Immortal Blood

[scikaiju]

1406-England

A man with dark blond hair wearing rags knelt on the floor of a dark damp cave. The only light was coming from the halfway melted candles scattered about the cavern. Around him was a pentagram within a circle drawn in the blood of a stray goat that wondered on his family's land. He knelt there for hours chanting in tongues and nothing. Desperation was over taking him at this point so he kept chanting. Opening his eyes for a moment he saw the flames on the candle start to flicker. There wasn't any wind in the cave. Squeezing his eyes shut he chanted harder. The cavern started shaking then it stopped all of a sudden. Cautiously he opened his eyes and felt his blood cold. Before him was a figure in a jet black robe. A hood cover his entire head obscuring his face, all that could be seen was two red eyes shining shinning staring at him. "Why did you summon me mortal?", his gravely voice demanded.

"Fear started to overtake him as he stammered, "I... I... "

"DO NOT WASTE MY TIME MORTAL!", he shouted and the entire cavern shook.

"I'm... I'm sorry Dark One," he quickly said, "but I need your help."

"Is that so?", he snorted and smoke blew out of something.

"Yes," he started to feel a little braver. "A cruel and unjust lord is taxing my family and the surrounding families to the point were he's going to take our land away. We tried to help each other but he ask for more than we can spare"

"And what would you want me to do?"

"I need money, gold. Enough so I and my family will not have to worry about this anymore."

"And why would I do that?", he said with a demonic sounding chuckle. "This lord would just find a way to take it from you."

"Then give me power or status then," he said sounding desperate. "Put me on equal footing so he can't do this to me again."

"That I could do," the Dark One said, sounding thoughtful. "But it would have to be over time. A too sudden raise in status would cause suspicion. Question would be asked, and I'm sure you don't want to answer them. No, it would have to take time."

"How much time?"

"Years, decades," the Dark One answered. "Perhaps even an eternity. Do you still wish to ask for this?"

He didn't even hesitate to answer, "Yes! I would even sell my very soul."

"Like you had a choice in the matter." He held out a dry scalely hand to his face, palm toward him. The he curled up all his fingers except for his index finger. "But I need you to so one more thing."

"What do you require of me?"

He still couldn't see his face but its red eyes crinkled as if it was smiling. "You need to sever your ties to this world. Plus there is something else...."

=====

2006- Chicago

He walked in a crowded plaza. He did his best to make sure nobody paid any attention to him. He had a lot of practice at being a faceless person in the crowd, way too much time. His dark blond hair was unkept and stubble covered his face. He wore worn jeans and a faded denim jacket over his plain shirt. He looked youthful as his world weary eyes glanced around at his surrounding. He saw all the happy expression they wore, it made him sick. So he quickly made his way out of the plaza. Eventually he made to a quieter neighborhood with very few people walking the streets. So few he heard the footsteps behind him before he heard the voice, "Hey, you Jacob Smith?"

Jacob turned around and saw five burly looking men behind him. Yeah, they looked like they type he would use. His voice sounding tired as he answered, "Yes I am."

The leader gave him a smile that was missing teeth, "We have a message for you. You're brother says hello." He waved a hand toward him and the other four walked foreword. Jacob didn't even try to run or resist. He took the first couple of punches and endured the pain. They laughed as they pounded away. They were so intent in what they were doing they didn't even notice the blond haired woman in an alley taping the whole thing with a camcorder. He waited for the right moment then jacked the jaw of the one closest to him. Taking the moment he had he grabbed the arm of a second one and twisted it so he was forced to go to his knees. A third grabbed him around the neck and pulled him off then a forth started punching away at his gut. The second one slipped on a pair of brass knuckles, shoved his partner away and took his own shots. Aiming several punches at Jacob's face. After he was busted open they let him drop to the ground. "Message been sent boys," the leader said. "Time to get our payment form the money man."

"Wait," Jacob coughed as he stood up. They turned to face him. His face was still bloody but the cuts were already healed or healing before their eyes. The woman got a close up of his face, not believing what she was seeing either. He used the back of his hand to wipe off a bit of the blood. "There a message I want to give him."

"What the hell are you?", their leader gasp.

"His brother." Jacob came toward them. The leader whipped out a gun a shot him in the face. Jacob went down hard.

"Shit!," she cried out then quickly cover her mouth. They heard her anyway.

"Get her!", the leader shouted. They chased her through the alley and finally caught her.

"Let me go!", she demanded.

"What do we go about her?", one of the other asked.

"Moneyman didn't say anything about anybody else," the leader said. "But nothing wrong with getting a little bonus." She started screaming as they grabbed at her clothes. A new hand tapped one of them on shoulder. His eyes went wide and his face paled as he looked at the new comer.

Blood was running down his face, but there wasn't a bullet hole anywhere on his face. Anger flashing in his eyes he stated, "I am sick of getting shot in the head." His fist crashed in the other guys face before any of them could understand what was happening. One of the thugs came to his senses faster than the other. Grabbing a board he took a swing at Jacob head. He ducked and it nailed on of his partners instead. Jacob quickly nailed him in the nuts. The leader pulled out the gun again. The barrel wavered as Jacob stared him down. "What are you going to do, shot me again?"

"St... stay the fuck away from me you freak."

Jacob pointed at his forehead, "You shot me right here. That's a kill shot. I'm still breathing. So what are you going to do now? Shoot me in the heart? Do it," he dared him. He grabbed the barrel and shoved it into his own chest, "Come on you bastard, do it!"

"Fuck this," the leader dropped the gun and ran off.

"Give that message to him!", he shouted after him. Jacob used his hand to wipe off some of the blood. God, he was getting to old for this. Carefully he touched the back of his head. "Eh," he grunted, there was still a sizable hole on the back of his head. That was going to take a few more minutes to heal up. Arranging his hair to hide it as best he could he went to leave. Then he noticed that the woman was still there. She was slumped on the ground staring at him. Oh that's just great. "Doesn't anybody know how to run away anymore?"

=====
Jacob was able to sneak into the men's room of a run down gas station that was close by. It wasn't the cleanest place in the world but he's used worse over the years. The many, many years. He turned on the faucet and water that had a slightly brown tint greeted him. Cleaning off his face and the back of his head he studied his reflection in the broken mirror. Why did he say yes? When he exited the men's room he saw the woman from the alley trying to hide. Rolling his eyes he walked away. Using the windows in the store front and the passing cars he saw the woman was still behind him. Finally he got fed up with it and turned around, "Why are you following me?"

"Who says I'm following you," she said sounding innocent. "I walk this way all the time."

"Try telling it to somebody who doesn't know any better."

"Alright fine I was following you," she admitted. "You can't blame me, you took a shot to the freakin' face for crying out loud. I've never seen that before." She smiled slightly at him, "Beside I wanted to say thank you for rescuing me."

"They shot me, I didn't go after them to save you," he told her. He looked at her for a bit. She almost reminded him of... No, don't even start thinking that. "Do you always go around with that thing?" He pointed at her camera. Why was he even speaking to her, much less asking her questions?

"I take it with me a couple of nights a week. Just doing my part in helping the police," she patted the camcorder. He rolled his eyes again. "I'll have you know I help put several guys away with the footage I've got a hold of." When he said nothing she said, "I'm Catlin by the way."

"I don't care." he told her plainly.

"You should," she shot back. "Because I'm sure the guys on the evening news will find you very interesting."

"You're blackmailing me?"

"No," she said quickly. "I just wanted to talk to you. I've never seen anybody like you before," she repeated.

Jacob started walking away, "You know I remember when people would run away screaming when they discovered what I am. Whatever happened to people yelling 'Run! He's a demon! Stone him!'?"

"You didn't really expect me to say 'stone him' did you?"

He rubbed his eyes, "Sorry wrong century. They tend to run together after awhile."

"Wrong...? Dude, how old are you?"

"Older than you are," he said as he turned around and swiped the camera from her hands. When he opened it up he saw it was empty.

"I hide the card before hand," she informed him. "Give some credit will you." Jacob said noting but before she knew it his hand was in her shirt. "Hey! What are you doing you perv?!" She backed away but the SD card was already in his hand. She clutched her chest, "Give that back!"

"Every woman I have ever none has used their bust as a hiding place." He dropped the card to the ground and stomped on it several times. When he removed his foot the card was broken.

Catlin quickly picked up all the pieces, "Do you have any idea how much this cost me you bastard?"

"Not my problem," he told her while he walked away.

Catlin watched him, "I have a copy you know."

"You didn't have time to make a copy."

"You sure about that?" That made him pause in mid step. Damn, he really needed to keep up to date with this modern crap.

He didn't even turn around. "What do you want from me?"

"I just want to ask you some question. Like how old are you?"

Again why was he even talking to her. "If you must know I was born in the year 1383."

"Holy shit," she exclaimed as she did the math head, "You're over six hundred years old. Were you born this way?"

"Not exactly," he muttered. He knew what the next question was going to be before she even asked it.

"What then, did you make a deal with the devil or something?," she asked half joking.

Jacob look at the night sky before answering, "No, but my brother did."

=====
A man with dark blond hair walked down the halls of a office building late at night. His hair was well kept and he wore an expensive suit. Everything about him look high end, right down to his manicured nails. He held a briefcase in one hand and had his coat draped over his other arm. He walked up to his office and found his secretary still there. A fine example of the female species, if he did think so himself. She looked up from what she was doing and smiled at him, "Working late Mr. Smith?"

"I could ask you the same thing," he flashed her his perfect smile. "And how many times have I asked you to call me Nathan"

"Sorry Mr.Sm... Nathan," she corrected herself. "I had a load of paperwork dropped on my desk right before I was about to leave."

He sympathized with her, "Oh I do hate it when that happens. Say I know this great little restaurant that stays open late. Why don't we grab a bite to eat when we finish up?"

"I sorry Nathan, but I'm meeting my husband for diner and I'm late as it is."

"Then you husband is a very lucky man," he flashed her that grin one more time and entered his office. A mahogany desk was sitting in front of a huge wall filled with windows. A huge bookcase filled one of the wall and some expensive paintings lining the other. Standing by the desk a red headed woman in gray business suit waited patiently for him. "Hello Madelyne, lovely evening isn't it?"

"Yes it is," she said distractedly. "You have a call waiting in line two. Your 'messenger' as you like to call him."

"Thank you my dear." He threw his coat on a nearby chair and sat down. He put a headset receiver on and hit the flashing light. "Hello, I take it the message was sent. Successfully I hope."

"Yeah the message was sent, but there was a problem."

Nathan chuckled, "I suppose he sent a message for me."

"Yeah," he said nervously, "but that not the problem. You see, I shot him in the head."

Anger quickly over took him and he slammed his hand on top of the desk, "I told you not to kill him."

"That's just it. He ain't dead."

"Really," he shifted in his chair, "that is most interesting." Madelyne raised an eyebrow.

"What the fuck is he?"

"Nothing you need to concern yourself," he told him. "I'll send your payment to you right away. Pleasure doing business with you." He hung up on him before the man could respond. Nathan removed the headset and started rubbing his temples.

"I'm just guessing your messenger discovered Jacob's secret," she smirked.

"You know what to do." She nodded and headed for the bookcase. Removing a particularly worn book she opened it and removed the knife that was inside. Slipping it into her jacket she exited out a side door. Alone, Nathan leaned back into this chair. "I know he's going to blame me for that idiot shooting him."

