Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 12:21:03 -0500 Reply-To: Neil Ira Belsky Sender: Forever Knight TV show stories From: Neil Ira Belsky Subject: Redemption (1/?) To: FKFIC-L@PSUVM.PSU.EDU X-Status: Fellow readers, this is the first fiction in a long time for me, and the first one with more than one chapter. I freely give profuse thanks to Bonnie Rutledge, who is putting up with my demands for beta reading. Bonnie, you are a jewel to be treasured. And to my husband Neil Belsky, thanks for the back rubs. Please let me know if you like it...I am insecure and need lots of positive reinforcement. Here goes. REDEMPTION PART ONE IN BETWEEN The sun shone hot over the dry, sandy dunes. Nick walked slowly through the sand as he followed Natalie. "Natalie...Nat...Wait for me," he called to his love. She looked over her shoulder and smiled but continued walking ahead of him. No matter how he ran he could not catch up with her. Then over the next dune he saw it...the door. Natalie was already there, talking to someone he did not recognize, embracing the figure and stepping into the light that the door revealed. Nick stopped. The door was still there. He had confronted it twice before and had turned away each time. Now he wanted entry. Now he wanted to follow his love through that door into eternity -- to be with her. Now he had to confront the demon that he considered himself to be. Pulling himself together, he came to the light with his heart open, ready to be read. The door opened, and the robed figure of that looked like himself came forward to greet him. "You have come again. This time you seem ready to enter. Do you feel you have expiated you sins?" Nick hung his head in resignation. "I feel I cannot go on." "And thus you ended you life." "I requested my best friend to destroy me. I had been literally dead for many years." "Yet you had lived many lives before this sad end." "They were shams of life. Shoddy illusions. I have been here before -- you know me." "Nicholas, I know you, but do you know yourself? Do you look at yourself honestly or are your senses obscured by centuries of guilt?" Nick again saw the putrid corpse that he believed to be his soul. The faces of his victims danced before his eyes filling the landscape of his soul with the pain of regret. "I can't live without her," he screamed from the depths of his being, "I can't live without Natalie!" "That is a cry I have heard many times from others confronting me here," Death's ambassador answered in even tones. "I usually find that they did not try, and their judgment was not what they imagined." Nick fell to his knees, howling like a man insane. "I can't go on...I can't go on...I can't go on..." It was then that arms encircled him. Nick felt love come into his tortured psyche like a cooling hand. He reached up to embrace the source of that love and looked into the face of Don Schanke. "Hi Nicky-boy," Don smiled down at him. "How's my partner?" The words washed over Nick like a healing balm. "I came when I knew you needed me." "Don, you never let me down -- I let you down." "Nick, don't say that -- you confused the hell out of me -- but you never let me down. So when you needed help, I jumped at the chance." "Your friend," the being said, "has been waiting for you." Whispered words slipped out of Nick's lips. "How long?" "I don't know. Time doesn't mean much here. I was waiting for you and Myra and Jenny. I wanted to take them with me. Face it -- what else have I got to do?" "What else?" "Well, there are things I could do, but nothing that can't wait. I'm gonna be here for my people. It's like nothing I ever expected." Don rocked back on his heels, letting his friend go. "The thing is...we're not ready for you ... yet." "Not ready, but what about Natalie? Her time had not come." "Oh yes, it had." Don shot back, "There's not much that can throw off the old timetable when it's been set. Once you go into that light there's no going back. Nat's ticker had ticked it's last, right on schedule. She was invited in and in she went. She'll be waiting for you." "What about me, what about my timetable?" "Well, pardner." Schanke stood and brushed himself off, "I checked into that and you're coming back -- but not today. If you 'enter that door' today it all becomes null and void. I really shouldn't be saying this, but I'm here so I'm doing it." "So I go back to my body." "That body," the figure spoke, "no longer exists. Your mentor, LaCroix, has cremated it with the body of Doctor Lambert." "Then I am doomed." "Nope," Don broke in. "You just gotta get re-in-carnated. It's not that difficult and it offers all kind of options. You could be anything from a bird to a human. It's kinda a Hindu thing." "It is there waiting for you... The chance you craved for redemption...A new beginning...Are you willing to take it?" Death's ambassador smiled at him. "I'll still be waiting for you, whatever you turn out to be," Don laughed."Why not--I *gotta* see what you turn out to be." Nick's head dropped. This was not what he imagined the end would be like. Yet this was not the end. If he took the chance at reincarnation the possibilities were endless. Yet what of Francesca, her example of endless vengeance. The cloaked figure spoke to him before his thoughts were finished. "Francesca de Montagnie would not enter the light and the blackness of her soul lives on only because she will not allow the purification process to begin. She cripples each new life with old hate. You have already begun that process and the purification can continue. Your new body will hold your old soul and become enriched by it. You will face new temptations and new situations, making decisions with no knowledge of your past but with the accumulated deeds of that past within you. A new beginning, without the crippling guilt you carry now. It is possible." "Do it Nick," Don chided him. "And this time, don't screw up!" "It's that easy?" Nick asked dubiously. "Life is never easy, decisions are never black and white, but redemption is always possible for those who truly believe." The tall figure who wore his face offered his hand to Nick. "The time is here. Decide." "Do it Nick! I need my partner back, I can wait. Hell, man... I love you and so does Nat. We'll be there for you." Nick squared his shoulders and grasped the proffered hand. The weight of years fell off his body and a golden warmth enfolded him. Then noise and light and rough hands pushed and pulled at his body. "Congratulations Mrs. Devereaux! It's a boy!" Date: Tue, 11 Feb 1997 13:16:55 -0500 Reply-To: Neil Ira Belsky Sender: Forever Knight TV show stories From: Neil Ira Belsky Subject: Re: Chapter Two To: FKFIC-L@PSUVM.PSU.EDU Gentle readers; thanks so much for the replies. I love to hear from you. The only thing is, I forgot to mention that I'm Lee, the other Belsky. We can only afford one account so everything is goes out with Neil's name. Believe me, I wish I had thought of "Forever Schanke". As it is...here is the next part of my effort. REDEMPTION PART TWO AN EXPERIMENT IN PROGRESS He looked up from his papers and pinched the bridge of his nose. This time before dawn the tug of the past pulled even harder on his psyche. The laptop was off. Tomorrow his student would start it up and transcribe his musings into a more scholarly form. He would edit the transcriptions after sunset roused him. Why had he allowed Aristotle to talk him into this life? "You know history. Hell, you've lived through more of it than anyone I've ever known. You're a good teacher and a excellent leader. It's about time you imparted some of your knowledge to an unsuspecting world. Besides, you'll like Durham, and Duke is one of the best universities in the world..." "Professor," The voice of James Hong drawled through the door. "I see you're pulling another all nighter, Doctor Rood." "Yes, James." Lucien looked up at the young man with mild annoyance. "I have always been a night person." "Well, so