Date: Tue, 14 Jan 1997 02:58:52 -0500 From: E McCann To: FKarchiver@fkfanfic.com Subject: Pendulum (archive copy, 1/2) This is the archive copy of "Pendulum," which has been an odd story for me, a dedicated Nick and Nat Pack member, to write. But, it seems my beta readers liked it. So, on with the show! Pendulum The sun had just set a half an hour ago, and Sarah and Jacob began to pace. Where could he be? The fledgling vampires felt their master's absence as soon as they awoke. "Well, now what are we supposed to do?" "He said he had something special planned for us tonight. I didn't think leaving us alone was it." Sarah felt the start of the Hunger, and winced slightly. "Whatever it is, I hope he hurries back." "You shouldn't worry so much." They both turned with a start. Neither of them had really felt his return, their link being masked by their rapidly growing hunger. They looked into the eyes of their master, still golden from the hunt, still burning from the pleasure of the kill. "It was merely a bit of hunting before we started." He felt their discomfort. "I know you are hungry. That will help with your lesson tonight." The fledglings groaned and looked at each other - Would they EVER get to eat? Their master smiled. "Trust me. As promised, something special tonight. Come with me." The three vampires took to the evening sky, and landed some ways away in a secluded, wooded area. Nearby, they heard a whimper, and scuffling. Then they caught the scent of sweat on the night air - sweat, and fear. They looked to each other, and to their master, excitement showing in their eyes. "Yes, children - Until now, you have fed from the bottled stock we normally rely on in this day and age. But tonight, you learn to hunt." He walked over to the two bound mortals, a man and a woman, and caught their eyes. "When I release you, run like your lives depend on it." Extending his fangs, he added, "For believe me- it does." With a shriek, they started running. "Now, we will give them some time. After all," Nick said, "What better way to celebrate your first month as a vampire than with a live hunt?" === Twenty years earlier === "Would you quit worrying, Nick?" "You know that's like asking the rain to fall up, Nat." Nick gave a quick grin, and got a jab in the arm for his trouble. "Ow! Hey..." "Come on, ya big baby." Natalie wrapped his arm in hers, and led him into the loft. With the progress they had made lately, they had all the more reason to celebrate. She reached behind him, and undid the blindfold. "Suprise! Happy ninth anniversary, Nick." He couldn't believe it. She had managed to get into the loft and set the most beautiful table - and the smells from the oven were actually making him hungry, not sick. Natalie looked up at him, amused. "Well, are you just going to stand there with your jaw hanging down, or are you going to have dinner with me?" This was going to be an interesting night. They sat down to the table, she with champagne, he with *his* "wine," and started into the pheasant. === Through the air and across the ground they flew, now realizing why Nick had taught them some of the more unusual powers available to them so soon. Within minutes, he felt one, than the other, capture and drain their prey. He smiled to himself. His children had done well. But it was time for another lesson. Nick started off into the woods, quietly. Sarah felt Jacob when he made his kill. The rush, the excitement - and then it was her turn. She had stayed back a ways, enjoying the hunt, letting the scent of his terror wash over her. Her toy was tiring, now, and she was getting bored with the game herself. Ahead, he tripped over a root, and sprawled on the ground. She was on him in a second, twisting his head to the side, and burying her fangs into his neck. She let the first few tastes of his blood, spiced by his fear and his adrenaline, wash into her, and she bathed in his being, his memories- And abruptly halted. Eyes growing wide, from what she had learned, she turned him over and looked for the first time at her victim. "YOU... no.. you BASTARD!" He looked up, at the edge of consciousness, and gasped as combination of hurt, anger, and Hunger drove her to tear his throat out with her next lunge... "That felt GREAT!" Jacob exclaimed. He had just caught up with Sarah, and were making their way back to where the hunt started. His slate-grey eyes were still tinged with gold from the excitement. "Could you feel the sweetness in their blood? The fear? I've never felt so alive!" Sarah grimaced. "Yeah." Jacob looked at her quizzically. "Sarah, what's wrong?" They