February 1970 - Page 26

When I told Barnabas we would need to get Willie Loomis back to help guard him during the day, I had no idea what a… cat and mouse game my efforts would become. I knew Willie had left his job at Wyndecliffe, but tracking him down has been more difficult than I ever anticipated. However I believe I have achieved success. I have found his rooming house and the land lady there assures me she will give my message to Willie. In addition she directed me to his current place of employment. The receptionist at the front desk confirmed that Willie does work there, but had taken the day off for personal reasons. She was unable to tell me where I might find him, but assured me a message left for Willie would reach his hands. I have done all I can and must trust that both women are as good as their words.

To ‘celebrate’ my apparent success in finding Willie, I decided I was in need of a little pampering - a new hair style. When I arrived for my appointment I was informed Pepe had called in sick with the flu but had arranged for Lorrie to look after me. I felt a sense of gratitude and relief, as I was very much in the mood for a change. Lorrie has been tutored by Pepe and I knew I was in good, capable, skilled hands. She did not disappoint. The style is quite different from my previous cut, but I like it. As I sat under the dryer, relaxing and drifting in the warmth, the dream from which Barnabas awakened me only a few days ago came back to me. I felt myself smiling and yes, even blushing a little - again - even after so many days. The nature of the dream was definitely the result of too much worry, lack of proper sleep, and the complete absence of a sex life for longer than I care to admit. The dream - or what I recall of it - was not explicit in any way, but was perhaps slightly suggestive; the projection of my hopes and desires - both of which I am realistic enough to accept may never come to be. 

Willie Loomis is back, having received both my messages. He arrived at Collinwood looking for Barnabas and myself, unaware of the situation there. It is fortunate he was there for Maggie Evans’ deception has been discovered. Somehow someone found out she is not a Leviathan as they thought, and as punishment - or perhaps revenge - Elizabeth Stoddard locked her in the tower room to await her fate. Willie, having overheard Elizabeth and Amy talking, went looking for Maggie. He found her but was himself locked in the tower room with Maggie. Both heard the heavy breathing that accompanies Jeb in his true form. It takes little imagination to guess Jeb’s intentions. Had someone - or more likely some thing - not intervened, Willie and Maggie would both be dead - murdered - just as Paul Stoddard and Sheriff Davenport were murdered. I have to wonder what was running through Jeb’s mind - how he believed two more murders would not go unquestioned when the supposed murderer - Philip Todd - was incarcerated. Perhaps he was not thinking, perhaps he was acting solely on instinct. I can only be relieved and grateful - thankful - to whatever power intervened, for it saved Willie and Maggie - at least for now. I doubt Jeb will lessen his determination to eliminate all those who oppose him and see this as further incentive to redouble his efforts toward that goal.

Willie decided not to stay - not because he didn’t understand and sympathize with Barnabas’ need of help, but because he has his own life now - a fiancée named Roxanne. I tried to convince him to remain and help, but he felt he couldn’t, that Roxanne would demand specific, detailed explanations and reasons for why he was staying, what he was doing to help Barnabas, and Willie wasn’t prepared to offer them to her. He’s right of course, and I was surprised when Barnabas was understanding and accepting of his reasons.

While Willie went up to say goodbye to Maggie, I tried to make Barnabas see that we need Willie to stay, to help. Barnabas seemed to think we could find someone else. I disagreed, pointing out that no one else can know his secret. I reminded him they would soon be hunting him by day and we needed Willie’s help, but before the argument went any further, Jeb Hawkes entered the house, unbidden and uninvited. He insisted on seeing Barnabas alone. I at first refused to leave and only did so when Barnabas asked it of me. Rather than going up to check on Maggie, as Jeb tauntingly suggested, I waited just out of sight and listened.

