The Lull Before the Storm -- 5
Date: 8/17/98
From: marcos1

The Lull Before The Storm

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Odette looked into the mirror. She saw a young woman with dark hair and brown eyes. She looked deeply into those eyes and felt very wistful, wondering who that stranger really was. She really had no idea, except for the nightmares about burning. It was always about burning, terrible burning, a fire blistering her skin and washing away her flesh, leaving only bones. She was very afraid of fire. Sometimes, when Doctor Hoffman lit one of her cigarettes, Odette felt like running. There were two clues that she had to the stranger in the mirror, first was a book called *The Burning Times*, she had picked in up in the Windcliff library. This book described in detail, the history of witch trials, she felt sick, as she read about the estimated 100,000 people that had been burned and tortured as accused witches. She had a sense that somehow the book was about her, everything about it seemed so familiar. Her second clue was her name--Odette. Saying the name over and over again, she felt a sense of power. Maybe, she could become reacquainted with the stranger in the mirror. There was nothing more important than remembering who she is.

David Collins and his father sat in the waiting room. Roger was furious about Carolyn escaping from Windcliff. He was here to demand answers. David had come along to see his friend Chris Jennings.

"Roger, David," Julia Hoffman said. "How nice to see you both." She smiled warmly. "Please come into my office." She turned and looked at the nurse working the desk. "Please hold all of my calls."

Roger walked into her office. He stopped for a moment and looked at her bookcase. It contained books on witchcraft, exorcism, and vampires. Quite an unusual selection of reading material for a shrink, he shrugged his shoulders and glared at her. "Julia, this isn't a pleasure visit. I'm here to get answers about my niece and I'm not leaving here until I get them..."

David interrupted him. "Doctor Hoffman, is Chris here?"

"No, David," Julia answered, lighting a cigarette. "Chris has called in sick for the past few days." She narrowed her eyes. "Frankly, I'm a little worried about him."

"And I'm worried about Carolyn," Roger said, slamming his fist on her desk. "I'm here for answers...how did she escape so completely...there has been no word?"

"Err...," David said, softly. "I think I'll wait outside. I believe you, Doctor Hoffman that you are doing everything possible to find my cousin. And I don't want to be around my father, when he acts like a jerk."

"Young man," Roger said. "I'll deal with you later."

David walked out of the office. He could still hear his father shouting. Sometimes, he felt so ashamed of him. Julia had been such a good friend to his family. How could his father talk to her like that? But he knew that Julia could take good care of herself in any verbal sparing match. She was tough. He always thought about her when he heard the words to that song on the radio---*I am woman, hear me roar*.

Bored, he walked down the hallways of the hospital. When he was little, he had been afraid of the strange people here, confused people with disturbed minds. But the older that he got, the more he realized that everyone suffered from confusion, only to varying degrees. He walked past one room
and smelled a sweet scent of perfume, curious, he looked inside the room and didn't see anyone.

"Hello there," a female voice called to him.

He looked around and didn't see anyone. "Hello...where are you? I can't see you."

"I'm up here," Odette called. David looked up in surprise, to see a pretty young woman floating in the air, hovering near the ceiling. "Don't ask me how I did this...it just seemed to happen, as I kept saying my name," she said, lowering herself to the floor. "My name is Odette, by the way."

"That is really cool," David said, smiling. "I'm not really as shocked as most people would be. Cause my cousin was a vampire and my step-mother is a witch. Not to mention, my mother was a phoenix." He looked at her. She was dressed in a hospital gown and her breasts were visible through the thin white material. "My name is David Collins."

Odette smiled at him, watching his eyes. She put on a blue colored jacket and wrapped it around herself. "Your step-mother was a witch." She narrowed her eyes. "I think that maybe I'm a witch..."

"That's okay," David said. "Do you like rock? I have some Black Sabbath records in the car. Would you like to hear them?"

"Rock...what is rock?" Odette asked.

"It's something very cool," David said, as he walked out the door. "I'll be right back."

"Cool," Odette said. "Thank you, I would like that. Cool is something very nice." She stood in the hallway and watched the young man running towards the outside parking lot. She felt like she was going to like him.

Chris Jennings felt so terrible. He had been in bed for two days, only getting up to drink an occasional glass of water and go to the bathroom. Still his thoughts were only of that mysterious woman, the woman that came to him in his dreams. He knew that she was draining away his life force; but somehow he didn't care. Somehow, she seemed like she was meant for him. That five sided pentagram that scarred her mons veneris, reminded him of his own curse, perhaps this woman was also cursed. She seemed so weak when she first appeared; but then glowing with health, as he spilled his seed into her.

"Chris Jennings," the female voice called out. It was her voice. "I've only come to say good-bye. Your days as my paramour are over. I know that to feed from you again-- would result in your death...and I will not give Nicholas that satisfaction. Good-bye Chris...good-bye my sweet."

Chris looked around his room and saw no one. "Please come back...I don't care...please..." He tried to raise himself out of bed, but fell weakly back. Tears welled up in his eyes. He had to see her again---he just had to.

At the old house, Barnabas was making the final preparations for his wedding. He was helping Willie prepare the sitting room for the special event. He thought how strange fate was. He was going to be married in the very same room, as when he married Angelique so long ago, the ill fated marriage that had started all of his problems. He had been so very young then. He felt so very happy that he had matured in his outlook about love.

Love and friendship are a perfect combination and a mature woman definitely has a special appeal. He both liked, loved, and lusted for Julia. She was one hot lady! He grinned. She had almost taken the skin off his penis last night, she seemed to last so long, having orgasm after orgasm. Maybe he should try taking some of that vitamin E, that Willie had recommended.

"Barnabas," Willie asked. "What were you thinking about? You had a big smile on your face." He was replacing a loose board in the floor of the foyer.

"Nothing, my old friend," Barnabas said, smiling. "I was just thinking about how lucky, I am."

Outside of the old house, the woman looked through the window. She loved Barnabas; but inside of herself, she was seething with rage about this wedding. She couldn't allow Barnabas to marry Julia. She just couldn't.

To be continued---