Redemption
Eternity is a long time to wait...
A Blood Ties Fan Fic.
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, they are the creation of Tanya Huff, and the masterpiece of Kaleidoscope Entertainment and Insight Films Inc.
Synopsis: This is a tribute to not only this show that I love, but also another well-known Canadian show that had us under its spell for 9 years – The X-Files. A monster that was the most hideous of creatures with my own spin on it comes to Toronto.
Author: angelsslave
Chapter One...
She entered the office, rain pouring off her leather jacket as she wiped the 18th century sword clean from the blood of a Borak Demon, before sheaving it once more and placing it back in her cabinet.
Moving swiftly, she uncorked the bottle of Irish whiskey sitting by her desk and poured a healthy glass of the amber liquid, downing it in one throaty submission, feeling the burning sensation scorch a pathway down her chest, as with controlled if not tired movements she entered her bedroom. Setting the bottle down on her bedside table after sloshing another generous measure into the glass held firmly in her hand, with the other she turned on the shower in her bathroom and closed the shower door. Allowing the steam to build up to just the right temperature to fog the glass and create a secluded, private escape from the outside world. It was then she looked in the mirror and glared at the reflection staring back at her.
Vicki Nelson had lost weight, lost sleep, lost sight, lost thought but most of all...lost the one person that had opened her eyes to the world, the real world around her. It had been one month, fourteen days and thirty-six hours give or take 'but who was counting' since Henry Fitzroy, bastard son of King Henry VIII had walked out of her life and slammed the door. The pain had turned to sorrow, the sorrow had turned to anger and the anger had turned to picking her sorry ass off the floor and channel the pain into revenge. Once happy that Coreen was recovering well and that Mike had successfully pleaded his case before the board, which found him with a six-month evaluation. Sitting behind a desk and writing up reports from the field to keep his nose squeaky clean and his badge returned – Vicki had found herself with a sense of deep darkening desire to rid the world of Asteroth finally.
The Demon had almost taken everything from her. Robbed her of all that she had come to rely on and expect, all that she had leaned against and loved, and now she had a thirst that could not be quenched until every demonic situation that was called for. That had hidden in plain sight for so long, was wiped off the face of the earth. With all of this had come sacrifices ones in which she had chalked to be necessary changes. She no longer worked strictly on cases involving stray husbands/wives and runaway teenagers, her client list more favoured supernatural activity that the Police would not handle. Using a scanner that Coreen had carelessly allow to fall into her bag during a trip to the downtown precinct, and tracking equipment that had been tweaked, thanking the years under car hoods as a teenager before the call of the force had wetted her appetite – Victoria Nelson, Private Investigator to the dammed was reborn.
It had taken all her will to train up on martial combat. Using a wealth of weaponry, she had been introduced to by Henry, and of course, and where she could obtain such fine medieval finery with the help of Henry's dearest friend Dr. Betty Sagara. Who was still angry with her for chasing Henry away, but was willing to help her in the most basic of Demon hunting. Ridding the world of the scourge of the earth now hidden in plain sight as a Priest, but who had an uncanny ability to attack Vicki from afar and draw her out more than just simply showing himself and let her have one clean shot at him, was not an easy task. In the process of getting closer to him, she had seen an increase in strangeness she no longer acknowledge as weird and creepy anymore. Tonight had been one of those nights when she had gone out, armed as usual to destroy a monster who fed of young virgin men past puberty. To bring forth life to the eggs that had been harvested to create a new species. Until Vicki had stumbled across the Borak's layer, killing both Demon and her children. Calling in the suspicious activity and the whereabouts of five young men with their lives sucked out of them like empty juice cartons. Making sure to remain anonymous of course. The further away she kept herself from the Homicide Division of the Met, the easier a life Mike Celluci would have.
