Subj: Into the Light Part 2
Date: 7/29/99 11:47:23 AM Central Daylight Time
From: MsAnn

June 15, 1968

This morning, Vicki stopped by to see me, and to inform me that she was going to be released from the hospital that day. I am happy to see she is doing well, but she still looks as though she is still disturbed at the possibility of the secret room in the mausoleum. I immediately begin telling her of some of the plans I had thought of to do when I was released in an effort to cheer her up. We even spoke of places to visit when we went on our honeymoon. Vicki seemed so happy when she left. I only hope my cure lasts long enough to make sure Vicki stays happy. Later, in the evening, as I lay on my bed, a thunderstorm raged outside. Slowly, but surely, I became aware of a feeling of unseen eyes looking down upon me. Then, an old familiar feeling I hoped to never experience again started--bloodlust.

Can it be over so quickly? I cannot believe it. Yet the intensity of the blood lust continues to rise, as does my fear. I call out for Dr. Lang. He will know what to do.

I get no response. I call out again for Lang--louder this time. The blood lust rises even more. I rush to the patio door and can barely restrain myself from running out into the night to seek a new victim. The dogs outside begin to howl as in response to my inner turmoil. I call again, yelling this time, praying for a response.

Lang finally hears my call. Fortunately, the bloodlust has faded or I would have been very tempted to attack him at that moment. My fear, however, has not faded. I tell Lang what nearly happened just moments before.

Lang says he isn't completely sure about everything concerning my condition, but he does say that I had experienced a regression to my former vampiric state. I was numb with shock and anger at such a statement. I had believed that the whole nightmare of my former existence was over. Lang quickly states that if he implied or said such a thing, he did not mean to do it. What he really meant to say was that my condition had been "temporarily arrested" by the transfusions and drugs so I could revert almost anytime. Lang appeared confident that he could control any regression in the short term, which gave me a little comfort.

It was Lang's long range plans that worried me. His line of reasoning appeared to be headed towards a series of experimental treatments. I'd had enough of those with Julia Hoffman to last a lifetime. Now, I just didn't have the patience or the will to go through with potentially disastrous experiments with anyone, vow or no. To my shock, Lang says he doesn't want to experiment on me. He had already come up with a cure of some sort. How was this possible? What was this cure? Lang refused to answer my questions, saying he will answer all my questions in due time.

A short time later, Julia Hoffman stopped by to see me. She is a lot less annoying now than she was before the accident. Her previously cold attitude towards me has been replaced by genuine concern about my well being. By the same token, she could be saying the same thing about me since my recent change.

As a payback for what she tried to do yesterday, I decided to put up with her many questions. She could also be useful to me in helping solve the mysteries surrounding Eric Lang. Julia is sometimes very useful in that she often has excellent insight in judging people.

Fortunately, Julia saw that I was tired, so she limited her questions to Lang and his potential treatment of me. As Lang had not given me any specifics, I could only give her some very vague answers. I noticed Julia was getting her "investigative" look. I suspect Lang will receive a visit from her in the near future.

June 16, 1968

My morning and afternoon were uneventful. For the most part, I just sat in my room enjoying the sunlight. I cannot get enough of it. Julia stopped by to tell me she had made no progress in investigating Lang. He was as mysterious with her as he was with me. Hopefully in the near future I can find some clues as to what this man is up to.

Evening brought the news I had been waiting for. Dr. Lang stopped by to inform me that I had improved enough to go home tomorrow morning. Lang is still silent about what his cure is, but I decided to ignore that for the time being. I could finally get out and enjoy all the things I had been dreaming of since I learned of my cure. Vicki and I could go somewhere and maybe have a picnic. Or, perhaps we could go to the greenhouse and pick out plants for the Old House gardens. It really didn't matter, so long as I spent the day with her. I think I was on top of the world at that point.

June 17, 1968

I was still euphoric this morning as I got dressed. I remember just looking in the mirror, staring at my reflection. The little things in life that others took for granted (including myself at one point ) made me feel very happy indeed.

A knock on the door brought me out of my reverie. It was Vicki. A more beautiful sight I could not ask to behold. But there was something bothering her.

