(Written by Geoffrey Hamell, first printed in "The Eagle Hill Sentinel", Issue #1, June 1985.)
The woman later known as "Angelique" was born Miranda duVal, sometime around 1670. Her early years were apparently spent in or near the territory of what would become Maine; the family name suggests she may have come from the French settlements in Acadia. By the 1690's, we know she had taken up residence in the village of Bedford. It was there that she fell under the influence of the warlock Judah Zachery, who called himself "the Devil's son". It is unclear whether Judah used his powers to cast a love spell on Miranda, or if he simply won her over with his charm and promises of power; but, in the end, the result was the same. She became both his lover and a member of his coven, and was initiated into the dark mysteries of witchcraft.
But their boldness led to disaster in 1692, when Judah was arrested and charged with witchcraft. Unable to find any other witnesses who dared testify against him, Judge Amadeus Collins offered Miranda clemency if she would betray her master. More fearful of the gallows than of the coven's revenge, Miranda provided the damning testimony - then got out of town as quickly as possible. She was never to use her true name again.
Where she went and what she did during the next hundred years is unknown to us. Clearly she did not renounce the powers of darkness (though one might well wonder after her betrayal, why they did not renounce her); but she seems to have used them incredibly unwisely. When we hear of her next, in 1790's Martinique, she was posing as "Angelique Bouchard", supposed daughter of a peasant woman who made a little extra change by selling magic herbs and charms. Aside from keeping her young, Miranda's powers appear to have gotten her nothing at all - and she seems never to have thought of using them to advance her station.
Whatever the reason - and there must be one we don't know about - Angelique was penniless, and lucky to find a job as a maid when the duPres family came to Martinique. But she soon became bitterly envious of their wealth and comfort, and especially of the pampered Josette, who seemed to have everything that her own long life had failed to provide. Perhaps, more than anything, she really envied Josette's innocence (forgetting the horrors she must have witnessed in Revolutionary France.) Seething with hidden resentment, she took secret revenge by seducing the young men who came to court her mistress' hand.
Then, one day, there came a suitor who was special to them both - Barnabas Collins. (One wonders if the name rang a bell.) Like the others before him, he turned to Angelique for the earthy favors a lady like Josette would not bestow; he said he loved her - meaning it at the time - and in turn she fell madly in love with him. When he and Josette became engaged, she was delighted, taking for granted that he would go right on seeing her on the side; perhaps even deluding herself that he was marrying Josette to get to her. She came to Collinsport in 1795 bursting with anticipation.
There a cruel shock awaited her - Barnabas, the faithless suitor, was suddenly determined to be a model husband. While admitting he still felt drawn to Angelique, he stubbornly refused to be anything but her "friend". Stunned and furious, Angelique used a voodoo doll to make him choke almost to death; then abruptly undid her work, horrified that her blind rage had nearly killed the man she loved. Instead, she hatched a diabolical scheme to keep the wedding from ever taking place. Compelling Ben Stokes to act as her reluctant slave, she cast a love spell on Josette and Jeremiah Collins. Jeremiah, shocked by his own behavior, tried to leave town; but Angelique forced him to stay by making his brother Joshua "disappear". (Actually, she turned him into a cat for a while.) Unable to resist any longer, Jeremiah and Josette eloped - only to have their love dissolve as suddenly as it had blossomed.
Angelique thought the heartbroken Barnabas would turn to her for consolation; but he regretfully confessed that he could not pretend to love her while he still loved Josette. At her wits' end, Angelique stooped to blackmail - she used voodoo on Barnabas' little sister Sarah, then promised to "cure her illness" if Barnabas would marry her. When he tried to retract his promise afterward, she was finally ready to give up in despair; but seeing her pain, Barnabas at last relented and agreed to the marriage.
It was a bad start, and things grew steadily worse. Outraged that his son would marry a servant, Joshua Collins cut him off without a cent; only Barnabas' mother, Naomi, would attend the tiny private wedding. Knowing the now-widowed Josette would be her rival, Angelique summoned Jeremiah's ghost to haunt her - but the anguished spirit broke free of her control and tormented Angelique instead, dragging her to his grave and attempting to bury her alive. Angelique and Barnabas spent their wedding night in separate rooms - and before dawn she had found Victoria Winters hiding in another. Believing Barnabas' protection of the accused "witch" was motivated by lust, the jealous Angelique - who had already gone overboard to make her "decoy" look guilty - used her powers again to insure her capture.
