Nature or Nurture Ch. 22

Meanwhile, Victor has completed his rounds, their patients worried about Adison's absence but happy with the visit anyway. He feels satisfied, and decides to step by the theatre to see if he can pick up his friends there to return home together.

Thinking of the coming night, he is slightly distracted from his surroundings, a common occurrence in people madly in love. But dangerous too, for as he steps into the alley where the stage door of the theatre is, he finds himself beset by a large group of ruffians, apparently led by Simon, the former lead actor of the company.

Curiously detached from the danger of the situation, he realizes that the dangerous situations he has found himself in lately have apparently gotten him used to letting his training take over in moments like these. His body takes a defensive stance, and his eyes note that none of his adversaries seem to have a gun. No blades either, a poor lot apparently.

Still there are ten of them, so even with clubs they'll get him in the end. In the meantime, his body has taken hold of the gun, and points it at Simon, clearly the instigator.

'Gentlemen, I have no quarrel with any of you, and I am pointing a loaded gun at your leader. I'm an expert marksman, so please be smart and disperse,' he says, convinced they will not risk being the one who gets shot.

But he is wrong. Simon is eaten up by hatred of anyone connected to Vincent, and he clearly does not realize or doesn't care about the danger the gun represents.

He sneers, 'Guys, did any of you understand a word he just said?'

The men grumble a negative.

'I didn't either, so I guess we can't do it then.'

And with that, he rushes Victor with five other guys.

Feeling some fear now, and seeing no other way, Victor fires the gun at the approaching group. Simon falls, and before they are on him he has time to fire again. Another man falls.

This slows the men down enough for him to shake his blade loose, still keeping the gun aimed at the group. Why don't they give up? Why do they take the risk to be the next to get shot? Don't they have any experience with guns?

Another shot hits another man, his aim true a third time in a row. But now they are getting too close, he needs to keep them at arm's length.

Therefore he switches weapons, using his blade to wound several of his assailants. But as he reels under the force of the first blow, to his shoulder, he knows he cannot take many more of those, he will soon be overwhelmed.

Thinking of Mina with regrets, he fights for what he is worth. Someone may yet come through the stage door and save his hide.

Firing another shot at random in the large mass of men, he can keep one side protected with his blade, injuring several men. But on his undefended side he gets hit several times and he loses his gun, his left arm now useless and his head spinning with a hit to his temple.

He lays about him with his blade to that side, getting the satisfaction of feeling the blade strike flesh. It cannot last, though, there are too many of them, and with the danger of the gun removed they are eager to get a few hits on him.

Weakening, his thoughts are on Mina again, hearing her clearly in his mind.

'Hold on my dear, only five left!'

That is a weird thing to dream at the moment of your death.

'Fly, or be killed', he hears her voice, even louder. He realizes he is not dreaming it, she really is there, in front of him, warning the assailants off. It works, for they are no longer beating on him, but it doesn't work, for they are not planning to obey a girl.

'Get lost girl, or we'll give you a good time after we're through with him,' a rough voice says. What happens next, is one of the most beautiful and at the same time most gruesome things he has ever beheld.

His gorgeous and sweet girl, still in her lovely blue gown, seems to fly towards him, and every man in her way explodes in a shower of blood. She is so fast that his eyes cannot keep track of her, and every time she slows, someone dies, messily. The men closest to him try to flee, but there is no escaping their fate.

In a few seconds, Mina has him in her arms, cradling him to her chest, gown spattered with blood but without a rent or a tear. He lets go of his weapon, giving himself up to her protection and losing consciousness.

A burning sensation in his mouth wakes him up sputtering.

A vile tasting, immensely strong liquor is setting his mouth and throat on fire.

'You see, I did get him to wake up', an older voice says.

Victor recognizes it as the director of the theatre.

'That vile stuff would raise up the dead,' another voice retorts, 'it's not meant for living beings.'

It's Vincent, thank God!

Awakening further, indeed with help of the abject fluid in his mouth, he realizes he is not on the floor, but in someone's arms, being kissed and held tightly. He seems to be covered with something warm, it feels like wool. A female voice really close to his ears whispers, 'Are you all right, love? I thought I'd lost you.'

His mind needs a moment longer to process the voice. Mina! She rescued him, by flying through his assailants. What did she do, and how did she know he was in danger?

It doesn't matter to him, he's safe with her. Moving his head hurts a lot, but he does his best to look at her and whispers, 'You saved me.'

