Episode 8:
Slideshow
Jean
Paul is in a small room with a recorder and surveillance
cameras, he can monitor the crypt and the rest of the
mansion. On a reel-to-reel recorder Jean Paul speaks. "My darling Erica, until
the day comes when I can talk to you in person once again. I will record these
tapes as our journal of events. Without you my darling, the loneliness is
unbearable. But my will to go on is strengthened by the hope that some day you
will be back in my arms again. Your sister Alison seems to doubt the
practicality of the cryonics procedure. But I assure you..." Jean Paul notices
Alison standing touching Erica's capsule.
"Erica my darling, Jean Paul is determined to give you a life beyond the
one that God has claimed. Please help me to convince him it's impossible."
Alison says. Jean Paul listens to
Alison on the monitor. He turns off the monitor with a show of anger. Alison leaves the crypt, goes to the
Great Hall to the fireplace. Shivering she reaches for the matches to light a
fire. Jean Paul walks down the
staircase from his bedroom. "Alison you're up early." "I've forgotten what it is to sleep.
Jean Paul when can I leave the Island?"
Jean Paul volunteers to light the fire for Alison. He tells her she can't
get across the channel, the winds are still blowing. Also Quito is still on the
Mainland. "Raxl told me all about
Quito." "Oh." Jean Paul says. "The reason for his sudden trip." Alison
replies. "Quito goes frequently to
the Mainland every day for mail and supplies." "Yes but today he had an extra load."
Alison says. Jean Paul blows out
the match, stands and steps away from the fireplace. "I know all about Dr. Menkin. Jean Paul,
you and I have got to have a talk."
"Very well, if you would care to sit down." Alison decides to stand. Looking down at
Jean Paul she says. "Now. How did Dr Menkin die?" "There will be an autopsy, then we will
know for sure. It seems he fell on his way to the dock." "Raxl said he was pushed." Alison tells
him. "She wasn't there, I was. Dr.
Menkin was anxious to leave." "No
more than I am." Alison replies.
"The way to the dock is steep and dangerous and with someone unfamiliar
with it, it is especially so. I started after the doctor but I was to late. He
plunged head first. By the time I reached him, he was dead. I think he felt
guilty about Erica's death. "Why
should he feel guilty?" Alison asks.
Rising Jean Paul stands next to Alison looking at her. "You're a doctor,
could he have saved her?" "Eclapsia
is very quick and very unpredictable. I’m sure he did everything he could to
save her. It's God will that she died." Alison tells him. "Only Erica is not dead." Jean Paul
tells her. Alison walks away from
Jean Paul shaking her head. "I don't know if it's you that has changed this much
or this house, this Island. I can't seem to control myself and cope. And I'm
frightened. I've got to get away!" Alison cries. "Frightened? Of what?" "My sister is in a cryonics capsule and
her husband is trying to keep her alive. And Raxl is trying to convince me you
are possessed by an evil spirit."
"You don't take that tale of Jacques Eloi Des Mondes seriously?" Jean
Paul asks. Alison walks to Jacques
portrait staring at it. "Or do
you?" Alison looks back at Jean
Paul. "He's amazingly like you. And you are so different from yourself." Jean Paul stands in front of Alison.
"With Erica only temporarily gone, I just don't always have command of
myself." "That's what frightens me.
Raxl is convinced an evil spirit has command of you." Alison tells
him.
Back
on the Mainland in the cafe Dan runs into Vangie who is standing next to an
arch. "Missed your plane Dan?" "It
hasn't taken off yet, it can't." He tells her the weather has closed the
airport. "How about my local
magic?" Vangie asks. "Levitation."
Dan jokes. "Libation." Vangie tells
him. Dan joins Vangie at the bar and orders a sherry. He asks her if she has
ever left the Islands. "I went away
for collage. I had five years of it. I majored in parapsychology." "It sounds tougher than law." Dan
says. "But more interesting." She
asks him why he is interested in her life history. "You should be able to figure it out for
yourself." Dan tells her. "I can't
read your mind Care to tell me."
"Right now I am looking for some answers." "About Jean Paul Desmond no doubt."
Vangie says. "You can read me
without your cards." Dan tells her.
"What information could I offer that you don't already have? You know him
so much better than I." "I thought
I knew him better than anyone, but after the other night." Dan says. "Not being present I don't know what you
mean." "Vangie have you heard the
name Jacques Eloi Des Mondes?
Vangie lowers her glass. "What do you want to know about him?" Vangie
says unhappily. "Everything you
know." "Drink up. You will need
it." "That bad?" Dan says with a
smile. "We are going on a little
trip." "Oh. Where?" "Back about three hundred years." she
tells him. They leave the bar and sit at a table. "You asked about Jacques Eloi Des
Mondes. Why?" Vangie asks. "I want
answers Vangie not questions."
"Where did you hear that name?"
"I didn't, I saw it attached to a legal document." Dan takes it out of
his inside jacket pocket. "Old
one?" "Brand new." he shows it to
Vangie. "He couldn't have signed
those." "Jean Paul Desmond
did." "He was putting you on." "If he was I fail to see the joke. It's
very serious, I came all the way down here just to get his signature on
them." "I guess you will have to
wait for Quito now to take your papers or you back to Maljardin." "I'm promised a three hundred year trip
and I only get a trip across the channel." Dan tells her putting the papers
away. "Some magic." "Let's hope we
can keep it that way. Even in memory let Jacques Eloi Des Mondes remain
dead."
