Another Reality 

by Olivia Jean Ecklund 

Chapter 14 


She suddenly reached out, grasping him behind the neck. "You are mine. I will 
not allow anyone to come between us." 

"Who's coming between us?" he asked, straining against her hold, grimacing 
against her painful grip. Her breath was cold against his face. 

Suddenly, she covered his mouth with hers, kissing him fiercely. He felt her 
fangs against his lips. Nick closed his eyes and waited for her to strike. He 
knew fighting her was useless. Her fingers pulled at his collar, ready to 
strike. Suddenly the cross at his neck came into view. It seemed to flare with a 
flash of light and she backed away, snarling. 

"Take it off, Nick," she demanded threateningly. 

"No, Natalie." he whispered calmly, yet he pulled the collar up to hide it from 
her. 

She came forward, her fingers flashing she quickly unbuttoned his shirt below 
the collar. She ran her cool hands over his chest and leaned to tease his nipple 
with her lips and tongue. "You are mine," she repeated. 

"Natalie!" he gasped, "Please stop." He tried to drag her hands away. 

It angered her and she raised her hand striking him in the face and he flew back 
hitting the wall. 

"I will kill her, Nick," the vampire hissed in a deep voice. 

"Who?" he asked confused. 

"That woman you were kissing." 

"Kissing? I wasn't kissing any woman." 

"I saw you," she spat at him coming close. She could hear his heart beating, 
pounding in her ears. The smell of his fear heightened her desire for him. 

"Take it off, Nick." she screamed at him. She reached out with her will and took 
control of his. 

He reached up and undid the chain and it fell to the carpet. He held out his 
arms and she was instantly on him. Her fangs sunk into his willing flesh. His 
sweet blood filled her mouth and slid like honey down her throat. 

Her mind was filled with the image of the raven-haired woman and she heard their 
words and felt his feelings, "Thanks for being my host tonight, Sis." 

"You should find yourself a woman, Nicky. There are lots of beautiful young 
women dying to meet you, little brother." 

Nicks thoughts strayed to the beautiful vampire who'd sat up on his table weeks 
ago and he smiled. She had no idea how close her statement was. "I've already 
found someone, Janette." 

"Really Nicky? Is this the same woman you mentioned before? Where is she? Tell 
me more about her," she demanded, hugging his arms around her. 

Nick held her briefly. "She's not ready to meet anyone just yet." 

"Well, when she's ready, bring her to the Raven. We'll have dinner or a drink." 

He planted a kiss on her chin and released her waist and she turned toward him 
giving his a sisterly peck on the lips. "Bye." 

Natalie saw all this, and felt it all in seconds, as Nick's blood filled her 
mouth. She tore herself away. Her jealousy dissipated and she feared for his 
life and her need for him. 

His eyes where still closed. He was breathing hard, his desire for her plain in 
his face and body. In control of herself now, Natalie pressed her lips against 
his neck again. This time she only ran her tongue over the two small wounds, 
lapping up the blood that still leaked out and healing the wound with her 
saliva. 

"Nick," she said, shaking him. 

He reached for her, his hands exploring her body. She pushed him away 
Reluctantly, not wanting to rekindle the Vampire's desire for him. "Nick!" she 
shouted at him. 

He opened his eyes, confused. His hand flew to his neck feeling to two small 
healing wounds. "Natalie? What happened?" He backed away from her. Natalie 
realized suddenly there was a persistent sound in the apartment and she focused 
on it. It was Beast barking from behind the closed bedroom door." She turned 
back to Nick. "Nick, forgive me. I did not realize she was your sister." 

He slumped onto the couch weak from the high adrenaline rush and loss of blood. 
Embarrassed by his body's obvious high excitement, he shook his head still 
feeling confused. 

Some of the things she had said came back to him. "You saw me with Janette and 
thought she was a lover?" 

Natalie turned away, "I need to go, Nick. Forgive me. I won't spy on you again." 


"Please don't go." He stood, pulling his shirt back around his chest. He stepped 
closer to her and drew her against his chest. He would not repeat the mistakes 
he had when he'd run out on her that one morning. "Please, it's all right. No 
harm was done. I'm fine." 

She tore away from him, her eyes became amber. She was angry at herself, at his 
words. "Next time I could kill you." She flew out the door and into the night. 

He scooped beast up after Natalie left and took him outside for a potty break. 
Back upstairs, Nick played fetch with Him to try to calm down. Nick threw the 
puppet and Beast ran after it. Nick threw it on top of the couch, behind the 
couch, on top of tables and chairs and Beast hunted all over the room until he 
found it. Later they just sat and relaxed, watching TV. Finally Nick felt ready 
to crawl into bed. He didn't have to be at work until 9:00 pm, so he planned to 
sleep till 7:00. The sun will have set already. He would miss the remainder of 
the day, but he needed the rest. He felt weak from the blood loss and the 
adrenaline rush. His sleep was restless, his dreams were filled with glowing 
eyes. 

He woke in the dark, his sleep disturbed by a low deep growl from Beast. It was 
so dark he couldn't see anything more than a couple feet in front if him. He sat 
up and drew the dog closer. 

"Natalie?" he called out. Suddenly he could see two red eyes watching him from 
the corner of the room. Unless she was floating there, they were to high for 
her. There was a scent different from hers, some how male. 

"LaCroix," he said. The eyes came closer and he saw there was a tall man 
impeccably dressed in black with long black hair and skin pale as paper. 
(Original Nick Knight movie LaCroix.) 

"I will never let you have Natasha. She is mine. She will always BE mine." The 
creature hissed into his face. "Leave her alone." 

