2007 Toronto, ON, Canada
Nick sat on the dining room chair in Natalie's apartment, his flannel-lined heavy jacket draped over the back. On the table before him were both jade cups, their grinning faces staring back at him. On his right was the one he had unearthed at Altun Kinal, the cup depicting the Face of the Sun. To his left was its complementary match, the stone carved into the likeness of the Night Sun. Nick leaned back. He wondered how many years it had been since both these cups were together to be used for the ritual they would be performing that morning. As a quickly passing thought, Nick also hoped the cups remembered how to work together.
Nick finally reached over and claimed the left cup. It was the same general size and shape of his cup and made from the same dark green jade. As he had done so many times before with his own cups, he felt along the carved features. He started at the top, his fingertips running over the large eye, cross-eyed just as on the other cup, until the pupil was reached. He lingered there, tracing the deeply carved spiral pupil whose design, Ioan had told him, was to indicate this being was from the Underworld. Leaving the eye, Nick's fingers followed the rope-like thread that ran under the eye, went up and over the nose, twisted, then went down and under the other eye. His thumb stroked along the scalloped design under the eye while the rest of his hand went over to the ear. Just as the animal it was representing, there was a triangular cat ear design along the side of the cup. Abandoning the ear, he returned to the front. Underneath a small glyph and a narrow nose was the grinning mouth and, on each side, a single curved fang-like structure.
From the adjoining kitchen, Natalie watched Nick inspect the Jaguar cup from Luumtun Ka'anmul. Though she had initially gone along with this, hoping Ioan's analysis would reveal some chemical substance that she could build a cure upon, she continued because she hoped this might still help Nick. He needed to try this, and she knew Nick needed her to see this ritual through to the end with him. Natalie also thought she might be able to influence and convince him something had worked and, if that belief was strong enough, it could result in a physical effect. Since Nick said he had a mental connection to her, Natalie intended to make full use of that link. She glanced at the digital clock on her microwave. "Nick, it's about time to start prepping."
"Alright," Nick replied, as he placed the cup back down on the table. He got up and followed her over to the living room space, which was where they would actually be performing the ritual. The furniture had been rearranged, the pieces pushed back to make a cleared area in the middle.
"So," Natalie began as she picked up a small pile of paper and a bowl. "We are going to do this ritual as close to how such ceremonies were probably done, given what Ioan had been able to figure out. He reminded us again that translations can be tricky and there are glyphs they still don't really know the meaning to."
"Nat, I understand. And thank you again for helping me with this one."
Natalie simply nodded. "Ioan thinks the patient was in a near-death state and their soul leaving the living realm and going into the spirit realm. I'm not going to let you have a near-death experience; once was quite enough. So to gain access to the spirit realm we're going to do it another way. When the ancient Maya wanted to interact with the gods, they needed to open a doorway, so to speak." She held up the paper and bowl. "Auto-sacrifice was the preferred type of bloodletting and the way to connect to the other realm."
Nick stared in disbelief at the bowl. "You want me to …."
"You will have to cut yourself and let some of your blood drip onto the paper. Then you'll light the paper on fire and burn it and the blood. The rising smoke looks like a snake, which is the pathway."
Nick frowned at the thought. "Fire and vampires don't mix well."
Natalie put the bowl down next to the lighter on the table. "I have a fire extinguisher if there's a problem. After that I'll take the donated blood, pass it between the cups, you drink and …."
"And?" Nick prompted when she hadn't said anything more.
Natalie shrugged. "And we'll see."
"There might be another a problem," Nick reluctantly said. He had long ago realized that, when performing this ritual, he would have to release the final hold he had on the vampire. He was sure, once the vampire realized what was going on, it would fight back and would need strength for that. Strength it would get by feeding on human blood and Natalie had been its victim once before. "The vampire, fresh human blood, a mortal in the room. I hope the ritual quickly works, then I'll be mortal and in control, but if not, then anything could happen and I …."
Natalie reached over and rubbed Nick's arm reassuringly. "I have precautions in case the ritual doesn't go as quickly or smoothly as we hope. We'll be doing this close to sunrise and the curtain will be open so this part of the room will have sunlight. I'll be in the light and you will be in the unlit portion, with access to the kitchen where there are bottles of animal blood, if needed. You can drink there and come back out when you're ready."
Nick gave a tiny smile as he nodded; Natalie planed well. "Nat, you researched and prepared so much, for all of this."
Natalie gave a small shrug of her shoulder. "I like to be thorough."
