Chapter 22

Victoria waited to be released from the hospital, a part of her felt oddly exhilarated, there was something coursing though her veins and her body that she found to be far different from any form of what she had experienced before. The curtain was shoved aside by the Emergency Room Doctor Mark Harmon following behind was Doctor Hiram Fisher. "Hello Miss Winters, I heard you were involved in an accident outside the Blue Whale and that you had quit breathing." Hiram stepped next to the gurney. Using his stethoscope he listened to her lungs and heart. He smiled, and used the ophthalmoscope to look into her eyes. "We have done tests and they all have come back normal so I am going to release you. Mrs. Stoddard is in the waiting room."

Vicki slid from the gurney. The mention of her mother being in the waiting room had given her pause. She wanted to slip out the back door and not see her. She knew that was the cowards way out and she was not about to do that. She considered she did not wish to be like her mother and avoid a situation. Offering up a tight but pleasant smile she spoke softly reaching for her clothing. "Thank you Doctor, will you please tell my mother I will be out as soon as I am dressed?" She watched him quirk his brow and look confused.

"Your mother? Did you just say that Liz Stoddard was your mother?" He had to ask. He watched Vicki grab her clothing and from the blood stains on the blouse he would have thought he would have found at least one bruise, contusion, or some form of injury. So he surmised she must have touched someone else from the accident that had been bleeding.

"Yes, she can explain. If you will excuse me I need to finish dressing." She turned her back on him and the other doctor. They both politely withdrew from the room. Hiram was going to question Liz about that statement because if that woman in the room was her daughter it was the first he had heard. He had delivered Carolyn.

Walking to the waiting room, he watched Liz anxiously pacing the floor with Carolyn and Roger at her side. "Oh Hiram how is she?" It was the same concern and worry he had witnessed when it had been Daphne under his care. Liz had anxiously started forward and put her hand on his forearm. The obvious concern for Victoria was very evident in the worried look that not seemed to be etched on her face.

"She is fine Liz, she is getting dressed and will be out shortly. She did say and I think it is safe to say these were pretty near her exact words, 'Tell my mother I will be out as soon as I have dressed.' Elizabeth, would you please tell me what she meant by that?' He felt the tension from her fingers leave his arm when Liz dropped her hand.

She turned her head away unable to look him in the eye. Her shame was complete. Slowly tucked her chin. With a voice that almost trembled with her repressed emotions she spoke softly, "She is my daughter Hiram and a member of our family and I would appreciate her being afforded the same courtesies that were afforded to any member of my family."

"Of course Elizabeth I would have it no other way except to see she is treated as a Collins, you must understand my surprise of learning she is your daughter." He reached forward with gentle fingertips and slowly closed his fingers over her shoulder and spoke softly in return. "I care about you and your family my dear." He glanced up to see Victoria walking from the exam room areas. "Here she is Liz, ready to go home."

Vicki's smile was hesitant at most and she was not sure how she was going to deal with these people that were no longer strangers to her but family. "Mother." She said the name and it felt unnatural coming from her tongue. Clearing her throat and squaring her shoulder she force a tense smile to her lips. "I am ready to go home now." Carolyn stepped towards her not sure of how she would be received. Taking a chance she threw her arms around Vicki's neck and hugged her tightly.

"Vicki, I am so happy you were unharmed and I am happy that you are my sister!" The sentiment was heartfelt and the hug sincere and not just a show for others that may be watching the play with the Collins family. Roger had stood when Vicki entered the room. He walked towards Vicki, with Maggie trailing at his side.

"Well if we are all ready?" His smile was cordially reserved. He looked from his sister to his two nieces. He was conflicted with his emotions where Vicki was concerned. He knew she was Liz's daughter, he was reminded of her fear when she was pregnant with her. Elizabeth had sat him down earlier when he went to visit her room and found her crying.

Five hours earlier

Elizabeth Stoddard's room Collinwood

"Liz? Why are you hiding in here crying?" He had walked to her side, stooped down, and rested his hand in comfort on her shoulder. "Was your captivity so horrible, did he do anything to you?"

