Subj: Fiery Forbidden Love : A Smoldering Flame Chapter 15
Date: 12/18/98 9:45:24 PM Central Standard Time
From: msann

Chapter 15

"How are we going to get to the resting place of Amen-Re without being stopped by Barnabas and Laura? It's
not as though they are going to say 'Oh come in and destroy me and my plans!'" asked Julia.

"I believe I can help you there," said Selene as she appeared next to Roxanne. "I have spoken to Isis and arranged a little scenario to keep Barnabas and Laura quite busy while we go and take care of Re. Isis agrees with your conclusions, Julia Hoffman. She has also told me the reasons for certain events occurring over the past few weeks and months. But there will be time for explanations later. Now, all of us must hold hands. I have secured the incantation to place the sun seal on Re's hole and will guide us to the sepulcher of Amen-Re."

Everyone held hands as Selene concentrated on the tomb and soon all four figures faded away from the hotel and reappeared within the tomb. "Look! There it is!" said Julia, pointing to a cylinder-like pyre in the center of the room.

"Yes. Now we must hurry. Julia, place the scarab within the hole," said Quentin as he turned to Selene. "Um, Selene, you sure about what to do here aren't you? I don't want to take any chances."

"I am certain of what must be done. Isis gave me these," answered Selene as she Quentin a scroll. "I believe it has the proper incantation written upon it."

Quentin quickly read over the scroll and smiled, remarking "Isis sure thinks of everything, doesn't she."

"Isis is one of the cleverest of the gods. She is said to know all and is the only one who could find out Re's most guarded secret," Selene remarked. "And that is?"

"His Secret Name, the Name of Power."

"But why didn't she just say his Name and destroy him outright?" Roxanne asked with wonder. "We could have avoided all of this!"

"Isis pledged an oath to Re that she would never reveal his name except to her son and the first born heirs afterwards with each bound to secrecy about Re's Name. Afterwards, Re had to leave earth and pass into the Realm. Isis seeks to prevent the possibility of Amen-Re trying to return to his former station as ruler of the Earth."

"I see."

"Well, if you are through with your history lesson, I am ready to begin," said Quentin.

"I am ready," said Roxanne as she approached the pyre.

"All right then," said Selene. "As Quentin reads the incantation, you must focus your power through the sacred moonstone in the charm I gave you. You and Julia must focus your entire beings on sealing Re away or the spell to create the sun seal will not work. Once we begin, do not stop for anything. We must not give Re any advantage if we are to succeed. I will try to help you in whatever way that I can, but I must warn you, we could all die in our efforts here tonight."

"If it means getting rid of Re and Laura, I am willing to take the chance," Roxanne responded.

"Julia and I agree with Roxanne. This horror must end tonight. There's no way we can continue to go on as we have with Laura showing up to cause chaos and destruction in our lives."

"Very well. Quentin, if you will begin."

In another part of Alexandria, Barnabas and Laura were enjoying a walk under the full moon. They had already made love several times that night and had decided to take a break and walk upon the sands Abu-Qir Suburb, a famous Alexandrian beach. Barnabas thought it curious that a being dedicated to fire would enjoy areas near water so much, but then again she had spent a great deal of time in Collinsport during her lives so perhaps the sea life rubbed off on her. Unbeknownst to Barnabas and Laura an unseen figure began observing their walk upon the beach. She looked at the little romantic scene with disgust. She had no quarrel with Barnabas, but Laura had done a great deal to deserve her wrath. 'The plan should be going into effect soon now,' she thought.

Back in the tomb, Quentin had began reading the scroll to call upon the forces of goodness and light to destroy the fiery darkness that Amen-Re threatened to unleash upon the Earth. Roxanne took the crescent moon charm from her neck and held it out in front of her exclaiming "Sacred moonlight, give us the strength to seal away an evil which threatens to destroy us all. Give us the power to seal away the evil of Amen-Re!"

In response to her words the fire in Re's pyre began to roar and increase in intensity as a voice from beyond began to speak.

"INTRUDERS! HOW DARE YOU ENTER THE SACRED TOMB OF AMEN-RE! FOR YOUR DISOBEDIENCE YOU WILL ALL BE PUNISHED! NO ONE DEFIES THE WILL OF AMEN-RE AND LIVES!" said the fire as it began to take the shape of a man.

"Not this time, Re. This time your wishes will not become reality. You have had your chance on Earth and you have wasted it. You could have done a lot for the people of the Earth and they would have worshiped and revered you in return. Instead you sought to destroy. Now it is you who will be destroyed."

"YOU?! A SIMPLE MOON GODDESS WITH HER LITTLE HUMAN FRIENDS CANNOT DESTROY ME? NEVER!"

Re unleashed a wall of fire at Selene but she was able to stop it with a shield of ice she quickly constructed.

