GLAIVESTER'S FOREVER KNIGHT CONTINUATION
Forever Knight belongs to TriStar or whomever. This work is not intended to infringe on any copyrights. If the owners of Forever Knight wish to profit off this story, it's fine with me. Permission to archive and post to anyone. Please give credit to "The Glaivester."
EPISODE ONE: RESOLUTIONS
Sometime in the summer of 1996.
Natalie looked at the inside of the apartment. "New York," she said. "I can't believe this!"
Nicholas followed her in. "There you go! Now leave me alone! LaCroix will teach you what you... need to know!" He walked out angrily.
LaCroix walked in, amused. "Don't worry, Doctor Lambert." He kissed her gently on the cheek. "He's mad at you because you saved his life... thank you." He was actually smiling. LaCroix couldn't believe how happy he was, for a change. "He will come around - eventually. He thinks you betrayed him - maybe you did - but maybe you intervened when he needed it, as well."
Natalie took the bottle out of the cooler that LaCroix had brought in. "Which is it?"
"Human - mixed with cow, a 1 in 10 dilution. Nick may have given up for moral reasons, but even the rest of us have to settle for less than 200 proof every meal - most of us can't afford it. Well, I can, and do - but you probably should get used to something less - expensive."
Natalie took the bottle, popped the cork, and drank. "Tastes - so-so. I guess it'll get better with time - an acquired taste. I must say, blood tastes different than when I was mortal - I still remember when my baby teeth fell out. It was just a salty, warm - nothing."
"How did Nick's blood taste?"
Natalie wrinkled her nose. "I thought I was going to throw up."
--------Flashback------------
Natalie was talking to Vachon at the Raven. "So, when a vampire brings someone across, the - bringee has to taste the vampire's blood?
"Well, in general, they have to taste their own blood filtered through the vampire. This is usually done through slashing one's wrists, but if a vampire vomits while feeding, this also can cause the victim to be brought across."
"Like Jack the... oh, never mind."
"The vomiting method is unpleasant for the - parent vampire, for lack of a better term. It is usually only used purposely in a dire emergency."
"Richard," said Nat.
"Uh-huh. Yeah, I heard about him. So sorry for your loss."
"It's been three years. I guess I should be - over it by now."
"Naw. I know what it's like, losing someone you've known for a long time."
"Screed."
"Sometimes I think we were like brothers." Vachon shrugged.
"What if a person were to taste a vampire's blood without being drained? I wish I had studied Jurgen's patients more carefully. They were kept young, but not brought across. What, though, if they had drunk the blood instead of injecting it? What if they had a massive overdose? What if they were drained to the point of death while under the drug's influence?"
Vachon looked at Natalie. "I don't pretend to know. There are those - who have done experiments, or so rumor goes, but I don't know their names."
-----End flashback--------
"LaCroix, I can't help but feel guilty."
"I know of a man whose girlfriend deliberately got pregnant so he would have to marry her. Simon Call - back 100 years ago. He was furious at her, But he married her. They were miserable for a year, but for the next sixty, they were as happy a couple as anyone could ask for."
"And you know them because?"
"Believe it or not, I have respect for mortals, Dr. Lambert." LaCroix looked like his old, sneering self again. "I was one once myself, you know. A great hunter does respect his prey. And I am loyal to - a select few mortals. When I give my loyalty, I do not take it back without just cause."
"Constantine?"
"The emperor or the mob boss?"
"The mob boss."
"Yes. He is an example, my dear Doctor. He helped me, and I remained loyal up until the day he disappeared. Strange thing, that, disappearing so close to death. Everyone was waiting to hear of his death, he was so old and sick. And then, he gets, kidnapped, I guess, with only a few days to live. And no apparent heir to run the business! How fortunate that his long lost love child from Halifax was willing to take over - but such a pity that no one has ever seen what he looks like!" LaCroix smiled, and Natalie wondered what was really going on. Nick had seemed so - relaxed after that Constantine case. all he had said was, "LaCroix has repaid an old debt and helped the Don to keep the family business without having to subject his great-grandson to it." Strange Nick would be so happy about a mob boss retaining power.
LaCroix left and Natalie began settling in.
"Hello," said a man's voice in the alleyway.
The blonde woman kept walking. The man began to follow her. "Listen, toots. You owe me four thousand. And I mean to collect. With the new initiatives, you can't walk the streets as easily anymore - but there are more subtle ways to sell what you got. And if you don't - no more of what you need - and - well, let's just say that if you aren't willing to use your body, you might find that it isn't in such good shape." She was running, and he was running after her.
A policeman stepped out from behind the shadows and stopped the woman. "Better listen to the man, honey. You owe him money, you do whatever it takes to repay. Or else, I'll have to bust you for stealing - or maybe just for whoring and doing drugs."
