xover: Inner Fire and the Light, (06/16)
Jeannie Ecklund Aug 17,2000


Joe went to Grace and held her close, as much for himself as for her.
LaCroix zeroed in on the sound and stumbled forward. Before the
residents, the angels began to glow. LaCroix covered his eyes and cried
out.

Janette held her hand up, shielding her eyes from the angelic light.
Their skin started to smoke. LaCroix saw Nick through the light. 

"Nicholas," he whispered. Their eyes met. There was such raw hunger and 
pain there that it tore at Nick's heart and he started to move forward, 
but the angels blocked his path. They glowed brighter. The vampires were 
forced to go into their new home.

Nick was trembling so hard he could barely stand. "I must go to him,"
he cried.

Natalie was shocked that Nick would have rushed forward if the angels
hadn't been there.

Tess gripped Nick's shoulders with an iron grip. "No, Nick. First his
hunger must be alleviated."

Janette nearly dragged LaCroix into their new home. She dropped him into
a chair.

"Nicholassss..." he whispered again. The vampiress went to the
kitchen and opened the fridge. She was relived to see the familiar
looking bottles. Grabbing one, she tore the cork out of it with her
teeth as she crossed the room and handed it to him.

His claw-like hands grabbed the bottle, and he drank it down. He cried
out as it seared him with pain and sheer delight. "Nicholas!" he
whimpered, in wonder.

Janette found a glass, poured herself a draught, and sipped at the dark
liquid. She closed her eyes and let the wine, sweet as nectar, slide
across her tongue. She looked at LaCroix and realized that he had
finished the rest of the bottle. There was a look of raw pleasure in his
clear blue eyes.

"He still loves me," he croaked through dry, parched lips. Blood tears
ran from his eyes. "I must sleep," he sighed.

"Come," she said. "I will take you to your room."

There was a knock on their door, and the young male angel entered. "I
will take him to his room," he told Janette.

She pulled back. "He will burn if you touch him... "

"No, LaCroix will be safe with me as long as he does not fight me.
The cleansing blood of the Lord, through Nick, is in him now."

Andrew found that LaCroix had already fallen asleep. He picked the
wasted vampire up and carried the fragile creature to his room. The
angel laid him on the bed, covered him and made sure the curtains were
secure before he took a seat across the room to watch his sleeping
charge.

Janette watched until the door closed, then she left and walked toward
the big house. She could see, through the screen door,
that Nick sat before the fire, holding tightly to Natalie.

She knocked on the door frame. "May I come in?" she asked.

Nick sat a bit taller as Janette came closer to him. "Thank you," she
said softly.

"How is he?" Nick asked.

"He's sleeping. Andrew will watch over him."

Nick asked her, "Did you tell him why he is here?"

"No," she said. "I wanted him to come here and to drink the blood
for a few days before he knows. He would never have come here like he
is now if he knew why I brought him. We must weaken the demon's hold
first so that he can think. Your blood has soothed him, Nichola. He
felt your love."

Nick was shaking. The idea of LaCroix drinking his blood made his
stomach lurch. He ran from the room to the bathroom by the kitchen.
They could hear him retching.

Janette looked at Natalie with concern. "Will he be all right?"

Natalie pushed her hair back from her face. "He?ll be okay. This is
very hard for him. He wants to go to LaCroix, and yet his spirit tells
him, 'No! Not yet.' There is an emotional battle raging inside of him."

"I know." The vampiress said, hearing the toilet flush. She saw Nick
come out and head upstairs without looking back. "I can't tell you how
much this sacrifice of his means to me." She touched Natalie?s arm. "I
promise you, Natalie, I am no threat to you. I will not betray you
again."

Natalie looked surprised at her admission.

"I knew Nichola loved you," she admitted to Natalie. "I saw it in his
blood. He was so afraid to hurt you, yet so hungry for physical
contact. LaCroix ordered me to make him come to me. He wanted Nichola
to live like a Vampire and come back to us. Feeding from me was a step
in that direction. A small one. It was never more personal than that.
A kiss or two... and feeding..."

Natalie said, "I fed Nick, a couple of times." There was anger in her
voice. "Feeding is physical... and so much more!"

Janette nodded. "Yes, you are correct. It is. Forgive me. It will, of
course, never happen again. Excuse me, Natalie. I need to go see to
LaCroix, and you should go see to Nick."

Natalie glared at her retreating back until the vampiress was gone.
Suddenly, she realized that Monica was sitting at the computer. She
felt ashamed at her outburst.

Monica commented, "It's all right for you to be angry, Natalie. That
woman had no right to seduce Nick. She does sincerely regret her
betrayal of you, but she is hardened. The Vampire spirit still controls
her, no matter how in control she seems now. God has given this time
for all of you to work out the anger and pain that has been caused by
the evil of vampirism. You have a disadvantage. Nick has been a part
of your life for only a few years. Their history goes back for
centuries."

Natalie turned to her. "How do I compete with that?" she demanded
loudly.

"You don't have to. Nick loves YOU with all his heart."

Natalie slumped into a chair and cried healing tears. If she could
not believe an angel, who could she believe? "Thank you, Monica,"
she said, getting to her feet. "I need to go check on Nick."

She found him sleeping on their bed. Tess was sitting close to him,
gently stroking his golden curls. She looked up as Natalie came in.

