Romancing the Apocalypse Chapter 4 - Vonce Bitten (Will Kate and Corey manage to survive the aftershock of The Bite?)

Velcome back to Romancing the Apocalypse! Episode 3 ended with 2nd Gen spouse Corey making a clandestine arrangement to meet with the Count in order to put an end, vonce and for all, to his fear of growing old so far ahead of his young vife, Kate. Vill his good intentions be enough to overcome his deception and secrecy in making this life-altering decision? Let's see vat happens to him, vonce bitten... For Pinstar's Apocalypse Challenge, go to http://apocalypsechallenge.boolprop.com. For more in-depth chat about the Apocalypse, go to www.boolprop.com, where a lot of us friendly Apoca-fans hang out.

(02/22/2008)

I had seen the Count a couple of nights before on an outing, but no matter how good of friends we were, he would not bite. I was getting desperate...it was tonight or the next, then my chance would be gone. This time I invited him out at dusk, leaving the whole night ahead of us. And I was prepared to repeat the process after I returned home at the same time I left, all night long, over and over if necessary... It proved to be unnecessary...just a couple of gossips, jokes, and red hands right after we arrived were enough to make it happen.

Words can't really describe how it felt...the sickening feeling in my mind and heart as my lifeblood and part my humanity drained away, and my body's exhilaration as immortality and unimaginable physical well-being took their place. I couldn't hold back the sound fairly bursting from my body... "IRK!" ** Vampiric "IRK!" from BlueberryPie360's Bearly Alive Apocalypse

"Now are you sure you don't vant to go get your lovely vife and bring her to me...she looks like a tasty morsel." My body skills were maxed, but I didn't think mere physical strength would be a match against the Count's supernatural powers. I played my one and only trump card.

"My vife, I mean wife is off limits, if you know vat's, damn!, what's, good for you. She's got connections, if you know vat, what, I mean." I didn't mention names and it was somewhat of a bluff on my part, being that stringpuller and I were definitely not on the best of terms. But Lorin had assured me he was a legend in the Apocalypse world and Kate's connection to him would keep the Count in line. I saw the flicker of comprehension in his eyes. "Bleh, ah-ah-ah! Never fear, unlike some of my counterparts, I prefer villing followers." I had one question for him. "Now I'm not sure because I've never seen von, one, but I can... ... ...right?" "Most certainly, but it is not a common request."

The Bite came with complimentary lessons: stalking, transforming into a bat, and the most challenging, the Bleh!... "Bleh!" "No no no, you are blah-blah-blah. Now vonce more, like you mean it." "Bleh-blehh!!" "Bleh-tter...I expect you to keep practicing."

Even though technically we were best friends, I still considered this a business arrangement. "So vat" I give up! "do you expect in payment? Money's no issue." "Your blood and the thrill of The Bite is adequate compensation, but since you brought it up..." "You've got to be kidding!" "Vy so surprised? It's been centuries since I've had a good von." "Okay, if that's vat you really vant..."

"Bleh-tcha, bleh-tcha, bleh-tcha!"

I practiced stalking on my way home...

...then did the bat transformation thing in the yard for a while.

I admit I was stalling...I was dreading the moment I would have to explain all of this to Kate.

Eventually it got too cold, and I knew I could no longer put off the inevitable.

Up two flights of stairs...

...and there was Haley, all alone. Perhaps Kate was up in our room sleeping and I would have more time to come up with some kind of explanation that wouldn't send her into a flying rage...

I was going to have to learn better control of where I landed. The last thing I wanted was to scare the living daylights out of Haley by *puh*-ing right behind her.

I waited for the smoke to dissipate before softly calling her name.

"Haley, how are you, sweetheart?"

"Daddy, you were outside too long, huh. Your hands are cold and you look really blue." "Yeah, Daddy stayed out way too long tonight." "Hey, your eyes look funny." "Do they? Where's Mom?" "She's talkin' to Grampa."

"Oh Dad, where could he have gone? This is the second night this week he's just disappeared, and he's been so preoccupied lately." "I don't know, honey. But I can see it every time he looks at you...he loves you." "I know he does...but I'm worried about him. He's never ever told me, not once, that anything bothers him. But what if something's wrong?" "I just don't know...hey, did you just hear him?"

"You're right, Dad, here he is..."

Before she turned and got a good look at me, I went to her and held her. Her eyes were closed and her body was relaxed in relief for a brief moment. "Oh Corey, where were you? I was so worried..." As she opened her eyes, I saw the look of utter shock and disbelief and felt her body stiffen. Here it comes, I thought, as she slowly backed away.

