Another Reality 

by Olivia Jean Ecklund 


Chapter 12 


He turned toward home. When he got there he sat before the TV without really 
seeing it, waiting for Natalie to call. 

Natalie slipped through the skylight of her apartment and ran to the Frig. She 
threw open the door, grabbing one of the bottles inside. Pulling out the cork 
with her teeth, she downed the thick red liquid quickly. She drank the whole 
thing and then half of another. Finally, she microwaved a cup and gulped the 
warm blood down. She carried another to the couch and sank into it gratefully, 
pulling her knees up to her chin, she cradled the warm cup in her hands. 

"How touching!" came a sarcastic comment from the deep shadows of her studio. 

Natalie set the cup on the table nearby and laid her forehead against her knees. 
"LaCroix, go away," she whispered. 

Instantly he was before her, grabbing her and pulling her to her feet. His hand 
came up and he struck her face. "I will never go away," he hissed in her face. 
His stale cold breath repulsed her. 

She felt a trickle of blood run down the corner of her mouth. "Why are you 
here?" she demanded, pulling away and moving across the room. She licked at the 
blood with her tongue. 

"My Dear, I felt your contentment and went to discover its source. It was only 
moments before you went to that human's rescue. Why didn't you drain that man? 
Why did you stop?" he demanded. "You denied yourself the bounty of the hunt." 

"I wasn't alone," she said in her defense. 

"No, you were with your human pet!" He spat the words at her, his eyes flashing 
amber. He came closer, gripping her face by her chin, "Why do you insist on 
keeping human pets, Natasha? He is nothing. A vile pink worm compared to me. I 
can rule the night with you by my side." He leaned forward and crushed her lips 
with his. His hand tangled in her hair and she could not get away. 

She slashed at him with her fangs, tearing his lip. 

"AAhhgh", he screamed, jumping back. His fist came forward, knocking her to the 
floor, then he threw himself upon her. His hands and mouth ravished her body. 
His fingers dug into her flesh on her arms and breasts. 

She became the monster he had made. With all her strength she caught him of 
balance and pushed him away. He tumbled over the work table and crashed into the 
wall. He floated back up and came at her, fangs bared and eyes blazing red. He 
grabbed for her and she few back away from him, but stumbled over a small table 
and went down. He was upon her before she could react. All she felt was pain. 
She felt his body take her, and his fangs descended deep into her neck and began 
to drain her. She felt his hands and fists beat her until she faded into 
oblivion. 

Natalie woke in pitch darkness. She lay on the stone cold floor. Raising her 
head to look around, to listen, she knew she was alone. She let her forehead 
press against the cold floor again in relief. He was gone. 

She tried to raise herself off the floor and realized she had broken ribs and a 
possible broken leg. It would not hold her weight. How would she get to the frig 
for the blood she needed to heal herself? She had to move soon. The sun would 
come up and she was not safe where she lay. The blinds were wide open. Her eye 
caught a tiny bit of green light to her left. The LCD light on her cell phone. 
It was on the floor about 10 ft away. She started to painfully drag herself 
toward it. 

Nick slept against the arm of the couch. He had waited over and hour for her 
call before weariness overtook him and he'd fallen asleep. He was awakened by 
the phone ringing close to his ear. He jumped and fumbled with the phone before 
turning it on. "Natalie?" he said hopefully. 

"Nick...5479" a voice whispered. 

"What?" he said, not understanding. 

"Please help...me," the voice pleaded, sounding desperate. 

"Nat!" he said, making out her identity. 

"5479....hurry," she said again. "Please, Nick. Come..." the line went dead. 

Fear gripped him and he grabbed a jacket. Not even glancing at Beast who bound 
after him, he slammed the door in the little dog's face. He was down the stairs 
and out the door in seconds. It was nearly dawn when he pulled into the street 
and headed toward Natalie's. 

As he drove, he went over her words and realized that the numbers must be her 
security code. 5..4..7..9 he repeated the numbers several times. He seldom used 
the sirens he was given for serious cases, but now he feared for Natalie. He 
slapped the light into the dash and tore past the cars parked at the red light 
ahead. 

It took nearly 15 minutes to reach her place. The sun was rising high Now, 
beautiful but possibly deadly rays of light stretched across the Land, climbing 
the sides of the tall buildings sending the darkness away. Fortunately any 
police who saw him just waved and went about their business. They all knew his 
car. 

He screeched to a stop before Nat's building. He grabbed his bag from behind the 
seat and ran to the door. The sun was already hitting the unshuttered windows. 
In his emotional state it took him twice to get the number of the code right. He 
ran up the stairs not waiting for the lift. 

He burst into the room. A fine mist of smoke rose in the center of the room. 

Natalie screamed, "The blinds Nick!" She cried in pain as he ran for the 
controls. The room slid into blissful darkness. 

He started to come to her. 

"No, Nick. Stay away. I need... blood...frig," she managed to get out. 

He fumbled a minute and found a lamp and a soft light filled the darkness. He 
ran to the frig and grabbed a bottle, pulling at the cork as he moved across the 
room. 

He gasped as she turned toward him and reached out. Her hand was shriveled like 
a claw and her face and arms were blistered by the sun. He could hardly 
recognize her. She had been beaten severely. Her hair was caked with blood. 

"Oh, God, Natalie. Who did this to you? Who?" Yet, he knew before she answered. 

"LaCroix..." She grabbed the bottle and began to guzzle it. "More..." she said 
between gulps. 

Nick returned to the frig and got three more bottles. As she drank the second 
one she said, "bags of whole...blood...in the freezer, microwave...2 min." He 
hurried back and got the whole blood and threw a packet into the Microwave. He 
danced around, realizing how long two minutes could seem. 

