WALK IN THE LIGHT by Effie Burton
Copyright 1996
DISCLAIMER:
The concepts of Immortality, and the characters used in this work are from HIGHLANDER: THE SERIES which is the property of Davis/Panzer Productions, Inc., Rysher Entertainment and Gaumont Television, and are used without permission. This is an amateur publication intended solely for the entertainment of its readers. No copyright infringement is intended.
The concepts of vampires as used here, and the characters used in this work are from FOREVER KNIGHT which is the property of James D. Parriott, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Columbia TriStar Television, and are used without permission. This is an amateur publication intended solely for the entertainment of its readers. No copyright infringement is intended.
Some lyrics from ONE YEAR OF LOVE by John Deacon and from PRINCES OF THE UNIVERSE by Freddie Mercury have been quoted in this work. Both are copyright 1986 by Queen Music Ltd./EMI Music Publishing Ltd.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Permission is given to distribute this work, including hard copy, as long as all disclaimers, notes, and my name and address are included. Just let me know where you are putting it and make no money from it.
This story was written in the October of 1995. In the Highlander series timeline it takes place a few months after "Mortal Sins". Since the location and events do not mesh with season four of HIGHLANDER, call this an alternate timeline if you like. I have not intentionally violated canon in either show.
This is yet another HIGHLANDER/FOREVER KNIGHT crossover. When I started writing it, I had not seen too many of them on the lists. But lately, there seems to have been quite a number written, so in the words of one person, this story suffers because of that similarity. I do believe my concept is unique, however.
CREDITS AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
I want to thank all the people who edited "Walk in the Light" and helped me with suggestions and technical advice. Those people are: Jessie Kromminga, Joel Bradley, Marian Gibbons, Michele Martin, Charlotte Desilets, Todd Andrews, Russet McMillan.
A special thanks to my medical advisor, Georgiana Ellis, MD, who put up with a series of silly questions until I got the medical jargon right.
Duncan MacLeod watched the hands of the clock approach six as he stood in line waiting for the next teller. He had arrived in Toronto about four hours ago, and needed to exchange his French currency for Canadian. He could have done that at the airport, but he also wanted to redeem an investment he'd made with this bank around the turn of the century. It would give him some ready cash to start his life over.
It had been a long time since he'd lived in Canada and he thought a fresh start here would put some time and distance between his former lives in Seattle and Paris. Anne had returned to the States four months ago. Duncan didn't want to be too close to her because he loved her too much to be near her without being able to see her.
Duncan had done a lot of thinking since Anne had left. When she saw him behead Daimler and witnessed the Quickening, she told him she had to leave. He understood her reasons, but the killing was a part of his life he couldn't change. The memories finally got the better of him and he decided to try a new location. He knew he'd go back to Paris someday. It was one of those cities to which he always returned.
Now, watching a mother and her two pre-school-age children standing in front of him, Duncan's mind drifted to Anne and her baby.
"Mommy, I'm hungry," whined the little boy.
The mother stroked the child's head. "I know honey, we'll be home soon."
The little girl tugged at her mother's pant leg. "I have to go to the bathroom."
"Tina, you'll just have to wait."
"But I can't, Mommy. I have to go now."
The mother sighed. "All right. Let's go." Taking the hands of both children, the mother left the bank.
Duncan smiled. Parenthood did seem to have its trying moments. The smile faded as he remembered his lost opportunity at being a father. His immortality prevented him from having offspring, but when Anne had told him she was pregnant by an old friend he decided he wanted to help her raise her child. After four-hundred years it was the last thing he'd expected to happen.
Suddenly, Duncan's daydream was shattered by the unmistakable sound of gunshots. Spinning to face the door he saw the bloodied body of a man fall to the floor. The scream of an elderly woman behind him was cut short as a bullet entered her head. She slumped into his arms causing him to turn away from the gunman. Two bullets entered Duncan's back and he collapsed on top of the woman. As he took his last breath, Duncan heard the gunfire continue.
******Josh glanced into the store windows as he and his companion walked down the busy Toronto street. "I'm glad you talked me into coming. I had a good time."