She holds him even tighter, his face resting comfortably against her chest, and he gives himself up to her safe haven once again. He'd swear he hears her say, 'Gimme some of that stuff, it can't be worse than the filthy bouquet of petty criminal's blood I have in my mouth.'

That is not the kind of language Mina uses! Still, he hears her gurgle, and spit something out, it must be her. That's curious, but feeling warm and protected, he's going to sleep a little.

'Victor, don't go to sleep my love,' Mina urges him. 'Wake up, you have to tell me what to do, you're the doctor.'

He doesn't want to wake up, he's so nice and warm between the thick wool, a coat probably, and her cushy body. He's never felt so safe in his life.

Another face comes into view, he didn't think Vincent could be any whiter but he is, and his eyes are very yellow and very gripping.

'Victor, wake up, we're afraid you won't wake up if you fall asleep now.'

That is nonsense, he isn't that badly hurt. Is he?

He checks his body by analysing how each part feels. His legs are fine, his stomach hurts, his back and shoulders hurt. No breaks as far as he can tell. His arms hurt a lot, they must be covered in bruises and cuts.

His head, yes, that feels really bad.

'It's the head, ' he whispers, 'head is worst. Back, front, sides, all hurts. Can we go home?'

'Yes my love, we can,' Mina tells him.

Her face is covered in blood below her well-shaped nose. Her eyes are as loving as ever. He wants her to kiss him, but moving towards her is too much for him. She sees his attempt, and warns him, 'I'd love to kiss you too, but I've at least five different types of blood in my face, and I used that vile stuff to get the taste out of my mouth. It might make you sick.'

He wants to chance it, it will wake him up properly, he agrees now that he should not give in to his sleepiness until Adison has seen him. She understands at a glance, and gives him a long, ardent kiss. She does indeed taste of the vile liquor, but he tastes no blood on her tongue. Afterwards, he feels better.

'Can I have some more of that vile stuff? It helps,' he says.

Someone holds a narrow vial of liquid before him, and Mina helps him to drink some of it. It is still gross, but it wakes him up further.

Now he manages to look around him a little, though it is extremely painful, and he sees the director and Bruce loading the bodies, a lot of bodies, on a hand drawn cart with the help of the stage-rats. They pull a canvas over it, and a Chinese man wheels it away. He'll probably find some of them on his cutting table in a few days. Somehow, that thought pleases him.

Then Mina lifts him and carries him all the way home. She is very strong, and lightning fast. That is quite interesting. Soon they are at their door, and Adison opens it. He cannot help observing, 'Adison, you should be in bed!'

She smiles at him indulgently, but her face looks worried, and she retorts mildly, 'As soon as I have examined you, I will join you in bed, dear Victor.'

Mina takes him to the four-poster, and he hears himself protesting faintly, 'But I want to be with you, Mina!'

She lays him down gently, and calms him.

'I will be with you love, but I want Adison close too. With her injuries we cannot expect her to come and check on you in my room, so you'll have to be in her room. Don't worry, we'll cover the window.'

Taking his hand, and caressing it absently, she addresses Adison.

'Can you examine him now, and tell me how to deal with the wounds?'

Vincent's voice breaks in here.

'I've seen her do it so often, I can show you on his wounds, then you can practise on mine. It's not difficult, just tedious work. Victor, are you hungry?'

Despite the pain, he is, and he says so. This seems to cheer everyone up quite a bit.

Adison has Mina undress him, then looks him over carefully. He has some pretty bad cuts, some of which need stitches, but the most dangerous damage is to his head, like her own. He has similar bruising in his face, and he can feel he has also been hit on the back of the head.

Like in Adison's case, the bruises start to darken, and his headache worsens. He is not nauseous, but he does feel fuzzy in his head and he was out for a few minutes. After the examination, Adison lies back on the bed, leaving getting boiled water from the kitchen and medical supplies from their study to Vincent and Mina.

The suturing will be tiring, but she cannot leave that to either of the others, so she takes a little rest before she has to focus again. She does hold Victor's hand, squeezing him now and then to keep him from falling asleep. Mina is back soon with a rich soup for both of them. Vincent follows later with hot water, cleaning supplies and his own supper.

He shows Mina how to carefully clean out each wound, noting which ones he guesses will need stitching. There are three rather large ones, which he leaves open, the rest he bandages quite adequately. Adison has finished her soup, and with a needle Vincent has threaded she neatly closes up the deeper cuts.

'You cleaned them well, and those three are the ones I had chosen to suture. Good judgement.'