Elizabeth shook her head, covered his hand with her own and dried her tears with her tissue. "You were a little to late to be the outraged little brother Roger, I can assure you there was little I could do to stop him. The only good that came out of that union was Victoria. I guess I am crying because of how I treated Victoria all these years."

Roger stood walked to the end of her four-poster bed and sat on its edge. "Please tell me how all this began and why you did what you did. Surely, you knew father would have accepted Victoria here." Crossing his right knee over his left he leaned back bracing his body to the bed with his palms down on the bed and his elbows locked in place to support him.

Liz delicately blew her nose, stood, and paced to the window to peer out unseeing at the now growing shadows over the rear garden. Her words were monotone as she began to relate her story and she was transported back to the day after her graduation.

June 21 1976

"It all began when I booked that cruise around the world. I was so excited Roger. I had my new wardrobe; my tickets and the funds father had given me. I was still packing when the phone rang and it was the cruise lines advising father that I could not have the presidential suite until we arrived on the Riviera, that another had booked a return home and had paid double what they expected. The asked if I would be content with first class accommodations and they would give me two rooms with connecting doors. I did not think I would need it but unfortunately with all the luggage I took I had to use one room just for my clothing."

She smiled remembering how she could not make up her mind what clothing she wanted to take, she had never been on a cruise and wanted to dress to impress. Her trunks had arrived and she was busy unpacking when a loud banging on her door caused her to pause. Turning, she smoothed down her three piece pant suit and crossed to the door, smoothing her hair when the person knocking was starting to become impatient and she heard voices deep and very male speaking in a language she did not recognize.

They were about to pound on the door again, when she pulled the door open. Standing before her dressed in an impeccably tailored suit of high quality was one of the most handsome charming men she had ever seen. His hair was thick and combed over his forehead, his eyes were dark and piercing and his lips full. He blinked seeing her standing there in her neat little expensive tailored suit, with her hair pulled into an upsweep into a series of curls pinned into place. He was immediately apologetic.

"My pardons my dear, I am Count Andréas Petofi." He had clicked his heels and bowed, took her hand and kissed her knuckles. " They did not tell me someone as beautiful and obviously charming as you had these two rooms. Had I known I would not have been here pounding on your door to make a demand you leave this floor. If anything I would have given you more rooms."

She had no clue as to what he was speaking of and she studied the man finding him overrated with him self. Putting on a polite smile she stepped aside to invite him into her sitting room area. He accompanied by another gentleman that appeared to be his personal assistant walked into the room and looked around noting it was a comfortable looking two-room area separated by a sliding door to what must have been the bedroom. He saw the adjoining door opened and figured she had been in that room. Noting her luggage was there he figures she was using those two rooms as her dressing room.

He quickly had surmised she must be wealthy and from a very well placed family from the Americas. "I am sorry I did not catch your name." He smiled turning to study her from head to toe. She walked to her sofa and sat down, just the way she moved and sat and crossed her ankles told him she had good breeding.

"Perhaps that is because I did not offer my name Count Petofi, now would you kindly explain what you are referencing? I know these rooms were offered to me when they gave away my original room." She placed that direct stare on him stripping away his titles and his charm to lay him bare before her as nothing more than a pretentious male.

He could tell she was from the new England area as hard as she tried to hide that accent it wreaked old world breeding. Her ancestors must have come from England on the Mayflower. That would put her family on the Eastern seaboard of the United States. He had quickly determined he would woe this young beautiful woman and perhaps she would be perfect for why and what he had come on this cruise. The smile was filled with charm as he walked to the chair next to where she sat on the small settee.

Unbuttoning his coat, he sat and crossed his right knee over his left knee. "My dear it would seem that a terrible mistake was made and both of us were owed by this grievous over sight of this cruise lines. I was assured I would have this floor and all the rooms at my disposal." What he had planned to do on this floor was not for the general public to witness or any of the ships compliment. "And you were to have another room?"

Elizabeth nodded slowly, "I was originally booked for the presidential suite and it appears that whomever has it currently will not be vacating it until we reach the Riviera." She had sat back and folded her hands neatly in her lap. She continued to keep that tight but polite smile on her lips and felt she really did not need to tell him that but if it got him out of her rooms the better to just placate him.