am I." James laughed and pushed his long blue-black hair from his eyes. "I suppose it has to do with my field, parapsychology has gotten new relevance since the breakthroughs made here in 2034. Some of my people do their best work after dark." "James." LaCroix leaned back in his chair to more easily capture the young man's gaze. "You know that I believe in the tangible: the written word and the artifact." "Actually that's why we want your input tomorrow night." Hong's voice rose in volume as his southern accent became stronger, more syrupy. "We have a young subject who has been reliving some amazing past life experiences during sleep cycles. We need someone who can verify some of facts he's been coming up with." (Yippee! :>) "I'll send one of my graduate students," LaCroix said absently as he packed up his papers. The sun rose so early and abruptly here that it was necessary to be home soon. "That could do, but our subject mentioned a Roman general who you have written a great deal about. You could offer so much more detail than any of your graduate students." Hong handed a computer printout to LaCroix. It contained facts, fragmented facts of his life up until Pompeii was destroyed. "One of your students told me that your father named you after this general. A very vicious man with an impressive battle record. What could your father have been thinking?" "My father was a colonel in the infantry. He wanted me to be a soldier." LaCroix scanned the printout and remembered the incidents it listed. "The lack of wars we are currently having would have disturbed him greatly. James, these notes are very interesting. I will personally double check each item and I will come to observe your experiment tomorrow." "I hoped that was what you'd say. Till tomorrow then, 10 o'clock at the Rhine Center." "10 o'clock it is." That, he thought, will give me time to think of something profound to add to this little charade. Unfortunately, seeing his human past laid out on these papers gave him pause. "What of it?" he said aloud. "General Lucius was a historical figure who can be verified. After Pompeii, he ceased to exist." LaCroix added these papers to the others in his briefcase and left his office. This was probably going to be a waste of his time. ********** Ten p.m. came and LaCroix climbed the stairs to the Rhine Center. He was met by Cynthia Parnell, one of his graduate students. "Professor Rood, I'm glad you came. I knew when General Lucius turned up you would be interested." "Cynthia," his voice dripped with sarcasm. "I have little use for such trivialities. I am a historian and latinist, not a dupe for Yet the facts are there, so I want to find out who this closet historian is and have him show where his knowledge came from." "Yes Professor," the young woman replied, cowed by his famous temper. she thought as she pulled the door open for LaCroix. "I believe this may surprise you." Hong greeted the pair, brought them up the central staircase and into one of the work rooms. He seated LaCroix behind a two way mirror, then provided a dossier on their one subject. LaCroix did not bother to open it, since the individual in question was already visible behind the glass. It was a young black boy of about twelve. "This is Ben Devereaux." Hong started as if he was giving a lecture. "His father, Philip, brought him here when the boy began experiencing very lucid dreams." LaCroix cut in. "Philip Devereaux, the mathematics professor?" "Yes, we find most of our volunteers from the academic community. The outside world still looks upon psychic proclivitites as a curse rather than a gift. But back to young Ben...he is a sixth grade student at St Timothy's Roman Catholic Elementary School in Raleigh and plays sports in the Durham public recreational leagues. He is a student of the piano which he says is okay but he is not enthusiastic. He is basically an average kid. The lucid dreaming started some years ago, and the parents basically put them down to imagination. Ben's mother, Donna, is a high school history at Northern High School in Durham. Donna started recording these dreams when she realized they contained recognizable historical figures that a five year old could never have heard of." "This child goes to a Catholic school," LaCroix cut in again. "The whole religion is based on mysticism and the belief in miraculous happenstance." "A child in kindergarten is not taught much more that a few prayers and simple catechism lessons," Hong answered. "Also, at that time, Ben was being taught at home. The Devereaux were not yet Catholic. Young Ben started going to the Church on his own and chose his school. When asked why, his reply was that it was the faith his heart told him was true. His parents followed his example, and now the whole family attends Catholic masses. Ben explains the significance to them....in his dreams." "How very amusing." LaCroix smiled a tight, mirthless smile. It was then the technician that had been working with the boy came into the observation room. "Ben is all ready, Doctor Hong." "That is my cue to start. This whole session will be videotaped and sound recorded." Dr. Hong gestured to the side of his head. "I can hear all you ask through this ear piece, but Ben will not know who is observing him. He knows someone may be behind the glass but he never knows if anyone, much less who, is here. Let's begin, shall we?" Hong left with his technician, and LaCroix settled down to watch. Young Cynthia was behind him, quietly settling up her own recording devices. LaCroix let his mind wander. he thought with a smirk. LaCroix looked up and locked eyes with young Ben. he thought. . Yet the boy's eyes bored into his as surely as if they were sitting nose to nose rather that separated by glass and a dozen feet. "Ben," James soothed the boy. "You know the drill -- I want you to relax. Go back to sleep. I'll turn off the lights. It is so much easier that way, you know." Still the boy stared into Lacroix's eyes. Raising from bed, Ben walked up to the mirrored glass and placed his palms on its surface, so close to Lucien, yet separate. A beautiful smile spread over Ben's face. His eyes sparkled with happiness and a trace of a tear. "LaCroix," he spoke. "Lucien, it is so wonderful...It is *so* wonderful to be near you again. To be able to thank you properly. Lucien, you are and you will forever be my closest friend. We are together here, waiting for you, my dear, dear father." I was thinking he would call him LaCroix. Lacroix rose shakily. "Nicholas." The name slipped from his lips in a barely audible sigh. He reached to touch the glass, but the boy had already turned back to his bed, "Sorry, Dr. Hong, I musta been dreaming and sleepwalking, too." "Doctor?" the voice of Parnell broke in. "I'm sorry about this(. R)emember, he's just a child." LaCroix picked up the dossier and held it close to his breast, "I have decided that this may be a very interesting case. I will help you, Dr. Hong." The phrase filled his brain like a mantra with urgency and desire. Date: Fri, 14 Feb 1997 13:22:01 -0500 Reply-To: Neil Ira Belsky Sender: Forever Knight TV show stories From: Neil Ira Belsky Subject: Re: Chapter Three To: FKFIC-L@PSUVM.PSU.EDU X-Status: A little more, thanks to TPTB and Bonnie the Nitpicker (Bless her with many great ideas) REDEMPTION PART 3 CHANGES The Devereauxs were packing their suitcases for their second honeymoon. "Donna," Philip called from the bedroom."Did you remember to pack my extra swim suit?" "Yes, dear." Donna called back in exasperation. She was busy going over paperwork with the housekeeper. "Mrs. Jasper, this is the number for the pediatrician and dentist. This is Katie's school and teacher, Sister Warner, and this is Ben's school and teacher, Brother Frances. If you need some advice on small things just contact Lucien Rood, he's working with Ben through the Rhine Center and they've become really close." "Ben is close to this