After that, she lies back on the bed and promptly falls asleep. Mina bandages the sutured wounds under Vincent's direction, and then Victor is offered the same painkiller Adison got the day before. He is soon asleep as well, Mina will wake him once in a while to keep him from sleeping too deeply.

Then, Vincent lays down on the bed to let Mina take care of the claw-marks. Under his direction she quickly learns, and soon he is ready for his supper as well, feeling much better than yesterday and this morning.

'So, just us two left. What happened?' he asks.

'I had taken leave of my visitors to sit with Adison, and I was reading away nicely at precisely this spot. Adison was sleeping quietly, and since she had slept a lot already I expected her to wake soon for some dinner.

Then I felt Victor become alert, as if facing danger. I woke up Adison, warning her I might be off for a while to check on him.

When I felt his alertness change to fear I did run off. Somehow I knew just where he was, and that he was in grave danger. Vampires can move like lightning and I was with him in seconds, warned the filth assailing him to leave him alone, and when they didn't, I made my way to him straight through them.

Quite literally through them. My self control was gone, and I ripped out their throats and shattered their bodies. I'm very strong as well as quick.

When I came back to myself, I was holding him in my arms, unconscious, and I was afraid he'd die on me. So I knocked on the stage door, and you know the rest.

I'm still afraid he'll die on me, you humans are so frail.' Looking at Vincent, she corrects.

'Well not you, but the rest.'

Still looking at him she asks, 'Will you hold me for a while? I'm still shaking.'

He takes her in his arms, and she says with feeling, 'I have just found him, I don't want to lose him.' 'He's tougher than he looks, Mina, and Adison is the best doctor in town. How many did he get before you arrived? From the wounds on the bodies I'd say at least four or five. Amazing for just one guy, isn't it?'

Mina confesses, 'I don't really know. I was so mad I didn't see much. I hate it that I lost control, murdered those men in a rage. I thought I was a better person now, but apparently I'm still a mindless killer.'

Still holding Mina, Vincent says, 'You know who I was, you can imagine I have a dark side too. Some months ago we were attacked and I lost control and killed as ruthlessly as you just did. But Adison showed me that that side was just as much part of me as my normal self, and when I learned to accept it instead of separating myself from it, I got control over it. It became part of me.

With Victor at your side you will be able to do the same. You are not a monster, you gave them a chance to get away, you protected your love who was helpless at that time. You'll manage, don't worry.'

Mina has heard from Adison of Vincent's violent side.

'Thank you so much for supporting me, it is good to hear from someone with the same problem that it can be fixed. Will you please tell me more of how you did that when everything is normal again? Now I think you need to sleep too, I'll keep watch on Victor. Where do you keep the hammer and the nails? I want to nail the curtains shut before dawn tomorrow.'

Vincent shows her, then he crawls into the bed besides the sleeping form of Adison. There is enough space in the bed for Mina to sit down and read a little, and even to sleep when dawn comes. With both the doctors handicapped, it is very handy to have such a large bed in the house.

'What will you do for food?' Vincent remarks from where he is lying, 'Victor may not be able to donate for a few days.'

'That may become a problem, but not before tomorrow evening. You sleep, and we'll think of something when I wake up.'

With all three of her friends asleep, Mina has plenty of time to think about what she did, and what Vincent told her. She finds it hard to imagine the mild mannered Vincent losing control and killing in cold blood, but when she thinks of Heathcliff, she can picture it easily enough.

Thinking of the way she lived as a vampire in the service of evil, she knows violence is as much a part of herself as it was of him. And if he was able to take control of it, she will be too.

Not willing to spend more time berating herself in the deep of the night, she decides to do something useful instead. First, she lies down next to Victor, following his breathing, feeling his temperature. It is virtually impossible for her to feel it accurately, for with her lower body-temperature every human feels hot to her touch.

But she has her sense of smell to help her judge if he is starting to get feverish: he smells the same as usual, with a slight overtone of disinfectant, the bitter smell of the painkiller and even a trace of the vile liquor. She can smell no signs of infection in the wounds and no excessive sweating. Time to find something to do.

So she silently heads to the library and gets some writing materials. Then she starts to write down the story of her life as a vampire. It will help her get a grip on the things she has done, help her cope and try to make reparations. And it will be a very exciting story to read.

When the birds outside start making noises, she nestles herself against her love, who is smiling in his sleep. Seeing him totally at peace after nearly losing him last night, she realizes she is setting herself up for certain heartbreak, falling in love with a mortal. But what can she do, except enjoy every minute they have together?