|
Post by dragonfan on Jul 12, 2007 6:56:01 GMT -5
Chapter 13
Stephan wasn’t pleased with the news that Tracy had given them, but he had known that it was going to happen sooner or later. Dead bodies were getting harder and harder to hide and that was the entire point behind the Purge. He addressed the Enforcer kneeling in front of him as the rest of the Enforcers (and Nick) looked on. “Curtis, this cannot be dealt with in the normal manner. There are too many witnesses to the discovery of the body that you left behind. Another way must be found to deal with the problem of having a staked vampire lying in the morgue.” He sighed and rubbed his eyes as he leaned back in his chair.
“Feds,” Nick said from behind his chair. The Enforcers and Stephan all looked at him. “Federal agents are the bane of local law enforcement. I’m sure that Aristotle can come up with legal documents saying that a pair of Enforcers are federal agents and that they are taking over the case and that all of the evidence and files must be released to them. It doesn’t happen often but it does happen enough that the department will be cussing them out but they won’t stop them or question their right to do it.”
The Enforcers simply stared at him in shock. It had never occurred to them to walk in and take the evidence openly. Stephan nodded, “It is even mostly honest. The case as you call it is ours to deal with.” He turned to Curtis, the Enforcer who had dealt with the vampire along with his partner and who now had to clean up the mess they had left. “This is why I have insisted that Nicholas stays a police officer. He knows how these people work. See to it that this is taken care of as Nicholas has suggested.” He dismissed them.
88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
Schanke and Tracy were at their desks going over their files when two pale men dressed all in black walked into the bullpen. “Don’t look now, but we’re being invaded by ‘The Men in Black’,” Schanke whispered. Tracy’s expression didn’t change but she did kick him under her desk. She knew that Schanke didn’t know who they were but she did. They were Enforcers. She had seen them when she had gone to see the King to tell him about the vampire Natalie had down in drawer fifteen in the morgue. The air of menace that surrounded them was unmistakable.
They walked into Captain Stonetree’s office and shut the door behind them. She wondered what was going on. “Man oh man oh man, please don’t let those guys be feds,” Schanke whispered as one of the men laid a file down on Stonetree’s desk and Stonetree glared at them after reading it.
“Looks like it to me,” Tracy said. She had to admit it was a neat way to make certain that no one investigated the vampire down in the morgue any more. She wondered how many times before they had done this.
The two Enforcers followed Stonetree out of his office and stood to one side as he made an announcement. “All right everybody listen up! These are Agents Hubbard and Voigt. Anyone who has anything on the John Doe that was found last night is to turn it over to them. As of right now, it is a Federal case.” He turned around and stomped back into his office.
Sighs sounded from all over the bullpen and Schanke waved a hand in the air to attract the feds’ attention. As they walked over to his desk he and Tracy gathered up their files and printed out what they had on their computers. The few other officers who had personal reports or notes on what they had seen handed them over as the ‘feds’ walked by. Schanke handed all of their files and Tracy handed off the printed out reports. Then the Enforcers left, much to Tracy’s relief.
“Man, I wanted these guys. I mean, what if they go after Nick?” Schanke muttered. Unseen by the people in the bullpen, the Enforcers paused, listening.
“They won’t,” Tracy said confidently. “I recognize those feds. They don’t stop for anything when they get on someone’s trail.”
“I guess being a Commissioner’s daughter comes in handy every once in a while,” Schanke said, relaxing. “Good, the thought that these psychos might go after Nick had me worried.”
“They won’t go after Nick,” Tracy reassured her partner. ‘Of course the fact that he out ranked them might have something to do with that,’ she thought to herself. “Well, there goes our one recent case. What now?”
“Same thing we always do when ever there is a lull. We go back and look at our open cases and see if we can’t shake something loose,” Schanke said and pulled out a file to hand to her.
The Enforcers continued on their way out of the precinct and went onto the morgue. This conversation was one that would be reported to the King. It seemed that the Queen-to-be’s ladies were already showing their worth.
8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
"I can't!" Vachon exclaimed in a near panic. "There has to be someone else. Toronto is full of vampires right now. There has to be someone older than I am." Vachon couldn't believe that the General leaving left him as Elder for the Toronto Community.
Lucien continued to pack, undeterred by Vachon's frantic attempts to get out of his responsibility. "The only two members of our Community who are older than yourself are Janette and Nicholas. They are both members of the King's Guard. They cannot take any responsibility other than that while the King is here. The others who are visiting are doing just that; visiting. You will be the Elder when I leave at sunset. You WILL do your duty." Lucien wanted there to be no doubt in Vachon's mind that he would enforce certain 'consequences' should Vachon abandon his responsibilities.
"Sir," Vachon tried again. "I can barely take care of my fledglings, fledgling," he corrected himself. Screed's loss still weighed heavily on his heart. It had been his fault that Screed had been a Carouche. He had been so lonely that he had tried to make a fledge when he was barely a fledgling himself. He hadn't known how to do it properly. He had left Screed alone too long and Screed had fed the first hunger on rats instead of the human that Vachon had been out trying to get for him. By the time he had gotten back to Screed with the woman that he had found, it was too late.
Vachon had done better with his other fledgling Ursula or Urs as she wanted to be called now. She was a good vampire but he knew that she was self-destructive and probably wouldn't last much longer. And worse still those two were his successes! He couldn't be placed in charge of any Community much less this one!
"I sha'n't be gone long, a year, perhaps two. The King will reside here during that time so I anticipate no problems for you. No one will make trouble while the King is here." Lucien shut his suitcase and turned to the much younger vampire. "You won't actually have to do very much Vachon. Everyone knows that you will be merely keeping my seat warm for me. Now get out of my way."
Vachon flattened himself against the wall and watched as the General swept out of the room. This was going to be such a big mistake.
|
|
|
Post by dragonfan on Jul 12, 2007 7:02:11 GMT -5
Chapter 14
Stephan wished that Michelle's professors hadn't had such a scheduling conflict that the only week they could go over her dissertation was during the Purge. He also wished that Tracy could have gone with her. The only thing he could do was have Janette and four of the fledglings she looked after go with her. He couldn't even hire a mortal bodyguard because right now at least there was no way to explain why she needed one.
"Stop worrying," Nick said from where he was standing behind Stephan. "She'll be fine, exhausted but fine."
"I know," Stephan said as he turned away from the window looking out over the airport. "But I am going to worry until she comes back. Mortals are so fragile."
