Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 21:05:04 -0500 From: James Marshall Subject: Ladies of the Knight (01/01) To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU "Forever Knight" and its characters belong to Sony/TriStar. These characters are not mine, and I intend to reap no monetary reward for their use. My permission is given to archive this piece of fan fiction anywhere you want. Thanks go to Jade, Brandi and Lisa for beta-reading. What follows is not true; it is one writer's daydream. * * * Ladies of the Knight (01/01) - a "Last Knight" continuation by J.T.Marechal "Damn you, Nicholas." LaCroix raised the wooden staff and drove its point into Nick's back. He felt it when Nick died, the connection between them severing as Nick's heart was pierced. LaCroix closed his eyes and turned away from his son. "What have you done, LaCroix?" The elder vampire opened his eyes. Janette was standing by the doorway. In a blink, she was standing over the two still forms on the floor and glaring at LaCroix with golden eyes, her open mouth revealing her fangs. "What have you done?" she repeated, her voice rising with anger. "What . . . he . . . asked." LaCroix told her, his voice dripping with hatred. "Why are you here?" Janette looked down at Nick. She didn't want to understand what had happened, but she knew Nick's thoughts at the end. When she looked back, her human face had reasserted itself. She answered LaCroix. "He brought me across. Our bond is . . . was . . . the same as the one you and I once shared. I felt his pain and knew I must come to him." LaCroix turned away from Janette. This remembrance of what he had lost, on top of the night's events, proved too much for him. Without facing Janette, he said "Clean up after this mess Nicholas has left. As his . . . child . . . it is yours to do." LaCroix fled into the night, with only a small gust of wind to mark his passing. And one thing more, Janette said to herself, looking at the bodies. LaCroix's grief was made plain by the simple fact that he had missed this. She bent and looked more closely. Yes, unmistakable. The blow that had killed her beloved Nicola had one other effect. Some of his blood had found its way into the good doctor's mouth. Not much, but it may have been enough. She put Natalie's motionless form on the couch. Janette went to Nick's refrigerator. With everything that had happened in recent months, it was possible . . . yes. "Oh, Nicola," she said softly, sadly. She pulled the single bottle of human blood from the back of the refrigerator. "I do not think that your doctor would have approved. You could have come to me, mon amour. Now it is too late." The sun began to rise. Janette looked quickly for the remote that Nick had always used. Finding it, she closed the blinds. Then, sensing that she still had some time, she positioned Nick's body on the floor in front of one of the windows, and opened that one window's blind. As the sun touched his now still body, it began to burn. It burned much more slowly than Janette would have thought possible, but it did burn. Nick had not regained his humanity, and his quest had killed him as she had predicted so long ago. That she was right gave her no pleasure. She stared at the fire for a long time. She had known him and loved him for nearly 800 years. She did not cry. A noise from the couch broke her reverie. Hours had passed, and the sunlight was very close to her own feet. She was over a thousand years old, but she had to keep reminding herself that she was a young vampire, and that the sun could destroy her much more quickly than it could have only a year ago. There were just ashes now, so Janette closed the blind once more and went to Natalie's side. In an extremely dry voice, Natalie said "Nick?" Janette frowned. This was not going to be pleasant. She had no idea what Dr. Lambert was going to when she found out. Without saying a word, she uncorked the bottle of human blood and gave it to Natalie, who drank it down, too weak and dazed to realize what she was doing or what it meant. Somewhat recovered, Natalie rose and looked around. "Nick?" Not seeing him, she panicked a bit and called louder "Nick?!" Janette put her arms around Natalie and said "Shhh. He is gone, Natalie." "Gone?" Natalie faltered. "He said he wouldn't . . . I thought . . . but we . . . gone?" Best to do it quickly, Janette thought to herself. "You tried to duplicate the accident that made me mortal?" When Natalie nodded, Janette continued "Nicola took too much. His only options then were to let you die or bring you across. He chose to join you in death. LaCroix aided him in this." "Then how . . . ?" "Chance . . . fate . . . I do not know. Somehow, when LaCroix struck the blow that killed him, some of Nick's blood entered your mouth. It was enough to call you back, to bring you across." "I thought . . . I thought Nick was bringing me across. It's why I came back." She paused. "He's dead? Where? I want to see his body." Janette realized she had made a mistake. "I am afraid that I already took care of it," she said, looking to the area of the floor she had used. "Nick!" Natalie called, running to the ashes that remained. She had seen enough vampire ashes to know what they were on sight. She began crying. "Oh, Nick. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Janette stood very still, watching Natalie grieve. She had thought she was beyond those emotions, until a single blood red tear fell down her cheek. When Natalie had cried herself out, Janette helped her into the bathroom to wash her face. Then, as she was still hungry, Janette allowed her one bottle of the cow blood from the refrigerator. Before she drank it, Natalie asked, with some trepidation, "Does this mean I'm a . . . a carouche?" Janette replied "No. The first blood you drank was human. You don't show any signs of being one of the carouche." Natalie poured out a glass of the cow blood and drank a full mouthful, then nearly spit it out. "This is horrible." "This is what Nick drank for as long as you knew him." "I'm sorry. I had no idea." Natalie finished the glass, shuddered at the taste, and poured another. She brushed a strand of her auburn hair away from her face, then turned to Janette. "There are so many questions about what I am now. I always thought that if this happened, Nick would be here to help me." She paused, and in a lost, small voice, she added "I don't know if I can do it on my own." Janette thought about this for a moment, about the responsibility. Then she made her choice. In a kind voice, she said "Natalie, I will help you adjust to what you are." She added, in a much harsher tone, "If you choose to follow the same path of self-destruction as Nicola, I cannot stop you, but I will not help you." "Without Nick, there doesn't seem to be much point in trying to find a 'cure'." Natalie put down the glass. With her new senses, she knew that the sun was setting. She looked down, embarrassed, then had to ask the question. "You hated everything I tried to do for Nick. Why are you helping me now?" Janette sighed, smiled and said "Because what you have forgotten Natalie, is that we are both the children of Nicola's blood. I can feel what you will begin to feel soon, the bond between us. We are sisters now." The sun had set. Janette let her eyes begin to glow and took Natalie's hand. "We are the ladies of the night." They left the loft and flew out into the growing darkness, together. The End . . . ? Comments, critiques and suggestions are welcome at