stopped. Since being brought across together, they shared a special bond. He could feel her confusion, her revulsion, and excitement all battering at her. "I knew him." He didn't understand. "Knew who? What are you talking about?" He looked at her face, and it dawned on him. "Oh - the one you hunted." He took her cold hand in his. "Tell me." "He was an old boyfriend. More, really. We dated in high school, and a little after." She looked up at him, the hurt showing in her eyes. "We finally split up about a year ago. I thought I loved him, and he, me. And he let me believe it." She sighed, her eyes starting to show red tears at the edges. "He told me it would be for the better, since he had to leave for school, and we would be so far apart. He told me he would remember me, keep me in his heart. I didn't know at the time he would be keeping someone else in his bed, as he had since long before we broke up." One red tear of anger, and of sorrow, one of hurt, and one of frustration, all found their ways to the corners of her eyes, and ran down her pale cheeks. She took her hand back, and turned. "I didn't know it was him until I caught him. I don't think I could have... could have fed from him normally, but the hunger... and I tasted it in his blood... He never really loved me." Her anger started growing again. "He used me. He.." "They have no secrets from us." Nick had appeared from behind them. "Learn this well now, and save yourselves the grief I lived with for centuries. We are above them." He looked straight at Sarah. "Love is a weakness, a human folly. We feel differently." Sarah bowed her head, feeling chastised. He put his hand on her shoulder, and turned to take them both in, and continued. "Human love, and guilt, have no place in a vampire. NONE. They only serve to make you weak, vulnerable, to make the gift you've been given feel like a curse." Nick started thinking of *her*, and his voice lowered to a trembling hiss. "Listen to the voice of experience, children. Let go of mortal feelings. Loosen yourselves from their chains. Shatter their bonds, and revel in your newfound freedom." Jacob had been feeling some of Sarah's hurt through their link, and wondered at the new sensation that started to come with it once Nick arrived. No - not when he *arrived,* but - later... He looked over at Sarah, her strawberry-blonde hair blowing in her face, and saw that she noticed it as well. They looked up at Nick wonderingly, and thought they saw something - just for a moment. Nick saw, and turned. "Come, it's time to return home." === "That was wonderful, Natalie. I didn't know you could cook like that..." She smiled. "Hey, a girl's got to have her secrets." She looked up at him. Something in those blue eyes made her worry a little. "Nick, what's wrong?" //She knows,// he thought, //though after all this time that shouldn't be a suprise.// "Natalie, it's odd you should mention secrets. Someone at the station asked me what mine was." Nat could see which way this was going to go, and steeled herself for the blow. "They're starting to notice that I don't age. And that's not a good thing." "Nick, stop right there. So you're thinking of leaving, after all this time." "Nat.." "No, wait. I want you to get one thing straight. Whether you leave the precinct or not, leave Toronto or not, you're NOT leaving me. After all we've been through, you're not getting off that easily." "Nat..." "Don't 'Nat' me. You can't change my mind on this. I'm not going to ask you to bring me across, Nick. I remember what happened last time, and I don't want to repeat the experience just yet." She was shaking now, angry and hurt. "I could have left you after that, and God knows nobody could have blamed me. But you'll notice, I'm still here. When you've slid back, I've stopped you. When you've fallen, I've caught you. And now, once more, Nick Knight runs away..." Nick put his finger on her lips. "Natalie, let me, please..." She settled down with a small sigh. "Thank you. You're right, after all we've been through, leaving you would be wrong. And I couldn't put you through being brought across, not after all we've done to try to bring me back. But I have to leave, or too many questions will be asked, and that will put too many people in danger." Nick paused for a moment. Tears were welling up in Natalies eyes, but she didn't know what to expect at this point. Nick looked down for a moment, then took her hand in both of his. She had been so busy trying to study his face, searching for some hint of hope, that she hadn't noticed what his hands were doing. He got up, still holding her hand, and