Personal Diary
1.6.2120 0048 h.
Well, here I sit, making wedding arrangements. Again.
My daughter Deborah Nolan, who arrived from another timeline
last year, is to get married on the 20th to a man she met while
touring the world. She asked me to handle the wedding
arrangements, which makes me proud.
I fathered her while on a mission to Timeline MVL 6601.
My job was done before she was born, but I stayed around until
after. When she was five days old, I faked my death and returned
to the Guild, and Raven.
She arrived about a year ago, looking for Duncan
Blacksteel, who happens to be Raven's son. Debbie and Duncan
had worked together for years. In fact, she even met my son,
and her half-brother, Riley, while he was searching for me.
Her arrival made quite a splash. We were having a
beach party at the kid's place, when this brilliant meteor lit up
the night sky. Turned out that some genius on her world cooked
up a device that would cross dimensions, and would lock on to a
person that the operator pictured. They mounted it in an ancient
Mercury capsule, got it up into space, and she activated the
device. She arrived safely, but Raven sure had the twitches when
she found out who Debbie was! She also nearly strangled me
when I told her that Debbie and Riley are only two of thirty-
seven children I had fathered on Guild missions. We made up
later, after a lengthy explanation. [all right, slow torture, her
way!]
At least, Debbie has the sense to marry a Sagan. Darrell
Connolly, from Brisbane, Australia, has abilities that are
amplified by exposure to light. Since she's a light projector, they
mesh well. He's a good man, and a welcome addition to the
family.
Just about all the plans are set. The wedding will be
done here, with Cardinal Leo presiding. Ethan and Bradley will
do the catering, Simon will ensure the weather will be perfect
here, and my dear father-in-law promised a floral arrangement
that will out-do anything he's ever done before. I believe him.
Actually, I think Guardian will do most of the work.
You know, making these arrangements reminds me of
my own wedding to Raven, all these many years ago. [March,
2031, to be precise.]
I was assigned to the New Orleans station then, while
Raven was still the 'camp counselor' in Phoenix. With Schuyler's
transit booth network in the process of being set up, it was
possible to flick direct from Phoenix to New Orleans, but it
wasn't cheap. In fact, flying was cheaper.
We had fallen in love shortly after I had transferred from
Phoenix to New Orleans. We were engaged shortly thereafter.
I had let Raven handle the wedding plans. She had
invited Father Leo from Missouri, the entire teams from Phoenix
and New Orleans, and some of her friends. She wanted to hold
the wedding at an old plantation house outside of the city, in the
bayou country. The only problem was that the house belonged
to one of her friends, Dr. Remington Le Clair.
Remmy had taken to hating me ever since we
announced her engagement. He would swear at me in French, a
language at the time I understood, but not well.
Six months before the wedding, as I was doing a night
patrol around the French Quarter, Remmy actually jumped me.
As we fought, he was rambling on about not letting his mother
marry a mortal, that he wouldn't stand for it. In self-defense, I
flashed him with a broad-band light burst. He let out a scream of
such pure agony, I resolved not to flash him again. He ran off,
howling.
Raven tracked me down about fifteen minutes later.
"What did you do to Remmy?" she asked.
I told her, then she said, "You're coming with me. Radio
in and tell them that I pulled you off patrol for an urgent
assignment. Details to follow." I did so, and suddenly, we were
elsewhere. Specifically, the plantation.
I had only been inside the house once before, but had
visited the area several times. Raven brought me downstairs, to
a hidden room. Inside was Remmy, his face and hands badly
burned.
"You know that I'm a vampire," she told me, "but what I
didn't tell you is that Remmy is one, too. He does not have any
immunity to sunlight, like I do. He needs help soon, or else I'll
lose him."
I noticed that tears were forming in her eyes. "He was
saying something about me not marrying his mother. Are you
his mother?" I asked.
"In a way. I made him what he is now. Right now, he is
dying, and I cant help him.
"But you can." she said, looking me square in the face.
"Me? How?" I asked.
"Your blood. You can heal rapidly. If you give him some
of your blood to consume, the regenerative factor will bring him
back to health. Will you help him?" she asked, looking at me,
tears running down her face.
"For you, my love, I will do anything you ask. Even
though he has done his best to get in our way, I will help him. If
I had known his true nature, I would have never done this to
him. It doesn't matter to me that he hates me. I never hated
him, not at all." I explained to Raven, and unknown to me at the
time, to Remmy as well.
"What do I need to do?" I asked Raven.
"Just hold your arm in front of his face. I can rouse him
enough to make him bite deep. He will take what he needs." she
told me.
"Let's do it" I said. I held my arm in front of him, and
he bit. Hard.
I felt a rush of something, I couldn't explain what. It
wasn't power, it wasn't ecstacy. It just felt odd, and not too
unpleasant. As I watched, Remmy's burned, ravaged face healed.
When he was restored to his normal appearance, he
opened his eyes. When he saw that it was me he was drinking
from, his eyebrows climbed up to his hairline, but he didn't
release for another ten seconds.
After he released, he drew a shaky breath, then spoke.
"Monsieur Somers, please accept my apologies. What I have
been doing to you, and to Mother, has been wrong.
"I let my jealousy over someone, a mortal, a non-
vampire, take my, our, Mother's heart."
He then looked at Raven. "I will accept any punishment
you prescribe, Mother." he said to her formally.
Raven just said, "First, stop calling me Mother. Second,
why don't you and Chris get to know each other tonight.
"I have to go make some arrangements, to cover Chris'
absence tonight.
"The evening is yours, gentlemen. Make the best of it."
Well, we did. That night, we learned much about each
other. We both loved Raven deeply, but in different ways. We
buried the hatchet between us, there in the dark of night in the
Louisiana bayou country. We became firm friends that night, and
remain so to this day. It was many years later that I found out
how well Raven had manipulated both Remmy and I into getting
along. She didn't set up his animosity or the fight, she just took
advantage of the situation before she would have had to step in.
At our wedding, the day after Mardi Gras, Remmy had a
prominent role in the wedding party. Best man, in fact.
That reminds me. I better call him and ensure that the
music selections will be ready for Debbie's wedding. I know they
will, but sometimes that crazy Cajun needs a little prompting.
Carl, save, personal diary. Cryptolock Aurum Six Four
Three.
By your command, Sire.
Don't get funny, Carl!
Who, me?
Yes, you!