=====
The deli he was entering was in one of the city so called hot spot. But it barely did any business despite how popular the area was. The owner did just enough business to stay above water. There were times Jacob thought he was the only customer. The balding man with the pencil thin mustache and goat tee greeted him, his French accent barely noitcable now then when he first met him. "Hello my friend," he greeted him warmly. "Your usual water Mr. straight arrow?". Jacob almost smiled, this was his favorite joke.

"Hello Jean, how about a BLT to go with that water this time around." he said as he headed for his usual table near the back corner. Very old habits had him sit with his back to the wall facing the door. Maybe he couldn't be killed, but that doesn't mean he couldn't see it coming. Besides Jean was the closest thing he had to a friend, any trouble was going to end quickly while he was around. Jean brought him his water and sandwich after a few moments. He thanked him and ate quietly. Then he heard a sound he never thought he hear while sitting in this place. The bell over the door signaled that a customer was coming in. He looked up and nearly choked. Catlin walked in the door. "Now I know you're following me."

She looked as surprised as he was. "How do I know you're not stalking me?"

Jean looked at both of them, "Jacob you know Catlin? You've been holding out on me. Oh, I'm being rude, hello Catlin."

"Hey Jean," she said automatically. "You know this... guy?"

"She does come here?" Jacob asked stunned.

"All the time," Jean answered him. "She's my favorite customer. Always orders more than a water," he gave him a sly look. Jacob ignored it. To her he said, "And yes I've known Jacob for a very long time."

"I'm guessing a really, really long time." She looked at him then paled as she remembered Jean was there. Maybe he didn't know about this Jacob guy.

Jean slid over to Jacob, "I'm guessing by her expression she knows my friend." He nodded and went back to his sandwich. "You have been holding out on me. When did this happen."

"Last night," Jacob sighed. "Pretty much the same way you did."

"Ah, you took a bullet to brain again?", he said in understanding. He took Catlin hand, "It's finally nice to meet somebody else who in on the big secret."

"Again? How many times has he been shot in the head?"

"He doesn't talk about it much, but I say at least twice," Jean smiled. "We must trade stories Catlin. Do you mind Jacob?"

"Like you were going to not say anything if I said no," he said flatly. Jean just shrugged.

"Well Catlin, I found out during World War two, near the end of the Eurpean theater in Munich, Germany. I joined up on the American side because I immigrated there a couple of years prior. And I was in the same unit as Jacob here. We were a couple of days away from being transferred to the Asian theater when Jacob got a message. He disappeared a couple of hours later. Naturally curious at this strange bit of behavior I tracked him down."

"Were some hired thugs waiting for him then too?", Catlin asked.

"No it was his brother."

"Let me guess his brother was a Nazi right."

"You would be wrong," Jacob cut in. "He was US army same as me. He made have made a deal with a devil but he thought the Nazis were evil incarnate. It was the only thing we ever agreed on since it happened."

"If I may continue?", Jean asked.

"Why not, it's my life."

"Humph," Jean grunted, "he attempted to learn to be funny about thirty years ago. He failed miserably. Any way I found them talking to each other, rather adamently I might add. Then they sort of hug each other and Jacob starts walking off. Then his brother says something like 'This war may be over but our is still going'. Jacob turns around and his brother draws a bead and shots him right in the head and walks off. I fire at him screaming that he's a traitor and such. As I'm deciding on following him or not Jacob takes a sudden deep breath and comes back to life. Scaring a few years off my life I might add." Catlin glanced over at Jacob. A dark shadow crossed his face briefly. "Then he decides to try scare me off by claiming there was German with a gun right behind me."

"Seeing how fast your countrymen folded....," Jacob began.

"That," Jean said sharply while pointing a finger at him, "my friend has never been funny."

"So is your brother still around?", Catlin asked.

"Yes or I wouldn't be," Jacob told her. "No Nathan still alive and well, despite my best efforts."

"Heh," Catlin chuckled, "Nathan Smith. I wonder what the odds are that he's the same Nathan Smith the millionaire." Jean looked over toward Jacob who said nothing. But that dark shadow crossed his face again. "Please tell me you guys are joking."

"I wish I was." He looked out into space, "Because he asked to be immortal I was basically cursed with it."

They were silent for a long time. Jean cleared his throat, "You might as well tell her my friend. She's dieing to ask, I can see it in her eyes."

Jacob rubbed his eyes, "Might as well get it out of the way now I suppose." He sighed heavily regretting he had to remember this again. "My brother disappeared earlier that morning. Nobody had seen him go, his wife discovered a few of the candles were missing and it was getting dark."

=====
1406

The sun was setting and it was getting dark quickly. Jacob walked out of his house into the cool spring air and waked over to his Father who was looking over their land at the horizon. His father never let anything show through his face but he knew him well enough to know he was worried about Nathaniel whereabouts. He looked back at the house. Mother and his brother's wife were looking very worried in contrast as they looked out in different directions. His little sister Elizabeth was too busy playing with her doll that they made her to noticed. He waked up to his father staying slightly beside him and said, "I sure Nathaniel is alright Father."

"Who says I was worried about Nathaniel," he countered. "I was more concerned with how the crops were going to do this year. The tax collector hasn't been seen for awhile, perhaps we can sell enough to finally catch up." Jacob nodded in agreement and looked over the field. This land was theirs for a couple of generations now. He, Nathaniel and Father had been working their hands to the bone just trying to keep up. "I noticed Mary is keeping to herself," he said. Jacob smiled at the thought of his new bride.

"She said something about making sure dinner wasn't ruined as I was coming out. It's her first meal as part of the family."

"Your mother was the same way," his Father mused. "Come on let's eat, we're going to have a big day tomorrow if the fields are ever going to be ready."

"Of course." As they walked back to the house he noticed that his Father took one more worried look back at the horizon before returning to his natural stoned face. Dinner was a little more quiet than usual. Father and Nathaniel usually got into an argument this time of year at how best handle the fields and the lord's tax men. He really wished his older brother would listen to Father more. At the moment the only noise was Mary trying to make Elizabeth laugh, who was trying hard to contain her giggles. Mother shot them a unapproving glare but she smiled at the same time. Halfway through dinner there was a knock at the door. Now who could that be at this time of night? "I'll see who it is." When he opened the door he found his brother standing on the other side. "Nathaiel, where have you been?"

"Sorry Brother," he said as he entered. "I was busy, it took more time than I originally thought it was."

"Well what ever it was you almost missed dinner. You better get some before it becomes food for the dogs."

"You are always looking out for me Brother, I'm going to miss that." He put a hand on his shoulder. Right then Jacob noticed he had his other hand hidden behind his back.

"What are you..." was all Jacob was able to say when his hand shot out and something cold and metallic pierced his stomach. He heard a woman scream before he fell to the ground. Jacob saw the long knife in his hand covered with his blood. Nathaniel didn't even pay him any more attention as he headed for the source of the scream. He thought he heard Father say something before being silenced quickly. There was a thud when he finally closed his eyes.

When he came to he found the pain in his stomach was gone. In fact the wound wasn't even there, did he have a nightmare. That must have been it. He would have to pray for forgiveness for having such a dream about his own family. The more he came to his senses the more he realized something was amiss. He was lying on the ground for some reason. Then the scent of smoke assaulted his nose. He looked around and saw the house was on fire and the several of the animals were dead. "What in God's name happened?"

"I think you know what happened," A female voice that almost didn't sound real said. He looked around again and saw a brunette woman with these deep green eyes in a pure white dress standing near him. She looked like his beloved Mary, but something inside him said that it wasn't. As if she was reading his thoughts she said, "I took on a form you would find familiar."

"Who are you?"

"Who am I, now that's a good question." She walked around him but didn't look at him. Instead her attention seemed to be on other things. "I suppose you would call me an angel."

Jacob returned his gaze to the burning house, "Did I do this?"

"I would not be talking to if you were capable of such a thing. Nor would I have made sure you would be safe."

"Mary," he said as he remembered. "Where's my family?" He got up and went to grip her by the arms. He didn't even notice that his hands went through here. "Did you save them too? Where are they?" She looked past him and into the burning house. He knew automatically. "No!" He started to run into the house but found the woman in white was in front of him again. This time she was very solid as he ran into her and fell back. She didn't even budge. He lashed out at her, "You say you are an angel but you're letting my family die!"

"They were already dead," she said sadly. "You, Jacob were the only one still clinging to life."

"No, who did this?"

"And you already know who did this. You just don't want to admit this."

She was right, he didn't want to even think he was cabible of such an act. "No, Nathaniel would never do this. My brother is not that evil!"

"Your brother wasn't born with an evil soul Jacob. But your situation made him go down a path he can never turn back from. Which makes this all the sadder."

"What path?"

"Do you really want to know?" He said yes. "Than follow me. You must see with your own eyes the depth he has truly fallen." Jacob complied. She took him a long ways, way past the boundary of their land. With each step he found himself getting colder and colder. When she did stop she gestured to a cave opening a few feet in front of them. Without a word she gestured for him to enter. He found himself getting more unsteady with each additional step. It took awhile for his eyes to get accustomed to the darkness. He tried to ignore the sent of blood in the air, but his stomach kept threaten to betray him. He came into a fairly large chamber. There was enough light from the remaining candles that he could see. He saw a pentagram drawn in the middle of the floor with a limb or body part at each point. Elizabeth's head was in the dead center of it.

Jacob fell to his knees and cried, "NOOO!!" Before he knew it the woman in white was beside him again. "Why did you show me this!?"

"You had to see what your brother had become.

"He wouldn't do this!" Jacob found himself crying, "He couldn't do this."

"Nathaniel made a deal with a demon Jacob. He sold his soul for power and eternal life so he wouldn't have to worry about being lorded over by anybody ever again. The demon granted him his wish, but it wanted on more thing. A sacrifice, a live one." He paled and his blood went colder than he ever felt it before. "Your sister was brought here and killed on this spot, then dismembered at the demon direction. Nathaniel didn't even hesitate, his desire for his wish was so strong."

Jacob couldn't even speak. He sat there limp for a long time. His mind refused to work at all. The woman in white helped him back outside. "Why did you save me if you planned to show me this? You should have left me die."

"Does death seem like such a better option?"

"It's better than knowing my brother has become a monster."

"And I would love to grant you that request but I can not. Your brothers' immortality throws things off of balance, the natural order of things is in disarray. It must be set right."

"Then set it right!", he yelled at her.

"We can not," she informed him. "By our very law we must keep our involement in mortal affairs to a minimum."

"But you said a demon turned him into this."

"Your brother sought out the information to summon the dark one and made the deal of his own free will. If he was at any point coerced or tricked into this act we might have been able to do something. At the moment we had only one option available to us to correct what happened." She looked at him waiting for him to understand what she meant. Jacob thought about what Nathaniel did to him. Like when he woke he realized that that there wasn't a mark on him, but he took a good look at his shirt. The hole from the knife and the stain from his blood was still there. His hand started shaking.

"What did you do to me?"

"You were given immortality. You are the one who set this right."

"I did not want this!," he felt himself get angry. Jacob didn't care if this being was an angel or not, they had no right to force this on him.

"We couldn't give you the option to say no," she told him. "A mortal perpetrated this, and a mortal must end this. A blood relation preferably. You have to stop your brother Jacob."

"I am not my brothers...", he began.

"You are not your brother's keeper," she interrupted him. "Yes we have heard this before. But in this case you must become your brother's killer. Only when he is dead can balance return."

"I do not want this!," he screamed at her.

