Subject: Ancient Circles (1/17) Date: Fri, 2 Jun 2000 07:38:42 CEST From: Simone Nicole Dornecker To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU Author's Notes: This is my very first piece of fan fiction and its even not in my native language. So if you stumble over strange sentences or something like that, just blame it on my German upbringing, ok? Many many thanks to my beta readers Jan, who alpha-readed the first nine parts, Emily, who commented the first nine and Jenieve who beta-readed the whole 17 parts, corrected spelling and grammar mistakes and suggested changes and additions. Thank you for you patience with me and for your comments about the story. It has helped me a lot and I have to admit that I was nervous as hell. Disclaimers: Forever Knight and all its character don't belong to me but to TBTB (although they don't deserve them). Rachel Allyson belong to me and if you want to play with her, please ask me first. Permission is given to achieve at Mel's FKfanfic achieve, the FTP site, and to the N&NPacker achive (if you want it) Anyone else please ask (I won't bite, I just want to know where it goes to.) Warning: This story got completely out of my hands, took some turns I never thought possible and kept surprising me while writing it. Sometimes it is really, really silly. I couldn't help it, but now you are warned. This story takes place somewhere at the beginning of the third season (early February 1995), but the plane crash never happened. Schanke moved to Calgary, Cohen is still Captain and Nick is short one emotional trauma. This story is dedicated to my grandfather, who died at the 15th of October, 1999. He had terminal cancer. Several people in this story carry bits and pieces of his personality. The dog, Nyko, really exists and belonged to him. BTW, the pinning incident did really happen (to me !). I appreciate any and all feedback Just be gentle, its my first attempt of writing fanfic. ANCIENT CIRCLES by Simone Nicole Dornecker (1/17) part one Wolf The surroundings were strange, noisy and he didn't like the smell here. But he was needed here, he had a purpose in this unfamiliar terrain. It would hurt him, but he always survived and it would hurt HER, but it was necessary. A soft breeze caressed his fur as the wolf searched for his goal. *** He looked down at the man at his feet. He was a good choice, young, strong and healthy. The man struggled against his bonds but there was no way to escape, he had made sure of it. Yes, he was a good choice. He smiled. Tonight his children would have a feast. *** Natalie was exhausted. The number of her 'regular' customers had skyrocketed Now it looked like a bunch of wild animals had escaped from the zoo and were tearing people to shreds. It gave her the creeps. The worst thing was, it only looked like a bunch of wild animals. None had escaped, that would have been reported. No animal would dispose the bodies in the way they had been found. Natalie pinched the bridge of her nose. The killer was simply too clever to be an animal. It had to be human. She looked at the body on her table and her stomach lurched. How could a human being do such a thing ? And how was it done ? She looked again at the pitiful remains of a corpse and her professionalism kicked in. This body was in better shape than the others, maybe she could find her answers here. Three hours later she was on her way to Nick's and hopefully some nice videos. She really needed that now. She had been right. The body had given her some answers. Horrible answers. The victim had been tied up before he was killed, so there was a serial killer out there, but the victim was killed by animals. She had been able to detect some teeth marks which looked like they belonged to a carnivore of some sort, but she couldn't say which. She would need to do some comparison studies. A serial killer who used animals as murder weapons, how perverted! She drove, distracted mulling over her findings. She slammed on her breaks, but saw the dog too late, it never had a chance. There was a sickening sound as the car collided with the animal. "Oh my God !" Natalie leaped from the car and ran to the dog. The canine was gray, white and huge. It was lying in the street, but still alive. It growled when she reached out for it and then it jumped on it's feet, bit Natalie on her outstretched right hand and disappeared to a small alley. Natalie was shocked. She looked from the place where the dog had been lying to the alley and then to her bleeding hand. The bite was deep and clearly visible on her hand. It looked really ugly. That was when it started to hurt. And it hurt a lot. Where was her first aid kit ? Damn, she knew where it was: out of reach. The bleeding was heavy. She knew she should go to the hospital, but it was far too long to drive with an injured hand. What should she do ? Natalie fumbled in her pockets until she could reach her cellphone. She grit her teeth as she dialed his number. "Knight." "Hi Nick, I need your help." "Natalie? What happened ?" "I've had a little accident. I need you to take me to hospital." There was a small pause in the line. "I'm coming." And then the line went dead. Natalie wondered how he would find her, he didn't know, where she was and she didn't had a chance to tell him. A soft whoosh told her, that he had found her. "Natalie ?" He looked at her bleeding hand and suppressed his needs at once. His nostrils flared. "You were attacked by a wolf ?" "A wolf ?" Natalie was stunned. "I thought it was some kind of dog !" He shook his head no. "How do you know it was a wolf ?" She asked curious. He flashed her a small embarrassed smile. "I can smell it." She clenched her hand unconsciously and then winced at the pain. He looked at her, at her bleeding hand and decided that he could fill her in on details later. Now it was important to get Nat to the hospital. Fast. He took her car keys and locked the doors. Nat squealed in surprise as he gathered her into his arms and took to the air. The wind rushed through her hair, but she barely noticed. He was taking her flying ! He had never done that before ! Maybe the whole accident wasn't half bad. She snuggled closer to him, buried her face in his chest to hide her smile. Nick looked at her, watching her smile. He liked it when she was smiling. It made him feel whole. Far too soon the hospital came into sight. He landed out of sight of the people in the parking lot and walked with Nat to the entrance. *** It was done. His body still hurt from the impact, but he was healing already. He could go home now. Now others would do their deed and once again everything would be alright. The old mistake would be eradicated. *** Her hand hurt and Natalie made quite a face as the doctor examined it. It was a nasty bite wound that would require several stitches. The local anesthesia made her whole hand feel numb. She answered the doctor's questions, and distantly watched him place her stitches. After she had received the usual rabies and tetanus shots and her hand was securely wrapped in ace bandages, she finally was released form the hospital. It was nearly dawn by now. Nick was forced to fly at top speed to reach the loft before sunrise. *** Natalie agreed as Nick suggested to have her car towed to a garage, but she refused as he asked her to call a cab. She didn't want to go home. The whole incident had shaken her more than she wanted to admit. She didn't want to be alone right now, she wanted to snuggle to his chest, wanted him to hold her, make her feel safe and secure, until she would fall asleep. With a sigh she curled in his lap and was soon sound asleep. Nick sat absolutely still, embracing the lovely warm body in his arms. He looked at her and sighed. She was so beautiful, so breathtaking and he loved her. How often had he thought about telling her about his love ? So many times. How often had he stopped himself from doing so ? Way too often. The whole situation was impossible. He couldn't tell her the truth. It was too dangerous for her. A vampire couldn't make love to a mortal without killing her or him in the heat of passion. The only thing he could do now was admire her secretly. His thoughts were lost in her heartbeat. It's sweet gentle rhythm luring him. He wanted to drown in the smell of her blood. Oranges, vanilla and cinnamon it called to him. He wanted to taste it, longed to taste it. Just a drop, a small sip. He shook his head. His fangs were descending and his eyes had taken on the vampire's golden hue. He turned away thankful that Nat hadn't seen his moment of transgression. He had to move away from her now. Carefully he slipped out of the embrace and fetched a blanket to cover her. Then he fled to the relative safety his bedroom and willed himself into sleep. *** Nat woke with a start. She looked around, noticed that it was only noon by now. Something had woken her. Something wasn't right. Then she heard it. The small sound, a whimper really, was coming from Nick's bedroom. Curious she got up and moved to the staircase. Slowly she tiptoed upstairs and peeked in. Nick was in bed, curled in a fetal position. Her heart nearly broke as she listened to the small pitiful noises he made. He looked so lost, so helpless. And yet she couldn't help but notice the outline of his fangs against his lips. They had to be fully descended. Quietly she closed the door and went downstairs. She couldn't help him. Not when his vampire had so obviously emerged. He had warned her, never to startle a vampire, even if she only tried to help. The results would be rather deadly in case. So whatever he was facing in his dreams, he had to face it alone. Sadly she slumped on the couch, drawing the blanket tight around her, seeking some comfort. It was quite early and she was exhausted. She closed her eyes and before she even realized, she was fast asleep. *** Nick glanced down at Nat and shook his head. She was really out of it. He had expected her to be awake by the time he got up but she was still sleeping soundly. "Natalie." No reaction. He bent over her and shook her lightly. "Stop it, Syd. Mommy is really tired." She mumbled, still asleep. He couldn't suppress a grin. Automatically Nat reached out and started to pet what she believed was her cat. He was too stunned to react. No one has ever done this before but.. He closed his eyes, moved closer to her to allow her better access and then he started to purr. His purrs were much deeper than anything Sydney could produce. He knew she might notice, might wake up. But he couldn't stop himself. It felt so good. And as long as she didn't notice he might be able to enjoy it. He couldn't remember when he was this happy or this relaxed. Not only the human part, but the vampire as well. Especially the vampiric part of him. Did it really matter ? Suddenly the stroking stopped. Her increased heartbeat told him, that she was awake. He opened his eyes, meeting her astonished stare. She was redder than a beet and he knew that if he could blush, his color would match hers. What had he thought he was doing? Nat opened her mouth and shut it again. She couldn't believe it. First she awoke, wondering how deep Sydney's purrs had become, only to find out that it wasn't Sydney she was petting, wasn't Sydney who was purring, but Nick ! She blushed deeper. Stroking Nick like he was her cat. Well he had purred like some sort of cat. a small voice in her head said, but she didn't pay attention. Purring like a cat didn't make Nick a cat. She was such an idiot. What would he think of her now ? "I'm sorry." She was thrown back into reality. "What?" "I shouldn't have done that." He looked down at his hands. She was confused. "Done what? Purring when I...when I petted you?" "No, allowing myself to be stroked by you. I didn't think. I...it just felt so good and I... I'm sorry." She didn't understand. Why was he sorry when he had enjoyed it? She asked him. He looked at her perplexed. "Because I've embarrassed you. I..." She couldn't help herself but started to laugh. He looked at her in disbelieve, totally startled by her reaction. "Sorry Nick." She hiccuped. "It's just.. just.. I thought how embarrassed you must feel while you..." And she bursted out laughing again. She lost it, really lost it. Waves of laughter rolled through her body until she struggled for air. Tears of laughter rolled down her face. It took nearly twenty minutes until she was breathing normally except for the hiccups. "So, you liked it ?" She asked him lightly, when she found, she had breath enough. He avoided looking at her and a slight flush of color in his cheeks told her that he was trying hard to blush. "Well, yes. I..I ..nobody has ever done this to me before but...it felt good, really good." He wanted to tell her how good it had felt but he couldn't find the appropriate words. She reached out. "May I ?" He nodded, too stunned to speak. She wanted to do it again ! He gathered her in his lap and waited. Natalie started to pet him with deliberate slow strokes and was rewarded with deep rumbling purrs. She was thrilled. She could feel his chest vibrating with every stroke. This felt so right, so wonderful. She opened her eyes (when had she closed them?) to meet his. His wonderful, half closed, golden eyes. Golden? It was like getting hit with a bucket of ice water. She took a deep breath. "Nick ?" "Hmhmm ?" "Are your eyes supposed to be golden?" "Sorry," he purred, "I can't help it. My eyes have changed, because my beast is happy." With relief she noticed that his teeth were normal but she couldn't help asking "Happy ?" "Hmhmm, relaxed, content and very very happy." And he purred again as if to prove he was telling the truth. It was good to see him this happy, feel him relaxing under her ministrations. And it was definitely good to see him without his incessant guilt. Just happy and total at ease with himself. The phone started to ring evoking loud groans from both of them. Reluctantly Nick answered. Silently Natalie damned the phone and the caller. It had been so wonderful and now that #%!&m$p;@^! thing was going to spoil the mood. It wasn't fair! Nick's face grew serious as he listened to the phone. "I'll come as soon as I can." He hung up the phone. "Nick ?" "That was Cohen. They have found *another* one." Natalie shuddered, thinking about the corpse she had autopsied just 18 hours before. "Our perp is increasing his tempo. The last one died nearly 27 hours ago." "I know. There is not much time until he loses it completely." A chill ran down her spine as she thought about the possible consequences and then cursed her vivid imagination. She didn't want to see one of the shredded ones again. Absentmindedly she scratched her itching hand. Her hand. Ooops. She had already forgotten about the incident. Natalie took a deep breath. "I think I better call in sick. I can't perform an autopsy using my left hand, it would look like a first year med. student had been at it. People would think there is more than one lunatic involved, and they would be right. Except the other one could be located at the morgue." She felt herself blush again and grinned sheepishly. He tried very hard to hide a smile at that picture, but he failed miserably. "I'll give you a ride home, OK ?" "Mmmm, will you stop by after your shift ?" "I'll come, tell you what has happened and tuck you in. Deal ?" She smiled. "Deal." She stood up and gathered her things. to be continued ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Subject: Ancient Circles (2/17) Date: Fri, 2 Jun 2000 07:40:09 CEST From: Simone Nicole Dornecker To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU Disclaimers in part one ANCIENT CIRCLES by Simone Nicole Dornecker (2/17) part two Sorrows The crime scene was crawling with cops when he arrived. He searched the sea of uniforms for his partner. Curious, he still expected to see Schanke hanging around. But the Schankes had moved to Calgary two months ago. He spotted her. She was almost as pale as he was, but with a slight greenish tint. After spending some time with Nat in the morgue, these past few months, she wasn't normally that squeamish anymore. This body had to be worse than the others. "Tracy, you alright ?" She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. "Just give me a couple of minutes, OK ?" "OK." He walked over to take a look at the body. It was worse, in fact it was one of the worst things he had ever seen in his life. It didn't resemble a human being. Except for the occasional bone or body part, that could still be identified as such. This was human debris. Like a gigantic puzzle of blood, bone and tissue, what was left of it anyway. He searched for the coroner on duty and found him, retching in the gutter. Then he noticed the vans. he thought, as he spotted the TV logos . Tracy approached him. "Is it just me or is this the worst crime scene you have ever been too ?" "It isn't just you. Believe me, it is one of the worst things I've seen in my life" Tracy sighed. It didn't make it any better to know that it wasn't her imagination. No, it only made it worse. "Come on, let's start the show." She looked at the grim face of her partner. "And wipe that look off your face. You look like you want to bite someone." Nick flinched. he thought as he followed her. *** He watched the crime scene, well hidden, far enough away that the inhuman one couldn't hear his rapid heartbeat. It had been so easy. He had made his strike and it went well. Now all he could do was wait for the changes to happen. Soon, very soon the Empress would emerge from her bonds and be born anew. She had to be alright. She HAD to be sane. Otherwise he would need the mortal female. The inhuman one would follow her. He dejected to take advantage at a mere mortal woman to bait his trap. Only in emergencies. He had to wait. And he had to be prepared for the inhuman one, he was the key. *** Natalie sat on her couch, Sydney purring in her lap and munched popcorn. She stared at the TV-screen, at her favorite movie, but her mind was elsewhere. In her mind she played the scenes of the last twenty-four hours over and over again. The body, the bite, flying, falling asleep in his arms, watching him helplessly caught in a nightmare, waking up to his purrs. She couldn't help but smiled as she remembered how happy he had been. He was happy, the vampire part of him was happy. So happy and relaxed that he didn't push her away as his eyes changed. And it had felt so right. She counted the minutes until he would knock at her door. Only two hours left. 'Only', Ha, with each second like an eon it would be two very long hours. And she longed to see him again, longed to melt in his arms and hear his single one-every-ten-minute-heartbeat. One hour and fifty-nine minutes. She starred at the TV-screen. *** His children were hungry again. But tonight he couldn't give them what they wanted. Tonight they had to be content with some frightened animals. It wasn't the same, but it had to be enough, for awhile. He couldn't risk exposing himself, or his children, his beautiful children would die. They couldn't live without him. They were so wonderful, animalistic and strong. Yet, they had lost their human sanity. All, but one. And he now understood why. Just as he understood what must be done. At this moment, all he could do was wait. Wait for the Empress to made the changes. He heard the wails of his children. Time to feed. *** "Knight." He heard the tired tone in the captains voice. "Yes, captain?" "I want you and your partner to concentrate only on these 'beast-murders'. All the other cases are backlogged until... " she let the sentence trail off. He would know what she wanted to say. Until you catch him or the media started to forget. "Got it, captain." He tried to smile, but he was tired and he couldn't stop recalling the picture of the body. She noticed that his smile never reached his eyes. He was the picture of a man exhausted. The last few weeks had been hard for all of them, but nobody had earned as much overtime as Knight. He had worked form dusk 'til dawn, every day. She was pretty sure that he would have stayed through the dayshift as well if there wasn't that mysterious sun allergy of his. And now these brutal murders and the animal attack on Dr. Lambert. Any other man would be a wreck just now and even his legendary concentration had started to crumble. "Go home, Knight. It won't do us any good if you collapse from sheer work overload." She was right. He knew she was right and he yearned for sleep, but there was something he had to do first. A promise he had to keep. *** His children hadn't fed well this night. They were wailing for more. But he couldn't give them what they wanted. Soon they would start fighting again. Soon there would be another corpse for him to bury, another dead child for him to mourn. They needed help. His children needed help, more help than he could give them. It was all his fault. His children were dying and it was his own fault. He sat in the darkness, musing and waiting, alone. *** There was a soft knock at the door. Natalie sat up, startled. When had she fallen asleep? She looked at the TV-screen. Blank. Slowly she went to the door. Her body ached, she had to have been sleeping in the wrong position. She opened the door. Nick. He looked tired and weary, but he smiled as he saw her. A tired and sad smile. She let him in, closed the door. "Nick, what's wrong ?" He sat down on the couch. "It was a very bad night." She sat next to him. "How bad?" He looked her straight in the eyes. She saw the look of horror and utter revulsion in his eyes. It had to be bad. "I have seen so many horrible things in 800 years, Nat." He clasped his hands in his lap, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "So many things..," he opened his eyes again, "but this, Nat, this was one of the most horrible things I have ever seen in my whole life." Natalie stuffed a hand in her mouth as she realized just how bad the scene must have been. Now she knew why he was so weary. She pulled him closer to her. Normally he was the one, who held her, comforted her, after a bad night in the morgue. But she hadn't seen the body, the scene tonight, but he had. "I don't understand, Nat. Why do mortals do such things? Why do they have to do it?" Despair tinged his voice. She had no answer for him, because there was no answer. He longed for a life as a mortal, to be free from the urge to hunt, to kill, only to see mortals kill mortals, without reason. Night after night. He couldn't understand. Raw emotion played in his eyes. Natalie watched him thoughtfully. Sometimes the ancient vampire seemed to her more innocent, more human, than humans