OK, this time it's going to work, I can tell.  I would like to
publicly thank Sandra Gray for her very nice note yesterday,
sent before my disclaimer got out, in which she assumed there
were pieces missing, and not that I was simply pathetically
incoherent.  It actually made me feel much better about this
fiasco.  And so, without further ado, I present:
 
Obsessions
by Kate Gibney
 
The dawn was about to break as LaCroix arrived home.  It had
been an altogether pleasant night;  he'd hunted successfully
(disposing of the body, of course - one had to be so careful
nowadays) and then gone on to torture Nicholas for a while.
This last had gone particularly well - he'd done just enough to
put Nick off balance without sending him over into a murderous
rage.  LaCroix remembered very well the last time he'd gone too
far - coming back from that had *not* been pleasant.
 
He was in such good humor - actually humming to himself! - that
he was almost at his door before he noticed the unusual sounds
and senses coming from his apartment.  There appeared to be
another vampire inside listening to that horrendous stuff that
passed for music these days.  Appalled, he opened the door and
went in.
 
There was a woman sitting on his couch, knitting something
purple, reading a book and listening to the aforementioned
god-awful music.  Apparently, she'd made herself right at home;
 on a table nearby were a bottle of his best vintage and two
glasses, one empty.  She was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt,
and had auburn hair that was plaited into a single braid down
her back.  LaCroix would have taken her for a college student
had he not known that she was very nearly as old as himself.
 
Upon his entrance, she stopped reading (but continued knitting)
and smiled at him happily.  "Lucien!"
 
"What are you doing here, Mag?" he replied, sounding much more
stern than he felt.
 
She paused from her knitting long enough to pour him a glass
and hand it to him.  "Is that any way to greet your beloved
sister who helped you return from the practically dead two
years ago?"
 
Ah, so she'd come to collect.  LaCroix walked over to the
stereo and turned it off.  He enjoyed the silence for a moment
before asking, "What was that, anyway?"
 
"Johnny Winter.  I brought some of my own music with me, as I
assumed you wouldn't have anything I'd want to listen to.  You
really shouldn't live so much in the past, Lucien.  There so
much that's new and exciting this century!  Computers, music,
movies - I'll bet you never go to the movies, do you?  You
should definitely see _Interview with the Vampire_, at least -
it's really quite amusing.  And I must admit, since seeing it,
I've been seriously considering tracking down Brad Pitt and
bringing him across..."  She paused, distracted for a moment,
then continued.
 
"But I digress.  I'm here to talk about Nicholas."
 
"Nicholas is not your concern."
 
She ignored him.  "Why do you insist on trying to keep someone
with you who doesn't want to be there?  It seems a rather
unpleasant way to spend eternity."
 
"Nicholas doesn't know what he wants."
 
"Perhaps, but he seems to know what he *doesn't* want.  But
you're right, he's not my concern.  Natalie is."
 
"Natalie?!"  LaCroix was genuinely surprised at this.
 
"You may recall that I had children before I was brought
across, and I kept track of them, and their children, and their
children's children, and it became a habit that I continued
through the centuries."
 
"One of your more annoying habits," he murmured.
 
She ignored him.  "They number in the thousands now, and I'm
connected to all of them, much the way you're connected to
Nicholas and Jeanette.  I occasionally step in when they get
into trouble they can't handle.  Natalie is my
great-great-great-"  This went on for some time.  LaCroix
wasn't sure how many greats there were, but there certainly
were a lot.  "-great-granddaughter.  I'm completely aware of
the Valentine's Day incident, and I think it's time I stepped
in."
 
LaCroix said nothing, waiting for her to continue.  He'd always
ignored her obsession with her descendants, considering it
aberrant behavior that he hoped would go away.  As a result, he
was unsure just how much knowledge she had, and he certainly
wasn't going to give anything away until he did know.
 
Of course she continued.  God, the woman could talk!  "Natalie
doesn't remember, but her subconscious does.  I know how you
lured her to the restaurant, entranced her, pretended you were
going to take her for Nicholas' benefit, and forced him into
the position of having to kill her or bring her across - that
was cruel even for you, Lucien."
 
