In this episode –
Josh insists that Beth go to the doctor to check out her arm, which Mick bit. However, Beth had told Josh that it was caused by a chain link fence. Josh was suspicious of the injury and so he accompanied Beth to Dr. Rosin’s office. As they were leaving, the encountered Mick in the foyer of the building. Josh watched Mick and Beth’s reactions to one another and told Mick that they were there for blood work. Mick assumed that they meant they were getting married and Beth rushed to assure him that wasn’t the case. Josh invited Mick to come over the following night for a celebration for his and Beth’s 1st anniversary. Mick declined.
Mick is hired by the parents of a local call girl who advertizes on the internet. When he starts to track the case he finds that the girl in that apartment has been murdered. He goes to the morgue to check it out and runs into Beth, who is looking into what might possibly be a copycat murder.
In the morgue Mick immediately scents Beth hiding behind a partition in the morgue as he shows the body to the parents. It is not their daughter but the girl that their daughter came to LA with. Mick and Beth end up working the case together, after Beth confronts him about avoiding her since their time in the desert.
They finally track and locate the killer, a 16 year old boy who is actually a 197 year old vampire. He had been raised and turned in a bordello. He met up with Cherish, the girls whose parents were looking for her at the Santa Monica pier. When Mick and Beth get there he escaped, hiding under the pier, but the girl is safe. Mick waits for darkness and when the other vampire comes out they play a violent tableau out on the roller coaster that is in motion. The young vamp slips in time for the cars to come and take his head off.
Back at Buzzwire Cherish reunites with her parents as Beth and her editor Maureen watch. Mo was upset that Beth didn’t capture it on camera. Beth spots Mick watching as she talked to Mo and then he disappears. She leaves Mo to go and find Mick and finally finds him in the parking lot. She tells he that he didn’t say good bye and leans up to kiss him.
October 18, 2007
It’s been an interesting week; after Mick avoiding me for days I ran into him twice in two days. How does that happen in a city as large as LA? I can only think that there is a reason for it, but whatever that reason is I can’t quite figure out.
I had tried to call him, four times in fact and it went to voice mail each time; each time I asked him to call me, but it didn’t happen. Then out of the blue Josh and I run into him in the Strickland building, where my doctor’s office is.
I can only say it was a tense meeting; Josh was acting really strange towards Mick which puzzled me. Mick saved his case for him when he got Leni back to LA to testify at Amir Fayed’s trial and it worked too; he was convicted after only a 2 hour deliberation.
To me Josh has been a bit distant, but I keep finding him looking at me with an odd look in his eyes. He insisted that I go to the doctor’s office to have the marks on my arm checked out; the two puncture marks left by Mick when I fed him. Mick was clearly uncomfortable when we saw him; I’m sure he would have walked away if he could have. Josh immediately told him that we were there for a blood test which Mick interpreted as a pre-marital test. Josh watched Mick closely during that, not sure why but it was a very nerve-wracking meeting.
The second time I ran into Mick was at the morgue when I was there checking out a body that had been brought in. I’m working on a murder case; a call girl who had been found beaten and practically eaten alive. It’s a similar MO to some cases in San Francisco last year so Maureen had me working the crime scene and that led to the morgue.
When Mick walked into the morgue with an older couple I couldn’t help but feel a bit of excitement at seeing him. I have to say, he sort of takes my breath away! (I can’t believe I admitted that!) He is so tall and good looking and he had this really cool leather jacket on. I love the way he moves, sort of fluid and predatory at the same time. I don’t know if that is a vampire thing or not, but I have to admit that it gets to me.
When I talked to him a little while later he tried to lie to me about avoiding me but I’m not an idiot and besides, he is a really bad liar; which of course I told him. I had to practically force him to talk about the fact that he fed from me in the desert too, which really pissed me off. It happened and now I have these exaggerated feelings for him that I don’t know how to deal with; I need answers from him and he is clearly not willing to give me any.
Things between Josh and I are even more strained than before. I left the party for our one year anniversary to go to the morgue that evening which I know, wasn’t really a nice thing to do, but I only had a certain amount of time to see that body. Josh immediately thought it was Mick who called, even though it wasn’t. I’m not sure what is going on between Josh and I but I do know that I’m not very comfortable with him right now; I sort of feel like I’m under the microscope. He’s really working on another case right now and that’s fine with me.
