Through a glass, darkly 1/4
Usual disclaimers apply. Forever Knight and the characters and ideas
associated therewith are the property of Mr Parriot and Sony/Tristar and no
infringement of his copyright and performing rights is intended. This piece
belongs to me Spike Shovelton and I assert copyright hereto. I grant
archive permission to Mel for the fkfanfic site and to Cousin Mary if she
wants it. Anyone else who wants it is welcome to archive it provided that
you ask first.
The inspiration for this story is a very silly Disney film called "Freaky
Friday" that I saw last month and I couldn't get the idea out of my mind.
This is my take on it. I'd rank this one PG-13. There is no explicit sex
or violence but I really wouldn't suggest this for children as some of the
themes are complicated. There are no major spoilers. This is set early in
season three. The title comes from the Bible, Corinthians Book One. It
just seemed to fit.
Thanks as always to Cousin Mary for beta reading this.
Through a glass, darkly 1/4
By Spike Shovelton
"Cheer up will ya." Screed studied his old friend. "Christ ya got more
birds than most of us and ya still depressed."
"The birds are the problem." Vachon sighed heavily. "What's that?" He
pointed to the object in Screed's hands.
"I found it in the sewers, 'oped yer could read the writing, it be foreign
words." He handed the tarnished silver cube to the Spanish vampire. "Which
one be it making trouble, Ursie or Tracy?" Vachon contemplated the sky. It
was dusk and the sun was just setting. He looked down at the cube and
studied the symbols, not a language he knew.
"Both of them. Tracy keeps asking me for help and information. Did I know
so and so? How did I learn to fly? I don't know, she doesn't stop asking
and when she isn't asking for that she wants me to help with her cases."
Vachon sighed as he cleaned the tarnish away. "At least she's happy. Urs
is so sad all the time, looks at me with those mournful eyes. I don't know
what she wants from me." Vachon sighed. "I don't know what either of them
want, but sometimes I wish Urs were like Tracy and Tracy were like Urs."
"Love a duck." Screed said and Vachon looked at him. "That box flashed
colours, bible oath it did."
"You must have eaten a bad rat." Vachon sighed. "It's a cube it doesn't
change colour."
"Could you hand me the Parker SOCO file please." Nick said and Tracy
nodded.
"Sure partner. You are crabby today. Wouldn't have anything to do with
your being called in early to get to work on the paperwork would it?" Nick
shook his head, he had to get Nat to drive him and hide in the boot of the
car, and so he was not best pleased. He had to get up and in before sunset.
It was only just setting now. Tracy smiled and then winced and moved
forwards.
Nick looked at her in concern. "Tracy are you okay?" Her answer was to
fall forwards and pass out on her desk. "Tracy?" He touched her hand for a
moment. Her pulse was steady she was just unconscious. He looked at this
with interest. As he touched her pulse again her eyes opened. "Are you
okay?"
"Quoi?" The voice was softer and slightly husky. The blonde woman blinked
in bewilderment. "Je suis ou?" She asked.
"A la gendarmerie." Nick responded in French. "Pourquoi?"
"Nicolas?" Her voice was puzzled. "Que-est ce que je fais ici?"
Nick looked at her. Something was seriously wrong. He saw Joe Reese coming
out and looked at his partner. "Restez-vous." He ordered and went and
talked to his captain before receiving permission to take the woman home.
Once outside he looked at her. She did not seem to know where they were.
"Nicolas." She said his name in the French manner.
"Tracy, why are you speaking French?" He asked. More to the point why was
she speaking that kind of French? Tracy had learned from a Quebecois and
her French was accented accordingly. This was quite different, veering
towards the Creole. He amended that thought, no more New Orleans French.
"Tracy?" The other was confused. "My name is Urs." She looked at him.
"Ursula Fontaine."
Lucien Lacroix studied his sleeping companion and smiled as she began to
stir. Urs was a lovely woman if a little unimaginative. He was fond of
her, she was an amusing diversion but little more. He sighed, he enjoyed
her body but that was not sufficient. He wished he could find someone on a
suitable intellectual level.
He smiled, that said she was a pretty thing, although he did prefer more
curves. He reached to stroke the tousled fair hair from her eyes and ran
his other hand down her body, lingering over her stomach before moving back
up to settle over one perfectly formed breast. His bedmate opened her eyes
and screamed.
"Aaargh." Her scream was piercing and he gave thanks for the soundproofing.
Then she belted him in the mouth and his jaw dropped. Urs had a mean
right hook. "What the hell are you doing in my room?" She reached under
the pillow, looking for something. "Who are you and what are you doing
here? You are under arrest."
"Do you always wake up violent?" He asked. This was odd. She did not
sound like Urs, her accent had changed.
"Something about being pawed by complete strangers." She spat back. "Ruins
my good mood."
"Complete strangers?" He looked at her. "Cherie, that was not your thought
last night."
"Last night? I don't even know you." The blonde spat back. Then she
looked around and the defensive anger and well concealed fear vanished.
"Where the hell am I?"
"My rooms of course. We adjourned here last night after your set." He
studied her. "You are hungry of course, Ursula."
"It's Tracy." Came the response.
"Ursula." He looked at her. "Is this some strange mood?"
"I am Detective Tracy Vetter, Toronto Homicide. I don't know who you think
you are but you will let me out of here or I will have you arrested." She
glared at him and looked down at her hands. "I didn't paint my nails."
Tracy studied the pale pink nails and the delicate pale hands.
Lacroix studied her. Her eyes were very open now and almost afraid.
Fascinating, she seemed genuinely convinced that she was Tracy Vetter.
"Look cherie." He said and picked up a large mirror and held it out to her.
She screamed again. "Hush now." He soothed her. "Hush now."
Tracy looked at the face in the mirror and a slender, angular blonde with a
gamine face stared back. The face was vaguely familiar to her but she could
not place it. A hand gripped hers hard. Her companion, whoever he was,
spoke softly, soothingly and calmed the growing hysteria. "I was at work,
Nick asked me for a file and then I don't remember anything else."
"Curious." Lacroix looked at her as she regained her self control. "You
say you are Tracy Vetter, a detective." His son's partner too. This could
be quite interesting.
"Either that or I am a mental case." She responded. "I'm going to call
Nick. It's probably all his fault." Tracy winced as she felt a pain in her
stomach then looked at herself, realising that she was stark naked. "Where
are my clothes?" She looked for something to cover herself with but could
see nothing immediately.
"On the floor." He said and she looked at him.
"You might at least look away." At this Lacroix burst into laughter. If
anything convinced him it was not Urs then it was this modesty. An exotic
dancer complaining about his watching her. He complied and she studied the
clothes. "Isn't there anything less slutty?"
"One moment." He went to the wardrobe and pulled out a long dark green
dress that Janette did not much like. "Here." He handed it to her. "It
won't fit very well."
"Underwear? You can't expect me not to wear underwear?" Tracy picked up
some black lace from the floor and looked at it. "This is practically a
piece of string. Doesn't she have anything with fabric in it?"
Lacroix chuckled again. This could be quite amusing. He walked to the
dresser and looked through Janette's things. He found some underclothes and
put them on the bed, still looking away. "Ursula insists on avoiding
something called VPL."
"Yes but those thongs are so uncomfortable, like a constant itch." Tracy
coloured. "I can't believe I'm naked in a strange room discussing underwear
fashions with a total stranger." She looked at him. "Can you not stand
there?"
"Of course." He said and moved to the other side of the bedroom, standing
with his back to her.
Once dressed Tracy studied him and he turned to face her. Then she let her
hand fall to her stomach. "I'd better call Nick." She looked at him. "Do
you have a phone?" He handed her the extension and she dialled through. No
sign of him at work. She hung up and sighed. "Apparently I passed out at
work and Nick is taking me home." She dialled the loft.
Lacroix watched her in amusement then frowned as she winced. "Are you
hungry?"
"I guess." Tracy said and sighed. "I'll buy us take out."
"No thank you." Lacroix looked at her in amusement. He had decided that
this was certainly not Urs. The dancer was not a good enough actress to
manage to pretend to be Tracy.
