**WARNING: Some would call the following a horror story! You have been warned!** The following piece of fiction was brought to you by ACME's Garlic Spray (TM). Call 1-800-VAMPSGO for more information about this fine product. I may be saying stuff about characters that isn't canon. If I do, tough cookies. Live with it. ===== I'm a WHAT!?! by April Ruskin Forever Knight characters and concepts belong to TriStar Highlander characters and concepts belong to Rysher Entertainment May 11, 1996 ===== It was a usual night for Detectives Vetter and Knight of the Toronto Police Homicide Division. They were chasing yet _another_ serial killer. 'I'm beginning to think that Toronto is the serial killer capital of the world.' Tracy Vetter thought to herself. Tracy is a young blond woman whose perkiness could drive any normal human being crazy. But, her partner, Nick Knight, is anything but a normal human being, even though Tracy doesn't know that. You see, Nick Knight is a vampire. Yes, that's right, he drinks blood (cow only, he's reformed), flies, and can hypnotize people (But not Tracy! For some reason, Tracy (and some other mortals) is resistant to a vampire's hypnosis). He can only be killed if he's staked through the heart (With wooden stakes only! Metal ones just won't work, as Nick found out to his regret... but that's another story.), decapitation, having his head cut off... Cremation and prolonged exposure to sunlight can do the trick too. Which is the main reason Nick is permanently on the night shift. Tracy and Nick both received tips from their informants and went their separate ways to check out the leads. Tracy was going to a popular nightclub called 'The Raven'. Here, vampires can mingle with unsuspecting mortals. Tracy looks around for her friend (hopefully to become boyfriend someday) Vachon, who is also a vampire. Tracy knows about vampires in general, just not about Nick. Tracy got the information she needed from Vachon, then left after gossiping with him a bit. She got into her car and drove back to the precinct. However, while she was waiting at a stop sign, her car window was smashed and a gun was waved in her face. "Give me all your cash lady, or you die!" a young hoodlum told Tracy in a menacing tone of voice. Tracy handed her purse over. The hoodlum then smiled sweetly, said "Thank you," then shot Tracy point blank in the head. Tracy woke up feeling groggy. 'Oh man, what did I drink?' she thought to herself. Then she remembered what happened. 'Why aren't I dead, or at least bleeding a lot?' She looked around her car and noticed the bullet on the passenger's seat. 'Well, I don't know what happened, but I'm glad it did. I can't wait to get that jerk in jail. Trying to kill me!' Tracy started to fume. When Tracy returned to the station, she filled out a report immediately and gave it to the desk sergeant. "Trace, what happened? You look angry." Nick asked Tracy when she sat down at her desk. "Angry? You bet I'm angry. Some juvenile delinquent broke my car window while I was at a stop sign and pulled a gun at me! When I gave him my purse, he tried to kill me! Luckily, the bullet missed my head. I drove straight here and filled out a report on it. I hope the brat..." Suddenly, Tracy sat up even straighter in her chair and got a far away look in her eyes. "Tracy. Tracy, can you hear me?" Nick asked, concerned. "What? Oh, yah Nick, I'm fine. Just felt a... I don't know what to call it. A... buzz. Yah, a buzz in my head." Tracy replied. Before Nick could question Tracy about it, a handsome man with long dark brown hair walked up to Tracy and said, "Excuse me miss, my name is Duncan McCleod. Could I speak with you in private?" "Umm... sure. I'll be right back Nick." Tracy said. Tracy lead Mr. McCleod into one of the interrogation rooms and said, "What do you want to talk to me about?" "Did you have a fatal accident recently that you recovered from for no reason?" Duncan McCleod asked Tracy. "Excuse me?!?" Tracy exclaimed. "Please, it's important. Did you?" Duncan said. Well... yah, I did. I was shot in the head at point blank range, then everything went black, and then I woke up feeling a little groggy. How did you know?" Tracy was amazed, to say the least. "I want you to do something for me. Could you cut your finger please?" Duncan asked. "What?!? Why should I?" Tracy was thinking that maybe this guy should be in a mental institution. "Very well, I'll cut mine first. If your cut does the same thing as mine, I'll give you a full explanation." Duncan then took out a pocket knife and cut his finger slightly. Tracy watched in amazement as the cut healed almost immediately. 'Is he a vampire?' she wondered in her head. She then reached out for his wrist and looked closely at McCleod's finger. At the same time, she was checking his pulse. It was the same as a regular human. "This is impossible!" she exclaimed. "Please, now you try." Duncan said while holding out the knife to Tracy. Tracy took the knife in a daze and cut her finger. "OWWW!!!" she cried because she had cut herself almost to the bone. "I've got to get medical treatment for this." "No, look." Duncan told her. Tracy looked at her finger and saw that it was almost healed. "How did you do that?" she asked McCleod. "I didn't, you did. You now heal quicker than normal. You're an Immortal." Duncan told her. "I'm a WHAT?!?" Tracy exclaimed. "An Immortal. You can only die if someone cuts off you head." Duncan then told her all about Immortals and the Game. By the time he was done, Tracy had accepted this new aspect of her life. "So, I'm gonna have to carry a sword around work? Great, Nick will really like that! 'Hi Nick! Oh, the sword? Don't worry about that. That's just in case I run into another Immortal.' Like he's gonna believe me!" Tracy told Duncan. "I can teach you how to create a 'sword space' in a trenchcoat. That way, you can carry a sword. You may want to quit your job, though. You have to learn how to use a sword, and that can take years." "No way! I can take a leave of absence from work. Besides, I took fencing all through high school and college. I was pretty good at it too." ===== Six months later: Tracy walked into the 96th precinct and walked over to her desk. "Welcome back Trace! You look great!" Nick exclaimed as he hugged her. "Hiya Nick! I haven't felt better!" Tracy replied. Nick brought Tracy up to date on the current cases. As the two detectives walked out of the station, Nick commented on Tracy's attire, "Tracy, why are you wearing a trench coat? I thought you didn't like them?" "I changed my mind Nick. They're very comfortable." Tracy told Nick with a knowing smile.