Part Eighteen
 

Nights together developed into days in the park or rides to the country.  Slow
walks in the sun became more cherished than the most exotic of destinations.
Ice cream cones from a stand were more exciting than the finest restaurant in
town.  As their passions changed in their intensity, they discovered how
deeply their love and respect for each other penetrated.  As one week followed
another the months turned into seasons, and soon the signs of autumn ending
were around them.  Natalie never again asked him to explain what had so
changed her life, and why they lived as each day was their last, but Nick
still felt time bearing down on him.  He tried to not let his urgency to live
show, but she could feel the underlying pressure in every moment that they
shared.  He was never sure that not telling her was right, and he was always
fearful that one day she might remember and resent him for withholding this
secret from her.  But he could not think of such things now.  Life as a mortal
was too short to not experience all of it with every ounce of his being.
Surprisingly, Carrie had not given him any trouble regarding his chosen living
arrangements.  She had only asked that he not embarrass her by displaying his
love affair publicly or discussing it with anyone else.  He had agreed to her
terms, but he knew that it was only a matter of a short time before he would
divorce her.  Soon everything would be changing, there was only three months
left.

The first snow flurried through the darkened skies.  It was too warm to stick
to the ground or the houses, but it lit up the overcast night.  They didn't
care what the weather was like outside, they only cuddled closer together on
the sofa as the video played on.

Carrie sat in her car outside the building that contained her husband's loft
apartment.  Her hand rested on a gun on the seat beside her.  The night air
sent a chill through her as she looked up at the lighted panes of glass where
she knew that her husband and the widow Natalie Harmond now had regular
rendezvous.  She smiled as she wondered if Nicholas was finding his last days
in this world enjoyable.  Was he with her now?  Did he caress his mistress as
he never touched his own wife?  She stopped her thoughts and laughed.  Why she
almost sounded jealous and there was no reason for that.  Soon the two of them
would be dead, and she would be wealthier than she had ever imagined.
Unfortunately, she would have to get her hands a little dirtier than normal,
but it would be worth it.  That horrid truck driver had never completed his
assignment, and could not even give her a decent excuse as to why.  The only
information she could get from him was that he was about to crush her
husband's skull when he had suddenly found himself in the lake.  The idiot had
no idea of how he had gotten there.  She put the truck driver out of her mind.
She had taken care of her first two husbands herself; she would handle this
one as well.

Picking up Nick's service revolver, she beamed with anticipation.  A murder -
suicide, what a tragic ending to two such promising people's lives.  How sad
that the grieving widow could not deal with her loss, and condemned both
herself and her lover.  What a tragic drama she played out by taking both of
their loves.  Why the climatic melodrama of it all, was almost romantic.

Although it was satisfying to revel in the pleasure of her artistic
creativity, it was time to get this over with.  Time as they say was money,
and she wanted his.  Checking the tight fit of the gloves on her hands, she
stepped out of the car and moved to his security-coded door.  He had given her
his number over a year ago, so there would be no signs of a forced entry.
Wanting to surprise them, she took the quiet way up and used the back stairs.
Little by little she moved until she was close enough to the door to burst
through, startling them both into standing positions.

Seeing that it was Carrie, Nick took a few steps towards her but stopped when
he saw his gun that she held by her side.  Nat watched where Nick's eyes
rested, and her stare also became fixed on the gun.  Delighted with their
reaction, she lifted the gun and aimed it at them.  Then she ordered her
husband to turn off the television and for both of them to move to the center
of the room.  As Carrie slid along the wall that faced the street, Nick closed
his eyes briefly as pangs of anguish swept over him.  How could he have been
so careless as to allow Carrie access to his gun?  She must have taken it when
he was there to pick up some of his clothes earlier today.  He had not even
looked for it because this was his night off, but Carrie knew that too.  With
her back against a window, she called over to them.

"So Nicholas, is this what you have been doing on all your nights off?"

He looked into her eyes, and he saw that she was only taunting them.  She had
come there to kill, and he had to somehow get that gun out of her hand without
hurting Nat or himself.  Bullets were not about to pass through him now
without possible fatal consequences.  Slowly he moved towards her and away
from Nat while he held his half-raised hands in the air.  Trying to distract
her, he attempted to reason with her.

"Carrie, I never told you that I loved you.  You forced me into this marriage.
You will not get away with this.  Give me the gun now!"

She startled for a second by his harsh command then squeezed her hand tighter
around the gun.  "Stop where you are, Nicholas!  It's not your love that I
want."

