**A-N: This chapter has a brief summary of Titus Clark's journal, detailing the events prior to both films and tying them together. If you would like to read the entire remnants of the journal, see previous three-chapter story, "Dark Shadows: The Diary of Titus Clark". Also, all music cues written in all chapters are available for listen on youtube**

ACT VI

Maggie cupped her hands over her mouth, and her eyes widened as she shook her head. Jeff's eyes squinted in disbelief as he stared down Dr Guthrie. "Doc, what is this? Some kind of trick? Why do we have to go back?!"

Dr Guthrie sighed heavily, "Jeff, there isn't time to explain...I can't expect you to come with me, but...I can't go alone to do what needs to be done. This is all just so...so urgent. It's a matter of life and death. You and Maggie will never be safe again if I don't go. Not here, not anywhere."

"Wait a minute! Now I think it's time you start explaining things before you go on any further!" Jeff demanded. Shaking his head, Dr Guthrie objected, "Jeff, please, I...there isn't enough time. Every moment we stand here arguing, time is running out."

Maggie placed her hand on David's shoulder, and stood beside Jeff. She didn't shout, but her tone was certain. "We're staying right here. We're not going back there. You promised we'd never have to. I won't go! I won't!" Maggie turned and started to go upstairs. Dr Guthrie called to her, "Maggie...please...I'll, I'll try to hurry and explain it all the best I can. Come with me into the living room. This won't take long. Just hear me out, and I will let you decide what you wish to do."

Maggie stood still, and Jeff went to the staircase, placing his arms around her. "Maggie? Honey, let's...let's go in there." Her voice reduced to a whisper, Maggie's words were broken with thick sobs. "No...I...don't...care...what he...he...says...we...c-can't...go...we...can't..."

Jeff held her close and quietly rocked her from side to side, pressing his cheek against hers. "It's okay, we don't have to go back. Let's just listen to him, okay? We can do that. That's all we have to do. Just listen." Jeff kept his arms around her, and he walked her into the living room to a chair. David was already standing there, looking puzzled. Maggie sat beside Jeff, her face leaned against his shoulder. Her hands were gripped tightly around a pillow as Jeff had one arm around her and the other on his knee.

"I'm terribly sorry to have upset you all like this. You know if anyone has wanted to protect you all this time, it's been me. But what's in this diary...didn't arrive to us by coincidence." Dr Guthrie turned to David and asked, "David, you said it was a dream that led you here?"

David nodded. "Yes, I dreamed about it, but I never opened it. I...don't really remember the dream, but I remember knowing that I had to come here."

Staring at David in bewilderment, then looking down at the book, Dr Guthrie began to explain. "This book is a journal of a man I believe to be one of many disciples that belonged to a coven of witches who followed a powerful warlock named Judah Zachary. This book was written by a young man who called himself Judah's beloved disciple. He shares the last name as you, Jeff. Do you recall ever doing any type of research on your family tree and coming across a man named Titus? This was written at the end of the eighteenth century to the beginning of the nineteenth."

Jeff looked down in thought, then looked up at Dr Guthrie. "I did something in school a long time ago, but I only went back to my great grandfather. He was born about a hundred years ago, but he died before he was forty. I never bothered to track any further or any of my aunts or uncles. Why? Do you think he was one of my ancestors, Doc?"

Dr Guthrie nodded, "It's quite possible. Maybe that's what led David here to you, but that's not important right now. I've read about this warlock, Judah Zachary, during my time at the university. He was a very powerful occult leader, and rumored to have been a master of black magic and witchcraft. Many believed him to be the Biblically-prophesied Antichrist. From what I remember, so did he. He was infamous for his witchcraft, murder, and pagan rituals. The fragments of this diary document the last accounts of Judah's life before he was convicted and beheaded for witchcraft in 1797."

He continued, "According to this, Joshua Collins was the head of the tribunal that convicted Judah. As an act of revenge, his followers cast a spell that night that he was convicted and sentenced. They convened in their hidden sanctuary below Widows Hill and summoned a familiar to bring a curse upon Joshua's firstborn son...Barnabas Collins."

Maggie gasped, and her hands cupped over her mouth. She exclaimed, "Barnabas? Barnabas?!"

