Where Evil Lurks

Welcome to Moonlight Madness - Where Evil Lurks



This is the fourth story in my Moonlight saga.



Story One - The Beginning - Beth's Diary

Story Two - With Arms Wide Open

Story Three - Barely Breathing

Cast of Characters



Monday, February 7, 2011

Chapter 26 Love Lasts Forever

In this episode…

This is one of the two most story altering episodes of the series. The next chapter is the second. Events in both chapters were startling and thrilled the fans of the show. Many of the details of the episode are detailed below so the synopsis will be brief.

Mick and Beth both are thinking about their feelings for one another and it shows in many ways; Mick thinks he is ready to tell Beth how he feels about her and Beth struggles with the fact that Mick may someday take a vampire wife. They make plans to take Coraline’s blood sample (which Mick drew from her while she was in the hospital) to Bioanalysis so that it can be tested for anything unusual in it. Mick doesn’t want to take it to Guillermo because he worries that if the news got out in the vamp world it could have disastrous effects.

Josh interrupts them at Beth’s apartment; he is disheveled and has obviously been in a fight. The case he has been working on is at a critical point and Tejada has sent a couple of his henchman to convince Josh to back off the case. In order to make their point they toss a picture of Beth down on the pavement where Josh is lying. The picture has been marked with a large ‘X’, indicating that she will be their target.

Josh wants to recuse himself from the case to protect Beth but she convinces him not to; they end up making love and the next morning Beth feels guilty and over-whelmed as Josh goes on about how good it feels for them to be ‘together’ again. He decides he needs a TAC team to protect Beth and amidst all that Mick arrives. After an attempt on Beth’s life the TAC team finally takes place but only as Beth sees Josh kidnapped. She and Mick pursue the assailants and catch up to them. Mick takes dispatches the two henchmen and they try to get Josh out of the trunk of the car. One of the henchmen wakes up and shoots Josh, striking his target many times.

Mick works frantically to save him but he is wounded to badly. Beth asks him to turn Josh to save him and Mick refuses. Josh dies right before the paramedics get there and their efforts to save him are fruitless. Beth will not talk to Mick because she feels that he could have saved Josh if he would have turned him.

Mick goes to the police station and gets Carl to allow him five minutes alone with Bustos, one of the henchmen. Mick goes vamp on him and Bustos tells him where to find Tejada. Mick heads out and kills him seeking to avenge Josh and Beth both. Later he visits Beth at her apartment; she doesn’t want to talk to him or see him. She can’t forgive him for not turning Josh and when she asks Mick if he would have saved her he panics – and then tells her that he would have done the same thing.



January 6, 2008


I can’t believe it’s 2008. I mean, it seems like just yesterday it was 2000; life is flying by and I feel like I’m holding a handful of sand and watching it slip through my fingers unchecked. What am I doing with my life? I have a job that I like, mostly, but do I want more than that? I have always wanted to be the star reporter for the Times or an equally impressive newspaper, reporting on political events and current affairs. Here I am now, a reporter on the internet and somehow it all seems lacking to me. It’s a perception you know; most people scorn internet news organizations but the truth is they read them more than they read or watch any other media outlet. Everyone says, ‘Internet news outlets? I would never watch that trash stuff!’ and yet they flock to the sites daily. So if no one is reading them where do all the hits come from?


Buzzwire really is more of a tabloid outlet; I get that. As Mick said once, sleaze is probably the best thing that Buzzwire has going for it. Still, I want to bring valuable and reliable news coverage to the table and sometimes Mo even lets me do that. But is it all enough? Do I make a difference in this world? Doubtful…


Lani and I are having the time of our lives; two-thirds of the gang here anyway. Robbie won’t be back until late April and we’ll have our reunion then. She is having a great time in Hawaii; the work is interesting and fulfilling and the time off is perfect. Robbie really does have the fairy tale life, or at least it seems so to me. She and Kevin have family, jobs that they love and are very interesting and vital to the research and preservation of whales. It seems perfect for her and really, I’m not a bit jealous. Well, maybe about all that time they spend on the water, but would I change places with her? Honestly? No. It’s too removed from what is going on in the world, although Robbie would definitely disagree with me, especially when they see all the damage whalers do each year, decimating the whale population.