So here she was, staring at the empty orbs of life that looked out from her thin face and damp hair, she had changed in so many ways since that night one month, fourteen days and thirty-six hours ago give or take 'but who was counting', all except her heart – that still remained in tatters. Peeling off her grey utilitarian t-shirt and flinging it unceremoniously into the clothes hamper, she winced and traced the jagged cut on her left shoulder. Oblivious at the time the Borak had taken a good swipe at her before she landed the fatal blow that cut the Demon and its various razor sharp wailing claws in half and returned it to its not so attractive albeit in two bits Waitress, at the local rave club 'Quintessence'. She had been feasting for weeks on unsuspecting young men just out for a good time – illegally of course and wound up as an entrée to her vicarious appetite. The cut stung but it was one more to strike up to the helpless and one less to burden the guilt she felt inside for unleashing this torment on Toronto.
Shedding herself of her remaining clothes, Vicki stepped into the steamy cubicle and lost herself in the sensations of a thousand hot needles of water raining down on her tired cold skin. Scrubbing hard, as if to wash of the scent of those poor unsuspecting men lying decayed and lifeless, she took a moment to run over the case once more inside her head as if typing out the report. She had been hired by the Club owner, Benjamin Price who had seen many of his regulars disappearing mysteriously over the last three months, not to mention some of his bar staff – all men and it seem to centre around a young Waitress from of all places Minnesota. Paying Vicki up front the five hundred plus a further five, adding that she had come highly recommended by one of his customers, Vicki had set up in search of this tempting waitress that had all the men's heads turned. She turned out to be the typical profile, long blonde hair, blue deep-set eyes, legs that went on forever – Henry's type. The mere mention of his name wretched her gut as she scrubbed down her arms and legs, avoiding the deep gash that was cleaning up nicely, proceeding to lift the bottle of Orchid and Vanilla shampoo and worked on her hair. The pain of missing Henry was not a place she wanted to go to right now, he had made his choice regardless of what she might have said to change his mind and it was something she was eventually going to have to live with. Turning the facet off, she reached over and grabbed her bath towel making sure it was secured tightly as she stepped out onto the tiled floor and downed the remainder of the glass sitting by the sink, a resolute salute to herself in the now steamed up mirror, "Here's to Vicki Nelson, Warrior Princess!"
She laughed at the irony of such a label and how she came about it as she made her way across her bedroom floor and into the living area to grab the half bottle of whiskey, when her cell phone rang from her leather jacket. Slipping her glasses on her nose, she went over and fished out of the inner pocket, sighing at the caller ID flashing – it was Coreen,
"This better be important Coreen, I was fixing on getting real drunk and passing out!"
The voice on the other end sounded as if it was somewhere really loud as a thudding beat drummed in the background, "W-What, what did you say Vicki I can't hear you over the music?" Vicki shook her head as she picked up her watch and squinted at the time, ten thirty early for Coreen to be out, "Never mind, what's up?" The line crackled a little and she could hear Coreen speaking to someone but trying to sound discreet, probably one of her perky Goth friends she liked to hang out with, only not so much now since she had returned to the land of the living from being Asteroth's un-dead Hell Bride, "Vicki you'll never guess what?" Coreen's voice sounded very much on the overly perky giddy side for Vicki's liking. It was nice that at least one of them was out having fun, "Coreen, I'm really not into guessing games right now, so can we just cut to the chase?" The line crackled once more, alerting Vicki to the idea that Coreen was somewhere that her cell phone was finding hard to reach and maintain a connection, "You'll never guess who I've seen?" the young Goth gushed on enthusiastically as if she had just seen Santa Claus. "Oh wait, Elvis is not dead, and has been living in Alaska for the last thirty years?" Vicki tried to had the bite in her voice but there were some days she wondered why on earth she had hired her in the first place, "No, don't be silly, besides he's dead – someone way more shocking than that!"
