xover: Inner Fire and The Light (04/16)
Jeannie Ecklund Aug.14, 2000


The friends rose and stood close to each other, fingering the crosses
they had started to wear.   The car door opened, and a tall,  pale man
got out of the driver's seat and came around to open the passenger door.

Nick felt both fear and hope run through him. Was it LaCroix?

Grace and Joe held each other,  trying to conceal their fear.

A long,  white stockinged, high-heeled leg came out first, followed by
the rest of a woman dressed in a cream colored suit.  The brim of a
large hat covered her face until she looked up at them.

Nick already knew who it was. "Janette!" he cried out, hurrying forward,
ready to embrace her.

"Nick!"  Natalie shouted in fear,  grabbing his arm.

Nick stopped, remembering Janette was still a vampire... one who hadn't
been very happy with him the last time she had seen him.

"Nichola," she begged, "please allow me to speak to you."

"Natalie, I will not harm you or your loved ones... I promise you..."

Natalie stared at her for a moment, then nodded.  "Come into the
house,"  she invited, then turned to Joe.  "Please take Grace to your
house.  We have to talk."

Joe said, uncomfortably, "I'd rather stay here."

"We'll fill you in later, Pop.  Nick and I are safe from Janette."

Nick was looking toward the Limo, a question obvious in his expression.

Janette answered, "I am alone, Nichola."  She noted, with some relief,
that  a brief grimace of disappointment flashed across Nick's face.

"So," she thought to herself, "he still loves, LaCroix.  Maybe I haven't
wasted a  trip here."

As she entered their home, Janette took in the huge dwelling with a
glance,  then went to stand by the fireplace.

"I miss the warmth," she said simply.  "I did not realize how much I
loved it until you brought me back across, Nichola."

Nick hadn't taken his eyes off her.  He wanted to hold her close, but
he knew it was too dangerous.  "You look beautiful,"  he said. "Almost
human."

She was still so pale that she could have been carved out of stone,  but
the hard look that she had once had, was gone.  She wore rich clothing,
but  very feminine, light pastel colors.

When everyone had taken their seats, Natalie demanded, a bit harshly,
fear lacing her voice, "What is it you want, Janette?"

The beautiful vampiress remarked softly, "Always the direct one.  I have
always admired you for your courage, Natalie. To answer your question, I
want to know if you would be willing to help me regain my humanity."

Nick and Natalie stared at her.

"I have been human before.  I know what it is like to walk in the sun...
to have the hope of having a child one day."

She glanced at Natalie's expanding abdomen. "Congratulations.  I can
hear your children, Natalie.  They are both strong and healthy."

Together Nick and Nat cried, "They?!"

"Didn't you know there are two?" Janette asked.

"No," they said quietly, taking in the amazing news.

Natalie let tears of excitement and joy course down her face.  Nick
held her close for a moment, then they turned back to Janette.
Nick sat a moment, staring at Janette again. She knew what he wanted.
She could hear his heart racing.  Finally, he asked her, "Where is he,
Janette?"

No one had to ask who 'he' was.

Janette replied, "He's in a safe house in the city. We came, only last
night, from France.  I have one of our kind caring for him.  He?s a
shell of himself, Nichola. He seldom goes out, and it is difficult to
get him to feed.  He has fits of rage.  I have to tie him down at times.
I look into his eyes, and all I see is pain. He is lost without you."

She looked away from him and busied her hands by smoothing  her skirt
down over her knee.  She looked back at them,  "I do not want this only
for myself.  I want it for LaCroix as well.  Nichola, I love him more
than anything... more than I have ever loved you.  Right
now, he feeds from me. It is the only thing that keeps him alive.  If I
could be healed of this curse... become human again... maybe I could
change him, too.  Would you let him come here?"

Nick had tears on his face. "How do you think we could help you with a
cure?  For us, it wasn't only the blood that we shared. Feeding from
Natalie calmed my heart, yet I only fed twice.  There was a small
change, yet personally I went much further.  Her love helped my faith
grow, and when I embraced my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ again,
fully, HE came and took the demons away.  Demons cause the vampirism,
Janette."

Janette sat silently for a moment.  "I know, Nichola. I never told you
that Robert was a Christian.  I've thought about it many times.  It
was the purity of his love and his Christian blood that saved me.
Still, I never committed MY whole heart to the Lord.  Maybe that's why I
allowed myself to be brought across again. I could have walked into the
light, but I didn't have enough faith, Nichola.  I allowed them to
come back in.  When you came and took my blood,  I protested, but I had
begun to feel so alone.  Robert was gone.  You and LaCroix were my
family."  She let blood red tears fall down her face.  "I felt the
angels cry... I actually HEARD  them cry!"

Nick reached forward and took her two hands in his.  "How can we help?
I can't allow you to feed on me. I would be allowing the demons a way to
re-enter me again."

"I know," she replied, "but what about a transfusion?  Your blood could
start the cleansing and give me the strength to regain the faith I
once had.  Pure blood cleansed by Jesus Christ weakens the demons.  I
would be free to ask the Lord to forgive me again."

"But it could kill you," Nick said.  "He will take you back, but there
could be a large price to pay."

She nodded. "I know.  I have thought of that, but it would be worth it.

I can not live any longer in this darkness.  If I can lessen the hold of
these creatures, I can get free one way or another. Then,  in turn if I
live, I could give my blood to LaCroix.  If we could weaken them enough
to allow him some freedom of choice, maybe he could be freed.  I have to
try, Nichola.  He's dying, and it's the final death.  He would be in
darkness forever."

