Subj: Redemption/Part Two
Date: 11/15/98 11:16:37 PM Central Standard Time
From: DaphneH

Part Two

"Dreaming men are haunted men." --Stephen Vincent Benet

January 24, 1971 9:30 p.m.

A beautiful winter evening had descended on the town of Collinsport, bringing with it a calm serenity which bathed the estate of Collinwood in the light of an orange-hued crescent moon. Peaceful moments like these were rare indeed, but they made Quentin appreciate his nightly walks and the philosophical contemplation his solitude afforded him. As he turned from the main road to walk back through the woods, he noticed that the mansion seemed to rise defiantly from the still darkness as though daring evil to step across the threshold. Of course, there had been many occasions when evil had been more than willing to accept the challenge, but the Collins family's solidarity had triumphed through the centuries. It even seemed as though the fighting spirit which made the family survivors had permeated the house itself, giving it the strong foundation that it needed to stand high atop Widow's Hill.

Finally reaching the house, Quentin hurried inside to escape the cold and when he entered the drawing room, he was surprised to find Julia sound asleep in her favorite chair, a book of poetry open on her lap. Immediately he was concerned—it was a family joke that nobody ever needed sleep at Collinwood, but Julia was usually the one who could stay up all night chasing ghosts and monsters if she had to in order to protect the family. This wasn't like her at all. Taking the book and placing it on the table beside her, Quentin woke Julia from what he could tell was a very deep sleep. She said nothing at first, but as the veil of sleep slowly disappeared, she seemed upset when she realized how early it was.

"Julia are you feeling alright?”

"Yes, Quentin, I'm fine. I just haven't been sleeping well recently. I guess I was just more tired tonight than I thought I was." She tried to pretend that nothing else was wrong, but Quentin knew better than that. Julia was an intensely private person and kept her problems to herself, but she couldn't hide them from those who cared about her. She probably wouldn't tell him any more than what she already had, but Quentin had grown to think of her as a close friend, especially since she had been the one who had helped him find his true identity. The least he could do was let her know he was there if she wanted to talk. Offering her a drink, he was surprised when she accepted the brandy and he sat across from her on the sofa, waiting to see if she said anything further. Julia stared into the glass, wondering if the amber liquid could help her find the answers to her unspoken questions; taking a sip, she finally looked up at Quentin, uncertainty and fear reflected in her tired eyes.

"Quentin," she whispered, "how much do you know about dream interpretation?" She knew it was a bizarre question, and she felt rather foolish for asking it, but unusual circumstances had always dominated life at Collinwood, and even though she knew she was probably just overreacting, the dreams she’d been having were just strange enough to bother her.

“Dream interpretation? Well, not a whole lot. I've read that some people see dreams as a way of communicating with the dead, or that dreams are manifestations of our most repressed fantasies, things we'd never do in reality. I’m sure Professor Stokes knows much more about this than I do. Perhaps you should talk with him about it”

"Well I had considered asking him, but I had thought the problem would go away on its own. I hardly know where to begin without sounding completely absurd. It's probably just my imagination running away with me, but I've been having this recurring dream for a week now that's really starting to bother me. I have no idea why I'm having it or what it's supposed to mean, if it even has a meaning at all. It's just really strange—I'm walking down a long, dark corridor, someplace that I know I've never been before. There's a doorway in the distance that I'm walking toward, like I’m being drawn to it by some force beyond my control, and for some reason, I'm afraid of what I'll find there. And that’s when the dream ends. I wake up not understanding what it means and I feel this terrible sense of dread that I’ve done something wrong, but I don’t know what it is. It's happened like that for a week now. I know I’m not making any sense whatsoever, but it’s getting difficult to ignore. I’m sorry I’m bothering you about this." She took another sip of the brandy, wishing that its fiery strength would calm her enough to keep the dreams away, but she knew somehow that it wouldn't.

"Julia," Quentin smiled, "I know that it's difficult not to put everything that happens in this house into a supernatural context, but I don't think this dream necessarily means anything sinister is going to happen. You have been spending more time at the hospital recently, so maybe it's the stress of your work that's taking its toll. I'd try not to take it too seriously if I were you. Maybe you just need a break for a few days.”

Julia had to admit Quentin could be right. She'd been spending much more of her spare time at Collinsport General working with several children who were cancer patients at the request of a friend who needed help with his research. While at the hospital, she often interacted with them, and it was heartbreaking to see how the disease ravaged their tiny bodies, leaving them weak and defenseless. Her work had made her acutely aware of how important her adopted family had become to her, but it also hurt to know that she couldn't do anything to end the childrens' suffering. Quentin was right...she needed some time off to relax and to take her mind off of her work.

"I think you're right...I have been having a rough time at work recently. Things just seem to be going downhill so fast for those children. And I can't help but think of them as my own—I don't care about that medical school bullshit that says doctors shouldn't become emotionally involved with their patients. It's just not possible. Especially when the patients are children. They're so beautiful and innocent and it breaks my heart to have to watch them slowly die and know that no matter what I do, I can't save them. Katie Lynn is seven years old, and she has a brain tumor...she should be with her friends at school and with her family, but instead she's in a hospital hooked up to I.V.'s and having to deal with chemotherapy which basically isn't working. Her vision is already being affected and I have no idea how long it will be before she lacks the motor skills to even hold her mother's hand. And then there's Andrew—he's four years old and has had leukemia for almost a year now. Every time there's even the slightest bit of hope that his treatments have been a success, there's some sort of setback. This time it's pneumonia, and I'm not sure how much longer he'll be able to fight for his life. I've tried to separate my life here from my work, but when I come home and I see David and Hallie together, I can see how they've grown into such beautiful young adults and I wonder why the children I work with have to be cheated out of their lives like this. It's bad enough when children die because of accidents, or abuse, but no child should ever have to suffer like this." Julia had fought to keep her emotions under control for so long that she didn't even realize that she was crying until Quentin gave her his handkerchief and took her hand, giving it a sympathetic squeeze.

"I'm sorry, Julia. I didn't mean to make you cry."

"It's ok...I think I feel better now that I've gotten this out of my system. You know, I should have understood that dream all along. It makes too much sense now when I really think about it. I do worry that when I leave the hospital something might happen in the night and I won't be there to tell the children good-bye, or that they'll be in pain at the end and I won't be able to ease their suffering...my dream was probably just the way I’m handling my guilt at being unable to do more for them. I'm going to call Jake first thing in the morning and tell him that I need some time off.
I'm sure that will help. I suppose I should just try to get some real sleep now."

"Ok, Julia. I'll see you tomorrow. Let me know if you need to talk about it anymore."

"Thank you for listening...I really do appreciate it. Good night." She rose and gave Quentin a quick hug before retiring to her room; turning on the radio, she listened to a Mozart piano concerto as she undressed and settled into the warmth of the feather bed. Despite her conversation with Quentin, something still nagged at the back of her mind, something unseen in the shadows of the night, but Julia was too exhausted to pay it any attention. Falling asleep almost instantly, she was blissfully unaware of the brooding darkness which had once again descended upon Collinwood, wearing a convincing guise of compassion and love to mask its true identity.

***********

It was the early hours of the morning before the Evil that came with the darkness decided to make its presence known, and this time, there would be no way for Julia to escape the truth of her dreams. There would be no flimsy excuses of stress and worry for her to hide behind, no simple explanations to ease her fear. Tonight the dream would begin again and finally reach its conclusion, one that would ultimately end in death....

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