24: Scattered Through Time

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#CC9900" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="047005a0dwnjzk.gif"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cassies Writing"><U><B>home</B></U></A><B>     | </B><B> </B><B> </B><B>  </B><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>Cassie's Writing</B></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id109.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="1: Stolen Memories"><U><B>1:  Stolen Memories</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id110.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="2: A Complex Puzzle"><U><B>2:  A Complex Puzzle</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id111.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="3: Peeling the Onion"><U><B>3:  Peeling the Onion</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id112.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="4: Secrets Revealed"><U><B>4:  Secrets Revealed</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id113.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="5: Going Home Again"><U><B>5:  Going Home Again</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id114.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="6: ThingintheBox"><U><B>6:  Thing-in-the-Box</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id116.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="7: Challenging the Leviathan"><U><B>7:  Challenging the Leviathan</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id117.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="8: Circling the Wagons"><U><B>8:  Circling the Wagons</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id118.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="9: Jebs Curse"><U><B>9:  Jeb's Curse</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id119.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="10: Spell of Jealousy"><U><B>10:  Spell of Jealousy</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id120.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="11: Carrying the Weight"><U><B>11:  Carrying the Weight</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id121.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="12: A Fiendish New Year"><U><B>12:  A Fiendish New Year</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id122.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="13: Barnabas Crisis"><U><B>13:  Barnabas' Crisis</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id123.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="14: Barnabas in Parallel Time"><U><B>14:  Barnabas in Parallel Time</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id124.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="15: Clues to Disaster"><U><B>15:  Clues to Disaster</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id125.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="16: Demons Possession"><U><B>16:  Demon's Possession</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id126.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="17: Breach of Trust"><U><B>17:  Breach of Trust</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id127.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="18: Labyrinth of Emotions"><U><B>18:  Labyrinth of Emotions</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id128.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="19: The Amanda Dilemma"><U><B>19:  The Amanda Dilemma</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id129.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="20: Ziganas Cure"><U><B>20:  Zigana's Cure</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id130.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="21: The Approaching Storm"><U><B>21:  The Approaching Storm</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id131.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="22: Enigma at Collinwood"><U><B>22:  Enigma at Collinwood</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id132.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="23: Reunion in Hell"><U><B>23:  Reunion in Hell</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><B>24:  Scattered Through Time</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>24:  Scattered Through Time</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id107.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Alternate Destiny"><U><B>Alternate Destiny</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Quentin, Chris, and Beth went over it over and over again while Amy sat at the table with them, staring at each of their faces worriedly.  She wouldn't go to bed, and she wouldn't leave the room.  "He wants me there, too!" she objected when Chris tried to order her away.  That was the point that they were arguing about.  Quentin wanted to go and face Adam Collins alone; Chris and Beth were adamantly against it.  Chris was also equally adamant that he didn't want Amy involved but gave up for the moment in her case.  He just couldn't fight two people at once.</div> <div> "If we all go, we're screwed," Quentin pointed out.  "This way, at least there's three of you to try and figure something out."</div> <div> "No, man, I should go with you," Chris argued.  "Beth should stay here with Amy."</div> <div> "Oh, ja, is that so?" Beth objected then.  "And what am I to do when you two don't come back?  It would be better if <I>you</I> stayed here with your sister.  Let Quentin and me deal with Petofi.  We've done it before."</div> <div> Amy shivered.</div> <div> "Amy, I told you that you shouldn't be listening to this," Chris told her.</div> <div> "But that's his name," Amy said softly.  "He's just calling himself by a different name now.  He's the same thing-and he's evil."  She reached out and touched Chris' hand.  "You don't understand-none of you do.  He wants <I>all</I> of us to go.  We all have to go."</div> <div> "I hate the thought of this," Beth agreed painfully.  "I think she is right."</div> <div> "I wish there was another way to do this," Quentin muttered.  "I don't like going like lambs to the slaughter."</div> <div> He and Chris exchanged looks at the same time.  "There's no help for it, I guess," Chris said in a resigned tone but his eyes very briefly said something else: Meet<I> me and we'll talk about it.</I></div> <div> Quentin sighed reluctantly and got up from the table, unable to meet Beth's suddenly suspicious gaze.  "Okay, so we wait and go there for dinner tomorrow," he agreed in the same tone.  He'd figure out a way to meet Chris-he'd just wait for Beth to fall asleep.  "There's nothing more we can do tonight," he said pointedly.  "We should turn in and get as much rest as possible."</div> <bR> <div> Beth wasn't resting, and Quentin wasn't sure how he'd get away.  He reached for her in the darkness, kissing her shoulder softly and then moving up her throat.  "Quentin, I thought we were to rest," she objected softly.