Vicki at this point wished that a sudden burst of lightening would burn down the cable connecting her phone to Coreen's because right now her whiskey looked more and more promising to be thrown at the nearest wall, "COREEN please, just tell me who it is so I can go back to wallowing in self pity?" Coreen seemed to take a breath before continuing, "Henry, Henry Fitzroy!"
It took all of Vicki's self-will not to sink to the floor at his name spoken on Coreen's lips, "W-What?" her Goth assistant giggled as the message had finally got through to her boss, "Yep he's here in the flesh so to speak, and looking just as...well...you know what I mean right?"
Vicki nodded at the phone as she willed her heart to stop beating so fast and her voice to return into her throat. With all that thankfully under control, she answered the question with another, "That's impossible Coreen; you know as well as I do that Henry's moved to Vancouver, how could he be here and where are you anyway?" Coreen laughed again as the phone line crackled once more, "I'm telling you Vicki it's him, I'm standing no more than three feet away from him at the new Dark Horizon's exhibition at the Royal Ontario, which incidentally is absolutely amazing, and has several pieces of Henry's work in it."
Vicki took in everything that Coreen was saying, and wished right now she hadn't set her glass down bereft of any liquid to quill her unsteady nerves, "He's there at an exhibition...has he seen you?" Coreen went silent, as if she was checking she was not being watched before answering, "I'm pretty sure he hasn't seen me Vicki, the place is really crowded seeing as it is the first night opening. Stefan says that the tickets are like gold and had sold out within the first hour of being issued...this is so-o cool!" Vicki cringed at the perky Goth and sometimes assistant when she bothered working, and tried to stop another panic attack erupting her already bothered emotionally state, "Coreen please whatever you do, just-just keep away from him okay? Do this one thing for me." Vicki took a deep breath hoping Coreen was at least half listening to her, "I don't want you going over and, I don't know! Over perking him with your ray of sunshine approach...or worse staking him."
Coreen laughed understanding what Vicki meant and promised she would go nowhere near Henry, and would avoid all situations of bumping into him. She finished the conversation by promising to fill Vicki in on all the gossip the following morning and bid her goodnight. As the phone line went dead, Vicki disconnected the call and threw her cell phone on the sofa. Turning she went to her bay window to look out at the darkened street below. She had done well surviving the last month, getting by each day thankful for it to end. Her cases had piled up and with the lack of all things Vampire; it had been a slow process. Marred by the lack of books that Henry possessed and who Coreen graved for, they had turned to Dr. Sagara in many ways for guidance. NOW to be told Henry is walking around downtown Toronto as large as life, well half-life and here she was in her home, injured from kicking Demon ass with not so much as a phone call from him to let her know he was here...
Grabbing the bottle of whiskey, growling with frustration at just how much her life sucked, Vicki intended to get really drunk and pass out.
Henry disliked the pompous display of kissing ass that seem to be a feature at these events. He preferred a more low-key approach to displaying his work, and longed for the night to end so he could feed. He looked across at his date for this dull and boring occasion, the stunningly beautiful if not superficial Candice. A model that inspired to be an Actress, and found that events like this to be full of potential money magnets that would pave her way to stardom. Downing back his whiskey, feeling the burn of it down his already parched throat, he tried to immerse himself into the almost comatose conversation at his left hand side.
The last month and a half had been hell on earth for him for many reasons and they all began with a female – Victoria Nelson. He had walked away with his heart that once drummed in his chest broken in two. Never had he felt such pain, such loss, such anger directed at one person. Part of him ached to be there with her, another part of him, the beast that was caged deep down inside wanted to howl at the moon and ripped her apart limb by limb. He had many lovers over his four centuries of living on this earth as Vampire, but never had one woman obsess him, possess him as she did. Her hard-headed approach to life constantly put her in mortal danger, yet she took that risk and put her own life out there to be taken. He was angry with her for many reasons, mostly the fact she had sold herself to Asteroth by being seduced to the darkness he lived in. She had used Dark Magic to save him when he had warned her constantly of its consequences, yes he was still bitter but the worst thing she could ever have done was choose to another man over him.