Jeb and Barnabas were both full of threats and counter threats; Jeb promising to get rid of everyone who is helping Barnabas, including Maggie, Willie, Roger, Quentin and myself; Barnabas determined to stop Jeb at all costs. I do not fully understand why Jeb is waging this vendetta against Barnabas. What are his reasons? Does he want revenge - because Barnabas refused to kill me when ordered to do so by Michael? Or because Barnabas has been resisting and trying to undermine the Leviathan plan to corrupt the entire world? There is certainly a great deal of personal dislike and animosity on the parts of both Barnabas and Jeb. Or is it perhaps nothing more than a child become adult, seeking to avenge wrongs he perceives were done to him as a child by an authority figure who is now in a subservient position? Jeb is the underage Prince become King and Barnabas the Protector now become mistrusted advisor and subject. It could be nothing more than someone in a new found position of power over compensating and trying too hard to prove who is in control. If I knew more about the Leviathan psychology I might be able to eliminate some of the possibilities and form a sounder theory. As I try to look at this objectively, I am reminded of a child who acts out, who tries to do everything possible to ‘get even’ or ‘pay back’ an authority figure taking disciplinary action the child thinks is unfair. In this case Jeb lashed out in anger and placed the vampire curse on Barnabas once again (which Jeb admitted to Barnabas was a mistake). I know the curse was being used as a threat to Barnabas, as a means to control him and keep him ‘in line’, but I have to wonder if the placing of it was a whim on Jeb’s part - an impulsive lashing out in response to Barnabas’ actions, or directed by some higher authority. Even Kings must answer to a higher authority.

I also find myself wondering if the cocky arrogance Jeb displays like a peacock is a racial trait of the Leviathan beings or an exaggerated behavioral phase of youth. I am beginning to lean toward the first possibility - the racial trait. One would think that if the Leviathans were truly holding Josette hostage as a means of assuring Barnabas’ cooperation, they would make every effort possible to ensure Josette’s spirit could - in no way - communicate with Barnabas, yet a simple séance accomplished that and took away the power of the Leviathan’s one hold over Barnabas. In their arrogance did they overlook such an obvious possibility, or did they underestimate the strength of their control and the loyalty of their forced converts and followers? It is perhaps a question to which I will never learn the answer, and I am not inclined to pursue this line of inquiry as I was with my questions concerning Barnabas, so many months ago.

One thing that startled me, and Barnabas too I believe, is that Jeb blames Barnabas for what happened in the hallway outside the tower room. He believes Barnabas caused whatever happened to happen, and is determined not to let Barnabas use his weaknesses against him. Could one of Jeb’s weaknesses be the supernatural? Barnabas seems to think so. He said that The Book states the Leviathans are more afraid of the spirits of the dead than any other people. If this is true, perhaps it is the reason - the explanation - for murder being a ‘sin’ to the Leviathans. They fear the spirits of their murdered victims returning for revenge or retribution?

Before Jeb stormed out and discovered my eavesdropping, I hurried upstairs via the back stairway to check on Maggie. Willie had just left when I joined Barnabas in the drawing room, and we were discussing the possibility of a spirit being our ally when Willie returned - saying he just couldn’t leave in light of what was going on. He said Roxanne will just have to understand. I hope she will, for although I wanted Willie to stay, wanted Barnabas to persuade him to stay, I am happy for Willie, and very pleased he has been fortunate enough to find someone to love, who loves him in return. I am reminded every time I think about Barnabas how rare that two way exchange can be.

Given Barnabas’ fear of losing Maggie - his strong need to protect her, a desire he has shown for me but to a much lesser degree - we have decided to send Maggie to Wyndecliffe for her own safety. Willie is taking her there tonight and her absence will be explained by a note saying she has a family problem than needs her immediate attention. I don’t know if our ruse will work, or for how long, but at least Maggie is out of immediate danger.

I am not sure how to take Barnabas’ attitude toward me. He is protective, yes, and concerned for my safety and well being, but to a much lesser - apparent - degree than he is for Maggie. Perhaps it is because he believes me more capable of looking after myself, of coping with what is happening here at Collinwood than is Maggie, or perhaps it is because he knows I am not willing to run from this, am not willing to let someone else look after me and make decisions for me. He would be right on both counts, and I suppose I am flattered by his confidence in my mental stability and resolve, but I find myself wishing that - even once - Barnabas would be as solicitous of me as he is of Maggie. Barnabas may still think of Maggie as a sweet young thing in need of protection, and I cannot forget that he was once in intimate contact with Maggie’s mind. He knows her in ways that I, as her physician and psychiatrist could never imagine. Perhaps he is right in being this protective of Maggie, but it still rankles a little. That feeling on my part is perhaps foolish and childish I know, but it would be a small gesture that would mean a great deal to me. And as with so many things where Barnabas is concerned, I know it may never happen and so accept what is.