As we stood on the patio, Vicki admitted that something about the past was troubling her. She began telling me about all the terrible things that happened during her experience in 1795. Fortunately for me, she correctly believes that Angelique was the cause of the terror and madness at Collinwood, and has not concluded that I am the one and only Barnabas Collins to date. Then Vicki goes on to tell me of the two reasons she believes she was drawn back into the past: saving Cousin Daniel and meeting Peter Bradford.

Peter Bradford, in Vicki's opinion, has also transcended time in order to be with her in the form of a man named Jeff Clark. I tell Vicki that such things were impossible. People cannot just cross over time at will. Vicki has convinced herself that is the case. And because of this, she cannot go through with our plans to get married. All I can do is just turn away from Vicki as she turned to leave the room.

Vicki's rejection had crushed all the happiness I had been feeling over the last few days. My whole reason for wanting to go through with Lang's treatment had vanished, along with my desire to be human again. Why go through with accomplishing your dreams if you have no one to share them with?

Shortly after I was released from the hospital, I went over to Dr. Lang's office. I had decided to tell him that it would be in the best interests of everyone involved if I just reverted back to what I was. If I was found out, so be it. I just didn't care anymore.

Lang was busy with a patient, so I had to wait in his office for about a half hour. I told him of my decision not to go through with the experiment and my reasoning behind it. To my astonishment, Lang was not about to let me get away that easily. He immediately asked for another moment of my time (I assume) to explain his argument as to why I should continue with his treatment. Reluctantly, I agreed.

The look on Lang's face, along with his first question suggest that he knew why Vicki chose not to marry me. In fact, he looked as though he had expected that something like this might happen. When I told him that Vicki gave a reason for her decision, he immediately knew what it was, namely Jeff Clark. It seems that Jeff Clark is Lang's assistant.

As if he had been summoned at that moment, Jeff Clark appeared. Looking him over, I saw that Vicki was right in her comment that Clark looked like Peter Bradford. However, there are a lot of people around here who look like people I knew in the 18th century. I do not believe that just because Jeff Clark is one of those people, he is also the same man as his 18th century counterpart. I am the only one who has that distinction. I am hopeful I will be able to prove this to Vicki somehow.

The first place I went after leaving Dr. Lang's office was to go to the Old House. It had been so long since I had seen the Old House in its full glory in the sunlight. I was also still feeling a little depressed and not up to seeing anyone before I collected my thoughts and composed myself.

Spending a few minutes inside, however, made me realize just how big and empty the Old House really was. Before, there was always someone around to keep me company between Willie, Carolyn, and the ever present Dr. Julia Hoffman. Now, there is nothing but the silence to accompany me. I guess I am still a person who prefers a little company from time to time.

With that thought in mind, I set out for Collinwood. A visit with Elizabeth would make me feel better. Besides, it would be proper for me to let her know that I am home from the hospital as soon as possible (and also because I had nothing better to do).

Mrs. Johnson greeted me cheerfully at the door, which made me feel my decision was the right one. Elizabeth was also around but she wasn't in good spirits as she was when I saw her last at the hospital. I asked how everyone was, but she gave a most curious answer saying "as far as I know."

We went into the drawing room and Elizabeth began to tell me a very disturbing tale of Roger's behavior over the past few days. He seems to have exchanged personalities with my father and now believes he is in the 18th century. I almost gave myself away as I completed Elizabeth's statement about who Roger believed he was. I suggested to Elizabeth that Angelique's portrait must be removed, but she said it was already gone. Victoria appeared and told us of her encounter with Roger. We were all confused and worried about the implications of Roger's mental state. Elizabeth left for a moment to arrange a search for Roger while Vicki and I discussed recent events. Then it happened. I began to get a nearly irresistible thirst for blood. I prayed desperately that I would be able to withstand it and not harm Vicki. Secondly, such an attack would certainly mean my doom since it was still daytime at Collinwood. Vicki noticed my mood change and wanted to call a doctor for me, but I gain enough control over myself to get out of Collinwood and over to Lang's.