I have to say that since Christmas I’ve talked to my mom a lot and understanding what she went through all those years, the guilt she carried has helped to forge a stronger relationship with her than I ever had before. I am still hurt that she didn’t tell me before now but I know that will eventually be gone. I’ve tried to put myself in her position since then, knowing the secret about vampires and then she was the one that invited Coraline into the house before she took me; living with that was so hard for her. I know, understand, that keeping the secret is the number one priority; the survival of their kind depends on that. I can’t even imagine what would happen if it were general knowledge that vampires do exist. I would imagine most would be hunted and killed or it would be all out war; then, there would be the people who would want to be turned so they could live forever.


Would I ever want that? I can’t imagine having to make that choice really. Mick tells me how horrible it is to be a vampire and in truth, while there are many benefits as far as I can see, there are certain, important negative aspects too. Can I imagine never going to the beach again and lying in the warm sunshine? Or eating mom’s chocolate birthday cake, ever again? I simply don’t know what I would want, even if I were near death and that was the only way to continue on in this world. Mick says despite what it seems like that it really isn’t living; sure looks like a pretty good imitation to me though.


Later…



OOOOOOOOOOOO



He walked down the long hallway of the assisted living center and smiled as he passed several other residents. It was a mostly cheerful residence, the rooms light and airy and full of comfortable furnishings to make everyone feel at home. The only caveat was the slight antiseptic smell that seemed to permeate everything. He supposed that if you lived here you didn’t even notice it.

He knocked on the door of residence 202 and waited while it was answered. She was 85 now and moving a bit more slowly than she used to but still for her age was pretty spry and often made him laugh. She opened the door and grinned at him, her red lipstick a bit faded but still noticeable. “I had a feeling I’d be seeing you soon. Whatcha’ got there?” she asked when she spied the gold colored gift bag in his hand.

He laughed and followed her into the room and took at seat at the table where she was working a picture puzzle of the ocean. It made him laugh because right out her window was the real thing and when the balcony doors were open like today the salty breeze made everything seem perfect.

“I brought you some kisses!” he chuckled as she dumped the bags contents out on the table.

“Oh, I love these. Um, chocolate,” she purred as she quickly peeled the foil off of one and popped it into her mouth. “Want one,” she said, holding one out to him.

He shook his head no and watched as she peeled another one and ate it too. Doesn’t matter what age a woman is, they always fall for chocolate.

“Now that is good! Thank you,” she said and then got up from the table and went to the desk. As she opened a drawer she said, “I found a couple more pictures you might like and a flyer from a dance that Mick’s band played at.” She grabbed a large round tin and brought it to the table and sat down. The tin was a bit rusty in spots, a sign of its age as was the picture of a woman with a bandana on her head holding a bottle of Coca Cola; definitely from the mid 1940’s.

He looked at the flyer that was torn and yellowed so much it was hard to read and then she showed him the picture she had found. It was Margie and Mick on the beach, posed for the camera as they sat on a blanket. Both were smiling broadly and looked so happy. Mick had his arm draped around her shoulders, his fingers lying comfortably along her arm. It was amazing to see how much in love they were.

But then again, things change don’t they?



OOOOOOOOOOOO



Josef climbed out of the limo in New York at the townhouse and made his way up the stairs. For January it was fiercely bright outside, the sun beating down mercilessly on his unprotected skin. He held a Wall Street Journal up to try to block as much of it as possible but it did a poor job at best. Thankfully Paula was waiting at the door for him.

“Mr. Kostan, welcome back. Dr. Martinson is already here, in the office.” She took his coat and hung it up in the closet and watched as Josef smoothed the wrinkles out of his Armani suit and flicked a few pieces of imaginary lint off of the lapels. “May I get you something to drink?”

Josef looked at her and smiled; she had been a faithful employee for 11 years now as had her mother before her. Paula had grown up in the house actually and Josef had saw her looks of compassion so often as she grew up that he had paid for nursing school for her so that one day she could do this very job. “No, I’m fine, I ate on the jet. I’ll just go and meet with the good doctor,” he told her and made his way to his office.

