This is my first attempt at a chapter story. Hopefully this will work out ok. It's actually done, I just need to figure out how to get all the chapters in place.
This takes place after "Fleur di lis" - but before Beth attacks Morgaline. Instead, Beth goes to investigate Morgaline at Coraline's old mansion. She finds the truth about her kidnapping, but it has dark consequences. Can Mick save Beth in time before Coraline gets her final plan of revenge?
The story is rated a VERY STRONG M. Not for sex, but for wicked violence. Vampires aren't kittens, people. There's also some rough language.
Still, major Mick/Beth. Enjoy - hopefully I get it all loaded tonight.
The sun burnt like ruby fire as it traced a path slowly across the California skyline. It splashed angry amber flames against the glass facade of the empty mansion on the hill. Beth could only sit in her car, frozen, as the colors slowly muted and faded with the setting sun. Already she could feel a sort of magnetic pull towards the old house. It may look like an abandoned plaything of the very rich, but she had been there before. She was sure of it. There was no use denying any of it to herself anymore. The feeling of familiarity was ground too deep into her bones.
Slowly, she slipped out of her car, her eyes never leaving the mansion. It seemed to mock her as it stood alone on the green hill top. It stood like an ancient grandfather that had seen a thousand wars in a thousand lifetimes. The bare, blank windows seemed to laugh at her nerve – as if a single human reporter could knock down such an ancient manor.
As Beth stared up at the mansion, she suddenly felt like she was walking into one of those cheap, hokey horror movies where every creak and sigh of the old house was supposed to freak a person out. She could feel every beat of her heart as it thudded loudly through her veins. Her breath seemed to wheeze in and out of her chest as if she had just finished a 20 mile marathon. Knots of fear and panic collided against each other inside of her chest with such force that she wanted to pass out. Her hands shook so violently when she threw her keys into her purse that she had to ball them into tight fists to stop them.
"Knock it off, Beth," she muttered to herself. The sound of her voice in the eerily quiet countryside made her jump. "You gotta keep calm. Running screaming into the street will totally ruin your street cred."
Beth tried to laugh at her lame joke, but found her mouth was too dry to form the right sounds. She took one last deep breath and looked up at the shimmering glass house.
"Just plant one foot in front of the other," she mumbled softly.
It wasn't the fact that she was about to break into the old empty house or that she was about to snoop all over the place for clues that freaked her out. She'd done those things to other people's homes more times than she'd like to admit while working a case. No, this time was different on every level. This was the house. The place she was taken after she was kidnapped as child. She didn't even have to step one foot inside to recognize it. It was more of a feeling than a memory…and it frightened her to the core.
Beth slowly inched up the green hillside towards the glass mansion, her fear still spinning round and round inside of her chest. Over twenty years ago, she had been taken to this house, this hell pit on earth. Twenty years ago, a woman in white named Coraline had wanted to create her own little make believe family. Twenty years ago, she was first introduced to vampires in the most frightening way possible. Twenty years ago, she was almost turned by a vindictive bitch but was saved in the knick of time by her own knight in shining armor. Today, said vindictive bitch was supposedly alive and well posing as a human, while Beth's vampire savior was – well – Beth didn't know what to call Mick anymore. Friend? Lover? Partner? Mistake? Soul Mate?
She shook her head as she finally reached the outer door of the glass manor. The thought of Mick St. John caused a thousand waves of emotion to hit her already overwhelmed heart. They caused her head to spin even faster than the panic. She didn't have the energy to delve into her true feelings about Mick at that moment. She had enough crap to sift through at present, thank you very much. All that she was certain of was that all her answers lay inside the fragile house on the hill. She would learn the truth of her abduction today – whether the answers would make her feel sane again, she didn't know.
Throwing a few furtive glances towards the driveway and surrounding hills, Beth quickly fished out her tools and began to unlock the door. The latch opened with a quiet snap that seemed to echo through the evening air. She froze and waited for the crickets and other insects to begin singing in the early night, but no sound came. The area continued to be as deathly quiet as when she arrived. Way creepy, Beth thought. After deciding that no one was going to come racing towards her with guns raised – or fangs bared - Beth opened the door completely. She inhaled sharply and looked towards the drive again. The coast was indeed clear, but she still couldn't shake the sudden urge to bolt.