</div> <div> "But you're not sleeping and neither am I," he pointed out.</div> <div> "How can I sleep when I know that <I>he</I> has my Katie?"</div> <div> Quentin stroked her shoulder gently.  "I know.  I thought we could comfort each other."</div> <div> "You're not going there?" Beth asked doubtfully, turning toward him.</div> <div> "No!" Quentin exclaimed, feeling guilty.  He could always say he misunderstood where `there' was.  Beth moved toward him.  He could feel that her face was wet with tears.  "Please don't cry," he whispered to her.</div> <div> "Will we never be free?" she wept.  Quentin pulled her close to him, holding her while she cried on his shoulder.  He murmured comforting words to her, running his hands through her hair and down her back.  At some point, her lips met his and they moved closer together again.  </div> <div> He moved very slowly this time, wanting to be sure that Beth was totally relaxed and open to him.  He felt guilty and sad.  If he'd left her alone all those years ago, she might have remarried a good man and lived out a normal life with her two children-maybe she would have had more.  Instead, he'd come into her life and totally disrupted it, ripping her away from her family and friends.  They could always be together now but he couldn't return to her the years she'd missed with Katie…and now Katie was gone.  Beth roused to a greater passion this time, perhaps hoping he would fill the emptiness in her now.  She clawed his shoulder and bit her lip to keep from screaming aloud.  Quentin didn't care if he made noise or not.  He and Beth lay tangled up together, catching their breath, before nestling together like two spoons-just like in the old days.</div> <div> He began to lightly caress her again, speaking to her reassuringly.  They would find Katie, and they would all go home.  She would meet her grandchildren and hold her great-grandchild.  He would take her back to Cuddeback…Quentin realized she'd stopped speaking and that her breathing had become slow and even.  He waited a few moments before he tried to move and then slowly and gently disentangled himself.  Beth shifted slightly but didn't wake up.  Relieved, Quentin quickly dressed and gently left the room, easing the door shut behind him.  </div> <div> He had a feeling Chris would be in the lobby and was gratified to see he was right.  Chris looked at him, annoyed.  "What the hell took you so long?" he demanded.  He took in Quentin's mussed appearance and growled, "Hey, man, what the hell you thinking about?"</div> <div> "I'm thinking about making sure Beth's asleep, that's what!" Quentin snapped and then remembered that Chris must be frantic with worry about Sabrina.  "I'm sorry.  I couldn't just leave her.  She wasn't sleeping-but she is now, so let's go."</div> <div> "What do you suggest?"</div> <div> "Going in through the East Wing-or maybe the West Wing," Quentin answered.  He and Chris got into the van and drove off slowly.  Chris was careful to park just outside the grounds of Collinwood.  They began to walk up the long driveway to the great house.</div> <div> There was a light on in the drawing room.  Apparently, Adam Collins liked to keep late hours, too.  Quentin thought he might just be smart enough to figure out that Quentin would try to get into the house.  "Let's go in through the East Wing," Quentin suggested.  They still might fall into a trap; in fact, now that they were here, he suspected that it was a foolish idea.  He wasn't going to be the one to admit it to Chris, though.  He led Chris around the house to the East Wing entrance.  Both men brought flashlights from the van.</div> <div> "Do you think they might have Sabrina and Katie in one of these rooms?" Chris asked.</div> <div> "We can only hope we'd be so lucky," Quentin answered.  As they entered the dark passageway, Quentin felt the hair along his neck and arms prickle.</div> <div> "Damn, but it's cold in here!" Chris exclaimed.</div> <div> <I>Like the dead,</I> Quentin thought with a shudder.  "Come on," he whispered.  They walked quietly down the hall.  "More than likely, they've got Katie and Sabrina with them," Quentin muttered dourly.</div> <div> Chris halted at one of the hallways crossing their path.  "What's down there?" he asked curiously.</div> <div> "Nothing," Quentin answered, lying.  The parallel time room was down there.</div> <div> "Yeah?  Then what's that?"  Chris pointed with his flashlight.</div> <div> Quentin looked down the hallway and saw a pinpoint of purplish light coming through the keyhole of the door.  "Oh, shit," he muttered.  He didn't like the looks of that.  "We'd better go see what it is," he decided.  He was afraid to see what it was, knowing what had gone on in that odd room before.  He tried to remember if he told Chris about the "Alice-in-fucking-Wonderland" room and thought maybe he had.</div> <div> They stood in front of the door.  The glow coming from within was brighter.  Quentin took a deep breath and pushed the door open.  The room was empty, as it usually was, except for a violet light in the center which danced and wavered.  "What <I>is </I>that?" Chris whispered.</div> <div> Quentin's heart began thumping wildly.  </div> <div> "Don't be afraid, my pretty one," a familiar voice whispered.</div> <div> Chris's jaw dropped.  He'd recognized her, too.  He looked at Quentin, who whispered, "CaraLinda?"</div> <div> "I am here, and you are in danger.  You should not have come here," the voice whispered.  "You will not find those you seek here.  He has already sent them away."</div> <div> "DAMN!" Chris exclaimed, slamming his fist against the wall.</div> <div> "Where?" Quentin asked, beginning to go into the room.</div> <div> The glowing purplish light rushed toward him.  He felt someone shove him, and he felt to the floor.  "No, foolish one!" CaraLinda hissed.  "Watch!"</div> <div> "Holy shit!" Chris exclaimed as the room began to change in front of them.</div> <div> They were looking outside, at the remains of what was once this room.  There was rubble around the ground, which was still scorched and black.  The area was unnaturally lit, and Quentin wondered if CaraLinda was helping them see somehow.  Suddenly, Katie came into view, looking frightened.  "Katie!" he called, knowing that it was useless.</div> <div> "She cannot hear you," CaraLinda whispered.</div> <div> "I know," Quentin said, distraught.  "I have to go to her."</div> <div> "No, not now-for now, she is safe.  You can get her later.  You must go-now."</div> <div> "Where's Sabrina?" Chris asked, anguished.</div> <div> CaraLinda hesitated, the violet glow fading a little and then growing brighter.  "You must go to her first.  Her need is greater.  She is in your past.  You must use the I'Ching wands to find her."</div> <div> "<I>What?"</I> Chris cried.  "Why is her need greater?  She's in <I>my</I> past?  Oh, God!"  He staggered back.</div> <div> "It is not what you think-but it is bad, very bad.  It is the past of here, Collinwood.  