For Nicole Collins destiny has brought her home to Collinsport. Alone, she has found solace in a new friend, Rhyaaad de’Annar who has helped her see past the darkness of her transformation. And in so doing, Nicole is prepared to start a new life — one that begins with the acceptance of her lack of life. Now, she looks to establish herself in Collinsport, but what strange creatures are there in the tiny village other than Vampires. All too soon Nicole Collins may find out
Night. A cool fall night and Nikki, having driven down from the Old House, has parked in front of what was once the law offices of Matigan & Wiley. She loves the quaintness of the old Maine town. As she gets out of the black Ferrari she removes her purse and a small wicker basket. Amazing how quickly one can purchase real estate in Collinsport with a cash transaction – how her father accumulated her trust as much a mystery to her as his disappearance. She unlocks the door and sees that the spare furnishings have been put in place by Haskell movers. She looks around and then proceeds to the office she has decided on for herself.
The old desk she had brought down from the Old House sits ponderously in the room. She sets the basket down on the desk. The old chair, one of three, the fourth missing, hard backed wood were old a decade ago. She sits down, and opens a lower drawer. From the wicket basket she takes a pair of wine glasses out and a small decanter. Antique and of cut crystal, the decanter is filled with a thick red liquid. Nikki pours some into one of the wine glasses and carefully places the top of the decanter back on. She places the other glass and the decanter in the open drawer and closes it. As she lifts the wine glass, studies the thick red liquid within, she feels a bit awkward drinking blood in an old Law Office.
She hears the hand grasp the door latch before it turns and the door opens. She smiles, knowing it is Mr. de’Annar.
“I am back here,” Nikki says without getting up and takes another sip from her wine glass.
Rhyaad enters and stands looking at her sitting behind the huge desk, empty save for a copy of the Collinsport Star and the wine glass. He detects the heady scent, well aware of it’s contents. “So then, it is true, what I have heard.”
Nikki looks at him with a slow turn of her head, “Depends on what you have heard.”
“You have gone into business for yourself.”
“I have,” She nods, “Welcome to Collins Investigations. I am an now an official private investigator.”
Rhyaad looks at her and at the wine glass, “I am impressed.”
Nikki places her palms flat on the desk as if feeling the strength of the wood, “owe it all to you as I have decided to take your advice ”
“Yes?”
“Yes, for too long I have sat around contemplating by situation, wondering why, why was this done to me — for what purpose was I made into what I am. But mostly I have concluded I have been just sitting around being infinitely confused and feeling depressed, but, mostly weak all the time, owing to my false conception of what consuming what I must meant for me.” She motions to the wine glass of blood.
Rhyaad nods.
“And so, I have decided — with a lot of your help, of course — that I am what I make myself to be, and so I refuse to be the monster I have for so longer considered myself to be.”
Rhyaad takes a sit very pleased at what he is finally hearing from Nikki Collins, “And so, all this,” He motions to the office, “The private investigator’s license . . . you have found something to give your life purpose?”
“Yes,” Nikki confirms, “I was re-reading my father’s journals, and he wrote that when he was first turned, he found himself so filled with anger and consumed with rage that he allowed the untamed beast within him to take far too much control of his life, and that is was not until he found himself confronted with threats to the family, forming allies, investigating strange and unusual occurrences that he found acceptance, of who and what he was and finally took control of his unnatural life — and so, I am going to follow in his footsteps.”
“Nikki this is wonderful news. The first step in graining control is finding purpose.”
Rhyaad told her.
{Owing to technical difficulties a portion of our program has been temporarily lost amid the luminous ether (the Horror Story of the Mad Apple Doctor and the iMac Technician) , and so, we pick up our regularly scheduled program in progress}
Nikki takes a sip from her glass, “And so how is our dear friend Mr. Harker?”
“Medri is doing well. Already, before I arose the next evening, he was off fighting another fight. Amazing man.” Rhyaad says with a hit of admiration in his voice.
Nodding, Nikki agrees, “Well, like all of his family, Medri is driven And, I hear you are getting yourself a place here in Collinsport, is that correct?
“This is correct.” He smiles. “I shall open an establishment here. With a secret basement. It will make things easier. And you may come over for meditation sessions, if you like.” Nikki, feeling the lovely effects of the room temperature blood turns to look at him with her light blue, languid eyes, “Oh, I would love to do so.” Rhyaad smiles and settles back into his chair, “Good. I was hoping we could do that. And if you ever feel disturbed, or feel the urge to go out and hunt, tell me. We can talk, or meditate, or do something to divert your thoughts.”
