Missing Scene #4: Death's Other Kingdom--a Forever Knight story By April French Characters: LaCroix, Janette Author's Note: A quiet, intense little scene that cried out to be written. This story takes place following 'Filial Bonds.' Major spoilers for the third-season episode "Human Factor." Praise, kudos, comments and criticism are dearly loved. Nasty flames will be used to light many, many candles. This story will be archived along with all the others at my site, http://www.geocities.com/runeshard/fkficindex.html. Permission to archive given to FKFIC, FKFIC2, and the FTP site. All others must first bribe me with bright lights and soft incense. ~~~ Missing Scene #4: Death's Other Kingdom (1/1) <> <> <> <> <> <> Janette shivered, and pulled her sweater more tightly around her slender frame. A pair of hands descended on her shoulders and gently but inexorably removed the garment. "You will not need this soon," LaCroix reminded her. "I know." Something deep within LaCroix had told him that this crossing needed to be performed with exquisite care, so Janette's apartment was darkened of electric light, lit instead by a many, many candles. The furniture had been pushed against the walls and the floor lined with pillows and soft cushions. Alain and Jesse had been banished to the Corvina's dormitory for the night. Incense was burning, nothing too strong, but it would stimulate her sense of smell... when she came back across. Lightly, he caressed her shoulders, tracing the muscles of her neck with one finger. Janette turned and buried her face in LaCroix's shirt, clutching at the fragile material. "Hush, ma fille," he soothed. He could be comforting, when the situation warranted it. He did not blame Janette for being afraid. No other vampire that he knew of had ever had to endure the pain--the brief but literally unholy terror that so often accompanied being brought across--more than once. And now here was his Janette, about to embark on just that journey for a third time. "We can do this any way you like," he promised her. "I don't want to think about it. I just want it to be done," Janette whispered. LaCroix nodded. He led her to the cushioned floor and lowered her down. He knelt beside her, cradling her head and neck in his strong hands. LaCroix rolled his eyes back and effortlessly willed the change to come over him. Instantly, the backs of his eyelids burned as his irises glowed, and his lips parted to allow his canines room to lengthen. Janette shut her eyes tightly. "Relax," LaCroix instructed in a husky growl. She did her best, but the tension would not leave her muscles. LaCroix pressed a kiss to the steady pulse in her throat. "Relax," he said again, but this time the voice echoed in Janette's ears and she felt her anxiety--as well as her will--drain away. LaCroix tilted her head back, and bit down. The first time was so long ago, the memories had almost completely faded. And the second time, she had been half-dead with pain and exhaustion. But this crossing, Janette would remember for the rest of her days. The brief pain of the bite, then the pulling, sucking movements of his mouth, and the slow, creeping cold that began in the tips of her toes and spread throughout her body. She was dying. *** Bright lights prodded gently at Janette's eyelids, and she found herself standing on the same barren, sunlit plain. She remembered it now. In front of her were the same two doors. She remembered them as well. The iron-clad door and the heavy wooden door. Janette walked toward the wooden door. She put her hand out to open it, but before she could, it swung open of its own accord, and a figure stepped out. A figure that she remembered well. Her blue eyes opened wide. "Robert..." Robert McDonough smiled his wide, frank smile, and opened his arms wide. She went willingly. "It's okay," he whispered into her hair. "I'm okay here." He held Janette at arm's length, gripping her shoulders tightly. "Janette, listen to me. You can't stay here with me. You have to go back." Janette began to protest. "You have to go back. For Jesse. For Janette. Yes, I know." He chuckled at her surprised look. "It's hard to keep secrets here." "But where is here?" "Here is... somewhere. It's not important. Go back, Janette. For Jesse. When it's time for you to come back, I'll be here waiting for you," he promised. His bluff, rosy face smiled at her. "I'll be waiting for you." Janette's cheeks were wet with tears, real salt-water tears, tears that she would never be able to cry again. "I'll hold you to that." "Janette. Don't forget me. But don't deny yourself, either." Before she could ask Robert what he meant, Janette heard LaCroix calling. "Janette. Janette. Come back to me. Come back." "Go back to him," Robert told her. "Go back to Jesse." "Robert... I love you." The image embraced her gently. "I love you, too, hon." He released her, and resolutely, Janette turned back. *** Patiently, LaCroix held his bitten, bleeding wrist over Janette's mouth. She had said that she wished to be brought back across rather than let the insidious drug wear off on its own... but there was no way for LaCroix to know whether she might make that final decision to live or die. At long last, he saw her nostrils flare. Her eyelids flickered. Janette's hands shot up and grabbed his arm, pulling the fresh wound to her ravenous mouth. LaCroix exhaled, an explosive sigh of relief. He held his daughter tightly as she drank from his wrist. "Welcome home, ma fille. Welcome home." ~Finis--March 14, 2003~ April French daomir_darkfell@yahoo.com ===== ~Forever Knight: The Sons of Lilith~ http://www.geocities.com/runeshard/fkficindex.html ~The Corvina~ http://www.geocities.com/runeshard/index.html "And we shall exist by amusing ourselves, by dreaming of monstrous loves and fantastic universes, by complaining and quarreling with the pretenses of the world..." --"The Flash of Lightning" by Arthur Rimbaud