Widow's Hill At Midnight
By Linda

Rating: M | Status: Completed | Genre: Supernatural | Series: Read the sequel, Mirror Images.
Summary: Original Series. What fate awaits Maggie Evans on Widow's Hill?

Chapter One -- Josette's Return

Maggie Evans looked at the clock on the wall of the diner. Two o'clock, she sighed. Four hours to go. She picked up a dishrag and walked over to the table that had just been vacated. Grabbing the coffee cups in one hand, she spun the cloth over the Formica surface and then headed back toward the sink behind the counter.

The bell on the door tinkled lightly as it was flung open.

"Be with you in a minute," she called, while she ran water through the folds of the dishcloth and then twisted it to wring out the excess water.

She turned and nearly ran into Nicholas Blair, who stood behind her holding a huge bouquet of roses.

"Nicholas!" she cried, smiling happily. She looked at the flowers and gasped. Bonaparte roses….just like the first one he had ever given her. "Nicholas, they're beautiful," she said as she reached for them.

Instead of handing them to her, he put the roses down on the counter and pulled her to him, kissing her lightly on her lips.

"The lunch rush is over," he observed, grinning mischievously. "I see I came at a good time."

"What ARE you doing here?" she asked in a soft voice as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

As he pulled her close, he bent over and whispered, "I had some business over at the bank….WHICH, as you know, is just two doors down from the florist." He leaned back and looked into her eyes. "As I walked by, I just happened to look in the window, and what did I see? One dozen tropical roses just waiting for the most beautiful girl in the world to admire them…."

She grinned and pulled his face toward hers, rewarding him with a luxurious kiss. "You," she murmured, "are the handsomest, sexiest, most thoughtful and utterly delightful man I've ever known." She sighed. "Mmmmm, I've never even IMAGINED anyone like you…."

"And with such a man standing right in front of you, I should think you would leap at the chance to lock the front door and take a break, before someone comes in and interrupts us." He looked decidedly roguish as he gazed into her eyes.

The bell tinkled as the door opened again and two women walked in. Nicholas and Maggie quickly broke their embrace.

"Too late," he sighed. "You see? THIS is why I keep telling you to quit this wretched means of employment." He touched her face lightly. "Six o'clock?"

"I'll be there," she grinned impishly. "I can't wait."

He turned slightly and looked over at the two women, and then back at her. "Were it not for the popularity of afternoon tea, you wouldn't have to," he remarked with mild annoyance. "But…" He smiled, but his eyes smoldered. "I promise I'll make it worth your while."

He leaned over and kissed her cheek, then turned and walked out the door. With a small smile still on her lips, she quickly put the roses in water; then she picked up her order pad and strode over to the women's table.

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Late that night, Sheriff Patterson finally stepped out onto the front porch of the House By The Sea. "Well, Mr. Blair…this is highly irregular since she's only been missing a few hours, but I'll do some checking and get back with you as soon as I can." He nodded to Nicholas and turned toward the steps.

"Thank you, Sheriff. You know I wouldn't bother you, except…well, this just isn't like her at all. You'll do your best to find her, won't you?" Nicholas asked anxiously.

The sheriff turned back toward Nicholas and nodded his head. Then he descended down the stairs and walked to his car. As he opened the door, he sighed in exasperation. It was Patterson's opinion that for all his cosmopolitan veneer, Nicholas Blair had been a pain in the ass from the day he'd arrived in Collinsport. There was no doubt that the man was odd and although Blair always managed an alibi, it hadn't escaped the sheriff's notice that a rash of strange events had come to pass since he'd first appeared on the doorstep of the Collins estate.

He got into the car and started the engine. Christ Almighty! he thought. His shift had been over for two hours and he'd missed his supper. While the clam chowder his wife had promised him was getting cold, here he sat, in a frigid police car and at the beck and call of a man who thought nothing of hauling the Collinsport Sheriff's Department out in force to look for his girlfriend merely because she was late for dinner.

As he drove away he picked up his radio and called in the report to his deputy, all the while thinking of his chowder and wishing mightily that Nicholas Blair had never come to Collinsport. Maggie Evans, having likely lost all track of time, was probably sitting in the drawing room at Collinwood, drinking tea and playing cards with Carolyn Stoddard and Vicki Winters, and he couldn't say he'd blame her….aside from the fact that he seemed to be rich as Croesus, the sheriff just couldn't understand what the hell she saw in him.

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Nicholas had rewarded the sheriff with a friendly smile as he departed, but as he closed the door of the House By The Sea, a worried frown clouded his features. He WAS worried. Very worried. It wasn't like her to be even a few minutes late, and he knew she hadn't forgotten….not after this afternoon.

He sighed and sat down on the sofa. He understood how lucky he was to even still be around to enjoy her….with the death of Eve, and the collapse of the Bride of Frankenstein experiment, there had been a lot to smooth over, anyway….then Angelique's betrayal of him and his feelings for Maggie had only made matters worse. He had broken a rule. Angelique had, of course, been duly rewarded for her double-dealing, and Nicholas had thought that his demise was imminent…however, Diabolos had given him another chance.

Where in the hell could she be? In a panic, he wondered if they'd done something to her after all. Diabolos had APPEARED satisfied to leave things as they were for the time being…..

Now, though, it was close to midnight, and his concern had developed into agitation. He stood up and paced about the living room. He looked at his watch and paced some more. He loosened his tie. He needed to get some air, he thought. He suddenly had a compulsion to take a walk up to Widow's Hill. He tried to fight off the impulse, but it kept nagging at him. Finally he gave in and grabbed his overcoat. He quickly scribbled a note for Maggie in case she suddenly reappeared….then he strode out the door.

The path up the hill was rocky and dangerous, but Nicholas traversed it with ease, using his powerful warlock proximity senses. He was also agile by nature, and possessed of a natural grace. As he approached the top of the hill and the forest began to open up, he could hear the roar of the surf below, and the pounding of the waves as they crashed into the sharp rocks that littered the beach. He peered through the thinning trees and was rewarded with one of the most spectacular views in Collinsport….the ocean stretched before him, the moon casting a pale glow over the water.

As he emerged from the woods onto the open grass littered with sharp rocks, he began to climb the last steep leg of the path to the very top. A storm must be coming, he thought.….a gale blew, flattening the tall grass. As he reached the crest, he was startled to see the silhouette of a young woman standing there already, and dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. Even in the dark, he could see that she was dressed in a short, summer dress, and she shivered in the cold as the wind whipped her long hair wildly around her face.

There was something familiar about her, he thought, as he quietly moved closer to where she was standing. He couldn't see her face in the dark, but something about her carriage....the way she held herself as she stood there, staring out over the water. Then she suddenly took a step closer to the edge and stumbled as he crept up behind her - In one lithe motion, he reached out and grabbed her, pulling her back onto more solid ground. He held her firmly for a quick moment; then, as he turned her around to face him, familiarity turned to startled recognition.

"Maggie??" he cried. He pulled her close and held her to him, running his fingers through her hair. "Maggie, where have you been? I've been frantic!" he scolded, as his arms tightened around her.

He looked down into her face, and she stared back at him with vacant eyes.

"Barnabas…" she moaned softly. "Barnabas, vous m'avez dit de vous rencontrer ici. J'avais attendu...l'attente…." Barnabas, you told me to meet you here….I've been waiting…waiting…." She closed her eyes. He saw that she'd been crying.

"Maggie?" His eyes widened in fear. She acted like she was delirious….and she didn't speak French.

"Barnabas, vous avez promis," she murmured. "Vous avez dit que rien ne nous maintiendrait distants. Vous avez dit que nous irions en Angleterre." Barnabas, you promised….you said nothing would keep us apart. You said…we'd go to England….

Then, in a split second, he understood, and he froze in fear as he remembered a young woman from long ago…a girl from Martinique. There was no bargain between him and his masters….a far more clever punishment awaited him than he'd given them credit for, he realized. His relief with his pardon had been so overwhelming that he hadn't even suspected a deception.

Terror shot through him. She wasn't his Maggie any longer. They had taken her away….and yet left her here, taunting him and dangling her shell in front of him. Everything about her was so familiar that he ached with longing…wanting to touch her, to hold her, to kiss the tears that stained her face….to keep her safe from harm. But -- she didn't know who he was....and she had no idea who SHE was. She thought she was Josette DuPres'…and what was worse, she thought she was in love with Barnabas Collins.

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Chapter Two - The Struggle Begins

Jealous anger filled Nicholas as he listened to her softly moan the name of Barnabas Collins while tears continued to run down her cheeks.

Suddenly she closed her eyes and sagged limply against him. He caught her as she began to fall and concern for her suddenly overwhelmed him. He noticed that she was wearing his favorite dress…..and she was freezing. He needed to get her back to the house, he thought. She hung loosely over his arms as he picked her up and carried her slowly back down the hill.

When he reached the threshold, he kicked the door open and quickly strode over to the couch, laying her down gently. She had begun to shiver uncontrollably -- he found a blanket and covered her. He went back and closed the door….then he returned to her side, and watched her tremble for a moment. He lifted her up slightly and gathered her into his arms as he sat back down. She lay there with her eyes closed. Somehow they had gotten to her as she was on her way here, he thought. He rubbed his hands over her skin to warm it and softly stroked the hair away from her face. Not able to help himself, he leaned over and kissed her softly. She sighed contentedly and snuggled against him. "Barnabas," she murmured.

His body stiffened and she opened her eyes. They grew wide with fear as Nicholas filled her vision and she screamed while she struggled to get away from him. Pushing him from her, she yelled in heavily accented English, "Who are you?? Let me go!….Let me go!"

He released her and she leaped off the couch, clutching the blanket around her. "Where am I? Why am I here?? I don't recognize this house…."

"You don't remember?" he asked softly.

"Remember?" She shook her head in bewilderment. "No," she whimpered softly. "No. I've never been here. My aunt and I were staying at Collinwood...at the Old House....until the wedding I am engaged to Barnabas Collins." Her voice grew excited. "But he has to go away! WE have to go away! No one must know...no one must ever find out his secret….I was waiting for HIM on the hill." The blanket dropped to the floor. "I must go back!" she cried in a panic. "He told me to meet him there! He'll think I don't want to go with him! I must go back!" She started for the door.

In one swift motion, Nicholas was up and at her side. He grabbed her and pulled her back into the living room. Perhaps he could use his own powers to get through to her. She grappled with him, but he held her arms locked. When she stopped struggling, he reached up and lifted her chin until their eyes met. He stared into hers deeply and spoke to her in a quiet voice. Reacting to his hypnotic gaze as he continued to murmur softly, she slowly relaxed her arms. He released them and they dropped to her side. With unwavering eyes, he summoned the full strength of his mental weapons….then he reached out and placed his hands on either side of her face.

"You can go," he said in a measured voice, "as soon as you answer some questions for me." He paused. "Now…..tell me your name."

"My name is Josette DuPres," she said coldly.

Without taking his eyes from hers, he concentrated harder and pressed his hands more firmly against her temples. He fought to dig deeper into her psyche, to find the suppressed essence of Maggie Evans that he knew was hidden within. "Who ARE you?" he repeated.

"Josette DuPres!" she cried angrily, struggling to pull away again. "Who are YOU?? Why are you keeping me here?? Why don't you let me go??"

