EVIL WITHIN - Jarvinia Please send all comments, questions, and suggestions to: jarvinia@gmx.com This story is a crossover between Forever Knight and Poltergeist: The Legacy. This story takes place in the third season after Sons of Belial. In the Poltergeist: The Legacy time line it happens about a month after Traitor Among Us. DISCLAIMER: The concepts of vampires as used in this story and the characters of Forever Knight are the property of James D. Parriott, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Columbia TriStar Television, and the Sci-Fi Channel, and are used without permission. The Legacy and the Poltergeist: The Legacy characters are the property of Trilogy, MGM/UA and the Sci-Fi Channel, and are used without permission. Other characters not part of Forever Knight or Poltergeist: The Legacy are mine, and may not be used without permission. This is an amateur publication intended solely for the entertainment of its readers. No infringements intended on copyrights, etc. ~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~ Evil Within - Part 1/6 'Where was he?' Tracy thought as she returned from yet another search for her partner. She had gone outside and noticed his car wasn't there. She then tried the morgue assuming he had gone over there, but neither he nor Natalie were there. She'd tried his cell phone and got the usual, ‘customer is not responding' message. Then she'd even called his place, only to get his answering machine. 'I've really got to tell him to do something about his message, his voice sounded so, dead.' She picked a pencil up off of her desk and absently twirled it. 'Where could he be?' It was as if he had just vanished. Again. She thought he would stop after he had gotten over his partner's death, but he hadn't. It had been nearly four months since she had become his partner. She saw Natalie enter the precinct and as she walked by said, "Hi, Nat. Have you seen Nick around recently?" 'If she didn't know where he was, nobody did.' "Yeah, actually I have. He was just by the morgue. He said he was going home; that he had to pack for tomorrow." "Why can't he at least tell me these things? I've been looking for him for the past hour!" she whined slightly, throwing her pencil down on the desk. He never told her where he was going, and then he would suddenly just disappear. This time he went off shift without telling her, and he was packing for something. Natalie suppressed a wince, and asked, "Is there something you want me to tell him? I'll be going to his place as soon as I leave here." "No, he'll probably call me when he gets my message. In fact I know he will. Where's he going anyway? Are you going with him?" 'Why did she have to ask me?' But she knew why. Nick hadn't said anything as usual, and Tracy's very curious mind had to know everything. It almost amazed her that she hadn't figured out what Nick was yet. She still didn't know what to say. 'Be vague,' she told herself. "San Francisco. And yes, I'm going with him. He's delivering something for one of the foundations he's involved with." 'For a foundation. I didn't even know he was involved in any.' "Do you know what foundation he's delivering for or what he's delivering?" 'Too vague. What foundation? I can't tell her that. I don't know if Nick wants to let her know.' "I'm not sure which one he's delivering for. But I do know that we are taking it, an artifact, to the Luna Foundation. I don't really know much about it." 'Luna Foundation? Never heard of it.' "So, when are you two leaving?" "Tomorrow evening. We have to leave for the airport at three though, you have to check in pretty early for international flights. That's the main reason I'm going with Nick. So he can get around during the day." Yeah right. "When are you getting back?" "I don't know. That depends on what we need to do. I'll call you when we get there with our number. We'll also have our cell phones. And don't worry, I'll make sure Nick switches his on." "Well, I hope you have a good time, and could you get me a souvenir while you're there? I promise I'll pay you for it," she pleaded. Natalie smiled at her request and told her, "Yeah, I'll get you something. I was going to anyway. And you don't have to worry about paying me back." "Thanks, Nat. I guess I'll see you when you get back." "Yeah, see you next week." Natalie left the precinct and Tracy watched as she left. She was going to be without a partner for a week. Rumor was that she was going to have a temporary partner for the week. Someone that had just transferred to the area, and they didn't have a permanent spot open for them yet. 'Better be temporary.' Nick was annoying at times, but she liked him, something she knew not all people could say. Most kept their distance, and when she asked, they'd just told her about the nickname he'd gotten - Knightmare. She could see how he got it, but that and his other eccentrics seemed to ward people off. She started in on one of their cases and hoped to avoid the Captain, at least for the night. *+.*+.*+.*+.*+. The elevator door slowly slid open and Natalie stepped out. After laying her coat down over one of the chairs she called out, "Nick? Where are you?" "I'm up here," he replied from one of the rooms on the second level. "I'll be down in just a couple of minutes." She proceeded to walk around the room, waiting for him to come down. A few minutes later he came down, a long leather covered case in his hands. He placed the case on the table then asked her, "Would you like some coffee?" Surprise was clearly evident on her face. He didn't make her coffee very often, and she felt like she could use a cup. "Sure." She then watched as he poured her a cup, and then added a couple of things to it. 'What is he doing?' He then handed her the cup and she took a sip from the mug. Chocolate and mint. That's what must have been added. "Nick, where did you learn how to make this?" "I saw it somewhere, and thought you might like it. So, how is it?" "It's good. I think I've had something similar to it at a cafe, but I like this much better. What did you add?" "Cocoa and mint." "That's it?" 'It couldn't be that simple.' He nodded. 'It was.' Her attention was brought back to the case he had brought down and asked, "Is that the artifact we're delivering?" "Yes. It's both the case and the sword inside it. Here, I'll show you." He opened the leather cover to reveal a wooden box. In the center of its top was an inlayed L with a sword going down its middle, and inside the case was what appeared to be a fairly simple, yet elegant sword. She didn't know anything about swords, and had no idea how old it was. But one thing she did know; the sword was in very good condition. In the hilt was an emblem. It appeared to be a letter L with a sword going down its middle, the same as the inlay on the cover yet the design was more detailed. She had never seen the design before, but it was clearly a means of identification. But of who or what? Was it some kind of family crest, or did it belong to a specific individual? As she was asking herself this, Nick used a piece of black cloth and picked the sword up, one hand on the hilt, the other on the blade. He then carefully handed it to her, and she slowly took it. "Where did you get it?" "I got it at an auction about a month ago. I knew it was something the Luna Foundation would be interested in." "What is the Luna Foundation anyway?" she said handing the sword back to him. He again took it with the fabric, and placed it back in the case. 'Should I tell her or not?' She was waiting for an answer. He had already decided what he would do, had decided before telling her about going to San Francisco. He then drew in a deep breath, and slowly let it out. "The Luna Foundation collects artifacts from around the world. It's also been the front for a part of another organization, a secret society, since its creation about forty years ago. The organization itself has been around for a few thousand years. The symbol on the sword and the case is theirs. The ‘L' stands for Legacy." 'This is interesting,' she thought to herself. 'Definitely interesting.' "So, what do they do?" she asked when he didn't continue. "The Legacy does collect artifacts from around the world as I said before. Most of these artifacts have something to do with the paranormal or superstition. They try and prevent evil from spreading more than it already has. Many members of the Legacy die trying to stop the evil. Some of their houses have been taken over by evil. ‘Turned to the dark side' I believe is what they call it." "Superstition. You mean like spirits, witches and demons?" He nodded. "Do they know about vampires?" "Yes. They know. They can't tell immediately if you are one or not. Most of the younger vampires don't even know about the Legacy, but those of us that do know usually try to stay away. In the past couple hundred years there has been less tension between the Community and the Legacy, but it's definitely still there. Just over a month ago a vampire died in the San Francisco Legacy house." San Francisco. They were going to San Francisco. "And you aren't concerned they could do the same to you? After all that's where we are going isn't it?" He mutely nodded, then explained, "The vampire that died was newly brought over and he'd also been a member of the Legacy. He stayed in the organization, and started to infest it with evil. He had no tolerance of daylight, couldn't even enter a room with the blinds open. It was one of the things that gave him away. That's also why I agreed to try to go cold on the blood. We'll be staying at the house, and if I don't eat they'll notice." "But what about the sun? They'll notice that." "I'll be fine as long as I don't stand in it for very long." She was a little skeptical at that, but knew he was right. As long as he stayed out of it, they wouldn't notice it. If they got suspicious, him eating would draw some of that away. "Okay. What time do you want me to be here?" "By two thirty. You might not want to get too much sleep. We'll probably sleep on the way over so we'll be up during the day." She had grabbed her things and was on her way out when she thought of something, "Oh, bring the stuff for the coffee with you. I've got to try that again." He smiled and watched as she left. He was happy she liked the coffee, and hoped everything would go alright on their trip. He had asked Natalie to go with him because she needed to get out of Toronto. He hoped she would like San Francisco knowing she had never been there before. *+.*+.*+.*+.*+. "Alex, could you help me with this box!" Derek called as he started to open a newly arrived crate. He had just finished cutting the rope with a pocket knife, and had just picked up a crowbar to pry open the box top. It had arrived at a very unusual time, but then many of their deliveries did. It had arrived about ten minutes earlier, and he wanted to get the box open as soon as possible. "Sure," she said as she entered, and proceeded to help open the box. The box top suddenly gave way to them, and Derek pulled out a wooden box, hexagonal and similar to the sepulchers. "What is it?" "Well, as you can see it appears to be similar to the sepulchers. It was found in northern France about a month ago. A Legacy journal was found with it." He picked up a piece of paper and said, "According to this, the journal hasn't been translated yet, but they do know what's inside the box. An unidentified demon." "Unidentified?" Rachel said as she entered, slightly startling the other two. He looked over at her and said, "Yes, unidentified. It isn't an already named demon, which is virtually unheard of. It probably does has a name, just no one knows it, and it wasn't written down or hasn't been translated. It also hasn't been free for almost eight hundred years." He looked around and noticed Nick wasn't there, "Where's Nick?" "He went to the airport to pick up the two from the de Brabant Foundation, they should be back pretty soon," Alex told him. Derek nodded. It was early. Dawn hadn't risen yet, and wouldn't for nearly an hour. Faintly, he wondered why someone would fly in at this early hour, but then it wasn't as busy in the morning hours. "Take the box and the journal to the lab, we'll get started on it later." Alex grabbed the sepulcher and Rachel the journal, and they left walking toward, and then through the tapestry. *+.*+.*+.*+.*+. "Nick, I've never been to the San Francisco airport before, but I'm pretty sure we aren't going toward the exit. Where are we going?" Natalie asked looking back as they headed the opposite direction the rest of the passengers were heading after picking up their baggage. "We're going to a private terminal. A helicopter will take us to the Luna Foundation, they have their own." She was surprised at first, but didn't say anything. Nick had said it was on an island, but she didn't even think about getting there by helicopter. "How much further," she asked as they rounded a corner. "Never mind." Outside the window she could see a black helicopter, sitting waiting. The same design on the sword and it's case was painted on the outside of the helicopter. 'No wonder they would be interested in the sword.' Nick walked up to a man standing near the windows. He was wearing all black and seemed to become more alert when they entered. "I am Nicholas de Brabant, and this is Dr. Natalie Lambert." She doubted his decision to use his real name, it would make it that much easier for his true identity to be discovered, but he didn't seem to be too concerned about it. In fact he seemed to enjoy slipping into his aristocratic self, and the ease at which he did so surprised her, but only for a moment. After a second she noticed his aristocratic persona wasn't that different, but then he'd never really lost that side. She'd heard other's at the precinct refer to him as aristocratic, even Grace had commented on it. "Nick Boyle of the Luna Foundation," the man said as he took Nick's hand, surprise clearly evident in his features. "I wasn't aware you would be coming. I was expecting someone else." His eyes seemed to rest on the leather bag Nick carried under one arm, his curiosity getting the better of him, and then he took their baggage. Nick held onto the artifact as he had on the plane. "Yes, well, I decided that I would deliver the artifact myself. I am sure you are curious what the object is, and I will show it to you once we get to the island." Nick quickly overcame his curiosity, and replied, "Of course. Now, if you will follow me, we'll be on our way." Nick nodded, then they each got in the helicopter. Nat silently followed Nick's actions, as he seemed to know what he was doing. Natalie had never been in a helicopter before, and wasn't planning on being in one on their trip. It wasn't long before they arrived at the house. The ivy covered stone building looked more like a castle than a house, and she never knew anything like it existed in San Francisco. 'Must have been brought over stone by stone,' she thought to herself. "It was," their escort said, and Natalie realized she had spoken aloud. Nick Boyle took their bags and took them to the front doors. Natalie again saw the symbol, and really wanted to say something about it. But they weren't supposed to know about the Legacy. She kept silent and waited as he opened the door. They followed him inside, then put their things down to take to another room later. Inside were three people. Another man, and two women. They each stood up, and Derek was the first to speak. "I am Dr. Derek Rayne, you have already meet Nick Boyle, and these are Dr. Rachel Corrigan and Alexandra Moreau." As each name was said, Nick nodded to them, then he introduced himself, "I am Nicholas de Brabant, and this is Dr. Natalie Lambert." "Monsieur Brabant, the Luna Foundation welcomes you," Derek said as he tried to get a feeling out of his head. For some reason he felt like he should know the man in front of him. By the name he knew they had never meant, but something told him they had. "You don't need to be formal. In fact, I insist that you don't. I would ask that you call me Nick, but that would be too much confusion," he said nodding to Nick Boyle. "Please call me Nicholas." "Of course. Have you had breakfast? If not, you are welcome to eat now." "We've eaten. Besides, I am sure you are interested in the artifact I brought with me." That's when everyone noticed the leather bag he was carrying. He sat it on a nearby table and unzipped the cover. The box along with its symbol were revealed. Derek was the only one that didn't react to the symbol, but that changed when the box was opened to reveal the sword. It was a Legacy sword, about 600 years old, and it was in mint condition. "This sword is in excellent condition. May I ask where you found it?" he calmly asked, genuinely curious. Truthfully, he answered, "I was at an auction. Originally I was going to add the sword to my own collection, but I thought it might be of greater interest and value to you." 'Does he know of the Legacy?' Derek asked himself. 