"We had an agreement."
 
"Oh, please!  His sister's life was on the line!  You only
loved Fleur because you saw her as a more pliant version of
Nicholas, and you gave her up because you realized you loved
him more.  I know you as well as you know yourself, Lucien, and
you know I'm right.  Have you ever tried telling him that, by
the way?  How much you love him?  No, of course not."
 
She paused for a moment, then continued, more gently, "I'm
sorry if this hurts you, but it's all tied into the Valentine's
Day thing that brought me here to begin with.  If you want my
opinion - "
 
"Actually, I don't."
 
"- I think he really does love you.  Look at all the terrible
things you've done to him and he's only tried to kill you once
- I love you dearly, but if I were in his shoes I'd have tried
more often than that.  Have you never wondered why he didn't
notice my arrival after he staked you?  It's because he was
busy falling apart.  He really was quite devastated - and I
think it had very little to do with that silly mortal woman he
was clutching."
 
She stopped speaking and looked down at her work.  The body of
the sweater was almost complete and coming out quite well, if
she did say so herself.
 
LaCroix waited for a few moments, enjoying the silence, and
then cleared his throat.  "Mags, is th-"
 
She glared at him.  "It's bad enough you insist on shortening
my name to Mag.  Please do not pluralize me!"
 
LaCroix laughed.  He really was rather fond of his sister.
"Magdalen," he pronounced carefully, "is there a point to all
this?"
 
"What?  Oh, yes - I want you to leave Nicholas alone for as
much time as he and Natalie have left together.  No, please,
hear me out before you start arguing, " she said as he began to
speak.  "You don't really believe she can cure him, so she's
not a real threat.  And of all my children, she's my favorite
right now, and I do so want her to be happy.  If spending her
life on a pointless mission to save Nicholas makes her happy -
well, there you are.  Please, Lucien, it would mean so much to
me.  And I did save your life," she reminded him.
 
LaCroix had to admit (though not aloud, of course) that she had
him there.  As he tried to think of an argument, Magdalen
suddenly said, "You really need a computer."  He watched,
bewildered, as she pulled a small laptop computer out of her
bag and began to set it up.
 
"You've never played on the internet, have you?  You should
check it out, you know.  There are all kinds of strange and
interesting people posting all kinds of stuff.  Some of them
are probably borderline psychotic - but then, that might be
just what you need right now.  I'm sure that in no time you
could find someone to distract you for the next fifty or a
hundred years."
 
She led him over to the computer and sat him down.  "Here's
some of the vampire fiction I've downloaded."  She showed him
how to open and close files and then left him on his own, going
back to work on her sleeve.  Occasionally, she glanced over at
him, and he appeared totally absorbed in what he was reading.
Once, she thought she saw him blush.  "Ah,"  she thought, "he's
found the James-and-Darkangel-Forever-Erotica-List."
 
By the time he was finished it was almost sunset and Magdalen
was almost finished with her second sleeve.
 
"Well," he began, "as you said, quite a bunch of strange,
interesting and possibly psychotic people.  There are a few who
seem to have possibilities.  This James person, for instance,"
his eyes began to take on a golden glow, "could prove quite a
distraction - obviously intelligent, imaginative, a rather
wicked sense of humor - "
 
"Not to mention obsessed with vampires and sex."
 
"Yes, as you say, that too ... well, gotta go!"  With that
LaCroix kissed her on the cheek and was gone to pursue his new
obsession.
 
Magdalen hummed to herself as she finished up her cuff.
Vampire speed certainly came in handy for whipping out
sweaters.  She tried it on and found a mirror to admire it in.
Oh yes, this had come out very nicely, indeed.  She gathered up
her things, deciding to leave the computer as a thank you
present.  One more stop, to mail to Natalie a copy of the
Abarat that she'd had stashed away - sometimes, being a packrat
for almost two thousand years paid off - and then she was off
to find Brad Pitt.
 
THE END!
 
Kate
kgibney@pipeline.com