Nature or Nurture Ch. 65-67

They make an appointment for the next day, and leave Father Nicholas behind in the house, with the advice to search it carefully for a hidden room or a cellar with an altar, and possibly prisoners, potential sacrifices. Though a careful man like Mr Quesnet probably kept his victims somewhere completely different, not in his own house.

Father Nicholas dares to thank all of them for their help, then he accompanies them to the edge of the garden. He returns to the house by himself, and they do not see anyone approach the house as they walk away from it, and towards their own home.

Once they are at least four blocks from the house, out of the thousand yard circle around the house, they are overtaken by two carriages. Adison gets into George's carriage with Victor and Mina, and Vincent is picked up by Tristan with Mr Grey and Lord Douglas.

'We've agreed to meet up at George's place, you all coming? I can drop you off at home if you want to, but this is your chance to get some answers to any questions you may have.'

Both Lord Douglas and Mr Grey accept Tristan's invitation politely, and to George's estate they all go, deep in the night, while Father Nicholas undoubtedly has the home of Mr Quesnet, better known as the Master, searched from top to bottom, and his possessed servants taken somewhere safe.

Chapter 67

Frances takes Vincent and Adison to where their little girl is supposed to be sleeping, and as they enter the room very quietly, Adison encouraging Percy to sniff her hands so he knows they are familiar folk, it is clear Catherine is in fact still very much awake.

She doesn't cry out for fear of waking her friends, but she wants to be held by both of her parents at the same time, and very quietly spills a few tears of relief to have them with her safe and sound. Bertha and Lucy are still asleep, a miracle in Lucy's case since she's still so anxious, and Catherine soon asks for some kisses and tells them they can go back downstairs and home to their own bed, and tell her everything that happened tomorrow, she is able to sleep now and very tired.

After a few extra kisses they take their leave, Percy wagging his tail and promising to take good care of the girls with two big dog smiles.

To think Vincent used to find him frightening, he now totally trusts this enormous dog with his daughter, he can imagine Lucy finding sleep with such a wakeful guardian in her room.

Back downstairs, George offers them a stiff drink or an excellent glass of wine. Most of the mages have obviously chosen the first, it has been a cold night outside with little action, except for Melissa, who sticks to tea.

Vincent and Adison accept a glass of wine, and hear the others have mostly been making their introductions, since they have all heard of each other by name and reputation, but most of them have never really talked to Mr Grey or Lord Douglas. But when Vincent and Adison are settled together on a comfortable sofa, everyone is ready for an account of the evening's goings on.

'So tell us, what happened? We though we'd wait for the two of you, since all of this seemed to revolve around the Master wanting a piece of Vincent.'

Tristan is clearly used to introducing meetings with a lot of people present.

Vincent gives a short account of their reception at the Master's house, Father Nicholas' use of the old man's real name, his attempt to arrest Mr Quesnet, and his attempt to use magic to help the possessed guards.

Then he relates how Mr Quesnet proceeded to put everyone out of action, then start his ritual to take over Vincent's body, and was stopped by Lord Douglas' heroic action and killed by Adison with Vincent's sword.

'Frankly, I expected all of you to arrive any moment, I thought one of us must surely have called for help by way of the wards. Didn't anyone?' Vincent asks, looking at his friends.

'I didn't dare call Lukas after Father Nicholas told Mr Quesnet he had the place surrounded. The creature once assured me you would never be possessed again, and I trusted him, though at the very last when that old man got you in a rage I started to doubt and felt the need to intervene.'

'I couldn't call for help. I'm ashamed to say I was totally immobilized with some kind of spell, even when I saw Mina fall. We were of little use this time, my love.'

Victor once fought off ten men armed with clubs on his own until help came, and he had a big hand in getting the better of Mrs Poole, he does not like being left helpless.

Mina takes his hand soothingly.

'I could have used the ward, after Adison revived me, but she didn't seem very concerned. There was just one enemy, and by the time I could move adequately again, Lord Douglas had those guards under control and Adison was going after Mr Quesnet.'

Of course! To someone without sight the situation must have seemed only mildly dangerous, just one real opponent and him a very old man, and as vampire Mina is immune to a spell of immobility. No wonder she was so angry at having been put out of action so easily, she could have taken out all four of those mindless guards in a moment without raising a sweat.

