Ep. 2: 'Laura' Chapter 1
It was a cold Autumn afternoon at Collinwood. Leaves were scattered all around the driveway. Dark clouds had passed overhead, foreshadowing the possibility of a magnificent storm. A taxi had suddenly driven-up and parked in front of the Great House. Moments later, a middle aged woman with brunette hair and the most beautiful of soft brown eyes had gotten out of the car, carrying with her only one suitcase.
She continued towards the entrance of the house, walking with a confident stride; that imbued a definite sense of swagger. She gave her best knock at the door and a few moments later Mrs. Johnson appeared to answer the visitor's call.
"Hello, you must be Mrs. Johnson?" the woman asked in a British accent.
"Why yes, I am. Do we know each other?" Mrs. Johnson asked, slightly confused.
"I'm here to see David. I'm his mother, Laura Collins," she stated, cunningly avoiding Mrs. Johnson's question.
"I see, well won't you please come in Ms. Collins?" Mrs. Johnson greeted Laura inside.
"Thank you. But please, call me Laura," the woman said politely with a smile as she crossed the threshold and entered the foyer.
Mrs. Johnson took Laura's coat and hung it up.
"I'll let Mrs. Stoddard know that you have arrived. In the meantime would you care to wait in the drawing room? I just got a fire going," the housekeeper kindly asked.
"No, that's alright Mrs. Johnson, I'll wait here if its just the same," Laura replied importunately.
Mrs. Johnson nodded as she started towards the staircase.
As she glanced around the room, Laura's eyes caught hold of a particular object placed upon a stand-it was a picture of her son, David Collins. She made her way to the photo. Before Laura was given an opportunity to pick the picture up and fully examine it, the door to the drawing room had opened and Roger Collins had stepped out.
"I thought I heard-" Roger entered the foyer, completely surprised by his wife's presence.
"Hello Roger. It's been a long time."
Roger slowly walked towards her, taking everything in. There was a moment of silence as the two of them stared at each other with complete disdain.
"Not long enough," Roger replied coldly.
He continued, "After everything that has happened-"
"What could you possibly want from me now?"
"I couldn't stop thinking about David," Laura stated.
She continued, "But now that I am here-"
"-You shall leave!" Roger rudely interrupted.
Before Laura could say anything to defend herself, Elizabeth had reached the last few steps of the staircase leading down to the foyer.
"Laura?" the matriarch of Collinwood asked, her tone had sounded more reasonable.
"It's been such a long time," Elizabeth continued.
"Liz.. it's great to see you again," Laura replied warmly.
"Likewise. I presume that you've come to visit David?" Elizabeth asked.
"How is he, Elizabeth?" Laura inquired eagerly.
"David is well. I'm sure he will be quite happy to see you again, Laura."
"I will not allow you anywhere near my son!" Roger exclaimed.
"That is not your decision to make, Roger. Laura is hear by invitation. My invitation to be exact," Elizabeth revealed.
A countenance of pure disbelief and anger spread over Roger Collins.
"How dare you, Elizabeth! You had absolutely no right to interfere-"
"I had every right to call upon Laura. A child cannot grow up with the absence of both a mother and father. Now that Victoria Winters has disappeared, David is in desperate need of his parents," Elizabeth had made her argument.
"You have no idea what you've done, Liz!" Roger stormed off, unable to control his temper any longer.
"As far as I'm concerned, Roger has neglected David for too long. If at all possible, I would very much like for the three of you to be a family again. To put the petty rivalries of the past behind you and give that little boy the happiness he truly deserves."
"That's why I'm here Elizabeth," Laura replied.
"Mrs. Johnson is currently preparing you a room. Dinner will be served at eight o'clock sharp," Elizabeth told Laura before venturing forth to a different part of the house.
"Thanks, Liz," Laura replied before she started up the staircase, luggage in hand.
Later that day, Elizabeth was in the drawing room, reading in her favorite armchair when their came a knock at the door.
"Who is it?" she asked still distracted by the book, titled Beyond Good and Evil.
"It's Mrs. Johnson with Sheriff Patterson to see you. He says its quite urgent," the housekeeper explained.
"Please come in," Elizabeth responded, she set the book down on the stand beside her.
"Hello Elizabeth," Sheriff Patterson had greeted her with a half smile.
"Its good to see you George. Have you any news as to the whereabouts of Ms. Winters?"