It is not your first transformation," CaraLinda answered.</div> <div> "Where in the past?" Chris demanded.</div> <div> "I cannot be sure.  You have to let the wands guide you."</div> <div> "What about the others?" Quentin asked.</div> <div> "I will try to help you-he has sent them to other places as well.  It is not easy.  You must go-NOW!"  The violet light winked and went out as Quentin and Chris heard the footfalls of someone approaching.</div> <div> "Let's go!" Quentin hissed.  He and Chris turned as one and ran into the tall body of Adam Collins.</div> <div> "You were right, Adam," a voice said mildly, coming from the opposite direction.</div> <div> "You are early," Adam observed in an amused tone, placing one hand on each man's shoulder.  His fingers gripped like iron as he turned the two men around.  There was an unnatural glow on Nicholas' face, the man who'd entered from the opposite direction.</div> <div> "How astute of you to anticipate that we'd have early arrivals," Nicholas said now.</div> <div> "Do I know this family well?" Adam said with a chuckle.  "Well, come along, then, we cannot socialize in the dark."</div> <div> "I didn't come to socialize!" Chris spat out brashly.  "Where's Sabrina?"</div> <div> As Nicholas tsk tsked, Adam answered, "She's quite safe, I assure you-for now.  Come along.  Have a drink with us before we all retire.  It's quite late."</div> <div> "Right," Quentin agreed.  "We need to be getting back now."</div> <div> "After the effort you made to come in and give us a special hello?  You <I>simply</I> must have a drink first!"</div> <div> Quentin realized he was not going to get away by physical force and so he reluctantly allowed himself to be pulled into the main area of the house.  He gave Chris a warning glare.  Chris looked as if he was still considering bolting.  They were taken to the drawing room, where Nicholas poured them all a stiff brandy.</div> <div> "No," Chris said tersely, when Nicholas offered him a drink.</div> <div> "Oh, dear," Adam said in dismay.  He turned toward Quentin as Nicholas offered a glass.  "Surely you will have a drink with us?"</div> <div> "I'm afraid not," Quentin replied, trying to sound regretful.  "It really is getting late-" He stopped talking abruptly as Adam drew his hand back and slapped him, splitting his lip.  <I>His old modus operandi,</I> Quentin realized ruefully, resentment blossoming within him.  <I>I should have seen that one coming.</I> His hand went to his injured lip.  It was bleeding freely now but would stop within a few seconds.  Chris reacted, his hands curling into fists and stepping forward.  "No!" Quentin exclaimed sharply.</div> <div> "Listen to your great grandfather, dear boy," Adam said with a nasty smile.  He looked at Nicholas, who looked bored.  "He is attractive when he's angry, isn't he?"</div> <div> "I suppose," Nicholas answered.</div> <div> "Let him alone," Quentin cut in, alarmed.  He didn't like the way Adam was eyeing Chris, who was struggling to control his temper.</div> <div> "Perhaps," Adam teased.  "Perhaps not.  How cooperative do you intend to be, my boy?"</div> <div> "Where is everyone?" Quentin countered.</div> <div> "Do you want to bargain for them?" Adam asked, amused.  "I'm willing to negotiate with you."</div> <div> "Negotiate?"  Quentin repeated incredulously.  "You malicious, evil son of a bitch!  And why would I trust you, anyway?"  This time he saw the blow coming and managed to maneuver himself out of the way, feeling delighted with his victory-until Nicholas jabbed him in the ribs with the butt of his cane.  Quentin grabbed his middle and went to his knees.  He looked up to see Chris flying at Nicholas.  "No!" Quentin cried out again but he couldn't stop his great grandson this time.</div> <div> Adam looked at Chris as if he was a most annoying fly, pointed his fingers at him, and said, "That which causes you the worse pain you've ever experienced will descend on you now and you will writhe in agony until I decide to stop it."  Chris immediately dropped to the floor, writhing.</div> <div> "The transformation?" Nicholas asked with a small smile, remembering how well it worked before.</div> <div> "Yes, pity though, he won't experience it anymore thanks to the gypsy woman's interference," Adam answered dispassionately.</div> <div> "We could change that, of course," Nicholas pointed out.</div> <div> <I>You bastards,</I> Quentin thought bitterly as Chris groaned and screamed.</div> <div> "If necessary," Adam said, eyeing Quentin.  "It may not be."</div> <div> "Let him go," Quentin ground out between his gritted teeth.  "It's not him you want."</div> <div> "I've found another soft spot," Adam exclaimed with delight, looking at Nicholas.  He smiled at Quentin.  "You don't like to see your great grandson suffer, do you, my boy?" he asked in a wheedling tone.</div> <div> <I>Sadistic bastard,</I> Quentin thought bitterly, glaring at the man.</div> <div> Adam crossed to him quickly, wrapping his fingers into Quentin's thick hair and pulled, hard.  "I asked you a question," he said roughly, pulling Quentin's head back.</div> <div> "You know that I don't," Quentin answered, trying to keep his voice steady.  His heart was drumming loudly again.  He was terrified now that the full impact of their folly hit him.  <I>How the hell are we going to get out of here?</I></div> <div> "Get up," Adam ordered, encouraging Quentin to get up by yanking on his hair.  Once he was on his feet, Quentin braced himself.  This sadistic creature was capable of anything.  Adam reached out and caressed Quentin's cheek, his huge fingers lightly running over the reddened skin.  Quentin shuddered but didn't move.  Nicholas yawned as Chris continued to groan in pain.</div> <div> "Shall I make it stop?" Adam asked, looking into Quentin's eyes.  It was frightening.  His eyes were cold, flat orbs with no hint of humanity in them. "Say please."</div> <div> "Please," Quentin said obediently, realizing that Adam was just toying with him.</div> <div> "Kiss me first," Adam said in a low, deadly voice.  "You will, won't you?"</div> <div> <I>Oh God, Oh God,</I> Quentin thought, terrified and repulsed.  <I>He's still obsessed-why?  Why can't he just leave me alone?</I>  Petofi had pursued him through the years, seeking revenge on him because he'd escaped the mind switch trap in 1897.  Now Petofi seemed obsessed with sexual possession of Quentin.  <I>Maybe it's because he knows I don't want to and he likes forcing me.  He wants to control everyone.  Maybe if he thought I didn't care, he'd stop.</I></div> <div> He had to do something to help Chris.  Maybe the idea would work.  "Yes, I will," he agreed.</div> <div> Adam gave him a shocked look.  "You will?"  He grabbed Quentin's jaw painfully in his hand.  "You will?  And what brings on this change of heart?  You want the pain for your great grandson to stop?"</div> <div> "Yes, that too," Quentin answered with difficulty, trying to ignore the pain in his jaw.  "Times change, though.  And you look different."