Beth slipped into the silent mansion, her feet barely making noise as she treaded over the pristine white shag carpet. She knew she had a few hours to kill anyway before Morgan or Coraline or whatever-the-hell-her-name-was came crawling back to her secret hideout. Beth had told Mick to put his private eye skills to work and keep the new photographer busy on a case so Beth could snoop around Morgan's past. Mick had agreed a little too hastily which hadn't exactly helped soothe Beth's raw nerves. It also didn't help that the woman who had kidnapped her as a child was Mick's ex-wife. He had murdered her once to save Beth and yet, the woman was back in town pretending to be a human – named Morgan. If only Beth could prove it to everyone – including Mick.
She tiptoed around the living room, her unease increasing by the minute. Beth's reporter instincts hadn't quite bought Morgan's Chicago photographer background. Her jealous heart really hadn't swallowed the story when she saw how worked up Mick had become around Morgan. She had known Mick long enough to know that only one woman could make him so frenzied and lustful. Mick and his friend Josef both swore that Morgan could not be Coraline the vampire, but Beth wasn't buying any of it. She was going to prove once and for all that Morgan was Coraline – the woman who had destroyed her childhood. Now that her mind was finally remembering the face of her kidnapper, there was no way in hell Beth was about to let the bitch skip around town free as a bird.
Her growing quest for vengeance wasn't really about her feelings for Mick. Well, at least not all of it. After finally realizing he was her guardian angel, her heart had filled with such complex emotions, she had forgotten to breathe at times. It was something she knew she had never felt for another man – not even her boyfriend, Josh. She was too afraid to admit what those emotions might mean. To put them into words – especially in front of Mick – might drive them away like memories in the wind. Her heart was too fragile at the moment for that kind of truth. It didn't help things that Mick continued to follow Morgan/Coraline around like a lost puppy dog. If he was so hot for her, why didn't he just marry her all over again? Then the two of them could have their sick, twisted love affair for the rest of freaking eternity.
Beth swallowed down the sharp, bitter stab of jealousy that pierced her heart at the image of Mick and Coraline…together. She blinked back the sudden tears and marched towards the nearest object in the room – a wooden writing desk.
Fighting down the urge to rip out Coraline's heart, Beth reached for the nearest manila envelope and flipped it open. Sudden ice dropped into her veins with a splash.. Her fingers began to shake like old leaves in the autumn wind as she flipped through the contents of the folder. With a shudder of horror, she threw the folder onto the floor. The pictures inside flew from her hands to rain like acid onto the snow white carpet.
The pictures were of Beth…and Mick. Dozens of them – together!
The pictures were now scattered all over the floor like memories ripped out of her mind. Coraline had been stalking them for months! Beth stared at them in horror as she recognized each picture. It was like her life had suddenly been snatched away from her and put on display in some sick freak show. Why would anyone want to stalk the two of them? Beth gasped for air and tried to remember breathe. There had to be only one explanation. It had been scuttling around the back of her brain for weeks, but there had been no proof before. She had never been surer of anything in her life. She could now say it out loud and let the words hang in the air like harsh barbs.
"Morgan is Coraline," Beth cried, her voice coming out as a hoarse croak. She had known – suspected – but had never been completely sure. Yet, now all the pieces seemed to have locked into place and engraved themselves into stone. Morgan was Coraline, Coraline was a vampire and –
Abruptly Beth turned towards the winding white staircase that led to the upper levels of the mansion. She could feel her body almost being pulled towards those stairs. It was as if she knew all her answers would lie at the top of those stairs. They would all be laid out before her in crystal clear VistaVison for her to enjoy for many, many years to come. If she turned back now, she could still maybe move on with her life. Somehow deal with Coraline and get some kind of peace of mind. Yet, she knew, deep down that it was already too late. It was too late to just rewind time and pretend that she hadn't been kidnapped as a child. She had been playing that game for 20 years. It was time to finally face the truth – no matter how much it may sting or scar. It was time to learn all the answers, all the clues, all the questions to her kidnapping, Coraline and Mick.
Taking one last breath to try and unsuccessfully calm herself, Beth stepped over the purloined photos and headed towards the darkened staircase.