'I have no idea what a ward is,' Lord Douglas now offers, 'and I didn't see a thing except for a few bright lights, and that gross old man holding my friend motionless in some strange way.

But I just couldn't move, I suppose I was too afraid to do anything, which embarrasses me to no end. I pride myself on being a good fighter, Vincent has often praised me for my skills with a sword, but apparently I cannot handle myself in a real life situation at all. I'm very sorry I let you down, I only managed to conquer my inability to move when that old geezer tried to kiss Vincent, I suppose that made me jealous, why should such an ugly old man get to kiss him and not me?

I'm considered very handsome, but Vincent told me he doesn't fancy men and I accept that, and that bloke should have accepted it, too.

And after that I was very busy getting the better of those two swordsmen, they were well-trained, but not very fast, I'm sorry I had to kill one of them but there was always one at my back so I had to.'

That poor chap, he hasn't a clue he was magicked into being immobile! He thinks he's a coward, and a jealous one at that. He broke a spell laid upon him by an accomplished blood-mage, that is something to be very proud of!

'Bosie, you're not a coward at all!' Vincent now exclaims, 'please let me explain how you saved the evening and may have saved my very existence on this world.

The man you were jealous of, Mr Quesnet, though Mr Grey, Mina and I knew and served him for years as the Master, was a powerful mage, who probably sacrificed countless innocents to gather power for just this evening. His plan was to get hold of me, to get rid of my personality and take my body for himself. He was getting old, and wanted a strong new body to live in, my body, with my mind removed from it, like those guards.

And besides that, he wanted my daughter, and my future son, to possibly possess after me, to live long enough to find a way to make himself immortal. I don't know whether he would have succeeded, Bosie, had he finished that kiss we might have known.

But I'm very, very thankful that you managed to break the spell he put on us, and that you managed to stop him from trying to possess me until I could move again and Adison had subdued her captor. The way you defeated two guards in your first real fight, I'm proud of you, really. You saved me, Bosie, even if you did it out of jealousy.'

And he takes his friend in a tight grip, and kisses him heartily.

'Thank you so much, my dear friend.'

'I don't understand why Mrs Heathcliff managed to kill him with a sword,' Mr Grey observes, 'my bullets didn't harm him, and even your supernatural strength couldn't make a dent in his scrawny neck. How was it possible?'

'Mrs Poole was also surprised to be struck true with a sword of Paul's make. Did you put any magic in them, Paul?'

Vincent is convinced Paul's swords are the difference.

'I made them using magic, but they are not spelled, they're just plain old iron. No, come to think of it they're not, they're made out of ordered steel, steel is composed of iron and carbon, and I've managed to develop a process to put those components in a very strong lattice, making it more durable, and possibly, extra effective against power derived from chaos. I'm glad your sword saved your life, Vincent.'

'But what is this about a son, Vincent?' Melissa asks, surprisingly spry after patrolling in the snow for a few hours, her own baby due in less than three months, 'do you have another child fostered somewhere, one you didn't know about?'

'Actually no, Melissa,' Vincent replies, 'we don't even know whether it is another of Mr Quesnet's lies, or whether he has some sixth sense, but he meant to suggest he was going to usurp my body and live happily ever after with Adison as his wife until either my daughter or my as yet unborn son would prove suitable as mage talented vessel.'

'It's actually not that hard to spot using magic,' Frances observes, 'just very impolite. I can often see it spontaneously from the very start, but I keep my mouth shut until the new parents acknowledge it. Sometimes, that can take a very long time.'

Melissa now looks conscious, and replies, 'True, Frances, very true. Please forget I asked, Vincent, and especially Adison. I remember our visit to Greece very well, with Lukas' entire family hinting about their dear son, grandson, nephew, wanting to be a father so badly. Very impolite if you ask me.

I just saw an image of a black-haired, black-eyed boy playing with Catherine flash before my mind's eye as you spoke. Must have been hormones.'

Since Adison only acknowledges Melissa's apology with a nod, and Vincent dare not continue the subject, the rest of the room probably does forget Melissa ever mentioned such a thing, and now Mr Grey dares ask what must have plagued him all night.

