Nature or Nurture Ch. 43-44

Let's just sit here a little longer, and prove to each other we can control ourselves as well, then start over tomorrow.'

And that is what they do, sit together for half an hour, coming to terms with what happened between them, and then Mina lovingly lifts Victor to their own bed and joins him, and Vincent nestles himself against Adison, still a bit dazed that his violent self was so true to his own wishes and principles. Why does it still feel as if that part of him takes over sometimes? If they have so much in common they are one and the same, aren't they?

The last thing he realizes before he falls asleep, is how he expected to experience more of Heathcliff's memories under the influence of the booze, but that didn't happen at all.

It doesn't seem as if the booze has lost its potency, he still feels dazed and the world seems to be spinning just a little bit. He must be crazy to take such a risk, sitting by himself in a stall in this filthy, cramped pub, slowly losing awareness of everything around him.

There must be at least four hits out on him, and still he feels free to drink himself into insensibility in public. Well, who cares anyway, least of all himself, Cathy's dead, the devil knows he never cared about anyone else, nor did anyone else ever care for him.

The absence of rage confuses Vincent at first, this is not a dream spawned by his weird drunken night with Mina, this is a flashback, he's Heathcliff, drinking himself into a stupor to stop feeling, anything, actually. Possibly permanently if his enemies fall on him in this state.

This is not the first time he feels sorry for his predecessor, with such a life, who can fault him being angry all the time? It brings home to him how fortunate he has been that Adison found him, what would his life have been without her?

Still drinking steadily, level in the bottle on the table in front of him lowering, he loses ever more consciousness, uncaring and nearly in the depths of despair.

Chapter 44

A touch on his shoulder gives a flash of alarm, but the haze soon takes over again, to die here would be a blessing, anything else is not interesting.

The owner of the hand is now sitting next to him, still touching his shoulder, trying to catch his attention. Looking up, the haze clears enough for him to recognize Mina, pretty girl, looks a little like Catherine but less beautiful of course, besides, she's a vampire, a bloodsucker, let her drain him now, it'd serve her well, getting blinding drunk.

Taking hold of his rough stubbled jaws, she's strong!, she looks into his eyes, and the haze clears a little more, annoyance trying to take hold of him at being disturbed, but failing miserably, too much booze, he really doesn't care anymore.

'Go 'way,' he mumbles at her.

She does not, and she keeps her hold on his face, lips moving, shaping words.

'What are you doing, Heathcliff, are you mad, sitting here, drunk out of your wits? I saw at least three people who want you dead in this pub alone.'

'D'n care, let them, be a blessing.'

Another glass of unidentifiable booze burns his throat on its way down.

'Want to talk about it?'

Did Mina ask that? Her lips are still moving, her eyes show concern. She's a vampire for gods sake, vampires don't care about anything, certainly not a tough old guy like himself. They like their meat young and tender, and scared, Heathcliff suspects, fear adds a certain flavour probably.

'Ab't what?'

'Whatever has taken your rage and set you drinking like this, Heathcliff.'

She has let go of his jaw, too bad really, it wasn't at all bad having a woman touch him, even is she is a bloody vampire.

'What d'ye care, Mina? I'm old and tough, eat a nice baby and leave me alone.'

She will not give up, she takes his bottle and his arm, she really is strong, and she manhandles him out of there.

'I know a place where you can finish this in relative safety.'

He doesn't resist, he doesn't care at all, and in a daze he stumbles where she leads him, through alleys and across a weed-choked field, into a sort of building.

The fresh air has revived him a little, and he looks around, he hasn't clue where he is, it's a derelict building, must have been a nice house once, boarded window holes now, broken door. Up a stairs, a little room with a bed, windows carefully boarded, this must be where she hides by day.

A tiny part of his mind observes that living in a dump like this is pitiful and very risky for a creature that will burn if sunlight touches her.

She sits him down on the bed, and returns his bottle. He offers it straight back.

'You want some?'

'Thanks for the offer, but it won't help me forget. If it's not human blood it has no use for me.'

A question wells up in him.

'If you bite a drunk, will that work?'

'Frankly, I have no idea. I envy you the chance to forget.'

