Chapter 4
Quentin sat facing George "How is he doing?' he asked.
"The same. He knows that he is not going to get any better. He is waiting for Verhoff to execute him for breaking ronin law."
"I should go see him."
"You should. "
"I know that I have been a coward... I thought that I had put all that childishness behind me, but some of it remains."
George growled. "Who cares whether you have grown up or not? He is paralyzed from the neck down, and waiting for death. He has found a way to relieve me of my promise to kill him if he ever needed it. Do you think that I am in the mood to share on what you have to tell about your wonderful voyage of self-discovery?'
"I am sorry. I know..."
"The, if you know better, act it. Stop whining and complaining, and go see him. And don't pester me with stories of how much you have changed."
George was right. Quentin sighed and turned his face away. He promised himself that he would go see Barnabas as soon as the sun went down.
"Would you kill him, could you do it?"
"Yes. I could. If it needed be, I would make sure that we were not burying him alive. It is not so hard to sharpen a stake, nor to use it. And I would not botch the job as you did once."
George's hostility hurt Quentin. It was a bit unfair, but then, George had to take it out on somebody, and he had made himself a target.
He just had to see him. There were things that needed to be said between them. And they needed to be said between Barnabas and Maggie... Would he tell Barnabas about he and Maggie?... Yes, he should. He had to know that Maggie's story with him had come to an end, because Maggie wanted it to end.
And then there had to come an end to the relationship between himself and Barnabas. Not the one he would have wished, not the one that Barnabas would have wished. But it was about to end, it mattered that they ended up friends again.
So much they had shared in 1897... and then the were all gone. Edward, Judith, Beth, Rachel, Magda... Jenny, Carl... they were all gone. And now Barnabas would be gone. Only himself and Angelique would remember what had happened,.
Something had to be said about it before Barnabas died... But what was to be said?
Verhoff lit his pipe and inhaled. Very interesting situation with Barnabas Collins. Interesting and very satisfying.
He knew that the kind of wound Barnabas had was hopeless. And Barnabas evidently knew it too. So he sought death...
Maybe he would commute the death sentence to prison. There were no records of a vampire with a severed cord making it that long. They usually got caught by the sunrise, as they could not make it back to their coffins. But Barnabas...
Maybe he could experiment on him... Yes, commute his sentence, and then take him to his laboratory to see if there was a way that a severed cord could be restored...
He would enjoy that...
Except that there were those who would give him grief about it. The children - or former children, since they bodies had begun to grown and transform, were flexing their political muscle. They would rush to Julia Hoffman's defense, and that meant also Barnabas'' defense.
Yet, the temptation was great...
And he wanted revenge of Julia Hoffman for destroying his very comfortable set up.
Break...
Burke cast his awareness for any dark passions that he could ride. Someone close to Barnabas was ready to listen to him, and to do his bidding. They only needed a little push.
Dark passions relating to Barnabas... There was some he could sense. There was an old bitterness, an old scab that never finished being scratched... Maggie Evans...
But that bitterness was diluted now, lost in the joy of a newfound love.
Quentin Collins - the bitterness of envy, the bitterness of shared guilt, and the desire to unload his guilt on his accomplice... but it was diluted now, and there was the promise of a better tomorrow to distract him of it.
Zeb King... an old wound that kept being scratched... but there was healing there too...
Iris White... but here too there was a sense of peace, a sense that no good would come from indulging her bitterness
But then there was a bitterness raging red hot... One thirst for revenge that knew no bounds...
Revenge on Barnabas Collins...
Yes.. he would give the man revenge.
Break
"It has begun." Amy said. "Burke has found Verhoff and is fastening on his rage to be able to take over his will."
"And Verhoff will let him do it?"
"If he fully knew what was involved, he would fight it. But he does not know. He is just indulging himself, he thinks, he is the one in control... until he finds out that he is only a puppet pulled by strings."
Break
Verhoff knew that there was some entity in the room with him. He wondered distractedly what it could be, and what it could want... but then shrugged. One of the many ghosts of the place.
It seemed to share his hatred of Barnabas. And why not? There were those who still wanted revenge on him. This may be one of them..
Perhaps it was Trask. Perhaps it was Schuyller Rumson... perhaps...
There were plenty of deaths at Barnabas' door, and if this one ghost wanted to help him achieve revenge, why not?
Not death, but torment. Being used as a lab specimen for severed cord studies... yes, that would be an appropriate revenge.
"Do you like that?" he asked the unseen entity? "It will be so much fun.'
The entity seemed to agree.
"Good."
The entity came closer and Verhoff felt his own anger rise, and also the delight of the promised revenge.
"You want it too don't you?"
The presence was next to him. No, it was in him..
"It will be so much fun."
Then he felt another's mind reach his, felt it pour into him...
Felt it take control
'Hey! I did not say you could.!"
"Too late. But I will give you revenge. Just watch."
"It is done." Amy said. "Burke has contacted him, and Verhoff welcomed him... In a few minutes, he will have taken him completely over."
"That easily?"
"When you give in to your passions, it makes it easy . Verhoff rages, cannot think straight, and welcomes a complete stranger because he gives the promise of revenge...and so it is done..."
"He will hurt Barnabas now, will he?"
"Yes."
"Frances" Howard was abashed. :I know that it was my fault..."
"I do not wish to establish blame. Most of it was Nicholas' and Burke Devlin's doing. But that is not the point."
"But I want you to forgive me."
"I have forgiven you Howard. And Roxanne. But you see, Patterson was right. The sensible thing to do now is to get divorced, so that you and Roxanne can marry each other."
"You now that what Nicholas did..."
'Nicholas did not create the problem, he just exploited it. You and I made a mistake getting married. Same as Derek and Roxanne. Let us be sensible and straighten the mess, as Patterson said, like reasonable people."
"The Tower" Amy said "Catastrophe, Destruction. For Burke Devlin. Pride goes before the fall, and he is proud. So is Verhoff, and so he has fallen. Yet from this fall good things might come. See how the gold coins fall to the ground, to be gathered by those who can read the signs?"
Elsa shook her head 'Please do not gloat. Barnabas will be the one paying the price for it."