Jeff held her tight, trying to calm her. "Shhhh...it's okay, Maggie." Maggie ignored Jeff and leaned up in her chair. "Did this man...he put the curse on Barnabas? He did this?"

Dr Guthrie responded, "Maggie, he was one of many. Judah had a close group he called his disciples, much like these cult leaders you see these days, only they practiced real acts of witchcraft. The night that Judah died, his followers stole his body from the church that it was being held in. They were going to anoint his body with holy water before cremating his remains, as they felt that this was the only way to keep a warlock from returning. They kept his body in its coffin, and placed a ritual mask on his face. It was a mask that was supposed to have once belonged to Lucifer himself-the Mask of Baal. It would keep the wearer's body from natural decay, perfectly preserving it to be ageless and verile for all time."

Opening the tattered book toward the end, Dr Guthrie explained as he glanced at the pages. "This book tells of one of Judah's followers that married into the Collins family- a beautiful blonde-haired woman named Angelique. She was once Judah's mistress while he was alive. The disciples of Judah awaited his prophesied resurrection, and Angelique secretly married into the Collins family to tear the family apart and prepare the house for Judah's triumphant return. That day never came, however, as she fell in love with her husband Gabriel's brother, Charles Collins. Soon after their affair was exposed, she was put to death as a witch there on the grounds of Collinwood. Her lover, Charles, was buried alive in her crypt after she was interred below the house."

Jeff interrupted, "Wait, did you say a...a blonde woman, Doc? She could have been the woman I saw burning in my dream! That...that old man! He could have been Charles Collins! I knew they meant something!" Jeff stood and began pacing, talking aloud to himself. "Those eyes I saw...those eyes in the portrait-they were black eyes. Very evil, very powerful. Judah...Judah Zachary's?" (*)

Dr Guthrie sighed and shook his head. "That's right, Jeff. I'm sure that what you saw was a vision of Judah taking his revenge for Angelique's unfaithfulness. Now there was an incident involving another member of the Collins family that lived there after I brought you here. A young man named Quentin and his new wife, Tracy. It was said that a a beautiful woman in white haunted that house, trying to bring back herself and her lover. The locals said that Quentin went mad there and murdered his wife. Anytime that someone went inside to see, no trace of anyone could be found."

Jeff stood in front of Dr Guthrie. "Judah knows...Judah knows what happened. I bet he's going to destroy them."

David interrupted. "Maybe he already has."

Maggie, Jeff, and Dr Guthrie all stared at David, then Dr Guthrie spoke. "If that's true, David, the situation is much worse than I feared."

Puzzled, Jeff asked, "What do you mean? How can this be worse?"

Dr Guthrie replied, "In the last pages, the disciple Titus Clark told of his final spell that he was casting in his dying moment. For years, he kept and guarded Judah's body, waiting each day for his master to return as he had promised."

Dr Guthrie held the book open, "Titus describes a fever that he had been afflicted with. Some kind of terminal malady. Quite possibly malaria, small pox, or something like that. Anyway, he sacrificed his own life force to resurrect Judah Zachary. He knew alone that his power was not enough to summon him back, so he used numerology as an incantation to cast his spell."

Maggie looked up, her cheeks were red and her skin nearly raw from crying, "Numerology? What do you mean? I don't understand."

Dr Guthrie looked at her, and removed his glasses and wiped the perspiration from his brow, then put them back on. "Sometimes witches and warlocks would use numbers as a means to enhance the casting of their spells. They believed that numbers carried with them a special key that unlocked secret powers of black magic. In this, Titus Clark uses the number nine as his incantation. The ninth digit is supposed to be a number of influence that increases control and power of a cast spell exponentially. Also, he mentioned the premise of the powers that the full moon of Samhain carries with it."

Dr Guthrie began pacing nervously as he concluded the details, "All falsehoods and legends aside, a full moon of Samhain is rumored to open a gate between the natural world and the supernatural. Those whose energies are powerful enough such as demons, evil and restless spirits, even mourning and weeping spirits try to pass through this void, hoping to manifest themselves in some way or form. The Samhain holiday was a bloody and ritualistic event that was marked by human and animal sacrifices by many cults such as Judah Zachary's, as they summoned many demons and evil spirits into this world to help them achieve greater powers."