Becoming immobile where he stood as her finger tensed around the trigger, he
directed his words to her once more.  "I do not have any money like your first
husbands.  I am only a police detective."

Her quick sharp laugh pierced the tense silence of the loft as she looked
briefly over to Nat. "I know who you are Nicholas de Brabant.  You can stop
playing your game with me."

Nick closed his eyes tightly before glaring at Carrie when he heard Nat's
confused words behind him.

"Nick, what is she talking about?"

He could not turn to face her, and continued his fierce unblinking stare at
his wife.  Carrie's smile widened.  "Now isn't that cute?  She almost has me
believing that you never told her about your wealth detective.  You did tell
your lover, didn't you darling?"

Feeling helplessly trapped; he now understood why Carrie was so agreeable with
his love affair and why she wanted no one to know.  He had kept his and Nat's
romance a secret so now Carrie could act as surprised about their deaths as
everyone else.  He had helped her to create the perfect alibi.  Realizing that
she planned for them both to die tonight, he began to walk towards her to be
in a better position to overtake her.  "Carrie, if you shoot me you will never
get the money.  They will catch you.  You will never be able to spend one
cent."

Waving the gun between him and Nat, she yelled out.  "Stay back Nicholas!  I
will shoot you, and I will get away with it.  When the police find the gun in
your mistress's hand, everything will fall into place for them.  Sad really
how some people can just not accept death."  She looked over to Nat. "It must
have been hard to live with yourself after your devoted husband died while you
slept with another."  Her gaze quickly shot back to Nick.  "Murder, and then
suicide, though is such a violent way to deal with grief.  I guess that she
was not in her right mind."

"You will not get away with it Carrie.  They will know what you did."

"I'll get away with it, I always do.  It is you and your girlfriend here who
will not get away.  Now get back over with her, and get down on your knees!"

With her outstretched arm pointing steadily at Nat's head, he turned to see
Nat's frightened eyes as he complied with his wife's words.  There was nothing
he could do to save them.  Although he really believed that Carrie would be
caught this time, that would not help either Nat or himself.  What did it
matter if she was in jail, if they were dead?  After everything that they had
been through together, how could it all end like this?  He turned to look at
Nat as she followed his lead to kneel on the floor.  Her body quivered as her
eyes searched his face for some decisive action that they should take.  With a
defeated realization that there was nothing they could do, she closed her eyes
as Carrie broke the quiet again.

"I'm going to do you a favor Nicholas.  You will not have to witness her
death.  I'm going to shoot you first."  Pressing the gun's barrel hard against
his head, she squeezed on the trigger.  "Good bye Nicholas darling."

Closing his eyes, he waited for his last moment, but instead it was Carrie's
gasp that surprised him and he looked up.  High above them, LaCroix's shape
soared.  He had pulled Carrie up with him, and held her dangling above them.
Quickly, his master glanced down at the two mortals and grinned before turning
his merciless fangs to the yielding flesh on her neck.  With her neck slashed
by his hungry fangs, he dropped her limp body to the floor.  As the elder
vampire glided to stand on the floor next to Carrie's crumpled remains, his
eyes narrowed on Nat. Then he turned his attention to his son.

"I told you that I would be watching, Nicholas."

Nick stumbled to his feet, and stood face to face with the father he had not
seen in close to five years.  "LaCroix."

"You 'do' still recall, I thought that perhaps mortality had made you forget
everything about your past."  His gaze fell to the floor.  "She discovered
your ill-gained windfall, Nicholas."

"I had no idea that she was capable of such greed."

"How depressingly short-sighted of you.  After all, is that not how you
acquired the treasure?  Must I forever remind you that blood money brings only
misfortune?"

"You saved us.  Thank you, LaCroix."

His master nodded.  "Let us not make a habit of this, shall we?"  He walked
slowly around his son, studying him and throwing an occasional glance towards
Nat who was trying to stand even though her heart pounded with fear.  Finally,
he stopped his circling and faced Nick as he shook his head.  "Look at you,
Nicholas.  Time has weighed heavily on you, but soon your burden will be
over."

With his words, Nat moved to Nick's side.  "What did he mean by that Nick?"

LaCroix only grinned at her question, but his eyes never left his son's.  "I
believe that you have some explaining to do?  Did you really think you could
keep what you are from her forever?  As much as I despise to admit it, I did
find this mortal time of yours interesting."

