Subj: Consequences of Falling ch. 63
Date: 8/17/01 3:28:46 AM Central Daylight Time
From: Nicole

The Old House, 8:00 PM

Cameron had not expected Constance to come to his room. He had noticed the wound in her chest even if Kelene had not. He had seen the light shine through the hole and it frightened him. One look at Chris made Cameron realize that someone else had seen the wound. Cameron could see the man's anxiety, his fear that this woman might not live out the night. Chris broke down once Angelique ran weeping into the room. They had lain against one another and wept, mumbling words that were incomprehensible to him but perfectly coherent to one another. But Cameron could guess why they were upset: Constance was dead. He expected Quentin to walk through the door at any moment, his voice breaking as he confirmed that his lover had died.

Cameron was truly surprised to see Constance walk through the door with Quentin behind her. Neither seemed bothered by the stares that instantly met them. No one would be able to convince Cameron that nothing had happened to Constance. She wore Quentin's coat buttoned to her neck, the lapels flapping around her neck like mud flaps. Although she looked dreadfully pale, she looked better than she had before. She seemed both alert and distracted. Something else was obviously on her mind. "Are you ready?" she asked.

"If you're not well enough, we should wait," suggest Cameron.

"I'm well enough!" insisted Constance, her voice strained against her anger. She ran her hands through her hair and knelt in front of Cameron. "I know what I'm doing. We need to finish this so you can move on."

Cameron did not answer. On closer inspection, Cameron noticed the clear gunk on Constance's face. It did not cover her face but appeared as flakes next to her eyes, nose, and mouth. The affect reminded him of the residue glue leaves when it dries. Constance noticed that he was staring at her and bowed her head. He turned to Kelene and asked, "Are you ready?"

Kelene leaned forward. Constance flinched when Kelene flicked the gunk away from her nose. Underneath lay only flawless pale skin. "I understand," she murmured. She sat up and said, "I'm ready."

Constance smiled as she took a seat next to Kelene on the bed. Cameron immediately jumped off the bed and stood at the footboard. He stood only a foot away from Quentin, who had moved closer to the bed when Constance jumped on. As Constance recited the incantation to free his child, Cameron could not shake his glance from Quentin's hands. The grime that sat on Constance's face clung to Quentin's hands, embedding itself under his nails and in the hollows between his fingers. Quentin realized that Cameron was staring at his hands and rammed them in his pockets. Neither of them wanted him to see what had happened. It was probably best to let it go.

When Cameron looked back to the bed, Constance and Kelene smiled brightly, a small ball of gray dust resting in Constance's hand. She blew the soot to the floor. Kelene flung her arms around Constance, hugging her tightly as she kissed both cheeks. Constance returned the favor before carefully climbing off the bed. She stumbled lithely to be caught by both Cameron and Quentin. She mumbled a soft "thank you" and pulled away from Cameron, allowing Quentin to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her into his body. "Okay folks," she said, her voice slightly dry, "I must admit that, in all my years, this has been one of the weirdest early evenings of my entire life. We've all had a rough time of it and I believe that the worst is over. I'm going to sleep. I suggest you all do the same. Let's meet again at noon to talk some things over, okay?"

Constance did not wait for answers, letting Quentin quickly help her from the room. No one else bothered to move, only casting fretful glances between one another. "What happened to her? Didn't she have a hole in her chest?" asked Cameron.

"Josef shot her," said Angelique. "Apparently Quentin was able to save her."

"What happened to Josef?" asked Chris anxiously.

"Quentin shot him. Josef is dead."

Cameron watched as Chris sighed in relief and fell into his seat. He rose from his seat and walked to the bed. He hugged Kelene and Cameron, saying, "Thank God that's over. I'll see you tomorrow." With that, Chris left the room.

Cameron looked over to Angelique and asked, "What does any of that mean? Who was Josef?"

"Josef was the one who impregnated your mother. He was the incubus," explained Angelique. She looked over to them and said, "I'll leave you now. You've seen much tonight. Personally, I can't stay awake another moment."

Cameron bid her goodnight. He had thought that she had had one of the easier nights amongst the seven of them. Maybe he did not know what Angelique was thinking. Maybe it was best that way. He had much to think about himself. He landed on the bed with a thud, eliciting a small yelp from Kelene before she slipped down beside him. "This is so weird," he mumbled as he pulled her to him. "Did you ever think like would be like this?"

"No I never did," sighed Kelene, "but that doesn't mean that this is bad."

"It's not necessarily good."

"No, but it's better than my family. These guys are odd, but they could love you. Hell, I think they already do. If they didn't care about you, they would not have helped you." She kissed his forehead and lay her head on his chest. "Let's just go to bed. There will be more in the morning."

Cameron thought that he would have trouble falling asleep, but he dozed off with ease. His dreams were peaceful, the kind of mundane dreams that help to ease sleep along. He awoke around noon fully rested. Cameron could not remember the last time he had slept so well. This was the first day he had awaken untainted, free of his terrorizing curse for the rest of his life. He woke Kelene and they walked down to the drawing room, hoping that the others had had just as pleasant a night. From the looks on their faces, he could tell there was a problem. "What's gone wrong? Are we all right?"

