Chapter 6

"Is there no hope?" Urien asked George.

"No. The kind of wound he has will not be cured."

"But if Dr. Verhoff is here, he might know of a cure."

"Verhoff is not here as a doctor, but as an executioner. Barnabas broke vampire law and Verhoff has come to pass sentence of death... He prefers that it be Verhoff that kills him not I."

"But... I thought that he was a doctor..."

"I know. You want him to get well. You do not want him to die...But it will happen. I do not know which is worse when you lose someone, to have it happen suddenly, or to have warning..."

"Did you lose someone suddenly?"

"Yes. I had no inkling that it would happen. I was making plans on what I would say to him when I met him the next day, and when I got up in the morning they told me that he was dead. With no warning, no inkling... It was a horse's kick in the chest. My world was turned upside down... And now... now it is all coming back, all that loss, all that impotent pain, all the emptiness... But Barnabas is not yet dead, and I do not know if to be thankful of it, or to wish that it was over already... And he...he probably wants it to be over too."

And Urien too probably wanted it to be over, deep down. He wanted to go to college, but would not leave while Barnabas was this way. He would not even allow himself to think of it. He owed too much to Barnabas to with him to die so that he could get on with his life. He probably was ashamed of himself for it...

As he himself, who had mixed his grief for Dave with concern of what he was going to do with himself...

"Are you sure that there is not a way? Not Verhoff, not.. but what about that other sorcerer? Nicholas? He is quite powerful. And I heard that he needs protection. He might be willing to help Barnabas if that helps him..."

Nicholas Blair, with his alcohol soaked brain...

"Did Nicholas offer you?" he could see Nicholas doing that, trying to curry favor with his new masters.

"Yes. I did not say yes, because I thought Verhoff..."

"I do not think that Nicholas has the power anymore. Still, I will talk to him."

"You want me. mistress?" Hallie asked Phyllis Wick. Her manner was awkward. She was practicing humility and it evidently needed to be practiced a lot. She could not forget that she had once wielded power and had come close to having it all..

"Yes. Hallie Stokes Collins. You are need. Have you fed already?"

"I have done so."

"The way I instructed you to?"

"It was quick, it was clean, and my source was not harmed by it. I exercised self-control as you commanded."

"Very good Hallie. You learn, once you know you must. You learn fast, though you seek ways to evade my commands, or reinterpret them. I do not relish punishing you but you need to unlearn much."

"I am sorry, mistress."

"You are not, not yet. You have no meditated on your actions, you have not truly repented of your deeds, though you say you do... that will come in time. Humility is strange to you, and empathy for others' suffering is stranger still. That will come. I cannot touch your soul yet. But I can compel obedience and that should be enough for now."

"I will obey you."

"Yes, you will. Well, learning is a process. First you learn what you must do. Later you learn why. And later the alternatives. And later you will think of consequences...and step by step wisdom will come to you."

Hallie chafed... Phyllis Wick had been a governess, she recalled, and the tone of voice of the classroom never left her...She lectured before she punished you, during your punishment, and afterwards... The lectures were worse than the punishments...

She bent her head. She had to listen humbly to those lectures. Or at least look like it.

"You remember Amy Jennings?" Phyllis asked.

"I do."

"She needs help. I will send you to her to serve her as she wishes."

"She?" Fear gripped Hallie. Amy would surely take revenge on her.

"Do not fear. She will deal with you fairly. If she does not she knows that I will demand an accounting of her..." she smiled. "It is very bad form to abuse other sorcerer's slave."

Slave... she must remember that she was Phyllis Wick's slave. As Amy had once been her own slave...

The Wheel did turn indeed...

"Are you sure that's all you want us to do? " Willie asked. "To wait and nothing else?"

"You can go about your business and come and tell me all about it." Barnabas smiled. "you can share with me all the wicked gossip you come about. You can bring Pearl to see me... things like that. But don't you try anything else. This time you cannot release me. Once is enough." Barnabas was firm. He did not want Willie to become involved, trying something desperate and ending up a target for Burke. Ignorance was Willie's only protection now... And he wondered how much of a protection that would be against Burke...

"I wish that I could do more."

"You cannot. But you can make it easier for me... No, Willie, I have reached the end of my journey. I just have to finish a couple things, and then, Verhoff will take care of... releasing me."

A grumble let them know that Verhoff/Burke had arrived.

"Go, Willie." Barnabas urged him. "The good doctor and I have a few things to talk about."

Willie went away, and Barnabas hoped that he had played his part well, and that Willie would not get suspicious as to what he and Verhoff had to discuss.

"So, we are alone again." Verhoff said.

"Yes" Barnabas said, with dread as to what was to come. Could he hold out against what was to come. Could he hold out against what was being done to him?

"What have you told him?"

"Nothing."

"I wonder." he put his hand on Barnabas' neck. "Shall we begin? I want to see how much feeling can be somehow be restored to your body."

Barnabas shivered and said nothing. Soon the pain would begin, and he would scream. Then it would stop and the questions would be fired at him. Then the pain would resume, because he had not answered them, or because he tried to lie.

"I know that Amy has Elsa, but she does not plan to keep her forever. If she did not mean to return her, she would have just killed her. That's what I would have done. She's soft and sentimental, isn't she?"

Barnabas said nothing.

"When will she release Elsa? What would let her thing that I was no longer a threat? What is she planning to do?" he pushed his hand into Barnabas' neck, and Barnabas howled as each of his severed nerve cells was filled with pain."

"Please stop" he begged.

"Tell me what I want to know, and I will stop."

Barnabas whimpered... "No..." has aid. "Petofi did not break me And neither will you."

He had gone to see Nicholas. That's how desperate he really was, George thought. He went to see Nicholas, knowing that it was useless, knowing what Nicholas was, a loser still dreaming of his glory days, and unable to recapture them. He had failed with Eve. He had tried to recoup with Jeb and the Leviathan, and failed. He had gone from failure to failure, drowning himself in alcohol, clinging to whatever power lingered in him...

How could he ever help Barnabas, when Angelique could not?

And he had only promised to try to help Barnabas. After he, George managed to convince Angelique to help him get his power back...

But he hated losing Barnabas, and even a crazy chance such as Nicholas offered was worth taking...

"Edmund," Amy said. "Burke has taken the first bait, which is Barnabas."

"And I am the second bait, am I not?"

"Yes. you are. You are to retune to Collinsport, saying that I have no more use for you. That will be a relief for your family. And Burke will be ready to pounce on you."