I am a vampire, madam.

Welcome, future dwellers of Collinsport and beyond. My name is Barnabas Collins. Two centuries ago, I made Collinwood my home until a jealous witch cursed me, condemning me to the shadows, for all time. ((RP account for Barnabas Collins from Tim Burton's Dark Shadows.))

[stuff-i-dug-up]

[roseromancebooks]

bella heathcote as maggie evans, darkshadows (2012)

♡ please, like or reblog if you use/save.

[thehaunteddavid]

Dark Shadows #1 art by The_Haunted_David (September 2013)

[josettedupres-rp]

A Lifetime of Waiting, Over: Josette and Barnabas

[josettedupres-rp]

"My dear Barnabas, we have all made mistakes in the past. And there is no evidence that anything, you could have done, was the event of our curses." She said assuredly, but feared she was about to be proven wrong. Either there was something Barnabas had never told her or he was just guilty because he was unable to reach her in time.

Josette took her eyes of his as she thought about the night she died. Everything was still a mystery to her. How would she explain it to Barnabas? One thing she was certain of, Angelique was a witch and was the one who cursed her, out of jealousy, no doubt.

"I remember being in my room. And the next thing I remember, I was at the bottom of Widows’ Hill. I only came to realize I was dead until after I went back to Collinwood." She returned her stare to Barnabas, but in her eyes was fear instead of sweetness. "I must have been there for days before my spirit awakened, because when I returned you were gone. I heard the town’s people say that you were a vampire and that you needed to be destroyed. I believed everything was just a dream until Angelique began her reign over the town."

[whatanagethisis]

As the ghost gave him a long awaited explanation, Barnabas could only stare at her in disbelief. There was nothing he could do throughout the two centuries he spent in the coffin but think. He tortured himself with thoughts of Josette. He always wondered if she understood why she leapt to her death that night so many years ago and if she was angry with him for what happened. He finally had an answer.

It was unfair to keep her in the dark. He needed to come clean about Angelique, but he feared that she would be furious with him. What if she disappeared? How would he able to contact her again? Perhaps he could delay certain parts of the truth for just a bit longer.

"Yes, I was locked in that box just days after your death. She cursed me to become a horrid monster and the townspeople feared me, but they put their trust in her. She was a chambermaid! It was my family who built the town. It is I who has the surname Collins." He paused as he realized that he was beginning to rant about the past. "I wished that I had died alongside you rather than be condemned to live in this monstrous state, but it seems that you too are forced to remain in Collinsport, even in death."

[myquarreliswithallofyou]

Manipulation in It's Finest

[myquarreliswithallofyou]

As Barnabas attempted to hypnotize the man, like she thought he would, she remembered to keep entirely in character and find his actions extremely peculiar. But really, it wasn’t that hard for her, she had never actually seen anyone hypnotize another person before. Especially in the way Barnabas did. He looked like he was acting out a scene from a play.

When he looked to her she had her face twisted as if she had never seen anyone do something as odd as what she had just witnessed. She then raised her eyebrows and turned to Matthew. 

"Yes, well I believe everything is in order here." 

"I’ll be next door if you need me."

[whatanagethisis]

As Angelique had expected, the inspection was not going well. Barnabas had absolutely no time to prepare the cannery. Plenty of the rules regarding employee safety and the cleanliness standards of the equipment used actually were being followed, but there was the big issue of his victim's bodies being hidden away upstairs.

Although he did not want to admit it right away, he knew that he would have to ask for Angelique's help. It would be embarrassing to resort to that, but he did not have many options. He could try to kill the man, but a missing government worker would be sure to send the police snooping around and that would put him in an even worse situation.

Within half an hour, Barnabas approached Angelique. He was not going to beg or plead, but if he wanted her help, he would at least have to be polite about it.

"Angelique... Would you kindly send Sir Matthew on his way?" His tone of voice sounded much less friendly than he had intended and he could not help but add bitterly, "This is not an appropriate time for your games."

[fuckyeahchloemoretz]

Must be the season of the witch.

[whatanagethisis]

((It has been a busy weekend. Replies will be posted tomorrow!))

[myquarreliswithallofyou]

Manipulation in It's Finest

[myquarreliswithallofyou]

Angelique’s eyes darkened as he spoke so coldly. She tilted her head back, reminding herself not to get too worked up over his harsh statement. If he didn’t ask for her help, she knew that he and Elizabeth would end up on their way to jail, leaving the company and the rest of the Collins family even more bankrupt and dysfunctional they were now. Upon that thought, she locked eyes with him once again.

“So brave”, the beautiful woman mocked, “Bravery is by far the kindest word for stupidity, wouldn’t you agree?” At least in this situation it was, he just didn’t know it yet. Once he would realize that he couldn’t hypnotize the inspection agent, he wouldn’t be so overconfident.

“When you overcome this petty notion of pride, you’ll realize just how much you really need me.” She stopped speaking just before the man opened the door to the office, delightfully giving her the last word in their conversation.