</div> <div> Adam let him go, laughing with delight.  "I'm more handsome, you mean!"  He stopped laughing abruptly.  "I know you like to tease, Quentin.  You say you will and then you'll change your mind."  He grabbed Quentin's face again in his huge hands, squeezing tightly and then kissed him roughly, pushing his head back and forcing his tongue into Quentin's mouth.  Quentin closed his eyes, shutting out the images and the memories of his previous encounters.  He swallowed his terror and held still, letting Adam have his way.  Adam let him go.  "Well, that was very nice, but you've done that before too-and it was all a come on, then, wasn't it?  Kiss me back, dear boy."</div> <div> <I>Oh God,</I> Quentin thought.  He looked down at Chris.  He couldn't let him keep suffering like that so he closed his eyes, moved closer to Adam and kissed him.  He blocked any thought of Beth from his mind.  This was something he had to do to save Chris.  He cried out when Adam bit his lip and shoved him back.  He could taste fresh blood in his mouth.</div> <div> "Pay attention to what you doing!" Adam snarled.  "Put a little feeling into it!"</div> <div> "I can't concentrate with Chris rolling around like that!" Quentin snapped back, spitting blood onto the floor.</div> <div> Nicholas looked mildly amused, giving Adam a "<I>Now what?"</I> look.  Adam turned and flung his hand out toward Chris, who let out one last moan and rolled onto his back, panting with exhaustion.  Quentin began to go to him, but Adam, grabbed him firmly by the arm.  "I know you saw where your daughter went.  Would you like to see another member of your family now?"</div> <div> "Yes," Quentin answered, and Adam shoved him toward the TV.  The set came on, showing a dark, snowy street in a city.  The city looked vaguely familiar, he thought, trying to place it.  He realized suddenly that it was a street near Times Square.  Suddenly a woman hobbled along, pushing a shopping cart filled with blankets and clothes.  The TV panned in closer and to Quentin's shock, he saw it was his cousin Elizabeth, looking confused and frightened.  The TV went dark.  "Where is she?" he demanded, outraged.</div> <div> "The payment first," Adam said softly.  "Kiss me like you mean it, and I'll show you how to find her."</div> <div> <I>I can get through this,</I> Quentin thought, refusing to think about what the progression would be.  He nodded.   Adam went to him, holding his arms out like a lover.  <I>What was it Angelique said?  Take myself and go to a pleasant place, far from here,</I> he told himself, remembering Angelique's advice from over fifty years ago.  He moved into Adam's arms, felt their lips touch.</div> <div> "NO!  You won't do this to him again!"</div> <div> Quentin pulled back at the sound of the voice.  "Beth!" he cried out, shocked.  He had a brief glimpse of her flying across the room.  Nicholas got up, spilling his drink, making no move to stop her-was it on purpose or had his senses been dulled by drink?  Quentin wasn't sure.  He saw the glint on the blade as Adam half turned and the Beth drove the blade deep into Adam's chest, between the ribs so that bone wouldn't deflect the blade.</div> <div> "You bitch!" Adam spat out, reaching for her.  Quentin shoved him roughly, moving between him and Beth.  Adam sank to his knees and then fell over.  Chris scrambled up on his hands and knees, moving closer.</div> <div> "No!  Stay away Chris!"  Amy screamed from the door.</div> <div> Quentin felt something probing at his mind and realized it was him-Adam-Petofi-that <I>thing.</I>  "NO!" he shouted, shoving hard with his mind.  He felt the presence stagger back.  </div> <div> Amy ran to her brother.  "No, no, no!" she screamed.  A violet glow moved from the fireplace toward brother and sister, bathing them in a faint light.</div> <div> Adam groaned and fell back, gasping.</div> <div> "Well, this is an interesting predicament," Nicholas said, walking over to Adam and looking down.  He looked over at Quentin, who was shielding Beth now with his body.  She held onto him from behind, sobbing and trembling.  "If he dies, you'll never find them, you know."</div> <div> "We will," Quentin said defiantly, with a great deal of false bravado.</div> <div> "Bravely spoken," Nicholas said.  "Let's see how your courage holds up now."  He bent over Adam, putting his hand onto the wound and speaking words in an undertone.  He stood up and faced them.  "Regardless of whether or not I am able to save him, you must pay for this transgression."  His face grew hard as he went to the secret panel.  He opened it and reached in, drawing Amanda Harris out by the hand.</div> <div> Amanda looked into Quentin's eyes with a nasty, cold smile.  "Hello lover-how I've missed you."  She came further into the room as Quentin paled, wondering what Beth would think.  "I've missed your hard driving cock-but I understand.  You're preoccupied with someone else-that's always the way it is with you, isn't it, darling?   I did wonder if you loved me though-and I told you you should never have come after me."</div> <div> Quentin winced, feeling Beth's nails digging into his shoulders.  He didn't say anything, his eyes narrowing as he watched Amanda.  She had a hand behind her back and he wondered what she was up to.  "We never had anything between us," he said finally.</div> <div> "Liar!" Amanda hissed.  She brought her hand out.   She had Beth's charcoal sketch-the one by Charles Delaware Tate in 1925-and held it up.  </div> <div> Quentin drew his breath in sharply.  "Give it to me, Amanda!" he cried, his body breaking out into a cold sweat.  Amanda smirked and slowly ripped it in half.  "NO!" Quentin screamed, lunging at her.  Nicholas moved between them and held up his hand, stopping Quentin cold.  Amanda laughed and continued to rip the portrait into shreds as Quentin screamed for her to stop it.  Behind him, Beth slumped to the floor.</div> <bR> <div> Quentin carried Beth through the darkened hall of the East Wing while Chris lit their way with the flashlight.  Amy had roused the two men, crying and calling out their names.  Quentin sat up abruptly, looking around in confusion.  Nicholas, Adam, and Amanda were all gone.  He looked dazedly at Amy for a moment and then remembered what had happened.  Panicking, he got up on his knees and moved to Beth's side.  She was still breathing but was out cold.</div> <div> "She's all right, Quentin, she's not dead," Amy told him.  "We've got to wake Chris up and get out of here before they come back!" </div> <div> <I>Where did they go?</I>  Quentin wondered fuzzily.  <I>What happened?  Did I pass out?</I>  He looked at Amy, feeling disoriented and frightened.  Amy grabbed his shoulders and tried to shake him, frustrated.  "Amy," he finally managed to say.  She moved to her brother's side.  Quentin checked Beth again.  She really was breathing shallowly and had a pulse.  He left her to go to Chris.  Chris groaned as both Quentin and Amy called to him and shook him.