"Nick." She said as he answered. "Thank goodness I caught you."
Nick looked from the woman sitting on his sofa to the telephone. "Tracy?"
"I think so." She responded. "This may sound weird, but I just woke up
naked in some strange guy's bed and I'm trapped in someone else's body. Is
she in mine?"
Nick looked at Natalie who had finished examining Urs. "Yes. You'd better
come over here."
"Right. I bet this is all your fault." Tracy said. "Put her on please."
"Hello." The voice was gentle. It was weird hearing her own voice and she
guessed that the other woman thought the same.
"Hi, I'll be over soon." Tracy sighed. "I feel so dumb, talking to me."
"I understand." Urs responded. "I don't know what happened. I did
nothing, I was asleep."
"I didn't do anything either." Tracy looked at the phone. "I'll be over as
soon as possible. Look after my body until I get there." Once the
conversation was over, she turned to the man. "I'm really sorry about this.
I hope I didn't frighten you too much. Let me try to explain."
"No need to explain. Nicholas is a friend of mine and I know that you are
his partner." Lacroix responded. "I ought to introduce myself though. I
am Lucien Lacroix."
"I know that name." Tracy frowned as she considered the matter, trying to
place it. Most of her mind was still occupied with working out where she
was and how she wound up there. "You think we can eat now? Arguing with
Nick is best not done on an empty stomach. I'll explain who I am and what
is going on while we eat." Lacroix poured her a glass of his best stock,
and one for himself. "No thanks, not at this hour. If you've nothing in
I'll get take out." Tracy looked down at the glass, then at him. For the
first time she noticed how pale her companion was.
Then she reached her hand to her throat, feeling her way to the pulse point.
She felt nothing for a moment, then a beat then nothing. She tried to
find a pulse in her wrist and failed. All the pieces fitted together now
and she opened her mouth to scream and closed it again. "Ursula is a
vampire." She gasped out and Lacroix nodded. "Oh shit." She said and sank
down to the bed. She looked at him sadly. "You are one too?" The facts
fitted together. This was the woman she had seen with Vachon a couple of
times, including during the case with that Jacqueline woman. Vachon had
said once that Ursula was the biggest regret he had.
Lacroix wondered why he was feeling so sorry for this woman. Then again to
wake up in another body, in a strange room, and as a vampire was difficult.
At least she knew what vampires were so they were spared that part. "Be
easy now." He soothed her. "We will sort matters."
"Of course." Tracy looked at him. She shouldn't have wondered what it was
like to be a vampire. Now she was going to find out firsthand. She had
seen Urs in the Raven, but had not realised the full implications of this.
"I suppose I can manage. I don't have another choice."
"It is easier than you might think." Lacroix assured her. "I will look
after you." Gallantry was not his way but he did feel for her. "Now you
must eat." He said and handed her the glass. "Your body needs it, even if
you do not wish it."
"I can't." Tracy said and looked at him.
Urs studied the foil dishes. "Is this really mushroom?" She contemplated
the Chinese. "May I try some of this?"
"Go ahead." Natalie said and smiled at her. "If you're still Tracy
tomorrow I'll cook a proper dinner for you." She was amused.
"With ice cream. Haagen Daas chocolate flavour with marshmallow pieces and
butterscotch sauce." Urs insisted. "We never had that when I was mortal,
never had enough to eat. All these flavours are wonderful." She piled some
more onto her plate. "I am so hungry."
"Eat then." Natalie said and smiled. Nick laughed at her in amusement.
This was surreal.
Lacroix looked at Tracy as she studied the glass. "You do need to eat. I
know it isn't your food of choice but you are a vampire and must feed
accordingly. No one was hurt for this, freely donated and preserved."
Tracy nodded and brought the glass to her lips. As she drained it she saw
sensations, colours and pictures of life. She could see who the donor was,
understand his life, his pride in his children, his enjoyment and pleasure
in his work. He was an affluent, comfortable businessman who donated blood
from a sense of civic duty. Tracy looked up from the empty glass in
astonishment.
"I didn't know." She said and looked at him. "I didn't know that when
Vachon said he could read memories from blood that it was so vivid. I was
almost there." There was a new understanding in her gaze. "Is it always so
real?"
"Yes." He responded. "It is our way, there is no manner of explaining what
it means to drink blood." He refilled her glass and she drank again, this
time more slowly. "Do you like it?"
"It tastes like apples as well." Tracy commented and savoured the taste.
"How is that possible?"
"Your mind associates what you taste with flavours from your mortal life."
He explained and looked at her. "It is perhaps best to accept what your
body wants."
"Do I have fangs?" Tracy asked and her hand went to her mouth. She ran her
tongue along her gums and found the different sensation. As she ran her
tongue over it she felt a gold haze covering her vision and the fangs slid
into place, not exactly hurting but not quite comfortable either. She
walked to the mirror and touched the white teeth. "I still don't think it's
me." She admitted as she studied the golden eyed, white fanged reflection.
"Of course not." Lacroix assured her. "I think your partner will be
waiting."
"Of course." Tracy looked at him. "Can you call me a taxi?"
"Borrow my car." He suggested and handed her the keys. "The black lotus
elite with the black leather upholstery." He walked her down to the garage.
"I will come over once I have sorted my business for the night." He
needed to ensure that there was a recording of the Nightcrawler. He had no
intention of missing the chance to torment Nicholas a little, and to learn
more about his son's partner.
Tracy drove through the town carefully until she came to Nick's loft. Then
she let herself up. As she did so she frowned. She could smell so much
more now. She was starting to recognise the stimuli and sensations that her
body was feeding her. Some of them were weird but she could smell Natalie
Lambert and she could feel Nick. She knew it was Nick but did not know how
she knew it was Nick.
As the door to the loft opened she looked at herself, eating Chinese and
sitting on the couch. By all appearances Urs was as stunned as she was.
"Tracy?" Urs said and Tracy nodded. "It is so strange to be mortal again."
"You think it's strange?" Tracy said dryly. "Any clues about this,
Natalie?" Tracy frowned then turned to Nick. Nick was a vampire too? She
had suspected as much but this confirmed it. This was getting stranger and
stranger. She sniffed again. Vachon was right, she did smell of apricots.
She could smell herself as a vampire smells a mortal and it was so bizarre.
Vachon sighed as he knocked on the office door. This was probably not a
good idea, but refusing such a summons was a worse one. "Yes?" Lacroix
looked at him. He smiled finally. "Ah Vachon. I have just had an
interesting experience with Ursula."
Vachon wondered what had happened. Had his daughter done something wrong?
Lacroix was known for being a deadly opponent and not an approachable one
either. "Is something wrong?"
"Yes. I awoke this evening with Ursula in bed. She opened her eyes and
informed me that her name was Tracy Vetter and that she wished to arrest
me."
"Urs said that?" Vachon looked at the old vampire in amazement.
"Yes." Lacroix responded. "Nicholas informs me that Tracy passed out and
woke up claiming to be Ursula. They appear to have changed bodies. Unless
this is all a joke on your part." His tone implied that it had better not
be. Vachon had a bad feeling about this one. He shook his head.
End Part one
Explanation of the French
Quoi - What
Je suis ou? - Where am I?
A la gendarmerie - At the police station
Qu'est ce que je fais ici? - What am I doing here?
Restez-vous - Stay!
Through a glass, darkly 2/4
By Spike Shovelton
See Part One for disclaimer
"No I don't know." Natalie said as she looked at the two women. "I have no
idea what would have caused this. You can't just swap bodies. It's
scientifically impossible. Something has to cause it."
"Something did." Lacroix said, descending through the skylight, a sheepish
Vachon in tow. "This one made a wish."
Four pairs of eyes studied the Spanish vampire. "I wished that Urs were
more like Tracy and vice versa." Vachon murmured and Tracy shook her head
in disbelief. "I was holding a box that Screed had brought."
"I examined the item. There was an inscription in Sumerian. Apparently it
would grant foolish and ill thought wishes to punish people for failing to
think." Lacroix said dryly.