"It does you good to get out," Randy smiled, "once a century at least."
"I go out. I just enjoy my privacy."
"Yeah, right."
"Well, anyway, the show was great and it was good to see Diana and Tammy again. It's been, what, fifty years since we last saw them?"
"Something like that." Randy chuckled. "If you want to have a convention of Immortals, put on a sword exhibition."
Josh rolled his eyes at his friend's lame attempt at humor and walked on in silence. Several minutes later, both men felt the presence of another Immortal. Turning in a circle they searched out the location and saw a woman with straight, shoulder length, blond hair coming up behind them. "Diana?" Josh said as he relaxed.
"Hi Josh, Randy. I'm going to meet Tammy at the Siam Palace for dinner. Do you guys want to come?"
Smiling broadly, Josh said, "Sure."
As the three Immortals approached an alley, they all felt another of their kind. With a quick glance at each other, they walked cautiously ahead and entered the narrow passageway.
"Tammy!" Randy exclaimed, "I thought we were meeting you at the restaurant." He rushed ahead and hugged the dark-haired woman as Diana and Josh followed behind.
Tammy ran her finger down Randy's face, then kissed him. "It's more private in here, lover." With an almost imperceptible nod at her friend, the two women drew their swords as one.
Josh and Randy realized too late the danger of their situation. They had relaxed in the presence of the two beautiful women and were unprepared for the attack that came swiftly and in unison. Josh tried to draw his sword, but only got it out a few inches. Randy was so shocked he didn't even try to defend himself. He stared open-mouthed at the woman he thought he knew and wondered what had changed her.
The power of Randy's Quickening entered Tammy's body and drove her to her knees. Diana took Josh's head without comment and screamed as the bolts began to strike her. The tremendous power unleashed by the double Quickening left no window or light fixture intact.
When it was over, Diana wiped the blood from her blade on Josh's clothing. "That was too easy."
"Yes, it was," Tammy said as she also cleaned her sword. "You told me when you first became my teacher that most men are over-confident around women. I didn't believe it would be so easy to take heads until we'd done this a few times."
"Men have thought of women as weak throughout the centuries and most of them also have a mis-guided sense of chivalry. It's their down fall, but it serves us well. Now, let's go get something to eat. It's almost five and I'm starving."
******Nick Knight stared at the computer screen. For several months he had been searching the Internet for useful information about vampires. Most of what he had found dealt with popular fiction or groups of mortals organizing themselves into clubs to discuss and pretend to be what he was. He had even found several references to a television show about vampires. These mortals, Nick thought to himself, they don't know anything about us, yet they pretend they do. That could be a dangerous game.
Suddenly, Nick sat up straight and focused intently on a reference to an ancient Egyptian legend about a cure for vampirism. As a glimmer of hope flitted through his mind, he wondered if his quest was finally over. "If only this is real," Nick said aloud to the empty room. He selected the print option from his web browser and slid his chair back from the desk as he waited for the document to complete. Walking to his refrigerator he selected one of the tall bottles, pulled its cork and drank the life-giving blood. He put the cork on the counter and carried the bottle back to the computer desk so he could continue his meal while he pursued this thread of hope.
Nick grabbed the paper from the printer and studied it more closely. His experience as a detective and his natural perseverance had led him to this bit of information, but it wasn't the legend itself. He picked up the phone and dialed the number on the page.
"Good morning, New York Public Library. How may I help you?" the woman asked.
"I have a reference to a text from the Egyptian Late New Kingdom. How can I get the details on this item?"
"What is the call number, sir?"
"Uh.... Oh, I see it now. It's JFD 95-15946."
"Just a moment, sir, while I look that up."
While he waited, Nick took a drink from the bottle and glanced at the clock. It was 11:00am and he needed to get some rest before his shift started tonight but he was too excited. "I have to follow up on this or I'll never get any sleep," Nick said to the hold-music on the phone. He listened to the lyrics of the song by Queen - "I'm cold but you light the fire in me, My lips search for your lips, I'm hungry for your touch,..." Nick's thoughts turned to the one mortal who knew of his secret life as a vampire. Oh, Nat, how I do long for your touch.
