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Natalie looked up from her report. "Hello, Detective.
How is Janette?"
"Janette has decided the 'new' me is undesirable,
and so she is getting ready to leave again. Paris, probably."
"Oh, well, she'll be back. She always has a way
of finding you."
"Natalie, I've missed you. Could we go someplace
and talk?" His eyes softened as he stared at her.
"We're talking, Nick. I don't feel the need to leave."
"It is rather difficult for me, here." he finished
with a pointed glance near the corpse.
"Oh, yes. That depends on what you wanted
to talk about."
"The cure, Natalie. LaCroix tells me
you're very close."
"It's only another temporary one. It lasts
fourteen days at the most, but it does appear to work. I need to prepare
another sample. I used the last one yesterday in testing."
"Natalie, it means a lot to me that you continue
on with this, despite what's happened..."
"Yes, well, your maker can be very persuasive..
So, when and where do you want to meet?"
"Will two hours give you enough time to prepare
another sample?"
She nodded.
He gave her the time and a hotel room number.
"A hotel?"
"Sorry. Kelly and I are taking turns in observing
the half way house. There is a suspect we're hoping to bring in for questioning
if we can catch him, coming or going. His girlfriend stays there. He's
due for a visit."
LaCroix completely shut off her mind to his. If she chose
Nicholas now, having achieved the goal they had both worked so hard for,he
didn't want to be witness to it. The emotional reaction of it. No, he would
prefer to wait until after the fact. He paced, waiting...
He remembered back to when Nicholas had last been 'cured':
Flashback London 1800
"I am the Ressurection and the Light. Come
unto me and be saved." the man said.
He was a vampire. He had long scraggly brown
hair, an unkempt beard and a long dirty robe completed his ensemble.
"Nicholas, you look dissappointed. You were expecting someone a little more...holy?" LaCroix taunted.
"His attire is unimportant. He has healed ones like us."
Nicholas looked on as a young vampire approached the holy man and the mediator. The mediator was a large man, and evidently a spokesman too.
"Do you believe this man has the power to save your soul and cast out the dark presence that binds you here? Do you have the faith?"
"Yes," the vampire replied.
"Then partake."
He did.
"You are healed. Go and tell the others."
And so he had. They had tested him, tempting him with blood. But the temptation wasn't present any longer. He had been cured. The blood lust was gone.
"How is this possible?" someone in the crowd called out.
The mediator opened a bible. He read: "Revelations says, And
there was a war in heaven and Michael and his angels fought against the
dragon and the dragon fought and his angels and prevailed not; neither
was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast
out, that old serpent called the Devil and Satan which deceiveth the whole
world: he was cast out into the earth and his angels with him."
He closed the bible.
"Where did those fallen angels, those disciples of
Satan go? Here. To earth. Is it any wonder that vampires exist? These
satanic followers take sanctuary in your soul each time the bloodlust rises.
Perhaps they even inspire it. Miserable in the knowledge that the
only mortal shell they will be able to inhabit, is one that has already
died. And so they urge you on to kill and to drink blood. Savouring the
life they will never posess. They take over, become one with you. A dark
angel in lieu of a
guardian watches over, lurking, waiting. Hoping for the chance
of making your body, your shell its home.
He is the chosen one. Able to cast out these demons
and restore your soul to mortality. As you partake of his blood,
this unholy sacrament, you will find it calms rather than excites."
"Why does he not cast out his own dark angel? He's still a vampire!" voices protested.
"He goes about the work of his father. His dark gift has a purpose. In accepting it, he can save us all," the mediator answered.
Nick didn't need to hear anymore. He walked forward.
"Faith is required, my son. Do you believe this man has the power to save your soul and cast out the dark presence which binds you, here?"
Nick nodded.
"Then partake."
He was offered his wrist. The warm blood filled him. Incredible, it was just as he said. The blood calmed him rather than inciting a desire for more. The soothing effect nearly dropped Nicholas to his knees. He swayed. The mediator pulled the wrist from his lips.
