Nature or Nurture Ch. 13

Knowing they will have a hard and dangerous night, they sleep late and have a leisurely breakfast. Victor is planning to see the boy again, and they decide to all go, to convince Sir Malcolm to let them in on the raid tonight.

As it turns out, he is quite ready to. Last night, when Miss Yves was at the theatre, his house was invaded by another of those creatures, undoubtedly called by the possessed boy, probably the whole reason they had been able to get their hands on him. Its target was clearly Miss Yves, for it was hiding in her room.

Once discovered by Sir Malcolm, it fled, and the boy died attacking Sir Malcolm. He is convinced there is a nest on a ship in the harbour, and he wants to raid it to have a shot at rescuing his daughter.

Miss Yves does not try to touch Vincent anymore, which is a relief to him. That doesn't mean she leaves him alone, though. She seems quite fascinated by him, drawing him out to talk about the theatre, and his past.

'Mr Smith', she says, 'Dorian and I agreed yesterday that we'd never seen better acting than yours that evening.'

'Please call me Vincent, I'm not used to being Mr Smith. And thank you so much for such a compliment. I suppose you have both seen a lot of plays, so I'm really flattered by your praise.'

She visibly checks a movement of her hand towards him.

'Have you known since childhood that you wanted to be an actor? Did you have lessons from a private master, or at public school?'

Amused at her cunning inquiries about his youth, probably fishing for his birth and status, he answers truthfully.

'Actually, I had no interest in the theatre or acting until about a year ago, when my whole life took a different turn.'

Disappointed to get no further information, she asks, 'Is that when you met Miss Adison? Is she so very fond of the theatre? Where did she go anyway?'

She looks around the room.

Knowing that Adison went in search of the manservant, Vincent keeps the conversation going by giving some information.

'It did happen after I met her, when I became a totally different person. But it was not through her love of the theatre, she is much like the doctor in that she loves nothing as much as medicine. She's probably with him as we speak, studying that boy's remains.'

He enjoys talking about his past in riddles, and has piqued Miss Yves' interest in their love-life.

'Aren't you afraid they'll fall in love over some corpse or other?' she asks daringly.

Vincent is surprised that she knows Adison and him are a couple. Of course, she may have seen them together in the theatre, but he still asks with some surprise, 'So you know that she and I are lovers?'

Triumphantly she reveals, 'I knew when I saw you both in the basement, first time you were here with the doctor. When you held that boy in that incredible grip of yours, I noticed her reaction. She certainly enjoyed the memory of being held that way herself.'

Vincent is impressed and also slightly embarrassed, but he does not hesitate to credit Miss Yves.

'You are indeed a keen observer, Miss Yves'

'Please call me Vanessa', she says, ' I admit to feeling a little bit envious of Miss Adison at that moment, and also yesterday evening at the theatre when you proved yourself a great talent. She gets to be held by you, and I am forbidden to even touch you.'

Vincent decides to let her flirtations pass, but to do let her know the truth, at least part of it. They are in this together after all.

'It is nothing personal, Vanessa, it's just that your touch caused me to have strong flashbacks twice now, and our mission with you would become a lot more dangerous with me incapacitated. I can't risk Adison or the doctor.'

Cunningly she brings the conversation back to that point.

'Ah, the doctor. Aren't you even a tiny bit jealous then, them always being together, cutting up bodies, sitting in the audience watching you play? After he did that to you?'

This last she says looking pointedly at the large white scar on his right temple. Though she fortunately does not touch it, he still gets a physical shock from what she says. How can she know the doctor did that to him?

Seeing his reaction, fearing she has gone too far, she has to check herself from touching him, again, and quickly says, 'He didn't tell me anything, I guessed from his reaction.'

Having recollected himself, but agreeing with the doctor that this woman is way too clever for her own good, he decides to once again be honest.

'You are indeed right, the doctor caused these wounds, but I would be dead without his interference. And without Adison's healing skills, I would have been maimed for life, forever dreaming of being an actor but never able to realize that dream. I trust them both with my life, and with my love.'

Now it is Vanessa's turn to be stunned, she'd have sworn the doctor was still untouched, but this man clearly has loved him, physically. Her view on this threesome needs an update, they are held together by a much stronger bond than just a working relationship. So much different from her own group of three, brought together by their fear of loving as much as anything.

They decide to clear out the nest as a group that night, including whichever Chinese daredevil wants to join them. Victor, still affected by the fate of the poor possessed boy, is glad to be included. He does not look forward to violence and danger, but this needs to be stopped, and he is confident that he can hold his own in a fight.

