Time To Spare, Epilogue
Fifty years later.
Natalie looked up from her book when the doorbell rang. Of course, she'd been expecting someone, but vampires tended to be incredibly inconsiderate of other people's schedules, and did things whenever they pleased, which made a book a handy all-purpose utensil around them. Should she ever write a book on the care and feeding of vampires, that would be the first thing she'd say. The second would be that melodrama is like a second skin to them, so you have to be very careful not to burst out laughing at an inopportune moment. As in, ever. This one seemed no different, caught between fear and pride as he looked at her.
He simply said, "You knew Nicholas de Brabant."
She replied, "Yes," and let him in.
She showed him to a seat, and asked him a question. The same one she asked all of those who appeared on her doorstep. "Why do you want to become mortal?"
She'd heard so many answers to this over the years, they all started to blur together. She knew the entire spectrum, from love to revenge to depression and back again. And she did the best she could to keep track of how they'd fared, each and every one of them, to know who was happy with the choice in the long term, and who wasn't. To know where to draw the line, for future reference.
He swallowed, and hoped his answer would satisfy the woman before him. "Because I'm tired of this life, this immortality. I want to have children, grow old... go to PTA meetings, fill out tax forms..." She smiled. "I have lived this life to the fullest, and done many things I never dreamed I would be able to do. I don't regret a moment of that. But now that time is over, and there are new things to experience. But only on the other side."
She nodded, and thought for a moment, while the vampire sat and agonized in silence. Then she nodded again, and spoke quietly, softly enough that he could barely hear her, and no vampire outside the room would ever be able to.
She finished, and he looked at her, incredulous. "That's it?"
She smiled, and replied quietly, almost to herself, "Anyone can do it."
He nodded slowly, then rose to take his leave. He had another lifetime to look forward to, after all. Natalie waited until he was at the door before saying, "Oh, and if, through some misfortune of luck, it doesn't work, and you feel the need to seek... a refund?" Before he had turned around, a full- length sword was wobbling in the wall six inches from his head. "Don't come here."
He finally turned, to see Natalie still sitting in her comfortable chair by the fire. "I wouldn't dream of it."
"Good. I believe you know the way out."
Oh, that he did. And how.
As he hurried away from the tree-lined house, he was pulled roughly up by the collar, and looked into the golden eyes of a tall Enforcer. He had spent precious years following this one, in the hopes he would lead him this far.
The Underground had been in operation for hundreds of years, defying the Enforcers' best efforts to destroy it. Few had ever come this far. Of those, he knew none that lived. For this and other reasons, he was in no mood to spare time for pleasantries. He hauled the terrified vampire around and snarled in his face, "What did she tell you?"
Intellectually, the vampire knew he should say nothing, that the house behind him, and the person inside it, were too important to allow to fall into Enforcer hands. He knew all this, and it was for the good. Because he was far too frightened to say anything coherent, anyway. Stunned, he sputtered out, "Wh-what?"
The Enforcer's grip tightened, then abruptly loosened, as another hand shot out of nowhere to land on the Enforcer's wrist, the vise-like grip causing him to lose his hold.
The third vampire gave the Enforcer a cold yellow glare, and spoke softly to the other. "He *said*, you were free to go." The first vampire, having intelligence larger than that of a peanut, knew to get when the getting was good, and disappeared in a flash of movement.
The Enforcer snarled viciously at the loss of its prey, precious years of careful planning wasted in a single stroke. But wait. His hot yellow gaze fell to the house nearby. Why settle for interrogating *him*, when he could go directly to the source? But he had one thing to take care of first. He turned to face his new adversary, and suddenly lit up in a twist of a smile. "You will regret that, my friend."
The other did not smile, but merely stood with his hands at his sides and his head high. "I sincerely doubt that." The Enforcer needed no more encouragement, and launched himself at the other with lightning speed. Which proved completely ineffectual against the other's superior age, strength, and training. The battle was fierce, but brief. It ended with the crunching finality of a broken neck.
"And I am *not* your friend." LaCroix dropped the Enforcer like rotting trash to the ground. His head would need to be separated from his body, but he had a bit of time before it was absolutely necessary. He glanced briefly at the warm house whose occupant was oblivious to the fact that it was he, and he only, who had protected her for so very long from so persistent and pernicious a threat. The Enforcers knew very well that there was a sort of Underground Railroad to mortality.