themselves. Although he would sharply deny any human qualities in himself. All she could do now was hold him and let him feel that he wasn't alone. Nick needed to hold her, to be held by her, his rock, his anchor of trust in an insane world. He needed her, he didn't want to be alone anymore. A small warm body climbed on his lap and began to purr madly. *** Sydney wanted attention and he wanted it now! His mistress seemed to be too absorbed to pay attention and he couldn't reach her lap. But the lap of the male one, well that was a totally different story. His mistresses friend was a bit cold and he smelled funny, but that was no reason not to curl in his lap, at least not for him. Yes, he was right. As soon as he had made himself comfortable in his lap, the friend of his mistress started to pet him. Sydney purred with pleasure, he petted very well, very skillfully. Sydney mused, *** The weight of the cat was surprisingly comforting, Nick noticed. He felt so peaceful here. It seemed so absurd. All the peace here, the calm and quiet happiness against the horror and madness he had witnessed tonight. He didn't want it to end, but his internal clock told him that it was close to dawn. He was hungry. "Nat?" She looked up. The blue of his eyes were sprinkled with small whirling golden dots. "I have to go, Nat." Yes, he had to go. She knew that. He was tired and hungry and a quick glance at the clock told her that dawn wasn't far away. If he didn't go now, he would be trapped until dusk. And she knew how very difficult it was for him to control the vampire around her, especially when he was hungry and exhausted. Reluctantly she released him from her arms. He hesitated for a moment, then gave her a quick kiss on her cheek. "Thank you." "For what?" "For being here, for understanding and for being you." She felt the rush of warmth as she blushed. Natalie sat there, speechless and watched him go. He turned at the door like he wanted to say something, but then he closed the door behind him and was gone. *** The minutes ticked by. Nat sat on her couch until the light of dawn hit her. She blinked in the sudden brightness, then she got up and went to the window. The warm sunlight seemed to embrace her and she watched the sun rising higher and higher, until the fiery ball lit the morning sky in a kaleidoscope of colors. She closed the shades. Automatically she went through the task of making herself ready for bed. Only after she was lying in bed, securely tucked in, did she allow herself to weep. *** His child was dead. Killed by her brothers and sisters. Killed. Torn. Like a rag doll. How long must he wait ? How many children must he bury until he could use the vampire to heal them ? How many ? He didn't know. He really didn't know. And it tore at him. They were HIS. His children and it was HIS fault. How many ? He didn't want to know. *** Her scent hung on his clothes. He noticed the sweet fragrance as he poured himself dinner. Hungry, he was so hungry. Her scent drove him wild, drove him over the edge. A low growl escaped his throat as he finished the bottle. He was still hungry. More! He needed more! So much more! He reached for another bottle and another and another. Only after the fifth bottle did he stop. Finally the hunger was gone. Empty bottles littered the floor and he noticed several bloodstains on his shirt and some blood sticking to his hands. He went to the bathroom. As he washed his hands he automatically glanced in the mirror. Feral red glowing eyes greeted him. Blood was smeared over his face and his lips were stretched over his fangs. There was not a single spark of humanity left in the reflection. The picture was that of an inhuman creature, of something evil. A torn whimper escaped him. Then he noticed her scent. Her scent still hung on his clothes. Natalie. What would she think about him if she could see him now? What would she do? Would she reject him, chase him away like the animal he was, like he dreamed in his nightmares every day? He couldn't stand his refection any longer. He curled himself into the darkest corner of the loft. Trying desperately to hide himself before the truth. But he couldn't escape her scent. He drifted into oblivion. Her scent heavy in his flaring nostrils. to be continued ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Subject: Ancient Circles (3/17) Date: Fri, 2 Jun 2000 07:41:07 CEST From: Simone Nicole Dornecker To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU Disclaimers in part one ANCIENT CIRCLES by Simone Nicole Dornecker (3/17) part three realizations Tonight he would go out again. Call his companions to hunt. Satisfy his children. He wouldn't lose another one tonight. Wouldn't have to bury one tomorrow. *** Natalie slid the elevator door open and cautiously peeked into the loft. Everything was dark and quiet. She didn't like to intrude like this, but she really had to talk to him. "Nick ?" Nothing. "Nick, are you here ?" No answer. She switched on the lights. As soon as the lights went on, she noticed several empty green bottles scattered carelessly on the floor by the refrigerator. He had fed quite heavily, and he hadn't dispose of the bottles like he normally did. Why ? Usually he would hide the empties before she could see them. She scanned the loft. Something was different, but she couldn't put her finger on it. The silence was mocking her, annoying her. Then...a soft whisper filtered from somewhere. Where ? Again she looked around, trying to hear even the quietest of sounds. There ! She found it, found the source of the whispers. A shape in the darkest corner of the loft. Slowly she approached it. The closer she came the more she realized it looked like Nick. Nick, curled into a tight ball, muttering in his sleep and crying silently. Fascinated she watched the blood tears spill down his cheeks. She had never seen him cry before. Red stains marked the path of his tears. She also noticed the dried blood around his mouth and the bloody and rumpled clothes. She stifled a sob of herself. He looked something like an abused and terrified child, frightened, helpless and lonely. Her own eyes burned with unshed tears as she watched him. His whispers became clearer. "...don't...please don't ...I need you.. love you...please...please...don't chase me away...please.." he pleaded. Natalie backed off to watch him. "No, please....don't.." His voice became louder to the point of shouting. "Natalie, please !" And then he screamed. A long agonizing animalistic howl of loneliness, which echoed through the loft. Natalie was heart broken. His nightmare was to be chased away by her! She rushed to him. Maybe it was dangerous, but who cared? He was awake now, panting heavily and crying. "Nick ? Nick, it's OK. It's OK. I'm here. Shhh. I'm here. It's OK." He buried his head in the curve of her neck, she could feel his hot tears drenching her clothes. His body shuddered with sobs, nearly convulsing at times. He reached out for her, clung to her in desperate need. She let him hold her and he nearly crushed her bones with his tight grip. But she didn't protest. She knew he needed her. Her thoughts whirled. He needed her ! He loved her ! And his fear of losing her was overwhelming. His scream. God, she shivered as she remembered the haunting howl. Finally his sobs quieted and he became aware of his surroundings. "Natalie ?" "Shh, it's OK. I'm here. Everything is OK." She soothed him. Nick calmed down. Natalie was here. She was here in his arms. It hadn't been real. It had been a nightmare. A horrible, vivid nightmare. She hadn't chased him away, hadn't called him by dreadful names. She was here. He wasn't alone. New tears welled in his eyes, tears of joy. "Nick ?" "Natalie, you're here." The relief was clearly audible in his voice. "Yes, I'm here. I'm here." He took a deep breath, inhaling her delicious fragrance and shuddered. Hunger overwhelmed him. Although he had fed heavily the previous day, he had lost most of the blood due to his crying. And her scent, her body next to his, was more than he could take right now. The vampire begged to be released, begged to take her, possess her, know her completely. But his desire was too strong and her scent too alluring. With a sob he pushed her away. He couldn't stop his fangs from dropping. Every fiber in his body cried out for her blood, cried out to take her. He used every ounce of self control, every bit of strength to keep himself from attacking her. His body trembled as he fought to control himself. Natalie was taken by surprise when he pushed her away, but then she noticed the tremor and the tension. His eyes were shut tightly, but she knew the reddish light, that illuminated his lashes, came from anger or bloodlust. She saw his hands, clenched in fists, his nails digging in his palms so deeply that they bled. He was fighting to regain control, not to attack her. And he needed blood right now. She ran to the refrigerator, opened it and scanned its contents. There were several bottles of cow's blood left, but she ignored them and went for his emergency stock of donated human blood. He would need it now. She rushed back and pressed a blood bag in his hands. Without hesitation he plunged his fangs in the bag and drained it in a seconds time. He let the empty bag fall and Nat gave him another one. It was gone as quickly as the first one. And still there was no sign of him slowing down. He ravished one pack after another. Finally he stopped. His eyes remained closed, his tension still evident. The reddish glow had disappeared from his eyes, but his fangs were still down. He rocked slightly on his heels, still unable to regain full control of the beast inside him. Slowly, very slowly, the human blood coursed through his body. Taming the raging hunger, but not for the overwhelming need to taste her sweet blood. Anyway with the amount of human blood in his system, she was safe now. Safe enough for a talk. He owed her at least an explanation for his rather strange behavior of the last two days. "Nat?" Her name. So hesitant, so soft. His voice still deep and alluring with the vampire's edge, but with gentleness that was uniquely his own. She wanted to reach out for him, but his look stopped her. His look and the fangs. He had to be really on the edge, when he was unable to retract them. "Please, don't come any closer Nat. It is so hard to resist already." What was so hard to resist ? What was he talking about ? Her eyes were full of unspoken questions and he answered them all. One by one. She deserved to know the truth, the whole truth. Nick didn't spare a thing. He told her everything. The never-ending hunger, the temptations, the kills he had made to quench his burning need and about the way a vampire loved. How he felt love, what he needed to satisfy THIS burning. Then he told her about his nightmares. How she would find him, cowered over the body of his still warm kill. How she would shame him, shout at him, leave him forever. His voice nearly broke at this point. His fangs had retracted and she wanted so to be near him, she snuggled against him. Then he told her the end of his dream. "You know, I normally didn't wake up at that point. After you leave me, I come *home*. But this place means nothing to me anymore. Its dark and empty and I'm alone. So alone. I go up to the roof and wait for the sun. Its rising and I start to smoke and then to burn. Its agony. But the pain in my heart hurts far worse. I want to see it, see the sun one last time, but the first rays sear my eyes, leave me blind. I am blind, burning and so.. I die." She sat there, stunned, holding him in a death grip. Stunned with how she could affect him. He loved her and yet he fought against his own desires, because they would kill her, he would kill her if he succumbed. He had opened her his heart, his very soul, trusted in her, shown her all his vulnerabilities. If she ever wished to crush him, she could do it, because he supplied her with the ammunition. And he would not hold it against her. But there was more. For the first time he had revealed everything, all of his secrets, things he had never told anyone before. She had to admit that there was more to his life as a vampire than she had ever imagined. More than the legends and stories she had read, much more than the multitude of Hollywood movies she remembered. For the first time he had shown her the whole picture and God, it was vast. She tried to assimilate the pieces of information he had given her, but there were so many and it was so overwhelming. The blood. It was more than a mere addiction like she had first believed. It was his food, his substance and the way he sampled life, emotions, everything. And she had tried to cut him from his lifeline, had chastised him, when he was backsliding. She had made him feel guilty about drinking blood, had treated him like an stubborn addict. Yeah, she could try to give up mortal food with the same effects, she needed it, like he needed blood. She did a little mental calculating, counting the bags he had emptied, the bottles of the former day, his tales of killing *every* night to quench the hunger. She compared it to his normally strict intake of cows blood. There was only one conclusion. He had been starving. For years. But a vampire couldn't die from starvation. His body healed itself so rapidly, that there were no signs of starvation. You couldn't see it, but that didn't mean it wasn't there. He had been starving for a long long time now and only his incredible self control had kept him from breaking. But everyone, mortal or vampire, had their own breaking point and from the look of it, Nick had just reached his. He simply couldn't go on like this. She had said nothing, she simply held him tightly, while feeling her own heart race. Maybe he had told her too much, maybe she was just realizing what he really was, maybe.. . He didn't know what she was thinking about now, but he was afraid. Afraid, that she would leave him, afraid that she would urge him to go on with their relationship, simply afraid. All he could do now was wait and hope she wouldn't cast him out of her life. He needed her, loved her, he would even walk into the sun for her if she asked him to. "Nick?" He closed his eyes, afraid of what she might say. "I'm so sorry, so very sorry." Her warm hand caressed his face slowly. He leaned into the touch. "What could you possibly be sorry for ?" "The way I've treated you. I mean I've seen the proof, I've seen the genetic changes in your DNA and I was still after you to cut down your blood intake even more. And then I was mad at you for not having control. God you have been starving for years and I expected you to suppress your survival instincts." He knew the tone she used. She felt guilty. Guilty, because she had made mistakes. But didn't she see ? No matter what treatment she used on him, he would love her no less, because he knew that she cared, that she was trying to help him. Nat was still rambling over her mistakes, but he didn't listen. It didn't matter. Only she mattered. He took her warm hand in his cold ones. "Nat?" She stopped. "Yes?" "Don't be sorry, Nat. You didn't know, how could you, I never told you. It doesn't matter now. It's OK, I forgive you." He was forgiving her. All the stupid, cruel and mean things she had done to him. He forgave her. How could he forgive her so easily ? "How ?" "How what ?" "How could you forgive me so easily ?" He gazed at her like he had never seen her before. "Because I love you Natalie Lambert. I can't live without you. I'll walk into the sun before I'd let you go." And then he kissed her. Hesitant at first, but with growing passion, as she responded to his kiss. She had waited so long for that kiss. It felt so good. And it was better than she had ever imagined it. Their tongues danced. That was it. He loved her and it was enough for now. They would find a way to be together. They had to because she would never let him go. *** LaCroix cursed silently under his breath as he watched the two lovers through the skylight. This time his son had won and he didn't even know it. Anger boiled in him. He had waited so long, nearly 800 years to take revenge for his beloved Fleur. But now that he knew his son loved this woman, he couldn't rip her away from him. Nicholas had spoken the truth, he had felt it in their link. Should there ever come a time when Dr. Lambert stepped from his son's life, he knew with all certainty that Nicholas would take his own. Losing his son was unacceptable. He had lost Fleur, he would not lose Nicholas. If he killed this woman that his son was so hopelessly in love with, Nicholas would die. There was no way he could reach his goal without sacrificing his son. He lowered his head in defeat. His son had won this battle. A sly smile played on his lips. Nicholas may have won this battle, but he was far from winning the war. And as silently as LaCroix had come, he vanished into the night again. *** She never wanted it to end, but eventually she broke the kiss to catch some air. It wasn't fair. He didn't need to breath, he could kiss her as long as he wanted to, but she had nearly passed out due to the lack of oxygen. "Nat?" "Hmmmhmmm ?" "I don't want to spoil the mood, but I need a shower and I have to go to work in two hours." She groaned and released him from her embrace. Well, he was quite a mess and did need a shower, but work ? No work, Nat decided. "Don't go. Call in sick." She pleaded. He considered it for several minutes, then an impish smile lit his face. "Well, Dr Lambert, you are my physician. And who am I not to follow my doctors orders ?" He said lightly as he reached for the phone. to be continued ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Subject: Ancient Circles (4/17) Date: Sat, 3 Jun 2000 06:48:04 CEST From: Simone Nicole Dornecker To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU Disclaimers in part one ANCIENT CIRCLES by Simone Nicole Dornecker (4/17) part four waiting in the middle of nowhere Cohen hung up the phone. So, Knight was taking the night off. 'Mental health day' she assumed. It was time. Hell, it was far past time. Ok, one less to worry about. Now all she had to do was get Detective Vetter to do the same thing and catch Toronto's newest serial killer and she could call it a night as well. She tried to think about a way to convince Tracy Vetter to take the night off, when she got another call. Vetter was taking the night off. Cohen smiled. Sometimes life was good. *** He had returned home to find the Empress. She had shed her old skin and been reborn. Then she had slashed her own throat. Suicide. She had been like his other children, insane, but not so demented as to not notice, that she was insane. And so it had ended. That changed everything. Now he needed the mortal female, the doctor. It would be risky to take her, but it had to be done. He needed the vampire. It was his only hope. It was their only hope. *** They had talked the entire evening. About him, about her, about them. The difficulties they would face, when they went forward with their relationship. And they would go forward with it, there was no doubt about that. But dawn was coming and Nick was tired. Very tired. So she sent him to bed (not that he complained) and braced herself for the mess one small hungry, angry ball of fur was sure to have made in her apartment. Poor Sydney, she had forgotten all about him. Well, now she would face the consequences. She was about to slide the key in her look, when she heard a voice behind her. "Miss Lambert ?" "Yes ?" She asked and turned toward the speaker only to face complete darkness. *** She was his now. His bait. He would lure the vampire into his trap and then his children could be healed. The vampire would come. Would surrender to his wishes. Would do what HE demanded of him. Of this he was certain. He loved the mortal woman too much for his own good. *** The precinct was buzzing like an angry hornet's nest as he walked through the door. Something had happened. Nick felt it, emotion so thick you could touch it. "Knight, Vetter, my office!" bellowed Cohen's voice. Tracy looked at him but he merely shrugged. He simply had no clue what the captain wanted. Amanda Cohen didn't waste any time. "Dr Lambert was kidnapped this morning." Tracy gasped for air while he just stared at her. It had to be a joke. But it wasn't. His gut tightened. If he were human he was sure he would be sick. "This note and parcel was sent to the precinct around noon today." Tracy read the note aloud. "I have your medical examiner. Do what I ask and she will remain unharmed." "We sent a squad car to Dr. Lambert's apartment. After prying her door open they found that her apartment had been searched. Then there's the parcel." Cohen pulled the package from her bottom drawer and handed it to Nick. "We haven't opened it though Forensics went over it for prints and found nothing." But Nick didn't hear what she said. He was starring at the package and the name on it. His name. "Detective!" "Captain?" "I asked, if you know anyone who would do such a thing? Any personal enemies?" Nick's mind wandered to LaCroix, but no, this was not his style. "No, captain." Cohen heaved a sigh. "I suppose that would have been too easy. Well, then. Open it!" He ripped at the package until it popped open. Inside was a letter, and a blouse. Natalie had worn this blouse the previous night. He could still smell her scent on it, and his as well and then he noticed several bloodstains, his bloodstains, where he had cried on her shoulder. But he wasn't the only one who noticed the stains. The captain and Tracy saw them as well. "Oh my god! Look at this." Tracy exclaimed. "Don't worry. They are mine." Nick tried to reassure her. He thought as both the women stared at him. "Well, she spent the night with me and I had a little accident and bled on her blouse." Cohen only raised an eyebrow, but Tracy's face nearly burst with curiosity. She would ask him questions until he would consider draining her, he knew that. But not now, not yet. Now they had to find out what the kidnapper's demands were. Nick took the envelope. His name again. He tore it open and read aloud: Knight I know who you are and what you are. Your 'little' friend is in my custody. If you want her to remain unharmed, meet me at midnight. Until then stay at home. I'll contact you. Bring your female partner with you but don't use a car. If I see anyone but the two of you, you can collect your 'friends' pieces. Silence. He squirmed uncomfortably in his chair. The letter. Someone knew he was a vampire and now the captain and his partner would suspect there was something about him that warranted