A/N: Konnichiwa! It seems that my 'T U T O R I A L' one-shot has been receiving positive feedbacks so far and there are some reviewers who suggested that I should make a continuation of that one-shot but I decided to not combine this with the other one because that was meant to be a one-shot and this is more about my imagination of them dancing while listening to Girlicious' song, 'Radio'. I did consider writing a chaptered Barnabas X Carolyn fan fiction & I have started a bit so far but for the time being, I wrote this as an inspiration of my one-shot and also 'Radio'. I thought it really suits the situation and so I had to write it. If you happen to read this first, I suggest you read the other one first. LolitaXHumbert theme alert. Dislike this pairing, click the "Back" button of your browser. You have been warned by MiyukiShinodaMindFreak! Enjoy this songfic!

Disclaimer: I don't own ANYTHING related to the Dark Shadows movie or tv series. It's solely owned by the producers, the directors and the story writer for both the series and movie. I'm just doing this for entertainment purpose.

P A R T 1

The skies are blue, the sun shining brightly as ever. The Collinwood Manor stands perfect and majestic as always. Although old and ancient, it still proudly represents the Collins family until today and it has also been revamped inside and outside, giving it a newer and fresher look.

The mansion is silent all over, giving an impression that no one lives in there however there are still living ones dwelling in there except one, who is an undead being. All of them are of the Collins descendant except Victoria the governess, Dr Julia Hoffman the psychiatrist and the two old housekeepers who have served the Collins family for quite some time and they are loved by the Collins family.

Everyone is in their own rooms, minding their own businesses. Elizabeth is in her bedroom, going through her closet, thinking of what to wear for an upcoming dinner that she had been invited by one of her high school friends.

David is in Roger's room, staring curiously at his father reading the newspaper. Once awhile he would question his father about certain things that he couldn't understand in the newspaper. With slight annoyance and with a heavy sigh, he would answer his son with least interest.

Julia is in her special room, going through her medical tools and medical books. She is rather bored of her life and wonders if she could escape this place and visit other places like California, Florida or New York.

As for the two old housekeepers, they are also in their own rooms, resting. The governess, Victoria is reading a good book in her room. She seems to be very fond of a book that she had bought in Collinsport recently.

The undead being, Barnabas is reading magazines that he borrowed from Carolyn and Elizabeth but most of them are Carolyn's. He seems very intrigued with the huge difference between the 70's life style and his old lifestyle as a mortal back then. He flips the next page and reads the articles with full of questions in his head.

Last, but not least is Elizabeth's daughter, Carolyn. She is on her bed, finishing up the last of her English homework while listening to Alice Cooper's music on the record player. She has been working on her essay for almost an hour.

"How do I conclude this?" she asks herself as she bites the end of the pencil, thinking about a good ending for her factual essay.

The girl looks away from the book on her desk and stares at the lava lamp. Her eyes follow the movement of the red blob flowing upwards and downwards. She tries to imagine if there really is a swimming pool with those red blobs floating or sinking or flowing in the water.

She looks out of the window and sighs. It is a sunny day indeed and that means David would invite her to play sports later in the afternoon. Sports are the only activities that Carolyn and David have in common. Despite the fact the both of them do quarrel about almost anything and everything like siblings but when it comes to sports, they would be neutral about each other's presence because to them, sports is an ultimate getaway from their estranged lives as members of the Collins family. Their lives became more interesting ever since the undead Barnabas Collins returned to Collinsport.

"Five o' clock is a stupid date with David and sports. Too bad there isn't anybody living close to us. I doubt there's anyone living near us right now," Carolyn mutters sourly as she turns back to her homework.

The girl finally finds a solution to the conclusion and she immediately writes it down. The sound of the pen scratching against the paper is audible eventhough a rock ballad song is being played on the record player.

"Voila, I'm done. Now I can finally relax and think about what stupid game to play today," Carolyn says as she tosses the pen onto the table and stretches her hands in the air.

"You really are fond of sports, aren't you?" a masculine voice interrupts.

The teenager's pulse beat raises as she turns around to allocate the person who has intruded her room. She looks around and finally spots Barnabas Collins leaning against the hinge of the door. He is dressed in black pants, a long sleeved button up shirt which its sleeves rolled up with a dark vest layering the shirt. His jet black hair is neat as ever and the dark faded charcoal-like effects around his eyes are present as usual but he seems to be lacking his prestigious walking stick which he carries around when he is out of the mansion.

