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A Halloween to Remember, Part 1/1
By Emily M. Hanson
Disclaimers: I do not own Forever Knight, the TV show, or the characters. FK is owned by Sony/TriStar. Permission is given to archive. This story has not been beta-read.
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The radio station CERK was playing Nightcrawler monologues as a special Halloween treat. The one currently playing was LaCroix’s reading of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven.” It sent shivers down Tracy’s spine to hear the ancient vampire read the poem. Knowing now that the Nightcrawler was a 2000 year-old vampire made a huge difference. The guy was creepy before, but now his monologues were even creepier. And to think Nick had to put up with him for so long.
Tracy stole a glance at her erstwhile partner. Nick wore a vampire cape and was dressed in a red silk shirt and black jeans. He was doing paperwork. It seemed like Nick was compromising between his cop identity and the fact that he owned the Brabant Foundation, which had recently been revealed to the public. He’d bought a new luxury car, but still drove the Caddy to work and around town.
Natalie was getting a lot of flowers lately and the gossip was that Knight was waiting for the right moment to propose, and maybe even ask Natalie if she wanted to be brought across. The latest office pool had the majority of votes for the coroner being brought across within a year. The older pool involving Nick and Nat’s wedding date was still going. Recently, a new pool had started up, which was whether or not Nick would find a way to have the wedding outside during daylight hours.
Tracy’s phone rang, startling her. She picked it up. “Detective Vetter, Paranormal Investigations.”
“Happy Halloween!”
Loud music blared in the background. Tracy surmised her partner-in-training was at the Raven. “Hi, Vachon.”
“You should come over, we’re having a blast.”
“I’m on duty tonight.”
“So book off early.”
Tracy sighed. “It’s Halloween. I’m sure something will come up tonight. Besides, I can’t just book off without a good reason.”
“Party pooper. The Raven is the place to be, Trace. Mortals, vampires, werewolves, everybody’s having a blast.”
“How’s training going?”
“Great. I have less than two weeks left.”
“Wonderful.”
“Anyone dress up over there?”
“Nick wore a vampire cape. Schanke’s furry. Lots of people are wearing vampire capes, actually. You’d think they were our new uniforms or something.”
Vachon chuckled. “Transfer me to Nick, will you? Please?”
“Sure.”
“Knight,” the blonde vampire said, picking up the phone.
“A vampire cape, Nick? Come on,” Vachon teased him. “I know you can do better than that.”
“Hello, Vachon. I’ll stop by if I get a chance.”
“You do that. Oh, have you popped the question yet to that pretty lady of yours?” Rumor had it Nick was seriously considering proposing to Natalie Lambert.
At the desk on his other side, Schanke glanced up. He must have picked up on that with his sharp hearing, Nick thought. “Uh, not yet.”
“What? Why not?”
“It just hasn’t been the right time, that’s all.”
“There’s no time like the present.”
Nick sighed. “Vachon . . .”
“Yeah, yeah. Happy Halloween, Knight.”
“Same to you.” Nick hung up and met Don Schanke’s inquisitive gaze. “What?”
“Ask her tonight,” Schanke suggested.
“But it’s Halloween.”
“Yeah, so? Do you have the ring with you?”
“Yes.”
Nick opened his bottom desk drawer and took out a jewelry box. Carefully, the vampire opened it. Schanke caught a glimpse of a very expensive diamond ring. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a diamond that large outside of a jewelry store. It had to be worth a small fortune.
Schanke whistled softly. “There’s no way she’ll turn you down, Knight. Not with a rock that size.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about.”
“What, then?”
“I’m worried about what happens after the wedding.”
“You mean, because she’s not like you?”
“Yes.” Nick sighed. “I could hurt her, Schank. I don’t want that to happen.” Knight’s eyes got a faraway look.
“I’m sure everything will be okay. You’re off cow now, aren’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“So, it’s not like you’re going to lose control.”
“It still might. It didn’t seem to matter much with Alyssa.”