investigation. Some secrets he kept. Great, just great. Think fast. He had to give them a reason why somebody would kidnap Nat and write such a letter. "Detective ? What does he have on you?" He cringed inwardly at the captains question. Then he got an idea. It would work but it would made his life much more difficult if he couldn't swear them to secrecy. It was better than telling them the truth. He should just get it over with. "Do you know my whole name ?" Cohen's eyebrows met the hairline. "Nicholas B. Knight. But what has that to do with the letter ?" "Do you know what that B. stands for ?" Both women shook their heads. He took a deep breath. "It stands for deBrabant." Tracy's mouth formed a neat little 'o' while Cohen started to frown. "I think I've heard the name somewhere before." "It is the foundation, captain." Tracy bubbled. "The DeBrabant foundation. They are big in charity, incredibly wealthy and no one has ever met the owner." At this point both looked at Nick, who felt like he could melt into the floor. "Nobody except the financial headmaster knows about it and I prefer it remained that way. I like my life here just the way it is." Cohen nodded. Wealth could be a burden. And at least now she understood why he had been so agitated about the bombing of Charles DuChamps. "We won't make it a matter of public report." Tracy looked a little bit disappointed, she had wanted to grill her partner for all the gory details. "Captain, the letter says that I should wait at home until he or she contacts me." he stated. "That's exactly what I plan to do. I'll take Tracy with me. I won't take any chances with Natalie's life." Cohen understood his fears and she promised him that they would play by the perp's rules. *** Tracy bounced into his loft. She had never been here before and she was curious. Especially after she had learned that her partner was not just an enigma but head of the biggest charity foundation of the western hemisphere. Nick followed her. It would have been funny to watch her peek in every hole of his loft if.. if the situation weren't so serious. He struggled how to tell her that her partner was a bloodsucking creature of the night. He sighed. This morning life had seemed so promising, and now it was a mess. "Calm down, Tracy. I need to tell you something." She turned towards him and he could see the big quotation marks gleaming in her eyes. "Something I couldn't tell the captain." He definitely had her attention now. He gestured for her to take a seat and for once she didn't protest. She looked at him expectantly and he started to pace. "I don't know how to tell you this. I've only known you for a little more than two months, but on the other side you do know we exist." He trailed off. "What are you talking about, I'm not following?" He decided the shock method was the best. "Vampires." She was stunned. "You're a vampire?" Tracy couldn't believe it. She tried, but she just couldn't picture her straight as an arrow, Mr. do-gooder partner with glowing eyes and fangs. "You must be joking!" He looked at her with a mixture of dread and resignation. "Look, Tracy!" And then he began the change letting it sweep him slowly so that Tracy could watch it all. She watched in fascination as Nick's eyeteeth elongated into sharp inch-long fangs and the blue of his eyes disappeared to be replaced by glowing gold. "Do you believe me now?" He asked with the sensual timbre of the vampire. Tracy sat stunned into silence. He decided that she'd had enough. As slow as he had changed into his vampire mode he now quickly changed back. Then there was only the very human weary looking Nicholas Knight, who slumped into the chair next to her. Tracy jumped to her feet. "I don't get it! Why didn't you trust me? You knew that I knew about vampires and you never told me!" Her voice became louder and louder until she yelled. "Tracy." She nearly didn't hear him, but he stopped her with that single quiet word. "I am 800 years old Tracy. I've lived through the Spanish Inquisition and the witch hunt. I've been hunted quite a few times throughout my life and it wasn't pleasant. Even now, in these modern times there are people who hunt us. The more people that know what I am, the more my life is in danger. And the same applies for the people that guard our secrets." That gave her something to digest for a while. He was eight hundred years old. Eight hundred! He was older than Vachon or Urs or Screed. And he was her partner. A vampire homicide cop. God, just how much control did he have to remain unchanged at a crime scene? She could remember a few times when he acted a little funny at the bloodier crime scenes and during those times he usually disappeared pretty fast for a while and... Mentally she slapped herself. All the time, the pieces of information had been right here, under her nose, but she never put them together. Somehow it all seemed wrong. Even after she had seen him change, after he had admitted it himself, she couldn't shake the feeling that he was just an ordinary human being. He was so normal! And he was gentle and kind and he really cared about people. It just doesn't fit! "Tracy? Are you ok?" Here again! He was concerned about her, cared about her and sounded a bit scared? She was curious and her mind sizzled with questions. Where to begin? "Are you really eight hundred years old?" He leaned back in his chair, a little smile playing round his lips. She wanted to play Twenty Questions. Just like a cop. Well it was better than her screaming at him or searching for the nearest stake. "Well, I was born on the eleventh of march, 1195, so I'll be eight hundred in a little over a month. But vampires generally tend to round up decades or even centuries, so a month more or less doesn't matter. Next question?" Next question, God she had hundreds of questions! "Where do you come from? What is your real name and how did you become a.. well.." "A vampire?" Nick finished her sentence. "Well that is an awful long story, Tracy. But to begin with your other questions, my real name is Nicholas de Brabant. As my name says I'm from Brabant. When I was born it belonged to France but nowadays most of it is part of Belgium. I was raised to become a knight and I fought in the sixth Crusade. I was wounded, captured, tortured and *generously* released after half a year. The church sent me home and on that journey I visited Paris, a woman offered me immortality, eternal youth and freedom from king and church. After spending half a year in a Moslem dungeon that offer was too tempting. She took me to her 'father' and he brought me across. They didn't tell me about the negative sides of their, of our existence until I had finished the transformation and by then it was too late to go back. Does that answer your question?" Boy, did it answer her question! Not only the one she'd asked but the next half dozen others she'd wanted to ask him next. Suddenly something else flashed through her mind. "Why did you tell me about this? I have never suspected a thing. Why? Why now?" "I think the one who has Nat knows what I am. Look at the letter. How do you think we get to the meeting place without a car? I don't think this indicates we should come by bus." "You mean whoever wrote this letter wants you to *fly* there?" He nodded. "But what about me, I definitely can't fly!" "But I can carry you." He answered dryly. Tracy opened her mouth to question his sanity but the phone stopped her. Before she could even blink he was at the phone. A male voice told him the location of a warehouse on the outskirts of Toronto. Before Tracy knew what was happening she was wrapped in his arms and moving through the skylight as he took on speed. to be continued ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Subject: Ancient Circles (5/17) Date: Sat, 3 Jun 2000 06:49:32 CEST From: Simone Nicole Dornecker To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU Thank you for all the nice feedback. Just be warned that it will get a lot of weireder Disclaimers in part one ANCIENT CIRCLES by Simone Nicole Dornecker (5/17) part five What would you do out of love ? She woke with a throbbing headache. She was cold and it was dark. "Where the hell am I? And how did I get here?" Light, she needed some light to see where she was. She wanted to get up, but couldn't. Whoever brought her here had chained her feet to the bed. Her panic rose as the door opened and her unknown assailant stepped into the barley lit room. "I see you are awake." *** Nick burst into the warehouse like an angry whirlwind, dragging a disheveled Tracy with him. He stopped and listened. The warehouse was empty. No human heartbeat, no tingling sensation which would indicate the presence of one of his kind. Nothing. They began their search of the warehouse. In a small room on the North side they found a cot, table and a parcel. He stared at it. This one was addressed to Tracy, and it had a bonus. Glued to the package was a large magnificent crucifix. "Its for you, Tracy." He said with some trepidation. Tracy ripped the wrapping away. On top was a letter. She picked it up and started to read. I'm not here, but the entire building is under surveillance. I'm watching you right at this very moment. Miss Vetter the contents of the package are for you to use on your partner. If he does not comply Natalie Lambert will die a slow and painful death. Use the items on him and then leave. Don't try any tricks. Remember I'm watching you. Nick took the package and looked in it. The only items in the bag were a liquid filled syringe and a set of mean looking handcuffs. *** "What do you want with me?" "To use you as bait." "Bait ?" Natalie's thoughts started to race. "For whom ?" She slid her hand through her hair, nervous as hell. "For your vampire lover." He stated casually. "I need to study the genetic irregularities and unusual qualities of his vampire and", the man gazed her like a priced specimen, "he will do anything I want to keep you alive." After these words he left her alone in the dark room. *** "Nick, I can't use that stuff on you. He's after you and..." "Tracy, please ! It's the only way to keep Natalie alive." Desperation had filled his voice. "You love her, do you?" "Yes." "But what if he wants to kill you, Nick? Did you ever consider that, or would you die for her?" "Yes." His voice was brief and firm. For a brief moment Tracy was envious of Natalie. To have someone love her so much, even if he was a vampire. But the envy didn't last very long, as she remembered they could never have a sexual relationship without him draining her. She was in the same boat with Vachon. She looked into Nick's pleading eyes and surrendered. "Ok, ok, I'll do it." She took the syringe and the handcuffs and followed Nick to the cot. He sat down on the narrow bed and stared to the ground. Without looking at her he offered her his wrist and she locked the cuff. He closed his eyes almost violently, clenched his hands into fists and offered her his other wrist. *** Her thoughts raced. He knew about vampires, knew about Nick, their relationship and he wanted to use her to keep Nick submissive. This couldn't be happening! It had to be a bad dream and she would wake up soon. But somehow she knew that it was real. And if they couldn't find a way to escape, Nick would be imprisoned by this man just as she was. The man might be crazy but he was right about one thing. Nick would do anything to keep her safe. *** Tracy took his hand and felt his muscles tense. A quick click and it was done. He opened his eyes staring at the metal bond which kept his wrists together. Cautiously he tugged at the restrain, but the cuffs wouldn't give. "Titanium", he murmured. "Titanium and curare. He really knows our weaknesses." "This is curare?" Tracy looked at the syringe like it was a poisonous viper. "Nick, that stuff is lethal! It will kill you!" "It won't." His voice was tired. "You can't kill vampires with curare. But it will paralyze me. I won't be able to move or even talk for several hours." He tried to roll up his sleeve but he failed because of the cuffs. "You're serious, aren't you? You really want to go on with this?" "No, I don't *want* to do this. But for Nat's sake I have too." He awkwardly pushed up his sleeve and took a deep breath. "Do it!" She felt like a traitor as she emptied the syringe into his arm. Almost immediately he went limp. This wasn't right! He sat there on the edge of the cot looking like a ragdoll. At least she could change that. She struggled to move his body to a normal position on the bed. Damn, she wished Nat was here. The coroner would know how to move a body to a prone position. But if Nat were here he wouldn't be in this situation. She cursed under her breath and walked around the cot. She became aware that his eyes were tracking her movements. "Nick? Are you awake?" She asked. He blinked in reply. God, he was awake, and aware of what was happening around him! But he wasn't able to react. That had to be living hell for him! It had been quite some time since his last 'contact' with curare. He had ingested it unknowingly with a great amount of alcohol. He had been more intoxicated and lethargic than paralyzed. But this felt different. This time the curare was injected directly into his bloodstream and he would bet a months salary that this was stronger and purer than the stuff the bounty hunter had slipped him in the whiskey. He wasn't able to move his limbs. His brain delivered the commands, but his muscles weren't listening. The only thing he had control of were his eyes. He could see what was happening around him. Right now he was watching three men closing in on Tracy. He tried to warn her but she didn't understand his furious blinking. Tracy went out like a light. If looks could kill the three men would have been dead after the first glance as he stared at them with golden hued eyes. But they merely smiled as they blindfolded him and took him away. *** Tired, he was so tired. They were driving him through the city, changing roads apparently every second like they had no destination. At least it appeared that way to him. He was sure they had injected him with another dose of curare. He was so tired and he wouldn't be able to do anything for the next few hours. He fought against his fatigue. He had to stay awake or he would never discover their destination. His eyelids felt so heavy. He was just so very tired. Perhaps five minutes to rest his eyes. Before he realized it he was asleep. *** Streetlights shown over the body of Tracy Vetter. As she started to come too. Every muscle in her body screamed for attention, even a few she hadn't heard from before. Her brain kicked in, but was begging for one or two quarts of coffee. Her mind was groggy but she *knew* something was wrong. Suddenly she was wide awake, as adrenaline surged through her system. She remembered the kidnapping, the letter, Nick helpless on that cot and then...she touched the back of her throbbing head and discovered several bumps that didn't belong there. Ohhh God that hurts, she groaned as that part of her brain responsible for pain suddenly flared to the forefront. Her partner was missing, kidnapped by some unknown nutcase. It would also be a safe bet to assume that Nat hadn't shown up either. She had a terrible headache, wasn't sure of her location and she didn't know what to tell the Captain. A phone would be nice, right about now. She reached out for her cell phone. It was gone. So she set out in search of one. *** How long had he been gone? She was really hungry so she had been left alone for hours. Not that she would complain but she was still chained to the bed and she needed to go to the bathroom. The door opened and two new men came in. One released her from the chains and the other pressed the cold metal of a gun against her lumbar spine. "May I use the bathroom please?" The men said nothing, but complied with her request, taking her to small bathroom while they waited outside. Then they escorted her to a well furnished study and indicated that she take a seat before exiting the room. She heard the door lock from the outside. After some time one of the men returned with a tray of food. He set it on the table and left. Again the door was bolted. The food smelled delicious and she was half starved so she didn't wait for an invitation. She started to eat. She didn't hear the first man slip into the room. He waited until she was finished before he spoke "We have captured your vampire lover, Miss Lambert." Natalie started at the sudden voice and flinched as she heard what he was saying. They had Nick! Because they had used her as bait. How dare they! "If you behave, we will let you see him. He should be waking soon." Natalie nearly exploded at his impudence, but she forced herself to stay calm. She really wanted to, no she needed to see him! The man watched her battle her emotions and as she calmed down he opened the door and guided her through a corridor. At the end of the hall he unlocked a heavy metal door and opened it for her. She entered and gasped. The room was big. Divided evenly into two areas. One side of the room was a lab the other side.. was a cage! Nick lay spread-eagled on a heavy metal table on the lab's side of the room. She didn't need any explanations to know who the cage was for. It was for Nick. The men came forward and pushed her toward the cage door. She realized that she had been wrong. The cage was for both of them. After they had locked her up, the three men set about working on their captive vampire. Natalie watched with rising fear. "What are you doing to him?" she cried recognizing the IV tubing at Nick's throat. "We are taking his blood for analysis." The man stated calmly. "You can't do that! You'll will kill him!" "I seriously doubt that it will kill him, Dr. Lambert, but even if it should we shall still proceed. After all, he isn't even human." Without further discussion he made a few last minute adjustments and Natalie heard the mechanism hum to life. Her worst fears were realized at the sound of motor. She didn't have a clear view, but she didn't need one either, she could recognize the sound of a suction pump when she heard one. Holding on to the bars of her cell, she slid to her knees. They were going to drain him of every last drop of blood. *** Nick awoke from his sleep due to pain. Intense pain! He had tried to move but couldn't. Maybe the curare was still working but he didn't think so, as he could scream. Even as he knew they were his own screams that echoed throughout the room, his mind refused to grasp it. The agony was too great to accept sight or sound, even those sounds that issued from his own throat. And with these thoughts Nick fell into the light. *** LaCroix woke with a start. Nicholas was being tortured, his son was in agony! His mental screams were almost more than the ancient could endure. The sun was up but that wouldn't stop him from going to help him. He concentrated on the link to find Nicholas' location, his son didn't know where he was, but it didn't matter, he would follow the pain to its source. Nicholas was becoming weaker and his pitiful mental pleas for help hurt him even more than he would ever admit. He had to find him! He raced to the sewer tunnels blindly following the continuing pain that echoed in their link. Suddenly the link vanished. He tried to push into the eight century old connection but there was nothing. An empty void. This could mean only one thing. Nicholas was dead, his son was dead. LaCroix closed feral red eyes and released his own scream of agony. *** Nick's screams had ended long ago. Natalie knelt next to his limp form. Her face wet with tears. After the three 'scientists' were done with him, they had tossed him into the cage with her. He was so silent, so still. His wounds weren't healing and he felt ice cold, even for a vampire. " Nick, I love you. Please, don't leave me", she sobbed into his unhearing ears. to be continued ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Subject: Ancient Circles (6/17) Date: Sat, 3 Jun 2000 06:50:38 CEST From: Simone Nicole Dornecker To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU Disclaimers in part one ANCIENT CIRCLES by Simone Nicole Dornecker (6/17) part six stairways He stood on a stairway. A stairway so gleaming white that it hurt his eyes. Several steps ahead was a door made out of warm polished wood. Where was he ? How did he get here ? Then he remembered. The shock, the pain of being drained forcefully, his screams and then the light. He was dead. He had to be. What else did he know about this situation? He was standing on a vast stairway in front of a door. A door he suddenly had the feeling he should know. Yes, he knew it, knew what was behind it. Home, his home. He started toward the door, but doubt stopped him. Was he worthy? Was he forgiven? Could he enter the afterlife or did he have to stay outside? Slowly he went closer to the door. The polished surface acted like a mirror. He could see himself very clearly. The glowing eyes, the fangs, they were still there and quite obvious. He tried to change back, to hide behind his human facade, but he couldn't. The signs of his vampirism were permanently embedded on his face. His soul wasn't human, he wasn't human, even in death. He looked at the door longingly, then turned around and started back to the stairs. He wasn't human, he didn't belong here. There was no peace here for creatures like himself. "Nicholas, my son, where are you going?" Nick stopped at the sound of the voice, but didn't turn around. He knew the voice. He hadn't heard it in 775 years but he would always recognize it! "Father?" "My son, where are you going?" He hung his head in shame. How could he tell his own father what he had become? That there was no place for him here because of what he was? Suddenly strong, warm arms encircled him and turned him around. A hand placed under his chin gently tilted his face upwards. Nick wanted to run, he wanted to hide, but his father's arms wouldn't let him go. The only thing he could do was close his eyes so he didn't have to see the look of disgust on his father's face, when he realized what he had become. "Nicholas." The voice was soft and gentle, not the accusing harsh tone he had expected. "Nicholas, open your eyes." He opened his eyes and hesitantly looked in the eyes of his father. There was no ire, no hate, no disgust in his eyes, only love and understanding....and compassion. "It wasn't suppose to be this way my son," he heard his father say before he was embraced by him. "But..I..I... don't understand," Nick stammered. He could remember his father's lessons