The woman stared at the policeman, frightened. "Please, help me! Please!"
"Sorry, honey. I work for whoever pays me. Right, Tom?" He looked at the man from the alley.
The man handed him a hundred. "Here's your tip. Thanks." He slapped the blonde in the back of the head. "You're lucky you're so pretty. If it didn't cut into profits to have an ugly whore, I'd knock out some teeth."
Nick looked at his new desk. Aristotle had been good about altering his recommendation from Toronto. Changed the ages, dropped Nick's time as detective by three years - all to make it easier to believe that he was who he said he was. Eventually he'd have to start a new identity from scratch, but for now a little sleight of hand would make his official age more believable and closer to his apparent age. And pretending that he had been a detective only since early 1994 instead of since late1990 - well, eventually people would have asked if he became detective straight out of the academy. It was a good thing that he had managed to pawn off the publicity on Schanke during the Texas murderess case - and they had not appeared to play a major role in the asteroid case - otherwise his life would have been devastated.
"Hello, partner," said a voice. The man spoke with a slight British accent. He had blond hair and a somewhat pursed mouth.
"Green, has anyone ever said you look like the guy from 'The Princess Bride?' asked Nick.
"Cary Elwes? All the time!" apparently this did not bother him. "Would you like one?" He pointed to the carton of French fries he was holding.
"Thank you," said Nick. He took the French fry and slowly, very slowly, ate it.
"Like another?"
"Uh - not right now."
"They said that they suspected you were anorexic - well, we'll fix that! I will make it my personal goal to get you to eat!"
Nick looked worried. "As long as you don't decide to get me some sunlight. I have a very rare sensitivity, you know."
"They told me. Thank God for the ADA, eh? Eh?"
Nick winced. Oh no, here it came.
"EH? EH? Isn't it ABOOT time that the U.S. respected disabled people?"
"It's ABOUT time you stopped teasing people from north of the border."
"Oh, come on! You love it and you know it!"
LaCroix, thought Nick, I was very clear when I asked you to stake me. But no, I have to be punished like this!
Natalie turned on the radio. "Hello, children. I am the Nightcrawler. Tonight the topic is... immigration. Or really, all movement across borders. Are immigrants here to do the jobs that no one else will - or are they here to take from the hardworking America - to suck their blood, so to speak?"
Natalie turned off the radio. She laughed slightly. LaCroix always had to get in his little digs at Nick. They had all immigrated from Canada, of course, so despite the political-sounding nature of the broadcast, it was of course directed at them.
Well, at least LaCroix wasn't her master. The broadcasts would be less personalized than they would for Nick. Did she really have a master?
------Flashback-------
At the coroner's office, Natalie took a bag of Nick's blood. "Let's just hope," she whispered, that my digestive enzymes don't destroy this too quickly."
She called LaCroix. "LaCroix. Come by Nick's loft in one half hour. Bring blood. Human blood - but from a willing donor. I won't tell you why - but if you want Nick to live, do as I say - and once you're there, do whatever you need to do to prevent Nick from doing something foolish! Don't let Nick know you're there until - well, you'll know when!"
At the loft, Natalie looked out. Nick's Caddy was coming in. She went to his refrigerator and took out the bag of his blood. She opened it and poured the contents into a large glass she had found in his cupboard. She sniffed at it. She wrinkled her nose. Then she brought the glass to her lips and drank it down.
----A few minutes later----
"All I'm asking Nick is for you to make love to me. I trust you."
"I won't leave you. What ever happens, we'll be together."
Then he bit her. Nat had been a little worried, after that night they had previously spent together - would making love vampire-style be less - well, less sensual? Apparently that was a silly fear. Nat had never felt this good. "I won't leave you. What ever happens, we'll be together.
"Whatever happens.
"WHATEVER HAPPENS."
----A few minutes later------
"Damn you, Nicholas!"
LaCroix brought the stake down into Nick's chest, but into the right side rather than the left. Blood gushed out of Nick's wound and he lost consciousness. He vamped out for a second, then collapsed.
"Thank God," whispered LaCroix, "his cure didn't work, or I'd have just killed him!"
He looked at Natalie. Would he bring her across? Was that her plan? No. Nick wouldn't let him. Nick would hate him for it. He would probably have to kill Nick for real, once he woke up. Was Dr. Lambert so stupid as to have thought that that would work? LaCroix watched as the last bit of life left Natalie -
As the last bit of life-
As the last-
No! It was getting stronger!
-----End Flashback-------
Natalie suddenly heard screams. She decided not to investigate. She wanted to use her new powers to help - but - she needed discipline. She couldn't let herself turn into Richard.
Outside, Tom took the blonde woman into a small room in a building in the alley.
"Listen, Laurie. I have police who work for me! They will make sure that you go to jail and I go free! So you do what I say, see? There are five customers in there -" he waved at a door "who are paying me one grand each to have you - relay style!"