'But if he did, wouldn't he give it to the Legacy house in France, instead of traveling halfway around the world?' "Yes, it is of interest. Very much so." He examined the sword more closely, and noting a few of the details said, "Nick, go get the other sword, I want to see how close they are. I think they might be made by the same person." Nick nodded and left the room. He silently returned moments later, and handed the sword to Derek. Indeed, every aspect of the two swords were identical except for the amount of wear. One was in excellent condition, the other in mint condition. The same initials were found in the hilt which confirmed his first observation - they were made by the same person. "Are they made by the same person?" Natalie asked curiously, wanting to confirm her suspicion, as surprise registered on their host's face. "Yes, they are." Derek stopped examining the swords and turned his attention to its bearer. He wasn't the least surprised about the revelation, and he clearly knew enough about such things that he should be. He was also the only one in the room that wasn't surprised. Even his companion, who didn't seem to know much about swords in general was surprised. "You knew, didn't you? That's why you decided not to add it to your collection, isn't it." Nick nodded. "How did you know who made this sword? Have you seen it before?" He had forgotten they were made by the same person and through his lack of reaction he had revealed his knowledge. Well, they didn't know what he was, just that he knew who the sword was made by. "I have not seen the sword before, but my uncle has. He once worked here, I believe for your father, Winston Rayne." 'His uncle once worked here. That must be why he seemed so familiar.' He tried to remember what the man looked like, but he couldn't. He just kept getting images that didn't quite seem like memories. In them he saw himself and his father. At the time he would have been nine or ten. But why couldn't he remember the man. 'This means he does know about the Legacy, but why doesn't he just say that?' Derek thought as he nodded and waited for Nick to continue. The others in the room seemed to know nothing about it, and he explained, "He worked for the Legacy, mostly as a researcher and translator. When I was fairly young I found his journal, and found out about it." 'He does know.' Derek again tried to remember the man, but nothing came back to him, nothing at all. "What was his name, or what did he go by? I remember that he didn't go by Brabant, probably couldn't." "Nicholas Thomas," Nick said, quickly recalling his past life. "Yes, I seem to remember more now." Derek could almost, but not quite picture him. Yet, from what he could remember, he looked much like the man standing before him. Very much like the man standing before him. Derek replaced the sword, and closing the sword case, said, "I'm sure you would like to get settled in. How long will you be staying with us?" "A few days, Natalie is going to spend some time in the city, and I was wondering if I could be of any help for the next few days?" Derek remembered the box and the journal that had arrived that morning and said, "I'm not sure if we need any help yet or not, we just had a new artifact arrive this morning, but if we do, we'll let you know. Rachel, could you show them their rooms? I want to do something before lunch." She nodded, and after walking back by the door to get their things, she took them up the stairs and showed them to their rooms. Natalie was still taking in her surroundings and was fascinated by all of the artifacts on display. After showing them to their rooms. Rachel told them to make themselves at home, and to meet in the main room about 11:30. She also offered to go with Natalie to the city after lunch. Once she had left, Natalie was finally able to say something. "Nick, you didn't tell me that you'd actually worked here, in this house before. When did you do this?" "Well, at the time Derek was nine or ten. I think it was in 1964. One of the reasons I risked working for them was to search for the Abborat. I left because I was afraid a couple of the Legacy members were getting suspicious of me. Afterwards I went to Berlin in search of the Abborat. You know the rest from there." She definitely did know the rest. LaCroix found it and threw it in the flames to make sure Nick wouldn't find the cure for his curse. She then asked him what he did and if he had found anything out while working for them. He hadn't, except for a couple of references to the now destroyed Abborat. References that were now useless. Afterwards, she called Tracy and gave her the number, and told her they would call before they came back. *+.*+.*+.*+.*+. Derek went directly to his desk with Nick and Alex following close behind. He started opening the drawers and Alex asked, "What are you looking for?" "A photo album of my father's. I met Mr. Thomas when I was a boy, but I can't recall what he looked like." After searching for a couple more minutes, he pulled his quarry out of the bottom of a drawer and flipped through it until he found the picture he was looking for. "That's him," he said pointing to one of five men, his father, three other Legacy members, and the fifth looked almost exactly like Brabant. Just then, Rachel entered, and upon seeing the picture asked, "Is that Brabant's uncle?" "Yes," he softly said, thinking about something. Alex noticed it and asked him, "What?" "Nothing really. It just seems like there is something wrong with this picture. They seem too alike to be uncle and nephew." "Yes, it does seem that way, but you know how similar family members can be," Alex reminded him, yet the resemblance was remarkable. At the same time she could feel something was wrong, but didn't know how to explain it. Something in the eyes of the picture, something that seemed out of place. She shook the feeling off. "I know, but something just isn't right about this." Derek seemed to return to his thought, and Nick told him, "Well, I think I'm going to look at that new arrival you mentioned. What is it anyway?" He wanted to get working on the facts, and not on want ‘seemed' to be wrong. He didn't sense anything wrong, but knew that many times Derek was right about these things. The present again came back to Derek, and he told Nick, "A sepulcher and a journal. From what we've been told, it's an unknown demon that hasn't been free for about eight hundred years. It was put in the sepulcher by the journal's owner at the cost of his life." "What a way to go," Nick commented. "Has the journal been translated yet?" "No, it hasn't. It's mostly in an old French dialect." "Mostly? What else is it in?" "Latin, old English, German and another unrecognizable dialect." "What a wonderful combination. Well, I guess I should get started on that," he said as he walked out of the room and toward the tapestry. He paused as his retina was scanned, and the four entered the control room. Nick immediately went to the journal, and started working on it. About two and a half hours later, Nick told Derek as they exited the hidden room, "The dialects seem to be obscure, the computer isn't handling them too well. The unknown dialect isn't recognized by the computer either. Alex can't figure a way for the computer to translate it, there are too many words with multiple or unknown meanings. I sure wish Philip was here, he could probably translate most of it just like that." Derek nodded, then paused, telling Nick, "If I remember correctly, Nicholas Thomas did a lot of translations. You might want to ask Brabant, it's a good possibility he knows old French and could translate at least those parts for us." Nick nodded, it probably wasn't a bad idea. "What were you looking up?" Alex asked, remembering seeing Derek at the computer. He had been accessing lots of information, what looked like personal files. Derek stopped, and told them, "Information on our guests." "And?" she asked softly. "Doctor Lambert is a medical examiner for Toronto. Nicholas de Brabant doesn't have an uncle and hasn't been seen for several years. However, Nicholas Knight, a Homicide Detective in Toronto happens to know Dr. Lambert. He also looks suspiciously like Brabant and happens to have vacation this week." "Yeah, so, he probably goes under an assumed name because of who he is. He doesn't want all of the publicity. I mean most of the foundation's donations are anonymous to avoid the publicity," Nick said. The other's didn't know if they should believe Nick's explanation or not, it almost seemed too simple. But they also had the habit of looking for the unusual. The normal, simple, reasons didn't come up very often. Derek had the suspicion that Nick was partially right. Brabant didn't seem to want the publicity, and the Foundation's head was definitely not who he expected to deliver the artifact. He kept his identity a secret, and had others do almost everything. But, he still had a feeling that something wasn't quite right about the man. They soon entered the main room to see Nick and Natalie sitting talking, apparently about one of the artifacts in the room. They quickly stopped and the six proceeded to have lunch, which ended up being sandwiches. Nick did his best to eat the whole thing and was glad Natalie had forced him to eat some of the food on the flight over. He felt a little sick and the sandwich was sitting at the bottom of his stomach, and he knew it would stay there for a while. He had a feeling it was going to be a long couple of days unless he could bury himself in something. Long and very uncomfortable days. After lunch, Natalie and Rachel took Nick's convertible into the city by ferry. Natalie was given Nick's credit card, and he told her she could get anything she wanted. She knew she'd try to pay him back, and that he wouldn't let her, but she would try anyway. Nick Boyle then decided he would ask about the translation. He remembered what Brabant had asked to be called, and asked, "Nicholas, you said you wanted to help if you could?" Nick nodded in response. "We have an old Legacy journal that needs to be translated. The majority is in an old and obscure French dialect, and the computer is having trouble with it. Do you think you would be able to translate it?" "How old is it?" Nick asked, faintly wondering how they knew to ask him, yet his curiosity pushed the thought away. "About eight hundred years." '800 years. Could be the language I grew up with,' he mused. "Yes, I don't think I would have any trouble with it." "I'll show you to the control room," Nick said. Derek nodded, and all but Derek followed them to the control room. Nick was a little surprised at how real the holographic tapestry looked, and with his enhanced vision could see through it to the room beyond. He didn't say anything as he walked through the tapestry after Nick, and the room appeared around him. Now his view of the room was clearer, and his eyes were immediately drawn to the wooden box in the glass cube, and the journal sitting near it. The journal looked like something he had seen while in service of his uncle, and picking it up, he carefully opened it. There was no name inside, and he flipped it open to the middle. He started reading the familiar language, and noticed the familiar hand - it was his uncle's journal. The words described events long past, his introduction to evil. An evil more powerful than the one that now possessed him. Evil Within - Part 2/6 ~~~~~~~~~~ England - 1210 He had been in training from his uncle for several years and had now been in his service for two months. At that time they had traveled from his homeland in Brabant, and were now on the road to London. He was still learning English, and the map which he was put in charge of was helping a little. His uncle was very patient, and was very pleased with his progress. Looking up at the sky, he could see the stars emerging, but they had not yet arrived at Canterbury. They soon stopped for the night, and after tying the horses up, he helped his uncle start a fire. Once that was done, he saw his uncle take out a journal and as he began to write, Nicolas had decided to ask the question he had told himself he would not ask. "Uncle, what are you writing in?" The middle aged man looked at his curious nephew. He still appeared to be a boy, wasn't even to his eighteenth year yet, but he was growing into a fine man. He told himself that he would eventually tell his nephew about what he did, and although then seemed to be a good time, he knew he would never again see as much innocence conveyed in his features and actions as he did at that moment. As Nicolas accompanied him on his journeys, the boy was becoming more and more of a man, and would be one very soon. Too soon. He memorized the innocent features, those not just of one who didn't know of the evil loose in the world, but features that still had the innocence of childhood. A childhood that no matter how close it seemed now, would be far away for the rest of the boy's life. "A journal. It chronicles my experiences and knowledge. There are others that do this as well, and eventually it will be read so another can learn. We are going to London to meet with another. He wears a ring like this one," he said handing a gold ring to Nicolas. Nicolas took the ring and eagerly examined it. It was gold, and the letter L had been filigreed over a smooth black stone. It appeared to be fairly old. Its original wearer was not his uncle, perhaps it was his grandfather's. He had never seen anything like it before, and asked, "What does it stand for?" "It stands for Legacy. The others, both those who wear the ring and those such as yourself who merely help us are a part of the Legacy. One day you will take my place and the ring will be yours." "What do you really do?" He seemed to think a little bit. "I fight evil, keep it from spreading, protect those who are not aware of it, or do not know what it is." The confused look that crossed his nephew's features made him rethink what he said. "There are evils that you have never seen, that no man should ever have to see. We know about this evil, and we know how to fight it, and because we can, we will." He explained more about the Legacy, and by the time he had stopped he was sure it was well into the early morning hours. ~~~~~~~~~~ He looked down at the words and read the last sentence in the entry to himself, ‘I wonder if I made the right decision now that I watch Nicolas, his dreams tormenting him with new terrors that will never cease.' "Nicholas?" Alex called as she rested her hand on his shoulder. She caught a fragment of an image from him, a fire with another man sitting beyond it, before he centered his mind on the present once again. Then all she saw was blackness, nothingness. She removed her hand, and waited. This time he looked up at her, and she watched as he silently flipped several pages back, and then several more. He scanned the words as if it was his native tongue, and she watched as his eyes stopped on a page, about half way down. She tried to see what he was looking at, and within the foreign script could see it. Nicolas de Brabant. His name, or at least the name of one of his ancestors. His family hadn't been involved with the Legacy for only a couple of generations, but for at least the past eight hundred years by the name. After waiting a couple of minutes, she said, "You know who this journal had belonged to don't you? It's one of your ancestor's." Nick mutely nodded in reply. It was his ancestor's, his uncle's to be precise. His mortal uncle. When he had agreed to translating the journal, he hadn't thought that it could be his uncle's. He just wanted to do something so that they wouldn't notice how he avoided the windows and the deadly sunlight they let in. Their gazes rested on him, and were waiting for him to say the writer's name. "My father told me about the journal," he lied. "It belonged to a William de Brabant who died in 1213. He was the precept for what would become the Belgian Legacy House. No one was present when he died, so no one really knows what happened." "But the journal would provide his own words of what happened just before his death," Nick stated. "It might tell us more about the box's contents." "Yes. The journal was lost or hidden. You found the journal with the box, correct?" "Yes, . . ." Nick answered, but was interrupted as Derek entered. "The journal was buried with the box by another Legacy member. It's owner was said to have died while imprisoning a demon in the box." Derek paused and looked at the opened journal. "Have you found anything out about it?" "It appears that it belonged to a William de Brabant. One of Nicholas' ancestors." Derek showed mild surprise at the name. Then, as he muttered the name he sat down at one of the computers and typed in the name for a search. There had to be a biography of the man, and he waited for the search to complete. He was right, and although the information that was retrieved was fairly limited, it was more than they had before. As he read through the file, he related some of the information to the others. "His father was precept of the Belgian House, and when he died, he became precept. He had a brother, Henri. William had no children, but had a nephew and a niece, Nicolas and Fleur. He trained his nephew and took him into his service a little less than three years before his death. About the same time he died, Nicolas was reported to have returned home by order of his uncle. Soon after, another Legacy member went to their home to get Nicolas, as he was