Classic Horrors Club

I went to Collinwood to see Dr. Hoffman today, but after Elizabeth let me in, it was Maggie who greeted me. Boy, did she let me have a piece of her mind! When I told her I was leaving town, she said she didn’t understand me. I told her that very few people do. She asked how I could be so heartless. When I replied that I was sorry it has to be this way, but it does, she said she was disappointed in me and furious. My apology had no effect.

I was relieved when Dr. Hoffman entered to tell Maggie she could go upstairs to see Vicki, but she also hammered me. When I gave her the envelope for Amy, told her it was for whatever she might need, and that I was leaving town, she said she thought I had decided to stay in Collinsport. No matter what I said, she kept asking me questions… Surely you can postpone your plans for a little while at least? Just spend a few days with Amy? You’ll surely stop by the hospital and say goodbye, won’t you?

I told her it was better that I don’t and she asked, “Better in what way?” I replied, “Just better.” She reminded me what I mean to Amy and that I’m her only living relative… all she has, yet I was willing to walk out on her “just like that.” I told her I didn’t consider it walking out and that I still planned to take care of her and send money. Relentless with the interrogation, she grabbed my arm and told me, “She doesn’t need money. She needs you.”

I’d like to stay and take care of her, but I can’t. I have good reasons why I can’t. I finally had to tell Dr. Hoffman that I couldn’t go on any further about it, and that I had to go, and nothing she said was going make me change my mind. She wouldn’t stop! “Surely you can change your mind,” she stated. As I said one more time that I couldn’t, Elizabeth appeared on the balcony in the foyer to say Vicki was hysterical and Dr. Hoffman needed to come at once.

As she left, she asked me not to go yet, that she had more to say. I wandered into the drawing room and leaned against the mantel. The clock chimed and I rushed over to it to take a look. It was 5:30 and getting dark outside. And there was going to be a full moon…

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Note: The Dark Shadows Diaries is going on hiatus for the month of October so our readers can enjoy the daily posts of the 2025 Countdown to Halloween. We’ll return on Friday, November 7.