I have seen - experienced - the spirit that is Jeb’s enemy. I do not know as it is our ally, as Quentin hopes, but I don’t see as it makes any difference just now, so long as it prevents Jeb from killing again. I had gone to the hallway outside the tower room, hoping to find some evidence of what had happened there, where Jeb surprised me, attacked me from behind. He had me in a choke hold and demanded I tell him where Barnabas’ coffin is hidden or he would kill me. I refused. What did he really expect me to do - take him on a guided tour to all of Barnabas’ safe hiding places? Jeb became more insistent. Then he suddenly let me go, backed away in fear, demanded something stay away from him, then he ran off.

I am not really sure what I saw - the form of someone, perhaps more like the silhouette of someone. I could make out no details, and I do not know the spirit’s identity, but am very grateful Jeb is so terrified of it. Somehow we must find a way to make this work for us. 

I am beginning to grow concerned about Chris Jennings. He was to have met me early this afternoon and together we would make the drive to Wyndecliffe. There I am able to safely confine him so he is unable to injure himself or anyone else during the full moon. When mid-afternoon arrived and there was still no word from Chris, I called, then went over to the cottage but there was no sign of him. Under other circumstances I might ask Amy if she had heard from him or knew where he might be, but she is less than friendly to me these days. I know it to be a result of her control by the Leviathans, and while I know Amy knows nothing of her brother’s curse - at least not consciously with any real understanding of it - I do not want to alert her to anything being untoward. She is a Leviathan and her loyalty is to them. She would have no difficulty betraying her brother if it would further the Leviathan cause or remove a danger to Jeb. Barnabas told me one of the few ways Jeb, in his human or his true form, can be killed is by a werewolf. That thought is disturbing and causes my concern for Chris to increase.

Is it possible Jeb, the Leviathans, have learned about Chris and taken steps to eliminate that danger to Jeb? I will wait a little while longer before alerting Barnabas to the situation. It may be nothing more than Chris was delayed, or lost track of time. I am looking for logical, rational explanations that really have no application to the illogical, irrational, supernatural events that have become a ‘normal’ part of everyday life on this estate.

Morning has finally arrived to end a long, sleepless night filled with concern for Chris. He did not contact me because he was unable to do so… I have just finished talking with Quentin, who assures me Chris is fine. Chris remembers little of what happened, except that he was captured by Bruno Hess and confined in an old mausoleum, guarded by the no-longer-exactly-dead Sheriff Davenport. Bruno’s apparent intention was to allow Jeb to kill Chris, but Chris managed to get free and was found by Quentin, in the woods, just after sun rise. Quentin told me not to worry about Bruno, that he would make certain the man never reveals the nature of Chris’ particular affliction. I didn’t ask for further details. Either the Leviathans will clean up after themselves or I will be called in to examine the remains of whatever may have been left behind when some unsuspecting soul stumbles across them. Either way I am relieved Chris is safe for now. 