to become the new precept in his uncle's steps. His father would not permit it, but the precept ring was still passed to the young man." Nick sat through the narration silently, and hoped no one noticed his reaction to having his past related. As each event was told, it replayed in his mind in fast forward, but exactly as it had happened. "Is that all that is known?" Alex asked. "Well, all that seems to be relevant. As a Legacy precept, William was more interested in field work, and had the other house members merely do research, rarely accompanying him. During this time, usually the precept would stay out of danger and observe the others' work, but he seemed to thrive on danger, and would be the one to seek it out." The others took in the information, and Nick Boyle asked, "Nicholas, does this sound like anything you've heard before, perhaps from your father?" Nick snapped back to the present, and quickly thought how he was going to answer the question. He decided to go along with their suggestion as it would work quite well as an explanation. "Yes, that sounds almost exactly like what my father told me." He quickly pulled the ring out of his pocket so it would not burn his hand. He had been forced to take the ring off when he became a vampire, as he discovered it was painful to wear it, and soon after he found out why. LaCroix had never learned of the ring. If he had, it would have certainly been destroyed. He didn't know why he had brought it with him, but it came in useful. Once Derek had picked it up, Nick continued, "My father gave me the ring before he died." Alex took the ring after Derek had looked at it and commented, "It looks like it had been well worn at one time, but it's been well taken care of for a while now." "It's between eight hundred and fifty, and nine hundred years old," Nicholas told them. She handed the ring to Nick, who handed it back to it's owner. He quickly put it back in his pocket, again not wanting to be burned by it. Derek returned his attention to the journal. "So, the only way to know what exactly is in the box is to read the end of the journal, which means it needs to be translated?" "Yes, would you like me to do it by hand, or type it out on the computer?" Nick said, returning to the chair he had originally been sitting in. "If you could, do it on the computer, unless writing it out would be faster?" Derek asked, surprised Nicholas had asked. It would be much easier for him to read it if it were on the computer, but he hadn't even thought of typing it straight into the computer. It would also save them time later. "I'll do it on the computer. Do you want me to start with the end?" "If you could. Nick, Alex, you two stay here and work on the carvings on the box. See what you can find out from that. I'm going to go do a little research of my own. Do you know if Rachel and Dr. Lambert will be back for dinner?" Nick told them, "Rachel told me they were planning on having dinner there, and that they probably wouldn't get back until after dark." "So, did you know about the journal before coming here, after all it was shipped from France?" Derek asked. "No. I didn't know about any journal being here until I was told about it, and didn't know who's it was until I opened it up and read several pages." The other two seem to take in his explanation as the truth it was, and nodded. Derek also nodded, and then left the three to their work. Nick Boyle went to the wooden box and took it out of the glass container, and Alex told Nick, "If you find anything in the journal that would explain any of these markings tell us." He nodded to her in response, and she started her work on the carvings and placed the box on the scanner. Nick took the journal over to the computer, and opened up a writing application. He then turned to the last entry and began to read one sentence at a time, translating it as he went. Every now and then he would glance over at the two, feeling some kind of presence. Something was in the box, and he couldn't say anything without endangering what he was. But whatever was in it, was definitely becoming stronger. By the time Derek came to get them for dinner Nick had told Alex about two of the ten carvings, and two more were found in the computer, but none of them revealed its name. He had started at the end of the journal, and so far everything that he had read was something that occurred after he had been sent home. He had just finished an entry and was just starting another, and barely noticed Derek was in the room. Unlike the others, this one was written just after he left, perhaps the day he had left. With the words, brought memories of the described events. ~~~~~~~~~~ For over two years he had traveled with his uncle, and during that time he had learned much about the Legacy. He didn't know if he believed everything, even the things that had been proved to him through his own eyes. Some mornings he awoke to believe it all a dream, and then something would remind him that it wasn't. This morning was no different, but he knew they were leaving Paris that day. He gathered his things together, and as they silently started out on the road suddenly his uncle stopped. "Nicolas, I am sending you home." The young man tried to protest, but he wouldn't allow it. "You will go home. I have to do this alone, I don't want you to get injured or killed. I know you are responsible for your own actions, but I am also responsible for them." He paused, letting his words sink into his nephew's mind. "Do you understand?" "Yes, uncle," Nicolas answered disappointedly. "Good. Now, I want you to ride home. Do not tell them anything about where I am going or what I have told you. Myself or another Legacy member will visit you. Again, do not tell anyone about this." Nicolas nodded again, and waited for the inevitable dismissal his uncle would give him. It would be good and bad. He didn't want to go home. Despite the darkness the Legacy was supposed to fight, he wanted to continue to help his uncle, and if given a choice, would. But he also knew that his family would be expecting him home. "Now, on your way, and take care." The young man did as his uncle told him to, and began to ride toward his home. His uncle started out in the opposite direction and after several minutes Nicolas looked back to see the last of his uncle, although he hoped to see him again. But somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that wouldn't happen. ~~~~~~~~~~ "Nicholas?" he heard, and quickly returned to the present. He saw the glowing screen in front of him, and tried to remember what he had been doing. Once he remembered what, he had to find his place, and by then he had once again forgotten about the man who was now standing on the other side of the desk. His name was called once again and this time he looked toward the voice and said, "Yes?" "Are you alright? You seem preoccupied," Derek noted. Nick was still a little confused. 'When had he come in?' He eventually answered, "I'll be fine. I think I just need to . . . eat something." 'It'll probably make me feel worse,' he thought to himself. "Well, I guess dinner got done on time then. Are you sure that's all you need, something to eat?" He received a nod in return, but didn't think he believed it. Something was wrong with his answer. He seemed to be unsure of it. At lunch he didn't eat much and seemed to be a little paler than normal. Now he looked just as bad, and if lunch was any indication he would be even paler after dinner. He nodded back, and the three followed him out of the room. The sun was still up, and although there was little light that made it into the house, he had to walk through it in a couple of spots. The dinning room was thankfully not enveloped in sunlight. They each sat down at the table, Nick going immediately pale. Lasagna and garlic bread was for dinner. 'Why couldn't they have something else?' The dish of lasagna was passed to him, and he was glad for at least one thing - there wasn't any garlic in the lasagna. He carefully dished out some on his plate, and handed it to Alex. Derek then handed him the basket of garlic bread, and he quickly passed it on to Alex. The action was quick enough that Alex was startled, and was barely able to grab a hold of it before Nick released it. The others noted that he didn't take any, but only Derek noted the expression on his face as he handed it to Alex. 'Something is not right about this man,' Derek thought as he watched the expression disappear. He shook his head slightly and dinner proceeded quietly. When everyone had finished, Derek again noticed Brabant's pale features, and silently wondered the reason for it. He then asked how far they had gotten, both on the translation and the carvings. He was surprised about how much had been translated, and wished they knew more about the box, which was clearly a sepulcher of some sort. Not exactly like the others they had dealt with, but the contents were similar. On the way back to the lab he told Alex he wanted to talk to her, and the other two went ahead. "Alex, have you noticed anything strange about our guest?" "What do you mean, strange?" "His paleness after dinner, the way he spaced off in the control room, him not accompanying his companion to the city." "Well I noticed that, but it doesn't seem too strange to me. He's probably been to San Francisco before, and he seems to be genuinely interested in helping us. Although there is something strange about him, that makes him seem out of place. I noticed it when you came back into the control room." "Yes, and it seems like his uncanny resemblance to his ‘uncle' isn't the only one. Come with me, I want to show you something." He led her into the library, and from the table opened a book up to a marked page. "While I was trying to find out more about the journal's owner I found this. It is a picture of a tapestry of Nicolas de Brabant, William's nephew. It was made by Nicolas' sister, Fleur, around 1220." She took the book and examined the picture carefully. It was in color, and the tapestry was of a knight crusader ready to go off to battle. The knight was wearing a blue tunic over his chain mail, gold crosses stitched down the front. His hair reached his shoulders, and the features seemed to be the same as Brabant's although he appeared a little younger, but then according to the caption the knight was about twenty six or seven years old. Other than age, their resemblance was identical, just like the picture of Nicholas Thomas. She looked up at him and asked, "Are you saying these are the same man?" "No, I'm not sure they are they same person. If he were the real Nicolas de Brabant, how would he have survived unchanged? But, he does not seem entirely normal. His resemblance to Nicholas Thomas and Nicolas de Brabant also doesn't seem coincidental." She nodded. Something definitely was different about him, but what? They headed back to the control room, and resumed their research. Around 9:30, Natalie and Rachel returned, and after Rachel talked to Derek, took Natalie to the control room. At first she didn't know what to do when Rachel stood in front of the tapestry, but when she walked through, knew to follow. As she walked through it, a room was revealed to her. She looked back to see what appeared to be a solid wall. 'Some kind of hologram,' she thought. She then looked around the high tech room, and found Nick sitting at a computer. He looked over when she entered, and asked, "So, how did you like San Francisco?" "I liked it a lot. I hope you don't mind, but I got something for Tracy, and charged our dinner." "I told you before you left you could get anything you wanted. So what did you get Tracy?" "A porcelain music box. I think she'll like it." She walked over to where Nick was, and asked him, "So what have you been doing while I was away?" She peered over at the ancient book, and then looked at the computer. As she saw his name, he told her, "Translating this journal. It was an ancestor's of mine, a William de Brabant." "For what?" she curiously, and concernedly asked. Derek told her, "He was a Legacy precept, and he gave his life to imprison a demon in this box. We don't really know much about it. It was found buried in northern France. He did have an assistant with him, a nephew Nicolas, but he was sent home shortly before, and as such we don't really know what happened to him." As she listened to his explanation, she could see Nick tense. He was Nicolas, and William must have been his uncle, his mortal uncle. "Is there anything I could do to help?" "Well, we're probably going to stop for the night pretty soon, but you could help try to find information on one of these symbols," Alex said gesturing to a printout of six carvings. Natalie said she would, and by 11:00 three more had been identified. The symbols told a few things about the demon inside, but still none of them told its name. Alex decided to call it a night, and the others agreed. All but Derek left the control room, as he was confirming the identity of a fourth symbol. He wanted to figure it out now so it would save time the next day. Once Nick and Natalie had gotten up the stairs, and as they were passing Natalie's room, she pulled Nick inside. "Do they know who you are yet?" she asked as soon as the door was pulled shut. "No, although I believe Derek may be getting suspicious. The fact that garlic bread was served for dinner didn't really help too much. But I can tell you one thing for sure, whatever is in that box is very dangerous and it wants out." She remembered the demon that had taken control of Nick less than a month before, and saw the fear reflected in his eyes. Because of what he was the demon would be attracted to him, and what if it knew who Nick was? Would it destroy him because of what Nick's uncle had done to him? "Do you think it could get out?" "I don't know. The box is old, and the demon seems to be getting stronger. I believe it could." He didn't want to speculate on what the demon could or could not do, and Natalie could see this. She changed the subject slightly. "So, did you find out about the Legacy from your uncle, or from LaCroix?" "Originally from my uncle. He was planning for me to take his place when he died, but my father wouldn't allow it. The messenger to my father was able to give me my uncle's precept ring though." He pulled it out of his pocket and put it in her hand. "I wore it until I became what I am. I discovered that it burned like a cross, and I couldn't wear it. LaCroix never knew about the ring, but still warned me about the Legacy. I pretended I had never heard of it, and he didn't know I lied, although I don't know how. By the time I had become a vampire I had forgotten most of what my uncle taught me, my mind filing the information away as from dreams, just superstition. With the vampire, came the knowledge that the Legacy was real, and that now it was dangerous to me and no longer my friend." She handed the ring back to Nick and said with a yawn and a slight smile, "Well, I don't know about you, but I think I'm going to go to bed. Do you have any idea how much energy is used sightseeing?" He smiled as well and told her, "No, I don't, but I wish I did." He then left her room, and went to his own. She wasn't the only one that was tired. He was tired as well, but not from physical exertion. Keeping his emotions under control had used up a lot of energy, and he didn't think he was getting enough back from the food he had eaten. *+.*+.*+.*+.