That was her fatal mistake - overhearing her chant the spell, Barnabas soon realized at last what his wife was and how much she had done. Bent on revenge, he first tried to poison her, then to stab her in her sleep; thwarting his designs, Angelique vowed to kill Josette if he tried again. Secretly meeting with Josette, Barnabas persuaded her to go into hiding; then, as Angelique prepared to keep him at home by using voodoo on Sarah, he shot her. Thinking she was about to die, Angelique hysterically placed a curse on her killer - condemning him to eternal undeath as a vampire - and dooming anyone who loved him to die.
When she realized she was going to live, Angelique was horror-stricken. Desperate to save Barnabas, she tried to lift the curse - but she didn't have the power. Unable to prevent his death, she grimly determined to drive a stake through his heart, sparing him at least from the hell of living death. But Barnabas rose before she was prepared, and, realizing what she had done to him, brutally throttled his murderer - fulfilling her own curse that "whoever loves you will die".
Not surprisingly, Angelique's spirit proved to be a restless one - and fiendishly vengeful. When the suicidal Barnabas ordered Ben to proceed with the staking Angelique had intended, her ghost appeared to stop him; she now wanted Barnabas to suffer. Unwilling to let him have Josette even as a vampire, she lured her rival to Widow's Hill and sent her a terrifying vision of what Barnabas would make her - leading her to plunge to her death in her efforts to escape him. Nor had her jealous hatred of Vicki diminished; when Ben appeared to testify in her behalf, Angelique made a dramatic entrance, rendering him so incoherent his testimony was ignored. Shocked to see Angelique alive, Ben showed Peter Bradford where he had buried her - but the grave was empty. The witch had returned from the dead.
An even stranger manifestation occurred during Bathia Mapes' attempted exorcism of Barnabas shortly afterward - when Angelique spoke through the entranced vampire. Whether some portion of her spirit actually entered Barnabas when the curse was placed is not clearly explained. Certainly she knew of the exorcism, and used her powers to thwart it, finally sending an unearthly flame to consume the hapless "white witch".
After this, Angelique disappears into limbo again, her whereabouts unknown for more than 150 years. But a goal was always in her mind, learning that Vicki had come from the 20th century, she realized that the "descendant" of Barnabas Vicki had spoken of was her husband, freed at last from his chained coffin. When 1968 finally rolled around, she went to Nicholas Blair, master of the coven she had joined some time before, and obtained permission to go to Collinsport for a while and make sure he did not escape his doom. Doubtless relishing the irony, she became a student of Prof. Timothy Stokes - Ben's descendant - calling herself "Cassandra Blair"; while Nicholas paved her way to Collinwood by selling a portrait of Angelique - created by her own magic in 1795 - to a local antique dealer. Purchased by Vicki under a strange compulsion, the painting became her warning to Barnabas - a mocking promise that she was coming back. (Actually, this was a monumentally stupid idea, since Angelique's life-force had somehow become linked to the portrait. Though it was in turn protected by her magic, it still seemed like an awful risk to let it out of her hands. Perhaps it was Nicholas' idea; he had long been irritated by Angelique's "bungling", and may well have been looking for a chance to be rid of her.)
The scheme worked perfectly. Under the portrait's hypnotic spell, Roger Collins attempted to murder Dr. Eric Lang; Angelique did not know how Lang was helping Barnabas fight the curse, but she sensed that he was the key. Horrified by what he had almost done, Roger ran to Prof. Stokes' apartment, intending to sell him the painting; but while there he met "Cassandra", and instantly fell victim to a love spell. Within 24 hours he married her, and stunned everyone at Collinwood by bringing her home to stay.
Cassandra wasted no time in setting her schemes against Barnabas in motion. She initiated a dream curse, a diabolical but roundabout spell in which a series of terrifying nightmares passed from person to person - each dreamer compelled to tell the dream to the next victim - with the aim of having the curse eventually reach Barnabas and return him to the vampire state. Meanwhile she plotted the death of Eric Lang. Barnabas, not fooled for a minute by her "Cassandra" guise, obtained a magic talisman to protect Lang, thwarting her first attempt. But it was simple for a woman with Cassandra's powers to make Tony Peterson her slave, and force him to steal the talisman from Lang's house. She then used voodoo to kill Lang from afar - too late to prevent his experiment from completely curing Barnabas.
