Subj: Total Eclipse of the Heart
Date: 1/21/01 4:04:54 AM Central Standard Time
From: ReAnne Moreau

I came up with this little bit of fluff after watching the episode where Quentin invited Julia to watch the eclipse with him in the tower room. *I* certainly wouldn't have turned him down. Here's the way it should have happened:

Julia hurriedly straightened her blouse as she scampered out of the tower room. Somehow she had managed to get it buttoned wrong. The doctor was grinning as she made her way downstairs. She'd taken Quentin up on his offer to watch the eclipse, he offered to massage her stiff neck and things had kind of gotten out of hand after that. Or in hand, depending on how you looked at it. The man was more octopus than werewolf.

It surprised Julia how much she enjoyed the liberties he took, and she surprised Quentin even more by taking a few of her own. Given the man's age it was astonishing how well everything still worked. She sent up a silent prayer of gratitude to the late Mr. Tate.

Approaching the drawing room, Julia made sure everything was properly buttoned and tucked in. She made a mental note to ask Caroline to go into Bangor with her to shop for a new dress for her date with Quentin tomorrow night. It felt good to be pursued for a change. Having Barnabas declare his love for an unconscious woman hadn't done much for her ego, but Quentin certainly had. It couldn't hurt to spend an evening out.

Just as she was about to enter the room she saw Barnabas sitting on the sofa, staring earnestly into Maggie's lovely, vacuous eyes. The girl's hands were firmly clasped in his own. Julia could tell that he was struggling against the need for her blood that went with the desire for her body. An exasperated voice in the back of the doctor's mind whispered, "Oh, for heaven sakes, just bite her and get it over with."

Julia did an about-face and marched back up the stairs, mentally adding a neglige to her shopping list for tomorrow's date. It was amazing how little Barnabas' latest love bothered her. At least this one was capable of speech and remembered her own name.

She decided to check on the children before turning in, just to make sure Gerard's ghost hadn't been up to anything yet.

When the hullabaloo subsided the next day, Hallie and David had both been packed off to separate summer camps - the kind that emphasized plenty of hiking and rock climbing, so that the kids were absolutely exhausted by bed time. Of course they had insisted to Elizabeth that they had been possessed and that David was only helping Hallie change into Carrie's dress. Mrs. Stoddard decided that whatever was going on, it was better if those two were elsewhere for awhile.

By the time Daphne Harridge materialized in the drawing room a couple of days later, the house was quiet. The kids were gone, Roger was still in London on business and Quentin had persuaded Elizabeth that she'd better pop over there to be sure he wasn't messing up. Barnabas was sound asleep in his coffin and Maggie, severely anemic, was still in bed. Caroline was still in residence, but she was off moping over her husband's (empty) grave.

Daphne slowly faded into existence, searching for the man who so resembled her lost love. As the room came into focus she realized he was here. But he wasn't alone. There was a red-haired woman with him. He had her pressed up against the closed drawing room doors, his hands pushing up her shockingly short blue dress, and they were .... Daphne shut her eyes and dematerialized as fast as possible. Her ectoplasm blushed furiously. They hadn't even bothered to disrobe!

A week later, Gerard glowered from a window over the driveway. The house was empty and he was resigned to finally going to Hell to check in. There was no point in hanging around here now that everyone was on to him, and anyway there was nobody left to possess. The last two human occupants were getting into their car, ready to drive off. He took a last longing look at the tasty redhead who had so enthralled him as he faded from existence. Daphne left soon afterward, going in the opposite direction.

Outside, Julia shivered in the pre-dawn chill. Chris had called to say that Sabrina split after their first full moon alone together. Caroline was on her way to his cabin in Connecticut on the company jet, loaded with toys and books for Amy and a tranquilizer gun for Chris, just in case. Her interest in him revived after Julia explained about the werewolf problem. She was the type of woman who couldn't resist a guy with a sad story. Quentin and Julia were driving down, taking the scenic route and stopping at couple of country inns on the way. By the time they got Chris calmed down, packed up his stuff and got everybody back to Collinwood after the next full moon, the danger should be past.

Julia snuggled into the crook of Quentin's arm as he drove slowly down the driveway. Her left hand rested affectionately on his knee, the enormous emerald of her new engagement ring reflecting the car's interior lights. Wedding plans danced happily in her head as she started to drift off to sleep.

Barnabas and Maggie stood waving goodbye as the car disappeared down the road. Finally they turned to go into Collinwood, where they would be staying until everyone else came home. Their hands were clasped and moonlight gleamed on their fangs as they smiled at each other. Their new double-wide coffin was safely ensconced in the basement. If Gerard had disliked having a vampire in the house, two would drive him absolutely nuts. Especially two vampires in love, spouting sentimental poetry at each other. They were sure that if he wasn't already gone, he soon would be.

In town, Elliot Stokes still hadn't gone to bed. He was too busy to worry about doing an exorcism on his friends' excessively haunted house. There was more important work to be done. He was hot on the trail of Quentin and Julia's wedding present, an immortality spell that would keep Julia from aging. He picked up the Ouija board to consult Magda Rakosi, who knew a thing or two about spells, as dawn broke over Collinsport.

They all lived happily ever and ever and ever after.

Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis Production.