From v4s@FKFANFIC.COMSat Nov 16 13:04:31 1996 Date: Fri, 15 Nov 1996 17:11:05 -0500 From: Virtual Fourth Season To: Multiple recipients of list FKFIC-L Subject: V4S: The Other Side (6/7) Episode Number: Forever Knight Virtual 4th Season - Episode #2 Episode Title: "The Other Side" Author: Sandra Gray Part 6 of 7 This story is based on characters and situations created by James Parriott and Barney Cohen and owned by Sony/TriStar. No infringement is intended. Copyright 1996 Sandra Gray -------------------------- Adam walked into the station. He looked around, then walked over to the main desk. "Seen anything of my partner?" he asked hopefully. Sam shook his head no. Adam pulled the composite out of his pocket and looked at it. "Sam, put out an APB on Dr. Natalie Lambert and her car." Knight was wrong. If Natalie Lambert were truly innocent of any crimes, there was no reason not to find her and bring her in. And an APB could find her faster. Knight was allowing personal feelings to affect his judgment. He drummed his fingers on the edge of his desk. A uniformed man dropped a folder on his desk, then continued on before Adam could say thanks. He picked it up and opened it. "What's that?" Captain Reese asked from behind him. Adam glanced briefly at his superior. "Autopsy on the first homeless murder victim," he said. Reese read over his shoulder. "So we're looking for a male perp." "That's what the preliminary DNA screen shows," Adam said absently. "By the way, where is Knight?" The Captain's voice was firm and displeased. "Ummm...checking a lead," Adam replied somewhat nervously. "On the woman the bag lady saw?" "Actually," said Adam, "she changed her mind about that composite she approved earlier." Reese sighed hugely. "Maybe you should go show it to her again," he suggested sternly. "Right, Captain." Reese walked off. Adam set the folder on his desk. Yep, he'd better see if Annie's memory had improved or he'd have some awkward explaining to do when Dr. Lambert was brought in for questioning. But he had another idea first. "Hey, Sam, I need to hear that anonymous phone call about the murder off of Yonge and King." A few minutes later, Adam was listening to an unassuming male voice saying, "There's been a man...murdered...in an alley. Near Yonge and King." There was a click and then the sound of a disconnected line. Adam recognized that voice. He took his notebook from his coat pocket and flipped through the pages until he found what he was looking for. Walter Dove. Another idea occurred to Adam. Annie Prescott was sleeping again, but stirred fearfully awake when Adam opened the door. She sat up. Adam sat down on the cot next to her. He took her hands. "Miss Prescott," he said earnestly. "I need your help." "You don't want another one of those pictures, do you? 'Cause I don't remember--" "No, no," Adam said quickly. "I need your knowledge of the streets. Do you know a Walter Dove?" "Oh, sure." She looked away. "Poor Walter. He gets picked on so much." She looked at Adam. "'Cause he's small and quiet. Although he's helped me out some--" "Do you know where he lives?" "Well, he has a couple places he stays. Why?" "Can you show me?" "Show you? Why, what do you want with Walter?" "I think he may have seen a murder." "Not Tom!" "No, Jack Faggarty." Annie gasped. "Will you help me find Walter?" "Sure, if you want." ******* Natalie walked the hallway of the hospital, looking around carefully. A gurney pushed by a handful of people came barreling up the hall. Nat flattened herself against the wall. The young man on the cart was bloody. Nat licked her lips. She spied the door she wanted. Looking around once more, she opened it. Rows and rows of bagged blood met her gaze when she opened the cold storage. She picked one up and stared at it. She raised it to her mouth, then shifted it higher. She closed her eyes and smelled it. <"You can't let the darkness destroy your light."> Nick's voice said in her mind. Natalie opened her eyes. She put down the bag of blood in her hand and then rummaged again through the case, picking up a bag of type AB negative blood. Then she searched for and found her other objective--a bag of plastic tubing. She stuffed both items under her coat. She cracked the door and looked out. Then she stepped out into the hall, holding her coat tightly to her body. ******* Nick opened his eyes slowly. His head was throbbing. He wondered why he was lying on the ground. Then he remembered. Nat. She'd hit him...so *hard*. Too hard for a mortal. He sat up quickly. Then regretted it, as his head throbbed harder. He winced and rubbed the back of his head. He pulled himself to his feet. Nat was nowhere in sight. He flew to the roof of the CERK building for a better view, but still saw no sign of Nat. Or her car. He took a deep breath. Although it disturbed him to do it, it had worked before. He closed his eyes and searched for her. ******* Walter Dove dropped his rucksack and, of course, half his clothes fell out onto the ground. He bent and began stuffing things back into the bag. A whoosh of air ruffled his thin brown hair. He looked up. A tall, pale man clad in black stood before him. Walter straightened, fearful. "I am so disappointed in you," said the man in velvet tones that Walter recognized. "Phoning the police to report your murder." Walter felt the blood drain out of his face. "She...showed me. I can't be part of the darkness." "." His voice took on an echoing quality. "I think it's time you joined the darkness permanently." ******* Nick