Coming of Age
by Saoirse Ni Ruairc

I don't own Forever Knight or its characters, never have and, sadly,
never will. I've only borrowed them temporarily with no real harm
intended. Cait, however, is mine, all mine.
 
A little bit of relatively mild violence.



Coming of Age 




      In the darkness of the alley behind the Blue Moon, Natalie
struggled to control the wave of fear that threatened to engulf her
as she faced the glowing eyes of an enraged vampire.

      The evening had started out to be a perfectly normal Friday
night.  She and Cait had driven to the Blue Moon, after her Gaelic
class, to meet their mate.  There they had settled in to spend a few
hours enjoying the music and conversation.
      Cait and Javier were dancing to something slow and sensuous,
their bodies touching, moving in exquisite harmony.  Natalie sat
watching them as she and Nick quietly talked.  
      "They move together perfectly, don't they?  I just love to
watch them dance."
      "How do you stand it, Nat?  How can you believe that he loves
you when he holds her like that right in front of you?"
      "Nick, he does love me and he loves Cait too.  I know you
don't understand that, but it's true.  He makes us very happy, can't
you just accept that and be happy for me?"
      "I'm trying to but it's not easy.  I'm afraid you're making a
mistake that will cause you a lot of pain, or worse.  What if he
loses control some day?  I just want the best for you, you know that
don't you?"
      "I know you do, Nick, but that's what I have, the best. 
Please, let's talk about something else.  What about you?  Are you
and LaCroix still getting along?"
      "Surprisingly, yes.  He's mellowed since we left Toronto.  Of
course he's still an opinionated old bastard.  He always thinks he
knows what's right for me.  But he really has been trying to control
his urge to dictate my every move.  He's even been more tolerant of
my chosen diet.  I occasionally catch him grimacing when he sees me
drinking cow but he doesn't say anything.  I think it's helped that
I've stopped trying to become mortal again.  You were right, I didn't
really want to regain my mortality, it was my humanity that I needed
to find."
      "You never lost that, Nick.  You're the most human person I've
ever known.  You just needed to realize that yourself."
      "In any case, it's been nice to have peace between us."
      "I'm glad, you deserve a little peace in your life."
      "Do you think Vachon would mind if I asked you to dance?"
      "Of course he wouldn't mind and I'd love to dance with you. 
Just let me run to the ladies room first.  I'll be right back."
      The dimly lit hallway had been deserted and so had the
restroom but as Natalie washed her hands she sensed a vampire
somewhere nearby.  That certainly wasn't unusual at the Blue Moon, it
was the local community hang out after all, but tonight it made her
oddly uneasy.  Trying to ignore her instincts and telling herself
that she was getting upset over nothing, she quickly dried her hands
and headed for the door.
      The quiet, empty hallway felt like it was a mile long and the
walls seemed to close in around her.  She desperately wanted to be
back in the crowded, noisy bar where Javier's presence would calm her
nerves and she would be able to laugh at how foolish she had been.
      She had only taken a step or two down the hallway when a
strong arm wrapped around her from behind and a large hand was
clamped over her mouth.  Fighting with all her strength, hoping to
free herself enough to cry out, Natalie was dragged away from the
sound of the music and the murmur of voices and forced through the
back door of the building into the night.
      The hand covering her mouth was suddenly removed and she was
roughly jerked around.  Before the scream that was forming in her
throat could escape, she was brutally backhanded across the side of
her face.  Even though full strength hadn't been used, the force of
the blow spun her around causing her to fall to her knees.  There was
a roaring in her ears and it felt as if the world was sliding
sideways, out from under her.  As she fought to stay conscious, a
piece of strong, wide tape was firmly pressed over her mouth.  She
could taste blood; her teeth must have cut into the soft inside of
her cheek when she had been struck but almost as soon as she became
aware of the pain it was gone; the cut healed.  The roaring in her
ears was fading and the ground was level and still again.  The
suddenness of the attack had cause fear to flood her mind, wiping
away all rational thought, but the simple healing of that little cut
had calmed her, reminded her of who and what she was.  Whatever
happened here, she knew that she would survive.