about unholy creatures quite well. In his father's eyes he had to be some sort of monster. A monster of his own making. Why was his father not repulsed by his appearance? "Come, sit down my son. We have a lot to talk about." *** She had closed his eyes because she couldn't endure his unseeing stare. Like a corpse, he had stared into nothing. His skin was pasty white and she hadn't registered a heartbeat in over thirty minutes. There had been nothing. As a coroner she knew all the signs of death. But he couldn't be dead. He had to be alive she had too much to tell him. All the things she had thought there would be time enough for.... He is a vampire, he is immortal, so she had thought, but now... She had cried until she had no more tears. Soaked his face with the salty drops. It had been a long time since her last real prayer but the words poured effortlessly from her lips. She prayed for him to be alive, to stay with her. She had never really told him about the depth of her love for him. *** He sat down on the stairs next to his father. His father seemed nervous, like the time when he had questioned him about Adam and Eve. But that was a long time ago, he had been three or four years old then. Why should his father be nervous now? "You must know my son, when you were born something happened that never should have happened." Nick looked at him questionably. "My son, you were never meant to be... human." He stared at his father in disbelief as the message hit home. Never meant to be human! How was this possible? Was it possible? How..? Why..? What did it mean? Maybe this wasn't the passage to afterlife. Maybe he was in hell already... . "I know it sounds unbelievable for you, but it is the truth. You should have been a vampire right from the beginning." "But that's impossible!" His fathers eyes told him different. "Why? How..?" "What do you remember from before?" "Before I became a vampire?" "No, before you were born." *** It had been an hour now. A full hour of waiting, praying and hoping against all odds. There had been no sign that there was still life in his unmoving form. She had curled up beside him, laying her head on his cold and too silent chest. Maybe he was really dead, but she couldn't allow herself to think like that. A fresh crop of tears began. She didn't think she had anymore left. She was wrong. Not a single heartbeat had resonated through his chest. She knew that, she had waited for it. Maybe she should wait a little while longer. Maybe with such a great blood loss it slowed his system down to almost nothing. It was a single thread of hope, and she clung to it beyond all reason. *** "Before I was born? But I didn't exist before I was born." "That's not true. This life is not your first one. You had a very long life before. You just don't remember." A life before! He tried to understand it, but his imagination failed him. His father's hand brushed against his forehead. "Maybe its time for you to remember," he heard his father say before his world exploded. *** How long had he been floating, caressed by memories? He didn't know. Didn't care. There had been so much. So many memories pushing at his mind which wanted to be remembered, so much knowledge that needed to be noticed, which would be known. Eight hundred years had seemed a long life before. But now.... He remembered it all. And in remembering knew he couldn't stay here. He glanced to his father. His father, not in the traditional mortal way of thinking but his father nonetheless. "What happens now?" he asked. The Father smiled. "At the moment you go back and right the things that went wrong." "But Father, I'm not the same as I once was. I'm only eight hundred years old. No one will listen to me. And even if they do they won't believe me. We have been too influenced by the stories the world has made of us." The smile never left the face of the Father as he heard his son's worries. He waited patiently until his son was finished. "Nicholas, you worry too much," he chided softly. "You will be sent back to your *new* body but it will be like you've never died. Not the first time and not the second. You are still the first and you will always be it. And I'll give you a sign, proof that what you are telling them is true. They will believe you." He stood up and reached down to help his son up. "Father?" There was one thing Nick needed to know before he could go back. "Yes, my son?" "Will I.. will I ever be able to see the sun again?" "You really miss it, don't you?" the Father asked but he didn't need an answer, the longing look in Nicholas' eyes was all he needed to see. Nick simply nodded. "Then I'll give it to you and to your future children." The Father smiled broadly and patted his shoulder. "Take it as my wedding present." And with these words Nick fell through the light. *** Three hours. He had been gone for three hours now. There had been no improvement in his situation. Slowly she started to lose hope. Even he wasn't indestructible like she had first believed. Suddenly his body was surrounded by a faint blue glow. . The last time she had seen that particular glow had been before her brother turned into ashes. She pushed herself away from him and clenched her eyes shut. A small sob escaped her. She couldn't do it, couldn't watch his body dissolving into ash. Silence. It was far too silent. And then she heard a cough. A weak little cough, but a cough nonetheless. Hesitantly she opened her eyes and met Nicks. He was alive! He was awake! She rushed to him. "Nick?" "Nat." Weak, he was so weak, he barely could move his lids at all and he needed blood very badly. "Nat, I need ..." He didn't finished the sentence. She knew what he needed. Natalie looked around, but there was no blood for him in the cell. The only available blood was her own. She made her decision. She had nearly lost him today and she would never let that happen again! Natalie helped him to a sitting position and then guided his mouth toward her neck. He noticed what she was doing. If she had offered this before he had learned everything today he would have denied himself the much needed substance. But now...now all he needed was Nat's permission to go on. "Nat, are you sure?" She didn't answer, she just pressed his face tighter into her neck. And softly, almost like a caress, he slipped his fangs in her jugluar vein. *** It was much more than she had ever expected, ever imagined. He had told her about the emotional aspect of drinking blood but she had never thought it would be like this. His whole life exploded in her mind. What he had done, what he had felt, everything. His pain and his joy and his feelings for her. It was wonderful. She could fell his love for her, it was so strong and warm, so right. Surrounding her like a cocoon. The pictures slowed and then the world around her went black. *** Her blood exploded on his tongue, a cornucopia of flavors. So much more than her blood scent had implied and even that had driven him half mad at times. Her life opened up before him. Her childhood, her family, her brother, Richard, she felt responsible for his wrong doings and his death. Her betrayal still hurt. Then he saw himself so prominent in her memories. From their first meeting in the morgue to the developing friendship and then their love, her love. It was washing through him, filling his veins with joy, singing in his mind. Her love for him made her blood so sweet, so unforgettable he had never tasted anything like it before. It had made it hard for him to stop, but he did. Now she was at the brink between life and death. He tore his wrist open and let his blood drip into her mouth. "Nat, I love you. I need you. Please come back to me." *** Natalie blinked at the sudden brightness. The desert. She was standing in the desert by the lake. Just like Nick had described it. And there was the door. The door into the light and the guide. She walked towards it. The guide, he looked like.. "Grandfather, is that really you?" The guide smiled. "It's me and it's not me. You have to accept the answer. It is the only one I can give you." For a brief moment she felt like she was three years again and he was explaining her the multitude of miracles around her. "I have a choice here, right?" "Not really. Deep in your heart you've already chosen your path. I'm just here to wish you luck." She could hear Nick's voice calling to her. Her grandpa was right. She had already made her choice. Out of reflex she hugged her grandfather one last time. "Thank you, Grandfather," she smiled as she waved him goodbye and then walked back to the darkness and into her new life. *** He was a bit worried that she would choose the path into the light instead of coming back to him. Yes, he had tasted her love for him and there was his father's cryptic message but he couldn't stop himself from worrying. A gentle and then a more insistent tugging at his wrist told him that Nat was back and that she was swallowing his blood into her half starved system. He let her drink until she reached her limit then he watched her as she fell into a deep sleep. She would sleep the whole day now, finishing the changes that had already begun to take place in her. And she would need lots of blood when she awoke this evening. Lots of blood that he didn't have. A door was opened and he looked up to see a man entering the room. The man crossed the room and stopped in front of the cage. Nick waited. "You have brought her across," the man stated. "Yes. It's not like you left me with much of a choice. It was that or kill her." Why deny it, his captors had known enough about vampires in general and him specifically to keep him caged here, he should know the signs of a newly converted vampire. "How much blood will you both need?" Nick absentmindedly stroked Nat's hair. "She will need at least ten to twelve pints to come through first hunger without going mad. I don't need that much. Six to seven pints should be sufficient for me." The man left without any further words. A short time later a small door was opened and a cold box was shoved into the cell. He opened the box and eyed it's contents. The box was filled to the top with units of whole blood. More then he or Nat would need for today. He closed the lid of the box. The implied message was clear. His captors didn't plan on releasing them soon. to be continued Simone Nicole Dornecker a.k.a. Silvercat Simone_Dornecker@Yahoo.com or Moonwing@Hotmail.com ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Subject: Ancient Circles (7/17) Date: Sun, 4 Jun 2000 06:34:05 CEST From: Simone Nicole Dornecker To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU Disclaimers in part one ANCIENT CIRCLES by Simone Nicole Dornecker (7/17) part seven The sign of the Father It was sometime around noon and Nick was so restless that he couldn't even think about sleeping. First he had checked the cage for a way to escape, but he didn't find one. This cage was designed specially for vampires. He paced restlessly inside cell, careful not to disturb Natalie's transition. He felt strange, like something was wrong but he couldn't put his finger on it. His pacing grew faster and then suddenly a vibration struck him. It wasn't an unpleasant sensation. More like a tickling where none should have been. He fell to his knees as he lost his balance. He heard his shirt ripping and instantly an intense itching began on his back. And his scalp was crawling too. The vibrations were very unsettling. It was driving him mad! As suddenly as it had begun it stopped again, only to be replaced by the feeling of raw energy pulsing through every fiber of his body. It felt strange, but good, like something was returning to him, something he hadn't even realized was missing. Memories, knowledge and links were woven into his mind, layer after layer until he couldn't stand the emotional onslaught anymore and blacked out. *** The day had passed and he had sat, contemplating and remembering. He hadn't slept or fed, he had done nothing since he had felt the death of his son. Nothing, except remember Nicholas and all their times together. The good and the bad. He had sired many others over his 2000 years, but he had only recognized Janette and Nicholas as his true children. Janette was still there but.. without her stubborn fiery brother it wouldn't be the same anymore. LaCroix was so consumed by grief that he didn't notice the link reforming somewhere at the back of his mind. *** Nick drifted back to consciousness. The sun was still up so he allowed himself the luxury of keeping his eyes closed. He felt good, strange but good. His mind felt whole again and he hadn't even known that anything was missing. Then he noticed that something *was* gone, but he wouldn't miss it at all. His bloodlust, the gnawing hunger, the urge to kill, had all vanished like they had never been. The vampire was still there but more centered, focused. His powers all submitted to his will. No, that wasn't true. After what he had learned today he knew that the vampire wasn't part of him but he was the vampire. Pure and simple. Complete with a human facade so not to scare the humans. He nearly drifted back to sleep, but fought back the fatigue. After several minutes he opened his eyes but saw nothing. He did see something but couldn't believe what he was seeing. Hair. A veil of blond hair was blocking his vision. It had to be his own hair but it had never been this long before. So that was what the itching feeling on his scalp had been. His hair growing at an unusual speed. He jumped on his feet. Or tried to but stumbled because his center of balance had been shifted. Seriously shifted. He fought with his hair and his lack of balance and finally got to his feet. He had to know what had happened. If his scalp had been itching because of the rapid hair growth, then what had happened to his back? The itching there had been longer and more severe than on his head. He barely noticed the shreds that once had been his shirt as he craned his head to look his back. This was obviously Father's promised proof. A very obvious proof indeed. He glanced over at Nat. She had them too, only her sweater thankfully stayed half intact. He sighed. Now their lives would become really complicated. Next to impossible in fact. How could they explain *this*? This was far too obvious to hide. How could he tell LaCroix or Tracy or the Captain? What would become of their lives? He slumped back to the floor. With sundown about two hours away he had some time to think of some really good explanations as to why he and Nat suddenly had wings. Come to think of it, what was he going to tell Nat? to be continued Simone Nicole Dornecker a.k.a. Silvercat Simone_Dornecker@Yahoo.com or Moonwing@Hotmail.com ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Subject: Ancient Circles (8/17) Date: Sun, 4 Jun 2000 06:36:09 CEST From: Simone Nicole Dornecker To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU Disclaimers in part one ANCIENT CIRCLES by Simone Nicole Dornecker (8/17) part eight rescue The sun went down and Natalie woke with a burning hunger. It hurt! It felt like her gut was on fire! She gasped for air. Something was thrust into her field of vision. It smelled good, tasty. Hunger! Blindly she grabbed for it and sunk her teeth into it. Cold liquid burst into her mouth. Good, it was so good. She swallowed. It soothed the burning ache, but it wasn't enough. The bag was empty. Too soon! She needed more! The empty bag was replaced by a full one. Happily she started to drink again. She didn't count how many bags she emptied, but finally the burning need was sated. She licked her lips savoring the last drops and recorded fragments of information from another life. Only bits and pieces of that life registered but it had only been one or two drops after all. It was the second time she had felt into another's soul, before she had been too hungry, too greedy to notice. Slowly she drifted back to reality. Nick was hovering over her smiling *that* smile that always melted her inside. "Welcome back, Nat." Something was different. She berated herself, but the tiny voice telling her that something was different that shouldn't *be* wouldn't quiet. Nick moved his head and the artificial light picked up the headlights of liquid gold in his hair. His hair. Mentally Nat smacked herself. His hair was so *long*, floating around his hips and it had been short before... "Nick, how long have I been out?" "A day, why?" Natalie stared at him. He followed her stare and realized what she was looking at. "This happened sometime around noon. I've yet to get use to it myself. And Nat...that's is not the...only thing that's changed." He sounded so hesitant, it worried her. She fingered a strand of her own hair. It felt so alive and it reached down all her back. She eyed him. He looked pretty much the same... except... Something caught her eye. There was something unusual on his back. It almost looked like... "Turn around." He gave her an apologetic smile and turned. If she had still been a mortal, her heart would have skipped a beat, or two or maybe it would have stopped beating altogether. But now... She stared at him in shocked silence. Ok, just knowing Nick had opened her eyes to a whole new world of wonder. Everyday she was forced into believing pretty incredible things but this was simply too much. He craned his head and gave her that little boy lost look. She burst into laughter. "What?" He tried to look hurt. "Mr. I-have-no-soul-and-if-I-had-one-it-would-be-damned, you look like you've just escaped from some angelic painting. I should paint you white and arrange you on a little pedestal and you would make a terrific church statue." He grinned mischievously. "And what about you?" *That* silenced her. Wildly she jumped to her feet, stumbled like he had the first few times and finally found her balance. There was something on her back as well but it couldn't be.. she craned her head to look at her back.... "Oh, my....! This isn't happening. It can't be!" *** He began the process as soon as possible. Soon everything would be OK again. He had watched the vampire bring across the mortal doctor, had recorded it with hidden cameras, he knew exactly what must be done. The struggling of his insane child fighting against bonds she couldn't break persisted. Her growls and the hissing saddened his heart. But she would be sane again. He would bring her to the brink of death and take her back with the vampire's blood. The blood would heal the damage in her brain, repairing her mind and changing her forever. Making her immortal. Then he would repeat the process with his other children. Everything would be alright again. *** They had searched the entire day for even the subtlest clues but found nothing. Cohen had sent Tracy home. She was driving them crazy. Although Cohen could understand her worry, they didn't need her hyper attitude right now. It didn't look good. The warehouse had been almost squeaky clean and the area around it was nearly deserted. Nobody had seen a thing. "Captain?" She returned from her thoughts. "Yes, Miller?" "There is a man who says that he might possibly have seen something." A witness! That would help. "Where is he?" "Outside." Miller pointed towards the bullpen. "And I should w..." Cohen didn't listened to her anymore. She left her office and...was immediately pinned to the ground by a huge Bernese Mountain dog slobbering over her face. "..warn you, Captain, he has this huge playful dog." Miller finished her sentence. "Nyko, come here." The man said and the dog released her. She stood up, wiped the drool from her face and tried to regain her dignity. She eyed the man. He was old, with traces of white hair left, his age made him appear fragile. But although he looked worn he was quite agile and very talkative. He told them about his wife and how she had died suddenly four years ago, shortly before their 51st wedding anniversary. His children bought the dog for him, because they didn't want him to feel lonely. But he missed her nonetheless and often when he couldn't sleep, he would go out for a walk with Nyko. Like last night. It had been such a clear and beautiful night and he wasn't afraid in the dark, Nyko was always with him, so he had walked through the warehouse area. He had noticed the van and grown suspicious because it was around midnight. Three men had dumped something in the back of the van and drove away. "I suddenly became so tired, you know sometimes these things happen to me but the doctor said I'm eighty-one and things like that are to be expected. So I went home and barely made it to bed. When I woke up I called you folks." This was good. The man was a witness that every policeman dream of. Not only did he give them a description of the men, but also the license number. He even knew the make, model and year of the van. "You know your vans", the man had commented dryly, "with nine children we always had one as our family car." Now they would track them down quickly. Cohen started to shout orders, trying to ignore the faithful tail-wagging shadow following her. "He likes you", the old man shrugged when she stared at it, "He considers you family, he wants to play with you." Well, that had to wait. Until they would find Dr. Lambert and Detective Knight. *** After the initial shock passed, they seated themselves comfortably on the floor and he began to tell her what had transpired this day. He was just telling her how Father had revealed to him, that he never should have been a mortal. That he had had a long life as a vampire before he had been killed and was reborn as a human mortal when a soft tugging in his mind interrupted him. He concentrated. "NO!" "What happened?" "He's using my blood to bring someone across. And that person's mind is damaged. She's insane, Nat! I must stop him!" He started to shake a the bars of their cage in a frenzy but it was useless. "Nat, I have to stop him." But there was no way out. *** "Got him!" The plates of the van gave the name and address of Dr. Marcus Dasken, Doctor of Genetics, who had lost his medical license and was forced to leave his teaching position at the University of California due to unethical research methods, four years ago. He lived on the other side of Toronto in a sparely populated area. Cohen phoned Detective Vetter. Knight was her partner. If Dasken had him in his custody she had a right to be there when they freed him. *** A little red alert light started to blink. The police had accessed his computer data. Somehow the cops had found him. How? He had been so careful. Nervous he scratched his balding head. How long before they got here? He needed to gather his