AN: I split this chapter into two parts because it just didn't flow right the way I had it previously written. I know the chapter is shorter then my others but I hope to make up for it by posting both this and chapter eight at the same time. That having been said, I hope everyone enjoys the chapters.


"She was pregnant? Why didn't you say something?" Jade asked.

"I never told anyone about it. I-I couldn't deal. I guess that was when my Black Crystal addiction started." Nikola mumbled the last sentence causing Sam to look at him.

"Ok for those of us who do not know what the hell Black Crystal is an explanation would be nice."

"Black crystal is a drug specifically tailored for Abnormals with fast healing abilities or very quick metabolisms. It slows down their healing to an almost human level while simultaneously giving them an intense high. The more drugs in their system the more their healing slows and the longer the drug will stay in their system giving them even longer highs. The high of Black crystal is hard to explain to someone who hasn't actually used it. The effects are…it's kind of like a terrifying mixture of Heroin, Cocaine, Methamphetamine, LSD, and a little bit of Abnormal added to the mixture. Not a good drug to get addicted to." Luc said in a swift manner.

"How do you know this?" Sam asked.

Luc opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again before speaking.

"Long, long, long, long, long, loooooong story." He said quickly. Sam just pursed her lips at him and gave him a look that said they would talk about it later.

"By the way Nikola, if you ever even think about using that stuff again I will kick your ass." Luc said firmly causing Nikola to nod.

"I know."

"I never want to see you like that again." Nikola winced as he recalled his behavior and what he had put his friend through.


Luc waited patiently as Nikola finally answered the door. He had to do a double take at the man before him. Nikola had cut his hair short. He was ghostly pale, eyes bloodshot and had the beginnings of a beard. His clothes were rumpled and messy. He had a bottle of alcohol in one hand, a cigarette in the other.

"What do you want?" Nikola snapped out as he gripped the doorframe, trying to steady himself.

"I came to check on you."

"I'm fine. Go away."

"No Nikola. I am not going to go away." Nikola just rolled his eyes and went back inside leaving the door wide open. Luc stepped inside, closed the door behind him and looked at Nikola who was…

"Nikola! What the fuck? Is that heroin?" Nikola looked up at Luc from the couch where he was about to inject himself with something.

"Black Crystal. Works much better then that shit." Luc rushed over and grabbed the syringe from his hand and tossed it across the room. Nikola cried out and started to get up but Luc shoved him back down and grabbed his arms to see the needle marks all over both arms.

"What the hell were you thinking? You know how dangerous that shit is Nikola." Luc yelled out at the vampire who was looking wild eyed, trembling violently, as well as starting to sweat. Luc grabbed him and started dragging him to the bathroom but Nikola was struggling fiercely and managed to get free.

Nikola growled as his features shifted slowly to reveal his vampire form.

"Get the fuck out. I don't need you here." Nikola snarled out, claws flexing in anticipation.

"You really want to try this Nikola? You really think that you can go up against a Naga in your condition?" Luc pulled off his coat and his features shifted only slightly as his true form would be much too large to suit his purposes at the moment. His eyes became entirely acidic yellow with a thin slit pupil. His jaw opened slightly to reveal a pair of curved fangs dripping with venom and he gained sharp claws on his fingers. He rolled his shoulders in preparation of the short fight ahead. "Fine. Bring it Vampire."

Nikola attacked with a slash towards Luc's throat but was only met with air as Luc twisted around and down to sweep Nikola's legs out from beneath him. Nikola landed hard on his back though got up surprisingly quickly considering his current state. Before Nikola could even move, his arms were twisted behind him and he was shoved face first into the wall with sharp fangs dripping venom against his neck in warning. The one thing Nikola seemed to forget in his drugged stupor was the fact that a Naga is incredibly fast in both of its forms.

"Get off of me you fucking overgrown garden snake." Nikola snarled out as he struggled to get free.

"I am going to ignore that comment given how fucking stoned you are at the moment." Luc twisted Nikola's wrists as he dragged the angry vampire into the bathroom and shoved him into the shower. He turned on the water as cold as it would go and Nikola jumped, screeched in anger and tried to get out but Luc stepped in and pulled Nikola against him so the vampires back was against his chest. He wrapped his arms around Nikola so he could grab his hands and pull them tightly across his chest so he couldn't get free. Nikola had unintentionally changed back into his human features once the icy water had hit him and Luc had shifted back once he grabbed Nikola. He hadn't wanted to hurt the vampire by accident in the process of trying to take care of him.