"It is already done," she said calmly. Her words felt like a punch to the stomach. "When you kill your brother your immortality will end. That is what has been put upon you." She walked away and said nothing more. Jacob followed her but she soon disappeared before his eyes. He cursed the heaven at the top of his lungs for what they done to him.

=====
2006

Catlin sat there in stunned silence as she listened to his tale. Jean put a fresh cup of coffee by her. "Holy shit," she ended up saying. Jacob looked out the window, trying to force the memory from his head. "I think I would have gone nuts by now."

"I think I would have too," Jean agreed with her.

"Insanity would have made this life a bit more bearable," Jacob told her.

"But all the things you had to have seen," she said. "All the accomplishments you witness humanity achieve. That has to mean something to you."

"Child don't get him started," Jean warned her.

"All I have seen?", he asked her. Then his voice got colder and angrier, "All I have seen is death. Everybody I have ever known has died of old age. They died of diseases. They did of their own stupidity. They died from the stupidity of others. You ask me about humanity achievement. All I've seen humanity accomplish is how to kill a large group of people faster then they could before. You step in my shoes and you'll see that this is nothing but a curse."

"I told you not to get him started," Jean said to break the silence as he wipe off the counter.

"So what, you think humanity is doomed then?", she asked.

"I thought humanity was doomed the moment people started doing the Charleston." Despite the seriousness in his tone Catlin had to stifle a laugh. That came out of nowhere. "I'm sorry Catlin you have to forget your ever heard any of this. There nothing you can do to help me kill him."

"I wouldn't be sure about that my friend," Jean interrupted. "Who do you think helped me translate that paper of yours hmm?"

"This is what that was about?", she asked him. "His war with his brother?"

Jacob looked at Jean darkly, "You shouldn't have involved anybody else in this. This mission is mine and mine alone."

"By that logic, my friend, you should not have involved me. Besides her professor spoke highly of her when I went over it with them." Jacob looked disappointed in him. "Do you think it's easy translating something that old? I doubt I could have ever translated the whole thing by myself. Even a genius needs help every so often."

"You never did tell me what the paper was about," she said.

"It nothing that concerns you anymore," he said sharply. "I appreciate your help, but please forget you ever knew this or saw what you did."

"How am I..."

He cut her off, "Find a way." Nathan walked out of the deli.

"Believe it or not," Jean said after a moment, "but that means he likes you."

"I choose not," she replied dryly.

"I know it's hard to believe but he does. He always tries to push away people like that when he feel he might care for them, no matter how little. You should have heard some of the things he's said to me over the years. But everybody needs a friend, no matter how hard they try to deny it."

"But he doesn't want to because he knows he's going to outlive everybody he's ever meets." Catlin thought about it for a few moments, "When you think about it like that, maybe it is a curse."

=====
Nathan hit the racket ball against the wall of his own private court yard in his penthouse. One side was made of tempered glass that looked out over the city. He loved this view. And nothing relives stress better than a little exercise. Well there were other things, but it was to early in the day to think about being in the company of a beautiful woman. But could there be such a thing as too early? Speaking of beautiful woman Madelyne came onto the court and stood a distance away. He made her wait a few more minutes before catching the ball. Time to get back to business he supposed. "What the good word Madelyne? Did you locate his home yet?"

"Before you sent the messengers after him," she informed him. "He should get the invitaion today if there wasn't any mix up at the post office."

Nathan checked over his racket, "Why didn't you inform me that you found where he lived before then?"

"I knew you would be tempted to send your messengers there personally. Then he never would have received the invitation."

"A very good point my dear. I'm glad I have you around to help me see the long term picture." She didn't return his smile, which only made his smile bigger. "I set this up months ago. It's fortunate that we just happen to be in the same city."

"Well you do tend to announce where you are," Madelyne said as she crossed her arms and look out over the city.

"I like to live large my dear. Besides my Brother can be a little thick headed at times. I need to leave him clues otherwise things get boring, wouldn't you agree?" Madelyne didn't answer. She closed her eyes and lowered her head slightly. "There's no point in living in the past Madelyne, what's done is done." He took her by the chin and forced her to look at him. "Neither of you can go back and change what happen. You work for me and I suggest you remember that. And I suggest you might want to remember why you work for to begin with."

"I remember," she said as a single tear fell down her face.

"Then I suggest you also remember that he could have ended your servitude to me at anytime since it happened." Nathan let her go and replaced his racket, his mood brighten greatly. "I think I'll dine at Mario's tonight Madelyne. Make sure they have a table waiting for me."

"Yes Nathan," she returned her gaze to the city. Another tear fell, "Damn you Jacob."

=====
Jacob flipped through the channels of the small TV he had on a crate. He turned it off when he caught the tail end of a report of a charity function Nathaniel was hosting. Why did he waste his time watching this thing anyway? His apartment was sparcely furnished. He didn't need much, he didn't even need the television. But he had to admit it helped him locate his brother more than once. And the place was over Jean's deli so he didn't have to go far for a quick meal. A knock at his door made him get up. His mood got darker when he saw Catlin on the other side. "I thought I told you to forget about this."

"Alright buddy, for one thing you don't tell me what to do,' she snapped at him. "And two, Jean asked me to bring you your mail. You forgot to pick it up downstairs."

"Thank you," he said with an apologetic tone. He slapped the letter against his hand, "I guess you saw the name on the letters then."

"I couldn't help it."

"Unfortunately it part of my life now. I have to pick a new identity every so often."

"I figured as much, I mean Jacob Smith popping up all over the place is going to draw attention at some point."

"It was easier back in the day. I just picked a name I over heard or saw on a tombstone and used it for awhile before I moved on to the next city or country." Again he had to question exactly why he was telling her these thing. It was one thing when Jean was edging him on but now that he wasn't here. "Then things got complicated."

"I'd bet. How do you do it now a days."

"Surprisingly I found that the better they find ways to keep track of people the easier it is to fall through the cracks. Some times I have to look through death records other times I find a guy with a identity to sell. And before you question it they are out there. You just have to look in the right places."

"I'd be suspicious if a white guy came up to me wanting to buy an identity."

"It helps that I learned to mimic a few accents and learned a few different languages over the years." He flipped through the envelopes until he found one addressed to Jacob Smith. He knew the handwriting right away, she always had a unique style. "Then there's my brother, who seems to look for variations of his own name. Almost like he wants to rub in the fact he doing so well." he noticed she was checking out his apartment. "Is there something else I can help you with?"

"This is probably asking too much, but can I see it?"

"See what?"

"The paper Jean asked me to help translate. He was pretty vague about what it was. And I only saw a word or two or a phrase."

He actaully chuckled, "You are way too curious a person."

"My parents say the same thing."

"Now it's my turn to ask the questions. Why did you get into translating anchient text?"

"Fair enough, I just wanted to be different. The parents were forcing me to pick a minor to go with a major. I chose that just to get them off my back. Never knew I'd pick it up as quickly as I did."

"That's a lot of studying just to be different."

"The studying wasn't the problem, I always had a photographic memory. I figured I drop it after awhile but I actually enjoyed it. The only real problem was that I was surrounded by a bunch of nerds."

"I guess the saying true, you never know until you try." Without even thinking he walked to a book case that was built in the wall and pulled it out. A small hidden space was behind it. Jean showed him it was there. Neither of them question why it was there. Then again neither of them really wanted to know why it was put the to begin with. Again he was questioning why he was doing this. He rationalized it by telling himself that she did help him out so she deserved to at least see it. He reached in and pulled out a picture frame with a very old piece of parchment inside it. Jacob handed it to Catlin who was handling it with kid gloves. She gazed over it carefully.

"It looks like part of it missing," she said after a few moments.

"What?", he looked at the paper again. "How can you tell? It looked like this when I found it."

"Well the here," she pointed to a section near the bottom. "The verb is first word at the start of every sentence. But here, and I'm pretty sure this is a verb, but there's no sentence to go with it. I need to study this a little closer but it looks like it was torn off. The edge doesn't look as deteriorated as the others. At least not in the same way"

"And you can tell that just by looking at it."

"Just a guess actually, just going by what I was seeing so far." She started reading the text in full. "When one takes on life immortal by evil means it can only be ended by the hunter using the blood of a servant.... And that all it says. What does it mean by servant?"

"A side effect of his wish neither of us knew about until it happened." He took the frame back. "He can bring back those near death by touching them. Giving them a form of immortal life and binding part of thier will to his. Unlike him I can kill them easily. But this is full of it. I killed hundred of his servants over the years, my weapons were bathed in thier blood when I attacked him afterwards, nothing."

=====
1548-Paris

Jacob slumped against a tree, his bloody wounds slowly healing themselves. He played the events over again in his head. It should have worked. He chopped his head off with a bloody guillotine, his life should have ended right there and then. But Nathaniel body kept moving only stopping to pick up his head and reattached it. He healed immediately and then taunted him. Then the guards came out of nowhere and attacked him and Nathan. After it was over Nathan healed quickly like he did every damn time while Jacob had to slowly crawl away. The woman in white appeared before him, "You are quite a mess."

"Leave me alone," he turned his head away from her. He couldn't stand looking at her even if she did look like Mary.

"The high one is wonder why you haven't killed your brother yet and restored balance."

"Do you think I haven't been trying?", he snapped. "I have chopped off his head, gauged out his eyes because they are the window to the soul. I even cut out his still beating heart. But he will not die!" He grunted and started breathing heavily as his outburst reopened something that was almost healed. "His wounds heal as fast as I inflict them. Yet I'm here bleeding like a stuck pig."

The woman sighed, "We know you been trying Jacob. I been asking around... up there," she looked up. "Apparently the demon your brother made..."

"Don't call him my brother," he said with a hint of venom in his voice.

"The demon your brother," she continued on, "made the deal with had a reason for the sacrifice of your sister. He was able to transfer her life essence into him, letting his wounds heal almost instantaneously, no matter how deadly they are."

Jacob slumped even lower, "Then there's no way to kill him."

"Yes there is," she told him.

"Then tell me how!," he rose up quickly and opened the wound in his side even wider, "Damn."

"Tell me how," she mocked. "All you humans want to know everything but are unwilling to make the effort to get you there. You're always asking for the answer hoping we will tell you," she turned away from him in disgust. "Then there are those who would hunt down those who would seek they answer on there own. Humanity is way too complicated." His vision started to cloud over, he was going to "die" again. She looked at him, the disgust disappearing from her face. "But I brattle on. Three days west of here is a temple long forgotten. It's possible you might find the answer you seek there." Things got dark and she got harder to hear. "But I'm sure the dark one knows this as well." Then all was quiet.

=====
2006

"The dark one knows this as well," he muttered. That memory came out of nowhere. Catlin was caught off guard by his sudden change of tone.

"What did you say?"

"He knew about this, and more than likely did this."

"He just tore off the last part? I would have destroyed the whole thing."

"Most people would have, but he loves doing things like this. He loves to taunt me, leave little bread crumbs going in different directions. There are times I think he gets bored, especially if I lose track of him after awhile. I'd imagine he was going out of his mind when it took me fifty years to discover he hopped ship for the new world." He looked at the letter addressed to him on the table. " Actually I wouldn't doubt that he kept it all this time."

"And I'm assuming he won't let you in just to see it."

He ended up grinning, "Somehow I doubt he'll even let me get a glance at it. Although I never learned to read it. I barely had the patients to speak a new language, much less read one." Jacob took the picture back and went to hang it back behind the bookcase. Then they heard something fall, "Damn it not again." He put the frame down and pulled the shelf out further and took out a painted picture. He examined it closely for any damage. Catlin couldn't help the red headed woman in the picture looked kinda like her.