</div> <div> Chris's eyes fluttered open.  "Christ, where's the frying pan that hit me?" he muttered.  He looked up at Quentin, started, and then bolted upright.  "Where are they?" he demanded.</div> <div> "I don't know," Quentin answered, looking at Amy.</div> <div> "He put a spell on us-the warlock," Amy explained quickly.  "He needed to get away with the chameleon to fix him.  We have to get out of here!"  Her voice began to rise frantically.  "You never should have come here!" she reproached them.</div> <div> "Now she tells us," Quentin said, looking at Chris.  "You shouldn't have come here either, Amy.  How did you get here?"</div> <div> "Beth woke me up.  She said you and Chris sneaked here to do something stupid and we had to come here," Amy answered impatiently.  "We have to get out of here!"</div> <div> Quentin glared at Amy as he began to remember everything that happened.  "But how the hell did you get here?"</div> <div> "We took a car," Amy answered defiantly.</div> <div> "What do you mean, `took a car'?" Chris demanded angrily as Quentin goggled at her with surprise.</div> <div> Amy stamped her foot.  "Beth took a screwdriver and did something to it.  I don't know!  You have to ask <I>her</I> but not <I>now!"</I></div> <div> "We have to go, right?" Quentin muttered, shaking his head.  How was he to know that Beth could hot-wire a car?</div> <div> "Where's Sabrina?" Chris demanded.  "Is she here?"</div> <div> "We'll find her, but we have to GO before they come back!" Amy insisted urgently, heading for the door.</div> <div> "Where?" Quentin wondered.  Nicholas and Adam would be able to locate them anywhere.</div> <div> "To that room upstairs," Amy answered, and Quentin understood her to mean the Parallel Time room.</div> <div> "Shit," he muttered.  He moved back to Beth and gathered her into his arms.  Chris got to his feet, feeling his arms and legs uncertainly.  "You all right?"</div> <div> "Yeah, yeah," Chris muttered.  "I just could have sworn I was gonna-" He broke off with an uncomfortable look at Amy, who'd retrieved the flashlights.  She went to the hidden passageway in the drawing room.</div> <bR> <div> Now Quentin led the way back to the "Alice-in-fucking-wonderland" room.  It was empty and deserted as always when he crossed the threshold with Beth in his arms.  He turned to Chris and Amy, who'd followed close behind.  Trying to remember everything Julia and Barnabas told him, he explained rapidly, "The room will change, and when it does, we flip over into that other time.  The only thing is, I'm not sure if all of us have counterparts there.  I know there's a Chris Collins over there.  And counterparts can't co-exist.  So it might be that some of us will either flip back or die." Chris paled and Amy bit her lip and took her brother's hand.  Quentin went on, "If anyone flips back, they've got to find a safe place to hide."</div> <div> Before he could say anything else, he saw bright flickering lights.  Suddenly dizzy, he almost lost his balance and fell over.  There was a roaring sound in his ears for a few seconds and then silence.  He opened his eyes and saw they had crossed over.  "Daddy!" Katie cried, running to them, tears streaming down her cheeks.  "What happened to Mama?"</div> <div> "Let's get out of here-now!" Quentin said urgently.  "I'll answer your questions-but not here.  If they follow us, they could look in and hear us talking-they'd see where we are!"</div> <div> "Come on!" Chris pulled Amy behind him.  "Where the hell are we?  This looks like Collinwood!"</div> <div> "It is-sort of," Quentin answered, still carrying Beth.  He thought to lead them toward the Old House-Loomis House, it was called here.  He wondered if the estate was still abandoned.  Nearly the entire family was wiped out here, Julia had said.  "How did you get here, Katie?" he asked as they hurried down the path.</div> <div> "That horrid man with the moustache pushed me into the room and locked the door," Katie answered.  "It was an empty, dusty old room but then the next thing I knew, I was outside the house and nothing looked familiar!"</div> <div> <I>Damn,</I> Quentin thought.  <I>If Nicholas knows about this place, then so does Petofi.  Damn their souls!</I>  He almost laughed aloud.  That was exactly the problem-those two didn't have souls.  He saw Amanda in his head briefly, shredding Beth's drawing.  He pushed the image out of his head.  He couldn't deal with that right now.</div> <div> "What's with this place?" Chris was asking now.  "It's deserted.  Doesn't anyone live here at all anymore?"</div> <div> "I don't think so," Quentin answered abruptly.  They were coming to the Old-Loomis House now.</div> <div> "This isn't the house we looked in the other night?" Katie asked, confused.</div> <div> "It is and it isn't," Quentin answered enigmatically, feeling exasperated with all the questions.  "Chris, get the door, wouldya please?"</div> <div> Chris opened the door, and Quentin carried Beth into the living room, gently placing her on a sofa.  It smelled old and dusty in here, as if the place hadn't been aired in months.  "There's electricity here," Quentin called, kneeling beside his wife.  Someone flipped a switch and the lights came on.  Quentin took Beth's hand in both of his and began to rub it.  "Beth, please, wake up," he begged her.</div> <div> "What happened?" Katie asked, calmer now.  </div> <div> "That bitch Amanda-Olivia Corey-tore her portrait," Quentin answered, tears stinging his eyes suddenly.  He wondered why Beth didn't come to.  Was she dying?</div> <div> "How did <I>she </I>get here?" Katie asked, stunned.</div> <div> "She's been in on this from the beginning," Quentin answered hoarsely, trying to control his tears.  He began to stroke Beth's face.  "Beth, please."</div> <div> "Mama?" Katie called, trying to help.</div> <div> A small purple light sparked in the fireplace.  Amy's eyes were drawn to it, and she stared, fascinated, as it danced and grew larger.  She began to tap Quentin's shoulder, trying to get his attention.  Chris paced the room restlessly, cursing to himself.  "<I>What</I>, Amy?" Quentin finally snapped irritably.</div> <div> "Look," Amy whispered, pointing.</div> <div> Quentin looked toward the fireplace and saw the purple light.  It moved forward from the fireplace, seeming to dance over Beth's body.  <I>CaraLinda, is that you?</I>  Quentin thought, unable to speak.  <I>Help her, please!</I></div> <div> Beth's body became suffused with the violet light.  Slowly, she began to move, blinking her eyes and looking around in confusion.  She gasped.  "Quentin!"</div> <div> "Oh, Beth, thank God!" Quentin cried, pulling her up into his arms.  "Beth, I was so scared!"</div> <div> "Mama, are you all right?" Katie asked, weeping.</div> <div> "Katie!" Beth exclaimed, one arm hugging Quentin and the other reaching for her daughter's hand.  "Where are we?  This isn't the Old House!"</div> <div> "We're in a parallel time band," Quentin said to her, and she looked into his eyes, her own huge with bewilderment.