| Episodes You've Never Seen-DS Fiction by Kara Peterson | |||||||||||||||||
| Many Thanks From Cousin Roger - Barnabas and Julia lie their way out of yet another bind. Humor | Unspoken Words - Willie and Maggie?? | ||||||||||||||||
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"Coming, Julia?" "Of course, Barnabas. You should know by now that I'm your pet." "Yesss," Barnabas hissed, picking up his cane and cape in one smooth move and making for the front door of the Old House. He wondered idly what would be going on at Collinwood, and if there might be any females there for him to seduce. There was no way he was going to get out of dragging Julia along with him. There were no experiments for him to impose on her. He had already used the "Wynncliffe called and your favorite patient had a psychological breakthrough" excuse this month, so she was not likely to fall for it for at least another year. Not even the rhinestone cat collar he had bought her for Christmas had driven the point home. She now wore this for an anklet. "B.B.B.B.Barnabas," Julia stammered as they hurried down the forest path together. "I have something to tell you. It's not important...well, perhaps it is...I don't know if you'll agree...or maybe you will...I.I.I.I.well, in any case..." "What is it, Julia!?" Barnabas snarled. His mind was on Collinwood and what lies he might concoct this fine evening for Elizabeth and Roger. "I've been thinking," Julia went on. "Nothing interesting has happened in Collinsport for a long time. Sometimes I miss it all so much. Time traveling. Thwarting the plans of leviathans, witches, demons, and ghosts. Now all we do is sit around and macrame."Barnabas cleared his throat pointedly. "Are you insinuating, Julia, that there is something wrong with my interest in knitting?" "Of course not. I just mean that we ought to get our hands dirty. Your potholders are very nice, Barnabas. You're very talented."He raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"Suddenly and without warning, Julia whacked Barnabas with her medical bag. "Oh, it's terrible, Barnabas! You look so ridiculous, a vampire sitting around knitting potholders! It's embarrassing! Can't you find anything else to do? Let's go kidnap some young girl or play with I-Ching wands."But by that time they had arrived at Collinwood. A werewolf brushed past them on the way in, waving hello. "Well," Roger said, "what is it that you want?" He walked over to the convenient Brandy dispenser Elizabeth had just installed, and refilled his snifter repeatedly as he spoke. Tonight he wore his favorite suit, a green checked plaid with bright orange tie to set off its colors. Barnabas looked around the room hopefully, but found only his cousin to flirt with this evening. It was much to his dismay. "I've come to pay a visit..." "On your lovely, hospitable Cousin Elizabeth. Yes, yes, I know. She is not here, Barnabas. But while you're here you might answer me a question, man."Barnabas sat on the sofa and crossed his legs, while Julia hurried to his side and began to bat her eyelashes sideways at him. "Brandy?" Roger offered. "Thank you, Sherry," Barnabas answered seriously. Roger advanced to the cabinet and pulled out his four gallon jug of Sherry, then plopped it on the counter and began filling a glass for Barnabas. "Well, now. Here is my question. Is something...unusual going on? For the past three years I have had the feeling that something was not quite right around here. Of course, then I realized that I'm a sane, intelligent person not given to such nonsense, and that if anything were afoot, you would most certainly tell me so." "Certainly," Barnabas replied gravely. "And then I also realized that no sane man sees ghosts in the pantry, or steps into another time period when he crosses from one room into the other. But last Wednesday I married a witch, and Thursday, while playing a bit of croquet on the front lawn, I ran into my own grandfather. Naturally I realized that I was hallucinating."Julia nodded. "Naturally."Roger downed the last of his Brandy. "Thank you, Julia, and Cousin Barnabas. You both have a way of clearing things up for me." They exchanged glances and exited the drawing room. "Glad to have been of service to you," Barnabas said. "I feel that I am in much better spirits than when I came this evening. I do believe I could almost go home and beat Willie." "What?" Roger asked. "Rather chilly." Julia smiled, fixing her coat on the way out.Roger picked up the gallon jug and went to it. |