"Did you, did you paint this?", she asked. He was hesitant to answer.

"Yes, it was one of the few things I found that calmed my nerves and kept me sane over the centuries."

"Always good to have a hobby." She noticed the look in his eyes as he put the painting back carefully. "She must have been very special to you."

"She was," was all he said.

"You're not just talking to me because...."

"You are nothing like she was," he said suddenly. A little more subdued, he continued. "It was the only time I allowed myself to be happy in my miserable existence. There's a fire in her I fell in love with instantly. So much so I made her my wife." Jacob pushed the case back to close up the secret space. "I'm not trying to tear you down or anything Catlin."

She wasn't sure how to react, "I know you weren't. I mean God how many people you had to run into over the years that looked like people you knew, and cared bout. That's got to put you through the wringer. I'll leave you alone now."

"Don't," he told her.

"But you wanted me to leave you alone."

"I know but... but there are time I find, that no matter how hard I try to avoid any kind of human contact, I find I actually miss it at times. Jean a good friend and all, don't get me wrong. But sometimes I want to talk to somebody else. If you don't mind that is."

"Sure, the deli was still empty when I came up here if you want to grab a coffee or something." That sounded pretty good actually. "If you don't mind me asking, what was her name?"

"Her name is Madelyne."

=====
There was a knock on her door. This better be the guy she was looking for. She couldn't handle if Smith was in one of his more "playful" moods. Much to her relief it was the guy she was expecting. "Come in." A man in his thirties in black jeans and a blue button down shirt waltzed right in and sat down in front of her desk. And this was the apparent best too, what ever happened to dressing the part. She sat in her chair and ignored some of the looks he was giving her and got down to business. "Do you have them?"

"Of course honey," he grinned. Madelyne thought of several way to snap his neck. "Even rushed the development of the newer pic I caught this afternoon. Thought you might find them interesting." He tossed a brown envelope on her desk. She opened it up and looked at the various pictures of Jacob. If Nathan ever found out she hired an PI to track him. She stopped when she got to the newer pictures. Who was this woman with him in several of the shots? "So this guy cheating on you with your sister or something?"

"I don't have a sister," she informed him.

"If you say so honey. If you want I happen to know some guys who will be happy to let him know of your displeasure in what he's doing. For a small fee of course."

"That won't be necessary." He opened his mouth but she didn't give him the opportunity to speak. "Your payment has been sent to your office. Our business is done here." He shrugged and left. She studied Jacob in those newer pics, remembering how he use to act when he was courting her back then. None of the life he had back then was present in these pictures. In fact it looked like he didn't even want to be there in some of them. She understood now, this was one of his attempts to get in touch with those around him. Remind himself that he's still human, or pretend he still his. She seen him try and fail again and again the past couple of centuries and her heart went out to him. She shredded the pictures without a second thought. She preferred to remember who he was and not as this miserable shell he has become.

Madelyne was surprised that she actually hoped this woman, whoever she was, could help him find that life he used to have.

=====
Jacob, after reading the direction in the letter, found himself in a park of all places. A park with a very big security guard standing in font of him. Who was currently dissecting the invitation in his hands. "I'm not sure this is real sir," he told him. Actually it would make Jacobs day if the guard turned him away. He wasn't even sure why he came here. His brother would occasionally contact him for a face to face, and they never ended well. He remember going to the first one in hopes Nathaniel would have come to his senses and would ask for help in getting out of his deal. Instead Jacob was greeted with an argument and a sword through the heart. "In fact I'm not even sure you fit the... dress code for this particular party." He looked at his jeans, T-shirt and jacket with unhidden disdain.

"I wasn't aware there was a dress code for this particular occasion," he looked over the invitation when the guard handed it back to him. No, he didn't miss anything. "There hasn't been one before."

"I highly doubt that... sir. Now please leave."

"I was under the impression the park was open to everybody."

"Not today sir. It was rented out for the private party."

"Michaels!", Madelyne stormed up to the entrance way. "What is going on here?" Jacob kept his face and emotion under control when he saw her.

"This person is trying to make his way into the party, Ma'am."

"This man is the party," she informed him. "You are keeping Mr. Smith waiting and he doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"Ma'am, I was only doing my job."

"You're job was to let in anybody with an invitation in and that it." Jacob found himself grinning as Madelyne verbally put the guard in his place. God he missed seeing her do that. "Who or what they look like is of no concern of yours. Is that understood?"

"Yes," Michaels wouldn't even look at him. "I'm sorry about the confusion sir, enjoy the party"

Jacob walked in and Madelyn escorted him to the "party". All they way they never looked at each other, outside of trying to catch a look out of the corner of their eye. "You're still in top form I see."

"I had a lot of practice over the years," she informed him. "I hear the messengers were a little rough on you the other night. And you were a little rough in return."

"I do what I got to do. Just like you."

"Not exactly like you." He heard the edge in her voice and knew what she meant. She stood in place when they reached the center of the park and Nathaniel came into view. "Don't try anything," she warned him

"Do I ever?", he asked.

"Yes you do." there was a small hint of a smile to her face. Jacob walked the rest of the way. His brother face broke out into a grin when he saw him.

"Little Brother!", he cried out and gave him a hug. Jacob remained motionless and tried not to look disgusted when Nathaniel pulled back. "My God how long has it been this time around. Fifteen years, twenty. Hell I think Regan was still in office." He stood back and gave him the once over, "Still dressing down I see. You never were the flamboyant type were you?"

"And I see your still dressing like a pretentious jackass." His smile faded just a bit.

"Must you brother, this should be a time of celebration. Not a time for taking cheap pot shots at each other." He sighed and walked away a bit. "So how is life treating you Brother?"

"Outside of the occasional mugging, like hell."

"Always seeing the glass half full. Oh, and sorry about that. The boys got a little rambunctious and totally went against the original plan. Would I lie to you?" Jacob said nothing in response. "You know Jacob, you looked exactly like you did when I first found out you were alive. 1412 wasn't it? To say I was shocked to see you alive would have been an understatement. Much like the shock I felt when you used my stunned state to slice through my neck with the sword you were carrying." He rubbed his neck at the memory, "That was a weird feeling, one I never gotten used to. But I must say the look on your face was priceless."

"Why did you call me for this time Nathaniel? It beneath even you to rub my past failure in killing you in my face?"

"Can't I just want to see my little brother. We are family after all."

"Don't remind me." He used the silence to look around, "You rented out the entire park for this? That's outlandish, even by your standards."

"I just wanted to make sure we weren't accidentally overheard. Besides I don't want to ruin my image by being photographed with somebody who looks like you. The gossip columnist would have a field day, who knows what kind of lies they would come up with."

"Why don't you use your money to buy them off. I'm sure you have a few times. Or had somebody convince them not to run a story you didn't like."

"Well Madelyne can be quite convincing when she has to be. Actually she can be quite hot blooded in ah... 'certain' situations," he smiled smugly. "Wouldn't you agree Brother?". Jacob felt his blood get a little hotter.

"So what about the families who wanted to use the park today?", he forced a change of subject. "This is going to put a few of them out of their way."

"I only rented the place out for an hour," he replied. "So any inconvenience to the public is going to be minor at best. Besides I'm going to be using this park for a huge celebration of family and children type of deal. It'll be held in a few weeks time so the mortals will be able to rearrange their schedule in case they want to attend. I'm even going to fix so kids who parents can't attend will be able to come free of charge. It's politics Little Brother, you have to scratch a few backs in order to get things done." He looked out into the sky, "You know, I always felt you would be excellent at politics, seeing how many fight you mediated between me and Father back then."

"No thank you, I would rather work with my hands and feel good about myself at the end of the day."

"Some things can't be solved with the use of your hands Jacob. There are things beneath us you know."

"And there's nothing wrong with an honest days work."

Nathaniel sniffed, "Careful Brother, your starting to sound like Father."

Jacob crossed his arms and looked in another direction, "Father was wiser than you ever wanted to admit."

His brother finally looked like he was starting to lose his temper, "Father wisdom had close to edge of being thrown off our land. Did you realize he gave part of the money we needed to Marlow and his family."

"And they helped us when we needed it," he countered. "You have to return the favor when somebody helps you. Not all of us look out for hand out Nathaniel."

"Do you think I had help to get were I am?", he exploded. "Lord, noble, hell even street vendors wouldn't even look at me. No, I had to scratch and claw my way to a position of power were nobody would even think about pushing me around. And as for helping other, what do you think I am doing now? I have set hundred of programs over the centuries to help out those who are working two even three jobs and are barely staying in out of the poor house. I'm helping people like us Brother, so they won't have to endure the hardship of a system failing them like we did."

He listened with intent, "It sounds like to me you trying to sooth a guilty conscious."

"And here we go again." He walked away putting his hands up in defeat, "Why do you always bring this up. It's the past brother, let it go."

This time Jacob exploded, "You murdered our family in cold blood! You dismembered Elizabeth..."

"I wanted to make sure she got into heaven," Nathaniel said calmly.

He couldn't hold back the rage he was feeling, "She was six years old!!"

"You are obviously letting this eat you up inside Brother. "Here," he pulled out a piece of paper and started writing something on it, "this is the number for a excellent psychologist. I don't use him but my secretary sings his praises every chance she gets. Had her hating and reloving her mother in two months." Nathaniel held it out, "I'll even pay for the fee. Go to him and pour you heart out. Although you might want to leave out the part of us being immortal. He might be tempted to put you in a rubber room."

Jacob took the paper and ripped it in half. Then he leaned in close and told him, "I will find away to kill you." With that he started walking away.

"You and I are all we have left Brother," he tried to reason with him. "Humanity could die out tomorrow and all that would remain alive would be you, me and the cockroaches." He started smiling to himself, "And quite possibly Keith Richards. At least it'll give me somebody to talk to. That reminds me, I have to call Mick back about that benefit concert." He pulled out his cell phone and saw the date and slapped his forehead. "Brother," he called after him, "I almost forget the reason why I wanted to see you today. Happy birthday Jacob."

Without warning Jacob turned around and pulled a World War two era Colt M1911 from his waist band. He aimed and fired and the back of Nathaniel's head blew out as he fell backwards. He tossed the gun in a trash can he passed and told Madelyne, "Tell him that was for Munich." She did nothing as he went out of the park. A few seconds later Nathaniel healed completely and stood up and examined himself.

"Damn it Brother, you ruined a perfectly good suit," he complained as he tried to get some of the blood off his shoulder. He looked behind him at the bits of brain covering the ground then looked at Madelyne. "Let me guess, Munich?"

"He said something about it," she said. She was actually smiling.

"He has got to learn to let things go." He pulled out a handkerchief and cleaned himself up as best he could. "And weren't you supposed to stop him if he tried anything?"

"Like he could have done anything to hurt you."

"There are times I can see why he married you," he mumbled as he went for an exit.

[scikaiju]

=====
Catlin scored every library she could think of. She got a few weird looks when people realized she was looking up immortality. The ways he figured it she helped Jacob already, so she could do a bit more. A couple web searches she did earlier brought up some Highlander websites, and that wasn't going to help at all. So the answer had to be in a book or two somewhere. The way she figured it somebody had to have recorded the information somewhere. How else could his brother had been able to make the deal. She didn't know much about life in the fifteenth century but she doubted ways to invoke demons was common knowledge, so he had to do some searching if his own back then. Now if only she knew where he looked.

