678 - (Don Briscoe) - A strange, distorted night in the great house of Collinwood, a night in which one woman wakes and sees a weeping, mysterious figure in her room--a figure that disappears without a word, leaving fear in its place.
Julia assures Barnabas that Chris is alive, but barely. They can't imagine what happened to him, and it surely isn't connected to his becoming a werewolf. Barnabas finds the empty whiskey bottle and sniffs it. There's something in it, he tells Julia (good nose!) She smells it--strychnine, she pronounces--I have to get some atropine, she says. Barn wants to take Chris to a hospital, but she asks if he thinks it's wise to involve the police. Barnabas agrees not. Julia will call Windcliff and have the necessary antidote sent ASAP. Barnabas kneels beside Chris and says, "I don't blame you. How often such a short time ago, I would sit in the Old House and doubt I'd have the strength to get through another night, and wonder if it wasn't best to die now." Chris begins to moan. He's coming to, says Barnabas. Julia reaches Windcliff. Barnabas says they must save him, not just for their sakes, but for Amy's.
In bed, asleep, Amy dreams, tossing her head back and forth on her pillow. Beth calls to her, her voice filled with tears. Amy asks where she is. "Oh, Amy!" sighs Beth--"What can we do?" Amy gets out of bed and asks if it's time to play the game. No games, says Beth--come to me, Amy. Amy walks toward Beth's voice, to the cottage, where Chris sits in a chair. "Don't come near the window, Amy!" warns Beth. The shade is drawn down. Amy asks if something has happened to her brother, and begs Beth to tell her. He's all right, says Beth, this time. Amy asks if she's talking about Chris. Beth tells her she saved him. "You must not tell him about me," warns Beth. "You love him as I love. . ." Amy refuses to believe Chris is all right and runs into the cottage, where Chris is slumped over in his chair. She begs Beth to tell her he'll be all right. This time, repeats Beth, this time, but tomorrow. . .tomorrow! What will happen then? demands Amy. He will try again, says Beth. Who? asks Amy. The murderer, replies Beth--he's coming, he's coming! The door opens. "Stop him!" Beth cries. Amy sees no one there, and tries to tell that to Beth, but she's disappeared. Hearing Quentin's music, she tells Beth it's only Quentin--come back, Beth! Amy asks Quentin to show himself--did you come to see Chris?--he's all right now, she assures him. Then Amy screams.
Chris is dead in his chair, a knife protruding from his chest. David, his face swimming, tells Amy, I tried to stop Quentin, tried to tell him he's wrong--I didn't want this to happen, you've got to believe me. David begs Beth to tell Amy what he's saying, and Beth says he did try, but Quentin had made up his mind that Chris must die! Amy wakes up, screaming, staring wildly around. She climbs out of bed. "No, Chris can't die!" cries Amy, talking to the air. Amy looks outside her window at the dawning sky. She pulls her green dress from the closet.
Julia comes out of Chris' bedroom and assures Barnabas the atropine worked; he should be all right. "Thank God," says Barnabas. Julia asks about the figure who led them here; she's trying to help, too--how did she know to come to me in my room?. A friend from his past, suggests Barnabas. "A ghost?" asks Julia--not Chris' past, those clothes are too old. "A guardian spirit who wants him to live," suggests Barnabas. Does Chris know about her, they wonder. Julia ponders how she knew to come to me--how did the ghost know about me? She sips some coffee. It was as if she knew all about each of us, says Julia, who could and could not help him. Barnabas wonders why she disappeared as she did--she could have told them so much more--perhaps she'll appear again. Bemused, Julia says, "So, we're at the mercy of a ghost."
Barnabas notes the woman's Victorian dress--1890's-- every detail will help eventually. Barnabas suggests that if Chris were a werewolf because of a curse, it's just possible that this figure has some connection with the curse. Chris comes out of his bedroom. Barnabas helps him into a chair. Chris, breathing heavily, asks what happened to him. You tell us, says Barn, showing him the empty whiskey glass--we aren't making judgment. Julia says, we know what's in the whiskey. Chris asks what was in the booze that got him sick. Julia and Barn exchange glances; Barnabas tells him to be completely honest. Julia tells him the whiskey was poisoned, which stuns Chris. Who put it there? asks Barnabas. Chris assures them he's considered suicide, but I now have both of you to help me--this isn't the time to do it--I never left the house, nor was anyone else there. Then Chris remembers--David, but he wouldn't have done this--the boy was here for a short while about 6 AM--he stayed right with me the whole time. Barnabas finds this startling. Chris calls David a good kid who's been nice to Amy. Barnabas tells Julia he must do something that might prove most interesting. Julia will stay with Chris. We no longer believe you tried to kill yourself, says Barnabas--we're glad we were wrong about it. He squeezes Chris' shoulder and tells him it's important he stay alive. In an endearing aw shucks manner, Chris asks why that's important.