children and the precious blood needed to repair their sanity. He needed somewhere safe. He reached for the phone. *** He rested his head against the bars, his eyes feral red, growling in anger. This man had used his blood to create an insane vampire! And he was helpless. "Nick?" He nearly snarled at her in anger as he turned around. But this wasn't Nat's fault, she was just as helpless as he was, he tried to calm down. "Nick, what can we do?" "Nothing", he growled, "we can do nothing." Her shoulders slumped. She hated to be forced into waiting as much as he did, but that was all they could do now. Wait for someone to let them out, so that they could stop this insanity. And hope that someone would come quickly. *** The wheels were in motion. They had a search and arrest warrant for Dr. Dasken. Now they could go and find out if he was the man that had kidnapped Nick and Natalie. *** They were on their way here! Too soon! He had to leave now, while there was still a chance to escape. He looked back as he entered the van. His assistants had changed the plate numbers. It had to be enough to escape. His emotions were raw. He was leaving his children behind. He could only take the changing one with him, his faithful helpers and the blood of the vampire. He could create new children, but he felt such turmoil in leaving these. The door slammed shut. He started the motor. He wished he had time to check on the vampires. He had left them unobserved after delivering their nourishment. His child would need someone to teach her in their ways but he couldn't risk taking the vampires when there wasn't even sufficient time to rescue his children. He sighed as they drove away. *** Tracy gasped as she got out of the car. "God, looks like someone had been watching 'Frankenstein' one time too often." Cohen agreed. It was a really disturbing house. They knocked at the door. No answer. "The van isn't here." Officer Hansen had checked the garage. They forced the door open. As disturbing as the house was on the outside, it was worse on the inside. "How twisted do you have to be to live here." Tracy mumbled under her breath. That was before they found the creatures. Buried deep within the house they found a room with soundproof walls. And within the room a cage full of snarling, fighting wailing creatures. They stared at the horror before them. Was this some genetic experiment of Dasken's? This belonged in a horror movie. "Oh God, what has he done?" Cohen heard one of the officers whisper. Something stuck her. What did he want with Knight and Lambert? She looked at the madness before her and prayed they were ok. *** Nick was pacing restlessly, emitting low frustrated growls now and then. He wanted desperately to do something. He concentrated on the new link. The insane woman was changing too rapidly. Soon she would wake, mad and hungry, somewhere in the city. Lives would end because of her and in doing so she would endanger the discovery of their entire community. He stopped. What about him and Nat? They didn't appear entirely human anymore. Were they breaking the code? Somehow he doubted it. They may not look completely human anymore but the last thing someone would assume was that they were vampires. Fathers gift of the sun would be a bonus as well. Suddenly the door to the lab burst open and Cohen, Tracy and several police officers poured into the room. He retracted his fangs and let his eyes turn blue. They had found them. Now they would be freed and could hunt down this woman before the damage was done. *** They came farther into the room and stopped short. The sight was too fantastic. Tracy's jaw nearly hit the ground. "Nick? Nat? That you?" "Tracy, what took you so long?" Nick forced himself to ask lightly. "We expected you sooner." God, how could he make jokes about this? Tracy asked herself. She hadn't recovered from his first surprise, hadn't digested the knowledge that he was a vampire yet and *boom* he came with another one. And Natalie, too. She eyed her suspiciously. Was she a vampire, too? She suspected it. "What happened?" "That's a long story Captain and we have not much time. He used us to create an insane creature. We must get to her before he lets her loose in the city." His voice was urgent. Tracy recalled the sight of the other creatures they had found and shivered. If he could cross the vampire gene with one of these mad beings, anything could happen. to be continued Simone Nicole Dornecker a.k.a. Silvercat Simone_Dornecker@Yahoo.com or Moonwing@Hotmail.com Your mouse cursor has been moved. Please restart Windows to adappt changes. ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Subject: Ancient Circles (9/17) Date: Sun, 4 Jun 2000 06:37:19 CEST From: Simone Nicole Dornecker To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU Disclaimers in part one ANCIENT CIRCLES by Simone Nicole Dornecker (9/17) part nine outsider It had taken some time to find the releasing mechanism for the cage door, precious time, while the van that contained the changeling raced deeper and deeper into the heart of the city. The news about the insane creature, on the verge of setting loose somewhere in the city had spread fast around the officers. Some had seen the insane creatures and could imagine what danger potential was being released if they didn't stop them. *** Nick almost shot out of the cage. He was half way out of the room when the Captain called. "Where are you going, Knight?" Reluctantly he stopped. "I've got to stop her Captain!" "And how will you find her?" Natalie joined Nick's side. "He's mentally linked to her, Captain." Cohen raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't say anything. Too many weird things had happened tonight. When this was over she would take a long and hopefully boring vacation. She followed the two outside. *** The icy temperature of early February hit them as they exited the house. For the first time in many centuries Nick felt the cold. He shivered. Maybe it was not such a good idea to go out in the cold without a coat or even a shirt. "Nick, here, before you freeze." Tracy handed him his coat. She had found it discarded in the lab and was now grateful that she had taken it with her. Her partner looked chilled to the bone, she wasn't sure if vampires could catch a cold. "Thanks, Tracy." He took the coat and tried to get it on. But he couldn't. The wings were stopping him. He couldn't pretend they weren't there. It dawned on him that he would have lots of trouble and complications because of them. He forced himself to concentrate. He needed some sort of openings or slits... With some fast rips he tore two slits into his coat. Finally he was able to put it on. At least now he was warmer. He could concentrate on the changeling again. He closed his eyes and listened...demising darkness and hunger, so much hunger, rattling sounds and sudden movements, street lamps passing through, casting shadows, hunger...prey,...nearby..... hunger.. He had found her! She was waking, preparing to feed, to kill, to do anything to quench the terrible hunger. He had to get to her! Fast! Thoughtfully he eyed the wings. Could he really fly with these? Well, there was only one way to find out. "Nick, where are you going?" "I have to get to her, Nat!" "I'll come with you." "No. It is too dangerous for you. You're too young. You need to learn so much. If I take you with me now, you could get caught in the hunt and then...then I'll lose you." He thought but he didn't say it aloud, she understood him just the same. Reluctantly she let him go. *** It was different to actually fly with wings, but he could get used to it. With his senses stretched to maximum he found the signature of the woman quickly. But not fast enough. He landed next to the crashed van and opened the backdoor. She was feeding on the man who had captured him, ripping him to shreds, while she feasted on the warm spurting blood. Two other men were half slumped in the front seat of the van, their throats torn out. The woman, no, he corrected himself as he eyed her, the young female was a mixture of human and leopard, down to the spots of her fur. She was feeding and the waves of madness she had emitted earlier where gone, there was only satisfaction that the hunger was quenched and a growing awareness. With a sudden insight he understood what the man had done and why he had done it. The child was regaining her sanity and he hoped that she was strong enough to get through the realization of what she had become...and what she had done. He stepped closer to the van and the girl stopped feeding and looked up. Her eyes were golden hues but they changed back to an emerald shade of green. "What happened? Where am I and who are you?" She was sane. Sane and scared because she didn't know what had happened while she had been insane. "Calm down, child. What's your name?" "Rachel", she murmured, "Rachel Allyson." "Rachel listen to me, what is the last thing you can remember?" "I..I ran away from home. I had to. And then I was alone and it was cold and I was hungry. A man came and asked me if I would like a warm place to stay. I thought he was a priest, he had that collar you know. He took me with him, gave me something to eat and then he hit me with a syringe. That's all. What happened? Who are you?" He took a step closer, stepping into the light of a street lamp. "My name is Nick. Nick Knight. I'm a police officer." She stared at him. "What are you?" He followed her stare. "That is a long, long story, Rachel. And I'll tell you in time, but not at the moment." He closed his eyes. How could he tell her? "Rachel there is something you should know. The man, who took you with him, he.. used you... in some kind of experiments..." She stared at him. "What do you mean? How..?" She gestured with her hands and then she stopped, looking at her hands, arms, the soft fur growing everywhere. Then she noticed the blood. The blood on her hands. Rachel looked down at the mutilated corpses at her feet, at the front of the van, stared back at her hands, at the blood slowly dripping from her claws. Her eyes were wide in shock. "I've done this." She whispered. "I did this, didn't I? I killed them!" She cried. "God, I killed them!" She broke down and sobbed. He took her, holding her against his chest and let her cry. She needed the release. "Its OK, little one. You couldn't stop it. You didn't know what was happening to you. Do you hear me?" She simply nodded. "Then listen to me Rachel, what you experienced is called 'first hunger'. I've lived through that, too." She looked at him questionably and he answered her silent question with a nod. "It is hard to explain, Rachel. The treatment the man gave you made you insane and he needed something to make you sane again. He kidnapped me and my girlfriend.." That thought made him smile inwardly, what would Nat say if she knew he was referring to her as his girlfriend? "..and he stole my blood and used it on you. It turned you into a vampire...just like me." Rachel gasped. "No, that's not true! It can't be true! You aren't a vampire! There are no such things. There can't be..." "Rachel.." She looked up into the face of a vampire. "Believe me Rachel." He managed a smile, an odd smile, interrupted by his fangs. "It is true. I'm a vampire and so are you." She whimpered. "Rachel...its ok, it will be ok." "How..?" She wailed. "I look like a monster, you told me that I'm a monster and I've killed. How can life ever be OK again?" He flinched slightly at the word monster. He had believed the same thing just several days before. At least he had the human facade to hide behind. This girl had nothing. "Little one I don't know how to make it OK again, but I know something else. You're not a monster, understand? Vampires aren't monsters, just another race." He rubbed her back soothingly, feeling her nod against his shoulder. "We are a small race, little one, and humans fear us, they make horror stories about us, because they don't understand us. They fear what they don't understand, little one, and they would hunt us down if they knew that we existed. So our existence is a secret. You can never tell a human that you're a vampire, that we exist, understood?" Another nod. "Then come with me, Rachel. You've a lot to learn now. And I want to introduce you to my girlfriend." "You're taking me with you? Why?" "The man who turned you, used my blood. That makes me your father in the vampiric way of thinking. And even if I weren't bound to you in that way, I know what you are going through Rachel, and I won't cast you out." She was silent but clutched to him like she feared he would vanish into thin air the next moment. "Ready to go?" Rachel nodded. "Then hold on tight." And he took to the air again. *** Natalie was pacing. Nick was gone for only half an hour, but it seemed like eternity to her. Damn, she wished she could use that link-thing, but she didn't know how. Distantly she watched forensics covering the scene. Her hand itched. Absentmindedly she removed the ace bandage. The wound was completely healed and the now useless stitches were making her itch. She borrowed a scissors and a pair of tweezers from one of the forensics team. It wasn't a suture removal set, but it would do in a pinch. She started to remove the stitches. She was so absorbed in removing them, it took her some time before she noticed the stares. People were staring at her. She could feel their glares on her. Suddenly she felt alone. It was ridiculous. She was surrounded by people, people she knew, worked with, her friends even, but she felt like she didn't belong here, belong to them. A shiver ran down her spine. They were staring at her and she wanted to hide. She didn't like this feeling. Tracy approached her. "Nat? You OK?" Tracy looked at her thoughtfully. Nat was very pale and she had that look in her eyes. The look she had noticed sometimes when Nick let his guard down. "Natalie, please, don't shut me out." "I'm not shutting you out, Tracy. But I've the feeling everyone is shutting *me* out! Look Tracy, they are all staring at me!" "Of course they are all staring at you, Nat. For goodness sake, you grew wings! That isn't supposed to be possible! But it happened and now they are trying to believe in something unbelievable." Natalie was dazzled. She hadn't thought of that. "Thank you, Trace." "Hey Nat, that's what friends are for. To knock some sense in each other." They laughed. "But", she lowered her voice, "I want to know. I mean.. I know what Nick is. Are you one, too?" "Yes", Nat's voice was equally quiet, "he brought me across today. It was the only way. Otherwise he would have died the true death." Tracy gasped at the indication. "Trace", Natalie closed her eyes at the memories, "Nick was dead for over three hours this morning." "No!" "Yes, he was. They had drained his body of every last drop of blood. He.. he died, walked into the light. But he was sent back. He was so weak and needed blood desperately. I had only mine to offer him. So I gave him my blood and he brought me across in exchange. And then, while I was sleeping, this happened." She gestured at her back. "Must have been a real shock." "Tell me about it." Tracy wanted to answer something, but a soft whoosh of displaced air told them both that Nick was back. He approached them, carrying a small figure in his arms. "Nat, Tracy, this is Rachel." to be continued Simone Nicole Dornecker a.k.a. Silvercat Simone_Dornecker@Yahoo.com or Moonwing@Hotmail.com Your mouse cursor has been moved. Please restart Windows to adappt changes. ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Subject: Ancient Circles (10/17) Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 05:43:37 CEST From: Simone Nicole Dornecker To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU Disclaimers in part one ANCIENT CIRCLES by Simone Nicole Dornecker (10/17) part ten: So what happens now ? She rubbed her forehead and sighed. Her head was killing her. Too many questions tumbling through her mind. Too many and they wouldn't keep quiet. Couldn't keep quiet until she had her answers. Cohen looked through her office window. They were still here. A crowd had been gathering around them. There were others who wanted answers, too. But she couldn't wait. She needed her answers right now. "Nick, Natalie..." She hesitated first but then... "Can I talk to you? In private?" They nodded and made their way through the crowd. Cohen closed the office door behind them, eyed them. They were tired, after the ordeal of the last days she could expect that. Knight was still carrying the changed girl. Rachel had refused to let go of him. She had hidden herself even more when somebody wanted to touch her. Cohen could understand that. Missing persons had wound up with a match. Rachel Allyson had been reported missing three years ago. She had been seven and a half years old when she disappeared. So young, too young. Knight had told them Rachel's last coherent memories. She couldn't begin to imagine what it felt like to wake up to find that three years were gone. Simply gone without memories. To find that her body had changed into something different, something strange and that she had killed at least three men while she had been insane. No, that was something she didn't even wanted to imagine. Rachel had been dangerously near the edge. And then Knight had come to her aid. He hadn't judged her but comforted her, treated her like a normal person, no she realized, like his own child. He understand her. And why not, he had been changed too. She looked at the small form in Knight's arms. Rachel had curled in a cat like fashion and seemed to be sound asleep but she knew that wasn't true. Every time somebody tried to take her out of his arms she woke up wailing and wouldn't stop until she felt safe in his arms again. He was the only person she trusted. Rachel was afraid, scared about the strange new situation, but at least she was sane. She was more lucky than the others. Cohen shivered. Forensics weren't finished with the house yet, but she had seen enough. Dasken had been a sick mind. The other creatures were changed children like Rachel, but hopelessly insane. Maybe they would never find out who they were. But they had been children, normal human children once upon a time and he had ripped that away from them. That was truly sickening. And the worst thing had been that he had feed them humans, living humans, had let them tear them into shreds. They had found a sort of cold room with two more shredded corpses. The case of the "beast murders" was solved at least. Yes, the name did fit. Dasken had truly been a beast. Her thoughts returned to the present. They were waiting for her to begin. "Sorry my mind was elsewhere. Please take a seat." It took some awkward moments until they decided to stand during the conversation. Back-rests, they discovered, didn't go well with wings. "I don't think I even want to know how this," she indicated their changed forms, "happened, but I need to know why he had kidnapped you. And what he had wanted from you." Natalie glanced at Nick. <> <> Natalie started to tell how she had been kidnapped while opening her apartment and about the conversation she had with Dasken (well, most of it). Then Nick told how he had been forced to decide between Nat's life or captivity. He couldn't say that much about his kidnappers because he had been sedated most of the time. Natalie chimed in. "Dasken wanted Nick. He told me that he took me as bait for him." "And why did he want you? I don't think it is connected with your foundation." Nick sighed. Cohen was too perspective. Now he had to give her another tiny bit of truth or she would start digging. He couldn't have her digging right now. "I...have some.. uh...genetic anomalies. I don't know how he found out, but he knew about them." "Anomalies ?" "Yes, they spread in my family. My allergies are genetically based disadvantages." "He wanted you, because you have genetic disabilities? Why do I have trouble believing this?" The question made him uncomfortable, but he had to answer her. "We also have several positive abilities like nightvision, enhanced hearing and a mental link with other family members." Cohen was surprised as he revealed just an other secret. How many secrets did that man have? How could she ever trust him without fearing he would hide something else before her? "There was nothing about it in your personal file." She objected. "No. It's a family secret. We never talk about it or admit it. There are too many bad memories. My family is very old and those anomalies are old, too. We have lost many family members because of curious or hysteric people in the past. Sadly our anomaly fit in many legends of the undead, so the people treat us like the undead. Even today there are too many who would want to dissect us. The events of the last day have shown that it was right to conceal those anomalies." He turned and looked out of the office window, unconsciously tightening his grip around Rachel. Cohen eyed her detective. He had been silent about many things, was carrying so many secrets. She should be angry with him, more than angry, but she wasn't. She could understand him. He had kept those things secret because he wanted to live a normal life. But now his and Natalie's normal lives would be over. The changes seemed to be permanent and they were very very obvious. "I can't say that I agree with you but I can understand why you've done it. But I don't think that you can conceal the changes that happened to you. What will you do now?" The two looked at each other, like they were communicating mentally and with a start Cohen realized that this was a true possibility. Didn't Knight mention that he was mentally linked to his family? And Natalie had said Nick was mentally linked to Rachel, but Rachel didn't belong to his family. So Dasken had played with their DNA, obviously even with Natalie's. Her suspicion grew as they seemed to finish their silent discussion. "Captain, we don't know what to do now. This all, it took us by surprise and we don't know what was affected by this change. We need some time for us to figure this out." She nodded. This was understandable. "How much time do you need?" Nick's thoughts raced. They would need all the time they could get. He had to train Natalie and Rachel and they had to work out how to live with the sudden and permanent changes in their lives. He summed up vacation time and all the accumulated overtime he could think about. "Uhh.. a month maybe ?" That should be enough to teach them the very basics and to discover the biggest changes in their lives. Cohen nodded. She would have approved