Strangely, the people of modern Collinsport threw more obstacles in the witch's path than their superstitious ancestors ever had. David Collins, catching Cassandra in a secret meeting with Tony, threatened to tell his father and had to be rendered mute. But Sarah Johnson, the next recipient of the dream curse, became so worried about David's inexplicable silence that she refused to sleep; Cassandra was forced to remove the spell from him so Mrs. Johnson would have the dream. Though she erased David's memory of the incident, he always remained at least a bit wary of her. Barnabas, realizing the power of Angelique's portrait, stole it and took it to Sam Evans, paying the artist to "make it look as if she were two hundred years old". As the portrait aged, Cassandra herself quickly transformed into a withered hag; she hid her face beneath a hooded cloak, but could not hide her meeting with Tony from a furious Carolyn, who assumed they were lovers and threatened to tell everyone (but apparently didn't for a while). Too agonized to worry about Carolyn, Cassandra found out where the painting was and desperately hobbled to the Evans house, begging him to give it to her. When he refused, she blinded him and stole the portrait, using her powers to restore both it and herself.
But the greatest threat to Cassandra's evil was Professor Stokes. Identifying her as Angelique, he boldly interfered with the progression of the dream curse, compelling Carolyn to pass the dream on to him. Within the dream, he fearlessly took charge, defying all the rules of the curse and challenging Angelique to confront him. She did - and their battle of wills ended with her humiliating defeat. Enraged, she ordered Tony to poison Stokes; but he suspected the plot, survived it, and enlisted Tony's aid against her! Together with Julia Hoffman, they summoned the spirit of Reverend Trask - and sent the witch-hunter to destroy her.
Cassandra's endless indiscretion had just betrayed her again - this time it was Elizabeth who caught her with Tony. To keep her quiet, the witch placed her under a spell, making her unable to concentrate on anything but the terror of being buried alive. But almost before she had a chance to relish her cruelty, the ghost of Trask appeared to menace her. Surviving his first attempt at exorcism, she rushed to reinstate the dream curse - only to have its next victim, Sam, die without passing it on. Then Trask reappeared - and this time he chanted the rite of exorcism and watched gleefully as she vanished into limbo, screaming.
In her final moments, Cassandra sent a desperate psychic plea for help to Nicholas Blair. Nicholas heard, but was not too concerned; contemptuous of her failures, he felt she deserved to die. Coming to Collinwood, he introduced himself as "Cassandra's brother" and promptly resurrected her - only to inform her that he would destroy her himself unless she finished up her business quickly and successfully. Fearful of her life, Cassandra conjured up Sam's ghost to pass on the dream curse to Vicki. But she failed to reckon on Vicki's loyalty and courage - the brave girl was willing to go on suffering the curse until it drove her insane rather than transmit it to Barnabas. To save Vicki, Barnabas told Cassandra he was willing to surrender, even live with her as husband and wife again. Realizing that beneath the hate, she still wanted him as much as ever, Cassandra was eager to accept the offer; but Nicholas coldly forbade, insisting that the curse be fulfilled. The dream at last passed to Barnabas - and, to Cassandra's shock, it failed! Still human, he mocked her to her face.
Obviously delighted by Cassandra's failure, Nicholas gave her until midnight to find out how to correct it - or else. Panic-stricken, she discovered what had saved Barnabas - the link between himself and Adam - mere minutes before her time was up. (And entirely by accident.) Now she knew she could make Barnabas revert by killing Adam - but Nicholas, realizing Adam's potential as a pawn of Satan, sternly ordered her not to harm him. Refusing to give up her "revenge", Cassandra tried to murder the man-made creature anyway, and thus incurred Nicholas' terrible wrath. Taking away her powers, he gloated that she soon would age again to her true centuries-old appearance.
Knowing death was imminent, Cassandra made one last effort to kill Barnabas - with an ordinary pistol - but was thwarted even in that by Nicholas' power. Mockingly, the warlock offered her one final chance - he would save her if Barnabas forgave her. Not surprisingly, Barnabas did no such thing, and the former witch perished miserably, so withered with instant age that Roger could not even recognize her. Believing that Cassandra had deserted him, he filed for divorce.
But Nicholas' punishment of Angelique had only begun. With a perverse sense of "poetic justice", he compelled her to rise as a vampire and become his servant - her beauty restored, but her nights tormented by the endless thirst for blood. She was to attack only those who Nicholas wanted attacked - a command almost impossible for any vampire to obey, let alone the treacherous Angelique. Her first victim was Tom Jennings, a hapless handyman who stumbled upon her coffin in Nicholas' cellar and had to be silenced. The second was Joe Haskell, chosen simply because he interfered with Nicholas' courtship of Maggie Evans; unlike Tom, he survived her attacks, but suffered the agony of becoming her helpless slave.
