Chapter 3

Collinsport Hospital Emergency Room

Elizabeth stepped and stood in the center of the waiting room of the Collinsport Hospital Emergency Room where concerned family members immediately surrounded her. Drawing on that Collins strength and fortitude she smiled encouragingly and spoke confidently with authority to her family and extended family. "She is going to be ok, she has a concussion. She did find out she is not pregnant and that appears to have upset her."

After Elizabeth had updated everyone a quorum was taken and they decided to leave and head back to Collinwood. Watching the family she had come to love; head for home, Liz could not shake the feeling of unease, she was upset and upon examining her real feelings, she mentally admitted to her self she was angry. Liz was very angry. She was so angry she was feeling the heat of her anger. Afraid of showing this anger in any way to her daughter she was sure would upset Vicki. So, Liz reasoned a quick walk in some fresh air would help calm her anger. Pulling her coat close to her body she walked out of the Emergency Room into the parking lot. Standing under the canopy she watched the parking lot filling with cars. Shifting her weight she felt the cool air beginning to do what she wanted and that was calm and cool her heated face.

She stood under the awning she noticed a dark sedan drive to the entrance at a high rate of speed. Two men wearing black facemasks exited the car. Too little too late, Liz realized they were coming straight at her. Liz screamed, with the feel of rude hands that grabbed ahold of her jerking her screaming and kicking towards their car.

"Chloroform Sorin ei, trebuie să ne grăbim, înainte ca cineva iese în respose de țipetele ei." Sorin pulled the chloroform cloth from his pocket and put it over Liz face.

Liz collapsed against him and he lifted her handing her over to Radu. "Take her and get her on the plane. I believe that Petru has the younger daughter on the plane as we speak." They lowered Liz into the back seat and got into the car.

Radu smiled, "And Gilda? Do we have her 'distract' Collins?" Putting the car into gear they spun out of the parking lot and drove a half a mile down the roadway heading to the nearby private airfield. Sorin pulled his mask off turning to peer around to make sure they were not followed.

"Vlad wishes her to start on him tomorrow. She is to remember he is to be distracted and not killed. He wishes Collins to witness the wedding between him and Elizabeta."

Radu slowed his speed and turned off the side roadway. Using his free hand Radu pulled his mask off, "I did not hurt her Sorin. You must explain to the Prince make him realize that. She tripped on the rug and hit her head."

Sorin nodded, "He does not need to know you were there. At least we know she is not pregnant, so less ties to Collins."

Radu made no movement as he considered the Prince's assassin was giving him a break. "What of Miss Evans?"

Sorin smiled, "We shall go back to Collinwood and collect her after we drop off the mother. We will have all the main players to pressure Elizabeta's cooperation to willingly come to Romania. You will escort her family members to Romania Radu and be prepared to come back and fetch Elizabeta. I will follow with Gilda and Collins as our captive." Sorin was going on the latest plans he had discussed with Vlad the previous night.

"Do you think he will appreciate his ride back to our country in the hold of the plane wrapped in Gilda's oh so charming arms?" Sorin mused softly more for himself but knew Radu heard the sarcasm in his voice.

Radu smirked as he thought about this. "I think Collins will regret the day he took what belonged to our Prince."

Private airfield outside Collinsport

They arrived at the small airport pulling into the private hanger. Taking care to unload Liz into the plane, Radu placed her on the sofa across from where Carolyn laid with her head in Petru's lap. Radu nodded to Petru. Rudolph's only son was a younger version of his father, square cut jaw, and strong aristocratic features of a European nature, aquiline nose, and cool appraising blue eyes. To Sorin it seemed Petru always had a bored aristocratic look on his face.

Looking at Petru, Radu was reminded of the haughty rich look of most royals. Looking at how quietly and pale Carolyn looked he accused Petru, "You bit her?"

Radu began examining Carolyn, glancing so briefly at Petru's mildly bored look. He smiled, "Of course I bit her, she is annoying, with her constant prattle. Then there is that inane giggle for attention she uses all the time. Radu was suppressed his irritation. A part of him wanted to smack Petru because he was annoying.

Petru dispassionately looked down at the porcelain beauty in his lap. Using tender strokes he pushed her long pale blond hair from her face to reveal a youthful beauty with fine small features. He smiled as he let his index finger move over the puncture wounds on her neck. "Relax Radu, I merely sampled what my future wife has to offer. Nothing more, so do not over react, she is suppose to belong to me. I figured it was one way to keep her under control!" He sounded defensively bored.