It wasn't working. He'd never felt so cold inside, he thought. His mind raced as he tried to think of a solution. There was only one thing he could do….he had to keep her here. He'd never give her up to Barnabas Collins….NEVER.

Because of Angelique, he knew the whole story of Barnabas and Josette…he knew how their love had begun on Martinique…how it had grown and flourished through their letters exchanged while she was in Paris….and how it had ended in tragedy in Collinsport, atop Widow's Hill, very late on a stormy evening.

He also knew that Collins had never stopped loving her. He'd been searching for her in nearly every dark-haired girl he'd seen since his release by Willie Loomis. He knew what Barnabas Collins had been…..and could become again. He even knew that Barnabas had already used his vampiric powers to make Maggie into his Josette once….or tried to, anyway. He'd kidnapped her, raped her, sucked half the blood out of her….and held her captive for weeks.

She'd fought back and resisted him….and finally escaped, but Nicholas knew that Barnabas would take her again if he could. He was no longer a vampire….but in Maggie's current mental state he didn't have to be. He didn't need any powers of persuasion… she believed she was Josette, and if she escaped to the Old House and into the arms of Barnabas Collins, Nicholas knew that he'd never see either of them again.

He dropped his hands from her face. Maybe this attempt had been unsuccessful, but Nicholas knew that even now, his own powers of persuasion were not be taken lightly. "I am Nicholas Blair," he said softly. "Your host for the evening." He looked toward the window….he could see the trees bending in the wind outside. "You can't go back out tonight. You're cold…and there's a storm coming."

"No!! What if he doesn't know to come for me here?? I have to go BACK!!" She started for the door and he grabbed her from behind. Once again, she tried to wrench herself from his grasp. Keeping her arms pinioned, Nicholas lifted her off the floor and carried her upstairs.

She fought him. "Let me go! Let me GO!" she screamed.

The door to the small room was open and he strode in. It was more of a large closet than a room, and sparsely furnished….containing only a bed, a nightstand, and a bureau. It boasted open rafters that made it seem taller but there were no windows.

He threw her onto the bed and reached over her, flipping the switch of the small lamp on the night table. The low wattage bulb glowed bleakly. He stepped back and quickly closed the door.

"What are you doing?' she gasped, as she sat up. "WHY are you doing this??"

He stood by the door. "You're not leaving," he said coldly. "You're not Josette DuPres'. You've been made to THINK you're Josette…but you're a girl named Maggie Evans, and you belong here with me….you love ME."

She looked at him in astonishment. Then she threw back her head and laughed. "You're a madman," she retorted angrily. "I've never seen you before…..and I know nothing of a girl named Maggie Evans." She paused. "I love Barnabas. I've loved him for as long as I can remember…and I always WILL love him," she said firmly. She reached up and her fingers gently caressed the side of her neck. "He'll find me….he'll read my thoughts as they're carried across the wind and he WILL come for me….and he will destroy YOU." She sat up and arched her back, flouting herself as she boldly returned his gaze. "You'll see."

His loins ached as he watched her mock him with her sudden, raw sexuality. Was this what his own powers had called forth? No, this was not his Maggie....Maggie could be tantalizing but she'd never taunted him cruelly. Yet nothing he had ever heard about Josette DuPres' had prepared him for the woman he saw before him....a vulnerable maiden one moment, and a vicious siren the next. He thought of how she'd stroked her neck a moment before.....had the influence of the vampire nearly 175 years before lived on in her soul? He took a step forward, but then stopped abruptly. "Nevertheless," he said quietly, "I have you here now." His eyes glittered dangerously in the soft light. "And HERE," he said in a voice reminiscent of spun silk, "is where I'll keep you." He turned and walked out. He removed a key from his pocket and locked the door behind him.

As he descended the steps, he heard her begin to scream.

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Chapter Three - A Test of Wills

She continued to scream for two days. Until now, he had doubted anyone's ability to scream for that long, and at one point, he was nearly convinced that the sustained volume of her shrieks might drive him insane. He couldn't eat. He hadn't slept. He wouldn't give in, though….he wasn't going to release her no matter what she did.

That first night, just after he had locked the door, he had moved slowly down the stairs and into the living room and sat in the chair by the window, looking out toward the ocean for hours. The wind continued to whip against the house as the storm moved in and shortly after he sat down, it began to rain. Water pattered against the roof in a sustained beat. He could hear her cries echoing…..wild and clamorous sounds that contrasted sharply with the steady rhythm of the rainfall. Gradually the storm blew by and the sky began to lighten. The sun began its ascent, peeking through heavy clouds that still scattered themselves throughout the sky. As rays of sharp light filtered through the cumulus and cast bright reflections on the water, he had sighed heavily. How many times had he and Maggie sat here, wrapped in each others' arms as they watched the sunrise? Sadness and anger had permeated his every fiber at the memory.

Later that day, the phone had jingled loudly and Sheriff Patterson had duly reported in. He had filled out an official "Missing Persons" report for Maggie Evans, he informed Nicholas…..he hadn't been able to locate her and no one else had seen her, either. He apologized and said his crew would keep looking but the locals he'd interviewed were as baffled as he was.

Nicholas had purposely kept an anxious note in his voice as he had thanked the sheriff for his trouble and asked that he keep him informed. Now, of course, he wished he'd never called him in the first place. The last thing he needed was a nosy peace officer snooping through the sand dunes near Blair House…..especially with that racket upstairs.

Then, on the morning of the third day the screaming suddenly stopped. He didn't even notice, at first….he had grown used to the noise, and it took him a moment to consciously recognize the silence.

He stood and quickly mounted the steps to her room. Unlocking the door, he opened it carefully, and peered in. She was lying on the bed. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was shallow. He strode swiftly to her side and shook her lightly. She moaned softly and shifted her body. She sighed deeply. "Barnabas," she murmured.

He just stood there and looked at her. She was so beautiful….his masters could not have conceived a better punishment. This was the stuff from which Greek tragedies were written, he thought….he loved her to wild distraction and she suddenly became a twin who wanted someone else.

He turned and left the room for a moment, returning with a pitcher of water and a plastic cup. He didn't trust her with glass.

He went back downstairs and fixed her something to eat. When he came back into the room, he found her sitting up, gulping the water. He set the tray down and strode to her side, quickly seizing the cup from her hands. "Careful," he warned. "You'll make yourself sick."

She glared at him weakly. "How long do you intend to keep me here?" she asked in a weary voice.

"Until you come to your senses," he replied, picking up the tray of food and putting it in front of her. "Here. You haven't eaten anything for two days."

"I don't want your food," she said derisively. "And your attempts at conviviality make me ill."

"Eat it anyway," he ordered. "You'll need to keep your strength up if you want to keep screaming for your precious Barnabas to come rescue you," he retorted.

"He and I WILL find each other, you can't stop us. I know that the others are all dead, but he lives…." She looked over his shoulder vacantly. "I just have to keep waiting for him…."

"Well then….if nothing else, I should think you'd wish to at least look well when he DOES arrive, since you keep insisting that he will. Perhaps he won't want to STAY, though, if he sees a cadaverous, unkempt crone waiting for him…."

She looked back at him and spoke sharply, her accent sounding heavier in her anger. "If I look unkempt, it is because you've kept me locked in this room for two days without a bath…. without a change of clothes…..without even a hairbrush. You kidnapped me from Widow's Hill where I was waiting for him….he ASKED me to wait there….and then you took me away….."

"Damn it!" he exploded in fury. "What did you think you would do….just STAND there on the cliffs forever???" He yanked her up off the bed and swung her around to face him. "How long do you suppose you HAVE been waiting for him?? Do you even know???" He wanted to shake her until her teeth rattled.

She glared back at him silently. He took a deep breath in an effort to calm himself. "Maggie…." His eyes bored into hers once more. "It's 1968…one hundred and seventy three years AFTER Josette DuPres' came to Collinsport….how long do you intend to wait for Barnabas Collins to show up?"

At first she shrank back in fear, but then stood tall again as she spoke. "My name is Josette……and I know he will come for me," she said softly. "He promised. I will wait forever if I have to."

He dropped his arms to his side and turned away from her. The pain of her betrayal, even unwitting as it was, slashed at his insides. He wondered how much longer he could stand his tortured, unanswered feelings. "Then you will just have to wait here," he said in a voice of lethal calm that contrasted sharply with his pain-filled eyes. "Because I'm NOT letting you go."

She picked up the tray of food and hurled it across the room. The tray clattered loudly as it hit the wall….the plate shattered as it hit the floor. Then, total silence. "There will be no more of that," he whispered. He removed his belt and advanced toward her, his eyes gleaming in anger. She backed away slowly in sudden alarm. Stumbling, she fell onto the mattress, and like a cat pouncing on its prey, he lunged and fell over her, pinning her arms above her head and lashing them to the post on the headboard with the belt.

There was nothing left of the charming dilettante who had courted Maggie Evans. He had been driven toward the depths of madness, and whatever control he had sought vanished as his body loomed above hers. He stared grimly into her frightened eyes and grabbed a clump of her hair as he yanked her face closer to his. She froze under his touch. Never had she seen an expression of feelings so primal or gut wrenching, and it terrified her.

Seconds later, she began to scream again.

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Chapter Four - Passion Wrought By the Furies

Several days later, he stood outside her door once more. He had tried to ignore her, to just leave her here and let her ponder the punishment he had given her. However, after having her once he found he couldn't stay away from her. He hadn't touched her again but he couldn't control his urgent need to see her. He'd brought her food and water several times a day and let her out to use the bathroom....she always drank the water but for the most part, left the food uneaten. She had become sullen and uncommunicative, yet he kept finding excuses to enter her room....to talk to her, to try to reason with her. Everything he said fell on deaf ears, but she had quit trying to provoke him.

He opened the door slowly. She sat on the bed, clad only in her torn dress….her hair a snarl. She turned slowly and looked at him, her eyes filled with hate….and shame.

"You haven't eaten," he said softly, his face displaying no emotion.

"Et je pas," she said stubbornly. Since the incident several days before she had reverted to her native French.

"No? Well, at least you haven't thrown the tray at me," he said lightly. "Perhaps you'll change your mind."

She began to reach for the tray and then thought better of it. "I'll starve myself if you try to keep me here….away from the Old House….away from Barnabas." Her eyes began to gleam. "He'll come for me, you know," she repeated for the thousandth time. "He'll find out what you've done to me and you'll pay for it. You don't know what he is…you can't even imagine what he'll do to you when he finds you." Her smile was evil.

Rage began to fill him. Whoever she was, she did NOT belong to Barnabas Collins….he'd never let that bastard take her. He'd kill her first…he'd kill them both. No other man was ever going to touch her.

He crossed the room toward her, looking at her wild disarray. Remembering what he had done to her, his cock began to stiffen. Her breasts were revealed through the tears in her dress…the one that had once been his favorite. Thinking he might humiliate her into submission, he hadn't bothered to give her anything else to wear and he could see her nipples under what remained of the soft fabric.

He reached out and touched her cheek lightly. "Non, mon cher," he said in a silky voice. "He has no idea what "I" am…or what I'll do to the both of you if you betray me.

She shivered, and pulled back sharply. Recognizing the lust on his face as he looked at her, her face darkened. The vixen in her suddenly revealed itself again as she glared at him contemptuously and threw her shoulders back, thrusting her breasts toward him as if daring him to touch her.