Doctor Cheryl Martinson was a specialist in genetics and infectious diseases. The two didn’t seem to be inter-related but in many ways they were. Especially in Sarah’s case Josef thought; maybe hoped was the more relevant answer. He couldn’t help but wonder if there was something in her family history, her DNA that kept her from being turned, or maybe even some illness she had as a child or adolescent. He was willing to explore any avenue to find out what happened.

Not that it all hadn’t tried before, with other doctors because it had, countless times. They came in with their theories and scratched their heads when they couldn’t figure out the puzzle. But they were all looking for a way to bring her out of it; this time they were looking for why, for answers to explain what went wrong.

Josef smiled at Dr. Martinson, his best and most charming self present. He had searched hard to find a doctor with her qualifications and he intended to get her to agree to help, one way or the other. Explaining it all was always the fun part though; as far as he knew she had no knowledge of vampires and that was, as always the biggest hurdle. But he intended to get her to work on this case, no matter what he had to promise her in return.

Josef offered her his hand and introduced himself and then said, “Dr. Martinson, it is so nice to meet you. You come very highly recommended to me.”

“I am quite an expert in my field Mr. Kostan. I also do not usually accept private cases such as this but your letter indicated that there could be something about this case that would be of great interest to me.”

Josef liked her straight-forward manner; this woman was no nonsense and he liked that. She gazed at him with eyes that were almost violet blue, just a shade lighter perhaps. Her long strawberry blonde hair was pulled back from her face and was held in place by an onyx barrette that matched her jewelry and the black DKNY suit that she wore. She was beautiful, not in the traditional sense but more than that she was interested in what he had to say.

“Dr. Martinson, have I got a story for you…”



OOOOOOOOOOOO



Josh had gotten home the night before, tired but happy to be back he said. They were going to have dinner this evening and while she hated to break the news to him so suddenly she knew that it couldn’t wait any longer.

The kiss at New Years told her all she needed to know; if there had been any doubt in her mind before about her feelings for Mick they were no longer there. She was in love with him and she was ready to take a chance and see if he loved her too.

She thought he did; his kiss had spoken volumes. It was tender and passionate both, a kiss that had stirred her senses and made her feel as if she was alone in the world with only him. Until the crazy woman had interrupted it that is; Mick jerked back away from her and his eyes had flashed silver as he had watched the woman spin away from them and go back inside.

He told her that the woman’s name was Kelly and Beth remembered that she was a cleaner and that she had been at Mick’s the night that Donovan Sheppard had died. She had stared at Mick a great deal that night and talked to him often. Beth could tell that he felt annoyed by her that evening, but Beth hadn’t thought about it again. Now it would appear that she was interested in Mick and that was a chilling thought to Beth.

Right now she had to force her attention back to the matter at hand, what to do with Coraline’s blood. She and Mick were discussing the possibilities and finally agree to take it to her friend Dr. Lin at Bioanalysis for testing. She got Mick’s point when he said that it was better to take it outside of the vampire community because some vamps might not be happy about a cure.

As the discussion turned around again, inevitably, to Mick’s hatred for being a vampire Beth grew uncomfortable. What if he took a vampire wife, as she suggested? Kelly again popped into her head and she knew that she couldn’t stand the thought. She wanted Mick to be happy, to have a mate, really she did. The only problem was, she wanted to be that mate.

They were interrupted suddenly by Josh walking in the door. They weren’t supposed to have dinner for another hour and a half which was the first thing that ran through her mind and then she noticed his appearance. He had been beaten, his clothes were torn and dirty and he looked awful. She immediately jumped up to go to him, compassion twisting her heart.

“Josh, what happened?”

“Can I talk to Beth? Alone?” he asked and Mick left hastily, concern for Josh evident on his face.

Mick and Beth agreed to meet at Bioanalysis at ten the next morning and opened the door to leave. Despite the fact that Mick loved Beth, he knew that Josh was a very good man and would be able to give Beth the kind of life she deserved. It hurt him badly to acknowledge that fact but it was true; she would have a normal life with him and things Mick couldn’t give her, like stability and kids. For a moment he paused outside her door and then Mrs. Green, the neighbor across the hall came up the stairs and Mick smiled at her and said hello before heading home.

As Mick walked down the sidewalk to where his car was parked he spotted Kelly leaning against it. His eyes immediately flashed silver and anger ripped through him.

“What the hell are you doing here Kelly?” he asked, letting his fangs show, his face a mask of rage.

