October 20, 1972

Knock! Knock! Knock!

I slowly opened my eyes and groaned. I was exhausted. " Barnabas!" David yelled from outside my room."Yes?" "Come on! You promised!" Without realizing, I dozed off. "Barnabas you promised!" David yelled, waking me up. I had promised. Today was the first day back in the fishing business in two months. I promised David that I'll let him come today with me, instead of Elizabeth. "Tomorrow?" I asked hopefully. "Barnabas, you did promise. Also, you know I can't today. I have to help Willie in the yard!" Elizabeth said. "All right. All right," I said as I opened my coffin. Standing up, I stretched and yawned.

While I was walking down the hallway from my room, it hit me. It had been two months. Two months since I had been found guilty of murder. Two months since I'd even left my own land. Since then, I had been found innocent, and free. "Barnabas?" a voice said behind me. I smiled and turned around. "Yes Victoria?" There was my one true love, Victoria Winters. But, something was wrong. She had a suitcase. I frowned. "What's wrong?" "I don't want to go, but I have to go on a business trip. I'll be gone untill November the 19." "Today?" Victoria nodded. "Barnabas, if we want to be as normal as we can, one of us have to go on these business trips." I nodded. "Very well then," I said sadly. I had just got Victoria, and now I had to let her go? Victoria slowly put down her suitcase and hugged me. "Bye," we both told each other. I sighed as Victoria walked out of view.

I felt very weird when I walked out of my castle for the first time in two months. A taxi was waiting for us. With David in tow, I got in. The taxi started. We were silent for a moment. Finally, David broke the silence. "I'm going back to school tomorrow." I nodded. David and Carolyn hadn't gone to school in two months. David was excited, while Carolyn was, not so much. I listened as David told me about the school he was going to. He smiled when I asked him questions about the kids there. Two captions were waiting for us when we got there.

"Good to see you sir," one said as we got out of the taxi. I nodded. We walked in. There it was. " The boats, nets, sea water, and the teenage girl asleep in the corner of the nets, wait what?" I thought as I studied the girl. She had gold hair with brown highlights and wore a red shirt and a baggy pants. I slowly walked to the girl with David and the two captains in tow. I slowly reached out a hand and shook the girl lightly. She groaned. I shook harder. The girl's eyes slowly opened. They opened in surprise when she saw us. She smiled nervously. "Did anyone ever told you that you have a very comfortable kind of net?" she asked. "Who are you?" I asked. I felt like I knew her. But how? The girl gulped. "Hidi HandCock," she said. "What are you doing here?" one of the captains asked.

"Does sleeping count?" "No," I said. Hidi sighed. "I'm a orpan alright? I came here and fell asleep." David pulled my shirt sleeve. I turn to him. "Can we?" "Why do you want to?" I asked. David looked down at his shoes. "I just want to make a friend" I nodded. "Alright," I said. I turned to Hidi. "David here wants to know if you would like to stay with the Collins?" Hidi smiled. "Yes please. I'll pay you back. Somehow." I nodded.

"We'll be back soon," I said, as David, Hidi, and I walked out of the doors and got into the taxi. The captians nodded. The taxi started, and soon the fishing business was out of sight.

Hidi was silent as she looked out the taxi's window. "Where are you from?" David asked. Hidi looked at him. "The Appian Mountans," she said. She looked at me. ''Are you one of the people with that strange sun disease?" I thought for a moment. I didn't even know know there was a sun disease. "Yes," I said, finally.

"What town are we in?" David smiled. "Collinsport."

Willie was working outside when we got home. "Whoa," Hidi breathed. When Willie saw the taxi, he eyed it suspisly. We got out. Willie walked towards us. "Willie, I would like you to meet Hidi HandCock. She'll be staying with us for a while," I said. David smiled. Hidi nervously waved. Willie nodded and went back to work. I heard him mutter while we went inside,"Great. Another person to clean up after." Carolyn looked up from a book when we walked in. "Hi," Hidi said. "Hi?" Carolyn said. She looked at me. I motioned at David. Carolyn smiled, knowingly. Carolyn looked towards the stairs. "Mom!" Elizabeth came out. "Yes?" she asked as she noticed Hidi. "She's going to stay with us!" David exclaimed. Elizabeth smiled at Hidi. "Well, come on then. Let me show you to your room." she said. "Okay," Hidi said.

