"NICK'S 2ND CHANCE" A New Ending To "Last Knight"
Nick couldn't believe what he had done. Nat was dead. Lacroix stood over him and was talking but Nick only half heard. All he could think about was how Natalie had trusted him. How she loved him and wanted to be with him forever even if it meant being a vampire. But it didn't turn out that way. He took too much, just like before. He had turned others before but love makes the blood sweet. Too sweet as it turns out. Nick couldn't stop himself in time and Natalie was dead. But as he looked at her, so beautiful even in death, he knew what he had to do. They would be together.
"And so in your eyes, I'm the Devil?" Lacroix had asked. The question brought Nick back to the here and now. He stood and faced his sire.
"No. Not the Devil Lacroix."
"What then?" The older vampire demanded.
"You are my closest friend." Nick answered. Then he moved across the room growing more confident with each step. He removed the long wooden staff from the wall then handed it to Lacroix with tears in his eyes. Tears of joy because soon he will be with the woman he loves. Lacroix took the staff without a word as Nick turned and knelt with his back to the other.
"I have faith." Nick said as he closed his eyes. Nick waited for what seemed like years. It must be true, he thought, time does seem to slow down when you're about to die. He stiffen involuntary as he heard the sound of wood breaking. But he felt no pain, looking down he didn't see the end of the staff coming out of his chest. Looking over his shoulder he saw Lacroix throwing the broken staff out the window.
Nick stood, eyes blazing, "Lacroix! What are you doing? I trusted you to help me!"
"I was never the type to stab a friend in the back, unless he deserved it." The older vampire said calmly as he turned, "Besides, what kind of friend would I be if I let you die in your present state?"
"Just because YOU don't believe in God doesn't mean I can't. You made me, but you can't control my mind. I have faith. I KNOW it!"
"Oh come now. You are far too old to be so foolish."
"FOOLISH?!" If Nick didn't want to know what Lacroix meant by that he would have torn the old vampire in half right then.
"Yes. If someone drinks too much they KNOW they can drive home. If someone does drugs they KNOW they can fly. Does that mean we should let them go to the roof or give them the keys to a car?"
"It isn't the same thing." But even as he said it, Nick heard the uncertainty in his own voice. And that made him angry. How dare Lacroix of all people, question him. He wanted to die. He HAD to die. "I know this is real, I want to be with Natalie." His eyes went to the body on the other side of the room.
"She IS with you. Everything she was is in your veins." Lacroix's words were spoken with such kindness and Nick thought he even heard a pleading tone under them as well. But Nick didn't want kindness; he wanted Natalie. He went to stand over her.
"But it won't last! In a few hours her blood will be gone and so will she. And I'll never be able to feel her again."
"Exactly." Lacroix said, "And with her blood your faith will also be gone. Then you'll thank me."
In a blinding move Nick struck Lacroix across the face, sending him to the floor.
"Don't talk to me like I was a child! I'm tired of this life and if you won't help me end it then I'll make you!!!"
Nick wasn't exactly sure what happened, one moment he was flying toward Lacroix, the next he was falling toward the sidewalk. He fell too fast to stop and hit the concrete. He couldn't move, which meant his spine was broken so he would be unable to move until he healed. He heard a scream then saw a woman's face. Then he heard another woman's voice, "Oh my God! We've got to get out of here before the cops show up."
"Wait. I'm looking for his wallet." Said the one over him.
"You're crazy. I'm outta here."
"It's not like he's going to need it! " she called after the other woman.
Nick still couldn't move so the woman, a hooker he guessed, didn't have any problems finding the wallet.
"Oh hell, you ARE a cop." He heard her say. The face disappeared and he heard footsteps running away. Nick's body finally healed itself and he shot up to his apartment window, only to find Lacroix gone. Nat's body was still there and she was still dead. He wanted to cry, but he had used up all his tears. He went to the window and yelled out the other vampire's name, but the only answer was his neighbor's yells that he shut-up.
