As the sun set on LA Josef Konstantin groaned awake. Then, as he rolled out of his very cold bed, he groaned again. It was December 24th.
"I hate the holidays." He told the empty room before he stood from his bed. "I absolutely hate them…" He said as he pulled on a pair of lounge pants. He left his freezer, which was really a meat locker with furnishings, and made his way to the kitchen. His mood was in obvious disrepair, he mumbled and grumbled the entire way and as he poured himself a tall glass of AB-. He was just about to take a drink when there was a knock at his front door.
"I swear, if it's carolers, I'm not going to need this." He threatened as he set the glass down. But, instead of carolers, he found Mick, accompanied by Beth, waiting on the other side of the door.
"I don't know what's worse," the vampire said as he opened the door, "carolers, or you two." Despite Josef's obviously dark mood, Mick smiled and let himself into the house- if that's what you would call it. Josef's place was enormous, and it always made Beth feel tiny to be inside it.
"Someone's full of the holiday spirit." She chimed as she found a place at the bar.
"I told you he'd be bitter." Mick said smugly- he'd obviously won some sort of argument.
"I'm not bitter." Josef corrected, "I just don't like the holidays…"
"Why not?" Beth asked inquisitively. That was something Josef hadn't decided yet- whether or not he liked her inquisitive nature.
"Gee, I just don't know, Buzz Wire." He said sourly.
"Seriously, Josef," Mick started, "Why don't you like holidays?"
"They stop business!" Josef replied sharply as he slammed the now empty glass onto the counter, "I have work I could be doing, but instead everything has to stop so people can observe their stupid holiday."
"I'm not so sure I believe that…" Beth said carefully.
"Fine." Josef replied firmly, "Don't believe it. Whatever." He was busying himself with pouring another drink. Josef thought he was being sneaky, but Mick saw the alcohol his friend added to the glass. "Why are you two here, anyway?" Josef asked after chugging his drink.
"Beth wondered if you might want to come over tonight, you know…. To celebrate." Mick sighed, "I told her that you don't do holidays, but she refused to accept that." Josef chuckled.
"Before little miss Buzz Wire showed up, you didn't do holidays either." Josef commented after grimacing at the burn of his newly poured drink.
"Yeah…" Mick said with a grin.
"Well, Beth," Josef started, "Thanks for the offer, but no thanks." There was a long, almost awkward pause.
"Well," Mick said after clearing his throat, "Come on, Beth." And he made his way to the door.
"I'll be right down." She told the P.I. Josef looked curiously at his friend, but Mick was just as confused as his friend was.
After Mick had gone, Beth turned to Josef, "You can't be angry forever, Josef." She told him sadly. He considered her before answering.
"If it's not anger, it'll be something else, something that-" His voice broke and he cleared his throat, "Something that I won't know how to deal with…" He was very nearly overcome with emotion he had long kept stuffed away. When he finally looked up at Beth she was nodding her understanding, with tears in her eyes. Josef let a small smile break through, and Beth chuckled softly.
"Mick's waiting." He reminded her gently. She nodded again and Josef walked her to the door. She turned back to look at him as she was almost through the entryway.
"If you change your mind…" She trailed.
"I know where to find you." He told her firmly and they smiled at each other sadly. Beth tried to fight the urge to hug him, but she just couldn't. She enveloped the vampire in a warm embrace, completely startling him.
"The holidays are meant to be spent with the ones that you love." She told him as she clung to him. Josef wasn't sure if he should hug her back or not, so he let his hands hover behind her back, somewhere between a hug and reassuring pats.
The blonde reporter sniffed loudly as she let him go. She wiped her eyes and smiled up at him. Josef couldn't help but smile back. Then she was gone, going to spend her Christmas Eve with someone she loved.
An hour later Josef was sitting on his couch trying not to think. He wasn't faring very well. His left hand supported his head while his right hand swilled his drink absent-mindedly.
"The holidays are meant to be spent with the ones you love." Beth's voice rang in his head for about the millionth time.
"The ones you love…" Josef whispered. In that single moment his eyes refocused and a decision was clear on his face. He quickly gathered a few possessions. Including a gold necklace, and left his home.
Thirty minutes later, thanks to ridiculous last minute traffic, Josef strode into the airport. The crowds of procrastinating travelers parted for him, whether they were aware of it or not, and soon he was at a teller. The man behind the desk was about to greet Josef when the vampire cut him off.
"I need a first class ticket to New York, tonight." Josef said firmly. The man behind the desk, whose nametag read "Luke", smiled just a little too sweetly to be sincere. Josef decided to let it slide. Luke started to shake his head.
"I'm sorry, sir," he started, "But I'm afraid that we don't have any first class seats available tonight…" Luke clicked his mouse and scrunched his face to read the screen, "We have one at seven tomorrow morning…"
"No," Josef interrupted sharply, "I need to be on a plane to New York, tonight."
"The only available seats tonight," Luke clicked and scrunched again, "are coach. One leaves in forty minutes, the other in an hour."
