Barnabas awoke with a start, his body riddled in pain as he sat up quickly...
"Where....??", he thought.
Barnabas looked around. He was in a bedroom. But where?
"You almost didn't make it", a female voice came from across the room.
Barnabas followed the sound of the voice and saw a young lady with red hair and a white jacket standing in the doorway.
"Julia?", he spoke.
"No, the name is Stokes. Lynn Stokes. And you are Barnabas Collins, obviously?"
"Yes", Barnabas replied. "Stokes? Are you related to Professor Stokes?"
"He's my father", Lynn replied. "And he's the reason I came here to meet you."
"Meet me?", Barnabas asked.
"Yes. I found you on the trail by sheer luck, but I was on my way to Collinwood anyhow. My father has learned of your resurrection. Don't look so shocked. He's told me everything about you. And though he's getting on in years, he wanted to see you, talk to you once more."
"Perhaps it was more than luck", Barnabas asked. "Karma works in mysterious ways. You have my thanks."
"But what happened? When I found you, you were... dead. Your body was cold and stiff. I called my father on my cell phone and he said to get you out of the sun and into shelter immediately. I had passed this abandoned house on the way down the trail and remembered about your curse.... and dragged your body here. I had to pick the lock, but I managed to get you inside."
"By yourself? That must not have been an easy task."
"I managed. And I put you in here in this bedroom and waited for you to recover."
"We're in the small house by the edge of the old cementary, aren't we?"
"Yes", said Lynn.
"This was a caretakers house before being abandoned. I know that Elizabeth has been renting it out in recent years, but it's empty now", Barnabas thought. "Your father, how is he?"
"He's quite well, thank you. And very interested in seeing you again. He has concerns about a serum", Lynn replied.
"The serum. The one that allows me to venture forth into the daylight and live as a person?"
"I suppose. He didn't elaborate. But he's heard talk of your return and how you were living a relatively normal life. He is aware that your employee.."
"Willie", said Barnabas.
"Willie", Lynn continued, "had picked up the contents of Dr. Hoffman's safety deposit box with a diary and serum in it. Dad is worried that the effects might not be all that Dr. Hoffman had thought or hoped. And it seems that he was correct."
"Yes, it does. I was fine and walking home in the sunlight and suddenly, I was burning and in pain... I could feel the heat, the darkness..."
"You must come with me at once to my father. He was afraid something like this must happen. Please, come with me."
"I will. I must.", Barnabas said. Then suddenly, "What time is it?"
"Just a few minutes after dusk", Lynn answered. "Why?"
"We must go first to the old house. Willie must be worried and I was supposed to be at Collinwood tonight as well."
"But my father... "
"Come with me. This won't take long. I just need to check in and we shall be on our way to meet your father."
Barnabas headed towards the doorway and the young lady, Lynn, quickly followed behind him.
***
Willie was estatic to see Barnabas as he entered the old house.
"Barnabas? Where have you been? I've been looking for you all over. I was upset. Are you OK?"
"I'm fine, Willie. Calm down. I had an incident and luckily, this young lady... "
Barnabas motioned towards Lynn Stokes, who was standing in the doorway, a presence Willie had failed to notice in his excitement.
"Hi", she said.
Barnabas continued, "This young lady found me and saved me. This is Professor Stokes daughter, Lynn."
"But what happened, Barnabas? Where were you?", Willie asked.
"The serum failed and I was caught in the sunlight", Barnabas said.
"Oh no", said Willie. "That's not good. Are you OK, Barnabas?"
"I'm fine Willie. Luckily, Miss Stokes found me and dragged me to shelter until I could recover."
"Thanks, ma'am", said Willie.
"So now, I have to go meet Professor Stokes and see if we can determine what is wrong with the serum and why it quit working."
"Oh man, Elizabeth is going to be so upset to hear this", Willie said quietly.
"No Willie", Barnabas said sharply. "No one is know that the serum has failed."
"But Barnabas", Willie started to say.
Barnabas turned quickly and looked Willie in the eyes and said very bluntly, "No one!"
Willie backed away.
"Ok Barnabas. If that's what you want. But Miss Elizabeth called about dinner tonight. She wants you to call her."
"Call her back Willie. Make some kind of excuse for me, that I'm under the weather or something. I'll go by Collinwood tomorrow night and visit, but for now, Professor Stokes must take priority."
"All right Barnabas", Willie said. "I'll call her and make an excuse. But she's not going to be happy."
"That can't be avoided", Barnabas said. "I can't have the family know that Julia's serum has failed me. I can't lose them... again."
"We should probably get going", Lynn Stokes said quietly. "My father is waiting."
"Fine", Barnabas said. "Let me get Julia's diary and notes and we'll be on our way."
"Be careful Barnabas.. and good luck", said Willie.
"Thank you Willie", said Barnabas. "And now, Miss Stokes, shall we be on our way?".
Barnabas and Lynn Stokes leave the house as Willie goes to the phone to call Elizabeth.
***
Lisa hung up the phone in the foyer of Collinwood and turned to Elizabeth.
"That was Willie. He and Barnabas won't be able to come to dinner tonight."
"Oh my", said Elizabeth. "Did he say why?"
"Willie was rambling.. something about Barnabas being under the weather. I couldn't quite understand it all."
"I didn't think Barnabas could get sick. He seemed fine this morning."
"Do you think Willie was hiding something? He seemed awfully nervous on the phone."
"I don't know. I hope not. But if Barnabas is unable to attend our dinner, he must have a good reason and we'll have to trust him", said Elizabeth.
"I guess", Lisa said. "But I've got a feeling that something is wrong. Maybe it's just my nerves about the show next week, but I don't know."
"I'm sure that's it. If Barnabas or Willie need us, they'll let us know", said Elizabeth reassuringly.
The two women stood there in silence for a moment and then the phone rang again, echoing throughout the house.
"Hello", Elizabeth said as she picked up the phone. "Oh Vickie, it's so good to hear from you."
A few minutes later, Elizabeth hung up the telephone and turned to Lisa, who was still standing there.
"That was Vickie", said Elizabeth.
"How's she doing?", Lisa asked.
"Not well, it seems. She seems to have had a preminition, a bad feeling of some type, and is on her way back to Collinwood. She, along with her sister-in-law, Linda, will be here in a few hours."
"Something bad about Barnabas?", Lisa asked.
"She didn't elaborate", Elizabeth said. "But I fear so."
"I'll go prepare her room and a room for Linda too", Lisa said. "Are you all right, Liz?"
"I'm fine", Elizabeth said. "Please do go prepare the rooms for Vickie and her sister-in-law. I want to be alone for a while. I have to think."
Lisa gave a nod and walked off as Elizabeth watched her leave. And she walked into the great hall of Collinwood and gazed at an old picture. The picture of the original Barnabas Collins..
"... the only Barnabas Collins", she corrected herself. And Elizabeth stood there and stared at the picture as her mind raced, "What was going on? What was going to happen next? And will the family be able to survive?"
TBC.......
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