"You have not done more than taste her?" Sorin frowned as he joined them on the plane and he looked from Carolyn to Petru. He like Radu felt that Vlad had made a mistake when he brought over Petru he presented problems at every turn and Sorin had taken care of more than his share of those problems. Sorin's look should have given Petru pause for concern. However, it was Petru and he was never concerned except for what he wanted and when he wanted.

Petru sighed; he gave a limp wristed wave as if any further conversation on the matter was complete waste of his time. "As I have said, I have only taken enough to get her under control. I don't know why you both are in such an uproar over a little taste." He lifted the index finger he had just drew over the holes in her neck and licked the little blood that was present. "She is very sweet but no virgin." He sighed dramatically making his point.

Sorin was not happy and to prevent him saying something he would later regret he merely nodded, and then grabbing the Polaroid camera on one of the jet's tables he began shooting a few pictures of Carolyn and Liz while they lay in the seats of the private plane. Waving the pictures back and forth he waited for them to develop and dry. Lifting the preservative stick to run over the picture. Looking at Radu he signaled him to follow him. Taking the pictures and left the plane.

Radu followed him, Sorin whispered softly, "Petru will need to be watched and kept under control. The Stoddard woman is not to be harmed further. Make that clear that the Prince would not be happy if his future sister in law were to meet her end before her time."

Radu bowed to Sorin, Radu was the cold-blooded killer in his own right. He had been at Vlad's side through six of the nine campaigns he had fought and was one of the first Vlad had brought over to share in his newborn life. However, Sorin was far worse than Radu could even think to be and allotted the proper amount of decorum and respect that was earned. Sorin was an immortal, not one of the strigoi as Vlad and he were. He could travel by day and pass as a normal human. So, when the Prince needed something done it was always left up to Sorin to handle it and he generally did during the day. "I await your return unless you need help collecting the Evans girl."

"I will go collect Miss Evans and get her pictures too. You stay here with Petru and the other women and make sure he does not do anything else except taste. I don't trust him and I expect you to keep a close eye on him Radu, you are the only defense they have against that young noble little snot." The way he had said the name 'snot' caused Radu to smile he could tell where Petru was on his food chain and for that Radu was relieved and more than happy to obey Sorin's wishes.

Radu smiled and followed Sorin to the car, "Then Vlad can call Elizabeta." Sorin opened the car door and slid in, allowing Radu to close the door for him. Sorin watched Radu walk to the plane and disappear inside the plane. Muttering softly, he frowned thinking of Petru, "Simpering puțin prost. Veți primi al tău într-o zi și sper că prințul îmi permite să fiu cel de a emite pedeapsa."

Gilda sat in his back seat and chuckled, "Temper, temper Sorin, did I just not hear you say, 'Simpering little fool. You will get yours one of these days and I hope the prince lets me be the one to issue the punishment?' How would the Prince react to such a threat?" She leaned forward and drug her fingernail down the edge of his neck, slightly breaking the skin and getting his blood on her fingernail. Dragging her nail to her lips she was surprised by the speed he used to grab her wrist and twist it.

"Do that again and I will stake you out on a beach and let you meet the sun." He ground out his irritation. The scratch had not hurt, he was angry because she dared to touch him and taste his blood. "The Prince will hear of this before the night is over. You had better be on your best behavior." He released her wrist and let her suck her nail. "Now, your orders are clear, distract and taste him only do not kill him or you will upset your prince, is that clear?" He turned to look at her with that piercing dark look. "Do you understand."

She sighed dramatically folded her arms over her chest and nodded, "You are such a bore Sorin. I understand perfectly. I will do as I am told. . . for now." She began to dissolve into mist and floated out of his car. Had she remained her would have given her something to think about. Starting the engine the Prince's assassin navigated the car to Collinwood. Rarely would he smile, but this had the feeling of success and he was more than pleased with his part in his Prince's total success in getting what he wanted.

For Sorin the sooner he was back in his beloved Romania the happier he would be. He felt there were many factions at work to harm his Prince. They had come to far and were half way to completion of Vlad's master plan. This made him feel very confident and was enjoying his success and the favor Vlad would show him and Radu. Radu was another issue, he had always been the unknown value and now he had Radu where he wanted him. Which was in his debt. He was pretty sure Radu had strong armed Elizabeta and if Vlad had even a inkling this was true, Radu would find his head on a pike at the gates of Vlad Tepes castle.