His earlier taste of her had merely whetted his craving for more….now his powerful warlock body burned anew with his hunger for her. He leaned over and swiftly picked her up in his arms. She struggled but was easily mastered by his strength. She lay still for a moment and then spat at him, her eyes blazing.

He threw her back on the bed and fell on top of her, straddling her slim body. He slapped her. She rose up and slapped him back. His eyes lit up in surprise. He slapped her again, harder this time.

She clawed at him....he grabbed her wrists and they tussled. He reached out to slap her one last time but as he caught her glance he thought better of it. Her eyes were wild. He could feel his erection growing from their struggle….he wanted her so badly he could almost taste the desire. He grabbed the hem of her dress and yanked it upwards, revealing a soft triangle of dark hair. His hand reached down and touched her lightly, stretching back the soft folds of skin and finding the spot where he knew if he caressed her she would gasp with pleasure in spite of herself…..he wanted to make her gasp, to cry out for him again….to beg him. She began to wrestle against him, but he pinned her arms with his body weight.

Their eyes met again and she was drawn into his hypnotic gaze as he found the small nub and began stroking it lightly. He smiled at her sharp intake of breath. She writhed from side to side and tried to move her legs together, but he continued to stroke her, moving his fingers a little faster and applying more pressure. His supernatural power over her took hold, as her eyes closed and her legs slowly relaxed....and her hips began to rotate slowly. He kept going, rubbing harder and faster until she was breathless….suddenly he stopped. Her eyes opened, and she looked at him in bewilderment. He smiled and grabbed her by the hair, pulling her face towards his…"Tell me what you want," he whispered, his deep gaze nearly paralyzing her.

Her face burned under his potent spell as she answered him. "I want to feel your touch, Nicholas...your hands on my body...your lips on mine," she said softly. "I want you to take me without heed to my frailties...I want to feel you inside me....I want to feel your heart pound against mine." His lips fell to hers, softly at first…and then his kiss grew savage. She moaned and raised her hands, running her fingers through his hair, pushing his mouth down on hers even harder….and leaving scratch marks on the back of his neck. His loud groan made her stop, and she suddenly looked ashamed as she tried anew to fight his narcotic hold over her senses.

His breathing grew more rapid as his lips traveled over her shoulder and down to her breast. She tried to lay perfectly still as his tongue reached out to tease her hardened nipple. She felt a sharp pang of pleasure shoot through her under the insistent motion of his tongue but she forced herself to lie there stiffly.

He rose up, pulling her with him by the wrists. He let go briefly and ripped off what remained of her dress. He looked at her. "Take off my shirt," he ordered. She didn't move. He slapped her again, not hard...but enough to let her know who was the master. Her eyes tore into his, and her hand flew back…he caught her wrist and stopped her…."Unbutton…my…shirt…" he said through gritted teeth. She reached out slowly and touched the open collar…then she grabbed the neckline and ripped it downward. Buttons flew as the shirt fell open. He shrugged it off and collapsed over her….and his lips found hers as she lay naked beneath him. He covered her face with kisses and she answered them, once again unable to stop herself. their breathing grew ragged.

He reached down and found the nub again and this time his strokes were unrelenting. She tried to be still, to not give in again….she tried to think of Barnabas amidst the explosion of sensations her body was feeling….after a few moments she couldn't take it anymore and quit fighting him. Her pelvis stiffened and she pressed herself into his fingers. He had been rubbing himself lightly against her leg, feeling his pleasure grow from the pressure.…Now, as he could feel her nearing a climax, he undid his pants with his free hand and released his engorged penis….he took her hand and pressed it to him…..she wrapped her fingers around him, and his hand moved faster and faster between her legs....suddenly her back arched and she shrieked with the delight of release.

He rose and pulled off his lower garments and then fell on top of her, thrusting himself between her legs. He groaned loudly as he found entry….and then he began moving up and down -- swift, sharp strokes that filled her and made her cry out….she wrapped her legs around him and pulled him closer as her hips began to move in unison with his…they continued to move together, their motions accelerating at a rapid pace…she covered his face with her kisses and he seized her, pulling her mouth toward his….as their lips locked together and he wrapped his tongue around hers, he flung his hips forward in one last powerful thrust….they both cried out as their flesh shuddered in unison and their fluids melted together under the bonding of their bodies.

After a few moments, he gathered her into his arms, and stroked her hair softly as they lay there. She rested in his arms quietly; then suddenly, tears began to stream down her face and she wrenched herself from his embrace. She turned away from him but he could see her body was racked by sobs.

He reached out to touch her. "Josette?" he whispered.

"Go away!" she cried miserably. "Leave me alone…." Her body shook. "Please…please, just leave me alone."

He rose from the bed and donned his boxer shorts and trousers. He went to the master bedroom and grabbed his dressing gown and a heavy down comforter from the closet. Returning to her room, he threw the robe over her lightly. Then he unfolded the comforter and covered her with it. He reached over and touched her cheek softly.

She didn't look up, but continued to weep dejectedly. He finally turned and walked slowly out of the room, locking the door behind him.

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Chapter Five - A Deal With The Devil

Nicholas strode into the living room and immediately headed for the brandy bottle, as he had done constantly over the past few days. He poured himself a stiff drink and saw that the liquid now measured low in the bottle….he looked in the cupboard and pulled out another. He sat down heavily on the sofa. He took a large gulp of the brandy and slowly leaned back, closing his eyes. His frustration was palpable. He could ravish the woman upstairs all he wanted but she would still be a stranger when the spells wore off, he thought miserably. His powers still worked and she responded to him sexually, but she hated him all the same….and hated herself for giving in to him.

He swirled the brandy in the glass and took another big gulp. He wanted Maggie back, and he had no way to accomplish that on his own. Whatever it was that made her Maggie Evans….her essence….her soul, as it were…..they had taken it and locked it away somewhere where he would never find it. It seemed that he could not recreate her from the woman who now called herself Josette no matter how hard he tried. He could force Josette to respond to him.....but not even the faintest veneer of Maggie's personality was evident. He drained the glass and stood up to go grab the other bottle.

If he could just get drunk enough to forget the vulnerable, yet foul-tempered vixen upstairs, he thought.....his thoughts returned to their passionate embraces of just moments before. He felt himself growing excited again in spite of himself as he thought of her fighting him so vigorously…and then clinging to him, begging him to finish her…..was it only the spell that had wrought her passion? Or was there really something else….that inkling of the dark side….the sultry sensuality of the vampire victim after the sun fell behind the hills? Something that reached out and grabbed for the blackness in his own nature?

He heard the sound of soft laughter across the room. The air seemed to waver for a moment, and then a diaphanous image began to form, and after a moment he recognized Diabolos.

"Hello, Nicholas," the voice of the image boomed.

"Well, well….is my discomfiture worth this rare trip out of Hell to gloat?" Nicholas asked contemptuously. "You couldn't have just watched your little comedy unfold from afar? You'll have to excuse my dishevelment, I'm afraid….I wasn't expecting guests."

"You're sounding cranky, today. It's a wonder I tolerate your impudence."

"What have you done with Maggie?"

"Nicholas, Nicholas," Diabolos said in a tsk tsk voice. "You know the rules. And you broke one! A serious one….you're lucky you're still alive here on Earth to ponder the mistake you made."

"Oh, I've pondered aplenty….there's been little else to do BUT ponder…" Nicholas remarked in an irritated voice.

"You were enjoying the "little else" just awhile ago, weren't you?"

Nicholas drained the bottle into his glass and took another swig. "You prickish swine," he snarled. "You've left just enough of the real Maggie….same hair, same clothes…..so that every single time I look at her I see the woman I love…but everything else is Josette DuPres, so every time she looks at ME she sees an enemy….you're a clever little fuck, I'll grant you that."

"Careful, Nicholas….I could do worse, you know."

Nicholas glared at him. "Indeed? You mean you missed an opportunity to make my hell complete??"

"I must say, Nicholas…..this sudden streak of self pity in you is MOST unattractive." He sighed. "I'm here to make a deal with you. You were always my favorite, you know…..I just can't stand to see you this unhappy."

"Really?" Nicholas asked sarcastically. "I guess that explains your most recent beneficence."

Diabolos ignored the remark and continued, "As I've watched this little amusement play out, I've noticed that Josette has developed some ambivalence…..I admit it intrigues me. I have a challenge for you, Nicholas. If she falls in love with you, you can have Maggie Evans back. No questions….no recriminations. You can remain as you are…and you can have her, too. But...." Diabolos wagged his finger at Nicholas. "You cannot use your powers to persuade her. Henceforth, all her reactions to you MUST be her own….no cheating."

"She loves Barnabas Collins."

"You're not up to the contest?"

"I didn't say that. There's little enough to work with, though."

"It should be plenty if your reputation is accurate….besides, there IS an element in your favor -- that side of her no one ever suspected…except you and Barnabas Collins. And don't forget….he is no longer as she remembers him."

Nicholas thought again of her link to the vampire….and her attraction to his own dark side that he had perceived earlier. Could he exploit it without his powers, he wondered? Could he break the spell that Barnabas Collins had over her and make her his? Could he make her fall in love with him?

Even though his curse of vampirism had been thrown into remission with the lifeforce experiment, Barnabas would be a daunting enemy, he thought. The soul of his woman was still undeniably linked to him 173 years later. And if he ever learned she was HERE……..

"I accept your challenge," he replied to Diabolos.

"Very well." Diabolos smiled evilly. "The promise is made. If you succeed, Maggie Evans shall be returned to you….if you do not, things go on as they are."

"My powers are mine to keep in any case?" Nicholas inquired.

So long as you do not use them on Josette DuPres'….you must make her love you without any enhancements whatsoever. You can use every formidable element of your own personality to persuade her, Nicholas…AND your body as well…..but you cannot use your witchcraft." Diabolos warned. "If you do…."

"I understand."

"The bargain is sealed, then." The image began to slowly fade. "I'll be watching, Nicholas." His laughter echoed as he vanished from the room.

After a moment, Nicholas rose and headed toward the stairs.

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Chapter Six - Thoughts of Escape

Meanwhile, Josette lay huddled under the comforter that Nicholas had thrown over her just before he'd left the room. Her tears had dried but she felt raw, inside and out. She'd put on his dressing gown to cover her nakedness....her torn dress still lay on the floor as a reminder of their frenzied union.

Her face flamed as she remembered what he had done to her and how she had responded….twice, now. What was the matter with her? A shiver coursed through her body as she thought of the first time he had taken her, on the day she had finally stopped screaming….that night when she had thrown the tray of food at him. She had been aware of his fierce desire for her….at first she had been afraid of it. Then, without warning, it was as though another woman had taken over her body. Luxuriating in her sense of power over him, she had taunted him with her sexuality, and had done everything she could to make him angry….to make him lose control.

She remembered how his face had darkened with displeasure when she had flung the tray….and how frightened she had suddenly become. His eyes had bored into hers for a few moments…then he had removed his belt and tumbled upon her….moving like a panther, he had swung her arms up over her head and tied them to the headboard. As she began to scream he had grabbed hold of her hair and pulled her face toward him, covering her mouth with his own. She had tried to struggle….to wrench herself away from him, but to no avail. And then, as his eyes had held hers securely in an unfaltering gaze, her terror had suddenly turned to a craving as stark as his as he ripped her dress from her body. Even now she didn't truly know if it was caused by his spell over her, or the latent savagery of her own soul, but as he had continued to kiss her she found herself returning his kisses, wanting to pull her hands free so she could run her fingers through his hair….so that she could bind his mouth to hers.