"So about the blood, does it come from different people?" Nick knew he would need to be prepared for the chaotic combination of clashing images and feelings that would be picked up from a mixed sample. Nick waited, but Natalie didn't answer him. "Nat, whose blood are we using?"
Natalie took a couple steps back. "You know, Nick, I think I actually prefer the ROM's Crystal at night."
"Nat, please, don't change the topic. Where did you get this blood?"
Natalie knew he would not be pleased with her answer, and she had hoped Nick wouldn't have asked before he drank it. "Actually, it will be my blood," she confessed.
Nick let out a deep growl and quickly turned away. Now he understood why she never brought that up. He knew drinking her blood, and her being in the same room with him, would be too dangerous. Nick wouldn't put her in that situation, no matter if it was for a cure. "No," he snarled.
"Why not?" Natalie immediately demanded.
Nick twisted around to face her again. The last time he took her blood he almost killed her, and it was only with LaCroix's help he was able to save her. He didn't understand how she could have forgotten that. "After what happened before? What were you thinking?"
"That Janette didn't use the blood of a shaman, or a priest, or a random stranger." Natalie advanced closer to Nick. "She used the blood of a man whom she loved and who loved her back. I love you, Nick," she declared, "and I know you love me." Natalie scowled; he continued to look irritated. "Were you hoping for another's?"
"But," Nick protested, "the ritual said-"
"The ritual says it's for a sick mortal and the cups had many compounds that have no effect on you. You don't believe in that part of the ritual, so why believe another part of it? It doesn't have to be a random priest, Nick. You were the one who said that getting my blood helped you with your control. Why shouldn't we use my blood again?"
"Because you barely survived last time!" Nick dropped his gaze. "If LaCroix had not-"
"We would both not be here if LaCroix hadn't saved us."
"But he's not here now. Nat, I can't take that risk. You'll be weak from the blood loss, unable to defend yourself at all. I'll attack you, the vampire wanting more than what you've already given."
"That's why I'm mostly using bagged blood."
"Bagged?" Nick quizzically asked.
"Yes, Nick. I don't intend for this to end like the last time. I've been making small donations and saving them. We'll use that blood and I'll just add a little bit of fresh blood into the mix, but not enough to weaken me at all. I'll be fine." Natalie watched him move away from her and drop onto the couch. Nick didn't look entirely pleased, but she knew he would do it. She was logically the best choice and he would eventually trust in her plan.
Nick watched as Natalie began preparing the area, laying everything out she needed, and when she left the room. He heard her in the dining area, then the clinking sound as she gathered both the cups, and finally the squeak of her shoes on the kitchen floor. He thought about the last time she volunteered her blood, while also trying to not remember the taste or the rapture he had felt enveloped in her love and acceptance. He did not need the vampire rising up to try that again. Instead, Nick focused on what he had done to Natalie, how LaCroix had come and kept him from taking more while also trying to save her. He hadn't been allowed into the hospital while she was recovering, but his maker had monitored her, so closely and carefully, every night checking on her. LaCroix had been worried Natalie might try to partially come across and become a Hunter, the fate of the half-drained who somehow managed to survive and remain mortal. Nick, knowing he couldn't condemn her to his type of existence, had only been worried if she would die. But Natalie had pulled through, and aside from his vague connection to her, nothing seemed to have changed in her. They had been able to inform the Enforcers she was still mortal and not a Hunter, so she didn't have to be killed. And now he and Natalie were performing another cure that involved her blood, the risk of a repeat of that event very high. Nick knew he should stop this, but Natalie wanted to do this, and she was just as aware of the risks as he was having gone through it once before.
Nick got up from the couch and went into the kitchen. Natalie was standing with her back towards him, her hair pulled up and the curve of her neck exposed. On the left side of her neck, barely noticeable to mortals but obvious to him, were the scars of the twin punctures his fangs had made. He also saw on the counter multiple glass bottles of blood, along with the jade cups and a small bag of blood. Her blood. "Nat," he softly began, "I am sorry. I just didn't want you to get hurt again. I am still afraid of what might happen. But I should have also realized, with all this planning, you know what you're doing." Nick took a deep breath. "I should have trusted in you," he firmly stated.
Natalie turned around to face Nick. "I just want the best chance of this working because we are only doing this now - I'm not coming back to these cups again."
Nick nodded. "I understand." He glanced at the Maya cups again. "So how much blood do you want to use? The cups are large; I always assumed they needed to be completely filled."
"Yes, I worked on that assumption as well, so I got enough for that, and backup."
"Backup?"