*+. The next morning Natalie entered the kitchen area wearing jeans and a t-shirt. She noticed that only Nick and Derek weren't present. She then left to Nick's room, and found him sound asleep. He was laying on his stomach, and had pushed his covers off sometime during the night. He seemed to have had a nightmare, but at the moment was fine. She hesitated waking him, but knew that his tiredness was most likely a result of the sun and not of his own doing. She sat on the bed and rubbed his back slightly calling his name. After about a minute he moaned slightly and showed signs of waking up. Once he had opened his eyes, she called his name again a little louder. He sleepily responded, "Nat, what time is it?" Looking down at her watch, she told him, "Almost nine in the morning. I thought you would want to get up. Most of everyone else is up." He sat up quickly causing himself to become dizzy and to have to grab a hold of Natalie to keep his balance. Natalie noticed and asked him what she had wanted to ask him the night before, "Are you all right? Do you think you're getting enough protein?" "Actually, I'm pretty sure I'm not. I'm also not sure about the idea of going cold on the blood, it doesn't quite seem like it's working." "Well, I'm going to make you one of my protein shakes for you to have with breakfast. Hopefully that will help. And bring some of your coffee stuff down with you. I want to try that again." She quickly exited the room before he could protest her decision. She stopped by her room on the way back down and retrieved a container of white powder. She brought it with her to the kitchen and after asking where the glasses were, measured out what appeared to be about a tenth of the glass, and filled it with water stirring all the while. She then got her own breakfast, and a second plate for Nick. After setting the plates down, she went back for a glass of milk for herself, and grabbed Nick's off of the counter. She saw that the coffee machine was already turned on, and sat at the table and waited for Nick. Their seats were out of the range of the sunlight that spilled through the windows making it unnecessary to turn any lights on, and hoped they would stay that way for breakfast. He arrived less than a minute later. He was dressed, and his hair was wet from a shower. The sunlight in the room caused him to have to squint his eyes, but the others passed it off as sleepiness. He sat down where Natalie indicated he should and as he began to adjust to the light he stared not at the food, but at the protein shake. First, he drank half of the shake, making as little of a face as he could, then quickly took a bite of the scrambled eggs. Natalie carefully watched him. Luckily the others were too busy getting coffee to notice his reaction. He noticed they were getting coffee as well, and stood up and got a cup and filled it up. After returning to the table he put a little bit of powdered chocolate, and mint into the cup and stirred. This time he also added a little bit of Natalie's milk to the mug, then handed it to her. Alex watched all of this curiously, wondering what was put in the cup. Natalie took a sip and noted, "I really want to know where you thought of this. The milk makes it taste even better." Alex asked them, "What is it anyway?" "It's chocolate and mint coffee," Natalie answered. "Could I try some?" she asked looking toward Nicholas. It sounded interesting, and she wanted to try it. "Sure," he said, and quickly added the powders to the coffee. She immediately took a sip, and nodded in approval. Rachel held out her cup for him to make her some. Once done he handed it back and received another nod. He then turned toward Nick Boyle, and his reaction was non existent, but he wasn't too sure he wanted to try it. When he made no reply, Alex answered for him, "He'd like some too." When she got a skeptical look in return, she said, "Nick, I'm sure you'll like it. It's really good." He made another cup, then handed it back. The three women watched as he took a cautious sip, and surprisingly he liked it. He didn't like the flavored coffees because they took too much away from the coffee, but this added to it. They continued to look at him, expecting a response of some kind. "Okay, I admit it. It was good. Where'd you learn how to do this?" "I don't remember where I saw it, but suddenly a couple of days ago I remembered about it and made Natalie some. She liked it and told me to bring the stuff with me." Nick accepted the explanation, and everyone returned to their breakfast. Nick ate all of the eggs, most of the toast, and drank the entire protein shake. Natalie was pleased with him he could tell, and although he felt a little sick, he didn't feel as weak. The protein from the shake and the eggs had helped. Once everyone was finished, Rachel suddenly asked, "Where's Derek? He's always down by now, especially when we're working on something." "I'll go check on him," Nick said as he put his things in the sink. "Perhaps he stayed in the control room all night and didn't get to bed until this morning." He quickly left, and Alex noticed something. Something was different in the air, something had changed since the night before. Aloud she softly said, "Something's wrong." "What?" Rachel asked her. "I don't know. Something is different, something is loose." Nick closed his eyes to see if he could tell if anything had changed. Something had. The evil wasn't struggling anymore, and it was stronger. Much stronger. Somehow it had gotten free. Nick Boyle came running back into the room. "I can't wake him up. He seems to be having some kind of nightmare and I can't get him to snap out of it. It seems like something is trying to take him over." Everyone took in the words and Nicholas told him, "Something is trying to take him over. The demon from the box." He started off in the direction of the control room with the others following close behind. He was glad he was entered into the scanner, as he was able to walk right though without waiting for one of the others. Once inside he went directly to the box, which had been placed in the glass cube. What caught his attention was the fracture that had cracked the box in two right down the middle. He stopped and stared at it. The demon had broken out of its prison, apparently without any outside help. He closed his eyes once again, the demon wasn't in the box, and it wasn't in the room. It was somewhere else. Derek. Evil Within - Part 3/6 Again he left the others, who after seeing the box also followed. He ran up the stairs, following the source of the only other heartbeat in the house. After pulling the door open, he went directly to Derek, but the demon had already gained control, and he was sound asleep. When he woke, the demon would be in complete control. Rachel was the next to enter the room, and immediately tried to wake him up, but he wouldn't. Nick touched her lightly on the shoulder and told her, "He won't wake up. At least not now. He'll wake, either with sunset, or when the demon has gained enough energy." The others had entered the room to hear his words. Nick asked him, "Do you mean this demon is inside Derek?" "Yes." "But how can you tell? I mean, I don't see any difference in him other than he won't wake up." "Nick, he's right. The demon is in Derek. I can feel the difference in him. It's part of what I sensed was wrong." Natalie listened to her words, and was puzzled by one thing. "What do you mean part of what's wrong?" Alex slowly walked up to Nicholas, and once she was directly in front of him, she said, "You. You are different, you aren't normal. You also seem to know exactly what's going on. What are you?" He didn't turn away from her gaze. She knew he wasn't who he said he was. Eventually he told her, "I can't say. Not yet." "Why? Why can't you say?" Rachel asked, also very suspicious of him. He turned his attention to her, and told her, "Right now, I think our main concern should be Derek. Finding a way to get the demon out of him." "Someone should stay here while we work," Alex said. "I'll stay," Natalie responded. "I don't know anything about demons, but I am a doctor." The others nodded. "If anything changes just come down, or yell for someone," Nick Boyle told her, and they left. Once they had arrived in the control room, Nicholas stopped in front of the now broken box. "This needs to be repaired or replaced if the demon is to be put back in the box. Do you have access to other journals, from London and Paris?" "Yes," Alex slowly answered, "but why would you need that?" "I've read a journal, one that deals with demons. I don't remember if it was from London or Paris." She gazed once again into his eyes, and said, "Rachel, help him find what he's looking for, I'm going to work with Nick on repairing the box." Rachel nodded, and accessed one of the computers. To get the information they needed, she had to use her security code, and then they were able to access all of the records. After working for almost an hour, Nick discovered that the journals he was looking for had been moved. He had no idea when or where they would have been moved, but he did know the age of the books that he had read. They were all written from between 1000 and 1150 A.D. and had been relatively new when he had read them. But that was nearly eight hundred years ago, he didn't even know if they still existed. They could have disintegrated long ago, and who knew if they had been copied. They had now searched most of the European houses, and had started on the America's. He had figured out how to do the search, and Rachel had got on another computer to speed the process up. Twenty minutes later, he went over to Rachel and told her that he had found one at the New York House, but he couldn't read it without a security code. She entered her code, and a box popped up asking for which language translation, French, English, or old French. Nick picked the old French to not lose meaning in the translation, and because it was what he knew best. Rachel was puzzled to his choice, thinking it would be easier to read if it were in English or Modern French, but she didn't question it. She suspected she wouldn't get an answer if she did. He started reading the file, and as he read he remembered the first time he had seen the words. ~~~~~~~~~~ He had spent all day reading this journal that his uncle had given him when they reached Paris. The words on the page were starting to blur as he was unused to reading so much. For the past week that was all he had been doing. French, Latin, English, they all blurred together in his mind making the words even harder to understand. The fact that his uncle had decided now would be a good time to start learning German didn't help either. It made everything even more confusing. He rubbed his eyes, and returned to the page of English words. Suddenly he found an entry on demons. That's what his uncle was looking for. The next two entries were also on demons. He picked the book up and walked toward his uncle who was studying another book. Nicolas waited until his uncle looked up at him. "Nicolas, have you found something?" he was asked. "Yes. This entry and the two following contain the information you were looking for," he answered, handing the book to his uncle. The old man read the entry, and scanned the next two. "Yes, this will help a great deal." Passing the book back, he said, "Could you copy those three entries in French?" "Of course, sir," the young man responded, knowing that translating it would make it take even longer. He didn't even know the meaning to all of the words yet. He turned to go, but was stopped with his name. "Nicolas?" "Yes?" "You don't need to call me ‘sir'. You are my nephew, not my servant." "But, I am your servant," he told him. "You are in my service, not my servant. First and foremost you are my nephew." "Yes sir, um, I mean uncle." The man smiled as the boy stumbled over his own words, and told him, "Now, get to work so we can leave. We are going to leave for London again tomorrow morning." Nicolas quickly did as he was told and started copying the entries down. He absorbed the information, and wondered what his uncle was going to do with all of this information on demons. Weren't demons just folklore? He had never seen one, but his uncle claimed he had. Over the past five months he didn't know what was real and what was not. With his own eyes he had seen someone bent to another's will, and an object fly across a room, neither of which should be possible. But he had seen them. Hadn't he? He shook his head, and quickly started writing again. He wanted to have as much time that night as possible. There was a festival and he had planned to attend it. ~~~~~~~~~~ "Nick?" Rachel called for a second time, this time waving her hand in front of his face. He had spaced off again. He came back slowly, still having his memory, but the text on the screen was more important. It told how to transfer a demon from one person to another, and a little about how to control it, but not how to get it back where it belonged or destroy it. But it was better than what he had gotten up until that point. "So, what's in the file?" she asked. "Well, it's not exactly what I want, but it will help. How are Nick and Alex doing on the box?" "I don't know, they took the box somewhere else to work on it." Just then Alex walked back in, with Nick carrying the box close behind her. "Well, that didn't take too long. Were you able to figure anything out?" "Well, I still don't know why it broke in the first place. The scans had shown it to be stable. We do know how to fix the box though. Now we just need to do it. We'll need the computers for a couple of hours." Nick nodded. He turned to Rachel and suggested, "Why don't we check on Derek, then go to the library, see if anything is there." She nodded as well, and they left the room and went to Derek's. Upon entering the room, Natalie looked up. Rachel was the first to speak, "So, how is he?" "I'm not really sure. He hasn't changed, I think he might have gone into a deeper sleep, but I can't tell for sure." She pulled Nick aside, and said, "Nick, I don't really know anything about demons and what happens when they posses you or whatever they do. But you do, you've been taken over by one before. What should I be looking for?" Rachel overheard Natalie's comment, and couldn't stay silent. "Wait a minute. You've had what's happening to Derek happen to you before?" He winced, and was forced to explain, "Well, I've been taken over by a demon before, but not one like this." "What do you mean ‘not one like this'?" "The demon that I was taken over by was a fairly weak one. One that preys on evil thoughts. It enhances someone's dark desires, but usually can't completely control a person. This demon is more powerful, how much more I don't know, but I suspect it could take control of every aspect of a person's being." She was able to accept the explanation, but he could still tell her how Derek was. "How is he then?" "He is sleeping." Then deciding that wasn't that clear he clarified, "Derek is sleeping, but the demon is not. It is gaining energy." "How do you know that. I can tell Derek is asleep, but how do you even know the demon is in Derek, let alone what it is doing?" Her eyes narrowed with her words. He was caught. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. What could he say? His eyes meet Natalie's, but she couldn't do anything to help him out of this mess. Before they had left she had told him not to use his real name, and not listening made their trip more complicated than they had planned. But then they hadn't planned on running into a demon either. It wouldn't have been a problem, but they would demand to know how he got his knowledge, and he suspected Alex was some type of telepath. That didn't help, but it did explain how she could tell there was something wrong about him, and how she knew something was loose. Rachel asked him again, and this time he simply told her, "I can't tell you how I know." "Can't or won't?" Again she received silence, and eventually said, "I'm going to see how Alex and Nick are doing on the box." She quickly left the room, planning on talking to Alex alone. Alex knew something was different about this man, and perhaps she could find out what. Once the door closed, Natalie said, "Nick, you have a problem." "Yes, I know I do. When they find out what I am, deny that you already knew what I am. They won't harm an innocent." Shaking her head, she firmly told him, "No. I won't lie, and I can't just let them kill you. They seem to be caring people, perhaps they will see you as who you are and not what you are." "Perhaps, but if they don't, don't put yourself at risk for me." She didn't answer, she couldn't do as he asked. If it came down to her dying so he could live, she knew she'd do it. No matter what he said or did. "Tell me if anything changes," he said as he left the room. He knew she wouldn't be able to answer, and he knew why. He paused outside the door, wanting a minute of peace before going back to work. *+.*+.*+.*+.*+. Alex saw Rachel as she entered the control room and she didn't look too happy. She and Nick continued to work on the box, but it wasn't going too well. Their plan wasn't working. They stopped, and Rachel asked, "How's it going?" "Not good," Nick said. Then he angrily yelled, "What are we going to do without the damn box?!" The two women winced slightly at his words. "Sorry." Rachel told him, "It's okay. I'm a little frustrated at the moment as well." Alex nodded, and said, "Nicholas?" "Yep, and you're right about at least one thing, he's definitely not normal. He can tell what the demon is doing, but he won't tell me how he knows this. I found out that he's had an experience with a demon before, but not one like this, whatever that means." She paused, then remembered when they were looking up information. "And the journal, he reads it like its modern English, or what ever his native language is, but it's in an obscure native dialect from eight hundred years ago with other languages mixed in. Definitely not something he should be able to read without at least a little bit of thinking." Alex nodded again, and told her, "I'll see what images I can get from him, but we can't do anything about it until after we take care of the demon." The others agreed that Derek had to be taken care of first, and they sat down and waited for Nick to return. When he entered, he noticed Alex and Nick weren't working and asked, "Did it work?" Nick replied, "No, it didn't. We can't repair the box, and we can't make another with out it taking weeks, and we don't have weeks." "No we don't," he commented. "That means we have to find some way of destroying it, and without knowing its name that's going to be very hard." "Do you have an idea on where to find the knowledge to do this?" Alex asked, hoping he did for more than one reason. "I have an idea." 