HAUNTED BY THE PAST, PART THREE

RACHEL HUTCHINS KIDNAPPED! screamed the banner headline in the Bay City Herald.

"Thanks, Jake." said Paulina.

"Nothing like a good kidnapping to boost circulation." said Jake, "I don't suppose Joe will be happy about you going over his head like this, though."

"I don't really care." said Paulina, "Any more than Joe cares about Rachel."

****

Rachel explored her prison; as such things went, it was a comfortable one.

"She is only a bird in a gilded cage," she hummed, "A pitiful sight to see-"

The wardrobe in the bedroom was full of high-waisted Regency gowns. Over the mantle in the sitting room was a portrait of a rather insipid blonde, seated at a spinet.

"So that's Amalie." Rachel murmured, reading the title plate on the picture frame.

One fact that struck Rachel was that the rooms were not wired for electricity; there were no outlets, no fixtures - evidently the silver candelabra were not merely ornamental. She found a silver matchbox on the mantlepiece.

Rachel considered setting fire to the gauze curtains. The smoke ought to bring someone to investigate, which would give her a chance to overpower them and escape.

And if no one came, Rachel could die of the smoke! She decided to save that option for later, when she was truly desperate.

****

"What are you doin'?" Joe found Paulina packing a suitcase.

"I'm moving up to the main house." she said, "Cory and Elizabeth need me. They don't understand why their mother hasn't come home. It's pathetic - they won't stop crying for her."

"They got whatsername - Debra - and Matt and Amanda."

"Debra is nice, but she's hired help." said Paulina, "Matt and Amanda treat the Twins like interlopers in their home. Those babies need love - and I'm the one who can give it."

"So what about Dante and me?"

"Dante is coming with me, of course!" said Paulina, "And there's no reason why you can't do the same. There's plenty of room in the Cory Mansion."

"I wouldn't live there if you paid me!"

"Suit yourself." Paulina closed the suitcase.

"I'm warnin' you, Paulina - if you leave this house, don't bother comin' back!"

"FINE!" (:-D)

****

When Jordan Stark returned, Rachel, wearing a Regency gown, was seated at the spinet.

(Everything in the wardrobe was a perfect fit, even the shoes.)

"Play for me!" said Stark.

"I don't know how."

"Nonsense! You play beautifully - or you used to. No doubt it will come back to you - once you remember your previous life, Amalie."

"That could take a while." said Rachel.

"I can be patient." said Stark, "I've waited almost two centuries for your return."

"Let me get this straight." said Rachel, "You're two hundred years old? How have you stayed alive all this time? By drinking the blood of virgins at the full of the moon?"

"That's not important. All that matters is that we two are together again."

"Why are you wearing that mask?"

"To cover my hideous face."

"Are we talking Phantom of the Opera here?" said Rachel.

"I don't know what you mean."

"You'll give your love to me/ For love is blind," Rachel sang, "The Phantom of the Opera/ Is on your mind."

"Love is blind? " said Stark, "Yes! Of all the people I have met, you alone, Amalie, could see the soul beneath the deformity."

"Let me see it again." said Rachel, "Take off the mask."

"Not yet. Not until you are ready."

To be continued.