NOTES: They belong to TPTB not to me.
IMPORTANT: This is definitely not for the weak of heart. I get VERY dark in parts here. If you want sweetness and light, see another tale. Rating this time is still holding PG-13 thus far, for strong themes.
CHAPTER 8
"The infamous Helena," repeated Nick. He looked at Jill. "So who exactly is she? Someone Cary lost, perhaps?" Here he trailed off.
"Lost? Not really, no. Helena is his maker," stated Jill, simply. "And she left him."
"His maker" came the echo from him. "Why did she leave? And when?"
"She left because she did not want to be tied down to anyone. She had never brought or even thought of bringing anyone across until him, and has never since. When she left is more difficult to say, for she comes back every once in a while. Usually when he has a problem. She can sense when he's troubled or bothered with anything or anyone. Then she shows up and he's lost to her, completely. He loves her—only her. Everyone else, he likes in varying degrees."
"So why would Esme say she would not want to deal with her?"
"Because Esme is no dumb Dora. Helena tolerates me, for she knows that I would never cause any harm to him. But then again, I've been carrying a torch for him since I was human."
Nick puzzled this. Cary did not look the fathering type. Jill noticed the look and knew the question that was coming.
"No, he did not bring me across. Our paths crossed in 1924 in a speak owned by a friend of mine. I did some part-time hoofing there; he came in—hunting. Very bold, Cary can be. I was to be dinner—but my boss interrupted before he could inflict the bite. But I never forgot him. Years later, I was looking through VM and lo and behold—there he was in a story about S & G Enterprises. I transferred to San Francisco, where he was living at the time and renewed acquaintances. So, maybe Helena considers me fated to be," she said with a shrug. "I don't know. But Cary," and here her voice took on that warning tone once more," is very jealous of her. When I say he'll rip your head off, I do mean that literally. He did that one time in Bloodlines to a young vampire that said something insulting about her. He was called before the Council on that one, but Helena once again intervened, and it all blew over."
"Why would the Council listen to her?" inquired Nick, swallowing.
"Because, she is a child of Lilith, an original Limim. She was not made a vampire; she was born a vampire—to Lilith herself and the demon, Samael it's been said. Very ancient, very powerful—and I do believe that her blood has affected Cary's disposition at times. She's been known to do complete blood drains."
Blood drains. Nick involuntarily shivered. To do a blood drain meant that a vampire was just about sucked dry of blood and then was given blood back. It was not used often, as it was potentially dangerous. But it would account for some of Cary's iciness, being brought across by a demoness. Another shiver from him and he drained his glass and then rose to pour another.
He thought about what he knew about the origins of the vampire. Some said it happened in Egypt, others in Italy or India. According to some legends, Lilith was the first wife of Adam and she was cast out. Some say she was born at the same time as Adam and Eve, intertwined with her demon spouse. From them came the first vampires—succubae and incubi. Nick was silent; this was too much to contemplate.
"If you're really curious," Jill continued, "Alexi has an extensive collection of our lore. He'll be glad to show you."
"So," Nick managed to swallow, "Cary was brought over by a succubus?"
Jill blanched some, not easy for a vampire to do and finished her drink.
"Never say that to either of them. Cary, I think, has a mental block against the thought of it. That I think was a present from Helena. I also think that his eternal devotion to her has something to do with her blood."
"How did they meet?" asked Nick, in a small voice, chilled to the bone.
"He was supposed to be her meal. According to them both, she took one look at his face and couldn't do it—she told me that she could not waste such beauty. So she took him in and basically held him hostage for a few months, very undecided about if she should kill him or not. Again, Cary would tell a different tale, but she would not let him leave. In the meanwhile, he fell hopelessly in love with her. Her feelings I do not even want to think about, Nick. But in any case, she made him what he is. Spoiled him by bringing him victims to kill and took general care of him. When she left, she left him a small fortune and introduced him to Paul, who made sure the fortune stayed intact."
"So did she break into his home or something to feast on him? What did his family say?"
Jill broke into peals of nervous laughter.