It all sounds really depressing doesn’t it diary? I just have to assume it will all work out although I have to admit I don’t know how I want it to work out. Pretty sad, huh?
Later…
OOOOOOOOOOOO
Beth was lying in bed thinking about her day; she and Mick were trying to track a vampire serial killer and tomorrow she was going to go to his friend Josef Kostan’s office. She had to admit that she was a bit nervous about it; Kostan was one of the richest men in LA, a hedge fund trader who had a reputation for being a very shrewd business guy and one who was pretty media savvy too. She would love to interview him some day; maybe this meeting will help to precipitate that.
Mick knew what he was doing was wrong but old habits die hard. He had come to Beth’s this evening to talk to her, but all her lights were out then he noticed that her balcony door was open. At first, it angered him because this was LA after all and even thought it was on the second floor someone could easily get up there. Before he knew it he had done just that; he was perched outside the open door, hidden by the new moon. He watched her silently, telling himself to just go, but he couldn’t. He just couldn’t…
As she lay in bed she unconsciously stroked her arm where Mick had bitten her. It still tingled a bit when she touched it and it certainly brought back a flood of memories. When he had first bitten her it was a shock; his fangs were really sharp and went right through her skin, easier than she imagined they could. There was a bit of pain at first and then that was sort of dulled by the feel of his mouth against her skin. It was almost hypnotic, the sucking motion became almost soothing and sensual and as she remembered it she found herself becoming a bit aroused by it all. She felt hot suddenly and she kicked her covers off letting the cool evening breeze from the open balcony door help to cool her a bit. Her mind went back to the desert and Mick’s face filled her mind making her even more aroused.
Mick watched as she stroked his mark on her arm and then kicked off her covers. He heard her breathing increase a bit as well and her heart beat too. Even from the balcony he could feel the heat that emanated from her body and he was drawn to it. He ached to hold her in his arms and feel the heat of her body against his cool one. He took in the satiny material of the skimpy camisole and the boy style panties that she wore with it and he started to feel himself harden in his jeans. His eyes were glued to the beautiful form on the bed and suddenly he caught the scent of her arousal and a low growl escaped his lips. He watched her to see if she noticed, but she was preoccupied with other things.
She felt her nipples pebble and begin to ache and her pelvic muscles contract. She kept remembering the feel of his mouth, the pulling sensation and she realized that there was definitely something erotic about it. Just thinking about it made her grow wet and what was even more of a shock to her was that it wasn’t Josh she wanted but Mick. Unconsciously she ran a finger over her taut nipple and felt another contraction between her legs. She groaned Mick’s name before as she teased her nipple, rimming it with a finger tip.
Mick shut his eyes for a moment as he inhaled deeply, drawing in her aroused scent and trying desperately to memorize its sweet fragrance. It was warm and musky, all Beth and it made him throb and ache even more for her. When he opened his eyes he saw her stroking her nipples through her top and it sent a jolt of electricity up his spine. The material was so thin every bit of puckered skin was visible to his hungry eyes. He heard her moan his name and for the first time he realized she was thinking about him and his heart leapt with joy. It was a wonderful realization that was quickly followed by the impossibility and futility of the situation. It could never be and he knew that better than anyone. He closed his eyes again before leaping from the balcony and heading to the Benz. This was a road that he couldn’t take.
She groaned and pulled a pillow over her head and rolled over in the bed in an attempt to put Mick and the bite out of her mind. She was saved by her phone ringing and she grabbed at like a starving woman.
“Hello?”
“Hey Beth! How are you?”
“Lani? Oh my gosh, it is so good to hear from you and you couldn’t have called at a better time! What’s going on in Tokyo?”
“Well, I have some news! Want to hear it?” Lani asked, her smile a mile wide even though Beth couldn’t see it.
“Yes, definitely. Talk to me!”
“In January I’m moving back to LA! I’ve been promoted to Director of Training Operations for North America! Isn’t that great?”
Beth immediately sat up in the bed and started yelling into the phone! “Are you kidding me Lani? Please, please tell me you aren’t!”