There was no reply as LaCroix moved to the window to leave in silence.  Nick's
gaze followed him to where he was nothing more than a shadow sliding past the
moon.  He turned back to see Carrie's body slouched into a lifeless heap, and
knew that he would have to take care of hiding the fang marks that killed her.
His eyes drifted up from the floor to see Nat with tears running down her
face.  He had to talk with her, to comfort her.  Cautiously, he moved towards
her, but she held up her hand.

"Stop!  Please, just stop.  I know what you are.  I remember what happened."
She stared at the area before the fireplace, and sadly shook her head.  "You
bit me.  You took too much of my blood right here."

"Nat..."

Her voice cracked and trembled as she continued.  "I heard you talk to him
that night.  You told him that you could not make me into what you are.  He
agreed with you to let me die.  How could you do that?"

"I had no choice.  You would have become a vampire.  The very thing that Mark
died to prevent."

"But Mark was not going to let me die to prevent it...you were."

She wiped at her tears as he took another step closer to her.  "Nat, you are
beginning to remember.  Think back.  You were right when you thought that
there was more to our relationship.  We shared a love so deep that even when
you lost all memory of me, our love could not be denied.  If you remembered
our love, then you must also remember why I could not condemn you to the
vampire's existence."

The anger in her flared up again as she began to recall more.  "My nightmare.
I kept having the same dream over and over when Mark was taking care of me.
But it wasn't a dream was it?  It was real, and you were the beast that bit
me."

Nick squeezed his eyes tightly closed, and twisted his head to the side,
reacting as if she had slapped him hard.  If only she had struck him, he would
have preferred a physical outburst to the wound her words inflicted on him.
Knowing that she had to understand why he had done what he did, he reached out
to her and placed his hands around her arms.  Twisting her to face him, he
looked deeply into her eyes.

"Yes, I bit you.  But do you remember why I bit you?  Do you remember that we
were both searching for a cure?  A cure that would have finally allowed us to
be together?"

Struggling for him to release her, she suddenly stopped and her eyes opened
wide as she calmed down and looked up at him.  "I asked you to do it, you
didn't want to do it."

"You trusted me Nat, I never should have allowed it to proceed.  It's my
fault."

Releasing his grip of her, he began to walk away but she reached over to stop
him.  "I remember Nick.  I remember your concerns, your faith, and your love."
He turned from her, but she pulled him back.  "Nick, I remember the love."

She smiled at him, and he returned her smile.  Rushing to hold him close, she
held him for a second before recalling the master vampire's words.  Pulling
away, she looked into his eyes.  "You're mortal now, but you will be going
back.  He said that soon you will be going back?"

"Nat, I made a promise to him that I must keep.  In three months, I must
return to what I was."

"NO!  I won't let you.  We worked too hard.  I can't let you do this.  This
isn't fair."

He smiled down at her.  "I know, it isn't fair.  Life is never fair, but we
did have this time together and even more if you still want me."

"I don't understand.  You don't have to go back to him.  We will run away.  I
can't let this end.  Please Nick don't go back to him, stay here with me."

"Nat, when I made this promise almost five years ago, I always knew that I
would return to what I was.  I would be a coward to run.  To spend every
moment wondering if you or I would be discovered.  To live in fear.  I would
never respect myself.  Is that the type of life that you want for me, for us?"

"I want us to be together.  I don't care how we do it."

"I care, and eventually you would care too."

She heavily leaned her head against him.  "I don't know if I can survive this
Nick."

He smiled.  "You will survive Nat. I have told you that you would survive
before, and you told me that I was right.  We will both survive this."

As she leaned against him, she listened to his beating heart and felt the
warmth of his chest through his shirt.  Then as if a door had reopened,
thousands of memories and feelings rushed in to replenish her memory-starved
brain.  Every reason that she had come to love him, from before his bite to
the years that followed, was there in clear view.  It was then that she knew
that there had to be a way for them to be together.  There was always a way.
Whenever there was love and as long as there was life, then there had to be a
way.  And if he would go back to being a vampire, then she would go back to
finding his cure.  The time that they had left might have to last them
throughout eternity, but she was willing to take that chance.  She pressed her
body closer to him, so afraid to let go for even a second.  Closing her eyes,
she tried only to feel the sensation of being near him.  She tried to block
out what the future would bring as she whispered to him.

"I don't want to think about it now.  I just want you to hold me, Nick."

He pulled her closer among the shadows and the quiet of the loft that
surrounded them.  For a little while they could pretend that today was all
there was, and that tomorrow was a lifetime away.