"You are healed. Go and tell the others."
"LaCroix?" Nick called.
He was nowhere to be found. He only showed up three days later as he found Nicholas drawn, pale and starving. The cure had been temporary. What Nicholas had done with those precious three days of mortality, LaCroix would hear about later.
"Come, you need to feed." LaCroix opened his wrist.
Nicholas began to heal.
"LaCroix, how do you think this was possible? For three days, I was mortal. I walked in the sun, I ate food, I enjoyed a mortal woman without taking her life. How...?"
"The mind is an amazing thing, Nicholas. It has untapped power. Through some conduit, perhaps he allowed you into that portion, going yet unused. So, you actually believed yourself into being mortal."
"That's as close to you showing faith in anything that I've yet to see."
"I believe in the only person necessary, myself. Religion, Church, Philosophy, and congregation of one. My prophets will never deceive me."
Nicholas shook his head.
end of flashback
............................
Nick played the scene over in his head
"I will be there to pick up the pieces. Not yours next
time, Nicholas, but hers."
Not only that but he was enjoying taking her
from him. Justice served. An eight hundred year old promise kept.
Then before she left for Paris again, Janette had come.
"Nicholas, before you upset yourself further, mon cher, I must tell you what I saw."
Nick waited impatiently as she described the night's events.
"Janette, surely you don't believe he actually cares for Natalie? You know how impossible that concept is. He does this only to torment me. If nothing else, he's a man of his word."
"Nicholas, that may be, but it is evident that Natalie is enjoying his company. He is giving her what you cannot."
Torn between guilt and the desires of his heart, he teetered. LaCroix would surely end up hurting her. He would have to do something.
"She is mine, Janette. I'll not allow him to take
her from me."
...........................................
It had gone too far. Natalie had tried to stop him, but even as a mortal, he had been far stronger than she was. She never should have let him kiss her, she realized too late. He still lay atop her when LaCroix arrived. He threw Nicholas off of her and into the wall. Knowing what his son had intended- or had done, sickened him.
"Do you really care that little for me, for Natalie, or yourself that you would resort to this?"
"I .... I couldn't stop. I'd wanted her for so long. We belong together." Nick said.
"Stop it, Nicholas. You had your chance with Natalie. She no longer desires your presence in her life. I once did something for you long ago, something you begged me to do. Now I'm asking you to return the favor. Leave Natalie alone."
"You're not talking about when you saved her from the killer are you? Because if you are, it looks like you were the beneficiary of that whole situation. You probably had it planned out, before I could even ask. How long have you planned to take her from me, LaCroix?"
"I don't refer to that incident in the past, but one long before. Your sister, Fleur. Do you recall the bargain?"
"Yes, then I was right. You don't care for Natalie. You take her merely as revenge, a promise kept."
"You're mistaken, although the coincidence is fitting."
"Oh, and you do love me, Nick?" Natalie interrupted. "Is that why as I cried out 'No', you persisted? Because you love me? That's not love, Nick, that's lust. I love Lucien. He's twice the man you'll ever be."
"Is that what you call your whisper of protest? A cry? A yell? You say that only for his benefit.And for what purpose, I don't know. He's deceiving you, Natalie. He's incapable of love. We can be together now, Nat. Just like we always planned. Come with me."
"I believe the lady has spoken, Nicholas. You have done quite enough damage for one evening. I am sure you have several mortal activities that can be of use to you, now. Why don't you go find one? I will not tolerate this behavior towards Natalie any longer."
"What are you going to do about it, LaCroix? Kill me? Take away the only woman that I love? Turn me into a vampire? Isn't the phrase 'been there, done that'? What threat can you possibly carry out? There's nothing left you can do."
Natalie looked at him, still angry and hurt. "You know Nick. I used to think LaCroix was selfish, but you...... You have cornered the market on self pity."