Has all of this been a ruse? Has it all been an elaborate plan to misdirect my attention and interest, to reorder my priorities? I don’t like to think so, but I have to wonder. Given the rabid fanaticism of the Leviathan converts I have to consider the possibility even though I desperately hope it is only my imagination, my own brand of paranoia. Why am I suddenly so concerned and doubting after what seemed to be a return to our earlier trust in each other? Because of Barnabas, his behavior. I know he is keeping something from me. He avoids answering when I ask if he has given in to his needs, and is adamant Megan Todd is someone we can trust. Barnabas says her loyalties have shifted because of what the Leviathans - Jeb - forced Philip to do; confess to murders he did not commit. That would be just motivation for anyone else, but not for Megan. She is more than fanatical, she is devoted beyond reason - the most fervent convert, and is almost obsessed, not so much with the Leviathan cause but with the Leviathan - Jeb Hawkes. There has been a very strong bond between Megan and Jeb since the very beginning. Not so much a maternal bond, but an attraction charged with sexual electricity. Megan may have felt maternally toward Joseph, Alexander and Michael, but that ended when Jeb matured. Perhaps she feels it is she who should be Jeb’s mate, not Carolyn. I don’t think Megan would do anything to harm Carolyn or impede the Leviathan plan. Her loyalty is too strong, her conversion too complete, her devotion absolute. She follows blindly, questions nothing and feels herself unworthy for even an inkling of doubt, hesitation or perceived wrong doing. I can think of only one reason why Barnabas would claim Megan to be trustworthy - and that is if he has succumbed and Megan is his victim; his control of her stronger than the hold the Leviathans have on her. Why he would not tell me about this I don’t know, unless it is as I fear and this is all some means of distraction to prevent me from getting too close or discovering what their next move may be? It would not be surprising to learn the Leviathans were willing to sacrifice legions of their own followers to further their cause. Philip Todd is but one, perhaps Megan is yet another? I don’t know, I don’t know what the answer is and it is more unsettling than I would like. I hoped Barnabas had shaken off the Leviathan influence with his discovery of their deception concerning Josette, but perhaps Barnabas’ loyalty, like Megan Todd’s, is unshakable and uncorruptable.

If this is all a ruse, Barnabas is very convincing in his concern over what Jeb plans to do next, and the fact that Nicholas Blair has returned and - to our knowledge - has done nothing. I would not dream of underestimating Mr. Blair so. He has no doubt been a very busy little minion, and we will see the results of his efforts when it will do him the most good and offer us the greatest roadblock to progress.

I was able to get Barnabas to admit that, unlike last time, he is unable to feel the serum working, is unable to feel himself changing. Again I asked if he had given in and he evaded giving me an answer. That worries me as much as his belief that we can trust Megan Todd. There is not much I can do to help Megan if she is indeed his victim, except re-examine the serum and make adjustments to its components, and keep reminding Barnabas of the need for caution and restraint. Perhaps there is something different this time - the way the curse was imposed on Barnabas or how it was placed, by whom it was placed - that is preventing the serum from acting as it should. I don’t know at this time, but I will do all I can to find out.

I am now convinced there is something different about Barnabas’ curse. I was right about Megan - she was his victim, and I’d not have found out but for an unguarded comment by Elizabeth Stoddard about the light hurting Megan’s eyes. Unfortunately I arrived at the Old House too late to prevent Barnabas from taking her blood; too late to save Megan. She died. Barnabas and I left her body in the chair in the drawing room when we went to the cellar to fashion a stake for what we both knew had to be done, but she was gone when we returned, less than twenty minutes later. I do not understand how this could happen - except for a more driving, more overwhelming imperative to seek blood. Barnabas has said he’s felt that driving need, and now perhaps Megan is feeling it as well, which facilitated her rising before she was buried. That difference may account for something Barnabas said - that Megan knew he needed her before he ever called her. Could this difference account for a stronger bond between vampire and victim, and at the same time be responsible for hindering the serum’s effectiveness? I have no other explanation, no other theories but I will - somehow - find out if I am right. 

Oh my dear God… I have just… what have I… All right, Hoffman, take a deep breath, calm yourself and don’t panic. It is over, you are alive, you have survived and you are still sane.

To say it has been an eventful night, beginning with Megan Todd’s death and resurrection as a vampire would be a tremendous understatement. There really is no good place to begin… For my safety, to be sure Megan did not attack me in the woods, Barnabas insisted on seeing me back to Collinwood, and I have to admit, I was glad of his company. He planned to search for Megan while I returned to my room to see if I could learn what is wrong with the serum. I had no more than begun when I heard something in the hallway outside my door. When I opened the door I was confront by - I hate to use the word ‘zombie’ but that is what it was - a dead man re-animated. I tried to escape but was quickly surrounded and captured by several others that were inside my room. One of them struck me and I remember beginning to fall, to pass out, and nothing more.

