Act 5
Leaving the station with more than the case on his mind, Nick found himself heading for the Raven. He had not spoken with Lacroix privately since that night in the loft. Much had happened since then and the urge to confer with him grew. Nick opened the door and stepped into the club. The lights were dimmed and he could see the place set up for business as usual. He headed for the bar, spotted the bartender, an unusually dressed male by anyone's standards except here. "Can I help you?" a voice heavy with Jamaican accent came from across the bar.
"Lacroix. I'm looking for Lacroix. Where is he?" Nick shouted above the music.
The bartender nodded and glanced into the dark corner of the club where the private rooms were. "He should be out any time now."
The door to the first room opened just as the young man finished and Lacroix exited with a small blonde who was still giggling at something he had just said. He was obviously pleased with himself and just as obviously tired of the trinket on his arm. He sensed Nick in the room and managed to pawn the woman off on one of his guests.
"Nicholas, well, well. You are looking rather robust." Lacroix accepted the glass handed to him from across the counter. "Tell me, is the good Dr Lambert as recovered as yourself?"
"I just wanted to come in and tell you I appreciated what you did the other night. I know it wasn't easy."
Half serious, half mocking Lacroix said, "Did you find what you were looking for, Nicholas? Tell me, did you find the light?" He took a sip. "And Dr. Lambert, did she find her answers?"
"I don't know what we found, Lacroix. I am still not sure what happened the other day. All I know is that we were both given a second chance, for whatever reason."
Lacroix started rambling about second chances and vampires, but Nick tuned him out. He began to regret coming here. What he didn't need was a lecture. He wanted answers. "...Now that woman that was looking for you, Katherine was her name, wasn't it?" Lacroix's words brought Nick back to attention.
"Yes, she's my partner. What can you tell me about her?" Nick knew his master well enough to read the veiled look on Lacroix's face. "You know something, Lacroix, what is it?"
"Her type can be very dangerous to our kind. Just knowing her can be very explosive, if you get my point. Even the Enforcers watch their step around them. We just don't mix. And she's your partner, Nicholas? You must find a way to get rid of her. You've just come back from the dead; you don't want to return so quickly, do you?"
"Her type, Lacroix...what is her type?"
"She's part of a group of what's referred to as the Old Ones. Some were mortal at one time, others had, shall we say, special talents, that the Old Ones found useful and molded for their purposes. The Enforcers recruit those that don't work out. Either way, these "people" are not the sort to hang around with. Get rid of her, I'm telling you. She'll bring you down."
"No, she's told me she has some purpose with me. I don't sense any danger when she's near. Not like the Enforcers." Nick started to tell him about her father and decided against it.
"When she's done with you, my son, this time don't come running to me. There probably won't be anything left anyway." Lacroix took a final swallow and walked away, leaving Nick to his own thoughts.
The music from the Raven faded as he walked to his car. The sun was hinting at the horizon. Nick thought he saw a figure in the grey sky, then it was gone. He started the car and headed home. In the background, a dark figure entered the Raven.
"We're closing."
"I know, I'm staying." Vachon locked the door behind him. He searched for a place to sleep.
Act 6
Blond little boys running through parks with tall men in yellow overcoats chasing them. Vampires, stakes and fires, more children running in bushes that turn into flames, vampires with red eyes, in dark coats chasing her with stakes in their hands and murder in their minds. All these wound their way through Katherine's dreams throughout the day. Her last hour of sleep gave way to Jonathon, tall, dark, strong, with eyes so blue, she thought he'd kept the morning sky in them lest he'd forget the sunshine. Their meeting, their short time together and his ultimate destruction because of her brought her to waking up, sobbing.
And there, from the chair at the side of the bed, he watched. He watched her toss and turn the final hour, moaning and finally sitting up, still asleep, crying uncontrollably. He went to her, folding his knee under him and held her. "It's all right, Katerina, it's all right".
She turned into his shoulder and finished her sobs in his soft brown hair. Flooded with feelings of relief that it was a dream and that she was not alone, she held him tight. Her tears subsided and she lingered a moment longer in his embrace before she pulled away.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, as she adjusted his hair and tried to dab the wet spot on his shoulder.
"I'm not," he said softly, and looked deep into her eyes. What he saw surprised him. This was not the woman in charge earlier this morning, who pressed him to the floor with inhuman strength. He saw a little girl, vulnerable, lost and in need of....something. "Tough dream?"
"An old one. Hurts the same every time." She rested her head on his shoulder. She started to focus on the present, "Is it six already?" and started to raise herself to get out of bed.
