ACT VII
-music cue "The Secret Room" by Robert Cobert-
Maggie held tightly onto Jeff, and he pulled her close to him. They stared deeply into each other's eyes without saying a word. Maggie's eyes were pleading to stay. Jeff's eyes reflected how frightened he was, and how he wanted to stay where they both felt was safe.
As they stared at each other for a moment in silence, the realization of what had to be done set in. As they embrace one last time, Jeff's left arm wrapped around Maggie's shoulder, and her right arm slid around his waist. They grasped each other's free hands tightly, turning and walking slowly down the creaky wooden porch steps toward the vehicle.
Surprised by their sudden strength and resolve that they found in each other, Dr Guthrie held the back door open for them to sit inside the station wagon. David was sitting in the front passenger seat, and stared at Maggie and Jeff as they sat down, neither of them saying a word. They held onto each other exactly the way they had come down the steps-one arm around each other, their hands tightly interlocked.
With a loud ring of the engine, the vehicle sputtered to life. Maggie and Jeff watched their safe house growing smaller and smaller as the station wagon rocked them from side-to-side over the dirt road. Dr Guthrie adjusted the ring on his hand before it went towards the gear shift, and David began to back up against the door as if suddenly he had been frightened.
Dr Guthrie glanced over at the boy, puzzled by his sudden strange behavior.
"David, what's wrong with you? Are you alright?" he asked.
David said, "I...I feel really weak. I'm going to sit back there with them."
Dr Guthrie sighed, "David, there's no time to stop. We're running behind as it..."
David raised his voice. "I said I don't like sitting up here with you! I want to be back there with them."
Dr Guthrie was in no mood to argue, as he had enough weighing on his mind. He leaned his head back toward Jeff and Maggie and asked, "Do you all mind?"
Maggie, who was sitting on the passenger side, told David to come and sit beside her. Dr Guthrie pulled off and waited for David to find the door handle and get out. She opened her door from the inside, and David sat beside her. His face was pale, and he felt very weak.
"Are you okay, David? What's wrong?" Jeff asked as the vehicle shifted back onto the road.
"I just...I just feel better being back here with you...and away from him." he replied in a melancholy tone, looking down at the floor. Maggie let go of Jeff's hand and put her arm around David, pulling him close to her. All three in the back seat held on tightly to each other, and Dr Guthrie sighed as his eyes focused on the road, his mind deeply in thought.
-no audio is heard as the music cue "Opening Theme: Night of Dark Shadows" by Robert Cobert begins to play-
(sequences of overhead views of the station wagon driving on the road, and the sun reflects on top of the vehicle. The time of day is early evening, and the sun looms overhead as it begins moving downward toward the horizon.)
(As the music plays, Dr Guthrie's face is solemn, and his facial features show that he is fully concentrated and filled with confidence and determination. The camera pans back to Jeff as he looks out the window and sees a fork in the road. Overhead, a direction sign leading them toward the town of Collinsport can be seen. Jeff's eyes avert toward Maggie, who is staring at the horizon. Maggie leans as closely to the window as she can, and she and David look out at the horizon as the sun barely hangs over the horizon)
-The music volume peaks at this moment-
(a closeup is shown of Maggie staring out the window, her eyes filled with fear and hopelessness as she stares toward the horizon. She closes her eyes, and a tear streams slowly down her cheek, and she lowers her head)
-music begins to fade, as does the soft-fading sequences of driving shots-
(from the view of the backseat, we see they are driving on a straight stretch surrounded by trees on both sides on the same road where Jeff found Daphne Budd's body, the first victim of Barnabas Collins four years ago)
Suddenly, Dr Guthrie's eyes widened as he swerved to the left to dodge a tall, stocky-framed man that lunges toward the car. The man was flailing his arms and running toward the station wagon as it screeched to a sudden stop only inches away from a ditch. Maggie screamed as the man ran toward them. Dr Guthrie reached inside the glove box and removed a handgun. As soon as the door opened, the pistol was pointed at the large man, and Dr Guthrie pulled back the hammer. "Wait! Don't come any closer. I don't want to use..."
The young man's eyes were rabid, and his breathing was rapid and panicked. His arms went straight into the air. "Mister, I'm no trouble. Please, you can't go any further. Somethin' evil is in that house! I...I can't let you go any closer. An evil force has taken over that big house!"
Dr Guthrie sensed that, despite his initial impression, this man meant no harm. As he lowered his handgun, he walked toward this stranger. The stranger stood taller than six feet and had short dark hair. His voice was very deep, and his overalls were stained with mud and dirt.
"Just calm down, sir, calm down. What's your name?" asked Dr Guthrie as he placed his hand on the man's shoulder, trying to calm him down. The man only stared at Dr Guthrie, almost as if he could snap at any moment. Jeff began to open the door, but Dr Guthrie held his hand back, motioning for Jeff to get back inside.
He hesitated, but after Jeff sat back inside and shut the door, the stranger's posture relaxed. Turning toward Dr Guthrie, he spoke, "My name is Adam. I've been the groundskeeper for the Collins estate for three years. I...I've seen and heard many things at that house, but the spirits there don't bother me none. I just go 'bout my business, and just stay away when they want me to...but last night..."
His face and posture grew tight with tension.
