Nature or Nurture Ch. 31-33

Vanessa smiles with pleasure.

'I would love to, let's make an appointment next week when you visit your father. You will, won't you?'

'I will, I promise,' Mina replies, and they part ways, Vanessa joining Mr Chandler's conversation with Vincent, Catherine listening in, and Mina on her way back to Victor, who is talking to a beautiful young man in very expensive clothing.

Adison is with them, and strangely enough she is touching Victor, discreetly, behind his back, not possessively, or flirting, more like she is grounding him.

As Mina joins them, and the young man kisses her hand and introduces himself as Dorian Grey, Mina quickly introduces herself as Hermina, emulating Vanessa's use of her full name.

For this man feels very dangerous, his presence sucks in everyone around him, he must be very hard to say 'no' to. Mina herself is not susceptible to his enchantment, being a vampire she can do the same thing to ordinary people, consciously.

But this man seems to have no idea what is happening to the people around him, he probably thinks they just like him. And they do, but not voluntarily, they are compelled to by some spell, a nasty piece of work, put on him by a nasty person or entity.

It also explains Adison touching Victor, she is probably immune by virtue of her being a priestess, and keeping Victor firmly connected to this reality by her touch. Actually, Adison is watching Mina, too, for signs of enchantment, and Mina catches her eye and shows in her posture and facial expression that she is aware of the young man's presence but not affected by it.

It is clear that Mr Grey likes his partners young, beautiful, and abundant, for he clearly expects all of them to fall for his charms immediately.

He seems very much taken by Victor, praising his reputation as a doctor, and his taste in clothing. Victor accepts the compliments graciously, and returns them with honesty, for Mr Grey is very handsome and well-dressed. Still, Victor stands as close to Mina as decency allows.

Since Vincent now approaches them, Catherine still on his arm, Adison throws Mina an inquiring look. Mina calmly takes Victor's hand, freeing Adison to protect her own man from Mr Grey's pull. Seeing Vincent handing Catherine to Adison before he comes closer, Mina realizes Vincent already knows, and also knows how to protect himself and his daughter, to be able to talk to and not insult a paying visitor by refusing to approach him.

'Vincent!' Vincent is greeted with a cordial handshake, a gesture that convinces Mina this man is not a hunter, out to use and destroy people and their marriages, but totally ignorant of his enchanted charisma, a victim someone else's nasty mind.

'What do I hear, are you going to leave us and play the St James?'

Instead of sad, the man looks delighted.

'I'll be at the opening, I will love to see you in a serious work.'

Vincent smiles, not a fake, but genuine, he likes this man, even though he is aware of his enchantment.

'Good evening Mr Grey, thank you for the compliment, but it is by no means certain I will get the role, it is only an audition, and it is no lead role by far, just a support, a minor one, actually.'

He is quite charming, this Mr Grey, even without magical assistance. He has a distinct boyish attractiveness.

'Please, Vincent, I thought we had agreed to not be so formal anymore, will you please call me Dorian? I'm sure you'll get the part, and however small your role, I'm sure you'll play it well. When you still were the villain here I always hoped you'd be redeemed and get the girl. But you never did, and evening after evening I cried my eyes out. I always waited with suspense for the moment you'd appear.

Of course for you a lead is much more rewarding, but I liked you better as the tragic villain.'

That is a very nice thing to say, and Vincent accepts the compliment with grace. He does add, 'The play at St James' is a comedy, though it is very serious acting.'

Mr Grey does not hesitate to show his admiration.

'I'll be your first visitor, except maybe for Miss Yves, she loves your acting as much as I do.

You are too good for this place, and I will enjoy your playing even more the coming weeks because I know you will move up eventually.

Let us hope they will not get your predecessor back for your role, maybe they'll they promote the current villain, the Chinese guy, he's good. Moves like a leopard, like you. I'd like to have him on a party as well, though I've heard they generally do not attend parties.'

'Bruce will,' Vincent observed, 'he loves parties. He is very good company, very well-read and an excellent dancer.'

'I will be sure to invite him then,' Dorian answers, and after a few more politenesses, the meet and greet is concluded, and Vincent changes and they all go home together.