First he had run his tongue over every inch of her person, leaving no place untouched. Unable to fight back, she had begun to writhe beneath him ….her every fiber had been on fire as he had finally moved up to the spot between her legs, stroking it with maddening precision, over and over…faster, then slower, bringing her to the very edge of orgasm until she had screamed in frustration. He had made her beg him, plead with him to finish….and she had. Her face flamed as she recalled how she had cried out over and over as he slowly manipulated her body, driving her to a shattering climax.

But that hadn't been all, she remembered, as her face flushed again. He had torn off his clothes and then unbound her hands, pulling her body over his and forcing her mouth down upon him...somehow using his mental powers to guide her, making her manipulate her tongue in ways she'd never even imagined. Then, just as she thought he was going to explode, he wrenched her mouth away pulled her up to him, rolling her over on her back and plunging into her, making her gasp aloud with pleasure. As they began to move together, she remembered how their motions had been almost magically synchronized….

She turned scarlet with humiliation at the memory of how much she had wanted him….how she had clung to him, crying out his name as they climaxed in violent unison….and how she had lain there in his arms afterwards, losing all sense of time, feeling his hot breath on her neck as his chest rose and fell in a gentle rhythm. And then he had pulled away from her and risen, tossing her torn dress at her as he put his clothes back on. He had walked out and locked the door, leaving her without so much as a word or a blanket to cover herself. She had burst into tears from her shame. He had come to see her repeatedly after that but had left her untouched....until today. And she had reacted to his body the same way she had the first time......

It wasn't her fault, she tried to remind herself….he had told her what he was when he warned her about trying to escape but she had already known what he was doing to her…..she could still feel the force of his power over her, she'd been the victim of a witch's spell before. Her feelings were the result of his supernatural influence……weren't they? Ambivalence continued to seize her as she struggled with her emotions.

They had to be, she insisted to herself. She loved Barnabas….she had loved him for as long as she could remember. She remembered back to when they had first met….and how she had wanted him even then but had demurely played the untouched mademoiselle, flirting with him a little but giving him no indication of her real feelings….and then had gone off to Paris, unwittingly leaving him in the clutches of Angelique.

From there, though, letters had flown to and fro….and in the midst of his ill-advised affair with her maid they had finally declared their love for one another on a moon-drenched night on Martinique….and he had approached her father and asked for her hand in marriage. He had gone ahead to Collinsport to notify his family and she had soon followed, accompanied by her father and her aunt….and the witch, Angelique.

And then the trouble had begun…..the slow but steady driving force that had ripped through their lives…the witch's spell that had impelled her toward the arms of Jeremiah Collins and turned her beloved Barnabas first into a murderer, and then into an unfathomable creature, forced to live forever in the dark…..forced to feed on blood to survive. He had been lost to the night -- lost from all, she remembered, except her…..she smiled as she thought of their last night together, how he had made love to her and plunged his fangs into her neck....the bond that was supposed to interlock them forever....before her very existence had been torn asunder.

And now she was finally back again and they could finally be together. They belonged together.

She had to get away from here….she had to find Barnabas. But how?? Nicholas kept her under close guard….in whatever ways she may have driven him mad, he never forgot to lock to door when he came and left. How could she use his lust to her advantage, she wondered?

She had to pretend to want him….to begin to care for him. She had to go slowly but if she could convince him that his acts of passion were bearing fruit, then perhaps he would grow careless.

She was suddenly torn from her reverie as she heard the key turn in the lock once more.

Nicholas had filled the large old claw-foot bathtub with water and a generous helping of Maggie's bubble bath, and dug around in the drawers for her hairbrush. He found her perfumed soap and her shampoo as well and grabbed a couple of big fluffy bath towels. His first charge, he had decided, would be to get her cleaned up. She certainly wasn't going to fall in love with him if he left her in her current state.

He was still naked from the waist up….he hadn't bothered to put on another shirt before he had gone downstairs, intent upon getting drunk. He wondered if he should remove his pants as well but then thought better of it. No use having her think she was going to be raped at every turn.

He exited the bathroom and quickly turned the key in the lock. He opened the door slowly…..she was curled up beneath the comforter and her eyes were closed. He walked over and pulled the cover off of her….then he picked her up in his arms and carried her back to the tub. He saw that she had put on his dressing gown and it reminded him of Maggie…..he found himself getting aroused once more.

She stirred in his arms and opened her eyes. "Que faites-vous?" she asked sleepily.

"Giving you a bath," he replied, as he began to untie the silk belt around the dressing gown. He pulled it apart and the folds fell open, revealing her naked body. He set her down on her feet and pulled off the wrapper….then, before she could protest, he swiftly picked her up again and placed her in the tub. She gasped as the warmth of the water hit her.

He grabbed a pitcher and filled it with warm water. "Tilt your head back," he ordered.

She was too sleepy, and the bath water felt too good, to argue……..she moved forward in the tub a little and threw her head backward. He tilted the pitcher and watched the water stream through her snarled hair, and poured some of Maggie's shampoo into his hand. He began to slowly massage her scalp. He worked the shampoo through her hair, gathering the strands and rubbing them together. His fingers moved lower to knead the back of her neck, then returned to her scalp once more. Her eyes had closed again and she let a contented sigh escape as she basked in the feel of his gentle hands.

After a few minutes he refilled the pitcher and rinsed out the shampoo. He reached over and grabbed the bar of soap….he ran it over the fluffy sponge that Maggie used, and began to rub her with it. He began at her neck and moved downward, slowly cleaning each part of her….she leaned back in the tub as he caressed her, luxuriating in the sensual feel of the bath water as it moved across her in slow ripples, and in the texture of the sponge in his hands as he traced it slowly over her body.

She caught her breath as he touched her more sensitive spots….then the sponge moved on. She watched the muscles of his upper torso ripple slightly as he worked….he was like a jungle cat -- a tiger moving through the forest, searching for its prey one minute….and licking the fur of a tiny cub the next.

Once again, the contrasting elements of his demeanor fascinated her…and excited her. Thoughts of Barnabas vanished as she gazed at him. Mesmerized by the sudden tenderness she was being shown, she found herself wanting to reach out and touch his bare skin….wanting to pull him toward her. The all-too-familiar craving fell over her again….suddenly, she WANTED to see his eyes darken with passion….. she WANTED him to rip her out of the water and take her on the bathroom floor.

She cast her eyes downward and saw the arousal of his body that belied his gentle touch. He was holding his longing for her in strict check….it would be so easy, she thought, to reach out and grasp him, to hold him close and press his lips to hers, to drive the gentleness out of him….to goad him into another furious assault on her flesh.

She closed her eyes and forced her thoughts to return to Barnabas, trying to imagine that it was HIS hands that traveled so softly over her…..that it was HE who knelt beside her, craving her….fangs descending into her neck as he yanked her body out of the water.

But then she opened her eyes and saw Nicholas….his eyes burning hotly and his hardened manhood straining against his trousers as he brushed the sponge unhurriedly over her flesh. The sheer strength of his will overwhelmed her.

At last he was finished….he pulled her out of the water and began to dry her off, rubbing one towel over her hair and the other over her skin. She fell loosely against him….she had been remarkably complacent during the entire affair, Nicholas thought….he decided that she was simply too tired to fight him any longer.

He picked up the dressing gown and put it back on her, retying the silk belt. Then he picked her up, grabbing the hairbrush on the way back into her room. He laid her on the bed and left the room, remembering to lock the door. He returned in a moment with several large, fluffy pillows and another warm blanket that he had taken out of the guest bedroom. He sat down on the bed and swung his legs up. He pulled her into a sitting position in his lap and began to brush the tangles from her hair in slow sweeping motions, stopping to work gently at each snarl.

It took him awhile….her hair hadn't been brushed in days. Slowly, he unraveled each knot as she leaned forward. Finally he got them all out….her hair was nearly dry, and fell like silk around her face. He ran his fingers through it softly.

Before he even thought about it he had pulled her closer. She finally capitulated to her tiredness and fell back against him, turning slightly so that she nestled comfortably in the crook of his arm. He grabbed the comforter and threw it over them….then he wrapped his arms around her and fell back against the pillows as she reached up to answer his embrace. Within seconds, they had both drifted off to sleep.

She woke up a couple of hours later. For a moment, she watched the steady rhythm of his chest rising and falling as he breathed. Then her eyes caught hold of a shiny object on the nightstand……the key!!

She moved very slowly to disengage herself from his grasp…..he stirred as she slowly pulled away from him but he merely sighed contentedly and turned onto his side, leaving her free. She rose carefully from the bed and tiptoed around to the nightstand. She picked up the key and crept toward the door….as she reached down to insert it into the lock, a pair of hands suddenly stole around her waist and yanked her backwards…..

"What do you think you're doing?" he whispered furiously.

Her eyes widened in fear as he looked down at her, his displeasure evident. Without waiting for her answer he pulled her back toward him….then he picked her up and threw her on the bed like a rag doll.

He grabbed at the dressing gown and ripped it off her, tearing away the long piece of silk that held it together. She tried to fight him off and he grappled with her as he seized her arms….overpowering her, he tied her hands to the post once more.....moving down over her, he began to move his tongue over her most sensitive spot -- slowly at first, and then faster and harder until her body convulsed, over and over again and the room echoed with her screams of pleasure. Then he wrenched off his own clothes and plunged into her, groaning loudly as he climaxed a few moments later.

As they finally lay quiet, chests heaving, he pressed his lips to her ear.

"I'll never let you go," he whispered. "Never."

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Chapter Eight - The Lines Blur

When she awoke, he was gone. She had fallen into an exhausted slumber after what must have been hours of his lovemaking. He had finally unbound her hands and she had caught hold of him fiercely, pulling him toward her once more, wanting him inside her…wanting him to fuck her over and over again. No use painting it with dainty descriptions, she thought….she wanted his pure animal power plunging into her until she screamed.

She had no idea how long she'd slept….she didn't know what time it was…or what day, even. Without a window in the room she was continually bathed in darkness; the small dim lamp on the nightstand was her only respite. It emitted a thin cloud of light but it was better than nothing, she thought.

At first she had craved the inky blackness to cover her shame but now she hated it. She began to fear she'd never see the sun again. She could finally understand how Barnabas had felt all those years ago….having to live with the curse of eternal darkness. More than that, though, she was afraid of the darkness that Nicholas had uncovered in HER.....a darkness that was rooted in her very soul.

She had to get away from Nicholas…..she had to get away before she didn't want to run from him anymore. She belonged to Barnabas...but her ambivalence increased by the hour. She could feel the continual pull -- his assaults on her senses never seemed to let up. What frightened her most was her intuitive knowledge that his effect on her was no longer magically induced. Somehow, the stark contrast between the gentle, yet sexually charged bath he had given her and his potent assaults on her body had touched that duskiness inside her….something no one else had ever found or wanted except Barnabas Collins……and if she didn't escape soon, she knew she never would.

**********************

Nicholas was sitting in the living room, drinking his brandy straight out of the bottle. He fought his urge to go up to her room….to rip the blankets off her and take her, again and again. His skin burned at the mere thought of her.

