The Very Last Knight 
By Jeannie Ecklund

LaCroix stood for a moment looking into Nicholas' eyes. He had never
seen that look... a look of such determination... a look so full of
faith and hope that it pained him to see it. He reached out and
grasped the pointed staff firmly in his hands. He knew that if he
didn't do what his son was asking, Nicholas would walk into the sun. 

He might be able to force Nicholas to go with him. He might keep him
caged for years, but in the end he would escape and the result would
be the same. There was such a finality in his eyes... and what was
that? Love! Love for LaCroix? Yes, Love... something he had not seen
in a long time. 

Nicholas turned away and knelt over Natalie's body. 

LaCroix raised the pointed staff. "Damn you, Nicholas," He cried
with anger as be buried it deeply and exactly through his son's
back... and heart. The pain struck him and he fell to his knees
gasping. " NO," he cried so loudly that the windows rattled. There
was only silence from Nicholas. He raised his head to look once more
into his son's eyes. 

"Thank you, Father." Nick mouthed to him as his eyes closed forever. 

Waves of pain coursed through the bond LaCroix had with his son. A
huge black void seemed to opened up and engulf him. He dropped to the
floor writhing in agony. A tiny sound caught his attention and he
listened as Natalie's heart beat for the last time. He cried out
again and lost consciousness. 

LaCroix woke. He was disoriented for a moment and, turning his head,
he beheld the bodies of his son and the woman Nicholas had loved.
Blood tears stung his eyes, clouding his vision. He pulled himself to
his knees, then struggled to his feet. The room was no longer a
"living room", but a tomb. Death and decay hung like a black shroud. 

LaCroix stood for a long time just looking at his son, trying to
come to grips with what he had done. He realized he didn't even know
how to proceed from here. He could barely form a thought in is mind.
An inky blackness seemed to press at him from all sides. He felt as
if his 'soul' had been torn from him. The word 'soul' made him cringe
but he didn't know what else to call it. That part of him that had
looked forward to each passing year and into the far future seemed
dead. 

After killing Divia and sealing her in that tomb, he had wandered
taking what he wanted... letting anger consume him. He hadn't cared
who he hurt to get some sort of pleasure or 'life' into his cold dead
heart. 

Now, as he looked upon his son lying in death at his feet, he
realized that Nicholas had been his 'sun'. The moment he had laid
eyes on the boy he had felt a thaw in his frozen heart. He had loved
this golden haired lad more than anything in his life and had set out
to win him over. He found Janette and had known immediately that she
could lure Nicholas to them... She was so beautiful and strong. 

For the first time in his Vampire life, LaCroix had sought to create
a family. He brought Janette across, and over the next few years,
they had watched Nicholas grow from a boy to a man who lusted after
life with a vengeance. When Nicholas had turned from the church and
had left the crusade, they made their move. 

The night Nicholas 'became his son' the elder Vampire realized that
he was more 'alive' than he had been in over 200 years. Those first
years with Janette and Nicholas had been the best. They had taken
what they wanted. They lived with and through each other's
experiences. The blood bond was everything... intoxicating...
addicting. 

Then Nicholas had a change of heart. LaCroix had noticed his son
changing and his heart had slowly broken. The first time Nicholas had
run away, LaCroix had thought he would destroy everything in sight.
Janette had eventually calmed him. 

In those years of searching for Nicholas, he and Janette had become
very close. Without her, he would have lost his mind. The anger had
again frozen his heart and he had become cruel and unbending. Never
running from his abuse, strong and faithful she had remained with
him. 

Now even she was gone... no longer his daughter. He wondered what
she was feeling now for her bond with Nicholas would also have been
severed. The devastated vampire wished she was here with him now.
Maybe she could help him understand why he'd done this dreadful
thing. 

As time slipped by, LaCroix finally looked around him. He knew the
morning was just a few short hours away. No one must be allowed to
find them... no one. He willed himself to move. 

He went to the phone, dialed Myklos and without going to any detail,
told him that Nicholas and his human were dead. He asked that a clean
up crew come to take Natalie's body down to the garage to wait until
a few minutes after sunrise, and then return for the ashes they would
find. Using a van with darkened windows they would be able to make it
to safety. Once Natalie was cremated, LaCroix instructed, the ashes
were to be mixed, placed in an urn, and interred with only the name
De Brabant on the stone. 

Soon two Vampires appeared to take Natalie's body down the elevator
to await the sunrise. LaCroix turned away from their curious stares.
After their departure, the broken vampire bent to gather Nicholas
into his arms. He held him close, soothing his brow and caressing the
golden curls. 

"Ah, Nicholas," he said, through blood tears. "I hope you have found
the peace you have sought for so many years. Forgive me for the pain
I have caused you in my selfish search for pleasure. You have always
been my 'sun.' I have never desired to see the sun again, for I found
it in you. It shone from your beautiful face. Now.. all is lost...
and the Millennium weighs heavily upon me. Without you, I am
nothing!" 

He turned, holding his son before the open windows and awaited the
dawn. Soon the sun rose to bath them in it's perfect light. 


*** 


A lone figure stood on the hill over looking the grave with the name
'De Brabant'. The moonlight caressed her alabaster white skin. Her
black hair and ruby lips betrayed her look of polished marble. She
stood looking at the simple stone, unable to accept it's message. 

Myklos had told her that when his clean up crew had returned to the
loft LaCroix was no longer there... only the ashes. No one had heard
from or seen him since that night. 

Janette felt red blood tears roll down her cheeks. She knew that
LaCroix was here as well. He would not have been able to live with
the knowledge that his son was dead. She also knew it was likely that
LaCroix had done the deed. Had he been in a rage after finding
Nicholas with Natalie against his orders? She could not imagine that
Nicholas could have said anything to make LaCroix do this of his own
volition. 

She had seen the reports that Natalie Lambert and Detective Knight
had vanished. Janette had come as soon as she had recovered from the
pain of the abruptly severed bond, but it was to late. They were
gone. She would never know what had happened. 

The distraught vampiress laid two blood red roses entwined with a
single white one on the grave stone and flew into the darkness. 

The End. 

By Jeannie Ecklund Gersknightlady@yahoo.com