The bitterness burned in his gut as his eyes darkened momentarily with anger that clawed at his throat and threatened to break free. He had walked away short of begging Vicki to come with him, he did not beg, plead yes but he would not beg for anyone even if it took all the strength in his body to stop Vicki walking out the door. He had made a promise to walk completely away; compromising a Vampire's territory forced a move that was expected, he did not have a choice in the matter. Unfortunately, the move had been delayed because of Asteroth's rising, forcing Henry to call Augustus and retain his apartment keeping his stay as low key as possible. Truth be told, there was no way he could go knowing that now Vicki's life was in even more danger, but had vowed to himself to keep away from her at all costs. That was until across the room no more than three feet away stood Coreen, trying to pretend she didn't see him while fumbling around in the smallest excuse for a bag, no doubt searching for her cell phone to let Vicki know she had seen him. He smiled at the bitter irony of it all, he knew there was no way Ms. Nelson Private Investigator extraordinaire would be seen caught dead 'bad choice of words' in a place like this but Coreen was always full of surprises.
Excusing himself from the tedious banter that was persistently annoying his over sensitive hearing, promising to a pouting Candice that he would be right back. Henry grabbed two glasses of champagne from a waiting tray and skilfully picked his way around the crowd without being seen.
Edgar Poole pulled at the stuffy collar that was restraining his breathing, as he dully waited for the stuffy guests to take glasses of champagne from his overly crowded tray. The loud thud of the music straining over the large overhead speakers in the Reception Hall of the Museum wailed in his ears, causing him to wince at the annoying sound. The night was dragging on and his concentration was at an all time low. He needed to feed before his strength would leave him, but the place was too open and would draw too much suspicion. He had already alerted enough of that with the demise of the overly stuffed Curator, Franklin Jones, but his hunger had cried out and would not be appease until he trawled the neighbourhood for an unsuspecting meal. The police had already been and interviewed the entire staff regarding the death. Luckily, for him no one had suspected a thing, other than possibly a robbery at the museum with dire consequences and had chalked it up to the new exhibition, Dark Horizons. Artistic differences possibly that lead to an argument that ended the Curator's life. It had bide him some time to quell in his hunger and act as unsuspicious as the rest of the waiting staff who had come in the day before the opening to set up for the champagne reception. Now his hunger cried out again and he had no way of hiding it as his breathing laboured and his skin itched in withdrawal, he needed to feed soon...
Coreen had done exactly as she promised Vicki, kept as much distance between Henry Fitzroy and herself. She had become pretty good at blending in with people thanks to specific training her Boss had been teaching her. Standing with her back to one of the largest sculptures in the exhibition of a werewolf devouring it's victim while her date, Stefan - an up and coming artist with some paintings on show had gone to get her a drink. That she did not sense Henry behind her until it was too late,
"Hello Coreen" his smooth silky voice drummed through her ears as she spun around, almost knocking the drinks from his hands, "H-Henry!" He smiled that devilish smile of his that forced her to swallow really hard and blink from being lost in those delicious blue orbs of his, "I-I did not know you were here?"
Henry smiled again, forgiving her for lying this once. Knowing Vicki, she probably made the girl promise not to let it be known he had been seen by her. "I thought you would like one of these?" he handed her a flute of champagne and watched as Coreen gulped a thanks and took a long swallow of the bubbly liquid before continuing, "I know you are pretending you haven't seen me, so let's cut this charade shall we?"
Coreen nodded not able to speak for a few seconds, seconds Vicki always welcomed, the twisted joke gnawed at his gut, "How is Vicki?"