"No, Re. The forces of goodness acting through my friends and myself shall destroy you."

"You tried to destroy the lives of two innocent children! Your 'servant' took my husband from me and helped turn him into a monster. You must pay!" screamed Roxanne as she unleashed her power at Amen-Re.

"NO!!!" Laura suddenly screamed out. "What is it?"

"Someone is extinguishing the flame! We must hurry and stop it. If the flame goes out, I'll die!"

"Roxanne and her little friends must be behind this!"

"Actually, it was my idea that this should happen to you," said Isis as she appeared before Barnabas and Laura.

"Isis! I should have known it was you," spat Laura.

"The end is near for you and your master Re. You and he should have been happy with what you had before on the earth and what you had in the Realm. You and your master tried to be greedy and take more than what you are allowed to have, so once again I am forced to step in," answered Isis as her gaze shifted from Laura to the steadily advancing Barnabas. "Stop!" she exclaimed, freezing Barnabas in mid-step. Barnabas was shocked to find he was unable move in any direction. "What have you done to me!"

"I have 'borrowed' a trick from an old enemy of yours, a Count Petofi. What he could do with his hand, I can do with simple incantations. It is quite effective on mortals and many immortals such as you. Do not worry, when I am done here, you will be freed."

Beside Barnabas, Laura's face was now contorted with pain. Like Barnabas, she too was frozen to her spot, unable to move and do something to stop Isis. The pain came in waves as she began to glow and flicker in and out of existence. "Great Master Re please! Help me!"

"Not this time Laura. I think Re has his own problems to worry about now. He doesn't have the resources to help you now."

With a scream to wake the pharaohs (not to mention half the tourists in Alexandria) Laura screamed her last and faded away into the night. Barnabas looked at the scene before him in disbelief as his beloved Laura 'died' in front of him and this time since she didn't die by fire, she may not be able to return to him. Then he too was hit as his body began to feel as though it was burning from the inside out.

"What are you doing to me?" he managed to yell out.

"Nothing. The supernatural influence of Laura's fire is leaving your body."

"Laura did nothing to me with her fire."

"Yes she did. It was her fire that first triggered the urges in you and led to your reversion to your vampire state. The flame stimulated the dormant vampire cell within your body and your desire to be with Laura. Now that the flame has been extinguished, your body is regaining control over the vampire cells. I would suggest that you sleep in an open coffin at dawn. Your body will be reverting back to its human state. Perhaps it will happen tonight or perhaps later on. Your mind will follow, but that will take longer as Laura had a much greater control over that than she did over your body."

"Laura didn't control me! I controlled her!"

"If you prefer to think of things that way, Barnabas Collins, I will not stop you. But it is not my opinion that you should be thinking of. What of Roxanne, Julia and Quentin, all of whom you brutalized in your efforts to be with Laura? What about the unborn son you threw away? What will you do when you return to Collinsport to face those people you took advantage of? The loss of Laura's fire is sending your mind into a state of madness. Roxanne has the power to save you, but will she after you rejected her? I hope you can do something to make her take pity and save you. Think about that." With that, Isis was gone and Barnabas found himself alone upon the beach.

The power Roxanne released at Re formed into a sphere of white light which, at Quentin's command moved towards Re. Re's powers had not been fully restored since his return to the Earth and so he was unable to withstand both attacks. The sphere of energy moved towards Re and upon reaching him he screamed out in agony as the entire tomb exploded. Roxanne, Julia and Quentin awoke to find themselves floating in void of some sort. They all looked around at each other with the same thought running through their heads, 'Are we dead? Did we succeed?'

"You are all alive and well," said a disembodied voice, which formed into Isis. "Your attempt to seal away the evil was successful. Amen-Re and his servant have been sent to a place where they cannot harm anyone for a long time. I wished to tell you this before I sent you back home. You have done a great favor to all of us. In return for what you have done, one day I shall return to you and repay the favor you have done for all of us. Now I send you in peace back to Collinsport. Until next we meet, farewell!"

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Collinsport Maine

'Christian Shane Douglas? That must be a character out of the book Willie was writing with Barnabas and Quentin. If only they were here. They know much more about "Christian" than I do. Well, Maggie, you're going to either have to ask God for a miracle or you're going to have to play along with Willie until Quentin gets back next week.'

"Uh, sorry, Christian, its just that you look a lot like a guy I know named Willie. Grant had an emergency. He and Julia had to go to Europe unexpectedly. Grant should be back next week. He said you would be coming but had been held up by some personal business. Can you get up? I'll take you over to his cottage."

"That won't be necessary, Maggie. We can take care of Christian now."

Maggie and Nicholas gasped in shock as Quentin, Julia and Roxanne walked into the room.

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Passing the pen