Dark Light -- 8

Subj: Dark Light -- 8
Date: 3/26/99
From: Flashman

Chapter 8-The New Stooge

"Dammit!" shouted Fran Ridgkins. She tossed the letter she had read onto the floor. The one from the state which stated her unemployment benefits had been terminated. "That's really all I need right now."

Fran Ridgkins was as broke as a convict. She was already three months behind in her rent to the boarding house where she was residing. Nola Reardon, her landlady, probably felt sorry for her or something. That's the only reason she hadn't been evicted. Times had been hard on Fran recently. Actually, for almost two years. Ever since that mess with Annie Dutton had cost Fran her nursing license. Fran had artificially inseminated Annie with sperm from the sperm bank where she had worked.

Not that the deal hadn't been profitable in the short run. Annie had paid her well. And at Reva's trial, the one for killing Annie's unborn baby, Alan Spaulding had paid her another large chunk of change. All she had to do was get on the witness stand and tell the truth about inseminating Annie. Alan had wanted Annie for himself, you see, and figured this news would destroy whatever bond Annie had remaining with her then husband, Josh Lewis.

Fran hadn't minded losing her nursing license then. She actually thought she had made out like a bandit with the money Annie and Alan had paid her. But there was one problem. Fran Ridgkins was a compulsive gambler. She had gambled away almost all of the money she had received. She remembered her final trip to Las Vegas. She'd flown in on the jet and returned to Springfield on a broken down Greyhound. It was the only transportation she could afford.

She tried to squeeze more money out of Alan Spaulding. Threatened to tell Annie the truth about her testimony. Alan simply slammed the door in her face. In revenge, she'd told Annie about what Alan had done. Not that it had any effect. At least not until that fiasco of a wedding ceremony where Annie's first husband, whom she'd never divorced, showed up. Alan dumped Annie like a hot potato then. Annie had been extradited to Ohio to serve a previous sentence she had been convicted on, plus additional bigamy charges.

Now, Annie had escaped from prison. Fran was worried but not as worried about that as the fact that she was broke. She'd been unable to find anything except menial, minimum wage jobs since losing her nursing license. Hell, she made just as much money on unemployment. Now, her benefits had been terminated. Maybe she could ask Nola for a job at Company's, the restaurant adjoining the boarding house.

But to return to Annie, as Fran's thoughts soon did. Surely Annie wouldn't come after her. They'd been friends once. She had helped Annie several times in the past. Surely, she had bigger grievances against Josh, Reva, and Alan than with her. After all, she had tried to warn Annie about what a snake Alan Spaulding was.

No, Fran concluded. Annie wasn't stupid enough to show her face in Springfield again. They'd probably recapture her soon anyway. Nobody ever escapes from prison and stays free very long. At least that's what Fran hoped.

Suddenly, Fran heard a noise against her window. It startled her. She looked at the window and saw a huge bat just outside. Fran hated bats because they reminded her of all those horror flicks which had scared her as a child. Not to worry, the bat was on the outside and her window was locked.

The bat then disappeared from the window. An image began forming inside Fran's room. What was happening? What the hell was going on? Fran was truly scared now. Then the image came into focus. There stood Annie Dutton.

"Annie! Annie! It can't be! How did you get into my rooom? What's going on?" asked Fran.

"Good to see you too, Frannie. Let me answer your second question first. I've come to settle accounts with you," answered Annie.

This has to be an illusion, thought Fran. She couldn't have materialized into her room through a solid wall. But there she was in the flesh. Annie Dutton. She had come back to Springfield after all and Fran was a target of whatever wrath she possessed.

"Now Annie, take it easy," pleaded Fran. "You know I tried to warn you about Alan. I told you what a jerk he was. Paying me to tell the truth about your artificial insemination in that court room so he could have you for himself."

"Yes, you did Frannie. You did, and I didn't listen to you at the time. I should have though. Alan hurt me a lot worse than you did," said Annie.