"That some heavy reading, even for you," he friend Janice said taking a seat next to her. She picked up one of the books and flipped through a few pages. "Looking for another strange minor to piss off your parents with," she chuckled. "I remember thay didn't seem all that pleased when they visited you the last time."

"No, it has something to do with a side project I'm doing for a friend of a friend." Janice flipped through another book, "I could use some reading some of these."

"I'll wait for the movie. This have anything to do with that French old guy?" She nodded. "So is his friend older than he is?"

"You could say that." She closed the book she was reading and closed her eyes to rest them. "Maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way."

"If I knew what you were looking for maybe I could help you figure it out."

Hell it couldn't hurt to get another perspective. "Well the dude the French guy... is ...working for is offering a grant if I can figure out some sort of riddle."

She leaned in getting a little interested, "What was the riddle?"

Oh how was she going to word this? "It's not much of a riddle really. Say you got a guy who made a deal to become immortal. And the only way to know how to kill him is this piece of parchment written in this really old language. But the thing is the part you need to know is missing. So how do you know what to do."

"That's a pretty crappy riddle," Janice told leaning back. But she looked like she was thinking it over. "Well, my gut instinct would be to try to find out more about the civilization behind the text. Their myth and all that."

"Did that two weeks ago and came up with nothing." She reopened the book and closed it again. "Right now I'm checking out legends about various demon and the like."

Janice perked up, "Demons you say?"

"Don't tell me you're into demons this month," Catlin sighed.

"No," she said defensively, "but there this really sweet paranormal bookstore downtown. They have some a lot of really old books and stuff in there. Hell, I don't think there even a computer in the place. If you're looking for a far out there answer you have to start looking in far out there place. And a regular library isn't going to cut it."

That made some sense, and what the hell did she have to lose, "What's the address to this place?"

=====
She found the place easy enough. Actually she was surprised she hadn't seen it before seeing how often she passed by here. From what she could tell the inside was barely lit. Then again the usual clientele probably didn't want to be seen that easily. A bell rung as she opened the door. The place even smelled liked musty old books. She was briefly aware of a person coming out from the back. She was trying to figure out the best way to word this when she heard him speak. "Now I know you're following me."

"Jacob?", she said in shock. "What are you doing working here?"

"I own the place," he told her. "I have to make a living somehow don't I?"

"But a paranormal bookstore?"

"Last place I thought Nathaniel would think to look for me." He leaned against the counter, "So if you're not following me why are you here?"

"Trying to help you figure out what was on that piece your brother took."

He lowered is head, "I thought I asked you not to get any more involved?"

"I can't stop now," she argued. "Besides the more heads you got working on this the faster you can get it done."

"Maybe, but most people who help me wind up dead," he started rubbing his palms together absentmindedly. He shook his head to get out of whatever funk he got himself him. "So what made you check this place out in trying to help me?"

"Advice from a friend. I started checking out various demon legends to see if anything like this happened before. Or at lest try to find out whoever wrote the prophecy or whatever it is to begin with."

He smiled softly, "I had the same idea about fifty years ago. It the main reason I took up this place. Jean comes in every so often and checks out the new shipments with me. Nothing yet."

"Have you got a new shipment in yet? You can tell me were you guys left off."

"Why are you so into this?"

"I'm trying to help a friend out." Then she added, "And by friend I mean Jean of course."

"Of course," he deadpanned. Jacob reached behind the counter and pulled out a couple stack of book. He dropped them on the desk and she could see the dust fly off of them. Catlin coughed involuntarily as she inhaled some of it. "These are the only book we found so far that that had anything that looked like it was written in the same language." She picked up one and read a few pages. It was similar but some of the contexts were wrong. "I'm going to tell you now, Jean knows this so by right so should you." He looked at her for a bit before continuing. "You're helping me die by doing this."

"Wait... what?", her jaw dropped. She hoped he was joking but she could tell that he wasn't. "If you're trying to scare me away it's not working."

"I'm not trying to scare you away," he looked at her sadly. "I'm only alive right now because my brother is. The moment he's dead so will I be, or at least that's what she said."

"She, she who?"

"Nothing," he quickly said.

"But you can't want to die," she said trying to understand.

"I've been alive way to long Catlin. I shouldn't be here, now, to begin with." He couldn't look at her any more, not with those eyes. "But because my brother.... I just want it to end."

Catlin didn't know what to say or do. She never thought about this. "Alright," she finally got out. Catlin tried to lighten the mood, "Can't let it be said that I denied a guy his dieing wish." She made a face as she cringed, that did not come out right. Jacob smiled any way. She picked up another book and went through it trying to get lost in the job. Too bad that job was helping Jacob to his death.

After about a couple of hour Jacob asked, "You hungry?"

"Now that you mention it," she admitted. "Do you know what the special is over at Jean's is today?"

"I think he said something about visiting a friend in the hospital today. And when he not there the food stinks."

"You noticed that too," they both chuckled.

"The guys Jean's cousin so I can't say anything to Jean about the quality."

"So where to you want to go then?"

"I know this little stand in the loop that sell some of the best hot dogs I ever had."

"Sounds like a date. Plan... I meant plan," she hastily added when she notice the wry grin on Jacob face.

=====
They went their separate ways after the hot dogs. Jacob put his hands in his pocket and found things weren't quite so dreary at the moment. Yeah he was trying to drive her away for her own good, and his for that matter. But the past couple of hours weren't that bad. In fact things almost felt... normal. Last time things felt like that was when.... Then his mood darkened again. Always when things were looking up. Too bad for whomever it was that mood changed happen before somebody pulled him into a side street and held a knife to his throat. "You again?", he said as he recognized the gang leader from the other night. "Would this be the P.S.?"

"Funny, you know that was almost the same joke he made." There was a dangerous glint in his eyes as he pressed the edge of the blade into the flesh of his neck. "Wonder what would happen I cut your head off?"

"Try it and find out," he dared him. "Or did he tell you not to do that?" Jacobs hand shot out and grabbed the knife. The cut made from the blade was healed by the time he wrestled the guy into the wall. he forced his head up and looked at the scar running across his neck. His particular disgust for this person grew. "So this is how he paid you huh? He always had an iron grip on his finances."

He was actually grinning ear from ear. "Hell man this is better than money. I'm going to live fucking forever man. Just like the two of you." Jacob felt something pressed against his leg. He felt the pain and the burning go through his leg about the same time he heard the muffled shot. "Fuck yeah baby." He laughed as Jacob hobbled away on one foot. "Dude you are old school. You're not even crying in pain or nothing. Fuckin' sweet, really fuckin' sweet."

He circled Jacob like a shark. Through gritted teeth he asked, "Why are you here?"

"Just to let you know I'll be making your life hell for years to come. Hell this is going to be fun. Smith loved some of the ideas I came up with too. He even said I might get some alone time with that smoking redhead he has working for him." Jacob locked his angry eyes with the other mans. "Hell I can think of some of the things I want to do to here right now before she croaks." Not even waiting for the bullet wound to heal he lunged forward and took the gun from his hand at the same time he plunged the knife into his heart. "No biggie," he said weakly. "I'll be up before you know it," he slid down the wall and soon began to cough up blood.

"I don't think so. Nathaniel never tells his servants they can actually die." There was movement behind him. Jacob swung the gun around and came face to face with Madelyne. They stood there in that position for a long time. The other man death gasps filling the air. The end of the gun wavered slightly but it was still pointed at her. He saw that she was keeping herself wide open, waiting for him top shoot.

Several more moments passed before she asked, "Who was that woman?"

"What woman?"

"The one we seen you with a few moments ago, who is she?"

"Somebody in over her head," Jacob said.

"They usually are, aren't they?", she agreed. "What's her name?"

"Why does it matter to you?"

"It doesn't," she said. "What's her name?"

"Catlin." Madelyne smiled softly.

"I was almost expecting to her you say her name like you used to say mine. I guess it isn't love after all." She took a step toward him, he kept the gun pointed at her. "But you do have some kind a feeling toward her. I can see it."

"Then your seeing things Madelyne," he informed her.

"And nobody knows you as well as I do Jacob. I studied you enough over the years." She walked into the barrel of the gun, making sure the barrel was directly aimed at her heart. "I doubt even your brother knows you as well as I do." They stared at each other for a long time. Then she reached up to grab his arm. Jacob saw her move, he had plenty of time to pull the trigger. Both of them knew it. Madelyne gripped his wrist and with one quick snap broke his arm. Jacob dropped the gun and backed away. As he snapped the broken bones back into place she looked at him with some disgust. "Sometimes I wish I didn't know you that well." She kicked the gun under a dumpster and walked away.

Jacob watched her go and walked in the other direction. Clutching his arm he whispered, "I'm sorry."

=====
1859- Dublin

Jacob followed the red haired woman with some great interest. By the way she was acting he could tell she knew he was there. She lead him for several blocks before she turned around and confronted him. "And why have you been following me for so long Mr. Michael Harrow?"

"I'm trying to determine the best way to court you Miss Madelyne O' Brian."

"Foreword aren't you?", she gave him a sly smile. "Aren't you afraid to be seen with somebody like me? Surely you heard they rumors they been spreading about me."

"I've heard, several have been told to me personally." In fact several of those ladies were coming in the opposite direction. "I've learned to ignore the cackling of old hens," he said it loud enough for the other to hear.

"Why I never," one of them said indigently. She hurried out in a huff with the other following.

"They'll start saying things about you now," she warned them.

"Let them. They probably already have before today anyway." He quicken his paced and started walking beside her. "Might as well give them something to talk about."

"You are incorrigible." She looked away for a moment before going, "There are several more respectable women worth your attention you know."

"Yes I do," he acted like the very thought left a bad taste in his mouth, "their mothers introduce them to me every chance they get. And quite frankly those women bore me."

"I would have thought somebody like you would want a boring woman. Most men want a woman they don't have to tame."

"Who say I want to tame you? Why take away what the good lord gave you in spades?"

"Now I know you're daft in the head."

"That what makes me so interesting," he gave her a grin. She laughed despite herself, and he loved her laugh.

"Why would you want to be seen with a person who grew up in an orphanage?"

"I have no family either," he informed her. "Life hard enough without other trying to force you into something. Have a baby. Make more money. Have another baby. Who needs it?"

"I have no dowry of which to speak of."

"I have enough to get by."

Madelyne stop and stared at him, trying to figure this man before her out. By all right she should tell him off and be done with it. But the way he said her name, there was almost a melody to it. "So why would somebody somewhat respectable like yourself even think about courting some one like myself?"

Jacob waited for another group to pass before answering, "Because you fascinate me. You said it yourself, you had nothing. But look at where you are now. By all right you could have cave and been nothing but gutter trash or became what ever this world forced you to be. But you fought and made something of yourself. You're a fighter Madelyne O'Brian, and I want to know you for as long as I possible can."

"You aren't the first man to try to court me using this argument," she informed him.

"God willing I'll be the last," he countered.

Madelyne laughed again, "Sure of yourself aren't you Mr. Harrow."

"How do you think I made it this far?"

"Fool's luck more than anything I'd imagine," she said dryly. His smile just got bigger. She had to admit she was starting to like that smile.

=====
2006

Madelyne walked into Nathan's office. He had the not so happy look on his face. It was hard to gauge what was wrong when he wore that expression. He wore when his stock lost points or he misplaced his nail file. So she proceed a bit more cautiously, his mood swings could be a bit more unpredictable. He said nothing as she approached, but he did place a folder in front of her. "What this?"