Collinwood - Amy, in dress and coat, walks downstairs. She looks around, then leaves the house.
Julia gives Chris something to clear up his dizziness. Chris asks her how they found him. We avoided telling you because it's improbable, she says, but a ghost led me to you--you have a guardian spirit watching over you, and you'd have died without her. Chris has no idea who she is, and can barely believe she exists. Julia tells him to be thankful and get some rest. Amy comes to the cottage and is upset to realize her brother is sick. No, just an upset stomach, he assures her, but she knows better--she dreamed something terrible happened to him!
Amy is near tears as Chris assures her he's OK, but she refuses to believe him. He can't believe she'd accept a dream over her brother's word. She describes that she dreamed Chris was sick, but she doesn't know what made him sick. She won't tell them anything further, and gets up to leave. Firmly, she tells him he's going to be all right--nothing else will ever happen to him--ever!
On the ancient phone in his room, David asks Quentin if he hurt Chris--"You mustn't hurt him!" David asks Quentin why he won't talk to him, but the ghost is apparently peeved. Barnabas knocks at David's door. David's surprised to see him--he didn't think grownups ever got up early. (hey, when you've been a vampire, daylight isn't to be wasted.) Barnabas asks to have breakfast with the children. David warns that it won't be fun--Mrs. Johnson is so grumpy in the morning. We can ignore her, says Barnabas--do you like having Amy in the house? Sure, says David, we have a lot of fun. That's good, comments Barn--I was speaking to Chris, who told me he's very pleased with the way you made Amy welcome here. David is surprised to hear Barnabas saw Chris, then covers his reaction by saying he wasn't aware Barnabas and Chris were friends.
Of course we are, says Barnabas--are you friends with Chris?--you visited him yesterday, right? I was taking a hike, says David, and stopped by the cottage. Barnabas reveals that Chris was very ill the previous night. That's too bad, says David. He's fine now, Barnabas assures him. David is glad. Barnabas looks at him sharply. David adds that Chris promised to take me and Amy to the movies--oops, that sounds selfish--I wish people would never get sick. Barnabas agrees. David thinks he might become a doctor. Amy comes in and greets them. Barnabas tells David to get dressed--I'll go down and tell Mrs. Johnson to set a place for me. Amy wants to stay and speak to David for a few moments, but David sourly asks how he can get dressed then. Just a few minutes, says Amy, and Barnabas leaves them alone.
David asks her what she wants. You sound just like Quentin, she complains. I don't mean to, he says--I don't want to! I know why Quentin won't let me play the game anymore, she says--why did you let him hurt Chris? David denies complicity, but Amy knows Quentin tells him everything he's going to do. David protests he didn't know Quentin was going to do that. Amy accuses him not just of knowing, but trying to talk Quentin out of it--I know it!--why are you lying to me? His face contorts as he asks, "Amy, does Quentin ever scare you?" She nods vigorously. What will we do? he asks. Are you afraid of him, too? she asks. Yes, he replies. I'm going downstairs, she says, to tell Mrs. Stoddard about the game. You can't, cries David, you don't know what Quentin will do to us! It's the only way to stop him, she insists, and you won't stop me--no one can! David calls after Amy, terrified, trying to bring her back to him--and to her senses.
NOTES: Ah, love the domesticated Barnabas! He's catching on a bit to the kids, at least superficially. How did Quentin think he could get the kids to cooperate against Amy's only living brother? Obviously family loyalty to siblings is something Quentin has little familiarity with! Will Amy have the nerve to go to Liz and tell her all? Or will Quentin, using David, stop her?
679 - (KLS) - The night which has just ended at the great estate of Collinwood will be remembered by many who live there. A little girl has awakened from a frightening dream and she suddenly knows that the dream will come true--unless she can stop it.