'All right, you promised me answers, please try this question: Why am I still here, when I lived half a century past a natural lifespan, and the man who cast that particular spell lies dead? Shouldn't his spell have come undone, my body crumbling to the dust it would have been by now?'

Since Tristan was the one to promise him answers, apparently he feels called upon to reply, though he knows nothing of Mr Grey's specific case.

You say he put a spell on you to keep you from ageing?'

'Well, he didn't put the spell on me all by himself, there was a lady present who did most of the work. I suppose she was a witch, for she had pentagrams, and dolls, and she called herself Hecate. The Master helped her, and they put a spell on a painting of me, which from that moment on took every passing year, every crow's foot, each hurt inflicted on me upon itself. It's a ghastly sight.'

'It may have been Mrs Poole, the description of the house sounded much like hers. Actually, your description of the young witch sounded more like Mrs Poole's aide, but she was still a young woman when we killed her, not even half a year ago.'

'Vincent, how could you know about the painting? I have kept that a secret up until this very moment!'

Mr Grey is stunned.

'You told me in a flash-back, Mr Grey,' Vincent replies, joining him on the sofa where he is sitting, and covering Mr Grey's one hand with his own.

'I had it a few weeks ago, right after I saw you again after the premiere. In that vivid dream, I was still Heathcliff, and attracted to you through your enchantment. We made out and took photographs of each other, but when you prepared to take me, I broke the enchantment just as the other mind inside me broke it on the eve of Miss Angelique's ball.

We, Heathcliff and I, flew into a rage and beat you up over trying to rape him, and you realized what had happened and showed him the picture, how it took your hurt and your age. You told him how it had come to be, and your description rang a bell with me for it resembled Mrs Poole's house very closely.'

As the whole party listens with interest, Mr Grey is totally stunned.

'How can you have dreamt what never happened, Vincent? Heathcliff never resisted me, I'm ashamed to say, he certainly didn't beat me up or I wouldn't have had such a longing for you, years later, and I would never have shown anyone the picture for fear of my life.

How could you know? What the Hell are you saying? That you changed the past? In a dream? How can this be?'

Very calmly, Tristan now states, 'I don't know about changing the past, there has been much study to understand what time is, and whether it can be influenced, without the slightest enlightenment in either of the subjects.

But I do know this: if the spell to keep you young and beautiful rests on a picture, that picture is the key to your existence, and not the caster of the spell. Which is why you are still among us, and frankly, looking better than you did when you entered my carriage.'

His face doesn't even blank out, he merely looks distracted for a second as he uses sight, and he blurts out, 'This is just incredible, Mr Grey is taking masses of power from Vincent, through that one slight touch. Better be careful, Vincent, you mean well, but he will drain you to a husk.'

'That won't happen, Tristan. Vincent has unlimited power available to him, he siphons it off nature as Lukas and Hermes do.'

Melissa does blank out after she has finished her sentence, and when she is back with them she adds, 'And he is even taking power from the node without so much as a thought. Taking in power is a reflex to him, even Lukas has to consciously take power from the node, and he doesn't like to do that, says it fights him.'

'And it does,' Lukas interjects, 'I have plenty of power without having to fight with something much like lightning. Doesn't it feel that way to you?'

'It can be moderately unpleasant,' Tristan observes, 'I guess it's worse when you're sensitive to feelings. But you have just explained why this Mr Quesnet wanted Vincent so badly. I did wonder, you know, he seems the wrong body to be a crook in, since he tends to stand out in a crowd somewhat, and is rather well-known among the higher classes for being an actor. A crook would want to be unobtrusive.

And I no longer wonder that your skin is truly white, Vincent, I rather wonder why your hair is still black, and your eyes aren't blue instead of yellow.'

'They started out black, Tristan, believe me, they have been bleached quite a lot, but all during my resurrection, they've been the same colour since then. Maybe I shouldn't sit on top of this node-thing, though, I guess white hair and white eyes would truly make me a spectacle.'

Meanwhile, the change in Mr Grey is astonishing. Not only has his tired demeanour changed to his usual bloom, he is getting younger by the minute.