Nick took a deep breath, "...and if I don't?" 

A hand suddenly snatched him up by the throat and he hung above the bed several 
inches. "Natalie and I are just friends," he lied. Beast was still growling low, 
but thank God he didn't bark. 

"Friends," the creature snarled into his face. His fangs where long and sharp. 

Nick flinched back from him. 

"She's mine and she will always be mine," he repeated. "Do not forget it. I 
could take you now and leave a dry empty husk on this bed. For now I will keep 
my promise. But mark my words Human, she will only toy with you awhile and then 
she will drain you. It has always been that way. Her fantasy will never come 
true." 

There was a rush of wind and Nick was released. He fell back on the bed. Beast 
yelped and scrambled out of the way. He now stood barking at the open window. 

Nick trembled and sweat poured off of him. He put his hand to his neck. He would 
have bruises. Maybe LaCroix had come to scare him, but it only made him more 
determined to destroy the creature of the night. He closed and locked the 
window, then got an old crucifix of his grandmother's from the closet and 
affixed it to the glass. 

He retrieved the forgotten cross and chain from the floor and put the necklace 
back on. The only thing he really wanted was to see Natalie. He prayed for peace 
and sleep and finally dozed off. 

The next night Nick saw Natalie at another homicide. He managed to get her off 
to the side. She was having trouble looking him in the eye and he could tell she 
was embarrassed for the scene she'd caused at his place after the party. 

"Nat, please look at me," he begged. 

She turned her eyes up at him and he saw there was anger, fear, and pain. 

"Natasha," he said, very quietly and close to her face. "It is forgotten and 
forgiven. Please come to my place and watch a movie with me tonight. We need to 
talk and I want to be with you. You can stay the day if you like. I have 
blackout drapes. I even put some in the living room for you." He leaned in and 
placed a gentle kiss against her cheek. 

He saw a red tear escape her eyes and he took it on his finger, it tore at his 
heart. She might be hard and tough on the outside to most people, but to him, he 
saw the woman begging to be set free. "Please come." 

She finally smiled. "Okay, Nick. I will need to bring supplies." 

He smiled a smile that melted the last bits of fear from her heart. "Bring 
enough to last awhile. You might want to come over often." 

She reached out and took his fingers in hers and laced them through his. "I was 
so afraid you would hate me because of what I did." 

"Hate is the last thing I will ever feel for you," he said softly, wishing he 
could take her in his arms and prove to her how much he wanted her." 

She could see the desire in his eyes and she smiled that wonderful smile that 
lit the night. "I'd love to come." she reiterated. 

They heard, "Hey Nick, Where are you?" Schanke's voice pierced the trees like a 
blaring horn. 

Nat gestured, "Shhhh," she pointed to herself and then lifted into the air and 
disappeared. 

"Nick!" the loud voice called again. Don barreled into the small clearing. 

"What Schank?" Nick said, irritated. He'd wanted to give Natalie another kiss. 

"You alone?" Schanke looked around. "I didn't see the Detective at the scene 
either." 

"Yes, I'm alone," he said, gesturing around him. 

"Why," Don asked, still peering into the shadows. "I just needed a minute. This 
one got to me," Nick said. 

"Uhuh! Nick, its okay to sneak off into the bushes with the beautiful detective, 
but I know for a fact that you haven't been seeing her since she didn't come to 
the dinner party. You didn't have a falling out did you?" 

"No, Don my friend. She's coming for a movie tonight." Don might be overbearing 
and loud sometimes but Nick and he had been friends for twelve years. They had 
gone through a lot together. 

He saw the concern in his friend's eyes vanish. Don reached out and squeezed his 
shoulder, "Good, now can we get back to work." 

Natalie arrived at 4 am. Nick was ready for her. He'd showered and put on a pair 
of black jeans and a turtleneck sweater. He didn't want her to see the bruises. 

When the door bell rang he opened to door wide and took the large box she was 
carrying. It was very heavy and he staggered under it's weight. He'd forgotten 
about her vampire strength. He set it on the kitchen table, the bottles rattled 
dangerously. 

Beast came forward and sniffed at Natalie's feet. 

Nick picked the dog up and held Beast closer to her. "It's time you got to know 
my friend here a bit better. Come on, Natalie. Pet him. Let him get used to your 
gentle touch." 

Natalie reached out to caress the dog's fur. He was soft. His hair was longish 
and thick. She was rewarded by a warm lick from his rough little tongue. She 
looked up at Nick and saw him smile. "It will take time. If I set him down now 
he still wouldn't let you touch him but in time he will get used to you." 

He hugged Beast to him. "Good boy. Would you like a chew bone, boy?" 

His little tongue came out. Nick gave Beast the bone and he jumped into the big 
chair and started gnawing on it. Natalie noticed it was covered with a blanket 
for the dog. 

"Would you like a drink, Nat? he asked. 

Natalie nodded. "Yes, I think that's a good idea." She followed him into the 
kitchen. "Nick, why do you call me "gnat"? Isn't that an annoying little fly?" 

Nick smiled as he opened a bottle and poured the red bloodwine into a stemmed 
goblet. "It's because you annoy my emotions constantly. I want nothing more than 
to ravish you." He looked into her face, surprised with himself and his bold 
admission. 

He passed the drink to her, trying to ignore the smell of blood. 

She took the glass and let her fingers linger against his for a moment. "I kind 
of like it," she said, "Especially your reason. I like the way you use all my 
different names." 

End Chapter 14 

By Jeannie Ecklund Gersknightlady@cs.com