'Although, considering how off I was on the other one, it might not be an advantage.' "So, where to start?" "Files from the Paris House. Should be a book, from about 1000 A.D." "Lets hope it's in the computer," Alex said as she brushed past him and sat at the main computer. She didn't get much from him, mostly images from the past couple of days, nothing that would explain what he was. She quickly recovered, and started the search. By dinner time, they had found something at the Berlin House that appeared to be what they were looking for. It had been translated from Latin three hundred years before, and had been rearranged. The original had been destroyed in a fire, so he had no idea where to start. They had ended up splitting up the file, each working on certain parts, looking for something they could use. Soon, the others stopped for dinner, and when they returned Nick was still reading. Natalie brought him a protein shake and insisted he drink it. Once she had left, he stared at it, and let it sit for several minutes while he finished a section. He then downed it quickly, and hoped no one would notice his reaction. It tasted really bad, and would sit at the bottom of his stomach like a rock, but it would make him feel a little better. An hour later, Alex came up behind him and said, "I think I found something. Go to the fourth section, about two-thirds of the way in." He followed her directions quickly, then once she spotted the paragraph, pointed at it on the screen. The words were the ones he had been searching for. It told how one could destroy or incapacitate a demon. It was what his uncle had done to put the demon in its prison, and he would now use it to destroy the demon. He looked at the clock, and noticed that it would be dark in less than an hour. He decided not to tell the others what he was going to do, especially Natalie. If she knew, she would try to stop him. He quickly memorized the paragraph and the particulars, things that could only be explained with belief and feelings. He told Alex to continue to search for more, even though it wasn't needed, all the information he needed was right in front of him. An hour later, Nick silently left the room so that the others wouldn't really notice. It was slightly past sunset, and he hoped he wouldn't be too late. He could tell the demon was waking up, but had it fully woken yet? Nick rushed up the stairs to Derek's room and what he saw made him freeze. The demon was fully awake, and in complete control of Derek. The demon's presence caused Derek's eyes to glow golden like a vampire's, and when Nick entered, he grabbed Natalie. She couldn't break free from the stronger than human grip, and turned her frightened eyes toward Nick. Evil Within - Part 4/6 Seconds after Nick left the control room Alex took in a deep breath, and said, "Derek's awake and the demon is in control." After Nick and Rachel approached her she continued, "He's got Natalie." She ran from the room with the others following right behind her. They had to get to him before something happened. Nick locked his gaze with the demon's, and tried to get it to let Natalie go. His fear was pushed away and out of view. He couldn't let it see his fear. Alex, Rachel, and Nick entered the room, and froze as they saw Derek's eyes. The demon wasn't going to let go of Natalie, but perhaps it would let go of Derek. "You don't want Derek Rayne, he is not what you are looking for." "But isn't he," the demon said through Derek, the voice deeper and darker than they had ever heard. "He is a Legacy precept," he said holding up the ringed hand. "Just like the one who imprisoned me. It is perfect." His eyes intensified, and a grin formed on his dark features. He would not let the precept go, it was too perfect, he would never get a chance like this again. "No. It is not perfect enough. Yes, he is a precept, but he is not your jailer, William de Brabant." "How dare you speak that name!" he exclaimed while taking a step forward, causing all but Nick to back off. "See. It is not perfect enough!" Nick repeated as he had gotten the desired response. He then pulled the ring out of his pocket, and putting it on despite the burning it caused said, "Recognize this!" He waited a few seconds, and when the demon's eyes almost flared red he continued, slowly taking the ring off and replacing it in his pocket. "This was your jailer's precept ring. It was passed down, and now it's mine. William de Brabant is related to me by mortal blood." The demon seemed to consider this, and waited for another statement. He would decide then. "Besides, why would you stay in a mere mortal's body when you could be more powerful within mine," Nick said softly so the others wouldn't hear as he allowed his own eyes to turn golden, matching the demon's in color and intensity. Only Natalie witnessed the change, and she didn't know what to do. She wanted to tell him to stop, to get out and away, but couldn't speak. Then she realized what he was doing. He was going to take the demon into himself, let it take him over. He was tempting it, trying to free both Derek and herself. She tried to tell him no, but again couldn't speak. Instead she shook her head back and forth slightly. 'He was not going to do this,' she told herself. But he was, and there was nothing she could do. The demon began to smile. He liked this idea. The creature before him was a living demon, a vampire. He would have the body of a vampire, and the revenge he sought. The vampire was right. This body was not perfect enough, but the other's, it was as perfect as he could ever get without traveling back in time. The demon pushed Natalie toward the others, who caught her as she stumbled. Immediately the demon forced Derek's head back, and a black mist flowed out of his mouth. Once free, Derek fell to the floor, and the demon formed the shape of a snakelike dragon. The black dragon then bounded the few feet to Nick, and disappeared into his chest. For several seconds Nick stood with his head back, the others merely watched, not even going to Derek yet. Suddenly he fell to his knees and his head fell forward. Natalie moved away from the others, Alex trying to pull her back, but instead getting pulled along. Natalie fell to the floor about halfway between Nick and Derek, and Alex held her back. She watched as his face contorted with pain once, twice, and then thrice. Her hand was about to reach out for him when abruptly he looked up at her, his eyes flashing golden not with the vampire, but from the power of the demon. Alex fell back, but Natalie held her ground. As long as she didn't make any sudden moves she should be okay. Both Alex and Natalie could easily see his pure golden eyes with raven black catlike pupils as he stared at them staying absolutely still. Natalie could see the demon within him, struggling to gain control and Alex could feel it. He was winning and he closed his eyes, opening them several seconds later to reveal a clear blue, the gold completely gone. But the struggle had taken its toll on him. He fell to the ground and rolled onto his back. Natalie went to him, and cautiously touching his face asked, "Nick are you alright?" At first he pulled away from the touch, but then he took in several deep breaths before answering. "For now," he finally said, "Go check Derek, I don't know how he handled it." She nodded, and by the time she got to Derek, he was beginning to wake up. "What happened? I remember waking up and Nicholas coming into the room, and then it becomes vague, just disjointed images." He got to his feet slowly with Nick and Rachel's help. From what they could tell, no damage was done. Natalie then went back to Nick, and Alex watched her. He seemed to be falling asleep, and she shook him slightly, "Nick? Nick?!" He snapped back to wakefulness, and she told him, "Stay awake." She felt his forehead and noticed his body temperature was a little warmer than normal. "Nick, what's happening to you?" For a second he closed his eyes once again and when he opened them he told her, "The demon is trying to take control of me." Derek's attention was grabbed by his voice and words. "What do you mean? What happened?" "Somehow it got out of the box. It cracked it open, and it entered you," Rachel roughly explained. "But it's not in me anymore?" he couldn't remember anything about what they were talking about. "No, it's in me," Nick said as he stood up despite Natalie's protests to the contrary. Derek looked into Nick's eyes and could see a silent struggle behind them. Suddenly he felt dizzy and started to lose control of his muscles. Nick and Rachel caught him and sat him down on the bed. Natalie said, "You know, you should probably get some rest. That goes for you too Nick. Neither of you should be up and around for a while." "I'll be fine," Derek told her. "I just stood up too fast." She looked him over, and realized that he looked better than everyone else. But then he'd been sleeping for at least the last twelve hours, probably more. She turned her attention to Nick, and immediately he seemed to get dizzy as Derek had, and she helped him to a chair. But his dizziness wasn't from standing up too fast. He put his hand to his temple, and appeared to be fighting something. Natalie cautiously pulled his arm down, and then told him, "Nick, I want you to open your eyes." He did so, but turned his head quickly away. Natalie could see that the blue had once again disappeared and so could the others. His eyes appeared nearly black with a golden hue, something Natalie had never seen before, but the others had. After they flashed bright golden Nick again closed his eyes, opening them to reveal their normal color once again. They all knew what he was doing, and a question entered a few of their minds. "How come you are able to control the demon and Derek was not?" Rachel asked. He quickly turned to her, then said, "I can't really control the demon, merely suppress it." Turning to Derek, he continued, "Derek had been asleep and unprepared when the demon found him, I was fully awake and prepared to receive it. That is all the explanation I can give." He had again focused on her, and she started to become uncomfortable under his intense gaze then looked away. They knew they wouldn't get anymore of an explanation than that, and the room became silent. Finally, standing up Derek commented to no one in particular, "We have to figure out how to destroy, or remove and incapacitate the demon." It was true, but Derek didn't know about the box. "Well, we have a slight problem, we have no where to incapacitate it as it damaged the box and we can't repair it." "Then we have no choice, we must destroy it." Everyone nodded except Natalie. She didn't really understand what was going on, but figured that to destroy the demon, they might have to destroy Nick in the process. She looked over at him and saw a cross between fear and resignation on his face. Her guess appeared to be correct, at least from what he knew. Although she knew he didn't want to die, she knew he would rather do so than let a demon take control of him and possibly harm others. Derek also saw this, and the concern on Natalie's face. She was a complete innocent in what was happening, probably hadn't even known of the Legacy until just before she came. He returned his attention to the matter at hand, and asked, "Have you found anything that might help us in our task?" "We found an entry on how to incapacitate a demon, and from what I can tell it sounded specific to this demon, but I'm not sure," Alex told him uncertainly. "Could I see it?" he asked. She nodded back and then left the room with the others going back to the control room. Derek waited behind, and seeing this Nick slowly stood up and followed them as well with Natalie and Derek close behind him. Once everyone had arrived, Alex pulled up the file, and quickly found the correct entry. Derek quickly read it and commented, "It does say how to destroy the demon, and you're right, it sounds like it is talking about this demon in particular. The symbol described is one of the carvings, perhaps the one denoting its name." He continued reading down the screen and the others read along. Derek stopped scrolling down, "The demon can be destroyed, but at the cost of a mortal life. We need to try and find something else that will work. I don't want any loss of life, but if we can't find anything else, we'll have to use this." After several minutes, Rachel asked, "What about an exorcism? Would that work?" At the word Nick grimaced. He had both watched one and experienced one on more than one occasion, and had no wish to do so again. Derek didn't see the grimace, but he knew it wouldn't work anyway. "Whatever this demon is, it was able to easily break out of its prison, and from the little we know about it, it is extremely powerful. This demon is too strong to be destroyed during an exorcism, and even if we could by some miracle free it from Nicholas' body, we would have no way of containing or destroying it." The others nodded in agreement, an exorcism wouldn't work, but then what could they do? Eventually they all ended up looking for other entries that could help, but they weren't finding anything that would. Night quickly turned into morning and frustration was building. Around 1:00 Nick had to pause in his work in the search. He couldn't concentrate much longer on both the search, and suppressing the demon. His thoughts were all jumbled up, and some of them he knew weren't even his own thoughts. Both Natalie and Derek noticed he had stopped, and Natalie walked across the room to him. Derek watched her, and just before she reached Nick all Derek could see was black. Black splashed with amber and red. Then it was gone. He didn't know what to think of the image, what its meaning was. He then returned to the file he was reading, keeping some of his attention on the other side of the room. Once Natalie was standing in front of him, she asked, "Nick, are you alright?" He snapped his head up, he hadn't even sensed her. Their eyes connected, and she watched as they turned from blue, to gold, then black, to gold and back to blue again. She had never seen that happen before and was sure it was the demon. An amber hue then began to dissipate the blue, and a few seconds later they were solid gold. He still hadn't answered her question, so she called his name, but he just continued to look at her. Derek looked up, and from where he was he could see both Nick and Natalie, but what caught his attention were his eyes. They were bright gold. Suddenly he knew what the image meant, or at least that it was real. He slowly stood up and walked silently toward the two. He stopped a few feet behind Natalie, and saw the gold flash red before Nick closed his eyes. When he reopened them, they were again blue, and he was startled to see both Natalie and Derek. "Nicholas?" Derek asked, but Nick turned his head away, and put his hand up to his temple. He was losing strength and he could do nothing about it. His senses flooded with information and sensation, and he had to get away. He could now feel the presence of the mortals in the room more strongly than even after he was first brought across. He stood up quickly, too quickly, and when his eyes opened they were pure gold. They locked on to Derek and stared straight at him. Black flickered for a second, but the gold remained and intensified. An evil smile began to appear on his features, completely changing him. Natalie called his name, only to receive a snarl complete with fangs. She backed up to run into Derek, and then stopped. Derek attempted to move, but something held him back, an invisible force of some kind. The others noticed something was wrong when they heard the snarl, and approached. Alex and Rachel had almost gotten to Derek and Natalie, and Nicholas glared at them. Immediately Rachel stopped, her mind unable to put up any resistance. Alex was able to take another step before pain exploded in her head and she fell to the ground barely conscious. Nick had been further back, and seeing what happened to the others, he pulled out his gun, aimed and fired. The bullet shot across the room, hitting its target in the shoulder. Nicholas glared back at the other, completely ignoring the bullet, and smiled. "I should warn you not to do that again, you're only wasting bullets. Only mortals are affected by such toys." Their eyes connected, and Nick was forced to drop his gun. Within seconds he was unable to move a single muscle, or even think an independent thought. Nicholas turned his attention back to Natalie and Derek. She couldn't move, but she could still speak and she called his name. "I am not Nicholas," he replied angrily, eyes burning crimson. "I live within in him and benefit from his immortality. Nicholas likes this as he too benefits from it." Natalie's eyes went wide at the comment. "Yes, he wants to take full advantage of my power. Now, he may unleash his true nature and grow stronger with the consumption of his enemies' blood." The demon's words sunk in, and the pieces fell together. That's why Nick had quickly passed the garlic bread past, why he was so pale and the food made him even paler. Not once had he seen him in the sunlight for more than a few seconds and now he knew why. "Vampire," Derek muttered, and anger began to fill his own face, but he could still do nothing. "Yes," he hissed. "I will return your ‘friend' to you for a while, he seems to be a trifle hungry." He laughed slightly, and then his