walked to her side. He nodded down at her hand. As she looked - and gasped with surprise at what she saw there - Nick dropped to his knee. "Natalie, I've found something very precious. It's said that there's someone out there for everyone, and you just have to find them. It's taken me eight hundred years, but I think I've found the truth to that statement. And I can't imagine life without you anymore." He paused, and pressed his lips to her fingers. "Natalie, would you be my wife?" === They were back at the cabin again, and their master had disappeared. Apparently the reaction he had had when the memories of Natalie hit him had hit them through their link. And THEIR reaction to it had startled him. Once he knew they were almost at the cabin again, he had gone off somewhere unknown to them. They really could not understand this. It was a surprise to learn that this, the most hated, the most feared vampire in the Community, the hunter of Enforcers - that he was hurt by thoughts of a mortal. Having already fed well, and without their master, they decided to wait, and discuss this to try to figure it out. "She must really have been something." Sarah stood, and paced a little. Jacob went and put another log on the fire, and nodded his agreement. "I never would have imagined HIM loving a mortal. Not as anything more than I used to love a good steak, in any case." "Oh, he did, and if you were wise, you would not bring it up." They both turned - if they were getting startled this easily, they knew there was more to learn from their master. But this wasn't Nick. Before them stood their Master's master and friend, Lacroix. "The last one he brought across before you made that error. She got to greet the sunrise for her trouble, staked and nearly drained. Yes," he continued dryly, noting their look of shock, "it is a very touchy subject with him. However, I know you will inherit some of his own curiosity, so before he returns, let me tell you his story." === They walked through the park in the rain, not noticing the downpour. They were coming from the party their friends at the precinct, and the coroner's office, had surprised them with. This past week had been incredible for them both. Finally, they noticed they were getting soaked, and decided to find shelter from the rain. They headed to Nick's car, and went to the loft. "I wonder what Schank would have said. He always did push for us to get together." "So did Tracy, in her own way." The car was silent for a moment, the only sound that of the road and the engine. "I still miss them, Nat." "I know, Nick. I do too. But they're in a better place now, and I'm sure they'd be happy for us as well if it were here." Natalie turned to Nick. "I guess it doesn't get any easier losing someone, even after a few centuries, does it." Nick looked over at Natalie, and gave a small smile. "No, it doesn't. But having someone you love nearby to share the loss does help." He leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, and they were at the loft. They started a crackling fire, and warmed themselves. They were just getting cozy, wrapped up in a blanket on the couch, when Nick felt something, and sat up abruptly. "Hello, Nicholas." They turned to find Lacroix standing by the piano. "And hello, Dr. Lambert. Or should I start calling you Natalie, since we *will* be family soon as I understand." Date: Tue, 14 Jan 1997 03:00:22 -0500 From: E McCann To: FKarchiver@fkfanfic.com Subject: Pendulum (archive copy, 2/2) "You understand correctly, Lacroix." Nat automatically went on the defensive. "And there's not a thing you can do about it." The elder vampire smiled. "You mistake my intentions, Doctor. My link with Nicholas may be weakened, due to all you two have done to further his quest for mortality, but I can still feel some of what he feels. And I have not felt him so happy, so at peace with himself, since I first brought him across." He smiled slightly at their unbelieving looks. "For that, I should thank you. And I do wish to congratulate the both of you, and wish you the best." His face grew somber. "But I must also give you a warning. There are those in the Community who will hear of this, and will not like it. There will be great danger for the both of you, I fear. And I will not be able to shield you as I have Nicholas for these past centuries. I will do what I can, I promise you that." He sighed, and looked over at Nick. "I am finally a friend to my son, and I do not enjoy the prospect of losing him now. But I felt I must make you aware of the possible consequences of your actions." "Consequences or