"Sir," the woman said, "that reference is to one of a group of artifacts we cataloged for the American Museum of Natural History. It isn't actually part of our collection."
Hopefully, Nick asked, "Can I contact them to find out more about it?"
There was a pause on the other end of the line. "I'm not sure that would be helpful. The document is from the twentieth dynasty, about 1150 BC. It is written in hieroglyphics and has not yet been translated."
"I can translate it," Nick said confidently. "I'm...I've had some experience in archeology."
"Oh, really," the woman said with a surprised tone, "that is quite unusual."
Nick thought, I am quite an unusual guy. He chuckled, and said, "Maybe uncommon, but not unusual."
"Right. Let me see what I can find out about the document."
While waiting again, Nick debated whether to tell Nat about this chance for a cure, or wait until he was certain it was a real possibility. Natalie was a doctor, and a coroner for Toronto, but more than that, she was his friend. She had stood beside him over the years and tried to help him again and again as he looked for ways to regain his mortality. He'd not made a decision yet about what to tell her when the woman came back on the line.
"Do you have access to a fax?" the woman asked.
"Yes, I do. Why?"
"The curator at the museum has a photocopy of the document and he will fax it to you. Any other medium of transfer won't work as well because most computers just aren't set up to handle the hieroglyphics. A picture seems to be the best option."
"Yeah, I suppose that makes sense. The number is 416-555- 5454."
"What is your name?"
It was hard for Nick to speak calmly. "I'm Nick Knight, spelled with a K. How soon before I'll get the fax?"
"You should have it in five or six hours."
"That long?" Nick asked with a little disappointment in his voice.
"It will take the people at the museum a while to retrieve the information and prepare it for transmission. It's the best we can do."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound ungrateful. It's just I've been searching for so long and to almost have it in my hands...."
"That's all right, I understand. Good-bye, Mr. Knight."
"Good- bye, and thank-you."
Nick took one last long drink from the bottle, draining it. Nat would get onto him for drinking so much blood but he felt like he needed the energy today. He placed the bottle in the sink, shut down his web browser and headed off to bed. He would try to rest while waiting for the fax, but didn't know if sleep would come. After almost eight-hundred years maybe he was finally going to have a chance at a normal life.
******Duncan took a deep, shuddering breath as his body stiffened with the reawakening. Remembering the circumstances of his death, he remained still and surveyed his situation. His body was wedged between the elderly woman who had died in his arms, and a man in a business suit. Why? Duncan's mind cried out. Why all this killing? As if in response to his unspoken question he heard a conversation on the other side of the bank lobby.
"I want to see my wife," the gunman shouted. "You can't keep Julie away from me."
Duncan turned his head towards the voice and saw several people lying on the floor. The gunman stood with his rifle pointed at a man seated against the counter.
"We've been through this before, Mr. Johnson," the man said. "Julie can't come out until you put the gun down."
"You've been stalling me for almost an hour. I won't give you my gun until I have my Julie back." Johnson jerked around to face the frightened people on the floor. "No judge can tell me I can't see my wife and kids. More people will die if you don't let me have her." Turning rapidly back to face the man acting as a negotiator, he said wickedly, "maybe even you."
The man spoke quietly. "Just calm down. No one else has to get hurt."....
....Duncan's mind returned to a similar scene in Seattle, mid-afternoon on June 6, 1889. He was in a tailor shop on Front street waiting for the clerk to bring him his new suit. As the woman came out of the back with the garment, Duncan saw a man following her.
"Sally, you're my wife! You're coming with me," the man shouted at her back.
"Joseph, I'm not your property!" She turned to face him. "I won't go with you! I can't put up with your drinking and your temper any more." Sally wheeled around to continue towards the counter.
Joseph grabbed her hair and jerked her back. "You're mine. I've got the papers that say so. When you married me you promised to obey me."
