SCENE 3
It had not even been an hour since dawn had broken over the estate of Collinwood. The morning fog had not been completely burned off by the sun as Willie Loomis rushed across the grounds toward the great house. Under normal circumstances, he would have headed to the servant's entrance, perhaps seeing if Auntie had any goodies for him. But the front door was closer, and time was of the essence. Besides, he didn't want to see his aunt; she would know something was wrong, and he couldn't tell her what.
Knowing Dr. Hoffman was an early riser, Willie decided to check the drawing room first. He hoped she was alone when he found her; it would make things easier. He could barely contain his panic now. Trying to hide it in front of everyone else would be a problem.
Luck was with him, probably for the first time in his life. Julia was in the drawing room alone. She looked up when Willie came rushing in. "Dr. Hoffman!" he blurted out. "Thank God I found ya! Ya have ta help me!"
Julia stood up and took off her glasses. "Willie, calm down." She could see he was shaking like a leaf. Something must be seriously wrong. But Willie couldn't give her the information she needed if he was incoherent. Putting a hand on his shoulder, she told him, "Take a deep breath, relax, and tell me what is going on."
Willie did as he was told, then started to explain. "Well, bein' that I need ta be up during the day, I don't wait up for Barnabas ta come home -" He stopped and glanced around nervously, afraid of who might be around.
"It's all right, Willie. Everyone's upstairs still. You can speak freely."
He turned back to Julia, a bit calmer. "Like I said, I don't wait up for Barnabas no more. But usually I hear him come in. I don't sleep real heavy, and Barnabas don't make an effort to be quiet, so I usually wake up when he comes in -"
Julia cut him off. "Willie, get to the point, please?" She was impatient to know what was going on.
"He didn't come in last night, Dr. Hoffman! When I woke up, the sun had already risen. I was surprised cause like I said, Barnabas usually wakes me up. So I went downstairs into the basement, and his coffin is empty!"
A grim look appeared on Julia's face. "But if Barnabas didn't make it back to his coffin by dawn..." She broke off, unable to continue the thought.
Willie got a desperate look in his eyes. "Don't say it. Don't even think it. There's no way Barnabas could be dead."
Julia tried to contain her own growing panic. "Of course not, Willie. He must have - he must have found somewhere else to hide during the day."
Latching on to the thread of hope Julia provided, Willie expanded on the idea, trying to will it to be the truth. "Yeah! He was prob'bly too far away ta get back here, so he found a cellar or somewhere else ta be until sundown. Then he'll come back tonight and let us know he's all right."
"Of course he will."
"But what if he doesn't?"
"We have to believe that he will. The only other alternative is that he is dead, and I refuse -" The phone rang, interrupting her. Without thinking, she picked up the receiver. "Hello, Collins residence."
"Hello? Is Elizabeth Collins Stoddard there, please?" asked the voice on the other end.
"No, I'm afraid she hasn't come down yet," she told him. "Can I take a message?"
There was a brief hesitation. "I suppose that would be all right. My name is Dr. Eric Lang. Victoria Winters was in a car accident last night."
Julia gasped in surprise. "Is she okay, Doctor?"
"Yes, she is fine. She is at my office recovering nicely, though I would like to keep her another day for observation. I also wanted to let you know her companion is recovering as well."
"Were you able to contact Maggie's father? I'm sure he would be worried about her."
A pause on the other end indicated puzzlement. "Who is Maggie?"
"Maggie Evans. That's who Victoria was with last night. I can give you her father's number if you want to call him yourself."
"I'm sorry. Miss Winters may have been with this Maggie Evans earlier, but her companion in the accident was Barnabas Collins." The phone hung limp in Julia's hand as her eyes widened in shock.
SCENE 4
Carolyn was in a foul mood this morning. Since her interrupted meeting with Barnabas the other night, she knew he had found someone else. And while her mood had certainly shifted due to his attentions over the past couple of months, her awareness that she was going to be thrown over for Victoria Winters had made her more irritable and belligerent. Carolyn had sensed the difference in Victoria yesterday morning; felt the bond they shared through Barnabas. But she was not going to sit by idly while he ignored her.
Carolyn was walking down the hall to her room when she heard her mother's voice behind her. "Carolyn, where have you been? I've been looking for you."
She stopped, getting an impatient look on her face, but didn't even turn around to look at her mother. "Well, you found me, Mother. What do you want?"
Elizabeth took a step toward her, her voice firm. "Answer my question. Where were you?"
"I was out, if you must know. As if it's any of your business." Carolyn started toward her room again.
Elizabeth moved forward and grabbed her arm, spinning her around. "Carolyn, what is wrong with you? You never used to be like this. At first, I figured this belligerent behavior of yours would pass, then I got caught up with more urgent problems. But I've been worried about this personality change of yours for quite some time, and I want an explanation." She looked hard into her daughter's eyes, maybe hoping she could read the answer there.
Carolyn's voice took on an ominous tone. "How dare you -" Her voice broke off as her knees gave way, and she came close to collapsing. Only her mother's hold kept her standing. A strange fog seemed to be passing over her mind. She felt dizzy, unable to focus. She barely heard her mother's words when she asked if she was all right.
But somehow Carolyn's tenacious spirit kept her conscious, though her mind and body wanted to shut down completely. "I'm fine," she insisted, and tried to stand on her own. She even made it a few steps before giving out again.
Elizabeth, who had not moved from her daughter's side, caught her again. "You most certainly are not fine," she said, trying her best to support Carolyn's weight. "Let's get you to bed, you can lay down." Slowly they went the remaining steps to Carolyn's room. "I'll get Dr. Hoffman right away."
"No. I don't need a doctor. Just need to lay down for a few minutes, that's all." Elizabeth laid her on the bed, then pulled a chair close and sat watching, concerned, as Carolyn finally gave over to the darkness invading her.
