Dark are the shadows - 06/21/2020

Dark are the Shadows
Ms. Hunter Ash
ripperbard7@yahoo.com
frost29@post.com

A BTVS & Dark Shadows crossover

rating: PG13
pairings: Buffy/Quentin, Xander/Anya, Willow/Tara, Giles/Angelique, Barnabas/Roxanne, Julia/Thomas, Maggie/Joe

# ##

COLLINSPORT, MAINE

Roxanne held Barnabas' hand as they walked close to Widow's Hill.

“Tell me about you and Sebastian,” Barnabas asked. “You said you two became friends. Last time I saw him he was willing to stake you.”

“Even though everything had changed for everyone else, it didn't for us,” Roxanne said. “I have no idea how that happened. Sebastian hadn’t gotten close to Maggie Evans in the changed timeline and he wanted to get away from Collinsport. You went missing and I didn’t have many of my previous memories yet. I promised to try and change and treat him better and we left.”

“You knew I had returned, though,” Barnabas said.

“Sebastian was able to see that and, as I said, we realized you were a vampire and then he couldn’t see you any longer,” Roxanne said. “I assume that’s when you became human again. He was trying to view a vampire.”

“Go on,” Barnabas urged.

“I suddenly knew you were in danger and Sebastian saw you were dying with Julia standing over you with a stake,” Roxanne said, her voice almost a whisper. “Then she collapsed and he lost the vision. He was afraid I’d come running to you but I knew you’d have Julia.”

“We didn’t know if you were still a vampire or if you even existed since Roxanne in 1895 died,” Barnabas said.

“Which is why I stayed away,” Roxanne said. “You were with Julia and I only had fragments of memories that didn’t make sense.”

“But now we’re together,” Barnabas said and kissed her, pulling her close.

Then the vampire wasn’t sure what was happening as someone grabbed him and spun him away from Roxanne. Barnabas grabbed at anything he could as he felt himself going over the edge of the cliff, right where Josette had pulled away from him to crash below on the rocks.

He heard Roxanne scream and struggled to hold onto the rocks of the cliff face. The vampire was barely hanging on and his hands didn’t have the strength to pull himself up.

“Roxanne!” he yelled. Barnabas’ eyes widened when he looked up and saw Tom Jennings looking down at him, his fangs reflecting in the half moon light.

“Sorry, old man,” Tom called down to Barnabas. “She’s making the acquaintance of a friend of yours. I don’t think she’ll enjoy it though. Have fun on your trip down. Maybe the rocks will rip your head off or a rib will pierce your heart and finally finish you.”

“I’ll stake you on the front lawn of Collinwood!” Barnabas threatened.

Barnabas heard a woman scream and saw Tom turn away from the edge of the cliff.

The vampire flinched at the sound of a shotgun blast. “Roxanne!”

# # # #

SUNNYDALE, CALIFORNIA

Buffy sighed as she laid her head on Quentin’s shoulder. He had been asleep for over an hour after taking two pain pills. She glanced over at her sleeping mother and bit her lip. The doctor had dropped in and had asked to talk with the family the next morning.

That had Buffy worried.

# # #

COLLINSPORT, MAINE

“Roxanne!” Barnabas yelled and blinked when an unexpected figure looked down at him.

In a moment, Alex Thornton Jr laid down on the ground and extended his hand towards Barnabas. “Grab my hand!”

“I can’t!” Barnabas yelled. “My hands!”

“Hang on, I’ll be right back.”

// Julia! Beware, vampire Tom Jennings is on the grounds! //

// Barnabas?! What’s happened? Where are you? // Julia’s voice demanded.

// You wouldn’t believe it if I told you. I’ll connect again in a bit. //

“Barnabas!”

“Carolyn!” Barnabas called.

“Oh my God, Roxanne?”

“Carolyn, what’s happening? Help me!”

Carolyn and Thornton were at the edge of the cliff in a moment.

“I’ve got a rope,” Thornton called. “Can you tie off?”

“No and I don’t know if I can grip it,” Barnabas called. “What’s happened to Roxanne?”

“Worry about that when you get up here,” Carolyn suggested. “I’m coming down.”

“What?” Barnabas exclaimed. “You can’t!”