She laughed, and in that moment Willie found her incredibly lovely. Her auburn hair fell to her shoulders gently, framing eyes that sparkled with kindness and tenderness. More than anything he longed to take her in his arms. And then he did so. She melted against him in a way that thrilled him to the core of his being, awakening a more emotional part of himself which he felt he had lost long ago amongst the horrors he had seen. Here she was, this woman he had always loved, and now he did not know what he should do. Her breath was warm against his face. "Say something, Willie. Tell me that what I'm doing isn't so strange. I'm still convincing myself that this is right." His hands touched her shoulders. How yielding she was, how vulnerable. He thought all at once of all the times when he had been a party to the terrible things that Barnabas had once planned for her. How could he have done those things, gone along with the plans that could have erased this woman's personality as though it had never been? It was her eyes, he decided, that haunted him. They were smiling eyes, warm, trusting. Searching his face now they found many things. Fear, yes. A fear that he was not prepared to handle the reality of the pinnacle of his dreams. And love. Yes, that, clearly. How could she have missed the passion that strained to see the light of day, always leaping from his expression when she entered a room? He wished he could tell her now of all that had transpired and promise her that he would never have allowed any harm to come to her. If only he could make himself believe that he could have been strong for her then. A man. His breath would not come. She was so close to him at this moment, finally! And no person stood near to come between them. Maggie had sought him out of her own free will. When she had found him at his new job tending the docks, his arms had been covered with dirt and grease, his hair dishelved. He looked a sight. Words he would never have expected came from her. Yes, her! The impossibility of it all raced through his mind again and again. "I found a photograph in an old chest today," she had said. Flushed, her face spoke of emotion beneath her polished exterior. All of her was full of light. And her words spilled forth as though they had stepped directly off of her soul and onto her lips. "It was a picture of my father's funeral that had been taken by a journalist. I saw myself standing there, in the middle of the rain, and there was no one around me. No one. All of the others had left me. All of the others but you, Willie." At this he had nodded, not understanding the point of her visit. A tired arm wiped at his forehead and then descended self consciously to clean his arms. He did not want to be seen this way...not by her. "You were the only one who stayed with me. To the end of the day. You may not remember now, but I remember." "I remember." Then she had looked at him as if seeing him for the first time. As though he was not covered in filth. As though he were more than just a man. His features were golden. He appeared to be glowing. "You were there," Maggie went on. "All that time you spoke to me. And I asked you why you were there, why Barnabas hadn't come up with anything for you to do that day, but you didn't answer me. You just stayed there with me, speaking to me throughout the day and the long night. Why were you there, Willie? Why were you?" He discarded his smock indelicately. Then he walked to a basin on the dock, rinsed his face and hands, and grew very serious. "Why are you askin' me this?" "I have to know. Please tell me why you stayed. This is very important. It's important... to me." His profile looked pained as his gaze turned from her. A barely audible whisper came from his throat. "Maggie, I did it cause I loved you." There was a terrific silence. "If that's what you came here wantin' to hear, well, I told you. The way things are now it doesn't accomplish nothin. But it's the truth." Maggie watched him intently as he walked to the edge of the dock and sat down. The sky became stained with a purplish haze all around them. Dusk seemed to have started without anyone's notice. With one hand Maggie reached out, her fingers tracing the colors that filled the horizon. "Willie. Thank you for telling me." Certain that she had crossed the dock, leaving him to sit there in vulnerable silence, Willie sighed deeply. In fact, she had walked up silently behind him. As his eyes watered over she slipped her hand into his soft blonde hair. Now he looked down at her uncertain expression in the moonlight. Their hands entwined in a knowing gesture that spoke of many words left unspoken. "I don't know what to think of all of this, Maggie. But I've been wantin to do this for the longest time." Their lips touched. | ||||||||||||||||
| The Elizabeth Problem- How Julia, Willie, and Barnabas handle finding out Elizabeth has become a vampire. Humor | |||||||||||||||||
