Moonlight – Virtual Season 2
Episode Twelve – When You're Gone
Rating: M/NC17
Writer: Mx wwmickd (with the collaboration of the group)
Beta'd: Writers Group
VS2 Writers Group includes Candomom, ClChen, Conni4, Evilous, Misfit, Mx wwmickd, Night Owl, Phantom Phoenix, Photosue and Sunny.
Welcome to our new member CONNI4!
Disclaimer: Moonlight and its characters are owned by CBS and Warner Brothers. All use of Moonlight and its characters in this venue are for entertainment purposes and completed solely for the pleasure of Moonlight lovers. The original storylines and episodes have been created by the VS2 Writers and Discussion Group. We hope you enjoy.
Prologue
The flight only lasted two hours. They had landed in Sacramento and Beth felt a little woozy from tossing back tequila shots with Oscar. Damn those vampires and their high tolerance for alcohol… if she thought about the history lesson that Oscar had drilled into her, under the influence, it made her head hurt even more. Oscar rushed her off the plane and through the terminal, giving her no time to grab her bag.
"No, Oscar! I understand I have to disappear but I'm not walking off this plane with nothing."
"Fine!" Oscar dumped the contents of her bag on the floor of the plane, "No ID, no credit cards, no phone!"
"Bastard," Beth mumbled. The edges of Oscar's mouth twitched… she's pissed, good.
Beth grabbed the necessary things, stripped her wallet of cash and raked her hand through what remained, her eyes catching the glitter of cheap metal. A cross between a laugh and a cry caught in her throat… it was the gumball ring Mick gave her when they posed as a married couple. Beth had forgotten that it was loose in the bottom of her purse.
"Oscar wait!" He grabbed her elbow to forcefully guide her off the plane.
"We don't have time!" he spoke through gritted teeth.
"I get it!" Beth snatched up the ring off the floor and stuffed it in her pocket with the cash. "Here, you get to hold the tampons and the tooth brush… these jeans are too tight." Oscar growled…
Inside the small terminal Oscar called for a taxi and waited impatiently for it to arrive; ordering Beth to stay away from any window. At night humans as well as vamps could see easily into the terminal building. Kostan had made leaving LA too easy. The jet would make other stops up the coast. Confusing any trail that would connect them to Kostan was imperative. Oscar muttered curses under his breath; Kostan had to be free to deal with those aristocratic bloodsuckers and self-righteous puritans
Oscar hailed a taxi and barked "Fulton Blvd." as he pushed Beth in to the back seat. To her, it looked as if they had landed in the industrial area, identical warehouses and hangers lined equally identical streets. When the cab had reached its destination, "You pay," Oscar said brusquely.
"Way to show a lady a good time," mumbled Beth as she pulled crumpled bills out of her pocket. "You're lucky I have enough." Oscar slid on a pair of sunglasses, even though it was night, lifting his eyebrows in a way that suggested "luck" had nothing to do with it.
They were standing on a street, with what seemed like miles of car dealerships. GM, Ford, Nissan, VW, BMW, all sparkling with new cars, certified used cars and shiny salesmen.
"Are we going to buy a car?" she couldn't help but smile, "hope you have some cash… because that took all I had…"
Oscar nodded and began to walk down the street taking long strides. She had to run to catch up to him.
"Can I pick it out?"
Oscar laughed, "as long as you pick out the one I say." They passed the BMW's, the Audi's, even the Nissan dealership, before they stopped at the edge of the lot, "Fred's Deals, Cash for any Car." Oscar nodded at a faded burgundy Crown Victoria. "That's the one you want… honey, go check it out."
Fred was sitting outside the portable office, smoking a cigarette; shirt unbuttoned revealing a large gold chain in salt and pepper chest hairs. The blinking lights chased each other in the sparkly reflections of Fred's generous sun glasses.
He was portly man that stood about three inches shorter than Beth who smiled wide. His 'I'm your friend" smile flashed and he flicked his smoke like a Los Vegas tough guy. The cars were all decorated with cheesy slogans of "Like New" and "Hot Deal" on tags clipped to their windshields.
They men shook hands and Oscar led Fred over to a formerly silver 95' El Dorado, the tag stated "Fully Loaded." Beth rolled her eyes and wondered Would you describe that color as 'tarnished?" and what exactly it was full of. Oscar haggled with Fred over the price, while Beth kicked the loose gravel and leaned against the burgundy Crown Victoria. When it seemed like the deal was going the wrong way for her protector, he stormed over to her, the little salesman ran behind him to catch up.
"Hey, let's talk about this…" he was doing his best to sound innocent.
"I told you my price. But if my wife wants this car, then it doesn't matter. How much for this one?" Oscar wrapped his arm around Beth's waist; she stiffened a little and then tried to relax as he pulled her closer. Wife?