      Natalie slowly got to her feet and faced her attacker.  He was
taller than Javier, heavier too.  She couldn't remember ever having
seen him before, he certainly wasn't one of the regulars.  His hair
was blond and cut short, his nose was straight and his mouth,
generous.  He might have been handsome if his features hadn't been so
twisted with hate.  His lips were parted just enough for her to see
that his fangs were fully extended and his eyes were bright gold.  As
she looked into those eyes, fear returned and threatened to overwhelm
her confidence.
      She had seen the glowing eyes of a vampire before, of course
she had, hundreds of times.  She had seen them glow with hunger,
lust, even anger.  But she was most intimately familiar with Javier's
eyes, glowing warmly with love.  The eyes she now looked into were
horribly different, enraged, flickering with insanity.
      "A bhastúin shalach!" she tried to scream at him.  But the
only sound that passed through the tape was a low, inarticulate groan.
      "Poor little mortal," his voice was cruel as he mocked her,
"can't you call your precious friends for help?  Who do you think you
are?  Pretending you belong here, believing you're safe.  You
wouldn't have lived five minutes if the council wasn't a bunch of
weak old fools!  They're destroying us, making us as pathetic as they
are!  We shouldn't be hiding from you stupid cattle, we should be
hunting you!  We're gods compared to you!  We used to live like kings
and we would be still if it weren't for traitors like the fool who
keeps you and that other bitch!  Parading around with his two little
pets, he makes me sick!  And that Roman!  He's supposed to be so
powerful. But has he controlled that freak he created? No!  Knight's
too prissy to feed on our rightful prey, he drinks cow and still his
master lets him live!  Things will be different after tonight.  When
the mortals find your broken body, drained of blood, with fang marks
in your neck, they'll know we exist.  Then we can take back our
lives.  We'll rule this world, hunt openly for fun and feed at will. 
If the council or any others try to stop us, we'll destroy them!  To
bad you won't be here to see it."
      Natalie listened to his ranting with growing horror.  He was
clearly insane, barely hanging on to the tattered shreds of his
control.  He hissed out his words only inches from her face, spraying
her with little droplets of blood-tinged spittle.  As he finished
speaking, he hit her again, slamming her into the corner of a
dumpster and pain shot through her as she felt her ribs snap.  He
grabbed her arm, twisting and breaking it as he threw her against the
back wall of the building.  She had to do something now, before he
noticed that she was already beginning to heal.  She let the arm he
had broken hang down as if it were still useless and pressed against
her ribcage with her other arm as she doubled over.  She watched him
slowly coming closer out of the corner of her eye as she frantically
made her plan.  
      It was obvious that the violence was exciting him, she needed
to push him the rest of the way over the edge, make him lose all
vestige of control and bite her now.  The scent of blood would do it,
she knew it would.  As he took a step closer, Natalie suddenly pushed
away from the wall, grabbed at his jacket to steady herself and kneed
him, as hard as she could, in the groin.  He snarled with rage as he
pushed her away and hit her full in the face. 
      It worked!  Ignoring the pain as blood burst from her broken
nose and poured down her face and throat, she watched his eyes change
from rage to lust.  She threw her head back, offering him her neck,
as she turned her thoughts inward and searched for the little gland
at the base of her brain and finding it, mentally prodded it gently.  
      "Téigh go h-ifreann!" she tried to scream through the tape
just as his fangs plunged into her flesh.    
      His fangs tore furrows down her neck as he fell, knocking her
to the pavement and trapping her legs under his lifeless body.  
      It was over.
      Quietly Natalie began to cry.


      Cait and Javier continued to sway together for a moment after
the music stopped.  Smiling at each other and holding hands, they
returned to the table where Nick sat alone.