Professor?" Mrs. Jasper said with a sidelong gaze. "Don't be nasty, Ben and Professor Rood have worked together for four years. Ben is studying for his SAT's and Rood is helping him prepare. Anyway, I believe Professor Rood is going on sabbatical next year so they will soon head on differing paths. Besides, Ben and Katie like the man, and he has a good head on his shoulders." "Donna?" Philip's call came from the bedroom."When is the cab coming?" "Professor Rood is driving us to the airport -- he'll be here at eight." "MOM!" Katie crashed through the kitchen door. "MOM, BEN IS *LOOKING* AT ME!!!" "Mother," Ben followed his sister into the house. "I'm only telling Katherine that she'll have to respect and listen to me while you and Dad are in Crete." "MO-OM," Katie wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and tried to snuggle into the waiting lap. "I'm almost grown-up now." "Too big for laps," She gently pushed her daughter back onto her feet. "And grown up enough to know when your brother is teasing you." Donna looked up at the smirk on her son's face --a face so like his father's. "And I believe that Mrs. Jasper will be the one you ultimately should respect and listen to. Right, Mrs. Jasper?" "I hope so, Mrs. Devereaux," the housekeeper laughed. "But I must admit, I'd need a pretty big stick to whack that beanpole son of yours." "I am six feet tall and growing," Ben beamed, "and I hope I get into West Point for college." "West Point? That's the first I've heard about that one," Donna Devereaux said as she reached for her son's hand. "It's a great military academy and Professor Rood says it will give me a good, well-rounded education and an excellent discipline." Ben pulled himself up ramrod straight. "Count on a historian to sell you on an anachronism like military school." Eight o'clock came and LaCroix pulled up in a minivan. "Wow, I never knew you owned a van," Ben said as he carried his parents suitcases out of the house. "I do not," LaCroix said as he placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Dr. Hong loaned this to me. This way you and your sister can accompany your parents to the airport." "Yay," Katie squealed and hugged LaCroix. "I wanted to go, but Mom said I couldn't." "I couldn't disappoint my little flower, could I Katie?" He smiled down at the girl. "Shall we all get in and be off?" He watched as the Devereauxs loaded their bags into the van and settled in their seats. Ben took the passenger's chair up front, next to LaCroix. The vampire watched as the young man fastened his safety belt, then began the drive to Raleigh-Durham Airport. ****************************************** The phone was ringing. LaCroix rose from his bed, cursing softly in a language that had been dead for many centuries. "Yes?" he drawled as the telephone screen came into focus. The picture before him was of a woman whom he did notrecognize. "Professor Rood," the woman was obviously distraught. "This is Janet Jasper, the housekeeper for the Deveareauxs. Have you seen Ben?" "Why would I see Ben?" LaCroix asked as he seated himself. "He knows that I will not be available before 7:30 tonight." "Professor, there was a plane crash at the Amsterdam Airport -- it was the stopover point for the Devereaux's airline. Ben's parents were killed instantly. Father Janssen broke the news to the children -- Katie broke down completely, but Ben has disappeared. Dr. Hong and the teachers at the school have not seen him. Could you see if he is there?" "Of course, Mrs. Jasper. I will look immediately. I will call back after I check. Goodbye." LaCroix clicked off the phone and rose from his desk. He reached for his robe and shrugged it on, pulling the cowl-like hood over his head and shaking the long sleeves over his hands. He climbed the stairs from the basement to the upper floor of his rented house. The light within was dim, the sun shut out by heavy draperies made it almost passable to be up at 11 a.m. Cocking his head to one side, LaCroix listened for the heartbeat he had come to know in last four years. It was there, coming from the garage. "Benjamin," he said as he entered the attached garage. "Are you there?" He walked to where he knew the boy was. "Professor," came Ben's tear-filled voice from behind the car. He rose shakily to his feet. "Have you heard about...?" "Yes, I know." he opened his arms to the boy, "Mrs. Jasper just called." Ben ran into Lacroix's arms, burying his head in the folds of his robes. The scent of his blood rose, filling LaCroix with the temptation to take him now. "What am I going to do?" Ben sobbed. "You are going to go into the house. You will phone Mrs. Jasper, and you will go home. Continue your life -- your parents would expect no less. They raised you to be a good, strong man. I will be available to you if you need someone to talk to. Besides, there is Katherine to care for. You will have much to do over the next few days. Many friends will be there to help you." "And you." Ben looked up into LaCroix eyes. "I will always be here for you. Always, as if you were my own son." "Thank you." Ben let go of LaCroix and wiped his eyes with the back of his hands. "Come, we must phone Mrs. Jasper." One week later, Lucien LaCroix discovered he was an executor of the Devereaux estate. He would always be involved with the lives of Benjamin and Katherine. (He never intended anything less.) Date: Sat, 22 Feb 1997 20:27:40 -0500 Reply-To: Neil Ira Belsky Sender: Forever Knight TV show stories From: Neil Ira Belsky Subject: Redemption Part Four To: FKFIC-L@PSUVM.PSU.EDU It's been a bit of time, forgive the lateness REDEMPTION PART 4 HONEST EMPLOYMENT When he awoke at sunset the light on his vidphone was blinking annoyingly. He ignored it until he'd finished his toilet and was attired in his usual black traveling clothes. "Monsieur LaCroix," the smiling Thai face of the desk clerk filled the screen. " J'ai un telegram pour vous a Saigon. Vous le desire?" "Oui, s'il vous plait," he answered before he blanked the screen and wondered who knew he was in Bangkok. Moments later a bellhop arrived with the telegram and waited patiently as LaCroix opened it, "Any reply, sir?" "No...no reply." he read as the door closed, "Mon Ami, I have heard you are without gainful employment. That is no way for a man to live, life becomes a tedious round of pleasure, decadence and much, too much fun. I happen to have an opening in my organization which pays very little and demands much of the person occupying the position. If interested please contact me at my office in Saigon. Toujours Janette He smiled, Janette had changed a great deal in the last seventy years. It would be pleasant to see her again. He folded the message as he reached for the phone and got the desk clerk once more. "Mon billet, s'il vous plait. Je vais a Saigon ce soir." The trip from Bangkok to Saigon was short and uneventful. LaCroix tuned out the babble of voices around him as he fingered the telegram. A job in her organization. Janette now ran the Brabant Foundation, turning it from a small private charity to a multinational research foundation and charitable institution. Medical treatments were perfected there, then handed out for pennies to the poor...and free to the destitute. Just what kind of occupation did Janette have open that she thought it would interest him enough to take? It was 8 p.m. the next night when he entered the glass and marble building in central Saigon that housed the Brabant Foundation. Vampires in the lobby, and there were many, stopped a beat at the sight of him. The receptionist almost flew straight to the ceiling as he approached, "Monsieur Le General," she greeted him with a slight, nervous bow. "Madam is waiting, she instructed me to bring you up immediately. Please, follow me." She lead him past a bank of elevators to a private one that she opened with a key. "Madam says this is for you." She handed the key to him. He entered the elevator, noting the buttons