Carolyn Stoddard stares at him, wondering how he could intrude her room without a single sound and she blames herself in her heart for not locking her bedroom door. She feels rather irritated that he walks inside her room without even knocking the door. It is considered a big offence to her.

"You could at least knock," she says in an irritated, factual manner.

"I did knock but you were too intrigued with your paperwork," Barnabas states as if he hasn't done anything to irritate her.

The girl rolls her eyes and folds her arms to her chest.

"What do you want?"

Barnabas politely asks, "Could I step in, Miss Carolyn?"

The teenager rolls her eyes elsewhere before eyeing him and says, "Fine."

"Thank you," the vampire says as he walks over to the darker side of her room which is not exposed to the sunlight.

The vampire stands at the corner and observes the room as if it is his first time. He looks at Carolyn and gives her a particular look which has slight coldness to it, as if he is trying to intimidate her. This undead man seems to love every minute of moment of intimidating her with his authoritative way of entering her room but playing it cool just to irritate her. It seems so wrong that he is playing such a silly game with this girl but he has no idea why he is doing it so. He has never done this with anyone, not even with his past lover Angelique or with his late wife Josette.

This little game started ever since the girl starts to tutor him everything he needs to know about the 70's in order for him to survive and to catch up with the future, seeing that he will be around for quite a long time until the end of times. The girl loves to humiliate and tease him as she teaches him but deep down, it seems to attract his attention. He is peculiar of the fact that she is his distant niece and that she is brave enough to put up such an attitude towards him. He could anytime hurt her if she does not treat him well but something in him retains him from doing it so. He has no idea why.

As for his version of teasing, he loves to irritate her and pushes her button to see how far she could tolerate him. He knows that all teenagers even the ones during his time too act similar to her. He could see a fraction of himself in her attitude when he was a mortal teenager back then.

Barnabas looks at the girl and gives a cunning smile.

"What is it do you want?" Carolyn asks as she clears up her study desk.

Barnabas replies, "It's simple. Why are you engrossed in sports apart from your passion for music?"

Carolyn walks away from her study desk and sits on her bed.

"There's nothing much to do at home and so sports is another activity for me. There is of course the television, books in the library and the telephone but other than that, there is nothing much to do in this place."

Barnabas nods and understands that the people from her era are completely different from the people from his era. Their idea of entertainment really clashes with his idea of entertainment.

"Have you ever wandered in the woods? The beauty of the greenery is also interesting, if you are interested in the environment. Curious ones should strut in the woods and listen to the songs of the birds and discover hidden things in there," Barnabas suggests.

Carolyn leans her back against the bed and says, "My mum won't allow me to venture in the woods alone. Even if I ask David to accompany me, she won't allow me. I prefer discovering alone but I'm also thinking about the dangers in the woods and also my shoes will be covered in dirt."

"Alright then, maybe I should return to your topic about sports. I've observed you and David several times playing sports and could tell me the games that you play, perhaps?" Barnabas says curiously.

His distant niece flips her hair and says, "I love playing badminton and sometimes we do play softball or baseball. We do cycle around the mansion once awhile but personally, I love playing badminton the most around the mansion. I mean, it's impossible to play squash or tennis if those courts aren't present around this place."

"What do you mean by 'courts'?" Barnabas asks, his curiosity begins to expand beyond his mind.

"It's just a rectangular space with special flooring and walling, depending on the type of sports," Carolyn explains to her distant uncle.

"That sounds fascinating. I really must take part in the sports that you participate in, that is if it isn't as sunny as how it is right now," Barnabas says, feeling very intrigued.

"Sure," Carolyn says.

The vampire nods and says, "What about your mother or Roger or Julia? Aren't they interested to join you and David?"

Carolyn snickers and says, "I doubt so. They're more interested with their own lives."

"That is rather disappointing, I suppose? I think they should spend more time with the both of you to maintain the family bond," Barnabas says as he moves away from his corner, heading to the door, "I shall see you later."

"Five o' clock," Carolyn states.

