---- 1992 ----

Janette:  Nicolas finally paid me a visit, but it wasn't a social affair. He had become a cop and was investigating some murders that appeared to have been committed by a vampire. Moreover, he suspected LaCroix was responsible and he wanted me to be his snitch. It was sad to see, but my Nicolas had changed so very much over the past few decades, trying to cut himself off from his vampire roots. He had immersed himself once again in a mortal lifestyle and I could see it in his eyes that he was in love again with a mortal woman.

Nick: It wasn't exactly the best of reunions. I could tell that Janette wasn't thrilled with my new occupation, even though it wasn't my first stint as a cop. I didn't tell her about Natalie at that time, but I could sense that she knew there was another woman in my life, probably because I kept her at a distance. Normally, keeping Janette at a distance is not something I aspire to do, nor is it an easy achievement. Temptation, after all, is her middle name.

Janette:  I felt the threads of our bond vibrating madly, so I wasn't surprised when Nicolas called and asked me to meet him. I knew it would happen eventually. He had gone too long without satisfying his vampire needs. It was like old times, the fire in his eyes, that look of uncontrollable lust as he made me his once again. I've always loved the way he makes me feel when he takes me, not just physically, but emotionally as well. For a few moments, we became as one and it was as though we'd never been apart. But all too soon, it was over and Nicolas pushed aside his vampire and apologized unnecessarily for giving in to his nature.

Nick: Vampires can not exist on cow blood alone. I tried hard to ignore that fact, thinking that it would help me to regain my mortality. If Janette had not been willing to come to my aid, I'm sure I would have ended up killing someone that night. I regret having ignored Janette all that time, then rushing to use her to satisfy my lustful needs. Although she didn't seem to mind, I promised myself that I'd never let it happen again.

Janette:  I wanted him to come back and spend the day with me, but he refused, saying that he had police work to do. The next night, after he had finished playing cops and robbers, he called for me again. When we shared a couple of passion-filled kisses, I thought that perhaps he was ready to come back to me for good. Instead, it turned out that he was merely thanking me for the previous night. He told me that he appreciated what I had done for him but that it would not be repeated because he planned to control himself better in the future. As I listened to him ramble on about the evils of giving in to his nature, I realized that I was losing him in more ways than one. I was losing him not only to that lady doctor of his, but I was also losing him to his fantasies about becoming mortal again. Another woman, I could easily handle, but with the other, I felt that there was little hope.

Janette: Nicolas came to visit me one day. The important thing to note was that it was indeed during the day. Apparently, his pet mortal, Natalie had come up with some concoction that allowed him to brave the sunlight without disintegrating. Foolish boy, he thought he had at last found himself a cure. More foolish was his attempt to have me join him in his delusion. It wasn't the first time Nicolas had allowed himself to become a guinea pig for some mad scientist. I knew this was just another dead end. I also knew I did not want to go through this with him again. I did not want to see the despair in his eyes when he realized that indeed LaCroix was right, that there was no cure. I realized that it was about time for me to move on before Nicolas had a chance to drag me down any further into his mortal madness.

Nick:  I was so wrapped up in my human world that I hadn't even noticed when Janette left town. It wasn't until I felt my life unraveling that I thought to pay her a visit. Things had not been going very well between Natalie and me. She wanted so much more from me than I could give her. Then, both my partner Don Schanke and Captain Cohen were killed in a bomb-related plane crash. When I went to the Raven looking for comfort from Janette, I found LaCroix instead. He told me that Janette had turned over the club to him and left town. She had been in Toronto for twenty years and felt that it was time to move on. Again, he advised me not to try to seek her out because she did not want to be found. What went unspoken was the truth that I had been the real reason she had left. It wasn't so much my interest in another woman as it was my relentless pursuit of a mortal lifestyle that had driven Janette away.

Janette:  A miraculous thing occurred after leaving Toronto. Several miraculous things in fact. The first was that I fell in love with a mortal. Robert was a fireman who rescued me from a burning building. He was a widower with a young son named Patrick, and we all became a close-knit family very quickly. It was highly unusual for me to make love to a mortal man and take his blood without killing him, but Robert's blood somehow managed to calm the killer instinct in me. The more we made love, the less of his blood I needed to take. Eventually, I realized I was changing. The vampire in me was fading away. I was becoming mortal.

I couldn't help but think of Nicolas and his eternal search for mortality. How ironic that the one thing he had hoped and prayed for over the centuries, would unintentionally befall me. I finally understood that he had been right all along to want his humanity restored. I had never felt happier to be alive. Unfortunately, my bliss did not last. Robert was murdered by members of an arsonist ring when he tried to expose their corruption. I returned to Toronto to avenge his death and to reunite his son with other family members. Since I no longer had my vampire powers, I went to Nicolas and asked for his help.

Nick: She was mortal. I found it almost impossible to believe, but the proof was there. She had been shot by some men who were after her. As Natalie treated her wound, Janette told us how she became mortal, and I could see the hopefulness in Nat's eyes that the same process could possibly work for us. But there was no time to dwell on that. I had to help Janette. The men who shot her were holding her adopted son and his aunt hostage until she turned over the evidence she had against them. Even after giving them what they wanted, they tried to kill us all by shooting me and Janette, then setting fire to the house. Janette was badly injured and she pleaded with me to let her die, but that was something I wasn't prepared to do. I had to save her, and the only way I knew how, was to bring her back across. I couldn't bare the thought of losing her forever. I could let her go, but I could not let her die.

Janette:  I had the chance to die a mortal but Nicolas took that away from me. He made me a vampire again, thinking that he was saving my life. But without Robert by my side, I had no life. And because Nicolas had arranged things to make it appear that I had died, I was unable to lay claim to my adopted son, Patrick. I had nothing. Not even Nicolas because I knew that he and Natalie wouldn't waste too much time trying out the cure that had worked for me. He would become mortal and he would marry her, and he would be lost to me forever. I spoke with LaCroix, and he was very understanding. He encouraged me to leave Toronto, to lick my wounds and grow stronger. After making me promise to keep in contact with him, we solemnly parted company once again.