"Are you okay, Baby?"

Natalie nodded. "How's Nick?"

"Sleeping a restful, deep sleep." She stood and patted the bed. "Come
on, Baby, get in beside your husband and get some sleep, too. I'm going
down to talk to Joe and Grace."

Natalie whispered, "They belong together, Tess."

"That they do," the angel chuckled. "Now, Little Miss Matchmaker, go to
sleep. We will watch over you. LaCroix's asleep and Janette is
reading."

Natalie reached out and squeezed Tess' hand. "Thank you for taking
care of him." The angel left and Natalie wearily changed, crawled into
the bed and reached out to touch Nick. He moved into her arms, and they
slept.

Grace and Joe sat in his living room, before the fire, praying. Tess
had come by to talk to them and try to give Grace some peace of mind.
LaCroix's full vampire mode had scared her half to death. Being faced
with the red-eyed demon had been a lot more "reality" than she had been
prepared to face. Now she knew for certain there were vampires. Joe
had brought Grace in, shaking and crying with fear.

He had held her close as they prayed until she grew calm. She was still
afraid to go back to her room in the big house by herself, so he had
walked her back through the passage and given her a final hug as he
handed her over to Tess who walked up to her room with her.

Joe had returned to his place and continued to pray until dawn, then he
had gone to bed.

The humans slept most of the day. When they finally straggled into the
kitchen of the big cabin late that afternoon, Tess and Monica set a
nutritious, tasty meal before them. They were all pretty quiet, gearing
up in their minds for the coming night. As the day faded, Nick became
moody and sullen.

Janette came out of the house first. She was dressed in jeans and a
t-shirt. Her hair was tied up in a pony tail, and her face had a clean
scrubbed look sans make-up.

Natalie thought Janette looked more human than she had ever seen her
before... very fresh and natural. She had to keep reminding herself,
'Vampire.'

The humans watched as she set some chairs out in front of her place.
Then she came toward them. "Nichola, I'm going to have Andrew bring
LaCroix outside. Will you join us??

Nick nodded, slowly. "Will you come, too?" he asked Natalie.

"Yes, of course," she said. Nick helped her down the stairs . They
stood back until Andrew had seated LaCroix.

Janette placed a glass of bloodwine on a small table near him. She
tucked a blanket around his legs.

Nick plopped into a chair about a yard away from LaCroix. He did not
look his former master in the eyes.

Natalie stood behind him with her hands on his shoulders, trying to
will him some courage.

Grace and Joe also stood with Nick, but a bit to the side.

LaCroix looked slightly better tonight. "Nicholas," he spoke gently.
Nick glanced up at him, unused to hearing that tone from his mentor.
LaCroix looked deeply into the young man?s eyes. "It is good to see you
again, my son."

Nick opened his mouth to protest LaCroix's words, but Natalie squeezed
his shoulders, so he asked instead, "Why have you done this to
yourself?"

LaCroix turned angry. "You dare ask that! YOU pulled away. YOU left
your people. YOU left ME!" He spat the words at his errant son.

Nick rose and turned away, thinking, "I can't do this." He wanted to
go back to his home.

"Nicholas," - Fear flashed in LaCroix's eyes - "Please do not go. I
will try harder. Please... just let me look at you."

Nick sat back down warily.

"Still the child I see. My golden child... " LaCroix?s hold on his
emotions was so tenuous that he felt his eyes go amber and the beast
assert control again. 'Why must we be flanked by these creatures?" he
snarled.

"These creatures, as you put it, are here to protect me from you,"
Nick snapped back at him.

LaCroix's amber eyes turned red.

Nick jumped to his feet, grabbed Natalie and pulled her back toward the
house.

LaCroix lunged forward. "Nicholas, you will not turn your back on me!"
he screamed fiercely.

Andrew had moved quickly, throwing his arms around LaCroix. He held the
vampire in his fiery grip.

LaCroix's eyes bled, and he snarled like a caged animal, fighting
against his captor fiercely. "Nicholas, don't go!" He
screamed in pure rage.

Janette ran to get a bottle of bloodwine for the beast, and Andrew
held on. Grace and Joe had fled into the big house with their friends,
keeping between the screaming fiend and the young couple.

Andrew dragged LaCroix back into his house.

The four friends could hear him screaming, snarling and screaming some
more. "Nicholas!" he would bellow in his rage. It went on filling
the night air.

Nick tried to cover his ears, but couldn't stop the cries from piercing
his brain. He wouldn't even let Natalie hold him. He paced the house
like a trapped animal. Finally, he went to the piano and assaulted the
keys. His fingers flew across the keyboard. The music was loud and
tumultuous. Finally, LaCroix's cries were drowned out.

Joe and Grace, thankful, watched in awe as Nick played. They were
stunned by his skill.

After a long time, he stopped and there was only a deafening silence.
The cries had stopped. Natalie, with a tear-streaked face, came and sat
beside him on the piano bench. She held him as he cried. They sat a
long time in blessed silence.

Grace and Joe slipped out quietly through the back, not wanting to go
anywhere near the house that held the tormented vampire.

Nick moaned, "Is this a punishment? Is this my penance... to face what
I was in it's rawest form? How could I have ever existed like that?"

end Part 6 
***** Jeannie Ecklund ***** gersknightlady@cs.com