On the landing, David stops Amy and tells her to be silent--Quentin will make them sick! Amy says the adults won't let them. David thinks they won't believe them and will punish them for going into the West Wing. Amy is insistent that they finish it, but David reminds her they must do as Quentin says. But we didn't know what he was like, says Amy. David shouts, "We do now, and don't you forget it!" He twists her arm painfully behind her back and covers her mouth. This is how Liz discovers them. David tells her they were just playing a game--jail-and Amy escaped and he had to catch her. Amy denies this, holding her hurt arm, and Liz tells him to remember he's older than Amy--go up to your room. David calls Amy a liar, insisting she was playing, but Amy says that isn't true--I know why he's saying that. David accuses Liz of believing a stranger over her own nephew. He races upstairs, furious.
Liz leads Amy into the drawing room. She asks if David often treats her this way. No, he was nice to me when I first came, admits Amy. Liz knows this isn't the first time he's mistreated her--Carolyn told her about the other day. It's only since we started. . .begins Amy--the game. Last night, after her dream, she knew why David wouldn't let her play the game anymore--because of Chris--Chris was in my dream.
Liz asks her to speak more clearly, but Amy can't forget her dream, and Chris--and I get so scared! Liz comforts her. Amy asks her to try to make sure nothing else happens. Liz promises to try her best. Amy says that David took her to a room upstairs where they found an old telephone, which was the beginning of the game. Amy is all set to tell Liz who she spoke to on the phone when she spots Quentin standing in the room, glaring at her. She gasps. "He's here, in this room!" cries Amy, but when Liz turns, Quentin is gone. Amy is sure Quentin was going to hurt her. Maggie races in and takes the little girl in her arms. Liz doesn't know what happened, but Amy thought she saw someone. Liz shows her no one is there. Liz tells Maggie about Amy's scary dream. Amy says she never saw this man in her dream, but he was there, she knows it was him, and David told her. Amy stops again. Maggie asks her if she's scared of David. Sometimes, confesses Amy. Liz assures her she'll take care of David and stop that from happening anymore. She asks Amy to tell her about this game. Amy refuses--there's not much to tell--it's a make-believe game--we pretend things, that's all. Maggie asks her if she dreamed what she'd been pretending. Amy says she guesses that describes it. Liz asks if the man she saw was one of the make believe people. Amy guesses so. Liz sees how afraid Amy is and says she's going to see David. She asks Maggie to stay with Amy. Amy says that yes, David has been frightening her and no, he hasn't--she can't really explain.
David is in his room, pacing, his face twisted with anger. Quentin appears to him. David tries to explain that he tried to stop Amy from speaking, but Aunt Liz came in and there was nothing he could do--I told Amy not to tell, I swear--I realize you're mad at me, Quentin.
But the ghost smiles, letting David know HE took care of Amy. David asks if Quentin is going to let them go or keep on and on and never stop?--there's nothing we can do about it, is there? Liz enters the room and asks who he's talking to, but Quentin is gone. David claims he was talking to himself. Liz asks if it's about the game he and Amy play. David doesn't know which game, but Liz says it's the one of the phone. David lies about a giant named Lars who lives in a house by the sea--Lars is being held captive by a wicked old witch. Liz is annoyed, feeling David is too old for games involving giants and imaginary people--I hoped Amy would be good for you. David calls Amy a dumb girl. She's a nice girl, corrects Liz. David claims she lies a lot, and gets all scared over nothing. Liz thinks he's scaring her, and orders him to stop playing it if it frightens Amy. David says he won't let her play anymore. Liz recognized Amy's tears as real, and doesn't accept his explanation. She tells him he's been behaving very badly and must stay in his room, at least the rest of the day, until he learns how to treat people properly. David is so incensed, he takes a football figure and throws it across the room.
Down in the drawing room, Maggie suggests to Amy that they take a walk to the cottage to see Chris. Amy says, I have something else to do, but can't tell you what it is--it's up to me. Maggie says she's here to help her and David, and she wants Amy to allow her to help. Not this, says Amy--I've got it all figured out now. Amy meets Liz on the stairs and assures her she's feeling better. Liz asks her not to disturb David. Liz tells Maggie she wishes they could figure out their problems as easily as the children do. Maggie tells Liz Amy is still upset, and that it's serious. Liz feels her nephew can be a very serious problem, he delights in living in an unreal world--we must face the problem, and I hope you can help--David hasn't been disciplined enough, (duh!), and originally, his flights of fancy were amusing--now they're not, since they're hurting Amy.
