Nature or Nurture Ch. 40-42

With their first appointment squeezed into their schedules, they harness the mule, and leave with their beautiful new swords, back through the whole city, to return the mule to Bruce's father. Catherine will be thrilled to see Lukas again, though what she sees in him is a complete mystery to Adison, he has hardly spoken a word to anyone today. Still, Catherine's a two year old, they probably like different things from adults.

Chapter 42

When they finally get home, Catherine is already napping, and Maud is totally in love with her little friend.

'We've read poetry together, can you imagine that? I didn't read a letter besides scripts until I met Bruce, and I now I read poetry with a two year old.'

Bruce will stay for dinner, too, and they talk about what they have seen with Victor and Mina, Vincent handing Victor his gift, the fabulous new sword. Victor is pleased with his beautiful new weapon, now he can match Mina's beautiful blade with one of his own. But there is one thing he wants more than anything else: a bicycle.

He does not blanch when he hears the price of a bicycle, for he expected something of the sort, he still wants one, and the others cannot but support that thought. An hour later they have dinner, with Catherine back among them, and the three actors leave for the theatre straight after.

Adison tells Catherine she will see Lukas again, and her eyes light up. Adison suspects he likes children, which is for the best for he will have a faithful attendant when he comes, that much is very clear.

Then exactly at that moment when Mina offers to accompany them to the theatre again, to return to Victor straight after, there is a lot of knocking on their door. Victor and Mina answer the door together, and see Mr Chandler standing behind it, out of breath and nearly in a panic, a tragic deja vu of half a year earlier.

'Please come see Brona, Victor, Miss Adison, she's really bad. I'm afraid she won't last the night, she's suffering so much.'

He nearly collapses, and Mina supports him, he never even notices how strong she is, and how cold her skin feels.

Adison comes running with her bag, but she's very worried about Vincent.

'I need to go with you, but Vincent will worry if we don't show up. What can we do?'

Mina tries to calm her.

'Don't worry, you can choose: I can escort you to Mr Chandler's place, then go to the theatre to tell Vincent you will not be visiting, or I can escort you then take Catherine there.'

'Brona's bedside is no place for a toddler, my lady,' Mr Chandler protests, 'it's a cruel sight even to me, and I've seen my share of blood and suffering.'

Though Adison doesn't actually think so, the girl is very tough after all, they are pretending she is a toddler, and toddlers indeed don't belong at the sickbed of someone dying of consumption.

'Will you go to the theatre with Mina, Catherine?' Adison asks.

'Yes, mum, I will,' the little girl answers, 'and can't Mr Chandler protect the two of you as well as Mina can?'

That is certainly true, Mr Chandler knows what they are up against, and he shows them that he is armed, so they split up in two little groups, and leave in opposite directions.

Adison seems to have acquired a magic skill already, for she immediately notices something different in Mr Chandler. There seems to be a whiff of not being entirely human about him, he does not glow inside, this is different, a kind of tugging at her vision. Is this what Catherine noticed in Lukas? Adison saw nothing strange about him today, but maybe she wasn't looking at him much, being distracted by a lot of other things.

They walk fast and reach the dock-side pub where Mr Chandler lives reasonably quickly.

As they enter the room it becomes clear that Brona is really very bad. She is totally emaciated and very weak, something consumption does to its sufferers. If everything were just as it has always been, Adison would now accept that Brona's life is at its end.

She is even worse than last time they were with her, but maybe there is still something she can do. Victor knows that Adison's magic is Brona's last chance to cling to life a little longer. He would not care to live that way himself, he would have let go of life much earlier, why suffer more only to avoid death? But of course that is a decision everybody has to make on his own, and Victor can't possibly imagine what it is like to be dying.

Since yesterday, Victor has been doubting his role in Vincent's resurrection. Until then, he always believed he had managed to conquer death, although the price had been incredibly high. But how could his process have tied a magic talent to Vincent's physical abilities? That is just not possible without interference of magic, of a spell, so to speak.

Victor is starting to think he has been used even more that he already knew, and that is not a pleasant thought. Something powerful, probably evil, has used him to resurrect a superbly strong body for it to use.