'Try. Bite me.'

This stage of intoxication always makes him reckless, if she hadn't brought him here he'd be looking for a fight right now, or already lie bleeding in a gutter most likely. What would it be like to be bitten by a vampire? Would she drain him to death?

She's tempted, he can see that even through a haze of intoxication. She must have seen a few shocking things, she seems rather young, small wonder she wants a chance to get blinding drunk, even if it means biting an older guy.

'It's not as you might think. Not painful. It will make you feel...'

She's looking for a word to describe what it feels like to have a vampire suck your blood, maybe 'dead' will do?

'Blissful,' she says.

Yeah right. Time for another tug on the bottle. He drinks half of what is left in the bottle in one go.

'Better do it then. I can use some bliss right now.'

She knows he is being sarcastic, but she really wants the release of alcohol, and she'll have it, bliss and all. He drains the bottle, lets it fall to the floor-boards, then lies back on the bed, exposing his throat fearlessly.

Oh my, does she look eager now, and guilty. She feels she is using him.

'Don't hesitate, little girl,' he taunts her, 'maybe 't will put some heart in you.'

Slowly, she straddles him, hesitantly, as if she finds him slightly repulsive, a lot of women fear him, his inner rage, his swarthy gypsy look, but when all's said and done, most find him appealing somehow. This girl, this vampire, is apparently the exception. He doesn't care, either she bites him or not.

She bends over him now, unbuttoning his collar a little, getting it out of the way, she's afraid to spoil it? It is expensive, but of what use will a collar be to a dead man? She's going to kill him, isn't she?

Now he feels her upper body rest on his, her breasts touching his chest, her lower body straddling him exactly where he feels it most. Quite enticing actually, even in his drunken haze, what a way to go.

She certainly takes her time with a willing victim, nuzzling his neck, licking it, finding the right spot to strike? Now she gets up, distracted for a moment, she picks up a cloth and sits back on his, well, something he hasn't used in a long time, which now gets all kinds of weird ideas, none of them involving dying of blood loss.

Losing himself in an intoxicated haze as those last two tugs of the bottle really hit him, his long neglected male part forgotten, he seems to see her tie her right arm to the bed-post with the cloth.

What in the world could be the use of that?

She's back in his neck now, he'd swear she is smelling him, that cannot be too pleasant, since Cathy passed away he has been letting himself go, not altogether, but he's not the perfectly groomed fellow he used to be.

Someone's getting ideas again, it is incredibly hot to be straddled by a beautiful young woman, despite knowing she'll start killing you any moment now, or maybe because of it.

A sharp sting in his neck proclaims his approaching demise, and he tries to regret the loss of his life, failing of course, when she actually starts sucking his blood.

The bliss is too large for his befuddled mind to contain, he is totally overwhelmed for a few seconds, until he feels his long suppressed urges stirring to life with a vengeance. He is not able to do anything, the ecstasy of her sucking takes his will away, he lets her take his life's blood in the throes of bliss.

She will kill him, but he will die in ecstasy, a feeling he had not expected to ever experience again. The world starts to spin again, she's still sucking his vein, so good, she must never stop, he wants to leave this life in everlasting exhilaration.

But then she's licking his neck, no, don't stop, not yet, it was so good, please let her bite him again, make him feel passion again. Before he can voice his protest, she has released her hand from the bond and both her hands are in his hair and she is kissing him, the taste of his own blood in his mouth, his erection now throbbing in his pants, fire in his entire body.

She's already undoing his buttons, shirt and trousers both, and he does the same to her dress.

Within minutes he has her dress and corset removed, and she has him out of his trousers and shirt. The lust that her sucking caused him is still burning hotly, breaking through his drunken haze, and he fondles her breasts, and wants her to kiss him once more.

Which she does, at the same time that she guides his erection inside her and starts to ride him.

His feelings explode.

It has been so long, he hasn't felt lust or made love since Catherine died, pretty close to a year ago. Rage and steady drinking have destroyed his urges, but this young vampire has brought them back as strong as they've ever been.

