Subj: Consequences of Falling ch. 56
Date: 8/11/01 5:15:54 PM Central Daylight Time
From: Nicole

January 4, 2001, Windcliffe Sanitarium, 10:50 AM

"What do you mean 'he saw him?'" asked Constance, her voice modulated to a whisper.

"I mean that Cameron saw Quentin on the grounds," explained Angelique.

Constance sighed and pressed her back into the cool sanitarium walls. The professionals milled around her, no one bothering her as they went about their business. "You don't know how badly I want to explore this, but I'm having a little problem here. It seems that someone is trying to move Chris to another facility without my permission."

"Do you know who is trying to do this?"

"No clue. Why is Windcliffe letting him do this? They know that I work with Julia. He's my patient, dammit!"

"I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding," said Angelique.

"Maybe so but it's still disturbing. Listen, I'll return later tonight. Can you keep an eye on Cameron?"

"Yes but a friend of mine might visit."

"Not Josef!"

"Not hardly! But you do know him."

Constance giggled as she turned into the nearest corner. "Fine. We'll talk later, okay? The doctor is coming."

"All right. Good luck. If I find Quentin, I'll attempt to retain him."

"Sure." Constance rammed the phone inside her coat and turned to face the doctor. He looked like a sensitive young man. She felt sorry for him. The man was as tall as her, making it easy to make eye contact and therefore control him. "I don't mean to be rude, but what is going on? It was pre-determined that I would take the patient from Dr. Hoffman. I want to know why you're doing this."

"I'm sorry, Dr. Amala," he whispered, "but Dr. Garrick claimed that he had worked with you before."

"Who is Dr. Garrick?" demanded Constance. "Where is he? I want to speak to him now!"

The doctor swallowed hard and fled in search of Dr. Garrick. As Constance waited for him to return, she wandered how Julia dealt with such idiocy. She would have to remember to ask Barnabas if she had complained to him before. "God, I should have known it would be him." Constance watched as the man emerged, walking slightly in front of the doctor as they approached her. "Dr. Garrick, I don't believe. I've had the pleasure," she snarled.

Josef smiled, causing the smooth fine lines of his face to broaden deviously. "I heard about the patient you're going to take on from the late Dr. Hoffman and I wanted to see if I could be of assistance to the famed Dr. Brigit Amala."

"I don't need any help."

"Really? I've looked at Jennings' charts and I can tell that's one sick puppy."

"But he has improved. If I continued Dr. Hoffman's regimen, he might go into remission. I don't need you to help me."

The young doctor detected her frustration and stepped between them. "I know that this is short notice for you, Dr. Amala, but Felix Garrick is an expert is an expert in his field. You might want to work with him."

"I'm capable of doing this on my own!" insisted Constance.

"Listen," whispered the young doctor. "This is temporary. The new powers that be see Mr. Jennings as a recovering case and want him out. They want someone to say that they can release him into the population. You have more clout. If you say Jennings needs to continue to be hospitalized, they'll follow your recommendation."

"Fine," she groaned. "We'll do this...just this once."

The young doctor nodded. He did not notice that Josef was grinning wildly at this point, his mouth easing the moment the doctor looked at him. The moment the young doctor left, Josef slipped in next to Constance, whispering, "That wasn't so bad now, was it?"

"Don't be so sure," snarled Constance. "Do you have no shame?"

Josef shrugged. He turned away from Constance and said, "Shall we go meet OUR patient?"

Constance shot out ahead of Josef, hoping that he would get the message and walk behind her. Josef ran up to her side, moving so close to her that their shoulders brushed. When he stretched to wrap his arm around her waist, Constance slapped him back. Josef giggled as he retracted his hand and shoved it into his pocket. She could not believe that Josef dared to be so brazen. After all that had passed between them, he had dared to reenter her life and attempt to ruin her plans. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I'm following my moral compass and not my genitalia as you so often do," explained Josef coldly. "I honestly don't see why you've come here. What are you planning to do?"