‘That would be great. ” She leans back listening the creak of the chair, “My own 12 step program. You know, I don’t think I have ever told you, but I am so glad we chanced to meet that night when you and the Doctor came up from Arkham. You can not be aware of just how much you have helped me , I mean , to just have you around, to be able to ask you questions, and knowing that I am getting some straightforward and honest answers about my nature, to talk to you and understand that what I am is only a part of me, that there is still that part of me that was always me before this happened — as long as I remain in control, and then, of course, in taking your advice and accepting the Interfaith’s donations.” She indicates the wine glass beside her, ” I have found that by having a glass to sip I can control the urges so much better.”
He nods in complete agreement, “You are so right in not trying to starve yourself.”
‘Which I thought by drinking I was only fueling the beast within, rather than calming it.”
He nodded. “This is good. You will learn to suppress your urges. You will learn how to be around people, even be intimate with them, without hurting them. Eventually, some day, you will learn… ” He paused, wondering if he should say this. “You will learn to be able to drink just a little from someone like Sam, and not hurt her. IF she and you both want this, of course.”
She looks at him in silence for a long moment: “Oh, I think that is something maybe further along, but at the moment I just don’t want to do anything right now that might tempt me into losing by ability to maintain control, even though I am becoming more and more aware of the fact my new nature does give me this incredible will.”
“Finding the positive aspects of our – condition, is one of our great strengths.”
Nikki turns and almost curls up in her chair listening to him, “How long did it take you to get to that state of being, if you don’t mind my asking?”
Rhyaad, who is about to answer does not get an opportunity, as from outside in the the lobby of Collin’s Investigations, the sound of an opening door can be heard. Nikki and Rhyaad look at each other, and for a brief moment Nikki picks up her wine glass of blood and thinks about putting it away, but taking a sip decides against it.
In the huge main room of the office building, a tall platinum blonde walks in with her high heels rather loudly striking on the old flooring. She crosses the room in silence, heading toward the light in the right office on the right. She stands in the door and looks at Rhyaad and Nikki, before she strides forward and slides into the empty chair across the desk from Nikki. “So, which one of you is Collins?” Her voice, surprisingly for the platinum blonde stereotype she presents, is rather smokey.
Nikki sits back in her chair, growing accustom to and finding that she likes this power position sitting behind the heavy, ponderous desk affords, “Oh, that would be me.”
“You’re a detective?”
“The last 48 hours I have been, and you are?”
The blonde seems to be making a quick appraisal as she looks at Nikki, “I’m Natasha Snow. You may have heard of me. A friend of yours recommended you.”
“Sam.”
“Lovely name, that,” Natasha Snow says, “I bet she’s lovely all over.” And Nikki is more than aware the woman it is intentionally trying to provoke a response. Nikki does not decide to play her game: she sits and stares at her with icy blue eyes.
“Well, then you might have heard of my family — the Snows.” Natasha continues, The Ipswich Snows.”
“Ipswich — that’s on the way to Arkham?” Nikki replies, “Forgive me but I am new to Maine, myself.”
Rhyaad nods: “Yes. I have … ahem… been there.”
“Oh, I thought that might be the case,” Natasha says with a wave of her hand, “I do so love the accent — there is something so English about a British accent you know.” To Rhyaad she now holds out her hand, “Oh, and who are you, a detective also?”
“Indubitably, M’Lady,” he tells her with a slight grin. “Oh no, I am Nikki’s… counselor.” He takes her hand in his cool one. “Rhyaad de’Annar.”
Natasha lets her fingers rub slightly against his hand “Oh, that sounds so f*****g French, oh, excuse my f*****g French.” With a laugh, “So are you? French?”
He raises an eyebrow at her language. “Um… No, Miss. I am not French.”
“Oh, well, that’s okay , can’t find a Lemmy Caution everyday.” She turns a cold glaze to Nikki, “look Honey, I would like to hire a Private Detective and so, I guess that is you.”
“I see – and just what is the nature of your need, for an investigator, Miss Snow?”
“Well,” She starts crossing her legs to expose a lot of the flesh of a long leg “I am sure you have heard about the October Film Festival they are having here in Collinsport.”
Nikki takes a sip of her drink, “I read something about it in the Star.”
Rhyaad, smiling, indicates he is “Looking forward to it.”
“Well Honey, it’s like this, okay, they are doing this Film Festival here. . . they are showing these rare old films of my great-aunt, Vera Endecott. ”
“So, Vera Endecott was a member of your family.”
“AH, that’s what I just said ” great-aunt!”
Rhyaad seems to be remembering part of the newspaper article; “Ah… I seem to remember something about her… Risque, was she?”
Looking at the handsome name with the wonderful name,” Risqué, that was Vera, and only half of it, dear.”
“Your great aunt.”
“Yes, dear, as I was telling you, her real name was Lillian Margret Snow, Vera was the name took when she went into show business, her movie name, whereas, you see, she changed hers, and I kept mind.”
“Kept your’s — so are you ‘in the movies’ also?” Nikki asks.