"Great." Tracy sighed and put her hands on her hips, surprised as they went
in further than she expected. Obviously Urs had narrower hips. "So how
long are we stuck like this?"
"Until the next full moon." Vachon said quickly.
"That would be?" Urs asked.
"Two weeks." Lacroix supplied and both women groaned. "I checked and there
is no way to remove the spell, any attempt to do so will render it
permanent."
"Wonderful, I am stuck as a vampire. There's no way you can pass as a cop
for two weeks and I'm certainly not dancing at the Raven." Lacroix smirked
at the mental image. Tracy thought for a moment. "Urs, you need to take my
leave. I have two and a half weeks accrued leave. Say you feel overtired
and want time off. Joe Reese won't have a problem."
"I'll see to it that he gives you leave." Nick murmured.
"That also means you have to do all the paperwork." Tracy smiled evilly at
the thought.
Lacroix was amused at the slightly malicious grin on the sweet face. "An
excellent suggestion."
"We both should leave town, to avoid bumping into people we are supposed to
know." Tracy said quickly. "It could get difficult otherwise."
"But my work." Urs said and looked at the old vampire. "I am due at work."
"I will make arrangements. Your salary will continue to be paid." Lacroix
assured her. "Vachon, take your child away and look after her."
"Wait a minute." Natalie interjected and the others turned to her. "Urs is
mortal now, she needs someone to help her deal with the situation, ensure
she eats and help her process the situations she experiences."
"Why don't we all go." Nick suggested. "Vachon and you and I can go with
her to my cabin and keep out of sight. I have leave due, we can all go over
there."
"Nick we haven't done anything wrong. Why go skulking around?" Natalie
commented. "I think we should go somewhere more fun, Montreal maybe."
"I have a house in Montreal." Lacroix said and Natalie smiled.
"That's settled then." She smiled at Urs. "We can have some fun, go
shopping if you'd like." Natalie was also going to enjoy having a female
vampire to talk to. It could be informative, even if the vampire was
masquerading as Tracy. Plus she could spend some more time with Nick and
that could be entertaining. He had been so down since Schanke died. This
would let her cheer him up.
Tracy looked at the others. A part of her was quite amused that Nick and
Nat were organising looking after Urs. The other part was more than a
little irritated that they were more concerned about looking after Urs than
they were about looking after her. Then again why should they be so
concerned? She could cope by herself. She would take herself out of town
for two weeks too. "You do that." She said absently.
"You're coming with us of course." Nick objected. "This could be difficult
for you and you need someone to talk to."
"Nick you've never talked to me before why start now?" Tracy asked, trying
to conceal the bitterness and irritation that he had not told her the truth
before. She had suspected but dismissed the suspicion and now she was
unsure what to think. She ran a hand through her hair. It didn't go
through her hair properly, probably because it wasn't really her hair.
"Tracy should come." Urs said and Tracy shook her head. She did not want
to go away with Vachon and Urs and Nick and Nat. Either she and Urs would
wind up fighting over Vachon or it would be fifth wheel syndrome. Given
that she had Urs's body it could get rather confusing having both of them in
the same place.
"Of course." Vachon said. "You need someone to look after you."
"It creeps me out enough seeing you wearing my body. I don't think it would
be wise having us both there." Tracy shook her head. "You just look after
it, don't eat too much or get into fights." She turned to Lacroix. "Lucien
my stomach hurts again, may I have some more wine?"
Lacroix caught the irritation in her stance. "Of course. I am sure
Nicholas has some decent stock." He was amused by her use of his first
name, wondering whether that was to annoy Nicholas. Whatever the reason it
was most effective as Nick looked furious. He went to the fridge and looked
through until he found something non-bovine and poured some into a glass.
"Nicholas, do you care for some?" He handed the glass to Tracy and watched
as she sipped it.
"No thanks." Nick looked at Tracy. "Tracy will be fine."
"Of course I will." Tracy sighed, even in a little pretty body she still
was not the sort that men felt protective towards. She never had been, not
that she wanted to be looked after, she could manage for herself. Yet
sometimes it would be pleasant to have people looking after her. "Just get
out of town before my father comes over. It could get difficult."
"We will." Natalie said and smiled. This was going to be quite amusing.
Plus it would give her a chance to spend time with Nick.
"Now give me my keys." Tracy said and looked at Urs. "Well I need to go
home and get some things. I can't stay there, people will notice that I
don't look right." Urs threw her the keys. "You'd better keep the ID, can
I borrow yours?"
"Certainly." Urs said and looked at her. "In my room at the Raven."
"I'll get it." Vachon left before the others could respond. He just wanted
to get out of there. It was always his fault. How was he supposed to know
that the cube was magic? He smiled. At least he would see Urs, on holiday.
They hadn't been on holiday together since the Armistice.
Tracy sighed. "Could I have a word with Urs?" The others nodded and left.
Nick and Nat went by the door and Lacroix by the window. "You will look
after yourself?"
"Yes." Urs whispered. "It's funny, I envied you a little. You had
everything, parents, a job, respect."
"Hardly." Tracy looked at her. "My father tries to control everything I
do, my mother is a lush, and I have to fight for respect, every inch, every
day I have to prove that I can cut it, that I deserve my badge." She smiled
sadly. "I wondered about you, Vachon and things."
"I know." Urs looked at her but did not explain further. "Anything else I
should know?"
"Don't forget to take my pill." Tracy said and Urs nodded. "It says on the
foil which one to take each day. Take it when you get up of an evening.
Don't eat currants they bring me out in hives, and look both ways before
crossing the street." Urs nodded again. "Be careful, don't take too many
risks. I want that body back in one piece."
"Of course." Urs looked at her and thought for a moment. "If you need
help, Miklos the bartender is reliable and I would trust the general with my
life. Don't trust anyone else, most of the community aren't that
honourable."
"General?" Tracy asked and Urs smiled.
"Lacroix." She explained. "I am glad you aren't coming. I find it odd
seeing you in me."
"Likewise." Tracy said. Vachon came in and she put out a hand for the ID
card. "Have fun." She said and left the building.
Tracy drove home, enjoying the purring of the engine beneath her. Then she
let herself in and began packing some things. It was weird that most of her
things wouldn't suit her and probably wouldn't fit her either. Urs was at
least a size smaller. Once she had packed she called Nick and checked that
he had arranged her leave and they were all heading off.
"I might as well go." Tracy murmured and a thought came to her. She turned
onto the road out of Toronto and into the countryside. The car was
wonderful, moving like a dream and handling like a lady. She sank back into
the leather upholstery and smiled in amusement.
Once she came to a hill Tracy parked the car and walked up it. There was
nobody else here, she was alone. She listened and could hear the cries of
the birds. It was incredible how acute her senses were now. She had
wondered about this for a long time. As she reached the top of the hill
Tracy sighed as she looked at the night sky. She had waited and hoped that
Vachon would do this for her, but had never had courage to ask.
Given the way her body had responded to the blood then her instincts should
see her through. Tracy frowned. Why was Urs adjusting to mortality a
bigger deal than her adjustment to being a vampire? Tracy sighed as she
began to run. For a moment she felt a sense of panic as the ground
vanished. She felt herself beginning to sink before instinct kicked in and
she went upwards.
She was flying! Tracy Vetter was flying, alone and in someone else's body.
The stars shone like gems on a velvet background and the wind rustled by.
Tracy laughed as she began to turn somersaults and flips, enjoying the
freedom and the buoyancy the air provided. This was flight, better than a
plane, or even a hang glider. She spun around again and dived down to the
ground, skimming just over it before rising to the skies again.
As she flew along she began singing to herself, feeling the desire to make a
noise to show how delighted she was. This was brilliant. She smiled and
sang one of her Uncle Sonny's favourites.
"Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly.
All your life, you're only waiting for this moment to arrive
Lucien Lacroix paused as he came over, watching as she sang and spun,
enjoying the sight of someone taking such pleasure in their form. He
grinned as he caught her words, very appropriate really. Then again John
Lennon seemed to be like that, words for every occasion.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life, you're only waiting for this moment to be free
Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night
Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
Into the light of a dark black night
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life, you're only waiting for this moment to arrive
You're only waiting for this moment to arrive
You're only waiting for this moment to arrive."