Sally started to sob. "You almost killed little Ethan last week. You don't love me or your children. When you drink too much, your anger gets out of control and you always hurt us."
Duncan hurried around the counter and put his hand on the man's arm that held Sally's hair in his clinched fist. "Mister, I don't think the lady wants to go with you. Now let her go."
"Stay out of this, stranger. It's none of your affair."
The hint of a smile touched Duncan's lips. "I think it is. Rescuing ladies in distress has always come naturally for me."
"Well, not today," Joseph said as he dropped Sally's hair and reached for the pistol at his waist. "I meant to use this on her if I couldn't get her to come with me. No man is going to have her if I can't. But that will wait until I take care of you."
Just then a shout arose from the street. "Fire! Fire! McGough's cabinet shop is burning and the whole block is going to go up any minute! Everyone get out as fast as you can!"
Duncan glanced at Joseph, who seemed dazed by the commotion, then grabbed Sally's arm. "Let's get out of here, now!" He pushed Joseph towards the door and almost dragged Sally along beside him. Once on the street he led Sally rapidly towards his horse. In one fluid motion he lifted her to the saddle then swung himself up on the animal. With a gentle kick, he soon had the horse moving at an even gallop away from the center of town.
As Duncan glanced over his shoulder he saw Joseph staring at the growing conflagration. The Great Seattle Fire had begun....
....Another shout brought Duncan back to the present.
"Oh, you think so, smart ass. We'll just see about that."
Duncan realized this madman meant to start shooting again and he began to slowly move the bodies away from him so he could stand. At least he didn't have to worry about being seen, as the attention of the people in the bank was focused elsewhere since they thought everyone piled against the far wall was dead.
"Who's going to be first?" the gunman said with a snarl as he pointed the rifle at the head of a young woman. "How about you? Or maybe you," moving to stand over a middle-aged woman.
"How about me?" Duncan said as he calmly walked across the lobby floor.
Startled at the appearance of someone suddenly standing face-to-face with him, the gunman was caught off guard.
Duncan grabbed the rifle barrel and in one jerk pulled it away from the man. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the man who'd been talking with the gunman reach inside his coat.
"What! Where'd you come from?" the gunman finally stammered.
"Out of your nightmares," Duncan sneered and leaned close to the man.
Quickly regaining his composure, the gunman pulled a handgun from behind his back. "Not my nightmare," he said, as he began to pump rounds into Duncan's body as fast as he could pull the trigger, "yours. Now, stay dead this time and stay out of my face!"
Duncan staggered back at the impact of the six bullets, fell against a counter and slid to the floor, dead again.
Taking advantage of the distraction, the negotiator pulled his service revolver from inside his jacket and leveled it at the man who had just killed again. "Freeze! I'm a police officer. Drop the weapon and put your hands above your head!"
"A cop!" Johnson hissed, as he swung towards the voice with gun leveled.
Don Schanke pulled the trigger once and brought an abrupt end to the carnage. As he looked at the bodies around him he mumbled, "And to think all I wanted to do was deposit my pay check. I gotta get direct deposit."
******The sound of the phone woke Nick from a deep sleep. Before he could reach it, his machine kicked in and he heard Captain Cohen's voice.
"Knight, there's been an officer involved shooting at the Toronto-Dominion Bank." There was a short pause. "It's Schanke. He's okay, but I need you to come in early if you can possibly make it. We also just got a report of a double homicide that seems to have happened about three or four hours ago. It's a nasty one. The patrol officers at the scene need a detective down there right away."
Nick picked up the receiver. "Captain, Knight here. I'll go straight to the homicide scene. Give me the address." As he wrote down the information, Nick glanced at the clock. It was 7:45 and the sun had been down about ten minutes. "I'll get over there as soon as I can. How's Schank?"
"He's all right, just a bit shaken up. Even for a cop, seeing seven people gunned down is traumatic."
"I can understand that. Will he be working tonight?"
"I told him to go home as soon as he's done at the bank. That's why I need you on the job as soon as you can make it."