“Nothing really. I was just in the neighborhood and saw your car Mick,” she said sweetly. She stepped forward to touch the side of his face and Mick slapped her hand away. They both heard the ‘snap’ as a bone broke at his roughness for a half a moment Mick felt guilty but it quickly passed.

“Hm, well I seemed to have got your attention. Really Mick, was it necessary to make your point quite so forcefully?” She snapped the bone back into place and flexed her fingers as she felt it knit back together.

“Stay away from Kelly and do not go near Beth again! Do you understand me Kelly?”

“Beth? Does she live here Mick? My, what a quaint neighborhood. It fits her, the little human girl.”

Mick pushed her up against the side of the Benz and said, “Listen to me Kelly. If I ever, EVER catch you anywhere around Beth again I’ll kill you immediately; simple as that!” He snapped his fingers to illustrate his point.

“Really Mick? Did you forget that I’m a cleaner and that makes me one of the people who police the vamp community? Not quite as simple as you think. I have to watch those people who could be a liability to the tribe, both vamp and human you know. It seems to me like little miss nosey reporter knows an awful lot about us and that isn’t good for the tribe.”

“Leave her alone Kelly. I’ve warned you and I am dead serious about it. Don’t push me.”

She met his gaze and stepped away from him, heading down the sidewalk. She tossed one final look over her shoulder and called out, “Bye Mick, it was good seeing you!”

Mick didn’t respond to her words. Instead he unlocked the door and crawled into the Benz and rested his head on the steering wheel, wondering what to do next. That question troubled him all the home.



OOOOOOOOOOOO



“You can’t recuse yourself from the case Josh. You’ve worked too hard for two years on it.”

The past half an hour had been harrowing; Josh had been beaten in the parking lot at the DA’s offices and his assailants left a picture of her and it had a big X on it, marking her. The people involved were members of a Latin American crime organization who called themselves Hermanos en Muerte, Brothers in Death. Josh was about to arrest one of the biggest players in the gang, here in the states, Chima Tejada.

Josh was beside himself with worry for Beth; if it had been him that was marked he would never back down from the case but it was Beth and he would do anything to protect her, even toss away two years of investigation. Someone else would pick it up and if they lost a bit of time, at least Beth would be safe. He had explained to her the other family members of DEA agents and judges that had been murdered by the gang; he hoped it scared her because she needed to understand that what he did was for her own good.

Typically Beth, she didn’t buy it and urged him to go on with the case; she knew that she would be out of the picture soon and hopefully they wouldn’t threaten her anymore. Guilt washed over her briefly as she met his eyes in the bathroom, where he was washing up. His eyes spoke volumes and the only thing she could do was meet them and hope to show him her support. She couldn’t let him down at this point; she had to be there for him for a little longer.

“I forgot how cute you are when you’re making your point.” He stepped towards her and smiled. She met his gaze and tried not to flinch when he stepped in closer and his mouth found hers as he pulled her closer to him.

Panic rampaged through her; Beth didn’t want to hurt him but she didn’t want this either. His mouth became more insistent against hers, his tongue probing her lips and she finally surrendered. She couldn’t push him away now, he needed her and she went with it, trying to remember the good parts, the many times they had made love that had made her feel loved and cared for.

Josh swept her up in his arms and carried her to the bed and laid her down gently. His mouth paused for only a moment and then he was on the bed next to her, slowly undressing her with loving fingers. His mouth slid down her neck and placed urgent kisses along her collar bone as he pulled her blouse away and exposed her silken skin.

God, how I love this woman. He worked her jeans off and stroked her stomach, feeling it quiver beneath his fingers and it thrilled him to know how excited she was. She seemed to be holding back tears and he looked up and smiled at her, hoping to still the fears. It had been so long since they had made love and it was hard to hold himself back.

Beth tried to shut the world out and just be here for Josh; as he looked at her with such love in his eyes she resolved to do just that – do this for Josh and all the good times of the past. She couldn’t help it when a tear escaped and slipped unnoticed down her cheek.