"Yes they are," Nick said thinking of Natalie. "But they are strong too. She has guards for when she sleeps and she'll be in meetings the rest of the time. It's only for a week Stephan."
'I'm a vampire, over 300 years old. I can wait a single week,' he told himself. He was wrong. Later that same night, the event that Stephan had been both dreading and planning for was on the news. Two Enforcers were caught on live television chasing down a vampire under the Purge. The televisions in the main room of the Raven happened to be on when the news broke. Stephan recognized the vampire as Fredrick Torres, a pedophile who would rape his victims before draining them. "SILENCE!" he yelled at the crowd. The last thing he wanted was a panic.
"Nicholas, return to your police station." Nick bowed and swept out of the room. "James," he called to the fledgling near one of the TV's on the wall, "turn that up." Then he leaned back in his chair and reached out along his connection to the two Enforcers. *Do not allow him to escape or harm to come to any human. You are on live television. Everyone is watching you. Remember what I said before.* Privately he was grateful that it was these two particular Enforcers who had been caught. The younger one, David, had a particular fondness for police dramas. That would prove useful when they caught their prey and had to deal with the humans.
In downtown New York City neither Enforcer paused to acknowledge their orders. Already their quarry had shown himself to be a vampire to the crowds, running with his eyes and fangs showing, leaping over obstacles that no human could have and even flying at one point. He had quickly abandoned that tactic as they had nearly caught him then. He still had a stake stuck in his shoulder from that. Behind them they could hear a reporter babbling but they paid no attention. He was keeping up because the press of the crowd was keeping their speed down. Their prey ran into a large department store, dodging humans left and right.
No matter how hard he ran or how he tried to confuse his pursuers, he couldn't shake them from his trail. They had his scent and Enforcers never gave up. In desperation he snatched a little girl from her mother and threw the child. He had hoped that the Enforcers would let the child die, her head cracked open on the tile covered cement floor. If they did that, then the humans would mob them and he could make his escape.
They did not follow his plan. They obeyed the orders of their king. To the astonishment of everyone watching, including the police officers who had finally caught up with the three vampires, the two Enforcers split up, one flying up and over the crowd to land on top of their prey. The other flew to catch the child. With the child in his arms wide eyed in fright and astonishment, David landed next to her mother. 'How did the lines from that show go again? Oh yes,' he thought. "Here you are ma'am. We're sorry we could not have caught him earlier," he said with grave dignity. He was on the king's business. It would not do to act informally.
"You catchded me!" the little girl blurted out. "You flied and chatchded me!" He handed her to her mother and then gave a grave bow to the mother before giving the little girl a smile. He then went and joined his partner, Geoffrey.
"So what did this guy do?" one of the cops asked them. They hauled their prey off the floor, snarling and still attempting to escape.
"Raper of children," Geoffrey snarled. As there was no point in hiding what he was, he didn't bother. He hated pedophiles with a passion and his expression was hard enough to make the experienced cops shiver in dread.
He wasn't the only one who hated pedophiles. "You guys cops?" one uniform asked, hoping the answer was yes.
"We are the King's Enforcers," David said.
"How can we help?"
"If you could keep the other mortals back? His punishment will be," Geoffrey asked.
"Not something that should be shown on television," David interrupted.
Taking that to meant that the pervert was getting what was coming to him immediately, the uniforms began crowd control. The Enforcers hauled Frederick out of the store and into the alley behind it. The reporters had heard the request but being reporters tried to follow them out into the alley anyway. The police officers stopped the reporters from following. While the cops were just as curious as to what the punishment would be, they understood more than most that there were some things that shouldn't be shown indiscriminately.
A few minutes later they were glad that they had made sure no one followed the vampires into the alley. The cops could see the Enforcers from where they stood guarding the door to the alley. The Enforcers removed Frederick's pants and then his genitals were literally ripped off. The howl of pain echoed in the alley long after Geoffrey stuffed the offending organs into the pervert's mouth. Then they staked him and removed his head before setting him on fire. When the reporter demanded to know what was happening, one of the officers told him. Shaken, they waited until the Enforcers walked over to them. "It is done. He will harm no more children," David said.
"What are you?" the reporter asked, not daring to shove his microphone in the Enforcer's face.
"We are vampires. That one broke the Code, our king's laws. For that his life is forfeit," David said calmly.
"Who is your king?" the reporter asked. "And where does he live?"
"King Stephan is currently staying in Toronto, Canada." Before the reporter could ask another question they left, flying straight up into the night sky.
|
|
|
Post by dragonfan on Jul 12, 2007 7:03:18 GMT -5
Chapter 15
By the time Nick got down there, the chase was on every channel and being shown on every television set in the station. He hadn't bothered to hide the fact that his burns had healed completely. By the time that this night was over the entire world would know once more that vampires existed. The only difference would be that this time there would be physical evidence.
"Nick, good to see you," Stonetree said as he sat down next to Schanke and Tracy. "The investigation into Sneed has found that he really didn't believe that you'd get sick. So it's up to you what happens to him. At the very least, he's being busted down in rank. If you want, he'll go down to traffic cop. If you want, you can also press assault charges."
"Bust him down a few ranks Captain," Nick said. "If he had really pushed it or pushed me into the sunlight he could have killed me. I don't think he deserves to be sent to jail for it though if he really didn't believe that I'd get sick." Stonetree nodded and they sat back to watch the news coverage.
"My god, would you look at that," Stonetree breathed as the Enforcers jumped over a semi truck that had gotten between them and their quarry.
"That can't be real," David Parker said bewildered. He was a detective with Robbery.
"Oh yes it can and yes it is," his partner said. "That is live tv, no fakes, no special effects, nadda, zip, zilch."
"Five bucks says they catch him," said the daytime desk sergeant. He'd been delayed leaving the station and was hanging out in Homicide. Gossip said that the reason he hung out down at the station so much was to avoid his daughter's wedding plans.
"Sucker bet!" called many of the detectives, including Nick and Schanke. "There is no way he's getting away from them," Schanke went on.
By the time the chase came to its violent conclusion, the majority of the Toronto Police Department was firmly on the side of the Enforcers, not necessarily vampires in general, but the Enforcers at least. But when the Enforcers said that the King of the Vampires was living in Toronto, everyone started talking at once. Just as it started to devolve into a mob divided between 'vampires are monsters' and those two looked like good guys to me' Tracy piped up. "I don't know what you're freaked out about Frakes; it isn't like they didn't exist two hours ago or last week for that matter."
"What are you talking about Vetter?" the upset cop snarled.