"The invoice for that private detective you hired behind my back," he said casually. She froze in place. "He actually tried to convince me you failed to pay him," he laughed. "But I know better than that. You have never reneged on a payment in your life. But I am disappointed in you Madelyne." He got up, walked around the desk and sat on the corner. "I mean I don't mind you hiring a PI, how else are you going to find out the things I need to know? But the fact you did it for you own personal reason," he shook his head. "You know better than that."

"I wanted to know what he was up to," she told him.

"You could have done that with the resources we have here. It's the main reason why I hired the lot of them." He got off the desk and walked away from her. "Leave me Madelyne, I don't know if I can trust you now."

"I'm bonded to you...", she began.

"Quiet!", he commanded. "Just go. I don't care were you go, just leave me. I have things I need to get down."

"Yes sir," she hurried off relieved he just commanded her to leave.

When she left Nathan returned to his desk and opened one of the drawers. Pulling out an envelope he went through the pictures inside for the second time. Madelyne had these taken. Fortunately for him the PI still had the negatives and made another set. The pictures of his brother with this other woman intrigued him. The way his brother sat there, trying to stay away but at the same time interested in her. And the fact she bore a striking likeness to Madelyne. He was going to have to uses his sources to find out who she was. You can never have enough leverage after all.

=====
1860

Jacob started out the window of his humble house. After three month of marriage he told Madelyne everything. About himself, about his brother, about just about everything. Like he thought she didn't take it well. He didn't plan to tell her. At most Michael Harrow was going to "die" after about twenty years or so. After which Madelyne would have found out she had a little more wealth than she thought they had. He was fully prepared to go through this life with her. But the thought she was going to die and he wasn't kept creeping into his mind, even when he was courting her. It was better this way, he convinced himself. She was still young enough to find somebody else. Somebody she could grow old with.

Then her image appeared in the reflection. She was standing right behind him. "You're still here?"

"I want to know why?", she demanded. "Why tell me this now?

He didn't want to see her die. "I thought you deserved to know the truth," he told her. Jacob turned to face his wife, she wasn't dressed to leave. In fact he couldn't even see a bag. At this point he was looking for a weapon of any kind. He wouldn't have blamed her, many had tried to kill him after they found out.

"You are immortal?", she was still stunned.

"Not by choice."

"I.. I understand that." Her face hardened a bit, "So am I your latest conquest then?"

"No," he said quickly. "Madelyne I have only been married twice in my life. And there have been no women in-between."

"How can I believe that?"

"You know me," he pleaded.

"Know you, I don't even know your real name!"

"My name may have changed but I am the same person I was when I was born. Nothing has changed that."

"Then what is your name?" she asked. He hesitated in answering. "I deserve to know the name of the man I married."

He looked her right in the eyes, "My name is Jacob."

Madelyne walked up to him and gently put a hand on his face. "Hello Jacob," she said softly. "It's a pleasure to finally meet the real you."

"Why are you still here?"

"Because I'm married to the man I love," she told him. "Why would I be anywhere else?"

"Madelyne," he took her in his arms and she kissed him. He couldn't leave this woman. He was going to do everything possible to make sure she was happy for the rest of her life. Then something burst through the window. He guarded Madelyne as best he could from the glass. "What the devil?", he turned to see people coming through the window, one of them was his brother. "What are you doing here?!"

"Brother," Nathaniel had the nerve to sound hurt, "you got married and didn't invite me to the wedding? That is the height of rudeness, I thought you were raised better than that." His gaze fell upon Madelyne and he smiled a predator smile. Jacob moved her behind him. "Although I must say you improved greatly over Mary."

He pushed his wife behind him. "Leave her out of this." Another man climbed through the window, a dirty sort with a couple of knives attached to his belt. Obviously his latest servant.

"You involved her the moment you married her little brother," he taunted him.

"Get out of our house!," Madelyne commanded as she walked around him before Jacob could stop her. "You are not welcome here."

"My such fire in this one." He looked her over again, "It's a pity I didn't meet you first. I would have enjoyed playing with you."

Jacob pushed her out of the way and punched his brother in the jaw. His servant pulled out on of the knives and tried to slash him. Jacob dodged several of them but one of the swipes sliced open his arm. He took a step and clutched his arm. The servant flipped the blade around in the air and caught by the blade. He threw it right at Jacob's head. He barely had enough time to move out of the way. Then the other knife was thrown that he was able to dodge. Jacob thought he heard it hit something but he couldn't risk seeing what it was. He rammed into him and grabbed a piece of glass with his good arm. Jacob got on top of him and after a brief struggle he cut his neck open. Jacob slowly stood up and faced his brother, who just stood there and watched the whole thing. "Now get out of my house," he ordered.

"I would love to brother." Nathaniel looked behind Jacob, "But I feel I should be here in your hour of need."

Jacob blood went cold before he turned around. He heard the knife hit. "Madelyne!", he turned to her. She was lying on the ground with the knife stuck in her chest, blood pouring down her dress. He was beside her the next moment. HIs heart was torn, he wanted to tear out the knife but he knew that would just make things worse. "Madelyne," he cradled her in his arms, "stay with me Madelyne?"

"Jacob," she said weakly. She reached up and touched his face. "Jacob.. I.."

"Shh. Conserve your strength Madelyne, please."

"Jacob.. I... love you. Thank you... for telling me... your name" She started going limp in his arms.

"No," he cried as tears fell down his face. "Don't leave me Madelyne. Please don't leave me." He held her close, he could feel her leaving her body.

"I can save her," Nathaniel said. Jacob couldn't even think of that. He could never let him to that too her. Nathaniel could sense his resistance. "Why go through this pain all over again Jacob. Wasn't going through this with our family bad enough?" Jacob refused to respond to that. "She means the world to you Brother, any fool can see that. Why let her light die needlessly because of our war? You have no time to debate this brother, she fading fast. To the point where I can do nothing."

Jacob looked up, eyes red from the tears. He couldn't do it. He couldn't turn Madelyne into one of them. He gently laid her down and looked at her peaceful face. He couldn't be without her. He closed his eyes and said, "Do it."

"Wise choice Brother." He pushed him away and kneeled down beside her. Nathaniel removed the knife from her chest. He placed one hand on her wound and the other on her forehead. Nathaniel closed his eyes and concentrated. His hands glew softly, that glow transferred to her. Soon she was breathing normally. When he removed his hands the wound was gone, "And it is done." Jacob went for her but Nathaniel knocked him away with a backhand. "She is bonded to me now brother. Don't worry I'll take good care of her." He kicked Jacob in the throat causing him to start choking and blacking out momentarily. Nathaniel picked her off the ground and said before exiting out the window, "And I'll let her now who allowed this to happen to her."

Jacob came too and rushed to the window, he was already driving off in a buggy being pulled by a horse. His voice returned and all he could say was, "Forgive me."

=====
2006

Jacob sat by the window and stared out at the night sky. His head was in another time, in another place when there was a knock at his door. He picked up a bat and cautiously opened the door. He was surprised to see who was on the other side. "Madelyne?", despite every instinct he had telling him to close the door he opened it wider. She walked in and closed the door behind her. They stared at each other for a long time. Madelyne wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. Jacob dropped the bat and put his arm around her as he returned it. Decades melted away and they were back where they were oh so long ago. Two people who loved each other deeply and without question, not caring what anybody else thought of them. Each of them tried to commit to memory the other one's touch, how they felt, how they smelled. They started tearing at each other clothes as he lead them to the bedroom. They made love in his bed for the first time in forever. For a long time they just laid there with her in his arms, both of the feeling completely whole.

Jacob woke up when the bed moved. He looked around, it was still dark out and the clock said it was after midnight. Madelyne was sitting in the edge of the bed getting dressed. In a hurry from the look of it. "Why are you leaving?"

"He's going to notice I'm missing," she said not looking at him, "if he hasn't already. I have to go back before he decided to send somebody looking for me."

"Then let's leave. Go someplace where he can't find us. Someplace were we can be together."

"He has too many connections. There no place we could go were he won't be able to find us."

"I know how to hide from people, he's not going to be a problem."

"Then he'll just torture everybody you know to get the information he wants, even if he knows they don't have it. Do you want that to happen to your friend who owns the deli downstairs? God, all these years and that idiot still thinks his name is Pierre. No matter how many times I tell him it's Jean"

"Madelyne please..."

"I don't even know why you act like you care," she said suddenly.

"Madelyne I lo..."

"Don't say it," she ordered him. "Don't you dare say it Jacob Smith. You never loved me."

He was stunned she would even think that. "I love you with every fiber in my being."

She finally looked at him, tears filling accusing eyes. "Then why am I still alive?", she demanded. Jacob was at a loss for words. "You could have ended my existence at any time. But you choose not too, condemning me to being his servant." She finished dressing and grabbed her jacket from the floor and walked out of the room and toward the door.

"Madelyne wait," he chased after her, "please let me explain."

"You say your immortality is a curse. Yet you turn around and force it on me." She opened the door and paused before. "If you ever really loved me you'll end it the next time we see each other." She slammed the door closed behind her.

He leaned against the door, "I did it because I can't be in a world without you in it."

====
Catlin entered Jacob's book store. Neither she nor Jean had seen him for a couple of days. They checked the place a few time, it was open when it was suppose to be open. According to Jean he didn't have any hired help so he was the only one who could be in there. Some how he talked her into checking up on him. Jacob was sitting behind the counter, staring into space. He wore an extremely sad look on his face. He didn't even ackowledge her when she sat next to him. "Are you all right?" he said nothing. "Jean said there was a door slammed in the middle of the night. You two are the only ones who live there and he knows it wasn't him." Jacob turned his head away from her slightly. "If you don't want to talk to me fine. But at least say something to Jean, he starting to get worried about you."

"I made her life into a living hell," he said quietly. She said nothing waiting for him to continue. "The woman I loved more than anything in the world and I made her life a living hell." A tear fell down his cheek, "My wife is my brother servant because I couldn't stand to see her die."

"She still alive?", she didn't know what to think.

"I knew what was going to happen, but I let myself see things his way." he put his face in his hands as more tears came. "She was right, I could have ended it at any time. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. What am I suppose to do?" Not sure of what else to do, Catlin put a arm around him and tried to comfort him. "I handed my brother the perfect defense and he knows it."

"Love makes you do stupid thing sometimes." Lord knows she done some stupid things herself over the years. "So what are you going to do now?"

"Something I don't want to do," he said softly, "but I know I have to. For her sake if nothing else." Catlin pulled him close and held him. She could feel the sadness coming from him. All she could do is be there for him, because nothing she could say or do would ever fill up that hole growing inside of him.

=====
She laid there as Nathan had his way with her. Over the years she found a way to make herself feel numb while he was screwing her. He never seemed to care what she felt any way, as long as his needs were meet. But this time was different, she couldn't make it all go away this time. She kept thinking about her time with Jacob. Part of herself clung to that to get her through this. Nathan stopped when he realized something was different. "You were with him weren't you?" She looked away. He grabbed her face and forced her to look at him, "Weren't you?!"

"Yes," she said definintly. He slapped her.

"You may have been his, but you belong to me now. Is that clear? Answer me!"

She gritted her teeth and answered, "Perfectly clear sir."

He slapped her again and got off of her. Throwing on a robe he told her, "I hope you're happy. Now I have to go else were because you disgust me at the moment." He stopped at her door. "I have an assignment for you. There a name of a person in a folder on you table over there. I want that person brought to me."