“Who?”
Nick got a very distant look on his face. “My wife.”
“You were married?”
“I was married once to Alyssa, and once to Janette.”
“Does Natalie know?”
“She knows about Janette. I never told her about Alyssa.” Nick’s voice cracked slightly as he spoke the name of his late wife.
“What happened?” Schanke asked.
The vampire spoke so softly that no one else could have heard him. “On our honeymoon, we tried to be together and . . . it didn’t work out.”
There was a lot of pain in Knight’s voice and his eyes. Then Schanke smelled guilt. Lots of guilt. Realizing that Nick had probably killed Alyssa, Don replied just as softly, “But that doesn’t mean it won’t work out with Nat. You two are meant to be together. I’ve known that for as long as I’ve known you.”
“You really think so?”
“Yeah.” Schanke grinned. “Just ask her.”
Nick picked up the phone and pressed the speed dial.
“Hi, Nick,” Nat answered. “Doing anything special tonight?”
“Possibly. Why don’t you, uh, come on over here for a few minutes? There’s, uh, something you should see.”
“Are you okay? You sound nervous.”
“I’m fine. Can you come over?”
“No problem.”
Nick hung up and dialed Grace’s number. He knew that she would never forgive him or Natalie if she missed the proposal.
“Hello, Captain Knight. What can I do for you?”
“Can you, uh, head over here for a few minutes? It’s important.”
“Okay. What for?”
“It’s uh, regarding a proposal.” Nick winced at the slip. “Don’t tell Nat.”
“I won’t, but I’ll tell you one thing, mister. It’s about time.”
Schanke gave Nick a thumbs up. “You’re doing the right thing.”
“I sure hope so.”
A few minutes later, Natalie and Grace walked in. There were expectant looks on the faces of all their co-workers. Captain Reese was standing outside his office door with a big grin and his arms folded across his chest.
“Grace, do you have any idea what’s going on?” Nat asked.
“Sorry, girlfriend, I’m sworn to secrecy.”
“I’ll buy you a chocolate fudge sundae if you tell me what’s going on.”
“I’d love to take you up on that offer, but I can’t.”
“Why not?”
Nick stood up and approached Natalie. “She promised me, Nat.”
“Oh. Okay, then. What is going on? Nice costume, Nick.”
“Thanks. Um, I wanted to show you something.”
“All right. Show me.”
Nick took a box out of his pocket. It was the sort of box expensive jewelry came in. Nat thought it was far too small to hold a necklace – maybe really small earrings. Had he bought her a gift for Halloween? No, obviously not. Nat realized that he was going down on one knee. The jewelry box contained the most beautiful diamond ring she had ever seen.
“Natalie Lambert, will you marry me?”
She was completely stunned and then her vision blurred. It took Nat a few moments to realize that the blurry vision was caused by tears. “Yes, of course!” The entire room erupted into thunderous applause as Nick carefully pushed the ring onto Natalie’s finger. Someone grabbed a camera and started taking pictures, no doubt hoping to earn a few extra dollars by selling them later. It didn’t matter. Nick and Nat embraced, then kissed briefly (though passionately).
“Way to go!” Schanke exclaimed.
“I’m glad to see you two finally came to your senses,” Captain Reese added.
“When’s the wedding?” Tracy inquired.
Separating from the embrace, Nick turned around. “For obvious reasons, it will most likely be at night, and not inside a church. As for the date, we’ll let everyone know. Happy Halloween, Natalie,” he said.
“Happy Halloween,” she replied. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“This will definitely be a Halloween to remember.”
Nick smiled as he gazed into Natalie’s eyes. “It will, indeed.”
*** THE END ***
By Emily M. Hanson
Happy Halloween, hope you enjoyed my treat! Halloween goodies, ghosts, goblins and vampires may be sent to emilymhanson@yahoo.com Feedback is welcome. Flames will be promptly extinguished . . . now where did I put that squirt gun?