"Coach?" Josef looked at Luke as if he'd just sprouted a third head, "Are you kidding me?"
"I'm sorry, sir-"
"Give me the next flight." Josef grumbled as he dug into his back pocket to retrieve his wallet.
"That'll be $770.00, sir." Josef stopped mid-wallet grab to stare at Luke.
"Excuse me?"
"$770." Luke said with smug clarity.
"What the hell for?!" Josef exclaimed, making the people in the next line jump.
"Your ticket." Luke told the vampire drily. Josef closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Then he counted to ten. When he opened his eyes, he counted out several bills from the fold of his wallet and watched, with smug satisfaction, as Luke's eyes nearly dropped out onto the counter.
"Don't have any trouble reading that, do you?" Josef smirked as he tapped the pile of hundreds. The transaction continued without incident and Josef couldn't help but grin at the respect and obedience that a little piece of paper could command.
However, as Josef found his seat in the very last row of the plane, he learned that money meant little in coach. As he made his way to his middle seat wedged between an old woman who reeked of bengay and a young girl blaring her iPod, he was nearly decapitated by luggage falling from an overhead bin. If it hadn't been for his heightened reflexes he would have been nursing one terrible headache.
Thankfully, for Josef, humans have a tendency to sleep on airplanes. Grandma Bengay and the iPod girl were no exceptions. He tried his best not to think. But five hours of near silence (grandma bengay snored) left a lot of time for pondering- and Josef hated it.
He tried not to think. He tried not to picture her perfect face. He tried not to feel the weight of her necklace in his pocket. He tried to keep his mind blank, but Beth's words kept hitting him like a freight train, "the ones you love."
It was very early morning when the plane landed at JFK, but Josef had no intention of lagging. As he hailed a cab, which he couldn't believe he actually got into, his cell phone vibrated. He looked at it curiously- three new messages. He ignored them.
"Where to?" The cabby, who reeked of bad cigars, asked.
"301 Waverly Lane." Josef responded mechanically. When the cab came to a stop, Josef didn't even look at the fare, he just passed a fifty dollar bill to the front and said, "Keep it."
As Josef walked slowly up the snow-frosted steps, he felt his cell phone vibrate again. He ignored it again. Josef knocked on the door softly. He was only slightly surprised at how quickly it was answered.
"Mr. Konstin!" The woman exclaimed.
"Pearl." Josef responded smoothly as she let him in.
"We weren't expecting you." She told him apologetically.
"I know," He told her softly, "It's ok." He walked to the double doors that he knew so well, "You can go to bed, Pearl," he told the matronly woman, "I'll stay with her." Pearl nodded and then vanished from sight.
Josef swallowed hard before opening one of the doors just far enough to let him through. As soon as he saw Sarah any hesitation he had felt melted away. He sniffed as he sat at the edge of her bed.
"Hey." He greeted her in a whisper. He looked around the room and winced at how bare it was, "I would have brought you some flowers, but no one's open." He told the woman thickly. He took a deep, shaky breath. "I'm sorry." He gushed, a tear sliding down his face, "So sorry. I should come around more, I know… It just," His voice gave out on him for a moment, "it just hurts so much to see you like this," he continued, "to know that I did this to you." Josef took another shaky breath before he continued his confession.
"A friend of mine told me that holidays are meant to be spent with the ones you love-" He smiled through his tears, "I thought of you…" He paused, taking a moment to compose himself. "And… I also thought, if ever anyone deserved a Christmas Miracle- it was you."
Josef exhaled sharply as he removed the heart shaped necklace, her necklace, from the pocket directly over his heart, "So," He swallowed hard, "Merry Christmas, Sarah." He ignored the moisture on his face as he, once again, clasped the necklace around her neck. Before he backed away though, he let his lips place a lingering kiss on her forehead and let his eyes leak a few more quiet tears.
As he sat up, if he could have, Josef would have had a heart attack- Sarah had moved! It wasn't much, only a slight shift of her head, but it was enough to make Josef hope. He held his breath, hoping against hope that she would open her eyes. But, she didn't. Josef would have been completely heartbroken all over again, if it weren't for the small smile that had formed on her perfect lips.
He let his breath out in a teary laugh- she knew that he was there! Josef grabbed her hand quickly and pressed his lips to it fervently.
"I'm here, Sarah. I'm here." He whispered to her. He choked back a sob that threatened to be his undoing, "I love you." He told her with as much conviction and honesty as he had ever felt.
Josef laughed, though he wasn't sure why, as his phone rang again. His caller ID said it was Mick, so he answered.
"Hello?"
"Josef?" Mick's anxious voice came over the phone, "Where are you? I've been call-"
"I'm in New York." Josef told his friend softly. The P.I. stopped talking immediately- he understood what Josef meant.
"I'll let you go then…"
"Hey, Mick?" Josef asked suddenly.
"Yeah?"
"Tell Beth I said 'Thanks'." Josef said with a little smile, and then he hung up. Josef looked down at his hand, the one clinging to Sarah's, and smiled. This was where he belonged today… With the one that he loved.