not, Lacroix, we will be wed." Nicholas placed his arm more protectively around Natalie. "And nothing will change that." "Change? Nicholas, you did not hear what I said. For once, I would not try to change your mind There is one request I would make of the two of you, though." They looked at him guardedly. "Would you be so kind as to hold the wedding someplace OTHER than a church? It's not every day my son gets married, after all..." === Sarah and Jacob had been listening intently to this surprising tale. "So Nick was nearly human? And not all that long ago - drinking *cow* blood?" Sarah's face held unmistakable disgust at the thought. She was a vegetarian in her mortal life, and could never stomach a hamburger then. The thought of feeding from their source turned her stomach. "Indeed he was. Had events not progressed the way they had, he probably would be human now, ready to die of old age, with his wife and children around him." Lacroix sighed. "I was always against his quest to regain his mortality, but he was so happy at this point I had started to hope that he made it. And the good Doctor - well, she never knew it, but I held a great deal of respect for her. She was a very intelligent woman, very down to earth, and considering what she was doing and what she knew, very brave." The older vampire shook his head. "Such a waste." === They had had a wonderful time, and their honeymoon was nearing an end. Nick reflected on all the changes in his life on the way back to the little cabin they had shared all week. He was the closest to human he had been in centuries, he had married the most wonderful woman he had met in all his years of existence, and he had had no quarrels with Lacroix (who actually *did* seem pleased for his son) in quite some time. He had even watched a whole sunrise with Natalie this morning, and hadn't started to burn. It seemed a quite appropriate way to symbolize the new life they were beginning. It wasn't until he was near the cabin t hat he felt something wrong. He pulled up in the drive, and saw the door open... and inside... Nick leapt from the car and rushed in, just as the Enforcer finished draining Natalie. "NOOO!" Not in their millennia of existence had these enforcers been attacked like this. One managed a futile scrape to Nick's cheek with his nails before he fell for the final time. The other stood there for a precious moment - even an ancient can be shocked sometimes. On occasion, some desperate, foolish vampire dared to attack an Enforcer. He had seen it before. Never had one succeeded. In that moment, Nick, heady with the rush of power from the blood of the first Enforcer, attacked him. The remaining vampire broke out of his shock, but too late. By the time Nick had finished with him - staked, and partially drained, but left staked to meet the sunrise - the house had been demolished inside. Nick collected himself, and walked over to Natalie. He picked up her now-lifeless body, cradled it, and wept. "I'm sorry, Nat. I should have been here." For hours he stayed that way, knowing even as he first touched her that it was too late to bring her across. "I promised you forever - and I've failed you again." He kept repeating that again, and again. As the sun came through the window, he had decided. //Never again. I will have my revenge, but never can I let this happen again.// He went to their sheltered room for the day, the faint crimson trails of his tears still staining his face. === "The next evening, when I showed up, I knew what I had felt was true." Lacroix stood up, and slowly walked around the two younger vampires. "He cremated her body, and spirited the ashes away somewhere - even I don't know the location. He burned down the house to hide the secret. And in his mourning, he did not feed for weeks." He stopped, facing the two and holding up a sword from the mantle. "This is what he feels he is now. He had gone through the fires, and come out pure, and strong. He has also become cold, hard... lifeless." With a note of regret, he put the blade back as he finished. "He is not the Nicholas I knew." "No, the Nicholas you knew is dead." Lacroix didn't bother turning around. "Welcome home, Nicholas. I saw it working with your heirs tonight. Their hunting skills are excellent. I do, however, hope you've taught them control." "What is it you want. Quickly, Lacroix. You know my temper as well as your own. " At this, the elder Vampire did turn. "As you have learned before, I do NOT respond well to threats. Besides, is it no longer permitted for a father to worry about his son?" "What is there to worry about. None in the