“You might say I kept it to P**S daddy off, you know, I am an Adult Film Actress. Won Adult Video News Best Actress Award — perhaps you have seen some of my work?” And she cuts her eyes to Rhyaad.
“No, I can’t say that I have.” Nikki tells her coldly. “So, what brings you to me?”
Rhyaad grins a strange little grin. “Well… I probably would not have. Sorry, Miss.”
Natasha sighs heavily as if she is having to tell this whole G*******d story all over again, “Well, first of all I hired this law firm, Hawkins & Harker, only to find out that there is no F*****g Hawkins! I mean what is up about anyway, Lawyers, they are like forever having some guy’s name on their plaque who is like not even there, you know, or else they are like dead or something, it’s really like fraud you know, somebody ought to take their a***s to court — oh, well, hell that is another story. Anyway, I did get to talk to this lawyer and she is going to take my case.”
“Case?” Nikki asks.
“To sue that damned paper, honey, to sue that damned paper, whatever it is, the Star, or the Moon, or something or other. I mean look at that article this Ian Finch wrote about my family. Cannibals! I mean is that not going too far?”
“Ah, yes. Hawkins and Harker!” Rhyaad recalls now, “I was there. Mostly to talk to Gwen though.”
“I will admit I will have to re-read the paper,” Nikki replies, not at all certain she likes this Miss Snow, there is something about her, something beyond the acting that masques something Nikki feels to be sinister, “but so, if you are suing them what do you need me for?” Nikki leans forward.
Natasha rolls her eyes. “Because, this old bag of a lawyer . . .well, she got me to thinking you know, you see most of these films, the ones they are going to show here at the Festival, are like all the ones that disappeared when poor Vera died. And what they just F*****g happen to show up in an some estate sale of some old fart of New Jersey Projectionist? New f*****g Jersey . . . Oh give me a break.”
Rhyaad nods, “Hrm… that does sound suspicious.”
“Like just how the hell did he get them? Maybe he stole them you know, and if he did, then they are really the property of the family!”
Nikki looks at her, “Your property.”
“You’re Damn F*****g straight lady!”
Rhyaad interested now asks, “How did Vera die, again? Murdered, wasn’t she?”
“So you think these films were originally owned by Vera?” Nikki asks.
Natasha goes into her act, Nikki is more than certain of this as the platinum blonde answers Rhyaad: “Oh God that story is like so f*****g horrible. She was like found hanging from a tree in some old cemetery in Providence. I mean , she was found like 17 feet up, in the air, how did that even happen? She was tied up with these heavy ropes and with bailing wire. Her tongue, it had been cut out.” Natasha making these very dramatic gestures, “Her eyes taken out.”
“Suspicious, indeed.” Rhyaad interjects, “Do you think this projectionist, or someone in his family, might in some way be connected to the murderer?”
Natasha still on a her dramatic exposition continues, “Her mouth , her Mouth sewn up.” she leans closer toward Rhyaad, “With cat gut!”
Rhyaad nods, “Oh, eyes… that is grotesque.”
Natasha reaches out toward him, “Gutted , disemboweled.”
Rhyaad, not certain when this list will finish, “It gets worse….”
“Left there, hanging, naked for all to see.” Natasha shiver’s, “Just gives me damn nightmares to think about it.” The shivers now quickly over she continues as she looks over at Nikki, “I checked with my grandfather . . . and he says they didn’t find much of anything in her house, the police,when they searched it afterwards.”
“So you suspect that perhaps this projectionist stole her films?” Nikki reaches over for her wine glass.
“Were her films considered valuable in her own day?” Rhyaad asks, “Could someone have murdered her and then stolen them from her house? More likely this projectionist’s father, or uncle, or somebody”
She smiles at him, “Well, you do have to know Vera was freaky — she got into making all these what today we would call art house, independent films. Not very commercial — but the critics are like wowed about them now. I mean, in some of them, she was like doing stuff I would do today, only all little more not so graphic if you know what I mean. Art stuff.”
Natasha looks over at Nikki Collins, more than aware she has had little or no effect on the woman with the oddly color shifting blue eyes, “So, if you can look into this for me, I mean from what I understand, these are like the only copies of some of these films, ever, I mean like everyone thought they were just gone like poor Vera.”
Rhyaad sits back and then asks: “Hrm… is it possible she made any private films… ones not intended for public release… ones that may deal with subjects that are not tolerated even today?”
Natasha gives him a strange look, “My yes dear, in fact, one of which is one they are going to show. The Hound. Now look honey I don’t do animal flicks — each to his own — ”
Rhyaad looks at Nikki but Nikki is intent on the woman sitting before her.
“I did some checking, looked this one up.” Natasha Snow tell him, “The Hound it was never released. Biograph Studios screened it and they put it away, well the actually story is that they burned the damn thing. And so no one ever thought there was even a copy!”
