Date: Sat, 17 Aug 1996 23:06:13 -0400 
From: Debra Ann Fiorini  
 
Disclaimer:  As we all know, the Forever Knight characters do 
not belong to me.  I am only borrowing them and will return 
them unharmed when I'm done.  
 
I'd really like to hear opinions on this piece, so please send 
comments (hopefully nice) and criticism (hopefully gentle) to:  
Guenvier@aol.com 
 
Warning:  Minor Last Knight Spoiler 
 
**** 
The Night After Last  
by Debra Ann Fiorini 
 
     Natalie was dreaming . . .  
 
     She was somewhere very dark and very ancient.  It smelled of 
rain -and strangely enough - of blood as well.  There was a 
pinprick of light ahead and she moved towards it.  The stone 
walls of the corridor stood roughly ten feet apart as she walked, 
and supporting herself against the right wall, her hands slid over 
its solid, cool surface.  She could feel the barest hint of etchings 
carved into the stone beneath her fingertips.  
 
     A small gulley in the rough stone floor made her trip, but she 
quickly stood up and continued on.  She only knew that she had 
to.  The smell of blood drove her forward towards the source and 
towards the light.  Picking up the faint sound of a human 
heartbeat ahead, she hurried to get closer to it.  
 
     In a moment, she had reached the corridor's end, a massive 
wooden door stood before her.  A small beam of light radiated 
from under it and the sound of heartbeats emanating from the 
other side drove her wild.  Pushing slightly against the wood, 
she was surprised it took no more effort on her part than the 
mere touch of her hand to force it open.  As she entered the 
torch-lit room, the folds of her long white dress swept 
across the scattered rushes.  
 
     In the middle of the room, a large dining table had been 
placed, its chairs awkwardly, and perhaps impatiently, shoved 
away.  Upon the table top lay the unconscious bodies of an older 
man and a young woman.  It was then she noticed him.  Nick, in 
a deep emerald tunic, was leaning over the girl, drinking from 
her tender white throat.  
 
     Feeling her presence, Nick looked up, his golden eyes meeting 
hers.  
 
     "My love," his voice was deep and steady and strong, touching 
her mind and filling her with desirous warmth.  
 
     "Nick." She listened to her own voice call his name.  
 
     "Come here and replenish your strength, so we may travel," 
Nick instructed, pointing to the older man's body.  "Drink."  
 
     Natalie moved forward.  Shoving down the neckline of the 
man's tunic, she could feel her fangs descend and the bloodlust 
hunger fill her mind and body.  
 
     "Yes, drink," Nick encouraged her, "become stronger so we 
may fly .   so we may leave Toronto."  
 
     "Toronto ? !" Natalie quickly lifted her head to face Nick.  
"Toronto?  !"  Even as she was speaking, the room began to spin.  
Suddenly the walls of the fourteenth century castle started to 
melt into blackness.  "Toronto ?  Where am I?  Nick !  Nick, 
where am I?"  
 
     Waking with a start, Natalie heard herself scream Nick's name 
one more time.  
 
     Calming herself, Natalie's eyes began to focus on the shapes in 
the bedroom as a car horn blowing outside finished the process 
of jolting her back into the present day.  
 
     Laying back down, Nat cuddled against the silent form on the 
left side of her bed.  Slowly, knowing he was already awake, she 
began to rub her hand across her love's back and over his side 
until her palm came to rest on his stomach.  At the same time, 
she nestled her chin against his shoulder, pressing soft kisses into 
his neck.  
 
     Without a word, he reached down and took her hand from 
where it lay on his stomach and raised it to his lips.  In a second, 
he rolled over onto his back and pulled Natalie partially onto his 
chest so that her head rested above his heart.  
 
     Running his fingers through her hair, he finally spoke.  "What 
were you dreaming about ?"  
 
     "I don't remember."  Natalie answered without opening her 
eyes.  
 
     "You were dreaming about him."  It was a statement, not a 
question.  
 
     "No.  I was dreaming of you."  
 
     "Natalie, don't lie.  I heard you.  You were calling his name.  
You were calling for Nick.  I'm not Nick.  He's the one who 
wanted to leave you to die.  I'm the one who saved you and 
finished what he started."  
 
     "Yes, darling.  I'm sorry, Lucien."  
 
     "Don't be sorry for a dream.  I love you too much to want to 
hear you say that.  But sometimes I wonder if you are still in love 
with him."  
 
     Pushing against her left elbow, Nat sat up in bed.  
 
     "Lucien, let's make a compromise."  
 
     "About what?"  
 
     "Let's make a compromise that if you don't question my 
dreams, I won't ask you why, in the middle of last night, you 
suddenly yelled out 'Tracy!' "  
 
     LaCroix stared into his wife's unblinking eyes for a second and 
then nodded, "Okay, Natalie.  It's a deal."  
 
 
Finis. 
 
Debra Ann Fiorini 
Copyright 1996. 
 
Send comments to:  Guenvier@aol.com
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