Dark Heretic (E. St. John)

Chapter 02

Filler chapter.

The next morning, Caroline Forbes isn't as hungover as she thought she would be when her blue eyes open. She drank a few before she brought Nick into the woods.

Care stares at the ceiling of her bedroom for a long time thinking about Nick and some guy she saw at the Grill last nigh. The guy from last night... he's hot. Black hair, blue eyes, hot face. He screamed dark, dangerous, and mysterious. Then there's Nick.

Caroline is worried about Nick. That fear when he denied being gay has really rattled the teenaged human girl. She really does love Nick. She hated seeing that fear in his eyes. It rattled her, shook her to her very core.

Care sits up and she runs her face. She moans out in annoyance when she hears her alarm go off. She doesn't know why she has it set for every day of the week, even on Saturdays, for six o'clock in the morning, but she does. So the blonde forces herself to get out of bed and slip into some fuzzy pink slippers. She goes to the bathroom, brushes her teeth, and goes to the kitchen with messy hair and in her pajamas.

"Morning," Liz says to daughter. She is sat at the counter drinking a large cup of coffee.

"Morning, Mom." Caroline pours herself some Orange Juice.

Liz looks at her daughter after reading an article in the newspaper. "You look conflicted," she says. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know," Caroline says. "It's Nick."

"What about him?" Liz asks. She's always liked Nick. He's such a sweet guy.

"I'm worried about him," Caroline says.

"Why?" Liz asks.

"I don't want to make him hate me, but I need some advice," Caroline says.

"From me?" Liz is stunned. Caroline trusts her enough to want advice?

"Please?"

"Talk to me," Liz says. "Tell me what happened and I'll try and help if I can." 

"We were making out in the woods," Caroline says. "I wanted to go further, but he wasn't... getting horny."

Liz windows when her uses that 'h' word, and so does Caroline.

"He told me to try something besides kissing him and I did; it didn't work," Caroline says. "In my dramatic fashion, I got annoyed and got up and I accused him of being gay."

"Caroline!"

"I know," Caroline replies. "He denied it."

"Okay," Liz says. "Then what's got you so rattled and conflicted?"

"It's his response, his eyes and the scanner when he said no," Caroline says and Liz drowns. "He did say no, but he stuttered real bad."

"And his eyes?" Liz asks.

"He was scared," Caroline says. "Terrified."

"Oh, dear," Liz gasps. "He's scared because he is gay?"

"I think so," Caroline says. "I want to talk to him about it, but he was really tense after last night.'

"I can go check on him today," Liz says. "I know where he lives."

"Thanks, Mom," Caroline says.

Liz nods. "Of course," she says.
-/-/-/-/-/-

Nick is sipping on a blood bag in his bedroom corner, his knees drew up to his chest. That beating that he and Lee got in on the 28th day of December in 1945 replaying in his brain, over and over and over again, on repeat, like a broken record.

He doesn't hear the lock being undone (Liz has a key just in case she gets worried) or his door opening. He looks up when someone clears their throat and it's Liz. Her hand is hovering over her gun when she eyes his blood bag. Nick whimpers a little and looks down. She knows.

Liz's heart breaks. She takes her gun out and puts it on Nick's dresser before she goes to his side. "Caroline's worried about you," she says. She sees fear glazes his eyes as he remembers the party. "Is it to do with your past? How you..." She looks at the blood "... turned?"

"And everything that happened after," Nick replies. "I love Caroline, but..."

"You're gay." Liz grabs Nick's hand when he flinches and goes to move away. "And that's okay. Okay? It's okay to be gay."

Nick cries a little and Liz lets his head drop to her shoulder. She takes the bag and lays it to the side.

"When did you become like this?" Liz asks.

"December the 28th, 1945," Nick replies. "I was born on April 2nd, 1927 to Charles and Pamela James in Queens, New York City, New York." He shifts a little. "I had one friend, her name was Kathy." He smiles. "She gave me blood, her blood, without me knowing so when I died... I came back." He sniffles. "The forties, fifties, and sixties weren't too kind to gay men. After what happened to me, I watched it continue to happen. I decided I didn't want to be a homosexual anymore."

"But it didn't work?"

Nick shakes his head. "I wanted it to," he says, "but I don't think it did." He looks at her. "Are you going to kill me now? People don't usually like vampires."

"I usually don't," Liz says. "But how can I when you look at me with those teary eyes?" She smiles and she touches his face. "I just can't do it. Not you." She wipes his tears away. "We'll get through this, okay? Let's go to my house so you can talk to Caroline. She's worried enough to talk to me and we never talk."

"Okay," Nick replies.

Liz helps him up and they leave his apartment. She drives them to her house and he goes to talk to Caroline. Liz sits on the couch as she goes over everything that's happened so far and it's just now 7:30am.