The Last knight and Beyond

by Olivia Jean Ecklund
Chapter 11


They continued to hold each other, still shaking from the adrenalin rush. There was a knock at the skylight. They both turned fear filled eyes toward the window above. There was Vachon looking down at them. Nick looked at Nat, and she nodded to him.

"Come on down, Vachon," Nick motioned to him.

Vachon slipped through the skylight and floated to the floor. "I saw LaCroix leave. I thought it better to wait until he was completely gone. He might have torn me in half, just for something to do."

Nick smiled, "He might have," he replied. "Can we help you?"

"Knight, I need you to talk to Tracy. She's pretty upset over this. She can't see why you would willingly chose to leave the life you had, behind. She does not know, nor can I make her understand, how lonely the centuries can be," Vachon said, quietly.

Natalie invited, "Come. Sit."

Vachon sat on the couch, while Nick pulled a chair for himself to sit in front of the couch facing Vachon.

"You, Vachon, what do you think of this?" Nick asked.

"It's not for me to judge. I did not chose to be what I am. There are times I wish I had never seen my master, but I am who I am and I have accepted it. I enjoy seeing the centuries pass. The problem is Tracy. She's begging me to bring her across now. She doesn't want to wait. She's still a child, Knight. I love her, but I want an equal. With her in my future I think I could drive away some of the loneliness, at least for a century or two. I can wait for her to mature. Can you talk to her, please?"

Nick sighed, "Of course I will talk to her. She's my partner. I have more to lay on her. I can't go back to the Force right now. I have little strength and little control over this body as far as skills I might need as a cop. I won't endanger my life with Natalie right now. It's time to move on for a season or two."

"Wow!" Vachon said, "I was just getting used to having you there in case I needed help with her. I don't want her to go to another vampire in anger. She could be lost to me forever."

"I understand," Nick said. "I can't promise that Tracy will listen to anything I have to say. She's very disappointed and angry, but I will try," he assured the vampire. "I will let you know where we settle."

Vachon rose from his seat. "Knight, call me if you ever need my special abilities."

"Thanks, Javier." Nick said, using the vampire's first name.

"Be happy, Nick...Natalie. I wish you all the best." He turned to Nick. I'll miss bumping into you every century or so, old man."

Nick smiled, "Check in on my offspring now and again, from afar."

"I understand and I will, Nick."

Natalie had headed for the kitchen and was loading a box full of bottles and a couple bags of frozen blood from the frig and freezer. "Vachon, take these with you. No sense letting it go to waste."

"Thanks!" he said, taking the box. His eyes became amber looking at all the frozen blood. He nodded to them both and rose, disappearing through the skylight. Nick sighed, "Do you mind if I call Tracy now and get this over with, Nat?"

"No, go ahead, Nick. It's best not to have to worry about it." She hugged him. "Happy Birthday," she said, sadly.

"There is always going to be sadness, Nat. It was a wonderful day, filled with miracles. Nothing can spoil it." He kissed her and then headed for the phone.

He called Tracy, and with a little coaxing, she agreed to come.

His partner arrived about 20 minutes later. She hardly looked at him, but came into the living room and plopped down on the couch, like a pouting child summoned by her father for a lecture.

Natalie excused herself after greeting Tracy, and went upstairs. She thought it was better if Nick talked partner to partner.

"Tracy, Vachon came to see me," Nick told her.

"He shouldn't have," She said defiantly.

"He told me about your desire to come across very soon."

"Yes! It's what I want, Nick."

"Please wait another few years. I know you're twenty five, but you look eighteen, Tracy. Simple logic...if you come across now, you will always look 18 No one will ever take you seriously. It was hard for me, and I was 32. Give yourself time to live. I'd urge you to marry and have a child, too. Once you come across, there will never be those possibilities again, unless you accept the Lord, as I do, fully and completely. Forever sounds nice, Trace, but it can be terribly frightening and lonely."

"I will have Vachon! There is no place for children or marriage to a human," she told him, angrily.

