Future Mortality

Part 8/?

By Christine Hantzopulos

Nick looked at his daughter in disbelief. “Niki, I don’t sense anyone. LaCroix said I would be sensitive to vampires just as you are. I think you’re just overwrought over everything that’s happened tonight—“

“Daddy, no!” she insisted. “Why don’t you believe me? There’s someone very close by!” Even as she spoke her eyes began to take on an amber tint.

“Nick, maybe she can sense something you can’t,” Natalie told him worriedly. “LaCroix wan’t a hundred percent certain about any of this.”

He nodded, shaken by his daughter’s transformation. She was the dhampir, after all. His cure with her blood had been a virtually untried legend. Perhaps she did have a sensitivity to vampires that he had lost.

Again, the fear of helplessness threatened to engulf him. If he could not even sense danger… He jumped from the bed, rummaging quickly through the drawer until he found his only defense.

One of the pistols with wooden bullets.

“I’m going outside to have a look around. Stay here, both of you!”

Natalie began to protest as she pulled Niki into a protective embrace, but Nick nearly flew down the stairs, straining what remained of his heightened senses for the slightest noise. He opened the door, holding his gun ready…

And found himself staring into the surprised face of LaCroix.

“Not as friendly a greeting as I would have hoped for,” LaCroix said dryly.

Nick heaved a deep sigh as he lowered his gun. “LaCroix. I have never in my life been so relieved to see you. Come in.” As he saw Janette a smile almost found its way to his face. “Janette. Thank God.”

“Nicolas, is everything all right?” she asked coming to kiss him on the cheek.

Before he could answer, Niki was bounding down the stairs. “Daddy, it’s gone,” she called, then opened her eyes wide as she saw the vampires. “LaCroix! Janette!”

She ran over to hug her ‘sister’, as she considered Nick’s progeny to be. “I’m so glad to see you!” she said with tears of relief.

“Look at you! You’re a young lady!” Janette said as she released her. “Nicolas, you had better watch out, the boys will be chasing after this one.”

“Not if they know what’s good for them,” he said with a grin. He put his hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “See, there was no other vampire out there. Just LaCroix and Janette. There was no reason to be afraid.”

But Niki’s face grew grave. “No, Daddy. I can sense Janette and LaCroix, even now. But I’m used to them. They don’t frighten me. It wasn’t them. It was someone different.”

Nick’s face paled at his daughter’s words, and as his former master spoke, his stomach twisted in dread.

“She’s right, Nicholas. Before we got here, I sensed a vampire. A powerful one. But he was gone by the time we got here.”

“But who? Why?”

As if on cue, Natalie came down the stairs, her eyes opening wide upon seeing their guests. But her surprise was matched equally by their own, as her condition became apparent.

“I think you know why,” LaCroix told him.

Natalie had heard the voices and made her way down the stairs, both concerned and relieved at once as she saw their visitors.

“LaCroix. Janette. How did you find us?” was the first question that came to her lips.

Janette came over to her, absolute marvel on her face. “Natalie, this is incredible. How are you feeling?” she asked, touching her cheek to hers. It was still hard to believe that the women had become friends, but she knew Janette was genuinely happy for her.

“I’m okay,” she said smiling. “We’ve just had a rough night.”

“I wouldn’t expect things to get any easier,” LaCroix told them ominously.

“How did you find us?” Nick repeated, now that his initial shock at seeing them was over.

“Perhaps we should sit down,” LaCroix suggested, walking into the living room without invitation. “And Nicolette, perhaps you should go upstairs and check on your brother.”

The girl began to protest, but Nick and Natalie both motioned for her to do just that. Grudgingly she left, but not before turning back to Janette. “You won’t leave without saying goodbye, will you?”

“Of course not,” the vampire promised her warmly.

Natalie sat down next to Nick, facing the vampires. “I’m sorry I don’t have anything to offer you,” she said apologetically.

“We’ve brought our own, thank you, Natalie,” LaCroix responded politely as he drew two bottles from inside his coat. He handed one to Janette. “I didn’t think you would want us to drink in front of your daughter.”

“Thank you,” Natalie replied, though she was sure that hadn’t been LaCroix’s only reason for wanting the girl to leave.

She felt Nick tense even as he grasped her hand to comfort her. “All right, LaCroix. What’s going on?”

“To put it quite simply, Nicholas, you have drawn too much attention to yourself. Stavros himself called us to his island to inform us that he had heard word of your transformation…and Natalie’s condition.”

“Stavros?! You mean he’s the one who told you where to find us?” Nick asked on the verge of panic.

Natalie felt the vampires begin to swim around her as her worst nightmare seemed on the verge of coming true. Swallowing her fear she asked, “What does he want? What will he do, LaCroix?”