When I regained consciousness I was in the carriage house in the company of Sky Rumson, Angelique’s Leviathan husband. He would not answer my questions and took great delight in toying with me, in allowing me to draw my own conclusions, neither confirming or denying their accuracy. When I tried to escape, I found the zombies blocking the entrance. I finally found the courage to ask if they were going to kill me. I could think of no other reason for me to be there, and it would have been consistent with Michael’s orders of a few weeks ago to have me killed, but Mr. Rumson assured me I would not be killed if I did as they asked. That answer was not at all comforting.

My next thought was they had brought me there to try and force me to tell them where Barnabas’ coffin is hidden. Mr. Rumson did not deny that possibility, nor did he confirm it. Before I could ask anything further, I heard the breathing - the breathing I heard coming from the Leviathan box the night Barnabas came back from the past, the breathing that is Jeb in his true Leviathan form. I knew then what was intended - that I go into the room and see Jeb in his true form, assuring my insanity. I had no desire to do so; I have seen what that … being … can do, what it did to Paul Stoddard, to Sheriff Davenport. My desires were unimportant and irrelevant. Mr. Rumson forced me into the room and locked the door behind me.

I saw…. Oh dear God, I saw… pure, unadulterated evil. I saw, in that one being, the embodiment of everything that has terrified mankind from our first sentient moment. I haven’t the words to describe what I saw, what confronted me in that room, what moved toward me with every intention to do me harm, to make me so frightened my mind would snap or my heart would give out. I was certain it would murder me as well until… it just stopped its advance and became Jeb Hawkes.

I do not want to think about it. I do not want to ever recall what I saw, yet I know I will never be able to forget. The sight, the odor, the sounds are all a permanent part of my memory and even if, someday, I should become senile, those memories will not elude me. Yet I cannot help but think - believe - that what I saw was somehow confined or controlled, harnessed. Had Jeb - or his other form - wished it and unleashed the full evil potential within its command, I would not have left the room sane - or alive. I now more fully understand what Paul Stoddard experienced and why he was unable to cope. The human mind has either lost its ability or no longer knows how to access the instincts required to cope with and survive an encounter with such primeval evil of that magnitude.

Once Jeb made it clear my reprieve was but a temporary one, depending on how ‘cool’ I played it, he allowed me to leave the room, his lair. He followed me out and proceeded to tell me why he had allowed me to retain my sanity, my life. He wants my help. He says he despises the creature he becomes in the room and never wants to be that creature again. He said his reason was because of the look he saw on someone’s face when they glimpsed him in that form. Carolyn. He did not say and I did not ask, but I can think of no one else for whom he would be willing to defy his very nature. It occurred to me then that Jeb has truly fallen in love with Carolyn. She is no longer simply his chosen mate whose sole purpose will be to bear a new breed of true Leviathans. She has become the woman he loves, the woman with whom he wants to spend the rest of his life - his human life.

Jeb says he knows I have been treating Barnabas and wants me to do the same for him. He says he used to enjoy becoming that creature, but now hates it. They force him to go into that room and he is able to delay the change for a few minutes, but the… metamorphosis is inevitable. God help me - I agreed to help him, on one condition - that Jeb leaves Barnabas alone. He reluctantly agreed and gave me his word. I know I have made a pact with something far worse, far more cunning, dangerous, and ruthless than the devil, but to help Barnabas I would treat with evil incarnate. I told Jeb there were tests I needed to make and he allowed me to return to my room here at Collinwood to get the supplies I will need. I will be working at the carriage house under less than ideal conditions, but they will have to suffice. Jeb’s arrogance, petulance, and impatience remind me so very much of Adam. It is easier to let them think they are getting their own way. Jeb gave me an hour to gather what I will need, so I had best return to the carriage house before the zombies guarding me grow impatient. 

Tonight continues to be a night of surprises and revelations. All along I have believed Jeb to be the Prince become King, but tonight I have learned he is still the underage Prince, who disagrees with and intensely dislikes the Regent appointed to oversee his education until such time as he ‘comes of age’ and is ready to assume the kingship. Nicholas Blair is that regent, Jeb the petulant, spoiled-brat Prince.

