•Dark Shadows• < TK

Chapter 1

           Third person POV:

It's the year 1752, on a cloudy day in Liverpool, just off the harbor into the gothic looking city with sunlight choking through the clouds with soot. Boats lined the bay with there naked masts that shoot up tall like weeds along the riverbank. There Joshua Collins who's in his mid thirties along with his wife, Naomi and their 9 year old son, Jungkook, climb the gangplank onto the H.M.S. Venture.

Jungkook turns around to Angelique, who's standing with her mother watching them aboard with a solemn look before turning away as her mother forces her head away and brandishes her. "Don't stare Angelique, how many times must I till you. Remember your place!"

With a wicked look she watches as the boat leaves the harbor with her Jungkook on board with it, on their way to America. It is said that blood is thicker than water, it's what defines us, binds us, curses us. It was blood; cursed blood, that drove Joshua Collins to seek refuge in the New World, in hopes that his wife and son would be spared the darkness that had plagued his family for centuries.

The Old World was home to black magic; to strange creatures and ancient curses, but America held the promise of rebirth.

In Maine, 3 months later...

When Jungkook and his parents first got to Maine, with nothing but their luggage, all the could see was a lonely fisherman cast his net. To anyone else, it would seem like desolation, to Joshua, it was opportunity.

Seven years later, in 1759, Collinsport is bustling and new with full nets being unloaded by hardy fisherman as Joshua watched over the operation with a sixteen year old Jungkook by his side. Builders toil over the massive skeleton of what will become Collinwood Manor as Joshua looks on proudly. Jungkook looks on proudly as well, intoxicated by the site.

Joshua Collins brought English industry to the wilds on Maine, and was rewarded with riches beyond imagination...while young Jungkook indulged in rewards of his own.

A decade later in 1770, in his late 20's, Jungkook is standing on the dock with a pair of young ladies, tying off one of the family vessels, and reciting a ribald poem: "So say'st the mermaids, their breasts big as whales, 'come, all ye seaman, and ride on our tails'."

"That was beautiful. Was it Sung?", asks one the ladies.

"It was Jungkook," he replies while finishing tying the knot and hands the loose end of the anchoring rope to one of the ladies.

"It's so thick...", says the other girl while caressing the rope.

As Jungkook blushes with delight, his graying haired father, Joshua, approaches from the cannery with a stunning red medallion around his neck.

"Come Jungkook, Mother is waiting. Let us to supper."

"Go on without me," Jungkook says while looking at the girls wryly. "These young ladies were just admiring some of the wonderful things we possess."

Joshua walks closer to Jungkook and takes him by the chin gently but sternly and lifts his face before speaking in a whisper, "Family Jungkook. Family is the only real wealth."

Jungkook nods and walks with his father after smiling at the girls not really taking in his father's words.

Six years later...

It's the year 1776, the manor is finished and it's a sight to behold. Every bit as grand as the sprawling estates of English nobles. Jungkook stands on the balcony, dressed magnificently, watching the fireworks light up the harbor below before stepping back into the ballroom. The ball of the season is in full swing, ladies in extravagant dresses, men in silk suits dancing politely to Little Dove Waltz as Jungkook navigates a crowd of female admirers.