Episode 47:
Slideshow
Raxl: “A mysterious skull of a man long
dead…the blood-covered locket of the recently deceased Erica, whom Jean Paul
Desmond, her devoted husband vowed to bring back to life. All add to the mystery and death
ominously roaming the corridors of the great house, high atop the poisonest
island of Maljardin.”
Jean Paul looks at the skull. "How did you find this thing." he
asks Raxl. "The portrait became
dislodged. I did not know that such a secret compartment existed. It is the evil
that walks this house." says Raxl.
Jean Paul reaches for the skull but pulls his hand back. He looks at
Raxl. "Perhaps this is one of the victims of Jacques Eloi Des Mondes." "The devil." Raxl says. "How is it to be that it is to be
revealed now." Jean Paul asks as he walks away from the skull. "I don't know Master. Each day I feel
stirrings of even greater evil in the house. The black rabbit, Holly being
poisoned and now this." Raxl says walking over to Jean Paul. "Perhaps this is the angry spirit that
disturbs Vangie so much." Jean Paul says walking back to the skull. "Out, It
kept saying out, out. Maybe this is the spirit that wants out so badly." "What ever it is it is wicked. No, I'm
mistaken, it is not that, it has a connection to the wickedness to come." Quito is kneeling on the floor in
fear. "So perhaps this secret wall
is good fortune in disguise." says Jean Paul. "I don't understand." "If the man whose skull this is was
murdered here in this house his spirit is still restless. He is imprisoned here.
When ever we had a séance he was trying to get near trying to contact us to
remove his remains and give him rest." Jean Paul says walking away. Turning back
he points at the skull. "We went about our business, but it stood in the
way." "I don't believe it is so
simple." Raxl says to Jean Paul.
Jean Paul lowers his hand and faces Raxl. "Raxl, we are being helped not
hindered. Erica wants too contact me as much as I need her. She has found help
at the other side of the dark curtain. And now we have discovered the disruptive
influence. We must get rid of this thing and as soon as we do we can have the
séance almost immediately." Jean Paul says excitedly. "No Master, it is not so simple. I feel
this very strongly. We must not have the séance yet." "Raxl enough of your fears and
wonderings! We will have it and soon!" Jean Paul says angrily. "Then I will not answer for the
consequences." Raxl bows to Jean Paul and calls Quito to come with her. Quito
looks worriedly at Jean Paul then follows Raxl. Jean Paul stands next to the staircase
holding the post for the railing. He looks away then decides to take the skull
down. He unhooks the rope that is holding the skull in place. Walking across the
Great Hall he looks at the skull then glances up at Jacques portrait. "Jacques
Eloi Des Mondes in your efforts to frighten us all, perhaps this time you have
made the wrong move." Jean Paul says holding the
skull.
Holly is in her bedroom sleeping when Alison walks in. "Holly,
Holly?" Holly's eyes flicker
then open. She looks at Alison.
"You're awake, good." "You
don't want me to sleep?" Holly asks.
"A real sleep may not be good for you yet. It could..." "You mean I won't wake up again? That's
what you mean isn't it? Who did it Doctor Carr? Who put that stuff in my
wine?" Alison shakes her head. "Doesn't anyone know? You know a
while ago I might have thought my mother did it, but I don't now. I think it may
be possible that it wasn't a person at all." Holly says. "Someone did it. Someone here in this
house." Alison tells Holly as Holly looks at her.
In the Secret Temple Raxl calls to her Gods near the Serpent's
Staff. "No one in this house can be trusted. The master is surrounded by devils
and he will not heed the warning. There must be no séance now, not while the
spirits are abroad. A locket counterfeiting the appearance of the Little
Mistresses locket covered with blood, making itself out to be hers. The black
rabbit which has escaped again and defies death. And now a skull, oh Great One
sent by you. A warning, a portent that death will soon
strike!"