I had no more than gotten my equipment set up and the initial blood tests begun when Mr. Blair arrived. It took him only a moment to deduce what I was attempting and to be first, amused, then annoyed by it. According to Blair, both Jeb and I are fools to attempt a ‘cure’. He asked if I really believed I could help Jeb, if I could keep him from reverting to his true form, and I did not answer.

Did I think I could help Jeb Hawkes? Of course not, nor did I plan to, but if my appearing to cooperate, if my tests and analyses, lab work and examinations of Jeb allowed him to think I was making an honest effort and that forced him to keep his word to leave Barnabas alone, I was prepared to continue the charade as long as possible. I will admit to a clinical curiosity and excitement at the chance to examine a being who is as far removed from the human race as we are from a normal, sane life at Collinwood, but clinical curiosity is as far as it would have gone.

Blair, in a theatrical demonstration of control that was worthy of a highly melodramatic “B” movie, swept all my equipment from the table to the floor, making certain I could not continue. How he underestimates me. I have other samples in my medical bag that I intend to examine more closely, analyze more completely in the hope of finding some way to better understand Jeb, to find a weakness he may not even be aware of and use it to our advantage. I will not use any knowledge I gain to help Jeb, but I will use it to help us. I did not allow myself these thoughts while in Mr. Blair’s presence, as I am almost certain one of his many ‘talents’ is the ability to read minds.

After destroying my equipment, Blair ‘allowed’ me to leave the room and return to the front room of the carriage house. When I asked what he intended to do with me, Blair surprised me by saying I could go - on one condition - that I stay away from them and not interfere with what he termed was “inevitable”. I was so anxious to leave that I agreed to his terms, even though Nicholas Blair and I both know I will not be able to honor that agreement. As I was about to leave Jeb returned, angry that I was reneging on our agreement. Jeb was obviously startled to find Blair there, and was reluctant to let me leave until Blair ordered him to do so. I was too nervous and anxious to be away from there to linger and try to hear what their plans might be. Whatever they are, I expect Jeb will try to pursue a ‘cure’ without Blair’s knowledge, and my pact with worse than the devil will be my undoing. If I do not help him, Jeb will no doubt turn into that other form and kill me far less mercifully than he did Paul Stoddard or Sheriff Davenport. If I do help him, Nicholas Blair’s retribution will be equally devastating. I need to talk with Barnabas, tell him what has been happening but I have not been able to.

I returned immediately to the Old House to find Barnabas gone. I had been waiting only a few minutes when he returned with Maggie and Quentin in tow. How Maggie got back from Wyndecliffe I didn’t learn, but she was somehow alerted to Quentin’s distress - at having been buried alive by Jeb Hawkes! Now I know why Jeb allowed me to return to Collinwood when he did, so I wouldn’t be at the carriage house to witness his acts against Quentin. Only now do I recall a coffin being in that room when I encountered Jeb in his true form there. At the time I thought the coffin was for me, for after Jeb killed me, but now… I see now it was all part of his over all plan and I am even less inclined to help Jeb than I was before.

Barnabas saw Maggie and Quentin upstairs. I told Barnabas to come down as quickly as he could, that I needed to speak with him. I again had waited only a few moments when Jeb came in, desperate, pleading with me to find some way to help him. When I countered with my knowledge of how he’d tried to kill Quentin, Jeb’s reaction was not at all what I expected. Instead of being arrogant and disdainful of anyone but himself, Jeb became even more desperate, claiming to be a changed man, that he was willing to live and let live. He said he no longer had any interest in the Leviathan cause and only wanted to escape his true form. I took a chance and admitted that I didn’t know if that was even possible. He wasn’t listening - or understanding, and demanded that I find a way and it had to be tonight. Otherwise it would be too late.

Barnabas returned then, and… I still do not believe what happened. Jeb’s panic and desperation were due to the fact Nicholas Blair decided the ceremony with Carolyn was to be tonight - the ceremony that would make Carolyn a Leviathan and allow she and Jeb to create more true Leviathans - beings born to the race not converted to a cause. Jeb no longer wants any part of it. He does not want to assume his other form ever again and he desperately does not want Carolyn to see him in that form or to assume her own similar form, which is what would be only one of the results if the ceremony is completed.