features contorted in pain, leaving behind the vampire. All of the mortals were released, and free to move, but other than Alex standing up, none of them did. The bright gold eyes, gleaming white fangs, and a low growl kept them away. Even despite his anger, Derek made no move. Nicholas focused on the closest person to him, Natalie. He looked straight at her, and began to move forward slightly. Derek pulled her back slowly, and she tried to resist. "Nick. Nick! Look at me!" He already was but her words caused him to stop his approach. "Concentrate, Nick. I know you can control it, you do it all the time." After a few seconds he closed his eyes, and when he reopened them they were blue, but the gold was still clinging on. His fangs had retracted as well, and the absence of the vampire made him weak and he fell to his knees. Natalie broke free of Derek's grip and went to him, but he held her away. When she looked into his face, she could see gold, and his canines had already begun to descend again. "Natalie, stay back. I can't control it much longer, I am too weak," he said, shaking his head slightly, his voice barely a whisper. She immediately knew what he needed, and told him, "Stay right there, and don't move, I'll be right back." She stood up and ran from the room, paying no attention to the others. Minutes later Natalie returned, although to the occupants of the room it seemed like mere seconds. No one had moved which she was glad of. She handed the glass she was carrying to Nick and he took it surprisedly. As soon as his hands touched the glass he could feel the cool liquid inside the cup. He looked at the contents, a thick, dark red liquid - blood. It was human, and although it was cold and probably days old if not a week, he could almost sense its owner even without tasting their nectar. The gold slowly intensified, and his fangs descended even farther in anticipation. He had brought the glass to his lips and was about to take a drink, but stopped. He quickly handed the glass back to Natalie and told her, "I can't. It will give strength to the demon." "Right now it will give strength to you. The longer you can control it and yourself, the better. Drink." She held out the glass again, and after nearly a minute he gingerly took it. He could still feel the essence of the blood, and after over two days without any blood, let alone human blood and the drain the demon was putting on his strength he couldn't resist it. He raised the glass and began to drink, faster and faster, yet savoring every single drop, his senses exploding with sensation. Almost immediately the glass was empty and the blood's images quickly began to disappear leaving a feeling of emptiness behind. As they waited, his features returned to those of a mortal man, and as they watched his complexion became more lively, and his paleness almost seemed normal. By the time the others noticed this, he looked completely different than even when he had first arrived at the Legacy house. The wound in his shoulder knitted itself back together leaving behind nothing but smooth, pale skin. His eyes met Derek's, and they became locked. Images flashed through Derek's mind, all of the creature before him in its transformed state. A vampire. Something just as evil as the demon, perhaps more. It could transform anyone into a killer with no regard for life. A creature that was one of the greatest enemies of the Legacy. Only a month before he had destroyed one in their ranks, and in the very same house. Natalie took the empty glass from Nick, and could see the fear within both him and Derek. Derek knew what Nick was, knew what he could do. Nick knew this and instinctively feared the other. But why? Why were the two at such odds? "Nick?" Neither of them moved. Instead their stares became more intense and eventually Nick stated, "You know what I am." The statement hung in the room for a moment. Everyone understood it, they knew alright. "A vampire," Derek stated. "A creature of evil that walks the darkness of night searching for victims for its appetite. Yes, I know what you are." Nick grimaced at the description, but it was extremely accurate. That's what he'd been for centuries. It was a much easier existence. To give into his desires - but that's not what he wanted anymore. "Know that I will not willfully harm you or any other member of your house. Also know that I will do anything to help destroy the demon." Their eyes stayed locked, and Derek could see that he told the truth even thought his words made no sense. The creature before him was telling him that it would do nothing to harm them, and that it intended to help the Legacy. Why would such a creature do this? Offer to help its enemy, when the power of a demon would only increase their own power. It would make a vampire virtually invincible. To destroy the demon, would be to destroy one of its own. Yet, the words were truth. Derek didn't dare look away. After a moment, he asked, "What is our first priority?" "To either destroy or imprison the demon, no matter what the cost." He listened to the words, and again the truth was being told. Derek knew he would help at least in their first priority. Finally he nodded, "I will not pass judgement until after this matter is solved. Remember what you have pledged, and do not betray the Legacy or you will be hunted down. If this happens your death will not be quick." Derek broke eye contact and quickly walked out of the control room. The others stayed where they were for several minutes. "Nick? What was all of that about?" Natalie finally asked, breaking the silence. Rachel, Alex, and Nick waited for his reply, no one really knowing the answer. Everyone's eyes were now fixed on him. They wanted to know, but what would he tell them? "The Legacy and the vampire community have known about each other since the beginning. Before the Legacy was even created conflict had already started to build. Vampires, creatures that could come out only during the darkness of night and that would leave lifeless bodies in their wake. Immediately we were seen for what we were. Not just predators. Living demons. Vampires. We became hunted, then eventually the Legacy was formed and we learned how to recognize its members. "When I became a vampire and was told about the Legacy, I immediately knew it was my enemy, and it was. If a vampire were to come across a Legacy member, only one would live, usually the vampire. At times we were hunted extensively. A Legacy house would even halt all other activities to rid the world of a single vampire. Although personally I've never been hunted by the Legacy, or at least to my knowledge I haven't, I've watched others around me be discovered. Sometimes they would be tortured, but usually quickly killed. This would either lead to fear, or death depending upon the acquaintances of the vampire. Vampires are one of the greatest enemies of the Legacy, although at present very few of my kind know about the organization, and the number decreases every decade." "But you haven't done anything about us. You've shown no intention of harming us," Rachel commented. "I have different beliefs than others of my kind. If it were any other vampire my age, you would most likely all be dead." Silence again reigned, and a shiver passed through them. "Is that why you've helped the Legacy in the past?" Nick asked, not understanding exactly what he meant, and what he was explaining. "I haven't done much to help the Legacy since I became a vampire. Until about thirty years ago I completely avoided the Legacy, and when I came here, I was looking for something. I left when suspicions were beginning to form about me. Until now that was the only time I was involved with the Legacy, and then all I did was translations and some research work. I wasn't really helping the Legacy, others could have easily done the work." Silence reigned for a few seconds, then Rachel noticed something. 'He'd been looking for something.' She eventually asked, "What were you looking for, and did you ever find it?" He looked over at Natalie, he had already told her about the Abborat, it couldn't hurt to tell the others. After all it had been destroyed, and he'd already related the tension between the Legacy and the vampire community. "I was looking for a book called the Abborat. It was an ancient book of cures. I had hoped one of them would be for the curse that controls me." "You mean for your vampirism?" "Yes." "And did you find it? Did it have a cure?" "I found it, or at least I saw it just before it was destroyed. I don't know if it contained a cure or not, perhaps one day I'll find another copy of it." Before anyone could make any comment, Derek returned and gestured to Nicholas that he should come with him. Nick had no idea what it was about, but knew it had something to do with the demon. "The instructions for destroying the demon will not work if you try it. You must return the demon to my body." Nick looked at him for a few seconds with a blank stare, then turning away he said, "I can't." "What do you mean ‘can't'?" "I can't. Not only will the demon not take up residence in your body again, but I can't allow you to sacrifice yourself." "Why won't it?" he asked, getting annoyed at the half answers he was receiving. "Because to it, my body is as perfect as it could get for its revenge. With you it only has the satisfaction of controlling a Legacy precept. Through me it has the body of its imprisoner's nephew, the precept that was to replace him, and the power of the vampire." "But you can't destroy the demon." "Because I have no soul," he stated. "I will destroy the demon," he then said angrily. True, he didn't have a soul or at least in its maggot infested state he might as well not have one, but he had a plan. He would make it work, and no one was going to interfere in carrying it out. Nick quickly returned to the room before Derek could say anything, and they restarted searching for an alternative procedure, one that would work. An hour later he was getting nowhere, and neither was anyone else. His anger was already on the surface and as his frustration increased, so did his anger. Both Rachel and Natalie had already come up to him and asked if he was okay, and each time he ignored their questions. That was almost a half hour before. Finally he just gave up on his part of the search. He could no longer think, his thoughts were too disconnected. At the moment he was debating whether or not to just get up and leave the room. He couldn't stay there much longer. Their strong heartbeats pounded in his head, the beats made even stronger by their own frustration. Their blood was calling to him, luring him in for the kill . . . He banished the feeling. He attempted to cut all of his senses off, but that was wasted when he felt a warm hand on his arm. "Nicholas, are you okay?" Rachel asked, her voice calm and concerned as most doctor's voices sounded. But he didn't hear her voice, only felt the warmth of her hand through his shirt-sleeve. His eyes had been closed in concentration, and as such no one noticed as the vampire emerged, reveling in the warmth of her hand, and taking in the scent of her blood - chocolate and apples. The smell was intense. Nothing like anything he had smelt while he was mortal. When he didn't answer, she slowly knelt down in front of him and with her other hand lightly touched his face, thinking nothing of what he was. After a few seconds his eyes snapped open, their amber hue causing a gasp to escape Rachel's lips, her heart rate increasing as she realized her situation. The others heard the gasp and turned their attention to them. Already Nick had reacted, taking Rachel and pulling her away from the others. Her back was to him, and one of his arms gripped her tightly around the waist, while the other pulled her head to one side. As they watched, his eyes flashed a black color, the demon was having an influence in his actions. Any movement was painful, and she stopped struggling. The only sounds in the room were her breathing, quick and panicked, and a low rumbling purr. As she felt his breath and then his lips on her neck, her breathing suddenly stopped. She closed her eyes knowing what he was meaning to do. He was going to drink her blood, and then she would die. Evil Within - Part 5/6 "Nicholas, let Rachel go. Don't harm her," Derek's voice told him, and he wanted to do as the voice said, but he needed blood. He had no control over what he wanted. Derek's words echoed in his mind, but at the same time he could both see and feel her sweet blood being pumped though her body. Again his lips brushed against her white neck, then they parted allowing his canines to do the same. Suddenly his consciousness was pushed to the back of his mind, and the beast took control. He kissed her soft skin, then again brushed his fangs across the warm surface. More pressure was applied, to the point that a single drop of blood appeared on the otherwise unblemished surface. He faintly heard his name being called, and his vision changed. He hadn't yet had a taste of the woman's blood, but it was closer than ever before. He could see it, smell it and almost taste it. The one that called his name became the focus of his stare, a scarlet hue replacing the slight gold one across his vision. A low rumble began, and slowly became first a growl and then a snarl, all directed at Derek. He returned his attention to the mortal, and was about take her blood when a stream of images flooded his vision. Images from his nightmares. Natalie dead, killed by his own hand, the others he had killed in the past, those that didn't have to die, shouldn't have died. The images stopped him cold, and he was able to regain some control of the situation, his eyes returning to gold. His grip was still tight, but he hadn't killed her yet. The room was full of innocents, and unless he stopped now they would all die by his own hand. He knew that, as sure as he knew his own name. He didn't want anyone to die, wasn't that the point in not allowing the demon back into Derek? So that an innocent wouldn't die? But the woman he was about to kill was also an innocent. He let go of her suddenly, and backed away toward a corner of the room. Derek quickly caught Rachel and tightly held her as she cried into his shoulder. He softly told her that she was going to be alright, but knew that it was only for the moment. As far as he knew he could die at any time. When he looked over at the vampire, he saw something unexpected - fear. The fear was so strong it was causing Nick's body to shake as he sat in the corner, his knees pulled up in front of him. Although his eyes were still golden, they had lost their edge. Derek felt that the danger was still present, but that it wasn't a immediate danger. He let Alex take Rachel, and slowly began to approach Nick. Once he was about five meters away the gold intensified and started to get darker. He stopped where he was as he heard a slight growl, he didn't need to be told what was happening. "Stay back," he was told, but within his words was the fear, fear of what would happen if he didn't. Derek stayed where he was for a moment as he pulled out a knife from his pocket. He pulled the blade out and continued closer, not stopping as another warning was issued, or even as Nick's eyes flared crimson and he snarled. He approached until he was merely a meter from Nick. Nick could no longer warn him away for fear he might lose what control he had left. With one quick motion, Derek made a slice in his forearm, not quite at the wrist, but close enough that he would still get a good blood flow. At the sudden scent Nick braced himself against the adjoining walls, and tightly shut his eyes. Derek told him to take the blood and at the same time held his arm out, but Nick didn't hear the words. Derek could see the control and the fear which had grown exponentially stronger. Derek knelt down next to Nick, and put his right hand on Nick's arm pulling it away from the wall, and put his left arm a couple of inches from his face. Nick turned away from the sweet scent, and Derek put his arm up to his turned away lips, leaving a small amount of his blood there. The reaction was almost immediate as the blood was licked from his lips, and opening his eyes, he went straight for Derek's arm. At first he merely licked the blood away from the wound, but when it all but disappeared, he sank his fangs into the skin next to the cut. Derek gasped from the slight sudden pain and he wondered if he had made the right decision or not. Images assaulted his mind, and the conflict he could previously only see, he now felt. It seemed as though he was actually the one experiencing the pain. The past few days flashed through his mind faster than his thoughts could follow, but he got the distinct impression he was experiencing Nicholas' memories. Then he saw other memories seen through the eyes of a young man, and knew that this was when Nick had lived and worked with his uncle. Quickly these events turned into others, and suddenly killing took over the main stage. At first it was brutal battles, but then it changed to simple murder. He saw almost every instant of Nick's life, but in so short a time he remembered almost nothing. Only the conflict, and a few somewhat clear events, mostly from the past couple