When they return, Vincent takes Catherine to bed, which only takes a few moments, since she is very tired. Then Adison wants to really hold him for a few moments, the idea of Vincent going in search of his past as Heathcliff frightens her, he has no idea who is friend and who is foe, and his enemies probably know by now that he doesn't. She would prefer it if he were to stay away from that neighbourhood.

But she also knows he can take care of himself, and that it is important to him to know about his past, so she pleads him to be careful, and to take his gun as well as his saber. Victor is wrapped in Mina's embrace, and it is clear he doesn't like what they are planning to do either.

Then Vincent fetches his weapons, and Mina changes her dress to a less restricting one, and they both step out. Victor and Adison both decide to go to bed, it will be a busy day tomorrow.

As Mina and Vincent walk towards Heathcliff's house, the streets are already deserted, it is a week day and in this neighbourhood most people work long hours. They don't feel threatened, this is where they live, and they are both strong and fast.

Within twenty minutes, they arrive at the house and knock, Martin opening the door.

'Master Heathcliff, good to see you, there is a man waiting for you in the sitting-room. He said he was expected, his name is Neil. I decided it must be your wish to let him in.'

'Thank you, Martin, ' Vincent replies, 'it was what I hoped you'd do. This is Miss Hermina, a friend of mine. Will you bring us something to drink, tea, I guess? At this time of night?'

Smiling, Martin observes, 'You used to serve something stronger after eleven, sir, but tea is much better. I'll take care of it.'

Neil is waiting in the sitting-room, and he clearly recognizes Mina, his face shows alarm and he doesn't hesitate to speak up.

'Master Heathcliff, good to see you, I beg your pardon but you know that lady is a vampire and very dangerous, don't you?'

Neil certainly is one brave guy, and very dedicated to whom he has decided to give his trust, for Mina could rip his throat out in a second, and he must have at least some fear of the terrible Mr Heathcliff showing his true colours again.

As Mina sits down on a sofa, looking like any ordinary young woman, which is to say harmless, Vincent addresses the driver calmly.

'I do know, Neil, thank you for the warning, and your apparent trust in me. I used to work with Miss Mina, didn't I?'

'You did, Master, but I have reason to believe she betrayed you, plotted to have you killed,' Neil adds.

That is interesting, but first he needs to calm Neil down a little, so he tells him, 'Neil, this may be hard for you to believe, but although nothing can cure vampirism, Miss Mina is no longer in the service of evil. She still needs blood to survive, but she no longer takes it at the cost of human lives, she has a human partner now who shares his blood with her willingly.

Remember those farmers we overpowered on our trip?'

Neil nods, he sure remembers that trip.

'Miss Adison took the possession from them, remember that, too?'

Another nod.

'Miss Adison got hold of Mina and cured her of her possession with evil. Mina is now her old self, only with a changed body and a lot of nasty memories. She agreed to accompany me and rake them up as far as they concern Heathcliff, to help me be safer and lead as normal a life as I can with Miss Adison and little Catherine.'

Neil still eyes Mina suspiciously.

'You sure, master Heathcliff?'

Vincent smiles benignly, somehow able to accept Neil's humble attitude a lot better than he ever expected, and answering it in the expected manner.

'Very sure, Neil, we live in the same house, I trust Mina with my life, and even with my daughter.'

It is not in the character of a hired coachman to stay distrustful when his master has told him something is safe, and Neil accepts Vincent's assurances.

Slowly, he walks towards Mina and bows, then says, 'Sorry Miss, I didn't mean to be disrespectful. It's just that I've seen things and heard things.'

Mina smiles at him to show she does not resent his caution, and offers to shake his hand, which he of course accepts. Her cold hand apparently disconcerts him, but he tries to control his reaction, and she says mildly, 'No offence taken, Neil, you are clearly very dedicated to Vincent, as Mr Heathcliff is called now, and since I consider him a very dear friend I can only appreciate that.

Most of the things you heard about me were probably true, I was a monster and I remember every single horrible thing I did. Sometimes I envy Vincent not remembering his misdeeds, but that is also very dangerous, considering the enemies he had, so maybe we can enlighten him together and give him a fighting chance to separate friend from foe.'

