Date: Wed, 29 Jun 1994 02:33:34 EDT The Guilt Trip (A Prequel to Nightie Knight) written by January Tavel ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Natalie Lambert sat up in bed. She hadn't imagined it; someone was knocking at her door. "At this hour!" she thought. It was nearly 5:00 a.m. and the sun had not yet come up. Natalie groggily got out of bed and made her way to the front door of her apartment. There was another knock. "Hold on, I'm coming," she called and wrapped her bathrobe tightly around her body. Sidney met her at the door. "You awake too?" she asked as she unchained the door's lock. Nat opened the door and her brow creased. Before she could say anything, there was a hand at her throat. She tried to twist away but her actions were futile. "Why?" she choked as her assailant's grip tightened. But she received no answer--only cold evil eyes staring back at her. The intruder's head bent to meet Natalie's neck and slowly she felt the life being drained out of her. *** "Man oh man!" Schanke thought. "Where is he?" It had been hours since Natalie's body had been found sprawled out on her apartment floor. She was nearly dead--most of her blood drained from her body. Schanke shivered. It was eerie. Nat had been taken to the hospital and the medics had found signs of strangulation and two small holes in her neck. The was no way she could have lost that much blood *that* way. Besides, there wasn't a speck of blood to be found in the apartment. This, however, was not what concerned Schanke at the moment. Nick had not reported in for duty that night and Schanke had called his loft numerous times that day but to no avail. Nick had to be notified. He and Nat were close; Schanke knew it, and besides, he also knew Nick would want to help him with *this* case. Schanke thought for a moment. Yes, he would got to the loft personally. "After all," he mused, "this is important." Schanke soon arrived at the loft and left himself in. After all, Nick wouldn't mind. "Nick? Hey, Mr. I'm Too Cool To Pick Up The Phone! Nick, we need to talk." Schanke called as he looked around. He sighed. "I have some bad news," he said softly, realizing Nick was not there. "Well," he said scratching his head, and looking critically over the apartment once again, "maybe you left me a note?" He began nosily searching drawers and stacks of paper. Doing hard work always seemed to make Schanke hungry and this was no exception. "Well," he thought, "let's see what Nick's got in the fridge." Schanke opened the refrigerator door and frowned in dismay. "What have I told you about keeping red wine in the refrigerator?" he murmured to himself, taking out one of the bottles. He poured himself a glass of what he thought was wine. But before he took a sip, a strange smell met his nose. He sniffed the "wine" thoughtfully. Yes, the odor was strangely familiar. He dipped the end of his finger in the liquid and tasted it. Horrified, he set the glass down. Schanke looked once again into the fridge. There were *bottles* of the stuff! "Man oh man," he said, sitting down on Nick's leather sofa. Schanke knew he had an over-active imagination, but still... It did not look good for Nick. Not only had Nat's blood been drained from her body through two small holes in her neck, but Nick, who was nowhere to be found, had bottles of blood in his refrigerator. He also had a "skin condition" and could only work at night! "No. No. Slow down, Don," Schanke told himself. "There has to be a reasonable explanation for all of this! There is no way Mr. Goodie-Goodie-I Can't Lie-Nick could be a... a..." "Oh man oh man!" "Now wait," Schanke rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "the only way you can solve this is to find Nick! Now where would Nick go to hide out?" Schanke mused. Then it dawned on him. Where did Nick take him when he needed a place to hide? Schanke smiled. He knew where Nick was. ----------------------------------- To be continued.....