Lacroix flew over to her in amusement. "You are enjoying yourself?"
"Very much so." Tracy spun again. "It's so beautiful. Has it always
looked so lovely?"
"Yes, not the same but beautiful." Lacroix smiled. "I have never grown
weary of the skies or the pleasure of flight." He looked at her. "You are
still here?"
"I couldn't go with them." Tracy looked down at the delicate body she was
occupying. "It didn't feel right and I was upset."
"That they were more concerned about the impact of mortality on Urs than
about the impact of community life on you?" Tracy looked at him and nodded.
"Nicholas finds it hard to distinguish between form and substance. It is
the way he was raised, a more fundamentalist era." Lacroix looked at her.
"Still you ought to have a holiday. Paris perhaps, or Italy, or England but
it is cold there."
"I can't." Tracy said and he looked at her. "Suppose something happened at
work."
"You would do what? Go in and attempt to convince Captain Reese that you
are really Tracy Vetter." He looked at her. "Do you think he would believe
you?"
"I guess not." Tracy smiled sadly. "I was planning on keeping a low
profile, sticking around on the edge of town."
"Nicholas should not have all the fun." Lacroix commented and the blonde
nodded. "So where shall we go?"
"What's this we business?" Tracy looked at him and he smiled. He shouldn't
do that, it did unexpected things to her stomach. Still it was rather nice
that he was still concerned, had not been too put off by her screaming at
him this evening, yesterday evening, whenever it was. He had simply smiled
and acted as though he always had his lover wake up and punch him.
"You do need someone to remind you to feed." He looked at her and smiled.
She was so challenging, refusing to take anything she did not understand,
refusing to ask Nicholas for help. "Look on it as a trial run for when you
do join us." He studied her. "I had expected that Vachon would have
brought you across sooner."
"No." Tracy responded and the old vampire looked at her. "Vachon isn't my
lover, I don't even know if he's a friend." She sighed heavily. "I don't
know anything."
"That I doubt." Lacroix studied her. "So where would you like to go?"
Tracy looked at him and thought, wondering where she would like to go. "I
know where I'd like to go." She said and he waited. "Italy, I think. One
of my friends brought back incredible pictures of Florence."
"I have a palazzo there." He said and smiled. "I will book the tickets."
"It's odd." Urs said as she and Natalie had tea and cake in a small
patisserie in Montreal. "Having so much variety, so many things to eat."
"Not much choice back then?" Natalie asked and Urs smiled.
"No money back then." Urs corrected her. "My Father left when I was a
child, trying to look after four other children. One of his friends decided
to look after us." She shivered at the memory. "When I refused him he all
but sold me to a friend of his, Lemieux, who decided that my voice could
earn more than my body. None of them gave me anything but I didn't expect
them to. Low self esteem you see." Her voice held no self-pity and her
lips curved into a twisted smile. "It was the way it worked. I was
nothing."
"You were a prostitute?" Natalie said and Tracy's face was momentarily
furious. Had Urs been a vampire then, her eyes would have changed colour.
"I was a singer." Urs hissed and Natalie looked at her.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." Natalie realised she had hurt the
other woman's pride.
"It's a sore point, my body wasn't my own but nor was it for sale." Urs
sighed. "In some ways I was glad when we stopped running as a group. It
was the first time I remember belonging to me. Vachon had freed me from
outright slavery but I still belonged to him."
"What did you do?" Natalie asked.
"It was 1912." Urs saw Natalie frown as the cororner tried to do the maths.
"I wasn't with the crew for very long, it just felt like an eternity. I
joined the suffragettes, putting up posters and fighting for the vote. I
thought I would help. Emmeline rather doubted it." Urs smiled. "I liked
her, she would come out of the prison, looking like a corpse, three teeth
missing and barely able to stand yet she'd still manage to smile." Her
voice was amused. "I wanted to do something that mattered. I offered to
bring her across after they let her out one time, so weak she could barely
move. She said no, she would rather be mortal."
"What did you do after that?" Natalie watched as the other ate the cake.
Odd to see Tracy's face and hear another voice.
"War was declared and I lay low. In 1915 I went to France. None of the
hospitals at the front had enough staff. I offered to nurse, claimed to be
a Frenchwoman. They were too in need to ask questions." Urs finished the
cake. "This is very good cake." She added as she sipped the tea. "It's
just a shame about having to go to the toilet all the time. Mind it's
wonderful that they flush and they're all indoors and best of all you can
lock yourself in and nobody sees you."
"That's good?" Natalie asked in amusement. There was something endearingly
childlike about the other woman, despite her age.
"Better than an outdoor hole in the floor privy with three drunks trying to
watch you." Urs sipped the tea. "Are you going to finish that cake?" She
asked hopefully. Nat smiled and handed the plate over.
Tracy looked at Lacroix as he parked the car. She had insisted on paying
her way on the plane tickets. He had insisted on upgrading them to first,
refusing point blank to travel economy. "You live here?" She looked at the
old palazzo. "It's beautiful." The shutters were closed and as she climbed
out of the car she could smell the flowers.
"Thank you." His tone was amused. "I have not lived here for many years,
but I have owned this land for centuries." He walked over and opened the
door. "Come in." She did, enjoying the coolness of the house after the
warmth outside. Vampires, she had learnt, did not feel temperature the same
way. She noticed that it was cold, but objectively, rather than shivering.
The place was tastefully decorated, with whitewashed walls and pictures. As
she wandered around she looked into a book-lined study, and a spotless
kitchen. "Which is my room?" She asked him.
"This one." He said and went for the suitcases. He had learnt that she
liked to carry one of them herself and he allowed for this. "I put you in
the Chinese room." Tracy gasped in pleasure as he opened the door. The
room was papered in a green and gold paper decorated with birds. The bed
was a four poster, and decorated with an embroidered canopy.
"It's lovely." She looked at the room, the dressing table and the wooden
wardrobe. She looked at the jug and bowl set on one table and her face
fell. "Very well decorated."
Lacroix smiled, catching her glance. "The bathroom is ensuite." He
responded, amused by her surprise. "I would not have a house without
washing facilities. I am a Roman not some filthy barbarian." He pointed to
a side door.
Tracy opened the door and looked in at the large bath, walk in shower and
facilities. One of the weirdest things about being a vampire was not
needing the toilet. She wondered what that must be like. It was just so
odd. She kept going and nothing came out. She had to find out where the
blood went to if she didn't excrete it normally. She added it to her list
of things to ask Lacroix.
"It's lovely." She meant every word.
"I have Roman style baths in the basement, on a small scale, three small
heat rooms, a hot tub, and a cold plunge pool." He smiled at her. "It
suffices well enough."
"Thanks for bringing me here. I do appreciate it." Tracy smiled. "I
needed a break from everything."
"My pleasure. In Italy, there is always time to think." He said in his
nightcrawler voice. "You should rest and this evening I will show you
Firenze."
"Best offer I've had all evening." Tracy sighed as she went to bed. It was
good that he was so kind, always helping her. She had expected Vachon to be
there, to take advantage of her changed state but he had gone to Urs,
perhaps he always would. Even in her body, Urs was still his child and he
owed the first duty to her.
End Part Two
Through a glass, darkly 3/4
By Spike Shovelton
See Part One for disclaimer.
Tracy fell in love with Florence at once. The town was such a wonderful
mixture of everything. The architecture was incredible, the churches and
the duomo were so beautiful, and the Uffizi was in a different league. He
managed to have a special late opening for her. Sometimes they flew out
into the countryside and walked through Tuscany, enjoying the scenery and
the pure tranquillity of Italian evenings.
"I'm sorry." Vachon said as he and his daughter walked through the streets
of Montreal. "I'm sorry I hurt you so much. I ought to have listened to
you and let you die."
"No." Urs said quickly. "I decided not to go into the light. I came back.
Oh I was unhappy with it, but I am glad now, glad to be alive." She
smiled sadly. "It really isn't so bad now I don't need to kill. I live
from bottled blood now."