"None of you know any facts about vampires other than they really exist. I've known about them for almost a year now and I know a lot more about them than you do. Now are you going to act like cops or are you going to act like a mob over a bunch of horror stories?" Tracy got right into Frakes face.
"What's to know? They kill people to drink their blood. Even if they're ripping each other to pieces they're still murderers!" he said, bewildered that there was even a discussion.
"Like I said, horror stories and even more important facts taken out of context. Why are you applying 20th century morality to people who were committing the acts in the 14th? Up until this century there were always groups of people who weren't considered human. Those people are the ones vampires have traditionally hunted. Also, up until the medical breakthrough of blood donations the only choice a vampire had was hunt or starve to death unless they were high enough in rank to be fed by the King. That option has only been available for the past 500 years. Don't expect vampires to be better than everyone around them." Tracy knew the next argument Frakes would come up with. Schanke and Nick just looked amused. Their rookie was up in points.
"Why can't they drink animal blood?" Frakes thought that he had the rookie.
"Some do, they're called Carouche. You see a vampire's diet is VERY species specific. The first meal a vampire has sets the vampire's taste buds and dictates both what the healthiest meal will be and how that vampire thinks. Vampires are biologically set up to hunt. What they hunt is determined by that first meal. The best hunters are those that think like their prey," Tracy paused but Frakes just looked blank.
She sighed and shook her head. "Look I knew the Elder of the Carouche here in Toronto before the recent epidemic killed him. His prey was rats. Screed could drink human blood but he didn't like it. He lived in the sewers, he dressed like a homeless person and he thought like a rat. He couldn't plan for the future. He couldn't conceive of getting a job and it was a miracle that he survived as long as he did. He was that way because his master was barely a fledgling himself and got the timing wrong. Most Carouche are created because of mistakes. They're considered the retarded second class of the vampire communities."
"He didn't like human blood but he could drink it?" Schanke asked. If the reverse was true, then that would explain the cow blood in Knight's fridge.
"It's like the difference between a gourmet meal and one of those nutritional drinks. Screed loved his squeekers. I bought him five pet store rats for his conversion day last year. He said it was the best present he'd ever had." Tracy looked sad. She missed the scrawny English sailor. "Now any vampire can go to the Elder of his or her community and get bottled blood. They have to pay for it of course, but like anyone else most vampires would rather buy their groceries than go hunt for it."
"So if a vampire wanted to keep the ability to think like a human, they'd need to drink human blood for their first meal," Stonetree said.
"Yes sir."
"Starve or eat is self defense but what about now? What happens if a vampire decides to snack on someone now?" Frakes wanted to know.
"Vampires have laws the same way we do. They're collectively called the Code and every vampire and Carouche have to follow it. If a vampire violates the Code the Enforcers go after them. You've seen the results of that." Tracy turned to Natalie, who had been trying to stay out of the argument. "Nat, how many of your customers in the last year could have been killed by vampires?"
Natalie was startled to suddenly be in the spot light but she and Nick had already talked about what the King wanted if the truth about the existence of vampires came out. She turned to face the crowd. "First you have to understand that I've known about vampires for a few years now. I had a patient wake up on my table after he tried to stop a robbery and caught a pipe bomb for his trouble.
"When I've suspected that one of my patients has been killed by a vampire I've turned those cases over to the Elder of the Vampire Community's family here. They either find the perp or call in the Enforcers and they deal with the situation. You already know how they deal with those who break the Code." she waved at the tv and most of the officers were nodding in satisfaction even as they looked like they were going to puke.
"Well I'd say that there have been no more than ten victims in the past year that I can positively identify as vampire kills. Those murders were committed by four vampires, one of whom was very disturbed mentally. I'm not even sure that she knew what she was, much less that she could live on bottled blood. Of the other three, two didn't care that murder is against the Code and the third was a case of self defense as the person she ate was trying to stake her at the time." She shrugged, "I think that statistically speaking, I get more vampires as patients then vampire victims."
"You treat vampires? But they aren't human!" Frakes said aghast.
"Actually I proved that they were human two years ago," Natalie said calmly. The last thing that she wanted was for that particular thought to get going.
"Are you sure about that Nat?" Stonetree asked hopeful.
"Positive Joe, I ran every test there is. Vampirism is nothing more than a contagious genetic virus that attaches itself to a person's RNA rather than the DNA."
"What's the difference between RNA and DNA?" one of the uniforms asked.
"The DNA is the blueprints of a cell. As you know every person's DNA is different and dictates how they look, what their body type is, etc." Natalie paused to make sure that everyone knew what she was talking about. When she was sure that they did, she continued. "Well your DNA is contained within the nucleus of its cell and has no direct contact with the rest of the cell. Think of it as the Chief of the cell and the rest of the cell like the uniforms on the street. The DNA sends messages to the rest of the cell through the RNA like the Chief sends messages through your sergeant. When the vampire nucleotides attach themselves to the RNA, they take the messages and screw them up so that they can survive. Aside from the unusual placement of attachment that is what always happens when a virus attacks a cell. That is the medical reason that a person becomes a vampire."
|
|
|
Post by dragonfan on Jul 12, 2007 7:08:52 GMT -5
Chapter 16
"All right every body," Stonetree stood up. "Listen up we're going to be up to our eyebrows in freaked out civilians out there. I want every cop that reports out of this station out there on the street calming people down. Spread the word that Dr. Lambert already proved that vampires are human, they just have a genetic illness like Down syndrome. Remind people that what they saw on tv tonight was a two cops chasing down a convicted criminal who hurt kids. Now get outa here."
He turned to Nick, Schanke and Tracy. "Listen, I need you out on the streets too but I also need to know more about what we're dealing with. Nick, since it's obvious that you're a vampire and technically you're still off duty, can I get you to give me a rundown on the basic facts? I'm sure that sooner or later someone from higher up on the food chain is going to be calling me."
Nick sighed, he had been expecting this. "I'd be glad to Cap, but the King's expecting me back soon with a report on what's going on out there and how we're dealing with it. As soon as the reports come in from the street I have to get back."
"You know the King?" Schanke asked amazed. "On second thought, why wouldn't you know the guy? You're the only vampire we have on the force and he's going to want to know what's going on." He waved his hand in the air, figuratively erasing his questions. "Never mind, we've got work to do right now. Listen, the kid and I'll get out on the street and hit the information sellers. They know how to move this sort of information the quickest and that's what we'll need right now. Come on kid, Nick I'll see you at your place after sunup. Hostalabyebye!"