“I can’t hold Thornton on the rope or haul both of you up,” Carolyn said. “I’m coming down and tie the rope around you.”

“That’s insane!”

“So is letting you fall!” Carolyn argued.

The vampire winced when she leaned over the edge and began to work her way down to him with the rope tied around and under her shoulders.

Barnabas was trembling with exhaustion by the time she reached him.

“Don’t move,” Carolyn said. “Good thing I go to the gym 5 days a week! I’m going to tie the rope around you and he’ll pull you up and then me. I'm going to pull the rope over my head carefully and drop it over yours. Let go of one hand and drop the rope under at least one shoulder.”

“Carolyn, this is incredibly dangerous,” Barnabas protested.

The middle-aged woman pulled the rope from over her head and managed to work it over Barnabas. “My feet are firm and so is my grip. Just get up there. Pull him up!”

Barnabas tried to gain footholds as he was slowly pulled up, anything to help Thornton get him up. He had to reach the hill so Carolyn could be saved.

// Julia! Widow’s Hill! Quickly! With a rope! //

“Hold on, give me a moment,” Thornton called.

Barnabas reached out and grasped a rock tightly.

// On my way. What’s happening? //

// I’ll explain in a few minutes. Hurry! // Barnabas sent to his wife.

Barnabas tried to look down to see if Carolyn was holding out but couldn’t at the angle he was. The vampire sighed with relief as a 2^nd rope snaked past him and he began being pulled to the top again.

He collapsed on the ground with his cane pinned painfully under him but he couldn’t move. He glanced up and saw Julia and Thornton Jr pulling on a rope until Carolyn was safely over the side.

Julia quickly untied the rope from around Barnabas as Carolyn untied hers.

“Roxanne,” Barnabas whispered. “What’s happened?”

Julia helped Barnabas sit up and he saw Carolyn bending over Roxanne and there was another woman that wasn’t moving.

“Help me up, please,” Barnabas asked.

When he got to his feet he could see the woman’s face and the gaping wound in her chest… and unseeing eyes.

“Cindy?”

“You know her?” Thornton asked as he picked up a shotgun.

“Yes, from California,” Barnabas said. “Carolyn?”

“She’s hurt bad, Julia can you help?” his cousin answered.

“The girl was….biting her,” Thornton said. “The guy got away.”

“Please get Roxanne to the Old House and help,” Barnabas asked. “Please.”

Julia nodded and Carolyn helped pull Roxanne over Thornton's shoulder before moving over to Barnabas, pulling an arm around her shoulder.

“What are you doing here and with a shotgun?” Carolyn asked as they started to follow Julia at a slower pace.

“I…I can’t say.”

“You will say,” Barnabas said firmly. “You saved us and I’m grateful but I do want answers.”

“When we get you inside,” Carolyn suggested.

Thornton opened the door to the Old House a few minutes later. “Hello! We’re bringing Barnabas in!”

“In here!” Thomas called.

Barnabas, Carolyn and Julia found Thomas holding a cup. He helped Julia place Roxanne on the sofa and to sit up.

“Roxanne?”

“Barnabas, sit down over there,” Julia said, motioning towards a chair. “Come on, Roxanne, drink this. What’s happened?”

“Roxanne and I were out for a walk and someone threw me off the cliff at Widow’s Hill,” Barnabas began explaining. “I managed to hang onto some rocks but couldn’t climb up. I saw…the vampire that was helping Nicholas in California and heard a shotgun blast.”

“Shotgun?” Julia asked and glanced over at Thornton. “How do you fit into this?”

“I'm the one with the shotgun,” Alex Jr answered.

“He went and got a rope but I couldn't reach up nor climb,” Barnabas continued. “Carolyn climbed down and tied the rope around me. Then you arrived with the second rope.”

“What were you doing on Collins property with a shotgun?” Carolyn demanded from Thornton.

Alex Jr leaned the shotgun against the wall and ran a hand through his hair. “I, uh, don't know how to say this.”

“Try,” Carolyn urged.

“My father thinks you all are vampires and gave me the shotgun, he said the loads were special,” Alex Jr. said quickly.

“Vampires? What on earth?” Carolyn muttered

“Why would he think us vampires?” Barnabas asked.

“My mother's maiden name is Peterson,” Junior muttered.

