Dane

Chapter 19

Barnabas glanced towards the window, with a frown. "Where is she?" he asked impatiently. "She should have been here by now." He was sat in his favourite chair, close to the fire, his cane close by. His face was still paler than his usual skin colour. It was clear that he had been ill, and still was.

"She'll be here, Barnabas," said Willie, checking the window for what seemed the hundredth time. Since Barnabas had risen half an hour ago, the first thing he had wanted to know had been where Julia was. "She's probably still at Wyndcliffe, Barnabas. Maybe she's found something," he said hopefully.

"No," said Barnabas, grabbing his cane, "she'd have been here by now, if there was news. I want you to go up to Collinwood, and call Wyndcliffe." He began to struggle to his feet, and Willie rushed to his side.

"Hey, maybe it ain't wise for ya to be movin' around, Barnabas. An' besides, I can't go to the main house. Julia said not to leave ya alone."

"Nonsense, Willie," snapped Barnabas, then paused in trying to stand as a wave of dizziness washed over him. "Dane hasn't been here all day," he said stalling for time. But his lapse had been witnessed, and Willie wasn't about to let him off easily.

"Barnabas, you ain't well enough to be walkin' around, and gettin' all upset. Now Julia will be here soon. And Dane can still show up any time."

Barnabas searched his face penetratingly. "You know something, don't you, Willie," he said. "I know you do. Now tell me!" he ordered.

Willie walked a distance away from him, and clenched his fists against his chest. "I don't know what ya talkn' about, Barnabas."

"Don't lie to me! I know that Dane was here, last night! I heard him telling you to keep me away from her! Why, Willie? Why!"

Willie hesitated, before turning to face his friend. "I don't know why, Barnabas!" he protested. "Now you gotta believe me!"

A crafty look crossed Barnabas' face. "Do I?" he intoned sarcastically. "You know something, and I insist that you tell me."

"No, Barnabas," said Willie determinedly. "Because then you'd do something to Dane, and I know ya can't, because then Julia would know."

"I will find out anyway, and it'll be worse for you when I do, so you might as well tell me now," said Barnabas, dangerously.

Willie had worked long enough for Barnabas, to know that this time, he meant it. "All I'm sayin' Barnabas, that if you hurt Dane now, it might make Julia think differently"

The crafty look changed to one of puzzlement, "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Dane isn't her favourite person, right now. Because he stopped her from coming to see you, when you were sick." He paused, wondering if this was the right time to give him a much-needed push in the right direction. Before Dane succeeded in making things right with Julia again.

Barnabas frowned, "Why do you hesitate, Willie? What else are you keeping from me?"

"When you were sick…you were sayin' all kind of things."

"Like what?" When Willie showed signs of hesitating, Barnabas grabbed his cane, and shakily half rose from his chair. "What did I say!" he demanded, furiously.

"Just that you were afraid. That you wanted to save and protect."

"Enough!" said Barnabas sinking into his chair, a stricken look on his face. He swallowed. "Did, did I mention anything else?"

"You called for Julia."

"Willie!" growled Barnabas.

"You mentioned Angelique," Willie finally admitted.

"Oh no," groaned Barnabas. "Does she suspect?" he asked worriedly looking up at his friend.

"I don't know, Barnabas," said Willie truthfully. He wasn't sure what Julia had thought when he'd asked her to wait before giving Dane his answer.

Perhaps she had worked it out for herself. But what good would that do, if Barnabas wouldn't follow through?

"Thank God," breathed Barnabas.

An alarmed looked passed between them, as a loud knocking rattled the doors.

Barnabas looked worried as he said, "Dane?"

"It might be Julia," said Willie, but it was obvious that he was thinking the same thing.

Willie placed his ear against the door, "Who is it?"

"Julia."

Willie hastily unbolted the door, and opened it, to admit Julia. "Thank God you're here," he gushed.

"Where is he, Willie?"

"In there," he said cocking his head in the direction of the drawing room. "He's been askin' for ya."

"Who is it, Willie?" came Barnabas voice from the drawing room.

"Let me handle this," whispered Julia.

"It's me, Barnabas," said Julia as she took a step towards the drawing room. "How are you feeling?"

His dark eyes sparkled on seeing her, and her heart leapt. Her confusion over Dane suddenly faded, and she knew that she couldn't marry him. Even if she hadn't found out that he had tried to stop her being with Barnabas, she knew that a marriage with Dane wouldn't take place. Barnabas was the only one that held her heart and love. And she knew that she would wait, until the end of the world, until Barnabas could tell her what she already knew.

"Weak," he said answering her question.

She smiled, and came closer to him. "That is understandable. You give us quite a scare. Do you have any…cravings?"

Barnabas frowned as he made a quick self-examination. "No," he said curiously, after a few minutes silence. He looked at her searchingly. "What happened last night, Julia?" he wanted to know.

"I was hoping that you would tell me."

"I can't really remember," he said settling back into his chair.

"What do you remember?" asked Julia, taking off her coat.

"The injection!" he said suddenly. "I remember that I felt strange after the injection. The pain had been getting worse, not better. The next thing I remember is Willie helping me downstairs."

"Willie?" asked Julia, turning to him, "is there anything else that happened, that you remember?"

Willie frowned in concentration, hands on hips as he paced the floor. "I remember seeing Barnabas, just a few hours before dawn. He wanted to go out, and I tried to stop him. He was acting strangely, like he didn't know where he was. When I tried to point out that it would be dawn soon, he pushed me against the wall. When he came back, he could barely stand. He was shaking and delirious."

"What happened last night, Julia?" asked Barnabas, worriedly.

"I thought at first that you might have…attacked someone, and had had a severe reaction. A blood test ruled that out. So did an allergic reaction to the treatments. I give you a blood transfusion with Willie's help. You had a fever, and were delirious most of the time. You tried to stop the transfusion, but you passed out."

"What does this all mean? Willie told me that you'd spent today at Wyndcliffe. What have you found out?"

"Before I answer that, you still need to be transferred to Wyndcliffe, though that will have to wait a few days. I need to run some tests, and I'll need to examine you tonight, make sure there are no lasting effects from your illness. I know now why you had the reaction you did; I know now why we always reach this point, and then have just this sort of thing happen.

There is a dormant cell that activates, when you reach a stage between vampire and human. And it is this cell that's keeping you the way you are, and defeating every effort of a cure. My guess is that it's the same cell that made you revert after we returned from 1840. Jeb wanted to make sure that there was no chance of a cure."

Barnabas looked at her dumbstruck. The horror that he would stay as he was for all eternity was reflected in his eyes. "Are you saying that I can't be cured?" he whispered, all hope gone from his voice.

Julia looked away from him. "Unless I can find a way to destroy that cell, Barnabas," she paused, and looked at him, a renewed determination in her eyes and posture. "I will find a way, Barnabas. I promise I will."