" No, I got here early. Are you sure you're OK?" He held her hand to keep her near.
Nodding, "Yep, nothing a quick shower won't take care of. I'm hungry. Could you run across the street and get me a hamburger and fries?" He looked at her as if she'd lost her mind. "Please? I'll take a shower and be done before you get back. Thanks." She grabbed some clothes and ducked into the bathroom, leaving him a little confused about what had just happened.
Fifteen minutes later, she was finishing her fries and listening to Vachon tell about the victim in the park the night before. "He's the son of the head of one of the big insurance companies here in town. Next in line for the throne, so to speak. I've seen him playing in the park with his son every so often."
"Since when you are concerned about daddies and their kids in the park?"
"No reason. Just happened to be there." He gave her a 'don't ask me that' look and continued. "The few times I saw them, there were two other men talking with him. It looked like one of those old Bogie movies, you know, clandestine meeting in the park. Last night, they argued. He was shouting something about not being able to do what they wanted."
"Did you catch any of what they wanted him to do?" She crumpled the wrapper from the burger and pitched it into the wastebasket across the room. "Two points," she said without thinking, feeling very proud of herself.
Amused, he smiled at her. "No, not really. Whatever it was, it did have something to do with his father's insurance company."
"Did you see any of them enough to identify?" She held her breath. She already had an idea who one of them might be.
"The one big guy had a dirty yellow overcoat on. Could be a fireman, I suppose."
*Bingo!* "That's what I'm thinking. Between Tommy's description and yours, I'm pretty certain it's someone with the TFD. Probably an insurance scam of some sort." She flashed a grateful smile. "Thanks, Vachon. You helped a lot."
He gave her a short nod. "Now, let's finish your story. I won't let you go until you're done."
"Ok. What else do you want to know? I've pretty much told you all that I can." She stood up and crossed over to the sofa, grabbed the pillow and hugged it to her. It was a gesture that made her look childlike.
It touched something in him, bringing memories of both Tracy and his younger sister to mind. Both images were too painful to deal with and he quickly shoved them back into the recesses of his mind.
"Let's start with what happened this morning." He sat on the opposite end of the sofa, and watched her. "I'm still unclear with what happened."
*This morning was so long ago. What was it that happened? Oh, that.* "You were going to bite me, if I remember correctly. I defended myself. What's there to say?"
"I had no control over that urge this morning. I've never had that happen before. All I remember is talking with you one minute and the next I'm kissing the floor with your knee in my back and my arm about twisted off. I think I remember something about your terms. What are your terms, Katherine?"
She winced at the memory of throwing him to the floor. She had hoped he wouldn't remember "her terms." *What are you going to do with the young one? Remember what happened the last time?*
"Katherine?" She was staring off into space. He leaned over and waved his hand before her face. "Hello?"
"Javier." She came to the present. "If I tell you about what really happened this morning, the whole thing, it could very probably endanger your life. I did it once. I don't want it to happen again."
"What is it with you, that you can't give me a straight answer? My life is not your responsibility. I make my own decisions. Right now, I've decided I want to know what was so powerful that it could make me lose control and try to bite you without my complete cooperation. So, tell me Katerina. Tell me."
He tried once more in vain to break through the barrier she threw up against his mind. As she glared back at him, his brown eyes faded to summer morning blue. For a fleeting moment, Jonathon was sitting in front of her. He nodded and smiled that smile that melted her heart and made her his. The eyes became chocolate brown again and she knew what it was she must do.
"Please believe me when I tell you I don't want to see you hurt."
"Hey, remember who you're talking to. I'm tough." The expression on her face and regret in her voice drew him closer to her. The need to protect her was strong; he didn't know why, but it was there.
"I told you that my father drank from me regularly. I never had any long-term effects from his "meals". That's what they were, nothing else. A few years ago, I was assigned to a mortal who had fallen in love with a vampire. She had very important work to do and the Old Ones weren't going to let you guys interfere with this one. She didn't like it, but I was successful and she was able to complete the work she was destined to do. I, on the other hand, fell in love with the vampire."
"Did he drink from you?"
She shook her head. "Not at first. At first I was merely there to distract him from her. Later, our relationship developed into something more. It was the first time I had ever even been attracted to one. A vampire. The chemistry was right. He trusted me. By knowing your secret and all that goes with it, I am a danger to your community. In the time we shared together, Jonathon knew I would never do anything to destroy him. And I trusted him. The Enforcers will do anything to destroy those who work with the Old Ones. They depend on the vampire community to let them know if one of my kind is around. They don't understand that we, I am not here to destroy you, but to prevent you from harming someone who is vital to the continuity of the time line. Under the circumstances, he should have destroyed me. We fell in love. I can still remember the night he first drank from me." Her voice faded and she was there fifty years ago in Jonathon's arms once more. She felt the rush of her blood meeting his. The cells joining and becoming one.