started at the fifth floor and up...and the first basement and down. When the door slid open to the penthouse, a blast of noise hit him like a slap in the face. The clack of teletypes and ringing of phones filled the air. Through the mass of machines and people, Aristotle wove his way to him. "LaCroix, I see Janette has taken my advice and called you." "Yes, and I now know how Janette knew I was in Bangkok. Still keeping track of us like so many lost sheep?" "I now keep track of the world." Aristotle beamed with pride. "It's amazing what you can accomplish with a base like this. Nick should have done this long ago, we might still have him with us if he did." "My son was a very private person." slipped from LaCroix's lips like ice covered venom, causing the other vampire to pause, then change the subject. "Madam is this way. By the way, you will find everyone here addresses her as Madam, and since she calls you the General, I would bet that is what you will be called here." They reached the door to the office which Aristotle opened and bade LaCroix to proceed through. Inside was a desk covered with papers and communications equipment and sitting behind it was Janette. Her lovely hair was piled tightly on her head, and she motioned her former master in as she spoke on an old fashioned telephone. "Yes, I know rounding up these insurgents is next to impossible. Yes, I know they are using that pestilence on your men. That is why I am changing you and your crew as soon as possible...No, I believe your replacements will be able to withstand these attacks. The United Nations has been contacted about this germ warfare and once we have enough evidence to prove it, this regime will fall. Thank you, Father Mokombe -- we will get right to it. I may have your answer in front of me, Au revoir." She rose and walked over to LaCroix, her no nonsense manner melting away as she embraced her oldest friend. "General, it is so good to see you." "Mon amour," he released her from their long embrace and gazed down at her business suit and sensible pumps. "I see you have become a leader of sorts." "Oh, more than that. Come with me." She led him through a side door and into her private living quarters. Inside the apartment, the understated elegance reminded LaCroix of his old Janette. He took a seat on a soft, white leather sofa as Janette poured two goblets of "Special Reserve" for them. She handed him a glass and let her fingers stray across his before she settled beside him. "I see you came immediately." "I wanted to see you," He sipped his "wine". "And I wanted to see just what you thought I would find an amusing occupation." "After being a schoolteacher, how would being a general again tempt you?" "I am...intrigued. Tell me more." She rose and began to pace. "Father Mokombe is working with the Brabant Foundation through the Vatican to discover the source of a strange plague in Mali. This plague is truly terrifying and the samples sent to our laboratories were taken from the bodies of our field operatives. It is a man-made disease and the local populace are being used as guinea pigs by the revolutionaries before using it as an all out weapon." "Humans die..." LaCroix was about to start his famous line when Janette cut him off. "With this plague all humans may die. We would be a very hungry lot without our favourite food, and this germ is indiscriminate, animals as well as people die. I, for one, will not starve to death." "This is not all altruism then." "No, but much of it is. How would you like to take a combined troop of men and vampires to Mali and play General again?" "Men and vampires?" "Carefully chosen men, the Enforcers know that I and my people can betrusted. In fact, I have a few enforcers on the payroll. Times have been hard on the community. Many of our elders are gone, unable to cope with a world made so small by technology. I have offered my own form of sanctuary to all who wish to make use of it. Many have." "What catastrophy drove the community into your lovely arms." he truly surprised by this turn of events. "The Rhine Center Discoveries of 2034. Now there are humans who are certifiable psychics whose pornouncements are regarded as truth. One of the elders was almost unmasked in public." Janette sighed. "It took a lot of very tricky manuevering to hide our presence once again. I don't know if it's gratitude or fear that makes so many of the elders indebted to me." "And Aristotle?" "More than ever we need to be safely placed in new lives. Our human associates are open to the community, but they are definitely in the minority." " And my new job." LaCroix settled back into his seat. "The priest will evacuate?" "You will meet him once, then he and all his minions will be gone. You will have complete control of the action." "This will be amusing." He smiled, at times like this he could still feel the heft of his sword in his hands. "We will," Janette's voice cut through this reverie. "supply you with food, and all military ordinance you need. The Brabant Foundation will be in communication with the United Nations, so Aristotle will give you all the identification you need." "I accept. There is no pay, is there?" "Not a sou. We will, however, keep Professor Rood alive for you and your new family. You must tell me about them someday." "Someday, I may. But not today." She reached over and took his hand in hers. Janette had become his equal, weilding a power in the mortal world which the community feared to quash. "Mon amour, je t'aime toujours. Tu etes le pere de ma coeur." He enfolded her in his arms. She who was his daughter was now his peer. Orphans all, they had made themselves a new family. This is what it felt like to come home. Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 13:40:01 -0500 Reply-To: Neil Ira Belsky Sender: Forever Knight TV show stories From: Neil Ira Belsky Subject: Redemption5 To: FKFIC-L@PSUVM.PSU.EDU It's been a busy time and if anyone has been waitng with baited breathe, I'm humbly sorry. Thanks again to Bonnie and Neil for help and inspiration and TPTB for creating LaCroix REDEMPTION PART 5 Revelations LaCroix watched the lights of New York appear out of the windows of the deBrabant plane. The open briefcase on his lap was filled with files containing research on a genetic mutation causing the increased frequency of spinal deformities in middle eastern countries. Meetings were arranged with CARE, WHO and other organizations dealing with children that would need his input. Once, he would have simply culled the herd, but that wasn't what was done anymore. The steward walked down the aisle with a serving of 'special reserve' and a printout for him. "General," the steward said "this has just come in for you. It is labeled "Confidential"." "Very well." He took the printout and waved the steward away. It was a message from Janette. Mon General- It would appear that your protege has graduated from West point, 4th of 563 in the class of 2085. He was opted for a commission in the army medical corp and enrolled in Georgetown University Faculty of Medicine. Cherie, this one has a mind of its own. Do not hurt yourself again. Janette. He crushed the paper in his hand. He slammed the briefcase shut. The landing at LaGuardia was swift and uneventful, and a quick helicopter ride deposited him at the UN heli-pad mere moments later. The trip would have been quicker still under his own power. He cast longing eyes at the skyscrapers above him and sighed. The advent of personal flying devices had made his power almost common. "General LaCroix," a voice broke through his reverie, "I am Hector MacMillan of the World Health Organization.," The man proffered his hand. LaCroix only stared at him until he dropped it. "I have your itinery for the next three days and I have provided you with a suite at the Waldorf'." "I will need immediate access to a secure line-I must contact the Foundation immediately.," LaCroix demanded, brooking no delay