used his key to open Nat's apartment door. She wasn't in the living room or the bedroom. He went over to the bathroom door. It was locked. "Nat?" He could smell blood and then heard water running. The change came over him, and he broke the door lock. Blood was going down the sink, the water from the faucet rinsing it away. Nat's blood. Nick sniffed the air and growled, his eyes going red. Her blood smelled so enticing. He looked at Nat. She sat on the toilet lid, her eyes wide and wary. Nick took a step toward her, then stopped and blinked. His eyes shifted to yellow as he took in the sight of her. Her right arm was bandaged. A long tube ran from her left arm up to a bag of blood that hung from the shower rod. Nick frowned. The phone in his coat pocket rang. Nick blinked again and answered it. "Yeah," he said around his fangs, his eyes not leaving Nat. ******* "Nick?" said Adam. "Listen, there's been another homeless death, but it looks like a suicide." He looked over to where Annie stood crying over the body of Walter Dove. "I've already called it in. I'm not sure, but I think it's our perp." ******* "Our perp?" asked Nick. He had suppressed the vampire again. He listened to Adam for a bit, then said, "Okay." He put the phone back in his pocket and looked at Nat again. "That was Adam. He thinks he found the perp who murdered the two homeless men tonight. Looks like he committed suicide." "What makes Adam think he found the murderer?" asked Nat in a careful, if chill, voice. "He recognized the man's voice as the anonymous caller who reported the second murder. Plus the assistant ME found male skin samples under the first victim's nails. It's not definite, but if a match is made..." "Yeah," said Nat dully. Nick hesitated a moment, then said, "Nat, I've got to go. You going to be okay?" "Go." Her tone of voice was cold, uncaring. Nick frowned, then left. ******* And Natalie said in a small voice after he had gone, "I hope so." ******* (to be continued) -------------------------------------------- For more information or to participate in the Forever Knight Virtual 4th Season, write to V4S@fkfanfic.com. From v4s@FKFANFIC.COMSat Nov 16 13:04:39 1996 Date: Fri, 15 Nov 1996 17:11:10 -0500 From: Virtual Fourth Season To: Multiple recipients of list FKFIC-L Subject: V4S: The Other Side (7/7) Episode Number: Forever Knight Virtual 4th Season - Episode #2 Episode Title: "The Other Side" Author: Sandra Gray Part 7 of 7 This story is based on characters and situations created by James Parriott and Barney Cohen and owned by Sony/TriStar. No infringement is intended. Copyright 1996 Sandra Gray -------------------------- Nat was at work on her latest "client." Quite a messy corpse, Nick noted. She glanced at him as he entered the room. Nick approached and stood beside her. He hesitated, then said, "Hi. How are you?" Nat moved away from him, putting the table between them. She kept her attention on her work, not looking at him. "I'm fine," she replied. "No more nightmares, waking or otherwise." There was another pause before Nick said in a light tone, "Well, it has to be good to know that you didn't kill anyone." "Yeah," Nat replied, still not looking at him. Silence stretched out between them. Nick licked his lips nervously. "Nat, why didn't you come to me?" She finally looked at him. "Why did you go to him?" He watched her intently. She dropped her gaze. "I...I don't know." She pulled the sheet over the body and walked over to the sink. She leaned back against the counter, grabbing the edges of it. "The transfusion and maybe the couple days rest after that helped. My white cell count is back to normal," she said in a matter-of-fact voice. Nick smiled. "That's great." He walked toward her. "But electron microscope examination shows the vampire element is still in my blood. It hasn't gone *away*." Nick halted, his expression growing serious. "It'll fade." Then he smiled softly. "I have faith in you." He reached for her shoulder. Nat walked away before he could touch her. Her tone was cold when she spoke again. "I'm busy, so unless you've got something business related--" Nick's smile faded as he looked at her back. He blinked and swallowed. "No." He paused, then added, "I'll...drop by later for my protein shakes?" "Fine," Nat mumbled, pulling down the sheet on the corpse again. Nick's gaze travelled down her back once more. Then he left the room. ******* After Nick had gone, Natalie rested her blood-covered gloves on the folded-back white sheet. She blinked several times and swallowed. Her gaze drifted over to the radio on her desk. Slowly she walked over to it and switched it on. "The dark has its dangers," intoned the mellow voice of the Nightcrawler. "Robbery, rape, murder...suicide. But there is also beauty on that other side, if you let it into your blood." The End ************************************************************* Author's Notes: The word "embrace" used in this story is not meant to be interpreted as being equivalent to the "Kindred" term. The song lyric used in this story is from "The Hunger" by Fred Mollin and Stan Meissner. No infringement of their rights is intended. My thanks to Soulseeker for help with Toronto street names. And finally, my thanks to everyone involved with the Virtual 4th Season, particularly J.H. ************************************************************* -------------------------------------------- For more information or to participate in the Forever Knight Virtual 4th Season, write to V4S@fkfanfic.com.