Adison has had a good talk with Sembene, about his past, his reasons for being here in apparent servitude to Sir Malcolm. She has released his talent for drawing in and grounding magic, with his express permission.

He never knew it was there, but knows it will give them a decided advantage in the coming battle. He agrees with doctor Van Helsing, that Sir Malcolm's daughter is probably lost to vampirism, and knowing what this may lead to, he has added his voice to the doctor's, preparing the determined father that rescue may not be an option anymore.

Back home, they check their weapons. Guns are loaded, swords and knives sharpened. Bruce drops by, to let them know he will meet them after the show with five young fighters from his community. They will bring wooden stakes.

When Bruce has left, carrying some poetry books, they decide to try and take some rest. It will be a long night. Vincent tells Adison about Miss Yves' deductions, amazed at her intelligence, but not at her tact.

'She made me feel very uncomfortable, I'm temped to avoid her from now on. I can't imagine her having any friends.'

Adison replies, a bit sadly, 'I do think she is very lonely, I feel kind of sorry for her. Stuck in a house with that cruel old man. I bet there is a really sad story there, a secret she hides by uncovering everybody else's.'

Then she turns towards the man she loves, straddling him and kissing him fervently.

'I'm so happy we have each other', she says.

In answer, he looks straight at her, letting his eyes speak for him. His arms enfold her, and they lie together, trying to find some sleep. Soon, Adison feels Vincent relax in sleep, and she watches him for awhile, keeping still so as not to wake him. It is so comforting to lie next to someone she loves so much, to see him completely at rest, to feel his warmth, and smell his skin. She is not nervous about tonight, she knows that with Bruce and five of his mates they will be reasonably safe. Also, she has a feeling that she may be immune to vampirism.

After some time, Vincent no longer feels totally relaxed, his body tenses and he gets restless. His eyelids flutter, and he mumbles. He is clearly dreaming, and knowing the direction his dreams tend to take this last week, Adison decides to keep an eye on him.

She really wants to take his hand, or stroke his hair, but she is afraid this will wake him, or make his dream, well, an ordinary dream. And he does seem to want to know more about his former life.

In way, she wants to know too.

She doesn't really care who he was, what he has done in his former life. But she knows he is the man that she wants to spend the rest of her life with, and having been raised traditionally, and living in a very traditional society, she would prefer to share their lives legitimately. Married, so to speak. Which is hard if one of the partners has no name. But if they never find out, she will cope, she knows she cannot live without Vincent.

The latter, meanwhile, is indeed living through a recollection, and not a particularly pleasant one, though quite interesting. In his dream, he is hiding in the kitchen of the old house in the heath, whilst Cathy, the love of his life, is talking to her former nurse and the housekeeper Nelly. He hears Cathy tell she has received an offer of marriage from a certain Linton, whom she scorns but who is well-born, fashionable and rich.

Heathcliff, whilst being more herself than she is, made of the same fire as she is, is too far beneath her to marry, they would have nothing to live on together.

His former self is crushed, and wants to leave, but his new self wants to hear the rest of the story and stays right where he is, forcing the other to hear what his lover has to add to her hurtful observations about him.

Then Cathy tells the housekeeper she realizes Heathcliff and herself are one and the same, but to have an income and get away from her mad brother, who hates Heathcliff, she needs to marry a man with an independent income.

Heathcliff, so that is the name of his former self, and he apparently lived in servitude to Cathy's brother at a certain time of his life, preventing her from marrying him.

His young former self is dressed in rags, not the expensive clothes he has seen himself wearing at the time of his death. So one would think that this explanation by Cathy must have changed something in his life, making him flee from a life as a servant, into independence.

After such an intense experience one is almost certain to wake up for awhile, to get a grip of one's own life again. Vincent is no exception, and when he wakes up, realizing he is himself, not Heathcliff, he finds Adison waiting for him, watching his vital signs and hoping he'll remember what he has dreamed of.

Relieved beyond measure, he can focus on remembering his past life, and from her loving embrace he tells her what he has learned of his past.

'So you were called Heathcliff, and you were a servant too lowly for Cathy to marry,' she recapitulates.

'That does not agree with your rich clothes, and your status when riding in a coach.'

He is just too relieved to recognize the woman he loves to make any sense immediately, so she just holds him and waits for him to collect his wits. Then he observes, 'I think I may have changed my former self's life again: he wanted to run away to avoid hearing Cathy speak ill of him, but I stayed, and he heard her say they were meant for each other, that she just wanted him away from her cruel brother.'

Because that is just to weird to think much about, they decide to try to get some more sleep before it is time to go to the theatre.