Part 1

The following is the first fan-fic story I have ever
written. I hope you enjoy it.

Instincts

A FOREVER KNIGHT Story

by
Knight Ranger
(KnightRanger1228@yahoo.com)

aka Debbie Grace
(Dark Knightie; Nick & Nat Packer; Caddy Whack;
Cousin of the Knight; part-time Immortal Beloved;
and overall Die Hard)

1/3/04

DISCLAIMER: This FOREVER KNIGHT fan fiction story is
based on characters created by James D. Parriott and
Barney Cohen. FOREVER KNIGHT was produced by Paragon
Entertainment Corporation in association with
Columbia/TriStar Television, a division of Sony. No
copyright infringement is intended.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: A special thanks to all my friends
who pre-read this story for me, especially Donna R.,
Anne G., Michelle L., and Nancy Z.

SPOILER: One reference to the first season Episode
#118, "Feeding the Beast".

NOTES: - This story takes place between the first and
second seasons. Sorry Cousins (especially Nancy Z.),
but that means no Lacroix.

- Nicholas refers to the English pronunciation,
Nick-o-liss, ala Lacroix.
- Nicolas refers to the French pronunciation,
Nick-o-lah, ala Janette.

I

Homicide Detective Nicholas Knight of the Metropolitan
Toronto Police, had just finished his shift at the
27th Precinct. He cruised home in his 1962 Cadillac
convertible with top down. The wind through his hair
reminded him of flying, the only part of his existence
as a vampire that he didn't regret. Nick liked to
fly.

A few blocks from his loft, his acute vampire hearing
picked up screams close by and he pulled the Caddy
over to listen. He was preparing to fly and begin his
search for the source of the screams, when he heard
them again, coming from the warehouse in front of him.
He parked the Caddy by the loading dock and went
inside.

Nick sensed two mortal heartbeats and four of his own
kind. Then he saw two girls surrounded by one female
and three male vampires, all vamped out with fangs
extended and glaring yellow eyes. When he yelled,
"Let the girls go", the vampire gang just looked at
him and laughed.

The leader said, "You're one of us. They're ours, we
got them first. You go find your own somewhere else."

Nick said, "I said let them go. Now! This is your
last chance."

The leader responded, "No way, we haven't had our fun
yet."

Nick locked eyes with the girls, listened for their
heartbeats, and turned up the hypnotic vampire whammy.
"You will forget everything. You didn't see
anything. Leave, now!" The girls nodded their heads
and tried to leave, but the gang members stopped them.

The leader said, "Let 'em go. We'll have our fun with
him instead. Then we'll go find 'em again."

Nick said, "You'd better watch out. Don't mess with
me. If you know what's good for you, you'll leave
now. And, I don't just mean this warehouse. I mean
Toronto. Don't ever come back as long as I'm here.
Or, are you too young and stupid to take my advice."
Physically, they all looked in their mid-20's, but
Nick could sense they were about his own physical age
of 35. They were mere babies compared to Nick's 764
years as a vampire.

The leader said, "Listen, old man, we're not letting
you or anyone else run us out of town. We like it
here, and we're gonna stay for a long, long time."

Nick vamped out as one of the gang rushed at him.
Nick grabbed him and threw him across the room with
very little effort. Due to his cow blood diet, Nick
wasn't as strong as he could have been, but he was
still stronger than these young vampires. The gang
member slammed into the wall hard, breaking his arm
and several of the wooden crates he landed on after
hitting the wall.

The second gang member came at him, and Nick lifted
him off the ground with one hand, held him in mid-air,
and then slammed him against the wall.

When the leader came after him, Nick grabbed him with
his other hand. Nick was holding two struggling
vampires, one in each hand. He was so preoccupied
with these two, he didn't sense that the female
vampire had joined the fight. She picked up a pipe
and hit him across the back. That got his attention,
and he lost his concentration with the two guys he was
holding. Nick turned on the female, in full vamp
mode, hissing and growling, and easily intimidated
her. She was very young and knew he was no one to
mess with and she had just made a big mistake. There
was a whoosh of air and she was gone.

That left the three guys. He still had the leader up
in the air against the wall, but the second vampire
got away. He grabbed the pipe, came after Nick, and
hit him with enough force to break his ribs. Nick
doubled over and released the leader. If they were
smart, they would have taken off right there, but they
were not smart. They came after Nick again. Nick was
on the floor gasping for air that he didn't really
need. As he tried to stand up, the leader kicked him
in the ribs and knocked him over.

