Dark Shadows: Risk of Discovery
Chapter 3
1
Barnabas arrived back at the Old House. He reverted to human form just outside the double doors of the mansion. He opened the door and entered. After hanging up his cloak, he went into the drawing room. Julia stood up from the chair she was sitting in near the fire. She had been with Barnabas long enough that she could tell he had something on his mind.
"What is it, Barnabas? You have that look of worry," she said.
"Carolyn and that young man she has been seeing were approached by the vampire. I got there in time to stop whatever it was he was going to do."
"Did you recognize him?" she asked.
The vampire shook his head. "I never saw him. He disappeared before I could get a look at him. I know he was there. As a vampire, I can sense another of my kind. He was there."
"Thank goodness you were there to stop him. He could have killed one or the other, or both. Did you escort them back to Collinwood?"
"Of course I did. At least, I did Carolyn. The hoodlum she is hanging out with became jealous and tried to pick a fight with me."
Julia became alarmed. "Barnabas, you did not harm him, did you?"
The vampire smiled. "You should know me better than that by now. I was able to keep my anger in check. Julia, I do not want to kill. You should know that. I only do it if my existence is in danger. Carolyn's boyfriend presented no threat to me whatsoever. I took her back to Collingwood and convinced her not to go out alone at night until the murderer of the woman at the docks is apprehended. I couldn't tell her that it would be I who would have to destroy him. No one else in Collinsport is equipped to destroy a vampire. Most do not believe in them to begin with."
Barnabas looked around the room. "Where's Willie? He didn't go out, did he?"
"No, he didn't. He seemed awfully tired, so I told him I was sure it would be okay with you if he turned in. He went to bed. Willie said he wanted to be up early to go see Professor Stokes about hunting for the vampire's lair."
"Good. We need to find this man before he kills again. If anyone can locate him during the day, it is definitely Willie and Elliott."
Julia could see that the vampire was not the only concern Barnabas had. She could read him rather well. The look on his face told her there was another problem. "There is something you are not telling me. What is it?"
Barnabas struggled with whether he should tell Julia about his conversation with Elizabeth Stoddard. If he didn't, he would not be able to explain to her why he wanted her to inject him with more serum than normal. "Elizabeth revealed something to me tonight. She asked me to do something for her."
When he hesitated to continue, Julia encouraged him. "What did she tell you?"
"It was told to me in confidence. Julia, I am going to ask you to trust me." He made his decision. He was not going to tell Julia without Elizabeth's permission.
The doctor became suspicious. She had a feeling she wasn't going to like what Barnabas had to say. "That depends. What is it you want me to do on blind faith?"
"While I am sleeping, I need you to inject me with enough serum to allow me to walk in the daylight for several hours. In fact, it will need to last all day."
Shocked by his request, Julia wasn't immediately willing to accept it. "I am afraid I am going to have to know more than that, Barnabas. Giving you that much serum, could be dangerous. You remember what happened the last time you forced me to speed up your treatments."
He did indeed remember. He immediately began aging nearly 200 years. He attacked Carolyn Stoddard in order to reverse the aging. He certainly didn't want anything like that to happen again. It was a dilemma for sure. Elizabeth was family, and she asked him to help her. He had to do so.
"I'm asking you to trust me."
"You know fully well, I trust you. But in order to do as you ask, I need to know why I have to put you at risk. This is not an easy thing for me to do, Barnabas. My heart wants to give you exactly what you want. As a medical doctor, I cannot take a chance with your life. You must understand that. What did Elizabeth tell you and what must you do for her?"
"The one thing I have always done is keep a confidence," the vampire told her. "Elizabeth told me something she would not want anybody else to know. You must understand that."
"All right, I do understand. But I cannot and will not take a chance with your life without knowing why. I am sorry, Barnabas, I simply can't do it. You mean too much to me, too much to the entire family. You are going to have to find another way."
There was a time when Barnabas would just force her to do as he asked. In fact, he did. It resulted in him aging nearly 200 years. He had changed a lot since those days. He didn't like it, but he would respect Julia's decision. He would never consider forcing her to do something against her will. Not anymore. There was another way. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell her. If he did, she would object.