They make love roughly but honestly, no causing of hurts or demeaning actions, just plain mutual lust. She is immensely strong and lets him feel it, but she allows him his moment on top, rutting and panting, until they are both released from the lust her feeding built up.

Then they lie in the other's arms for a while, and feel their intoxication return, Mina truly far gone into forgetfulness as well, apparently feeding on a drunk does work. When the intoxicated haze starts to wane a little for both of them and they enter that pleasant stage where they can talk once more but don't feel their hurts, yet, they do just that, talk about their lives and what makes them miserable. They even manage to spill a few tears, and feel a little better afterwards.

Then Mina warns him that dawn is near, and that she will fall into a coma until sunset, and he kisses her meaningfully, somehow knowing this was just for this one, fabulous time.

Vincent knows this was probably just before Mina got the order to lead Heathcliff to his doom, and the tragedy of it all makes him feel for her once more. Of course this is no longer her life, nor his, but whereas he didn't remember a thing of this encounter, she knew all the time, yesterday evening must have been very painful to her in itself, a reminder of how she gave a doomed man one night of forgetfulness and passion.

They will repeat that night, Vincent is determined they will, without the bitter aftertaste this time, and without the bond that saved Heathcliff's life by pulling Mina out of her feeding frenzy. Heathcliff might be the first person whose life she ever spared.

Vincent will give her all the passion and yes, even the violence, she wants. But first he will be by her side when she wakes up today, and tell her about his flashback, to talk about the connection they had just once in their former lives.

Still a bit overcome by this flashback of an intense moment of passion between Mina and his predecessor, he gathers Adison's warm sleeping body and clutches it against his own, again needful of her touch to remind himself he is Vincent, happily married and a successful actor, and not Heathcliff, loveless and friendless, though they are inextricably linked by the second love in his life, Heathcliff's daughter Catherine.

Of course his need wakes Adison, she has felt that touch before, and always when her beloved has had a powerful flashback, and she opens her eyes, still a bit sleepy, and strokes him until he relaxes against her. Then she waits until he is ready to speak.

He tells her everything that has happened last night, more than a little bit embarrassed, but he wants her to know about his other side, that he took control of a situation that left Vincent speechless and unable to act.

Adison is very understanding, she really doesn't reproach Vincent nor Mina anything, she applauds him offering her the opportunity to unload herself, and sees the rest as side-effects. Then Vincent tells her about the flashback, and that truly shocks her, to hear that Mina has been so intimate with Heathcliff, and has never mentioned it to her friends. Was she afraid to be judged? Or was it too painful to mention? Vincent is certain to find out, when confronted with his remembrance she will probably tell him why she didn't tell him before, not even when they were both totally inebriated.

Of course their talking wakes Catherine, and she comes over to their bed and asks immediately how Adison's emergency ended.

'I couldn't save her,' Adison tells her, 'she was totally wasted, there was nothing left of her body to hold her life.

I tried magic, and I saw something, but I just didn't get it, it was things flowing around, and colours. Maybe Lukas can tell me more, he is supposed to be a healer. So I decided to do it as I did it the time before, just offering a plea to fortune, and she woke up enough to say goodbye to Ethan, and then she died, peacefully. Victor promised to handle the follow-up, send someone from the morgue.

It was heart-rending, consumption is such a heartbreaking disease, young people wasting away, with nothing that can be done, so tragic.'

'I'm sorry you couldn't save her, mum,' Catherine truly comforts Adison, holding her, and giving her sweet little kisses.

'Afterwards, I was incredibly tired, and I got a raging headache. Victor had to help me get undressed and he brought me painkillers and stayed with me for some time, I don't know how long, I fell asleep.'

'Do you think the healing caused you to feel tired?' Vincent asks.

Adison replies, 'Ethan certainly thought so. Maybe it is the price one pays for using magic.'

'Victor was still with you when we got home, asleep with you in his arms. You looked cute together, Mina took him with her when she went to sleep. It reminded me of the old days, when we shared this bed with him. I told Mina that wine makes him really affectionate, maybe she can try that some day.'

'Did you tell mum about the little witches?' Catherine asks Vincent.