They rarely knew where this Railroad was initiated, or how many of them there were. They never found out it was made up of one single person, an Immortal, able to pass through the ages and not be one of them. He made sure of that. Those who found anything of importance did not live long enough to tell anyone. It was a fairly simple plan, which irked his sense of strategy, but it worked, and that was what was important. Besides, it infuriated the Enforcers to no end, and that alone was enough to satisfy him. He would be a long time in taking his pound of flesh from them.
But his revenge was two-edged. For to wreak havoc with the Enforcers, he was forced to protect something he hated to the depths of his soul. Because the Enforcers were absolutely right. This Railroad unequivocally threatened their existence, the whole vampire Community and its way of life, something the Enforcers were created specifically to prevent. It was maddening... were he in anything but the position he was in now, he would kill Natalie himself. But he wasn't, and he couldn't be.
If it were *anyone* but Nicholas, and anything but a last request, he would have justified breaking his word somehow, or simply looking the other way at the proper moment. But as it was, she would live, as long as she may, without Enforcer intervention. Much as it galled him to be the instrument of this movement's salvation, he did not see another choice.
The fact that he had been placed into this position was simply too perfectly done to have been an accident. He had considered this many a long night before, and tried to piece together where he had taken a misstep, to lead him so far astray from his intentions.
It had all began with Nick. That much was obvious. He'd extracted this promise from him, knowing that LaCroix would never break it, no matter how much he wanted to. He had timed the request perfectly, just at the moment when he would have said yes to anything at all. For that alone, LaCroix cursed his own altruistic side, a net that had caught him up at the worst possible moment.
But it had not ended there. No, the best was yet to come. For now that Nick had his promise of protection, now he needed to tell Natalie. He didn't know how his son would have told her, how he *could* have told her, but that was not the problem. The weak point in Nick's plan was that he had no idea where Natalie was, or how to contact her without arousing suspicion.
That was where LaCroix came in. He had come across the information, and decided to send Natalie to him as a gift. Playing directly into his hands.
Mortality had done good things for his son. If he wasn't so furious, he might have been proud.
Now, never let it be said that Nick did not love LaCroix, and LaCroix, Nick. But that never stopped LaCroix from torturing Nick his whole life with the fact that he was now something he hated, something he could rage against his whole life, and never be able to change.
And love never stopped Nick from returning the favor in kind.
LaCroix swore Natalie would never discover his part in helping her little crusade. But she eventually did, of course. And Nick was right, LaCroix truly angry *was* quite a floorshow.
But that's another story.
END.
Fifty years later.
Natalie looked up from her book when the doorbell rang. Of course, she'd been expecting someone, but vampires tended to be incredibly inconsiderate of other people's schedules, and did things whenever they pleased, which made a book a handy all-purpose utensil around them. Should she ever write a book on the care and feeding of vampires, that would be the first thing she'd say. The second would be that melodrama is like a second skin to them, so you have to be very careful not to burst out laughing at an inopportune moment. As in, ever. This one seemed no different, caught between fear and pride as he looked at her.
He simply said, "You knew Nicholas de Brabant."
She replied, "Yes," and let him in.
She showed him to a seat, and asked him a question. The same one she asked all of those who appeared on her doorstep. "Why do you want to become mortal?"
She'd heard so many answers to this over the years, they all started to blur together. She knew the entire spectrum, from love to revenge to depression and back again. And she did the best she could to keep track of how they'd fared, each and every one of them, to know who was happy with the choice in the long term, and who wasn't. To know where to draw the line, for future reference.
He swallowed, and hoped his answer would satisfy the woman before him. "Because I'm tired of this life, this immortality. I want to have children, grow old... go to PTA meetings, fill out tax forms..." She smiled. "I have lived this life to the fullest, and done many things I never dreamed I would be able to do. I don't regret a moment of that. But now that time is over, and there are new things to experience. But only on the other side."
She nodded, and thought for a moment, while the vampire sat and agonized in silence. Then she nodded again, and spoke quietly, softly enough that he could barely hear her, and no vampire outside the room would ever be able to.
She finished, and he looked at her, incredulous. "That's it?"
She smiled, and replied quietly, almost to herself, "Anyone can do it."
He nodded slowly, then rose to take his leave. He had another lifetime to look forward to, after all. Natalie waited until he was at the door before saying, "Oh, and if, through some misfortune of luck, it doesn't work, and you feel the need to seek... a refund?" Before he had turned around, a full- length sword was wobbling in the wall six inches from his head. "Don't come here."
He finally turned, to see Natalie still sitting in her comfortable chair by the fire. "I wouldn't dream of it."
"Good. I believe you know the way out."
Oh, that he did. And how.
As he hurried away from the tree-lined house, he was pulled roughly up by the collar, and looked into the golden eyes of a tall Enforcer. He had spent precious years following this one, in the hopes he would lead him this far.