"All right, Julia. I will respect your decision. I will have to find another way." Barnabas left the drawing room and headed toward the double doors of the Old House. As he was putting his cloak back on, Julia entered the foyer.
"Where are you going?" she asked him.
"Out. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Barnabas, we must be completely honest with each other. What exactly are you planning? Julia insisted.
"I'm going to talk to the woman that runs the orphanage."
"At this hour? I don't believe they'll even let you in."
"I will keep knocking until they do. I have to talk to her."
Although Julia had a good idea of what he was going to do, she couldn't accuse him prematurely. With her decision, she knew she put him in this position. She trusted that he wouldn't hurt the woman.
"All right. Do what you have to do."
He smiled and bent down, giving her a quick kiss before leaving the Old House. Julia knew him quite well, and he had no doubt that she knew what he was going to do. Relieved that she wasn't going to try to stop him, he left the Old House.
2
Desandro watched as Barnabas Collins turned into a bat and flew away. He was close enough for Collins to have detected him, but he had not. For some reason, Collins had been distracted. That was all right with Desandro. That left the people in his mansion vulnerable.
He had to make up his mind exactly what he was going to do. Should he knock on the door and announce himself, or just disappear and appear inside Collins's home. Either way, he would be exposing his identity. Surely, the Collinsport vampire knew there was another vampire in town who fed in his territory. By the laws of the Vampire Council, it gave Collins the right to destroy him. If he took the option to knock on the door, he had to come up with a plausible explanation for his appearance in Collinsport. Denying that he was the vampire that attacked and drained the woman of her blood would be necessary. The problem was whether or not Collins would actually believe him. He would have to claim that another vampire was in town. He could offer to help Barnabas Collins find the vampire.
The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea. If he could befriend Collins, he could eventually catch him off guard. It would make it much easier to destroy him. That way, he would not have to go toe to toe with the vampire. Since he wasn't confident that he could defeat Barnabas Collins in a fight, it made much more sense to try to destroy him when he wasn't expecting it.
Desandro made up his mind. He would befriend Collins. Coming out of the shadows, he went up to the double doors of the Collins mansion. He banged the door knockers against the door.
Julia Hoffman was sitting in the drawing room by the fire reading a book. She looked up. Heading toward the doors, she stopped with her hand on the lock. Barnabas was not home. She wasn't going to take any chances. Walking back to the stand next to the staircase, she opened the drawer, and pulled out a chain which held a cross. She put it around her neck.
When she opened the door, a stranger stood there and turned away immediately when he saw the cross.
"Please, I mean you no harm. You must be Dr Julia Hoffman. I understand you are the fiance of the vampire, Barnabas Collins. As you can see, I also suffer from the same affliction. I was wondering if I could see Mr Collins."
Julia didn't want to admit that Barnabas wasn't home, but she didn't see where she had any choice. If she didn't produce him, this vampire would definitely know he wasn't there. "He is out at the moment, but that doesn't mean that I don't know how to protect myself from a vampire."
Still not looking at her, he replied, "I have no doubt that Mr Collins would teach you how to protect yourself. If I were in his place, I would do the same. However, you have nothing to fear from me."
"Oh really? You have endangered Barnabas's very existence by feeding and killing in his territory."
"What? I have done no such thing. I just arrived a little while ago. I don't understand, is there a third vampire in the area? I came here for a reason, and it certainly was not to break the Vampire Council's rules. Do you have any idea when Mr Collins will return. I would be more than happy to leave and come back when he is here. I have no desire to harm you, and I certainly do not want you to think that I was responsible for feeding in Mr Collins territory. I would never do such a thing. I would be more than happy to help him hunt down and destroy this vampire who is breaking the rules. I will leave now, but I will return tomorrow night to speak with Mr Collins. Please let him know that my name is Desandro and that I am not the one who killed a resident in his territory."
