Subj: Consequences of Falling ch. 55
Date: 8/9/01 10:15:12 PM Central Daylight Time
From: Nicole

January 4, 2001, The Old House, 9:55 AM

Cameron could hear them calling him, raucous angry voices that seemed to scream for him. He opened his eyes and saw them coming through the brush. His step-father led the group, a large portion of his leg gone as he hobbled forward. His half-sisters flanked their father, their mutilated pubescent bodies floundering as they moved. Behind them stood Alyssa. She looked no better than the others, deep lacerations from her scalp to her torso continuing to bleed though other more colorful juices had began to flow from the wounds as well. Nameless others surrounded them, their bodies in various degrees of decay and degradation. The only person absent was his mother. Soon Sabrina Stuart wandered out from behind the bushes, her body ruined by injury and decay. She walked towards him, arms extended for a bloody embrace.

Cameron could not stand it. He leapt to his feet and ran, looking back occasionally to find the gang gaining on him. His mind became frantic and frayed as he pondered what they might do to him, flashes of every George Romero movie he ever saw funneling through his head and forcing him to pick up the pace. Soon he saw it, a large fortress of a home just beyond his reach. His thighs throbbed and broken blisters bled on the soles of his feet. Cameron believed he would not reach his safe haven but the churlish voices of the dead urging him forward. He soon reached the front door and pummeled it with his fists. The door was answered by a lovely young blonde woman, her long hair hidden under a white maids cap. Her blue dress seemed ancient to Cameron but he knew her, though he did not know from where. "Beth?" he asked. "Oh Beth, you have to help me, I..."

"Come in," she said calmly. "They have been expecting you."

Beth took Cameron's trembling hand and brought him inside. The house seemed stuck in the 19th century. It reminded him of the grand old homes he had toured on the coast. He turned to Beth to ask her about the house but she had disappeared. Cameron caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and yelped. His clothing had jumped centuries, a brown frock coat and pants replacing his sweater and jeans. Just as he reached out to touch the image, he saw a figure emerge from behind his own. "Angelique," he whispered. He turned to face herr, pleased to see a familiar face although the clothes were unfamiliar. "Can you tell me what's going on?"

"In time," she purred. Angelique took Cameron's hand and pointed towards the closed double doors. "They'll know more in there."

Cameron nodded and cautiously walked through the doors. In front of the fireplace stood Barnabas Collins, his eyes downcast and aimed at the fire. In front of a large window sat Constance DuVane, the folds of her blood red dress splayed across the floor as her fingers fumbled the silken material. At the piano sat a lilac clad Astrid Douglas, her face emotionless as she played "Pathetique" to her inattentive audience. The person who truly captured Cameron's attention was the man sitting on the sofa. The stranger had Cameron's face and build, the only real difference between them being their colorings. As Cameron began to speak, Constance noticed him. "Cameron darling! Come in. You're just in time."

Cameron froze as she approached him, a cold sweat easing down his back in reaction to her touch and their stares. The man had the most dramatic reaction, his eyes widening and filling with tears when Constance sat Cameron next to him. Astrid jumped from the bench and closed the doors. When she stood next to her mother, Cameron fully began to appreciate their exact resemblance. "Will he return now?" she excitedly asked her mother.

"I believe so," said Constance.

"You're grasping at air," sniped Barnabas. "When will you accept that Quentin will never return!"

"Does it matter?" cried the man. "This will never end."

"Yes!" said Constance. She took the man's hand in hers and looked into his eyes. He calmed instantly. "It will end!"

"If you say so," mumbled the man.

Barnabas groaned and sat in front of the fire. Constance ignored him and took a seat at the piano. Astrid followed her and they began to play, Constance acting as the left hand and Astrid as the right. The man looked around the room aimlessly, looking away the moment his eyes would land on Cameron. Cameron's eyes focused on the window. As it cracked open, he yelped.

No one looked back to him. All activity stopped as their eyes shifted to the window. A man walked in. It took Cameron only a moment to realize that it was the man from the portrait. Constance and Astrid jumped up immediately. Constance ran ahead and stopped in front of the man. Astrid ran into Constance and merged with her, her body disappearing into her mother's. Constance then ran into his arms and kissed him. "You've returned," she whispered. "I wasn't sure you would."

He entwined her fingers in her hair and kissed her once again. "Why wouldn't I return?"

"Why would Quentin Collins keep a promise?" asked the man coolly.

Quentin glanced awkwardly at the man, his mouth twisting into a disarming smile. "And why would Chris Jennings ever be happy?"

"It has something to do with the full moon," mumbled Barnabas.

Quentin laughed and pulled Constance closer. "And you believe we can cure you and the boy."

"Can you?" asked Cameron.

"What do you think?" asked Constance.

Cameron closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he was in the mildewing room at the Old House. The music from his headphones blared, the words of "I Woke Up in a Strange Place" vibrating in his teeth. "Understatement of the year," he mumbled as he leapt from the bed. He wandered toward the window and stood still. A man was staring up at him from the ground below, snow and dust clinging to his dark blue overcoat. Cameron could have sworn that it was the man from his dream, Quentin Collins. The man looked away and walked on.

Cameron ran from his room and burned a path through the house to the foyer. He almost tumbled down the stairs before stepping out partially clothed into the chill. He saw no trace of the man. He did, however, feel every prickle of January freeze prick his unaccustomed skin. He ran back inside to find Angelique waiting with a blanket in her arms. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Um...nothing. Is there a fire going?"

"Yes. Follow me." They walked into the drawing room and took seats in front of the fireplace. Cameron wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and dug inside his pants pocket to retrieve a pack of cigarettes. He offered one to Angelique and, upon her polite refusal, lit up and inhaled deeply. Angelique looked back to him and asked, "What's really wrong?"

Cameron could not help but smile. Everyone seemed to realize that he was troubled. "I saw a man outside my window," he mumbled through the smoke.

"The man from the bar?"

"No. Have you seen the portrait of Astrid's ancestor? He looked like him, and I mean carbon copy duplication."

Angelique held her breath. When she released it, she seemed to grow faint. She recovered quickly, however, and moved closer to Cameron. "Are you sure it was THAT man?"

"Couldn't be him although he was in my dream."

"Tell it to me." Cameron mumbled out the details of the dream, forgetting to gloss over the gruesome beginning. He looked back shyly to Angelique and asked, "What does it mean?"

Angelique seemed troubled at first but her mouth soon eased into a smile. "It's a combination of bad horror films and the new things you've experienced. It means nothing."

"Are you sure?" Angelique nodded. "Good because it really freaked me out."

"I'm glad that I could help." Angelique took his hand and asked, "Did you mean what you said about Kelene, about how you would be with her if you could?"

"You heard? Well, yes...I'd be with her if I could."

Angelique smiled. She dug inside her pocket and retrieved a silver chain with a pentagram linked to it. She placed it in Cameron's hand and said, "Send it to her. It's a good luck charm."

Cameron thanked her and slipped the chain inside is pocket. If it really was a good luck charm he WOULD send it to Kelene. They needed all the luck they could find. It was then that he noticed that they were the only people in the house. "Hey! Where are the others?"

"They all have work to do." Angelique patted his hand and said, "You'll have to excuse me but I have a call to make."

Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis Production.