"I'm out of here, Captain," Nick hung up the phone and spoke aloud to himself, "Well, actually, I have something to do first. The newly dead of Toronto can wait a few more minutes."
Nick headed straight for his computer to see if the fax had arrived and with a few quick clicks of the mouse, soon had the document printed. The cover sheet was from the Pierpont Morgan Library rather than the Museum as he expected.
"Mr. Knight, The curator of the American Museum of Natural History forwarded your request for the Egyptian legend to us as we have a collection of many rare and unusual volumes. We recently acquired a translation of that manuscript and it is being sent. If we can be of any further assistance, don't hesitate to contact us. Sincerely, Samuel Therese."
This is great, Nick thought. It would have taken me hours to translate it. He flipped to the second page and read the legend:
A creature of the night,
can return to the light,
when he drinks the blood,
of one once dead.
In a sanctified place,
the heart of the one once dead,
must be pierced by the hand,
of the one who holds him dear.
When the heart is still,
and there is life no more,
draw forth the blood,
from the one once dead.
While still warm,
this blood of kings,
shall be given to,
the creature of the night.
Then his cold, still heart,
will beat again,
forever free to,
walk in the light.
Staring at the ancient riddle Nick wondered what it meant. What is one once dead? It couldn't mean a vampire because the blood from one of us doesn't cure this curse. He sighed and stuffed the paper in his pocket. Maybe he'd get a chance to work on it some tonight and possibly show it to Nat if things didn't get too hairy.
******Natalie Lambert wrote some notes on her clipboard. The crime scene wasn't as gruesome as some she'd seen during her years as coroner, but there was something eerie about two decapitated bodies lying so close together. There was no obvious sign of a struggle, but the whole alley was covered with broken glass and papers were strewn around as if a tornado had gone through the area.
"What have we got, Nat?" Nick asked.
Natalie jumped at the touch of Nick's hand on her shoulder.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Nick smiled at her with a boyish grin.
"Oh, you didn't, really," Nat said. "I was just thinking about how unusual this kind of thing is in modern Toronto."
"This thing, meaning the beheadings?"
"That, and also the fact both these men were carrying swords. Neither was able to unsheathe their weapon before they were killed, though at least one of them tried. From the way the heads were taken off, it is a safe bet swords, or at least something very sharp and long, was the murder weapon."
"How long ago?"
"After I do some tests I'll be able to give you a better answer, but I'd say three or four hours."
"That would have made it somewhere between 4:15 to 5:15. I'll see if there were any reports of unusual activity in this area at that time."
"Man oh man, what have we got here?" Schanke exclaimed as he walked up beside Nick and Nat.
"Schank, I didn't think you'd be around tonight," Nick said.
"I just came to see what you were up to before heading home."
"As you can see," Nat said, "what we have here is two very strange deaths."
"It doesn't look so strange to me," Schanke laughed nervously. "Cause of death, no head."
Natalie frowned. "The swords, Schanke. The swords are strange."
Schanke looked closely at the bodies for the first time. "Swords you say? Here in Toronto?"
"Yep!" Natalie quipped.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Schanke exclaimed. "The guy at the bank, the one who tried to stop the gunman, he had a sword."
"What?" Nick asked. "What guy?"
"Well, see, there was a guy that got shot when Johnson, he was the shooter, first came into the bank. I was sure the guy was dead because I helped place the bodies against the wall. Then about an hour into the stand-off this same guy comes walking up and takes the rifle away from Johnson."
"How did you know it was the same guy?" Nat asked.
"He was very distinctive, well dressed, with long, black hair pulled back in a pony-tail. He just wasn't the kind of guy you could forget. Anyway, for all his trouble, this guy gets shot again."
"Shot again?" Nick raised his eyebrows. "How?"
"I can't explain it Nick. The guy just seemed to come back from the dead. He walked like he wasn't hurting from the first shots even though there was blood all over his back. I guess he must not have been hurt as bad as I thought."
"You said something about a sword, Schanke?" Nat asked.
"Oh, yeah. When the bodies were being removed from the bank, they found a sword tucked inside this guy's coat."
