Subj: Love's Familiar Face Ch1
Date: 4/25/99 1:30:23 PM Central Daylight Time
From: miranda

This is a sequel to Petofi's Maze, but you won't have had to read it to understand what is happening here. Briefly, most of the characters and story lines are the same, but the Leviathan story line did not take place. Some important differences are:

Barnabas - returned to 1970 from 1897 when Julia called him back to the future. Barnabas had attended to marry Lady Kitty, but when Barnabas left without a trace she married Edward.

Quentin and Beth - both had portraits that enabled them to live until 1970 and not age. The portraits were neutralized and now they are aging normally. They now live with Barnabas in the Old House.

Angelique - reappeared when Barnabas called out to her for help. She lived since 1897, but did not marry Sky Rumson as in Leviathan story line.

Carolyn and Jeb - met and are now engaged. (Jeb is a normal human being).

I am going to follow the DS story line so that this will "parallel" Parallel Time 1970. Who knows, perhaps some day I'll do my own version of the Judah Zachary story with these characters!

Disclaimer: All the characters and storylines that belong to Dan Curtis Productions are presented for entertainment purposes only. Additional disclaimers will appear when characters created by other authors emerge in the story (so I don't give all the surprises away!).

Chapter One

Barnabas moved slowly through the dusty forgotten halls of the east wing of Collinwood. His arms were full of decaying books and photo albums. After hours of searching he finally found items that would allay David's curiosity about Quentin and Beth. Since Barnabas had returned from 1897 and the past was altered, there were now old photos and mentions of Quentin and Beth where there were none before. No one was aware of the menacing ghost of Quentin that had once haunted the halls of Collinwood, that is no one except David. Fortunately, the family only considered this to be another one of David's vivid fantasies, but Barnabas decided to calm David's fears so no unneeded attention would be drawn to Quentin and Beth. After all, Barnabas felt he had nothing else better to fill his time. Right after returning from 1897 all he could think about was Josette and his missed chance to live out his life with her. During the time when Petofi returned and Quentin's life was in jeopardy, Barnabas put his yearning for Josette on the back burner. Now, with nothing to occupy his time, his desire was like a dull unending pain. He did not feel the desperate urgency he experienced immediately after returning from 1897, but the disappointment of hopelessly wanting something he could not attain was always with him.

Barnabas felt that at this point he had found more than enough material to quiet David's curiosity, but just as he was about to leave he hesitated as he felt a drawing to walk down one last hallway. He reasoned with himself that the sudden inclination to continue his exploration was not necessary. He started to walk away, but then stopped dead in his tracks when he thought he heard a faint female voice call his name. "Ridiculous," Barnabas thought. "My imagination is getting the better of me." Nevertheless Barnabas decided to take one last look down the hallway. As he walked Barnabas looked at the debris lining the walls on either side as he shined his powerful flashlight ahead of him. Finding nothing interesting, he turned to leave. Suddenly, another light seemed to be illuminating things from behind. Barnabas turned and realized he was gazing into a bright, fully furnished room. It was beautiful. He looked at the furnishings, the soft carpeting…and a portrait of Angelique? It stood out as the centerpiece of the entire room. Her proud visage gazed regally over the room's contents. A million thoughts raced through Barnabas' head. Why would Angelique have a clean beautiful room here in the east wing of
Collinwood? How exactly had she infiltrated the Collins family this time?

Barnabas tried to enter, but was held back by an invisible force. What was happening here? He held out his hands, but they were repelled by the strange power. Barnabas heard voices. Suddenly two figures appeared in the room as if they had passed right through the doorway in which Barnabas stood.

"And this is Mistress Angelique's room," one woman said to the other.

"I think this is the most beautiful room in the entire house," the other woman replied. "Thank you so much for giving me a tour of Collinwood, Miss Hoffman.

As "Miss Hoffman" turned Barnabas was stunned to see that the woman not only shared Julia's name, but also looked like her.

Another figure entered the room bearing an uncanny resemblance to Carolyn, "Hello, I am Carolyn Loomis. I'm so glad to meet you."

Barnabas gasped and clutched at the door frame as the other woman turned to face Carolyn. "I'm happy to meet you as well. My name is Josette DuPres."