SCENE 6
Julia came down the staircase at Collinwood, thinking about Barnabas. She wondered about this experiment of Lang's. He said it would give Barnabas a permanent cure, but she knew nothing about it. How would he do it? And more to the point, why? What did he get out of it?
The front door opened, and she saw Victoria Winters come in. "Oh, Dr. Hoffman, you're back." David and an attractive blonde woman, who looked somehow familiar to her, followed Vicki in. The woman and the boy chatted amicably.
Julia smiled. "Yes, I got back this morning. I've been over at the Old House with Barnabas. Hello, David, and…"
Hearing Julia's pause, Vicki realized, "That's right, you haven't met Mrs. Collins yet. Dr. Julia Hoffman, this is Mrs. Laura Collins - David's mother."
Dr. Hoffman held out her hand. "You're Roger's wife, then. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."
Laura looked up from her son and took the doctor's hand. "Same here, Dr. Hoffman. I've heard so much about you."
Now able to get a closer look at Laura's face, Julia noticed some abrasions on her cheek. "What happened here? Are you all right?"
"We had a rather harrowing experience just now, Doctor," Vicki told her. She related the story of Laura's close call at Widow's Hill. "We stopped briefly at the cottage where Laura is staying so she could change, then came right back here," she finished up.
Julia frowned. "That certainly must have been traumatic for you. Maybe I should do a quick examination, just to be sure there weren't any injuries besides the obvious."
Laura laughed lightly. "I can assure you, I'm perfectly fine, Doctor. But if it will make you feel better, certainly you can examine me."
"It would." The doctor looked at David and smiled again. "Why don't you run upstairs for a bit? This won't take very long."
He glanced at his mother. She told him, "Go ahead, David. I'll be up to see you as soon as Dr. Hoffman finishes."
David smiled at her. "Okay." He ran partway up the stairs, then turned back. "But don't be long, Mother. I'll be waiting." The boy took off up the rest of the stairs and disappeared.
Laura practically glowed as she turned back to Julia. "Now then, what did you want to do?"
"Come with me into the drawing room. I'm just going to do a cursory exam. We may as well be comfortable." She turned to head into the drawing room.
"I'll go up and keep David company until you two are done," Vicki said. She smiled at Laura. "I'm glad he's finally giving you a chance to be his mother again."
Taking Vicki's hand, Laura said, "I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you for everything you've done. I will never forget it." Then she followed Julia into the drawing room.
"Have a seat, Mrs. Collins. I'm not going to do anything too complicated, just check for broken bones, internal injuries, things like that." Laura sat on the divan as Julia checked her over. It took less than ten minutes.
"Well," Julia said as she stepped back, "there seems to be nothing more wrong with you than a few scrapes and bruises. You probably should wash up, and put some disinfectant on those scrapes, so they don't become infected. Other than that, I'd say you were very lucky. I give you a clean bill of health."
"I told you I was fine. Still, thank you for your concern." She held out her hand for Dr. Hoffman.
Julia took it, saying, "It was no problem. Just doing my job." She noticed something she hadn't seen before. A shiny gold locket hung around Laura's neck. It must have been under her blouse and gotten pulled out during the examination. She commented, "That is a beautiful locket. May I see it?"
Laura's eyes brightened. "Thank you. Of course you may." She reached behind her neck and unfastened the chain. "This piece is very special to me. It's been in my family for generations." She gingerly handed it to the doctor.
It was an exquisite piece of jewelry. Delicate lines decorated the face, giving it an almost Egyptian feel. Julia's brows knitted together. The locket Laura Collins has handed her was exactly like the one she had found weeks ago that had mysteriously disappeared. "I think I've seen one like this before."
Laura laughed. "I doubt that, Dr. Hoffman. This was handmade. It's a one-of-a-kind piece. I keep a lock of David's baby hair in it, so he is always close to my heart."
Julia opened the charm and saw the small curl of light brown hair inside. She quickly snapped it shut and handed it back to Laura. "I must be mistaken, then. It must be very special to you." She tried to smile, but only partially succeeded. The condescension bothered her too much. She also realized why Laura looked so familiar. It was her face in the mysterious portrait Roger had painted - the woman in flames. A chill ran down her spine as she wondered why she was disturbed by the presence of Laura Collins.
SCENE 7
Willie brought the last box into the laboratory and put it on the floor. There had been a lot of them, and he briefly wondered what was in them. But knowing the doctor's work, he decided he was probably better off not knowing. "That's the last of them, Dr. Lang."
Lang glanced over his shoulder. "That's fine, thank you, Willie." He turned back to his work.
Willie hesitated before asking, "Do you need me for anything else tonight?" He wiped his palms on his pants as he waited for an answer.
The doctor gave him an odd look. "What you mean is, do we have to go to the cemetery again tonight." When Willie didn't answer, he knew he was right. "Don't worry, Loomis, we don't. In fact, the experiment is ahead of schedule because of the work you've done. I'm very grateful."
Willie didn't know whether to be proud or ashamed. He certainly didn't like what he was doing, but he was glad Lang thought he was doing a good job. "So you'll be able to help Barnabas soon, huh?"
"Yes, I will. Thanks to you, I should be able to proceed with the final stage of the experiment in about two weeks." Lang went back to the body. "We should have plenty of time to complete it before Barnabas starts to revert."
"Revert?" Willie shuffled over to Lang. "What do you mean by that?"
Lang turned back to him. He was always happy to explain his work. "The treatment I am using to keep Barnabas human will begin to lose effect after a certain point in time. As this happens, the bloodlust may come over him suddenly, an almost uncontrollable need to feed. One second he could seem perfectly normal, the next a bloodthirsty monster.
"If he gets immediate attention, I could restore him to normal, but the formula won't work much longer after that. That's not the most serious danger, though. If Barnabas should give into his hunger, the treatment will become completely ineffective. There would be nothing more I could do. He would remain a vampire forever."
A shiver ran through Willie Loomis. He remembered how Barnabas was when he was under the curse. He didn't want to see his friend like that again. "When will that start to happen?"
"Oh, not for three or four months yet, I would guess." He put a hand on Willie's shoulder. "Don't worry. We should have a complete cure for Barnabas long before that."
Willie sighed with relief. "That's good. That's real good, then." He looked at the door. "So I can go home now? You won't be needing me for anything else?"
"Not tonight, Willie. Go on for now, and I'll see you tomorrow." Having dismissed his assistant, Lang went back to his work.
Willie was quickly out the door, heading toward the Blue Whale. His nocturnal hours with Dr. Lang had kept him away the past week. He wanted to stop in and see who was around. Barnabas wasn't expecting him for a while, and he could use the time to relax. Promising himself and whoever was listening that he wouldn't get into trouble, he headed toward town.