But, though one might think enhanced physical strength is an enormous advantage over a normal body, it is not a real advantage over being in possession of magic power in itself, Melissa has apparently told Vincent that she could incinerate anyone who threatened her whenever she liked, even Vincent himself.

Therefore one must conclude that if the enemy wanted to use Vincent's body, he would have had more use out of it with its magic abilities intact. And Vincent cannot remember using magic power to practise magic, but he can remember using blood magic. Apparently, that is a vile method of getting power that is only used by those who do not have any of their own.

The conclusion should therefore be that the person who wanted Vincent's body used a spell to help re-animate the corpse with Victor's process, but then made a mistake, indeed waking Vincent's magic talent but accidentally tying it to his physical body.

By now, Adison is done examining Brona, and she warns Mr Chandler.

'I'm sorry Ethan, there is not much I can do. I can try what I did last time, that did give her some more months of life, but were they worth it to her?'

Mr Chandler is sitting with his face in his hands, and he looks up and replies, 'Yes, they were worth it, we had some good times, we talked a lot, she found a little more peace with what her life had been. She was no longer afraid of what would come.

But to be honest, if you were to give her a few more months, I don't know if that would be the case again. She did suffer those last months, she was weak, couldn't eat much, and she coughed a lot, and that was very painful sometimes.

I couldn't face the thought of just letting her die with me sitting by the bed and doing nothing, but I think her body is used up, totally worn out. What do you think?'

Adison replies gravely, 'I think I will try to relieve her suffering, block any pain and lower her consciousness so she will not be heaving for every breath. Suppress her urge to cough, for coughing is torture. But you need to know that in doing what I propose, I put stress on her body that may cause her to die hours or even days earlier than she would otherwise. I don't want you to reproach me the loss of that time later. We can leave her like this, I don't think she is aware of much pain or shortness of breath.

What do you choose?'

'Please take away as much of her suffering as you can, you have given her months of acceptable life, and now she's at her end.'

Adison nods and prepares a mild sedative. Then she looks at Ethan until she feels his strangeness tug at her vision, and directs that same vision on Brona. She can see things moving under her skin, and strange colours, reds, and greens, and shapes. That is no help to Adison, she doesn't get any of it, what does it mean?

She decides to do this the way she did before, like a prayer for help. Instead of finding the cause of Brona's sickness, Adison tries to stroke the urge to cough away, she widens the passages of her lungs so her patient gets a little bit more air.

Her strange vision shows a little redder, and the flow speeds up a little, and suddenly Adison feels very tired, and she sags. Victor rushes to her side and supports her, and for some strange reason his scent reminds her of a long time ago, when they used to be intimate regularly. As she probes those memories, Brona wakes up a little, and asks for Ethan. He rushes to her side and lies next to her on the bed, really close to her to hear what she says.

She murmurs for some time, and he affirms, and again, then kisses her on her emaciated cheek and forehead. She manages to wrap her thin arms around him, and lies against him with what seems to be relish, and peace. Then her eyes close, and her breathing becomes a lot shallower.

Concerned for Adison, Victor checks on her colour and breathing, which is fine, she just seems very tired, but satisfied to sit with him at the side of the bed.

After five minutes, Adison nudges him to check Brona, and Victor leaves her side to do so.

The young woman's pulse is absent, and her breathing has stopped. It seems life has finally left her, and Victor says to Mr Chandler, 'I'm sorry Ethan, she has passed away.'

Mr Chandler does not cry and does not pull out his hair or tear his face, he merely observes, 'She went peacefully and in my arms, and what more can we mortals hope for than to not die alone and unloved?

Thank you, doctor, Miss Adison.

What is the custom now? Can I keep her tonight, and where will her body go? Are there conventions I need to observe?'

Victor replies, 'If you keep her here tonight, I will inform the proper authorities tomorrow, and then she will be taken to the morgue, and from there for burial, most likely outside town, inside town is very costly.

Will you be all right?'

'I will see you home safely, it is clear your lady did not like leaving you unescorted even tonight, and I will not be careless with your well-being.