"You really don't know anything about Cary at all, do you? He has never told you this story? Well, he did tell me this in bed, so maybe he has to be in the right frame of mind. He was living on the streets of the Five Point section of New York and was 22 years old. His mother had died in cholera when he was 10 and his siblings were dead of various causes. His father was in the Tombs for the rape and murder of Cary's little sister. He had been living in an orphanage from the time he was 13 until he was 16, then turned out into the streets. He was also dying of what we would call today bronchial pneumonia. He was treated with the rather barbaric medical treatments of the day. That in itself was nearly fatal to him, so she sort of saved his life by bringing him across. I think that has a lot to do with it as well, as he sees her as an angel, not a demon." She turned toward the fireplace, blood tears in her eyes. Then she turned to look at Nick. "Cary's mortal life was a waste, that is why he is the vampire he is. That's why he hates humans. His time in the orphanage turned him against religion as well, I don't think the nuns and the lay brothers were so kind to him. So if he seems standoffish or cold at times, that's why. I think demons pursued him even before Helena came onto the scene."
With that, she collapsed into a chair. Nick sat as well, holding her hand, comforting her. Her grief at her lovers' problems was palpable. She swallowed hard and wiped her eyes.
"I'm going to bed, I just want to hold him for a while."
And she was gone with a vampire's speed. Nick leaned back and meditated on everything. Suddenly, he was not even tipsy anymore and dead tired all at once. He picked up his glass and put it in the sink, Cary being a stickler for cleanliness. He rinsed it and put the carafe in the refrigerator. Then he walked slowly up the back stairs, contemplating. Why had Gilda sent him here? To befriend a vampire that was brought over by a demon who predated time? Dear God, what would LaCroix say? Did he know?
Nick opened the door to his room and looked at Esme sleeping there, her long flaxen hair making a pillow around her head. Natalie, why aren't you here? He thought. I could really use you. He brushed all thoughts of her out of his mind as he took off his robe and slippers and climbed into the bed.
The ringing of his cell phone disturbed Nick's rest. He looked at the clock and groaned—5:30. In vampire time, that was the early part of the morning. He sleepily reached for the instrument and said hello.
"Hi, Nick Knight?" came a female voice. It sounded vaguely familiar.
"Yeah, this is he," he yawned.
"Mr. Knight, this is Bethany Powers, the social worker—you came to see me about CASA training?"
Oh yeah, he had. CASA training was the guardian ad litem program for children in the court. It stood for Court Appointed Special Advocate and the volunteer workers stepped in when a child's parents were going to court for abuse, jail, etc. They worked to find the children placement in permanent homes instead of being shuffled around the foster care system. Nick figured since he was going to be working with homeless women and children, some would definitely be from a neglect and abuse background so he decided to go through the training. He had been doing that for the past week, unbeknownst to anyone at all.
"Yes, Mrs. Powers, I remember you."
"Bethany, please. And I have a favor to ask of you." She paused and Nick waited. "A mother and her child were just found in Wingfield Park, the child was beaten as was the mother. They are afraid to go home and this being the weekend; the shelters are all full. I tell you, you are a lifesaver with your program. Anyway, I know you don't have any kids and that you're not married, so I wonder if you can take them in until Monday, when we can get them into a program out of town. The father is really twisted."
Nick felt an urge to laugh, not at the poor child and her mother, but at the absurdity of the situation where he would need to bring humans into the home of what he had recently found out was a callous vampire. The irony of the situation was not lost on him.
But then again, what would Cary have become if they had CASA workers in a New York slum in the 1890's? And since, as Jill more or less implied, he was an abused child himself, maybe having this battered child would not matter. Or maybe it did. Or--. Nick had to snap himself out of it. Bethany was on the phone imploring him now.
"Let me talk to the guy who owns the place I'm staying until my house is done. Can you hold?"
Bethany assented to this and Nick once more got on his robe and, barefoot, went down the hallway to Cary's closed door. He hesitated a moment and then knocked. No answer, so he cracked the door some, calling out the name of the occupant of the room. Still no answer. Nick went into the room.
Cary's bedroom was huge, and it also contained a separate sitting area and a bathroom almost as big as Nick's room. The blond vampire walked carefully up to the huge 4-poster bed and looked at the inhabitants. Cary was, for all means and purposes, dead to the world. Jill was lying on his chest with her arms around him, exactly what she said she was going to do.
