Sweat beaded Natalie's forehead as she drove down the road. She was tired, so very tired. Her eyelids drooped.
She forced her eyes open.
Things looked strange.
She shook her head, trying to clear her vision. A dull red haze covered everything. It made the street lights dimmer somehow, darkened the light. But illuminated the shadows. The alleys, occasional shaded streets, recessed doorways did not look nearly as dark as they should have been.
The only sound came from the radio. A sultry female voice was singing.
The darkness aches
And tears away the strongest heart
The music plays
The fire burns a soul apart
Natalie rolled down her window a few inches. The cool breeze mouthed chill kisses on her hot brow. She took a deep breath and released it.
The fever breaks
Cool rain is falling on our bed
The time has come
The hunger's longing to be fed
Natalie swallowed, looked at the people on the lighted sidewalks. The store windows and marquees took on a dark violet light, but the people...they had several large dots of brighter red color on their bodies, dots that breathed and pulsed with their every movement.
You can't turn back
You can't turn back
The night bleeds in black
The hunger.
An alley suddenly gleamed darkly beside her, maroon on black.
You must give in
You must give in
A game that you can't win
The hunger.
More violet light, more people pulsing redly.
The hunger.
Natalie blinked her eyes, a sudden pounding sounding in her ears.
The hunger.
The pounding grew louder, sounding like a hundred hearts trying to squeeze into her head. She gasped and pulled the car over to the side of the road sharply, slamming on the brakes. Tires squealed and a horn blared behind her. Natalie let her head fall down onto the steering wheel.
"The darkness can be alive with sound and color," came the velvet voice from her radio. She lifted her head. The heartbeats, all other sounds retreated. "But it can also be quiet, a blanket of heavy, warm silence. It's no accident that lovers prefer the night for trysting. It's a time for moving as you will, secure in the knowledge that the darkness cloaks you, protects you. For taking what you want, what you need, what you deserve. Fulfilling all your darkest desires."
Natalie closed her eyes. The dark red glow remained.
Natalie pulled up across the street from CERK and cut the engine. The sultry music on her radio died. She stared at the building. It was an area of comforting darkness, although the dark red haze was creeping closer to it from every side. She got out of her car and went inside.
She slowly neared the glass wall of the broadcast booth. LaCroix was darkness in a pool of soft, white light. His lips were moving, caressing the microphone, but she couldn't hear him. He looked up and saw her.
His lips moved at the microphone again, and he flicked a switch. Then he leaned back in his chair and nodded at her.
Natalie reached for the door knob, hand trembling.
LaCroix smiled slightly at her as she entered the room. "Dr. Lambert," he said. "To what do I owe the honor of this visit?"
"What's happening to me?" Natalie spurted.
LaCroix leaned back further in his chair and crossed his hands over his waist. "Why ask me? Why don't you ask Nicholas?" His glance shifted to the window wall.
She followed his gaze and saw Nick looking in at them. Her eyes grew wide as she watched him move to the door and open it.
Nick entered the broadcast booth. "Nat," he said. Her wide eyes shifted to LaCroix and then she ran at Nick, pushing him aside. "Nat?" Nick called, as she ran through the door. She didn't stop.
Nick looked at LaCroix. "What did you do to her?"
LaCroix's eyebrows rose. "Nothing. She came to me."
Nick frowned, but he realized that now was not the time to talk to LaCroix. He hurried off to find Nat.
She had just opened the rear door of the building when Nick grabbed her arm. Her forward momentum carried them out into the alley.
"What are you doing here, Nat?" he asked, bringing them to a stop.
"Let go of me."
"Nat, we have to talk."
"Let go of me!" She pulled away from him. "This is your fault! You were only supposed to take a little. But you took too much and now I'm changed...changing."
Nick swallowed, frowning. "No, Nat. You're mortal."
"Yeah? Then why is my white cell count up?"
"You're sick?"
She ignored his remark. "And why do I want blood? Have I been...killing--" Her voice broke on the last word, and her eyes filled with tears.
Nick pulled her close, holding her head on his shoulder. "I don't believe you killed anyone," he said into her hair. "You can't have killed anyone."
"The darkness is taking me over, Nick," she murmured, her head still on his shoulder. "Or maybe it's spreading out from the inside."
"Then you must either bring her over properly or... release her." Nick remembered LaCroix's words. A golden haze filled his vision and he felt his fangs descend. His hand clenched into her soft curls. A quick pull back to expose her throat to him and...
"No," he said, closing his eyes and shutting his mouth, concentrating on suppressing the beast. Nat pulled back from him slightly. He opened his eyes and gripped her upper arms. "You are mortal, Nat! You are human! Your humanity is what I value in you, the example I've aspired to. I couldn't take that away from you, and I won't let you take it from yourself. You can't let the darkness destroy your light."
"It's too late."
"No," Nick said earnestly. Then he said more softly, "Please, Nat. Let me help you find the answers to this."
Nat reached up to stroke his face and leaned closer to him. Nick leaned into her caress, his eyes shifting to her lips. Suddenly her soft look turned to an angry scowl. "You're trying to control me!"
She hauled off and hit him.
LaCroix watched from the roof as Natalie sent Nick flying into the wall of the building. Nick's head hit the brick with a resounding crack, and he slumped to the ground, unconscious. Natalie turned and ran.
LaCroix sighed, disappointed, and took to the air.
After Nick had gone, Natalie rested her blood-covered gloves on the folded-back white sheet. She blinked several times and swallowed.
Her gaze drifted over to the radio on her desk. Slowly she walked over to it and switched it on.
"The dark has its dangers," intoned the mellow voice of
the Nightcrawler. "Robbery, rape, murder...suicide. But
there is also beauty on that other side, if you let it into
your blood."