"Good." Vachon frowned. "You don't miss the hunt?"
"No." Urs said and looked at him. "I liked the taste of course, but I
hated it, hated the fear and dread and the feelings." She shook her head.
"I hated stalking him and knowing that he would probably die." She shook
her head. "I have learnt to cope with being what I am, Javier. That
doesn't mean I like it all."
Four nights into their stay Tracy awoke and dressed but something was
different. There was no wine put out for her and the bottles were gone.
She could feel the ache in her stomach. She had learnt to identify that the
ache signified that she needed to drink some more. As she was looking
through the cupboards for a bottle she saw Lacroix come up from the cellar.
He had obviously been doing something with the sauna. His normally
alabaster skin glowed faintly pink, the colour of the skin of the
renaissance pictures, white tipped with pink and almost translucent. Men
really shouldn't look so attractive. He was not classically beautiful but
he had so much presence and confidence that it was unimportant.
"I will be with you soon." He said as a greeting and then left. When he
returned he was dressed in his usual black. "Fly with me." He said. Tracy
looked at him. He was obviously not talkative tonight. She followed him.
"I haven't eaten tonight." She told him and he nodded. "Are we out of
wine?"
"No." He said and looked at her. "We are going to the Cascine."
"The which?" Tracy asked him.
"The park." He smiled. "It has rather an unsavoury reputation." He made
them fly faster and she could feel her stomach grumbling even louder. They
set down in a darkened corner and she looked at the scene before her, the
cop in her feeling a strong desire to return with a black maria and a squad
and arrest everyone.
She looked at the dealers selling crack and heroin and stimulants openly,
the addicts shooting up without shame, and the women in short skirts walking
up and down, clearly for sale to the passers by. They stood under the
darkness of the trees and she looked at him, wondering what the purpose of
this outing was to be. Then she heard a scream. Everyone in the park
ignored it.
"Someone is in trouble." She said and Lacroix nodded.
"It is a dangerous place. The man in the leather jacket is one of the
leading makers of porn films, those two with him deliver cocaine to the
dealers." He pointed to two men talking to the dealers. "Now this is
interesting."
Tracy followed his pointing finger. There was a balding man in his forties,
arguing and gesticulating at a well dressed man in a suit. Finally they
seemed to come to some deal and separated. "You know them?"
"The one in the suit is merely buying. The other runs one of the stables."
Lacroix said without emotion.
"Stables? You don't mean horses?" Tracy said with certainty. She had been
there ten minutes but this place already made her feel soiled. It was so
full of vice and crime that she wanted to go.
"Boys." He said and looked at her. "There is quite a market for them,
mostly aged between nine and thirteen, but sometimes younger. That man
answers to Georgio Martedi. They have been arranging a deal." He smiled.
"I will ask him about it." He vanished and returned with Martedi in tow.
They were talking in rapid Italian and Tracy looked at the pimp, feeling her
eyes flecking with gold. "The customer had ordered a child and the wrong
one was delivered."
"Why does he do it?" Tracy asked Lacroix and there was some more
conversation in Italian.
"He says he enjoys the business and he gets to test the boys." Lacroix let
one hand settle like a vice on the shoulder of the paedophile. "Georgio is
a revolting bastard. They call him George Tuesday because he was handed in
to the orphanage on a Tuesday." The pimp was beginning to panic. "Still
this is as well." He reached a finger up and gashed the man's throat a
little, opening up the skin so the blood could flow. "Dinner."
Tracy shook her head. She could feel her fangs dropping at the scent of the
fresh, warm blood. She wanted to sink them into the cut and drink the
blood, make him pay for what he did to the children. Lacroix let the man go
and he began to move forwards.
Tracy did not know what she did, but suddenly she was moving and dragging
the prize back into the shadows, her teeth sinking into the soft flesh and
opening the vein, drinking the rich red life. It was so much fresher,
tasting even more vivid than the memories in bottled wine. The ecstasy of
taking his life, of making him pay for what he did to those children, and
the sensations it was causing, made waves of pleasure run through her. She
became aware of a hand on her shoulder, firmly pulling her back.
She struggled, not wanting to give up her kill. "You do not want to kill
him." The tone was firm. "Now is the time to stop, you can feel his pulse
slowing, any more will be fatal rather than debilitating."
She could and so she pulled back, removing her fangs from the throat as he
pulled her backwards. Then Lacroix left her and took to the air with her
victim. Tracy shook her head, unable to believe what she had done. Why had
he done that to her? He had made her so hungry that she had been unable to
resist the physical urge to feed.
She had wondered why Vachon had done it, why vampires hunted and killed when
bottled supplies were available. Now she understood, chillingly they killed
because it was difficult to stop, because nothing could compare to the
horribly exquisite taste of fresh human blood. She had nearly killed him
and she had wanted to, had enjoyed that most vampiric of activities, the
hunt. She realised that Lacroix was standing beside her and she took to the
air. He followed her until they were on a rooftop. "Why?" She asked him,
her voice choked. "Why did you make me do that?" Now she was beginning to
realise what she had nearly done. She could have killed him so easily.
"So that you would understand." Lacroix said, still softly and without
passion. "I did not want you to think that this life is all flying and
living forever and not ageing. We are not just people with fangs. There is
a price attached and an obligation. We do not kill for the pleasure as much
as for need, for the hunger we feel." He pulled out a tissue and gently
wiped the blood from her lips. "Now do you understand what we are?"
"I think so." Tracy said. "It felt so good, almost better than, well, you
know." She looked away. "I just didn't believe I could do that, kill people
so easily."
"Of course you could, anyone could do so. Killing is incredibly easy for
us, not killing is the difficult one." Lacroix murmured as Tracy wiped her
face and felt her fangs retracting. "I could have let you carry on,
assuming that everything in the garden is lovely but it would be a lie.
This life is difficult, incredibly difficult."
"I can see that." Tracy said and looked at him. "I realised that before
now. This was different. Did you kill him?"
"Of course." He responded. "I thought you might prefer not to do so." He
studied her. "It is what we are." She had managed to regain her composure
and her eyes were wide with understanding. "You need not do that again."
"Good, I don't want to." Tracy said firmly, and quickly changed the
subject. "Now what shall we do tonight?"
"I thought perhaps that we might go late night shopping." He said, allowing
the matter to drop for the moment. "Or should I say that you might like to
do so. I have a meeting to attend so I will not be able to come along."
"I can hear you're devastated at that, Lucien." Tracy said lightly.
Lacroix smiled, he had asked her why she called him Lucien and she had said
that she did so because it was his name. Her tone indicated that she was
surprised he had even asked. Her culture preferred first names so she had
used his automatically. He actually found it endearing in her, although he
would never have allowed it from anyone else. Despite the fact that she
wore Urs's body there was very little of the dancer in this vibrantly
outgoing and forthright woman. "I'll be good."
"I doubt it." He said and took to the air. He would not leave a fledgling
alone in this way, but Urs's body was accustomed to their ways and Tracy had
soon learnt to heed what it was telling her.
Tracy sighed as she meandered through the streets of Florence, looking at
the shops and enjoying the displays. Most of the stuff she liked was out of
her price bracket. Lacroix had given her his credit card but she wouldn't
use it. It was bad enough that he insisted on paying for everything else.
He was fascinating, in fact. She had become more and more intrigued by him.
She stiffened as she moved around. Someone was following her. Tracy
turned a corner and went on as normal, her shadow did the same. Tracy
disliked using the other senses she had but sometimes it was necessary. She
sent out a feeler and received the sensation of a vampire.
Tracy smirked. They shouldn't shadow a cop, she could spot it at fifty
paces. Her father had tried the same with private detectives and she had
spotted all of them. She had told him as much. Then he had bugged her
flat, so she had arranged for him to be questioned on wiretapping charges
and told him in no uncertain terms to butt out of her life.
Tracy left the leather shop and went up the road and around a corner and
then around another corner into an alley. By the time her shadow did the
same Tracy had gathered up a stake in one delicate hand. These hands were
dreadful, too pretty and delicate for comfort.