'You've been a slave all your youth, Dorian,' Vincent says, 'with those thugs no longer siphoning off your energy, you can probably keep the ageing to a normal rate without having to resort to using people. You can live your life like any of us, and die like any of us. Unless you find love, in which case you'll stay young forever.'

'Like me,' Lukas states happily.

Of course it is impossible to reproach Lukas for rubbing it in that he will stay young forever. Still, Vincent has had no proof he is actually ageing himself, and anyway, who would want to stay young forever? Everybody he loves is going to age, and Vincent prefers to stick with them.

'Since we are all gathered here so comfortably,' Mina pleads, 'can you think of a way to protect me from those magical attacks that leave me for dead? According to Adison they cut my connection to the ley-lines, starving me of the power to fuel my body. Anyone?'

Paul offers, 'In the carriage, Adison asked Lukas to help her try to restore the minds of some possessed thugs guarding Mr Quesnet. What if Melissa and I join Lukas and we check this out before or after we anchor them? I want to check out the shields on your house anyway, they are very well suited to keep magic out, but with your connection to Father Nicholas it may be wiser to keep any magic-use in as well.

Tristan and I did the same for our house, since I have started to use magic to improve my steel.'

Of course Lord Douglas is the only one present who didn't have a clue magic even existed before today. He did not see the power the old man wielded, but he did see the dreadful old stick had it in for Vincent, and of course he knew two armed guards were trouble.

He was glad to hear that his immobility wasn't his own cowardice, and he did see those large men, totally devoid of thoughts or feelings, as he saw Dorian turn back into his own younger self in minutes, did Vincent really do that? After what Dorian tried to do to him?

But Lord Douglas saw Dorian's expression when Vincent called him by his first name just once, Dorian is as stuck on Vincent as Lord Douglas himself has ever been. What is it with that guy? He's not even handsome, not by far, but somehow he gets under your skin.

Anyway, he can imagine now why Vincent doesn't care a bit about which gender a person loves, if his own world is stuffed with some strange force that some people can see and manipulate and some cannot. And the only thing Lord Douglas is going to take away from this meeting is the message to his friends, that Dorian Grey has improved in manners, and can be invited as entertaining guest and enjoyed as caring lover once more.

As Vincent always takes care to forget about Lord Douglas' preferences, his friend will now forget that magic exists, and that Vincent is apparently stuffed to the brim with it.

'Can we ride on your estate some day, Sir George?' he asks their host. 'Vincent tells me it is extensive, and we'd like to really let our horses run to their limit some time soon.'

Somehow, Sir George seems to understand that Lord Douglas has seen and heard enough of magic, and he replies, 'Sure you can, would you mind taking my foster-daughter along if you do? She knows Vincent well and she would love to show you both what her new horse Suzy can do.'

'If you are not afraid she'll hurt herself or her horse, of course. We were planning on going fast, you see.'

'I never worry about Lucy as long as she is on a horse. Suzy is a thoroughbred, she will keep up with your hunters without any trouble. Let's say you come by when the snow melts? While it is still so thick I suppose it is better not to risk the horses.

Just announce yourselves to the gatekeeper, and all will be fine, you can pick up Lucy at the house. And maybe you'll take a coffee with Frances and me afterwards?'

'That will be just fine, Sir George, thank you very much.'

'Do you want me to send for my carriage to take you home? This talk of magic will go on for most of the night, but I have feeling you are feeling a little out of your depth?'

'I'd like that very much, sir, I feel as if I am listening in on someone's secrets, I don't want to know all this, magic scares me and it seems like you guys have your ways of protecting the likes of me from people trying to abuse it. I'll just forget what I heard, and keep fencing and riding with Vincent as if he's just an ordinary guy with an interesting skin-colour, and a great taste in literature.'

And when Lord Douglas does really leave, and Mr Grey decides to join him, Victor and Mina leave with them, Mina is getting positively overwrought with an overdose of magic-laden blood, and Victor plans to help her vent some of that energy, back home.

Vincent takes them to the carriage, and embraces Lord Douglas yet again, thanking him for his invaluable share in the evening.

'I will see you the day after tomorrow for our lesson, won't I, Vincent?'