For him, for Josh…



OOOOOOOOOOOO



The next morning Beth woke up next to Josh and guilt struck her in the heart. He was so happy that they were together again, when in fact they weren’t. He reached out to touch her and she felt ready to jump out of her skin at the light caress. She had made things so much worse by having sex with him. She worried her bottom lip as she thought about what she had done when all she had wanted to do was help Josh. When his phone rang it was a relief because he went into the other room to talk. They were going to put a TAC team in place to guard her.

Someone knocking on the door puzzled her and she went to the door and opened it, not even thinking that given the circumstances it probably was a dumb thing to do. Instead of a hit man it was Mick who took in her bare legs and the gray tee shirt with a raised eyebrow. It was 11 am and they were supposed to meet an hour ago at the lab.

When Mick heard Josh talking on the phone, half dressed it became obvious what had happened here last night; that and the scent of sex in the air. It almost killed him to think about it, but before he had time to fret too much it became clear what was going on and that Beth was in danger.

As Josh explained about the TAC team Mick knew that he could protect her better than any team they could possibly put in place and when Josh asked him to watch her he readily agreed.

Josh left and Mick waited while Beth showered and got dressed, trying desperately to forget what he knew had happened here. This morning in the parking lot at the lab he had contemplated telling Beth how he felt about her; now he was glad he hadn’t. Things happen for a reason and usually for the best, or so he tried to make himself believe.

But it was a hard sell, he had to admit.



OOOOOOOOOOOO



The next morning Beth and Mick went to Bioanalysis to get the results of the blood from Dr. Lin. The evening before Josh and Carl had arrested Tejada at his daughter’s sweet sixteen birthday party. Not a really wise choice Mick thought and was even more vigilant that normal.

When Dr. Lin told them that there was absolutely nothing unusual in Coraline’s blood both Mick and Beth were puzzled. There had to be something, but all Dr. Lin could tell them was that it seemed to be the blood of a child. She was amazed that it wasn’t because of the levels of free radicals in it. The only thing useful she told them was that it was an extremely rare blood type – AO negative, Beth’s blood type.

As they walked downstairs Beth head was spinning at the news. She and Coraline had the same blood type? Was that why she took me she asked? She didn’t understand any of this and Mick really didn’t have any answers for her.

Outside as they were heading to the car Mick heard something and at the last moment he pushed Beth aside as a bullet barely missed her head. He told her to stay down and ran to see what he could find out; all he saw were two men in a van heading out in a rush as they saw him. He grabbed up a spent bullet casing and went back to Beth.

“You were hit!” Beth exclaimed as she saw the blood stain on the front of his shirt.

Mick looked down and realized it was the vial of Coraline’s blood, forever gone, along with the possibility of answers. There was still the blood on his shirt but it was doubtful they could get anything from that.

Right now all that mattered was that Beth was okay; she had skinned up palms and an elbow from the asphalt of the parking lot, but otherwise she was fine – just really pissed. It was now personal to her.

Back at her place Josh arrived with the TAC team as Beth was cleaning her scrapes. Josh was so worried about her and followed her into the bedroom, trying to hold her for a moment. She felt stiff in his arms which he understood given what she’d just been through.

“I love you,” he said, holding her.

“I love you too,” she replied and then immediately hated herself. It was an auto-pilot response, she’d said it a hundred times in the past and it just slipped out this time.

Mick heard it all; he wasn’t really trying to but it was a small apartment and vampire hearing means sometimes you hear things that you don’t want to hear, things that cut you to the core, like this.

He turned away and waited for them to come out of the bedroom; he didn’t want to turn Beth’s protection over to the TAC team but he didn’t have any reason to hang around either. He watched at Josh left and Beth stared out the window as he headed to his car, pulling the blinds apart to get a better view.

Suddenly a blue sedan pulled up and a masked man ran at Josh. He had a gun and forced Josh into the trunk after placing a piece of duck tape over his mouth. The car sped off after the gunman fired at a policeman, taking him down. Beth screamed Josh’s name and tore out of the apartment, closely followed by Mick and Carl who was yelling at her to stop.

Outside she jumped into Josh’s car and took off; Mick caught up with her at the corner and she slowed enough for him to jump in. They tried to follow but Beth finally lost them amidst the traffic. Mick contacted Logan and as Beth tried calling Josh’s phone, Logan traced it through the GPS and they located him in Griffith Park. Mick and Beth sped to the park; Mick also contacted Carl to let him know where they were heading.