The young vampire turned the corner and Tracy jumped on him, effortlessly
immobilising him and sliding the stake against his chest. "Move and it goes
in." She said coldly and her prisoner gave up struggling. "Now talk. Why
are you following me?"
"I can't." The prisoner said quickly. Tracy looked at him. Quite young
and rather innocuous, looking like the vamp clones at the Raven, all white
make up and dark clothes.
"You will." Tracy assured him. "What is your name?" He did not respond
and she repeated the question in what passed for Italian. Lacroix had said
her accent was dreadful but she just laughed and used the words in the
phrasebook.
"Rafael." He said finally and Tracy looked at him as he spoke in English.
"I was just asked to follow you, I don't know why." Tracy ran the stake
down his chest, the point pressing into the skin and drawing a line of
blood.
"Who sent you then?" Tracy asked, again in a soft voice, pressing harder
with the stake. He shook his head as she moved the stake in. She had been
unable to drop the habit of carrying something to defend against enforcers.
"Lord Justice in the club, he told me."
"Which club?" Tracy asked and he told her and gave the address.
"You mustn't tell him, he will kill me." Tracy looked at him.
"You should have thought of that before." She let him go and took to the
skies and headed for the club. She did enjoy flying. She had thought that
it was wonderful being a vampire until Lacroix had shown her how easy it was
to kill, how the blood that came in bottles could as easily come from a
human source.
She landed in the alley behind the club and went around and smiled at the
bouncer as she listened to the music. It was a little like the Raven, all
loud music and people in black. She went over to the bar and smiled at the
bartender. He put a glass in front of her.
"Do you speak English?" She asked the bartender and he nodded.
"Of course, Signorina." His voice was soft. "How may I help you?"
"I am looking for Lord Justice." Tracy said and he looked surprised.
"Please take me to him."
"Back booth, the man in the red silk shirt." The bartender indicated and
Tracy walked over to him. It was hard to be menacing when she looked like a
pretty girl.
The man in the back booth was odd, dark haired with a chiselled handsome
face and large, incredibly lucent, green eyes. Yet there was something
amiss with him, something that was not right. Tracy could not decide what
this was, but he did not seem to be looking at her.
"May I help you?" His English was excellent with a soft flowing accent. "I
am Antonio Giudice. Please sit." He motioned to her, still not quite
focusing on her.
"Tracy." She responded. "Why did you put a tail on me?"
"Tracy." He repeated her name and smiled. "Ah yes, you are Luciano Della
Croce's latest enthusiasm. I am not following you. Luciano asked me to
keep an eye on you. I asked one of the youngsters to watch over you.
Obviously he did not do it well."
Tracy caught his undertone. "I am a cop. I can tell when someone is
following me."
"I know what you mean." He steepled his hands and Tracy looked at him with
interest. "Tell me something. You are one of us but it does not feel
right."
"It isn't, someone wished that I would be more like his girlfriend and we
swapped bodies. She's busy eating chocolate in Canada. Lucien offered to
help me and we came here." Tracy glared. "He thinks I can't look after
myself? I didn't come down in the last shower of rain."
"Luciano tends to overprotect." The other vampire smiled softly.
"Especially one as lovely as I think you must be." His eyes did not move,
still fixed slightly to the right of her. Tracy frowned at this. "Besides
this is quite a different ballgame." He studied her. "Are you his lover?"
Tracy shook her head and he waited. "Are you?"
"No." She responded. "Why do they call you Lord Justice?"
"Two reasons. Do you know the Old Bailey?" Tracy shook her head. "It is
the central criminal court in London. On the roof of it is a statue of a
woman carrying scales. Her eyes are covered with a blindfold. She is blind
justice." He smiled at her. "I am blind and I am a judge in the court of
the Enforcers. The irony amuses me and so I am Antonio Giudice, Anthony the
judge, you would say." He caught her breath of surprise at the revelation
of his blindness. "Do not pity me, I am well accustomed to my lack of
sight. I have been blind since I was a child and it no longer disturbs me."
"I see." Tracy looked at him. "That must be a very interesting job."
He smiled, blind eyes very expressive for all their lack of vision. "Oh
yes. Now I have a very important meeting to attend. I am sorry if my
surveillance annoyed you." The dismissal was unmistakable.
"Not your fault. I just wanted to know who and why." Tracy smiled and then
left.
Lacroix was not so amused. "She did what?"
"Well it was a reasonable request, Luciano." The blind vampire commented.
"I don't see why you wanted her followed."
"In case something went wrong." Lacroix insisted. "She is not used to
this."
"Next time tell me that she's a cop and I'll send someone who can shadow
better." Antonio sighed. He had known Luciano since 850AD and they still
annoyed each other. "I like her though. She has spirit and she does not
appear to take your crap."
"Thank you for your sympathy Tonio." Lacroix said and Antonio smiled, his
sightless green eyes catching the light.
"My pleasure Luciano." Antonio was going to enjoy watching this one, no pun
intended.
Tracy looked up as the vampire came into the room. She put down her book
and smiled at him. "Hi Lucien, I had a wonderful time shopping."
"So I understand." Lacroix had a strange feeling he ought to apologise.
No, he protected her, and he did not see a need to apologise for that.
"Antonio is sweet." Tracy had a feeling he would know about that by now.
"He needs to hire better staff, but he is lovely. Is he as old as you are?"
"No, he is much younger, not much over a millennium." Lacroix studied her
with interest. He had expected her to challenge him, lose her temper or ask
about it.
"Right. Let me show you what souvenirs I bought for Nick." Tracy smiled at
the surprise in his eyes. She did like keeping him alert and surprised. It
appealed to her. Then again so did he, and she had hardly thought of Vachon
since their arrival here. "I hope he likes them." She opened the bag and
Lacroix looked at the contents. There was a box of Italian chocolates and a
large tin of paneforte biscuits for the precinct, a pair of leather gloves
for her mother, a bottle of grappa for her father. Then she had found a jar
of extra virgin olive oil for Natalie, a watercolour of the sun rising over
the Tuscan hills for Nick, a leather belt for Vachon and a scarf for Urs.
"Do you love Urs?" Tracy asked as she opened the packages to show him.
"No." He wondered if that was relief in her eyes. "I was bored and she was
available and quite pretty." He studied her. "Is there a problem with
that?"
"No problem, just wondering." She replied. "I still don't know why you
helped me, I thought perhaps you love her and thought this was best."
"If I had then I would have gone with her." Lacroix responded. "I help you
because I wish to, it is that simple. You are not Urs, you are nothing like
her." He said and Tracy sighed. "Besides, you intrigue me." His eyes
were, for a moment, unguarded and very blue. "That is rare. Vachon is a
fool not to have taken you sooner."
"Thank you for that vote of confidence in my seductive abilities." Tracy
said very dryly and he smiled at her.
"Good." He looked at her and touched her hair. "You are a remarkable woman
Tracy Vetter. I will not forget that, even if others do." He leaned over
and kissed her forehead gently before leaving the room.
End Part Three
Through a glass darkly 4/4
By Spike Shovelton
See Part One for disclaimer
Tracy sank back down on her chair and sighed. That had been an interesting
day. She was still trying to accept that she had nearly killed someone. Oh
she had killed on duty but never so lightly, never without a reason.
Lacroix had been right. She had started to think that this was an easy
life, forgetting why they lived forever. Now she knew that the hunger was
as real as she had suspected.
It was worrying and she did not know if she could cope with it regularly.
She sighed as she went up to bed. She would be glad to be back in her own
body. She was certainly no closer to deciding whether she could ever
survive this life and come across, whether she would even want to.
"Easy now." Natalie said as they climbed out of the boat. "How does it
feel?"
"Weird." Urs looked up at the sun in pleasure. "I still don't see why
people go bungee jumping. You can't fly and you just fall."
"Adrenaline buzz." Natalie smiled and stretched out on the bench. "Running
a risk like that is fun, because you wonder if the elastic will hold, if you
will survive. Mortal life is very safe so we make our own danger. Now
we're going shopping, and then for some beauty treatment."