as he strode into the building. MacMillan almost ran to keep up with the retreating figure. "I shall have my aide assist you. James,-take the General to the communications centre." "Yes sir. Right this way, sir." within minutes LaCroix was seated before a large colour vid-phone with the face of Janette DuCharme forming on the screen. "Janette, where did you get this information?" he barked at the screen. "LaCroix, I have the world at my disposal here. This particular tidbit came to you as "Professor Rood". When was the last time you checked your mail.?" "I've been busy. You seem to be sending me on a great many of these 'little jobs'." "Well, these children write you quite regularly. Your secretary has been handling it for the last four years. Tonight he came to me with this information, knowing you would be extremely agitated." "Actually," He leaned back, templing his fingers before him. "This may be the perfect time to bring him to me." "LaCroix, have you given careful consideration to this." "My dear, I have been planning this for many years." "LaCroix," Janette almost screamed into the screen. "this boy is almost a negative image of Nicholas. NICHOLAS! He was the biggest mistake of your life." "HE WAS MY SON!" LaCroix barked back. He drew himself up and back as he calmed himself. Then in a low measured voice he continued. "As much as I love you, I now concede that Nicholas needed all of my efforts. Without you there, I shall be able to give Benjamin all my time and energies. He will be my greatest achievement. Farewell, my dear. After this little assignment I will be leaving you." LaCroix blanked the screen. ******************************************************** Janette paused her vidphone and transferred the line over to Aristotle. "My friend, how long will it take me to get to New Haven, Connecticut?" "The connection to New York is simple, less than three hours, but it will be daylight when you arrived, so New Haven would be another five hours on top of that." he replied. "Bien, patch me through to Katherine Deveareaux at Yale, I will be waiting for the call." "For you, Madam, anything." Aristotle's smile helped lift her mood. "Ah, mon ami, if only all my associates were as charming as you," she said as she blanked the screen. *********************************************************** LaCroix opened the door to his suite, expecting MacMillian or his flunky, instead a beautiful young, black woman dressed in a sky blue dress standing before him. "Yes?" he asked as he gazed intently at her face. "You're right, Madam, he hasn't changed since the first day I met him. I believe you.," the girl said. "I knew you would," Janette said as she swept past the girl and into the suite. "LaCroix, I must re-introduce you to your ward. Lucien LaCroix meet Ms. Katherine Deveareaux, and Katherine meet General Lucius of the Emperor Nero's army of conquest." "Janette, what is the meaning of this.?" he seethed. "The meaning of this is Madam DuCharme has told me of your plans for my brother. Not your son...MY BROTHER.!" The girl strode into the room. "We've been your toys all these years." The raw emotion in Katherine's voice was almost painful to the ears. "Well the game ends. Ben is not your Nicholas, he is his own man. A good man. A better man than you could ever be." She was turned her back on LaCroix, shaking with emotion. "I loved you. You were an ideal to live up to-a man of learning who was always available to me. But only electronically -and now I find out all the caring advice came from a secretary!'. You didn't give a good god-damn about me-Only about my brother. Only as a pawn for your twisted, wishful father feelings. LaCroix...you'll never have him." "I will." "No, mon General," Janette cut in, "you will never have this young man. He is under my protection, and he will live out his life as his God intended." "And what do you know of God?" he hissed as he crushed Janette's hand in his own vengeful grip. "I know God exists. I know that somehow I am one of his creations and because of that I have a goal to aspire to. I know that Nicholas was not correct about being cast out-we do that by our own choice and at this moment I am working up my courage to ask re-admitance to His presence." LaCroix let go of her hand. How could he not have forseen this change in Janette. <> he remembered asking and she had replied <> "So you are atoning." LaCroix spit out the words. "I am *achieving*. Someday I will move on. I don't know exactly how or where or when, but I shall be one with my God." "A noble goal, even if your logic is 'impaired'. With lightening speed LaCroix turned and grabbed Katherine by the throat. "And what of this one, Madam? Shall I squash her like the insect she is?" "Your little flower? Didn't you wish she would be another Fleur for you the way Ben was another Nicholas?" Janette reached up and gently took his hand from the girl's throat. "If she is any indication of what her brother has become, than they are too strong to be tricked by you. And if you take Ben by force, you shall suffer more than you ever suffered with Nicholas." LaCroix knew she was right. "I shall take over the meetings tomorrow night." Janette said using her no-nonsense business voice. "I think it best if we part company for the time being." "I have nothing if not time." He smiled and turned back to Katherine. "Little one, the next time I see you, I shall kill you. Believe this,- I shall rip you head off and bathe in your blood." "I believe you. I'll be prepared.' "Do so. Now I ask you both to leave." He opened the door and waited as the women filed out of his room, slamming the door behind them. They could not keep him from his son. He paced the room, finally dropping onto the settee. The lines had become blurred. He had been keeping track of Benjamin and felt pride in his accomplishments. Benjamin's face filled his mind's eye and the boy's love touched his heart. Love freely given. Nicholas had learned to love him also...after centuries. LaCroix realised that he didn't want to have Nicholas by his side, but Benjamin. Yet Benjamin *was* Nicholas, eternally bound yet eternally apart. Date: Thu, 10 Apr 1997 14:03:09 -0400 Reply-To: Neil Ira Belsky Sender: Forever Knight TV show stories From: Neil Ira Belsky Subject: Redemption 6 To: FKFIC-L@PSUVM.PSU.EDU The end is near, oh patient folk, only one more piece after this. Thanks again to Neil, Bonnie and TPTB for giving me sucxh nice characters to work with. REDEMPTION Part 6 Turnabout LaCroix began searching immediately, and ran into a wall of silence so thick and impenetrable that he could find no trace of Benjamin Deveareaux. Janette, using Aristotle's skills to their fullest, had wiped his son's existence from the face of the earth. The community had closed ranks against him. Too much of their safety was tied to the deBrabant Foundation. Their safety was tied to the deBrabant Foundation, and the world offered so few places to hide. The silicon chip and as well as the irritating human ambition of cataloging the universe had pushed the world of the vampire into the ever shrinking edges of the unknown. The deBrabant Foundation allowed the community to hide in plain sight, and sometimes that was the safest place to hide. There were renegades. A few individuals who refused to be touched by Madame DuCharme. Many of them viewed LaCroix as Janette's pawn for the years he had worked for the Foundation. When he heard that, LaCroix turned his back on the community and went to the only other avenue of help there was...he went to the humans. Without really realizing it, the years slipped by. LaCroix felt something he had never truly felt before...loneliness. ****************** It was after midnight. Lucas Cross was still in his office-workshop at King's College, University of Western Ontario. Once again playing at being the academic, LaCroix chose to be an expert on military history and a restorer of old weapons. UWO was a haven