Nick squeezed her hands. "I must talk to Natalie in private. Go now, but
come back in three days."  He stood and drew her to her feet, "It's
good to see you again, Janette."

The pale woman nodded.  "All right, Nichola." She brought one of his
hands up to her lips and kissed it, then rested her cheek against it for
a moment.

Nick could see the hope in her eyes.

"I have missed you, my brother."   In a blink of an eye she was gone,
and the car was pulling away.

****

Nick slumped back onto the couch, shaking.  Natalie wrapped her arms
around him.

Joe and Grace burst back into the room. "We heard the care leave.  Are
you okay?"  they demanded.

Natalie stared at Grace, then accusingly at Joe.

He held up his hand. "I didn't tell her anything. She already knew.
She's known for years."

"What!?" Both Nick and Natalie looked at Grace.

Their friend shrugged.  "I was nosy, and I didn't understand what kept
you two apart.  Nat's journal just happened to catch my eye... It
certainly altered my view of life."

Natalie reached out and grabbed Grace's hand.  She squeezed,  "No one
can keep a secret from you, Grace. I should have known."

Joe sat heavily on the chair that Janette had vacated. "What did she
want?"  he asked.

"She wants my blood,"  Nick said, still staring into space.

"What!"  the two gasped in unison.

Natalie explained.

Joe asked, "Is that possible?"

Natalie replied, "In theory... Nick does love her very much. It's not
romantic love,though...  is it, Nick?"  She said, voicing her fears.

"No, of course not. You are my only love,"  he reassured her, holding
her tightly.

Grace asked, "Who is she?"

Nick shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs that were clouding
his thoughts.

"She was my friend, my sister,  my lover...  even my wife, for several
hundred years."

"Wife?" Grace choked. "Several hundred?  Wow!"

Nick turned to Natalie, "You would help?"

Natalie's biggest fear was Janette.  If LaCroix and Janette came back
into Nick's life, would he still be there for HER?  Janette had been
Nick's companion for most of the 800 years of his vampire existance. She
was afraid that this could be a huge threat to their life as it was now.
Natalie knew she would help, (How could she not help to free someone
from that curse...) but it made her feel as if her life had just been
turned upside down.

Natalie had found out that Nick had gone to Janette to feed, and for
physical comfort, after their relationship had started.  It was true
that they had only been friends at the time, yet she had seen it as a
betrayal of all the work they had done together to make him mortal. It
had taken Natalie a lot of time to heal from the pain he had caused her.
Janette was so beautiful... so perfect.

Grace was asking Joe, "Wife? Sister?"

Joe said, "Vampires are very complicated beings. They are everything
to each other, father, brother, sister, mate.  It's the epitome of evil:
all relationships are acceptable.  Janette and Nick are only adoptees of
LaCroix, so that makes it okay, even in our reality.  Nick's always
tried to play by human rules, but most vampires have no moral code.  It
is evil in its purest form, and humans are their cattle."

Grace paled, looking at Nick.

Joe continued,  "Nick has protested against his nature for over 700
years.  His desire to regain his humanity caused him much abuse at the
hands of LaCroix."

He turned back to his friend.  "Nick, how can you even consider helping
him?"

Suddenly,  they all became aware of another presence in the room.  They
turned to stare.   A light appeared that became a large, black woman.
Her hair and face glowed.

"My angel!" Natalie cried.

"Tess.  I am called Tess,"  the angel said.

Natalie stood and went to her.  The angel wrapped her arms around the
young woman.  Peace enveloped her.  "Baby, I know you fear this, but
this is their ONLY hope to be saved.  No harm will  come to you, your
family, or your friends."

"But... Janette," Natalie protested. "How can this be asked of me?"

"Natalie, Nick loves you, and Janette really loves LaCroix."

Natalie drew back. "She does."  She let that sink in. "You know I will
do this no matter what. Its  just..."

"I know, Baby. You are human. I assure you, it will not be easy and it
will take hard work, but this IS their only chance. They will get no
more."

"Is it guaranteed that they will accept the Lord?"

"No, Baby. They must still chose for themselves, but I promise you, no
harm will come to you while they are on this property.  If you do not
do this, they will never be offered their salvation again, and you
will never see them again... for they will eventually walk into the
sun."

"No!" Nick cried.

Tess turned to Nick. "LaCroix is giving up.  You were his light, Nick.
As much as you felt the need to walk in the sunlight, he needed you.
That was his obsession... the light he saw in your blood.  When he fed
from you, he felt a little more human. Your blood can bring them
halfway.  Your blood is cleansed by the Lord.  It has healing properties
for them.  It can bring them humanity, but only they can accept
salvation."

"Nick, you will have to donate a unit of blood every two or three weeks.
We will have it bottled into bloodwine, fill another nine bottles with
water and put them next to bloodwine bottle.  The Lord will multiply the
bloodwine as he did with the wine at the wedding in Cana,  and make ten
out of one."

"Natalie, no matter what this might do to Nick, you must have him supply
this every couple of weeks.  I do not want you, or your babies, to
suffer any harm .  You are NOT to donate blood!  Only Nick can supply
what LaCroix needs anyway.  LaCroix needs to see that Nick
still loves him, or he will not be able to see the love of the Lord that
shines through Nick."


end Part 4  
*****  Jeannie Ecklund  *****  gersknightlady@cs.com