They bumped into Nick as they came back from the health spa. Vachon was
with him, looking incredibly well groomed. "Ladies." He said and smiled,
offering Urs his arm. As they walked through the streets he looked at her.
The sun had made her nose slightly pink and she looked adorable and a lot
more relaxed and comfortable than he had ever seen her. "How are you?" He
asked her, touching her arm gently.
"Fine." Urs looked at Vachon and smiled at him. "I have enjoyed it very
much." She said. "It's fun being mortal and dancing in the sun. It's odd
though. I like it but I wouldn't want to stay mortal. I am used to what I
am." She smiled at him, feeling a surge of fondness as he settled his hand
on her shoulder.
"It's been a wonderful holiday." Tracy confided to Lacroix as they enjoyed
their last night in Italy. "I wish I'd been in my own body, but other than
that it's been incredible."
"Excellent." Lacroix said and smiled. "You will soon recover your own
body."
"Good." Tracy smiled back at him. "Mind you it's been very interesting.
Now I understand what it is like. I see why Vachon couldn't explain things
but now I have done everything I can see the advantages and disadvantages."
"Not quite everything." Lacroix said as they looked out over the moonlit
city of Siena. "So what do you think of this condition? When it comes to
it, will you join us?"
"When?" Tracy looked at him. "You mean if surely?"
Lacroix sighed, not intending to raise this issue. "You are safe from an
enforcer intervention while the community in Toronto is there to protect
you. Once the community moves on, as it soon must, then it is probable that
you will be strongly advised to join us."
Tracy whistled softly. "Does Natalie know?"
"No. Nicholas has a habit of burying his head in the sand when something is
unpleasant for him." Lacroix sighed. "In the end he will have to face
that."
"I see." Tracy looked at him. "That doesn't surprise me actually. I
sometimes wondered why the enforcers were leaving us alone."
"Because it was so arranged." Lacroix responded. "If you need anything,
you have only to ask me. I have come to respect your abilities and so I
give you my word that I will help you, unless it would harm Nicholas."
"Thank you." Tracy said quickly and studied him. "You said I hadn't done
everything. What am I missing?"
"You have not killed." Lacroix said and she nodded. "That I had planned to
omit. You have not shared blood with another vampire." She looked at him
in surprise. "That I had planned to offer you this evening."
"Is it nice?" Tracy asked him and Lacroix shrugged.
"That depends, but you will not understand us until you do." His voice was
soft. "It is so much a part of who we are."
"Fine." Tracy looked at him. "So tell me something. Do you regret coming
across?"
"No." He responded and looked at her, wondering what it was about those
eyes that compelled him to be more honest than he would like. "At the time
it was the only option other than dying. Had circumstances been different
then I might have decided otherwise. I was a soldier, trained to find the
optimum solution and this presented itself."
"So you don't miss anything about mortality?" Tracy asked him.
"That is a different matter. I miss strawberries and honey cake and the sun
beating down. I miss being able to eat and not having to hide so much." He
looked at her. "Purely ephemeral matters. I find the benefits more than
compensate for the disadvantages."
"I see." Tracy looked at him and the conversation changed. As they came
back to the house afterwards Lacroix looked at her and smiled. This was
going to be interesting. She did not quite smell like Urs any more. Her
blood was a mixture of the lightly floral scent of Urs's blood and the
richer fruitier scent Tracy exuded as a mortal. He watched her as they went
into the living room, moving closer to stand beside her.
"Let me share with you." Tracy turned as he purred this into her ear. "Now
you can understand who we are." Tracy felt his mouth running down her
throat and lingering over the jugular. She arched her back in pleasure and
then gasped. "Yes?" He whispered against her skin.
"Yes." She whispered back and felt his arms come around her as his teeth
sank into her skin. Suddenly they were one, and his bite sent waves of
sensation through her, making her slide her arms around him at the sensation
of sharing herself with him. She rubbed closer to him, letting him see her.
Lacroix smiled inwardly. She was so honest it was touching. He pulled away
slightly, removing his fangs from her throat and moving her so she could
bite him. Tracy felt herself responding. She could smell him now, honey
and spearmint and sandalwood, an intoxicating mixture. She felt herself
biting him and the pleasure of tasting his life was overwhelming.
She could see Italy as it had been, things she had never before understood.
Now they were clearer to her and she could finally understand. It was
wonderful to know him so well, like a window into another world. She sighed
as he bit into her wrist, completing the circle so they could drink and feed
from one another.
When he broke the circle and released her, Tracy sank to an armchair. She
looked at him and Lacroix smiled. There was something about that smile
bothered her. She wondered what she was meant to say. He was waiting for a
reaction and so she decided to deny him that. "Well thank you for a
wonderful evening, Lucien. Now I am rather tired so I will see you
tomorrow." She said and left.
Lacroix glared at her departing form. That was it? He had shared blood
with her and she didn't even comment on it? She had some nerve the little
chit. What was the problem, did he taste bad? He frowned and walked to the
bookcase. She was supposed to be intrigued. He knew that sharing was very
addictive. It would thrill and draw mortals and most vampires loved the
experience, especially in lovemaking.
No, she seemed to delight in frustrating him by defying his expectations.
He wondered how she would taste in her right body, how wonderful it would be
when he brought her across. He felt his own body responding to the
imagining. This one he would bring over himself and keep for himself. She
was too intriguing and fascinating to let out of his sight. His musings
were broken by the sound of a scream and he rushed to the bedroom.
Natalie looked at her companions as the blood covered the sapphire dress Urs
had selected. They had gone out for the evening for a final night together
and Urs and Vachon were getting on incredibly well. Vachon seemed to be
listening to his companion for once. They went on to the karaoke
competition at a local bar. Vachon and Nick had gone for the car while the
women got their coats and left.
They had come out and a man had attacked Urs, stabbing her a dozen times in
the stomach and chest for no obvious reason, before laughing. Looking at
him Natalie could tell that he was high on something. She paused, wondering
whether to challenge him before he turned and ran away, still laughing. The
physician in her took over and she placed her hands over Urs's chest, trying
to stem the flow of blood.
Nick and Vachon came running over, moving faster than mortals but not caring
who saw that. "What happened?" Nick asked quickly, studying the scene.
Fortunately they were in a sidestreet and it was almost three in the
morning.
"He stabbed her." Nat said, indicating behind her in the direction the man
had gone. "He ran away after that." Her attention returned to her patient.
"I'm losing her. He hit several major organs and I can't stop the blood
loss. She'll be dead in a few minutes." She looked at the men. "Then what
will happen to Tracy and Urs?"
"We can't let her die." Vachon said and looked at Nick. "We have to bring
Tracy across, it's the only way both women will survive." Two weeks ago he
might have let Urs go but now they had really talked he knew she would want
to live, and want Tracy to live.
"Do you think they would want that, either of them?" Nick asked and looked
at Vachon. For a moment the two men stood their, eyes locked. Natalie had
never felt so helpless. There was nothing she could do. If they'd been at
a hospital then Tracy's body might have had a chance but the attacker had
stabbed her so hard that she was only alive through willpower.
"Okay but I can't do it." Vachon shook his head. "Urs would hate me. You
have to do it."
"I won't be able to stop." Nick said, images of Richard Lambert coming into
his mind. He looked at Tracy, no she deserved better. This one would
survive. This was all his fault and Vachon's for making this wish. "If I
look like taking too much, you have to pull me away."
"Nick, now or never." Natalie said quickly and Nick came and knelt down
beside the dying woman.
Lacroix watched as the blonde tossed and moaned on his bed. Then she went
still and for an eerie moment she seemed dead, unmoving, her body not even
twitching. Then her eyes opened and looked around, before rising to his
face.
"General?" She asked and he felt a sudden disappointment. "What happened?"
"I do not know." Lacroix said and looked at her. "What is the last thing
you remember?"
"We had been to a karaoke competition. Natalie sung "Wild Thing" to Nick
and made him squirm." Urs said and smiled. "Then Vachon sang to me. Oh
that was nice."
"Then what?" Lacroix looked out of the window. The moon was not yet full,
would not be for three more nights.