of days. All of the sudden, the sensation stopped, and he again gasped, feeling returning to him, and the dizziness left from the loss of blood. Once he had remembered where he was, he noticed that less than a minute had passed, and that Nick was quickly backing even farther away from him along the wall. Natalie was the first to react, not being quite as stunned as the others. She noticed Nick's action, but went to Derek first. He had leaned back against the wall and was holding his wrist, which had stopped bleeding. She asked how he felt, and he told her he was tired, which he definitely was. He felt like going to sleep right there and staying that way for quite a while. Rachel came up to her and took over, and Natalie went to Nick. He was now laying on his back and holding his head in his hands. She pulled his hands away cautiously, not sure how he was going to react. He tensed slightly at her touch, but otherwise stayed absolutely still. Alex approached her as she reached out to touch his face. His eyes snapped open to reveal crystal clear blue. "Nick? Are you all right?" she asked, brushing some of his hair to the side. He nodded, and then asked her in return, "How's Derek? Did I stop soon enough?" Natalie looked over at Derek and Rachel, and noticed he looked a little better, and he was still awake. "He'll be fine, you stopped soon enough." Abruptly, Nick closed his eyes in pain, and when he opened them, they flashed an amber color then returned to their normal color. "Nat, sedate me, please, before anything else happens." "Nick, I, I can't do that!" she protested. "Do it," Alex told her. When she received merely a few partially mouthed words, she asked Nick, "The demon is starting to take control isn't it?" "How did you know?" "Your eyes. They flashed gold a certain way. I've seen it before." Natalie looked down at him as he pleaded with his eyes. She didn't want to sedate him, but she didn't want to see him suffer either. After about a minute she finally said, "Um, Rachel do you have any curare here?" "Curare. I don't think so, it's not used very often." "Nick, what about Phenobarbital, would that work?" He thought for a few moments, then told her, "I think it will." "I'll go get some," Alex said as she left the room. Nick laid still for a couple of minutes before saying, "Derek, Nick, after the sun rises I want you two to do something for me." "What?" they asked, almost in unison. "Natalie, I want you and Rachel to leave the room." "But . . ." she protested. "It's okay, I'll have them tell you later." After a second Natalie nodded, and took Rachel with her as they left the room. She wanted to make sure no damage was done and now seemed like a good time. Nick pulled himself into a sitting position, and once he could no longer hear Natalie's heartbeat, he told them, "After the sun rises, I want you two to kill me. Stake me then take me out into the noon sun. If you do it fast enough it might kill the demon." Neither replied right away knowing the reason for his request, but Nick then said, "That's why you asked Natalie and Rachel to leave. If Natalie knows about this she might not give you enough of the Phenobarbital to sedate you." He paused for a moment then asked, "She loves you, doesn't she?" He was a little surprised at the comment, but not much. He nodded, and just then Natalie, Rachel and Alex returned. Alex also had a glass of orange juice with her, and handed it to Derek. When they saw they didn't seem to be interrupting anything, Natalie asked, "How much should I give you?" "Uh, about 40 cc's should do it. If not you can always give me more." She silently filled the needle with 40 cc's and quickly pulled his arm out, deciding on a good place to inject him. Then after emptying the needle, she pulled it out and rubbed the area slightly. At least she didn't have to worry about him getting an infection. She had forgotten to clean his arm like she always did. She wasn't thinking, but then she didn't need to at the moment. Now all she had to do was wait for one of his powerful heartbeats to circulate the drug throughout his entire system. They didn't have to wait long, as about two minutes later she felt it, and watched as it quickly did its job. He immediately began to get tired, and within another minute he was completely out. She reached up to his face, and brushed some of his hair out of the way. "What did he ask you to do?" Derek and Nick looked at each other, and Derek told her once he had stood up, "We'll tell you once we take Nicholas up to his room." She nodded, and decided she could wait. As Derek moved toward Nick, Alex advised against Derek helping. He looked a lot better than he had several minutes before, but knew that he could easily be hiding how tired he actually was. He brushed her concern off, and he and Nick took Nicholas up to his room. Once there, Natalie had tucked the covers in and asked, "What did he ask?" Derek had been thinking about what he would say, and after a moment told her, "He wants us to try and destroy the demon. He asked us to give him death." She stopped cold at the last word. He had asked for death, for his life to be ended. A life he often said he didn't possess in the first place, telling her that he was already dead. Her only reaction was a slight shaking of her head, and two clear tears running down her checks. All of the Legacy members except Rachel left the room, who took Natalie and held her as her tears were unleashed. She could see how the decision was tearing her apart and wished she didn't have to deal with it. Once her tears slowed, Natalie turned to Nick and held his hand in hers. Rachel watched her and asked, "Natalie? Is there something I can do for you?" "Just stay here. Don't leave either of us." Rachel put her hand on Natalie's back and rubbed slightly telling her, "Don't worry, I won't go anywhere." After receiving a weak nod, she walked around to the other side of the bed and lightly touching the side of his face, feeling the cold deathlike skin. But to him that was normal, and he had more color now than when he had come. His features were completely relaxed, and looked nothing like he had a few minutes before. She had nearly lost her life to him. She could still feel the pinprick where his fang had caught her skin. But she hadn't. Right now he looked farther from what he was, a vampire, than she could possibly believe. Innocence was the only thing she could think of as she looked at him. "He means a lot to you doesn't he?" "Yes, he does. At first I was merely trying to find a cure for him, then I began to understand his reasons for wanting it in the first place. His quest became my own, and now I don't know what I would do without him. My whole life is centered around him." Silence surrounded them for a few moments, then Rachel commented, "Since I joined the Legacy I've seen some pretty interesting things. At first I didn't even really believe something could be truly classified as good or evil. Then I believed that something could not be both good and evil at the same time, and until now, I haven't seen anything to contradict that. Nicholas is different, and I think he probably was even before he became a vampire." Natalie shook her head, she believed he was different too. That was why she didn't know if she could live without him. Around three thirty in the morning Natalie fell asleep laying next to him, and Rachel fell asleep soon after. Evil Within - Part 6/6 Natalie suddenly started awake, someone was trying to wake her. She opened her eyes then noticed Nick wasn't in the room anymore. He was gone. Derek was the one trying to wake her, and then she knew something was wrong. "What? Where's Nick?" "We don't know, we just got up here. He left, but I think he's still somewhere in the house." She sat up, and noticed something was different in the room. Some of her things had been moved, and then she saw something on the dresser. She stood up and walked over to it. It was a ring, one she had never seen before. She picked it up, and upon closer examination she noticed it was Nick's family crest, and on the inside was engraved his name, his real name. Her eyes were then caught by the piece of paper that the ring had been sitting on. It was a cream color and on the front was simply her first name. She picked it up revealing another piece of paper with Derek's name on it. Derek saw it and decided to take it after Natalie had opened up the one with her name on it. She did so, and immediately tears began to fall from her eyes. Nick caught her before she fell, and he took the piece of paper from her. On it were three simple words. I love you. Derek then took the other piece of paper the one with his name written on its front and unfolded it. Inside was a short message: The demon will be destroyed. You'll be able to find me in the tunnels. At the bottom his name was signed. Derek brought the paper up to his nose and inhaled. He could still smell the ink. The note had been written recently. "He's down in the tunnels," he told the rest of the room, placing the two notes on the dresser and quickly leaving the room. The others followed, and had caught up to Derek by the time he had gotten to the entrance, flashlight in hand. They entered the tunnels and Derek went on instinct, going the direction that felt right. Whether it was pure instinct, or as a result of allowing Nicholas to take his blood he didn't know. Suddenly they went around a corner and ended up in a small cavern. In the center was Nick, but before anything could be done he plunged a stake through his chest. He closed his eyes tight, but whether it was from pain or concentration they couldn't tell. One hand was closed tightly holding something that couldn't be seen. Black mist began to accumulate around him, swirling around him and slowly turning into a dragon. The black dragon saw Derek, and locked its golden eyes on him. It prepared to strike, but was invisibly held back by something. Now a white mist began to appear, surrounding and smothering the dragon. The dragon's screams could be heard as it was destroyed, and the white mist disappeared through the roof of the cavern. Nick fell to the ground when the mist disappeared, and the observers stood stunned by what they had seen. Natalie ran forward, and quickly felt the side of Nick's neck. She knew she wouldn't find a pulse, but his skin was freezing cold, and even in the dim light she could tell he was chalk white. She moved her hand up to his face, then lightly touched the wood of the stake. Once she could feel it she grabbed it with both hands and tried to pull it out. It wasn't working, and as she tried to get a better grip, strong hands pulled her back and away. Derek was surprised at her determination, but he also knew nothing could be done. He knew what would kill a vampire, and her reaction had confirmed it. She was shaking uncontrollably. Once he had pulled her to the entrance to the cavern, he turned her around and let her cry into his shoulder. Derek couldn't say anything to comfort her, knew that nothing could. After the tears stopped, he asked her, "Is there anything I can do to help?" She looked up at him, then pulled away from him and went back to the other room. "Could you help me take the stake out? I can't stand to see him like that." Her pleading eyes touched something in his soul, something he couldn't identify. He nodded and followed her to her friend's still figure. He reached down, and on the second try he was able to pull the wood free. No reaction was received from Nick, and Natalie knelt down and clasped his hand. It was the hand that he had been holding something in, and seeing that he had been holding it tightly closed, she pried his fingers open. In his hand was a gold chain, and on the chain was a small cross, her cross. She reached up to her neck and discovered that he must have taken it as she wasn't wearing it. Slowly, she removed it from his hand, and surprisingly she saw no burn marks on his skin. He had held the cross without any ill effects. But now that didn't matter. There was no reason to celebrate his resistance. She placed the cross in her pocket, then bent over and kissed him, first on the lips and then on the forehead. Accompanying her second kiss was a single tear, which landed on his cheek as she sat up. The tear captured the light of the room, and for a second glowed so bright all had to look away. When they were able to see again, a young woman had appeared in the light. Her hair was a dark golden blond, and the curls framed her pale face. Derek was almost immediately able to place her from Nicholas' memories, and Natalie recognized her from descriptions. It was Nicholas' sister, his mortal sister. At first she merely looked down on him. But then her gaze turned toward Natalie. Her expression was one of confusion, and after a few seconds the young woman spoke, "You are willing to give your life so that my brother shall live. Your heart is pure in its devotion, and as such I have come to you. Nicolas is not yet ready to leave your world, he still has many important tasks to complete. He was not meant to be the one to sacrifice himself, and his faith which is drawn from you is the cause of his victory. It is also his faith which has saved him from the fate of his kind. This death will not be permanent, and he will rejoin you, but mortality cannot be given at this time. He will stay as he is." She paused and looked down for a moment. When she again looked up, she continued with crystal tears in her eyes, "Natalie, make sure he never forgets his family, and tell him that mother and I love him, and that we also have faith in him." Natalie stayed motionless, and watched as she bent down and repeated Natalie's previous actions, and while she kissed him on the forehead, both she and the light faded out, leaving behind only Natalie's lone tear. A white mist then appeared around him, and disappeared into him. The others had stayed where they had been when they entered, except Derek who was standing about a meter behind Natalie. After about a minute of complete silence, Natalie heard Nick take a breath, and at the same time he sat up quickly. Almost immediately he was able to see every single detail of the stone cavern. He didn't even have to look to know who was in the room or where they were. Their heartbeats distinguished them. He tried to remember what happened, but everything was fuzzy. He remembered coming down to the room and everything before it, and he remembered taking the stake . . . But then all he saw was a bright flash of white light and then waking up. 'If I'm still alive, what happened to the demon?' he asked himself, at the same time looking around the room once again, his eyes resting on first Natalie and then Derek. Suddenly he remembered the stake. If it had worked the wound could not have healed yet, the sun was still down and he could tell only minutes had passed since entering the cavern. He looked down, and there was no injury, not even a scar, nothing. He quickly closed his eyes and concentrated. The demon was no longer in him, but when he searched the room, all he found was the past presence of it. It had been in pain, and something had destroyed it. But what? He was confused. Suddenly he found himself being lifted to his feet. It was Derek and Nick. He hadn't seen them move, he had been too caught up in his thoughts. "What happened?" he softly asked, more to himself than anyone else. He wasn't even sure he voiced it aloud. "You destroyed the demon, or I should say your soul did," Derek answered, himself confused by what he had just witnessed. After all, vampires didn't have souls. Nick took in the information, but his mind could barely comprehend it. His soul couldn't have destroyed the demon, it was damned and along with it himself. But Derek said his soul had destroyed it. He faintly remembered them entering the cavern so he had seen what happened. Derek had also known about the Legacy and the evils it fought for the majority of his lifetime. 'He couldn't be mistaken,' he thought. 'But . . .' "How?" By this time they were back in the main house, and Nick sat down on the couch. "How?" he asked a second time as Natalie sat next to him. For a moment she was speechless. 'How could she explain how he had destroyed the demon and survived?' Finally she said, "An angel came. She told me your faith was able to destroy the demon. Your faith also allowed you to survive." She paused, then after almost a minute, continued, "Nick, the angel was your sister, your mortal sister. She wanted to let you know that she and your mother have faith in you and that they love you." He was stunned. His mortal sister, Fleur, had come to the mortal world as an angel. Nick had described Fleur to Natalie once and he wondered if Fleur had told Natalie who she was, or if she had figured it out on her own. Just thinking made his head hurt, and he decided he would ask later. He could feel the sun rising, and even though he had been sedated for about four hours, he felt more tired than he would if he had stayed up several days in a row. When he had woke up, he remembered was that it was shortly before sunrise, and now the sun was almost on the horizon. He was exhausted from whatever he'd done, and just wanted to sleep. He knew he would remember everything else when he awoke, and then he started to drift off. Natalie watched as he fell asleep, and then noticed that Derek was the only one that didn't look like they were going to fall asleep right then. Alex, Rachel and Nick mentioned they were going to get some sleep, and Rachel said she'd get a blanket and pillow for Nick. Derek didn't comment one way or another, and merely watched as the others left, then Rachel came back and gave the materials to Natalie. He then watched as she laid him down and covered him up. Afterwards she sat on the edge of the couch and looked at him. Derek too watched and noticed he was completely relaxed, more so than he had been since arriving. Even more than when Natalie had sedated him. Yet, within the peace all but disappeared, as both the past and the present tormented him. Derek silently sat down in one of the chairs and continued watching and observing, his thoughts continuously getting more jumbled. *+.