Now, Nick had a problem for waking a sleeping vampire was exceedingly dangerous. A vampire's entire system shut down while they slept—they did not even parody breathing or even have any measurable vital signs. The blood just did not flow through the body when they slept as much as it congealed and dissipated. So, the vampire when awakened needed new blood to replace the clotted fluid in their bodies. Hence, waking what was basically a corpse was fraught with peril. Startled awake, they came up in full vamp mode and attacked with an animal instinct that which disturbed them. Vampires had been known to injure people when they awoke for just that reason, they just reached out blindly and assaulted those who agitated them. Nick knew this from plain experience, he had not killed when he woke up, but had come close.
He looked at them and then very gingerly tapped Cary on the shoulder. No response and Nick tried again, a little bit more forcefully this time. This worked and Nick looked at Cary's red eyed gaze, noticing a little bit of fang under his curled lip.
"Cary, it's me, Nick. I don't mean to disturb you but I need to ask you something."
"What?" came the answer, almost in his mind, it was so low.
Quickly Nick summed up his problem. He stopped a couple of times when the others eyes closed as if in a trance. But he agreed to let them stay, or at least that was what Nick thought he had said, it wasn't really clear. He went back to the phone and gave his assent for them to stay and gave them the address. He phoned the guard at the gate and told him to let them pass through.
Half hour later he was showered dressed and ready for them. He had decided to go for the casual look of black jeans and a sweatshirt Nat had given him. He sat on the medallion Queen Anne serpentine sofa and waited. The doorbell rang and Nick got up to answer the fancy entrance door with its sidelights and transom. The door was grayish/white on the outside to match the exterior and cherrywood inside to match the hall. Why a creature who could not stand light would want a door with windows in it was a mystery to Nick, though he could appreciate the beauty of the door.
He opened the door to find Bethany, another CASA worker, and a thin woman with a bruised face and an equally forlorn child. He ushered them in, noticing the way the child brushed her hand over the sideboard. They walked into the parlor and sat the mother and child seemingly reluctant to do so on such furniture. Nick then came to the realization that the house contained no food—or anything to eat on or with, vampires being on a purely liquid diet. As for the mortals' liquid, he could only offer water or alcohol. He excused himself and went into the kitchen and picked up the phone.
The local supermarket had a delivery service and Nick ordered in soda, fruit juice, and varied microwave-able meals. After he hung up, he entered back into the parlor and proceeded to put everyone at ease—being a cop had helped him in that respect. He soon won over the child, Jessica and her mother, Judy. They had no real belongings except the clothing on their backs and Nick idly wondered whether there was any clothing in the closets in the other rooms. They soon said their good-byes to the two CASA workers and Nick, after putting away the groceries, led them up the front staircase and into the bedroom nearest his. The way the hall was arranged had that door opposite Cary's door. Nick stole into the master suite and found a nightgown of Jill's and this he gave to Judy. Jessica was given one of his shirts, and it hung on her. For that matter, so did Jill's outfit, as the red haired vampire was model tall. The pair had taken showers at the police station, and they were asleep the minute their heads hit the pillows.
Nick closed the door and rounded the corner to see Jill staring at him. She sniffed and dropped her mouth in amazement. She took his arm and led him into his room, awaking Esme.
"Are you crazy? Humans in this house?" she asked, incredulously. "Cary will go bonkers, ab-si-tive-ly bonkers. Do you want them dead?"
"Nick, why did you bring people into this house, c'est pas vrai!" Esme was beyond shocked. "Mon dieu, what will they eat? There is no food in this house."
"I ordered some."
Jill's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "You have food in this house?" she said, slowly with a pause between every word. "People food in Cary Shelly's fridge? Oh my God."
Nick exasperatedly explained the situation to them. He told them his reasoning, what with Cary's childhood and all.
"But Nick, he doesn't want to remember his mortal life. Why do you think he lives like a swell?" This from Jill. "He'll get up, hungry. He'll smell them and then he'll kill them. You won't have a chance to tell him. Oh my God!" she exclaimed again and sunk down on the bed.
Their vampiric ears picked up the sense of someone waking up. Jill took a hurried look at the clock. They heard the shower going in the distance. Jill shook her head and walked out of the room, telling them she would try to mellow him out.
"Maybe you should go stand guard near their door, mignon. That way he'll have to fight you to get in."
Nick took this sensible advice and walked down the hall and sat on the top step, waiting.