Nick rolled away and stood up. He was concentrating
on the leader when the second vampire caught his leg
with some chains and yanked him off his feet again,
breaking his leg. Nick staggered up and wobbled
unsteadily on his feet.

The first vampire picked up some wood from the broken
crates and passed a couple of makeshift stakes to his
buddies. Then he saw his chance to split, got some
brains in his head, and whooshed away.

Nick had a broken leg and broken ribs and he was
pissed. He wasn't going to fool around with these
guys anymore. But, he was bruised and battered, and
facing two healthy vampires with stakes. Even though
Nick was hurt, his training as a Medieval knight
kicked into high gear. He grabbed the chain from
around his leg and quickly used it to disarm the
leader of his stake. Nick caught the stake as it flew
from the leader's hand. They began fencing with the
stakes, but Nick had training, skill, and 800 years
experience in avoiding stakes on his side. The gang
leader didn't have the training or skill, but he had
his survival instincts. Although he fought hard, he
was still no match for Nick.

As Nick delivered a clean strike to the leader's
heart, the second vampire landed a lucky shot from
behind and staked him through the back, close to the
heart.

+=+=+=+=+

Janette DuCharme, Nick's vampire sister and former
wife and lover, was preparing for the day's sleep at
the Raven, the vampire hangout and nightclub she owns.
She was not fully aware of what was happening, but
she sensed that something was wrong and it involved
Nick. To herself, she said, "Oh, Nicolas, what have
you gotten yourself into now?"

+=+=+=+=+

The leader hissed and growled as he died, and Nick and
the last gang member watched him turn to dust. The
only thing left was a pile of clothes and a bloody
stake covered with ash. After he saw what happened to
his friend and with dawn rapidly approaching, the last
vampire whooshed away. Nick was growling in pain and
tried to pull the stake out, but it was covered with
blood and he couldn't get a grip on it.

Nick was down on the floor again and he started to
crawl along the shadows of the wall toward the door,
leaving a trail of blood to mark what little progress
he made. There was a lot of blood. It was also
getting close to dawn. Nick knew the sun would be up
soon and he did not want to get caught in the middle
of the room where the light from the windows could
reach him.

End Part 1

You must see End Part 2 to have the complete section.

Part 2

II

Dr. Natalie Lambert, Toronto's Medical Examiner and
the only mortal to know Nick's secret, made a brief
stop at the video store. Then she continued on to
Nick's loft for their usual 'movie night' routine. As
dawn was less than an hour away, she expected to find
Nick ready and waiting with the popcorn. But, when
she stepped off the lift, she knew he wasn't home yet.

After waiting nearly a half-hour, and repeatedly
calling his cell phone, she finally called the
precinct and was told he left several hours ago.
Since, she knew the route he usually drove to work,
she decided to backtrack to the station and look for
him. A few blocks away, she saw his Caddy parked by
the loading dock of another warehouse. She parked
next to it and went over to the trunk. She knocked
softly and said, "Nick. Nick, are you in there? Is
everything okay?" There was no answer, so she used
her spare key and very slowly and carefully opened the
trunk. It was empty, so she knew Nick had to be in
the warehouse.

The sun had already crested over the horizon when
Natalie entered the warehouse. There was a body lying
in the shadows at the far end. As she moved closer,
she could see that it was Nick. He was lying on his
right side with a stake protruding from his chest.

Natalie had seen enough crime scenes to recognize the
signs of a fight. She also saw the pile of clothes
with the bloody stake, and she knew it was another
vampire. She knew that it could have been Nick and
that scared her.

Nick had tried to drag himself into a dark corner, but
his strength gave out and he couldn't go any further.
Natalie saw the trail of blood he left behind.

She immediately noticed that Nick was fully vamped,
but almost unconscious. His fangs were extended and
his eyes were red. As Natalie approached, Nick began
growling a warning to stay away. With a snarl, he
bared his fangs, snapped his jaws, and hissed at her.
He knew a mortal was approaching, but he didn't
realize it was his friend Natalie.