"Yes," Natalie responded, seeing Nick's surprised expression. She went over to the refrigerator and opened the door, revealing food and a narrow shelf holding a few small bags of blood. "In case we need to change a variable like the temperature of the blood, or if the blood spills because a cup was dropped, or something else."
"'Or something else'?" Nick incredulously repeated. He couldn't imagine what else could happen that more blood would be needed.
"Nick, I intend to be prepared for as many situations as possible," Natalie responded as she closed the appliance door. She went over to the counter to check the temperature of the blood bag to make sure it was no longer too cold. "There's just one thing I still don't understand in all of this."
"Just one?"
"Why would the Maya go to such lengths to hide this cure? Why did it have to be a secret? Breaking tablets, tearing documents in half, making it seem like it was a treatment for a mortal - why? Why wouldn't they want to make it easier to help someone come back across?"
Nick sighed as he shrugged. "Who knows? With the Spanish coming, they might have been trying to keep the knowledge secret to prevent the conquerors from getting it and completely destroying the cups and the ritual. But not everything was hidden so those who knew what to look for could find it again. Or they didn't want it generally known. You know how far the Enforcers will go to keep knowledge of vampires and Hunters hidden; it might have been similar for the Maya for their own reasons." His gaze quickly darted to the clock and was about to say something, but Natalie was already in motion.
Natalie took the Altun Kinal cup and placed it on the counter in front of her. She reached over to grab the blood bag and a pair of scissors. She cut open a corner of the bag and poured the whole contents into the cup. She had recalled when Nick had told her about how vampires can pick up echoes of emotions and thoughts in the blood. So when she had made these donations, she thought only about the ritual and it helping him. Ideally, the suggestion would implant and some part of Nick would believe it. She carefully held the filled cup and took the other one, then headed towards the living room, Nick following close behind. Carefully, she placed the cups on the table. Picking up the bowl, she handed it to Nick. "Let me get you the scalpel."
"No need for that." Nick held the bowl with the paper in his left hand, while he brought his right wrist up to his mouth. Letting his fangs descend, he sliced the skin on the sharp canine. Holding the wound over the bowl, he let the blood drip onto the paper, soaking the material. Once the blood stopped and the cut healed, Nick placed the bowl on the table, not wanting to light the paper while it was in his hand. As his fangs retracted, he took the lighter and ignited the paper. He quickly moved back as the vampire blood began to swiftly burn and the smoke sinuously twisted upwards. He took a few moments to calm back down from the sense of danger the smell of his own burning blood had evoked.
Natalie took a deep breath, then focused on helping Nick. She wiped an alcohol pad across her fingertip and got the sterile disposable scalpel. Natalie made a quick cut, let the fresh blood drop into the filled cup, then put down the scalpel. She cleaned the cut and began reaching for an adhesive bandage but was stopped by Nick, who had an already opened one in his hand. Natalie held still while he placed the bandage, gently wrapping it around her finger so it was snug, but not too tight. "Thank you, Nick," she softly said.
"Nat, whatever happens, thank you for believing enough and helping me with this one."
Natalie nodded and smiled, then returned to the cups. She concentrated, then took the blood-filled cup in her left hand and the other cup in her right. She poured her blood into the empty cup, then poured it back. Natalie saw the beginning of sunrise through the window as she held out the cup of Kinich Ahau to Nick.
Nick took the jade cup, glanced at the blood, which had a few bubbles on the surface, then focused on Natalie again. She had looked so determined when pouring the liquid and his link to her had delicately hummed, but he had not gleaned any thought or emotion from her. "What were you thinking about?"
"I was thinking about you coming back into the light from the darkness, just as the blood was put back to the Sun cup from the Jaguar cup." Natalie gave Nick a focused look. "Whatever happens, at the end of this you will still be what you are: a good man."
Nick acknowledged what she had said, then returned his gaze to the cup. After over a hundred years it was finally time to perform and finish the ritual. Closing his eyes, he relaxed, then drank Natalie's blood as quickly as possible. He felt the vampire rise, a reaction to her blood he had just ingested, while his link to her intensely vibrated. Opening his eyes, Nick's attention was immediately drawn to the faint trail of gray smoke that was still rising off the burnt paper. Looking around, he noticed everything was devoid of color. Then the room tilted.
"Nick!" Natalie screamed while she dove to the floor after Nick had toppled over. She had seen the flash of his green-rimmed golden eyes and lifting his eyelids she saw they were still changed and had rolled upward. "Oh God, what did I do," Natalie brittlely whispered as she tried to determine if he could still hear her and respond. "Nick!"