The news she was the one that had originally booked the rooms he had wanted gave him pause, she was wealthy and heiress and now this was how the company that owned this cruise lines wanted to keep her happy. He smiled stood buttoning his jacket bowed to her. "Well may I extend an invitation to join me at my private table this evening. I believe the Captain was going to sit with us and dine."

Elizabeth did not want to spend time with this overly bloviated male, she wanted to enjoy her first night with room service and explore the ship. "I appreciate your offer Count Petofi but I am a little tired and would beg you to allow me another night to share your table." She had stood when he had and was walking him to the door, his man was following taking note of everything in the room. "Perhaps you would be so kind as to give me a what we call in the states 'rain check' for another time perhaps?"

She had steered him into the hallway smiled charmingly as she closed the door and leaned against it. Little did she know that she had caught his attention and now he was determined she would be his sacrifice to his master in their dark ceremony he had been planning.

Turning to Rupert he smiled, "Did you get her name?" Rupert had been carefully observing tags on the bags that had been set on a table near where he had sat.

Rupert had nodded slowly, "Elizabeth Collins. It will not be hard to trace her background she is from some place near Bangor, Maine that was where the plane tickets had been purchased. I will contact our sources and have her investigated. Do you think she is the one my lord?"

The two men had walked towards the large room at the end of the hallway. It was the one with the largest rooms and the best view, which was protected by the over hang of the front of the ship. It afforded him the complete privacy that he needed. His view had also allowed him to watch those that would go to the private swimming pool reserved for the first class passengers. He could easily observe the comings and goings on that deck just blow his room.

"I think we have our sacrifice Rupert, we just need to keep a close eye on her and I will determine if she is a virgin. That will make this offering so much sweeter. I think our master would be pleased with my choice. I am after all make the ultimate sacrifice when I bed her." Rupert closed the door with a soft click as they entered the suite of room.

"Will you be prepared to make the sacrifice on the eve of the demonic day mocking all Saint's Day?" He walked across the room and stood peering over the bow of the ship. Petofi rather liked their version of All Saints Day celebrated on the fifteenth of August, that would give him almost six weeks to woe her enough to get her into his bed. He had been vain enough to ignore the signals she was sending out that she was not interested in him. He figured she was just playing hard to get.

"I think we will be ready for the black mass on August 15th as expected, I just wish to make sure she maintains her virginal state if she is a virgin. If she is not I am not so sure the master will accept her or not. I had hoped for someone slightly younger and perhaps middle class and more susceptible to my status as a count. There is something about this one that attracts me and the fact she is very lovely well that hurts nothing as far as I am concerned."

Rupert nodded and looked around their rooms, "Will you excuse me while I go and have her background traced?" He had stood almost at attention while Andréas had continued to rock on the balls of his feet and watch out the large window of their main sitting room, which was wide and spacious and his suite held two bedrooms and a kitchen.

"Yes, of course go and see what you can discover and then report back to me. I think I shall stroll the deck before we set sail." He had looked over his left shoulder watching Rupert leave. With Rupert out of the room, an image from the shadows stepped forward.

"She is a virgin Andréa, she is also perfect to be the vessel of my bride." Petofi turned smiled and bowed to the large reddish figure that barely looked human and was in fact a demon god that had made his appearance known on this ship. "I want you to seduce her and impregnate her with your seed. She will bring forth a daughter and that daughter will be my bride."

Liz only discovered this information much later; she had spent her first week on the ship enjoying the nightlife, and the ports of call. She knew in another week she would have her suite and be away from this floor that for some odd reason made her uncomfortable sharing it with the snob that was more impressed with his title than she. She had deftly sidestepped invitations to join him. But he had managed to be where she was when she took side trips from the ship.

She had been fortunate enough to tender in on another boat from him, but he was present waiting for her to disembark from the ship and helped her to the dock. He had been charming enough and she did not mind so much them having lunch in public locations when they were in port. It was when he tried to manipulate her to a more private setting that she had balked and made excuses to return to the ship and be away from his persistent pandering's.

She was beginning to grow annoyed with her vacation being interrupted by his presence. All she wanted was a little piece and quiet and for him he made everything bigger than life and expected her to appreciate all he was and what he was offering her. He had become more aggressive with his invitation almost becoming demanding that she join him. For over six weeks she had side stepped and made excuses and finally it was getting close to the middle of August and now he was appearing desperate for her to have dinner with him.

