Subj: Dark Shadows: Mirror/Mirror -- 6
Date: 2/5/99 12:05:13 PM Central Standard Time
From: Melody

Chapter 6

Vicki stood in the middle of the stone circle that she created in a remote section of the woods, which was rarely visited. Suddenly sensing an occurrence that could ruin her plans, Vicki knelt down.

"Hear me wind spirits!" She chanted. "Shape your furies to my vengeance. Bleed your anger to create my foundation so I shall reign in the madness of my oppressors!"

An angry clap of thunder shook the ground and Vicki stood up.

"YES!" She shouted. "May the blood of my fallen ancestors rain down from your lacerated skies!"

The wind started to blow ferociously and Vicki noticed the moon turning red. She held out her arms as if embracing it.

*****

Julia had picked up the notepad and was gazing down upon what the ethereal woman had written when a gust of wind blew the door open. Cyrus had just fallen out his chair when the notepad burst into flames, causing her to drop it.

"No!" Julia watched helplessly as the notepad disintegrated.

"Julia are you all right?" Tom rushed over to her.

"I'm all right."

"Julia, what the hell is going on?" Cyrus stood up and brushed himself off.

"Are you going to tell him?" Tom inquired.

"Later." Julia said. She looked shaken and a little dazed. "Would you mind if we go for a walk?"

"No. Not at all." Tom looked surprised.

"Cyrus, I promise I'll explain everything when I get back. I just need to absorb everything that's happened here."

Cyrus watched in confusion as they left the room.

*****

Vicki breathed a sigh of relief as she "felt" the notebook burn. Then she realized that she'd lost track of the time and that Nora would be waking soon. She left her original spell unfinished and returned to Collinwood.

*****

Claudius looked up at the portrait of his sister, Lorraine. "She's MARRIED to a Collins!" He said in an anguished tone. "Of all people she had to married one of THEM!"

Claudius' heart ached as he poured himself a glass of Merlot and sat down recalling the warning his grandfather had given him many years ago.

"Never trust a Collins. They live in their own world surrounded by the shadows of deception and treachery. They'll be your friends only long enough to get what they want. They have their own code of ethics and our ancestors have suffered greatly because of it. Avoid them at all costs."

"My beautiful Marissa." He looked at the photo. "If only you knew how you have graced my dreams."

He closed his eyes and went over the time he spent with her. She was not only beautiful and loving but also accomplished. She was so much more than he expected.

To think she was married to a wretched Collins was too much for him to bear.

"And she bore his children! They should have been my children Lorraine!" He cried out.

Claudius couldn't bring himself to hate the children. It wasn't their fault there father was the spawn of the devil, and meeting them actually warmed his heart.

"And where is Quentin?" He wondered. "Where is the bastard?"

Marissa had told him that Quentin has been away attending to a 'very important' business matter. Seeing the sadness in his eyes only fueled his anger.

"What could be so important that you must leave your family for an extended period?"

He got up and stood before the portrait of his sister. "There is MORE to this! And I'm going to find out! 3 days before you were killed…I told you how much I loved her and how I wanted to marry her and you supported me and you said how wonderful it would be if Marissa joined our family. And then you were killed so viciously and it destroyed me. I have wasted so much time Lorraine. If I don't win her love, there's nothing left for me here."

Claudius set down his glass and left the room.

*******

Tom and Julia sat on a bench in the gardens.

"You know Elizabeth said that there were ghosts that roamed Collinwood."

Tom broke the silence. "All the time I lived there, I never encountered one…until now. For once she wasn't lying to me."

"Tom." Julia turned to him and put a hand on his right shoulder. Tom impulsively touched her cheek and reached over and kissed her. Julia felt flustered and stood up.

"Julia. I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. It's just that… for the first time since Chris died, I feel…"

Her heart racing, Julia kissed him back before he could finish, then suddenly realizing the consequences of her actions, stood up and said goodnight and hurried back to see Cyrus.

******

Marissa sat in the parlor staring at the bouquet of flowers that Quentin sent her.

She remembered the time when she loved getting surprise gifts from Quentin. But now, she was beginning to not care anymore. "Three months." She said bitterly. She glared at the vase of flowers and watched as it suddenly shattered.

"NO!" She cried out. She ran out of the room, unaware that Clarice was hiding before the door.

"My My!" Clarice whispered, impressed by what she had witnessed.

*****

"We have to what?" Cyrus was aghast by what Julia said to him. "You want to look up every flower species that blooms in the spring. All of this because of what a ghost wrote in my notebook? Do you KNOW what that is going to entail? There must be almost a million different species!"

"Cyrus." Julia said. "We have to face it. We're getting nowhere with what we're doing. AT this point, I'm willing to try anything."

"What's going on?"

They turned to see Barnabas at the doorway.