Subj: The Better Half part 2
Date: 7/23/99 7:57:48 PM Central Daylight Time
From: miranda

Part Two

After hearing Angelique's strange story, Julia and she went to the old house to see Barnabas. Julia was tempted to consider this to be a plot against Barnabas, but she could find nothing to back up her suspicions. Angelique was different somehow and Julia could sense that the change in her was for the better.

Julia let herself in and upon locating him in the parlor, motioned for Angelique to wait by the door. "Barnabas, I have some shocking news to tell you," she began.

"Wait a moment Julia," Barnabas said rising from his chair. He looked around the room as if searching for something. "I feel something familiar."

"Barnabas, please listen to me. I think you should hear this first…" Before Julia could finish, Barnabas rushed into the foyer and then stopped short at the sight of Angelique wearing only Julia's jacket.

"Angelique!" Barnabas rushed over to her and took her into his arms. "I knew somehow you would come back."

Angelique found herself weeping so hard she couldn't explain any of the events that brought her here. "Please don't cry," Barnabas said, "we are together. I didn't know if you heard me when you died, Angelique. I love you. I truly love you."

"I heard you Barnabas," Angelique choked.

"There will be time for this later," Julia interjected, thoughtfully throwing a blanket over Angelique, lest she and Barnabas go at it right in front of her. "There is much to be discussed." Julia led Angelique into the parlor where they explained the night's events to Barnabas.

Meanwhile in town…

The evil half of Angelique's personality hid around the side of the Blue Whale looking for an unsuspecting victim from whom she could steal some clothes. Thoughts of how she would do away with her other half clouded her thinking. She considered the many times, before this night, that she had made a blunder of her master's plans, all for the sake of Barnabas Collins. "Barnabas," she spat. "You will regret crossing me." With disdain she considered how she made a fool of herself time and again with the hopes of gaining his love. Now things would change. Once she did away with what she considered her weak side she would have the master's undivided favor. She would return and wreak her vengeance on Barnabas, Julia, and the entire Collins family. Then she would go after Nicholas. He would pay for the way he treated her in the past. "I will inflict a most distasteful punishment on you Nicholas," Angelique laughed to herself.

Soon, Angelique found an answer to her lack of clothes problem. An obviously drunk and obnoxious young girl was practically dragged from the Blue Whale. "Come on Buzz!" she shouted. "I was just having fun! This town is so boring, why did ya bring me here anyway?"

"You can't go pickin a fight with Carolyn Stoddard like that. Her family practically owns this town. Of course they're gonna throw you out."

"You're no fun!" she continued to shout. "Hey! Where ya going?"

"I gotta get my keys, man." Buzz walked back into the Blue Whale, tripping over his own feet in the process.

"Not really my style," Angelique said, "but this will do." Unabashedly, she sauntered over to the girl propped up against Buzz's bike. Through her drunken stupor the girl stared at Angelique, wondering if it was a hallucination. "Like what you see?" Angelique teased as she started to take off the girl's dress.

"Get off me, man!" the girl yelled. She was rewarded with a slap in the face and then was thrown to the ground where Angelique easily over-powered her. When Angelique had what she wanted she left the girl lying naked in the road.

Just as Angelique was leaving, Quentin Collins arrived at the scene. "Angelique?" he whispered to himself. He hesitated and was unsure of what to do. Why would she strip someone and take off with her clothes? This certainly wasn't the way Barnabas described her to be when she died in 1840. Should he go after her? Perhaps it wasn't Angelique and he should he tell the sheriff what he saw. "No," Quentin answered his own questions. "I have to tell Barnabas." Quentin ran inside the Blue Whale and got some help.

An hour later, Quentin was impatiently waiting to leave. The sheriff had been called after all and he wanted a statement. "All I saw when I got here was her lying in the road naked," Quentin said. "Can I please go now?"

"Yes, you may leave Mr. Collins," Sheriff Paterson finally said.

"Well what are you gonna do about this?" the young lady demanded.

Quentin held his breath when the sheriff answered. "I'll tell you what I'm gonna do. Nothing. Nothing except tell you to go home and sleep it off. A naked lady comes up to you, beats you up, and steals your clothes. You expect me to believe that?"

"She had her clothes on when I went inside," Buzz said.

"Yeah, I'm sure she did," the sheriff replied sarcastically. "Now go home. The both of you."

"Pig," the girl said under her breath as Buzz pulled her away.

Quentin breathed a sigh of relief as he walked down the street to retrieve his car. If the woman who attacked that girl was Angelique it would be better if the authorities were not involved. There would be nothing they could do anyway. He drove directly to the Old House, jumped out of his car, and pounded on the door.

Julia let him in. "Quentin, what's wrong?"

"You wouldn't believe what I just saw happen. I was at the Blue Whale and…" Quentin abruptly silenced himself when he walked into the parlor and found Angelique sitting quietly in a chair. "Angelique," he whispered.

"What were you trying to say, Quentin?" Barnabas asked.

"Oh…that was nothing. Nothing really. I was just blowing something out of proportion I guess." Quentin stared uncomfortably at Angelique.

"You have seen her haven't you?" Angelique more or less stated as fact instead of posing a question.

"Who?" Quentin honestly didn't know where Angelique was trying to go with this, but he was going to play dumb as long as possible.

"You obviously saw, for lack of better words, the 'other me." As Angelique told her tale one more time, Quentin's head spun.

"I don't know what to say," Quentin said after hearing Angelique's unusual account of the night's events. "I'll certainly help you in any way that I can."

"I think the best thing for you to do is to return to Collinwood in case she shows up there," Barnabas said. "Julia, Angelique, and I will keep watch here. I will go first."

"She seemed to be pretty violent, Barnabas. I hope you have a plan of what to do if she shows up," Quentin said.

"She is mortal and can be killed like anyone else," Angelique explained.

"I'll keep that in mind," Quentin said grimly.

Julia saw Quentin to the door and then began to ascend the steps. "I'm going to get some sleep, but I'll relieve you in a few hours."

Alone in the parlor Angelique crouched down on the floor in front of the fire. "Barnabas, I know it won't do any good to try and dissuade you from helping me, but I can't bear the thought of you being harmed."

Barnabas knelt down in front of Angelique and took her face in his hands. "Angelique, I will not let nothing happen to you and nothing is going to happen to me. You came back for a reason and I believe that reason was for you and I to finally be together. After all the years we spent fighting each other, now it can be right between us. We can live out our lives as mortal human beings. There will be no superhuman abilities or witchcraft to come between us. We were meant to be together and now we shall be."

Angelique sighed, "Oh Barnabas, I hope you are right. I hope that with all my heart."

Knowing full well that they wouldn't be able to stop, they began to kiss and spent their time keeping watch by making love in front of the fireplace.

TO BE CONTINUED