Cassandra

[Mr. Handy]

"We should search the place," says Victoria. "Maybe there's some clue about where they've been taken. It may be the Leviathans' cave, but let's not go there unless we have no choice."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Let's have Victoria, Maggie, and Angelique all search.3d20

Perhaps it is not very surprising that it is the mysterious Angelique Rumson, with whom Barnabas appears to have quite a bit of history -- and who, come to think of it, strongly resembles the vanished Cassandra Collins -- who discovers a vital clue. Behind what seems to be a bookshelf is a hidden room, accessed by pulling out a certain volume. Within is a dark, dusty recess. An area of the floor free from dust reveals that a large, rectangular object has been recently moved out of the room. More immediately arresting is the fact that Willie Loomis lies unconscious in a corner of the room, with two ragged wounds on his throat. The sight causes Angelique to react strangely, hissing and drawing near Willie, then turning away from him and rushing out of the room.

[Mr. Handy]

Victoria rushes to Willie's side and tries to heal his injuries.

Using Cure Light Wounds.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Willie is able to recover sufficiently to choke out a few words.

"Barnabas . . . attacked me . . . took the doc with him . . . and the box . . ."

Still facing away from Willie and Victoria, Angelique says "The Leviathans have him under their control. They have revived the curse! Mine, as well as his! I retain enough of my power to resist for a while, but the thirst already burns inside me, and I will not be able to control myself much longer. Take that man away from me! The sight of him tempts me too strongly."

[Mr. Handy]

Victoria leads Willie away from Angelique. "Do you know where he might have taken her?" she asks.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Angelique shakes her head. "With Barnabas under their control, the Leviathans will send him wherever they wish. Oh, if only I knew more of their plans! I only know that they made Sky rich and powerful, and he did their bidding. And to think I gave up almost all of my powers to marry him! I thought it was love that held back the curse, but it was the Leviathans, tricking me into helping him. Now they no longer need me, and it will come back!"

Taking a deep breath, Angelique continues. "Barnabas will need a safe place to rest during the day. Soon I will also. When night falls, he will be very dangerous -- as will I."

[Mr. Handy]

"Then we'll have to find a place for you to stay," says Victoria. "What about the lighthouse? It's been used before for that purpose. During the day, we'll need to track down Barnabas and figure out where he's staying, with some help from the professor. Maggie might be able to break his curse, but I'm not sure who can break yours. You've probably been...cursed for too long for sunlight to cure you before it destroys you, which only leaves finding your true love as a means to free you from it. If we could recover Dr. Hoffman, she might be able to suppress the curse, as she did for Barnabas, but it would still be there."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Angelique quickly agrees. "It was Nicholas Blair who did this to me, when I wouldn't go along with his plan to use Adam and Eve to create a new race to replace humanity. Now that he is dead, no one can remove the curse through witchcraft." She laughs bitterly. "Of all people, I should know that! But Eve is dead as well . . ." She trembles. "I'm raving. The sickness is growing inside me. Quickly, to the lighthouse! You must lock me in securely. Oh, can Barnabas ever forgive me? I still love him . . ."

Angelique continues to display overwhelming emotions as the two women make their way to the lighthouse. With the help of some tools, Victoria is able to secure the locked room at the top of the tower just as the sun touches the horizon. Angelique shouts as night falls.

"Let me out! I will kill you if you don't let me out now!"

She screams like a trapped animal.

d20

Hurrying away from this awful scene, Victoria tries to get some rest. Returning the next morning, she finds that the door to the locked room has been smashed open, with no sign of Angelique.

[Mr. Handy]

"We need to talk to Professor Stokes," says Victoria. "We're in over our heads. We know that Angelique loves Barnabas. Maybe if we can get the two of them together, we can break both their curses."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

An arrangement is made to meet with Professor Stokes, with that learned fellow warning both women that it must be during the daytime.

"Surely you've heard of the attacks being made upon both men and women in Collinsport," he warns them. "It's simply not safe to venture out at night. Savagely wounded, as if by a wild animal, and so traumatized that they have no memory of their attacker.