Community will harm me. None of the Hunters who have tried have survived. And the police and the media are well in hand." "You are wrong, Nicholas. Your activities have gained notice of the oldest of us, those who were here when the Pyramids were built, when mighty Rome was but a village of huts. And they are watching closely. They do not enjoy having their Enforcers killed, nor do they appreciate the rate at which you go through your children." Nick started to speak, but Lacroix raised his hand and he fell silent. "I know you can take care of yourself, where they are concerned. That is not my worry. My worry is that you will destroy yourself before they ever lay hand on you." "Destroy myself?" Nick let out a scornful laugh. "You've been feeding on those Bliss users down on the wharf, and its addled your brain." "No, Nicholas. Do you remember that clock I had made, a few hundred years ago?" Nick smiled at the memory. "Yes. As I recall, you told that poor clock- maker that you'd tear him apart if you ever heard it cuckoo at you. Very clever of him to find a way to make it moo instead." That brought a smile to both of their faces. "Yes, that poor soul thought I was about to rend him for that. It's rare to see someone run from money... In any case, do you remember what happened to it?" Nick had to think. "Nothing. It was still in one piece, last I knew." "Yes, it is. It has never been pushed beyond what it can do. It has worked perfectly all this time. It changes, as everything does. But not enough to tear itself apart. You, however,seem quite happy to try." Nick's gaze turned cold. "What is this about? After eight hundred years, I've come to finally accept what I am, to revel in the power and the freedom of my being. Eight hundred years, LaCroix. And now that I finally understand what you tried to teach me, you tell me I am wrong? Damn you, Lacroix." Lacroix met Nick's gaze, golden eyes blazing. "If you were being true to yourself, true to your nature, I would not hesitate to agree you had accepted it. But you have not." Nick grew wary at this, and his anger burned hotter. "Yes, Nicholas, I feel it. I feel you hiding it from your children, and yourself. I feel the conflict within you. I feel it tear at your soul. You can hide no secrets from me, no matter how well you conceal the truth from yourself." And with that, Lacroix took off into the night. Nick stared after him, silently fuming. Sarah and Jacob stood there, forgotten. After a moment or two, Sarah slowly walked up behind Nick, and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Nick?" Nick glanced over his shoulder at his children. He put his hand on Sarahs, briefly. "Leave me. Both of you." He released Sarah's hand and turned. "Go. Practice what you have learned tonight, but do not engorge yourselves." Sensing their hesitiation, he looked up, eyes blue flecked with gold. For a moment, they saw the old Nick- Detective Nicholas Knight, the Nick Natalie and Schanke would have known. The moment flicked away, and the Nick they knew, the Nick feared by all in the Community, ordered them, "Go NOW." They knew better than to disobey, and followed Lacroixs path into the deep evening air. Nicholas watched their forms disappear into the night. He had not felt this way, this strongly, in many years. He went out the door, and nobody noticed him take off himself, away from where his mentor and his children had gone. Minutes later, he alighted, south of the piers. Nobody came over here anymore- even in this day and age, the stories of the "demon" haunting these woods could scare all but the most curious away. Lately, the most curious had not been coming back. He went to a spot under a great oak tree, marked only with three stones. He turned to look out, over the lake, and gave a sad smile. He remembered talking with Natalie, and how they planned to go to the beach. She always loved to look out, over the waters, and the way the moon reflected off the glassy surface. He knelt down. "Natalie..." // He returned at the sunrise, to find his children already asleep. After checking all the windows, to make sure no light could get in, he went to his bedroom. The heavy wooden door, with a steel core, combined with the thick windows (now covered) and walls, made this a difficult place at best to get into, uninvited. He hurried in, before they could react to his return, and shut and secured the door. Removing his ever-present duster, he searched for his matches. Finding them, he lit the candle he kept by his bed. The wick caught the flame, and began one of its own. As the flame grew, Nick stared, the leaves