IMPORTANT: This is definitely not for the weak of heart. I get VERY dark in parts here. If you want sweetness and light, see another tale. Rating this time is still holding PG-13 thus far, for strong themes.
CHAPTER 8
"The infamous Helena," repeated Nick. He looked at Jill. "So who exactly is she? Someone Cary lost, perhaps?" Here he trailed off.
"Lost? Not really, no. Helena is his maker," stated Jill, simply. "And she left him."
"His maker" came the echo from him. "Why did she leave? And when?"
"She left because she did not want to be tied down to anyone. She had never brought or even thought of bringing anyone across until him, and has never since. When she left is more difficult to say, for she comes back every once in a while. Usually when he has a problem. She can sense when he's troubled or bothered with anything or anyone. Then she shows up and he's lost to her, completely. He loves her—only her. Everyone else, he likes in varying degrees."
"So why would Esme say she would not want to deal with her?"
"Because Esme is no dumb Dora. Helena tolerates me, for she knows that I would never cause any harm to him. But then again, I've been carrying a torch for him since I was human."
Nick puzzled this. Cary did not look the fathering type. Jill noticed the look and knew the question that was coming.
"No, he did not bring me across. Our paths crossed in 1924 in a speak owned by a friend of mine. I did some part-time hoofing there; he came in—hunting. Very bold, Cary can be. I was to be dinner—but my boss interrupted before he could inflict the bite. But I never forgot him. Years later, I was looking through VM and lo and behold—there he was in a story about S & G Enterprises. I transferred to San Francisco, where he was living at the time and renewed acquaintances. So, maybe Helena considers me fated to be," she said with a shrug. "I don't know. But Cary," and here her voice took on that warning tone once more," is very jealous of her. When I say he'll rip your head off, I do mean that literally. He did that one time in Bloodlines to a young vampire that said something insulting about her. He was called before the Council on that one, but Helena once again intervened, and it all blew over."
"Why would the Council listen to her?" inquired Nick, swallowing.
"Because, she is a child of Lilith, an original Limim. She was not made a vampire; she was born a vampire—to Lilith herself and the demon, Samael it's been said. Very ancient, very powerful—and I do believe that her blood has affected Cary's disposition at times. She's been known to do complete blood drains."
Blood drains. Nick involuntarily shivered. To do a blood drain meant that a vampire was just about sucked dry of blood and then was given blood back. It was not used often, as it was potentially dangerous. But it would account for some of Cary's iciness, being brought across by a demoness. Another shiver from him and he drained his glass and then rose to pour another.
He thought about what he knew about the origins of the vampire. Some said it happened in Egypt, others in Italy or India. According to some legends, Lilith was the first wife of Adam and she was cast out. Some say she was born at the same time as Adam and Eve, intertwined with her demon spouse. From them came the first vampires—succubae and incubi. Nick was silent; this was too much to contemplate.
"If you're really curious," Jill continued, "Alexi has an extensive collection of our lore. He'll be glad to show you."
"So," Nick managed to swallow, "Cary was brought over by a succubus?"
Jill blanched some, not easy for a vampire to do and finished her drink.
"Never say that to either of them. Cary, I think, has a mental block against the thought of it. That I think was a present from Helena. I also think that his eternal devotion to her has something to do with her blood."
"How did they meet?" asked Nick, in a small voice, chilled to the bone.
"He was supposed to be her meal. According to them both, she took one look at his face and couldn't do it—she told me that she could not waste such beauty. So she took him in and basically held him hostage for a few months, very undecided about if she should kill him or not. Again, Cary would tell a different tale, but she would not let him leave. In the meanwhile, he fell hopelessly in love with her. Her feelings I do not even want to think about, Nick. But in any case, she made him what he is. Spoiled him by bringing him victims to kill and took general care of him. When she left, she left him a small fortune and introduced him to Paul, who made sure the fortune stayed intact."
"So did she break into his home or something to feast on him? What did his family say?"
Jill broke into peals of nervous laughter.
