Chapter 9
"Vicky called" Willie said to Barnabas "said that she was coming to see you. She and Phillip."
"Is it wise for Phillip to be so close to the sea?"
"Phillip said that he can handle it, and that you are worth it. They want you to see how Little Phillip is grown."
"That is good. Poor Carolyn. She cannot get Vicky to come, but she comes for me."
"Well, Vicky's relationship with Carolyn is a more complicated than the one with you... And then..."
"Then Carolyn is not dying. I know.:"
"Barnabas, please."
"You know that I am dying. That's why I called Verhoff in, to arrange it. Oh, well, let's not talk about that. Tell me about Louella and the new kid you are expecting."
"I would like to have a boy this time." Willie said. "William Loomis, Jr. And I hope to be a better father than my old man."
"You will, Willie, you will. And it will be a boy. One that will inherit your penchant for looking for treasure. Only in a more socially approved way. I could tell you that he will not get in trouble that way, but I do not think that it will be true. It probably be a different kind of trouble... Just tell him that if he runs into a head in a box, leave it alone."
"I will tell him that" Willie grinned.
"Good. You cannot be too careful with those things. Though the mask of Baal was destroyed in this reality, you never know."
"Have you seen Georgina?"
"No, George promised to bring her in later... Poor George, he is so conflicted. He thinks that if he cares for her, it means that he wants me dead."
"But that's not true."
"No. But the fact is that Georgina is his future, and I am his past. And letting go of the past is not that easy. I should know...And it is not that easy to let go of the past, when it is still with you. So he is being torn, and feeling guilty... Well, he will get over it. Just be gentle with him. You tell him those things. He will believe them better from you than from me."
"How many people have come to see you?"
"A lot. Alma and her husband, who want news of Elsa, of course. The Davenports, who seem to have nothing happening to them, except raising Sandy's kids. handling Xavier's kids and their lawyers, and growing their business. Jessica dragged Zeb here, and Zeb is a bit abashed, but still, I doubt that we would ever be friends. But at least he is not in the warpath anymore... Antonia is a beautiful baby. Julia, of course, with Kenneth and Gretchen. Gretchen has her mother's eyes, but her father's black hair... at least the hair he still has... Tammy and Joe, too. Tammy is expecting a child. She is sorry that the kid will never know me... I mean how many people get to meet their ancestors? Buffy and Frank, with Lyndon, Maggie and Quentin... Even Sabrina..
"Frances not come yet?"
"She will. They got a lot to mop up there, Plus the messy details of two divorces, and two remarriages... Chris and Oriana will be coming too."
"To tell you goodbye."
"Yes."
The footsteps approaching him told Barnabas that Verhoff was there. He had had a short respite and that was over...
Could he hold out?
He was back in Collinsport. Edmund rubbed his eyes. A few moments ago, he was still in the labyrinth and now he was back home.
It was nightime. Barnabas would be awake, and so would be Verhoff. Probably Verhoff was interrogating Barnabas now.
And when Burke found out that he, Edmund, had returned, there would be more questions still.
The game was far from over, even though it might seem so. There would still be a brutal struggle soon.
But at least he could give Carolyn and Roger some respite. They did not need to know what was happening, only that Amy had no more use for him, so she had returned him, as she had promised...
Just as it the labyrinth, he did not have the power to withstand Burke. But again, as in the labyrinth, he could delay him long enough...
She hoped that Amy's gamble would pay off.
"You think that you can win?" Burke asked, his eyes shining dangerously.
"Doctor Verhoff, I know that you do not want to do what your body is doing."
"Verhoff! He has nothing to say about this. He allowed me to use him. Maybe I did not explain what it meant, but still, he allowed me. He wants revenge on you, and that I can deliver to him. Why do you think that he will not approve of what I am making him do?"
"Doctor, beyond our disagreements, beyond all that stands between us, I know that you have too much integrity to allow this."
"There is not Verhoff here! Only me!" Burke caught Barnabas angrily and applied pressure to his shoulder.
Barnabas howled.
"Yes, this is better."
The pain continued. He wait for it to subside, for it to go away, so that he could pant, and beg and whimper, and gather his strength again.
But it did not come. Burke's hand was frozen in position in his shoulder and would not let him go.
"Calling on Verhoff will not help. He does not care for what happens to you. He hates you, anyway. Why do you think he'd care? Because of some professional ethics? You are a fool, Barnabas Collins. He does not want this to stop."
"You see it Verhoff? You see what is being done with your body? Are you happy with it?"
The same voice out of nowhere that kept arousing him.. the voice that would not let him rest...
He did not have to be aware of Burke's actions. He did not want to know... What did he owe Barnabas Collins anyway?
"You are a doctor, you are a man of integrity. You cannot allow this."
"But I can't stop it! And you are you, anyway?"
"A doctor, just as you. And someone who can help you break free."
Barnabas fought to hold it down, not to give in to the pain.
"You will tell me, Barnabas Collins. I am the stronger of the two, and you can't do anything about it.
Barnabas fought to hold back, to not let Burke win.
Something broke in him... He could not hold out any longer, he could not...
"Yes." Burke smiled. "I think that now you see it my way. Tell me, Barnabas. Tell me what I want to know."
And Barnabas did.
"So it is over? Carolyn asked Edmund, anxiously.
"Yes. it is." Edmund lied. "As far as I an concerned I am of no more use to Amy. Whatever she does not, I will not be involved."
"And of course, she does not care what happens to any of you."
"She sent us back home, as she had promised."
"True, But look how she returned Barnabas."
"There was nothing that she could do for him. He asked her to be able to die among his people, and she allowed. If she could have healed him, she would have done so."
"Perhaps."
"Is Dr. Blair still around?" Edmund decided to chance conversation. "There were things that I wanted to ask him."
"He is back at the egg, but you can ask Angelique to bring him back here."