"Alright," the vampire says as he exits her bedroom.

^%^%^%^%^%

"Isn't he joining us?" David asks as he points at Barnabas, who is standing in front of the front door.

"There's still the sun, obviously," Carolyn says as she tightens the shoe laces of her shoes.

"Oh, I've forgotten that he's a vampire," David says as he turns back to look at Barnabas.

Carolyn stands up and starts serving.

Barnabas, who is sheltered from the sun, observes the two young members for the Collins family. He crosses his arms at his chest and thinks about the feathery white object being hit back and forth by the both of them.

However, the vampire seems to be observing Carolyn more than David. His eyes are locked on her blonde hair, slowly trailing down to her sleeveless top, then to her shorts and stopping at her slim white legs.

Then, he observes David. He is wearing a shirt over a pair of shorts which were slightly longer than Carolyn's.

He concludes that the clothing item that people wear in this era seems to be getting shorter and more colourful.

As the game proceeds, Barnabas wonders when he could join them but he feels dishearten at the presence of the bright sun. Sometimes he wishes that he is still a mortal instead of the creature he has become. But he rethinks again, if he is still a mortal, then he won't be here to watch these two playing badminton and he won't be able to see the present Collinsport as how it is.

The vampire sits on the chair which has been brought out just to watch the game.

A sudden thought of Carolyn and Victoria appears in his mind. He sees significance of Josette in Victoria but he cannot seem to understand why he is observing Carolyn, trying to understand this teenager instead of trying to rekindle his love for Josette. Could it be that after almost two centuries in the coffin, he gives up on Josette? Or could it be that he wants something new? He used to think that Josette is his everything and that they would live forever but it could be that time had changed him. The wasted time he spent sleeping in that cursed coffin that Angelique had placed him in.

Barnabas tries to recall all the memories he had with Josette. He could remember some but they seem to be blurry and faded at the course of time. He does remember what are Josette's favourite flowers and the food that she likes but he seems to have forgotten the detailed memories of their times spent together.

He buries his head in his hands and stays motionless. He could not understand what is going on in his head. The changes around him, seeing his distant relatives, returning home after almost two centuries are new things that he is still trying to adapt to.

The undead man recalls the first day he walked back to his mansion. He saw Willie and asked him the year he was in before looking curiously at the scarecrow. He entered the mansion and told himself that it hasn't changed much. He walked over to the fireplace and saw Carolyn and David reading and Elizabeth appeared right after that.

However, he still couldn't understand how this is all happening to him. He tries to reason out the things that are currently around him.

Suddenly, he hears a feminine voice calling out to him.

He looks up and sees Carolyn and David drenched in sweat, standing right in front of him. They have odd expressions displayed on their sweat drenched faces.

"I'm dreadfully sorry," Barnabas says as he picks up the two mineral water battles next to him and passes them to the two youngsters in front of him.

"We're not mad at you," David says as he drinks his water.

"Neither am I," Carolyn says as she rolls her eyes over to David.

Barnabas smiles and says, "That was quite a game the both of you put on."

"Thank you Uncle Barnabas!" David says with a grin.

"You don't have to formally address me like that, David," Barnabas says as he looks at the boy.

"Alright," David says as he passes back the water bottle to the vampire.

Carolyn follows suit and her eyes are suddenly locked on Barnabas. She couldn't help but to look into his black eyes, trying to decode the darkness that he has experienced before this.

The girl turns away from him and walks back out in the sun to continue the game with David.

Barnabas sighs and continues watching them playing the game.

"I've been missing out a lot and time really has changed everything," he mutters darkly to himself.

^%^%^%^%^%

Barnabas Collins lies upside down from his four poster bed, imitating the way bats sleep. He is too accustomed sleeping like that but he does miss the times when he was more normal, like a human.

It is finally dark outside and he has had his dinner two hours ago with the other Collins and Julia Hoffman. He feels more comfortable after getting to know more about them. He finally feels like he belongs somewhere in this era.

Things were normal during dinner two hours ago. Elizabeth, elegantly dressed as ever, telling off her daughter who had a little squabble with David. Roger would shake his head and tell his son not to annoy Carolyn while Julia ignores whatever was going on. Victoria ate her meal silently and offered help to the two housekeepers to clear up the table. Elizabeth would initiate a topic with Barnabas once awhile and that was the only time he spoke. Once awhile Elizabeth would tell him about Angelique and Barnabas told her off about bringing up that topic during dinner.