At the park everything seemed okay as Mick handled the two would-be assailants. As they were trying to get Josh out of the trunk one of the assailants came to and fired at the back of the car, striking Josh many times.

On the ground Mick quickly assessed his injuries. Mick had been a medic in World War II and he knew it was grave. Beth was trying to hold it all together as she and Josh talked; she was trying to keep him awake. Mick worked first on one area and then another.

Beth held her jacket in place over a belly wound and listened to Josh who was slipping farther away with each breath no matter what Mick did. Carl arrived and wanted to get Josh into the car to get him to the hospital but they had already called for an ambulance. Mick knew that to move Josh would immediately kill him; when he finally made Carl understand that he worked again on Josh. Both he and Beth were stained with Josh’s blood which was bad enough for both of them but the sun was also beating down on him, making him feel weak and as it burned him.

“Mick, you can save him - turn him. He’ll live!”

“No. That’s not living Beth!” Mick told her, appalled at her plea.

“For me, please!” she begged, sobs wracking her body as Josh slipped away.

Forty five seconds before the ambulance got there Josh’s heart stopped and Mick had Beth breathe for Josh while Mick did CPR but it was no use. Even the paramedics couldn’t save him and they finally pronounced him dead. Beth tore away from them, needing to escape. Mick tried to talk to her and she spit at him, “Leave me alone!”

Mick watched her struggle away from all of them, her heart obviously broken. He knew how she felt.



OOOOOOOOOOOO



At the police station Mick finally convinced Carl to let him speak to Bustos alone and it didn’t take long to convince him to give up Tejada’s location. Of course the fangs helped a great deal. Mick felt only slightly guilty for lying about the location to Carl but he knew that soon it wouldn’t matter because Tejada was a dead man walking. One hour later it was finished; Tejada was dead and if some of the people in the bar where he had been holed up told stories of the day El Diablo came to call, no one was talking.



OOOOOOOOOOOO



Lani was with Beth and very worried. Dorothy and Clark were in Santa Barbara and wouldn’t be back for a few hours so she was on watch right now. Beth sat in the chair in her bedroom, crying inconsolably; huge sobs wracking her small frame. They tore Lani’s heart out as she watched. She sat in the bedroom with her, each with a glass of wine and Beth talked some, off and on for an hour or so.

“I did love him Lani; not in love, but I never ever wanted it to end this way. He was such a good man and I – I am horrible for not appreciating that. I – we made love last night and I shouldn’t have, but now I’m glad I did. I hope he only thought I loved him as he died; I couldn’t bear it if he didn’t. He was only trying to protect me, Lani, he was trying to protect me.”

“Bethy, I’m sure her knew.”

“I’m so angry at Mick! He could have done – well he could have done more to save him!”

Lani understood all too well what Mick could have done and he raised a couple of notches in her estimation that he didn’t do it. Lani had heard a lot about Mick in the past week and she began to think that maybe Heroku wasn’t the only good vampire, but she still wasn’t sure. “Bethy, he tried hard; Carl and the paramedics said he took extremely heroic measures.”

Carl had called Lani to come and pick Beth up at the site and while it was good to see him again it was horrible circumstances. Beth watched Mick with angry eyes as he gave a statement to the police and explained what he had done to the paramedics. When Carl finally said they could go Lani wrapped her arm around Beth’s shoulder and almost had to pull her away as they loaded Josh’s body into the ambulance.

“Look, you need something to eat, okay? Just a little toast or soup; I’m going into the kitchen, let me know if you need anything else until I get back, okay?” Beth’s face remained blank as she stared at Lani with uncomprehending eyes.

In the kitchen Lani started to hunt through the fridge and cabinets to find something for Beth when her phone started vibrating in her pocket. It was Dorothy and Lani quietly stepped out into the hallway to take the call.

Beth sat in the semi-darkness, reliving the day in Technicolor; not that she wanted to but it wouldn’t go away. She was angry and ashamed and hurt and so sorry for all of it. She took a small sip of the wine and almost jumped a bit as her phone rang.

“Aren’t you going to answer that?” Mick asked. He had come in through her open balcony window and stared at her; the tears that streaked her face tore open his heart. The smell of so many emotions rolled off of her and he wanted to make it better but he didn’t know how to do it.