Collinsport Emergency Room

George went searching for Liz and walked into the Emergency Room and noticed most of his family was no longer waiting for word on how Vicki was doing with her injury. He surmised that Liz must have told them and sent them home. He looked around at the rapidly filing emergency room. The room was becoming congested from the various things that always seemed to occur on holidays when families gathered. He over heard the staff talking about how typical this was at holiday gatherings and could only imagine the number of family fights his second shift and third shift must have been responding to during this family oriented gathering. It always seemed the holidays brought out the worse in the already dysfunctional and troubled homes.

He turned looking the area over for Liz when Richard Hanover came burst into the room shouting, "Someone call the police! Mrs. Stoddard was just kidnapped!"

George spun around and rushed towards Rick. "Rick? What did you say?" He was acting more like a concerned spouse and not a police officer as he held onto the excited man that smelled suspiciously of stale beer and wine. George noticed his excitement was born more of shock than alcohol. George pulled his attention back to him and had not realized he had been holding too tightly and was shaking him. George felt that if he would shake him it might pour the information out of him faster.

Blinking, the middle-aged man with rummy eyes and a week's growth of beard smelling like he had forgotten to bathe in as much time focused on George. "Oh, thank God, Sheriff Patterson. I just saw two men grab Mrs. Stoddard and pull her into a black four door Buick sedan and drive off with her!"

Quentin and Barnabas hearing a commotion and the name Mrs. Stoddard stepped into the Emergency Room waiting area and walked to George Rick Hanover.

"What is this about Liz?" Quentin placed that hard no nonsense stare at the man then redirected his look back to George. Rick Harmon was over whelmed with the presence of so many Collins in one room. Trying to not bring any more attention to himself he broke loose from George's hold and staggered back thinking they were going to attack him. The fear and distrust was written over his face. Quentin caught and held the man one arm. "Steady there old timer, now what were you saying about Mrs. Stoddard?" Because his tone was soft and reassuring as he spoke. Rick calmed and slumped in one of the waiting room chairs. Hunkering over, he cradled his head in his hands and spoke to the floor.

"I was coming in to get warm, and I saw Mrs. Stoddard. She sure is a pretty woman, and rich you know?" He looked up and smiled thinking of how nice she smelled and how pretty she was.

George held tight to his temper and Quentin was joining George in wanting to shake him.

Barnabas sat next to the man and he put a placating hand on his arm. "Yes, she is very lovely and very wealthy, tell us what you saw."

Rick looked up at Barnabas and then back down to the floor, "I watched her step outside and sudden like this big black Buick Regal drove up real fast. Two men with black masks dressed in black jumped out and attacked her!" He glanced up and saw he had a growing audience as more people gathered around to hear his story of corruption and crime in Collinsport and Rick found he rather liked the attention. It appeared since he had some information people were nicer to him. Not only that someone had just handed him a nice cup of black coffee.

George watched Rick and encouraged him to go on with his story. "What happened next Rick?" Rick sipped his coffee and grimaced it was hot and he just burnt his tongue.

"Well she was a fighter, she was kicking and screaming and fighting them both. Then one of them started talking in some kind of strange foreign stalk. I did hear the name Radu. And he was the one that pulled out a white hankie and put it over her face and she went all limp like a rag doll."

George looked over at Barnabas then to Quentin. "You stay right here Rick, I am going to call the office and have Chris come get you."

Rick's panic ridden face left no doubt he thought he was going to jail. "I am not drunk Sheriff I swear I am not drunk!"

George calmed him, "I know Rick, I just need a statement of what you saw and then I will have them take you home."

Rick relaxed, "Can't go home, the old lady threw me out."

Quentin smiled at the man, "Not a problem Rick, I will call the Collinsport Inn and have them put you up for the night."

Rick smiled at him, "Thank you Mr. Collins, I figured I was going to be sitting here for the rest of the night it was really cold out."

Quentin laughed, "I know all about cold, tell you what, I will tell them to give you my room I have on standby. You can stay there for as long as you need and you can get a bath." From the smell of him he could use a bath.

Rick felt emotional with a Collins being so nice to him. "Thank you. You don't know what this means to me."

Quentin stepped back and looked at Barnabas. "Did you hear?"

Barnabas nodded, "I heard, it means he is making his move and Vicki is not safe if he had taken Liz."

The Emergency Room receptionist called over to George, "Sheriff Patterson? There are two phone calls for you, and Mr. Barnabas Collins. It's Roger Collins on line 1 and on line 2 its Willie Loomis for you Mr. Collins."

George stepped to one side of the room and waited for the transfer of the phone call and Barnabas took his call at the nurse's station. Quentin did not like the looks of either man's face as he watched them. Barnabas hung up as George finished his call and both men converged on Quentin just as Joe Haskell rushed into the emergency room.