      "Is it hot in here tonight, or is it just me?  And why am I
bothering to ask you two?"  Cait asked as she lifted the glass of
dark Irish stout, which she had ordered earlier, and took a drink. 
"Umm, I needed that."
      "How can you stand to drink that stuff?" Javier asked. "It
looks like mud and tastes worse."
      "Years of dedicated practice, my love." Cait quipped with a
smile.
      "And how would you know what it tastes like?" Nick asked,
laughing.
      "Tried it, of course.  You can't legitimately complain about
something unless you've tried it at least once." Javier was grinning
widely as he spoke.  "Tried mud too, just to be sure.  Where is my
other lovely lady?  I thought you two were talking."
      "She went to the restroom.  She said she'd just be a minute,
I'm surprised she's not back yet."
      "I'll go find her.  Don't finish my drink while I'm gone,
darling."
      "Fat chance!"
      Nick and Javier were making idle conversation a few minutes
later when Cait rushed up to the table.
      "She's not in the ladies' room, the men's either.  I can't
find her anywhere!"
      "Did you try LaCroix's office?" suggested Nick.
      "Yes, I even looked in the storeroom.  Where is she?"
      "Calm down, love.  She's fine; no one would dare bother her. 
LaCroix doesn't allow any trouble here, you know that.  Come on,
we'll find her." Javier spoke slowly and calmly, trying to reassure
Cait, but his eyes belied his voice; they clearly showed just how
upset and worried he really was.  Natalie would never willingly
leave, certainly not without letting them know.
      The three quickly walked towards the hallway that led to the
restrooms.  From the bar where he was discussing an order with his
bartender, LaCroix saw them leave the room, saw the worried looks on
their faces and followed them.
      "What's wrong?" he asked as he caught up to them outside of
the ladies' room.
      "Natalie went to the loo but didn't come back, now we can't
find her." Nick explained.
      "I've looked everywhere!  Something's wrong, I know it!"  Cait
was almost crying as she spoke.
      "Hush, sweetheart, let me listen.  I think I hear something."
      Moving as quickly as only a vampire could, the Spaniard
reached the back exit just as the other two men picked up the sound
of faint sobbing.
      As Javier opened the door, the scent of Natalie's blood washed
over him.  He rushed towards her, stopping several feet away when he
saw the blood covering her face, soaking into her blouse, and
spattered over the face of the dead vampire lying across her legs.
      "Cait, hurry!" he called "Natalie needs you!"
      Cait knelt next to her sister, murmuring softly in her native
tongue as she peeled the tape off of Natalie's mouth.
      "I'm alright, Cait," Natalie whispered as soon as her mouth
was free, "I've healed but my blood is everywhere.  Don't let Jav
touch it."
      "He won't, he knows better.  He'll keep the others away, too."
      Nick and LaCroix were standing with Javier.  The younger
vampire held on to Nick's arm and Nick's voice was raised in anger.
      "How can you just stand here?  Natalie's hurt!  If you won't
go to her, I will!"
      "No!  Cait's taking care of her.  You're not going over there
and you're not going to touch her."
      "Listen to him, Nicolas, she's his wife after all.  Cait's
with her and they're talking to each other.  Natalie's alive and
she's safe now."
      "Would you guys stop squabbling?  Nick, can you get me some
damp towels so I can clean her up?  And General, could you please
find something for her to wear?  I need to get her out of these
bloody clothes."
      After they had gone inside, Cait spoke to Javier.
      "She's fine, love.  Everything's healed but be careful not to
touch any of her blood.  Do you think you can you get this THING off
of her without getting bloody?"
      "There's only a little on his face but I'll be careful." he
assured them as he dragged the body away by one leg.  "We don't know
if just touching your blood will kill anyway, just because the
disease we got from that lab rat could absorb through our skin
doesn't mean your poison can."
      "I know love, but we'd rather not find out by losing you. 
