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The show had ended and LaCroix returned. He was now in the middle of a discussion with Natalie and his children.
"No."
"Please?"
"Absolutely not."
"It's our favorite show-" "I know you'd win-" "Come on-"
LaCroix listened to the trio's impassioned pleas. He addressed Natalie, "Even you side with them. Giving me over like a sacrificial lamb to the entertainment guru?"
"Lucien, it's hardly that."
"It is precisely 'that'. A vampire's lack of imagination and like all the lemmings, you all have fallen for it. You may take what entertainment you choose, but I for one will not be part of it. I cannot comprehend that our communtiy allows this. The enforcers-"
"One of the enforcers is going to be on it this time!" Nicholas interrupted excitedly.
"Yes, everyone expects him to win," Janette added.
"Oh... and which one would that be?" LaCroix asked his interest piqued.
"Gerarrd," Janette replied.
The name was unfamiliar. Yet the challenge lingered. An opportunity to challenge an enforcer...The concept was indeed inviting.
"Very well," he spoke at last. "I will submit myself as a possible candidate."
Natalie threw her arms around his neck. "You won't be sorry. I know you will win."
Nicholas pounded him on the back and Janette kissed his cheek.
"I still find the whole endeavor- lacking," he said.
"You will undoubtedly add the touch of elegance the show lacks," Janette said.
LaCroix had done nothing. So enamoured with the thought of him as a contestant, his children and mortal 'friend' had taken care of the application process, filling out the necessary forms and applications by e-mail. The next evening he had received the acceptance letter. There it had been, via computer. No turning back now.
"I have been accepted," he told the small crowd at the Raven. Cheers broke out.
Natalie was already asleep. He awoke her with the news. She arose instantly, attacking him with a hug.
"Oh, aren't you excited? What will you do with the prize?"
LaCroix was a little taken aback. He was assured of his victory, but a little surprised that she was as well.
"You are so sure that I will win?" he asked.
"Of course. Aren't you?"
"I am certain. It is late, I am sorry to have awakened you."
"Too late for apologies. Come here, you." LaCroix allowed himself to be pulled in beside her and with her still being mortal, he began his favorite nighttime activity with the necessary restaint.
He remembered the first night in the dome shaped enclosure. He had looked around at the competition and sighed. This was no competition. Like the mortal television show, the vampires had been chosen for their personalities, not strength. There was the pretty boy, the tough girl, the quirky guy, the innocent, the enforcer and him. Formulaic is what it was, he thought. No imagination.
Then they had interviewed him. The part of him that the vampires would see each week, for six weeks, as the show began.
"I came across two thousand years ago. I am Lucien LaCroix. Radio host of the Nightcrawler show. Father to some, friend to all...." He smiled briefly. "My plan of action? you ask. My philosophy? Simply this: divide and conquer. I'll not make any alliances here, no friends. This is not a game in which there is safety in numbers. No, it is every vampire for himself. And yet if someone chooses to follow my lead, I'll not stop them. They are mere children wandering in the dark and I, their North star. Make no mistake, I will be.....," he paused for dramatic effect. "The Last One Standing."
At the Raven, a cheer arose. The first show had been extremely nerve wracking for Natalie to watch. Twenty minutes into it, she still peeked through her fingers. The vampires were decidedly less affected. They were enthralled, but not terrified. Many of them had lived through it, Natalie realized.
"How much longer can it continue?" she asked Nick.
"Until one of them is far worse off than any of the others.
That one proved to be Gail- tough girl. Scorched, burned and smoking from the sun, she was escorted out, leaving only five. You could almost smell the smoke. The first challenge had been to protect yourself from the sun. The self preservation streak was intensely ingrained in the older vampires. The younger ones didn't feel it as strongly yet. That had been Gail's downfall.
"Nat? Nat. It's over. Gail lost. Are you all right?" Nick asked.
"Yeah, I'm okay. It sure got a little intense, there for a minute. It looks like you and Janette are going to be rich by the time this is over. Have you changed your mind about betting against LaCroix?"
They looked over at Janette who was collecting and paying out the money bet on and against the vampires. The community had placed bets on who would be eliminated first, last and between.
"No, Janette and I still say Gerrard will be the winner. He's been alive twice as long as LaCroix."
"Nick, trust me. LaCroix will win." She couldn't explain how she knew, why she was so certain. It would ruin the show.
He smiled indulgantly at her. "You have to say that. You love him."
"Yes, Nick. But that's not why he will win." The she thought about the truth of her words. She had lied. That was exactly why he would win.
End of part 2
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