“Peterson? As in Tony Peterson's daughter?” Carolyn ventured.

“Tony Peterson?” Thomas asked.

“I dated him for a minute,” Carolyn said. “He was a detective and his ancestor was the Rev. Trask who was bricked up in the basement of this house after railroading Vicki into a hangman's noose in the past.”

“And who put him there?” Junior asked. “The master of the house was Barnabas Collins. Mom and Dad think that's you.”

“My ancestor had left for England before Victoria Winters was hanged. And the shotgun loads, what are they?” Barnabas asked.

“Wooden pellets,” Junior answered. “And your girlfriend over there was being attacked by a vampire and the shotgun blast killed her. Someone you knew, right? Who’s the other vampire that escaped?”

“Other vampire?” Thomas asked.

“The one that threw me over the cliff where Josette, Jeb and others have died,” Barnabas responded. “If you believe me responsible for the death of Rev. Trask, why did you save me after coming to kill me?”

“I couldn't do it,” Junior answered. “You were being attacked by vampires.”

“I'm grateful you saved us,” Barnabas said. “Thomas, I'm afraid this may be a bit of a shock but the male vampire is your uncle, the one that disappeared after being preyed on by a vampire in the 1970s. I recognized him from his photo.”

“Uncle Tom?” Thomas said softly.

“I'm afraid so,” Barnabas said. “I don't understand why he didn't come here to see or turn you.... both of you.”

Julia frowned. Tom Jennings had preyed on her even when it hadn't been safe and Barnabas had said Tom had remained fixated on her after being returned from the dead. He should have made an attempt on her....

“Amy,” Julia said softly as Roxanne began drinking from the mug.

“Mom?” Thomas asked.

“Who?” Thornton asked.

“Thomas Jennings, Amy is his sister,” Julia said. “Barnabas, will you be all right?”

“Yes, go,” Barnabas urged. “Carolyn, a cross or fire will drive him off.”

“On it,” Carolyn promised. “Alex, come on and bring your shotgun. Tom may be out to kill and turn his sister.”

“You all know about vampires but you aren't vampires?” Alex demanded.

“Worry about that later, help Carolyn!” Barnabas snapped.

The three dashed out of the door and Barnabas moved to sit next to Roxanne as her head fell back and Thomas went to warm more blood.

“Roxanne?” Barnabas whispered and touched her cheek gently. “Roxanne?”

He glanced at his hands and frowned. He had scraped them up badly by grabbing for the rocks as he had fallen. “Damn.”

“Barnabas?” Thomas asked as he returned with another mug.

“My hands,” Barnabas admitted. “She was attacked by Cindy, the bartender I was seeing in California. I'm not the one that turned her.”

“My uncle Tom?” Thomas asked as he lifted Roxanne's head and encouraged her to drink more of the blood.

“I believe so,” Barnabas said. “At the behest of Nicholas Blair, of course. Your uncle helped Blair brick me up in a wall after injuring me.”

“Great,” Thomas muttered. “You should have told me.”

“We were hoping we would stake him and you'd never need to know,” Barnabas said. “We never dreamed he'd come all the way to Maine.”

“And now Mom is in danger and you and Roxanne were almost killed,” Thomas pointed out.

“Yes,” Barnabas agreed.

# # #

Carolyn slowly pushed the partly open door to Collinwood further open and looked inside. She motioned Julia ahead of her.

A scream caused all three to rush into the parlor.

Amy and Dawn were in a corner of the room and Amy was holding out a large cross as her brother the vampire tried to reach them without getting near the cross.

“Jennings!” Julia yelled.

The vampire turned with a snarl and started for the windows.

“Alex! Stop him!” Carolyn yelled.

The young man stepped around Carolyn and raised the shotgun.

Tom Jennings hit the window sill and sank to the floor and stopped moving as everyone flinched from the shotgun blast explosion.

“What the hell is going on?” Junior demanded.

“He was a vampire and you saved four people,” Julia said calmly as Carolyn tried to calm Amy down. “Carolyn, I need to get back to Barnabas and Roxanne.”

“Go, we'll be fine here,” Carolyn responded.

“Keep Junior here,” Julia urged. “We need to figure out what exactly is going to happen from this point on.”

“Keep me here? Why?”