Please, just be careful!"
      Returning, he squatted down near Natalie's feet.
      "What happened, dear heart?  Are you sure you're o.k?"
      "I'm sure, I'm just a little shaky.  Reaction, I guess. 
Please, Jav, I just want to go home.  Do we have to talk about it
right now?"
      "Of course not.  Hang in there, we'll get you home as soon as
possible.  Where is Nick with those towels?  I'll be right back,
sweetheart."
      He met Nick as he was coming through the door and took the
towels from him.  "Do you think there's a tarp or something around
here to wrap the body in?"
      "In the storeroom.  I think the painters left a drop cloth in
there, I'll get it."
      As he turned to take the towels over to Cait, Javier heard a
soft noise.  At first he thought Natalie was crying again but he
quickly realized that his wives were both giggling quietly.
      "What on earth are you two laughing about?"
      "Nat was just telling me that she swore at him, called him a
name.  He couldn't hear anything, of course, because of the tape, but
she called him a dirty lout.  In Gaelic, no less!"
      "Hey!  My vocabulary isn't that extensive yet, it was the best
I could do.  I told him to go to Hell too, if that counts for
anything.  At least I think I said it right"
      Javier only had time to smile and shake his head before he
heard Nick and LaCroix coming back. 
      "Behave, if they hear you laughing they'll think you're nuts."
      While Cait held up a large wool robe of LaCroix's to shield
her, Natalie stripped off her clothes and then wrapped the warm robe
around her body.
      Javier and Nick were busy wrapping the dead vampire up in the
plastic drop cloth.
      "Be careful, Nick, don't touch any of the blood." Javier warned.
      "Why not?  I won't lose control because of a little blood.  I
was a cop, remember?  I've been at plenty of crime scenes."
      "Just don't.  If you need a reason, just remember that lab rat
you touched. Can one of you get rid of the body?  I need to get
Natalie home."
      "I'll fly it out and dump it in the ocean." Nick offered.
      "No, I'll take care of it.  Since Vachon is flying Natalie
home, I want you to go with them and take Cait.  As soon as I take
care of this trash, I'll drive their car out to the house and meet
you."  As he watched Nick and Vachon launch themselves into the sky,
he continued to himself, "I think we all need to talk about what
happened here.  Whether they want to or not."
      
      By the time LaCroix arrived at their home, Natalie taken a
hot, relaxing bath and was curled up on the couch next to Javier,
sipping a cup of chamomile tea with a quilt thrown over her legs.
      "Here are your car keys, Cait.  I didn't know whether or not
you would have anything for Nick on hand, so I brought a bottle of
his preferred swill.  I also brought a couple of bottles out of my
private stock."
      "Thank you, that was very thoughtful.  Here, let me take those
to the kitchen.  Would you care for a drink now?  Nick?  Jav?" 
      While Cait was busy serving the men, refilling the teapot, and
placing a plate of cookies within easy reach of Natalie and herself,
Javier lit a fire in the fireplace.  It should have been a peaceful
scene, five friends in a cozy room with a cheerful fire burning, but
tension filled the room like a living presence.
      Natalie and Cait were wary, waiting for the shoe to drop. 
Javier was watchful, his attitude protective.
      "What happened tonight, Natalie?"  Nick asked, breaking the
silence.  "Who killed that vampire?  Why?  How?  He wasn't staked, he
didn't seem to have any injuries of any kind.  Where did the blood
come from?  You're not even bruised."
      "Please, Nick, don't ask me."
      "Back off, Knight!"
      "Watch yourself, Vachon, you don't want to challenge me.  I
was talking to Natalie, not you."
      "This is MY home, Knight.  Natalie and Cait are MY wives. 
Don't make the mistake of underestimating me just because I'm younger
than you, you could be very surprised."
      "Stop it, both of you!" Cait ordered.  "You're upsetting
Natalie.  Thank you, darling, for trying to protect us, but I don't
think we have a choice.  We're going to have to trust them."