Nick watched in bemusement as Schanke dragged Tracy out of the room. By then he and Stonetree were the only ones there as Natalie had taken the opportunity to sneak out as well. He turned to his captain, "So what do you want to know?"
888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
In Michelle's hotel room, vampires were ducking as she trashed the place. Broken vases and mirrors littered the floor along the walls. Pillows had been thrown across the room from where they normally rested. While the Janette and the other vampires that were guarding Michelle had seen far more destruction than one small mortal woman could create with her bare hands, the passion with which she threw herself into her temper tantrum met with their approval. It took a great deal of passion to be able to survive among vampires.
"My lady?" Janette asked as Michelle finally dropped to the floor, tired out.
"Why couldn't they have waited another week?" she cried. "Stephan was planning on this happening sooner or later, but I wanted to be there with him when it happened! He's going to need someone there to help him!" she fretted.
Janette smiled, 'This mortal is worthy of my King if that is the reason she is so upset.' "My lady, right now you need your rest. You have a dissertation to defend. The sooner that is completed, the sooner we may return to my liege."
Michelle nodded; she knew that Janette was right. She did need her sleep if she was going to be any good tomorrow. "Do any of you need anything?" she asked. She didn't want any of them to suffer just because they had to watch her; stupid royal customs. She didn't really need a bodyguard. No one that mattered knew about her or her involvement in the vampire world.
"Nothing my lady," Janette reassured her as she picked Michelle off of the floor. "The local community has been very generous. Now get some sleep and in the morning you concentrate on your work. Leave the worrying to others for now."
88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
Lucien LaCroix had already had the crypts removed from the castle and was going over the plans of Castle Vladislas with the architect he had hired. He preferred to hire European craftsmen when he could as those from the Americas tended to be sloppy in his opinion. There was also the fact that castle restoration was a specialized craft.
Not being a stupid man and having seen the news this morning, the architect asked, "Sir is this remodel intended for both vampires and humans?"
Lucien had been hoping that he hadn't seen or heard the news yet. As it was he was having a hard enough time holding on to his temper. He hated mortals knowing what he was, unless he was about to eat them that is. Too bad he needed him alive. "Yes it is and the term is mortals not humans."
"Well in that case, why don't we do this?" the architect was nervous but determined not to mess up this job. He was being paid a lot of money for this job and if he managed to do something really good, he just may have a new specialty. There weren't that many castles out there that the owners had the money to renovate as they should be. There were several things that he could change in his design that would make it easier for both vampires and mortals, such as remote controlled shutters on the windows and glass doors.
Lucien knew about the shutters of course, Nicholas had them on the windows of his loft but he hadn't known that they didn't have to be metal. He was pleased with the changes that the architect suggested. They would make getting around the castle much easier during the daylight hours. Plus there were several modifications that he would never have though of himself. This mortal really was good at his job. That was good; Lucien really didn't want to have to kill him. It would make getting the job done so much harder as there weren't many people who specialized in modernizing castles and were willing to work in such a remote location.
888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
"Well?" Stephan asked Nick as he paced around the loft. He was there because Nick's home had far more security than the hotel or the Raven.
"So far, so good," Nick said. He stood at attention before his King. "We've had a few instances of panic, but none of our people were hurt. That's been good because the press and officials are coming down hard on those who have tried to play vampire hunter. The information that you wanted released is already out there. There are already requests from a dozen television and news papers for interviews of Dr. Lambert piled on her supervisor's desk."
"Have her do at least one interview first thing in the morning and either sit in on it or do one yourself," Stephan ordered. "Make sure that it gets as much coverage as possible."
Nick bowed and headed for the morgue. He didn't need to be ordered to go there. He was worried about how Natalie would be handling the sudden overwhelming requests for her presence. It wasn't that she didn't have the experience of testifying on her findings, but he knew just how much different reporters could be. And Natalie didn't have his ability to influence them to get away if she needed to.
"Nat?" he called as he poked his head into her office. She wasn't there so he went on to her examination room. She did most of her work there but he had thought she'd be hiding in her tiny closet of an office. He found her at her desk, banging her head gently on its surface. "Hey, hey it can't be that bad!" he said as he gently pulled her away.
"CNN and everyone else want to interview me; I can't take the phone off the hook because this is the morgue, we're getting flooded with calls and that's slowing things down like you wouldn't believe. We've actually had to have dispatch call Grace on her cell phone any time we're needed! And my boss is demanding that I do as many interviews as possible to get them off our backs!" she whimpered.
Nick chuckled and drew her into his arms. "Don't worry about it Nat, I'll do the interviews with you. Stephan wants me to do a few anyway and this way we can back each other up." She felt so good in his arms that he didn't bother to set her down. It had been a hectic time for them lately but he had thought about what the changes in his life meant for the two of them. d**n LaCroix and his abusive ways. He could have had Natalie as his for years if wasn't for his former master! It was a good thing for LaCroix that the price Stephan had demanded for nulling the agreement between the two of them was that LaCroix would not suffer any reprisals for the past. The General had taught his son the art of torture far too well.
Natalie relished the feeling of being held by Nick until she felt him tense up. "Nick?" she asked, wondering if he was going to back off yet again.
"It's nothing Nat," he said, smiling down on her. "I was just thinking about what I'd like to do to LaCroix and that I'm not allowed to. Stephan doesn't want us fighting."
"Well, I don't want the two of you to go at it either; life is hard enough right now!" Natalie said with a laugh. She could just imagine what Nick would do to LaCroix if he was allowed. She knew one of the things that had held him back over the centuries was his own guilt and the fledgling bond between the two of them.
"So when do you want to brave the gauntlet?" Nick asked.
"I guess as soon as I can pull up your chart," Natalie said fatalistically. If both her supervisor and the King wanted her to do the interviews then she would be doing the interviews. At least Nick had offered to hold her hand while she did them. She let go of him and went over to the locked drawers where she kept her research. It would be best to get this over as soon as possible.
|
|
|
Post by dragonfan on Jul 12, 2007 7:14:12 GMT -5
Chapter 17
Dana Carmichael was thrilled to be chosen as the reporter to interview Dr. Lambert. The only problem she had at all was that she was told on no uncertain terms that Detective Knight was going to be there and she had the distinct feeling that if she did anything wrong she'd regret it. It wasn't anything specific, just that Detective Knight was a very scary man when he wanted to be. The rumor that he was a vampire made her even more wary. The trouble was she wasn't sure exactly why he was going to be there.