Nick and Natalie exchanged a look. "When did all this happen?" Natalie asked.
"Around six I guess."
"And these killings happened one to two hours before this guy was in the bank," Nat said.
"Long enough ago that he could have been the killer," Nick continued. "Where is the sword now?"
Schanke furrowed his brow in thought. "I think it was taken back to the station. I was answering questions while all this was going on. I didn't really pay attention. It's not like it's my case, you know."
"Yeah, I know Schanke," Natalie said comfortingly. Putting a hand on his arm she continued, "It's been a rough night for you, hasn't it?"
"It sure has. That shooter was a crazy man. I just wish I'd been able to do more to keep all those people from being killed."
"You should go home and get some rest, Don," Natalie said. "We can handle this." She looked at Nick. "Why don't you see if the sword is at the station and if it is bring it by my lab. I'll test it to see if it was used in these killings."
"All right. Do you want a lift home, Schank?" Nick asked.
"No, I've got my car here. Thanks anyway. See you tomorrow night." Schanke waved and walked away.
"I've got to get moving myself, if I'm going to get anything done tonight." Natalie turned to leave.
"Nat," Nick said hesitantly as he reached for the paper in his pocket. "I have something...." He paused.
"What did you say?"
"It's nothing. I'll tell you later when we're not so busy."
******Grace met Natalie as she returned to the lab from the crime scene. "Have we got the customers tonight! They brought in a bunch from that shooting at the bank and a few others for spice."
"Yes, I know. First thing I want to do is see one of the bodies from the bank job. Male, long, black hair in a pony-tail. Would you have him prepped for me, please?"
"Sure thing." Grace left Natalie alone to go prepare the body for autopsy.
Natalie's mind was racing. Schanke said this guy seemed to come back from the dead. I don't think the guy is a vampire because the shooting happened before dark. But unless Schanke dreamed the whole thing, what other explanation is there?
"Okay, Natalie, he's ready," Grace said as she stuck her head through the door.
Natalie put on her lab coat and walked into the autopsy room. She pulled the sheet off the naked body of a very well built man. She spoke into her recorder, "Caucasian male, name on ID is Duncan MacLeod, age per driver's license, thirty. Six gunshot wounds to the chest." Nat turned off the recorder and touched one of the wounds with her gloved hand. Something didn't look right. Her examination was interrupted when Grace came into the room.
"You have a visitor," Grace said.
"Is it Nick?"
"No, it's a woman, Dr. Anne Lindsey. She said she's a friend of yours."
"Anne is here?" Natalie questioned. She took off her gloves and pulled the sheet back over the lower part of the body. She made her way quickly to the lobby of the building. "Anne!" Natalie exclaimed. "What brings you to Toronto?"
Smiling at her former medical school room mate, Anne said, "I'm here for a conference and couldn't pass up the chance to see where you spend your nights." Waving her hand towards the Coroner sign, she continued, "I see you're still fascinated with the dead."
Thinking of Nick as well as her chosen profession, Natalie laughed. "Yes, I guess I am."
"Is this a bad time for a visit?"
"No. Come on back to my office where we can talk." Natalie led Anne through a maze of corridors into the bowels of the building.
"I would have called before coming, but I took the place of a colleague at the last minute so I didn't know I was going to be in Toronto until yesterday. When I called for you earlier tonight they said you were gone, but would be back soon so I took a chance and just came over."
"That's okay. I'm glad to see you. Here, have a seat. Do you want some coffee?"
"No, I'm fine."
"I see you're going to be a mother soon. How long have you been married?"
Anne paused in the process of removing her coat. Briefly thinking about the father of her child and then Duncan, she said quietly, "I'm not with the father any more."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It's my choice to have the baby alone." After an awkward moment Anne asked, "How about you? Any interesting men in your life?"
Natalie sighed. "Well, there is one guy I'd like to be more involved with but we're...we're just from different worlds."
"His world is so different from yours, you just can't fit in."
"Yeah." Natalie raised her eyebrows in surprise. "How'd you know?"
PART 2
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