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, August 26, 2013

Chapter 22 Don't Fear the Reaper


**So sorry for the lateness everyone. I can honestly say moving and all it entails is truly a, well, a rotten thing. Then, last week I came down with strep. It's time for this summer to end and give me a break!**

Chapter 22 Don’t Fear the Reaper



“Miss Lani and Josef will be downstairs momentarily.” Franklin hoped, but, it was apparent that there was more than scrubbing going on in the shower by the sounds which could be heard by any vampire’s ears. Beth looked down demurely, trying to hide the smile on her face but failing dismally.

“Yes, well…” Mick said, grinning himself. What else could you expect in a house full of vampires?

“Cook is making breakfast for Miss Lani; perhaps you’d care for something yourselves? I’ll serve it in the dining room if you would like,” Franklin asked.

“That would be nice, Franklin. Is the terrace still free of sun? That would be lovely because it’s cool, but hopefully not too cool for Lani.”

Franklin was pleased with this genuinely caring young woman, always worrying about Miss Lani’s well-being. “I believe that would be a pleasant place for breakfast. What would you both like?”

“I’d love a glass of A negative, if you have some,” Mick said, his voice low and his words almost clipped, a sure sign of his irritation.

“Certainly, Mick. And you, Miss Beth?”

Mick didn’t speak other than that, another sign that he was still upset about the drive last night that took them to his sister. Well, he was damn well going to have to get over it because enough of this hiding away was enough, Beth thought.

“I’ll have whatever Cook is preparing for Lani.” She smiled at Franklin, engaging him with all her charm and for a moment she could see he grew a bit flustered.

“Miss Beth, you might want something different…” he started, but she laughed.

“No, seriously, whatever it is will be fine, Franklin. Thank you!”

Franklin walked to the kitchen and Beth was positive he was either muttering or chuckling, she couldn’t tell which.

Hm, I wonder what’s going on. What on earth did Lani ask for? Most likely something with peanut butter, which was fine with Beth she decided.

Outside, Mick and Beth sat in the cool shade of the terrace. It might be too chilly for Lani but they’d wait and see.

Beth looked at Mick who was staring stonily out across the grounds, in the direction of the guest house. “You ready to talk?”

He looked at her and for a moment she saw his expression flash with regret and maybe even a bit of fear. He finally sighed; he knew it wasn’t Beth’s fault what happened, but he also didn’t know if he was ready to face it all either.

“You have to, Mick; you can’t keep hiding from it. And, you have to talk to her before the wedding. What’s going to happen when she sees you standing up there with Josef? That would be a horrible shock for her. We just need to go and talk to her; I’ll sort of ease her into it.”

His eyes flashed brightly for a moment, but instead of anger they were filled with pain. She knew him so well, could always read his mind. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, something he always did when he was worried and then took an unnecessary breath. “How the hell do you ease into that, Beth?” he asked his voice raising as he fought the anxiety he was feeling.

“We just…do it, Mick.”

“How the hell is she going to take this? ‘Oh hi, Mick. Gee we thought you died years ago. Welcome back?’” He scowled for a moment, playing out a worst-case scenario in his head.

“Did you consider that she might actually do just that? That she loves you and will be glad you’re okay?”

“Beth,” he said, his voice rough with emotion, “You just don’t understand!”

“I don’t? How about when I had to tell Robbi? That was hard as hell, but you stood by me and we got through it. Yes, it might be a shock for her but you know what, Mick? I spoke with her last night and let me inform you, she’s a lively and smart lady and I’m telling you she’d be happy to know you are alive.”

“Alive?” Mick asked, one eyebrow quirked upward.

“You betcha, boyo! Alive in the very best way, with awesome women with us forever. You complaining about that? Stop being Donnie Doom! Geez, Beth, how do you stand him?”

A smile twisted one corner of Mick’s mouth upward and he finally laughed. “Yeah, I know. Sorry. Lani, you are looking radiant this morning!” he said trying to ease into a new subject.

Lani blushed an amazing rose pink and looked at Josef and whispered, “They KNOW, Josef!”

Beth stood up and hugged Lani. “I know it’s hard to get used to, Lani but we sort of tune it all out, like a filter system. You’ll understand once you’re turned, I promise. It’s okay, sweetie.”

She sat down when Josef held the chair out for her and tried to regain her composure, spreading the napkin delicately over her lap. A panicked look spread over her face as she rested her hand on her belly. “Oh my god, something is wrong!”