“Hrm… So she did bestiality? Could the content of her films had something to do with her murder?” He sits back in his chair, the old wood responding with a creak. “Oh, Sorry. I don’t mean to be overstepping my bounds. This is Nikki’s case. Still, these are thoughts that occur to me.”
Nikki smiles, “Quite alright — very interesting point.”
Natasha looks at Nikki all acting pretense removed: “So, to just let you know, when you start looking, yeah, you’re going to find out some stuff about my family — the Snows. Much like if anyone were to look around into the Collins’. Witchcraft. Yes. The occult. Yes. Satan worship — well, what do you
“Back to Rhyaad’s point, what was the last film she made?”
“The Hound and it was incomplete.”
“But Vera, or Lillian was in Providence when she died.” Nikki points out.
“Right, about that — I checked with my grandfather — seems that Lillian got involved in some cult out in Hollywood. In the hills. Some very bad PR went down over that, seems she got arrested — there was some investigation and some suspicion regarding a woman who apparently died from some kind of a ritual, gone bad. She left California, came back home, occasionally worked on the stage for a while . . . he said he thinks she was running from something.”
Nikki’s eyes narrowed, “Interesting.”
“Hrm… well if you don’t mind me saying so . . . ” Rhyaad said in the ensuing silence, “There have for many centuries been such men as would burn at the stake, or otherwise murder, a woman who engaged in “devil worship”, not to mention sex with dogs. It sounds like she may have been murdered because of her, shall we say, outre’ habits, and her intention to depict them in film.”
“Man, the world is full of nuts and most of them have a bible — so you could be right.”. Natasha agreed.
He nods. “And there are plenty on non-Bible-toting nuts also.”
Natasha looks at Nikki, “Either of you know of an artist Richard Pickman?”
“Richard Upton Pickman?” Nikki takes another sip of her drink.
“Yeah that sounds about right — according to my grandfather this Pickman made a couple of nude sketches of her and they disappeared also. I hear those could bring a sizable hunk of change if found.”
Nikki sat looking at her, her blue eyes shifting to a shade lighter.
“So, look honey, You don’t have to like me. I just want to hire you, okay? I just want to know if those films they are going to show are mine — and if so I want them”
“All of them?” Nikki asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Or are you just looking for one?”
“I want The Hound.”
“Why just that one?”
“Didn’t know I was hiring you to know the reasons why — just to do what I want.”
Nikki leans forward, her voice soft, quiet; her eye gone arctic: “Like I said this is interesting and so I will look into it — but, just so you know — you hire me, I’m going to look into this, from every angle, including you. You don’t like that, then you can find another detective.”
Natasha Snow returns Nikki’s gaze, “Every angle?” smiling, but there is a hint of something possibly dangerous in her eyes.
He grinned slightly. “Perhaps you can recover another stash of films for her, Nikki. And we can find out what was so controversial in them that someone might have killed her over it. Unless… of course, it’s over the satan cult and has nothing to do with her films. Somehow, though, I would say there might be a connection.”
Nikki’s eyes move from Natasha to Rhyaad very feline, “I suspect it has more to do with The Hound. The fact the studio wanted it burned upon their first screening has some significance. Certainly intriguing.”
He nods. “Bestiality. Devil worship. No wonder they wanted to burn it. But there is something more.”
Cold blue eyes intensely looking back to the platinum blonde, “Okay Natasha, I’ll take the case. Are you in Ipswich? Where can I reach you.”
“I have leased the old Cranshaw House — I’m staying here in Collinsport.” Natasha informs.
“Give me a number you can be reached.”
“Ah… So will I eventually. Be staying in Collinsport, I mean.” Rhyaad’s tells her and the long legged blonde smiles. She snaps open her clutch and takes out a small piece of paper and a pen, writes a number, and hands it over to Nikki.
Natasha then looks at Rhyaad, “Well anyone with such a lovely name is always welcome to come and see me, Mr. de’Annar”
He smiles and gives her that odd little bow of the head. “Perhaps I shall. And I can even do a good British accent for you if you wish, M’Lady.”
Nikki’s blue eyes turn a brighter shade* “One think Natasha — I don’t like surprises, so you had better be telling me everything you know.
“Oh, you can talk British to me all night long you handsome devil.” And to Nikki, she cuts her eyes,”I am sure you are full of surprises. just remember who works for who and we will be find — but, just to ease your mind, certainly I am telling you everything I know.”
“Then ye better abide by what the nice Lady, what shall be your sleuth, does advise, M’Lady.” Rhyaad’s says affecting a British accent.
“Now, if you will excuse me, I have to see my lawyer about my suit against the paper. Cannibals! How can they get off calling my family cannibals.”
Natasha, rises, smiles at Rhyaad, and makes her exit from the office.
“I don’t recall that… Have to read it again… that’s a horrible accusation.”
Cue Music End Of Episode