He took another long pull from the bottle…..this was NOT in the plan, he thought. She was not supposed to mean anything to HIM but he found himself yearning for her constantly….in his mind, the lines between Josette and Maggie had begun to blur….he wasn't even sure anymore which one it was that he wanted.

He still missed Maggie sharply….missed their wild, passionate lovemaking….their long, quiet talks….the intuitive sense that each had of the other.

But Josette…..he ached for her. She touched him in ways he'd never imagined a woman could….and, with the exception of Maggie, that no woman ever had. She drove him crazy, showing her vulnerability one minute and then teasing him, taunting him….maddening him beyond comprehension the next. First her eyes would be soft, with a single tear drifting down her cheek…and then would grow wild, and gleam with mischief…..and he was driven to her with a craving that wouldn't be denied.

He thought about how close she had come to escaping from him the night before….thankfully, his eyes had shot open as she had quietly picked up the key from the night table. Seized with a blind fury, he had risen soundlessly behind her…..

As he had grabbed her and thrown her on the bed something had snapped inside of him. He could think only of her total and unconditional submission and his angry passion had driven him blindly -- his only conscious thoughts were of impelling her to a screaming frenzy……and to satisfy her in such a way that she would never want to leave him.

He tilted the bottle to his lips again, draining it of its contents. He stood up to get another but thought better of it -- he'd already had more than enough to make a common man pass out and his lusty imaginings had gotten the better of him - he wanted her yet again.

He looked over at the corner of the room where Diabolos had appeared to him….he knew he was treading on more dangerous ground than ever before -- he was precariously close to falling in love with HER.

The bastard had kept one more wild card to play after all, Nicholas thought ruefully.

*********************

She looked up as the door opened. She could smell the brandy on him from across the room. How drunk was he, she wondered? Would this finally be her chance?

As he approached, she smiled up at him lazily and stretched her naked body out on the bed and he returned her gaze with a look of raw yearning. She continued to stretch and rubbed herself against the mattress….flaunting her sensuality, her eyes begging him to come to her.

She knew she was playing with fire, but it might be her only chance of escape….he'd be watching her much more closely now. She fought to keep her intense feelings of desire for him under control as she reached out to him. He tore off his clothes and dropped down beside her, rolling over on top of her and seeking her mouth hungrily. She held him close and ran her hands up and down his back…..then slowly began to massage the base of his neck.

His fingers drifted downward between her legs and his lips moved toward the hollow of her throat. His mouth was poised above her jugular vein….slowly, he bent down and began sucking softly on the delicate skin.

Her eyes closed and she gasped aloud as her fingers clutched at the comforter….her back arched as she climaxed almost immediately. The feeling of his fingers between her legs and his teeth and tongue on her neck drove her past the point of ecstasy. The muscles of her body contracted repeatedly until she thought she'd pass out from the sheer bliss of it. Even this makeshift re-creation of the vampire bite was enough to derange her….when he finally wrenched his mouth away, she had pulled his own neck to her mouth, sending him the same electrifying impulses. He cried out as her teeth softly chewed on the delicate skin….he reached down and pushed her legs apart, driving himself into her in uncontrolled, frenzied lust.

**********************

An hour later, she stood at the door with the key in her hand once more. He lay on the bed in a state of inebriated dormancy. She shivered as she looked back at him….his drinking had not affected his performance, but soon after they were done, he had dropped off into a sleep so heavy it seemed like a coma.

As soon as her own breathing had slowed she had risen quickly, donned his dressing gown, and grabbed the key. Now, as she turned it in the lock she looked back at him one last time. She slowly returned to the side of the bed and reached out to him, touching his face lightly. Then, she turned and fled.

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Chapter Nine -- A New Hope

When Nicholas finally awoke, the first thing he noticed in the haze of his hangover was that the door was wide open.

His blood froze as he sat up sharply. He winced at the sudden, piercing pain in his head and looked around….the key had disappeared from the table. Ignoring his agonizing headache, he stood up and grabbed his clothes, putting them on quickly. Then he began to search throughout the house. He looked everywhere, calling her name….five minutes later, he walked heavily into the living room….it was no use. She was gone.

Suddenly, the phone jangled loudly, accentuating the pain in his head. Sheriff Patterson's voice sounded over the line.

"Mr. Blair! Patterson, here. I thought you'd like to know that my deputy reported seeing a girl matching the description of Maggie Evans running into the woods earlier this evening….and heading toward the Collins estate."

"When?" Nicholas asked.

"Several hours ago…..I've been trying to call you but there's been no answer."

"I'm sorry," Nicholas apologized. "I was out for awhile. Have you been there to check?"

"My deputy drove over there. Said that she wasn't at Collinwood, though….and nobody answered the door at the Old House."

"But you think she's there?"

"I think she may still be somewhere on the estate. I've got my men combing the area for miles, though. At least she's been seen….if it really IS her."

"I'm going over there."

"Going over where?"

"To the Old House…."

"But no one's home!"

"Willie Loomis is there. He's always there….he just doesn't always answer the door," said Nicholas firmly.

"Mr. Blair! Wait…..wait for me. I'll come get you, and we'll go together….just in case."

"Just in case of what?"

"Look, if she's there…." He paused. "Anything could have happened to her….she might be hurt…she might need to see a doctor….hell, she could need psychiatric care for all I know. In any case, if I'm there to make the calls she'll get whatever she needs a lot faster.

"Very well….how soon can you get here?"

"I'm on my way….ten minutes?"

"Fine." Nicholas hung up the phone and hurried upstairs to get showered and dressed.

********************************

Willie answered the door as Barnabas moved up behind him. Nicholas and the sheriff stood in the doorway.

Nicholas pushed past Willie, and snarled at Barnabas, "Where is she??"

The sheriff stopped him. "Mr. Blair!" He turned apologetically towards Barnabas. You know that Maggie Evans was reported missing a little over a week ago, right? My deputy saw a girl matching her description headed this way earlier this evening….I hope you don't mind but it's my job to check. Has she been here, Mr. Collins?

"Well…yes, sheriff….she has." He paused and looked uncomfortable. "She's a bit….distraught."

"What do you mean?"

"Well….she appeared on the doorstep earlier this evening, dressed only in a bathrobe and totally hysterical. I've put her upstairs in one of the bedrooms…..she was exhausted as well, poor thing, and she's covered with bruises…..." He looked cryptically at Nicholas, who stared back at him in undisguised fury.

"I want to see her," he stated flatly.

"She's really in no condition to see anyone--"

Nicholas cut him off sharply. "I'm not just ANYONE, Mr. Collins. She's my fiancee. I have every RIGHT to see her. She's been missing for days."

"She doesn't WANT to see you." Barnabas gave him an evil stare, and then turned toward Sheriff Patterson with an apologetic look. "She doesn't want to leave here, Sheriff….she's afraid of Mr. Blair."

Nicholas turned white. Patterson glanced at him briefly and then looked back over at Barnabas.

"He's lying," Nicholas declared stoutly. Why should she be afraid of ME?"

"What do you mean, 'afraid of him'….what did she say?" the sheriff asked. Not that he was surprised, he thought to himself. He always HAD thought there was something just peculiar as hell about Nicholas Blair…..though of course he'd arrived at the same conclusion about Barnabas Collins as well, he thought grimly.

"Nothing that made much sense, really…..she started babbling about being kept a prisoner….and being repeatedly assaulted by her captor…."

"Have you called a doctor?" asked the sheriff.

"I was just about to send Willie for Dr. Hoffman when you arrived," he said shortly.

"Did she say who it was?" Nicholas asked.

Barnabas threw him an icy look. "No, Mr. Blair," he replied. "She didn't. Nevertheless…..when I suggested taking her to YOUR home, where I presumed she would want to go, she became very agitated and started screaming about being kidnapped….."

"You know as well as I do that Maggie and I have been seeing each other for months, and have been engaged for several weeks," said Nicholas in an imperious voice. "Now I want to see her…." That she might accuse him in front of the sheriff didn't even occur to Nicholas, so great was his need to see her face.

"As I said, she's distraught. I'm sure she'll make more sense tomorrow, after she's had a good night's sleep," Barnabas insisted.

Nicholas spoke in a voice of low fury. "I want to see her." His eyes locked with those of Barnabas Collins….toe to toe, each aware of the other's part in the conflict, their enmity was silently declared.

"No," Barnabas answered him quietly.

"You'll let me see her, damn it, or-"

The Sheriff stepped between them. "Gentlemen, please!" He turned to Nicholas. "Look, I think that waiting for tomorrow may be a good idea, Mr. Blair. But I'll tell you what. I'LL go upstairs with Mr. Collins and take a look at her….just to make sure she's all right."

Nicholas was shaking with impotent rage, but he slowly nodded his agreement. "Very well," he replied.

The sheriff climbed the stairs with Barnabas at his side, while Nicholas paced the room below. He was so close to her….and yet so far away. He had to get her back, he thought….but how?

After a few minutes, Barnabas and Patterson returned. The sheriff spoke while Barnabas remained silent. "She's asleep, Mr. Blair….it's true that she's been beaten up a bit, but other than that….she looks all right. The doctor can confirm that when she gets here." The sheriff paused for a moment, then looked into Nicholas' anxious and worried eyes. "Mr. Blair, unless you're hell bent on waking her up, I really think it would be best if you waited until tomorrow to see her," he said gently.

Acknowledging his defeat, Nicholas nodded slowly. As he and the sheriff walked toward the door, Barnabas Collins stopped Nicholas and put his hand on his shoulder.

"A good show for the sheriff, Blair," he whispered solemnly. "But I think we both know you won't be back tomorrow…….don't we?" His voice was polite as always, but Nicholas immediately understood the veiled threat.

"Oh, I'll be back, Mr. Barnabas Collins…..but you won't even know I'm here." Nicholas smiled but his eyes were frigid.

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When he arrived back at the House By The Sea, he immediately began pacing the floor of his living room. What had possessed him, he wondered? Although he knew the answer already….SHE had possessed him….and driven him to near-madness. Still, he marveled that he could he have been so stupid. Now she was lost….irretrievably lost. She wanted to be at the Old House, and Collins, after waiting for her for nearly two centuries, wasn't about to let anyone take her away.

He grabbed another bottle of brandy and dropped down on the sofa. He opened it and took a long pull….then closed his eyes and leaned his head back.

"Giving up so soon?" He opened his eyes and saw the image of Diabolos shimmering in the corner.

Nicholas heaved the bottle at him in impotent fury. It flew through the hologram and shattered against the wall, the golden liquid dripping slowly to the floor.

"I'll overlook that bit of temper….you know you really SHOULD quit imbibing this stuff, Nicholas….it's making you weak and silly."

"It's no use," Nicholas sighed defeatedly.

Diabolos arched his eyebrows. "How do you know?"

"She's there….with him. Where she wanted to be all along. I can't even get in there to SEE her."

"It's your own fault. Had you really been on your game, she never would have gotten away." Nicholas said nothing, and Diabolos heaved and irritated sigh. "I'm disappointed in you, Nicholas," he said sternly. "You have all the same weapons you had before. You can use your witchcraft on others, you know….you just can't use it on HER. Not that it seemed to be necessary, by my observation. Really, Nicholas….now I feel I should have paid MUCH better attention to you over the years -- I never dreamed you were such a virile fellow….unfortunately, however, your wits are turning to mush."

"And just WHO should I use my powers ON? Barnabas Collins?" he asked in a voice of dramatic sarcasm. "As if after nearly two centuries of salivating over her, he might be persuaded to let her go?" He rose and retrieved another bottle of brandy.

