SCENE 8
Closing the Blue Whale in the early morning hours always carried mixed feelings for Maggie Evans. While it was a relief to be finished for the evening, there was still a feeling of loneliness and desolation associated with the empty bar. Tonight was different, however. There was someone living upstairs now, in that apartment that had been vacant for so long. With the downstairs practically silent, evidence of the new tenant came from the ceiling, such as when he stepped on the squeaky part of his floor. The knowledge he was there comforted Maggie on some level she barely recognized.
All the tables had their chairs stacked on them, except the one Victoria Winters sat at, drinking a cup of Maggie's famous coffee. A creak was heard from upstairs. Vicki glanced upward, then said to Maggie, "I really want to thank you again for letting Jeff move in on such short notice."
Maggie finished wiping down the bar. "It wasn't a problem, Vicki. I'm just glad he was alright with it." She threw her towel into an empty bar sink, and poured a cup of coffee for herself. "It's been a long time since anyone lived up there. I was worried it wasn't habitable any more."
"But you don't even know him. There aren't too many people who would have done this. And I appreciated it."
"Any friend of yours is okay by me." Maggie came around and took a seat next to Vicki. "And I can't get over how much he looks like Joe Haskell. I feel as if I've known him for years because of that."
"I know what you mean," Vicki took another sip of her coffee. "But Jeff seems more -- I don't know -- more childlike than Joe. More naïve and innocent, like he doesn't have much experience with life -- or life in this century, at any rate."
Maggie cocked an eye at Vicki. "That's a strange comment. What are you actually saying, Vicki?"
"I think that Jeff is Peter Bradford come to find me. Except --" Vicki shook her head, "I don't know why he won't say so. If he is Peter, why didn't he come to me?"
A sharp rap at the door resounded before Maggie could answer. "We're closed!" she shouted from her seat.
"Maggie," came the thick, Maine-accented voice, "It's Sheriff Patterson."
Maggie was out of her seat before he finished talking. It wasn't long before she had unlocked the door and opened it to let George in. He stepped in as Maggie asked, "George, what are you doing here?"
"Just stopped by to make sure everything is alright."
"You don't need to check up on me, George." She headed back to the table with Vicki.
George smiled as much as he ever allowed himself to. "Ayeh. Guess I've been caught. But with Sam down with the flu, and those attacks a few months back, I didn't want you bein' alone." He saw Vicki. "But then I see you're not alone. Hello, Miss Winters."
"Good evening, Sheriff." Something he said bothered her. "There haven't been any attacks in months, have there?"
He hesitated. "No, there haven't. But we never did find out who was behind those attacks. I'm just worried they may start up again."
"I thought Michael Woodard had been responsible."
"Well, there haven't been any attacks since we staked him. But I knew Woodard for a long time. I just can't believe the Professor was responsible. More likely, he was another victim, like Daphne. Something tells me this isn't over yet."
Suddenly Maggie dropped her coffee cup. George and Vicki both turned to look at her. "Oh, my God!" she cried out, staring at a vision only she could see. "It's Roger. Roger's in trouble!" She fled from the Blue Whale, George and Vicki following close behind.
So intent were they on catching up with Maggie, no one noticed the lingering scent of jasmine in the air.
SCENE 9
Vicki opened the door to Collinwood hurriedly, but Maggie pushed past her before she even got the key out of the lock. "Roger! Roger!" she cried out.
The sheriff entered more slowly. "Maggie, you need to calm down."
She shot him a devastating look from the bottom of the stairway. "Roger!" she called again.
Vicki and George exchanged a look. Vicki closed the door behind her. "I'll go up and try to find him." She headed toward the stairs.
"Hello? Who's down there?" Elizabeth appeared at the top of the stairs in her nightgown. "Vicki? Is that you?"
"Yes, Mrs. Stoddard," she answered.
Liz's eyes focused on Maggie and the sheriff. "Maggie? George? What are you doing here?" She came down the stairs.
Sheriff Patterson took a step toward her, his hat in his hand. "We're sorry to disturb you, Elizabeth, but Maggie here had another vision -- one that told her Roger was in danger."
Maggie grabbed Elizabeth's arm. "Please, Mrs. Stoddard," her voice panic-stricken. "Where is Roger?"
"I'm right here," his voice came as he walked down the stairs, tying the belt on his robe. "Who could sleep through all this racket?"
Maggie ran to him, meeting him halfway down the staircase. "Roger, are you all right?" She clung to him.
Embarrassed, he pulled her off of him. "I'm just fine. What's going on?"
"I was closing up the Blue Whale when I had a vision. I saw you, and you were on fire, burning alive."
Roger frowned. "Well, obviously you were wrong this time. You can see I'm perfectly --"
A knock at the door interrupted him, as everyone turned to look. "Who on Earth could that be at this time of night?" Liz asked, voicing the question in everyone's mind.
Vicki, as the member of the household closest to the door, offered, "I'll get it." She went to the door, hesitated a moment with her hand on the knob, then opened it. There stood a woman in a black cloak, the hood pulled over her face to protect against the chill night wind coming off the sea. Yet Vicki couldn't help thinking for a second how much the figure looked like Death. "Can I help you?"
A breathy voice answered with a slight English accent. "Is Roger Collins here?"
Vicki looked over her shoulder to see the others gathering just outside the foyer. "Yes, he is. Do come in. May I tell him who wants to see him?"
"Why, yes, of course," the lady said as she stepped over the threshold, pulling back her hood to reveal an aristocratic face and long, golden hair. Vicki recognized it immediately as the face from Roger's mysterious painting of last week. The woman surrounded by flames. "I am Laura Collins."
The words couldn't have had more effect if she had said the world was ending. Everyone in the room was shocked speechless. Maggie's reaction was the most severe. She fainted, Roger barely able to catch her seconds before she hit the floor.
END OF CHAPTER 17
CREDITS FOR CHAPTER 17
Jean Simmons as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
David Selby as Richard Garner
Rif Hutton as the Delivery Man
Roy Thinnes as Roger Collins
Ben Cross as Barnabas Collins
Christopher Pennock as Dr. Eric Lang
Joanna Going as Victoria Winters
Michael T. Weiss as Jeff Clark
Georg Olden as Waiter
Ely Pouget as Maggie Evans
Michael Cavanaugh as Sheriff George Patterson
Elizabeth Gracen as Laura Collins