</div> <div> "We're in a <I>what?</I>" Katie asked.</div> <div> "That room you were locked into," Quentin began, trying to think how to explain, "is a special room.  It flips back and forth between our world and this one.  You go into the room, it changes and you're in one place.  Then you go back in and wait for it to change and you go back the other way."</div> <div> "No," practical Katie objected.</div> <div> "Honey, if you can accept your mother and me and all the strange things that have happened to us, you've got to take my word for it on this one, too," Quentin said.  He was too tired and wrung out to have to explain this to her.  He looked at Beth with deep concern.  "Do you remember what happened?"</div> <div> "Did I kill him?" Beth wanted to know, her features becoming tight.  "I wasn't going to let him touch you that way again.  I hope he's dead this time!"</div> <div> "I hope so too, sweetheart," Quentin answered softly, but he rather doubted it.  A long time ago, Beth wondered if an evil being like Petofi could just go on and on, moving from host body to body.  He doubted a creature like that could be killed.  But Beth could…"Do you remember what happened to your drawing?"</div> <div> "Amanda Harris destroyed it," Beth answered softly.  She reached out and touched Quentin's cheek, wiping away his tears with her fingers.  "Why is Amanda here?"</div> <div> <I>Because I'm a damn fool,</I> he thought, grief-stricken, remembering how he'd run out after her out of a sense of obligation and gratitude and yes, maybe even love.  He'd been so lonely.  <I>If I'd known you would come back to me, Beth, I never would have given her a second thought.  She could rot in hell.</I>  The tears fell faster.  <I>This is all my fault-it's always my fault.  I should never have gone back for her-and I should have known it was Petofi she'd made a pact with.  Oh, God, and now I'll lose Beth again!</I></div> <div> "Quentin, I don't feel sick or anything," Beth said then, as if to reassure him.  "I don't feel any different-just upset and confused.  All this has been too much for me, ja?"</div> <div> "I'm scared," he whispered into her ear as he held her.</div> <div> "Me, too," she answered, hugging him.</div> <div> Chris cleared his throat uncomfortably.  "Amy," he began.  "Let's see if we can't find something to eat."</div> <div> "No, not yet," Amy answered in an odd tone.  "CaraLinda's here.  She's waiting for us to be quiet so she can talk."</div> <div> Quentin and Beth stopped whispering and looked up and around.</div> <div> "Oh!" Katie exclaimed.  The little violet light formed again at Beth's shoulder and then moved across the room.</div> <div> "CaraLinda?" Quentin asked.</div> <div> "It might be stopped, pretty one," she said in a very soft voice.  "You must work hard to undo what has been done.  We must get everyone back.  If we do not, they will have succeeded.  They will have their revenge on the Collins family.  It won't stop there.  They are greedy, powerful men."</div> <div> "Get everyone back," Quentin repeated dully.  He remembered the vision of Elizabeth.  He knew exactly how powerful and ambitious Petofi was too.  It was hopeless.</div> <div> "If you feel that way, we lose already," CaraLinda told him in a scolding voice.</div> <div> "I don't know where to begin," Quentin said.</div> <div> "There is the staircase," CaraLinda said.  "We must find it.  You use it to go down the stairs, back in time.  Then you cross back over to find the I'Ching wands.  We have to bring them all back."</div> <div> "Sabrina?" Chris asked hopefully.</div> <div> "Sabrina, Barnabas, Julia, Elizabeth, Roger," CaraLinda said.</div> <div> "Where are they?" Quentin asked.</div> <div> "You go back.  I show you.  Sometimes we use the stairs, sometimes the wands."</div> <div> <I>You've got to be kidding.  Use the stairs-and the I'Ching? </I>Quentin wondered, feeling the enormity of it all like a heavy weight on his shoulders.  <I>And in the middle of all this is Petofi-and Amanda Harris-and Nicholas.  This is crazy! Just where the hell is everyone?</I></div> <div> "They are everywhere in time," CaraLinda answered.</div> <div> Quentin groaned.</div> <div> "Quentin, she's right," Beth said softly.  "We've got to find them-Barnabas, Julia, the others.  We need them."</div> <div> <I>I'm tired.  I don't want to do this.  I want to lie down and rest.  I need a drink.</I>  Quentin sighed, resigned.  "Where do we start?"</div> <div> "We make the others safe first-then we go back and find this magic staircase through time and go back for the I'ching wands," CaraLinda responded.</div> <div> "The staircase and the wands are in the other time," Quentin said tiredly.  "And Nicholas and Petofi will be waiting for us."</div> <div> "You go back through the staircase," CaraLinda advised.  "Then you cross over worlds to get the wands."</div> <div> "Why can't we just buy wands somewhere?" Chris asked.</div> <div> "If they belong to Quentin, I can control them," CaraLinda said.  "You buy wands untouched by him, I can do nothing."</div> <div> <I>How the hell can you do anything now when you're dead?</I> Quentin wondered but didn't voice the question.  CaraLinda was asking him where and when he'd gotten his wands.  He thought.  "I found them.  They belonged to my great uncle Quentin."</div> <div> "Good-so we go back there and we get the wands."</div> <div> "You make it sound like we're crossing the street," Quentin grumbled.</div> <div> The purplish glow flared suddenly.  "Fool!"  CaraLinda hissed.  "For this I gave up my life?  If I still had my feet I would put a heavy pair of boots on and kick your backside!  You want to save your family, your Beth, yes or no?"</div> <div> "Yes, of course," Quentin muttered, embarrassed and chastened.  "All right, I'm sorry.  But the staircase is in the west wing of the other Collinwood."</div> <div> "It exists here as well."</div> <div> Quentin was surprised.  "It does?"</div> <div> "It was created in your great-uncle's time but his genius was such that it transcends the other times.  The staircase exists in all the parallel worlds."</div> <div> Everyone was taken aback at that.  "All the parallel worlds," Beth whispered, her eyes widening.  "What about a creature like Petofi?  I wonder if he is here too?"</div> <div> "No, there is other evil but not that one," CaraLinda answered softly.</div> <div> Quentin and Beth looked at each other.  <I>A world without Petofi!  A world in which to be safe and free!  Is it possible?  </I>"I should go," Quentin decided.</div> <div> "We all should," Katie put in.</div> <div> Quentin began shaking his head, no.  "No way. You're staying here, Katie, with everyone else."</div> <div> "Wait a minute!" Chris objected.</div> <div> "Will you listen a minute?" Quentin interrupted. "We're talking about moving <I>back</I> in time.  None of you knows anything about the time period-the clothes-any of that stuff!"</div> <div> "Nor do you," Beth pointed out.</div> <div> "One person out of place is less frightening and dangerous than five people," Quentin argued.  "Can you imagine what that family would do and see if five out of place strangers suddenly showed up?"</div> <div> "What about you?"  Beth asked, sounding frightened.  "I don't want you to go alone!"</div> <div> "Beth, it can't be any other way-it's too dangerous," Quentin argued.</div> <div> "Don't worry, I myself will keep him safe," CaraLinda assured Beth, who didn't look reassured at all.  She subsided for the moment, looking distressed.</div> <div> "Maybe there's clothes in trunks in the attic," Amy suggested.  "Like at Collinwood.  And maybe there are books about the family-pictures we can look at."</div> <div> Quentin gave her a look of admiration.  "You're amazing!" he exclaimed.  He felt a new surge of energy.  "Chris, you and I will go through any trunks of clothes upstairs.  Everyone else look around and find some photo albums or family journals."</div> <div> "Wait-won't this be about the family that lives here?"  Chris wondered</div> <div> "Yes, but it doesn't matter.  The clothes will be the same and some of the family members will be the same, too."</div> <div> Now that they had a sense of purpose, everyone began to move with enthusiasm.  Loomis House was completely different from the Old House.  The whole house had been modernized and refurbished.  None of the rooms had been preserved-not like Barnabas had preserved Josette's room.  "Whoever lived here sure liked music," Chris observed as they looked in a study upstairs.  There was an up to date stereo system in here with record albums everywhere.  Quentin remembered Barnabas telling him that there was no parallel Barnabas here; that he had died in 1820 or something.  <I>So who lived here?</I> He wondered.</div> <div> The stairs leading to the attic was in the same place, and that was where Chris and Quentin found trunks with old clothes.  Most of the stuff had belonged to women; Quentin wasn't too surprised at this but he was hoping to find something that he could wear.  As they searched, Katie, Beth, and Amy joined them, armed with photo albums and journals.  "This'll help you look," Amy said, holding up and old book.  </div> <div> Quentin stopped what he was doing to look.  "Well, I'll be damned!" he exclaimed.  The Collins family apparently had been quite taken with the new fangled photography introduced in 1839.  These were not the tin daguerreotypes he'd seen on occasion.  These were very early calotypes, which used negatives, and probably cost a fortune.  There was a photograph of each member of the family.  </div> <div> Beth looked over his shoulder.  Quietly, she pointed to a young man.  "There you are," she said.  "I can't believe it.  You almost look like you could be twins."</div> <div> Quentin studied the picture carefully.  So…there had been a Quentin Collins in this time, too.  He wondered if all the parallel times had someone like himself.  <I>God help us,</I> he thought, amused.  "I wonder if he was anything like my great-grandfather," he wondered aloud.  "I also wonder if anyone kept any of his clothes."</div> <div> "Daddy, here's a trunk of men's clothes," Katie said, straightening up from a box she'd been bending over.</div> <div> "Well, let's have a look," Quentin said.  They dumped the clothes out on the floor unceremoniously and began searching for clothes to match the style worn by the male members of the 1840 family.  Most of the stuff was from the 20s and 30s, Quentin noted, disappointed.  Katie, though, found a second trunk and it was in here that they finally found a full suit of clothes.  They hadn't been worn by Quentin's look-alike ancestor but by someone else in the family; Quentin hoped they'd fit decently.  He began pulling his shirt off, without stopping to think, and Katie hastily suggested that she and Amy go look for more journals.</div> <div> Beth looked at Quentin critically.  "It's a little short in the legs but it's not bad at all," she finally said, an odd gleam in her eye.  "You look quite attractive."</div> <div> Chris cleared his throat, embarrassed and Beth blushed.</div> <div> Quentin looked into Beth's eyes and smiled, taking her hand.   As she looked back at him, it felt as if time stopped for just a moment.  Chris cleared his throat again and, regretfully, the moment passed.  "Better go," Quentin said softly.</div> <div> Beth looked alarmed.  "I want to go with you, Quentin."</div> <div> Quentin took her by the arms.  "I know you do-but you can't.  Not this time.  I'll get the wands and come back."</div> <div> "Quentin-" Beth protested, tears filling her eyes.</div> <div> "When I come back with the wands, you'll come with me, I swear it," Quentin told her.  "I'll need someone to watch over me when I throw the wands."</div> <div> "That should be me," Chris objected.</div> <div> Quentin looked over at him with a furious glare and a very clear `<I>shut up!'</I> look on his face.  "Would you leave us alone a minute?" he growled.</div> <div> "Sure," Chris said and left, reluctantly.</div> <div> "Beth, it'll be all right," Quentin said softly, pulling her to him.  Beth began to cry softly.  "Don't worry.  I've got CaraLinda to help me and-" He almost said <I>the portrait</I> but realized he didn't want to say it or think about it now.  "And it'll be fine," he finished lamely.  "I'll be back before you know I'm gone."  He tilted her chin up and kissed her softly.  She moved closer to him, opening her mouth.  Surprised, he felt her beginning to explore his mouth and was immediately aroused.  He tried to stop.  "I have to go," he whispered.  If they didn't stop now, he was sure he'd throw her down and start tearing at her clothes.</div> <div> Beth stepped back reluctantly.  "Please be careful," she whispered.  "I'll go mad if I lose you again."</div> <div> "I'll never leave you again," he swore to her, taking the palm of her hand and bringing it to his lips to kiss her.  "I'll be back-I swear I will."</div> <div> He turned and started to go, still throbbing with need.  He didn't want to go.  <I>I'm doing this for Beth's sake,</I> he thought.  <I>Maybe I can find a way to save her drawing, go back and undo everything I did with Amanda.  Then everything would be all right again.</I>  "Quentin!" Beth called running to him and grabbing his hand.  "At least let me come with you as far as this staircase."</div> <div> Quentin considered.  The problem was, how much would Petofi and Nicholas be able to see if they looked into the parallel time room?  He could see, though, that he wouldn't be able to stop her and so he nodded.  Everyone walked back to the ruins of Collinwood together to search for the playroom of the West Wing, careful to avoid the area of ground where the parallel time room once was located.</div> <div> "It's really spooky that it still works, even with no room being there," Chris said, looking over at the ruins uneasily.</div> <div> "That's because it's just an opening.  The room doesn't have to be there.  It's always been there," Amy said matter-of-factly.