      "She's right, love.  Nick will keep our secret and while I may
not have always gotten along with LaCroix I do believe we can trust
him."  Turning to Nick, Natalie continued. "I killed him, Nick.  He
was crazy, out of his mind.  He wanted to kill me and use my body to
expose the community.  He thought that if mortal society found out
that vampires exist, you wouldn't have to hide anymore.  You could
hunt openly and rule the world, or some such nonsense.  And he didn't
just want to kill me; he wanted to brutalize me first.  I think that
he wanted to punish Javier for being with the two of us. He seemed to
think that Jav was a symbol of what he considered the perverted
direction the community is taking.  He broke my ribs and my arm, but
the blood was from my broken nose and from my neck where his fangs
tore it as he fell.  If his plan hadn't worked this time, he would
have tried something else.  I had to stop him."
      "That's not possible!"
      "Yes it is, Nick.  It's possible because I'm not mortal
anymore.  Cait isn't mortal either." 
      "Believe her, Nicolas, I do.  You're Celtic witches, aren't
you?"
      "Yes, we are."  Cait confirmed.  "But we don't like to be
called that, we prefer cailleach.  You know of us?"
      "Rumors, stories, a long time ago.  You're supposed to be a
fantasy, a myth."
      "Well, so are you."
      "Point taken.  Well, well, my boy!  Cailleachs and you've won
the love of two of them.  My respect for you has just increased quite
drastically." 
      "It's a dirty job but somebody has to do it.  Just think, if I
didn't keep them so satisfied here at home, they might be out
terrorizing every male in the community.  I'm really doing you all a
favor by sacrificing myself."
      "Fool!" said Natalie as she playfully poked him in the ribs.
      "You going to pay for that later, Mister!" Cait laughed.
      "I hate to be the only one here who doesn't know what's going
on but what is a 'cal-loch'?"
      "Sorry, Nick," Cait apologized.  "A cailleach is immortal. 
There are only a few of us, all women, and we were all from Ireland,
until Natalie.  We originally protected our villages from vampires. 
We can temporarily flood our bloodstream with a poison that our
bodies produce.  It kills instantly.  It's not an involuntary
response, we control it completely.  When we allow it, a vampire can
feed on our blood with complete safety, endlessly too.  We can't be
drained.  Our bodies replenish our blood supply faster than a vampire
can drink.  Oh, and we heal almost instantly too."
      For a moment Nick stared at Javier, who had a silly, but
rather smug, grin on his face.
      "We live quietly now," Cait continued, "hiding what we are
from mortals and vampires alike, except for a few of you we trust. 
It's been that way since the church decided that we were unnatural
and therefore evil.  Why are people so willing to believe that
anything they don't understand must be unnatural and evil?"
      "But what about Natalie?  You were mortal in Toronto, weren't
you?  You never said. . . ." Nick's voice faded away.
      "Yes, I was mortal then.  We're born with the potential to be
a cailleach but we don't actually become one until a vampire kills
us."
      "Then I . . . Oh God!  I'm so sorry."
      "Don't be, I like what I am.  I'm very happy with my life and
you gave that to me."
      "But you killed tonight. Aren't you upset about that?  You
don't even seem . . ."
      "To be sorry?  Well, I'm sorry it had to happen.  I'm sorry
the enforcers didn't know what a danger he was and take care of him
before he got to me.  I'm even sorry that he was crazy in the first
place.  But I'm not sorry that he's dead.  I'm not sorry that he
couldn't kill me.  And I'm especially not sorry that I had the
ability to stop him.  Don't expect me to feel guilty, Nick, I did
what I had to do."
      "She's right, Nicolas.  The community owes her . . . again."
      "But the community won't find out about what we are or what
happened tonight, right?  We told you in confidence." Cait reminded
him.
      "Of course, my dear.  No one will ever find out from Nicolas
or myself.
