From: Night Angel [nightangel1228@hotmail.com] Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2001 11:39 AM To: AKBlake@lock-net.com Subject: Eternity in an Endless Night (1/1) Anita - Please archive my work under NightAngel. There is a sequel in the works when I finish it, I'll have you archive it too. NightAngel --------------------- Hi everyone! With the start of October, I’ve finally gotten the courage up to send this to the list. It’s my first attempt, so humor me! Special thanks to my wonderful Beta Reader: Amand-R where, without you, this would have been only a mediocre mixed up story. Feedback is more than welcome to N9QQQ@juno.com. Flames and flamers will be extinguished with the biggest fire hose I can handle! All errors made are mine and no one else’s. Enjoy! Eternity in an Endless Night by NightAngel I trusted him with my life, my soul, and my heart. Ever since he awoke on my slab, I had been working to cure him. I didn't have a clue until now as I lay on the floor dying, that the thing I was working to destroy was a part of the man I love; so much so that had we succeeded, we would have parted ways in the future. I'm sure of it. I didn't know what his life was truly like: the denial, the pain. The hunger...God, why didn't he tell me? But he tried, and I wouldn't listen. So there I laid, on the floor waiting for him to decide my fate. "Make love to me, Nick. Take just a little at a time." Those very words came from my heart. I needed to be one with him, so much so that I didn’t care what happened to me. I didn't really want to die. I had so much I wanted to do. Laura's death was senseless. She took her own life needlessly. So why was I there? I did the very same thing I spoke against time and again. In a moment of despair, I ignored the consequences and I nearly paid the ultimate price. *I don't want to die, Nick! Please, don't leave me!* Inside I remember screaming but he couldn't hear me. But I heard him. Someone else was in the room. LaCroix. I heard his voice over my cooling body, urging Nick to leave or bring me across. My body was so cold, my heart weak. I couldn't hold on much longer... I was so tired of fighting, of being alone. I silently begged him to bring me across. "...not the Devil. You, are my closest friend." I knew what he was planning then. I had to open my eyes. I had to save him! A light. Where did that come from? I could hear my heart now. It was slowing, skipping. I didn't have much time left. Nick, please! Don't do this! I want forever with you! I wanted to scream, to fight. To take him in my arms. I knew what he intended. He wanted to die. He thought I was gone, and he wanted to die. I couldn’t let him go, not like this. Our lives were just beginning. I had to open my eyes! I had to tell him. The light was getting brighter now, but I had to turn away. It was the only choice to make. I’d made my choice to live. Forgive me, mom, dad, Richard, I am not done here yet. *** "Damn you, Nicholas!" I saw LaCroix raise the stake to strike his son as he saw my eyes flicker and open. I didn’t see the stake fly across the room and the point lodge itself in the wall. I watched when LaCroix dragged Nick to his feet. I’ll never forget what he said to him. "I will not see you make the same mistake twice." He had forced Nick to look down at me. Into my pleading eyes. "She has made her choice, Nicholas. Bring her across or I will." There was warmth in LaCroix’s voice as he spoke. I knew then that he didn’t truly hate me. He was protecting his son. I saw Nick gazing down at me, though my vision was very fuzzy. I could see his eyes. His golden, saddened eyes. Then all light was gone. *** I felt the blackness recede and I knew every vein in my body was on fire. I craved something, yet it eluded me. I doubled up on myself and tried to curl into a ball on my side. A groan escaped my lips. I knew if I started screaming, I'd never stop. Better that I suffered in silence. He hadn't told me that it would hurt so much! Nick gathered me in his arms and passed me a green bottle, already open. I could smell the sweetness inside; calling to me more than anything in my life ever had before. My mouth watered with the thought of feasting on the essence within. "Drink, Nat. It'll take the pain away." He stroked my hair away from my fevered forehead as I upended the bottle and drained it dry. Two more after that and I felt almost human. "You brought me across." The fevered hunger vanished as I had stared at Nick. His skin seemed to glow in the moonlight. He was perfect. Male. Mine. A surge of possessiveness hit me hard and nearly sent me reeling. "Stay calm. The emotions will pass; it's just experiences from the blood." He’d lifted me into his arms and we’d settled on the couch. Sadness still engulfed him. I could see it on his face, but I could also feel its intensity a hundred-fold through our link. His feelings and mine met and mingled within my body: my joy at being brought back, his sorrow at destroying my humanity. "Nick, this is what I wanted. I told you that I wanted to be with you. You almost let me die. If LaCroix hadn't--" His finger brushed my lips, cool satin against silk. I closed my eyes at the sensations rocking through me. It wasn't just the emotions from the blood I was feeling, it was my love for him. "I know. I was going to join you in death. Eight hundred years is a long time, Nat. I took too much, I didn't want to damn your soul." His voice cracked and he’d ended in a whisper that no human could hear. But I had heard it perfectly. I had felt through our new link that he was devastated over my conversion. "Nick, this is a physical condition. I've watched you hold a crucifix, spend the day in a church. I've seen your faith grow." "And waver, and nearly die." He looked away from me in shame. "Everyone's faith is challenged, Nick. It's a part of life. Even mortals backslide. For the first time in my life, I understood what you were going through. I felt it as you took my blood. The centuries of pain, torment, and agony you endured. What you tried to atone for. I saw, in your blood, what you were." He had tried to look away from me. I wouldn't let him. "And I saw what you have become. If you would have killed yourself all these years would have been for nothing." I had glanced over the room, and LaCroix was nowhere to be seen. "He left," Nick sighed. "He dropped off a case of blood from the Raven and said he'd return later." My shock must have shown on my face because Nick held me and explained. "You can feel my emotions through our blood link, just as I can feel yours, but I can also hear what is in your mind. You need to be taught how to conceal your thoughts. You're mind is open for all to see until I teach you otherwise." I made a face at him and stared at the loft. His home, mine now for the time being. Maybe permanently. I felt Nick fully open his mind to me and his intense emotions rushed across our link. Then what he said devastated me. "We will have to move on, Nat. You can't return to this life. It's too dangerous." In desperation, I tried to change Nick’s mind about leaving. "Nick, I can't leave my life behind yet. Maybe I can gain control--" "It's going to take months for you to control this hunger enough that you don't change at the first scent of blood. There is no way you can return to work at the morgue without exposing yourself." His decision was firm. He was only protecting me, but this hurt me more than Nick would ever know. I'm sure he felt it across the link; he’d gathered me into his arms and stroked my hair as he would a child. I had wanted to cry, but it wouldn't come. "We're going to have to leave, aren't we?" It hurt to speak the words aloud. I had to leave Sarah and Amy, Grace, and what few friends I had left, behind. My career was gone. Possibly forever. But I had Nick. "Yes, and soon. I'll put in my resignation at the precinct tomorrow night, effective immediately. Then we will go get Sydney." I sighed in relief at the thought of keeping my cat. I don't know if I could have left him behind. It truly was a new start for me. I had fantasized about just being able to pick up and leave like Nick had in the past. But I hadn't thought I would ever have to do it. Now I had to. I was a vampire, just like Nick. I had made my choice. Eternity in an endless night. END _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com