Natalie stopped moving. Then she took one step
forward and said, "How dare you growl and hiss at me,
Nicholas Knight. I'm here to help you and this is the
greeting I get. If you don't want my help, I have a
mind to just turn around and leave." But as she was
talking, Nick began growling louder and that started
him coughing. Natalie realized that the bared fangs,
growling, and hissing were the vampire's instinctual
defense mechanisms. At the same time, she also
realized that Nick probably didn't know it was her.

The coughing stopped and Nick began panting heavily.
Then the growling began again as Natalie took one more
step forward and said, "Nick. Nick, it's me, Natalie.
Nick, can you hear me? It's me, Nat." Nick slowly
raised his head a little and Natalie could see Nick's
nostrils flare as he sniffed the air. Then the
growling stopped and he lay back moaning.

Natalie said, "Nick! Nick, let me help you!"

His only response to Natalie's frantic cry was his
eyelids fluttering to reveal unfocused, now yellow,
eyes.

'Doctor Lambert' mode kicked in immediately. After a
quick check, she realized that he also had a broken
left leg, several broken ribs, and was very pale (even
more than usual) from the blood loss. Basically, Nick
was in bad shape and in excruciating pain.

The stake was Natalie's first concern. It went
completely through his body, with one end sticking out
of his chest and the other end out of his back. It
looked like it was touching his heart.

He was moaning and panting heavily, which led to
another coughing fit, immediately followed by more
moaning and cursing in Medieval French and several
other languages. Then, through clenched teeth, he
groaned, "Pull it out, pull it out." Natalie tried to
pull the stake out, but she wasn't strong enough and
every time she touched it, he moaned pitifully.
Natalie was afraid of hurting him more, but he said,
"You have to pull it out or it will kill me." He said
it so softly, Natalie could hardly hear him.

They both quickly realized that she wasn't strong
enough to pull out the stake. Nick had Natalie help
him to his feet and he leaned against the wall of the
warehouse. Then he took a few steps from the wall,
and with all the strength he could muster, he slammed
his back against the wall, trying to push the stake
all the way through. Each time he slammed against the
wall, he screamed. His teeth were clenched, so his
extended fangs were digging into his lower lip and
blood trickled down his chin. His yellow eyes were
tinged with red.

Natalie couldn't help him. She just wasn't strong
enough to do anything. She felt totally useless.

After he slammed himself against the wall twice, the
stake actually moved a little, but not enough for
Natalie to pull it out. By the third try, it was no
longer protruding out of his back, but Nick had used
up all his strength. With his last slam, he bounced
off the wall and pitched into Natalie, almost knocking
her over. She caught him and gently lowered him to
the floor.

Nick was barely conscious. He was moaning and
mumbling in French. Natalie couldn't understand him.

Nick was no longer aware of what was going on around
him. She knelt down beside him and tried to pull the
stake with two hands. She couldn't get any leverage,
so she stood up, put her foot on his chest, two hands
around the stake and pulled with all her might. The
stake came out and Nick let out an animalistic yowl
that Natalie swore could have been heard five miles
away. She dropped the bloody stake and looked down at
Nick. He had stopped moving altogether. He was
unconscious.

+=+=+=+=+

When Natalie removed the stake and Nick screamed,
Janette jumped bolt upright in bed instinctively
knowing that he was in trouble, and screamed,
"Nicolas".

+=+=+=+=+

Nick wasn't breathing and Natalie resisted the
temptation to take his pulse. She knew she may have
to wait as long as ten minutes to feel his heartbeat
and she didn't want to waste the time. Natalie saw
the blood that was pooled beneath him, begin to be
drawn back into the wound, and since he hadn't
disintegrated into dust, she knew he would be okay.

Natalie knew she had to get Nick out of the warehouse
and back to his loft and see to his wounds. She
grabbed him by the jacket collar and began to drag him
to the door without much success. The sun had begun
to shine in through the windows and she knew she had a
problem. She had to avoid the patches of sunlight
that were streaming through the windows. Natalie
looked back at his blood trail and saw the drops
vaporize as the sun hit them. She knew she would have
to move fast. She was having trouble moving him; he
was just dead weight. He was totally out and no help
at all. She realized she just couldn't drag him that
distance.

She ran back to her car, which was parked near the
Caddy, and got her medical bag that contained several
pints of blood that she kept just for emergencies like
this one. She also opened the trunk of the Caddy to
get it ready for Nick.