Her third victim was decidedly not chosen by Nicholas. Hoping to escape her curse in the same way as Barnabas had, she sank her teeth into Jeff Clark, forcing him to attempt the Eve experiment with herself as the life-force. But they were interrupted when Barnabas came home, and apparently never got another chance - perhaps Nicholas was watching her too closely, though if he was it would seem to be the only time. When he eventually discovered her visits to Jeff, he was furious at her disobedience, and immediately freed the young man from her power, erasing his memory of her.
Unfortunately for Nicholas, he could not afford to punish Angelique at that point; he needed her to thwart Barnabas' plot to do away with Eve. He intended for her to bite Barnabas only once and place him under control - he could still not afford to let Barnabas die, for Adam's sake - but he should have known better than to think she would obey. She preyed upon Barnabas again and again, no longer wanting anyone else - she coldly rejected the anguished Joe, knowing he could no longer live without her. When Joe tried to kill himself, Angelique commanded Barnabas to finish the job; he was barely able to resist. His plight discovered by Julia Hoffman, Barnabas could not help fleeing to his destroyer's side; she hid him in an abandoned hut, preparing to drain the last drop of his blood and make him her vampire consort. But with a last effort of will, Barnabas escaped and staggered away toward Collinwood, where Vicki helped him hide. When Angelique summoned him again, he collapsed in the woods, and dawn forced her to abandon him. Willie Loomis found him there, and Julia quickly took him away to Wyncliffe, where Angelique would not be able to reach him. (Actually, Angelique's motives here were doomed to frustration even if she had "succeeded". As soon as Barnabas became a vampire, he would have been freed from her power, and would have undoubtably tried to destroy her. One reason her schemes never worked out the way she planned may be that she simply never thought them out properly.)
When Nicholas learned how Angelique had jeopardized his plans, he finally made up his mind to drive a stake through her heart. But he had waited far too long - she had hidden her coffin away in a secret place, and persuaded Eve to guard it for her. In return, she sent Eve on a brief journey to the past, using a magic amulet stolen from Nicholas. (Eve's death the following night prevented her from keeping the bargain, if indeed she ever intended to.) Determined to destroy Nicholas before he found and destroyed her, Angelique attempted to summon the Devil himself, but was instead forced to descend to face him in Hell. There she eagerly reported the failure of Nicholas' plans and Eve's death, blaming all his misfortunes on his love for Maggie (and conveniently making no mention of her own constant interference). Pleased by her treachery, Diabolos rewarded Angelique by freeing her from the vampire curse - though her request to take personal revenge on Nicholas was refused.
Her powers restored, Angelique had unfinished business to conclude with Elizabeth. Still tortured by the conviction that she would be buried alive, Liz suffered a nightmare in which Cassandra told her that the time had finally come. Almost as soon as she woke, Liz fell into a catatonic state, convincing everyone at Collinwood she was dead. Unable to move or speak, she endured an agony of terror as Cassandra's prophecy came true.
Barnabas was doubtless next on her list, but she would not have the chance - not in 1968. Diabolos had evidently just learned of all she had done to sabotage Nicholas' plans - probably from the tormented Nicholas himself - and was not at all pleased. He banished her to her own past, in Collinsport of 1796. To her delight, Barnabas soon travelled back in time as well, seeking to save Vicki from the gallows. Taking the form of a prostitute called "Crystal Cabot" - and overplaying the role to the hilt - Angelique lured Barnabas into biting her (he had become a vampire again while in the past), then laughingly revealed her true form after her "death". She offered him a deal: she would see that Vicki survived the hanging unharmed, only appearing to die, if Barnabas would promise (here we go again, folks) to stay with her and treat her as his wife. Barnabas reluctantly agreed, and Angelique did as she promised - but forgot to mention one little detail: she would revive Vicki after she was buried. It didn't matter much, though, since Barnabas planned all along to double-cross her. Before Vicki could be buried, Barnabas and Ben surprised Angelique with an exorcism, banishing her to Hell - and freeing Vicki from her spell.
In 1969, Liz awoke from her coma and - thanks to her paranoid forethought - was able to signal for help. Barnabas, returned from the past, told her not to worry, saying, "I can assure you we will never see Cassandra again". He was wrong.