"Oh my God, what have you done?!" "Kate, will you please let me explain?" "Explain what, Corey? Just curious? You lied to me! How could you, you...you monster!"

"Look, Kate, I know I was wrong not to tell you, and I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am for what I've done, but I am not a monster! I don't want you to ever call me that again, especially in front of Haley. I'm her daddy, and her daddy is not a monster!" A little voice beside me said, "I don't think you're a monster, Daddy." Haley's words were another jolt. I had never even considered the impact of my decision on our daughter. The backs of my eyes ached at her unconditional acceptance. "Thank you, honey, you just made Daddy feel really good. Can you go play with the kitty for a while so Mommy and Daddy can finish talking?" "Don't yell anymore though, 'kay?" "I promise we'll try."

"You two really need to calm down. I think I liked it better around here when I was senile." I could tell Sullivan was trying to lighten things up, but we weren't in the mood. "Ha-ha, why don't you go play with the kitty too?" "Dad, how can you? He's a vampire!" "Hello Kate, Knowledge sim." "You should leave. And I want to talk to you later, alone."

Kate managed to keep the volume down, but she was still seething. "How could you do this behind my back? Do you have any clue how worried I've been about you? I knew there was something wrong, but you didn't think I could handle it, did you? You think I'm still a child and won't give me any credit for my part in what we've accomplished so far? Or the respect of letting me in on this decision of yours? Well, I'm no longer poor little Kate who needs you to help her through her rough times, I'm your wife! If I'm grown up enough to share your bed and have your children, you'd better be including me in your decisions that affect all of us." I let her words sink in for a moment, and when I was sure she was finished, I had my say. "So you want to know why I did this? I was getting old! Older than your mom was when your dad moved in with her. And I thought maybe I could help your dad bring your mom back someday."

Hearing my reasons voiced out loud and seeing Kate's expression, I couldn't believe what an idiot I'd been not to tell her. "But I wouldn't care about you getting old." "Are you sure? I was going to become an elder day after tomorrow. Wrap your mind around that and tell me, are you still sure?" "I...don't know. It never once occurred to me. I feel so ignorant that I didn't figure it out myself." "You were barely an adult when we got married, and I was twelve days from being an elder. And I'll never forget your words that night...you wanted us to spend as much time together as possible, and you didn't want us to be like your mom and dad. Well, I wanted exactly what you wanted. And now you have the chance to stay young if you top Adventure, but it wasn't enough time for me. This way I can stay young with you, and if you can't get the elixir, I can keep you young. We'll have time to have as many kids as we want, and do all the things we want to once the Apocalypse is over."

"Well, there is a vacation I've been wanting to go on some day..." "See? I don't have to work so I don't need to worry about going out during the day, even though I'm going to miss that part of my old life terribly. I can do whatever you need me to...for you, your job and our kids. We can go out together all night whenever you want. So things don't have to change all that much." "What you've just said makes perfect sense, Corey, and the only thing I can fault you for is keeping all this a secret from me." I was almost overwhelmed with relief that she understood my reasoning, and I was ready to help her any way I could so we could move forward.

Then she turned away and her voice was like ice as she said: "You forgot the most important thing though, Corey...you're a vampire now and you deceived me to become one. For that, you'll never be the same to me ever again." "Kate..." "I don't want to hear it! I can't even bear to look at you. Now if we're finished, I need to prepare for work. I hope you'll continue to include me in your outings to help me get promoted." She had grown up without me even realizing it, and I loved her more than ever. I knew this was far from being over, but now I had an eternity to win her back. Gauging by her reaction, it just might take every bit of one. I also realized that despite my newfound immortality, another part of me died that night when I lost her faith and trust in me....

Before morning, I put a low panel around my coffin to keep the rest of the family away from its allure until we could get another cat to lift the Security Pets restrictions. Then I practiced flying back and forth until I got the hang of getting in and out with a certain degree of accuracy.

I have to admit I've never had such a good night's, day's, sleep as I did in the coffin, and when I rose that evening, my motives were just as high as when I went in.

I was worried Sake might be wary of me, but he just wanted to hug and play like usual. If only wives could be this easy!

Sake had other things to keep him occupied anyway. His confidence soared after becoming a Rescue Pet, and he and this dog (wolf?) ended up liking each other.

In the beginning I rarely woke up alone. It was comforting to know Haley and Sullivan were hanging around upstairs. Kate was always first on my mind when I rose, and I told myself she was busy with her job to justify never seeing her. But most of her positions were during the day or early evening, so after a week, this reasoning didn't fly. She was avoiding me, and I was really starting to miss her.