“Mr. Thornton, you shot two people to death tonight,” Julia said. “I'm not sure if an autopsy would prove that they were vampires. Your shotgun, your shells, and two dead bodies. Given your recent troubles with the law and the fact that you were stalking Barnabas with that shotgun, well, you can see how all of that might be hard to explain. You saved Barnabas, Roxanne, Dawn, and Amy so we're inclined to protect you. Don't do something stupid and run home to your father or the police.”

“Okay, I'll stay here.”

“Good idea,” Julia said. “I'll be back.”

# # # #

SUNNYDALE, CALIFORNIA

“You okay, honey?” Joyce asked as Buffy brought in a full pitcher of ice water.

“Yeah, I will be,” Buffy said with a weary smile. “It was just really, really scary. Glory has this ability to strip people of their sanity. Giles thinks that being trapped in a human body doesn’t work for her and her sanity breaks down so she needs a boost.”

“She steals other people’s sanity?” Joyce asked. “That’s really far fetched.”

“Yeah but its true,” Buffy said. “We saw her try it with Quentin. He survived with his brains intact and Giles’ mind is going a thousand miles an hour trying to theorize why.”

“Oh, I can picture that!” Joyce said. “Where is Quentin?”

“Getting some coffee,” Buffy said. “Glory is looking for anyone new among us. That should keep Dawnie safe for awhile.”

“Good,” Joyce said and touched the bandage around her head. “Let’s hope she can stay in Maine for awhile.”

“I hope so,” Buffy agreed.

Neither of them mentioned the meeting with the doctor the next day.

## # # #

COLLINSPORT, MAINE

Barnabas winced as Thomas bandaged his hands. “I’m getting really weary of being hurt over the last month.”

He glanced at Roxanne sleeping with her head on his shoulder.

“They nearly drained her,” Barnabas said softly.

“What were they trying for?” Thomas asked.

“For me to be shattered on the rocks below and killed,” Barnabas said. “Or broken so much as not to escape the morning sun and to leave Roxanne above the cliff, drained and unable to move.”

“Both to die in the sun,” Thomas commented. “Someone’s coming. Stay there.”

The young werewolf pulled a pistol out of a desk drawer and clicked the safety off.

Barnabas heard the door opening and only relaxed when Julia walked in with Thomas. “What happened?”

“Tom was attempting to attack Amy and Dawn, Amy held him off with a cross,” Julia explained. “Thornton shot and killed him. We need to decide how to deal with this.”

“The problem is how,” Barnabas said. “Have him bury Tom and Cindy in the woods. Beyond that... he strongly suspects that you and I and possibly others are vampires and we can't prove otherwise.”

“And his father has a lot of money to keep pressing the attacks and investigating both of you,” Thomas added.

Barnabas frowned as he held his hands close to his chest.

“We'll have him bury Tom and Cindy in the woods along with his shotgun,” Julia suggested.

“Why not leave them for the morning sun, that'll eliminate any trace of both of them,” Thomas suggested.

“That's why we need to bury them along with the shotgun,” Julia said.

“Why?” Barnabas asked.

“Because the bodies are connected to that shotgun, a shotgun with his fingerprints on it along with his fingerprints on the shells,” Julia said. “If he or his father want to continue this then those bodies could be dug up.”

“Then I suggest we blindfold him when we take him and the bodies into the woods,” Barnabas said. “The moment we turn our backs his father will dig up the bodies and dispose of them and the shotgun and we're back in danger. You, Tom and Carolyn get the bodies into the woods and then take him out there and make him help with the digging and wrap the weapon in plastic.”

“While you stay here?” Thomas asked.

“No, I'm going to pay a visit on Thornton Sr,” Barnabas said with a frown.

“Wait until I can drive you,” Julia insisted.

“All right,” Barnabas said after a moment and leaned his head onto Roxanne's.

“Come on, Tommy, it's going to be a long night,” Julia said.

“Roxanne and I will be in the hidden room here,” Barnabas said. “Not only may Thornton follow up with his son's progress but I would wager that Nicholas is hovering around in the shadows somewhere.”

“Good idea,” Julia said. “Come on, Tommy, let's put her in Barnabas' coffin in there, Barnabas can sit in the chair next to the open coffin.”

“Thank you, Julia,” Barnabas said softly.

# # # #