"If what you say is true, and you did not attack the woman, what are you doing here in Collinsport?"
"My understanding is that you are working on a cure for vampirism. Like Mr Collins, I deplore what I am. I was hoping that the two of you would help to cure me of this terrible affliction. I give my word that I will not feed in this area. I will go outside of Collinsport, and I will not harm any young lady in the process. So, I will take my leave now. Please tell Mr Collins I will return tomorrow night." He disappeared in front of her.
3
Barnabas arrived at the Orphanage. He hated what he had to do, but he had no choice. He would not let Elizabeth down. She was his family and Barnabas pledged to protect the Collins family. He didn't understand why she didn't tell Victoria that she was her daughter. It would come as a shock to her, but Barnabas was confident Victoria would, if not at first, come to understand why Elizabeth did what she did. It was obvious she loved Victoria Winters. She provided for her all those years. In a way, she hadn't ignored her obligations to her as her mother. Circumstances prevented her from bringing her home to Collinwood.
After turning back to human form, Barnabas knocked on the front door of the orphanage. When it brought no results, the vampire knocked even harder. Still, no one came to answer the door. He resorted to pounding. He had to be careful he didn't break it in two. His vampire strength could certainly do it. He wanted to do this in a manner Julia would approve. After all, if he wanted to be human, he had to act as much as possible like one. Again, his pounding brought no results. Just as he was going to pound again, the door opened.
A woman in her fifties, Barnabas guessed, opened the door. She was short, plump with hair lined with silver, and pulled back in a bun. "Do you realize what time it is, mister."
The vampire turned on the charm, which he had plenty of when he needed it. "My name is Barnabas Collins. I am here on behalf of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard. My apologies for the lateness of the hour, but I am occupied during the day and cannot come at that time. I would like to talk to you about Victoria Winters."
Perturbed by the stranger being there at nearly midnight, she said, "It is not my fault you cannot come during the day, Mr Collins. We do not accept visitors at such a late hour. Besides, I couldn't discuss Miss Winters with you anyway. It would be against confidentiality law. So, if you will excuse me, I must retire for the night. Children get up quite early in the morning. They can zap your energy, so you can understand why I need my rest. You will have to adjust your schedule and return during the daytime." She attempted to close the door.
Barnabas put his hand out and stopped it from closing. "I am afraid I must insist."
With the intention of telling him to leave or she would call the police, she looked into his eyes and attempted to intimidate him. She had no idea that not only would Barnabas Collins not be intimidated, but she just gave him the means in which to turn the table on her. "What is your name?"
She couldn't look away from the stranger. She wanted to ignore his demand for her name and shut the door, but she could not. She just kept staring into his eyes. Before she realized it, she was answering his question. "My name is Molly Foster."
"Miss Foster, please open the door and allow me entrance inside." Barnabas made sure she did not look away from him. Molly Foster opened the door and stepped back, never taking her eyes from his. Barnabas walked past her, continuing to look at her. "Do you have an office where we can speak privately?"
"Yes, right this way." She stepped in front of him and led him to the office. When they arrived, she reached into her pocket and pulled out several keys on a ring. Searching for the correct key, she located it, and placed it in the lock. She turned it and the latch released.
Barnabas pushed the door open. Taking Molly Foster by the arm, he guided her into the office. He never had the confidence he could completely control and individual by his eyes only. Biting them ensured they would do exactly what he wanted them to do. His fangs elongated as he bent down, turning her head to expose her jugular. The vampire sunk his teeth into her neck. In total control, he only took just enough blood to exert control over the governess of the orphanage. Once he did, he guided her behind her desk and said, "Now, we will discuss Victoria Winters. Is that clear?"
Woozy, she answered him with a slightly slurred speech. "Yes, we will discuss Victoria Winters."
"Where is her file?" the vampire demanded.
She pointed to the filing cabinet. "There, under Winters."
He walked over to the cabinet, searched the tabs on each until he came to the appropriate drawer. Barnabas opened it, ran his long slender fingers along the files until he spotted 'Winters, Victoria.' He removed the file, returned to the front of the desk, and sat down, setting the file on the desk.