Haley, on the other hand, was fearless and had an insatiable curiosity that warmed my heart. "Will I turn into a vampire if I touch your fangs?" "Of course not, sweetheart." Gingerly she touched them. "Will I turn into a vampire if I kiss you?" "Never." She gave me a little smack and skipped away.

"Daddy Daddy, I got an A plus!" "That's great, Haley...uh, Daddy's not up to celebrating right now. Go play with Grampa, and I'll see you tonight, okay?"

"Look, Grampa, Sake's a werewolf!"

"G'night, you little mutt."

As my days passed without Kate, I started to fret. "She hasn't said one word to me, Sullivan...she won't even look at me. I was so sure I was doing the right thing for us. Do you think she'll ever forgive me?"

"I don't know. She's known you most of her life, and you've been so good to her, so it's hard for me to imagine that means nothing to her now. But I also think what you did shattered what little belief she had that you considered her your equal. From the beginning you just took care of everything, but she's no longer a kid, and it doesn't all need to fall on your shoulders, even if you think it does." "It's hard for me not to just do what needs to be done." "For a long time it was necessary. But things are different now, and I think you should do yourself and her a favor and let some of that go, let her be the strong one once in a while. You know the saddest part of all of this? I think you could've persuaded her to go along with you, but now you'll never know." "So what should I do?" "I don't think there's anything you can do except be there for her like you always have. Other than that, I guess you wait."

"Are you gonna start wearin' a helmet like your friend?" "No, of course not, silly! I just wore it to work this one day, and now I won't have to wear it at all anymore." "Cuz you sound real funny and look real funny." "You look real funny, punky! Now go on up and play with Grampa." "How come you never play with us?" "I'm just so busy studying for work." "Aw, you're no fun."

"Oo-oo-ouch, you're gettin' so big you're smooshin' my footsies!" "Oh Grampa!" "Remember our deal...you'll do your homework later tonight?" " 'kay."

Haley spent every afternoon upstairs waiting for me even if Sullivan wasn't with her. I noticed just how fast she was growing when I saw how long her hair was getting.

Kate was racing up the Adventure career ladder. Her first day as Relic Liberator, she got promoted.

"Nemo!" "Kate!" *clang!* "Oww! Just once could you take that ridiculous thing off?" "It's not ridiculous, people know me from miles away..." "Right, sorry. Funny, somehow on you it works..."

"It's been a while, I almost didn't recognize you. How's married life?" "Well..." "What?" "Come on up and I'll tell you."

"Corey is a vampire now!" "That's great! Vampires work really well in the Apocalypse." "How can you say that?" "It's true. How long ago did this happen?" "Almost a week." "How's he adjusting?" "I...well, I don't really know. I haven't spoken to him since the night he got bitten."

"And why is that? You got some kind of prejudice against vampires?" "No! I mean...I don't know. We saw the Count one night at that Mahjong place, and I could feel him staring at me, and it gave me the creeps." "Did he make a move on you?" "No." "That's good...sometimes the Grand Vampires can go a little Bite crazy. Take the one in my Apocalypse, for example..." "Stop it, you're scaring me!" "Oh...sorry. I forget not everyone is into them. Still, he is your husband...surely a vamped hottie like Corey isn't creepy." "I don't think so...oh, I don't know! I can't bring myself to even look at him I'm so mad!" "Why, what happened?" "He lied to me...I saw him talking to the Count and I told him I didn't like him, and he went behind my back anyway and became one himself." "Well, I guess you do have a right to be angry then. But I think you should try to give him a chance. Maxis vampires aren't really scary at all. You should see the ones in my..." "Nemo!" "Sorry, I forget again..."

"Let's change the subject. We've been cleaning house and shifting stuff in our inventories, and now I've got some old rose bouquets from some of our dream dates, before he became a...you know. Can you take them off my hands?" "I don't know, I don't think they go very well with my decor..." "But we're all out of room! Please?" "Gotcha. Just kidding, I'll take 'em off your hands. Can I chuck 'em when I get home?" "Go ahead, they're useless to me. I don't want to be reminded of our dream dates anyway... *sniff*" "Aw, c'mon Kate. Won't you even try to talk to him?" "......" "Right, I can take a hint. Anything else?" "Can you come back in a few days so I can give you some more?" "Okay, I'll see you later this week."

"I can tell you're not too upset about Corey being a vampire."

"I can't help my nature. Vampires do hold a certain appeal to me."

"So you're taking his side?"

"I'm on both your sides. Do you want me to say you were right and he was wrong? Well, I mean this sincerely, you were right and he was wrong."