and dirt in his hair and the inner conflict in his soul revealed. He sat there for some long moments, staring at the light, feeling its warmth, so close, but untouchable. He struggled, bound so tightly in himself, fighting for control over the emotions he thought banished to distant memory. A moan, of effort and dispair, escaped his lips, but a moment later Nicholas de Brabant, the Community's Black Knight, had returned. "Weakness." He laughed to himself, scornfully. "I must not let my guard against it fall again." He went to his small, in-room refrigerator, and pulled out a bottle. Minutes later, he slept, the bloodwine running down his lips and adding itself to the crimson carpet. // Vampires do dream. It could not be called the sleep of the blessed that they experience. The oldest feel nothing but emptiness. Many see their victims of the years, watching, waiting, just out of sight, never out of mind.. The youngest are often destroyed by the madness they can bring. Nick dreamt of a prarie. He found himself in the middle of the grasslands, no open cover in sight, the midday sun beating down on him. His open, bloused white shirt - as comfortable now as ages ago - rustled with the grass as the soft, warm springtime wind blew across him. But he didn't worry. There - over the hill - his house, a modest ranch-style, with the porch wrapped around the sides. He could see in the front door, through to the back, the light curtains by the rear glass door blowing in the soft breeze. He walked up, and his children, April and Michael, ran towards him. He scooped them up, one in each arm, and swung them around. They giggled in delight. "More, daddy, more!" He gladly obliged them, then set them down and sent them on their way. A voice from behind him spoke. "Go play, kids. Lunch will be ready in a few minutes, so don't get too far. Michael! No bugs!" He turned around, his heart leaping in his chest. There, in the front door, stood the woman he had sworn himself to. He ran up and embraced Natalie. Tears ran down his eyes as he nuzzled her hair, her neck. "God, I love you Natalie." "Easy, Nick! I love you too." She was somewhat taken aback by his behavior. "Uh, Nick, I can't breathe... you can put me down now." From behind him, he heard the children giggle at them. Nick, with a sheepish grin on his face, obligingly lowered Nat back to the ground. "That was nice. But - would you mind telling me what it was all about?" "I feel like I've been gone forever." She looked at him closely. "You have been." Nick stopped, confused. "What? But you.. and me... here... the kids..." "Do you remember the last months we spent together?" Nick thought back - the look on her face when he proposed, how beautiful she looked in her bridal gown, the sweet scent of her breath as she pledged herself to him with those two simple words- "I do. Yes, I do, Natalie." Once more, a tear rolled down his cheek. He wiped it away. "I've missed so much... I've missed YOU so much." "You've fallen, Nick. I've seen it. And I promised years ago to catch you when you fell. Even now, I can, because you still love me. I've seen the proof tonight. Deep in that coal-black heart you try to show, there's still a diamond waiting to see the light of day." She looked out at the horizon. Dark clouds were coming. "But there's so much blackness surrounding it, Nick. And I'm afraid you'll never bring it out again." Inside the house, a clock ticked away the seconds. Tick-tock. Tick. Tock. Outside, the stormclouds roiled about, the rain obscured the horizon. "Nick, there isn't much time." The wind screamed in the distance. "You still have love. Somewhere, deep down inside you, your faith - in us, in yourself - still lives." Tick. Tock. The clouds were almost upon them now. "In those two, together - there is still a chance of forever." She looked past him. "Michael! April! Come inside, now!" Two pairs of young feet rushed past them, into the house, and disappeared. Tick. "Nick, you have been given a chance. Don't let it die." Tock. Natalie looked down, the downpour starting, mingling with her new-formed tears. "Go. And don't forget me." Tick. "Nat?" He looked at her, then into the heart of the clouds. When he turned back - she was gone. He looked into the now empty, decrepit house. "I love you. And always will." From the depths of the clouds, he heard a booming rumble, almost mocking him. As the torrent engulfed him, he cried out: "NATALIE!" And for just a moment, he could have sworn the rain fell up. // He awoke, the blood-sweat drenching him, the candle nothing but a hardened puddle of wax. He felt the shards