Consequences of Falling Ch. 10
From: Nicole
Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2001 23:31:11

Windcliffe Sanitarium, 7:00 AM

"You have to see this," insisted Julia, swiftly leading her husband down the sterile sanitarium halls.  "This will answer many of our questions about Constance DuVane."

"Constance DuVane is the least of our worries," said Barnabas, his voice strained from his lack of sleep.  "Do you realize who has returned?  Really, in comparison Constance is perfectly harmless."

"I thought you said that she wasn't human."

"She's not human, but she means us no harm.  Constance DuVane is merely out to have a good time with Quentin.  Admittedly, I don't like her but she's not that bad.  She won't do anything to us if we leave her be."

Julia stopped mid-step and pushed Barnabas into the wall.  "Now listen!" she hissed.  "Once you see this man you will not see Constance DuVane as harmless and you will want Quentin to stay miles away from her!"

Barnabas swallowed hard and followed her.  Julia stopped at the end of the hall and unlocked the large white door.  This room was set far away from the others, placed there for those with severe mental and physical problems.  When Barnabas entered he was immediately taken by the abnormal darkness, only the outline of a bed visible in the diminished daylight.  Julia flipped the lights and Barnabas recoiled, repressing the urge to either scream or run away.  In bed lay a deteriorating man.  His frizzled white hair had fallen out in clumps, revealing the flaking veiny flesh beneath.  The rest of his skin was rotting, the wear and tear being so bad that muscle and bone showed through in frequently used places.  His lips and nose had fallen away and his eyes were covered by sagging tissue.  "God man!  What happened to you?"

The man raised a skeletal finger and pointed into clear air.  "They did it to me," he barked through a snaggle-toothed snarl.  "More that bitch than that bastard but they did it!"

"Who are they?" asked Barnabas.

"Oh, I admit that I taunted them both for years and I admit that I wanted girl but I had not idea that it would come to this!"

Julia kneeled next to the man and said, "Tell him who did this."

"Constance Aberle.  Or is it Newberry?  Or Grace?  I know it's DuVane now.  I don't see how that bitch stays young," moaned the man.  "Every time I see her she looks the same.  I'm wilting and she and that idiot remain untarnished!"

"Who?" asked Barnabas.

"Collins.  I forget his first name.  He's tall with dark hair and blue eyes.  It's been seventy-one years and that idiot looks the same!"

Quentin.  "Are you sure that 'they' did this to you?" asked Barnabas, finally finding the nerve to approach the bed.

"I was with the girl.  I nagged her until she said, 'If you want this, I'll give it to you.  Don't say I didn't warn you!'  It was..." he murmured before trailing off into sleep.

Julia checked the man's pulse.  "He's dead.  I don't see how he lasted this long.  According to his file, he has been like this for forty years."

Barnabas walked closer and examined the corpse.  The man's body still flaked, pieces of flesh falling to the mattress like snow.  "What was his name?"

"Jack Andrews."  She glance up angrily at Barnabas, the tears obviously stinging behind her worried eyes.  "Do you see why I brought you here.  You need to go talk to Quentin, the sooner the better."

"Yes, I'll see him today."  Then Barnabas remembered the events of the day before, of how Angelique and Constance freely interacted and how Constance blatantly showed her anger to one she should not know well enough to do so.  "I have to see one other person before him.  I think there's someone who might know more about Constance DuVane than we can fathom."

Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis Production.