Collinsport. After the successful invasion of The Cranshaw House and their confrontation with Nicholas Blair, Nichole Collins feels it is time to make the long postponed trip to Boston in hopes of finding Richard Upton Pickman’s camera. She is not certain whether the camera is necessary now that the transmigration of souls as taken place putting Vera Endecott into the body of Natasha Snow – but Nichole is well aware that Richard Pickman is somehow still involved with the gathering necromancers and their plans for Collinsport. And so, since Samantha has possibly discovered the location of his old basement studio, she feels it should not be allowed to remain unclaimed.

The sun slowly descends into the horizon – it hits the golden mean and Nikki’s eyes open. Nikki arises and pushes the loose ivory sheet away, wondering where it had come from. At the top of the curved stairs she looked down to see Samantha Brook curled up in a chair looking at one of her old books – she was eating an apple, very engrossed in the volume. Nikki smiles and using her vampire stealth she idly descends the stairs and glides across the floor to saunter over to Samantha, “Ghorl Nigral,“ Nikki reads the crimson gothic lettering, “Sam—why are you reading that?”

“Just want to know more about—you.” She said and took a bite of her apple.

“Me?” Nikki said stepping over and her long, slender fingers reach out to remove the book from Samantha’s hand. “I can assure you, you will not find anything about . . . me within this old book.”

Samantha wipes a bit of apple from her lips, “I feel there is so much of you in all these books, more so that any of us know.”

Nikki looks at her and doesn’t say anything,

“I am right – aren’t I?”

“Care to take a trip to Boston?”

“Boston?” Samantha repeats, leaning up in her chair, “Pickman?”

“We have need of a camera.”

“Let me get my coat.”

Nikki raced the black Ferrari out of Collinsport and headed for I-95.

“Samantha,” Nikki says, shifting gears, “Dear, please, there are certain things in the house you should not read.”

“But, you read them, didn’t you?”

“Some of them,” Nikki said and let the car have it’s way with the darken highway.

Samantha sat back – she liked riding with Nikki, Nikki loved to drive fast – perhaps too fast.

“Okay – I know some of them are very, very – vile and horrible – so when did you read those.”

Nikki looked over at her, her blue eyes like sapphires in the night, “I read Honore-Balfour’s Cultes des Goules when I was ten.” Nikki does not look over at her, but keeps her eyes on the road. “Ludvig Pinn when I was twelve.”

Samantha curls up with her feet in the bucket seat, “The really big one – when did you read it?”

“The big one?” She looks over at Samantha.

“You know, the really scary one – the Necro.”

“It was in Latin and so I had to study a bit more – but I was thirteen.”

Smanatha stares at her, “That book scares the s**t out of almost everyone who says its name and you read it at thirteen?”

“I was looking for answers.”

“Answers?”

“To what happened to my father.” Nikki tells her.

“You never knew them, your mother of father?” Samantha asks.

“No – I hoped to find them in books.”

“I’m sorry.” Samanatha tells her and sighs, “Wish my father had disappeared.”

“Now, it’s my turn to be sorry.”

Silence for a few miles as Samantha sits sideways in her seat looking at Nikki, then she speaks up, “Do you think they affected you?”

Nikki’s eyes narrowed, “I am sure that they did – I mean I think it was why I ended up living so wild – and loose and partied much too hard – knowing too much of the truth about existence. And look what it got me.”

Samantha leaned forward, “You think you were turned into a Vampire because you read them?’

Nikki looks over at her, “I read them.”

“But that doesn’t mean you were turned into a vampire for that.”

“No, for what I was looking for?”

“Looking for?” Samantha asks, “Something worse?”

“In Paris the night I was attacked.” Nikki says reflective. Samantha sitting in rapt attention, having never heard her open up like this about her past, “That afternoon I met with Dean Corso, a very disreputable dealer in old books, at Madam Marceline de Chameaux’s salon. I was trying to find a copy of P’Dwahr M’Ankanon Nyarlathotep.”

“The what?” Samantha asks.

“A very terrible book Samanatha!” Nikki says, “A very, very terrible book – perhaps the worse book of them all.”