"We came out to go back for a last drink and someone stabbed me." Urs
shrugged. "It hurt a lot but I don't remember anything else. I think
someone brought me across, or Tracy across, depending."
"So she is in Montreal." Lacroix said and Urs nodded.
Tracy sighed as she sat in her room. At least she was back in her own body
now which was some relief. Her being brought across seemed to break the
spell and return her mind to her changed body. It was almost 24 hours since
her coming over. They had driven back as soon as it became dark that
evening. She had come back home, unable to talk to Nick. Hell he had
been almost unable to look her in the face. He wasn't comfortable with
this, that much was clear. He hadn't wanted to bring her across and she
sighed heavily. This was not a good situation. Nick and Vachon felt
guilty, responsible for what had happened. A part of her was glad of that.
She had entrusted them with the most precious thing she had, her body, and
had lost it. Another part just wanted everything to be normal again.
She looked back at her room. A mortal waiter from the Raven had brought her
cases over. Obviously Urs and Lacroix had returned from Italy. Tracy had
not unpacked, had simply removed the souvenirs she had obtained, to put the
edibles in the fridge.
Tracy sighed, she couldn't stand this being alone any more. It had been
three hours since she had persuaded Nick to go and leave her alone. Now
Tracy found the silence almost as oppressive as the faltering conversation
with Nick. She walked out onto her balcony and looked at the skies,
remembering flying and the pleasures of being a vampire.
She had almost decided to come across. She licked her lips. Nick had given
her blood but none of it compared to sharing with Lacroix, drinking his
life, it was sweet but not cloying and the sensation of his fangs at her
throat as she drank him had been incredible. She had known then that she
could not be mortal again, that now she would have to come over. So why was
she so sad? This was what she wanted? She had a good idea it was because
she hadn't chosen the time and situation. Hell, she hadn't even been there.
That would be the first time someone had been brought across without being
there.
Tracy looked up at the stars and wondered when she could go out flying.
"Tracy." She turned and realised that someone was standing behind her.
"Lucien, I wasn't expecting you." She said, beaming at the other vampire.
"You feel different now."
"As do you, perhaps because you are in your own body." Lacroix looked her
over thoroughly. "You will make an excellent vampire."
"I had this list, all the things I was planning to do before I came across."
Tracy murmured. "Now I'm not getting one of those done." She looked at
him. "I just feel powerless."
"You will never be that." He responded. "This is not ideal but you will
turn this to your advantage." He looked at her. "Would you like to go
flying?"
"Nick told me to stay here." Tracy sighed. "Hence the boredom."
"Tell him I didn't give you a choice." Lacroix looked at her. "Or do you
intend to mope all of your life?" Tracy took his extended hand and they
took to the skies. They flew in silence back to the hills where Tracy had
first gone flying. After a little flight they say down.
"Thanks for a wonderful holiday. I can't remember having enjoyed one more."
Tracy said and smiled at him. "I know from Vachon that elders don't spend
much time with fledglings and mortals but I wanted to thank you for taking
so long with me."
"You are far from the normal run of things." Lacroix studied her. "You are
in fact an unusual woman. I would like to spend more time with you. I was
hoping that Nicholas might agree to my assisting him in teaching you our
ways."
"Yes please." Tracy said and smiled at him. "I do owe you." She
remembered something. She had put it in her pocket while unpacking the
souvenirs, without thinking. "I got you a present. I meant to give it to
you before we left Italy. It's to thank you for being such a good host."
Tracy said and held out a package to him. "I hope you like it. I saw it in
the jewellers and it made me think of you." She watched as he pulled the
gift wrapping away. The jeweller had packaged it beautifully, and Urs had
obviously not unwrapped it when packing up.
Lacroix opened the box and looked at the contents. The smile that crossed
his face was shockingly youthful, and it transformed his face, smoothing
away the lines. "My dear that is exquisite." He looked at the heavy metal
cufflinks. They were shaped like small coins decorated with a face.
"Some of the others were prettier but he looked nice." Tracy answered and
was rewarded with a warm chuckle. He looked back at the square chinned face
with the unflattering nose and eyes that seemed to see out of the coin. The
man was not handsome but you felt that he was trustworthy. There was
strength of character for all the plainness of feature.
"He was." Lacroix responded and saw the surprise on her face. "He was my
commanding officer. This coin was issued in 71 AD after he had become
emperor. I think you would have liked Titus Vespasianus very much."
"What was he like?" Tracy asked, finding it hard to believe that her
companion had actually known the man on the cufflinks.
"Sane, which was rare for an emperor. He was the best commander I ever
served, intelligent, forceful, devoted to his family. He was impossibly
mean, refused to tip anyone, trying to restore the solvency of Rome." He
removed the expensive gold links from his sleeves and replaced them with the
silver plated ones. "He would certainly have liked your company. He
preferred intelligent women to stupid ones." Lacroix smiled at her. "It is
a beautiful present."
Tracy looked at the links he had removed, fine rose coloured gold shaped
into lightening bolts. His were worth about ten times the price of the
cheap silver plated ones she had bought. "I should have gone for them in
gold." She said quietly.
"No. These are perfect, I could ask nothing more." He looked at her. "I
also have a gift for you, two gifts in fact." He held something out and
Tracy pulled the paper away, looking at the silver and lapis lazuli
earrings. "Lapis was prized among my people." He explained and smiled at
the amazement in her eyes. "This is not old, late nineteenth century in
fact, but it reminded me of you."
Tracy touched the carved deep blue stones on the filigreed silver backing.
The stone drops were not large but the quality was excellent. "Thankyou,
it's lovely." Lacroix held out his hand and Tracy took it, feeling him drop
something into the palm of hers. She opened it to see a key.
"Nobody else has this key. It is the back door to the palazzo in Florence,
so that you may use the house as you please." Lacroix smiled. "You should
have a place to run to. I would appreciate your not sharing this."
"I won't tell anyone of my own free will." Tracy said and he smiled. A
lesser woman would have made a promise never to tell, but this one was wiser
than that. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, her gaze flicking
between the earrings on her lap and the lapis lazuli eyes looking down at
her.
"Good." Lacroix looked at her. "Tell me something, are you and your
Spaniard happy together?"
"No." Tracy murmured. "We aren't together. He feels that this is all his
fault." She looked at the old vampire. "He can't even look at me. I think
that was why he refused to bring me across. I can't help but blame him. If
he hadn't been dissatisfied with his relationships then I wouldn't be in
this mess. I know it's not a rational response but I can't be rational
right now. Maybe later we can talk sensibly but it's all too much." She
looked at him. "I wonder sometimes why it is all so screwed up, life I
mean."
"I do not know." Lacroix looked at her. "You cannot change the past, but I
should like to watch you shape the future."
"I think I'd like that." Tracy smiled. "When I've had time to sort out
what is going on and where I am going." She looked up at the moon. "I've
got eternity to sort out where that is so I'd better enjoy the ride." She
stood and extended her hand. "I've had enough thinking so lets fly." She
took to the air and Lacroix watched her fly towards the hills before taking
off and following her. The questions would wait. This was not going to be
easy but it would at least be interesting.
The End
1) The song "Blackbird" was sung by the Beatles and they hold the copyright
to it. No infringement of their rights is intended. It seemed to fit the
occasion.
2) The Emmeline referred to by Urs was Emmeline Pankhurst the leader of the
suffragette movement in England, fighting for female suffrage. The
authorities frequently arrested her for public order offences to which she
responded by going on hunger strike, and suffered being force fed.
3) Florence has been described to the best of my abilities. The Cascine is
a large park. During the daytime there are regular markets there but after
dark it becomes seedy. Allegedly one can obtain most vices there. Grappa is
a local firewater. Paneforte are another local speciality as are leather
goods.
4) Titus Vespasian was emperor of Rome from AD69-79. The description comes
from Suetonius's works. Vespasian was a successful army commander and it is
possible that Lacroix could have served under him before he became emperor.
In the ten years of his reign Rome became solvent and regained stability.
He was sane and just by Roman standards and a very effective ruler.
(
geocities.com/area51/hollow/1228) (
geocities.com/area51/hollow) (
geocities.com/area51)