"I want to help him."

"Do you mean in the way you helped Corrin or in the way you helped Quentin?"

"Why don't you shut up?" snapped Constance.

"Why don't you give up your silly mission and accept that Quentin is dead and he's never coming back? Why don't you grow up and accept your true nature?"

"You mean work with you?"

Josef smiled. "We had some wonderful experiences. It could be that way again."

"I'd rather chew lead."

"Suit yourself."

"I always do." They stopped in front of the door, waiting patiently for the attendant to unlock it. The young man quickly arrived, fumbling through an impressive loop of keys until he happened upon the right one. Constance pushed past Josef and began to access the room. It was practically bare, containing only a bed and three chairs. When she saw Christopher Jennings, she gasped. She turned back to Josef, who looked just as shocked. "What's going on here?" she snarled.

"I don't know," he whispered. "Why does he look so young?"

Constance shuddered and turned to Jennings. Physically, he looked no different from the picture she had from the late 60s. She wondered what Julia was pumping into him. With briefcase in hand, she hesitantly pulled a seat up to Chris, who had failed to notice them enter. "Chris," she said softly. "I'm here to help."

Chris looked over to her mournfully, seeming to beg her with his eyes to put him out of his misery. He made her feel guilty for not doing something sooner, that she had been too wrapped up in herself to help those who truly needed her. She did her best to ignore Josef as he snickered in the corner. Constance dismissed the attendant and returned her attention to Chris. "Aren't you afraid?" he asked softly.

"No, I'm not afraid of you."

Chris smiled weakly. "Can I trust you?"

"I want to think that you can." Constance leaned in closer and said, "I want you to understand that I know exactly what your problem is."

"How?" he asked. "You can't really know. Who told you?"

"It's all right, Chris. Dr. Hoffman told me as did a friend of mine. You know him as well. He felt badly for you. I know why you suffer and I want to work on a way to stop your agony."

Chris seemed to understand. He opened his mouth to speak but shut it tightly and shot from the bed and then moved into the far corner of the room. Constance turned to see that Josef had risen and walked towards Chris, a revolver aimed at Chris' head. She grabbed Josef by the arm and flung him to the ground. She kicked the revolver from his hand and sat spread eagle on his chest. "Why do you insist on being such an idiot?"

"Give it up, Constance!" screamed Josef. "You couldn't help Quentin. How can you help this poor bastard?"

Constance rose from Josef's chest and walked to the door. She opened it before he could realize what she going to do and screamed, "Help! Help! Garrick has a gun!" The attendants stormed in to see Josef with the gun. Constance repressed her laughter as 6 attendants carried a struggling Josef from the room. The young doctor came to ask if anyone had been injured. Constance assured him that all were well and politely asked him to leave. The doctor reluctantly left and, to Constance's delight, locked them inside. She turned to meet Chris' wide-eyed stare. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "He's not my friend and I don't know why he tried such a thing."

Chris only shook his head. "I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes."

"What?"

"You're Constance DuVane. You're alive," he said.

"Yes."

"And Quentin?" he snarled. "Is he alive?"

"In a sense," said Constance. "The portrait continues to age but we can't find a physical trace of him."

Chris' face instantly crumbled, his eyes filling with terror before he buried his face in his hands. "I should have known. This had nothing to do with my, does it? It never has. It'a all about Quentin, isn't it? No matter what he does, someone will always adore him. You want to use me to help him and I won't be a party to this!"

"No!" Constance slowly approached Chris, careful not to seem angry or foreboding as she moved. "You're wrong. Yes, I want to find Quentin but that doesn't mean that I don't want to cure you or your son."

"I don't have a son," he said, pulling himself tighter into the corner. "Sabrina tried to convince me of it but I knew that I had left her over a year before the child was born. I left her after Amy died. I wouldn't do to Sabrina what I did to Amy."