She ran back to Nick. She knew he needed blood, and
although she didn't want to do it yet, she opened the
medical bag and pulled out a plastic blood packet.
Just as she cut open the tube leading to the blood,
Nick was up, eyes glaring red, hissing at her.

The blood packet fell to the floor spilling some of
its contents, as Natalie screamed and jumped back.
Nick grabbed the bag from the floor and sucked it down
in one gulp. Natalie was totally taken by surprise,
she hadn't even seen him move. The instant he smelled
the open bag of blood -- a split second, the blink of
an eye -- he went from totally unconscious to awake
and feeding. Bloodlust had taken over.

Natalie just watched, stunned, as he drained the
packet. Nick was unsteady on his feet, teetering and
swaying a little. The next minute he was down on the
floor. Natalie thought he passed out again, but then
she realized what was happening. Nick was licking the
spilled blood off the floor. Intently concentrating
on what he was doing, for the moment, he was ignoring
her.

Immediately, Natalie realized that Nick was no longer
in control. It was pure animal instinct taking over.
Self-preservation. Survival at all costs. Natalie
knew that now.

When Nick finished licking the blood off the floor, he
looked at Natalie with feral red eyes and hissed at
her. Some of the blood was still dripping from his
mouth. He was growling low in his throat as he tried
to stand up, then staggered towards her, his red eyes
never leaving her neck. He was fixated on her neck.
Suddenly Natalie was aware of her own heartbeat and
she knew that was what Nick was focusing on, too.
Natalie knew that she was in big trouble now and she
had enough sense to be scared because she knew how
dangerous wounded vampires can be in situations like
this one. Nick just heard a heartbeat and saw blood
and that was all he was concentrating on now.

Natalie said, "Nick, it's me, Nat. It's okay. I'm
here now. I can help you."

Nick staggered towards her, dragging his broken leg,
almost doubled over, with his left arm hanging useless
by his side. He was still growling, but now it was a
loud rumbling from deep in his chest that started a
short coughing fit. Nick was stalking her. After the
initial shock, Natalie realized that this was a way to
make him follow her out to the Caddy.

Natalie compared it to baiting a dog with a bone. She
reached into her medical bag and pulled out another
blood packet. Nick's feral gaze went from her neck to
the bag of blood, and then back to her neck. She
wasn't comfortable with a full-fledged vampire staring
at her neck, but if it got Nick to follow her out of
the warehouse, then it was worth the risk.

Nick continued to stalk her. There was a patch of
sunlight in his way and Natalie thought he was going
to walk right into it, but at the last minute, he
skirted around the stream of light. His eyes were
still glued to her neck and he started to salivate.
He began drooling as his growling became even louder.
He was also staggering more and Natalie realized that
the one bag of blood he fed on was not going to be
enough to keep his strength up to get him into the
Caddy.

Natalie threw him the blood packet she was holding.
Nick caught it, sunk his fangs into it and drained it
quickly. While he was busy feeding, she ran further
back from him, knowing that she had to keep distance
between them now. She also stayed in the sun. He
kept following her and they quickly covered the
distance to the door.

Then, when she opened the door, he jumped back because
of the light. Now she had a dilemma. She had to get
him outside and into the trunk of the Caddy. She also
knew that his self-preservation, survival instinct was
so strong, he wouldn't go out in the sun.

Natalie said, "Nick! Listen to me, Nick. I hope you
can understand me. We've got to get you into the
Caddy and back to your loft. Just wait here one
minute, I'll be right back. I need to get something
out of the car. Nick, it will be okay. Trust me."

Nick couldn't understand her. He didn't even
recognize her. He was beyond that now. He was beyond
language and beyond reason. He was pure instinct.
And right now his instinct was telling him not to go
out the door into the light.

His eyes were blazing red and his fangs were extended.
He was drooling and he still had blood on his face
and chin. Even though he was leaning against the
wall, he was practically doubled over and Natalie was
surprised that he was able to stand on his feet at
all.

Natalie had run to her car, grabbed an old blanket
from the trunk, and ran back into the warehouse. She
tried to explain to him that he needed to cover
himself with the blanket. She demonstrated wrapping
her head and upper body in the blanket and motioned
out the door at the Caddy. She could see that he was
watching her, but she couldn't tell if he understood
what she wanted him to do. She threw him the blanket,
but Nick still didn't understand. He didn't bother to
catch it and it fell to the floor.