Hidi

"What's your name?" Miss Elizabeth asked. "Hidi." "Never heard that name before." I smiled. "That's because you haven't ever been to the Appian Mountains before?" "Yes. But then how did you get here?" For a second, I was speechless. Then I said. "I traveled here with my father before he was killed in an accident." "Oh. Sorry to hear that." "Don't be." To tell the truth, I never had a father. There is no such thing as a warlock. Don't ask me how witches are then born then. I don't have a clue.

We walked into a room. There was a closet, nice bed, and a window, and finally an oak desk. "Thank you," I said. "You're welcome." Then Miss Elizabeth left. I smiled. "Sweet!" I thought. After I had set all my belongings in my closet, can't afford them to find out what I was, I looked out the window.

Willie was still outside, doing an awful job, working at snipping the hedges into Halloween things. I smiled. When it came to Halloween, a witch knew everything there was to know.

Willie

The doors to the mansen opend. Hidi walked outside, smiling as if this was the home to her long lost family. I rolled my eyes and went back to work. Hidi walked to me. "Can I help you?" I asked. "Acully, I was wondering if I could help you?" I stopped working in shock. I liked this girl already! "Here," I said, handing her a pair of scissors fit to cut hedges. "I need you to make a Halloween border around the mansen." Hidi smiled and nodded. "Okay." The girl stood looking at the hedges for a moment, as if thinking, then started working. I hadn't even finished the witch I was still doing when Hidi walked up to me. "What do you think?" she asked. At first, I was willing to bet 1,000,000,000, dollars that she had just done it in a haste. I looked up and gasped. The border was an elagant sea serpant with eyes that looked liked they watched you, filed down teeth, and strange marks writen down it's back. "Woa," I breathed, as I touched it. "What are these strange markings?" "Their the old "witch" writings of monsters I read out of a book once. But of course, none of it's true." "Yea," I muttered. "What's that one?" a voice behind me asked. I nearly jumped. We turned around. It was Barnabas. "That's the one for vampires. It's my favorite," Hidi said,smiling. I silently gulped. Barnabas had been turned into a vampire, by a witch 196 years ago. Barnabas nodded thoughtfully. To avord anything else, I whiped my hand on my sweaty head. "Man, I'm hot. I think I'm going to go get some lemonade. You want some Barnabas?" I asked, hopeing, scrach that, praying that Barnabas would say yes. To my relief, Barnabas nodded. We left Hidi outside.

Hidi

"Weird," I thought. "You would think they're want to see the rest of them. Oh well." I shrugged it of and began to look to see if I had forght anything on my sea serpent. "Meow." "Huh?" I said as I turned around. Nothing. I raised my eyebrows in surpise. I shugged it off and went back to work. "Meow." " I turned around quickly, so I wouldn't miss it. It was a black stray cat. I smiled. I loved cats. I bent down slowly and picked the cat up. It was a girl. "I think I'll call you Nightngale," I said. The cat meowed as in agremment.

Barnabas

Willie smiled as he gave me the ice cold lemamade. I took a drink. "So?" Willie asked. "The lemonade is great." "That's not what I meant." I was puzzeled. "What do you mean then?" I asked. "The girl. I like her. Gave her some hard work, and look what you got! I bet she's still working on it!" Willie laughed at his on joke. I smiled. "She's okay I guess." "Guess? She's awsome!" Carolyn said as she and David walked in. "When she walked near my room, she knew the name of the song I was listining to! She then, told me all about Alice Cooper. She acts as if she knows me!" David nodded in agrement. "I don't know," I said, looking out the window. Hidi was now playing with some stray black cat.