Somehow, her mild way of speaking and her evident remorse convince Neil she is no longer evil, and since Vincent is motioning him to sit down, he does.

Martin brings tea, and soon they all have a steaming cup in front of them.

Vincent starts.

'What I need from you and Miss Mina, Neil, is to piece together my life before my accident. I was hit in the head, and my skull cracked. Doctor Frankenstein and Miss Adison saved my life, but I remember very little before that.'

They decide to start from that moment, and reconstruct his life backward as far as they can.

'The man who drove the hired carriage the night you were supposedly killed, says you went into a seedy bar, and were carried out by the watch, near death from a broken skull.

He said he saw Miss Mina leave the bar, with several of that same crew, your crew, master. There was four of them besides the Miss, a pair of twins, Dick and Peter Howe, really large bald guys, typical crooks.

And a foppish young fellow, don't know his name, well-dressed, who reputedly took your place when you were gone. And Irish Tom, a redhead, small, ugly as sin.

Mina nods, to think that her actions had been so openly discussed, she had never realized that it was so easy to tie her to Heathcliff's murder.

'Rueger Marsh, that was the foppish guy's name. The Master soon regretted getting rid of you, even dangerously unstable you were a lot better than Rueger was. No need to worry about him, he got himself killed soon after. Pulled rank before he had lived up to his new status.

The Howe twins won't stir without orders, if they try for you you're in all the way, that'll be the Master going after you again. Irish Tom, he's nasty, no match for you but he's got a whole bunch of countrymen with him.'

Neil looks at her incredulously: she just admits to trying to have master Heathcliff killed?

Seeing his look, Vincent can't suppress a smile.

'I know what she did, Neil, I had a flashback of that night, I felt it happen all over again.

So, Irish Tom and the Howe twins. What happened before, in the year after Catherine died and before the attack?'

'After your wife died, master, you apparently kept to yourself for two weeks, then you went right back to work. No-one ever hinted at a baby, so I guess the child is more or less safe from gangs and guys like Tom.

But you had changed, even I noticed the times I drove you, you had gotten downright dangerous, a wrong turn or a look could set you off into violence.

Before you had always stayed just within the law, but after, you got sloppy and left evidence. I am surprised the watch took you to Dr Frankenstein, I'd have expected them to leave you somewhere to die after stealing your possessions and kicking you some more.

I suppose with your being dressed well and mild-mannered they will leave you alone, or I'd say some of them might go for you. Don't know their names, though, nor descriptions, the watch is rather anonymous.'

And Mina added, 'It's true, you lost all semblance of humanity and got provoked into violence for no clear reason at all. I don't think you targeted women, you steered clear of them, and none would have dared approach you.

But all the other members of the gang hated you for disdaining their lives. I'll describe them one by one, so you can recognize them if you ever meet them.'

And Mina proceeds to do just so, after which Neil tells them five of those described are dead by now. He does however add two, after which Mina remembers one more. Fifteen remain, of whom three can be counted as really dangerous.

They also discuss what to do with the house, and Neil advices Vincent to get rid of it as if the owner has died, finding a new place for Martin and Laura, the staff that have maintained it so far.

'This neighbourhood is too dangerous for you ever to come here again, I should have come to the doctor's house, but I was afraid to alert anyone to its existence.'

They talk for another hour, about the things Heathcliff did in general, extorting shop-owners, arranging hits on targets his master pointed out to him, but also resolving differences between gangs and sweet-talking people important to his master.

Most of the things are not nice to hear, and Mina knows a lot that Neil only suspected, but Vincent needs to know, and now he feels he has a much better grip on his past. Since Cathy's death he had been on a path straight to hell, getting ever more wilful to his master and unpredictable to his followers.

The difference with his current life is extreme, and Vincent would prefer to just keep it all in the dark, but like Mina, he needs to face his past. He has heard some of the cruel misdeeds she has committed, but he resolves to ask her to tell him more, to unload her own conscience.

Maybe he should get drunk and feed her some of his blood, to set her drunk as well. The remembrance of her teeth in his wrist and her feelings leaking to him suddenly hits him with force, it was such an experience, even though she never seemed to have felt the sensuality, stunned as she was with the force of his blood.