Nick was just concentrating on the blood. When
Natalie realized that his need for blood may be even
greater than his fear of the sun, she held another bag
of blood out in front of her and waved it at him. His
eyes now followed the blood packet.

He took a step closer toward the sunlight. Natalie
knew she only had a few seconds to get him into the
trunk, so she stepped back into the doorway. Nick was
very hesitant about following, but he needed that
blood. Natalie took a few steps back outside and Nick
was now right to the edge of the door, still in the
shadows, and not yet in the light.

Both of them could see the open trunk of the Caddy
from the doorway. Natalie ran to the Caddy and threw
the bag of blood into the trunk. That got him. Nick
flew after the blood, through the sun, smoking just a
little, into the trunk and Natalie slammed the trunk
closed.

Nick was now in the dark. He had blood. He was right
where Natalie wanted him. She jumped behind the wheel
and sped off to the loft.

Driving to the loft Natalie heard Nick in the trunk.
Somehow, even after being a little singed, Nick knew
the sun couldn't hurt him. But he was growling loudly
because the hunger had taken over.

Nick's growling was not good for Natalie's nerves.
She could tell by the sounds coming from the trunk,
that he was not Nick anymore, but a wounded creature
without reason or understanding of what happened to
him. His beast had taken over.

End Part 2

You must see End Part 3 to have the complete section.

Part 3

III

Natalie pulled the Caddy into the garage and screeched
to a halt. She called the lift, and finally, she
opened the trunk. Nick shot out of the trunk when
realized he was in the dark garage. Natalie jumped
into the lift holding the last blood packet and Nick
staggered in after her. He was a little bit stronger
now, after feeding on the blood in the trunk, but he
was still in bad shape. He was bent over, with his
right arm cradling his ribs, his left arm hanging
useless, and dragging his left leg behind him. His
eyes were still red.

Once inside the lift, Natalie gave him the last blood
packet because she realized she was now trapped in a
small, enclosed, cramped space with a hungry, injured
vampire. She was not in a good situation.

The lift opened to the loft and Janette was there, all
wrapped in black to protect her from the sun. Natalie
could see the fear for Nick in Janette's eyes.

Janette said, "You fool, get away from him. He's not
in control anymore."

Natalie responded, "I know. I know that's not Nick
anymore. But, I still have to help him."

Janette continued, "I know what he needs. I will help
him. Your mortal heartbeat is only going to make
things worse."

Nick staggered out of the lift. Normally, when Nick
came home, after closing the shutters, he would head
for the refrigerator. Janette had already closed the
shutters and Nick didn't even know where the
refrigerator was because he didn't recognize his loft.

Then Nick saw Janette and started hissing and
growling. He didn't recognize her. He thought
another vampire was after his food. Janette vamped to
yellow and started speaking to Nick in French, hoping
to reach him on a level that was beyond Natalie's
grasp.

Natalie said, "Janette, we need to get him on the
couch. I need to clean out that wound. There still
could be splinters in there. He's had some blood. It
should be healing and it's not. Also, you have to
help me set his leg so it will heal properly. I'm not
too concerned with his ribs. I think they should heal
all right on their own."

Nick was swaying and looked like he would have fallen
down if he wasn't leaning against the grand piano.
Janette went up to him, still talking to him in
French. He moved so fast, that he took both of them
by surprise and without any warning, Nick attacked
Janette. He was behind her, tilting her head, and
burying his fangs into her neck before she was
prepared. Janette let out a startled scream and then
relaxed as Nick fed from her. Janette was going to
offer him her wrist, but Nick had other ideas. Nick
didn't want to stop and finally, she had to pull him
off of her before he drained her dry. Nick growled
and tried to bite her again, but Janette handed him a
bottle of human blood that she brought with her. He
needed the human blood, his cow swill wouldn't help
him now. Nick drained the bottle in two gulps.
Janette took another bottle and drained it herself to
replace the blood she just given to Nick.

When Natalie saw Nick attack, she ran to the corner by
the door to get out of the way. She was shocked to
see such a vicious attack from Nick. She had seen
Nick vamped before, of course, but she had never seen
him totally loose control and become so violent. She
had seen him come close to reaching this point, when
he fell off the wagon after trying the 12-step
program. But, even then, he still had some control.
It scared her and it finally sank into her head how
much danger she had really been in and just how lucky
she was that Nick didn't attack her earlier. He would
have killed her and not even realized what he had
done.