When Dr. Lambert walked onto the stage holding Detective Knight's hand in a death grip, Dana was sure of one of two things. Either Knight was there to make sure that Dr. Lambert didn't say anything she wasn't supposed to, or Dr. Lambert was his girlfriend and he'd tear anyone who scared her apart with his bare hands. And from what she'd heard from the reporters on the police beat, it was more likely to be the later than the former. Apparently there had been rumors about the two of them for years.
The way he settled her into her seat clinched it for Dana, Knight and Lambert were a couple. She'd seen a lot of couples over her years as a reporter, some madly in love, and some just together for fun or profit. These two were in love, madly in love if she what she was seeing was typical of this couple. She wondered why they kept it quiet. But then that wasn't the question she was here to ask this morning.
Natalie was terrified. She wasn't scared of the repercussions of the interview; it was the interview itself that had her insides in a knot. She held Nick's hand hard enough to break bones but he never even flinched. She didn't notice the look he shot the reporter just before he sat her down in her chair. She did notice that he had chosen the seat between her and the reporter. 'My defending knight,' she thought a bit amused. '800 years and he still hasn't changed that habit.'
It didn't help. When the interview started she stammered and knocked over her papers. Nick saying that the camera wasn't going to bite her loud enough for everyone to hear was the last straw. Without pausing to consider the implications, she reached up and smacked him upside the head. "That's not funny Nick! I'm nervous enough as it is!" It wasn't until later that she realized that was the reaction that he'd been trying to provoke. "Smart *ss vampire," she muttered as Nick laughed quietly at her.
The reporter grabbed her remark and ran with it. "Detective Knight is it true that you're a vampire?"
"Yes I am," Nick said calmly.
"How did the two of you meet?" she asked.
"Well as you know I'm the night shift Medical Examiner," Natalie said. She did not want the reporter to find out about Nick's quest. "Five years ago I had a patient brought in. He had tried to stop a robbery and had caught a pipe bomb for his trouble. That patient was Nick."
"I would think that something like that would have killed you!" Dana exclaimed.
"I was knocked unconscious," Nick said.
"A vampire's heartbeat is only one beat every ten minutes and unconscious their respiratory rate is even slower. That makes it very easy for them to be mistaken for a corpse. Nick woke up on my table as I was about to start his autopsy. After I finished freaking out,"
"Which took a remarkably short amount of time," Nick interrupted.
"Afterwards," Natalie stressed, shooting Nick a dark look, "I got hooked on the mystery of just how vampires could be real. With Nick's cooperation and a lot of hard work, three years later I found the genetic virus that causes the condition."
"How does it work?"
"Well," Natalie began the mini lecture that she had prepared, including pictures of both regular RNA and Nick's. When she finished Dana was sure that even the dumbest of her viewers knew how the virus worked.
"Are you working on a cure Dr. Lambert?" Dana asked.
"You understand the mechanics of the virus but you don't understand those of us who have it," Nick said flatly. "The virus is only contagious under very certain circumstances. Our laws state that an adult may only be brought across with their consent. Vampires aren't looking for a cure. We have our own kingdom and our own society, our own way of doing things. If Dr. Lambert finds a cure, very few would be willing to take it. It would be used for those who were infected either by accident or by criminals. We don't see being vampires as a bad thing."
'Well that answered that question,' Natalie thought to herself. 'It's a good thing that I've already made up my mind about what I'm going to do about it. If Nick really is ok with being a vampire now, I have no objections.'
"You say that you have your own kingdom and the vampires that were caught on camera earlier tonight said that they were 'The King's Enforcers'. Could you explain that a little more?" Dana asked, shifting the questions away from a potentially touchy subject. The last thing that she wanted was to get Knight pissed off at her.
"We have been shunned for so many millennia that we had to band together to survive. Our current government has been stable for the last 6000 years. King Stephan Vladislas is our king and he has a group of advisors called the Council of Elders. The Royal Guard and the Enforcers answer only to the King. The Royal Guard is just that, the royal family's bodyguards. The Enforcers are those who enforce the King's Code, our laws. They are judge, jury and, when necessary, executioner. That is the extent of our national government. We have communities around the world and each community is ruled by the oldest member of that community, known as the Elder. That's basically it. We don't need a lot bureaucracy." Nick explained.
"What is your place in the Toronto Community?" Dana asked.
"I'm the Captain of the Royal Guard and while he's here I'm part of his court. Before that I was the third eldest in the community."
"So you moonlight as a bodyguard to your king?" Dana asked. "What about your work as a police officer?"
Nick laughed, "No, I moonlight as a police officer from my job as His Majesty's guard. I've held that job for the last three hundred years. I've only been a homicide detective for the last five years. He doesn't need a bodyguard all that often, so I can pursue my own interests most of the time." Nick noticed that the longer the interview went on, the more relaxed the mortals around him became. It looked like Stephan was right about having him doing the interview.
88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
Donald Schanke could be a very patient man when he needed to be. He knew that Nick was a very private man. He kind of had to be being a vampire for at least three centuries and Don was betting it was a lot longer than that. He also knew that the questions everyone was asking him would sooner or later trigger a visit from the Knightmare. He would have to phrase his own questions carefully and wait until the proper time to ask.
His time came several days later when Stonetree assigned the two of them to a stakeout without Tracy. "She wants a puppy. I know its good for kids to have pets but all three of us are running in so many different directions all the time there is just no way. The poor thing would be on its own most of the time and that's no good! Why couldn't Jenny have wanted a cat? They can take care of themselves!" Schanke ranted mildly while keeping one eye on their assignment and the other on his partner.
Nick smiled and let the familiar cadence of one of Schanke's mini-rants flow over him. He had really needed this. Schanke was one of the few people who weren't pestering him with questions about vampires. He was just glad that his reputation kept them from asking him personal questions. He also knew that Schanke was doing it on purpose. There was no possible way that Donald Schanke did not have questions. And if there was anyone who deserved the answers to those questions it was his partner who was bending so far over backwards to be supportive that Nick was shocked he hadn't fallen yet. "Jenny would probably like a cat. If I'm right then that little rugrat of yours is angling for a kitten. She's either waiting for you to offer one as a compromise or is planning on doing it herself. Why don't I get her one, that way both of you can blame me when Myra gets upset," Nick offered.
"You really think so?" Schanke hadn't thought of that. Jenny was smart enough to try that tactic to get around any objection Myra had.
"Yes and if I'm wrong then you can still blame me."
"That sounds great partner!" Schanke said enthusiastically.
Nick laughed, "Just consider it payback for the last few days. You've been one of the very few people who aren't hounding me right up a wall."
