Subj: Dare Story Part 14
Date: 9/11/01 8:09:51 PM Central Daylight Time
From: N.E. Collins

Beverly opened the box with extreme trepidation and there was a note inside of it and nothing more. She took it out and placed the box on a nearby table. Everyone remained silent but they were all thinking the exact same thing. What did the note say? Beverly read the note outloud. "You must come to the east wing and enter the room that will take you into Parallel Time. You must go to the room and wait until it changes. Then you must go to the basement of the Old House where you will find a map and another note that will tell you what you must do next. You must hurry or it will be too late." And it was signed Joshua Alexander Collins.

Melissa was the first to ask the question. "Who is Joshua Alexander Collins?"

Julia spoke, but in a tone that was filled with disbelief. "That is the name of Barnabas' son, but he couldn't have written that note. He's little more than an infant.!"

"He WAS when he left here, Dr. Hoffman, but I'm afraid that things have been put into motion much sooner than we anticipated." Everyone whirled around and there was Elliot Stokes!

"Elliot, what are you doing here?"

Elliot looking as confused at Julia's question as she was at his sudden appearance answered her. "Why, Julia, I never left. What I want to know is who are all these people and how did they suddenly appear in the room with us?"

Donna burst forth and spoke wildly! "Professor Stokes, we were the people you just met at The Blue Whale! You told us to come here and get this box from Julia? Don't you remember?"

Elliot looked kindly, but spoke sternly. "Young woman, I have never seen you or any of you before in my whole life. It's true I was going to seek you all out, but I haven't left for The Blue Whale to do that yet."

"Elliot, you did leave and they did meet you there, and that's why they are here now. What could this mean?" Julia was visibly shaken as were the rest of them.

Elliot had a theory and he expounded it to them all. "It would seem that whatever has taken place in the past is effecting the future in a way it has never effected it before. It would appear that the past and the present and the very future are mixing and mingling and some of us are aware of it and some of us are not. I was concerned about the future of Collinwood and Collinsport, but now I fear for the safety of our world AND their world. We MUST do as the letter instructs."

Jon didn't like the whole idea. "But how do we know that Joshua wrote that note? How do we know this isn't some kind of trick or a trap?"

It was a valid point, but Elliot was already out the door to head for the east wing when suddenly he saw Liz standing at the foot of the stairs with a look of sheer horror. He followed her gaze up, up the stairway where he saw a figure of a woman in half shadow.

Liz shouted out in terror. "No, it can't be. You're dead. You're DEAD!" The figure of the woman swayed forward and toppled head over heels down and down until she landed with a smoochy thud at the bottom of the stairs. Liz screamed and screamed. Scarlett made a beeline for the apparently dead woman and saw that it was none other than Madame Findley. Liz was all but incoherent as she mumbled over and over.

"But she can't be here now. This all happened before. She can't be here. She's already dead. How can anyone die twice?"

Scarlett reached over to comfort Liz who pulled away from her in fearful anger. "Don't TOUCH me! I don't KNOW you! I don't know ANY of you!"

She made a mad dash for the front doors of Collinwood and when she flung them open to make her escape she came face to face with Quentin Collins and Pansy Faye. "Oh, Quentin, I sense a great evil here. Oh, it's worse than it's ever been before. We are doomed. Doomed. DOOMED!"

Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis Production.