Vachon struggle to contain the same feelings fighting to be freed. He wished he had at least brought a bottle with him. He concentrated hard on what she was saying and pushed back the need. It wasn't easy.
"We went on for some time. Like my father's, his need for blood slowly decreased as he drank from me." She looked at him. "For the first time in one hundred years I was happy."
He swallowed hard and asked, "What happened to end it?"
"The Enforcers found out about us." She fought back the tears. "I don't remember a whole lot. All I can tell you is that when it was over, Jonathon and Geoffrey were destroyed." She bit her lip to control the tears.
Vachon leaned over and pulled her to him. As he let her cry it out, he thought about what she said. He had the feeling a lot had happened that she wasn't willing to remember.
"What happened this morning?"
She sniffled and looked up at him. "Since that little episode and whenever the vampire community is involved, the Old Ones tend to watch me a little bit closer. They don't want a repeat of what happened. I can understand that I guess. My newest guardian is Charles. He decided to pay me a visit this morning to set me straight. Seems like they think you've been hanging around too much. They've taken notice and I've been warned. I think his approaching set you off. Sort of his way of letting you and me know that they can control things. He wouldn't have had you be gentle with me, I can tell you that."
"They can do that?" He wasn't too sure he liked the idea of having someone around who had that kind of power.
"On a very limited basis. He knew it was safe. No other vampires or Enforcers around. So he decided to scare me."
"You weren't very scared." Vachon unconsciously rubbed his left arm. *No, you weren't very scared at all.* A sly twinkle came to his eyes. "So, they were concerned about my hanging around and how you were feeling, huh?"
Katherine blushed and smiled involuntarily. She hung her head, then looked up at him shyly. It became her. "Well, there IS something here, isn't there?"
He acted nonchalant as if he didn't notice the spark, then he smiled at her. "I think something might be beginning, Katherine, in time." He reached for her again, and cradled her in his arms. It was difficult not to take her then and there, but he controlled the urge. "So, you don't die when one of us decides to take a drink?"
"Uh huh." She sat up and looked at him. "It can happen only with my permission, though."
He reached out and traced the outline of her face, down her left neck and paused at the visibly pulsating carotid artery. "You mean, I can?" he whispered heavily. He closed his eyes, swallowed hard and leaned over and kissed her on the lips. Her heartbeat bounded in his ears. It was almost deafening. He pulled back and arched to come down on her neck only to be met by a pair of very strong hands pushing against his chest.
"No, Vachon. Not now. Not yet."
He rested his chest on her hands and gave a frustrated moan. *Twice in one day. How lucky can I get?* He willed his fangs to retreat and his eyes to return normal. "Why?" he panted.
"Because I don't want to be the instrument that destroys you. They warned me about what would happen if I fell in love with a vampire again. In the short time I've know you, you have created feelings I thought I buried with Jonathon. No one has been able to waltz into a room without my knowing it, like you have. I can't explain these feelings I have when you are near. I've never had them before. Never. They are confusing me. They are scaring me. I want to be sure, Javier. I want to know that my feelings for you won't destroy you."
Still reeling from the dead stop, he tried to hear what she was saying. "Let me take my chances." he finally was able to say. He still balanced on her hands.
"Give me a little more time, please," she begged and moved her hands under him to get him to sit back. "I'm sorry. I really am. I just can't give you what you want yet. Let me work this one out a little longer." He saw the little lost girl in her eyes once more and understood she shared with him more than she should have. More than she planned.
The alarm on her watch rang to let her know it was time to go. She looked up at him as she shut it off. Her green eyes pleaded with him. His own returned a smile and he nodded his head yes. He reached his hand behind her head and drew her to him, bringing his lips to hers once more. "Ok, my Katerina. I'll give you more time. After all, it's the one thing I have a lot of."
The barrier between them he had felt for days melted. He had thought she was afraid of him, then. In a way, she was. But not the way he figured. "I don't want to go," she whispered and indulged herself in one more kiss.
"I know. Don't." The smell of her was intoxicating.
"I must. Nick. Work. I've got to go." She held on a moment longer.
Then she was gone.
Vachon nearly collapsed on the sofa. *Knight again. Damn you. What did I do to deserve you?"*