"Oh I've got my questions Nick, but they can wait until you're ready," Schanke said. He wanted to show his support.
"Well I've got one for you," Nick said. "How long have you known about my being a vampire? I noticed that you stopped eating slouvaki around me and you stopped pushing me about things like sunlight and solid food long before it was public knowledge." He looked over at his partner.
Schanke was sitting next to him with a smile on his face. "Do you remember when we had that firefight in the alley? You saved my life and I ended up killing the perp?" Nick nodded. He remembered that Schanke had gone off the deep end for a little while but he had thought that LaCroix had talked Schanke out of his correct conclusion. "You gave me a nickel and dime mindwipe but it didn't really take. I was able to piece things together on my two week leave. Once I had everything straight in my head, I calmed down and figured you'd tell me when you were ready to trust me."
"Don it was never a question of trust!" Nick protested. "I was already under suspicion for Code breaking because of Natalie. And I could never ask you to keep something like this from Myra! One wrong move and we all would have been killed, including Myra and Jenny. I couldn't do that to you!"
"You always know just what to say, don't you partner? That is probably the best reason in the world to keep something from me. I should have known that you were protecting my family." Schanke shivered; sometimes he could still hear the screams of the vampire executed by the Enforcers. He did not want Nick or his family to end up on their wrong side. "What about now?"
Nick grinned, "Now I'm Captain of the Royal Guard, technically I outrank the Enforcers. And vampires are public knowledge now. I don't have to hide anymore. Which is really weird," he added, squirming.
"Good, then could you please tell me once and for all what is up with you and our favorite ME? And don't tell me that it is complicated. I get that any relationship you have is going to be complicated." Schanke was determined to get to the bottom of his favorite mystery. Everyone knew that Nick and Natalie were perfect for each other.
Nick grimaced, of all the questions he had expected Schanke to ask, he just had to ask that one. "Ok but promise me that this will stay with you Don."
Schanke knew that Nick only used his first name when the situation was extremely personal and serious. He nodded, "I'd swear on a bible but we don't have one with us."
"That's not necessary. When I became a vampire, my master,"
"The Nightcrawler guy," Schanke interrupted.
"His name is Lucien LaCroix and yes, he's the one who brought me across. Anyway, he didn't teach me everything I needed to know. That's caused me a lot of problems over the centuries. One of the reasons is because I wouldn't let him bring my baby sister across. She and my mother were the last members of my mortal family left alive and no matter how much he said he loved her, I knew he would hurt her."
Nick looked over at Schanke who had a solemn look on his face. "I already knew that he was a hard man, Don. In some ways he was already abusing me. He taught me to fly by throwing me off a cliff. I couldn't let him do that to my sister."
"Of course you couldn't!" Schanke said firmly. "You had to look after your family the best way that you could."
"If LaCroix had known that I love Natalie he would have killed her or forced me to kill her," Nick said bleakly.
"Ouch!" Schanke muttered.
"Yeah," Nick said. "And like I said before, he didn't teach me everything he should have so my control was never as good as it should have been. I've been terrified of killing her." He growled and clenched his hands. "Needlessly as it turns out. The way to avoid killing your partner is easy. I found that out when Stephan made me Captain of the Royal Guard. He's just a kid but he's taught me more in days than LaCroix bothered to teach me in centuries."
"I know where I can get my hands on a whole mess of fresh garlic," Schanke offered, not bothered in the least that he was talking about torturing a very old vampire.
Nick laughed. "Thanks Don, but the King has forbidden my taking revenge. It's part of the deal he made."
"The restraining order goes both ways huh?" Schanke asked remembering what Natalie had said a while back.
"Yeah," Nick agreed. "But now that things have changed, I've got a few ideas."
"How can I help?"
|
|
|
Post by dragonfan on Sept 11, 2007 7:47:55 GMT -5
Chapter 17
Michelle sat thinking on the plane that was taking her back to Toronto. The news that vampires were real had come at a very bad time, at least for her. She had been expecting her committee to rip apart her dissertation like they did everyone's but instead they had demanded to know if she had known that vampires were real. She couldn't lie.
She had explained that she had met several vampires while she was in Prejnar but that as it was against the Code for her to write about them she had been forced to write her dissertation as though they hadn't existed. Fortunately they had accepted that but it had been touch and go for a while. Her dissertation had been accepted. She was now Dr. Michelle Jackson, soon to be Vladislav, soon to be Queen of the Vampires. Her peers, such as they were had been excited to hear that she was planning on writing an account of the defeat of the Turkish army based on first hand accounts of those who had been there.
Excited was really too tame a word but she still wasn't as blunt as Lillian had been. Lillian; that was another thing that had changed when the news had hit. She had been able to meet with Lillian's parents and tell them the truth about Lillian's death. Well, at least that Radu had killed her. She hadn't wanted to explain to them that she had been turned and then had to be executed by Karl. Her parents had been grateful to know the truth about their daughter's death and that the vampire responsible was dead, killed by the King himself. She hadn't explained just who Radu had been.
Truthfully between her dissertation defense, informing Lillian's family, and beginning her wedding plans with Janette, Michelle was exhausted. And Janette was more aware of it than she was. Janette had taken her duties as her future Queen's bodyguard very seriously. She had monitored both Michelle's eating habits (after consulting with Natalie about what was a good diet for a mortal these days) and the amount of sleep she had been getting. She also suspected that her hectic schedule wasn't the only reason that Michelle was so exhausted. It was still a little soon to tell but the symptoms usually started much sooner in a vampire pregnancy than in a mortal one. Michelle slept all the way back to Toronto.
888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
Natalie hadn't been expecting this little complication to come about because of the now public knowledge that she had been the first one to isolate the vampire virus. But here she was, in downtown Toronto, in the biggest conference hotel the city had at a scientific conference in her honor. The guests included some of the highest ranking geneticists in the Northern Americas as well as other scientists and coroners from all over the world. And some of the stories her fellow coroners were telling! It seemed that vampires all over were now going to the local night shift coroner if they ran into trouble of the 'this needs removing' type. She had to tell Nick the one about the vampire, the Vegas showgirl, and her pet python.
"He had to be a fledgling!" Natalie laughed at Dr. Roberts. "I can't see anyone over 500 doing that unless it's Vachon but then he's practically an eternal teenager."
"I swear it's true!" the coroner laughed. "I have an easy dozen witnesses! The Crime Scene techs and half a dozen uniforms were there in the room with me!"
