ACT III

A shot rang out into the night, and the mysterious visitor dropped to his knees . Holding his hand over his shoulder, a cry emerged from the figure in shadow, "Aggh! My arm! Please don't kill me! Please!"

Jeff stood still in shock, but Maggie's eyes grew wide as she ran from behind the partition to the door. "David! David!" She knelt beside him, holding him in an almost motherly manner. She rocked him as she held him, "David, are you alright? Come on, come inside, quick." Jeff held the door open as they entered the house, and he closed it behind them and locked it.

David said aloud, "My arm...it hurts!" Jeff turned to David, "David, I'm sorry, I...I didn't mean..."

Maggie didn't say anything, but she gave Jeff a look of disgust. She turned back to David, and looked at his arm. "Let me see it, David. Come here." On his coat near his shoulder was a red oozing stain. Maggie took his coat and ripped the shirt sleeve. "I'm sorry, David. I'll get you one of Jeff's shirts in a minute. Hold still and let me see."

David, who was now a tall, sixteen year-old young man, stood quietly while Maggie examined his arm. Jeff looked at his arm with her, and, from all appearances, the bullet seemed to have only grazed him on the shoulder. It did not penetrate.

He stood just slightly taller than Maggie now. He was wearing an unkempt, long-sleeved collared-shirt and a pair of dirty denim pants. He hugged Maggie tight. "I heard you were here. I didn't think I'd see you again."

David winced in pain as he turned to Jeff, but he stood tall, masked his pain, and shook his hand as grownup boys should do. "Jeff, how are you? It's been a long time." Jeff awkwardly shook his hand and replied, "David, I'm fine, but, how did you know we were here? Who told you?"

Maggie interrupted, "Not now, Jeff. Come into the kitchen, David. You must be freezing. Let me get something to clean your arm. I'll get you something to drink. Are you hungry?"

David went with Maggie. "No, I'm okay. It's very cold, though. Do you have a fireplace I could sit by?" Maggie took him into their living room. Jeff put the pistol back in the faux book, and followed behind them.

Maggie grabbed an afghan from their couch and put it around David, and she lit the fireplace. "There, David. You should start getting warm now." David sat there shivering as Jeff walked in the room. "Maggie, we have to find out how he knew to come here. David, how did..."

Maggie interrupted again, her voice choking back sobs. "Jeff, please! Not tonight. He's been through enough already to come out this far. It's bad enough he came all this way in the middle of the night, then you almost killed him! " Jeff argued, "Maggie,it was an accident, but he's gonna be alright. It's just a scratch."

Maggie went into the kitchen and was rummaging through drawers looking for bandages and cotton balls. Jeff followed her in there, and tried to plead with her while her hands were busy opening and closing drawers. "Maggie, he might have been followed here, and we'd all be in great danger if somebody knew we were all here. We have to know!"

Maggie didn't say a word or even give Jeff a passing glance. She came into the living room by the fireplace with Jeff following closely behind. Maggie very carefully cleaned David's wound while Jeff got some more blankets from a small closet at the end of the room.

Maggie wrapped some gauze around David's shoulder and bandaged it tight. She confessed, "David, I'm sorry I couldn't take you to a hospital. We don't have a car, and we live out in the middle of nowhere, but I think you're gonna be alright." She tried to smile and be pleasant. "It's a lot different than when we lived at Collinwood, ya know? Look at you, you're all grown up now."

David suppressed a grin, and reassured her, "It's alright, Maggie. Here, it's...it's not hurting...as much, really." Maggie hugged David tight. "I'm so sorry about what happened to you, but I'm so glad you're here."

Jeff walked up, and tried to be cordial. "I'm...I'm sorry, David. It was an accident, but...what made you come out here? How did you find us? Who told you we were here?"

(Robert Cobert music cue, "Darkness at Collinwood" begins to play)

David reached inside his shirt. "I have something to give you. I hid it in my shirt when I saw that it was going to rain." David pulled out a small, black book. Jeff's eyes grew wide, and he snapped. "Where did you get that, David?! Why are you here?! Tell me now!" Jeff lunged toward David and picked him up and slammed him against the wall. Maggie screamed and tried pulling Jeff away from David, who stood horrified by his sudden outburst.

(Robert Cobert music cue, "Night of the Pentagram" plays)

Jeff's anger could not be subdued. "Who gave you that?! Answer me! Answer me, David!" David struggled against Jeff's hold. "Jeff, you're hurting me! Stop!"

Maggie pulled one of Jeff's arms away, but Jeff shoved her back and she fell to the ground.

David broke free and hurried to her side. He glared at Jeff in disbelief, who was standing there in shock at what he had done. David's eyes turned back to Maggie, who was still on the floor and crying. "Maggie, are you alright?"

Jeff knelt to help her up. "Maggie...I'm sorry, I...",

Maggie's eyes burned as she slapped his arm away. "Don't you touch me! How could you do that to him?! You monster!"

Jeff stammered on his words. "I...In my dream, I...I saw..."

Maggie rose to her feet while David stared at the two of them. "Don't you ever touch me! I'm taking him with me, and we are leaving tonight! You can stay here with all your paintings and your nightmares, but stay away from us! "

David looked sadly at Maggie, "Did I do anything wrong?" Maggie shook her head, "No, you didn't, David. He just overreacted. He's just been under a lot of stress and he's been mad at me, and he took it out on you."

Jeff broke in, "Maggie, I'm not mad at you! I just saw this book in my dream last night before something happened." Maggie ignored what he said, and turned to David. "It's alright, David. What is it? What is this book?"

David hesitated a moment, and looked at them. "I...I just wanted you to have this, Jeff. It has your last name on it. I came back to Collinwood last week and I found this in a cave below Widows Hill. I thought maybe it was yours. I don't know...how to explain it, but...I had a dream about this house. That's how I knew to come here. No one sent me here. It was...", David paused. "...just a dream I had."

(Robert Cobert music cue "Epitaph" plays)

Jeff said, "A dream?"

David nodded, "It's a journal, or maybe a diary of some kind. It's got a name written inside. It says, "Titus Clark". I read some of it, I'm sorry. I promise I didn't read it all, I promise. It's just that I knew I had to bring this to you."

Jeff took the book in his hand and started to open it."I...I can't. I should show this to the doc first. He'll be here tomorrow afternoon. I think...I think we should all try to get some sleep until he comes." Jeff walked out of the room and into his art gallery room and shut the door behind him.

David looked at Maggie, and she said, "Here, David, I'll sleep in the chair, and you can take the couch." David shook his head, and said, "If it's okay with you, I'd rather stay by the fireplace if you don't mind. Please?"

Maggie nodded and sat down in the chair. "Good night, David. I'm sorry about all this." David reassured her, "It's alright, Maggie."

Maggie sat down on the chair, and curled up in a fetal position under a blanket. David knelt by the fire and stared deeply into the crackling flames. The fascination of the dancing flames kept him from thinking about his injury, and the reflection of glowing embers twinkled in his eyes as he sat there the rest of the night without so much as an eye flutter.

From his back pocket, David pulled out a bronze ring with a slightly off-centered six-pointed star in the middle. The ring was about the size of a man's fist and was very heavy. David held it closely toward the fire and stared into the jeweled center which, when held in front of the fire, swirled a dark red color.

Suddenly, he heard a noise behind him and noticed that Maggie was starting to wake up. Without hesitation, David concealed the object into his back pocket.

(I do not own the rights to Dark Shadows. My fanfic is only meant for the enjoyment of readers and all Dark Shadows fans)