Secrets Past chp 22
Date: 8/7/98
From: barnster
"NO!" said Barnabas, emphatically, and turned angerily away from her.
"Barnabas, I can understand how you feel,"
He whirled on her again, an agonised expression on his face. "You have no idea how I feel," he
snapped.
"Yes, I can Barnabas!" said Julia indignantly. "Those children mean as much to me, as they do to
you. What I plan to do is no worse than what will happen. We both know that this is hereditary.
It will happen to them, one day, you know that. All I propose to do, is make it happen sooner,
and hopefully to cure it."
"Must they be vampires, Julia?" he implored. "Isn't there some other way?"
Julia sighed. "I wish there were. I really do. Not only for their sakes, but for yours as well."
His expression became haggard, and more agonised. "I have to think about this," he said
dejectedly. "How long before you need an answer?"
"Tomorrow night, by the latest." She saw his shoulders slump, visibly, and placed a hand on his
arm. "I'm sorry, Barnabas. But there is no other way."
***
At the Collinsport Veterinary Centre, Barnabas, Jr. petted Sabre delightedly.
Every night for the past week, as soon as he had had his injection, he came to visit the dog. It
was a highlight of the night for both of them, Having no need to 'hunt,' his time was free to do as
he pleased.
His father had said, that he had only meant to wound Sabre, and not kill him. And so far, he'd
been right. 'Lucky for him,' thought the lad, as he fought Sabre off, playfully.
"Why have you defied me?" roared a voice behind him.
Startled, Barnabas turned around, to face Diabolos, who grinned on seeing the fear on the boy's
face. Good! Sabre growled a warning.
"But I haven't!" stammered Barnabas, frightened. "I've done everything you asked me to."
"SILENCE!" roared the demon. "You have failed in everything you've been instructed to do!
Miserably! You are allowing them to give you false hope, with their ridiculous serum."
Barnabas stared at him in surprise. "How do you know about that?"
"I have my ways. The bloodlust will return, just as it did with your father. There is no cure for
you. Again your father has kept the truth from you. You are as you are, because its heredity. You
are destined to be what you are now."
Barnabas scowled. "But I don't want to be like this. Surely I can get even with my father, some
other way?"
Diabolos' eyes blazed. "You're beginning to sound too much like your father. You sound as if
you've forgiven him, for what he's done to you."
"I'll never forgive him," shot back the lad, angerily, his eyes smouldering. "I hate him, for what
he's done to me."
Diabolos grinned, to himself. "You realise that I must punish you for disobeying me?"
Fear crept into the boy's face, and he looked away.
"Look at me," intoned the demon. But the lad refused, infuriating Diabolos. "LOOK AT ME!" he
ordered angerily.
Unable to resist, he turned to face the demon. "You have disobeyed me, more than once, Collins.
And because of that, the one thing you love most will suffer."
As he finished speaking, Sabre yelped, then fell on his side.
Barnabas turned to the dog, and called his name. But the animal didn't respond.
"Sabre!" he said, desperately shaking the animal, but it remained motionless. The truth dawned
on him, and he turned to Diabolos, and his eyes blazing furiously said, "He's dead! You've killed
my dog!"
Diabolos, unaware that he had done the worst thing he possibly could, grinned evilly, and said.
"Disobey me again, and something far worse than your dog dying, will happen. You are warned!"
And promptly disappeared, leaving a seething vampire behind.
***
The next morning, Barnabas called at the office, for the first time in weeks.
"Good morning, Mr. Collins," greeted Shioban, his secretary. "Is Barnabas, any better?"
"No, there's no change," replied Barnabas, quite truthfully. "Thank you, for your concern."
As he turned to leave, with a pile of paper under his arm, Shioban called him back. "The
Collinsport Veterinary Centre, called. They said to call back, asap."
He disappeared back into his office, asking her to make the call, and then put it through.
As soon as she did, he wished he hadn't gotten up that morning, when he learned that Sabre had
died during the night.
He thanked them for letting him know, and that he'd come and collect the dog, himself.
When he put the phone down, he sat heavily, in his chair. How was he going to explain this to
Barnabas, when he arose that night? He had promised that the gunshot was superficial.
***
He returned to the old house, with Sabre's body. He put him in a box in the cellar. Julia watched
silently. For once, she couldn't find the words of comfort he needed to hear.
He returned from the cellar half-an-hour later, silent and sullen. He sat heavily in his favourite
chair, and sighed, totally defeated.
Julia was the first to break the silence. "I thought Sabre was doing ok?"
"He was. The shot shouldn't have been the cause. How am I going to make him understand this,
Julia? I promised him the dog would live."
"There's something else should know, Barnabas," began Julia, slowly. "I've just checked his latest
blood test. The serum is beginning to lose its effectiveness."
Barnabas closed his eyes, and groaned. "How long as he got, until the urge compels him to find
someone?"
"From the tests, 48 hours at the most."
"48 hours," he repeated. "That doesn't give me much time."
"Enough time for what?" asked Julia, puzzled.
"To do what I should have done in the first place," said Barnabas, determinedly.
"You're not going to destroy him, are you?"
"I'm not going to sit idly by, and watching this family or him, be destroyed. And he will be, if I
don't do something. I'll do all I can, to save him, but if destroying him is the only way to free him,
then I'll have to."
"What are you going to do?"
"I don't know yet," he admitted. "But Diabolos is about to find out, I won't give up my son,
easily."
The determined look that burned in his eyes told Julia, that this was no idle threat.
"What about the twins? Do I go ahead?"
"Can you guarantee that it'll work?"
"The test that I've run, show that it will. It's very similar to the smallpox vaccine, and should have
a similar effect the 'vampire' cell."
"How long will it take to work?"
"About two to three hours."