“I’m deaf now, but no, I’m not kidding. Beth, I’m so excited. It’s going to be wonderful to be home. I’ve missed you all so much.”
“I know, we’ve missed you too! And hey, I want to apologize for the last time you called; you were trying to tell me about some jerk you met and I had so much on my mind that I wasn’t a very good friend. What happened with that?”
Lani quickly flashed back to Josef Kostan and then shook her head; he was gone and she didn’t want to talk to about him now. “It was nothing, just one of those pompous jerks that come along every now and again. He’s gone now and I’ll never have to see him again. So have you talked to Robbi lately?”
Beth lay back down in the bed and spent the next half hour catching up with her friend. By the time she got off the phone she felt happy and ready to put all men out of her mind. Before too long she was asleep and dreaming peacefully.
OOOOOOOOOOOOO
Josh sat at his desk, reviewing the file on Mick St. John. He hadn’t collected much information on him because the guy seemed to be a ghost; Josh admitted to himself that being a vampire could have a lot to do with that. How old was he really Josh wondered. He had found a Michael St. John that had been born in November of 1922 in West Adams; could that possibly be him? That Mick married Coraline Duvall in 1952 and he seemed to disappear at that time. He had served in WWII with the army and had survived the Battle of the Bulge and later Italy. His parents and sister were dead although there were two nephews and a niece alive, along with various members of their family. The crux was that there was no real way of telling if that was the same Mick St. John. He smiled wryly and thought about asking St. John for a DNA sample; that would go over well with Beth he thought.
He decided to set up surveillance on St. John, see if that netted any information. Couldn’t hurt he determined.
He turned his attention to the internet and decided to do a little investigation of vampires himself; you never know what you might find!
OOOOOOOOOOOO
Meeting Josef Kostan had been an interesting experience for Beth. He and another man, Ryder was waiting for her with Mick. Josef stared at her, to the point where she became a bit uncomfortable.
“Such beautiful women on the internet,” Josef said, his sherry colored eyes staring at her.
“Thank you, I guess,” she murmured. She stepped around him, trying to stay close to Mick. Josef followed her with his eyes.
“Mick said you had a great voice,” Ryder added, grinning at her in a slightly disturbing way. Beth was close to leaving; who the hell did these two think they were anyway!
Mick explained the purpose of her being there; they wanted her to talk to the men that had called Jazzmyn, the dead call girl to see if they could figure out who might have been the killer. Beth agreed even though she had her doubts; she had no idea how to sound like a hooker.
They caught a break when one of them actually thought she was Cherish, the girl that Mick was looking for in his case and Ryder produced an address for them from the landline and Mick and Beth left, much to her relief.
As they drove, Beth decided to ask Mick more of what they had dubbed, ‘Vampire 20 Questions’. They laughed about it often because something new was always coming up that she was curious about. This day had her thinking about why a vampire would want a hooker.
“So how does it work? The sex thing,” she asked, watching his reaction.
For a half a moment his face looked shocked and then he gave a small laugh. “What, your parents never told you about it?”
“They somehow missed the part involving vampires!”
“It doesn’t work,” he told her.
“You mean it’s impossible?”
“It’s inadvisable – it never ends well.”
“Why?” she asked, curious.
“Beth, its, well it can be difficult, dangerous and certainly complicated for a vamp and a uh, human. Can you understand that?”
“Not exactly. I mean, okay, any relationship can be difficult or complicated, but how is it dangerous?”
Mick held onto the steering wheel, his mind flipping through his possible answers. They hit a red light and he sighed as he saw that she was staring at him and he knew she wouldn’t stop until she got some answers.
“Look Beth, take into consideration the differences between humans and vamps; what kind of common ground do you suppose there could be? That’s the complicated part and a lot of the difficult as well. The dangerous, well, do I have to explain that?”
Beth stared for a moment, a puzzled frown on her face and said, “Yes, I think you do Mick.”
The light changed and he started the Benz again, creeping along behind the car in front of them. He let out and exasperated sigh and said, “Beth, for a vampire to um, finish, they need to bite. Do you think that qualifies as dangerous?” There, he had just said it and a feeling of shame swept over him. He would have done anything to avoid this conversation.