"You really don't know anything about Cary at all, do you? He has never told you this story? Well, he did tell me this in bed, so maybe he has to be in the right frame of mind. He was living on the streets of the Five Point section of New York and was 22 years old. His mother had died in cholera when he was 10 and his siblings were dead of various causes. His father was in the Tombs for the rape and murder of Cary's little sister. He had been living in an orphanage from the time he was 13 until he was 16, then turned out into the streets. He was also dying of what we would call today bronchial pneumonia. He was treated with the rather barbaric medical treatments of the day. That in itself was nearly fatal to him, so she sort of saved his life by bringing him across. I think that has a lot to do with it as well, as he sees her as an angel, not a demon." She turned toward the fireplace, blood tears in her eyes. Then she turned to look at Nick. "Cary's mortal life was a waste, that is why he is the vampire he is. That's why he hates humans. His time in the orphanage turned him against religion as well, I don't think the nuns and the lay brothers were so kind to him. So if he seems standoffish or cold at times, that's why. I think demons pursued him even before Helena came onto the scene."
With that, she collapsed into a chair. Nick sat as well, holding her hand, comforting her. Her grief at her lovers' problems was palpable. She swallowed hard and wiped her eyes.
"I'm going to bed, I just want to hold him for a while."
And she was gone with a vampire's speed. Nick leaned back and meditated on everything. Suddenly, he was not even tipsy anymore and dead tired all at once. He picked up his glass and put it in the sink, Cary being a stickler for cleanliness. He rinsed it and put the carafe in the refrigerator. Then he walked slowly up the back stairs, contemplating. Why had Gilda sent him here? To befriend a vampire that was brought over by a demon who predated time? Dear God, what would LaCroix say? Did he know?
Nick opened the door to his room and looked at Esme sleeping there, her long flaxen hair making a pillow around her head. Natalie, why aren't you here? He thought. I could really use you. He brushed all thoughts of her out of his mind as he took off his robe and slippers and climbed into the bed.
The ringing of his cell phone disturbed Nick's rest. He looked at the clock and groaned—5:30. In vampire time, that was the early part of the morning. He sleepily reached for the instrument and said hello.
"Hi, Nick Knight?" came a female voice. It sounded vaguely familiar.
"Yeah, this is he," he yawned.
"Mr. Knight, this is Bethany Powers, the social worker—you came to see me about CASA training?"
Oh yeah, he had. CASA training was the guardian ad litem program for children in the court. It stood for Court Appointed Special Advocate and the volunteer workers stepped in when a child's parents were going to court for abuse, jail, etc. They worked to find the children placement in permanent homes instead of being shuffled around the foster care system. Nick figured since he was going to be working with homeless women and children, some would definitely be from a neglect and abuse background so he decided to go through the training. He had been doing that for the past week, unbeknownst to anyone at all.
"Yes, Mrs. Powers, I remember you."
"Bethany, please. And I have a favor to ask of you." She paused and Nick waited. "A mother and her child were just found in Wingfield Park, the child was beaten as was the mother. They are afraid to go home and this being the weekend; the shelters are all full. I tell you, you are a lifesaver with your program. Anyway, I know you don't have any kids and that you're not married, so I wonder if you can take them in until Monday, when we can get them into a program out of town. The father is really twisted."
Nick felt an urge to laugh, not at the poor child and her mother, but at the absurdity of the situation where he would need to bring humans into the home of what he had recently found out was a callous vampire. The irony of the situation was not lost on him.
But then again, what would Cary have become if they had CASA workers in a New York slum in the 1890's? And since, as Jill more or less implied, he was an abused child himself, maybe having this battered child would not matter. Or maybe it did. Or--. Nick had to snap himself out of it. Bethany was on the phone imploring him now.
"Let me talk to the guy who owns the place I'm staying until my house is done. Can you hold?"
Bethany assented to this and Nick once more got on his robe and, barefoot, went down the hallway to Cary's closed door. He hesitated a moment and then knocked. No answer, so he cracked the door some, calling out the name of the occupant of the room. Still no answer. Nick went into the room.
Cary's bedroom was huge, and it also contained a separate sitting area and a bathroom almost as big as Nick's room. The blond vampire walked carefully up to the huge 4-poster bed and looked at the inhabitants. Cary was, for all means and purposes, dead to the world. Jill was lying on his chest with her arms around him, exactly what she said she was going to do.