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The Elizabeth Problem "I really think you gotta tell him." Willie lumbered into the Old House wringing his hands. Beside him, Julia, a mass of boxes and paper, fumbled to keep hold of all the parcels she held. "It isn't going to do any good, Willie. It doesn't matter who tells him. He's still going to be a little upset." Willie shook his head, jowls shaking. "Oh, no, no, no," he said loudly. "I'm not gonna be the one to tell Barnabas that Elizabeth is a vampire." Barnabas started from his chair, the book he had been reading flopping to the floor. "Elizabeth is a what!?" Shaking her head, Julia began to root through her boxes. "There, you've gone and done it. Barnabas, how was your night?" She rummaged around until her hands brought out a thick garlic clove and several crosses. Barnabas glared at her. "Would you mind putting those a little further to the left?" Julia blinked. "Well, Barnabas, now that Willie has broken the news to you, what do you suppose we do?" There was a long pause. "A little further to the left, if you please." "Oh. Are these bothering you?" She grinned inanely at him as she passed the items to Willie, who began to tie small bits of garlic to his clothing. "Suppose you go and get a stake and hammer, Barnabas, so we can handle this situation as quickly as possible." He scowled at her. "I don't keep a spare set. Now tell me if you will how such a thing as this came to be." "Well, you know how it is around here. Most likely she stumbled into one of those tombs up on Eagle Hill, what with all of the zombies, ghosts, curses and all. I don't even venture a guess anymore. Roger was complaining about all of the scraping and banging coming from her room." Barnabas widened his eyes. "Oh?" Stomping up and down with great gusto, Willie mangled fallen pieces of garlic beneath his caterpillar boots. Then he shook a few more morsels from his pant leg and repeated the process. At this point Barnabas crossed to the fireplace, set his jaw in a stern way, and looked at the floor. "I suggest we go immediately to Collinwood and tell Elizabeth not to be a vampire anymore." "Oh, Barnabas, that's a silly idea," Julia said. With the backs of her hands she fluffed her orangish red hair. "Now start up my car if you wouldn't mind. Willie and I will take the things out to the trunk." "Julia?" Barnabas said. "Yes, Barnabas?" "I do not have a driver's license." He looked down. Julia's face became inflamed. "That isn't possible, Barnabas. All of those times when you came to visit me at the hospital...all of the times you went to Rose Cottage and to The Blue Whale?" He glared at her. "Unicycle." David answered the door. He was wearing clothing from another time period, and introduced himself as Mr. Beezleton. Exchanging glances with Julia, Barnabas hurried into the drawing room. He nonchalantly made his way to the fireplace. Not a soul was to be seen. Following in his wake, Willie and Julia began to trade anti-vampire gear amongst themselves. "Gimme another clove," Willie whined. "No, no, you really have had enough. Get a hold of yourself, Willie." Just then, Elizabeth descended the staircase. She was dressed entirely in black. "I do hope I am not late," she said. Barnabas went to her side and began adjusting her outfit. "No, you have it all wrong. This has to be slung over here...yes, much better." "And what is going to happen now?" Elizabeth asked. She walked to a sofa and sat down calmly. "Well," Willie said, "We're gonna stake ya." Julia socked him with all of her might. "We'd like to talk with you for a while. I hope that this unexpected visit doesn't inconvenience you." But Elizabeth, mentally balancing her checkbook, only held up three fingers and lowered them one by one. She wondered whether or not the hot dogs at Martin's would be on sale three for five dollars this weekend. "It really doesn't matter, I suppose. If there was a choice involved, well, then, certainly I would be interested in the deal. Things can't always be as we would like them to be." Willie thrust a garlic clove at her. "Here. Hold this for a second. It's fun. It's nice." "Take that away from her," Barnabas snarled. "I have been thinking that perhaps there is a better way of dealing with matters." Staring absently ahead, Elizabeth murmured, "No, there really is no better deal anywhere else, I'm afraid." "Even so," he said. "Take Cousin Elizabeth upstairs to the parallel time towel closet. No one will be the wiser." Julia led her away. "It really is better this way, Elizabeth." Elizabeth doddered along ahead of her. "As long as we're back by Wednesday. There's a sale at Sears." | |||||||||||||||||
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