"It's good to hear you say that."

"It's not all I have to say. I know it affected you deeply that you didn't have more time with your mom, but it was something we had no control over. You can hate what Corey did and how he did it, but in every other way he has been a godsend to us. And like it or not, what he did gave us an immense amount of control over our lives."

"But he..."

"Let me finish. There's more to life than being right, Kate. Corey made a huge sacrifice for you and me, and yeah, himself. And how he went about it was wrong. Now you're the one in control. After what we've been through with your mom, wasting time is a real sore spot with me."

"I don't know what to say."

"Just think about it."

Haley's next birthday was the first time Kate would stay in the same room with me.

And then a surprise guest crashed our little party...

Eileen made her first appearance and checked out the bed. She did a little cheer and whooped it up, then left.

"Oh great, my mom, my grampa, a vampire, and a ghost at my birthday party...I'm so glad I don't have to tell my friends about this. Wait, I know what'll cheer me up..."

"I look mah-velous." Haley was my girl, all right. She spent countless hours at the mirror.

First day as Dread Pirate, she got promoted.

"Grampa, tell me again what we're doin' out here?" "I promised your Gramma that I would tell you kids all about her. And I like making angels near her so she knows I still love her." "Aw Grampa, that's sweet!" "Why don't you make an angel for her? Are you ready?"

"How's this?" "It's beautiful. Now come on inside and I'll tell you a story. I think you're gonna like your Gramma Eileen..."

Haley had a special place in my heart after her fearless acceptance of me from the very start, but she also had a habit of cheating and winning at any cost. "Uhhhh. I don't feel so good, better get up to my coffin." "Forfeit, oh yeah, forfeit, I win!" Haley is a Scorpio 9/7/9/3/1 and rolled Family(!).

"You're Mom's friend, aren't ya?" "Yeah, she wanted me to stop by and get some more stuff from her. How's your dad doing?" "He's good, but he misses Mom. Everytime she comes home from work she's got a new job she has to study for." "That's too bad. I bet you'll all be glad when she won't have to work so hard." "I guess so. Come on, I'll take you up to see her."

"Kate, I've been thinking...I hope I didn't scare you with the vampires the other night." "You did a little, but I know you were just trying to help." "What I didn't tell you is they're not all that different from us. Have you tried talking to Corey yet?" "No, I've been too busy." "If you just talked to him, I'm sure he could ease some of your fears and make you see he hasn't changed in the most important ways, like how much he cares about all of you."

"Look, I said I've been too busy, okay? All I do is work and skill. I just want to become a Space Pirate as fast as I can so I can get the elixir and move forward with my life and spend more time with Haley." "Aren't we touchy. You're not working today." "He sleeps all day." "Stubborn, too...it's obvious we're getting nowhere with this. I just want you to be happy, that's all, and I can see you're not." "I...I'm sorry, Nemo. I know you have my best interests at heart. I'm just so tired and I've got so much on my mind, I can't even see straight." "I probably better go then. You got your stuff ready?"

"Oh goody, more roses, huh? Are you sure you and Corey haven't been...?" "No!" "Wishful thinking on my part, yes?" "Very wishful. This should be the last of them. Are you sure you don't mind?" "Nah, it beats lugging home appliances and broken sinks. A lot easier to get rid of, too."

"Whew! Sorry, Nemo, we should've done an outing. Oh! I just saw there was something else you could do for us. Could you do us a huge favor and take our old boy Sake to me?" "Hey, boy. Is he still working?" "No, he's an elder now and we just had him quit. A couple of days ago he got a $10,000 bonus on his chance card! I wish I would've thought of it the first time you were here, then you could've had him and the bonus." "Ten thousand, huh? Bummer."

"Thank you for everything, Nemo. I couldn't ask for a better friend." "You could do something for me...just try, okay?" ".....*sniff*.....okay."

"Come on, Sake boy."

*mrrrrr*no want go

"Don't worry, boy. I'll make sure you see them again." Lorin here. I was so relieved when Kate found the option to give Sake away. I would be a blubbering wreck if I saw him die.

For the first time since The Bite, Kate surprised me with her presence when I rose for the night. "Wow, I didn't know you could do that. Why do you?" "Well, you guys aren't supposed to use the coffin and it's the only way I can get out of the fencing." "Oh. Well, I just wanted to let you know I need to build more body, and thank you for how much you and Haley and Dad are helping me." "There's not much else for me to do, at least it gives me some purpose. You know I'd do anything for you, don't you, Kate?" "I do know. I'm not avoiding you anymore, Corey. I just need to get this career topped, and I feel if I let up on my focus, I may never get it done." "I can understand that. I know you're dealing with a lot right now. You've been nothing short of amazing with your promotions." "Thanks! Can we talk tomorrow after I get off work? I need to get something off my mind." "Okay, I'll be here." I didn't know whether to be excited or worried at her words.