for him, the center of the corridor of population that stretched from Toronto, Ontario to Detroit, Michigan. London, Ontario was big enough to have all the amenities of the large, metropolitan areas but small enough to be ignored by most of the community. It had been many years since he had last played at being an academic, LaCroix hoped his current occupation would keep him far from his former colleagues. Using several pseudonyms, he kept in contact with the FBI, Interpol, the RCMP and other police agencies worldwide. This way, if the names of Benjamin or Katherine Deveareaux appeared on any files he would have immediate access to them. The names never appeared. Janette had succeeded beyond all expectations. LaCroix held a saber in his hands. The markings on it were Russian, for it was a souvenir of the Napoleonic invasion of that country. It had been sent to UWO from a private collection, a donation for tax purposes. Soon it would be sitting on a dusty shelf in a box adorned with a small brass plaque, never to serve its rightful purpose. LaCroix polished it, honed it, and brought it back to it's original, lethal state. Gently he lay the saber in it's velvet-lined case. He didn't look up to the sound of the workshop door opening. "Yes." "I have a confederate rifle here, found in the foundation of an old barn near Durham, North Carolina." The lazy drawl roused LaCroix. "It was brought to my laboratory and I had it psychometrized. My reader gave me a really incredible interpretation, precog rather than postcognative, one I almost disregarded. Thing is, in my line of work I can never ignore a strange reading." LaCroix turned to face his old colleague, James Hong. "I was told that I would find an old friend, untouched by time but battered by life. I should look to the cross and new avenues of research would open up to me. Silly me, I thought that meant I should look into religious phenomenon." "James." LaCroix barely recognized Dr. Hong. The once lithe frame carried at least fifty extra pounds, and his hair had changed from black to white. He looked more like a tenured professor now than when he was a wild-eyed visionary. "Lucien Rood, or is that Lucas Cross? You haven't changed one iota since I first meet you thirty one years ago. Just what are you, sir?" "Something you probably never imagined existed. A creature who is beginning to feel, after almost 2200 years, that I have no place to exist." James reached for a chair and settled himself for a long session. "I have all the time in the world." "James," LaCroix shook his head, "You have absolutely no idea how often I've said that." It was a long night, and James Hong listened as LaCroix spoke openly about the past. A small black book that he used for the recording of remand thoughts was soon filled with scribbling about this newest and oldest of phenomena. "Once, I would not have let you leave this room alive, James. You now officially 'know to much to live.'" LaCroix rose from his seat and checked the coffee maker that his graduate students had left in the cupboard. The coffee didn't look too old, so he poured a cup and handed it to Hong. "Once I was a proud and vicious creature of the night who would have snapped your neck and drained your blood before your heart had stopped beating." "What is so different now?" James asked as he accepted the coffee. "Why have you revealed all your secrets to me?" "Truthfully, I was never lonely before. As a child I was always surrounded by people; family, servants and then soldiers. After Divia brought me across, I built my own family. The community was always there. I can always tell when I am near one of my compatriots. There are two on the faculty here, you know. You are probably in more danger from them than from me. I cannot approach them without revealing myself. I am anathema. I can't be trusted because of Benjamin, because of Nicholas. And James, there are times when I am so lonely. Aristotle must know where I am. He sits like a spider in his worldwide web and nothing escapes his notice." "Have you contemplated going off-planet?" James looked at his friend with pity. "There is that mining colony on the moon which is forever looking for qualified personnel. You could teach." "Off-planet? There are four elements in this world - earth, air, fire and water. Very alchemistic you might think. I am a creature of the earth. My feet feel best when touching Gaia's face. Fire can kill me, and the fire that is the sun beats down upon the moon without even an atmosphere to deflect it away. How far would it reach down to find me...kill me. No, I will stay here. I often wonder how long this 'penance' will be." "Imposed by Madame DuCharme?" "Imposed by...me. I most likely could return, hat in hand, and be accepted by the Foundation, but my pride sustains me. I will not kowtow to Janette." "Lucius, the sun will be rising in less than an hour. I want to see you again tomorrow. There is someone I want you to meet, the psychometrist who sent me to you. She is very good. I believe she may help you if your open to it. The thing is, I do not want to see Benjamin Deveareaux hurt." "I will not hurt him. I cannot. Nicholas always wanted his humanity back and he never attained it in his lifetime. Somehow his soul has conquered Pluto and all the forces of Hades to become mortal again. I will not take that from him, but I will offer the night as an option to him." "And if he does not take that option?... If Benjamin decides to live and die in this frail existence we call life?" "Then, he shall. I will not take him against his wishes. I didn't the first time. I did, however, catch him in a moment of weakness. I now wonder if it was his weakness...or mine." Dr. Hong rose from his chair, trying to hide the shaking of his knees. Before him was a vampire...a supernatural creature. James Hong had made a career working with the supernatural and proven it supernormal. If there were ghosts, espers and all things parapsycholgial, why not vampires.? Yet this was Lucius Rood, an old friend and a very sad specimen of humanity. He was human, a different facet of human, but a human none the less. "Doctor, I'm staying at the Armories. The oldest and the best hotel in town." "Yes, it is. So?" "Meet me there tomorrow at 7:30 and I may have something for you." He extended his hand to LaCroix. "I shall be there," LaCroix took Hong's hand in his. "After all, I must either trust you or kill you. By tomorrow, if I still live, I shall decide." ************************* LaCroix entered the Armories from the Dundas Street entrance, passing through the steel and glass tower which rose from the old granite depot which had once been an actual armory for the army regiment once stationed in the town. Hong was seated in the lounge with a young girl next to him, he waved LaCroix towards them when he saw him. "Lucas Cross, I want you to meet one of my associates. This is Siona Bell." "Charmed." LaCroix nodded to the girl who smiled serenely at him. "Siona is a post-cognitive, a psychomatrist. It was she who suggested we come to London and have you examine the rifle." "Yes," the girl interrupted Hong, "I knew that we had to go to the cross. I didn't know that the cross was Lucas Cross. I found your name on the net when I knew I must find someone to restore that old rifle. Your name jumped off the screen and I knew you were the cross I'd have to bear." She smiled at her little joke. "Now you have found me. What do you want now?" He looked at this slightly giddy young woman, bright and full of life. She was a temptation, but such things were not done anymore. "I want to 'read' you. I want to hold your hand and tell you what I see." Siona reached for LaCroix's hand and would have had it if not for his vampiric speed. "There are a few things I would like to keep secret, my dear, I think my hand is out of the question. Wouldn't you agree. James?" "I must agree with Dr. Cross." Hong hastily agreed. He could not imagine