Fortunately, this time Lang is not busy and can see me right away. He agrees to give me a transfusion to prevent me from having more reversions for a while. It would seem that I will be in need of transfusions at least once per week until Lang can complete his preparations for the experiment. I go along with this because I have no other alternative except to revert, but I do not like this idea.

I returned to Collinwood after successfully avoiding a Mrs. Johnson burnt and/or boiled dinner. There, I found Julia on the phone with the police. They had discovered that Roger spent the day at the Collinsport Inn and then vanished again. This whole situation was becoming stranger and stranger. What was Angelique doing to him?

Julia asked me to explain who the woman in Vicki's picture was and I explain my former relationship to Angelique to her. She was surprised at that one. I must congratulate Father for doing me the favor of removing all references to Angelique from the various history books, records and journals. If Vicki hadn't been spirited off to the past, Angelique may have remained the unknown Collins and Father's efforts would have been completely successful. As it is, I must deal with what has happened.

Ever the curious one, Julia then asked me why Roger would take something of Lang's. I wonder about this until she shows me Lang's headpiece. Now everything made sense. This is how she caused Lang's headache and blindness using Roger as her unwilling accomplice. This could only mean one thing: Angelique will try again, this time in person. Julia and I left immediately for Lang's office.

At Lang's office, we found Roger slumped over in a chair and Lang was confused as to just what is going on. Julia took Roger home while I tried to explain what was going on. Lang was once again resistant to my explanations. He still was firmly rooted in the idea that witches, black magic and the supernatural don't exist. It is not until I show him his head piece that it seems I have made any progress. Then his mind finally begins to accept what I have been trying to tell him since the hospital. Julia returned, saying that Roger escaped from her car. After making sure Lang was alright, we left to search for Roger again. We found nothing until we returned to Collinwood where the portrait of Angelique had mysteriously reappeared.

June 18,1968

After breakfast I headed back to Collinwood to check on the Roger situation. I would have went first thing this morning, but I was afraid that I would be trapped into eating some of Mrs. Johnson's cooking. Elizabeth was more puzzled than ever with Roger's behavior. She told me she had heard the Police story about Roger's whereabouts. I decided not to tell her what I had seen last night. I was afraid that would upset her too much. Fortunately, Vicki was around and together we were able to get Elizabeth to go and rest for a moment.

Once Elizabeth had left the room, I told Vicki some of my suspicions as to the causes of Roger's strange behavior. Vicki's continued trust of me and her knowledge of Angelique's powers were helpful to my cause here. Perhaps together we can come up with a plan to destroy Angelique. Vicki had just decided to get rid of the portrait when Elizabeth reappeared to tell us no one had seen Roger at the shipyard for 2 days. Then, from seemingly nowhere, we hear Roger calling out for Elizabeth. He seemed so happy when he appeared that we collectively hoped the worst was over. Then, as Willie would say, Roger dropped a bombshell on us. He brought in a woman (who was obviously Angelique) saying she was his wife, Cassandra.

Saying we were stunned would be putting it charitably, to say the least. I think it was a full five minutes before any of us could manage to say anything.

Elizabeth was the first to recover. She says something to "Cassandra" but I am too busy biting down my own anger and rage to pay attention to what it is. I just want to get out of there before I give in to the very strong urge I have to toss Angelique into the nearest fireplace and watch her burn until nothing is left but ashes.

I tried to depart, but "Cassandra" being the dutiful wife asked me to stay and celebrate the "marriage" with champaign. For Roger's sake I stayed, but I was not pleased. I made little effort to hide my anger, especially during a very cryptic exchange about a trip to Martinique.

Roger proceeded to tell Cassandra about each of us, including the fact that I was still unmarried. Elizabeth, who was clearly shocked and concerned about today's events, spirited Roger off with the excuse of some sort of cannery business while Vicki retrieved the champaign. I suspect Elizabeth was really trying to talk to Roger to attempt to find out just what was really going on.

When the others (except Cassandra/Angelique) left the room, I decided it was time for me to leave before I did something I would regret in front of Roger, Elizabeth or Vicki. As keeping with her new role, Cassandra protested, but I insisted it was time for me to leave. Cassandra will have to be dealt with, but not today. Today you win, Angelique, but in the end, it will be I who is the victor!