even if he had asked for a year. This was turning their lives upside down and if that wasn't an excuse for some private time, nothing was. "What about Rachel?" Rachel looked up as soon as she heard her name. Yes, what about her? "I think it is for the best if she stays with us." Yes, it would be for the best of the child. Social service would never find a foster home for her in her state of being and Rachel didn't trust any adult except Knight. The pressing headache seemed to ease a little as some things simply fell in place. Cohen promised to send Tracy around with some of Natalie's stuff. The two of them had decided to stay at Knight's loft and while she wanted some of her stuff, she didn't want to be seen by one of her neighbors. Their story would be all over town in half an hour. "Oh God! Sydney! I've totally forgotten him! He hadn't had food or water for more than 44 hours! He must be starving! And he will be absolutely mad at me!" A smile washed over Cohen's face. If Natalie Lambert started to worry over her cat it seemed to get back to normal after a long weird time. "Actually one of the patrol officers took him with her. Laurie Travens, I think you know her. Has three or four cats of her own. Figured that he needed some attention and brought him with her. Sydney has been here the whole time and my officers have spent their spare time by spoiling him." By now the smile had turned into a full fledged grin. It had been an interesting thing to witness. Natalie released a sigh. She was happy that Sydney was safe and sated but.. she knew the guys at the precinct. It was a safe bet that they had spoiled him rotten. And now she would have to deal with the aftermath. Syd would be impossible for at least a week! Another part of her wondered how she could be so upset about that little thing but she somehow knew, that she would cope with the big changes easier than with the project of a spoiled Sydney. *** The elevator door slid open. The loft was dark and the air was slightly stuffed from the lack of circulation. Minor problems which could be dealt with easily. They opened the blinds to an starry clear night and the chilly frozen air of winter carried away the stuffed smell. Natalie released a slightly miffed Sydney from the pet carrier to look around at his new accommodation. Rachel looked around with eyes the size of saucers. That was Nick's home? Wow. She didn't know what she had expected, but she did know that she hadn't expected this. This was sooo cool. Nick's home was was so huge and strange and .... it was sooo different from her home. There were so many unknown things catching her eye that she didn't know where to look first. They settled in front of the fireplace. Nick started the fire with a flick of the remote and then succumbed to Nat's thousands of questions. He told them about what happened when he was dead and how that would affect them, their lives and they started to plan their future. The changes they would have to make. They even started to plan the renovation of the loft. It was obvious to them that they would stay together. Like a family. Strangely how fast they had gotten used to each other, like they had been waiting for each other. They cuddled in front of the fire and a deep feeling of happiness blossomed in them. They were happy. Simply mind-blowing happy and their happiness didn't stay undetected. *** A tidal wave of joy crashed over him. Who's happiness? He wasn't happy and not in the mood to feel the joy of one of his children. Who was so awfully happy? The link felt strangely unknown but familiar at the same time. He reached out through the link and found.... no, no that couldn't be.... he had felt his agony, had felt him dying, unable to reach him in time. It was impossible that he should feel his son's happiness right now. It had to be an illusion, an echo created by his own mind. And the link felt different. Maybe his grieving mind was playing tricks on him. Another wave of joy washed over him. It felt too real to be an illusion. Another wave. No, he couldn't stand it any longer. He had to find out what was happening, who was sending those feelings. And he would stop that sending, even if he had to stake the sender. to be continued Simone Nicole Dornecker a.k.a. Silvercat Simone_Dornecker@Yahoo.com or Moonwing@Hotmail.com Your mouse cursor has been moved. Please restart Windows to adappt to changes. ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Subject: Ancient Circle (11/17) Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 04:46:47 CEST From: Simone Nicole Dornecker To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU I posted a bit to early yesterday so part 11 and part 12 got bounched back. :( So today you get the parts you shhould have gotten yesterday and tomorrow the posts of today (I like my post in order) Disclaimers in part one ANCIENT CIRCLES by Simone Nicole Dornecker (11/17) part eleven: The truth is sometimes rather hard to believe He had followed the feelings to his son's loft. Nicholas. But he was dead. He had felt it. He couldn't be the one who was projecting those feelings. Or... could he? Had he been rescued at the last moment? No, he would have felt that. His senses had never failed him before. Voices were coming from the loft. He was curious, opened the skylight and entered in his usual fashion. The loft was in the same conditions like ever, like nothing had changed, but that was a lie. He knew that. But also the loft wasn't empty. The fire was crackling in the fireplace, and there were three people cuddling in a heap before the fireplace. They had covered themselves in big fuzzy blankets and they were laughing, a lot. They were vampires, he could feel that, but they didn't feel right. Something was different about them, something rather strange. And one of them was sending the waves of happiness. He wished they would disentangle themselves a bit and just at this moment the head of one of them appeared from under the blankets, gasping for air and trying rather unsuccessfully not to laugh. It was... "Nicholas ?" The head turned around and yes, it was his son, it was Nicholas. He was alive, but he had felt his death! What was happening here? *** Nick, Nat and Rachel had tangled in front of the fire in such a heap, that neither was sure which limb was which (except for Rachel, hers were the furry ones.), their wings securely wrapped around them like big warm blankets. They were having a good time. He had just found out that Natalie, in spite of her changed nature, was very ticklish. And now she was repaying him in kind. He had thought himself safe, nobody had succeeded in tickling him for, he even didn't know how long now, but obviously Nat knew some spots where everyone was ticklish. Nick was gasping for air. God, if she didn't stop soon, he would have to beg her for mercy soon. True, he was a vampire, he didn't need to breath, but laughing was only possible when he did breath. And right now he had quite some reason to laugh. He captured her merciless hands and raised his head to gasp for air when.... "Nicholas ?" he heard a confused voice behind him. His head spun around, LaCroix was standing beyond the skylight, his face unreadable. What was he doing here? Nick chided himself. Next to him Natalie's giggles stopped. She felt that something bothered him and appeared next to him. *** He drew in a sharp breath. The doctor was with Nicholas. She was vampire now and she was family. He could feel his son's doing. He had brought her across. Who would have expected this? After his little performance at Valentine's day he had been pretty sure that Nicholas would never bring her across. And then there was this third person, but that wouldn't come out of her (was it a her ? He listened with his senses. The feeling was very strange, but yes, it was a her) comfortable nest and she was his son's as well. He had brought two mortals across in one single day. Just what had happened this day? What had made him change his mind? *** He deserved to know the truth, Nick decided and slowly scrambled to his feet. Natalie felt his decision and got to her feet as well. There was no reason to hide what she was if he was showing him his changes. "What are you doing ?" Rachel murmured half asleep, as she felt them disentangle. "It's Ok, Rachel. Nothing that should concern you." "Ok, then." She heard the sleepy reply as Rachel went back to sleep. *** LaCroix watched his son standing up, stretching like a jungle cat and then straightening his attire. Next to him his no longer mortal love got to her feet. He saw... but he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Maybe his last snack had been tainted. Maybe he was suffering the effects of drug laced blood or maybe, maybe he simply had gone crazy. But he couldn't accept any of the self offered explanations. Specially the last one made him uncomfortable. His son seemed to feel his uneasiness and approached him. *** Never he had felt such a mix of feelings from his father (Father ? Was he still his father ? Oh stop that now ! It is not the time to get philosophical.), not at all. But then, he had never made such a radical change before and his quest for becoming mortal did not count, because he had been unsuccessful. He took a step toward his father and then another. LaCroix stood like he was cemented to the floor, watching him get closer and closer. *** He was standing in front of him now. He could stretch out his hand and touch him if he wanted, but he wasn't sure. What if it was only a figment of his imagination? What if this being in front of him turned to mist, to nothing if he dared to touch it? On the other side, what had he to loose? he thought wryly. And then he touched him. Nicholas felt solid, not like an ethereal being or an illusion. His son was really here. And these changes? Were they there or just something his mind had made up? Only one way to find out. He grabbed and then a sharp tug..."Oww, stop that! It hurts and I don't want to look like a plucked goose!" It was this moment, when he starred at his son in disbelieve, his hand full of feathers, exactly this moment when Natalie Lambert burst into laughter. Both men turned to her. *** "Nat, what is so funny?" "I..I..," she gasped for air and broke into a new fit of giggles. "Sorry, I... it's ridiculous but when you said this, I tried to imagine...." Another burst of laughter. "Yes? You were trying to imagine? Come on, Nat. Trying to imagine what?" She took several breaths and seemed to calm down. "You... looking like a goose." Gone was her mock professionally as she started to laugh at the look on his face. "Thanks, I needed that just now," he muttered, trying to present the picture of hurt dignity. "Could someone please tell me what had happened?" They turned back to LaCroix. "I felt your death, Nicholas. And then.. just a short moment ago I felt your happiness. And this.. What is the meaning of this? What had happened?" He was confused and when he talked about him feeling Nick's death they could see the pain in his eyes. *** Natalie stopped laughing. "You felt right. Nick was dead. Killed by some really perverted human beings. They drained him, his body, with a suction pump, of every drop of blood. It was horrible." She shivered as she recalled his screams of pain, his dead body, so cold and silent and her helplessness. "How then..." "How it comes that I'm alive again? Or my changed nature?" "Both." Nick drew in a long breath. That would be complicated. How could he tell him what had happened? It had to be the truth, he decided, but how should he proceed? Sharing his blood would be the easiest way, but could LaCroix handle all the details? Even he himself had passed out for hours from the memoric overload. So he would tell him a rather short version of what had happened. "Like Natalie said, I was dead. I crossed the threshold into the light and then.... then I meet someone, THE ONE. He/she looked like my mortal father. And they cleared some things for me, restored my memories of my former life and then they sent me back here." He stopped and thought about the things he had said. "That doesn't make any sense, does it?" "No, it doesn't." If that was possible, LaCroix looked even more confused than before. Maybe he should share his blood with him, it would made everything much simpler. Nick bit in his wrist to offer him the possibility of the bloodunion. It had been a very long time since he last made this offer, sometime in the 16th century he recalled and after all the things that had happened the last decades or so, he never thought he would ever agree to a blood sharing let alone initiating one. His father had already opened his wrist. Their blood mingled for the first time in centuries. *** Disconnected pictures and scenes flashed through LaCroix's mind. So many and so vivid, he nearly lost control. How could that be? How could that happen to him? He started to sort through the images, tried to put them into chronological order but found it impossible. So he let them float through his mind, observing but not controlling. He figured that he could put them in the right order later. Some of the images didn't made sense but then.. pain, agony, like he had felt it the morning before. Death, an end to the pain. The light and then this being which looked like his son's mortal father. The cryptical conversation. And then an overwhelming flood of pictures, scenes, emotions. His mind was sucked into a maelstrom of memories. He couldn't stop the flood, he couldn't order them, he didn't even know where his own memories ended and his son's memories began. Never before had he been flooded with such an amount of information at one time. His mind couldn't cope with the overload and he did a very unusual thing: he passed out. *** He caught his father easily, as he sensed him on the verge of passing out. After what had happened to him this afternoon, he had partly expected this to happen. He laid him down on the couch. LaCroix would be unconscious for several hours, depending on how fast he could assimilate and order all the gained memories and it was a safe bet that he wouldn't simply go home after he would wake. Nick covered his father with a blanket, then he went to pick up Rachel. She didn't wake but slept on, the deep, death like sleep of the vampire. She had been through so much this day and he felt rather tired too. Natalie was yawning. Time to call it a night and go to bed. He shut off the fireplace and closed the blinds, then he took his new little family upstairs. to be continued ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Subject: Ancient Circles (12/17) Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 04:48:00 CEST From: Simone Nicole Dornecker To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU Disclaimers in part one ANCIENT CIRCLES by Simone Nicole Dornecker (12/17) part twelve: sun, peace and babyfood She was floating in a sea of warmth, walking through a field of wildflowers. The sun was shining brightly, the scents of the flowers merged into a wild and beautiful fragrance and the wind that was breezing through her hair seemed to whisper her name. "Natalie." She turned her face toward the sun, bathed her face in the golden rays. "Natalie." The voice in wind became louder while the soft breeze seemed to caress her face. "Natalie." She turned around and opened her eyes and.... woke up. "Morning sunshine," Nick teased her. "Mmmrph," she murmured and tried to turn around to get back to that wonderful dream. "Natalie, please...don't go back to sleep now. The sun will be rising soon. I have waited for it so long, I want to share this with you." Natalie nearly cried, tears of joy. He was so happy, she was so happy, who would have guessed this just two days before? Nat crawled out of the bed and let him lead her down the stairs to one of the windows in the corner of the loft. Nick opened the shutter of just that window and she was beginning to ask herself why, if *she* had been confined into darkness for centuries, she would have opened all the blinds of all the windows. Then she remembered LaCroix. He was still sleeping/unconscious on the couch and she could guess that he wouldn't like the thought of being barbecued by the first rays of the morning sun. *** The sky behind the glass was dimly lit with predawn light. Normally this was *the* danger signal for the vampire but this morning Nick felt no dread, no fear that would force him to run from the light and hide somewhere out of reach, but a feeling of peace seemed to settle itself deep into his heart. With quiet happiness he watched as the sky became brighter and brighter until the sun cast its first flaming rays upon the sky, lighting the clouds in a myriad of colors. *** Nick pressed his hands against the window, his mind overjoyed, as he watched the beautiful miracle unfold before his eyes. The sunlight didn't burn him, but warmed his body like no fire could have done before. "It is so beautiful," he whispered. Words failed him as he wanted to capture this wonder and so he fell silent. *** The sun rose higher and higher, the sky changed its color again towards a brilliant blue, accented by several gray clouds, promising snow for later. *** Natalie watched him silently while he was captured in the colors and warmth of the sun. She had never been forced to stay away from the sun and couldn't begin to imagine how he had felt all this time to be denied this thing that humans take for granted. Sometimes she had been able to catch a glimpse of his anguish and longing and she had asked herself how he had remained sane. And now, he had found a way back to the light. Not in the way they had expected but neither of them would agonize about that now. In some way they had both gotten their wishes. She was with him now and he was in the light. What else could they ask for? "I'm hungry", murmured a small voice behind them. They turned around, startled. Rachel was standing behind them in a patch of sunlight and she looked at them with hungry golden eyes. The sun didn't burn her. Nick looked at Natalie, Natalie looked at Nick, both looked at Rachel. This was unexpected. True, father had promised the gift of the sun to all his future children, but Rachel had been brought across with the blood stolen from him before father had given him this precious gift. "Nick, how is that possible?" "I don't know Nat. I have absolutely no idea." "Something wrong?" Rachel asked. He crouched to her eyelevel. "Something is different, Rachel, but it is a good thing. It is just unexpected.. I'll tell you later..." He could feel her confusion, but also her hunger. He went to the fridge but stopped. He couldn't feed his new child cow's blood. No, he had made that mistake once, he would never do it again. He opened the freezer. Only three blood packs left. He must restock rather soon. He sighed. There must be another way. "Nick?" He was startled out of his thoughts, as Nat appeared next to him. "Sorry, got carried away." "What is it?" "Rachel is hungry and she will need more human blood than I have. A lot more. And you will get hungry yourself, too." "Oh." "UmmHmmm, in the first time young vampires need to feed very often and Rachel has changed too fast, she will get even hungrier than normal. Normally I would make a call to the Raven, but the Raven is closed for the day and even if it was not, I couldn't get a case delivered now, because..." "Because word would be out, at least in the vampire community." "Yes." He murmured several words in a different language and Nat was very sure she knew at least the general meaning of these words. Curses sound rather identical, no matter what language was used. "So we need a mortal, who already knew that you and I and maybe even Rachel are vampires, whom you trust and who could get some blood for us." "Hmmm." "Well, what about Tracy?" Nick's face brightened. "You're a genius, Nat." She grinned slightly. "I know," she said, mock serious, which earned her a raised eyebrow from him. Shaking his head Nick went to the phone and dialed Tracy's number. *** The phone was ringing. Tracy groaned and shifted to the other side, burying her head under her pillow. No chance. The unnerving noise got to her as well. She stood up, shuddered slightly at the cold floor and went to the phone. The blinds of her windows were shut tightly and the room was more than semi-dark, so she moved cautiously. It didn't help because just as she answered the phone she hit her leg on the coffee table. Hard. She yelped, let go of the receiver and unleashed a string of very detailed curses. "Somebody better have died, because I'm going to kill whoever's at the other end!" she muttered as she grabbed the fallen receiver. "Vetter," she grumbled. There was a soft sigh at the other end of the line and then the familiar voice of her partner said: "Would it help you to know that I already died two times and am dead in a way of thinking?" Tracy blushed. She hadn't meant for anybody to hear her rant. Damn vampiric hearing! "Sorry Nick. But why are you calling now? Shouldn't you be dead to the world like any other good little vampire?" He chuckled. She blushed some more as she noticed what she had said and to whom she had said it. Maybe her brain hadn't woken up by now, normally she didn't make such stupid remarks. Nick disrupted her musings. "Tracy, I'm sorry I have woken you, but I have a situation here and I need your help." He described his current problem and why his request couldn't wait until dusk. Tracy thought about her possibilities and promised then to organize some human blood for his new 'children'. Finally she said good bye and hung up. The next thing she did was start the coffee maker, somehow she simply knew she would need a lot, a hell of a lot coffee to make it through this day. *** Nick hung up the phone. "Tracy, someday you'll have to tell me where you learned those." he muttered. "What's up?" "Uh, nothing really, just thought aloud." "About?" "About my friendly perky partner, who isn't very friendly and definitely not perky if somebody wakes her before her normal time. I thought those curses were only known by sailors." Nat chuckled. "Well, she's always been good for surprises." "You can say...." He took the three blood bags and handed them to Rachel. She eyed them curious. "What is that?" "This is what you need, Rachel." "Is it..." "Is it blood? Yes. Donated human blood." "How do you get people to donate for you?" He laughed. "No, they don't donate the blood for me, but they donate it at the blood bank. When the blood bank couldn't use it due to antibodies or if it's too old, they sort it out and well, throw it away." "Gross." Rachel started but then the hunger overwhelmed her and she bit in the first bag and drained it dry. After she had emptied the third and final blood bag her hunger was gone and her eyes returned to her normal color. "That was good," she murmured to herself half surprised. "What was it, that I felt when I drank it ?" "You feel the thoughts, emotions and memories of the donor. You know the old saying that blood is life ?" Rachel nodded. "It is true. Blood is life. Every drop of blood holds the whole life of a person." "Mine too?" "Yours too." "Even the years that I can't remember?" "Everything you did, everything you felt, even if you don't remember it." Rachel grew silent, then she took a deep breath. "If I drink my own blood, will I remember the years that I've forgotten?" "Yes...do you want to know what happened?" "I'm not sure... I'm afraid.... but on the other side...I've the feeling that some part of me is missing because I can't remember." He looked at her thoughtfully. Watched her as she tried to describe the feeling of loss she felt due to the lost memories. And he knew that she had to remember her past to go on. "Rachel.... you don't have to decide right now. Take your time, think about it, and when you come to a conclusion, I'll help you." She smiled. "Thank you." *** Two and a half hours later Nick and Natalie watched Rachel sleeping. She had curled herself in a kitten manner in the patch of sunlight, produced by the one unshuttered window. The door buzzer hummed to life. He looked at the small video monitor and like he had guessed it was Tracy. A half frozen, not-as-perky-as-usual Tracy, but as curious as ever. He buzzed her in. *** Tracy wasn't in a particularly good mood. She had hit every single location she could have thought about to *borrow* some *babyfood* for Nick's new children. She had had some really good coffee for breakfast, but that was a long time and now her system was practically in withdrawal. "Here," she handed him two shopping bags, "do you have any idea how difficult it was to..." she stopped "Well I think you might." "Thank you Tracy. I really appreciate what you did and yes, I do know how difficult it could be to organize blood under those circumstances." He waved her further into the loft. "Make yourself at home, Tracy. I need to feed the kids." "Hey!" Natalie appeared next to him and punched him in the ribs. "Who are you talking about?" He smirked and rubbed the area where she had hit him. "Face it Nat, as long as you havn't passed a hundred, you're a kid. And you haven't passed a hundred while I wasn't looking .. or?" He teased her, but she could hear the truth in his statement. For the next sixty or more years she would be looked at as a child. But that doesn't mean that she had to like it. She blew him a raspberry, took the shopping bags out of his hands and went to the fridge to restock it. Nick grinned at her childish gesture, but the smile vanished as he felt her uneasiness through their link. He approached her and sneaked his arms around her. "Nat? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." He snuggled nearer to her and used their link to let her feel what was in his heart. Natalie leaned closer to him and closed her eyes as his love washed over her. *** Tracy cleared her throat. "Guys, I think this is not the right time for.... well.. you know what I mean." Natalie looked down at her feet embarrassed while Nick, who was very grateful for his inability to blush, turned to Tracy. "I'm sorry Tracy. I...we..." "It's OK. Tell me, you probably don't have any coffee here, do you?" "Yes, under the sink." "Under the sink? Gross! Why do you keep your coffee under the sink?" "Well, it's not like I drink any." "Sure, but I need some pretty badly. You don't mind if I indulge myself?" "Go ahead." She nearly pounced on the location of the coffee. For someone who didn't drink coffee, Nick kept an astonishing good blend. Then she remembered, that it had been Natalie, who had been the one who drank coffee at Nick's. Well, not any more. That meant she could really indulge herself. Tracy grinned, maybe this day wouldn't turn out that bad after all. She brewed herself a healthy portion of coffee and was just practically inhaling her first cup, when Rachel awoke. Rachel was hungry again. This time Nick was prepared and when she uncurled herself, he handed her a mug of warmed plasma. Tracy watched him as he approached Rachel. "Nick?" "Yes?" "You're standing in the sun! How is that possible?" "That is an really long story, but one I promised Nat and Rachel to tell as well." "Ok, let's settle down somewhere comfortably and then you can tell us the story." Nick shrugged. Then he heard a groan from the couch. LaCroix was awaking. Nick sighed, now it all would become a slight touch more complicated. to be continued ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Subject: Ancient Circels (13/17) Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 05:46:33 CEST From: Simone Nicole Dornecker To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU Because I believe that everything happens for a reason Disclaimers in part one ANCIENT CIRCLES by Simone Nicole Dornecker (13/17) part thirteen: Storytime: The beginning He woke up with a mindsplitting headache. Gods, he felt terrible. His head felt like someone had tried to stuff it with straw, with more straw then possible. How had he maneuvered himself into this position? He tried to remember, but thinking seemed to be a rather difficult task right now. Vaguely he remembered sharing blood with his son, but what had happened next? Scenes of another one's life flashed through his mind. Nicholas' life, he realized. But there were scenes, memories, emotions from before Nicholas' time, from before his own time and then there were some things that really caused him headaches. He would have to ask Nicholas about this, but first he had to get up without his head falling from his shoulders. He drew in several deep breaths. While he didn't need the oxygen, he had always found that simple method being successful for calming down someone's ragged nerves. The pain started to subside and he could feel the sun. The sun was up, hadn't even gone half its daily path, so why was he awake? And where was he? Couch, he was on a couch. Not his own, but Nicholas' couch. He was in his son's home. The headache only an annoying memory by now, he started to look around and met the eyes of his son. Nicholas looked straight at him. The window behind him was unshuttered. The sunlight washed through the glass, pouring out a spot of brightness in the dark. Nicholas was standing in that spot of light. He was surrounded by the sun's golden rays, but he didn't smoke or burn, there wasn't the slightest feeling of discomfort in their link. "How," his voice was raspy and shaken, "how is this possible?" Nicholas gave him an apologetic smile. "I just wanted to tell the others the whole story, won't you come and join us?" LaCroix nodded gravely and Nick closed the shutter. He knew how difficult it would be for LaCroix to be that near to the searing deadly sunlight. *** Nick settled down comfortably, waited for the ladies, who were raiding his meager stocked fridge and then were making themselves comfortable for his story. He took a deep breath and began. "Well, I don't know how I can tell you the entire story, it is so unreal. If I didn't know that it is the truth I wouldn't believe it. I don't even know where to begin." "More unreal than this?" Tracy gestured at him and Nat. "Try me." "Ok, Tracy. I'll try. When I... when this man, Dasken, killed me, when I died I had no choice but walk into the light..." "Wait a minute, was does it mean, walking into the light? Into the sunlight?" "No Tracy, when a vampire is being brought across, he or she goes to the place between life and death and must make the choice to come back to life. We all," he gestured at the other's in the room, "have been there and have made the choice to return to live as vampires. But this time I had no choice. I was dead as a vampire, clear and simple and like any other one who died finally I was taken to the place behind the light. The place of the last decision. And there I met a being who looked like my mortal father, but wasn't him. This being told me that I had lived another life, before this one and I had to remember that life again." "OK, that sounds really weird." He nodded, if this hadn't happened to him, he wouldn't believe it himself. "Tell us about this other life." Nick closed his eyes and let the memories surface. "I remember a time before time itself, no space, no physical bodies, only light and darkness in an eternal now. I was not really born. I didn't exist at one moment and then in the next moment I was. And there were others like me, brothers and sisters. We witnessed the beginning of everything." By now he was unaware of the presence of the others. "When you add some light, where only darkness had been before, and bring some darkness to where there had been light, a chain reaction is started and creation begins. We lived at a place beyond time and we watched, but we didn't interfere. I don't know how long everything was so peaceful, there was no time to measure, I only know that one day it all changed. *************** Flashback: Beyond time and space *************** "I don't care what you are thinking, Nathanael, I say that I can do it all better than Elohim. Elohim is old and weak. I'll fight and victory will be mine!" "But you can't do this! Elohim is our creator, the one who made us!" "That doesn't matter, Nathanael. I'll take Elohim's place! I'll be the new Elohim! You'll see!" "Lucifer, wait! Please don't do this." But his pleas went unheard as Lucifer disappeared in the distance. *** Soon after that had happened, Lucifer called out a revolution and started to gather companions for his fight. A deep split went through Nathanael's siblings. They all decided to fight. Some at the side of Lucifer and the others at the side of Elohim. Nathanael felt uncertain. How could he fight against his own brothers and sisters? How could he kill members of his family? He had already declined an offer from Lucifer's party but could he fight against him? He loved his siblings and he loved his creator and he couldn't say whom he loved more. Finally he made a decision. *** "Michael." Wearily Nathanael watched his brother and his followers. "Nathanael. We've heard you have chosen not to fight at the side of our traitorous brother. Come and fight with us for Elohim." Nathanael sighed. He had awaited this. "I can't, Michael. I can't fight against my brothers and sisters." Michael looked at him emotionless. "I see," he stated. "I'm sorry, Michael. Really, I am." But just like Lucifer hadn't listened to his pleas to stop his plans, Michael turned at him and he and his followers left him alone. Nathanael felt another connection break and when he was sure, that he was alone, he started to cry. *** Nathanael watched the battle unfold before his eyes. The elementary forces of the different groups crashed together for the first time. The released energy shook creation in its deepest core. He could feel fragile stars flickering and die. Planets changed their orbits and suns exploded. But he didn't really notice that. Something more important had happened. His first siblings had died. He memorized their names and mourned for them. It didn't matter for which side they had fought. He knew that the killed of the losers side would be forgotten and the winner side would only mourn for their own loss. But they were all his brothers and sisters and he honored their lives by mourning and remembering. *** The battle was the frightening in its unbelievable force. Both sides fought with every reserve of energy they had and the meanest tricks they knew. But slowly the followers of Elohim began to gain the upper hand. Lucifer fought hard, but his fraction was slightly smaller than the group around Michael, and he wasn't as good at fighting as Michael. *** He lost. Lucifer cried, a long howling cry of hatred and wrath. And then, to Nathanael's surprise and horror, Lucifer started to change into something different. His brightness was swallowed by the darkness of hatred and his mind lost its beauty. Again he cried and then he fell. His angry cry could be heard long after he had vanished from their home with all his followers, who had changed as well. Nathanael felt a slight change taking place in himself. But he didn't became dark like his brother, but a bit more colorful than before. His sister Gabriel approached him. "Nathanael. Elohim wants to speak with you." He felt cold. Would he fall now as well? He hadn't fought, what would happen to him now? And then Elohim was there. "Nathanael." "Elohim." Nathanael was afraid. Terribly shaken. And his creator noticed this. "Why are you afraid?" The voice was soft and encouraging. "I.. I'm so sorry. I have disappointed you. I didn't fight like the others. And I've noticed that I've changed." "You don't need to be sorry, my son. I am not disappointed about you. You didn't fight, because you felt it wasn't right to turn against your siblings. It was the right thing for you to stay out of the battle when you found that you couldn't kill your brothers and sisters. Nathanael, you changed, because you have grown up. You are ready to take responsibility. My other children will have much to learn until they are ready to take places in the realms of time and space. You'll sent to a planet that is destined to carry life. Nathanael, you'll be their teacher and guardian through the times. But you have to change, have to give up your state of being and become fleshen." "Fleshen? I? Bound to a body?" "Yes. The life of this planet will be fleshen, so the planets guardian has to be fleshen as well, but I will still be there. In spirit." Nathanael thought about it for a moment. "I am afraid, Elohim." "I know. It would be strange and foolish not to be afraid. Nathanael, calm yourself. Center your being and listen to what I have to teach you." Nathanael did what he was told. Slowly he calmed down and centered himself a one point. He listened and learned and unnoticed to himself he changed into a solid form. -On the infant planet- It was dark and cold and he felt strange. Small rocks were digging themselves into his flesh. Flesh, he was fleshen, he had a body now. This realization made him blink and he noticed that it had been dark because his eyes had been closed. Eyes, he had eyes to see. Slowly he looked around. This was his new home and he should make himself familiar with this new terrain. Everything looked different, strange through his eyes. He could see only the surface of things, not behind it like he could have before. Cautiously he stood up. His legs seemed to carry him well, although he felt a bit wobbly at first. He looked down at himself. That was he? Two legs, two arms, hand and fingers, feet and toes, a chest and a back, a head. He wriggled his fingers and then his toes. It felt a bit funny and he could feel the corners of his mouth tugging up into his first smile. "I see you're happy in your new life, brother," stated a voice behind him. He turned around. Behind him was a swirling cloud of darkness and he shivered as he felt the emanating evil. Lucifer, he realized. Nathanael wanted to back away, to run to safety, but he knew he couldn't escape him. Not while bound to flesh. "What do you want with me, Lucifer?" "Lucifer? I don't use that name anymore," the dark cloud snickered. "I'm here to give you a *present* for your new life." Now Nathanael backed away, but it was useless. In the next moment he was surrounded by darkness. The black cloud started to tug and tear at his body and, when he screamed, it invaded his mouth and rushed down into his lungs. "No more light for you, little brother. You'll learn to live in darkness like me," the voice of his brother whispered into his ear. "I give you weaknesses and the ability to die. And... I give you the desires and abilities of a predator, because from now until your death your only type of nourishment will be the life-force of the beings around you, specially the life-forces of your protégées." Nathanael screamed in horror and protest, as his new body was forced to change again. And suddenly, he was alone. He looked down at himself again to see if he had changed, but he couldn't make out any differences. Except that his eyesight was a lot better than before. And...he was hungry. It felt like his veins were empty and burning for substance. His eyes felt warm and his teeth itched. When he rubbed his tongue at his teeth he discovered that two of them were now twice as long as they had been before. Accidentally he cut his tongue at the sharp tips of his now elongated teeth and his own blood rushed down his throat. It was ecstasy. It was so good and it tasted like himself, but it didn't sate him. In fact he was hungrier than before. His ears noticed the drum-like sound of another beings heart and instinctually he attacked. The large birdlike creature released a piercing scream, when he bit deep into its throat. He hit a vein and the blood of the creature gushed into his mouth, nearly choking him. Greedily he swallowed. The blood of this being didn't taste as good as his own, but he was sated now. He wiped the corners of his mouth. When the first feelings of satisfaction died down, he realized, that this, that the blood of other innocent beings would be his only food until he lost this body. Lucifer's *gift*. And there had been others. He remembered the words of his brother far to well. He felt sick, violated, but he knew he had to live with this situation. Elohim would be only with him in spirit and he had already told him that he wouldn't interfere into Nathanael's life. Resigned he started to seek shelter, when his body told him that he had to flee before the coming period of light. *************** End Flashback *************** to be continued Simone Nicole Dornecker a.k.a. Silvercat Simone_Dornecker@Yahoo.com or Moonwing@Hotmail.com Your mouse cursor has been moved. Please restart Windows to adappt changes. ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Subject: Ancient Circels (14/17) Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 05:47:38 CEST From: Simone Nicole Dornecker To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU Disclaimers in part one ANCIENT CIRCLES by Simone Nicole Dornecker (14/17) part fourteen: Storytime: Interlude Tracy's coffee became cold, as she listened to the incredible story, Nick told them. Absentmindedly she took a sip from her mug, then she choked as the cold, bitter beverage hit her tastebuds. The choking sounds broke the silent spell. Nick opened his eyes, returned to the present. He looked into the round. The others were staring at him in shock and disbelief. Somehow he had thought they would react a bit more violent, but he was happy that they didn't. He could feel them struggling to digest everything he had told them. The only person he wasn't linked with was Tracy and her emotions were clearly written on her face. But before she could say something, LaCroix nearly exploded :" You really want us to believe this? That is insane, impossible and you know it!" Nick sighed. It had been too good to be real. Well on the other side he kind of expected this reaction, specially from LaCroix. "No, I knew you would not believe me. But nonetheless this is the truth. It is real and it did happen." "So why don't you feel any different? If this *is* the *truth*, why did our link remain the same? If you were as old as you are implying, your mental presence should be almost physically overwhelming!" Nick was silent. He could answer all these questions, but he was sure that simple answers wouldn't be sufficient. He opened his mind and there they were: the countless mental blocks, walls and veils he had placed subconsciously while he had been changing. His friends were waiting for an answer and he would give them more than that. Slowly and silently he began to remove some of the mental barriers, letting more of himself seep into the links. The three other vampires gasped when Nick's mental presence began to change, becoming older and stronger by the minute. Tracy didn't know what was happening, only that Nick didn't feel like Nick anymore, different, but still the same. It was causing her a major headache. Still Nick was changing. He became older than every other vampire any of them had encountered. Suddenly he stopped. "I have removed some of the mental barriers. Shall I go on?" LaCroix looked at his 'son'. Nicholas felt like he was ten thousand years old by now. "Please Nicholas, go on. Show us all of it." And Nick showed them all. He let go of every single mental block, every wall and buffer he had created. There was nothing that could have prepared them for this. His mental presence nearly had a physical appearance of its own. They were barley able to breath when his aura started suffocating them. Nick then rebuild his network of walls and blocks until he felt to them again like being *only* eight hundred years old. He stood up to get himself something to drink and to give the others some time to regain their composure. On his way to the refrigerator he switched on the coffee maker, Tracy surely would appreciate something hot and strong. Then he returned to sit next to Nat, politely refilling the glasses of blood. "I think you are more likely to believe me now. And you now know why there had been no change in the link." Nat simply nodded and LaCroix took his glass, chugging the blood in one hasty draught. Tracy looked around, like she had been shaken out of a dream. "Whoa. Wait a minute, wait a minute. Could anyone please tell me what just happened here?" She turned to Nick. "You felt so strange. So different. What have you done?" "I have removed all mental barriers from my mind. I felt strange, different, because I let you feel all of me. Normally I subconsciously block my mental presence to a degree." "So the strange feeling I just had, that is how you really feel to others? That is the real you?" "You could say that. Yes." Tracy thought about it for a minute, thought about the strange feeling, compared it to what she had felt from others and came to a conclusion. "You must be really old." "Yes, I am." "How old?" Tracy inquired. Nick shrugged his shoulders helpless. The typical gesture seemed alien with the movement of his wings and the slight rustle of the feathers. "I actually don't know Tracy. First I lived at a place beyond time and when I started living here on earth there was no calendar to measure time. Time was a new concept for me and when I figured out how to measure it, I lost track, stopped counting my years after something about three thousand years." "Whew." Tracy whistled, when she heard him casually talking about such an vast amount of time. "It must be something to live that long." Nick looked her straight in her eyes. "You think so, Tracy? Immortality has its drawbacks. Imagine a life that never ends. Do you have any idea how boring such a life could be when you are alone? When there is nobody to share your life with? When you really have nothing to do? Think about it, Tracy." His voice wound itself into her brain and she shuddered at the sincerity of his tone. He spoke like he had known such times and when she thought about it, the more she became sure that he had lived through such timeperiods. Natalie snuggled against him. "Nick?" She murmured softly, "please tell us what happened then." He remembered where he had stopped in his tale and soon he was back into his past. to be continued Simone Nicole Dornecker a.k.a. Silvercat Simone_Dornecker@Yahoo.com or Moonwing@Hotmail.com Your mouse cursor has been moved. Please restart Windows to adappt changes. ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Subject: Ancient Circels (15/17) Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 05:50:47 CEST From: Simone Nicole Dornecker To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU Disclaimers in part one ANCIENT CIRCLES by Simone Nicole Dornecker (15/17) part fifteen: Storytime: Early stations of a life ************** Flashback: The infant planet ************** Nathanael was tired. Hunger gnawed at him, but his hunt had been unsuccessful the last few days. The lingering heat of the former day didn't help him either. He couldn't sense a single animal. It made him nervous. Normally there would be at least some smaller beasts on which he could feed, but tonight there was nothing. His skin was tingling. Something was wrong, terribly wrong, but he didn't know what. Then he heard it, a low dangerous humming. The air was vibrating. A flaming ball crashed from the firmament. The light of the fiery rock hurt his eyes. Then the crash. The earth groaned under the impact. He had barely time enough to bury himself in the soil, before the first shockwaves raced over the area. He was frightened and hungry, but nonetheless he fell into in a deep dreamless sleep. When he awoke, he was confused. His inner clock told him that it was well after sunrise, but he didn't feel the usual dread that warned him before the dangerous sunlight. Slowly and cautiously he started to dig himself out of the ground. The sky was dark, darker than normal, even at night. No sun, no moon, no stars. And silence, like the world was too shocked to utter any noises. His hunger returned to him, more forcefully than before. He needed to hunt, to feed. He swung himself into the air, starting to search for prey. *** It was day. At least his senses told him that it was day. There were no differences between night and day now. The firmament was hidden beyond layers of dust. No sun at day, no moon, no stars at night. How long had it been? He didn't know. He was too cold to think. The temperature had dropped and snow storms hit the area quite regularly now. The wind was howling, making it more difficult to locate prey. The times when he went to sleep sated had become rare. Many races hadn't made it, when the fiery sphere hit the planet and even more vanished in this never-ending darkness and cold. How he wished the dust veils would disappear. How he wished he could get warm again. Faint noises interrupted his useless musings and he concentrated on the situation again. *** Nathanael had stopped to count the days, months, years a long time ago. So he didn't know how long the earth was covered in total darkness. One day finally the sun worked its way through the dust veils. It had taken some time until the moon and stars were visible on the night sky too, but it had happened. Again he was confined during the daylight hours but on the other side he was more than relived that the long period of total darkness was over. He witnessed Nature starting over again, filling the gasps of the vanished species with new, different forms of life. But the species, the lifeform he should guide and teach, still hasn't appeared. When, when would they develop? He felt useless, he wanted to do something more, something different than watching plants and animals change and develop, something else than hunting and waiting. He didn't want to be alone anymore. *** Empty time. That was it. He was living in empty time. Really nothing to do, nothing to live for. He was so tired. Like a mindless machine he would stand up every night, he would hunt, eat and then he would search. Always hoping that he would find something new, different. But the one thing he was hoping to find, he never did find. Then where times when he nearly got mad with loneliness. That were the times when Elohim would speak to him, renewing his hope, letting him feel that he wasn't alone. And then he would wait again. Beginning the circle anew. *** He watched the small group snuggling together to coax some warmth into their tired bones. Nathanael had followed the evolution of this species with interest. When they had started to move on two legs instead of four he started to monitor them more closely. More and more he became sure that this species was the one he should guide, teach and protect. But it was too soon to interfere. He had to wait. If and only if they develop the ability to speak, then he could be sure they were the ones. And then he had to win their trust. When he had run into them accidentally they had run away in fear. It was time to leave them alone, for now. He merged with the shadows. It would need time. And he had that time. In fact he had all the time of the world. *** Nathanael glanced back at the cave, that had been his home for the last two years. It had been a good time. After a long time of waiting and checking, he had discovered that the beings had discovered speech and the usage of simple tools, when he had monitored them the last time. A short time after that discovery he had tried to contact these beings. The first contact didn't go the way he had planned it. The mortal beings didn't run away from him, but they believed he was a sort of god. No, definitely not like what he had planned. It had taken him some time and energy to make them understand that he was not a god, but wanted to teach them new things. It had been a success. He had taught them several simple things and now he watched them carrying that knowledge on by teaching it to their children. Now it was time for him to leave this group. He had to go on and find similar small groups to teach them as well. And then repeat that pattern again and again. But he would miss the ones he left behind. Always. He sighed as he went away. *** Time went on. Nathanael tried not to notice the years moving by so fast. There was so much for him to do, so many people to teach to. But he did notice the slow but steady change in the mortal beings he was teaching. They were losing their fur and their facial profiles changed too. They looked a bit more like him, but their skin was black while his was nearly as white as fresh fallen snow. Their hair was black and tousled, his was fair and while their eyes were a deep shade of brown, his were a brilliant blue. There were so many differences between them, but he felt accepted by them. The groups grew larger, split into new small groups, that grew large again. And he was a part of them, of their stories, of their legends, of their lives. *** It was by accident, when he had been hungry and had attacked a lonely hunter, that he made his first child. The blood of the young man was sweet, with a slight earthy touch and the distinct smell of the woods. It was so much better than the blood of the animals he normally consumed. Only when he heard the heart of the man weakening and knew that he was dying, Nathanael stopped. Scared by what he had done. Maybe he could save him by giving him some blood back. He started to feed him his blood, pleading to him not to die, but to come back. And the young man came back to life, but he was changed. He was like him now. Nathanael could feel a bond forming between them and realized that the man had somehow become his child. His responsibility. He had to teach him the meanings of his new life. He would teach him all he knew and together they would be able to reach more people, would be able to teach more of them at one time. And when the time was coming to move to the next group, he wouldn't be alone anymore. Nathanael smiled when he carried the young man into his home. *** His child's name was Zwer and he had been a loner before. He had no group he could go to and he had waited for his death in the woods. Instead he was given eternal life and someone who cared for him. At first he was confused, overwhelmed by all the new things, abilities he had to master, but he was a quick pupil and a good companion. For over three hundred years he helped Nathanael to teach and to guide the mortals. But then Zwer wanted to start his own family and Nathanael let him go. He was kind of sad to release Zwer to his own fate, but he knew that he would not entirely lose him until death, because of the bond they shared. The bond he would share with all of his children and their children, and their children's children. He would be linked to them all. *** Twenty years after Zwer had left him he took his next child and shared some time with it. And so time went on. He would create children, teach them everything they needed to know and when they finally wanted to start their own families, he would let them go. Over the years his family grew larger and larger. Sometimes his children came back to him after short periods of separation, some for a short visit to introduce him to their new family and others to stay with him again. *** The time went on and the mortal beings changed more and more. Their skin- and eyecolors changed slowly, influenced by their surroundings and different types developed, fitting in their environment. And their environment changed as well. New species of animals and plants appeared, some to die again soon, some to be integrated and developed further on. The temperature dropped, only to rise again. The continents drifted apart trapping some of the mortals and of his children behind oceans and only his link connected him with them. The mortals started to settle down, developing different cultures. Nathanael was happy and contend. And then the rebellion started. He was not prepared for the forces that branded against him. The younger members of his family didn't want to live with their restrictions. They wanted to be something better than mortals, they wanted to be gods. Nathanael and his older children were against the tendencies of the younger ones, but the younger ones started to make more and more children, turning them into an army and lead them against their own family. They told their troops to show no mercy against their elders. Except for their forefather. He should be spared. But that did nothing to smother Nathanael's pain. His links were vibrating with pain, hate and death. All over the world the troops of the young ones attacked their elders. Some of them escaped by closing off their links and going into hibernation, a deathlike state his species used to sleep through times of trouble. But Nathanael stayed awake. These were his children's children, who tried to eliminate their past to build a new, a wrong future. He watched the battles, he fought in the battles. He removed several mental barriers to bring the young ones to their knees with the sheer presence of his age, but they were too many. They couldn't get him personally because of his emanating mental presence, but they used mortal servants, who didn't feel the mental vibes and paralyzed him with several stakes. This immobilized they made him watch slaughtering mortal villages until he agreed to veil his age, so that they could get close to him, draining him of his life elixir, to learn the secrets of the Elder. But whoever drank of his blood forcefully would pass out from the pain and the mourning he would pour in his blood and they would be forever changed. The young ones forced the mortals to build temples for them and praise them as their gods. They fed without remorse from everyone they want and they thought of themselves as the rulers of the world. It didn't last long. *************** End Flashback *************** to be continued ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com Subject: Ancient Circels (16/17) Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2000 07:51:37 CEST From: Simone Nicole Dornecker To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU Disclaimers in part one ANCIENT CIRCLES by Simone Nicole Dornecker (16/17) part sixteen: Aftermath The sun went down and Nick stopped. "I think that is enough for now." He refused to tell any more this evening, even when Nat and Tracy teamed up to persuade him otherwise. It was sooo interesting, sooo unbelievable and yet he had seen it all, had done it all. And he had a really good way of telling stories. "Come on, I've talked nearly the whole day. I am worn out. At least for now. We can continue later, ok?" Reluctantly they accepted his offer to continue later. But he was right. They had lots of other things to do and it wouldn't do them any good if they neglected them. Tracy was the first who had to go, vowing to herself to do some research on all the things she had learned about her partner (after she had bugged Cohen into giving her some short time leave, but that was quiet easy after the incidents of the last time). Then LaCroix took his leave as well, promising to discretely deliver some cases of the Raven's stock. *** Finally they were alone. The silence was deafening. "It is eerie quiet." Natalie observed. "It seems so." Nick looked at her with silent happiness. It was then, that the reality sunk into Nat. In one moment she understood the meanings of all the things that had happened the last days. Suddenly she felt rather small, young and helpless and she started to shake. "Nat...Natalie." Strong arms embraced her and she felt safe, wanted to hide and never again face the outside world. But a small voice deep inside her told her, that she had no choice, but to learn to live with the new situation. "I'll help you, Nat. You and Rachel. Everything will be alright then. We will make it alright." Her tense muscles relaxed and the panic quieted down. "I feel so silly," she said. "No, you feel overwhelmed. Your whole life has changed and there is no way, but going forward. It happens to all of us. Everyone had these moments when they want to go back, to unmake their choices....., but that is not possible." "No? There is no way back?" He sighed. "There is one way, but...I'm afraid not for me and, as long as you are with me, not for you." "There is a cure then?" "Yes." "Tell me about it." "When a female vampire falls in love with a mortal man and is loved by him equally strong, they can make love without the vampire killing the mortal. And the female vampire will become pregnant." "Pregnant? But I thought...," Natalie blurted in excitement. "You thought vampires were infertile?" At her hesitant nod he continued, "You are not alone with that believe. Most vampires believe it also. It has not happened in the last four thousand years. There are legends, but they are very inconclusive." He stopped for a moment, remembering his unhappy daughter Serena, who had taken one of those legends too literally and had failed in achieving a baby...and mortality. "Anyway, when a female vampire becomes pregnant, she will slowly become mortal again. She'll change with her child, which will be completely mortal either." "And male vampires?" "We are not infertile either.. But when a male vampire impregnates a mortal female, she will slowly change until the vampire has to cross her over after delivery. Their child will be appearing human, but when it grows up, it will develop more and more qualities of the vampire until it will become completely vampire sometime during its twentieth year of birth." She thought about it for a moment. "And..," she hesitated for a moment and then continued, "..what about a vampire/vampire couple?" "I have never heard or seen about a resulting pregnancy. But it should be possible. Why? Are you planning ahead?" She grinned sheepishly. "I always wanted a big family." Her eyes glanced over. "I wanted to be the mom that my mother could never be." A silent red tear slid down her cheek as she recalled the fateful evening when her parents went out to never come back again. He knew what she was recalling. The pain about the loss of her parents had been strong in her blood. Afterwards there had been the abuse by her grandmother and she had felt so lonely, only Richard had been there. She had been something like a surrogate mother for her brother, but nobody had been there for her. She had buried herself in her work. And then he had woken up on her slab and her life had changed. All this he recalled in a short moment, then he drew Nat closer to him and let her feel comfortable enough in his arms that she could cry. It was something that she needed to do, like he had needed it few days ago. *** Tracy shut down her computer. she thought. Doing research on her partner had been more interesting then she had thought. She had started with the name he had given her and the Captain when Natalie had been kidnapped and had learned that he was a dual citizen, Canadian and Belgian. Her interest piqued and she had started to hack around, a skill she had perfected over the years. And then she had hit paydirt and nearly had to pick up her jaw from the ground. "Oh my.... !" She murmured when she scrolled down the screen. That was incredible! Impossible! Or was it? Maybe he didn't knew the last developments in this area. Something told her that this was the most possible explanation. She had copied the data and had made a printout. To show it to Nick when she would go back to hear the rest of his story. "Oh God," she sighed, "..you sure have a weird sense of humor." *** The music was blearing loud and the dance floor was full with mortal patrons, dancing to the seductive beat of the music. So far nothing out of order. But the immortal patrons were milling around nervous. Something had happened. They all had felt it, the short decloaking of a *very* old vampire. Someone was in town who was older then the eldest known elders and that made them jumpy. And that somebody knew how to cloak there presence. He or she could be anybody, anywhere. Nobody knew who it was. Nobody...except one. LaCroix stood at his usual place, brooding. He didn't know what to do, what to make out of the situation and this insecurity made him more vicious than he normally was. Everyone was avoiding him after he had snapped at one of the waitresses, nearly tearing her to shreds verbally. He had told Miklos to bring two cases of uncut and one case of cut blood to Nicholas' loft, leave them in front of his doorstep, buzz and then come back to the Raven. Miklos had been a bit puzzled, but he had a very good survival instinct and that instinct told him to better leave it alone now or he would never live to get an answer to his questions. *** The door buzzer was humming, startling them. Nick went to the security monitor to see who was buzzing, but there was no one, just three cases with the Raven logo. "Who is it?" "Dinner." "Dinner?" "Yep, someone from the Raven was here and left a delivery at the door." Natalie threw a pillow at him. "Hey! What is that for?" "For making me think that.." "..that I'm going to snack on the someone who was buzzing?" He finished her sentence. She nodded, trying unsuccessfully to hide a grin at his mock hurt features. He threw the pillow back at her and before she could start a serious pillow fight he vanished via the lift to get the cases of bloodwine. "Party Popper," she murmured and gave the pillow a sharp kick. "I heard that, you know," said his voice behind her. She turned around to see him entering via the skylight, carrying the three cases with him. "You...!" she shouted, "...don't do that! You nearly gave me a heart attack! I thought you wouldn't be able to do that anymore!" He grinned at her and landed in the kitchen, putting the cases on the table. The next moment he was under attack. "Let me see...," murmured a merciless Natalie, "..where was that extra ticklish spot of yours?....Ah yes.. I think I just found it," she smiled with satisfaction when he doubled over with laughter. *** "Vachon?" Tracy braced herself for the moment when he would appear. Normally he would sneak up at her and startle the crap out of her. She knew this but, she couldn't help herself to be surprised every time. Not today. He was moving around in his refuge like a caged tiger. "Hello Tracy." "What is wrong, Vachon? You're nervous." "NO, I'm NOT!" He snapped at her. She merely lifted an eyebrow at his display of nervousness. "Ok, ok. So I am nervous. Satisfied?" "No. Why are you nervous?" He sighed. Tracy wouldn't give up until she knew why he was so jumpy. He knew her all to well. "Something has happened in the community." "Oh...." Tracy thought she knew what has happened, but better safe than sorry, "...what has happened in the community?" He gave up. Damn, he wished she wasn't a resistor... "Someone is in town....someone *very* old. Whoever it is, can cloak his or her presence, so nobody knows who it is." He started to pace again. "But when this someone can cloak his presence, how do you know he is here?" "During the day, I bet, every vampire in Toronto was woken due to the sudden uncloaking of this presence...." he seemed lost in thought. "Wait a moment," he turned towards her, "..*his* presence? *He* is here?" Tracy thought . "You know something, Tracy." She squirmed under his look. "Come on, Tracy... tell me." She sighed. "Ok, yes. I know something." She released a deep breath. "I know who it is, and where he is and what he is." "And?" "And what?" "Who is he? And where is he? And what is he?" Tracy knew when she was defeated. She knew his tactic. He would ask her again and again, using the look that made her mushy inside to mellow her defenses until she would give up. She knew that, but she hadn't found a good counter she could use now. She released another deep sigh and surrendered. "He is the father of all vampires on this earth." Her thoughts raced. Then she remembered the other name. "His name is Nathanael and....,"