But that is getting very close to adultery, even though he is not officially married to Adison yet. And it is about time he gets on with that, too, he will ask her what kind of ceremony she expects tomorrow. That will keep his thoughts off Mina, for though Adison has told him she wouldn't mind him sleeping with their friend, he realizes all too well that Victor most certainly would.

A voice pulls him out of his musings, and as he looks up Mina smiles at him with a certain expression, very worrying, since it seems to reflect his own feelings.

'We'd better go home, Vincent, you have an audition the day after tomorrow, you need your beauty-sleep. Can't have your past spoil your future.

Neil, if you hear anything that Vincent needs to know, will you send someone to warn him? We have reason to believe that our former master will not leave things as they are, and the longer we have to prepare when he moves, the better our chances.

And take care of yourself as well.'

Of course, Neil promises.

'I will leave half an hour after the two of you, I have ways of staying out of the light.'

Vincent spends ten minutes more to ask Martin what will happen to him and Laura if the place is sold, and it is clear they were both expecting him not to return. He asks them what they would like to do, and Laura wants to go back to her parents and study to be a nurse, whereas Martin is dreaming of buying a share in his father's tailor's business.

'Don't worry, the proceeds of the house will be enough to help you accomplish that goal. Better look for a place to stay, Martin, and I will have the lawyer arrange for both of you to be settled well, as a thank you for your help and your care.'

Martin is relieved, and he thanks his master for his concern.

Then they leave.

From the very start it feels as if they are no longer alone, it feels as if someone is watching them. Worrying for Neil's safety, neither Vincent nor Mina can imagine something threatening their own lives, they are a virtual army with their enhanced reflexes and incredible strength.

Until they hear a crack, and Vincent is slammed against a wall by the impact of a bullet in his shoulder.

The pain is incredible, but it has not hit a vital part of his body, and he instantly recovers and has a weapon out, though it is pretty useless against an unseen enemy. With her supernatural senses, Mina has detected where their attacker is hiding, and she is off in a blur. A scream follows, and she is back.

In pain, but not seriously wounded, Vincent prepares to move on, on the alert by now, when another crack sounds from the opposite side, and something strikes him in his other shoulder. Again, it hurts like hell, but it does not impair him. Someone is playing with him, several someones actually, for Mina just got one.

And they are playing with just him, supposing they have put him out of action with a bullet in each of his arms, for as Mina blurs towards that side, the next crack sounds and hits Mina, not in the shoulder, but straight in the chest, not to debilitate, but to kill.

Seeing her drop, Vincent cannot check if she's even still alive, he needs to find whoever are doing this, and put them out of action, then get her straight to Victor.

Suppressing anxiety for his dear friend, who may be dying as he stands there, waiting for the next shot to sound, Vincent sees four dark shapes separate from the shadows. His arms hurt, but he can move them, and a rage is rising within him, not blind violence, but a kind of determination to survive despite the odds.

Gun in the left hand, saber in the right, he walks towards the little group, deadly calm by now, just like that time when he faced the gytrash. With no time to waste, himself bleeding out, Mina severely wounded, he disregards the danger of more gunshots, he supposes these shapes want a piece of him, to be taken with brute force, very personally.

They will get it, in small, bite-sized portions.

His gun takes out the guy on the left, as he closes in faster than they can imagine, his saber flashing in the light of a street lamp. Again, these guys have only clubs, will these city-folk never learn? A double strike takes out two, but the third panics and shoots again, and this time he is hit badly, he can feel his body reel with the impact, and pain tears through his chest.

Is that what his fighting skills will bring him, to be shot to death in an alley far from Adison? The guy in front of him, scared as hell, is no longer thinking of beating him, but just bent on getting rid of him. He raises the gun, and time slows for Vincent.

Can he move anything to defend himself? His breathing is not as it should be, everything burns, the saber has fallen from his hand on impact.

Facing his enemy, but not recognizing him at all, he knows there is nothing he can do to save his own life or Mina's.

Then the guy before him looks even more scared and explodes in a shower of blood. Vincent feels himself lifted and everything around him blurs for a few moments. He does not lose consciousness, but everything feels very weird, as if it is not real, except for the pain, which is still incredible, and the blood that seems to be everywhere.