"What are you?" Molly asked. She didn't know why, but she just wanted to serve this stranger. She would do anything he wanted her to do. She wanted to be with him. He was her master now.
"It doesn't concern you," he said without looking up. The vampire read through the file. All the information Elizabeth had told him was confirmed in writing. She was indeed the mother of Victoria Winters. The father's name meant nothing to Barnabas, and there was no reason it should. He was chained in his coffin at the time Elizabeth had the affair that produced the baby who would become known as Victoria Winters. When he was done, he looked up at Molly Foster. "You intend to tell Victoria that Elizabeth Collins is her mother?"
"Yes, she has the right to know."
"You mustn't tell her," Barnabas instructed.
"Oh, but I must."
"No! You will not tell her! I command you never to tell her without the permission of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard or myself. Is that clear." The vampire made sure she was looking him directly in the eyes.
"I will not tell Victoria without Elizabeth's permission."
"Very good. When Victoria calls on you to find out who her mother is, you will tell her there has been a mistake, that it was another Victoria who also inquired about her biological mother. Is that clear?" Barnabas said.
"I will tell Victoria it was a mistake."
Barnabas got up and went around the desk. Taking the woman's hands, he lifted her to her feet. Making certain he had eye contact with her, he said, "You will not remember I was here, nor will you remember me. You will have no desire to serve me. It will be as if I never visited you other than the instructions I have given you on Victoria and Elizabeth. Do you fully understand?"
"I understand."
"When I leave, you will return to your sleeping quarters."
"Yes, I will return."
Barnabas put the file back in the cabinet, but before doing so, he removed the paperwork that proved Elizabeth's parentage to Victoria. He walked Molly Foster out of the office, locked the door, and handed her the key. When she turned her back on him, he disappeared.
Molly Foster turned and looked at the front door. She stood there for a moment and listened. "That's strange, I could have sworn I heard someone knock on the door. Shaking her head, she turned and headed for her bedroom.
Barnabas Collins flew back to Collinsport. He arrived at the front doors of the Old House, reverted to human form, and unlocked the door. Entering the mansion, the vampire removed his cloak and hung it up. He entered the drawing room. Julia had waited up for him as he expected she would. Barnabas sat down in the opposite chair by the fire.
Julia watched him as he put the fingers of his right hand to those of his left. He lowered his head. "You would not approve of what I did, but I didn't have a choice."
She surmised what the vampire was talking about. "You bit someone."
"Yes, but I didn't harm her. I took only enough blood to control her and give her instructions. I also made sure she would hold no memory of me having been there."
She could see the pain in his eyes. Barnabas was becoming more human every day. He was bothered by what he did. Julia hated being the reason for that pain, but she would not risk Barnabas's life when she had no idea what it was Elizabeth asked him to do. "Then the problem is solved for Elizabeth?"
"Yes, Julia, it is."
"Well, we have another problem."
He looked up. "What problem?"
"I had a visitor while you were gone. A man who called himself Desandro. He didn't give me a last name."
The vampire asked, "What did he want?"
"To see you," she replied.
"About what?"
"Barnabas, the man was a vampire.
"A vampire! How do you know?" he asked, alarmed. Julia could have been in mortal danger, and he wasn't there to protect her.
"He told me so. Before I opened the door, I reached into the drawer of the table by the staircase and put on the chain with the cross. He turned away from it immediately."
"Dear God, Julia, he could have …"
"But he didn't." She explained what he requested of them.
"Then he didn't attempt to harm you?"
"No, he kept his distance. He claimed he is not the vampire who attacked the woman at the docks."
"Did you believe him?"
"I don't know. He seemed sincere. Barnabas, if he was not the vampire who attacked the woman, then it would mean …"
"That there are two vampires in Collinsport." Barnabas answered.
"He wants to help you find the vampire. He is coming back tomorrow night to speak with you."