"That nasty witch," he mutters as he tries to erase the thoughts of Angelique.

There is a knock on the door and Barnabas turns his head, directed to the door. He keeps silent.

The door is being knocked again, twice.

"Who is that?" he asks loudly.

"Carolyn," says the muffled voice from behind the door.

"Come on in," he says.

The door swings open to reveal Carolyn dressed in a long sleeved blouse with colourful polka dots on it with a pair of black pants. On her head is a black hairband.

The teenager slowly closes the door halfway and walks towards the vampire and stands in front of him.

"You're weird," she says as her eyebrows creased when she stares at him oddly.

"I know I am. I take that as a compliment," he says in a sarcastic manner.

The girl looks away from him and walks to the window, looking at the dark skies.

"What brings you here, young lady?" Barnabas says as he positions himself on the ground, standing up.

"I was just wondering if you're alright. Besides, we're family members and I was just thinking of strengthening the bond between us. I mean, you're going to be here forever and I'll be dead for sure. So, why not just get to know more about you, seeing that I'm still alive," the girl says, still looking out of the window.

"That is very thoughtful of you," Barnabas says as he walks over to the window.

He places a hand on the girl's shoulder gently and says, "You said that you were concerned about me, weren't you? What is in your mind, my dear?"

Carolyn looks at him, trying to avoid his dark eyes.

"Well, you seem troubled when you were with me and David just now. Are you worried about that woman?"

Barnabas shakes his head and says, "No, no it isn't. I'm actually thinking about how I would be a part of your people. How I would actually appear more normal to them and also to all of you in this mansion."

Carolyn shakes her head.

"Well, my mum seems to accept you for who you are. Everyone did freak out seeing you for the first time but I think they're ok with you now, I guess."

Barnabas turns his head to the bed.

"Maybe you should have a seat, perhaps? This could be quite an interesting conversation that would convince the both of us to keep resuming this little topic we are having right now."

Carolyn eyes him cautiously and silently walks over to his bed and sits at the edge of it. The vampire pulls a chair from the study desk and sits opposite her.

"Where did we pause a moment ago?" Barnabas asks.

"You were making a statement that you don't fit in," Carolyn says frankly.

"True," the vampire says.

The teenager looks at him and without holding back herself, she honestly says, "I hate to burst your bubble but I thought that you're quite of a freak the first time I saw you. I mean, you look so similar to that man in the portrait hung above the fireplace. You look like an exact clone of him or something. It is weird, actually but who wouldn't freak out?"

Barnabas displays a weak grin.

"But you remained calm, my dear."

Carolyn sneers and says, "I was being sarcastic, without having to say anything. You did call me a hooker. I'm certain of that."

"I am deeply sorry about that, Carolyn. I was just being frank about your appearance," he says, with a tone of honesty.

"Whatever," Carolyn says as she rolls her eyes with dismay.

Then, she says, "I hope your problems and troubles do not get in too much of your way. I saw you looking confused as you stare blankly into space."

Barnabas feels surprised and his eye widens a bit. She did observe and notice him sitting in front of the door while they were playing badminton. He suddenly could feel himself a little more relieved.

"You were busy with the game, weren't you?" he says, feeling incredulous.

"I was, but I did notice you a bit," Carolyn says monotonously.

Barnabas stands up and says, "You shouldn't worry too much about me, young lady. I am still in one piece and you shan't burden your thoughts because of my presence. All is fine, so far."

Carolyn stares at him oddly.

"That's what I wanted to hear. I just wanted to know if you were alright or not."

Barnabas smiles weakly and says, "I am fine, young lady."

The girl stands up and walks away from him while saying, "I'm heading back to my room. I've got some things to do."

As she reaches the door, Barnabas says, "Thank you for being concerned. If you have thoughts troubling you or whatsoever, you could come here anytime you want to."

The girl turns back to look at him. Her eyes dwell over to his figure and the window behind him. Then, she turns away and shuts the door behind her.

The vampire sighs and walks over to the window, staring out into the darkness.

"You are definitely one kind of a girl."