"I tell you, it really makes you start when you're talking to a corpse and they wake up and start talking back to you," another coroner said to the others around the table. "I've started to hook all of my patients up to a cardiac monitor just to be on the safe side before cutting them open."
"As long as you keep it on for fifteen minutes you should be safe," Natalie said. "A vampire's heartbeat is an average of once every ten to eleven minutes. And it's much worse if you've got your back turned when they sit up." She shuddered to everyone's amusement.
"Or when you're just about to cut them open!" said yet a fourth coroner. This table was filled with coroners from all over Canada and the United States. The woman who had spoken about talking to her patients, Dr. Marie Santos, was from Florida and Dr. Roberts was from Las Vegas, Nevada. The last man, Dr. Triple, was from Vancouver B.C. "I thought I was busy before but with patients that can walk out on their own two feet, well it feels really good, you know?"
"It's a very unique service that we can provide for them," Natalie pointed out. "I mean, look at them." She pointed around the rest of the dinning room. "How many of them are regular doctors who see patients the way we do? These guys are all top notch scientists, they aren't family doctors. They are all looking at the genetic side of this. They don't deal with anything like what we do. No one, vampire or mortal, is going to go into one of their offices in the dead of night to get a knife blade cut out of their side. And a vampire can't go to an ER, not without risking exposure or accidentally infecting someone. A wounded vampire around as much blood as there usually is in an ER is not a good idea and they know it more than the rest of us."
"Where we're used to having patients come in covered in contaminated blood," Dr. Santos pointed out. "And I for one really want to know what sort of precautions we should be taking. The community in my town is pretty big."
"First and foremost get your hands on some curare," Natalie said firmly. "With vampires it's the heavy duty stuff or nothing. You have to make sure that they're feeling no pain before you operate." Natalie wrote down the dosages needed and passed them over to her. "They can drink any sort of contaminated blood you have on hand, but the stuff without drugs is best. AIDS, HEP A, B, or C, and just about anything else won't do a thing in their systems. The vampire virus overwhelms them all. Their blood on the other hand, as long as you take the standard precautions you should be fine. The only time vampirism is contagious is when you have enough of the virus in your system and an extreme loss of your own blood."
"Why wouldn't they go to the ER then? I mean, we all know about them now so exposure isn't a problem," Dr. Triple asked.
"A wounded vampire is a hungry vampire," Natalie said sternly. "And that means that every mortal around them is a walking, talking happy meal if they can't control the instinct to feed. If they are wounded badly enough, instinct takes over and they will feed on the nearest source of blood, regardless of how they would normally react."
Dr. Roberts nodded in agreement. "Survival is the strongest instinct that anyone has, whether or not they're a vampire. Look at all of the survival shows out there now. Even though they show some really dramatic stuff, they don't go into how far a person really will go to survive."
The other coroners nodded in agreement. They had all had a case at one time or another that illustrated that. They were the ones who had to clean up after those sorts of incidents. It was at this somber moment that something happened. At the entrance to the dinning room a waiter rolled in a cart. It was covered with a white cloth and there were lit candles surrounding the upper tray. In the center was a mound of chocolates, a sample of every kind that the hotel carried. And at the top was a chocolate rose.
The waiter's entrance really hadn't gotten much attention, but his cargo did. Soon most of the diners, who were all guests at the convention, were craning their necks to see just who it was that was to receive this incredible treat. To the envy of quite a few, but to no one's surprise, the waiter stopped at Natalie's table. "Dr. Lambert, this is for you, complements of your first patient," the waiter said. He was a bit puzzled by the message but shrugged it off. He didn't know what that meant but from the blush on her face it was obvious that she did. Natalie did know what that meant. The chocolate was from Nick. He had been her first vampire patient. He also knew that she was a dedicated chocoholic. This looked like the start of something good.
8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
It was Nick's night off from the department and Natalie was busy at her convention. So he was killing time hanging out at the Raven. Oh officially, he was busy being Stephan's guard but the truth was neither of them had anything really pressing to do. So they were hanging out at a back table, watching the dancers gyrate about the club. Nick was also watching Vachon and having a grand time doing it too.
The poor kid was miserable. The General had forced him to take up his position as Elder of the community here in Toronto. Not only was that something that Vachon claimed to be totally unsuited for, most of the others who knew him would claim the same. That is, all but Nick and Tracy. The simple fact was that due to letting Tracy live Vachon had gotten himself into a position that had forced him to grow up. Very few knew that because he had kept his vampire relationships light and simple just as he had for most of the last 500 years. That made for some really comical moments when he was now called on to act as the Elder.
The worst of those was when someone would send a fledgling to ask something of the Elder. It was never something that Vachon couldn't handle, but it was often of an embarrassing nature. Watching Vachon deal with these questions and requests was funny enough but watching him deal when Tracy was sitting right next to him was hilarious.
|
|
|
Post by dragonfan on Jan 6, 2008 13:56:19 GMT -5
Chapter 18
The next night and most of the players in this particular drama were at the Raven. The back table that served as Stephan's public dais held Stephan and Michelle side by side. Nick and Janette were standing one to each side of them while a reporter and his camera man sat with their backs to the room. Nick wasn't paying any attention to the reporters. He was keeping an eye on the people that had flocked into the bar. Janette was closely watching the reporters.
For once Vachon wasn't being forced to play Toronto Elder. He was up on the stage playing with his band. The band was made up of various orphaned fledglings that Vachon had rounded up over the last year. While few realized it, including Vachon, these children had accepted him as their master and he treated them as though they were his fledglings. And that made what happened rather predictable, at least to those who really knew Vachon.
A mortal came into the club and proceeded to push his way straight through the dancers up to the stage. Anyone over two centuries could tell he was trouble and so could many of the mortals. The various fledglings in the club were either oblivious or too certain of themselves to realize just how much trouble one mortal could be. Nick instantly focused in on him and shifted closer to the front of the table. He wanted to be in place to take care of any trouble the young man would start.
But the young mortal, who couldn't be more than twenty five, didn't take the course that most of them expected. Instead of heading for either the bar to get drunker than he already was or heading over to where Stephan and Michelle were being interviewed, he headed for the band.
The reporters, David Giordano and Jake Turnbull, were long time partners who had taken on more than one dangerous assignment together. They were very good at their job which was why they had been chosen to do this interview. The camera man, Jake, sensed that something was going to happen and focused his camera on Nick.
He saw that Nick was intently watching something in the crowd and swung around to follow Nick's line of sight. Jake saw a skinny blond man forcing his way through the dance floor to the stage. He pulled back his focus until both Nick and the blond were being recorded by the camera. This was a live interview so he knew that he was taking a very big chance taking the camera off of the King and his fiancé but his instincts were screaming that something was about to happen.