"Let me go, let me go." Nikola yelped out as the icy water pelted him fiercely. Luc just held him closely to make sure he didn't get loose.

"It's ok Nikola. It's ok." Luc said soothingly.

"No, no, no, don't want to remember, don't want to feel the pain. Please let me go…" Nikola was begging as he felt the unpleasant sensation of sobriety slowly coming upon him.

They stayed in the shower until Nikola was shivering and unfortunately for him…mostly sober. Luc stripped him out of his clothes, dried him off and put fresh clothes on him before depositing him into bed. Luc dried himself off and borrowed some of Nikola's clothes for himself before moving to Nikola who had curled up in a small ball under the covers.

"Nikola?" He put a hand on the vampire's shoulder but it was only shrugged off. "I'm not going to say sorry for what I did just now. I am sorry for not realizing just how bad things were. If I had known how bad it would get…anyway, I am going to stay here tonight so if you need me I will be here ok?"

After a few minutes with no answer Luc just sighed and went into the living room to start cleaning up the mess and to get rid of all the drugs Nikola probably had stashed around the house.

It wasn't until he had been cleaning for several hours that he felt a chill run down his spine. It was an unfortunate familiar feeling, the taste of blood in the air and the chilling sense of death that made him stop mid action and bolt to Nikola's room immediately.

He paused for a brief moment in horror as he saw Nikola on the bed, crimson pooling over the sheets from deep gashes on his arms. The vampire had slashed the center of his wrist down to the crook of his elbow on both arms. He was deathly pale and motionless and if it hadn't been for the shallow breathing Luc would have thought him a corpse. Luc grabbed the phone to dial 911 and quickly gave the address before dropping the phone to try and stop the bleeding.

"I should have known better then to leave you alone. I knew your healing was slowed enough that you might be able to pull something like this off. I am so fucking stupid for not realizing what you had planned. You damn stupid selfish bastard, I swear if you survive I am going to fucking kill you myself." Luc ranted to himself as he heard the ambulance finally arrive.

"Please don't die. I don't want to lose my best friend." Luc whispered as he watched Nikola being taken away.


"You tried to kill yourself?" Sam was standing over Nikola looking quite livid with bright orange feline eyes.

"…" Nikola just stayed silent waiting for the explosion to come and he was not disappointed.

"You tried to kill yourself? How fucking stupid are you? Why the hell didn't you come to us? Lucifer, why the fuck didn't you say something to me about this? I swear you both are such fucking idiots. I should not let the two of you be alone with one another ever…" Her husband put a hand over her mouth to stop her ranting and yanked her down to the ground.

"Love, please calm down before you shift. And as much as I love seeing you in all your were-tigress glory, I do not think this is the right place for it." She scowled but managed to calm down. Her eyes changed back to normal and she breathed deeply a few times.

"Luc…we will talk about this later. Nikola…why must you always be so damn stubborn?"

"It's a gift." He quipped.

"Dork."

"Brat."

"Love you too." Sam smiled at him in silent acceptance of his unspoken apology.

"So that's how Luc got you to see me?" Jade piped in suddenly.

"It took a little bit of persuading and well, a lot of brute force before I even agreed but…yes." Nikola said as he chewed on his lip. 'Really need to work on getting out of that habit.' He thought to himself absently.

"I had been wondering about that. I mean I knew it was a suicide attempt but I never got the specifics from you." Jade said thoughtfully. "Explains a lot."

"One the bright side…he isn't depressed to a suicidal level anymore." Luc said in a perky tone.

"You know…I think you may be the only person in the world to be so cheery about such a dark topic." Sam said as she shook her head at her husband's oddities.

"I am not cheery…" Everyone just gave him a look he was quite familiar with. He pouted and crossed his arms over his chest. "I am just happy that Nikola got help when he needed it. I'm even happier that Jade introduced you to Tash and Lexi so they could create anti-depressants that would work with your vampire physiology. Honestly, emo Nikola is way too much to handle."

"I was not emo." Nikola said with a mock scowl.

"Yeah, you were."

"Was not."

"Was too."

"Oh shut up snake."

"Bite me leech." The pair continued arguing like a pair of school children as they all started to leave the cemetery and wander towards the park.