She finally had been worn down and agreed to dine in his room on the night of August 15th. He had been overjoyed and lavished her with fresh cut flowers, and jewelry. She had with much reticence walked to his cabin that night and waited for Rupert to let her in. There was an unsettled air about the room, when she first entered and was escorted to the balcony where Andréas had set up an intimate table for two.

It was after drinks had been served ands he had sipped the champagne he had provided that she noticed it had an odd taste to it. Setting it down she looked around the setting and found it was a perfect romantic setting designed for seduction. She was just as determined that it would be the obligatory dinner she had promised him and would make her retreat after dinner.

For her it was already too late, she had drank enough of the champagne that she was already beginning to feel disoriented and then it hit her. He had drugged her. She had heard the other girls at school talk about boys pouring drugs into their drinks and taking advantage of them. She was slowly feeling the world around her spin and then she knew no more.

The moment she went unconscious, Andréas smiled and called Rupert. "Take her and prepare her for the alter." He stepped back and watched as his faithful manservant lifted an unconscious Elizabeth from the table and carry her off into the second bedroom. There had been an alter set up with black curtains as a backdrop to the makeshift alter room.

Black candles were lit and now Rupert having disrobed Elizabeth and enjoying the look of her young nubile body prepared her by anointing her with oils and placing a shear gown of white diaphanous material on her body. He knew his master was going to enjoy his work tonight. The oil was worked into her skin and he watched how stimulated she had become when he had applied the oil to her vaginal area.

Apparently, he was enjoying his anointing her as much as his master would enjoy taking her. She was sweet and the scent of her was intoxicating. When he had finished his job he stepped out of the room nodded to Andréa who now wore a black robe. Walking into the room he was delighted to see the beautifully prepared body awaiting him. Smiling he stepped forward and began the chant. The chant for fertility and the call for an egg to be expelled so could fertilize it with his sperm.

When he made entry and discovered she was a virgin he was excited and took his time to enjoy what he did in the name of Diablos this night. This was one time he enjoyed his sacrifice and found he had grown an attachment to this woman that was from a town that bore her name. He wanted to spend the entire night between her legs but knew that would not be wise considering she would awaken and discover she was no longer a virgin and he did not want her to suspect that he had been the one to take her virginity.

He had already decided she would awaken on one of the chaise lounges on decks covered with a blanket and smelling of alcohol and he would say she got tipsy asked if he would excuse her and she left him. He could possibly make her believe that she had become enamored with someone else. His vanity would not permit him to think she would accuse him of raping her. That would not do at all.

What he had not realized was that Elizabeth was aware of what was going on and knew what he was doing and that she had unwittingly become a participant in some kind of dark ceremony. That had been her impetus to leave the ship at the next port of call and send for her luggage. She had to get away from Andréas and his darkness that had now enveloped her life.

1992

She turned to look to her brother's reclined figure on the foot of the bed. "What was I to do Roger? I was alone, and afraid and now possibly pregnant by this man that had forced me into some kind of dark ceremony. I had to get away from him. So I left the ship. Found a hotel and stayed there until I could book passage on another ship headed for home."

She turned and walked back to her sofa and sat, looking down at the crumpled tissue in her hand she sighed softly. "I had so much luggage and they only had first class cabins to offer so I was placed in two fist class rooms. The ship was to make port of call in Miami and I was determined to get a car and drive home. So, I drove for two days until I got home." She looked down at her crumpled tissue and smiled sadly. "It was not until two months later that I discovered I was pregnant. I could not tell father and I certainly could not have a child that this man could come and claim and keep from me for whatever dark reason he had."

She felt the sting of the tears slide down her cheek and drop to her hand soaking it. "I went to New York and gave birth, then placed her in an orphanage with strict instructions she was ot never be adopted. I had to protect her from Andréas; something told me he was following my every movement. That is why I had her in my room with the help of a midwife." She began to sob harder at the thought of what she had done and now her daughter was paying the price of her folly. Roger had stood and went to gather his sister in his arms.

"Its all right Liz, we will work this out together and we will endure that is what we do, we are Collins."