He knew as soon as he said it, that it would provoke a response from her assistant. Little did he believe the response would be to have the half glass of champagne left in her hand thrown over him. Dripping with the cold liquid, reservedly he had deserved such an act of childishness from Vicki; he propelled Coreen by the arm into a place where they would not be disturbed. Coreen knew better not to create a disturbance, Henry was a very powerful enemy when annoyed, and she allowed him to take her into an alcove before she spun on him, wrenching her arm free, "How the hell do you think she is Henry? You walk away from her at a time when she needed you the most. Tell her you are moving to Vancouver with not as much as a 'look after yourself'. Pissed is the word I would use, but that's just it, she's not – she's worse!"
Henry counted to ten to allow Coreen's rant to subside before he responded, "Given the fact that Detective Celluci was there to help her lick her wounds, I would suspect anger yes, but she will get over it as will I!" Coreen blinked at him as if she had just awoken from a fog, "Mike! What has Mike got to do with all of this?" Henry felt his jaw lock at the mere mention of his name as he practically snarled at the still angry girl, "Vicki seemed very clear where her heart lay the last time we spoke. She choose staying with him than starting a new life with me!" the last words practically spat out on their own, as he allowed the beast howling inside him a sniff at the air constricting in his chest. He heard and felt laugh bitterly as she shook her head, "You guys are all the same, even in death you are struck dumb with being the macho one. Vicki did not pick anyone, she has not seen Mike in over a month. Right before you took off out of her life in fact!"
If anything would have floored Henry right on the spot, being told by Coreen that affectively both he and Celluci had walked out Vicki's life, "But she said, you were there Coreen!" Damn it he needed answers, "She told me she couldn't go because of Celluci..."
"She told you she couldn't go because of the mess she had made." Coreen tried to point out, "Vicki picked nobody Henry, and she couldn't leave knowing what mess Mike's life was in. Felt it was her duty to try to sort things out. Then tho and behold she was left on her own!"
Henry was reeling from the information he was still trying to process all at once. He had left a month ago, thinking that what he had, had with Victoria Nelson was dead, long gone. Now he was being told that what he thought was happening was further from the truth and wanted nothing more than to hit something really hard and howl from the pain it would cause. At this moment in time, his Princely behind really needed a good kicking and knew that given the chance, Vicki would most certainly get satisfaction from doing so. He was a Vampire yet right now, he felt like nothing more than dirt scraped off a shoe, "I had no idea, I thought she would be better off without me?"
"Oh she is believe me," Coreen replied without hesitation, "She's turned herself into a one woman war machine, incapable of any emotion. Do you know she goes out at night armed to the teeth with whatever she can get her hands on, deliberately searching for Asteroth?" Henry shook his head, still the same fearless Vicki, "He's too powerful for her that is what he wants!" Coreen nodded, "That's what she wants. She will not stop until he is sent back to hell, possibly her along with him. I should not be telling you all this, I've got to go my date will be wondering where I am." Coreen turned to leave Henry still wrapped in his own thoughts when he called out, vamping his voice and echoing his command,
"Stop!"
Coreen stopped in her tracks and turned around, her eyes void of emotion as she listened to his voice, "When we say goodbye you will not remember seeing or meeting me tonight. You will have an enjoyable night and drink far too much champagne. You will go into work tomorrow as if nothing has happened!"
His voice returned to normal as Coreen blinked then looked up and smiled, "Goodbye Henry, it was good to see you again." Henry nodded as he took Coreen's offered hand in his, "Goodbye Coreen, have an enjoyable night!"
He watched the young girl walk away in her garish gab of black and black and took a deep uneven ghost of a breath. There was just so much, he needed to think about and the night was almost upon him. First, he needed to feed and a quieter place than this to do so. Throwing back his glass of champagne, he returned to the crowded room and sought out Candice.
