, but Willie steeled himself to endure it. Today was the great occasion and getting Louella back was worth putting up with the inconvenience.

He rapped nervously on Barnabas' door. What if Louella didn't want him back?

But as soon as she opened the door and smiled at him, his doubts disappeared. They fell on each other's arms and kissed, right on the doorstep.

"You want me back, baby?" Willie asked as soon as he got his breath back.

"I missed you." she looked at him "you put on the tie for me?"

"I thought that the occasion deserved it."

"Come in, and tell me about it."

She gave him a cup of coffee "Did you miss me?" she asked.

"Yes" he gulped "enough to start me thinking."

"Thinking about what?" she took his hand.

"What Barnabas had said to me. He was right on target. I didn't mean to hit you, and I was sorry afterwards, but I couldn't guarantee that it wouldn't happen again. The next time I got down on the dumps, or angry, I might take it out on you. I have had several sessions with Julia and she helped me understand myself. I want a family, Lou. Children. But now while I can be a danger to you or them. My father used me as a punching bag, and as Barnabas said, that makes me a bad risk as a husband and a father..."

"But you are all right now."

"No. Not yet." he sighed. "But I am getting there. I am still an outpatient with Julia and it will be a while until she gives me a clean bill of health."

"How long?"

"She estimates six moths to a year."

"That long?"

"Lou, if you move back with me, I can't guarantee that I won't lose my head again. But this time I will be on guard against it, and if it happens, you can move in with Barnabas again."

The creaking door from the library told them that Barnabas was up and watching them.

"Welcome back, Willie." he said.

"Barnabas, er..." Willie was unwilling to let go of Louella, even to talk with Barnabas.

"You two haven't finished talking, is that it?"

"Yes."

"Well, I waited this long for you. I guess I can wait a little longer. I am going to see Redwolf. If you want me, you can reach me there."