                              The Present - 2001

LaCroix's haunting notes had long since faded from the radio, and nothing
remained but the sound of dead air.  He moved to turn off the radio before
returning to the sofa to await his re-entry into immortality.  Nat had wanted
to be here when his transformation occurred so that he did not face it alone,
but that would have been too dangerous for her.  This time would be different,
just LaCroix and himself.  No beautiful and alluring Janette to be waiting for
him to offer a first kiss into darkness.  No candle-lit stone room filled with
the sounds of the rebec to welcome him into the night.  Only the certainty of
timeless bloodlust beckoning, calling on him to fulfill his destiny.  Nothing
but the vampire summoning him back into the lonely shadows of the undead.  Was
this how Janette felt when he had so selfishly stolen her mortality?  His
eternal companion, his sister, Janette.  Even as she had pleaded with him to
spare her the temptation of ageless timelessness, he could not hear her cries.
Although he had rationalized that he offered her a way back that would give
her another chance, he was only indulging his own interests.  He had brought
her back to offer his love, a love that he really could not give to her.  She
had known that she would not be able to resist the lure of the vampire, and
the only needs that he could fulfill by bringing her back, were his own.  He
leaned back on the sofa, and wondered how Janette was readjusting to vampire
life the second time around.  What goes around, comes around.  Fate had
returned to him, it was now his time to go back.

A cold wind whipped through the room, and he sat forward and turned towards
the now opened window.  The tall figure of a man all clothed in black stood in
the shadows of the candle light with the wind flapping around him.  The breeze
caused the candles to flicker, and he could see brief flashes of the pale
intense features of his master.  The whiteness of his skin a startling
contrast to his black clothes, not unlike the moon and stars in the black
deepness of space.  However, this being offered no glistening light, his ways
led only to darkness.

Being both physically and mentally prepared for this meeting; Nick stood up to
approach him.  A strange sense of relief accompanied him as he stood before
LaCroix.  His father took a few steps into the room and looked around before
turning back to face him.

"I knew you would be here Nicholas."

Nick's voice reflected no emotion.  "I knew you would come."

LaCroix smiled.  "I can hear your heart.  You are not afraid."

"I am ready."

"It will be good to have you back."

"I will do what I must."

Stepping close, LaCroix placed his hands on his son's shoulders as he drew him
near.  "I will make this as painless as possible."

Nick stared intently back.  "I know."

Nick took in his final breath of mortality as he caught a glimpse of LaCroix's
fangs.  He stood strong as the constant pressure on his skin was felt with the
sharpness of his master's teeth severing the main artery in his neck.  Within
seconds, he felt his heart slow and his strength diminish.  Immediately he was
aware of the sensation of his body sinking into darkness.  Then he felt as if
wild tides were pulling him under to the ocean's bottom.  He could hear the
unrestrained roar of the waves over his head, pounding and splashing and
separating him from the world.  Relaxing his muscles, he glided along with the
current and let it deposit his body on the sandy shore.  In his weakness, he
struggled to stand up, and then off in the distance he again saw it.  A light
shinning so brilliantly, that it sparkled with all the vivid colors of the
rainbow.  He stared at it, unable to divert his attention from its glow.  Its
pull was strong, and his soul longed to be in its presence as the mortal he
was, but he remembered his promise, closed his eyes, and turned away.
Surrendering his will, he walked back into the darkened waters that once more
embraced him.

His body shook violently as his drive for his master's blood overtook him.
Sucking viciously, he opened his eyes to his old life.  His father's blood was
sweet and warm, and all he desired was to have more of it.  Finding himself
lying flat on his bed, he dragged himself up to lean against his headboard.
LaCroix pulled his torn wrist from his mouth then produced a bottle and handed
it to him.  He did not need to ask what to do nor did he care whether or not
it was human blood.  He consumed all of it.  With the first pangs of his
hunger satisfied, he looked wearily over to LaCroix who smiled.

"Welcome back, Nicholas."

Nick only sighed, and closed his eyes.  Yesterday's dream of mortality was
over.  He was a vampire again, but his feelings for Natalie were still the
same as were his need to belong to humanity, and his need to believe.  LaCroix
had transformed him into a vampire, but what was really different?

Thinking of his love for Nat, he could not believe how already their
separation could hurt so badly.  He had wondered once if his love for her
would transcend time, and now he knew.  The pain he now felt would go on and
on, but he would never give up on his struggle for a permanent return to
humanity.  In the past five years, he had gone from vampire to mortal and then
back to vampire again, but little had changed.  LaCroix's words echoed in his
head.  "The more things change, the more they remain the same."

                                   The End
 

Back to Part Seventeen!