Seeing Nick draining the bottles gave Natalie an idea.
She said, "Look, I need to help him. I know he's
hearing my heartbeat and I know he's fixated on that,
so the best thing to do is to get him tanked on your
bottles of human blood. Get him calmed down and lying
on the couch. And then I can look to his injuries."

Janette agreed. As Janette handed him the bottles,
she was maneuvering him over to the couch. She kept
handing him bottle, after bottle, after bottle. He
was getting really polluted, but he was still hissing,
growling, and coughing between gulps. Finally he was
lying on the couch with his head propped up swigging
bottles. His eyes were still red. He was getting
some of his strength back. He finally stopped
chug-a-lugging and started slowing down his feeding.
His hunger was abating a bit. He was calm, he closed
his eyes, and looked like he was passed out from the
feeding.

Janette went up to Natalie and started yelling, "You
fool! You should know better than to go near him when
he's in this state. He could have killed you without
even knowing it was you. He never would have forgiven
himself, if that happened. And then he would be
horrible to live with for the next 100 years, or he
would just walk into the sun and end it." Then more
softly, she added, "Thank you for pulling the stake
out. You saved his life."

"How did you know," said Natalie.

Janette replied, "I sensed it. I actually felt it,
almost as if it happened to me."

Natalie knew about their connection, but didn't know
it was so strong and she was a little envious of the
bond. She knew she would never have that kind of
closeness with Nick.

'Doctor Lambert' mode kicked in again and Natalie got
to work helping Nick. He was passed out on the couch
in a drunken stupor, tanked out on blood.

Natalie needed Janette's vamp strength to pull Nick's
leg into place so she could set it properly. Natalie
held him and Nick groaned loudly when Janette gave a
little pull and a twist. With a snap of the bone, his
leg was set.

Janette ripped off his jacket and shirt and Natalie
did a check of his ribs, which, as she thought, were
already healing. Then she concentrated on the open
wound in his chest. It went clean through to his
back. When she lifted him up to check his back, Nick
opened his red eyes, then snarled and snapped his jaws
at Natalie in an attempt to bite her. She jumped back
a little, then talked to him quietly.

Natalie said, "Nick, I know it hurts, but I'm trying
to help. You need to let me help you."

Nick relaxed a little, and she checked his back and
saw that it was starting to close and heal itself.
She laid him back down and checked his chest. Nick
was groaning and muttering in French. Natalie probed
the wound and pulled out splinters from the stake,
causing Nick to moan even louder. Then she cleaned
and dressed it. His eyelids fluttered. Then his eyes
opened and they were not red anymore, but yellow and
unfocused.

With yellow eyes and fangs extended, Nick suddenly
grabbed Natalie's hand and said in archaic Medieval
French, "Angel of Mercy. My name is Nicolas de
Brabant. I am a knight in the service of my Lord De
La Barre. I am dying. Please send my body back to
Brabant, or if you have to, bury me here with my
shield. But, please, take my sword home and tell my
mother and sister that I fought bravely and honourably
for the Cross. Please, promise me you'll do this.
Please." The words were slurred and came out in gasps
between coughs.

Natalie said, "Nick, I didn't understand what you
said." Her Modern French was never very good to begin
with, and she only caught a few words: his name,
knight, Brabant, mother, sister, and Lacroix' name,
which made her very nervous.

Janette stood over Natalie's shoulder and, also in
Medieval French, said, "Do not worry, Sir Knight, you
will not die." When Nick started to protest, she
continued, "But if that event should happen, then yes,
I promise to do as you have asked, my brave Crusader."

Nick said, "Thank you my Angels of Mercy. Thank you."
Then he passed out again.

Natalie asked Janette to explain what just happened.
With blood tears in her eyes, Janette told Natalie
what Nick had said and that he was talking about the
Cross of the Crusades and not his master, Lacroix.
Natalie listened, also with tears in her eyes.

Despite all the blood he had to feed on, Nick was
still pale. He also appeared to have a fever from the
wood poisoning. He was shivering and covered with
blood sweat.

Nick was still not fully coherent, but he was calling
for Janette, which hurt Natalie and made her jealous.
Immediately, Janette was by his side. "I'm here,
Nicolas." Then, she bit her own wrist and offered it
to him. Nick fed deeply and then slept.