When he returned to her she was finished with the second bottle. She snatched 
the blood from him and her fangs pierced the bag and she drank deeply. Her face 
was already starting to heal. The blisters were fading and her flesh was 
plumping out. He came closer, "Stay back, Nick. Get the other bag for me." 

He repeated the procedure with the second bag and brought it to her. She rolled 
onto her back as he came with the second bag and she cried out in pain. She took 
the second bag and Nick went to get a pillow and throw from the couch to make 
her more comfortable. 

When he returned she looked at him through blue eyes. She looked nearly normal 
except for deep bruises here and there. 

Natalie felt the vampire slip into a sleep. It was so sated with the whole blood 
and the blood wine that it no longer hungered. Tears now slipped from her eyes 
and she reached out to Nick and he gathered her up into his arms. He held her 
tenderly against his chest. 

"Shhhh..." he soothed, "I'm here for you, Nat. He realized even the dried blood 
seemed to be reabsorbing into her hair and skin. "I will always be here for you 
if you need me." 

"Nick, my leg... it's broken. You will have to set it." 

He looked now and saw that the bone was sticking out. "Oh, my Nat, how can you 
stand this?" He laid her back on the pillow and moved down by her feet. "I don't 
know if I can. I should call a hospital." 

"You know you can't, Nick. Once the bone is set it will heal. You can do it. 
Please..." 

He nodded. She grabbed onto the heavy table near her. Nick grabbed a hold of 
Natalie's foot and just above her ankle and with a strong jerk and a twist he 
felt the bone snap back into place as Natalie screamed in pain. Almost instantly 
her pain vanished and the bone, aided by the blood, fused together as if it had 
never been broken. 

He hurried back to gather her close and he felt the gasp of pain die in her 
mouth. He looked and saw the skin sealing itself and the discoloration fade. "I 
wish I could bottle that. I'd be the best doctor in the world." She smiled, 
reaching up to caress his face. "I wish I could give it to you." 

A few minutes later Nick helped her stand. Even though she leaned heavily on 
him, they made it across the room to the couch. She sank gratefully down into 
the soft leather. 

Nick started to move away but she grabbed his hand and pulled him down to her 
side and wrapped her arms around him. Nick held her close. Her body was still 
trembling from the shock. 

"How could he do this to you? How? You say he loves you, but this is not love." 

"I rejected his advances and he lost it, the vampire took over. Nick, I wasn't 
strong enough to fight him off." Her voice deepened and her eyes flashed amber 
for a moment. "I will never let him use me again. Never!" 

She heard Nick's heartbeat elevate. She looked up into his face. He was furious. 


"We must stop him, Nat. I can't allow him to touch you again." 

"That's a fine thought, but I don't think you could stop him. I've run from him 
for years and he always finds me. There is no place to hide, Nick." 

"You have to be free of him once and for all." 

She drew back and saw the pain in his eyes. He took her face into his hands and 
captured her lips, kissing her deeply, lovingly. Natalie returned the kiss with 
equal fervor. 

Nick pulled her into his lap as his kisses became more eager and intense. His 
lips traveled across her face and toward her neck. Her scent was intoxicating. 

Suddenly Nick felt a sharp pain in his neck and he realized she had bitten him. 
His fear and his love warred with him, ignited in conflict. He pushed her firmly 
but quickly to arm's length. She was so weak she didn't resist. She didn't fight 
to resume her vampire kiss. She let her head roll back and her face had a look 
of bliss. Her eyes were closed and she was smiling. Some of his blood lingered 
on her lips. Her tongue came out to lick the remaining drops. "Oh, Nick, " she 
breathed. "Your blood is pure ambrosia." She sagged forward against him. He 
realized that the whole ordeal had exhausted her. She could barely move her own 
body. He stood and pulled her to her feet. Supporting nearly all her weight, he 
carried her up the stairs to her bed. 

He laid her down on the red satin sheets, then took her remaining shoe off. 
Gently he removed her dress; both shoulder straps were broken. She wore a 
strapless bra and underwear. He tried not to look to give her some dignity, as 
he pulled the sheet to cover her. He smoothed the hair away from her face and 
leaned to kiss her forehead. If she were human, he would have crawled into bed 
with her and held her while she slept, but he still remembered her warning. He 
kissed her lips and went downstairs to clean up the mess before he lay on the 
couch. 

"Someone has to get rid of that monster. That is the only way she will ever be 
free of him." He wondered if Natalie had ever considered trying to kill her 
master. Nick would never think of LaCroix as a man. By his own admission he 
would probably say he was already dead. It would be more like extermination than 
murder. 

Even though Natalie was the same creature, Nick knew he could never think of her 
that way. She wanted to live and to love. That monster had lost all of his 
humanity a millennia ago. 

Natalie wanted her life back; she wanted goodness in her life. There was no 
goodness in a creature who could do that to someone they claimed to love. Nick 
wondered if LaCroix had been a sadist in his human life. How could they possibly 
plan a way to destroy him and save themselves? He knew these vampires were 
nothing like the myths of television and popular fiction. They didn't sleep in 
coffins during the day. They could be awake and alert. Finding his sleeping 
place during the day and driving a stake through his heart was out. Nick 
shuddered what was he thinking. If he formulated a plan he would be a murderer. 
No, he could not plan this creature's death, but he would not avoid it if the 
opportunity arose. 

For now he would love Natalie and help her to come back to her human side if 
possible. Once there they would use all the tools they could find to keep the 
vampire at bay. 

He rose and went upstairs to check on her, but she not in her bed. He went 
toward the bathroom door to see if she was okay. As he neared the door he saw 
that the door was not closed all the way. He called out, "Natalie?" 

End Chapter 12 


By Jeannie Ecklund Gersknightlady@cs.com