"Be sure to give Willie a description of this man. Before he and the professor seek the lair of the vampire responsible for killing the woman, I would like you to make a trip to Collinwood. Speak with Carolyn. Find out if it is the same man that approached her tonight."
"Alright, I'll get a description from her. But, you know he could have used his power to stop her from remembering him."
"I don't think so. He disappeared as soon as I approached them. I don't believe he would have had the time to use that method."
"If he is on the level, shall we help him become human? It could be advantageous to use the serum on another vampire."
"Let's find out more about him before we allow him to enter this mansion. I don't like the timing. What are the odds another vampire would show up in Collinsport the same time another attacks and kills a woman on the docks. I don't like it, Julia. We need to learn more about him."
4
The next morning Julia made sure she was up before Willie. After showering and dressing, she went down the staircase and waited in the foyer. Willie's bedroom was off the drawing room. There she would wait until the young man awakened from his slumber.
True to his word, Willie was up and around by 7:00. He came out of his bedroom fully dressed.
"You should have breakfast before you leave, Willie," Julia suggested.
"Uh-ah. Don't have time for that. The professor and I can spend the entire day trying to find the vampire's lair."
"Before you go, you need to know what went on while you were sleeping." Julia proceeded to tell him about their visit from Desandro.
Wide-eyed and excited, Willie exclaimed! "That was the stroke of luck. I don't know why he came and revealed himself, but now we know who he is and what he looks like!"
Shaking her head, Julia disagreed. "We don't know that for sure. He could be exactly who he says he is. If he is, he will be a major asset in destroying the vampire who is feeding in Collinsport."
"Come on, Julia, you can't believe that. It is obvious to me, he came here to taunt Barnabas." Thinking about his vampire friend, Willie began to panic. "How can I possibly leave Barnabas alone today? Every vampire has a servant. What if the servant is going to do exactly what the professor and I are going to do? The only difference is, they know exactly where Barnabas resides."
"He won't be alone. I will be here. I will see to it that nothing happens to Barnabas."
Putting his hands on his hips, Willie tried to think of a way to say what he wanted to without offending Julia. "You would be no match for a vampire servant." There, he said it, realizing he didn't accomplish what he wanted to. He knew Julia would take offense to what he said.
"I know how to protect a vampire. Besides, we have a gun in the house. When you leave, it will be in my possession. I will not leave this drawing room while you are gone. If anybody breaks into the Old House, I will be prepared to deal with them. Now, be on your way." She turned away from him in an attempt to keep her irritation in check.
"I only meant …"
"I know what you meant, Willie, now get moving. I called Professor Stokes after you went to bed. He is expecting you."
Not knowing how to fix the temporary rift he caused between them, Willie apologized and left the Old House.
In back of the Old House, were two trucks. One was the brand new truck Barnabas had purchased for him. The other was the beat up truck Willie had been driving for years. Although he appreciated the gesture Barnabas made by buying him the truck, Willie still preferred his old one. He unlocked it, got in and started the motor. He couldn't help but chuckle when he thought about the comment Barnabas made about him locking his truck. He told him no one would steal the piece of junk in the first place. That was when Barnabas surprised him with a brand new truck. To his dismay, Willie was still driving his piece of junk, as Barnabas described it.
Looking through the back window he confirmed there was a mallet and a stake in the bed of the truck. He wondered if people ever found it strange that he kept those two items in his truck all of the time. Well, he knew. They never knew when they were going to run into a rogue vampire.
He drove down the road 3 miles where Professor Stokes's cottage was located. He pulled the truck up in front of the cottage, shut off the engine, and got out. Walking up to the door, Willie knocked.
The door opened quickly to a smiling Professor Stokes. "Come in, my boy."
Willie stepped inside the cottage. "Where do you think we should check first?"
"There are a lot of empty cottages in the area this time of year. I suggest we check those after we check the caves by Widow's Hill."
"We might as well get started," Willie said.
"Have you had breakfast, my boy?" the professor asked him.
"No time. I want to find the vampire and his threat to Barnabas."