Barnabas shook his head. "May God forgive me," he muttered. With a heavy sigh, he said, "All
right, Julia. Go ahead."
***
"You know what you have to say?"
"Of course I do!" said Daniel, heatedly. "I'm not stupid!"
"Good, because it's really important."
"How come you know so much? You aren't from around here."
Before the strange girl Daniel had befriended, he heard his father calling for him.
"Daniel! Sarah!"
"That's my father. I've got to go," he said turning to the girl again.
"Remember what I said. It's important, that you tell him."
"I will!"
He ran off, to meet his father.
"Who were you talking to?" asked his father, when he reached him.
"That was Stephanie. She's new in town," he explained. Then frowned. "She said something
really puzzling."
"What was that?" asked Barnabas with interest.
"She said to tell you, Aunt Sarah says to remember the rhyme. The fight has just begun. I told
her, I didn't have an Aunt Sarah. But she insisted that I did."
"Sarah?" questioned his father, at the mention of his sister's name.
"I don't have an Aunt Sarah, do I father?"
Barnabas was deep in thought. 'Remember the rhyme. The fight has just begun.' What could
Sarah mean by that? Was she involved in this somehow? Oh, how he wished he could see her
again!
"Come on, your Aunt Julia, and I want to talk to you."
"You know, that's funny," said Daniel, as he and his father set off back to the old house.
"Stephanie reminded me of Aunt Julia, only with long hair."
****
Sarah appeared beside Stephanie, and watched after father and son.
"You didn't let Barnabas, see you did you?" asked Sarah, with a slight frown.
"No, but I wish I could have. I like him. But I gave Danny your message. Are you sure, he'll
know what you mean?"
Sarah turned to the other girl, who seemed her own age. "Of course. Barnabas taught me the
rhyme, just as he taught them. It's time to go. Come on."
They both watched the disappearing figures, a moment longer, then they dissolved into
nothingness.
***
That night, though Diabolos had ordered him to return to the mausoleum, Barnabas, Jr. hadn't.
Since all this had happened, he had trusted Diabolos, implicitly. But since he had killed Sabre, he
wasn't so sure, any more. Maybe his father was right.
He heard their approaching footsteps long before he saw them.
His father stopped short on seeing him. He seemed nervous about something. The fact that he
was there was surprising in itself. He never appeared until after he'd had the injection.
Thinking of the injection brought a frown to his face. It had made him feel stranger than normal.
More like how he felt before the injections. Was this another example, that Diabolos had been
telling the truth? That everything that went wrong in his life should be laid at his father's feet?
But surely not everything, was his fault?
"Barnabas," began his father. "I have something to tell you, and I_ It's Sabre; he died during the
night," he finally finished, sadly.
Junior eyed his father, eyes blazing, but remained silent.
"I said he wasn't badly hurt, and I meant it. The vet believes that it could have been some kind of
poisoning. I'm sorry, son. I know how much he meant to you."
"You shouldn't have shot him," said the boy quietly. "If you hadn't he wouldn't have been there."
"I explained why."
Barnabas turned on him furiously, the strange feeling, nagging at him. "Yes, to drive a stake
through my heart! I wish you had! At least Sabre would still be alive! Why couldn't you stay
where Joshua put you! Why did you have to get free!"
Seeing the pained expression on Barnabas' face, Julia decided to step into the melee.'
"It's time for the injection, Barnabas."
The lad glared at her. His eyes smouldering, with an evil intensity.
The whisperings had begun in his heading again. And combined with the nagging insistent tug of
his hunger, made to a tempest, that would explode at any moment.
As Julia gave him the injection, he felt Diabolos summoning him. He tried to ignore him, but he
knew that he couldn't for long.
His fury grew, as he struggled against what was happening to him. He wanted to ask his father
for help, but he was afraid. Instead, he paced restlessly around the cellar.
"Barnabas, what is it?" questioned his father.
But his question went unanswered, as he continued to pace like a caged animal.
His agitated mood worried Barnabas, Sr. He knew what it meant. Julia's calculations had been in
error. The serum had failed earlier than they had anticipated. And now, the lad was torn between
the need to feed, and the weakened effects of the serum.
Sarah and Daniel appeared, and on seeing their older brother, smiled in greeting. Daniel revealing
fangs, making his father groan inwardly and his brother stare in shock.
Yet, again, Diabolos was proven right. With a cry of anguish he bared his fangs, and stared
furiously at his father.
As he advanced towards his father, determinedly, Diabolos appeared.
Barnabas, Sr. faced him defiantly, and Julia stepped forward. Instantly, she was stopped in her
tracks by a look from Diabolos.
He turned his attention to the boy, and said, "You have disobeyed me again!" he roared.
Barnabas, Sr. took a step forward, and with fury in his eyes, said, "I won't let you have my son,
Diabolos."
Diabolos smiled, and ignored him. "Barnabas, come to me," he intoned, directing his attention to
the boy.
He hesitated a moment, then took a step forward. "No, Barnabas!" shouted his father. "If you go
to him, this family will be destroyed."
The boy stopped, indecisive. His fear of Diabolos was evident.
Again, the whispering began in his head. Telling him not to listen to Diabolos. And he suddenly
realised that voice belonged to his mother.
Diabolos' anger grew. "I said COME TO ME!" intoned vehemently.
Again he took a step forward, and Barnabas, Sr. made a move to stop him.
Instantly, Diabolos gripped him by the throat, and seemed to grow so that he towered above
Barnabas.
"Perhaps I should deal you, instead?" mused Diabolos.
"Go ahead," spat Barnabas, his eyes glowering.
Diabolos' smiled broadened. He tightened the pressure on Barnabas' throat. His eyes glowing
with evil delight. "Gladly!"
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