Jean Paul holds the skull up, looking at it. He lowers it and
starts walking. He drops the skull clutching his head in pain. The skull lands
on the couch, and on Jean Paul's hand appears Jacques ring. Jacques reaches out
and picks up the skull. Vangie is
walking down the staircase, she stops when she sees Jacques holding the skull
and screams. Matt rushes down the stairs followed by Alison. They stand next to
Vangie on the lower landing. "Jean
Paul, where did you get that?" Vangie asks. Jacques looks up at them. "What do you
suppose this mans crime was?" He turns the skull so it faces him. "What could
you have done my poor fellow to deserve such a fate?" With a smile Jacques walks
over to the three people on the landing. "I would conjecture that this
unfortunate gentleman would have been a prisoner like yourselves who was
unwilling to remain." Jacques looks up at them. "I wonder what he could have
been? A man of God." Jacques asks holding the skull in front of Matt. "Not a
woman." He says holding the skull between Vangie and Alison. He turns it towards
himself. "What was his crime? Does it matter. Oh but the punishment. You see the
rope was passed through the cheeks. Do you think this miserable man was merely
hanged by Jacques Eloi Des Mondes? Oh no there was a bit of a hole here and a
bit of a hole here through the cheeks, then the rebellious gentleman was
suspended on tip toe, the rope between the jaws thus." Jacques holds up the
skull to demonstrate. "And this, oh wait he did not merely hang, oh no, his
death was a long slow agony. And then Jacques Eloi Des Mondes went to
dinner." Everyone looks at Jacques
in horror. "Now in those days there
was a Master in this house and now there is a Master here again." Jacques says
with a smile upon his face as he walks away. "Good God in Heaven!" Matt exclaims as
he rushes off the staircase. "What
dreadful presence do I feel everywhere?" Vangie
asks.
Holly is asleep in her room, Raxl walks in with a cup of tea.
Holly awakens. "You are to drink
this Miss Holly." Raxl tells her.
Holly looks at the cup. "No, I won't take
anything."
Alison is in the lab working with a mixture in a glass. She pours
it into a test tube with other chemicals and it reacts by flowing over the top
of the test tube. Alison sets in a holder, then rushes from the room.
Raxl again tries to hand the tea to Holly. "Good and hot, just
what you need." "No I don't want
it." "That's foolishness child. You
know you need nourishment. It's necessary if you are to get well." "No, no!" "What's the matter?" Alison asks rushing
into the room. "It's the tea you
ordered for her Doctor Carr. She won't drink it." says Raxl. "Don't be silly Holly, tea is just a
mild stimulant. It's exactly what you need." Alison says as she walks around the
bed to sit at Holly's side. "I was
poisoned remember. Poisoned! No, I won't take it. Take it away." "Oh so that's it." Raxl says as she
lifts the teacup and takes a sip from it. Then she turns and leaves the
room.
Quito is in his room resting as Jacques walks in carrying the
skull. Quito sees it and becomes frightened. "Oh come now fierce guardian, have
no fear." He walks over to Quito who is cowering on his bed. "Well relax old
friend it's just a skull." He shows it to Quito who pulls away from it. "The
head bone of a man long dead, no more." Jacques steps away from Quito. "Now
Quito, Raxl would like this to be left here, I have brought it down for her. It
is very important to her. She thinks it's something symbolic of something
dreadful to come. So guard it well old friend, until she comes." Jacques sits it
on Quito's dresser then leaves. Quito stares at it in fear.
Walking from the crypt Jacques sees Matt and waits for him. He
holds the post of the staircase. Matt stops and stands behind him, he then walks
past Jacques heading up the staircase. "Reverend, I am sorry that I upset
everyone before. Perhaps what you told me a long time ago was true." Matt stops and slowly turns towards
Jacques. "That the devil if it ever
enters a man may become the Master." Jacques says. "Sometimes I get the feeling Jean Paul
you're asking for help." Matt says to Jacques. "Do you think you can help me? "If I were allowed to try." Jacques nods. "Then remember who I am
and remember who you are and where you are. Remember that this is Maljardin and
you are nothing except by the will of the Master." Matt stares at him then turns and walks
up the staircase. Jacques strolls through the Great
Hall.
Alison stands near the bed talking to Holly. "So the potion in
your wine was from the poisonous vegetation on this Island. I got some weeds and
made some tests. You'll be all right now Holly. There will be no reversal
effect." Holly sighs in relief. "So
we know what it was, but not who put it in the wine." Alison shakes her head
no.
Raxl walks down to the crypt. She sees Quito huddling in his bed
looking at the skull. She rushes over to him. "Quito who put this skull here?"
she asks picking it up. Quito signs to her. "The Master. Even without the
knowledge of man these powers move men at their will."