That cannot be true. The enemy tried to take his daughter and he totally forgot. The people he sent may have been totally incompetent the last two times, but that doesn't mean there isn't any danger. If Adison had been there instead of Mina, Vincent would have had to kill at least one of those girls, and in the time that took him, Adison could have been overcome and Catherine taken.

'You forgot?' Catherine asks in an absolutely unbelieving voice. 'Something profound must have happened in the meantime, and I slept right through it.'

Despite his great shame, Vincent feels laughter pushing his self-control, and he cannot help grinning at his daughter.

'I'll have you know I slept right through it as well,' he replies, 'it was a flashback of my life as Heathcliff, and you are right, it was profound.

But not as profound as two little witches attacking you, Mina and me each taking one by the throat, Mina messing with their minds, and them spilling their guts about who sent them with name and surname. I'm sorry Catherine.'

Vincent is proud of himself, making an excuse, summarizing what happened to Adison, and distracting Catherine from his flashback in one go. He really means his apology, but he doesn't fault himself for getting distracted by what happened afterwards.

And Catherine immediately understands that whatever her dad experienced, he doesn't want to talk about it with his daughter, and she has to respect that. So she climb in his lap and wraps her little arms around him.

'No problem, dad, Adison knows now, and we can discuss what to do about it later. Now you can hug me.'

After breakfast, Victor leaves, to report Brona's death to the authorities and have her body taken to the morgue. Adison opens the practice for a busy day of seeing patients, and Catherine helps her dad practise his lines.

When Victor returns, they all have lunch together, and he tells them how Ethan felt rather lost now in London, his reason for staying gone. Victor plans to visit Miss Yves in the afternoon, to tell her that her friend may need her, though he doubts Ethan will want to receive anyone in that dingy room. Catherine plans to read in the library, and Vincent heads for Victor and Mina's bedroom, to wait for Mina to wake up. He is nervous, after what happened yesterday this may be unwelcome to her, but he needs to know why she never told him.

She is still deep in a coma, and when he strokes her face it is cold and unresponsive. He wonders at Victor finding sleep against such a cold body, but of course he always turns in first, all alone, warming her in the middle of the night.

And in the mornings, when he wants to lie against her, she will have taken on his temperature, though she will never warm his friend as Adison warms Vincent. Still, within his own household Victor finds plenty of warmth, and Mina certainly makes up for the coldness of her body by the heat of her passion and of her love.

The body beside him is stirring now, she looks just like a normal person awakening, except that she still has some habits ingrained in people living in constant danger, for she suddenly sits up, wide awake and alert, ready for action. Vincent now knows where she got that habit, he has seen where she used to live, a shocking difference to where he used to live.

She may be surprised to find him here, waiting for her, but she is not displeased, for a smile lights her face and she holds out her hand. He takes it, still a bit shaken by the very real experience of his flashback, and it is clear she can see it from his expression. Damn his actor's face, he can control it up to the tiniest muscle, but forget that and it bares his very soul to the world. Or at least to anyone intimate with him.

'Something made a devastating impression on you, and it is connected to me. I hope it's not last night, I thought we were going to do that all over again?'

If he remembers, he can control his voice as perfectly.

'And we will, love, it's not that. I had a flashback last night, and it was rather profound.

I was in a pub, a year after Cathy's death, drinking myself into a stupor all alone, and just before I keeled over, probably never to wake up again for having been murdered by an enemy or a hitman, you took me to your hideout.

We did the same as last night, you fed on me to get drunk, but we didn't control ourselves, we made love ferociously. Then we talked, and we parted.'

Mina bows her head in acknowledgement of what he says, she remembers, it happened, it was indeed not a dream but a flashback, but she does not speak.

'Why didn't you ever tell me we had been intimate, Mina? It explains so much, the attraction we felt, it's a remnant from our past.'

Now he does get a reaction.

'It isn't, Vincent, truly not. You really weren't attractive to me then, your rage, your dominance, they repulsed me, even then I already preferred shy men, controlled, educated. Heathcliff was neither, well, he may have been educated but I never noticed.

That night was pure circumstance, the master ordered me to keep him safe, so I just took him to the safest place I knew. Foolish, to give away my safe-house to a guy like him.