LaCroix’s face seemed almost puzzled as he replied, “Nothing.”

“Nothing?!” Nick asked in disbelief. “Then who was the vampire Niki sensed? If he wasn’t an Enforcer—“

“If he had been an Enforcer, you would all be dead right now,” LaCroix replied matter-of-factly. “A spy, perhaps. I don’t know. But Stavros apparently called us there to warn you that the Elders in North America are most likely aware that you are mortal and that Natalie has become pregnant.”

“So if Nick is mortal, why should it matter to them?” Natalie asked.

“There are, Natalie, many of our kind who would feel threatened if there were a so-called cure for vampirism,” LaCroix explained. “It could disrupt our entire society. And of course, you know they loathe dhampirs. They could believe that your unborn child will be one.”

“But they don’t know about Niki?” Nick asked him warily.

“That was, of course, the odd part,” LaCroix admitted. “Stavros didn’t say so directly, but we got the distinct impression that he’s known Nicolette is a dhampir all along.”

“Then why didn’t he say so when he came to the island?” Natalie asked.

“I have no idea. It was…odd. Almost as if he were sympathetic towards you.”

Natalie thought back on her last encounter with the Elder vampire. He had expressed his gratitude for all she had done over the years for ‘the community’, not the least of which had been finding the cure to the fever which had killed Vachon and countless others. And he did seem to like Nick. He’d said he was happy they were both together again. Could it be that he had looked the other way as far as their daughter was concerned, simply out of some compassion he felt towards them? “But other Elders might not be so sympathetic,” she said aloud.

“No,” LaCroix said plainly. “Especially when there would be no doubt as to this child’s paternity.”

Suddenly they heard Richie crying out, “Mama! Mama!” from upstairs. She could hear Niki trying to quiet him, but he seemed only to want his mother. “Excuse me,” she said, getting up. “Sounds like a nightmare.”

“Nat, I’ll go,” Nick said, rising. “You shouldn’t go up and down the stairs so much.”

“I’m fine,” she reassured him. She needed a few moments anyway, away from LaCroix’s watchful gaze, to process all she had heard in the last few minutes. She hurried up the stairs to find Richie still calling for her, and Nicolette sitting by helpless.

“He just wants you,” she told her. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she said to both of them, taking the five year old into her arms. “Mama’s here. What’s the matter, baby? Did you have a bad dream?”

“Not bad…but scary. I woke up and thought Daddy was standing in the room looking at me. Then he disappeared.”

“Daddy’s right downstairs. Do you want to see him? Maybe he did check on you while you were sleeping—“

“No, Mommy, you don’t understand. It was my other daddy. The first one.”

Natalie’s heart missed a beat and she looked at Nicolette, who seemed equally disturbed. “Richie, it must have been a dream. You know Daddy is up in Heaven.”

“I know, that’s why I got scared. I thought it was a ghost!” the boy explained.

Natalie sighed deeply. She had had her own dreams about Steven, and she knew they came out of her guilt of having so happily fit into this new life with Nick. Could Richie be going through the same thing? “Richie, sometimes when people we love die, we dream about them. I’ve had dreams about Daddy too—“

“But it wasn’t a dream!” he insisted. “He was right there!” With a chubby finger he pointed towards the open window. The curtains billowing in the cool breeze made the darkness outside seem that much more ominous.

“Well, even if Daddy’s spirit came to visit you,” she said, trying another tack, “there’d be nothing to be afraid of. He wouldn’t hurt you. He loves you.” For a few minutes she held him tightly as she soothed him, then finally she said, “Come on now, why don’t you lie down. I’ll stay with you ‘til you fall asleep.”

“Okay,” he consented finally in a tiny voice. Natalie lay down next to him, cuddling him. Niki was still looking at her brother, clearly troubled.

“Niki, why don’t you go and ask our guests if they’ll stay the night, and then you can show them to the two guest bedrooms. Just make sure to close the shades tightly for them.”

She nodded quietly and left.

Natalie closed her eyes, snuggling up against her son. “Good night, baby,” she said softly.

But even as she drifted off to the steady breathing of her little boy, his vision continued to trouble her, though she wasn’t quite sure why.

Niki heard the conversation stop as she came down the stairs. It irritated her that they thought she should be kept in the dark. Didn’t whatever was going on concern her too?

“Is everything okay upstairs?” her father asked her as she plopped down next to him.

“Yeah, Richie just had a, um, bad dream. Mommy is going to stay with him until he falls asleep.”

She looked at the two vampires. “My mom said I should show you where the guest rooms are,” she said, then added, looking hopefully at Janette, “You’re staying, aren’t you?”

“That’s up to your father,” LaCroix said pleasantly, looking at Nick with meaning.