He took a seat in one of the chairs facing Elizabeth, "Yeah. It seems that our Ms. Winters has taken ill to amnesia. She remembers absolutely nothing, Liz... not even her own identity."
"I don't understand how this could have happened," Elizabeth replied, albeit shocked.
"You needn't worry about her safety, Liz. It turns out she was taken in by a Dr. Eric Lang, whom is privately treating her at Windcliff Institute," the Sheriff explained optimistically.
"That's no place for Ms. Winters, George! You must bring Vickie back here immediately, to Collinwood, so that we can take proper care of her," Elizabeth replied worriedly.
"Look, Liz... I can't just make Victoria leave Windcliff if she doesn't want to. Besides, Dr. Lang is working day and night to help Vickie regain her memory."
"Vickie needs to be around the people who care about her."
"Well don't tell me, Liz. Tell Dr. Lang," Sheriff Patterson responded.
He proceeded, "I have to leave now. Is there anything you would like to tell me before I go, Liz?" the Sheriff asked.
"No. Thank you for notifying me George, I'll take it from here," Elizabeth had given Sheriff Patterson a smile as he left the room.
Elizabeth turned towards one of the windows and cracked it open, allowing the cool night air to come through.
Chapter 2
"So you're my... mom?" David Collins had asked Laura looking confused. She returned an affectionate smile and responded, "Biologically, yes. But I haven't earned that role just yet." "Roger told me you died in a fire when I was little." Laura's smile soon turned into a frown, and she shook her head, "He lied to you, David. Your dad and I didn't get along and so we separated. You we're much too young to remember."
Laura placed a tender hand on David's head, rubbing her fingers through his short, brown hair. "I know how you must feel right now, but I came back for you David, to be your mother." The young boy continued to stare at Laura, as if he were trying to decide whether or not to trust her. "Would you like to go for a walk with me?" David asked. Laura's countenance had changed as tears of happiness filled her eyes, "Yes, I would like that very much David... my son."
David grabbed ahold of Laura's left hand with his right, and they both exited his room holding hands.
Later that same night at Windcliff, Victoria had been sitting alone at the desk inside of her bedroom writing in her journal:
10/18/92
Today was a true revelation for me, as I have discovered my name to be that of Victoria Winters. Before my amnesia occurred, I had been employed as governess to David Collins by the Collins family. Unfortunately this information was relayed to me from the local Sheriff of Collinsport. I use the word unfortunate, only because I'm certain that Dr. Lang would have preferred that we had gained this knowledge through hypnotic regression, which has proven unsuccessful thus far. I can't help but feel as if though there is more to my involvement with the Collins family that I am unaware of.
It's almost been a whole two weeks since I joined Dr. Eric Lang here at Windcliff. He and his staff have been very kind and supportive, but I sometimes feel that Eric can be obsessive in his studies; and often times inconsiderate as to how I feel about certain experiments.
I am quite privileged to have Dr. Lang's private library at my disposal. I've obtained a considerable amount of knowledge during my short stay. Even if I am unable to recover all of my memories, I find comfort in knowing that there are people out there that know who I am and care about me. How am I to get in contact with them?
Victoria had stopped writing as Dr. Lang knocked on the door before entering her room.
"Hello Vickie. How's my favorite patient this evening?" Dr. Lang asked smugly.
"I'm fine, Eric. And yourself?" Victoria inquired.
"Good," the doctor gave a simple reply.
Dr. Lang continued, "I think that we should continue with our sessions of hypnotic regression starting tonight."
"But Eric, we both know how unfruitful these sessions have been. Isn't there something else we can try?" asked a concerned Ms. Winters.
"I'm afraid that these sessions are our last hope to recover everything that has been lost, Victoria," Dr. Lang responded confidently.
"What about the Collins family? How soon will I be able to communicate with them?"
"I'm not so sure that you can trust them. Afterall, it's more than likely that they are the one's responsible for causing your amnesia in the first place."
"But we don't know that for certain. They may be the only family that I have left, Doctor," Victoria replied, solemnly.
"I strongly advise you to stay away from that family, as both your doctor as well as your friend," he strongly encouraged.
Victoria's countenance had become disturbed due to Dr. Lang's strange reaction to her wanting to meet the Collins family and uncover her past rather than remember it.
"Well then Vickie, shall we proceed with tonight's session?" Dr. Lang asked, changing the subject.
After a few passing moments, Victoria nodded her head in agreement and stood up from her chair and continued towards the foot of her bed, whereupon she took a seat and waited for Dr. Lang to begin the session.