All three vampires’ ears searched for signs of distress from the baby, but all they heard was a normal heartbeat. Perplexed, they all looked at Lani in question.

“Lani, we don’t hear anything wrong; I mean the heartbeat is steady and strong, Sweetness,” Josef said gently. All three nodded in agreement.

“NO, I felt a pain; I’m going to lose this baby! Help me, please and call Rose!”

Beth was already doing just that and spoke quietly into the phone, her voice so low that Lani couldn’t hear it properly.

“Tell me what she says,” Lani demanded, tears streaking her face.

“She says to just be calm and she’ll be here in a few minutes. Just try to remain calm, that’s her best advice till we know what is going on.” Beth said.

Wait, they had to wait? How could she? She could be losing her baby. The miracle baby that she and Josef created.

Wait. Just wait.



OOOOOOOOOOOO



Martin’s visit to Turk went even better than he expected. Not only did he have a whole new identity and all the backup documents to go with it including credit cards, he scored even better on the jewelry.

Who the hell knew that his brother had such expensive taste in jewelry, especially the highest quality stuff to be found? He’d thought that he might get around 150 K for it all and instead it was actually worth well over a half a million. Turk knew some guy in Europe who collected that kind of high-class stuff and was willing to pay for it. Nice, Martin thought.

So between the cash Marcus had on hand and the jewelry Martin had nearly a million dollars at his disposal. He and Dorothy would be set for life in some small South American country that didn’t have US extradition.

The good life, with Dorothy by his side. He was ready for it.

He knew he’d been a fuck up most of his life. His father had hated him, so had Marcus. Good riddance to both of them. And Clark…he’d taken care of that bastard for sure.

The years rolled backwards and the past stood right in front of him…

1979

Don't Fear the Reaper]



It was the last day of school and while Dorothy was happy about that, she also hated that fact; Clark would be going into the army in a week.

Only a week left – she didn’t know what she’d do without him. Loneliness overwhelmed her suddenly and she stifled a small cry.

Logan looked at Dorothy, walking next to him and knew something was wrong and he didn’t have a problem guessing what it was. Both she and Clark had been gloomy for the last week and neither one was any fun at all.

He and Dorothy were walking to the parking lot where Clark would meet them. Logan felt bad for Dorothy, but he didn’t really know what to do about it. With electronics, he was a wizard, with girls, well, he felt awkward and stupid. Even with Dorothy who was like a sister.

Both of looked up when they heard someone yell and saw Martin Parker picking on someone, a young girl who looked terrified.

“He’s such a jerk, Logan. Why does he do that?” Dorothy said as she watched Martin try to grab the girls’ breasts. Dorothy saw blazing fire in her eyes and dropped the bag that she was carrying with things from her locker, heading directly towards Martin.

OH SHIT! Trouble was now at their doorstep and Logan rushed to defend Dorothy who was already yelling at Martin.

“Shut up, Dorothy!” Martin yelled, turning his back on her to try and fondle the girl who was now crying, cringing as he touched her.

Dorothy hit him on his back and instinctively swung around to hit her. Dorothy was a bit faster than him and dropped but the punch hit Logan instead, startling him with the blow.

Logan knew that there was no way in hell he could kick Martin’s ass but the murderous look in Martin’s eyes told Logan that he wasn’t going to back down. Better me than Dorothy, Logan thought.

He bent over and ran directly at Martin, his head connecting with Martin’s solar plexus. A loud whoosh could be heard and then Martin dropped to the ground, struggling for breath.

Logan assessed the situation for half a moment and said, “Let’s get the hell out of here!”

The young girl had already run away and Dorothy decided Logan was right. She ran to get their bags and headed down the sidewalk but before they got more than a few steps away Martin was on his feet and he grabbed Logan from behind, pinning him around his neck.

“What you gonna do now, boy? I’ll tell you what; I’m going to kill you, right here.”

Logan felt the arm around his neck tighten and realized he couldn’t catch his breath. He heard Dorothy yelling but it sounded like it came from a far off place and he realized he was beginning to black out.

“Let him go, Martin! NOW!” Dorothy screamed. “You jerk, stop it!” Anger and fear vied for attention in her; she was trembling she was so upset. She decided to run at him when she saw that no one was going to help. She sort of couldn’t blame them; everyone knew Martin was crazy.

Just then Clark saw what was happening and headed straight for the trouble. He pulled Martin off of Logan and gave him a swift upper cut to the jaw and watched with pleasure as Martin tried to get his balance back.

