Chapter 15: The Sun Also Rises
"My name is Victoria Winters. Darkness can be an overwhelming force, engulfing light and hope. While some may choose darkness, others are thrust into it without warning. One can fight the dark, and though the battle be long and dangerous, eventually it is possible to win free of the night, and enter once again into the world of the light. But what one will find there may be much different than it was when they first left."
SCENE 1
Victoria Winters struggled to open her eyes. She didn't understand why it was so difficult. She forced her mind to focus. Slowly, she began to succeed, seeing light, then shapes. Finally, her vision cleared. But now she was more confused. She certainly wasn't at her room in Collinwood. In fact, though her mind was still cloudy, she knew she wasn't any place she recognized. And who was that man standing by the window?
Suddenly, the man turned and realized she was awake. He came over to her bed, looking at her more closely. "Ah, Miss Winters. Welcome back to the land of the living."
Puzzled, she asked the obvious questions. "Where am I? And who are you?"
He smiled at her. "I'm sorry. I should have realized you would be a little disoriented." He picked up her wrist to take her pulse. "My name is Dr. Eric Lang." The doctor jotted something down on the clipboard he carried. "What's the last thing you remember before waking up just now?"
Victoria thought back. "I was driving down the road, and I thought I saw..." She trailed off before this stranger thought she was crazy.
But Dr. Lang probed deeper. "What did you think you saw?"
Vicki looked into the face of the white-haired doctor, and decided to trust him...at least a little. "I thought I saw a ghost."
Dr. Lang raised his eyebrows. "A ghost? What made you think that?"
"I saw a man - someone I knew, who had died a long time ago." That certainly described it. No need to tell him it was 200 years ago.
The doctor put the stethoscope in his ears, and listened to her heart. When he finished, he said, " What you saw, Miss Winters, was my assistant. He says your car spun out of control and hit a wall. You and your companion were unconscious and suffered some minor injuries. My office was closer than the hospital, so he brought you here."
At the mention of her companion, she reacted. "Barnabas! Is he all right?"
Lang continued his examination. "Don't worry about Mr. Collins. He is doing very well. Probably better than he's been in a long time." He jotted down some more notes. He turned away so she couldn't see his face as he asked the next question. "Does Mr. Collins have any special medical conditions that you are aware of?"
Vicki didn't even hesitate before answering. "No. Barnabas is one of the healthiest people I know." She became concerned. "You didn't find anything Barnabas might not be aware of, did you?"
"No." Lang turned back to her and smiled again. "No, I can honestly say that I didn't find anything that Mr. Collins is not aware of." He put her medical chart on the end table. "You have a concussion, and some minor cuts and bruises. Nothing serious, which is why I kept you here instead of taking you to the hospital. I would like to keep you for twenty-four hours, just to be careful." He reached over and touched the marks on her neck. "Do you know where you got these marks? They look like puncture wounds."
She brushed his hand away. "I suppose I got them in the accident."
"No, I don't think so. They look too regular for that. You don't know how you got them?"
Vicki turned away from the doctor. "No. No, I don't. It isn't important, is it?"
"I suppose not." He smiled again. "They don't look very serious. I would guess they will disappear before long. Anyway, it's late. You get some rest, and I'll be back to see you in the morning." He turned and headed for the door.
Vicki looked back at him. "Dr. Lang?"
He stopped, the door half open. "Yes, Miss Winters?"
"Could you call Collinwood and let them know I'm here? I work as the governess there, and I know they will worry if they find out I'm missing."
"As I said, it's very late - almost four A.M. But I'll call them first thing in the morning."
"Thank you, Dr. Lang. For everything."
"Not at all, Miss Winters. It's my job to help. Now you go to sleep and get better. That's as much thanks as I need." He left, closing the door behind him.
SCENE 2
Outside Vicki's room in the hallway, Dr. Lang had barely shut the door behind him when he heard a voice come from the darkness down the hall. "Why did you lie to her?"
Recognizing the voice of his assistant, Eric turned to him. "Lie? Me? I never lie. What are you talking about?"
The assistant stepped closer to the doctor, though he was still shrouded in shadows. "You told her that her friend would be all right." He moved closer still. "When I found him in the car, that man was dead. He had no pulse, no heartbeat. If he hadn't started moving, I would have taken him to the morgue. You can't tell me he is going to be all right."
Lang laughed. "But he will be, Jeff. Mr. Collins will be just fine. Oh, he lost a great deal of blood, which was why he had such a low pulse rate. Come with me." Lang walked down the corridor, his assistant following. At the door at the end of the hallway, he stopped. Opening the door, the doctor said, "Take a look inside."
Jeff looked through the open doorway. The man he had pulled from the wreck lay on the bed. Beside him was a metal stand with a hook on top. Hanging from the hook was a clear plastic bag filled with blood. A plastic tube carried the blood into the arm of Barnabas Collins. "I'm giving Mr. Collins a transfusion to replace the blood he lost. In just a few hours, he will be good as new. Perhaps better. So you see, I didn't lie to anyone."
The assistant looked at his boss warily. "You're sure he will be okay? You aren't just saying that?"
He clapped his young helper on the back. "Why would I do that? It would serve no purpose."
"I don't know. It certainly would be easier than digging."
Lang's eyes narrowed, giving him a dangerous look that hadn't been evident before. "That is not the case. How could you even think I would do something like that? You know the importance of secrecy. I could never use someone like him. His prominence would make his disappearance too noticeable."
The assistant backed off. "I suppose you're right. I just don't want to see that girl get hurt. She's been through enough all ready."
A worried look crossed Lang's face. "Been through too much? Do you know her?"
He was caught up short. "No - that is, I don't think so. I just seem to get the impression that she's had a trying time recently. I don't understand it, but it's how I feel."
Dr. Lang breathed an inaudible sigh of relief. "Well, don't worry. You just do your job like you are supposed to, and everything will be fine. The experiment must proceed. It won't be long now, and everything will be over."
"All right. I'll trust you - for now. I suppose I had better get back to work."
Lang's face softened again. "No, that's all right. You've done enough for tonight. You get some sleep and start again tomorrow."
Jeff was surprised. "Okay, I will. And you'll take good care of her, won't you?" Lang nodded. "And Mr. Collins?"
"Oh, yes, I'll take very good care of Mr. Collins." When his assistant had headed up the stairs toward his room, Eric Lang looked back at Barnabas lying on the bed. "I'll take very good care of you indeed, Mr. Collins," he said to the unconscious man. "After all, you are exactly what I have been needing for a very long time."