Janette could sense that Natalie was hurt by what just
happened and explained, "Natalie, vampire blood makes
our wounds, especially wounds to the heart, heal
faster. It also lessens the pain of the wood
poisoning. That is why he called for me. His body
needed my blood. It was an instinctual response.
Don't feel jealous of me. It is you he loves. I have
seen it in his blood. I am the one who should be
jealous of you for taking my Nicolas away from me.
But, I am not, because it is good to finally see him
happy again after so many years."

Natalie said, "Thank you, Janette, for all you've done
for him, now and in the past. Thank you so much."

End Part 3

You must see End Part 4 to have the complete section.

Part 4

IV

Nick woke up and slowly his yellow eyes began to focus
on the loft, on Janette, and finally on Natalie. He
was glad to see her. "Nat, what happened? How did I
get here?" He didn't remember much and he knew that
meant he had lost all control. He moaned and then
said, "Are you all right? You're not hurt, are you?
Did I...? I mean, I didn't...?" His words were still
slurred.

Natalie said, "No, you didn't. I'm fine. I brought
you here in the trunk of the Caddy. Now, shut up and
lie still, and let me look at that wound. I want to
check it for more splinters and change the dressing.
You're not healing."

Natalie was not afraid anymore because Nick was back.
He was still vamped, but it was Nick. She could talk
to him and reason with him. He wasn't the beast that
was there before. Nick was becoming more aware of
what was happening and going on around him and said,
"Nat, thank you. Thank you for saving my life, such
as it is."

Natalie said, "You're welcome, but don't make a habit
of it, okay. And, you should be thanking Janette,
too. I couldn't have done it without her help."

"Thank you, Janette, for everything," Nick said
humbly.

Nick was wiped out, lying on the couch. His leg had
started to heal, now that it was set, his ribs were
healing, and his chest wound was cleaned and dressed
and would be healing soon. It was still daylight and
with all he had been through, he was finally sleeping
soundly.

Natalie and Janette talked for awhile and Janette told
her that she felt Nick was in trouble and when Natalie
removed the stake, she knew it was serious trouble and
she had to get over here fast. So, she covered
herself up as best she could knowing that Natalie
would bring him to the loft. She also knew that the
beast had taken over and he had gone beyond the
ability to reason.

Natalie was trying to figure out what happened to him
in the warehouse, why he was there, and who did that
to him. Janette told her what little she had picked
up from Nick's blood about the fight.

Janette said, "Always the knight in shining armor,
always rushing in without thinking to save the damsel
in distress."

**********

As morning turned into afternoon Janette fell asleep
in the chair. Natalie was keeping an eye on both of
them, while they were vulnerable in their comatose
vampiric daylight sleep. She was exhausted,
emotionally drained, and totally wiped out, so she sat
in other chair and took a quick nap.

As dusk approached, Nick began to stir and started
moaning again. He was still drunk. Even though the
wood poisoning was slowing the process down
considerably, he was healing. He was just not healing
as fast as he should have been, considering all the
blood he had, both vampire and human. He was
muttering in French and several other languages.
Natalie thought she heard Chinese.

As Natalie moved closer, his eyes shot open and they
were still yellow. Natalie hadn't seen Nick's
beautiful blue eyes at all. For a day now, she had not
seen Nick as himself. Nick was still not fully awake
and not focusing well. He was blinking and staring
and finally focused on Natalie. He coughed painfully,
and tightly clenched his jaw until the wave of pain
passed. Then he said, "Thank you, I would have died,
really died, if you didn't help me. You saved my
life." Soon he was asleep again.

Janette was awake soon after dusk and Nick was
stirring again. He was still vamped with yellow eyes.
Again, Janette offered him her wrist, which he took,
and fed some more. Then he slept again.

**********

A few hours later, as he became more awake, he focused
on Natalie and began to unvamp. His fangs receded
into his gums and he blinked several times and slowly
his eyes changed back to blue as he looked at Natalie.

Natalie said, "It's good to see you back, Nick. You
really had me worried for a while. I'm glad to see
you're all right. You look a little better. You're
not as pale as you were a couple of hours ago. How do
you feel?"

Nick responded, "Tired, weak, very sore all over, and
I think I have a hangover."

"I'm not surprised. You had quite a blood buzz going
there for a while," said Natalie.

Nick said, "Probably more like a feeding frenzy."
Nick looked down and quietly added, "It's happened
before."