The mention of the bite made Beth unconsciously stroke her arm, which Mick noticed. She didn’t understand it all, but so help him he couldn’t get close enough to her to explain; it wouldn’t be good for either of them. He cast a sideways glance at her as she thought about his words.
“But you’ve said that the bite doesn’t have to kill; I know for a fact that it doesn’t, so what is the problem? It might not be pleasant, but I guess there could be worse things!”
“Why the hell are you asking this Beth? Tell me, I don’t get it!”
“Oh, I’m asking totally hypothetically, I assure you. I don’t know, I’m just curious I guess.” She turned her face away and looked out the car window, watching the houses slip by in a blur. Not because of their speed but because her mind was still focused on other things.
She had no idea that the bite could be anything other than unpleasant; after all, look how he had practically attacked her in the desert. That’s all she knew about it. He obviously hadn’t wanted to bite her and she remembered his words, “Not you, not like this!” They still stung her and again she wondered what was wrong with her blood.
He fought himself for a moment to keep from telling her otherwise; that the bite could be very sensual in the right circumstances. It would be better all around if she believed it was like what she experienced and nothing more. Both of them were silent the rest of the way to the Los Felix address. When they walked up to the door of the building Beth suddenly had a thought.
“Your friends, were they vampires too?” she finally asked.
“Can’t tell can you? Scary,” Mick teased.
The rest of the day was a blur in many ways. They caught the killer, who lost his head in a fight with Mick at the pier and reunited Cherish with her parents back at Buzzwire. Mo was livid with Beth that she didn’t have the camera’s going for the reunion, but Beth stuck to her guns and let the reunion happen in peace. She spotted Mick watching her talk to Mo and then suddenly he was gone. She excused herself and went looking for him.
In the parking lot Mick dropped his keys and had to crawl under the Benz to retrieve them. Beth looked around and couldn’t see him anywhere and a feeling of regret flooded over him. When he popped up right in front of her it startled her for a moment.
“You disappeared,” she told him.
“You were busy with your editor,” he said with a shrug. Maureen was a piece of work and Mick didn’t like her at all. He couldn’t wait to get out of there.
“You could’ve said good bye.” She took in the dirt smudges on his face and her heart melted. He had fought valiantly this evening and she felt a warm rush of affection for him.
Mick dipped his head for a moment and then stared at her, amused by her words. “Good…”
Beth leaned up and kissed him, full on the mouth.
“Bye,” he finished, shocked and elated all at once.
She leaned up and kissed him again, caressing the side of his face with her hand. For a moment he was spellbound by that kiss. The feel of her warm lips against his thrilled him and it was all he could do to keep from pulling him tightly against him and losing himself in that kiss, in her arms.
She pulled away from him and smiled, then ran away lightly. He watched her until he couldn’t see her any longer, wearing a bemused smile. He didn’t understand it, but he liked it. It couldn’t happen again, but he would never forget it.
He climbed into the Benz and headed for PCH, a habit of old when he needed to think. He pulled over and let the top down so he could feel the wind. He felt a part of the night on a very elemental level; the wind carried the salty tang of the ocean and a bevy of human scents too. His mind drifted back to the parking lot at Buzzwire as he cruised along.
What did it mean, that kiss? To him it meant everything but to her? What did it mean to her? God, he wanted her with all his heart and soul and yet he knew he couldn’t have her. She has a boyfriend Mick, she has a boyfriend. And just as you told her it’s difficult, dangerous and complicated for vamps and humans. But he had denied himself the touch and comfort of someone for so long now he didn’t know how well he could fight it.
What if they did get together? How could he keep the vamp in check at the crucial moment? What if he totally lost control and killed her? He could never live with himself if that was the case.
It can never happen Mick; over and over the words ran through his head and he really wanted to believe them. But somehow he knew they were a lie because part of him knew the truth, that Beth Turner was his mate.
Mick’s V/O –
Maybe it’s the sum of a million coincidences we don’t quite control that brings us to a particular place at a particular time. Or maybe, it’s the choices we make, the actions we take. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in 85 years it’s that what we want doesn’t always matter. But then again, sometimes it’s all that does.
To be continued…
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