"This will be any easy night, only one mechanical skill for me to get. Then I can talk to Corey."

"So what's up, Kate?" "I have a problem and I need you to do something for me, but it's kind of hard for me to ask..." "What is it?" "I've been having horrible nightmares." "Nightmares...what about?" "You, and vampires, and Nemo..." "Maybe if you told me about it, it would help?"

"Well, first of all..."

"I don't know why, but I was pregnant again, and I went to see Nemo at his house."

"Then he asked me what I wanted. I said I wanted to talk to him, and he said he wanted to talk to me, too."

"Then we were in his kitchen and Sake was there and I was so happy to see him. And I noticed Nemo didn't have his helmet on anymore, but his back was to me so I couldn't see his face."

"Then he was being silly talking to the baby, but I still couldn't see his face. It was funny though, his hair was just like yours."

"Then we were hugging. He said at first I was right, but it was time for me to let it go. I realized I still hadn't seen his face, and I really wanted to, so..."

"I backed up a little to see him and then...then...." "What? What happened then?"

"He was a vampire, but nothing like you. He said, 'What's the matter, Kate? Now you know what my vampires are like. You still think Corey is really that bad? You want to see what he could be like?' I didn't want to, but then..."

"There was all this smoke..."

"And it was pitch black, but I could see you were one of his vampires. And someone was pointing a finger at you and a voice was saying I was right, get away from me, you deserve to be punished, go join them... And it was me!"

"Then there was more smoke..."

"And I saw you again...this time you looked so miserable and defeated, like you had given up, and still I kept saying I was right, I'll never forgive you, you deserve to pay, there's nothing left for you now, go join them... That was the worst part of all, I was so right and you were so hopeless, and it was me doing that to you. I am so sick of being right!"

"And that's it."

"That's it all right...I'm gonna kill Nemo."

"You will not! He had no idea at first how I felt about vampires. He's the one who said Maxis vampires aren't scary, and now I know they're not, at least you're not. And he kept telling me to talk to you and give you a chance. Now I can see the dream was from my visit with him, remember the first time I gave him the roses?, and I had even joked about him taking off his helmet. And the voice was from a talk I had with Dad..."

"So what can I do? I wish we could move the coffin...it probably doesn't help that it's the first thing you see when you wake up."

"Could you...stay with me while I sleep, just in case I have another one?"

Hope surged through me.

"Of course...but are you sure I won't just make it worse?" It was hard for me to ask questions I might not like the answer to, but I was learning that most of the time my imagination was far worse.

"There's nothing about you that scares me anymore. I always feel safe when you're with me."

She seemed to sleep peacefully that night. I don't know if it was my presence that helped or if voicing the horror of her nightmare had forced her worst fears out in the open. I had nothing to do but think and dream while I stayed with her. I thought of the trauma I had put her through, and still she said she felt safe with me. I thought of Sullivan bringing Eileen back to him. I thought of Kate's dream baby that I wanted more than anything to become a reality. I dreamed of Kate getting the elixir and hoped we would have as many kids as we both wanted. I dreamed of the vacations we would some day be able to take. I dreamed of the day I would finally achieve my want to no longer be a vampire. I dreamed of becoming a Criminal Mastermind. I wondered if Sake was happy with Nemo. I wondered if Kate would be able to have six successful career pets. I wondered if Haley would ever make it to a golden anniversary with only one nice point.

I knew Kate would be waiting for me that night when I rose from the haven of my coffin. The thought of seeing and speaking with her again filled me with a delicious sense of anticipation.

"Kate, you make my day when I get to see you. How are you after last night?"

"Better. I'm still a little shaken, but mostly relieved. I've missed you so much."

"I think I missed you a thousand times more. I know you're uneasy with the whole vampire thing, so if you're worried or scared or unsure about anything, just ask me or tell me what you need, and I'll do whatever I can for you."

"It works both ways, Corey."

"I know...believe me, I get it. After what I did to you, I swear I'll never do anything behind your back again. From now on we make decisions together."

"Now you just made my day."

"Good. So what would you like now?"

"Can we just stay like this for a little while? I've got two days off so later tonight I want to finish my skilling and then tomorrow night there's something else I want from you."

"Okay, killer outings tonight, then what do you want tomorrow?"

"Roses."