*+.*+.*+.*+. Derek was startled awake by something and he noticed that Nicholas was once again gone. Natalie was sleeping where he had been, the blanket carefully tucked around her. He looked at his watch, 12:30. Morning was over, and the sun was definitely up. Well, one thing he knew for sure, Nicholas hadn't left the house; he couldn't without exposing himself to the sun. He went to the control room first, he didn't know why, he just went there. When he entered, he found Nicholas sitting at the main computer typing. At first he had no idea what he was typing, but seeing the journal he knew he had started working on the translation again. Derek walked closer and waited for the typing to stop, which it did after a few seconds. Nicholas looked up to Derek, and then looked away. Derek could still see confusion, although most of it had dissipated. "You don't have to finish the translation, at least not right now. Right now we should all be getting some rest." "I'll be fine," he quickly answered. "I'm used to less rest than this." After a moment Derek nodded, from the night before he had experienced Nicholas' life. Memories and nightmares assaulted him both while he slept and while he was awake. They would keep him awake and sometimes he would just stay up. He had probably gotten more sleep over the past couple of days than he normally would in a week. "What happened? How did I destroy the demon?" Nicholas finally asked. "After the demon discovered your body was dead, it tried to leave. It attempted to strike out and find another victim, but your soul stopped it. A white mist appeared and enveloped the demon. It screamed in pain, and in moments it was destroyed. The white mist disappeared through the ceiling, and then you collapsed. By the time Natalie had gotten to you it was too late, but soon after an angel appeared." Derek paused, then asked, "She was your mortal sister wasn't she?" Although Nick hadn't been there, he knew the angel had been his sister, Natalie had also said the angel was his sister. He nodded slightly, and waited for Derek to continue, he wanted to know what had happened. "She spoke to Natalie, and I only heard a little bit of what was said, but I do know that you were able to destroy the demon because of your faith, especially your faith in Natalie. Did you know that Natalie would do anything for you? She would give her life if it were to prevent your death. She is very special, very few have a love that strong for another, but it seems as though she can do nothing with it. Her faith in you is so strong I'm not sure anything could break it." Derek could see that he knew, and realized that was one of the reasons his faith was so strong. When Derek had offered to destroy the demon he had believed he could do it, but he now knew that he couldn't. His faith wasn't strong enough. And then to have enough faith to survive. He hadn't even believed it possible, yet it happened. The room was engulfed in silence for several minutes. Nick finally broke it, asking, "So, now that that's over, what are you going to do about me." Derek didn't answer right away. He needed to think at least a little longer. True, if the Legacy discovered a vampire they would be killed. Merely weeks before he had destroyed a friend that had become a vampire, and watched him vaporize in the sunlight. But then he could almost feel the evil. This vampire was unique as far as he could tell, Nicholas was searching for a way to regain his mortality. He also had a soul, something they weren't supposed to have, and from what he knew, didn't have. "For now, nothing." "Nothing?" he asked. Derek nodded, "I'm planning on letting you go. I still need to decide if I'm going to tell the rest of the Legacy of your existence." "Why haven't you decided?" "Many would probably hunt you down and kill you. Others would take in what you've done for the Legacy, but they might not have the same opinion I have." "And what opinion do you have?" 'They can't be letting me go completely free.' "The same as your friend. You are not evil, and you are also not like the others of your kind. I've never seen or heard anything about anyone like you." Derek paused for a moment, then said, "Actually, I don't think I will tell them, not unless I have to. You helped us and gave your life for me. Your still being alive proves that you are needed among the living. I won't mention what you are to anyone beyond this house." Nick didn't ask anything more. They weren't going to do anything unless they had to. His eyes met Derek's for a moment before he returned to his typing. He was about half way done with translating the journal. "Nicholas, I still think you should get some rest. At least stop translating the journal for now, you can work on it again later." Nick stopped typing again, and this time saved the file. He then closed the journal and turned the monitor off. "What are you going to do now? We are the only ones awake." "Well, I don't know about you, but I want something to eat," was the answer as Derek left the control room. Nick winced at the suggestion. He wasn't sure if he wanted anything to eat, but he followed Derek anyway. He had nothing better to do. They entered the kitchen and Nick stayed back from the windows seeing the bright light that was mere meters away. While his attention had been focused on the windows, Derek had asked him a question, but he couldn't remember what it had been about. "What?" "I asked if you wanted me to make you anything. I noticed yesterday morning that the eggs didn't seem to bother you too much. Do you want some?" "Sure," he replied. He knew it would make him a little sick, but Natalie would be happy. Besides, the eggs didn't really bother him that much and they were high in protein. In the long run it would make him feel better. It wasn't long before they were ready, and he silently ate the eggs while Derek had cereal. Afterwards, still no one was awake, and after a half hour Nick went back to the control room. He really needed to do something, anything but what he was doing then. While he was looking around, he found a chess set and he set it up and started playing himself. Derek watched him for a while and an hour and a half later Nick had defeated himself. He began to set up for a second game, and Derek asked if he could play. At first Nick refused, but after a couple of minutes he had convinced Nick to play a game with him. Derek was white, and Nick took the black. Derek went first, and as he was on his second move, Rachel and Alex entered the room. They were slightly surprised to see Nick awake, but decided to watch. They both knew Derek was pretty good at chess, and suspected that his opponent was probably pretty good as well. Natalie came in a couple of minutes later, still trying to wake up and silently joined Alex and Rachel. Nick entered not much later, and now it was Nick's fifth move. Derek took several minutes to decide where to move next and he thought he had made a good choice until Nicholas moved and toppled his king declaring check mate. He had been defeated on his opponent's sixth move, and he wasn't even prepared for it. He had been told he didn't play with others often because he didn't find it very challenging, and now he knew why. The rest of the day passed quietly, and the next day Natalie, Alex and Rachel went to the city. The others stayed on the island, and by sunset Nick had finished translating his uncle's journal. Derek was surprised at how fast he had translated it, but when he thought a little more he wasn't as surprised. It was probably easier for him to read the journal than the daily newspaper. The three women returned late, and once back, Nick asked Natalie what she had bought seeing the several bags she carried. She had gotten a dress, a new pair of shoes to wear to work, and a couple of souvenirs. Everyone went to their rooms shortly later, and Natalie pulled Nick into her room again. She didn't know if he would have talked to Derek yet, and wanted to make sure he either had, or that he would. "Nick, what are we going to do? They know what you are. What happens if other people in the Legacy find out?" He figured she would ask, and quickly answered, "Don't worry, I've already talked to Derek, and he isn't going to do anything. He won't say anything about me unless he absolutely has to, and I believe him." She nodded, and when he turned to go, asked, "What time are we leaving here tomorrow?" "As soon as the sun sets. We'll be arriving in Toronto well after sunrise." She again nodded and he left for his own room as she picked up the phone to call Tracy and tell her when they'd be coming back. The next morning, Nick and Natalie packed after breakfast, and as soon as Nick came down, Derek led him to the Library. Once there, Nick curiously asked, "What did you want to see me about?" "I want you to have this," he answered holding the journal out. "It belonged to your uncle, it was his journal and I see no reason why you can't keep it. We have the translation which is the important part." Nick took the journal slowly, and Derek continued, "Also, I would like to give you this. It is a medallion that used to be the identification of a Legacy precept." He pulled it out of the pouch, and it was a large golden medallion, on a gold chain. The symbol was almost as strong as a cross, and he forced himself to look at the medallion. "But, I . . ." Nick couldn't protest any further as Derek said, "It may help if other Legacy members find out about you. If they do, you can show it to them, tell them that I know you, and to talk to me." Derek put the medallion back in the pouch and held it out for Nick to take. "But if they know I know you, and that I allowed you to live they might think you are in league with the dark side," Nick argued, adding, "They might kill you for treachery." "I'll take that chance. But I can't destroy you for what you are. If I did I would be betraying myself. You are not vampire in my eyes. Your quest for mortality and your faith proves that." He held the pouch out a little further and waited. After nearly a minute, Nick slowly and carefully took it. He could feel the power the medallion possessed, but he didn't have the urge to toss it on the table or the ground like he had expected. Instead he closed his eyes and concentrated until he could no longer feel its power. Carefully, he opened the pouch and lifted the golden medallion by its chain and held it up at eye level. When he opened his eyes and saw it, the symbol instinctively repelled him, but he ignored the relatively small amount of pain it caused. He slowly replaced it in the pouch and their eyes connected. "Thank you," he said sincerely. "I will attempt to halt any actions by the Community against the Legacy that I hear of. Also if you have anything that I may be able to help with or that may be of interest to me, don't hesitate to call, but do not leave a message stating that you are a member of the Legacy. Others would not hesitate to kill you." Derek was not surprised by the warning, he was more surprised that any vampire would hesitate to kill a Legacy member. "I think we should return to the others. Nick wants to challenge you to chess. He's not sure you're actually skilled at the game. He insists that it was luck, perhaps you should show him that it was not." Nick liked to play chess, and he was being given the chance to play with someone else, someone that had the opinion his winning the game with Derek was luck. He hadn't gotten the chance to do that in a long time, and was already planning his moves. "I accept his offer," Nick replied, a smile almost coming to his lips. He was going to enjoy this. The others were in the main room, and a chess board had already been set up. Before Nick could say anything, Derek told him, "Your challenge has been accepted." Derek suppressed a smile of his own, knowing there was basically no way he could win, but Nick didn't know that. They began to play, Nick getting the black, and Nicholas the white. An hour and a half later, Nick was getting frustrated. It almost seemed like he was being led around the board, and his king had been open on several occasions. But instead of being defeated he was being pushed in circles around his opponent's king. It was again his turn and looking up at his opponent, he could see amusement on his face, pure amusement. Finally he moved the only place he could, and again he could see even more amusement on Nicholas' face. He was being pushed in circles around the board, and it was on purpose. Nicholas was about to make his move, when Nick told him, "Okay, I give up. Finish me off." His opponent grinned, and a second later his king was toppled, and Nicholas announced, "Checkmate." Nick then looked at the others in the room. The three woman seemed to have no idea what was going on, but the grin on Derek's face told otherwise. He knew exactly what was happening the whole time. They had tricked him, but then he had asked for it. It was his challenge. "Okay, I admit it, you beating Derek wasn't luck, but couldn't you have just gotten it over with quickly instead of running me around in circles before going in for the kill?" "I don't get the opportunity to run people around in circles, I don't even get much chance to play chess. Don't worry, it's not a prerequisite to being hunted." Nicholas joked slightly at the end, and Nick noticed how it might be taken the wrong way. He hadn't even thought about what his opponent was, but definitely knew he would not want to be hunted by one of his kind. Internally he shivered, but didn't let it show, or at least tried not to as his heart rate increased slightly. Most of the rest of the afternoon was spent with Nicholas playing chess with someone to the amusement of those that watched, and once Derek almost beat him. When the sun went down, he reminded Derek that he and Natalie needed to leave, and this time Derek piloted the helicopter. Once they had arrived at the airport the sun had fully set and Nick no longer had to worry about the sunlight. As they were getting ready to leave for their flight Derek told him, "We thank you for both your visit and your trouble." He didn't let Nick protest, and continued, "You will both always be welcome at our house as long at least one of us is here, and drop by anytime. It's better to be unexpected, less things go wrong in the end." Nick nodded, and the couple left the private terminal for their flight to Toronto. When Derek had arrived back at the island, he was told he had a call from London about the box that had arrived several days earlier. The message was supposedly urgent, but he already knew what it was about. They had asked for more information, and help had been slow. Too slow and now the urgency was over. He listened to the recorded message, and all of its content were now irrelevant, all but one, and that was the demon's name. If they had received this a couple of days ago they could have used it, but now it was useless. Standing up, he told them where he'd be, and proceeded to his desk and pulled out his journal. He hadn't made an entry for several days and decided he would now make one. ‘Things may not always be what they seem to be. I discovered this statement is genuinely true. Creatures of the night are the enemy, but what does that make you when one saves your life, then gives their own so others may live? The line between good and evil becomes blurred, and that is what occurred. An evil creature had so much good they were able to destroy evil with their very soul, a soul that should not exist. If they have that soul, does that not make its owner on the side of good, even though their nature is evil? The line is undeniably blurred, so much so that the two can no longer be distinguished. I believe that the good in a person can overshadow their evil and vice versa. I have seen someone classified as evil by their very nature. One that has been able to conquer the evil within, making them stronger, not weaker in the process. Often judgments are made hastily, and out of fear. Sometimes this fear is rational, but what happens when there is an exception to the rule. Fear clouds judgment, and I have discovered that not all creatures are evil, just the vast majority. Perhaps the being I met is an exception, and whether unique or not, judgment should not be based on a foundation of fear.' ~fin~ Feedback to: jarvinia@gmx.com