"I thought I would have Janette forever, at one time. Forever gets boring. We were married 100 years, Tracy, and we grew apart. Eventually you will become a killer. It will be your nature. You strive to uphold the law. How will you feel the first time you drain someone, and lay him on the ground and know there is no life left."

"But I won't, Nick. You had the world at your feet. You could do or go anywhere you wanted and you chose this puny life as a cop. You were like a God and you wasted it."

"You're scaring me, Tracy. This world is not wild and un-abandoned like it was. The vampire today has to follow rules, just like humans to some extent. The enforcers will not allow you to survive if you misuse the power you will gain."

He made her look at him. "I have had to destroy two converts that I created. They couldn't handle the power. They became unmanageable. They would have called attention to me and the community. The enforcers would have taken care of them if I hadn't. It's terribly painful to destroy your own child, but all vampire are sworn to this. If you get out of hand, Vachon will be forced to take you out. Do you want to do that to a man who loves you?"

That seemed to take the wind out of her sails. Her eyes filled with tears, but she refused to let them fall.

"Nick, I idolized you. These months since Natalie came to live with you, have been the best. I knew who you were, and I saw you do so many amazing things to make us the best in the precinct. I wanted to be like you so I could right wrongs. I'm sorry...I am just disappointed. We both know you won't come back to work now...at least until you know how your body reacts and what you can, or can not, do... You're not used to dodging bullets. Reese would never let you return. I have to start all over now. I'll have to work harder to keep myself safe."

Nick slumped back, "You're right, Tracy. I have made it harder for you. Maybe that's why I tried to keep my secrets. In the end it would have been better for you."

He sat forward again and took her hands. "I know what you said about believing in God, Tracy, but what you will be doing, if you come across, is allowing evil to enter you. Not just evil, but an evil Being. It won't allow you to control it often. It will control you. It took a long time for me to control the desires it had. Hundreds of years, Tracy! There's a price for immortality, a very high price. Sure, Vachon will be at your side, but he's very undisciplined. There will be very little structure in your life. Please take a little longer before you make a decision. Let me answer your questions. Let your life see where it will lead you. Do not commit to this course yet. Please, Tracy."

She lifted her hand and placed it on his cheek. "All right...I'll reevaluate in a year."

"Promise?" he said, breathing a little easier.

"I promise, big brother." She leaned forward and brushed his lips with hers.

Nick pulled back, surprised. "Big brother?"

"Why not? We're partners... we're almost like family." She got up, unwinding her tall, thin frame.

"Tracy," he stood and hugged her, "Please be careful out there. I'll miss you and the job." "Me too, Nick. Thanks," she said, heading for the door.

"Call me anytime. Natalie and I are going away for awhile, to regroup. I'll let you know where we settle."

Tracy nodded and hurried through the door so that Nick could not see the tears that spilled down her cheeks.

Later that night, as Nick and Natalie sat cross-legged on their bed and eating They talked about what they should do. Sidney lay curled at the head of the bed.

Nick promised to call his agent, a non-vampire employee who ran the de Brabant Corporation, and have him search out that mountain hideaway. As soon as Joe retired, in a few months, they would go toward that new life. Nick would take a sabbatical from his job, and Natalie decided she would resign. Decisions made, they relaxed and enjoyed each other.

After they fed each other bits of fruit and cheese and drank some juice, they kissed, entwined their bodies and slept.

Natalie woke as the first rays of sunlight came through the windows. She woke Nick with a kiss, and they began to explore each other1s bodies for the first time as human husband and wife. Abandoning all restraint, they let touch and taste, guide their hands and mouth's. Velvet soft skin touched velvet soft skin, giving to each other the way God had meant them to be. Afterwards, when they had satisfied their desires, they decided to bathe. They filled the tub and sat together. Natalie brought Nick's fingers, laced with her1s, to her lips. "Nick?"

"What, my love?" he said, marveling at his new wife and the life they had ahead of them.

"I think we just made a baby," she said, with conviction.

Nick turned her toward him, looking into her face. She was glowing. He gathered her close. "I think so, too, My Love," he agreed, kissing her.

The End


By Jeannie Ecklund Gersknightlady@cs.com





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