Subj: Shadows of the Past part 3
Date: 6/26/00 9:09:21 PM Central Daylight Time
From: KimD
Vicki spent the rest of the night unsuccessfully trying to sleep. Each time she closed her eyes she saw the face of that woman.
When morning finally did come she called the sheriff, and told him what she had found, leaving out any mention of her dream. “I wouldn’t worry about it,” the sheriff said when she spoke to him. “It was probably a suicide, but I’ll have my men retrieve the remains.” He had sounded unconcerned about the discovery. He could have been talking about anything.
After talking to the sheriff Vicki went to library to search through old newspapers for information. She spent the morning in the library going through old newspapers. With the help of an assistant, she came across one that was over twenty years old, which showed a picture of the woman from her dreams. The headline above it read “Servant disappears from Collinwood”. It gave a description of the woman from Vicki’s dream, and gave her name as Moreen Davis. It told of how she was discovered to be missing from her room one morning. She was suspected of running away. She looked through the rest of the newspapers for that year. The only other item connected with Collinwood was an engagement announcement. It announced the engagement of Laura Murdock to Roger Collins.
When she returned to Collinwood the daily newspaper was lying on a table in the foyer. As she glanced through it an article caught her attention. The headline read, “Remains found below Widow’s Hill”. The story told of the discovery of the bones. It also read that the death had been ruled a suicide, but the police were still searching for her identity. She spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about Moreen and the newspapers she had read. She picked up the locket that she had found with the remains. She didn’t know why she had kept it. It looked expensive. She was surprised that a servant could afford to buy it.
Nightfall came and so did a knock at the door. She was glad to see that it was Barnabas. “Good evening,” she said as she let him in. “I was hoping I would see you tonight.”
“Vicki,” he said her name with a smile. He stood and reached for her hands. “I was thinking of you and wondering how you were after last night.”
“You’ve seemed so preoccupied lately. I was beginning to wonder if you ever thought of me at all.” She turned and moved away from him.
“That’s not fair.” He started to go to her, but stopped himself. “You’re always what I’m thinking about. If I was a normal man again you wouldn’t have to doubt what you mean to me.”
“Of course you’re right.” She tried to give him her best smile, but it didn ’t quite reach her eyes. He had been through more that he ever should have been with his return to vampirism. She shouldn’t be adding to his problems.
“Vicki, I never meant for things to be like this between us.”
“I know. But this happened so unexpectedly. I suppose I’m still trying to adjust. I found out more about the woman from my dream last night,” she said changing the subject. “She was real.”
“But it was only a dream. She couldn’t be real.”
“I also used to think Vampires weren’t real. I was in the library looking through old newspapers when I found a story about her. She was a servant at Collinwood. She disappeared over twenty years ago. Her name was Moreen Davis. Along with the story was a picture of her. It was the same woman from my dream wearing the same locket that was on the remains we found in the cave.”
“If this dream was real, what could you do about it?”
“I’ve already went to the Sheriff, he decided it was a suicide. It’s all in the evening paper.” She handed him the paper. “I can’t just do nothing. I can still hear her voice so clear asking for help. I just feel like I should do something.”
“I’ll help you however I can. Do you want to tell me about the newspaper you read in the library?”
“There’s not much to tell. It said that Moreen had vanished, and gave her description.”
“Nothing else? No break-ins or other disappearances?”
“No, I looked though all the newspapers for that year. There were no other disappearances or any other crimes connected with Collinwood.”
“If there wasn’t any break-ins or thefts then I think we can assume the killer was someone who had access to Collinwood, and came specifically for Moreen.”
They suddenly heard a voice coming from the drawing room. Roger said in a cool, but angry voice, “You don’t belong here.”
“But you haven’t heard everything I have to say yet,” a strange voice pleaded.
“I don’t care what you have to say. I want you out. You’re not welcomed here.” There was a pause. “Leave now, or I’ll do what I should have done before.”
“Alright” he said. “I’ll go.” The door of the study came open, and Roger was escorted the man out.
“Who was that?’ Vicki asked Roger.
“Just a beggar,” Roger answered. Roger had been growing increasingly testier the past few days. He looked at them through narrowed eyes, as if looking for a new direction for his anger. “Shouldn’t you be doing something besides listening at doors!” He stalked off with out giving them a chance to respond.
“Is something wrong with him?” Barnabas asked.
“I’m not sure. He’s been in that kind of mood all day.”
Barnabas left with regret. It had been hard these past few weeks, when he wasn’t around her much. He’d missed her, but he wasn’t constantly reminded of how much he’d lost. Being around her warmth and spirit and not being able to touch her or hold her would be like torture.