And then I will spend one last night with Brona, attend to her burial, and move on with my life. I knew she was doomed from the start of our connection, I have had months to prepare for this moment. Do not fear for me. How much do I owe you for your visit?'

'Not a thing, Ethan,' Adison says, 'save your funds for a decent burial. She has had a hard life, and I choose to think that the fact that she has at least had some love at the end of it, makes up a little for her suffering.'

'Thank you,' he replies, 'I will see to a decent burial, we have enough cash for that.

Let us go then, whatever you did at the end, it gave her the strength to say goodbye, which will be a great comfort to me in the times ahead, but it seems that strength came from you, you need to rest.'

And Mr Chandler does indeed escort them home, where Victor helps Adison undress and takes her to bed, then sits on the bed with her.

'I have good memories of my time with both of you in this bed, Adison,' he says softly.

She smiles with true love and observes, 'I do, too, Victor. I miss our closeness sometimes, even though I'm very happy with Vincent.'

'I was such a bitter, lonely man, and you taught me what friendship is, and what love is. I cannot believe that is not even two years ago.'

'It is hard to believe, for me as well.'

Adison has taken his hand, and it still feels the same as it did then.

'Does Vincent still have that wild, dominant side? Or did Catherine chase that off?'

Adison laughs at his suggestion.

'No, he's still there, and he's still very strong. I hadn't seen him for a while, but two nights ago he was here, dominant and all, but he stayed with me until he fell asleep for the first time, and for a while he was mild and very vulnerable, like the night he was born. He told me he loved me. I cried. He was so incredibly sweet.'

'I miss him, too. Maybe I was jealous of Mina wanting to meet that side of him because I wanted it myself, not because I wanted to claim her.'

'You know he still loves you, don't you? You can have his wild side any time you want, you know how to get it out. There is even hot water in the showers now.'

Adison is very serious and she wants him to realize that.

'And I see you really wouldn't mind my doing just that, you're a way better person than I am, Adison.'

'That has nothing to do with being good or bad, Victor,' Adison says, 'I love you and I want you to be happy. If Mina hadn't come into your life, maybe we'd still be sleeping together.'

That is certainly true, thinking of how shy he was before Mina pulled him out of his shell, Victor is trying to see things a little more Adison's way. He isn't there, yet, somehow he still thinks in terms of monogamy and mating for life, he who has always prided himself on being above conventions. But in love he is very insecure, maybe that causes him to fall back on old-fashioned truisms.

One thing is certain, though, towards Adison he need never be shy or insecure, with her he can just be himself. He looks at her with loving eyes, and realizes she is not well, whatever she did with Brona took a lot out of her.

'Are you all right, love?' he asks.

'I don't feel so good, Victor,' she replies, 'I have a raging headache and I'm incredibly tired, but I can't sleep because of the pain.'

'Let me get you a painkiller,' he says concernedly, 'and then I'll spoil you a little until you can sleep.'

And he fetches a painkiller and a glass of water, helps her take the one with the other, then sits next to her, takes her in his arms and strokes her hair and her face until she finds her sleep.

And even then he doesn't get up to do something else, but he stays with her and lets all the things that have happened and the things they have discussed pass his mind once again.

Mina and Catherine have a really good time together, there is a real connection between the two of them. They watch people and make funny comments until the show begins, and then Catherine is totally taken in by the sight of her father on the stage. Let her enjoy it, Mina thinks, his next role will be a step up for Vincent, but Mina has read the script, and the play will be a lot less interesting for a little girl, and her dad's part in it much more modest.

She herself is looking forward very much to seeing Vincent in serious theatre, she expects him to do really well, even in a small part. From an upper-class family herself, she knows what they like, and Vincent is it, well-read, intelligent, soft-spoken and different. Especially different, they are always bored and anything different will help make their lives more interesting.

After the show, Catherine warns her that the cronies are there, the two girls who accompanied the woman who threw hot coffee on Catherine, most probably the new servants of the enemy. Now Mina sees them, too, they are heading for the meet and greet.