She rolled up in ball for a few moments as disgust filled her. Then she got up and put on her own robe and looeked over the folder. The name on the page made her heart skip a beat, Catlin Summers. Didn't Jacob say that woman's name was Catlin? She found the corresponding picture. It was one of the pictures she had the PI take. How did he get a copy of this, scratch that she already knew. Damn him. She looked over accompanying file. As usual Nathan sources were never missed anything. But she thought they might have been a little too good this time as one particular piece of information caught her eye. As long as Nathan didn't give her a direct order otherwise, she could use this against him. And help her husband in the process.

=====
Catlin had a early class that morning that she was almost close to being late for. Why did this one math class have to be so early on a Monday for crying out loud. Not that she could concentrate much lately anyway. Not without finding out Jacob wife was still alive. And attached to his brother too boot. Man how did he not go nuts by now. Maybe he did and nobody released it yet. After a bit it started to fell like she was being followed. Growing up in the city she developed a bit a of a sixth sense about that sort of thing. So she quickened her pace. She paused when somebody called out her name. Maybe it was somebody she knew after all. Catlin turned around and almost dropped her backpack. It was her, the woman from the painting, Jacob wife. Something told her to run so she did. They knocked over a couple of people but Madelyne finally caught her. Catlin was going to scream but the older woman put a hand over her mouth. "Listen to me," she told he sternly. "If you know what good for you and Jacob, you'll come with me."

=====
Jacob walked into the deli hoping Jean wouldn't make a scene. Much to his dismay the old Frenchman clutched his heart and took a few steps backwards. "Oh my goodness," he said dramatically, "he is still alive. Will wonders never cease?"

"Not today Jean," he said as he took his usual table. Jean came out from around the counter and sat next him looking concerned.

"You up and disappear on me what am I suppose to think? You can't imagine the relief I felt when Catlin told me she found you." Jacob shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "That is all she said my friend. And I respect your privacy too much to try and pry further. Although I do hope you will share with me what been bothering you eventually."

"Thanks Jean. But I don't think you can give me any advice on this one. Maybe you can after it's over, but I doubt it."

"Come on," He got up, "I'll treat you to some of the hard stuff. The carbonated water." Jacob smirked at Jean's attempt at a joke. Jacob sat there as a the mailman came in. Him and Jean chatted for a bit before leaving a stack of letters on the counter and walking out. Jean went through each one saying, "Bill, bill, Sister, bill, bill, oh..." he sniffed the letter, "Celeste. Woman got hips to die for." Jacob did not need that image of Jean and whoever in his head at the moment. "Uh-oh," he said after a moment.

"What, Celeset's husband warning you by mail. Or is somebody trying to foreclose on this place." Jacob knew the latter wasn't going to happen, he secretly owned this place. He bought it from the original owner when he was going to shut it down. Jacob may have lived a humble life style but he had money of his own in various places. In fact he had plans in place to give ownership over to Jean if he ended the war if he was still alive.

"My friend we have another letter addressed to Jacob Smith."

"Now what," he got up and ripped open the letter. "Is he thinking about inviting me to a dance now or something? I swear I wouldn't put it past to stick me with the dry cleaning bill for that suit of his." As he read the letter Jean could see a change on his face. He went from annoyed to worried to down right scared in a few moments. And that got Jean worried, because as long as he knew him, fear had never crossed his features. He said nothing when Jean asked what was wrong. "That fucking bastard," he said as he dropped the letter and rushed out of the deli. Now Jean was concerned, he never heard Jacob use language like that before either. He picked up the letter and lost a few more years of his life. His brother said something about talking to Catlin and to meet tonight him if he wanted to check on her personally. Jean found himself echoing his friend statement.

=====
Nathan sat behind the desk in his study at home. He was surrounded by various book and armor and weapons of midieval times. One of his more prized possession was the sword that belonged to the Lord that tried to take their land. He kept that in a place of honor hanging behind him. Sometimes he would look at it and laugh. The look on the Lords face when he plunged the dagger into him, as a mere peasant ended his life. The dark one might have said it would take awhile to achieve a position of power but he said nothing about getting a little revenge on the side. The door to his study opened, he grinned as Madelyne dragged the young woman into the room. "Please," he tried to remember her name, "Miss... Summers was it? Please have a seat."

Madelyne pretty much threw the young lady into the chair, "Wait until the police find out about this."

He ignored her," Was she much of a problem to apprehend?"

"She stronger than she looks," Madelyne informed. He noticed the slight bruise on her cheek. His appreciation of this particular young woman just grew a bit.

"She's a fighter? Figures , my brother was always drawn to strong women." He shook his head. "Never saw the draw myself."

"Are you not listening to me?", Catlin demanded. "I'm going to call the fucking cops."

"Go ahead," he pushed the phone toward her. "The commissioner is number two on speed dial. So," he made himself comfortable, "How do you know my brother Jacob?"

"I don't know any Jacob," she said.

"Maybe you know him as..," he snapped his finger trying to recall the name. "What's he calling himself now Madelyne?"

"I believe it's David this time around," Madelyne answered

"Ah yes, that's it David. God, I wish he wouldn't go all over the map when picking out a new name. It get's so confusing at times"

"I know a lot of Davids," Catlin told him.

"I'd bet you do." He grinned wickedly, "A fine little lady like yourself probably knows a lot of men don't you?"

Catlin went to punch him, but Madelyne forced her back down to the chair, "Be a good little girl."

"Bitch," was all she said.

"Now, now," Nathan admonished. "There's no need to fight." He placed a photo on the desk. "I'm talking about this person here. You were seen with him several times. Any of this ringing a bell."

"I barely know this guy," Catlin said after a minute. "We happen to eat at the same deli and both know the owner. That's it."

"Ah Pierre," Catlin looked confused momentarily while Madelyne resisted the urge to make a face. "How is that old French man doing? I'd imagine he be near death by now. It's so hard to tell with you mortal at times."

"What are you talking about?", Catlin asked him. Nathan looked at her with a suspicious eye, could it be possible she didn't know?

"Well you had to know him better than your letting on. You have been spotted going into his book store, and yes I do know about that little operation of his." Catlin face remained neutral. "You were even spotted eating with him. A hot dog of all thing. I swear those things should be outlawed. Do you have any idea what goes in..."

"Sir," Madelyne said with a cough.

"Right, getting off track again. Well I guess we'll see exactly how well you know my brother in a few hours. Madelyne, make sure she comfortable, and that she doesn't leave the room." Madelyne nodded as he walked out the door. She waited a few moments before making sure he was heading down the hallway.

"We don't have much time," she said.

Catlin got out of the chair, "Did you have to be so rough?"

"Consider us even," Madelyne told her as she headed for the desk. "I told you to make it look good, not try to knock me out." She found the key she was looking for and turned to the sword behind the her. She swung it to the side to reveal a safe of some sort. "You better be good at this."

"I still don't understand why your doing this. Isn't he your boss?"

"Because I can't count on Jacob to finish the job," she told her. "I left myself open to a killing stroke enough times over the years to know he can't or won't do it. I'm hoping when Nathan dies whatever is keeping me alive goes with him."

Catlin shook her head in disbelief, "Is Nathan the only one of you three who doesn't want to die."

"And do you have any idea what it's like to be bound to that slug?" She opened the safe and rummaged through it. "To be at the beck and call of his every whim. I would have committed suicide decades ago if he didn't make sure I couldn't." Madelyne found what she was looking for and put it on the desk in front of Catlin. The missing part of the parchment. Catlin inhaled sharply when she saw it. "Besides maybe my husband can finally find a bit of peace when he does kill him."

"You still love him don't you?", Catlin asked. Madelyne went stoned faced and pushed the parchment toward her. Getting the hint she used her photographic memory to recall the other part. You still realized this might take awhile?"

"You have until Jacob gets here."

"Right," and she tried to read the rest of the text. Madelyne supplied some paper so she could try various translation of the words and phrases. Faster than she expected she had a rough idea of what it said, "Oh my God."

"What?", Madelyne demanded. "What is it?"

"This has to be wrong. I had to have done it wrong?"

"What does it say?" She slammed the desk, "I have to know."

Catlin heart felt like it as going to jump out of her throat. "The part Jacob has say that a when one wants to kill a person who has become immortal by evil means the hunter needs the blood of a servant.... and that all it says." She swallowed involuntarily and went over everything in her head again. She didn't make a mistake.

=====
It took a couple of hours for Jacob to get his head on straight. First of all he had no idea where Nathan lived. After some checking it turned out that he had a place outside of the city. Much like that lord he used to complain about, he had a home set outside of everybody else. More than likely one of many depending on his needs. Second he didn't want a repeat of what happened to Madelyne with Catlin. His conscious couldn't handle another weight. Jean wanted to accompany him, but this Jacob fight and his alone. No matter how tired he was of it.

The first thing he noticed was the lack of security. The main gate was wide open for anybody to come in. Then again how many people would come all the way out here willingly? Although he had to admit, a small part of him was expecting a welcoming sign or something. A few thugs to kick things off. But things were surprisinly quiet. Not even a sign of Madelyne anywhere. The only sign of life was a light from a window on the second floor. Jacob walked to the front door and didn't know what else to do but knock. The door open on it's own, he took a step back but nobody came out. Did he get the wrong house?"

"Don't just stand out there Brother," a all too familiar voice called to him, "Come in, come in." Jacob walked in and saw his brother standing in the middle of a huge foray with a sweeping staircase splitting to both ends of the house. Pillars connected to the floor to the ceiling. Jacob noticed the various armors and weapons lining the room. "So did you have any trouble finding the place?"

"I just looked for the most outlandish out of the way house I could find."

"Oh you cut me to quick little brother." They started circling each other. They did this dance so many times over the centuries.

"Where is she?", Jacob demanded.

"You know," Nathan started ignoring the question, "I believe this the first time you ever step foot into one of my humble abodes."

"Never had the urge. Something about the rotting decay of decency these places tend to have. Place this grand more than likely have a few skeletons, literally."

"Always the pessimist I see. You know I wouldn't have all of this if it wasn't for you. It was during the great depression and I as done to my last couple of dollars. Then I happen to come across a bare knuckles fight. You were fighting in it believe it or not, something Nash. It is so hard to keep you names straight brother."

"I remember that fight, the first and only time I did one of those. The guy was a bruiser."

"Yes, and the odd of you winning were eighty to one." He smiled and started laughing, "Everybody saw the two of you and started placing their money on the sure thing. Not me however, no I knew how tenacious my little brother could be. And you did not fail me. Oh it took you awhile but you outlasted the brainless brute. Just about everybody as saying the fight was fixed, especially after you left. Of course I left right after. But I never got the chance to thank you for my windfall. Because my luck changed for the better."

"Now I regret not taking that dive," Jacob told him. Nathan laughed again. "Maybe you would have remembered where you came from instead of trying to copy the lord you always claimed to have hated." Nathan stopped laughing and smiling. "Now were is she?"

Nathan regained his composure, "Such concern for a regular mortal Jacob. I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised. You still see yourself as one of them."

"You are still flesh and blood Nathan. No matter how you may want to deny it."

"Yes and no Jacob. Flesh and blood dies, we are forever." He stopped moving to check himself over in a mirror. "Although I like to know why you are so concerned to about this woman? I mean from what I understand you haven't had a woman since Madelyne."

"My main concern is to get her away from you."