Dorothy ran to Logan, trying to get him to open his eyes. A quick glance showed Clark that Logan was shook up, but was breathing again.

“You’ve picked on the wrong kid this time, Martin. I’m going to kick your ass and everyone here is going to watch and enjoy it.” As if on cue the group cheered Clark on but he stayed focused on Martin who was gathering his strength.

“You gotta stick up for your pansy brother, huh? Well, there’s going to be a time when you ain’t around, soldier boy and his ass is mine!”

“Not going to happen because I’m going to show you what will happen if you ever touch a hair on his head.” Clark hit him hard, twice in the stomach and then kneed him in the shoulder when he bent over in pain. But he missed Martin’s next move and if Dorothy hadn’t yelled it could have proven fatal for Clark. He glanced down at Martin and saw that he’d pulled a switchblade out of his pocket and Clark jumped out of the way seconds before Martin took a swipe at his legs.

When the knife missed its mark, Martin jumped to his feet as quick as a cat and took a fighting stance, circling around Clark, trying to psych him out. “You’re dead, you know that don’t you? And when you’re gone I’m going take your girl, Clark. She’ll be all mine, soldier boy! What do you think of that?”

Clark heard Dorothy cry out for a moment and cast a quick glance at her and that one brief glance was long enough for Martin to shove the knife at Clark’s shoulder. It hit with a glancing blow off of his shoulder blade, immediately leaving a red stain across his arm.

Suddenly, two teachers pulled Martin away from Clark while another sat Clark down so he could look at his shoulder.

“I’m going to kill you, Clark. One of these days, I promise you…” Martin screamed as they pulled him towards the building.

“What happened here, Griffin?” Mr. Hack, the Assistant Principal questioned as they walked indoors to take care of his wound.

“When I came out of the building I heard yelling and saw Parker going after Logan. He had his arm around Logan’s throat, and Logan couldn’t breathe. The story obviously starts before that though.” He looked at Dorothy and Logan who were standing nearby, watching at the cleaned the wound.

Mrs. Benson popped her head in and said, “The police will be here shortly and all the parents have been contacted, Mr. Hack.” She looked at the bluish mark that was across Logan’s neck and tut-tutted over it. “Better have the nurse take a look at that too.”

“Does Principal Lowen have Parker under control?”

“They got the knife away from him and managed to tie his hands together but he’s still causing a lot of problems.”

Mr. Hack nodded grimly. Martin Parker had been trouble since the first day he began school, but it wasn’t like Griffin to be involved in something like this. He turned and focused on Dorothy. “Well, Miss Turner, what happened out there?” His tone was serious and scared her.

“W…we saw Martin grabbing the br…, the um, breasts of a seventh grader, Rosa Mendoza, and it made me mad.” She continued on, describing it all with a few comments by Logan thrown in. Mr. Hack shook his head sadly. What a mess!

Both Dorothy and Logan watched as Mr. Hack grimaced and shook his head. The older man wore the cloak of his position wearily and the strain showed clearly in his demeanor, his shoulders seeming to sag just a bit.

An hour later the police, parents and school officials came to an agreement and went their own ways. Dorothy was in a bit of trouble for not going straight to the office when she saw Martin instead of jumping in. Clark and his parents made a trip to the doctor’s office so they could take a look at the knife cut. The school officials sighed with relief that the school year was done and Martin was taken to the police station, his father following along behind, growing madder by the minute.

Mr. Parker was tempted to let them put Martin into juvenile detention but knew that might help with the immediate situation, but in the long term wasn’t a good solution. No, the boy needed constant guidance and motivation to stop the crazy nonsense he seemed to thrive on. He made a deal with the police; Martin would be sent to military school to finish his education and he’d get out of jail time, providing he also did 100 hours of community service over the summer.

Martin should have been thrilled that he wasn’t put into a detention facility but all he could think about was having to work his ass off all summer for nothing but the reward of ‘getting’ to go to military school in the fall.

Hell no…oh, HELL NO! Not going to happen.

A plan started to form in his mind and he was pleased with it. But first he had Clark Griffin to deal with. He was going to kill that bastard, one way or another. It might take years but he’d do it. And, in the process he’d take what Clark cherished most – Dorothy Turner.

She’d be his and be spoiled goods. Griffin would never touch her again after he got through with her.

He lay back in his bed, hands behind his head and grinned like a Cheshire cat. Yes, maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad summer after all.



To be continued…