of glass in his palm from crushing the wine bottle. He lay there a while, not caring. He heard his children //April// Sarah and //Michael// Jacob moving nervously about outside. April? Michael? The names confused him for a moment. He felt so weak. He felt another drop of blood - HIS blood - run down his hand, to his fingertip. It lingered there, as if it couldn't decide if it wanted to fall or not. Having made its decision, it went to join the other droplets on the floor. He still didn't care. He looked over at his hand. The //diamond// bits of glass were //hidden// embedded pretty deeply in his //dark// blood stained hand. He had to get up and get them out of there. He swung out of bed, and walked across the //grassy field// plush carpet - now stained - to the bathroom, and proceeded to pull the bits out of his hand. Shortly thereafter, he came out. His children had already helped themselves to the new delivery of bottles. "Hi Nick." They had apparently had nightmares of their own. Neither looked truly rested. Jacob got up and offered him a bottle. He took it, started to uncork it - then recorked it and handed it back. "Not right now" was his reply to their puzzled glances. "Tonight, children, we go into the city. This is your area, your true range now." An hour later, they were flying over one of the parks near the heart of the city. Suddenly a scream pierced the air. "No! I don't.." Nick looked down, and saw a different type of predator with a struggling woman. He swooped down, to his childrens' consternation. Yanking the man off of her, he forced his head back, just as a train rumbled by - he could have sworn he heard a dark laugh in it, one he had heard somewhere... Sarah and Jacob saw their master pause. "What is he doing?" "I don't know. Maybe he got hurt? Let's go find out." As they swooped down, Nick turned the man, and stared deeply into his eyes. He caught the would-be-rapist's heartbeat, and took hold of it. "You saw nothing of me. You will go down to the police station, and give a full confession of what you tried to do tonite. You will beg them to put you behind bars, where you belong. You will tell them of any and all other crimes against your fellow that you have commited. Do you understand me?" "Y-y..yes..." "Go." As the man turned to go, Nick saw his children land and look at him in confusion. He turned, and saw the woman had passed out - he hoped before she saw them land. He also saw Jacob preparing to feed, and Sarah start stalking the man. "Sarah! Jacob! Stop it, NOW." They stopped, confused - then started again. "You know better than to try me. Stop. It. Now." "Nick, what's wrong? They're nothing to us! These arent' even hard ones to catch!" Not seeing him change his mind, they became disturbed. "They are no more than cattle to us. You taught us that. They are nothing but humans." "Men are not cattle. Mankind is not here for our amusement." Recalling one of his own experiences, from the memories that started flooding back into his mind, he continued. "Humanity is not just a race. It is a state of grace." Jacob could care less about grace. And he was still hungry. He rushed at the woman, who was just coming to - and found Nicholas in front of him, lifting him up by the branch that was now going through Jacob's chest. Jacob stared, shocked, at his master, now his killer. "Nick..." "I cannot let this curse spread. I cannot have another death on my conscience." Sarah shrieked - "You lied to us! You betrayed us!" "Sarah, I was wrong. About a lot of things. I've fallen quite a ways, and I have a long struggle ahead to get back to where I was." Sighing, he added - "And, I have a promise to keep." Sarah was fuming now. "PROMISE? What about us? What about me? YOU made me, Nick. YOU made me what I am, and took my old life from me. Now, you're turning your back on us - because you CHANGED your MIND?!" "Sarah, I made a mistake." Looking at Jacob, convulsing on the stake, slowly dying, he added "More than one." "Damn straight you did, buster. And this one's coming back to haunt you." Nick looked up, another length of wood in hand, as Sarah rushed him. The wood, rotted and weak, shattered when she hit him. Nick fell to the ground, and Sarah disappeared into the night sky. Nick looked up, after her. He had taught them both well, and she was canny. He had a feeling the times he lived in were about to become interesting ones. He sighed, and got out an old slip of paper from his pocket - a list of ingrediants, in Natalie's handwriting. "Quickie-mart, here I come..." //The end. (for now.) // Comments, etc. to: Eric McCann emccann@iag.net