She tells Maggie to discipline him in whatever way is necessary to assure David he's living in a real world with real people. (Good luck!)
Amy enters David's room. He's looking out the window, furious. He knows Amy didn't tell, Quentin told him. Amy admits David was right--Quentin was going to do something terrible to her. David agrees. We can't let Quentin do the things he does, insists Amy, we must form a united front against Quentin--I don't want my brother hurt. David insists Quentin doesn't care what either of them wants, or what he does. He won't stop hurting Chris, Amy realizes, and she thinks if they get Liz to take them into town, they could tell her there and never have to return to this house.
He'd find us, David says. We should go to him, says Amy, and tell Quentin we'll play the game as he wants as long as he doesn't hurt Chris--Quentin doesn't want anyone to know about him; we'll promise to keep his secret if he leaves Chris alone. David rises from his chair and tells Amy to go. She asks if he'll try. David says if he tells Quentin that you'll tell everything about him if he doesn't agree, he just might do it. Amy begs him to go see Quentin now, but he says he must stay in his room. Amy volunteers to go, but David reminds her he doesn't want her in the game anymore. He promises to try--but she must go downstairs and wait for him. David's face is troubled as he lifts the receiver on the phone and "calls" Quentin. There's no response. David begs, "Where are you?"
Maggie enters David's room and hears him on the phone. She asks how he's doing. Fine, he says curtly, I like being alone. She asks if he's speaking to an imaginary friend on the old phone. He gives her a long, hostile look. She tells him she wants to be his friend. He assures her they are. She says his smile doesn't make them friends. He tells her Vicki never said things like that. Maggie says she has a different way of dealing with him. He complains he hates being "dealt" with. She apologizes for hurting his feelings, but says people do deal with each other, and he doesn't seem to care about anyone's feelings. He insists she doesn't know. Maggie says if he did, he wouldn't have to stay in his room on such a nice day. He retorts he'd rather be here, anyway. She asks where he got the phone. In the cellar, he lies--it's a magic telephone, but grownups don't believe in magic. Maggie tells him he'd better learn what's real, and takes the phone away to her room. David insists she can't take it. Maggie informs him that many things are his, more than he realizes--when you come to know that, I'll return the phone. She walks off with the phone. David begs Quentin to come to him--now.
6 PM - Amy glances at the striking grandfather clock.
In his room David grows increasingly frustrated because Quentin hasn't come to see him. It's important that I see you, the boy begs--you wanted me to go to Chris' house tonight, play the game with him--but I want to tell you about Amy's offer! "Oh, Quentin, please!" says David, then decides Quentin isn't coming. He takes a flashlight out of his dresser and starts to leave his room, but he hears Maggie exit her room and hastily retreats back into his own. She passes by, down the hall. David enters the West Wing. Maggie catches him and follows him into the West Wing.
Amy looks at the clock, frustrated. She sits on the stairs, staring up, wondering if David has spoken to Quentin yet.
David enters the storage room, Maggie following not far behind. She enters the storage room, calling David. He doesn't appear, even after she orders him not to hide from her. David listens, hearing her calling from Quentin's room.
NOTES: This could potentially bode ill for both children and Maggie. Amy's disjointed discussion with Liz about what's going on, one that left out Quentin entirely, couldn't have been of much help. Now Liz fears David is living in a dream world (as he has in the past), but this time, it's all real, especially the danger, and you hope, for the sake of everyone, that Liz and Maggie catch on to what's really happening. It still isn't clear why Quentin wants Chris dead.
On the other hand, Maggie has followed David to the West Wing and could be in immediate peril from Quentin. Neither David nor Amy wishes harm to those they love, but Quentin seems to have no love, for anyone, and will ruthlessly use the children to get what he wants.
How sad that Barnabas believed Chris had tried to commit suicide. The former vampire is really identifying with the werewolf, isn't he? All Barnabas had to do was voluntarily face the sun, but he could either never bring himself to do so or his sense of self-preservation wouldn't let him.
In any case, it's nice to see Barn and Jul with a positive project to work on together!
Love, Robin