"Nicholas, you really ARE beginning to irritate me. You should be thinking of these things yourself…..and you might, if you'd quit bathing in gallons of grog. Willie Loomis may be the village idiot to most, but he does know his way around the Old House."

"I hardly think that's going to be enough to guarantee a win for me….thanks to you, she's Josette DuPres' and she WANTS Barnabas Collins. And why not???" he shouted. "Thanks ALSO to you, she is under the fucking impression that she's been in love with him for nearly 175 years…oh, I won't say that she hasn't enjoyed her lusty nights with me…but if there was a chance of me being her PREFERENCE…." Nicholas sighed and opened up the bottle. "She'd BE here right now….she would have stayed." He tilted the bottle back and gulped the fiery liquid.

"I never said that our little wager would be EASY," Diabolos admonished. "Nicholas, Nicholas…." The tsk, tsk voice returned. "How do you know she didn't run away because she IS falling in love with you? For all you know she could have been minutes from declaring her eternal devotion….and Maggie Evans would have been yours again the minute the words fell from her lips…."

Nicholas glared at him, but remained silent.

"Do you really want to give up so soon? And I thought you loved Miss Evans so passionately….Well! I AM astounded, given your recent rash of idiotic emotions, but if you can surrender her so easily then perhaps there's hope for you after all. Very well……we shall conclude our little game and you will never see Maggie Evans again. Oh, you'll see her face, hear her voice….but it will be Josette DuPres. Barnabas Collins shall have his lady love, placed high on a pedestal where he can worship her virginal beauty for the rest of their natural lives…."

Nicholas threw him a withering look.

Diabolos answered it with a conniving grin. "Perhaps I should turn him back into a vampire, Nicholas….someone dark….angry….violent….and yet with a touch of gentle compassion hidden within. That's what she REALLY wants, you know. The man she remembers…..the man YOU'VE become.

Nicholas looked at him in amazement. Intrigued, his face perked up slightly.

The image of Diabolos floated over to him. "Nicholas," he goaded, "How can you stand the thought of that tepid HUMAN touching her???"

************************

The next afternoon, Nicholas stood before the mirror in the bathroom and finished shaving. He suddenly felt better than he had in ages. The absence of alcohol and a good night's sleep had worked wonders, but his conversation with Diabolos had also given him renewed vigor….the son of a bitch knew just where to dig at him, he thought, but he had to admit…it did yield prodigious results.

He dressed quickly and started for the door. He knew exactly where he would begin.

****************************************************************

Chapter Ten - An Old Love

Barnabas Collins stood by the window in the drawing room of the Old House, still barely able to believe his good fortune. He had been astounded when Willie had flung open the door the previous evening and found her standing there, clad only in a man's bathrobe…wild-eyed and freezing from the cold.

He had thought she was Maggie, of course….and had nearly sent Willie off to get Nicholas Blair. Thankfully, he'd relented when she began pleading with him in rapid French….a language he knew that Maggie had no knowledge of.

His face had grown more and more astonished as she repeated with total accuracy the events of the late 18th century….except that she had no knowledge of leaping to her death. She talked of waiting for him on Widow's Hill…and how she couldn't leave because he had told her to wait there for him, that he would come for her and they would have all eternity together. In her mind, she had been waiting there for him for 173 years.

Barnabas had sighed. His common sense told him that the woman sitting before him was Maggie Evans…yet she was so LIKE his Josette that it hurt to even look at her. Although she looked like Maggie, it was as though she had somehow been imbued with every single memory, every single characteristic….every single nuance that was Josette DuPres'.

She had seen the doubt in his eyes.....and her own had fallen. She had looked defeated for a moment....but then she had spoken softly, repeating a phrase he had whispered in his mind for as long as he could rememer.... "Attendez-moi au dessus de la colline de la veuve, mon chéri... et je vous montrerai comment notre amour nous enveloppera pour toute l'éternité"….Wait for me at the top of Widow's Hill, my darling…and I will show you how our love will envelop us for all eternity….

His heart had nearly stopped. Nobody but Josette would have known those words….it was the last thing he had said to her, at dawn on the day she died.

Finally, he had stood up and walked slowly over to where she was sitting, still in obvious anguish.….a single tear had rolled down his cheek as he reached down and tilted her face up toward his. "Can it be true?" he whispered. "Can it possibly be true?"

He had sat down beside her and gathered her into his arms….here she was at last, the woman for whom he had yearned for so many years. She'd lain her head on his shoulder and he'd kissed her gently, treating her like a porcelain doll….and he had picked her up and carried her upstairs to her old room…..the room he had restored and saved for just this day.

He had put her down gently on the bed. He had fallen to his knees and reached over and grabbed her hand, kissing it softly. She had fallen back onto the pillows and almost immediately into a sound sleep.

He had gently untied the bathrobe and looked longingly at her body…..his beloved Josette. He touched her softly, tracing his fingers over her supple breasts and then down over her abdomen. And then he noticed the bruises.

His fury was immediate. What had that animal done to her? Josette had told him only that Blair had held her captive, thinking she was someone named Maggie Evans….she didn't mention that she'd been abused as well. He had called for Willie and told him to run up to Collinwood and fetch Dr. Hoffman. And just as Willie was getting his jacket, they had heard the knocking on the door and upon opening it, found Sheriff Patterson and Nicholas Blair on the threshold.

He was astounded to see Blair….the man had plenty of nerve, he'd give him that. In a way he couldn't blame him….but Barnabas knew that as their individual wills had locked in defiant antagonism as they stood in the Old House foyer, an impasse had been reached….neither of them would admit to anyone outside their immediate realm of confidantes that the girl upstairs was Josette. Barnabas had the upper hand, though, and he knew it….whoever she had been at one time, Maggie Evans WAS Josette DuPres' now, and Josette DuPres' cared only for HIM….his beloved had returned and Nicholas Blair wasn't getting his hands on her again, despite his Damoclean threats.

After Blair and the sheriff had left, Willie had run to get Julia Hoffman. She'd hurried upstairs and examined the girl with a grim face…..she hadn't been pleased that Barnabas' old love had somehow returned to life and was lodged in his home…in the room he had restored to her memory.

Barnabas grimly recalled his conversation with her in the Old House drawing room shortly after she'd examined Josette, and fought to control his jealous emotions as her words flew through his mind once more.

"Her bruises aren't too bad….she wasn't really beaten, if that's what you want to know," Julia had stated cryptically.

"What do you mean?"

"Judging from my examination, I would conclude that most of her bruises are the result of a great deal of intimate sexual contact….presumably with Nicholas Blair." Julia couldn't hide a small smile.

"You mean she was raped."

"No….no, I don't think so," she continued in an objective tone of voice. "There's no sign of force...not that kind, anyway. If she was raped at all, it could only have been at the very beginning….her recent round of activity looks to be entirely consensual."

"I don't believe you." Barnabas turned and walked over to the fireplace. Jealousy began to consume him.

"Why not? He's virile and attractive…and perhaps more of Maggie Evan remains in her than you'd like to believe. You know as well as I do that Nicholas and Maggie have been besotted over one another for some time now."

"She's NOT Maggie Evans any longer….she's Josette. She has no idea who Maggie even IS! I told you what she said…everything she knew….Julia, she remembered things that ONLY Josette would know…" He paused. "And Josette loves ME."

"The REAL Josette died because she was terrified of you, Barnabas," Julia replied.

He gave her a cold stare. "Her death….and everything that happened just before that, are the only things she DOESN'T remember….and I intend to keep it that way," he said icily. "And that's why I'm convinced that she could never have WANTED to be with Blair….she only remembers loving me…and waiting for me at the top of Widow's Hill…." He walked back to Julia and put his hand on her arm and looked into her eyes, silently imploring her to agree with him. "If she was enjoying herself so much, why did she come here? She was nearly hysterical when she arrived….she told me that he kept her locked in a dark room….she was afraid she'd never see the light of day again. She even said she finally understood the agony that I went through."

"Fine, then….call another doctor and get a second opinion." She gathered up her little black bag and grabbed her coat. "I'm going back to Collinwood. It's cold, I'm tired and as usual, you have no interest in listening to reason." She paused a moment. "I'm only telling you to be wary….you know that strange things just seem to HAPPEN around here..." She looked at him in frustrated concern. "Barnabas, how do you know that she's not some specter that's been conjured up by Angelique…specifically for the purpose of tormenting you again?"

"I can't allow myself to believe that….she IS my Josette, come back to me at last," he stated firmly.

Julia had refused to be impressed, and Barnabas assumed her attitude arose from jealousy….he knew his beloved Josette could never lust after a coarse and vile man like Nicholas Blair. Julia was simply letting her personal feelings interfere with her professional diagnosis, he decided.

Now, as the sun fell lower in the late afternoon sky, he turned and strode toward the staircase. He needed to be with her, needed to feel her arms around him. He needed her to whisper her assurances that she'd always loved him….and that she would continue to love him forever.

**************************

Nicholas stood in the midst of the trees, some distance from the Old House. The warlock summoned all his powers and began to focus, letting the magnetic vibrations of his intense concentrations waft outward, where they traveled through the brick walls of the Old House and into the mind of Barnabas Collins' manservant.

"Willie Loomis…..you will come to me NOW," Nicholas intoned in his deep voice. "Now, Willie Loomis….stop whatever you are doing and begin walking toward me…." He reached out and beckoned Willie with his index finger as he spoke.....

Back at the Old House, Willie was suddenly beset by an odd feeling that he should take a walk. He dropped his hammer and rose to his feet. He walked slowly into the hall and grabbed his jacket….then he walked out the door, toward the path to Collinwood.

Nicholas watched him approach.

"Hello, Willie," he said, as Willie walked up to him.

"Hello, Mr. Blair." Willie said in a muted voice. "What was it that ya wanted?"

"Nicholas placed his gloved hand on Willie's arm. "I need your help, Willie. I need you to tell me all the ways to get into the Old House….doors, windows….secret passageways…."

"Why?"

"You don't need to know that. You only need to give me the information I need."

"It's Josette, ain't it? You want her for yourself, don'tcha?" Willie asked with a wink.

Nicholas gave him a cold stare. "What I want doesn't concern you, Willie," he replied imperiously. "All you need to know is that SHE wants ME….and thus I order you to tell me what I want to know." He raised his index finger until, it was level with Willie's eyes…Willie was mesmerized….he couldn't stop looking at the finger. His gaze locked as he was held in Nicholas Blair's thrall.

"Willie?" Nicholas intoned. "Tell me what I want to know, Willie….and then you will forget this conversation ever took place."

After a moment Willie smiled……and began speaking softly.

******************************************************************

Chapter Eleven - The Fire Hidden Within

Back at the Old House, Josette had finally awakened and dressed in the clothes he had put out for her. She rose from the bed and wandered around her room. She looked around -- everything was so LIKE it had been….and yet so different. She was finally here in HER room….

And now that she was, she found Nicholas Blair invading her thoughts at every turn. She shook her head in frustration. The man was an animal….he had hurt her, used her…kept her in degrading captivity for days. He'd ripped every shred of modest behavior away from her….every bit of repression…and he'd made her like it. He'd made her want more. He reminded her of a jaguar roaming in the night…..silent, solitary, sensual, and so powerful….leaping for the jugular of his prey before it was even aware he was nearby.