Dr. Lang took a candle from Victoria's desk and lit the wick. He pulled up a seat and sat down, directly facing Ms. Winters. Holding the candle at a safe distance from her face, the Doctor began to hypnotize Victoria.
"I want you to stare into the candle's flame. You must give it your complete, undivided attention whilst also listening to the sound of my voice. The flame will soon disappear and you will arrive at a long, darkly lit corridor featuring various doors on both the right and left hand sides. Are you there?"
"Yes," Victoria replied in a dazed, hypnotic state; her eyes now closed. "Good, now I want you to keep walking until you reach the very end of the corridor. You will come to a door, open it."
"I can't... it's locked. I must find the key," Victoria replied. "I hear music coming from behind the door... a melody of sorts," she had continued.
"Listen to me, Vickie. I want you to choose a different door-anyone that you are able to access," Dr. Lang stated.
"I know that melody-that's right, the minuet," Victoria announced. She began to hum the minuet which belonged to Josette's music box. She finished humming the whole tune.
"The keyhole has disappeared," Victoria noted.
Dr. Lang's pyshiognomy had turned from serious and unhopeful to enthusiastic in just a few short seconds.
"Excellent, please open the door, Victoria," Dr. Lang had ordered her.
"Someone's knocking from the other side of the door. I'm going to open it," Victoria stated.
"Who are you? Angelique, you say? That's a pretty name, I'm Victoria Winters. Where are you leading me? It's so dark in here... wait... where are we? Please don't lock me in here!" Victoria had become frightened.
"Vickie, what's happening?" Doctor Lang asked worriedly.
Ms. Winters grew quiet, her eyes still closed. No response.
Some moments later her eyes had opened, looking directly at Dr. Lang. Still hypnotized, she spoke, "Through sight and sound and headless terror, through endless corridors by trial and error, a blazing head of light will burn, and one door leads to the point of return."
She became silent once more, now in a trance-like state. Victoria then let out an unexpected, terrifying scream before passing out and falling backwards onto her bed.
Dr. Lang immediately came to Victoria's aid, taking note of her pulse.
"Vickie can you hear me?" Dr. Lang asked, still concerned. He grabbed some smelling sorts from his medical bag and placed them under her nose. She slowly regained consciousness and sat up.
"Eric, what happened to me?"
"I wish I knew Vickie. It seems to me that you were experiencing some kind of nightmare or hallucination."
"Hallucination?"
"Yes, you're eyes were open when you began to talk about someone named Angelique?"
"I'm starting to remember things more clearly now. I came to a door at the end of the corridor when there came a knock from the other side. I proceeded to open the door and met a young lady named Angelique who led me into a circular room with many doors. She recited some sort of poem. As I chose a random door to open, a minuet began to play, one that I remember hearing along time ago. Upon opening the door, Death greeted me with a smile... I must have fainted shortly after," Victoria's countenance had grown morose.
"Tell me, Vickie why it is that you believe this person to be Death?" Dr. Lang asked curiously.
"Death is not a person. He's a darkly cloaked entity whom takes human form, carrying with him a mystical scythe, used to reap souls," Victoria explained.
"There's no such thing, Victoria. You probably read about Death personified in a book," Dr. Lang argued.
"I know what I saw, Eric. The dream was the most lifelike of any that I have ever experienced before."
"No, you simply recovered some repressed memories during tonight's session and out of fear you concocted this notion of meeting Death," Dr. Lang tried to explain scientifically.
Disregarding Dr. Lang's argument, Victoria continued, "Death told me that he would come for my soul on the eve of November second, marking the conclusion of All Souls Day."
"I implore you to expel these macabre thoughts from your mind, Victoria. They will bring you nothing but harm," Dr. Lang had advised Ms. Winters.
Victoria got up out of bed and continued back towards her desk. "Please leave me for the evening, Eric, I want to be alone."
"Of course. Goodnight Victoria, and please remember what I've told you," Dr. Lang replied as he gathered his things and exited the room.
Ms. Winters took a seat at her desk and reopened her diary to record the events that had transpired that night.
Chapter 3
That same night at the Old House of Collinwood, Barnabas and Willie had been sitting in the drawing room playing a game of Chess as a loud knock came from the front door, echoing throughout the foyer.
"I'll go see who it is," Willie replied before he staggered off, leaving the room.