When he didn't elaborate on the statement, Natalie
said, "Are you still hungry?"

"A little", Nick said self-consciously as he took the
bottle Natalie placed in his hand. "You should never
have been near me when I was like that. I couldn't
control it. I could have killed you. You should have
stayed away from me." Nick was pissed at her for
putting her life in danger and he was pissed and
embarrassed at himself for losing control.

Natalie said, "I trust you. Even the way you were,
you went for the blood packets instead of my throat.
I know you would never hurt me. Any other vampire
would have torn my throat out, but you didn't. You
were still there, Nick, deep inside. When your eyes
were red, I knew I couldn't reach you, but it was
still you."

Nick replied, "You were still taking a chance and you
were just lucky. I couldn't control myself. I
totally lost it and I was liable to do anything, even
kill you without a second thought. Don't ever to that
again! I couldn't live with myself if anything ever
happened to you."

Nick tried to sit up, let out a yowl, and immediately
vamped to yellow again. He turned to Natalie and
said, "See, I just can't control it. You don't
realize just how much danger you were in from me."

"I'll admit I was a little scared. All right, more
than a little. Okay, at one point, when you were
stalking me, I was terrified," said Natalie.

Nick said, "You had good cause to be scared. You
should be terrified of me. I told you that I'm
dangerous."

Nick noticed that Janette was still there. Quietly he
said, "Thank you, Janette." Then he yelled, "What is
wrong with you? Why did you allow Natalie to stay?
She was in danger. You should have made her leave for
her own safety."

Now it was Janette's turn to be pissed at him. She
was so upset that he almost died. "You fool, if you
didn't drink that cow swill, you would be at your full
strength. You would not get yourself into these
situations and, if you did, you would be able to
handle them. Then I wouldn't have to watch over you
and your little mortal pet." Then she started yelling
a tirade in French.

Natalie took the wise approach and stayed out of it
while the two vampires, with blazing yellow eyes,
screamed at each other in Medieval French. She
couldn't follow what they were saying, but she figured
out that the cow blood diet was not good for vampires.
Nick looked strong and healthy, and by mortal
standards he was, but compared to other vampires, he
was weak. He was surviving on cow blood, but he
wasn't thriving.

Finally Janette had enough and with a final curse at
him, whooshed away. Nick laid his head back down on
the couch and closed his eyes. Natalie went over to
check on him and he opened his eyes.

Natalie asked, "What was that all about? Is Janette
okay?"

Nick said, "She's fine. By now, she's back at the
Raven. I'm okay now, too, Nat, but you're exhausted
and dead on you're feet. You should go home and get
some rest."

Natalie replied, "I'm not going anywhere and neither
are you for a few days. I called Stonetree and
Schanke for you and told them you have the flu and
would probably be out all week. I also called Grace
and told her to take care of Sydney for me since when
I'm not at work I would be spending most of my time
over here taking care of you. I think she likes the
idea of me staying over here. I told everyone that I
had a flu shot and wasn't worried about catching it
from you. Everyone said they hope you feel better
soon. Schanke said since you're supposed to starve a
cold and feed a fever, he would send over some
souvlaki and pizza. You know Schanke, that means lots
of garlic. It also means I won't have to worry about
cooking while I'm here." Nick groaned at the thought.
Natalie continued, "When you feel up to it, we'll
move you upstairs to the bed, and I'll take the
couch."

Since Nick couldn't tolerate more than a few sips of
the protein shakes and herbal teas she tried to force
on him, Natalie nursed Nick back to health with blood
-- both cow and human.

After what Janette said about the cow blood, Natalie
was going to have to re-think her course of treatment
for his 'cure'. What she really wanted now was data
from a healthy vampire subject, one who fed on human
blood, to use to compare to the data she had already
collected from Nick. Somehow, she knew Janette would
not go for the idea.

Due to the wood poisoning in his system, Nick's
recovery was slow, but by the middle of the week,
Natalie gave him a clean bill of health. Nick was
feeling the effects of 'cabin fever' and wanted to get
back to work. But, Natalie suggested he stay home for
a few more days anyway, and when she showed up after
work with a stack of videos and popcorn, he decided a
few more days at home with her was just fine with him.

The End

Thanks for reading. Please send any comments to me at
KnightRanger1228@yahoo.com

End Part 4

=====
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