Chapter 11

Edmund faced Burke "It will not be that easy. We will not make it easy for you."

Burke smiled. "So you want to fight me, with whatever little power you have. You believe that you can stop me, if you try hard enough. He believe that, too. And I broke him, as I will break you."

Barnabas stared at Burke, despair gnawing at him. Not only him, but Edmund now. Where was Amy?... She needed to know... and if she was not warned, she would be destroyed too.. It was lost, all was lost...

"Dr. Verhoff." he pleaded. "Do not let him use you anymore."

Burke laughed, nastily "You are still trying, aren't you? You do not want to give up."

Edmund braced himself for the onslaught. He had battled Burke before, and lost. He had not grown any stronger since then. But as before, he did not have to win, just last long enough.

"Child, forget about ever defeating me. Trying and trying will get you nowhere. You are not the little engine that could. You are a kid, playing at a grown-up game."

Verhoff sobbed impotently, locked out of his own body, paralyzed by Burke's mind. He had tried to fight it, to deny him entry again, but it was true. Burke was the stronger.

"But you are not alone in this."

He did not ask who that was. The promised help.. but what good would it do?

'He must not be allowed to use your body. If he does, all will be lost. You must find the strength to push him off."

"I can't. He's too strong."

"The strength will be there. You must have to push with all of your strength. I will add mine, and that of others. Try to remember who you are. Do not allow your body to be used for evil ends."

Edmund moved away from Barnabas, sizing Burke with his eyes. It was not Verhoff's body that he saw, but Burke's power, his rage, his passion.

He did not have a chance against such as he. What could he do? He was only a child...

Quentin Collins' child. Quentin Collins did not ask whether he was strong enough against the likes of Commander Todd or Sergeant Haskell. He had done what had to be done. He had gambled, he had faced the risks, he had accepted the consequences.

Chance or no chance, he would face Burke Devlin.

Burke shook his head, amused. "So you will fight me. after all." He had control of Verhoff's body, a vampire's body. He would use his hunger.

He had allowed Verhoff to feed, carefully, as was Verhoff's habit, and he had somehow enjoyed the sensations of it. He had actually regretted Verhoff's restraint, but understood the need to abide by it.. But now he had a chance to feed to the fullest... He sensed how Edmund's heart beat inside him, how his blood moved through his body... he would enjoy tearing at his throat. He pulled his lips back, enjoying the taste in advance.

"No!" Barnabas howled, understanding what Burke wanted to do. "Not that!"

Burke smiled widely "Come Edmund, come closer."

Edmund let out a bolt of energy in Burke's direction.

Burke stepped aside and laughed. "You foolish child. You could have saved yourself, now it is too late."

Inside him, Verhoff howled.

Edmund's blood would be the first. There would be others. Blood would feed his powers, as well as Verhoff's body. He would take over Collinsport and rule it. He would put Carolyn under his power and take possession of Collinwood. He would force Willie into his old job, guarding a coffin, only it would be his. Barnabas's coffin would be chained up, and its contents forgotten. And maybe he would take Vicky from Philip and keep her as a slave. Take her to Collinwood, renamed Devlinwood, and have her wait naked, and on her knees in his bedroom for him to make us of her...

All those who had snubbed and mocked him in the past would pay...

Edmund saw how he was now lost in his own dreams, and saw his chance. he gathered all the power he could and aimed to the heart. He envisioned a wooden stake materializing out of thin air, he envisioned it being directed towards Verhoff's chest. He sent it there.

It hit Burke and he fell, blood pouring from his mouth.

But he did not touch the ground. He dematerialized and few upwards, as the stake fell through where he had been.

Then he rematerialized.

"It was a good try, child, but not good enough."

Barnabas watched in horror. He felt the bloodlust in Burke, and the passions that fueled it. He sensed the anguish in Verhoff, and his desire to break free, to throw off this evil stranger, who, he know knew, would never set him free. Verhoff would remain forever locked in a body he could not control, watching Burke commit abomination after abomination using his body..

Would no one help them now?

Edmund gathered his strength. He could keep Burke from coming closer, still. But it would not last long. Burke would break through his defenses, seize him, and feast at his throat and then...

Then it would be all over...

Amy's hand laid on the Hermit card, which had come out of nowhere. A seeker, a bringer of light, an unexpected ally... maybe the guiding hand that shuffled her cards?

She had made a mistake in allowing Burke to possess Verhoff. His vampire body gave Burke the power to resist Hallie when he met her. For all her plans, for all her insight, she had not been aware of this possibility...

How could she have missed it? How could she have been that foolish

No, she had not been. It was not her who shuffled the cards. She only dealt them and saw what it was to be. She had been a pawn, as much as Barnabas or Elsa...

She was a Sibyl. She had not been promised more. She could not defeat Burke on her own, but she could make it possible for others to do it.

Whatever he was, the one who showed her the way with his lamp, she accepted his presence and was grateful for his guidance.

"What will be will be." She said. "It seems that in this I must serve you."

Edmund threw more bolts of energy at Burke, blindly knowing that if Burke should grab him, it would be lost. And they all missed their mark, except one, which made Burke reel for a moment. But only for a moment.

It was true. His power was weak still. He was not yet in full control of it. It dispersed blindly about instead of focusing...

In a few seconds Burke would be upon him and drain his blood, and this power, with the blood.

"Stop!" A figure appeared in front of Burke.

Burke looked at Dave with irritation. "Who asked you anything? This is not your business anymore. You can get what you want out of Barnabas. As for the rest, I will have my way."

"I created you Burke. I started you on your path. I did not know what I was doing then. But I do now. You must be stopped."

"Stop me?" Burke laughed. "You can't. No one can."

"I can."

'How?"

"I can deny you the body that you have been using." Dave gestured "Dr. Verhoff, here is your chance! Regain yourself! Break free! Reject the bargain you made in ignorance and willfulness! Assert your rights!"

Burke laughed "It is all over. You don't count, Dave. You never did. Your sort never wins, don't you know that by now?"

"Doctor Verhoff, here is the chance I promised you! Seize it!"

Burke laughed again. But the laughter stopped. A strangled cry came out of his throat.

His face contorted. Fear, anger, despair... hope... his body went rigid, then limp, as it fell to the ground.

"Verhoff is fighting to get his body back." Edmund said, ready to help out.

'No." Dave said to him gently "It has to be Verhoff who breaks free. If you use your power, Burke will grow stronger."

"Dave" Barnabas asked "what is happening?"

"I am pulling the fangs of the serpent that I created. You saw how he mocked me and my ideals. If I had seen through him then... You heard him. My sort never wins,... He is a predator, and I did not realize it. He did not object to poverty, only to himself being poor. He did not object to oppression, only to being oppressed himself... Well, we may not settle the argument today, but he will not harm anyone here."

Verhoff' struggles continued silently on the ground. There was pain and anguish in his face, there was strain in the muscles. there was waiting, weighing heavily on all of them.

And then it broke. Three was triumph in Verhoff's face, as a sort of smoke left his body.

It was done. Verhoff was free again.