</div> <div> <I>Weird,</I> thought Quentin.  He thought of something then.  "Amy, do you know where this staircase would be?"</div> <div> "I think so," Amy answered hesitantly.  "I feel something.  It's sort of pulling."</div> <div> "Show us," Quentin urged.  </div> <div> Amy walked without hesitation to the outdoor entrance to the west wing.  The fire damage wasn't as great here.  The hottest part of the fire had totally decimated the main wing and the east wing; this wing was still standing.  "I'm not sure all of us should go in there," Chris said cautiously.  "I just don't know how safe that structure is."</div> <div> The little violet light appeared again, dancing before them.  "You will be all right here," CaraLinda spoke softly.  With her reassurance, they nervously went into the west wing and followed Amy to the playroom.  It looked familiar to Quentin-in the other time, he remembered following an enraged Barnabas along the hallway to find a closet-not a staircase.  </div> <div> Amy stopped before the door.  She opened the door and the two men turned their flashlights toward the interior of the room-it was a playroom.  At the far wall of the playroom was the staircase.  "It's here," Amy said quietly.  She began to go in, but Chris yanked her back quickly. </div> <div> Quentin turned toward them.  "Go back to the Old House.  I'll come there when I've gotten the wands.  If anyone comes-hide."  He looked at Chris, silently charging him with the care of the others.  All things were not yet quite equal, and he was very worried about leaving Beth and Katie here.  He turned toward them now to say goodbye.  <I>Well, not goodbye-I'll be back,</I> he thought, determined.  Beth clung to him, and he hugged her hard.  "I swore I'd be back, and I will," he told her, finally managing to disentangle himself.</div> <div> He shut the door behind himself and moved toward the staircase, taking a deep breath.</div> <div> "Concentrate, Quentin," he heard CaraLinda whisper.  "The staircase will take you where you need to go.  See it in your mind before you set foot on it."</div> <div> "All right," Quentin answered, grateful for the spirit's presence.  "Will you follow me, CaraLinda?"</div> <div> CaraLinda laughed then, and there was the old familiar musical sound to it.  "There is no need for me to follow, pretty one.  I am every where now and every time.  I will be with you."</div> <div> He almost stopped to ask: What's<I> it like?</I>  He felt very curious about that.  Maybe there would be time later to ask-and if he failed, he might learn for himself what it was like.  <I>Concentrate,</I> he told himself sternly.  He imagined Collinwood, whole, the way he remembered it.  He was tempted to remember images of his brothers and sister but stopped himself in time.  Instead, he imagined the members of the family he'd seen.  He said the names in his mind:   <I>Quentin, Daphne, Gabriel, Edith, Tad, Desmond, Leticia, Flora…</I>He held the image of his great-grandfather in his mind and repeated the year, 1840, several times to himself.  </div> <div> Ready, he set foot on the staircase.  "What do I do now, CaraLinda?"</div> <div> "Whatcha think, pretty one?  <I>Go downstairs!"</I></div> <div> Quentin took a tentative step down.  Nothing happened.  It was dark, but he set the flashlight down.  There weren't any such things in 1840.  He took another step down and then grasped the stair rail, noticing the intricate carvings in the wood.  As he took hold of the rail, he began to hear voices and to see vague images.  He felt a little dizzy, steadied himself, and then began to descend.  He shut out the sounds of the voices and the images, realizing that he was probably hearing and seeing people from the past.</div> <div> Just as he was wondering how he'd know when to stop, the staircase ended before a door.  His hand reached for the knob and then he hesitated.  "Open the door," CaraLinda whispered.  "It's all right.  This <I>is</I> the right place."</div> <div> He took a deep breath and reached for the door again.  He opened the door and stepped into what he thought was the playroom.  It was dark in here; darker than night because the heavy drapes over the windows had been pulled shut.  He tried to move cautiously without bumping anything.  He didn't want anyone to hear him.  "Quentin, leave this room quickly," CaraLinda advised urgently.</div> <div> "I'm trying!" Quentin growled through gritted teeth, gripping and stumbling against…a bed?  He felt confused.  He righted himself, stretching his hands out and feeling his way toward the door.  <I>Einstein was right,</I> he thought.  In the darkness, the few feet he covered before he got to the door felt like miles.  He was sweating profusely by the time he got the door opened and stepped into the hallway.  He closed the door behind him.  The hall was very dimly lit.  There was one candelabrum on a table at the end of the hall, and he moved toward the light.  He needed to get his bearings.</div> <div> "You need to get to that room," CaraLinda reminded him.  "Hurry!"</div> <div> "I'm trying!" he snapped.  "You could help more, you know!  I don't know where I am!"</div> <div> "You're in Collinwood, silly," a voice said near his elbow, and he literally leaped, startled almost senseless.  It was a woman's voice and she moved close to him now.  "Quentin, what were you doing in that room?  You know we are never to go into that room!"  Her voice sounded mildly reproachful.  "Aunt Julia will be dreadfully angry if she finds out."</div> <div> <I>Aunt Julia?</I> He thought dumbly, trying to make her out.  She was much shorter than he was, with thick blonde hair that gleamed even in this dim light.  She reminded him of Carolyn…but it couldn't be her.  He cleared his throat, trying to speak.</div> <div> "You've been naughty, Quentin, but I won't tell on you," she said and giggled.</div> <div> "I haven't," he finally managed to say, wondering how the hell he was going to get out of this.</div> <div> "Oh, but you were in the room, and we must never go in there," she scolded.  "You locked the door, didn't you?"</div> <div> "I-I forgot," he stuttered.</div> <div> She gasped.  "Then anyone could get in-or out!  How could you be so careless!  Maybe I'd better tell!"  She moved away from him toward the door he'd just come out of, and he followed her.  She turned the knob and when the door didn't move, she looked at him.  "You must have locked it.  The door is locked."</div> <div> "It is?" he asked, dismayed.  He pushed her aside to try the knob himself.  Sure enough, the door was securely locked.  <I>Damn!</I> He thought, spinning around, feeling frightened when he saw that the violet glow was gone.  <I>Now what am I going to do?</I></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="id132.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="23: Reunion in Hell"><U>23:  Reunion in Hell</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cassies Writing"><U>Cassie's Writing</U></A></div> </td> </tr></table></body>