He'd nearly succeeded in making her forget Barnabas….it had been all she could do to wrench herself away from him, to come here…..where she'd wanted to be for so long….where she'd always thought she belonged. As it was she'd given Barnabas only part of the story….she hadn't told him what really happened between her and Nicholas. She'd tried to rationalize it, telling herself that it was because she didn't want to hurt Barnabas that she'd kept silent….but she knew in her heart it was because of her ambivalent feelings about Nicholas Blair.

"No!" She shook her head fiercely. She was here in his house at last....finally with the man who had left her with a kiss and a promise at dawn on that cold morning so long ago…the promise of eternal life…..the promise of eternal love. The Barnabas that he left her with a wound on her neck that bound them together….it was what had kept her soul alive.

A soft knock sounded at the door.

"Josette?" She heard Barnabas call her name softly, and she ran to answer it.

Flinging it open she stood there before him, a vision of loveliness in his eyes. She wore his favorite dress, he noticed….and her hair now fell about her face in soft curls.

He entered the room and she closed the door. She turned to him and he embraced her gently.

She held her face up, staring into his eyes and waiting for his kiss to fall toward her lips. He looked at her with longing for a moment, then clasped her to him. Slowly, his mouth dropped to hers.

As he pulled back again, she gasped. "Oh Barnabas….I've waited so long for you…."

She clutched at him, wanting to want him….wanting to need his body near hers…wanting to feel the old passion for him fill her from the very core of her being.

He kissed her tenderly and held her…..and then released her, turning toward the fireplace.

She sighed in frustration….why was he so gentle with her? He was nothing like the Barnabas of their last night together…the Barnabas that wouldn't be put off….that would have her no matter what. She wanted him to rip off this silly dress and explore her entire body with his tongue….and then move his lips over her neck and let his distended fangs drop down, puncturing the soft skin of her throat ….plunging his hardened manhood inside her as he sucked the red liquid from the wound…a union through which she knew he could drive her mad with joy. She followed him and placed her hand on his shoulder as she looked up into his eyes. "Barnabas?" she asked with sudden doubt clouding her eyes. "Don't you want me?"

He turned and clasped her to him once more….his eyes filled with desire and he answered her with an ardent kiss….and slowly moved his hand to her breast. Her breath quickened and her heart began to pound as she kissed him back feverishly…then she rolled back her head and exposed her neck to him, reaching up and guiding his lips downward.

He saw what she wanted and pulled back. "Josette!" he cried, shocked. He looked at her questioningly but he immediately understood the craving in her eyes.

"Barnabas," she cried. "Don't you remember? Don't you remember our last night together? What you did to me? You said it was only the beginning….that eternity awaited us…"

He looked at her face, awash with lust….lust for the vampire. Fate was cruel, he thought sadly. How could she want the part of him that had shamed him for so long?

She suddenly looked outside and suddenly noticed that the sun hadn’t completely set. "Barnabas!" she cried. "The sun….how can you be here when darkness hasn't fallen yet?"

Barnabas took her hand and led her toward the bed. He sat down and motioned for her to sit beside him. "It was another miracle, my Josette….an experiment…another man lives because of a life force I was able to give him….and WITH that life force went the curse of the vampire….I am CURED, Josette! Cured….for as long as the other man lives, I can live as a normal man, too….."

Her heart sank, but she moved closer, and put her arms around him, letting her head fall to his shoulder.

"And we can be together…." he continued as his lips found hers again. "We shall be married, Josette…we shall be married immediately," he announced suddenly. "And then we can spend passion-filled nights in this room for the rest of our lives…."

"But why must we wait?" she cried. She stood and faced him. "Barnabas, I want you now…here….at this moment….on THIS bed." Her voice softened. "Take me, Barnabas. I've waited for you for so long…please take me now."

He stood and wandered over to the fireplace again. "Oh my Josette…all these years I've dreamed of your beauty….your purity. I've thought of almost nothing else but coming to you, in this room, on our wedding night..." He turned back toward her. "I want to wait for that, Josette….I want to wait until you're my bride."

Her purity? She looked puzzled....didn't he remember, she wondered? "But Barnabas…." She looked at him longingly. "We've waited so long already….isn't 173 years enough?" she cried. "I want it to be like that night again…I want you to be like you were! I want you to tear my clothes away…I want to feel your lips on my body….your hardness inside me…"

"Was this how you were with Blair?" he asked in a vicious tone.

She stared at him in astonishment. "Barnabas…."

"Did you beg him to take you, too?" His face grew ugly.

Tears welled up in her eyes and she turned away from him.

Suddenly he strode over to her, grabbing her and spinning her around. "Did you??"

Bewildered, she shook her head. Not in answer to his question, she thought, but because she suddenly wondered how she could have been such a fool….

"Vous dupez!" she spat. "You of all people have no right to accuse me….or have you forgotten Angelique?"

He lowered his eyes. "I can't stand the thought of his vile hands touching you…sullying you."

At least he HAD touched her, she thought grimly. "Is that why YOU don't want to touch me? Why you grace me with a tepid kiss and then turn away?" she taunted him. "The Barnabas I remember would have taken me and made me his, no matter what," she hissed at him angrily. "He would not have put me on a virginal pedestal….and he would never have called me a whore."

"And the Josette I remember would never have acted like one," he retorted angrily. He walked quickly to the door and threw it open, slamming it hard behind him as he left.

She looked down as the fire in her eyes dulled….and then disappeared altogether. She touched her neck as she thought of their fierce passion that night at the Collinsport Inn, 173 years earlier, and remembered the intense pleasure she had felt, her orgasms coming in rapid succession as he drained the blood from her body, and she had absorbed his feelings of ardent desire - and then he had made a small slash in his own neck…and had pressed her lips to it. She had instinctively known what he wanted….as she sucked the blood from HIM, his feelings of joy, of pleasure and of love mixed with those of his obsession and his jealousy…and every brutal and barbarous emotion that he had ever experienced had also coursed back through her veins and somehow filled her very soul.

She smiled ruefully at the irony….Barnabas was a vampire no longer and it was the vampire that she had craved. She suddenly realized that she had spent all this time remembering his affliction -- and what he had done to her -- with longing….and he had felt nothing but mortification. He wanted to remember her as she was when they first met.

Minutes passed….then hours, as she pondered.

She thought of Nicholas….powerful, dominant, aggressive….he seemed to intuitively know what she most desired. She remembered his feral lovemaking…angry and brutal one moment and then tender and caring the next…but with no shame about who or what he was….and no shame about who or what SHE was. She shivered as she thought of him plunging himself into her, ever more deeply and violently, as though he were branding her with his every thrust….and then remembered the bath he had given her after holding her captive for a week. She trembled as images of his hands holding the sponge and softly caressing her flesh assaulted her senses.

She reached up to her neck again….and softly touched the bruise he had left. She remembered the feel of his teeth on her throat….the soft sucking motion of his mouth as he gently pulled on the fragile skin….and then not so gently. She sat down quickly….her knees felt weak as she remembered her powerful orgasms -- like dominos in a row, one tumbling after another. He was so like the Barnabas that she thought she'd find here. She suddenly realized that she missed him fiercely….missed his hard body against her own….missed his sensual touch….missed his lips ravishing hers. She wanted to go back. She HAD to go back.

Suddenly, she had a gnawing feeling….a sense of someone else in the room. She spun around….in the dark shadows of the corner by the secret passageway stood Nicholas Blair. His eyes burned through the dimness.

She gasped….and without a second thought, rose and ran into his arms. Breathlessly, they covered each other's face in kisses….then their lips met…and held. She moaned and pulled him closer as his tongue sought hers. Finally she broke away.

"Oh Nicholas, I thought I'd lost you! How did you find me? How did you find out about the passage?" she asked breathlessly.

He saw that amid her happy smiles, tears had begun to stream down her face. "Willie Loomis was most cooperative," he smiled, reaching up to touch her wet cheek. Then his arms tightened around her…"The trick wasn't getting ME in….I could have done that….the trick was finding a way to get YOU out."

"Even had I not known about the passage I would have found a way back to you," she murmured, burying her face in his neck.

"I told you I'd never let you go…..remember?" he whispered. "But I nearly didn't come….I thought you wanted to be here."

She raised her head and gazed into his eyes. "I thought I did, too….but not anymore. I think I knew it before I even left you, but I had to be sure….and now I am." She sighed. "He doesn't want the woman from the Collinsport Inn….he wants a saint, and that's what he's turned me into after all this time --a virgin on a pedestal…..and I've disappointed him already. He's nothing like the man who left me with a promise of eternal love all those years ago." She sighed deeply. "I don't love him anymore, Nicholas…I lo---"

"NO!!!" he cried, putting his finger to her lips. "Don't say it. Don't EVER say it." He paused. "Please, Josette….promise me."

Her eyes grew wide, and she looked at him questioningly.

"Please."

She nodded slowly. "But….why??" she asked in a bewildered voice.

"I can't tell you that. It's just very important that those words never fall from your lips….or I'll lose you forever, Josette. I can't explain it, but….please…please try to understand."

She reached up and pulled his mouth toward hers. While they kissed, she reached down and began undoing his trousers.

He pulled back. "Josette!" he whispered furiously. "What are you doing? We have to go…now!! We have to get you away from here….."

"Not yet," she smiled….he saw that the vixen in her that he found so compelling had returned as she broke away from him for a moment and went over to lock the door. Then she moved back toward him and ran her hands over his shoulders...and then down his back before her fingers reached once again for his zipper. "I want to make love to you, Nicholas….here….now…..on the floor," she said as she unzipped his pants. "Almost like the first time….don't you remember? Except that now I WANT to do it….no spells, no magic incantations, no mind control….just me…..and you. I want to press my lips into you….and take you into my mouth and go over you slowly…up and down….back and forth….and wrap my tongue around you….and suck on you until your senses are caught in a vortex…..and you cry out over and over again for me to finish," she whispered into his ear. His breath caught as she dropped to her knees and reached inside his pants, gently taking his already pulsing erection into her hands, and rotating her tongue around the tip…then sliding it down to the base….then back again." He moaned and clasped her to him, pushing himself between her soft lips. She pulled away for just a moment. "If I can't tell you, Nicholas," she whispered "I'll show you."

He ran his fingers through her hair, and kept pulling her closer….and closer still, as her mouth continued to move over him. The minutes flew by and his breathing grew ragged as she curled her tongue around his stiffness, taking more and more of him into her mouth as her tiny muscles worked over his hard penis….at last, he groaned loudly and cried out her name in tandem with the lightning-fast ammunition charges that pulsed through his cock as he came.

Moments later, he grabbed her hand and pulled her into the passageway, yanking down on the lever that closed the secret door.

*******************************************************************

Chapter Twelve/Conclusion -- A Twist of Fate

Willie was at the table in the drawing room polishing candlesticks, and Barnabas sat before the fireplace and stared broodingly into the blaze. He couldn't understand what had come over Josette….what had become of her soft innocence and the pure beauty that had captured his heart so long ago. It must still be there, locked inside of her somewhere, he told himself. He could forgive her words and actions....she simply wasn't herself. She was still in shock because of what Blair had done to her.....he looked up suddenly as Willie's voice intruded into his reverie.

"Geez, Barnabas….she ain't actin' like she's so much in love with you, after all, is she?"