Vincent knows them, of course, and Bruce as well, no gain there, and they converse in much the same manner, admiring the men, trying to come on to them, but it seems they are not making much headway, their attempts at flirtation are not answered, and they have to leave to make way for the next admirers.

As the three of them walk home, Catherine says quietly, 'We're being followed, probably those cronies.'

Vincent gestures to walk on, but he does pick up Catherine to make sure she is safe. She pulls a face at him, and they both laugh, being used to danger sure makes a child take it in stride. But Mina doesn't expect these ladies to be packing, so there isn't that much to fear anyway.

The atmosphere around them tenses, as if someone is trying to scare them, but failing miserably, even Catherine is merely on her guard.

Finally they show themselves, but not as pretty ladies with indecently loose hair, but bald headed and totally unclad skinny shapes with grotesque scars all over their bodies, overtly referring to witch-craft, pentagrams and Celtic signs.

They look poised to attack, they must know Mina and Vincent are no mean opponents, why attack them openly? Looking at Vincent, Mina can see he is eager to take them on but unwilling let go of Catherine, and very much in control of himself.

The following moments must have been very funny to behold, for the naked cronies dance about them, as if they are trying to charm their victims into something. But what? Mina doesn't feel fear, or allure, she just sees a strange and frankly a bit ludicrous spectacle.

Noticing that their actions have no effect whatsoever, the two now start weaving their hands and muttering to themselves, and the time has come to act. Before Mina has a chance to do something, Vincent has one of them by the throat, Catherine still in his arms.

Mina does the same to the other one, effectively shutting down any chance of further muttering, for both ladies are having trouble breathing.

At first they struggle, but soon they find out that doesn't work at all, and they take hold of the arm restraining their breath feebly, losing strength fast. They are much easier to inflict harm on looking like this, Mina would have serious trouble killing a human in cold blood, but these naked monsters have almost no humanity at all.

'Do you have a proposal what to do with these?' Vincent asks coolly, 'it feels a bit like an anticlimax, they're really very incompetent, it's almost pathetic. If we kill them, the enemy will only send stronger, more competent ones. I suggest we let their master deal with them, I don't want to give Catherine a bad example.'

'Maybe you can threaten them a little?' Catherine offers, 'to leave us alone?'

'They cannot, love,' her father says, 'they are in the service of something, and it will kill them if they don't bother us. Wait a minute, I suddenly see a use for these pitiable ladies after all. Let's take them somewhere quiet, Mina. Unless you want us to take them to Adison, have her try to take the possession off them?'

Somehow, that scares the girls immensely, and they cannot hide their fear from their scarred faces, making them less cold to look at.

Mina follows Vincent into a nearby alley, removed from the light, a place where most decent people would rather not go, especially not in the evening. A perfect place to get some sense out of these wretches. Vincent puts Catherine on the ground, with the order to stay really close, in case they have friends, which, sadly for them, does not seem the case.

Then he looks at Mina, who tells her monster, now rapidly turning into a scared girl, 'We will ask you some questions, and if you answer them truthfully, we will let you go without hurting you. We suggest you keep quiet to your superiors about whatever you spill to us, for his sort usually doesn't take kindly to failure.

Here's my first question: what are you? Are you mages?'

Loosening her grip a tiny bit, the creature first takes a deep breath, then hisses at her and spits.

Mina roughs her up a little, just a few slaps to show her she is really helpless.

'You have no visible damage yet, so still a chance to escape with your lives,' she offers, 'if I have to force you to speak, you will show the results clearly in your face, and I guess you will not survive admitting to failure. Now, quickly, speak, or suffer, you know what I am!'

And Mina's voice is no longer friendly, but actually quite scary, and it sounds a bit different with her inches long fangs hindering her tongue just a tiny bit.

The girl still doubts, indeed looking more like a strange, frightened girl now than a fearsome creature, and Mina strikes, not in the throat, but in an unmarked part of her chest, very close to her tiny, scarred breasts. The girl smothers a cry of fear, the watch won't help a naked thing with blasphemous tattoos, and her face wavers between bliss and fear. Mina is messing with her mind, the person who sent these girls out has made a big mistake, they are not up to any resistance, they're just girls.