Totally ignoring me and what he had pleaded with me to do moments earlier, Jeb implored Barnabas for his help, to find some way to save Carolyn. I will admit to being moved by Jeb’s plea - it is tangible evidence that he truly is in love with Carolyn, and wants only what is best for her. Barnabas agreed to help and has just left the house with Jeb. I have looked in on Quentin, who is fine. Maggie is with him and seeing to his needs, leaving me to worry about what may be happening with Barnabas, Carolyn and Jeb. I never did have the opportunity to tell Barnabas of tonight’s events, but if he and Jeb are successful in stopping the ceremony, perhaps they won’t matter. I can do nothing now but wait for Barnabas to return. 

“It is over. The Leviathan cause is dead.”

Those were Barnabas’ first words to me when he returned to the Old House. He proceeded to tell me of his part in tonight’s… revolution. Jeb was determined not to assume his other form ever again; his love for Carolyn is that strong. He would not be the first ‘man’ to change his ways for the woman he loves.

Jeb took Barnabas along to the Leviathan sacred grove. When Nicholas Blair began the ceremony, Barnabas snatched Carolyn away from the altar and to safety while Jeb proceeded to destroy the box Barnabas brought back from the past - the box that housed Jeb in his earliest, embryonic form. That began a chain reaction which resulted in the destruction of the Leviathan altar, ending the Leviathan’s bid to retake the earth. All those who were under the Leviathan spell should have been released when the altar was destroyed. I am relieved, of course, and strangely gratified that the power of human love was able to overcome the incredible evil the Leviathans were trying to unleash on the world, but I am very angry as well, for Barnabas has not been released.

When he told me of the events at the Leviathan grove, and that all those under the Leviathan spell, all those enduring Leviathan control had been released, Barnabas must have seen the hope in my eyes, for he simply looked down, twisted his onyx ring, and shook his head. I wanted to cry, I wanted to close the distance between us, to somehow comfort him and therefore comfort myself, but I sensed Barnabas would be uncomfortable with that, so I refrained. The danger to the world has been removed but the danger to Barnabas is on-going. I made some lame comment about continuing the injections, finding some way to help him. It was not what I needed or wanted, but it was what Barnabas could accept at that moment. Perhaps now it will be easier to find an answer, without the power of the Leviathans… re-enforcing the curse and hindering my efforts to break it.

Although the Leviathan cause is dead, we still have the fallout of their plans to deal with. Philip Todd is no doubt wondering why he is in jail for murders he did not commit and why he ever confessed to those murders. We also have yet to find Megan Todd. I still have my doubts that she will be amenable to accepting the possible help I offer, but I won’t know until we find her and I make the offer.

I was on my way to Carolyn’s room, to check on her; to be sure she is all right. I was about to knock when I saw Jeb Hawkes approaching. He assured me Carolyn was just fine and my services were not needed nor my concern welcome. He may no longer be the Leviathan’s chosen one, but his arrogance and rudeness are just as prevalent as before. Not wanting an argument, I inclined my head and left, retreating down the hall until I heard Jeb enter Carolyn’s room. I crept back and listened outside the door. I am not proud of my actions, but I still do not fully trust that young man and I wanted to hear for myself that Carolyn was fine. She sounded none the worse for the experience, and remembers nothing of what happened this night.

One important bit of news I did learn is that Philip Todd is dead. He fell from Widow’s Hill while struggling with Jeb Hawkes; although what either of them was doing there I did not learn. Philip deserved to meet a much different end than to be used as a scapegoat for the Leviathans, but then everyone at Collinwood deserved a much different life these past few months than what the Leviathans forced upon them. Perhaps, if there is any justice at all in the great scheme of things, all will soon be well. Past events indicate just the opposite, but I can hope for a miracle and be prepared to make the best of whatever happens next. I am certain that, although the Leviathan cause is dead, the man who would be King is not. We have not heard or seen the last of Jeb Hawkes, nor of his pursuit of Carolyn Stoddard.