Samantha sat watching her and then settled back into her seat. Darkness filled the car and she soon found herself nodding off into sleep.

Nikki looked over at her and then back at the road.

Yes, a very terrible book.

They passed through New Hampshire into Massachusetts.

Nikki followed I-90.

Nikki reached in and took a CD from the console and slipped it into the deck, The Soundtrack to D.E.B.S. and selected, Be Like Water, Sarah Fimm.

When Samantha sat up later, and blinked to see the green highway sign pass overhead, she was listening to My Chemical Romance’s,Teenagers.

She yawned, “God, how long have I been sleeping?”

“Oh not long,” Nikki said, “Welcome to Boston.”

“Boston?” She looked out the window as the Chemical Romance were saying how they were just another cog in the murder machine.

Samantha grins watching the scenery flying by.

“I want you to know Sam this is really great work, by the way.” Nikki tells her. “I must say, I am being a bit selfish, in asking you to come along.”

Samantha smiles, “I like it. It gets me away from people calling me crazy.”

Nikki’s hand moves from the gearshift to clasp her hand.

Samantha smiles squeezing her hand.

“Strike a violent pose.” Comes from the radio.

“Sam, I don’t think you are crazy – in fact, I think somehow the trauma you experienced has left you some how between two worlds.”

Samantha looks away from the world passing them by outside her window and looks over at Nikki, “Two worlds? What do you mean?”

“I think you have some type of unique insight, you see things differently and I think you may have connections to forces beyond everyday reality – you just have not learned how to use that as yet.” Nikki tells her. “I felt it when we connected that night in the office.”

“Do you mean forces like magic? Or forces like the Elder gods?” Samantha looks confused. She turns the radio down.

“At the moment, I honestly don’t know . . . I just know that as I have discovered I have these odd mental powers and they seem to be growing in intensity and so all I can tell you is I felt you had some sensory powers of your own.”

Samantha looks at Nikki with a strange expression, “S-So if I did. How would I learn to use them correctly?’

“Well for me, it was letting myself become free to explore them vs. thinking I had to restrain them . . . so I started out slowly concentrated trying small things – like trying to send my thoughts to one person.”

Samantha nods softly listening.

They sit in silence for a few miles, “So what did you feel?”

“Just that within you there was this other worldly connection – I don’t know how to explain it any other way than that – I mean, it was like you exist in two worlds . . . I know you say you don’t believe in the supernatural – but there is inside you something very much of the supernatural.”

Samantha looks ahead through the windshield at the world illuminated by the headlights, “I just remember people from BlackJack saying that when something strong supernaturally started to get close, I would act . . . ”

Nikki looks over at her.

“Well, all . . . childish . . . and stupid and stuff.”

“Maybe that was because you didn’t quite understand it all yourself . . . yet . . . and so you try to ignore it – make fun of it as part of a defense mechanism.”

Nikki turns taking the Massachusetts Turnpike into the city.

Samantha giggles. “Maybe . . . one said instead of exorcising the ghost child I was trying to play with her on the monkey bars and stuff in a playground.”

She grips the car as it veers over into another lane passing a long-haul truck.

Nikki squeezes her hand, “I hope I haven’t made a mistake in bringing you, I don’t know if this is dangerous or not, since Pickman is supposedly dead.”

“Well I’m not scared of dead men.” Samantha says, and then turns to look at Nikki, her face very serious, “Can I ask you something?”

“Certainly,” Nikki says turning to look at Sam.

“If I start acting weird. Will you slap me.”

Nikki smiles, “What if I kiss you instead.”

Samantha smiles softly and rests a hand on Nikki’s knee.

Nikki looks over at Sam and smiles, “Okay, I think we take this exit.”

Samantha nods as the car pulls down a ramp and downshifts into a idle at a red light.

“Now you know, I don’t know where the studio is—but I know it’s in this neighborhood.” She says pointing to a map she was beginning to open.

“Right.” The light changes and Nikki pulls the Ferrari into traffic. “Now the street we are looking for is?”

“Charter Street.” Samantha tells her.

Cue music End of Episode