Nick: I grew callous in my relationship with women. I used them only to satisfy my lust and hunger for blood -- the innocent as well as the not so innocent. Some I would take quickly while others I would toy with, drawing the life from them little by little until there was nothing left except their need to feel my fangs piercing their flesh one last time. I would mourn their passing but for a few hours at most, and with my master's encouragement, simply move on to the next one. My existence was hollow, my heart had grown cold. Then, one night out of the blue, I felt an unmistakable presence.... Janette.

Janette:  He nearly ran to me, but stopped short as though he was uncertain about the reception he would receive. I smiled and approached him, drinking in his delectable beauty. He was even more handsome than I remembered. I brushed my lips across his cheeks, then looked into a pair of smoldering eyes. Yes, he still wanted me. He crushed me to his chest and kissed me with such passion, that I was left trembling with desire. Pulling away ever so slowly, he whispered in a voice designed to seduce, "How badly do you want me?" Then with an arrogant little smirk on that gorgeous face, realizing the power he now possessed over me, he turned and walked away.

Nick: Of course, I still loved Janette and I was delighted that she had at last returned. But missing was the desperation that I once felt for her. Our lovemaking was as passionate as ever, but I no longer felt an obsession to have her with me at all times, to treat her as my private possession. Perhaps I was afraid of scaring her off again and losing her forever. I learned to give her the space and freedom she needed to be her own person. In time, we developed an open relationship that worked well for many years afterwards.

Janette:  As the centuries passed, I noticed my Nicolas changing. I always knew that he'd had some regrets about becoming a vampire, but he actually began to frighten me with his decision to seek out a cure. Neither LaCroix nor I could talk him out of such nonsense, so we each had to become baby-sitters in a sense in order to protect Nicolas from himself.

Nick: I don't recall the exact moment when I decided I had to find a way back to the light. I just knew that at one point I felt that there had to be a way to undo what had been done to me. I wanted to be able to walk in the sunlight without bursting into flames, to eat real food, to make love to a woman without taking her life. I wanted to have children and watch them grow up and give me grandchildren. I wanted to be human again. I searched for a cure in highly unlikely places, trusted the wrong people, and more than once put my life at risk. Both Janette and LaCroix have come to my rescue when my naivete got the better of me. I regretted the pain I caused them, but I could not abandon my dream.

Janette:  I couldn't help but notice the tension that grew between Nicolas and LaCroix. They fought constantly, often using me against one another. I didn't approve of some of the things LaCroix did in his attempts to educate his wayward son, but I understood why he did them. He loved Nicolas as much as I did, perhaps more, and wanted to keep him in a close family embrace. One of his lessons must have backfired because a drastic change came over Nicolas one night. At the time I wasn't aware of what had transpired, though I believed it had something to do with a pretty ballerina that Nicolas had developed an infatuation with. Things were never the same after that night.

Nick: I broke my own rule about not falling in love again. But she was pure perfection, an angel come to earth. I knew better than to approach her. No good would ever come of it. I kept my distance, though each night, I bought a ticket and sat in the balcony to watch her perform. Such flawless grace and beauty. I wanted her, but I knew I was unworthy of her affection. I made the mistake of listening to LaCroix who convinced me that the angel I loved from afar was nothing more than a harlot, giving herself to any man that came along. And when she showed interest in me, the devil's son, I acted without thinking. It wasn't until I'd drained her blood that I realized that she indeed had been the innocent I first took her for. I had been wrong, not only for trusting in LaCroix, but also in judging for myself who should live and who should die. It was then that I decided to give up killing mortals altogether.

Janette:   Nicolas had another bad encounter with LaCroix. He came to me, desperate to get away, to go where our master could not find him. Though I did not want him to leave, I couldn't bare to watch his pain. He felt trapped. I knew exactly what he was going through, so I suggested that he go to America. I gave him the name of a man who could help, along with some of my jewelry to pay for the trip. He asked me to go with him, but I wasn't ready to give up Paris just yet. I kissed him good-bye and he left that same night.

I never meant to betray Nicolas, but when LaCroix discovered him gone, he was more than just a tad upset. Although he could be unbearably dominating, LaCroix had always been fiercely protective of his adopted son. He convinced me that Nicolas' leaving was not in his best interest and ultimately, I had to agree with him. I worried so about Nicolas when he was away from us. He could get himself into trouble so easily, if not with mortals, then with the Enforcers with his penchant for violating the Code.

Nick: It had been a while since I'd last been in America. I found the recent changes very appealing and was looking forward to a brand new start. I'd only been in L.A. for three weeks when I was approached by two unexpected visitors. I should have picked up their vibrations beforehand, but I was too preoccupied with my plans for the evening to even notice. I was sure that LaCroix could not have tracked me down so quickly without help, and one look at the guilty expression on Janette's face told me that she'd been more than helpful. Thanks to Janette, I was under our master's thumb once again. She readily apologized for her disloyalty to me, and I easily forgave her, knowing how intimidating LaCroix could be. She still held my heart, of course, but she no longer held my trust.

---- 1990----

Janette:  I had been in Toronto for nearly twenty years when I felt his presence. He was somewhere in the city and I had expected him to drop by the club to see me. But apparently he wasn't all that anxious to discuss old times or rekindle our shriveling relationship. I don't pretend to understand how his mind works. I was sure, however that in time, he would come to me, be it out of affection or necessity.

Nick: It was my first night in town and I was on my way to surprise Janette when I became sidetracked by a commotion in an alley. It sounded as though someone was in trouble, so I deterred to go help. I saved an elderly couple from being mugged by a street gang. As a parting gift, one of the gang members threw a pipe bomb my way, and I ended up in a body bag on a slab at the city morgue. That's where I met Natalie Lambert.

There were two things that attracted me to Nat; one was of course, her beauty, and the other was her lack of fear. I woke up on her examining table in full vampire mode and if I hadn't smelled the bagged blood in the refrigerator, I seriously doubt that Natalie would have survived our first meeting. But rather than fear me, she wanted to understand me. I had met doctors in the past who had wanted to study me, either to assist me in finding a cure or for their own personal, scientific reasons. Unfortunately, all the previous experiences had been bad ones, so I figured it would be best to simply hypnotize her into forgetting about me and just walk away.

By the time I left the morgue, it was close to dawn and too late to visit Janette. I barely made it back to my hotel room where I spent most of the day awake and thinking about Natalie. That night, while intending to go see Janette, I found myself instead outside the Coroner's Building, waiting for Natalie. When we met again, I was secretly pleased to find that she was resistant to hypnosis and that she had remembered our first encounter. We ended up going for a cup of coffee and discussing my future plans which included her working to find me a cure. I wasn't quite sure what I was getting myself into; all I know was that my desire to see Janette had suddenly vanished.