She could see some kind of conflict on her father’s face, but he said, “Of course. Please do.”

“The shades can be pulled really tight,” Niki told them.

“I’m sure it will be fine,” LaCroix replied.

“Niki, it’s okay, I’ll show them to their rooms when we’re done talking,” Nick said. He stroked her hair affectionately. “C’mon. It’s bedtime. You’ve got school tomorrow.”

She knew he wanted her to leave. She also knew that he was fully aware that she could listen from upstairs if she wanted to. “Okay, good night, Daddy.” She kissed him on the cheek, conscious of the fact that he was hugging her just a little more possessively than usual. He was afraid of something. She could feel it.

“Good night, sweetheart,” he said, kissing her back and releasing her.

Niki bid good night to the others, but then asked, “Would it be okay if Janette came upstairs just for a little bit? For some girl talk?”

Janette smiled delightedly, and Nick said, “Sure. Just don’t stay up too late.”

“Come on, Janette. I want you to see my room,” she said as the vampire got up to follow her.

Niki gave her a quick tour, putting her finger over her lips as they passed by Richie’s room. Natalie had fallen asleep with her son, and Niki wanted it to stay that way until she and Janette had had a chance to talk.

“So, are you happy here?” Janette asked as they sat in her room with the door closed.

“I was until today,” Niki said wistfully. She quickly filled Janette in on what had happened with Uncle Andy. “I’m just afraid…we’ll have to move again,” she intimated. “Everything was just going really well before today. I started to think we could live a normal life. But now, especially with that feeling I had that another vampire was close by…I feel like we’re never going to be safe anywhere!”

“You will,” Janette promised her, patting her hand. “Your parents aren’t going to let anything happen to you. And neither will I, or LaCroix, for that matter.”

“I don’t think Daddy wants anyone’s help,” Niki told her. “The other day I said something…really mean. He didn’t want me to go out at night unless he was with me, and I told him…that he can’t protect me…because he’s not a vampire anymore.”

Janette breathed deeply. “I’m sure he didn’t take that very well. Your father is constantly filled with guilt and self-doubt.”

“I know,” she said, looking down. “I apologized, and things are really good between us again. I just still feel bad. And he probably thinks now that if you and LaCroix are here to help us, it’s because he can’t.”

“Niki, look at me,” Janette said raising her face to look into her eyes. “I have known your father for a very long time. Before LaCroix brought him across he was a brave, corageous Crusader. He was strong, and passionate, and confident. He is just the same now as he was then. He only needs to realize that himself. But he will do anything to protect the ones he loves. He doesn’t need us. If we’re here, it’s simply because we’re family, and we want to help.”

Niki could tell from the way Janette’s eyes shone that everything she said was the truth. It had probably been that vitality that had attracted her to him in the first place. Niki smiled. “I know. I have faith in him. And so does Mom. More than he does in himself.”

“She always did,” Janette said with meaning. “It’s because of her that he is mortal again.”

Niki nodded. She knew that very well. But then her face darkened. “Janette, there is something else I need to ask you. Something you can’t tell my parents about.”

Janette looked at her with concern. “What is it? Is something else wrong?”

How to begin! “Janette, remember the night Spark killed my…” She still had a hard time saying it.

“Your step-father,” Janette finished for her. “Your mother called me and I came to the house.”

“Remember when Mom asked you to, um, bring him across? But you didn’t?”

Janette nodded warily. “Yes. It was too late. I couldn’t.” She paused, disturbed. “Why are you asking me about this now?”

“Are you sure it was impossible?”

Janette looked at her sternly. “Niki, if you are implying that I didn’t bring him across for any other reason than that it was utterly impossible—Do you think I let him die needlessly just so that Nick would have a chance to win her back?”

“No, no,” Niki broke in, regretting the anger she had brought to her sister’s eyes. “I’m sorry. That’s not what I think at all. I just wanted to know if you are a hundred percent certain that there was no way he could have been brought across.”

“Of course! Niki, your mother begged me to save him. I would have done it if I could have, but Spark had drained him. Again, why are you thinking about this now?”

“Richie’s dream,” she said, then explained. “He said it wasn’t a dream. That he saw his other daddy standing in his room.”

Janette’s eyes opened wide. “And you think--?”

“It was around the same time that I felt a vampire close. Very close.”

“No, it couldn’t be,” Janette reassured her. “I saw him myself. He was dead. I’ve never heard of bringing someone across after they’ve already been drained. No. It’s not possible.”

“Okay,” Niki said uneasily. “Maybe it was…just a dream.”

But even as she said it, she could hear the doubt in her own voice. And as she and Janette spoke of other things, Niki could see that Janette was clearly shaken by her revelation.

Was it possible there was something even Janette didn’t know about?