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Nuclear Dreams
Part 2?
Meanwhile at the plant, Mr. Wilkes was in his office when his 'assistant' knocked on his door. "Come in, Falcon."
"Sé, Señor Wilkes. I have the information you wanted." A small Hispanic male stepped into the office. He had a thick, black mustache and a very thick Spanish accent.
"What do you have for me, Falcon?"
"Señor Knight was very hard to trace, but I finally had found something to give you. It should be very intriguing, including his financial background."
"Continue, Falcon."
"Sé, Señor Wilkes. Señor Knight's whole name is Nicholas de Brabant Knight. He is connected with the Brabant Foundation in Montreal. I managed, after some very difficult searching, to find a picture of the chairman of the foundation." Falcon pulled a glossy 8.5"x11" paper and showed it to Wilkes. Wilkes eyebrows would've touched the ceiling if they were not attached to face. "Of course to me Señor de Brabant looks exactly like Señor Knight. That was not the only thing I found out about Señor Knight."
"Continue."
"Señor Knight lives in a warehouse owned by the Brabant Foundation. The floor he made habitual is under his name. He also does not live alone."
"Now you maybe getting to something I might be able to use. Continue."
"Señor Knight lives with Señorita Knight, his daughter."
"What is her 'whole' name, Falcon?"
"Nichole Ann de Brabant Knight, Señor Wilkes."
"Graçias, Falcon."
"Your welcome, Señor Wilkes."
"Now go." Rawley Wilkes quietly demanded of Falcon, who was now making a hastily retreat out of the office, leaving the file of Nick on the desk. He picked up the phone and dialed another number, Mr. Wilkes gave the other person some instructions and Nick's address. After completing the conversation, he hung up the phone with a smug smile on his face. 'Señor Knight has got to be Señor Chasez, that bitch's husband who betrayed me in Buffalo, New York. That bitch being Nancy Anna Chilton.'
(Next Monday)
Nichole was up and ready for school before her alarm clock went off. She was in the process of making up her bed as the damned thing went off. She automatically reached over and hit the button rather hard to turn off that awful sound it made, she smashed it to bits. 'Great, Daddy's gonna really be mad at me now. That's the third alarm clock I ruined this month alone.' She also noticed that she has slowly gaining her father's powers, except hypnotizing, enhanced senses, and levitation, as of late. She had already developed those abilities before now. Not only that, she has noticed that her slight allergy to the sun has grown to slight photosensitive. She has also had difficulty eating certain food, like garlic, and discomfort around religious symbols. She only hoped that her father didn't notice it.
She was in the process of making her bed when her father popped his head inside the door. He looked around for the clock to see if his eyes were deceiving him. He found it right were it should be, smashed to bits. "Nichole, that's the third alarm clock you ruined this month." He said, stepping into the room and closed the door behind him. "We have to talk, Princess." He motioned to the now make bed, "Sit down." He waited for her to comply. He continued, "I have been noticing that you have changed slowly over the last two months. Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not now Daddy, I want to talk to Mom first. Is that all right with you?" She knew how much her father hated to be a vampire now, but if she told him that she is slowly coming across she was sure he would blame it on himself.
"Of course it is all right with me, but I want you to promise me something first?"
"What is that, Daddy?"
"If you change the slightest bit more, I want you to tell me. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Sir. I understand."
"Good, now hurry up and leave before you're late for school."
Nichole grabbed her pack back and headed to her door. Downstairs, she headed to the lift and took it down to the garage. She exited the garage, and spied a '83 Oldsmobile ninety-eight parked across the street. As she took off down the street to the bus stop, the car followed her keeping a few blocks between them.
A few blocks from the loft, the car sped up to rest next to her. The man in the back seat opened the door and pulled her in the car, he pointed a handgun to her temple. Trying to disguise his voice, and failed miserably, the man said, "Just be a good girl. Don't fight, fidget, bite, or scream. If you follow those rules, you would do just fine. I'm going to place a gag in your mouth, and then blindfold you. Open your mouth." She complied with the stranger and found a sock stuck into her mouth. "Good girl, now close your eyes." She did and found a blindfold pressing against her eyelids. "Take off," he was talking to the driver of the car. Not before she noticed that he still held the handgun to her temple, she began to mentally panic.
"Hold the gun will you, while I tie her up," he said to the person next to him. She felt the seat shift and the gun move from her temple. "Sit up," he was talking to her now, she complied. She felt him grab her wrists and tie them with rope so tight that he was cutting off her circulation. He roughly pushed her back into the seat. Once she was settled back, she started to work immediately on her bonds. The second she moved her fingers she felt the gun back up against her temple. 'He got the gun back in his hand. Damn!' She stopped moving altogether. They continued to drive for thirty minutes to an hour.
Nichole felt the car slow down and stop. She heard the car door open quickly, and felt someone reach in and pull her roughly out of the car. Somewhere behind her, she heard a masculine voice heavily accented in Spanish order whoever was holding her, "Take her the 'room'." She was not going to go anywhere that doesn't sound pleasant, and that didn't sound pleasant to her, so she started to struggle. She didn't get very far before a strong, large hand slapped her face with enough force to knock her off her feet. When her head hit the ground, she hit it with so much force that it caused her to pass out. She didn't feel the two pairs of strong hands pick her up and carry her away.
Nick was getting ready for bed shortly after his daughter left for school. He shot straight up as he felt something was wrong. His muscles tensed as if for a fight, he searched the loft for intruders and found none. He opened his mind to get a better feel from where the emotion had come from. He found it came from a few blocks away from the loft, the same direction Nichole takes to get to school. A few minutes later, he felt his hands go numb as if somebody tied a bond around his wrists too tightly. 'Nichole is in trouble, and it's all my damn fault.'