“Matthew.” Angelique swooned, shaking hands with the man.

“Great to see you again.” She smirked, turning around to face Elizabeth, introducing the two. After Matthew began conversing with her, Angelique took a few steps away from them; and as if she was encouraging Barnabas to take advantage of him, she winked. 

[whatanagethisis]

Barnabas waited for his introduction to follow Elizabeth's, but when Angelique stepped away, he took the initiative to introduce himself. After all, he wanted to make a good first impression.

"Good day, sir. My name is Barnabas Collins," he declared, reaching out to shake Matthew's hand. He seemed a bit taken aback by Barnabas. The unusual way he looked, dressed and spoke had a tendency to make strangers in this age apprehensive of him.

With a quiet sigh, he decided to get right down to business. He raised his palm and began making hypnotic motions with his hand. "I have full confidence that you will find everything to be in peak condition. You will report to your superiors that the Collins cannery has perfectly obeyed every single one of your strict regulations."

Matthew stepped away, raising his eyebrows in both disbelief and amusement. There went his chances of making a good first impression. Obviously, Barnabas' powers had failed, but how was that possible? He automatically looked to Angelique, very confused. She must have used witchcraft to somehow dull the effectiveness of his hypnotism. He should have suspected that she would do something like that. Of course, she would not make this easy for him.

"I simply mean... You may... Go on with your work," Barnabas added, awkwardly waving Matthew away with the hand he had raised.

[myquarreliswithallofyou]

[thunderflcwer-moved]

"There is no way out."

                     ”There has to be a way out! We-We can’t stay in here!” Bri banged on the walls, grasping at the bricks desperately in case there was some hidden lever. There wasn’t. Not that she could tell. The brunette began to cry softly, slowly sliding down the wall.                      ”Barnabas,… We’re t r a p p e d. What’re we gonna do?” 

[thunderflcwer-moved]

She held her head in her hands, sobbing quietly. She didn’t know what to do. Bri had a family. She had people she loved, people she wished to see. And, she was immortal, so they could be stuck for years and nobody would know. And her loved ones would grow old and die. 

And she never would. “Barnabas, I’m so scared.” Her tiny form trembled, tears streaking her cheeks. She was more than scared. She was utterly terrified, unsure of what else they could do now. Bri looked up at him, her brows furrowed. 

[whatanagethisis]

He stared up at the wall, frowning. It was horrible that he was trapped yet again, for the third time, but he tried to be somewhat hopeful that they would think of way to escape. He turned to look at her with pity, understanding how she must be feeling.

"Do not be upset. I promise that one day we shall escape. Perhaps in only a few, short decades…" After two centuries spent in complete solitude and darkness, a few decades seemed like it could pass rather quickly, especially since this time he would have company. However, he hardly realized that it might not seem so optimistic to her.

[cousinbarnabas]

[myquarreliswithallofyou]

Manipulation in It's Finest

[myquarreliswithallofyou]

Despite greatly enjoying his frustration, she made herself appear mildly offended at his statement. 

"I’m sorry Mr. Collins, but I’m here to simply inform you on the town council’s decision. Besides, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem; a quaint, family run business like your own should be free of many legal violations." She paused before she chuckled,

"It’s not like your hiding any dead bodies upstairs." 

Angelique knew that her statement was a bit dangerous, and very cocky since she did, in fact, know that there really were numerous corpses in the upstairs, put there by the very man in front of her. The only reason she felt confident enough to possibly endanger her plan was that she could see the exterior doors being opened by the inspections officer on his way inside the building. But she wasn’t about to ruin the moment by pointing it out. There was no way Barnabas could do anything about them now, anyway.

Liz was carefully reading over the paperwork, so Angelique saw a window of opportunity for leverage. The witch walked over to Barnabas and faced opposite him before she whispered huskily, very close to his ear,

"However, if such a predicament did arise, and you needed my assistance, I would be delighted to help." 

[whatanagethisis]

His eyes got very wide at the mention of the whereabouts of the dead bodies. He did not know where she had gotten such information from, but he would not be surprised if she had ordered someone to spy on him and his family.

Her whispering distracted him enough that he did not even notice that the inspections officer had already arrived and by the time she had finished speaking, the irritated expression returned to his face. The cannery business was his family's only source of income and if this game of hers destroyed it, how would he be able to support them? It seemed that Angelique was the only one who could get him out of this, but he was not ready to sink so low. Not yet, anyway. He was still counting on being able to hypnotize the government worker who would be doing the inspection.

"I will not be requiring help from the likes of you, Angelique, I assure you," he said bitterly. "If there is absolutely no way to postpone this to a later date, I am confident that the inspector shall find everything to be in order, as it should be."