But while we're talking about secrets, how can you be immortal? 
Even we can be killed.  If, say, you're beheaded, surely you can't
grow a new one, can you?"
      "Now you really want to know our deepest secrets!  Oh well, in
for a penny, in for a pound I guess.  No, of course not, we can't
regenerate new body parts.  If we lost an arm we couldn't grow a new
one, we would just heal and have one arm.  And as for us producing
blood faster than you can drink it, even mortals constantly produce
new blood cells.   But if they are injured badly, they don't heal
fast enough or produce blood fast enough to keep from bleeding to
death, we do.  In a case as drastic as losing a head or being burned
to ashes, we don't regenerate.  What we do is leave that body with
our consciousness, our essence, our soul if you prefer, intact and we
can take another body.  And, yes, we can take a body from a living
person, forcing them out and effectively killing them, but we don't. 
We prefer to wait until we find a body, as alike to our old one as
possible, which is dying under the right circumstances, no witnesses
for example, and take it as our own in that first moment after death.
As soon as we enter it, it becomes a cailleach's body and heals
whatever it originally died from.  It may take a long time to find
the right body in the right situation, but so what, we have eternity.
But luckily, this doesn't happen very often.  I've only had to do it
once in 2500 years.  My dear villagers burned me at the stake, my
mortal lover was the one who lit the bonfire."
      "Thank you for your trust, my dear, your secrets are safe with
us.  But perhaps it's time for us to leave now; it will be dawn
before long.  Will we see you next Friday?"
      "As usual." Javier assured him. "And feel free to visit us
here anytime you like.  Natalie's friends, our friends, are always
welcome in our home."
      "Thank you.  You know, my dear," LaCroix continued, now
speaking directly to Natalie, "I've always known that you were
special, perhaps that's why I wanted to keep Nick away from you.  I
was afraid that if he made a commitment to you, I might lose him
forever.  If things had happened differently, I would have been proud
to have you as part of my family.  Actually, that goes for all of
you."
      "We cailleach choose our own families, Lucien."  Natalie told
him. "Do you think you could put up with being an uncle?"
      "I believe I would like that."
      "I'll see you next Friday, Nick.  You still owe me a dance." 
Natalie smiled at him and kissed his cheek. "You're still my good
friend, you know.  And now our friendship can last forever."
      After their visitors had gone, Javier led his wives back to
the couch and settled himself between them.
      "Now I have a question, my love.  When you yelled at that guy,
he wouldn't have been able to understand you even if your mouth
hadn't been taped.  Why did you choose to speak in Gaelic?"
      "Well, I guess it was silly but when I realized that it was up
to me to stop him, when I knew that I would do whatever I had to in
order to kill him, well, for the first time I really knew what it was
to be a cailleach.  I felt like I was really one of them.  I mean,
being a cailleach has been wonderful, it's made it possible for me to
love you, to make love to you, and that is the most important thing
in the world to me.  But there hasn't been a new cailleach for so
many centuries that I couldn't help but wonder why me, why now.  The
cailleacha were created to protect their villages but they haven't
done that for well over a thousand years.  So why should Nature
bother to create a new one?  And suddenly it came to me; the
community is my village now, so I protected it.  I fulfilled my
purpose.  Sort of like, I am cailleach hear me roar.  Gaelic just
seemed appropriate."
       "I am so proud of you, little sister." Cait said as she
leaned across Javier to give Natalie a quick hug. 
      "I'm really kind of proud of myself.  I feel sort of like I
did when I passed my driver's test.  Like I've successfully completed
some rite of passage.  Like I'm not a child any more, I'm an adult."
       The three fell silent for a moment before Javier spoke.
       "It's almost dawn, sweetheart.  Why don't you let me take you
up to bed? If you want to, I'll let you show me just how grown up you
are."
      "Men!"  Natalie and Cait exclaimed together before dissolving
into laughter.




The End
        
      
      
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