what Siona would pick up in such a reading. Could a psychic's mind become overloaded? "Perhaps a surface look, would Lucas's watch do the trick?" "I guess it will have to, if that's all I'm allowed." She pouted a bit, but brightened as LaCroix removed an antique Rolex from his wrist and handed it to her. She closed her eyes as she gently stroked the watch, opening up her mind to the impressions it gave her. Suddenly she stiffened, emitting a small squeak. Siona's hand spasmed around the watch, holding in a vise-like grip. Hong grabbed at the girl, as amazed by her reactions as he was afraid of their consequences. Siona dodged his arms, then opened her eyes and stared hard into LaCroix's face. "You are a fraud."The words slithered from her lips. "You are still hiding in your self-created hell. There you will remain unless you are willing to take the responsibility of the task waiting for you." "And what would that task be?..." LaCroix said in a tired and exasperated tone. "You must be about your son's business. You must take the reins of leadership once more, this is not the time to hide in obscurity. Action is now called for. She has found her peace, he has found his mission, she has attained her goals and you must return. Janus awaits you...in Saigon." With that, Siona Bell let the old Rolex slip from her fingers, dropped her head to her chest and became limp. James Hong held Siona close to him, gently calling to her to come back from her trance. LaCroix watched in stunned silence. The girl spoke in riddles, but the meaning was clear. It was time to move on, but this time not of his own volition. The girl was an oracle. "James, this was truly enlightening." "Truly frightening. What did she mean by that? Have you any idea what all that meant?" He turned back to the girl. "She seems to be okay. Siona, how are you feeling?" "I'm okay, but I don't remember anything about this reading." "That's quite all right, my child.," LaCroix answered her gently. "It was a message meant specifically for me. Now, I must be going. I have much to do in the next few days. James, you are still at Duke. I'll leave you any news there. Siona, I thank you for this entertaining evening." "You're going to Saigon!" James Hong looked at LaCroix in puzzlement. "You trust me enough to let me know this?" "Who would believe you if you said anything? I may need you in the future as an ally. And yes, I am going to Saigon." Stay Calm Be Brave And wait for the Signs (Jasper Friendly Bear at the Dead Dog Cafe) Date: Thu, 17 Apr 1997 01:06:43 -0400 Reply-To: Neil Ira Belsky Sender: Forever Knight TV show stories From: Neil Ira Belsky Subject: Redemption 7/7 To: FKFIC-L@PSUVM.PSU.EDU REDEMPTION Part 7 ACCEPTANCE LaCroix walked through the streets of Saigon for hours. More than once he passed the shiny facade of the deBrabant Foundation, surveying 'the battlefield' so to speak. Did Janette feel his passing? Did Aristotle follow his movements with his all seeing computer eyes? Did it even matter? LaCroix had not used his usual aliases when he bought his ticket to Vietnam, it would have sent flags up all through the community. He used the name Joseph Patrick Brown, copied from a tombstone. It was as close to John Doe as he cared to get. When he entered the lobby at 4 a.m. there was only a human security guard at the desk. LaCroix raised his elevator key with its deBrabant key chain and was waved though by the man. As before, the elevator ride to the penthouse was short and the doors opened to the noisy penthouse floor. As he stepped out of the lift the noises of work stopped. LaCroix looked about, maintaning the arrogant pose that was expected of him but which he no longer felt within. Without speaking, he walked to Janette's office door, then entered without knocking. Aristotle looked up at him from behind the desk. "What are you doing here?" LaCroix did his best to hide his astonishment. "My job," replied Aristotle. "Although if you're here rather than in Canada, I can't be doing it well." "Where is Madame? Or are you just a temporary replacement?" LaCroix seated himself opposite the non-plussed vampire occupying his daughter's chair. "Madame is no longer here. She has found alternate employment and is currently happy with her new situation." Aristotle shuffled some papers on the desk. "She left me an address for you. It is not a letter, only an address. If you choose to go see her it is entirely up to you." He handed LaCroix a paper with Janette's elegant scrawl across it. "If you choose to go, I will supply transportation. It's what Madame would want." "Thailand. I thought she preferred a country riddled with tunnels, just in case a quick exit was needed." He folded the paper and slipped it into his pocket. "I will take you up on the offer of transportation, but I must be leaving now. The sun will soon be up." "Stay. Your apartment is still here. Madame never had it changed, only cleaned once a week. She always hoped you would return. Janette loves you LaCroix. Funny thing, she found something she loves even more." Aristotle rose from his chair. "I was never meant for this job. Kate did it so well, she and Janette had this place running like a well oiled machine. I miss them both." "Kate?" "Yes, Kate Deveareaux. Of course she became Caitlin deBrabant-Hastings here. She died two years ago, one of those parasites we tend to forget about because they no longer effect us. Janette offered to bring her across, but Kate said no. She died duirng the day. Janette stayed with her until the end, swathed in so many layers of clothing she looked like she was in a cocoon. Maybe she was, because after Kate died she left this cocoon and went out into the world again." This was not what LaCroix expected to hear. "Where is the child buried?" "In the lobby, to the right of the security desk. You'd better hurry, the sun will rise at 5:45 today. I'll see you later, it's been a long night. I'll have your rooms readied and the fridge stocked." He rose and opened the door for LaCroix. "Ignore the staff - they've been raised on stories with you cast as the bogeyman." "Quite a role to play, I hope I've lived up to my billing." "Guaranteed. I embellished it a bit, just to keep you properly evil. You know you've been quiet lately." "Yes, I know." LaCroix returned to the lobby and walked to the right of the security desk where a niche was carved in the marble wall. Inside stood an urn containing Katherine Deveaureaux's ashes, engraved with the word "PAX". To the left hung a portrait of Kate with a man leaning over her shoulder and two young children embraced in her arms. To the right, a plaque. Caitlin deBrabant-Hastings Beloved Sister, Wife and Mother "You are the sunshine of my life. I would always be around you" "So you are the 'she' who is at peace. I've missed your life by my actions. Were you a strong woman, my little flower? You made an impression here, Aristotle was close to waxing poetic. Sunshine - there are times even I crave it. And you, Katherine, had it within you." ********************************** Bangkok hadn't changed in centuries. The streets were still crowded and noisy. Sex remained the main business in this quarter; little girls and boys were still bought and sold to wealthy tourists as they had been for centuries. LaCroix was assaulted by the noises around him, the crush of humanity, the smell of life. The street map gave the location of Janette's home, but he had as yet to find it. Centuries of urban renewal had only jumbled this neighborhood past all recognition. Pausing by an alleyway, he felt a stirring deep within him. Janette was near. LaCroix turned into the alley and found a rickety door in the back fence with the words "DeBrabant Foundation Rescue Mission" written in five different languages on it. The door lead to a courtyard filled with young people of both sexes, all preoccupied with personal business. A classroom arrangement taught simple mathematics. A canteen passed