Dr Guthrie, not wanting to waste time nor provoke Adam to hostility, tried to put him at ease, but still get to the heart of the matter. "Adam, please. I'm a doctor, and I'm an expert on paranormal phenomena. I'm on my way to Collinwood to prevent a disaster from happening. I believe you, and I know something isn't right there. I am on my way there to stop it. Please, you must tell me what you saw. Anything at all could be very helpful."
Adam stared down at Dr Guthrie and moved toward him. Trying to not back away and show fear, he stood in place while Adam now was standing toe-to-toe with him. "Fire...I saw a fire in the tower! I heard a woman scream! There was fire burnin' all through the gallery. I dropped what I was doin' and ran inside, but I never saw nothin'. I opened the gallery door, and there was no fire, but...these eyes...these eyes were staring at me." Adam's fingers gripped his hair, and he stepped back. "Eyes in the portrait...evil, black eyes...they were starin' at me. I ran downstairs, and I ain't goin' back! I been runnin' ever since!"
Dr Guthrie felt a knot in his stomach, and he looked at Jeff, Maggie, and David. "It's already happened...the dream was real. I've got to go there immediately."
Dr Guthrie turned away to jump back inside, but Adam grabbed his arm, and his eyes and tone were fierce and commanding. "NO! You can't go there! Mister, you'll all die!I won't let you go, I can't let you!"
"Let go of me, Adam. I appreciate what you're trying to do, but we have to go!" Dr Guthrie shouted as he broke loose. Adam pulled a box knife from his pocket, and the blade extended.
"No! I won't let..." he paused, and looked at David through the window. "Wait! You're that kid I saw at the house last night! You ran away! What were you doing there?! Who are you?! I told you that you couldn't get away from me!"
-music cue "The Chase" by Robert Cobert-
Maggie screamed as Adam pulled the handle furiously and tried to open the locked door. As Dr Guthrie climbed in and started the motor, he pressed the gas all the way to the floor. The tires screeched as the station wagon backed out of the ditch, and the sudden force of the vehicle knocked Adam down to the ground. With the grinding sound of the gears being shifted, the vehicle quickly sped off, shaking and rocking as Dr Guthrie swerved to dodge fallen tree branches that were scattered across the road.
Adam held his side, and began to run after them, but he quickly realized that all hope of catching them was lost. David, Maggie, and Jeff watched Adam screaming and staring at them as they continued forward.
Dr Guthrie kept his eyes on the road, and his foot never let off of the gas pedal. Knowing that his old station wagon was being pushed to its limits, he continued forward. There was no time to waste.
Up ahead, the gates of Collinwood could be seen, and Dr Guthrie pressed the gas even harder. "Hang on! Everybody hold tight!"
-music cue hits peak volume-
Maggie screamed and Jeff reached across Maggie to hold onto her as they braced for the impact. Dr Guthrie's knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel and pushed back against his seat. With a loud crash, the gates of Collinwood flew open from the force of the vehicle, and the station wagon spun out of control onto the grounds.
Dr Guthrie fought to regain control of the wheel, and everyone inside was screaming out. With repeated sputtering, the overworked engine stalled and died as the vehicle rolled forward onto the grounds.
-music fades and stops-
With smoke pouring out from under the hood, the station wagon came to a complete stop. Dr Guthrie, Maggie, Jeff, and David quickly opened the doors and jumped out. They stood facing the vehicle and looked at the damage. "Well, Doc, it looks like you've managed to sabotage our only way outta this God-forsaken place! What were you thinking?!", Jeff shouted.
Dr Guthrie quickly fired back. "We don't have time to argue. I saw the gates were locked, and there was no way to open them. Why, did you have a key, Jeff?"
Jeff's eyes burned with anger, and his face grew red and thick with perspiration. He looked away toward the house. "Now we have to walk the rest of the way!"
"Exactly. We would've had to had I not done that. That was our only hope to try to get in without having to walk, so I had to make a decision. I'm sorry there was no time to discuss it and debate it with you, Jeff, but I did what I had to do." Dr Guthrie retorted.
Maggie held onto David, and pleaded with the two men. "Please, do you have to fight? We don't have much time left before the sun sets. What are we going to do?"
The four of them turned around, and the sun was nearly resting on the horizon.
"There's nothing we can do but hurry. Jeff, let's grab the two bags inside the back. We have less than thirty minutes before the sun is completely gone, and the full moon of Samhain will rise. I've got all of the necessary tools we'll need. Help me get them, and we'll start walking as quickly as we can to the house."
As the men walked around to the back of the station wagon, Maggie stared at Collinwood in the distance, and her fists clenched over her mouth. Taking a deep breath, she looked at David, "Are you okay, David?"
David nodded, but his eyes never broke away from staring in awe of the great house.
-music cue "A Darkness at Collinwood" by Robert Cobert-
(the scene fades, and a closeup of Collinwood is seen. The camera zooms out slowly to the hill in front of the house, where only the silhouettes of the four of them standing are visible. They are standing on the exact spot that Barnabas stood in HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS before walking toward Collinwood)
(They pause and stare for a moment, then begin walking toward the mansion)
**I do not own the rights to DARK SHADOWS. My fanfic is meant for the enjoyment of the reader**