Mike Celluci was puzzled tremendously. The case Kate was assigned to just did not add up. The month he had been put on probation had offered up a clear signal that one more foul step and his badge would remain forever in the desk drawer of Captain Crowley. His punishment was to sit a desk job, doing rookie assignments like writing case notes for files that had been handed in by his friends in Homicide. It pissed him off but he knew it was better than being off the Force forever and he had been a second away from that happening. Thanks to Kate who had surprisingly stood up for him at his hearing, citing he had been overworked with cases that had too many untied ends and problems in his personal life but was a damn good Cop an it would be a tragedy to let him go, he had got off with a caution. Only later to find out that Vicki had also put up a fight against him being fired. He felt sadness at the thought of his friend/lover/co-worker and the largest problem this side of Toronto. He had no choice but to walk away from her, hell his life was about to take a nose dive into obscurity while she ran around with and un-dead blood sucking monster, who seem to capture what was left of her common sense and turn it into a freak show.
He had tried to be patient with Vicki, he had known her long enough to understand the depth of her passion when it came to sticking up for the small guy and take the dirt that was still walking off the streets for good. Little did his imagination stretch to when it came to the unexplained and downright foolish, reliving the Hammer horror days when kids hid behind sofas and parents while watching a badly made, poorly acted monster show. Yet Vicki seem to thrive on it and to top that all off, bring him into the mess as well. Rubbing his tired eyes with his hands, he prayed that what he had in front of him was not another case of the supernatural and downright freakish. Having the disadvantage of not being allowed to work any cases for six months, and another review to see if he had kept himself clean was something that ate away at him on a daily basis. The only good side to it was that he was at least allowed to type up the reports leading to any ongoing investigations, although he input was not allowed, Kate had at least heard his suspicions to some of them below the radar of Crowley. The last one she worked had involved five missing young men with no clue to their whereabouts other than a club they all frequented – Quintessence. A call had come through with the location of all their bodies and a cut in half female who was tied to each of them. As weird as it sounded to him at the time when writing it, he had to congratulate the anonymous who called it in. They had given a full description of the person seen killing the poor misfortunate's and her whereabouts on each of the nights the men were taken. There was only one person he knew that was that articulate at given descriptions and times - and that was Vicki.
Right now, the case that was sitting in front of him bore all the hallmarks of yet another Vicki Nelson investigation and he groaned a despairing sigh at maybe 'keeping distance' was not going to work. Crowley would just crow at the idea of him contacting Vicki over information that he had. With Kate still sceptical at him giving his 'all' to the Met. He went over the ongoing case notes once more before typing them up. The Curator of the Royal Ontario Museum had been found in his office dead yesterday morning. No force of entry had been found and no signs of breaking and entering the Museum had been discovered – meaning it was possibly an inside job. The victim was found behind his desk in a pool of his own blood, with a great big hole in his lower body missing his liver, organs had been ripped apart to get to it. It had been in many cases a brutal murder, the victim died obviously from the violence of the attack and the injuries he had sustained from it. Kate had gone over the crime scene with a fine toothcomb so to speak. Interviewed all known suspects at the time, the museum staff and found them all co-operative and in shock from the discovery. The crime scene photos led to very little clues, the only thing strange about it was his door was locked when he was attacked. Something was missing something had been overlooked and he was damn well going to find out what it was. The Investigation angle was poor to say the least. Going on the assumption it was a tiff between the Curator and possibly one of the artists whose artwork was being displayed. Or possibly a lovers' quarrel, given the vicarious appetite that Franklin Jones had for young artistic men had sent Homicide in various directions to clear up the case as quickly as possible before the Press got a hold of it.
The Mayor of Toronto wanted the murderer caught, as Franklin had been a good friend of the family. He wanted to see justice done for the sake of the reputation of not only the museum, but also of Jones who had brought inspiration to the art world of Toronto. This case was going to be far from easy, given that tonight was the opening night of the Dark Horizon's Exhibition and he was still waiting for the list of Artist's, whose work was on display from Kate to add it to the file.
Dredging the last of his coffee from the cup, he set about sending an email with a bogus online account to an Investigator, who he knew would eat her own hand off before rejecting the case.