[cainmarked-blog]

LET ME APOLOGISE IN ADVANCE because my one-liners inevitably become multi-para and i honestly never expect anyone to match length okay because i word vomit like 24/7

[josettedupres-rp]

A Lifetime of Waiting, Over: Josette and Barnabas

[josettedupres-rp]

Josette fought the urge to flinch as Barnabas reached out to her. It was not as if she feared him or did not want to be held by him but, Josette knew what would happen if he tried and did not want to have to see the disappointment on his face after no avail. But, of course, he went right through her and they would both have to accept that it will always be that way.

"What ever are you sorry for, my love?" She asked, placing her hands on his either side of his face. "It is not your doing that I am like this."

[whatanagethisis]

He glanced down momentarily, as he wondered about just how much Josette knew about her death and what caused it. She must of figured out that she had been put into some sort of trance when she leaped off Widow's Hill, but did she know who cursed her and did she know why? Did she know about his relationship with Angelique that he kept hidden from her centuries ago? Barnabas had spent much of the past two centuries pondering these questions. This was his chance to ask, but he was afraid that it would upset her and she would disappear.

"My sweet Josette, you should not be so certain of me. There have been... Mistakes that I made in the past... That I am deeply ashamed of," he said delicately, having some difficulty explaining. "What do you know of the night you passed on?"

[heartpinned]

4/  dark shadows caps

[gretelthewitchhunter]

whatanagethisis needs a witch hunter

"What do you want?" the witch huntress asked, taking another sip of ale, looking up at the person who stood in front of her.

[whatanagethisis]

"I was searching for someone. He is a drunkard, but he is a loyal servant nonetheless. I suspected that he may be here," Barnabas explained.

"But, I suppose I was incorrect." He gave the young lady a polite smile and he held his hand out. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss. I am Barnabas Collins."

[myquarreliswithallofyou]

Manipulation in It's Finest

[myquarreliswithallofyou]

The blonde woman smiled and greeted Elizabeth, sliding a file of documents in front of her and then glancing over her shoulder at a very agitated Barnabas Collins.

"It had been brought to the attention of the town council that given recent renovations of your company, a government mandated inspection must be issued to ensure safety and proper working conditions. All new and existing facilities, boats, workers, tax filings and legal paperwork will be reviewed and inspected by a government worker, who will determine if you have met all of the said requirements."

She handed Liz the list of various codes and regulations and forced herself not to let a sardonic smile creep across her face. The words she had prepared flowed effortlessly off her tongue and she paused for a moment before adding,

"If you fail to meet these standards, the company will be shut down indefinitely, at which time you will be required to offer all of your employes severance packages until they can continue their work, re-file all necessary legal documents pertaining the company, and submit an application for a new inspections officer to re-evaluate your legal stance, who must then approve your changes. Negligence to do so will result in your incarceration and a mandated court trial for all of your corporate personnel with review by a jury.”

Angelique, who very well knew the harsh codes and regulations that food processing companies were required to follow, had a hard time forcing her self not to laugh as she knew that keeping dead bodies in the upstairs of your cannery was not, in fact, a suitable work environment.

"During the time of your inspection, all personnel will not be allowed inside the the facilities, and the inspections officer will have a warrant to go anywhere in your facilities that he or she wishes, and can demand any documents pertaining the the company, which you will be required to submit. Your inspection will take place at 1:30 p.m., October 29th."

The witch smiled calmly, betting that Barnabas was thinking that he could simply hypnotize the inspections officer and continue on with his work. But Angelique always thought ahead. She had looked up the name and phone number of the man in charge of inspecting the Collins Canning Co. and kindly offered him to come over for tea. He just didn’t know it was laced with vervain. A harmless medicinal herb to him, of course, but quite lethal and annoying for a vampire to deal with. Vervain made it impossible for Barnabas to either kill and hypnotize him. She was going to have a fun time seeing how he would work this one out, if he could. Angie glanced down at her watch, 

"Which, if you would like to know, is in six minutes." 

[whatanagethisis]

Barnabas opened his mouth, about to confidently inform Angelique that there would be absolutely no issues with the government inspection, because the cannery would pass with flying colors, of course. However, when she mentioned the date and time of the inspection, he began to panic. They had less than six minutes to prepare. This could potentially shut down the company forever and the clock was quickly ticking down the seconds until it was time.

As he glanced down at the list of regulations Angelique had given to Elizabeth, he tried to mask his shock. Things certainly had changed since his father ran the business. There were so many additional rules to follow that nobody even considered back then. Cleanliness and the safety of employees had not been top priorities.

He turned to face Angelique. Despite his increasing annoyance and anger about the situation, he wanted to seem calm. He was trying to stay professional, but it would be obvious to anyone looking at him that he was furious. His fists were clenched and his tone of voice was harsh.

"Angelique, that is completely unreasonable. We need more time. I object to this inspection!" Barnabas declared, as if it made any difference. He was used to people doing as he said and if they would not, he could simply hypnotize them against their will. However, these abilities he possessed would not work with the witch who cursed him and that frustrated him. It put him slightly at ease though that as far as he knew, he could at least hypnotize the person conducting the inspection to overlook any rule violations.