Back
at Maljardin Alison is talking to Jean Paul. "Because of what you have done Raxl
is convinced you have conjured up a ghost." "Ridiculous." He is very agitated as he
walks away from Alison. "Is
it?" "Suppose I would..." Jean Paul
is speaking when Jacques portrait goes blank. "Suppose you were to what Jean
Paul?" "Be reasonable Alison dear.
Suppose I accused you of reincarnating my great, great, great, great, great,
great niece. (He's counting off on his fingers) Louise Sophia, that rather
glowering damsel. Or any one of my other ancestors." He walks around naming the
other portraits. "You are accusing me of liberating one from his grave." Jacques
is laughing then smiles down at Alison from the staircase. "Don't you think
that's a bit ridiculous?”
"Probably." Jacque walks
down the stairs. "Come on Alison, be reasonable you are appalled by what I did
to Erica. Because I believe that in the future she can be restored to life. You
a doctor treat it as if it's witchcraft beyond belief and yet you listen to a
primitive old servant woman babble along in an idiotic way, you must be
consistent." Jacques tells her while grinning. "I didn't say I believed Raxl." "Then what?" Looking at Jean Paul Alison says. "Every
time I see you I realize more and more that you are two different people. One is
Jean Paul the man who married my sister, a little sadder since my sister's
death. A man I've always admired and been fond of. And the other..." "Oh that's better, I was hoping you
would have high regards..." "Please
let me finish." Alison tells him.
"Of course you were saying the other man like." He stands with his arms
crossed looking at Alison. "Like
the man I dreamed of." Alison turns away and looks at Jacques portrait. "Like
him." "Jacques! Why you do believe
in ghosts." "I certainly do not
believe in ghosts. You have no idea how you have changed. I know that the shock
of Erica's death has done something to you, but Jean Paul you have to get
away!" Stepping away from Alison,
Jacques smiles. "Never." "We all
have to get away from here." "I
can't, at least not just now." Jacques tells her. "Well I'm going to and I'm going to take
Erica with me my sister is dead. And I think she deserves a decent funeral
service." Jacques leaves Jean
Paul's body. Jean Paul looks upset. "Funeral service." He turns to Alison. "Of
course. It's my fault. I don't consider her dead, and because of that I suppose
I have been denying her God's protection. But don't you see if I return her to
him she is lost to me forever."
"Jean Paul? Even in these few moments you have been two different
people." Alison tells him. Jean
Paul looks flustered. "Bravo." Jacques speaks to Jean Paul. He spins around
looking at Jacques portrait. "Bravo, you have handled it almost as well as I
could." Turning towards Alison, Jean Paul says. "Excuse me Alison, I have a
sudden headache." he stands up and walks slowly up the staircase. After watching Jean Paul climb the stair
Alison turns and walks up to Jacques portrait. After staring at it, she looks
back at the empty staircase.
Back on the Mainland Dan is trying to communicate with Quito.
Quito is holding the documents. "Not Jacques Eloi Des Mondes. Are you sure you
understand Quito? Mr. Desmond must put his own name to these." Dan glances at
Vangie then back at Quito. "Perhaps I better go over there with you." Quito is using hand signals to
communicate. Vangie interprets. Because of the heavy winds he cannot get back to
Maljardin until tomorrow. "Well if
the weather is that bad I probably won't be able to get a plane out of here
either." Vangie tells him planes
will be able to take off way before the channel is safe to cross. "I would like to see Alison before I
leave." Dan tells Vangie. She tells
him he can't contact Alison until tomorrow. "I should have been back to the office
yesterday." Dan then asks if Quito can be trusted to take the documents to Jean
Paul. Vangie tells Quito to be very
careful with the papers, they are very important. Then she sends him to get
something to eat. Dan asks Quito to have Jean Paul mail the papers to the
office. Dan and Vangie take a seat
in the cafe. Dan still questions the signature. Vangie question if it could be
real. "How could it be?" "Because Jacques Eloi Des Mondes is a
devil and to some they are considered eternal." "And to you?" Dan asks her. "All I will tell you of him is his
legend. He was put under a spell of witchcraft, a conjure doll was made and a
silver nail was driven through it's temple." "Why?" Dan asks. "Because he was considered a murderer
and his sentence condemned him to eternal hell." "How do you know so much about this,
Vangie?" "Because my father was the
priest who pronounced the sentence."
"Your father! Jacques Eloi Des Mondes lived three hundred years
ago!" "My father is very old."
Vangie looks at Dan then starts laughing. "But I am his youngest daughter." "First Jean Paul puts me on, now
you." "There are some things beyond
the corporate mind." Vangie touches Dan's shoulder smiling. Then she spreads her
tarot cards. "Pick a card. Don't turn it over until I tell you what it is." Dan chooses a card. "All right, tell
me." Vangie looks upset. "The King
of Swords." "Of what?" "You call it diamonds." Dan turns over his card. Looking at
Vangie. "You went to collage to learn card tricks?" he throws the cards back on
the file. "My father told me." "Told you or taught you?" Dan asks. Vangie picks up the card and places it
in front of Dan. "The tarot pack, we are all here (flipping cards) that's you
the ninth of clubs. Dr. Carr the ace of cups and me." They are interrupted by
Quito. He signs that Dan's plane is ready for departure. Dan is worried about
leaving. Vangie says she will keep watch for him. Dan thanks her and tells her
he will be in touch. He then thanks Quito. Dan picks up his bag and heads out
the door. Vangie walks up to Quito.
"Quito of all the cards in the pack what power made him choose the card of that
devil, Jacques Eloi Des Mondes."
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Summaries written by Debby
Graham . The slide
presentation is the work of Ron Janick.
~Ron/Bella~
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