“I don’t want to talk to anyone.” She looked at him, seeing the naked pain in his hazel eyes as the memories of the afternoon came flooding back to her, scraping freshly at wounds that were already raw. She felt her anger with him rise anew and she looked away again.

Mick felt the anger hit him like a heated blast of fury and he almost turned around. This probably wasn’t the best time to talk to her but he had to try. He knew that she hadn’t forgiven him for not turning Josh.

They debated the situation; she blaming him and his refusal to turn Josh. Mick pointed out that it was his job that killed him, Tejada that killed him and that he wouldn’t ever do this to anyone else.

Again, he reminded himself. He wouldn’t ever do it again. How could he? He knew how.

“If being a vampire is so horrible then why do you go on living?” she demanded, her reddened eyes piercing his fiercely.

Mick sucked in a breath. He went on living for her; each day he carried on for her, but he could never say those words to her – not now, not ever. “I don’t know,” he finally answered.

Fresh tears ran down her cheeks; she asked a question she knew she shouldn’t. “What if it had been me lying there? Would you have turned me?”

The knife not only stabbed his heart but twisted cruelly. What would her do? He’d asked himself that question a hundred times. He didn’t know but what he said was, “I’d have done the same thing.”

Beth seemed to melt away, right in front of him. The pain was too much, for both of them and he left then, through the same door he came in. How could he have answered her any other way? The real problem was that he suddenly knew exactly what he would have done.

Lani came back into the apartment after filling in Dorothy. They would be here in an hour or so and Lani was thankful for that. She heard Beth sobbing wildly and she practically ran into the bedroom. She questioned Beth about what was wrong but Beth couldn’t speak about it; if she started she might not ever stop talking.

Her heart was done now. She had lost both men that she loved on this day.



To be continued…

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

great chapter :) is What my heart desires over now?

Hope said...

Hey anonymous!

Thank you so much!

No, WMHD is not done. Things have just been really hectic and while it's a lame excuse, it is the only one I have. :) It will start up again soon with a few surprises, I promise.

Thanks so much for reading!

Micklover said...

God this is a fabulous story Hope. If they had you writing the series it might not have ended.

I love all the extras you incorporate into the story and the new players, Lani, Heroku, Kelly,Beth's parents, it just makes the story so much better. Thanks so much!

Joangel said...

Poor Beth! I'm so glad Lani was there to be with her. You really bring these characters to life. I feel like I'm right there with them. Is there a back story with Kelly and Mick? Or does she just want him? As always...can't wait for the next post!

Hope said...

Hi Micklover!

Thank you so much for the kind words; I'm so happy you enjoy the story. The extra characters help to bring depth to the story I think and when we have gotten past Sonata (only 5 more episodes until we're there!) they will all play bigger roles in the story, as well as a few other new ones.

Thanks so much for reading.

Hope said...

Hey Joangel!

Kelly was in the show and she was kind of creepy to me. Very predatory and Mick seemed bothered by here, LOL. Below, please see the Moonlight clip I have listed. Kelly's part is around 8 minutes in or so. Let me know what you think of her!

So glad you are enjoying the story. Lot's more to come!




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-K0NkIlMjY&playnext=1&list=PL4141B960BCD21617

Joangel said...

I agree...creepy. It's like she's on the hunt and Mick is her prey. Mick better watch out for her.

Hope said...

Hey Joangel!

Well, Mick had indeed. She inspires me and that's not necessarily a good thing - LOL. Never know what could happen!

Amie said...

Hope! This is a great post! I cant'w ait to see what happens next and I agree with several of the ladies before me, your writing brings the characheter front and center and makes you feel like you are right there with them. You are a very talented writer, have you though about doing it proffesionally?

Hope said...

Hi Amie!

Thank you so much! I'm only playing with these characters, but it is fun to take a few liberties with them and how I think they were feeling or what I think they should have done.

Mick and Beth had an amazing love story and it was so wonderful to watch it unfold in the series. It was horrible when it wasn't renewed for the second season because they left so many strings dangling! I will however take care of that! :) The show won several awards while it was on and it just stinks that Silver Productions didn't let it go on.

I have been trying to get published for awhile now, it is not easy though, but we'll see what happens. Your words of encouragement mean so much to me; it helps to feed the muse!