The professor admired Willie's dedication to Barnabas. He knew it wasn't always that way. Barnabas had been extremely cruel to Willie when he first awakened from his coffin after 200 years. The professor was happy to see that Barnabas's humanity had returned. Everything he read about him in Ben Stokes's diary indicated that Barnabas Collins was a very good man. Even being a vampire had not been able to suppress that humanity in him for very long.
"If you won't let me fix your breakfast, then we might as well get started. Did you bring a mallet and stake with you?"
"It's in the truck."
Professor Stokes looked out the window. He could see that Willie drove his old beat up truck. He began to chuckle.
"What's so funny, Professor?"
"I believe Barnabas bought you a brand new truck? Yet, you are still driving your old one."
"I like my truck," Willie said.
Stokes smiled when he thought of what Barnabas's reaction must be about Willie still driving the beat up truck instead of the new one he purchased.
They stepped outside, the professor locked his cottage door, and they got into Willie's truck. He started it up, and headed down the road.
"There are cottages about a half a mile from here that are not occupied right now," the professor informed him.
"That's where we will start then." Willie headed for those cottages.
5
Victoria Winters woke up early in the morning. She didn't sleep very well the night before. Today was the day she had been waiting for for a long time. Today, she would find out who her mother was.
Victoria grew up in an orphanage. She was never adopted. Every day of her life there, she waited for a family to choose her. No one ever did. Unfortunately, Collinsport was not a very big town. Other than the Collins family, it also wasn't a very wealthy one.
When Victoria became of age, they allowed her to work at the orphanage as she had nowhere to go. After a few years, she wanted to strike out on her own. After placing ads at different places, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard invited her for an interview. She must have liked what she had seen in Victoria as she hired her almost immediately if she would pass the approval of Roger Collins, David Collins's father. She found him to be gruff and a bit stiff, but after working for the Collins family for a time, she found she liked Roger despite his demeanor.
Victoria enjoyed working for the Collins family. Yet, her yearning for finding out her heritage never waned. She needed to know who her mother was and understand why she abandoned her. There had to be a reason.
Victoria got dressed and headed for the kitchen. There, Mrs Johnson already had her breakfast on the table. "Good morning, Miss Winters. I hope bacon and eggs are all right with you."
Victoria smiled. "Anything you fix is fine with me." She really didn't want anything to eat. All she wanted to do was get on the road in head for the orphanage. Anyway, her stomach was full of butterflies. This was the moment she had been anticipating all of her life. Regardless, she wouldn't disappoint Mrs Johnson.
Victoria sat down and ate her breakfast despite not having an appetite at all. When she was finished, she thanked Mrs Johnson and left the kitchen. She headed for the double doors of the Old House. The doors leading into the drawing room were open. Mrs Stoddard was sitting on the Davenport. When she saw Victoria, she came into the foyer to greet her.
"I take it you are headed for the orphanage," Mrs Stoddard said, knowing fully well she was. She felt guilty, knowing Victoria would learn nothing through her visit. At least, she hoped Barnabas was able to talk the governess of the orphanage into not telling Victoria Elizabeth was her mother. She could tell the night before that Barnabas did not agree with her decision. Despite not agreeing, Elizabeth knew that Barnabas would respect her wishes and do as she asked.
"Yes, Mrs Stoddard. I am excited and apprehensive at the same time. I do want you to know that no matter what I find out, it will not change my position here at Collinwood as long as you want me to stay."
"Of course I want you to stay." She smiled at Victoria hoping she could not read her real feelings.
"Well, I better get going. I have an appointment with Molly Foster." Victoria put on her coat. She accepted a hug from Mrs Stoddard and left the Great House.
Victoria received permission from Roger the previous night to borrow his car and drive into Bangor. The servants already had the car available for her trip into town. David Collins's governess opened the door, and got in behind the wheel. It had been some time since she had driven a car. Being David's governess was nearly a 24-hour job since the young man could be both devious and adventurous, causing Victoria to keep a very close eye on him.
Victoria familiarized herself with Rogers' vehicle, started it up, and headed for Bangor.