"Sheriff! Maggie has been kidnapped from Collinwood!"

George was beginning to get over run with all the emergencies he was getting the feeling it was all aimed at his family. "Hold on," turning he walked to Dr. Lang speaking rapidly; "Eric, do you have someplace we can go in private and talk?"

Dr. Lang nodded and then waived the 3 men to follow him down a wide sterile hallway to a door with a nameplate 'Dr. Eric Lang' and into Dr. Lang's office. "It is yours to use for how long you need it." Lang let the men in and pulled the door close behind him.

George turned to Barnabas, Quentin and Joe speaking quickly he said, "Come in, I don't need all this broadcast to the entire emergency room. Gentlemen, we have a major assault on the Collins family and I am positive this is an orchestrated move by this Tepes you were telling me about."

Joe paced angrily back and forth and that is when both Quentin and Barnabas noted Joe was bleeding from his scalp. "Joe? Are you hurt?"

Joe stopped pacing and turned, "Yeah, the jerk hit me over the head and when I woke up Maggie was gone. We were going into the main house into the foyer when it happened."

George went to the door and called for Lang, "Dr. Lang, can you please check out Joe, he has been injured."

Joe tried to shrug it off and was over ruled and escorted to the emergency room. George turned to the other two in the office. "We need to alert Julia and Stokes, we must be ready to implement our next counter attack and we must send Vicki to a safe house." George spoke softly glancing around the room his paranoia was running amok and he did not know where or when the next attack would come. Glancing back to Quentin and Barnabas he ventured his next plan of action. "I am not taking chances with my kids, I am going to find them a safe house."

Barnabas sighed adding to the already overwhelming news of the assault he spoke softly, "Roger called Willie asking him if he had seen Carolyn, I know Gabe gave her a ride home, because she had a date with Peter, so I asked Roger if he had checked to see if her car was in the garage." Barnabas' voice had dropped in a more confidential tone that edged with his concern, "Roger then went to the garage and found Carolyn's car in the garage with the door opened and found blood over the car seat and the garage floor, he also found her necklace and an earring under the car."

George ran a worried hand over his balding pate. "Who is this Tepes? What does he want, what is his motivation for attacking the Collins family or for that matter Maggie Evans?"

Barnabas knew what the motivation was; it was his wife Vicki. "He thinks Vicki is his long dead wife and he wants her. He will go to any lengths to get her." This was becoming more difficult as he continued to explain to George why Tepes wanted to attack the Collins family, "He has already kidnapped her once and took her out of the country to Romania. Elliott, Julia and I went to rescue her and brought Vicki home." Barnabas folded his arms over his chest as he continued with his explanation, "We thought we had resolved this problem."

George rubbed the top of his head and then hooked his thumbs under his belt. "Well he can't have my baby girl. If he tries this again, we may be forced to bring in the F.B.I."

Quentin doing a knee jerk reaction lifted his hand as if trying to ward off a worse evil when he heard the F.B.I. being contacted. "No, we can't involve them. There are reasons, which I cannot go into at this time. We must do this ourselves."

George looked at him dubiously, "I am not so sure we can do this on our own. My phone call was from the office. Apparently, Roger had called looking for Liz and me." George sighed deeply, "I then called Roger informed him what had happened and told him that he and the kids once they get home should go directly to headquarters and wait for me there." George did not like what he was hearing and was beginning to wonder what was not being said, he would deal with that after he made sure his family was safely secure in a 'safe' house. "I need to call the State Police and see if they can provide us a safe house to stay in until we can do something about this."

Quentin and Barnabas looked at one another, then Barnabas turned to George, "George because you are about to become a member of this family, it's time you were brought in on a few family secrets."

"Not another word Barnabas." Julia spoke as she stepped into the room closing the door behind her with a decided snap. Leaning against the door, she fixed her stare directly on Barnabas.

Barnabas feeling frustrated defended his actions, "Julia we need his help, and its time he knows everything. Quentin and I discussed this one night at length, we were going to wait until he was married to Liz, or Tepes made his move." Barnabas faced Julia, "Well, Tepes has made his move. He has Liz, Carolyn, and Maggie."

Julia sighed and shook her head, " I know you feel you need to inform George of everything, but I want you to wait until Elliott is here. We, or rather he has some information and we have a traitor in our camp. We do not know who we can trust."

George looked confused and offended, "You think I would harm my own family?"