"No, no!" she screamed.
"Your normal take is 40%, so this'll cancel out half your debt - well, until I calculate the interest you owe me, and until you need to add some more to your coke tab."
Natalie could hear the murmur, but could not make out what was being said. She called the police. "Please, I hear screaming coming from near my apartment. I live at the corner of Gooseberry and Colwyn street. I think someone is being raped."
On the other hand, a policeman was listening. "Okay, ma'am. We'll see what we can do." He hung up the phone. He placed a call.
"Fledsel? I hear that there is a rape going on near Gooseberry and Colwyn. Is it - Thomas Krull?"
"Sort of." The policeman who answered fingered his hundred-dollar "tip."
"Then there is no problem?"
"I'll wail the sirens for a few seconds, and the caller will think its been taken care of. Thanks for telling me, Gage - next time, you'll be the one to collect our - 'tip.'"
"You can count on it."
Nick was trying to be polite.
"Listen, Detective Green, why don't you enjoy both doughnuts. I am not hungry."
"Oh, come on! You need the nourishment!"
And I thought Schanke was bad, thought Knight. He took the doughnut Green was offering him, and took a bite. Jelly. Lovely, just lovely. Oh well, at least it wasn't garlic. As soon as Green looked the other way, Nick spat the jelly into his coffee cup. Then suddenly he felt a cry of fear - well, no, of concern.
Natalie.
No, thought Nick. Not after the way she betrayed me.
------Flashback---------------
Nick woke up, groggy. A bottle was placed to his lips. Cow. He drank. He felt a strange sensation in his head. A fledgling. His fledgling. He looked around. LaCroix was there, and Nat. But LaCroix was his master, not his child, and Nat was a mortal.
Nick choked on the drink for a second and LaCroix took the bottle from his lips. No, Nat was not a mortal - not anymore.
"Oh, Nat, I'm so sorry, so sorry - what did I do to you - what did I do - how could I have lost - I knew I lost control in feeding, but how could I have thrown up - especially when it was you..."
Natalie was about to say something, but LaCroix warned her off with a glance.
"Maybe you subconsciously couldn't let her die. In any case, what's done is done. You aren't still planning to go through with your little suicide pact, are you? You were going to let her die. You won't now decide to kill her - to put her out of her misery, so to speak?"
"I couldn't bring myself to bring - to deliberately bring her across, even if it would kill her. But letting her die is different than - than causing her to die. No. I will let her live - I will take her in. I - I am afraid of what might happen if anyone else tried to teach her."
LaCroix could see that the comment was made for his benefit, but decided to let it go.
"Nick! It's not your fault! I drank some of your blood sample before..."
"SHUT UP, DOCTOR!" roared LaCroix.
"I can't see him torture himself like -" spluttered Natalie.
"That last blood sample you took..." whispered Nick. "That wasn't for research into a cure? You tricked me! You tricked me into bringing you across - you - you - betrayer!"
Recovering quickly from the chest wound, Nick glared at Natalie. "You betrayed my trust - you raped me! How could you? How could you?"
Nat started crying. LaCroix held his forehead as if developing a headache.
----End Flashback-------------
Nick looked down at his paperwork. Ugh. Everywhere it was the same. Mounds and mounds of paperwork.
Nat had heard some sirens, but the screams of the woman were getting louder. She couldn't understand exactly, but she was sure that nothing was being done to help her. Finally, she opened the window. She must help her.
Nat looked around. She stepped out of the window and fell softly to the ground. No sense in flying, in case someone was watching. Natalie feared she would not have an easy time hypnotizing anyone, so it was best not to do anything that would require it.
She ran into the nearby building where she heard the screams coming from.
The door was locked. She knocked. No answer. She knocked harder. No answer. She knocked harder. "Excuse me! Is anyone in trouble?" She began pounding on the door.
"Heh, heh," said Tom Krull to himself , looking at the door. "No one is going to get through that!" Another door behind him opened, and Laurie was pushed out, all bruised and battered. A fat, balding man stepped out. "She was good - I like it when they scream."
"So the party was a success?"
"It still is - you said the others would be arriving?"
"In a few minutes. Help yourself to the - refreshments while you wait." Krull looked at the man. "So what are you celebrating, anyway?"
"A new business merger. We work aggressively, we -play- aggressively." He looked at Krull. "The - refreshments - are - very exhilarating. Good stuff. We will have to start selling this, soon - it would double our profits."
"It's the latest in synthetic design. Longer lasting, less addictive - unless you add the addiction agent... we call it 'pellmethylene.'"
"Let me in," yelled a voice from outside, "now!"
Thomas Krull looked at the door. "Female - well, not one of mine, I'm afraid, but if you'd like something to hold you over until they arrive - "
"Good."