David's eyes were glowing in fascination as Dr Guthrie told the story with such assurance and urgency. "Every nineteen years, the full moon of Samhain shines on the earth. Titus cast his spell in such a way that no mistake could be made in resurrecting Judah Zachary at full power. Using the ninth digit as a means of power and control, his spell was that Judah would arise on the ninth full moon of Samhain after his death. By that reckoning, this year, 1974, is the year of that phenomenon. The holiday of Samhain lasts from the eve of the last day of October until the dawn of the first day of November."

Jeff stared in disbelief and shock. "Tonight?"

Dr Guthrie repeated him. "Yes, tonight. The moon has already begun to rise, and this time of year, the sun sets much earlier. According to Titus' own words, he buried Judah's coffin on the grounds of Collinwood before casting his spell so that Judah could claim the house of the one who convicted him as his own. I believe with all of my heart that Judah's body is still buried in the earth below Collinwood, and his body is perfectly preserved with this Mask of Baal. That is why we must hurry to Collinwood now. If we leave now, it will be early evening, and maybe we can stop him from returning before the darkness of night covers Collinwood, leaving the gate wide open for Judah's spirit to be reunited with his body. His powers were recorded as the most evil and vicious in history, and his crimes of murder and witchcraft were among the most horrendous ever written in history. God only knows what powers he could bring with him if he returned."

David asked, "What are you planning to do?"

Dr Guthrie answered, "My plan is to find Judah's body, anoint it with holy water, and burn it to ashes-just like it was supposed to have been done many years ago. As you can imagine, time is of the essence and a luxury we don't have. That's why I need someone to come with me to help me search for, exhume, and burn the body. I'm afraid that, with my best efforts, I wouldn't be able to do it all before the full moon rises."

David quickly volunteered. "I'll go with you, Doctor."

Maggie shook her head, and objected. "No, David! It's too dangerous for you. You're staying right here until he comes back."

David fervently stood his ground. "Maggie, you can't make me stay. I'm grown now. I'm not a little kid anymore. I have to go with him. I won't stay here and let this happen to us. I want to help, and I'm going to."

Maggie pleaded with Dr Guthrie, "Surely you can't take him, Dr Guthrie! He's only a boy! Please tell him he has to stay here where it's safe. This isn't his burden to bear!"

Dr Guthrie tucked the book in his inside pocket, and put his hand on David's shoulder. "I'll leave you both to discuss what you want to do. I am going to be outside gathering supplies from the back of the car. I'll give you five minutes to discuss what you are going to do, then I will have no choice but to go with you or alone. Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not forcing you to agree, and it's perfectly understandable if you don't. I have no hard feelings if you refuse, and this will in no way affect my caring for you both and doing all I can to protect you. Now, if you'll excuse me, we have to start getting ready to go."

As the two walked out the door, Jeff looked at Maggie, who was staring at the wall where a porcelain crucifix was neatly fixed. Jeff mentioned Maggie's name, but she didn't answer. She only stared at the man hanging on the cross.

Jeff stood in silence, and then Maggie turned away from the cross, staring deeply into Jeff's eyes. They knew they had to make a decision, and neither choice would be easy. Raw were the emotional wounds and scars that they still carried from their ordeal four years ago. Seconds felt like hours as they stood there in awkward silence as the memories and terror suddenly re-surfaced all at once.

Maggie broke the silence and went to the front door. There David sat in the front passenger seat of the station wagon, and Dr Guthrie was arranging items in the back of the vehicle . "Doctor, wait. The book mentioned Barnabas Collins and the curse that was put on him. Did it say that the curse could end, and that he could be stopped?"

Quickly following behind her, Jeff interrupted. "Maggie, I killed him! There's no possible way that..."

Maggie's voice clamored above his. "Jeff, please!" She turned to Dr Guthrie. "I want...I need to hear it from you, Doctor. Did we kill..." she paused, terrified to speak his name. "...Barnabas Collins?"

Dr Guthrie's face grew careworn and pale, and he sighed with deep heaviness. "I...I can't say for sure, but, according to the journal, there was only one way to break the curse of Barnabas. Our only hope is that, if he is still existing at night, we make it to Collinwood before the sun sets. Either way, each second we waste is precious time. If we can't accomplish the ritual before the sun sets and the full moon rises, vampire or not, we are all as good as dead."

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

(*) See chapter 1 for Jeff's dream.