Constance walked back to her briefcase and retrieved the picture. She handed Chris the picture, watching as his eyes grew wide and filled with tears. Constance took the picture from him and rammed it into her coat pocket before taking a seat next to Chris. "His name is Cameron. I think he's 28 or close to it. He's a nice young man. He's your son but you didn't do the deed to start it. Josef did."

"That's impossible. Who is Josef?"

"The walking turkey baster who was removed from the room is Josef. You had a one night stand with a woman in 1972. That was Josef too," explained Constance. "Josef posed as you and impregnated Sabrina with your seed. He could do this because he is an incubus. I know this because I am a succubus. I've known Josef all my life and I know he would happily perpetrate the crimes he had committed against you. You're not to blame Chris."

Chris did not say anything immediately, giving himself some time to digest the information. He looked back up at Constance and asked, "What about Sabrina? How is she?" Her hesitation became is answer. "So I see. Did you know that I almost killed her during a transformation? She thought she was immune from the wolf attacks because she lived. I suppose she found out the hard way that she wasn't."

"It's not his fault."

"I know," snapped Chris. "It's Quentin's fault. He cursed his sons to his existence while he gets a free rid."

"Quentin has suffered!" insisted Constance. "Neither of us can imagine his pain."

"I'm sorry Ms. DuVane, but you can't convince me of that."

Constance sighed. This was what she had expected. If she had been in Chris' position, she would probably feel the same way. "Let's drop the subject. Tell me, how are you doing?"

"As well as to be expected."

"You look great."

"You mean 'great' for someone approaching 60 who's icky from institution life."

"Something tells me they hide you from the mirrors." Chris's confused look made her run back to her briefcase and retrieve a compact. His eyes went wide when he saw his reflection. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Chris nodded. "I know that you're being medicated. What are you taking?"

"I don't know what you call it. I get two injections a day of this red stuff." Chris hesitated before saying, "Julia put me on this stuff."

"Julia?"

"Yeah. I've been taking it for the past 8 years. I swear to you that it works. I used to change at a moment's notice but the injections stopped that instantly. I only change with the moon now. I feel so good after taking them, just energized and ready for whatever will come, although that's not much in Windcliffe. Julia saved my life."

Constance could only nod. She wondered if anyone had bothered to tell Chris that Julia had died. "When was the last time you spoke to Julia."

"About a month ago."

"A month?"

"Yeah. Julia said that she had a new theory on how to cure me but she wasn't quite sure about it. She said she'd come back to me once everything was ready." Chris' face brightened as he leaned in and asked, "Is it ready?"

"I wouldn't know," lied Constance. "We aren't working with the same theories. I think that if I can find Quentin and fix him, then I can cure you and Cameron."

"What do you need to do this?"

"Well, I need Quentin and the ring of Count Petofi."

"I can't help you there," sighed Chris.

"You can help but you don't know it."

"Explain."

Constance ran to her briefcase and took out a few papers. She knelt next to Chris and said, "These papers will get you out of Windcliffe and put you into my 'care.' I'll put you up in the Collinsport Inn, get you a car, and set you up with some money for the time being. You'll help me look for Quentin."

"Can't I look for the ring instead?"

"The ring is probably on the body. Listen, I know you don't like him. If our roles were reversed, I'd probably hate him too. But I don't and neither should you. Your hate will only prolong your pain. Now are you with me or are you going to stay here."

"I'll don anything to get out of here!"

"That's a start." Constance hugged Chris before leaping to her feet. He did not feel right to her. She could feel some other force inside him besides the wolf. Was it because of the injections. If Julia had been here, she would have asked. How did Chris talk to Julia a month ago if she had been dead three months? There were too many questions and Constance did not know where to begin to look for the answers. She would have to talk to Barnabas once she returned to the Old House. She had to worry about Chris now. She knocked on the door and waited for the attendant to arrive. When he opened the door, Constance flashed him the papers, saying, "I need to talk to that doctor. I'm claiming my patient."

Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis Production.