Willie opened the door to a strong, forceful wind that seemed to push Roger Collins forwards out of the cold and into the house. Willie closed the door after Roger had entered.
"Good evenin' Mr. Collins," Willie politely greeted him as he took Roger's coat to hang it up.
"Evening, Willie. I've come to see Barnabas, is he here?" Roger asked.
"Yeah, uh, he's in the drawing room," Willie replied. Both men proceeded to exit the foyer.
"Hello Roger," Barnabas stood up to greet his ancestor.
"Hi Barnabas. I didn't mean to intrude, but I felt like coming over to visit. You're the only real friend I have to talk to right now," Roger announced.
"No need to explain yourself. You are welcome here anytime. Please, make yourself comfortable," he kindly gestured.
"Thank you, Barnabas, you're too kind," Roger took a seat on the sofa.
"It's a dreadful night, isn't it?" He continued.
"It is indeed," Barnabas admitted.
"I was just teaching Willie here how to play Chess. I must admit that for his first time he played remarkably well."
"Ah... thanks Barn'bas. Will you be needin' me anymore t'night?" Willie asked standing before the two other men.
"No, I think you can retire for the evening Willie. Thank you," Barnabas announced gratefully.
"Goodnight then," Willie told them before exiting the room, closing the door behind him.
"We located Victoria, Barnabas. She's been staying at Windcliff Institute in Collinsport," Roger informed him solemnly.
Barnabas' countenance had turned serious and slightly surprised.
"Windcliff? Tell me, is she alright?"
"As far as I know Vickie's fine, but she has experienced an episode of extreme amnesia and she remembers absolutely nothing about who she once was. We only just found out about the news earlier this evening, and I know how much she means to you..."
Barnabas made his way towards the fireplace, peering into the flames in deep thought. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Roger."
"Of course, Barnabas," Roger assured him.
"Is there any hope of Victoria recovering her memory?" Barnabas continued.
"I'm not sure. I do know that Dr. Eric Lang, a notable psychologist, is working with Vickie personally."
Barnabas nodded and turned around to face Roger.
"My ex-wife, Laura has returned to Collinwood at Liz' behest. Needless to say, I don't really trust her and my faith in Elizabeth is starting to wane," Roger changed the subject.
Roger continued, "This may sound crazy, but Laura isn't like other people. She possesses the singular ability to manipulate fire. She's a deeply disturbed sociopath that tried to kill me many years ago because I had felt that she was in dire need of professional help. I had her committed to an institution sometime later. Somehow she has escaped."
"And now Laura has returned to exact vengeance upon my family. I believe that everyone is in the utmost danger," Roger had confided in Barnabas.
Barnabas looked down briefly before he spoke, "Does Laura love your son, Roger?"
"I wish I could say yes, but knowing how selfish she is-no it's unlikely."
"My point in bringing this up, is due to my concern for David; and I thought that perhaps you could give me advice on the subject," Roger admitted.
"In my experience, a mother never give's up on her children... no matter what," Barnabas' voice trailed off, turning sullen. He began to think about his own mother, Naomi and the time he first presented himself to her upon returning as a vampire.
"Are you alright, Barnabas?" Roger had asked.
"Yes, of course... I'm fine," Barnabas retorted.
"Would I be asking to much for you to have Willie keep an eye on David for me?" Roger asked.
"If it will make you feel more at ease, then of course, I have no objections," Barnabas replied.
"Thanks," Roger arose from the sofa. "I must be getting back to Collinwood now before the rain starts."
Both men left the room and entered the foyer. Barnabas brought Roger's coat over to him. "Thank you again for everything Barnabas."
"Of course, let me know if there is anything else you need."
"Goodnight," Roger nodded.
"Goodnight Roger," Barnabas opened the door for him as he bolted out against the stormy night.
Meanwhile inside of an old shack somewhere near the Collinsport docks, a meeting was about to transpire, as Dr. Eric Lang had made his way inside. It was dark and clammy. Every step he took made the loose, rotten floorboards underneath his feet creak.
"Dr. Lang?" a deep, mysterious voice arose from the shadows.
"Yes. I have news concerning Ms. Winters-"
Before the Doctor could finish his sentence, a tumultuous gunshot was fired and Dr. Lang had descended, hitting the rotten floorboards which shattered upon impact. He had plummeted into the water below. The murderer then proceeded to toss their gun into the prodigious hole wrought within the floor; the weapon thus ensuing Dr. Eric Lang to his cold, icy grave.