The Underground had been in operation for hundreds of years, defying the Enforcers' best efforts to destroy it. Few had ever come this far. Of those, he knew none that lived. For this and other reasons, he was in no mood to spare time for pleasantries. He hauled the terrified vampire around and snarled in his face, "What did she tell you?"
Intellectually, the vampire knew he should say nothing, that the house behind him, and the person inside it, were too important to allow to fall into Enforcer hands. He knew all this, and it was for the good. Because he was far too frightened to say anything coherent, anyway. Stunned, he sputtered out, "Wh-what?"
The Enforcer's grip tightened, then abruptly loosened, as another hand shot out of nowhere to land on the Enforcer's wrist, the vise-like grip causing him to lose his hold.
The third vampire gave the Enforcer a cold yellow glare, and spoke softly to the other. "He *said*, you were free to go." The first vampire, having intelligence larger than that of a peanut, knew to get when the getting was good, and disappeared in a flash of movement.
The Enforcer snarled viciously at the loss of its prey, precious years of careful planning wasted in a single stroke. But wait. His hot yellow gaze fell to the house nearby. Why settle for interrogating *him*, when he could go directly to the source? But he had one thing to take care of first. He turned to face his new adversary, and suddenly lit up in a twist of a smile. "You will regret that, my friend."
The other did not smile, but merely stood with his hands at his sides and his head high. "I sincerely doubt that." The Enforcer needed no more encouragement, and launched himself at the other with lightning speed. Which proved completely ineffectual against the other's superior age, strength, and training. The battle was fierce, but brief. It ended with the crunching finality of a broken neck.
"And I am *not* your friend." LaCroix dropped the Enforcer like rotting trash to the ground. His head would need to be separated from his body, but he had a bit of time before it was absolutely necessary. He glanced briefly at the warm house whose occupant was oblivious to the fact that it was he, and he only, who had protected her for so very long from so persistent and pernicious a threat. The Enforcers knew very well that there was a sort of Underground Railroad to mortality.
They rarely knew where this Railroad was initiated, or how many of them there were. They never found out it was made up of one single person, an Immortal, able to pass through the ages and not be one of them. He made sure of that. Those who found anything of importance did not live long enough to tell anyone. It was a fairly simple plan, which irked his sense of strategy, but it worked, and that was what was important. Besides, it infuriated the Enforcers to no end, and that alone was enough to satisfy him. He would be a long time in taking his pound of flesh from them.
But his revenge was two-edged. For to wreak havoc with the Enforcers, he was forced to protect something he hated to the depths of his soul. Because the Enforcers were absolutely right. This Railroad unequivocally threatened their existence, the whole vampire Community and its way of life, something the Enforcers were created specifically to prevent. It was maddening... were he in anything but the position he was in now, he would kill Natalie himself. But he wasn't, and he couldn't be.
If it were *anyone* but Nicholas, and anything but a last request, he would have justified breaking his word somehow, or simply looking the other way at the proper moment. But as it was, she would live, as long as she may, without Enforcer intervention. Much as it galled him to be the instrument of this movement's salvation, he did not see another choice.
The fact that he had been placed into this position was simply too perfectly done to have been an accident. He had considered this many a long night before, and tried to piece together where he had taken a misstep, to lead him so far astray from his intentions.
It had all began with Nick. That much was obvious. He'd extracted this promise from him, knowing that LaCroix would never break it, no matter how much he wanted to. He had timed the request perfectly, just at the moment when he would have said yes to anything at all. For that alone, LaCroix cursed his own altruistic side, a net that had caught him up at the worst possible moment.
But it had not ended there. No, the best was yet to come. For now that Nick had his promise of protection, now he needed to tell Natalie. He didn't know how his son would have told her, how he *could* have told her, but that was not the problem. The weak point in Nick's plan was that he had no idea where Natalie was, or how to contact her without arousing suspicion.
That was where LaCroix came in. He had come across the information, and decided to send Natalie to him as a gift. Playing directly into his hands.
Mortality had done good things for his son. If he wasn't so furious, he might have been proud.
Now, never let it be said that Nick did not love LaCroix, and LaCroix, Nick. But that never stopped LaCroix from torturing Nick his whole life with the fact that he was now something he hated, something he could rage against his whole life, and never be able to change.
And love never stopped Nick from returning the favor in kind.
LaCroix swore Natalie would never discover his part in helping her little crusade. But she eventually did, of course. And Nick was right, LaCroix truly angry *was* quite a floorshow.
But that's another story.
END.