Now, Nick had a problem for waking a sleeping vampire was exceedingly dangerous. A vampire's entire system shut down while they slept—they did not even parody breathing or even have any measurable vital signs. The blood just did not flow through the body when they slept as much as it congealed and dissipated. So, the vampire when awakened needed new blood to replace the clotted fluid in their bodies. Hence, waking what was basically a corpse was fraught with peril. Startled awake, they came up in full vamp mode and attacked with an animal instinct that which disturbed them. Vampires had been known to injure people when they awoke for just that reason, they just reached out blindly and assaulted those who agitated them. Nick knew this from plain experience, he had not killed when he woke up, but had come close.
He looked at them and then very gingerly tapped Cary on the shoulder. No response and Nick tried again, a little bit more forcefully this time. This worked and Nick looked at Cary's red eyed gaze, noticing a little bit of fang under his curled lip.
"Cary, it's me, Nick. I don't mean to disturb you but I need to ask you something."
"What?" came the answer, almost in his mind, it was so low.
Quickly Nick summed up his problem. He stopped a couple of times when the others eyes closed as if in a trance. But he agreed to let them stay, or at least that was what Nick thought he had said, it wasn't really clear. He went back to the phone and gave his assent for them to stay and gave them the address. He phoned the guard at the gate and told him to let them pass through.
Half hour later he was showered dressed and ready for them. He had decided to go for the casual look of black jeans and a sweatshirt Nat had given him. He sat on the medallion Queen Anne serpentine sofa and waited. The doorbell rang and Nick got up to answer the fancy entrance door with its sidelights and transom. The door was grayish/white on the outside to match the exterior and cherrywood inside to match the hall. Why a creature who could not stand light would want a door with windows in it was a mystery to Nick, though he could appreciate the beauty of the door.
He opened the door to find Bethany, another CASA worker, and a thin woman with a bruised face and an equally forlorn child. He ushered them in, noticing the way the child brushed her hand over the sideboard. They walked into the parlor and sat the mother and child seemingly reluctant to do so on such furniture. Nick then came to the realization that the house contained no food—or anything to eat on or with, vampires being on a purely liquid diet. As for the mortals' liquid, he could only offer water or alcohol. He excused himself and went into the kitchen and picked up the phone.
The local supermarket had a delivery service and Nick ordered in soda, fruit juice, and varied microwave-able meals. After he hung up, he entered back into the parlor and proceeded to put everyone at ease—being a cop had helped him in that respect. He soon won over the child, Jessica and her mother, Judy. They had no real belongings except the clothing on their backs and Nick idly wondered whether there was any clothing in the closets in the other rooms. They soon said their good-byes to the two CASA workers and Nick, after putting away the groceries, led them up the front staircase and into the bedroom nearest his. The way the hall was arranged had that door opposite Cary's door. Nick stole into the master suite and found a nightgown of Jill's and this he gave to Judy. Jessica was given one of his shirts, and it hung on her. For that matter, so did Jill's outfit, as the red haired vampire was model tall. The pair had taken showers at the police station, and they were asleep the minute their heads hit the pillows.
Nick closed the door and rounded the corner to see Jill staring at him. She sniffed and dropped her mouth in amazement. She took his arm and led him into his room, awaking Esme.
"Are you crazy? Humans in this house?" she asked, incredulously. "Cary will go bonkers, ab-si-tive-ly bonkers. Do you want them dead?"
"Nick, why did you bring people into this house, c'est pas vrai!" Esme was beyond shocked. "Mon dieu, what will they eat? There is no food in this house."
"I ordered some."
Jill's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "You have food in this house?" she said, slowly with a pause between every word. "People food in Cary Shelly's fridge? Oh my God."
Nick exasperatedly explained the situation to them. He told them his reasoning, what with Cary's childhood and all.
"But Nick, he doesn't want to remember his mortal life. Why do you think he lives like a swell?" This from Jill. "He'll get up, hungry. He'll smell them and then he'll kill them. You won't have a chance to tell him. Oh my God!" she exclaimed again and sunk down on the bed.
Their vampiric ears picked up the sense of someone waking up. Jill took a hurried look at the clock. They heard the shower going in the distance. Jill shook her head and walked out of the room, telling them she would try to mellow him out.
"Maybe you should go stand guard near their door, mignon. That way he'll have to fight you to get in."
Nick took this sensible advice and walked down the hall and sat on the top step, waiting.