"No, no," murmured Constance, her head resting against Quentin's shoulder. "You've all been cured--well, everyone but Quentin--and you will not relapse."

"Then what's the problem?"

"Constance and I may be in serious trouble," answered Chris. "It seems that some officials from Windcliffe found out that I was living on my own. From what they had read in my papers, they had expected Constance to put me in another facility. Tomorrow, he have to go before a board to decide if I should stay out or go back into their care."

"Why did you get out in the first place?" asked Kelene.

"I forged documents to have him released," moaned Constance.

"Do they know that?" asked Cameron.

"They have their suspicions."

"What will they do?" asked Cameron, finally finding the courage to step into the drawing room.

"She could very well to prison," said Quentin, running his fingers through Constance's hair as he spoke. "Chris might go back into Windcliffe and Constance might go to jail."

Cameron could not believe it. Why was this happening now? They had all been saved, but two of the main participants may have to suffer for much longer than the average lifetime because of this mistakes. "What can I do?" demanded Cameron.

Constance smiled and slipped further into Quentin. "Thank you but there's nothing you can do. Only one person can get us out of this and she's indisposed."

"What do you mean?"

"It's much too complicated," sighed Angelique. "It's best that you didn't know."

"But you two cannot be locked away!" cried Cameron.

Constance and Chris rose from their posts and walked over to Cameron. "We're going to be all right," said Chris.

"You have no need to worry about us," added Constance. "You need to worry about yourself."

"Huh?"

"You need to think about where you're going from here," said Constance.

"I don't know," murmured Cameron. This was the first time he had seriously thought about it. Where would they stay? How would they pay the bills that would soon begin to rise? "I can't think of anything."

"Well, I have an idea. I can put you up in my apartment because I'm moving away from it for the time being. I'll pay your hospital bills. I'll send both of you back to school, if you like. I'll do anything to help you get back on your feet," offered Constance.

"I can't take your money," said Constance.

"Yes you can."

"You need this more than anything right now," said Chris.

Cameron did not want to take her money. He did not want to owe Constance DuVane more than he already felt he owed her. "What if I can never pay you back?"

"I don't want you to pay me back. I don't need you to do so. I have enough money."

Cameron turned to Kelene, her face unreadable as she stared forward. "Do you want to do this?" he whispered.

"We have to," she answered softly. "We need this. It would only last until we could take care of ourselves."

"Then I guess we'll take it."

Constance rose and walked back to Quentin. She searched through the coat that lay next to him and pulled out a key chain. She removed three of the keys and handed them to Cameron. "The blue is to the apartment, the small one is the the safe in the bedroom, and the black one is to the car."

"Why the car key?"

"Because you're leaving soon," said Constance.

"Are you guys trying to get rid of me," asked Cameron.

"We're trying to protect you," insisted Chris. "Whatever happens, it would be best if you were out of town. They've seen Kelene in town and someone sent her here. Various people have seen both of you with Constance and I on the estate. It's best that no one links you two to us."

"But how will I get in touch with you if something goes wrong?"

Constance pulled a pen from her pocket and scrawled a phone number on the back of Cameron's hand. "This is for my cell phone. Quentin will have it just in case I'm taken out of commission."

"And if they do jail Constance, you still won't have to worry about money," added Quentin. "I can't get access to Constance's funds but I still have my own accounts, which have been gathering major interest plus the occasional residual gained from the trash I wrote in the sixties. You will be well provided for."

It all seemed settled. Cameron turned his attention back to Chris and asked, "Are you sure that I can't help you?"

"You wouldn't be able to," insisted Chris. "And don't worry about me! I've lived through my fair share of bad times. We'll think of something and I'll visit you as soon as I can."

"I'm going to hold you to that."

"You won't have to. I'll want to see you again."

Cameron nodded. Without thinking, he hugged Chris. Only days earlier he would have knocked his father to the floor had he met him. Now that he had met Chris, he realized that this man had experienced painful things that Cameron could not fathom. He was not the bastard he had expected him to be. He wanted to get to know him. Cameron only hoped that time would grant him that privilege.

It took very little time for Cameron and Kelene to ready themselves to leave. After embracing the four people in the drawing room, they retreated to their room to pack. One look at the few trinkets laying around the floor led Cameron to believe that there was nothing that he really wanted to take. "Let's just leave," he told Kelene. "We're starting over. We don't need any of this crap anymore."

Kelene glanced around the room with a critical eye, her lips broadening into a smile when she turned back to Cameron. "I think you're right," she purred. She took Cameron's hand and led him out of the room. "Come darling, we have to meet our future."

Cameron could not help but smile. He allowed Kelene to take him to the stairwell. He would not let her out of his sight again. For the first time, he believed that life was on a true upswing. He only hoped it would last.

Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis Production.