Nick took to the air, but Lacroix"s scent was no where to be found. He realized that Lacroix hadn't lived this long without knowing how to hide. Nick's animosity propelled him on. On the ground dogs howled and barked as they sensed him fly over. He flew faster and higher than he ever did before. As he flew he entered a cloud, or so he thought. Soon he realized his eyes had frozen over. In a panic he lost control of his flight. He could no longer tell which way he was going. Up, down, left, right, they all became the same to him. His vision cleared just in time for him to see the top of a tree coming up to meet him. He fell into it, branches cutting into him like knives, then hitting the ground like a bloody sack. Nick was blind, he couldn't tell why at the moment. Nick was surprised to find he could still hear. Nick's broken body lay on the ground for the second time tonight. And how much night was left? He didn't know. Would the sun come up before his body healed? Nick wasn't sure he even cared anymore. The world, like his mood was dark. But he could hear voices coming out of that darkness.
"Man, did you see that?" a boy's voice asked, "He came outta nowhere!"
"Must be a skydiver." A girl said, "Guess his chute didn't open."
"He didn't even have a chute, look. We gotta get outta here."
"But he may still be alive. Shouldn't we help him?"
"If we do our parents will know we were out this late and they're ground us forever." The boy had said.
Nick couldn't believe what he was hearing. He could well be dying and these stupid kids were more worried about not being able to go out for a few nights. Nick guessed that maybe it wasn't as close to sunrise as he thought. Feeling was starting to come back to his body, not much longer. Healing his injuries was taking a lot of blood. Natalie's blood. He could already feel her presences slipping away. And as much as he hated it, his faith was going with her. Lacroix was right. That realization along with the hooker taking his wallet and these two foolish teenagers were really starting to piss Nick off! Somehow these emotions made his mending speed up. He grunted as bones snapped back into place.
"See!" said the girl, "He is alive. And he's going to tell the cops he heard us."
"He won't tell anyone. If he's not dead now, he'll be soon."
Nick slowly pushed himself up and saw the teenagers' backs getting smaller as they walked away. The boy was in blue jeans and a brown leather jacket. The girl had long blond hair and had on a blue jacket and red miniskirt. Neither of them was even glancing back at him. Out of sight, out of mind he guessed. All of Nick's resentment and anger he had in him exploded in him brain as he leaped forward with all his strength and tackled the boy. The girl screamed. But there was no one to see what the screaming was about.
"Get the FUCK off me or I'll kill ya you fag!" the boy yelled.
Nick laughed at the absurd threat and sank his fangs into the boy's neck.
"Leave him alone!" the girl screamed. She threw herself on Nick, pounding at his back and screaming in his ear. Nick had the boy drained in minutes. Using vampire speed, he was suddenly on top of the girl. Now she was push at him.
"Please don't." she said with tears rolling down her cheeks. Nick could tell she was afraid, and knew why. For a second he took pity on her, but then she scratched his face. The vampire's temper flared and he sack his fangs into her neck. His hunger was satisfied by the boy so this time he drank slowly, savoring the taste. The girl's life unfolded before his eyes. He stopped suddenly when he discovered her name was Natalie, and how she had always loved the dead boy from afar and how tonight was a dream come true for her. So much like his own Natalie. But what she didn't know and Nick did was the boy, his name was Alex, didn't really love her. He was only dating her because he'd heard she was easy, but it had been a week and nothing happened yet. So if she didn't put out tonight, he was going to dump her and tell everyone she wasn't any good. Humans. A vampire envying them is like a man envying a monkey. An evolutionary step backward, Nick thought as he looked at the girl. He considered making her like himself, but decided she was too young to truly appreciate it. But she probability wouldn't live much longer as a human either. She may have been raped and killed by a boy she loved. Nick knew Alex thought about it. And now that he was dead, she'd never know it. She'll just fall into the same trap over and over until she was killed. No, he finally decided, best to put her out of her misery. When he was done he knew how much time there was before the sun came up. He also knew what he had to do and how to do it. He took the bodies and placed them in Alex's car.
As the early morning sun rose Nick watched the fire-fighters put out the burning car which had flipped over in a corn field. No one would know the bodies had no blood when it crashed. The vampire watched the smoke lifting into the sky as the fire-fighters sprayed water on the flames. He was hiding in an abandoned house Alex and his friends would get high in late at night, but he would be safe here while he waited out the day. The first thing Nick planed to do is give Lacroix a big hug and kiss! He smiled as he thought how nice it was to be his old self again.
That night the same dogs the barked now howled and tucked their tales between their legs as they sensed something else flying over head. The something was a vampire who was happy to be alive, or unalive whatever the case may be, and hunting again.
THE END