"What do you mean?" Barnabas frowned at Willie.

"Well…..she ain't hardly come out of her room. And I know you give her the run of the house….seein' as how she's really Josette and all."

"She's tired. She's been through a lot. She isn't quite...herself."

"Barnabas….when I took that tray of food up to this morning, she was still sleepin' on the bed….I went over and shook her a little….to wake her up, ya know? And she said HIS name…."

"His??" Barnabas stared at him questioningly. "You mean Nicholas Blair????"

"Yeah…she kinda moaned it a couple of times....I think she misses him, Barnabas. If you want to keep her here, I think maybe you should keep a closer eye on her…."

"You mean she might try to get back to him?" Barnabas asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah…Barnabas….he did have her for awhile, you know. Even Dr. Hoffman said he was doin' the job on her…" Willie shot an uneasy look at Barnabas, whose face suddenly turned violent with anger and jealousy.

"I cannot believe that she enjoyed being there with him….I won't believe it," he said firmly. "Lying with that animal….forced to do his bidding. Oh, I'll allow that perhaps she went ALONG with it…..to keep from being hurt, but he assaulted her without her consent, I know he did," Barnabas said in a menacing tone. He paused, trying to regain control of his emotions…. "She will not go back to him…..she will NOT." He'd kill her first, he thought. She was HIS Josette…..no other man would have her. And certainly not Nicholas Blair, that-that MONUMENT to debauchery, he seethed.

Willie looked at him doubtfully but didn't want to argue. Once Barnabas got hold of an idea in his mind, he wouldn't be parted from it come hell or high water, thought Willie to himself. Sometimes he wondered why the hell he stuck around, especially since Barnabas was human again and didn't really need his help to protect him.

Barnabas suddenly rose. "I must go up and see her," he declared.

He ascended the stairs and strode quickly down the hall to her room. He knocked on the door. "Josette?" he cried. There was no sound.. "Josette!" He knocked a little louder. He tried the door and found it locked.

"Willie!!" he shouted. He walked back to the top of the staircase. "Willie, bring me the key to Josette's room….NOW!"

He heard the sound of things being shoved around in a drawer and after a moment, Willie flew up the staircase.

"Here it is, Barnabas," he answered.

Barnabas quickly turned the key in the lock and threw open the door. The room was empty.

"She's gone!" Willie cried, as his eyes moved around the room.

"Blair!" Barnabas spit out the name as he looked over toward the corner. "He must have found the secret passage," he said.

Barnabas quickly walked out of the room and back down to the drawing room. His face grew grim as he grabbed the shotgun from the corner. He'd never let her return to Blair, he thought grimly, as he cocked the trigger and strode to the front door.

********************

Once more, Josette and Nicholas walked near the edge of the cliff as they made their way over the narrow path. Nicholas kept prodding her to hurry but she was in a lighthearted mood now and wanted to caper in the tall grass and admire the moonlight as it flooded the surface of the sea that stretched out before them.

He had started ahead of her, then stopped and turned around. "Josette!" he whispered hoarsely.

"Oh, Nicholas, come back here for a moment! Just look at how beautiful it is!" She stood near the edge and looked out over the moonlit water.

He walked back up the path to her side and glanced at the ocean. "Yes, yes….it's very beautiful. Now come on…let's go."

"Nicholas!" she laughed. She snuggled into his arms and looked up at him, her eyes sparkling. "We can stop for just a minute, can't we? Just let me stand here and breath all this wonderful fresh air....it's the least you could do after locking me up in that horrid room," she whispered, giving him a provocative sideways glance.

He heaved an exasperated sigh as he clasped her to him. "You sultry wench," he said in his silky voice…"Are you going to bring that up every time you want something?….Besides, there is MUCH to suggest that although you hated the room…you feel otherwise about what happened there," he whispered into her ear. Desire burned in his eyes as he looked down at her.

She reached up and gave him a long kiss….then she pulled away from his arms and took a couple of steps forward. "Nicholas, look! There's a ship out there….way out on the horizon…" She reached out and pointed over the water. Nicholas' face grew concerned….she was standing too close to the edge. He had begun to step toward her, to grab her arm, when a shot rang out. She slumped forward and quickly began to slide….she tried to clutch the grass but began to slip off the edge of the cliff.

"Josette!!" He leaped toward her and knelt down swiftly to try to catch her but could only reach her hand….he grasped it and tried to pull her back up to firmer ground.

"Nicholas," she said weakly.

Nicholas crouched down as close to the edge as he dared and extended his other arm toward her. "Josette, hold on to my hand…" He could see the blood dripping from her body as the dark stain on her dress grew larger.

Her hand was damp with perspiration and began to slip from his….he reached out to grab her from the other side and she cried out in pain as he jerked her body upward. Startled by her cry, his grip on her slipped and she began to fall away from him again.

"JOSETTE!!" he screamed as he fought to get hold of her. She dangled just out of reach. She tried to stretch toward him…..she'd begun to sob hysterically.

"Nicholas, I love you!" she cried as her hand finally slipped completely from his….he could hear her screams echo as she fell to the rocky beach below.

"NO!!!" he shouted. Dazed, he looked down at her lifeless body, dashed by the rocks beneath him....so close to how it had happened nearly two centuries before. Once again, on Widow's Hill at midnight…..she was gone.

He lowered his head in anguish. "I love you, Josette," he whispered.

She was gone….and once again, Barnabas Collins had killed her. He knew it. He wasn't sure why he hadn't moved in to finish the job on HIM, but Nicholas swore it would be a fatal mistake. Rage filled him so completely that he was blinded. He rose…and started off in the direction of Collinsport. "Vengeance is MINE…" he said softly, his eyes beginning to glow with his fury.

Half an hour later, he was standing at the door of a small cottage in town. He knocked briskly. After a moment, a tall man with a scarred face opened it.

"Nicholas!" the man cried. "I have not seen you in a very long time. But it is so late…WHAT are you doing here??" He looked glad to see Nicholas, but very puzzled.

"I've been very remiss, Adam….I apologize for not taking advantage of your hospitality before. I've something I urgently need to discuss with you, and it just couldn't wait until tomorrow."

Adam opened the door wider. "Come in, then. How is Carolyn??" he asked anxiously. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"She's fine…and no, thank you. Sit down, Adam."

"Nicholas….is everything all right?" Adam looked worriedly at Nicholas.

"Everything's fine….now please --sit down."

Adam sat down in one of the chairs, his eyes clouded with doubt. Nicholas walked behind him and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Adam," he said softly…."No…don't move. You are having difficulty breathing, Adam…you just can't seem to catch your breath, can you?" Nicholas tightened his grip on Adam's shoulder, fusing his own will with Adam's body.

Adam swung around and started to gasp. "What--???" He looked at Nicholas, and tried to break away from his firm hold….Adam's pain and fright reflected starkly on his face.

"You're choking, Adam….you can't breath, and you're choking to death." Nicholas' intoned as his eyes bored into him

"Adam continued to gasp, his face turning color. He tried to speak, while he clutched at Nicholas' arm. He fell to his knees.

"I'm sorry to have to do this, Adam….I always liked you. But the only way I can repay Barnabas Collins with what he so richly deserves is for you to die. He must answer for another death tonight….a death for which I WILL have retribution…." Nicholas spit out the words through gritted teeth as Adam finally fell to the floor, passing out. He continued to concentrate on his task….moments later, Adam was dead.

Nicholas turned and walked out the door. Now, he had only to wait.

Several hours later, Barnabas sat in the drawing room of the Old House. Willie sat nearby, his torment plain on his face. He'd always had a soft spot for Maggie Evans….loved her maybe, even….and because Barnabas and Nicholas Blair were convinced she was Josette, she was dead. A victim of Widow's Hill once more….

"What the hell came over you, Barnabas?" Willie asked with uncharacteristic boldness. "How could you do that to her?? How could you SAY you loved her and then KILL her??"

"I waited for her for nearly two centuries, Willie," Barnabas said stiffly. He spoke stiffly, a mirror image of his father. His heart had broken but he refused to let Willie see it. "I saved a special place for her in my heart…in my home…..and when she finally came back to me, she'd fallen in love with someone else……with Nicholas Blair, who'd treated her like an animal. Do you honestly think I could have allowed her to return to him after he'd sullied her like that?"

"They're gonna find her body down there….and they'll trace the bullet back to this gun."

"The gun needs only to serve one more purpose, Willie…then you can dispose of it."

"Whatcha gonna do now, Barnabas?" He suddenly looked scared. "You're-you're not gonna kill someone ELSE, are ya?"

Barnabas looked at him cryptically. "I'm going to kill Nicholas Blair. The only reason I didn't kill him before was because I wanted him to suffer the pain of her loss for awhile….just as I had to do for so long. But NOW, I intend to kill him…..TODAY…."

The sky had begin to lighten….and the sun slowly rose over the ocean. As it began to cast its rays through the drawing room window, Barnabas Collins suddenly clutched at his skin.

"Willie….Willie, something's happening to me….the sun, Willie! The sun is burning me!" he shrieked.

Willie rose and ran to his side as Barnabas continued to scream. "I can't see, Willie!! My skin is burning and I can't see!!"

He struggled to rise from the chair….and managed to wrench himself away from the light and toward the basement, knocking things off the table as he tried to find his way….Willie grabbed his arm and helped him quickly down the stairs….and helped him to make his way to the old coffin that was still kept in the basement.

*************************

Nicholas opened the door to the House By The Sea and stepped inside. His body ached and his heart ached, and he didn't know which hurt more. He began to fear that the physical anguish with which he missed her might plague him forever. In his pain, he had forgotten all about the wager…..

As he walked slowly up the stairs, he noticed that the door to the small room where he had held her captive was open….and the feeble light still threw shadows on the wall.

He stopped and looked inside….the stark bareness of the room stared back at him. A lump filled his throat as he remembered what they had shared here. This horrid little room -- a room that had probably belonged to a servant once -- had spawned feelings in him beyond his wildest imaginings….emotions that he knew he'd never know a second time. He'd loved Maggie, but his passion for Josette had been different…in so short a time, it had stretched beyond anything he'd ever dreamed.

He still felt as though he could hardly breath as his body continued to alternate between fevered rage and icy shock. He reached over and closed the door. He'd never open it again.

A large scrap of paper suddenly appeared from nowhere and floated to his feet. He leaned over and picked it up. It read,

Nicholas,

You have entertained us beyond our imaginations…we congratulate you! Since you added so many clever nuances to our Twist of Fate game, your reward awaits you in your room…and is, I believe, a "twist of fate" of it's own.

Warmly,

D.

As he walked slowly toward the master bedroom, he looked up and noticed a soft light emanating from the room. He peered inside and stopped dead in his tracks. A woman lay stretched out on the bed before him, breathing softly as she slept.

He walked slowly to the bed and his heart began to pound as he stood beside her. He couldn't speak….she was wearing the dress he liked so much, and held one of the Bonaparte roses he had given her in her hand. She looked like Maggie, he thought -- and yet…there was something different about her….she wore no makeup, so her natural beauty shone through….and her hair fell in soft curls about her face.

His hand trembled as he reached out and touched her cheek lightly, and then brushed back a few stray strands of hair.

Her eyes opened. "Nicholas!" she cried. She reached for him hungrily, and said in her low, sultry voice,

"Nicholas, vous êtes....where en retard vous avez été??"

The End

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