"Nicholas, though I feel it uneccessary to explain myself to you, I will impart this for her sake; I do love her. I will allow no harm to come to her, not by my own hand, nor by yours."
Natalie had somewhat recovered and opened the door to leave.
"I'm coming, too." LaCroix said taking her arm. She was pale and trembling violently.
"Natalie- the only reason you're leaving with him now, is because of the connection. A link of my creating. I know it was either that or death. But looking back on it, I have to wonder which would have been the kinder decision. An existence with LaCroix is no life at all. Do not trust him, Nat. Do you think he will allow you to remain mortal in this relationship? Make him tell you about Fleur and the promise," was Nick's parting comment.
The arrived back at Natalie's apartment.
LaCroix looked at her with regret. He shouldn't
have blocked the connection. As soon as he knew she had gone to see Nicholas
and had not told him, the pain of betrayal consumed him. He shut her out
completely. He wanted no memory or feeling of what would transpire.
He had failed her. He had promised that Nicholas
would not harm her.
Natalie glanced at LaCroix. Where had he been? Why had he not come? Did he sense that the evening's activities were not entirely Nick's fault. That memories of the past influenced her in letting Nick take things farther than they should have?
After what seemed to be an eternity, he spoke. "Natalie. You need to take a moment and examine your own feelings on what has transpired. I appear to have taken Nicholas' place in your life, but I have no desire for redemption, no need of a cure. Do not mistake me for his replacement. We are very much different. In every way, different. If you still care for him..... Well, I leave you to your thoughts."
She had wanted to save Nick rather than love
him, she realized, or maybe the two were so intermingled it was hard to
separate. She wanted to save him from himself. She found a certain romance
and nobility in the search for a cure of vampirism. The thought of saving
or changing Nick into something else was compelling. She had ignored
her own heart and needs for so long, convincing herself that this must
be love because her mind cried out so loudly that she had been doing the
*right* thing. If
it had been a little hard at times- well never give up, she'd told
herself. Damn work ethic.
It had taken a big slap in the face to realize that
Nick hadn't been everything she'd hoped he was. And another jolt to realize
that LaCroix may very well be. Where appeasing Nick's continual guilt had
been a full time occupation at times, LaCroix suffered from no such malady.
He was self-assured and accepting of what he could not change. That, she
found, was extremely alluring.
She had tricked herself into believing that
she and Nick had a future together. She convinced herself that the little
things like birthday and Valentine's remembrances didn't really matter.
She wasn't that materialistic, after all. She had thought that vampires
simply didn't participate in such things. No, LaCroix had proven that wrong,
again. Nick's inattention to the little details like the holidays she celebrated
was just a symptom of a bigger problem. He simply didn't want to be bothered.
Either too self- absorbed or guilt-ridden to pay attention.
LaCroix took great pains and delight in choosing
the very things that made her happiest. In some ways, he embraced mortality
more fully than Nick, or at least appeared to do so for her sake. Natalie
chuckled. He would not like that comparison, neither of them would for
that matter.
That thought brought Natalie to the choice she had
tried to put off for sometime now. Coming across. It wasn't *if*
you'd come across when you loved a vampire. It was *when*. The decision
had been easier with Nick, she thought with a pang of regret. It had seemed
there was no other choice. Now it felt more like the natural progression
of things. The next step in their relationship. Was she ready for
it?
Tonight should have never happened, she realized.
It had been a big mistake from start to finish. She wondered if LaCroix
would be willing to hypnotizing her into forgetting everything that had
happened this evening. Nick had already told her of his sister and LaCroix's
vow that he would take from Nick any mortal he would ever love. She wondered
why he insisted on having LaCroix repeat the tale. Did he love her still?
She wasn't just a mortal being taken from Nick, she knew. Was she?
The end of (05/07)
Back to Part Four! / Onto Part
Six!