Jake was rewarded when Nick pulled out his cell phone and his camera picked up his conversation. "Dispatch, this is Knight. Domestic in progress at the Raven; I don't like the looks of it. I think it's going to get ugly. Send down a unit; hopefully all we're going to have to do is throw someone in the tank." Jake figured after a few centuries Nick could recognize a couple fighting well before the first punch was thrown.
He didn't move the camera, but he heard the King stop the interview. "Nicholas, are you certain we need to call the police in?"
"He's Hunting, my liege," Knight said flatly. "He's carrying a stake. But it isn't you or your lady he's going after. I can't touch him until tries to kill the one he's after. So far he hasn't done anything illegal."
"The singer, see how he's focused on her," Janette spoke up suddenly. It was the first time she had spoken all night. "Nicola, she's one of Vachon's little group. She isn't even fifty yet and her master died from the Fever."
"He'll protect her Janette," Knight reassured his fellow guard. By now everyone at the table, and by extension most of the world as this was going out on CNN, was focused on this live drama. "He's taken her as his and he's already aware of the problem." Jake swung the camera just enough to shift the focus from Knight and the drunk blond he was watching to the drunk blond and the band. He could see that the guitar player was also watching the drunk mortal closely.
By now the drunk was almost to the stage. "He's not like any Hunter I've ever seen before," Janette said. "He's too drunk to think this out. How does he think he's going to live through trying to stake a vampire in a vampire bar?"
"That's because he isn't Hunting in the traditional sense Janette. He's a mortal who has found out that his girlfriend is a vampire. My guess is that either he didn't know it before and is freaked out about it or he already knew and this is merely an escalation of an already abusive relationship." Knight sounded pissed but under control. He moved slowly towards the stage, never getting in between the group at the stage and the camera.
The only reason Jake could hear Janette cursing was because he was standing right next her. He guessed she, like most people, had a problem with abusers. He didn't try to catch any of the reactions going on at the table. He too sensed that the blond was going to do something the moment he reached the stage. What happened next was almost exactly what Knight and Janette had predicted. The drunk blond reached the stage and started yelling, "You won't sleep around on me anymore you vampire sl*t!" as he pulled a large stake out of his coat.
"Charlie?" the fledgling gasped. Then as the stake was shoved at her chest she was shoved out of the way and the guitar player took the stake in his chest in the girl's place. Knight moved so fast Jake couldn't see it. He grabbed the drunk and had him in handcuffs in seconds. "Vachon!" the girl was crying as she pulled the guitar player into her lap. "Somebody get Doctor Lambert!" she yelled.
88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
Down at the morgue, Natalie was leading a group of coroners on a tour of the facilities when her assistant Grace flagged her down. "Natalie, you gotta come see this!" She grabbed Natalie by the arm and dragged her into the break room where she had a small tv on. The out of town coroners followed. "They're interviewing the King. Why didn't you tell me he was engaged to a mortal?"
"Because the tradition was he didn't announce the engagement until she was pregnant," Natalie answered. She watched as Nick suddenly shifted. She knew that look, Nick was on the hunt. "I hope things aren't about to blow up," she muttered. She knew that with as many vampires who spent their nights at the Raven it was as secure a place for Nick and the others to be unless things were really fouled up. Nick should have been relaxed, concerned only with the reporters. But he wasn't focused on them. He was watching something out of sight.
As soon as Natalie saw Vachon staked, but not killed, she went running for her lab. This was going to call for more than her usual vampire care kit; the one that she used to pull out bullets out of Nick. As she threw her surgical instruments into her satchel, Dr. Mallard of the American NCIS gathered up a cooler and stocked it with as many bags of blood as he could find that had been marked for use by vampires.
Dr. Donald Mallard, who answered to the nickname of Ducky, was the oldest coroner at the convention. He had been sent as his jurisdiction covered any place where a United States naval service man or woman had lost his or her life; as well as being available to any other United States military branch that requested his services. That meant that at a moments notice he could be sent anywhere in the world. That increased his chances of running into a vampire and he wished to be prepared.
'How strange it is that the first time I'm to be involved with vampires it is the vampire who is the victim. I do hope Abigail is watching this. She was so worried about my coming here. She didn't want me to be hurt by a vampire,' he mused. He had told the twenty-something Goth girl that was his coworker in the NCIS lab that he had no real worries about attending the conference. 'You could have said that I predicted this when I told her that vampires are people and that being a vampire did not make them automatically evil. After all we of all people should know that just because one was a mortal, it didn't automatically make that person on the side of the angels.' Just because Abigail spent her time working computer and trace evidence did not mean that she was unaware of what else went on in their cases. Their team leader, Jethro Gibbs believed in using all of the talents of his people and kept everyone fully involved.
He followed Dr. Lambert closely as they headed out of the lab, only to run into two large vampires. "Dr. Lambert you're needed down at the Raven," one said hurriedly.
"I know. How fast can you get us there?" Natalie asked.
In answer they picked up both Natalie and Ducky and flew them to the Raven. It was the fastest way to get there. Natalie was too focused on getting to her patient to pay much attention to flying. Ducky was much more interested in their mode of transportation. While he had flown often and had no problems with flying, before it had always been in a plane. This time he was only being held up by a person instead of being inside a plane and could both feel and see every dip and sway caused by the wind and change of direction. When they landed at the Raven he only had time for the thought that it wasn't an experience he was sure he wanted to repeat before he and Natalie were rushed into the club.
Inside the Raven Nick was handing over the drunk over the uniforms that he had called for. The fool wasn't even wearing a cross; much less have any other sort of real protection against a vampire. They ignored him and rushed over to the stage where Sarah was still holding onto Vachon. "d**n," Natalie muttered when she saw just how close to his heart the stake was. "Vachon, how long ago was your last heartbeat?"
"Five minutes," he muttered. It was obvious that he was in a lot of pain.
"Ok, I'm going to have to make this fast and dirty Vachon," Natalie said as she pulled out her curare. "I don't have time to do this neat." She didn't wait for him to answer before jabbing him with the needle. If she was right the next beat of his heart could kill him. She needed to get the stake out before that happened.
"Fine," he gritted out. His band was still gathered around him and they reached out to hold him down when they realized that Natalie was preparing to remove the stake right then and there. The hasty operation was caught on live tv, as was the arrest for attempted murder and aggravated assault by Knight.
|
|