With no more feelings coming to him, he climbed into bed hoping his exhaustion would claim him and that feeling from his daughter was a false alarm. Just as he was starting to doze off to DreamLand, he felt a sharp sting as if someone slapped him across his face and then shortly there after, he no longer felt his daughter. "NICHOLE!" he all but screamed into the dark room. He lost all thought for sleep for the day.
Nick got up and went downstairs to use the phone. He picked up the receiver and quickly dialed the one number he could always count on, Nat's. He waited until the familiar voice had completed its sleepy greeting. "Nat, its Nick. Can you come over right away? Something has happened, but I can't do anything about it until later."
"Sure. No problem Nick, I'll be over within the hour. What is it?"
"It's Nichole. Something has happened. I don't feel her like I normally do." He said the latter so soft that Natalie had to strain to hear it. His voice was full of something...fear, needing, what she did not know. All that she knew is that Nick needed her to talk about his daughter.
"I'm leaving now, Nick. She'll be all right. She's a big girl."
"She's not that big, and she's still my baby girl." Nick said that statement with his voice quivering, sounding so far away. He started to remember when Nichole had first arrived into Toronto.
Flashback
(Toronto, Canada; April of 1989)
Nick went to the Raven to see Janette about getting some information on his latest case. Just as he walked up to the vampire bouncer at the door, he heard a child yell, "Leave me alone! You said you'll help me see Janette!" He took to the air after stepping into the shadows, and located the source of the sound about three block away. As he landed in the shadows, he looked to the owner of the voice and momentarily froze in his tracks. He looked at the child's attacker, a male fledgling of no more than fifty years, and became enraged. He watched as the fledgling began an advance on the helpless child, and stepped out of the shadows just as soon as the fledgling past his hiding spot. Now that he was behind the younger vampire, he picked up the offending fledgling and threw him against the far wall of the alley.
This action angered the younger vampire, "She's mine, Old Man! Go drink your cow!" He picked himself up off of the wall and flew at Nick, fully vamped out. Nick, ready for a fight and fully vamped out himself, watched as the younger vampire picked himself up and flew at him. At the last second, Nick stepped aside and let the fledgling slam himself into the wall again. This time Nick did not give the fledgling a chance to attacked him once more, he was on the younger vampire and had him up against the wall with his hand wrapped around his throat.
Nick leaned in close and hissed in the fledgling's ear, "You leave this alley now and leave the child to me! If I find you near her again, I WILL make you wish you had not met your master!" He let him go and watched as the young fledgling took to the air in fright. Now that the immediate danger was out of the way, Nick turned his attention to the girl. He looked at the frightened child. She looked hungry, battered, and pale. He could clearly see a black eye and a few bruises as well as cigarette burns on her face under her golden curls that looked like she robbed from Nick, she looked at him through terrified wide eyes that also looked like she stole from him. The resemblance was strikingly familiar, almost like they should be family. As he approached her, she moved back further and screamed. Nick stopped his advance and held out his hands as if to receive a hug. "It's okay, Nichole. I won't hurt you."
"Get away from me, you monster!" She yelled again, but stopped as she realized that he said her name. Then asked softly almost inaudibly, "How do you know my name?"
Nick started to think about the letters that he wrote to her, which she got through her social worker, and decided to use his pet name for her. "Perhaps I should call you 'Princess'. Now do you recognize me?"
She nodded her head and ran from her sitting position, forgetting momentarily that he was a monster, squealing, "DADDY! Please don't take me back! I'll be good, I promise! PLEASE!"
Nick picked her up and hugged her tightly against his body, "Tell me what you are doing here."
"I ran away from my foster parents. They are mean. I don't wanna go back."
"Why?"
She pointed to her injuries and said, "Robert did this and this and this." She pointed to the black eye, some of the newer bruises, and the cigarette burns that covered her face. "I told Sarah and she said that she will see what she could do, but Robert and Mary have ties within the system so they would do anything to keep me with them." She said to him thinking of her social worker and latest foster parents.
Nick didn't say anything, but moved back into the shadows and took to the air with the child still hugged tightly to his six-foot frame. He landed back in the shadows outside of the Raven, and climbed back into the caddie. Forgetting about the case, Nick started the engine and pulled from the curb but not before buckling Nichole's seat belt. Fishing out his cell phone and dialed the precinct. "Yeah, this is Knight, can I speak with Captain Stonetree?" He listened as the desk sergeant transferred his call to the captain's cell phone.
"This is Stonetree. Where in the hell are you Knight! They found another body that might be related to the case and here you are out of reach! I just was going to put an APB out on you and here you call out of the blue! Get your butt here or I'm going to have to throw my threat into action!" Stonetree growled into the phone at Nick.
"Uhh, Cap..."
"I don't want no excuses, get your sorry butt here on the double!"
"Yes, Sir. But where is here, exactly?" He heard Stonetree give a frustrating sigh.
Stonetree gave him an address in the most fancy part of their jurisdiction and then hung up. He turned to look at his small companion and found her with her eyes curiously on him willing him to do what he must do. When he looked directly into her eyes he also saw pure fear of being abandoned again. That emotion he saw in one so young tore at his unbeating heart, 'She is staying with me. LaCroix be damned if he decides to ever hurt her.' "Do you mind staying in the car for awhile while I take care of some business?"
"No, I don't mind. Who's LaCroix, Daddy?"
End of Flashback
The sound of the lift engaging had brought him out of his memory. He listened carefully as he heard the most loved heartbeat he loved as a man. It was her heartbeat. Nat's heartbeat. He turned his head to the door of the lift, his eyes full of unshed red tears as Natalie stepped out of the lift.