"But enough of such matters. To what do I owe the honor of this meeting?"

[Mr. Handy]

"I think what we want to talk to you about is related to that," says Victoria, and she explains to him about Barnabas, Angelique, and the Leviathians. "Barnabas and Angelique are under the influence of the Leviathans, and Barnabas has taken Dr. Hoffman and the box. We have to track him down and break the curse on him so he's no longer under their control."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Professor Stokes frowns. "A dreadful set of circumstances indeed. From little I know of the Leviathans -- much of their lore is lost in the mists of history -- Barnabas is now their puppet, doing their bidding. Locked together in this sinister alliance, each will take care to guard the other against all threats. Doctor Hoffman is no doubt a prisoner as well.

"Angelique is another matter entirely. Punished by the Leviathans for exposing them, she will do everything she can to oppose them. There is, of course, the complicating fact that she will be incapacitated during the daytime, and driven mad with bloodlust at night.

"If only we knew what the Leviathans were plotting, and were bold enough to track them to their lair . . ."

[Mr. Handy]

"Maggie and I have been there before," says Victoria. "It's a sea cave. Sky took us there as part of his deal with them, and they tried to make us deliver a box to Megan and Philip Todd, who own an antique shop in town. Dr. Hoffman X-Rayed the box for us, and it contained something alive. I didn't see it myself, but I likened it to an egg. I suppose the antique shop and the Todds are a lead, but going there may alert the Leviathans. They said they'd be watching. Barnabas has the box now, but he can't take it there. It has to be someone pure, they said."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

"I see. Then Barnabas, under the control of the Leviathans, will have to find someone, other than yourself, free from any taint of malice. Ironic, given their own nature.

"I understand that Miss Stoddard has taken a position working for the Todds. A charming creature, but I doubt she is so completely pure of heart as to qualify as the bearer of the box. Perhaps some discreet inquiry as to happenings at the antique store could offer a few clues."

[Mr. Handy]

"That's an excellent idea," says Victoria. "I'll go have a talk with her."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Once Victoria manages to raise the subject of the antique shop with Carolyn, the young woman becomes enthusiastic.

"It's a fab place. All kinds of weird old things scattered around. Oh, and the Todds are taking care of a little boy, Jimmy, for Megan's cousin, or something like that. Quiet kid, not like David the Holy Terror. Stays in his room most of the time, making noise playing some kind of game. You know how boys are. You should pay a visit some time, I'll show you around."

[Mr. Handy]

"Sure, thanks," says Victoria. "I'd like that. What do you know about the Todds?"

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

"Well, they're new in town, of course. I don't know where they got all those groovy things in their shop; New York or Boston, I suppose. Philip's nice enough, though not very exciting, if you know what I mean. Megan wears the pants in that family, I'm sure. Gorgeous, too. Red hair, very tall." (Carolyn, who is quite petite, may be a bit envious.) "They live above the shop, so they don't seem to get out much."

During this conversation, word arrives at Collinwood that the police are asking people not to go out at night alone, as there have been attacks on both men and women by unknown assailants, leaving the victims badly wounded.

[Mr. Handy]

"That's good advice," says Victoria. "We shouldn't go out at night if we can help it, and certainly not alone. Maybe I can help the victims, and they may be able to say more about what happened to them."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Carolyn shivers a bit. "I wouldn't want to be play nurse. Blood creeps me out. Maybe you could visit some of the folks at the clinic and help them out. You seem to have a healing touch."

At the clinic, there are a few young men and women, all attractive and otherwise healthy, who are recovering from loss of blood from neck wounds. When first addressed, they seem to have only vague memories of what happened to them.

"I wish Doctor Hoffman were in town," says a busy intern. "She knows about this kind of thing. But nobody's seen her around lately." He accepts Victoria's help with basic care, happy to have a volunteer at his side. Her ministrations do, indeed seem to have a healing effect.