Natalie was about to break down the door when it opened. Thomas Krull pointed a gun at her. "Come in. Come to the room in back and take off all your clothes."
Natalie looked at Krull, deadly serious. "No. I don't think so."
The fat man looked at her. "Oh, yes. She is -exactly- what we want." He radiated some strange aura that Nat picked up on. "I know what she is and what fun we can have with her." He rubbed his neck, and seethed slightly, like - like Liam O'Neal. "I've always wondered what happens to one of you when you O.D."
Nat vamped out and threw Krull across the room.
The fat man took out a spray can and sprayed Nat. "Mace," he chuckled.
"Uuuuhhhhhh.... garlic....." The last thing Nat remembered was the blonde woman - Laurie - running out of the building.
Natalie woke up, strapped to a table, crosses, garlic bulbs, and other painful things all around her. "Well," said the fat man, with four friends standing nearby. "Do you want to torture her first, or use her first? We can worry about the girls in the other room later."
"I say torture," said Krull, walking into the room.
"Very well." The fat man took one of the crosses, and undoing the first few buttons of Natalie's blouse, put it in the middle of her collarbone. Smoke began to billow as she winced in pain.
"Strange," said the fat man, "strange for a creature so used to looking at us as victims, as food, as - lesser beings. How does it feel to be not so invincible."
Not unusual, thought Natalie. She was very new at this. Not really used to being a vampire at all.
Flames shot out of her neck. The fat man took some water and doused them. "Oh, no, the cross won't be allowed to kill you. We want to have fun, first."
The fat man laughed, and then went silent. "She's not alone."
"Freeze, police!"
Natalie tried to look in the direction of the voice. But she couldn't.
"Good Lord," said the British-sounding voice. "Nick, you were right. But this isn't our precinct."
"We'll sort out the paperwork later."
"How did you know?"
"I had a hunch."
The fat man looked at the two police officers. "You don't know what he is, do you?" he asked Green. "You have no idea! He's a monster!"
"You're one to talk, Thrush!" Green stared at him, angrily. "You're one of the biggest drug-runners in the city! Now leave the lady alone!"
Thrush stared at Green. Two of the associates reached for guns. Green shot them both in one blindingly fast motion. The other two raised their hands in surrender. The fat man had taken the opportunity to set off a smoke bomb. While Nick raced to rescue Nat, Green ran over to see if he could get the two men whom he had shot out of there.
A few minutes later, Nat was standing with Nick in the street, while Green looked at the two dead bodies he had dragged from the building. "I guess we won't be getting any information from them," he stated sadly.
Krull was standing on a carpet in a large room. "Listen, Boss, I'm sorry. But we were ambushed.
"You say she was a vampire? Ten-to-one that Knight guy is her master. Only way to explain the connection between them."
Why not Green? Thrush never exactly said which was which.
"Unless Green was brought over quite recently, in which case he probably wouldn't have any - 'children,' he could not be a vampire. He was on day shift until two days ago. In any case, let's just say that Green cannot be a vampire. I want to get him. But not yet. This Knight character is the far greater threat. But someday... he will be - mine! Dismissed."
Krull wondered why he never saw the Boss's face. The room was always lit so that he stayed in the shadows. Oh well.
The Boss sighed in frustration. First Constantine was brought over to vampirism, so he would have to able to take over the old Don's business - not yet anyway. Now this.
The boss took the red bottle from the refrigerator near his desk and poured himself a glass. He was so much more than a vampire. So very much more.
Nick and Nat were at Natalie's apartment. "I'm sorry, Nick," Natalie cried. "I couldn't stand to lose you. I did - what I thought I had to do."
Nick hugged her. "I know. I know. But how can I search for humanity when it destroys everyone I come near? How can I get close to anyone when I kill them all? Tracy, Vachon, Urs, they all died because of me."
"Don't be ridiculous. Urs and Vachon died because of LaCroix - or because of Divia - nothing to do with you. Tracy - it was an accident. But you don't get it, do you? You really don't get it?"
"Get what?"
"You have already found your humanity. Mortality isn't the same thing. Not really. Vampires -are - human, Nick. We may have special dietary needs, and some weird weaknesses, but we are ultimately still humans."
"I thought death was defining for a human. Escaping the sinful body of this world, so as to receive a new one later."
"If you believe that way - but still, we aren't totally immortal, are we? If there is a Judgment Day, maybe we will die on that day too. But if we are to endure in this world now, does that negate the possibility of worlds to come - someday?"
"If we are so human, than why is LaCroix so - so -"
"He has gotten better, Nick. But Nick, I have read a little history recently - even when he was mortal, LaCroix was - not human. Not humane. anyway. He enjoyed raping and destroying whole tribes. Being a vampire has, if anything, softened him."
"I love you, Nat."
"I love you, Nick."
THE END