Alison is holding a test tube over a Bunsen burner. Matt stands
next to her. "Jean Paul seemed powerless to control himself." says Matt. "It depends on how you look at it. I
would say he was to much in control." Alison says. "What is that?" Matt asks of the test
tube she is holding. "Distillation
from a plant indigenous to the Island of Maljardin. If she had drunk a fraction
more Holly would now be dead." Matt
looks up. "Was Jean Paul merely telling a story? Or was it really a
threat?" "In that case he really
would be mad." Alison tells him.
"You're a doctor, can't you do something for him?" "For a sick soul. I have my purpose
here, you have yours. Don't ask me to do your
work."
In the crypt Raxl tells Quito to open the door to the Secret
Temple. "We will bridge the sides together with the secret source of all
mystery, where the unknowable is known." Quito opens the door. Raxl enters with
the skull and a torch, Quito closes the door . Entering the Temple they bow.
Quito picks up the drum and starts beating it. Raxl holds the skull. "I Raxl
Daughter of the High Priestess of the Great Serpent return to him the sign he
has sent. The answer to the devil's evil in an animals black body. The answer to
the locket plucked bloody from the body of the sleeping Mistress. Here is your
sign Great Serpent, one who opens himself to the devil's evil is about to
die."
Vangie is visiting Holly. "Why me
Vangie? Why does it always happen to me?"
"The séance was about to start, I felt the contact with Erica Desmond
already beginning through you to me. Was that literal poison from a human
hand?" "Yes. Doctor Carr said so,
made from the awful vegetation outside." say Holly. ""Then what was the savage force that
left from within me to you, before you drank?" "You mean something doesn't want Mr.
Desmond to contact Erica. And because it was coming through me it wants me out
of the way?" Holly asks. "I told
Jean Paul a séance would prove impossible. And yet he has no other choice. The
locket he sealed into Erica's capsule was returned to him on the throat of a
black rabbit. Now was that locket really in the tomb? And why was Erica's blood
on it? Only Erica can answer that. Unless he opens the capsule and removes her
hope of life. So you see he must have the séance at what ever the cost, and you
Holly when you recover you must provide the contact." "No, no! Never, never again Vangie!
Vangie what ever it is will kill me!"
Matt walks into the Great Hall,
he sees Jacques on the couch and turns for the staircase. "Reverend Dawson." Jacques calls to him. Matt stops and turns
towards Jacques. "I was thinking of our discussion relative to good versus
evil." Jacques twists around on the couch to face Matt. "You are right, I need
your help." "Looking at Jacques,
Matt walks around the couch. "I know you do Jean
Paul. I also believe now that was my purpose for coming to Maljardin." Matt says
sitting next to Jacques, "That poor
girl, the poisonous plants of Maljardin. Will it leave any permanent
disability?" asks Jacques. "Alison
Carr says not. Since Holly survived, revival should be immediate." Matt tells
Jacques. "I need your help to make
the relationship between good and evil perfectly clear. You have no idea how
important this is to me." "I
believe I do Jean Paul." Jacques
stands and smiles. He walks over to the liquor table. "When evil enters a man he
becomes something else, not a man. Oh no, not wine." Jacques says picking up the
decanter. "Holly drank that. Perhaps something else? I know this to be true, a
man ceases to be a man and the day will come if it hasn't indeed already come
when a new and permanent Master in the body." Jacques says pouring drinks. "Has come?" "Well in some cases as we discussed
before." "Yes, I believe that is
true Jean Paul." says Matt. "Then
the new Master will brook no meddling in his purposes or his soul, don't you
think?" Jacques says then offers a glass to Matt. Matt reaches for it then pauses, then
starts lowering his hand. "Well
take it, help me Reverend." Matt
reaches out and takes the glass.
Jacques clutches his temple in pain. "What is it Jean Paul?" Matt asks. "Leave me! Leave me I must be alone!" he
says in agony. Matt looks at him,
puts the glass down and rushes up the staircase. Jean Paul gains control of his body. He
collapses in a chair from weakness.
"Enjoy it while you may Jean Paul. There may be no Jean Paul the next
time." Jacques says to him.
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Summaries written by Debby
Graham . The slide
presentation is the work of Ron Janick.
~Ron/Bella~
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