"That's right! That's right! Your beef is with Alan, not me. Oh please Annie, just go away and leave me alone." Fran was on her knees now, begging. She was a coward at heart, Annie knew. A sniveling little coward but Annie would make use of her.

"The last time I saw you, that night at Cross Creek, you said you were broke. What happened Frannie? I paid you plenty of money and Alan probably paid you more than I did. Did you snort it all up your nose?" inquired Annie.

"No, it wasn't that. I lost most of it gambling. I'm a compulsive gambler," replied Fran.

"So you just crapped out, huh Frannie? You really are a miserable excuse for a human being. From the looks of this dump, you're not doing too well now, either."

"Just let me go, Annie. I'll leave town. I'll go away. I swear I won't tell anyone I saw you," pleaded Fran.

"But I haven't answered your first question yet. You know, 'How did you get into my room?'"

"Okay Annie. How?"

"You see, I've become one of the Undead. I can get into any place I desire to," was Annie's answer.

"Undead! You mean a vampire? That's not possible. There aren't any vampires." But Fran knew deep down that Annie was telling her the truth.

"Yes there are, Frannie. You see one before you right now. And I prefer the term Undead. I've decided that you can be of use to me."

"How? What do you want?" asked Fran.

"Just come to me, Frannie, and you'll find out," was Annie's answer.

Fran knew she shouldn't but as she gazed into Annie's green eyes she knew she was powerless to resist. She moved toward Annie. Annie then bared her fangs and buried them deep into Fran's neck. Fran then passed out from sheer terror.

Then Fran woke up. She was on her bed. Had it all been a dream? No, she could still feel the pain in her neck. She felt the area of the pain. Two puncture wounds. It had been real but maybe it was over. Annie had simply drained a little blood from her neck. Then again, maybe Annie had turned her into a vampire like herself. Just what was Annie's game? She was nowhere to be seen in the room.

Suddenly, Fran heard Annie's voice. No, it wasn't over yet. Maybe Annie had been interrupted and was returning to finish her off.

"You're in my power now, Frannie. You must obey me. You must do as I say. Now get up and come to me. Follow the sound of my voice. Come to where I am now," Annie's voice instructed.

Fran did just that. She left the room and the boarding house. Several of the other tenants who observed her would later remark that she looked like a zombie. Fran paid no attention to them. She knew she had to follow the sound of Annie's voice.

She walked almost two miles to a house in a nice, secluded residential neighborhood. She recognized one of the houses there. It belonged to Blake Marler, ex-wife of Ross Marler, Nola's new husband. The sound of Annie's voice wasn't coming from Blake Marler's house. It was coming from the house across the street. Fran strode through the yard and entered the house through the front door.

"Come to the basement, Frannie," Annie's voice directed.

Fran did as instructed. She walked down the stairs into the basement. Once there she saw Annie and a man standing next to two coffins. The man she had never seen before. He looked to be about sixty. He also looked like he'd seen better days judging from his appearance.

"Glad to see you made it, Frannie. This gentleman here is Willie Loomis. He's been protecting me since I got back to Springfield. I've chosen you to take his place. Willie Loomis, meet your replacement, Fran Ridgkins."

Willie nodded to Fran and said hello. Fran said nothing.

"Just follow Willie's instructions. He's been doing this for a long time. Not just with me, though. For another one of the Undead named Barnabas Collins. You'll meet Barnabas soon, too. He's the one who made me. Obey him just as you would me. Don't worry, Frannie. If you do a good job, once we're through in Springfield I'll release you from my power and you can get on with your life, miserable though it appears to be," said Annie.

Fran simply nodded. She had never had a very strong will of her own. Maybe if she'd been stronger she could have resisted. Maybe if she'd been stronger she would have never gotten involved with Annie in the first place or succumbed to the gambling addiction that had emptied her bank account. No, she would have to obey. Both Annie and that other vampire, Barnabas something or other. Obey, and she would survive. That's what she was counting on.