Julia leaning her back to the door, held up her hand, "No George of course not. I do not know who can hear us in this hospital. Apparently, Tepes has agents every where, what none of you know is earlier before Vicki's accident, I was attacked at dinner in your very house Barnabas."

Her dark eyes held a hint of anger and fire. Barnabas looked upset, "Attacked how?"

Julia pushed off from the door and sauntered to the desk. Julia then half sat on the edge of the desk crossing her arms she looked at them all. "Earlier, during dinner I suddenly felt dizzy and my vision was blurred. I thought it was due to long hours last night and the rush to get your house today, then it happened again when I went to help Vicki."

"So, it is an all out assault against all of you that went up against Tepes in September." George took a seat in one of the two metal office chairs that adorned the room.

Julia nodded, "I wanted to make sure nothing was wrong with me so I had some blood tests done and there was a trace of a hallucinogen in my blood stream."

George looked at Julia and then to the Collins men. "Is it possible someone at the table was working with Tepes?"

Quentin shook his head, "The only stranger was Gabe Martin, who works for your husband Julia."

She nodded, "He comes with impeccable credentials. However, you are forgetting the man Vicki said was in your bedroom earlier."

George stood and paced to the window, "So, you think the drugs might have been admitted by that man Vicki saw in her bedroom?" George turned to look at Quentin then to Barnabas. "That is possible." George sighed, "I am going to get us a safe house and then we can collect everyone put them in the house and then we will decide how to approach this."

Quentin stopped George from leaving the room. "No F.B.I." George had a million questions as to why they should not use all the available resources but acquiesced and gave Quentin a brief nod.

"For now. However, Quentin, if at anytime I feel we cannot safely get our loved ones home, I will not hesitate to pull in every resource available to me." He then stepped from the office and left Quentin, Barnabas, and Julia alone.

"Were you really going to tell him about you two?" Julia looked from Quentin to Barnabas as if they had lost their minds.

Barnabas feeling exhausted and frustrated sighed and walked to the nearest window to look out to see what George had been studying earlier when he stood there. Bringing his fingertips together Barnabas saw nothing but the empty streets below. He spoke his words with carefully considered consiteration."He has a right to know from me and not Tepes, who and what I really am."

Quentin nodded, "I am just as sure that Tepes is aware of me and what I hide, then there is the staircase of time. I would hate for him to stumble on it and find himself back in time."

Julia slid from the desk with her arms still folded. "I understand, and now I have a concoction to put together to protect you from any rampant bats that may be sent to harm you Barnabas." Julia paced the floor, "It is guaranteed to give whomever is sent to transform you back to what you were a very nasty after affect when they bite you."

Barnabas turned and half-heartedly smiled and nodded, "Thank you Julia."

Emergency Room Exam Room

Vicki finished dressing and pulled her curtain back to see Gabe standing in the hallway. "Hello Gabe."

He smiled and leaned over and spoke softly, "I saw your husband and he asked me to bring you home."

Vicki looked concerned, "Oh, is there a reason he can't be here?"

He nodded solemnly, "I believe he has the best reason. Come I will explain more to you in the car." He helped her into her coat and with a very gentle touch on her back led her to his car. She smiled at him and expressed her gratitude, "Thank you so much for this Gabe, it really is very kind of you."

Gabe put the car in gear and Vicki studied him from her peripheral. Up close he was devastatingly handsome with his dark eyes neatly kept hair pulled back at the base of his neck in a ponytail. He had an impeccable sense of dress and wore his black turtleneck and close fitting pants with careless ease. His profile was strong and hinted of European bloodlines, giving him a hint of mystery. His beard and mustache were neatly trimmed which only added to the air of mystery. He watched the road, and the dark surroundings only added to the intimate sense of isolation for her but what she had surmised for him was a natural environment, like Radu. And like Radu he gave off an air of danger. "So, the reason you are taking me home?"

He turned briefly and flashed a white toothy smile. Vicki was looking directly into his eyes as he smiled and for the first time since their meeting Vicki noticed, his smile was superficial. "Vicki, look in the glove box, there is something in there you need to see." Trepidation filled her and she suppressed the feelings of panic as it began to rise in her very being. It was at this moment she began to question her judgment. Reaching with trembling fingers for the glove box button, she opened it and found 3 Polaroid pictures. Feeling a sickening knot in her stomach, she looked at the first picture, the one of her mother lying unconscious on the bunk seat of the private airplane.

Nervously she licked her lips, she looked at the one of Carolyn, lying on another seat, only her neck was bleeding from some kind of bite wounds, and finally the picture of Maggie was in front of her.