From: Forever Knight TV show stories [FKFIC-L@lists.psu.edu] on behalf
of StormBorn [stormborne@excite.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2001 12:12 AM
To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU
Subject: Death the Lover, Death the Hunter (01/01)

Standard disclaimers apply; archiving permission to www.fkfanfic.com and the
fkfanfic2 site (I keep forgetting the URL, sorry!).
This is my belated Hallowe'en story.  Comments to stormborne@excite.com.

Death the Lover, Death the Hunter
(A Hallowe'en Reflection)
By Molly Schneider
Copyright 2001

"Everybody deals with their dead in one way or another, Nicholas."
LaCroix's voice was casual, even dismissive.  "They fear them, they respect
them, they miss them.  And so these festivals are invented in their honor;
the Lemuria of ancient Rome, the Hallowe'en of modern times.  What's so
strange about that?"

"I don't know."  His progeny shifted restlessly as he took the glass LaCroix
offered him.  "It just...makes me uneasy somehow."  A rueful grin crossed
the angelic features.  "Maybe it's because I don't fancy running into any of
my dead."

"Ah. No doubt.  Just as well; you'd probably bore them silly begging them
for forgiveness."

Nick gritted his teeth and forced himself to relax.  Responding to LaCroix's
jibes would ruin what had so far been a pleasant, companionable evening.
Wandering to the window, he pushed aside the curtain to look out at the
night and the costumed revelers passing by.  "And they love it so," he
mused.  "Just as they love us, the monsters they so hope are real and not
myths."

"They need us."

Shooting a puzzled look at his sire, he asked, "What do you mean?"

"We are Death that comes like a lover.  Softly, in the dark, with sweet and
fiery kisses.  There is no such thing as an easy death; you know that,
Nicholas, and they know it too, instinctively.  Yet we are a death that lets
them pretend, that makes it easy for them to open there arms and hearts to
their own end.  Think of it: how many have you killed as they lay willingly
in your embrace?"

"Yet when you kill, you enjoy hunting them, terrifying them."

"Yes.  Partly for my own pleasure, I admit.  We are hunters by nature, after
all.  But there's more to it than that."  He sipped at his drink, his eyes
far away for a moment, then he focused on his son with a gaze of pale fire.
"Do you remember once, when I said that what we were defied what I called
the great negation?"

"I remember."  At times like these Nick felt fascinated and oddly comforted
by LaCroix, like a child rapt at the knees of the storyteller.  "Go on."

"I want them to defy it!" he hissed.  "I want them to fight!  In those final
moments, with that one last burst of hope that they can escape Death, I want
them to feel truly alive."

Coming to the window to stand beside Nick, he brushed the back of his hand
against his son's cheek.  "You are Death the Lover.  I am Death the Hunter.
And they love us both."

"I don't know, LaCroix.  Everyone fears death."

"True.  And yet, somehow, everyone yearns for it also."  Moving away, he
took his coat off the hook.  "It's nearly midnight, Nicholas.  I think,
before the day turns, I shall grant someone's wish.  Will you come?"

Nick found himself hesitating longer than he would have liked.  "No."

LaCroix only nodded, and then he was gone.  For a long time Nick stood at
the window, yet he never saw the slightest sign of him.

FIN

Molly/StormBorn
Cousin/FKP/Ravenette/Seducer/DT/Forum/KEB
Abnormally fond of dead guys
stormborne@excite.com - http://stormborn.tripod.com/
LEXXfic - read "Once a Slave" at www.angelfire/goth/cryopod/





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