out food and clothing. A nurse was checked waiting patients before the door of a clinic, dosing some and sending others to a doctor for further study. "They are all whores, as I once was." Janette's voice came from behind him. "So this is 'attainment'?" LaCroix turned to face his daughter/lover. "Yes, this is attainment." She smiled at LaCroix. Dressed in jeans and a cotton blouse, her hair pulled back into an old-fashioned chignon, Janette looked very much the busy administrator of just such an establishment. "I rove the streets, offering a way out. Sometimes this way, occasionally the way you gave me." LaCroix, taken aback by this revelation, furrowed his brow. "Do not look so surprised, I never regretted being what I am, but it takes a special type of person to live as we do." "So, you have found your place." "For the time being. We have so *much* time. Later I will go another place, but I will always be here for the lost ones. It is what I do best. I never knew before, but it is my special gift." She reached out, circled LaCroix's waist with her arm and propelled him to the left. "Let me give you the ten cent tour." She laughed and her face lit with pride at the crowded compound filled to bursting with the debris of humanity she had saved from sexual servitude. As they walked, Janette would stretch her hand out to touch the top of a head or a shoulder. LaCroix's respect for his old protege grew with the sight of each accomplishment this mean, little mission was achieving. "I have someone for you to meet here." Janette lead LaCroix into the clinic. A young person, a vampire actually, was seated behind the desk. "Josie, this is the General. Is the doctor busy?" "Yes, Madame." Josie bobbed her head when she answered. "He will be finished shortly. Do you want me to interrupt?" "No, we shall wait." Janette said as she checked the files laying on the desk. "It shouldn't be long." It was then the door opposite them opened and the doctor saw his patient out. The doctor was a tall man, growing thick with middle age, his hair was thinning on top and peppered with white throughout, yet the dark eyes that shone out from his handsome black face had not changed since the day LaCroix first saw him at the age of twelve. "Benjamin," LaCroix whispered. "Doctor Benjamin Nicholas," Janette smiled. "I thought I'd combine the two names when I gave him his new identity." "So you are like Madame, Professor Rood." Benjamin walked up to his old friend, looked him up and down, then opened his arms in invitation. LaCroix entered his embrace. The thrumming of Benjamin's heart filled LaCroix's ears, his scent enveloped LaCroix like a sweet perfume. LaCroix pulled away before he became lost in the aura of his son. "Doctor Nicholas. I knew you had became a doctor, but I had imagined a specialty, such as surgery, or some more glamorous field." LaCroix scanned the clinic. "This is general practice." "My superiors felt I would be a good first contact physician. I check the people and make sure the get the proper treatment or are sent to the right specialist." "Your superiors. That would have been the United States Army, but that was many years ago." "I'm in a different army now." Ben walked to a coat rack and lifted a Roman collar from one of the hooks. "This is about all the uniform I wear now." "Yes," Janette broke into the conversation. "I had to convince the Society of Jesus that Father Benjamin Nicholas, M.D., S.J. could be of great service to the deBrabant Foundation Mission here in Bangkok. I know the right people in Rome to talk to." "A Jesuit!" LaCroix expected many things, but not that his son was a priest. "It's what I was meant for." Ben laughed. "I was drawn to this life since the beginning. Don't look so astonished Professor. If, and only if, I am the reincarnation of a Crusader I was always part of God's army, or maybe just Rome's black army." LaCroix said nothing, just stared at Benjamin. Then he turned abruptly and walked out of the clinic. Ben started after him but Janette held him back. "Don't. Let him assimilate this in his own time." LaCroix strode to the middle of the compound and not caring who saw him and took to the sky. Up, up he rose. Past the buildings and smokestacks and smog that covered the city. Out towards the fields and jungles that surrounded Bangkok. "You have beaten me, Nicholas!" he screamed at the moon. "There wasn't any other occupation you could possibly have chosen that would be so anathema to me!" He dived into the jungle, scattering the animals and terrifying the humanity that saw him. On and on he traveled, smashing anything that crossed his path until he finally stopped and sat upon a rock jutting from a cliff side. It was there that Janette joined him. "That was quite a display. I take it you are bent on creating a few new nightmares for the children around here." "Begone. I shall sit here and wait for the sun." "You! You are the last person I could imagine ending up a pile of smoldering ashes to be blown away by the morning breeze." Janette laid her hand upon his shoulder. "Nicholas was having a drunken debauch when we found him, disillusioned by the carnage of Jerusalem. Once he told me that the life of a monk must be a wonderful thing, but one he was forever denied. He was never meant to be a vampire, but I was too foolish to see that. I saw only a golden haired knight with blue eyes and laughing lips. The laughter died much too soon. You, my arrogant love, refused to admit defeat. If Nicholas hadn't been the Roman Catholic he was, he wouldhave committed suicide sooner than he did. I have no love for Mother Church, she was never there when I needed her. Nicholas, however, was Her defender, Her knight. And he still is, within Benjamin." "You make it seem somewhat palatable." LaCroix shook his head, then took Janette's hand in his own. "I concede. I made a mistake in Nicholas. I will not do the same to Benjamin. Now I am 'put in my place', as the saying goes." "But I do not believe your place is sitting here, on a rock, waiting for the sun to rise." Janette stood up. "Come back to my apartment. You don't have to see Benjamin if you don't want to. He will not interfere with you at all. There is a place for you, my General. Aristotle is not meant to lead the deBrabant Foundation. He isn't happy there. You have the skill and expertise to do that." "An interesting proposal. And if I say no?" "I will have to go back, and I am not ready for that. Katherine should be doing this, but..." Janette's voice trailed off, then returned with renewed vigor. "Her husband, Taylor, is heading the branch in Sydney. He must have time for Kate's children. I will have to go back, if you won't consider it." "I will consider it, if you will be with me for a little while. After that, you could go anywhere you please. It seems that the Fates have tangled my string so tightly with Nicholas deBrabant that I shall never escape him in this world." LaCroix stood up and took Janette's hand once more. "I believe I shall avoid the next one for sometime some time to come. Perhaps I have found that this is my place too. I shall work for Nicholas and offer it to the gods for his redemption. It is what he wants, I find I can deny my son nothing." ************************** There is a plane of existence that is far from this one, but close enough that all of us will eventually reach it. It contains a path that leads to a shining light. Those who enter that light never return again. Usually. Katherine, Don, Fleur, Donna, Philip...Natalie wait, joyous in the knowledge that the circle will soon be closed Who is to say that second chances are not possible. Anything is possible, if your heart is willing, and if your soul is strong. ************************************************************ Thank you for your patience. It's finally over. Archive, copy, read and enjoy. Lee Belsky Stay Calm Be Brave And wait for the Signs (Jasper Friendly Bear at the Dead Dog Cafe)