"And you she looks like Madelyne too, have you noticed that Jacob. I'm surprised you didn't jump her the moment you saw her. Or is it possible you're staying true to your wedding vows?" Jacob saw the grin he had in the reflection before he turned around. "It's a pity you bride can't say the same." Jacob couldn't take any more and charged his brother. Nathan snapped off a kick that stop his charge. "God, brother your buttons are way too obvious." He grabbed a battle ax of the wall and waited for Jacob to get to his feet. "You know I always wondered how you it would take you to regrow a limb."

"You didn't get enough when you murdered Elizabeth, is that it?", Jacob wasn't finding his anger anymore. Nathan smirked and raised the ax over his head. Jacob rolled out the way and the ax split the floor. He got to hs feet and grabbed his wrist to keep him bringing it back up. Nathan head butted him and stunned him slightly. He recovered and landed a straight left to his brother jaw and came in with a right hook. Then he reared back with his leg and kicked his brother in the balls. Nathan grabbed himself and fell to his knees. "God that felt good."

"That was beneath you brother," he gasped out as he got to his feet. Jacob grabbed a spear off the wall and jammed the point into his gut. Blood trickled out of his mouth after a moment. "Is this suppose to kill me brother?"

"No it's not," he admitted. Jacob ran foreword suddenly and forced Nathan backwards into one of the pillars. Then he forced the spear through his body and into the pillar, sticking him there. "But it should slow you down long enough to get Catlin out of her." Then he grabbed Nathan by the head and snapped it around. His body went limp but Jacob knew he didn't have much time. Without thinking he grabbed a sword off the wall and headed upstairs toward the room with the light. He found it easy enough and found the door locked. "Catlin! Are you in there?" There wasn't any sound coming from the other side of the door. "Catlin!," he was starting to fear the worse.

"Jacob," came a slightly muffled reply.

"Thank you God," he muttered very relieved. "Hold on I'll get you out of there." He rammed against the door a few time, it didn't budge. He raised the sword, good thing he did grab this thing. A few hacks at the door knob and the door opened. Jacob rushed in without thinking and saw Catlin standing in the middle of the run. He ran up to her and put a arm around, "Thank God you're alright." Catlin wasn't sure what to make of the sudden outburst of emotion coming from him. He pulled away and looked her in the eye, "Come on I'm getting you out of here."

"Yeah but then what?" Why was she acting so calm and so strange at the same time? "What about your Brother?"

Jacob looked at the sword in his hand," Maybe I'll try chopping him into little pieces and bury in him in various places and see what happens. Sounds like a fitting punishment for him. I should have done it years ago." He looked her in the eyes again. He noticed she her eyes kept flickering to something behind him. When he turned his head he saw something coming at him. Out of instinct he raised the sword in his hand at the whoever it was. He didn't realized until he felt the other person weight hanging form the sword that he realized who it was. His eyes widen in horror, "Madelyne!" He removed the sword from her stomach and caught her as she fell to the ground.

Blood pouring from her she reached up and touched his face, "It's... alright"

"Save your strength, I'll get you help"

"Don't...," she smiled at him.

"I can't lose you," he told her tears forming in his eyes. She put a finger to his lips.

"Only... ugh... way," she told him. She looked up at Catlin, "Tell him."

Jacob looked at Catlin who was starting to tear up herself. She knelt beside him, "The rest of the parchment. Your were right he did have it. The part you were missing. It says to kill you brother you need the blood of a servant you both had, or been with. I'm sorry."

"No, he started shaking his head, "no you had to have read it wrong."

"I wish I did." Jacob pushed her away and hugged Madelyne.

"My idea, Jacob," Madelyne told him. Jacob looked at her as she summoned what was left of her strength. "It's the only way to kill him." She took one more look at Catlin and smiled, "Take... care of him." Her eyes looked right into Jacobs. "I love you Jacob Smith." Jacob leaned in and kissed her one last time as he felt her life leave her body again. He gently laid her to the ground and screamed at the heaven above.

Nathan was finally able to remove himself from the pillar, picked up the ax and ran toward the study. He stopped at the door took in what happened. He felt a rage of his own building before letting it go. IN his own way he loved Madelyne too. "I can't believe you actually did it Brother," he said calmly as he entered the room and put the ax up on his shoulder. "You loved her so much and you killed her in cold blood, sure you can claim self defense but you still killed her."

"I," Jacob said as he grabbed the sword and stood up, "am going to kill you."

"Heard it before dear brother of mine." He swung the ax, Jacob dodged and swung the sword cutting Nathan arm. "Shit that hurts, but no matter." He started to lose his smile when he realized the cut wasn't healing right away. In fact it was still bleeding. "What the hell." He noticed how much blood covered the sword in Jacob's hand, that couldn't have come from him. "What did you do?"

"You should have learned to read the parchment Nathaniel, or destroyed it so I couldn't." He stalked him and for the first time in a long time Nathan felt fear. "Madelyne last act was to help me find away. You left everything in place for your own downfall 'Brother'," he mocked him. "This ends now," he raised the sword and attacked him. He swung at him. Nathan moved out of the way so the strike only cut his chest. He swung the ax in desperation and ran. "Stay here," he ordered Catlin before following.

"This can't be happening," he said out loud as he ran down the hall. The Dark one had him kill his family so this wouldn't happen. He looked back and saw Jacob coming up fast. He swung the ax at the last second. His brother barely avoided it but he was able to slice Jacob's arm open. He leaned against the wall from the pain allowing Nathan the opportunity to get away. He had to get to a car, he made sure his private jet was always fueled in case he wanted to take a flight somewhere at the urge of the moment. All he had to do was get there. Something hit him n the back as he reached the stairs causing him to tumble down. He felt his neck and a couple of bones break on the way down. Fortunately what the dark one did to him as still in effect as he healed from those injuries almost immediately. Jacob ran down the stairs, Nathan broke open a nearby display case and pulled out a knife. With his good arm he grabbed a knife and threw it with all he had. It impaled itself into his gut. Jacob grunted as he pulled it out.

"You're running out of tricks Nathaiel," he grunted as he continued down the stairs. Catlin peaked out from around the corner, making sure she stayed out of the way. Nathan kept throwing knives and Jacob took each one and pulled the out one at a time. "Be a man for once and fight."

"I am a man!", Nathan shouted. "A man more powerful than you ever hoped to be."

Jacob raised the sword, "And were is that power you craved now?" Nathan wasn't sure what to do next. He dropped the ax and ran to the wall and took a sword of his own. He brought it up just in time to block Jacob, blow, a killing blow. His fears started to grow as well as Jacob's determination. They swung and parried forever, sounds of clashing steel filled the foray as sweat and blood flew from their bodies. Nathan was starting to feel the blood loss and in desperation knocked away his brother's blade and stabbed him in the thigh at the hip. "Argh," Jacob cried at the sudden pain. Nathan pulled it out swung at his head. Jacob blocked it and in one motion forced the sword from Nathan hand and kicked him away with his bad leg. Nathan stumbled back realizing he was wide open. Jacob ran foreword screaming, he swung the sword with all his might. Nathan felt the cold steal go though his neck. Catlin put a hand to her mouth to stop herself from crying out.

Nathan didn't have time to react as his body fell forewords and his head tumbled backwards. As his head hit the floor he saw a figure in a black hooded robe, red eyes staring at him. Those eyes crinkled again like they did so many centuries ago. A voice in his head said, "Now you are mine." He wanted to scream in terror but couldn't.

Jacob heard Nathan body hit the floor. He dropped the sword and fell to his knees a moment later and said, "Farewell Brother." Everything went silent as the woman in white appeared before him again. She smiled at him, he didn't return it. He had one thing on his mind, "Madelyne."

"She is with us Jacob," the woman in white told him. He felt relieved. "She was put in this situation because of outside forces and not of her own free will. She was a good soul before this and wasn't punished for her deeds during her time as your brother's servant." She walked up to him and looked down at him smiling. "Balance is restored Jacob, you time as an immortal has come to an end."

"Then end it," he said wearily.

"As you wish." He closed his eyes as she leaned down and kissed him lightly on the forehead.

=====
It had been a week since the event at Nathan Smith house happened. The media had a field day since one of the richest men in the country was found with his head cut off. Theories were offered left and right, from cultist to a bunch of sick freaks. Maybe the so called experts didn't use the words sick freaks but that's what they meant. Catlin paid as little attention to it as possible, she was just lucky her name wasn't mentioned in any of the reports. She walked into the deli and went, "Hey Jean."

"Hello Catlin," he said sadly. She walked to a table in the far corner and sat next to Jacob who was staring out into space. He had been like this ever since it happened. Only eating enough to stay functioning. And she sat by him everyday just waiting for him to say the first word, not wanting to rush him. This time was different she noticed as he turned his head slightly to look at her. Jean had a bit of hope on his face seeing this was the first time he did something different in the week.

"I...," he began, "I shouldn't be here. I should be dead."

"Why are you so sure of that?"

"They said my immortality would end when I killed my brother. I killed him and I'm still alive."

"I don't know who they are," Catlin said, "but they said your immortailty would end, not your life."

He looked her in the eyes, "But why? I don't belong in this time. I should have died centuries ago."

"For someone who says they don't belong," Jean said, "you fit in pretty well my friend."

"Jacob, whoever it was that did this to you gave you a second chance at a regular life," Catlin said. "This is obviously the reward they had in mind for you all along."

"My friend, "Jean walked around and stood beside them, "I know you want to see you family again. And you will when the time is right. But these things happen at their own time, and yours is obviously not up yet."

"But what do I do?", he asked. "I thought about death for so long I don't know what else there is."

Catlin put a hand on his knee and offered, "You can think about life for a change."

"I'm not sure I know how too, not any more."

Jean clapped him on the shoulder, "Then it's a good thing you have two friends to help you remember."

"Yeah," she agreed, "who grew up knowing how to live."

"That was the corniest thing I have ever heard anybody say," Jacob said out of the blue. "And I've heard a lot of corny things over the centuries."

"I believe we're being made fun of," Jean said suspiciously. "Just when we're trying to cheer him up. Sound like he's almost back to normal."

"I'm never going to be normal again," Jacob looked out the window and watched the people as they passed. Catlin watched him for a few moments.

"You're thinking about her." He said nothing. "I would be looking at you differently if you weren't. She wouldn't want you to act this way."

"I know," he said. "But it hurts so much, I'm not sure how I can stand it."

"You will, you may have seen nothing but death but I see how humanity takes these things and grow stronger. We're surprisinly resilient when you look at things."

"Maybe, I don't know."

"Look," she said, "You can't just sit here. I know we all got to heal at our own pace but we got to start somewhere."

"I know," he said quietly. "I have this picture I painted I've been meaning to hang up. I could use some help trying to figure out were to put it."

"I think I know the perfect place," Catlin smiled.

He took her hand, "I know you're not her Catlin, I don't expect you to be. But I really do appreciate everything you done for me."

"It's the least I could do."

"Actually, the least you could do is nothing." A small smile crossed his lips, "Of course, if you had any sense you would have run when you first meet me."

"If I had any sense I wouldn't have taken that class that helped you to begin with." She patted his knee, "Let me know when your ready." He nodded and went over to Jean. Jacob looked out the window again. He thought he saw the images of his family and Madelyne across the street for a brief moment. He knew he received their blessing to go on living, now it was time for him to start living again. With his friends by his side he knew he could do it. He looked over at Catlin and Jean, and he couldn't ask for two better friends. After all when all is said and done that all you really needed any way. He lived long enough to know that