Author's note: Hi folks! Well this is my first foray into the world of "Moonlight". I've started to watch it on tv and lets just say I'm smitten...or should that be bitten?! teehee! This little story contains spoilers for episode 13 'Fated To Pretend'. I've only seen a few clips, it'll be a few more weeks before it arrives here...can't wait! Anyway it's loosely based on the few clips I've seen and some references to 'Sleeping Beauty'...hope you enjoy it! Oh I'm not sure whether to leave it as a one-shot or make it a two part story...please let me know what you think, thanks!! (oh just a tinsey bit of swearing at the end.)
"Why you?"
Mick stood a few feet away from a pair of large oak panelled doors. The heavily varnished ancient wood protected a private world from potential prying eyes. He knew his friend Josef was somewhere inside the room. He always went there when he needed some time alone, he always went there to brood.
He'd received a call from Anna, one of Josef's regular girls earlier in the evening. She'd expressed concern about his behaviour over the past two days but was too nervous to broach the subject with the vampire in question, his change in mood had left her a little unsettled.
Apparently Josef was spending all night in his 'inner sanctum', leaving it only to sleep in his freezer during the day. He hadn't even left it to feed, all his blood had been brought to him...in a glass. He hadn't touched one of his girls since he'd returned home and she was hoping that Mick could some how fix things.
And so she stood now with Mick outside the door's to Josef's library. It didn't take acute vampire senses or a detective's eye to see how worried she was. It never ceased to amaze him, the levels of loyalty shown by his friend's staff, particularly amongst the group of beautiful and very human, young ladies that seemed to orbit around him as if trapped by some powerful gravitational force.
Mick offered her a reassuring smile and she knocked gently on the door.
As expected, there was no answer, after a few seconds she took a deep steadying breath and pushed down on the ornate brass handle.
The door swung open silently, she risked a quick peek inside. Josef seemed to be sitting in the exact same position she'd left him in hours earlier when she brought him in a glass of AB negative.
Chewing slightly on her bottom lip, she shrugged her shoulders at Mick...she was at a loss as to what to do.
The P.I moved towards the opening and gave Anna a gentle squeeze on the shoulder. Stepping across the threshold alone, he closed the heavy door behind him sealing himself inside.
Every time Mick entered this room he felt as though he was stepping back in time. Much of Josef's work place including his office had been decorated in an opulent yet modern way, the same could be said of many of the vast rooms within his sprawling home but this room was different.
This room was history, this room was Josef.
The were no phones, no tv's or computers, not a single power point in the entire space, not even a solitary light switch. The room was lit entirely by dozens of flickering bee's wax candles. Their sweet aroma adding to the many musty smells swarming the heavy air.
Rich tapestries covered some of the walls along with various paintings spanning over the last four hundred years.
Ancient tomes, weaponry, manuscripts and artifacts...personal possessions lovingly gathered over the years, filled the shelves. It was the living diary of a man that stopped living over four hundred years ago.
And in the centre of it all, an enormous granite fire place flanked by two high backed arm chairs, surrounded a blazing fire, not one produced by gas or artificial flame but an actual genuine fire.
Mick stared ahead in silence at his friend, his presence had yet to be acknowledged. He watched as the old vampire sat hunched over staring into the flickering amber flames as if mesmerised by their hypnotic dance. He knew Josef didn't feel the cold, he knew he didn't need a roaring fire but some how the routine of setting and lighting a fire always brought a strange comfort to his friend. Mick had always found it ironic that any vampire would voluntarily create something that could potentially bring about their own demise.
As he got closer he could make out a delicate red wine glass in his friend's right hand. His dexterous fingers gripped the narrow stem, rotating it ever so slightly so that the rich red contents swirled around inside. His left hand was frozen into a tight fist.
Mick could feel the waves of unchecked emotions ebbing across the room...guilt, pain, confusion and anger. It was disturbing to find his friend in such a state, the older vampire was usually a pillar of strength surrounded by an impenetrable wall. Things had changed.
Mick headed for the vacant armchair across from Josef's.
He stood for a moment as if awaiting permission to sit, he had after all entered his friend's home uninvited and as the silence stretched he gave up on decorum and sat down and waited patiently for his 'brother' to speak.
Recent events would mean they would have much to talk about and there was no doubt in his mind that the heavy demand he had made of Josef was largely to blame for his current state of mind...allowing Josef to make the first move was the least he could do.
The uncomfortable silence seemed to stretch on eternally, broken only by the occasional crackling and sparking of the burning wooden logs until...
"Why you?"
The whispered enquiry seemed to come from nowhere.
Mick gazed into his friend's pained face, his brown eyes appeared glassy from unshed tears. The question caught him by surprise and his brow furrowed slightly in confusion.
"Why you and not her?" the whisper implored.
It was only then that Josef made eye contact, then broke it just as quickly to stare into his now opened left hand. The open palm lovingly cradled a delicate golden heart shaped locket.
Mick understood instantly and all the sorrow that he had felt for his friend and his lost love Sarah swelled within him once more.
How on earth could he answer such a question? Who knows how fate works? He had no way of reasoning why the fickle mistress had decide to doom Josef's love to an endless sleep when he tried to turn her, even when it was something they had both come to agree to and desperately want in the end and yet at the same time she had allowed him under protest, to turn Mick successfully, knowing that he was robbing him of his newly regained humanity. A priceless gift barely unwrapped torn to shreds in a heart beat.
All he could think of to say was to softly repeat his friend's own words.
"Like you said...maybe the universe has different plans for you Josef."
Anger flashed, briefly clouding the older vampire's eyes and the delicate wine glass was flung into the flames shattering into a dozen pieces.
"Screw the universe Mick!"
The outburst disappeared in an instant and Josef returned to his former subdued state, if it were not for the smell of the blood burning in the flames and the tiny shards of crystal glittering on the hearth...Mick would have thought he had imagined the whole thing.
This wasn't going to be something they could both sweep under the rug. It might hang between them for a long time...it might change their friendship forever.
It was going to be a long night.