Oscar turned to face Beth, uncomfortably close, "Honey, how's the trunk space in this one?"
"Oh, ah, it's …really good." He really needed to give her more notice before they started to role-play.
"Let me see what I can do for you…" Fred began to haggle with Oscar and Beth excused herself from the grips of her "husband" before any more she had to endure any more cuddling.
It was a strange test drive, Fred casually handed them the keys and Oscar insisted that she drive. Thank god, the thing had an electric seat with a wide range of adjustments or Beth wouldn't be able to see over the hood. It handled like a boat. While Beth cruised down the strip of auto dealerships Oscar pulled the liner out of the glove box and reached in to get a bundle of money. The car swayed as Beth glanced over.
"Keep your eyes on the road honey…"
Fred was beaming when they returned and Oscar told him he had a deal, "Yes-sirree-Bob this car will pay for itself in no time."
Before long, Oscar and Beth found themselves driving on the freeway, heading south on the interstate. Back tracking was how you lost a tail, he explained. They would try to stay in the states, but could find themselves in Brazil if things got too hot. She was instructed to never talk to strangers, never leave his side and never ever, under any circumstances, contact Mick or Josef.
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Los Angeles
Beth is gone… I know that now… with every sense, the apartment is empty. I've put her things away, out of sight; I can't look at them when I'm hungry. I can't remember being hungrier a long time.
I haven't left my apartment since Josef returned me to my freezer. Must have been a hell of a concussion to knock me out… something that would kill a human. I find myself rubbing the bump on my head… superstition, luck maybe… Josef's attempt to knock sense into me. Josef is pissed and I don't know anything. I can't smell her at my place, I can't feel her blood in my veins… she fed me… If I can't taste her any more, I don't want anything else. I spend nights on the balcony watching smelling, watching a city where humans and their beating hearts… I rub my eyes… maybe I can see them as food… it would make things easier.
Food or the enemy…
It's time to leave…
There is enough blood for a fix, the slight smell makes my jaws ache and my eyesight sharpen… Fixing is only a shadow of feeding fresh… it's a shadow I want.
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"Mick! I was beginning to think my A+ had gone flat. That you'd deserted me… or abandoned LA." Guillermo's smile is wide but his eyes are cold. The lights cast everything with a pale green sheen, edges flicker and I have an appetite to sort the flavors and age of death and blood that hang in the morgue with the smell of antiseptic.
"What, so business is that slow? I thought you had a waiting list three pages long."
"It could be eight pages long, but Terrance won't make deliveries, 'Let the food come to us,' he says."
"So what spooked him?" I'm pulling open drawers sniffing, "anyone we know, show up lately."
"I'd tell you if we had any mutual acquaintances in the morgue." He gives me the look… stop touching my stuff… "According to Terrance vamps aren't answering for their delivery, they're leaving crappy tips, he says, that he feels… underappreciated." Guillermo says with a flash of silver eyes.
"He's reading too many of those women's magazines in the waiting room… do you have magazines in this place?" I ask, as if it's a serious question. "No one tells me anything…" I close the drawer on a shooting victim B+, a fresh one… literally. Didn't know what hit him.
"No, we haven't seen any vamps at the morgue since the arson-bombing… you were here… sorting."
"Yeah… what did Carmen finally have to say?"
"She was pissed, it was a Legion crime… one that will go down in the books as unsolved. She comes by every night… while I don't mind the view…" we both understand… Carmen and Josef are keeping the information close.
"So, Guillermo, what are you going to do, settle down for a siege?"
"Mick, if I don't deliver, people will be hungry… and that's not good for the community either…
.......
"Kevlar vest?" I hold it out to Guillermo in a take it or leave it gesture.
"Are you really going to ride shotgun." He takes the vest.
"Yep," I give him my best fanged smile.
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Guillermo's Ford Taurus is anonymous, the shocks are gone and the steering is sloppy. We've got an intermittent tail. "Let's stop at the drive through car wash?"
"What's the next stop… the mini-mart for a blood red slushie?"
"Either a car wash shorts out the GPS locator on this thing or we have to look for the bug."
Guillermo curses, "You think they've been tracking Terrance?"
"Probably, but Terrance didn't have a second set of eyes to watch for a tail… they are pretty good." The pink and green foam coats the car like melted sherbet and smells of some undead chemical that will outlast vamps and humans. "Your customers will need to mix up delivery locations from now on."
The flashing lights of the car wash reflect in Guillermo's vampire eyes like the carnival of the damned, "I do this so no one has to die to feed us… Now I'm worried that I will have blood on my hands." I hear the triple meaning, past, present and future as the car bumps out of the car wash.
We've lost our tail, but we aren't finding Guillermo's customers… apartments abandoned or sanitized to the point that no scent remains, human or vamp… the cleaners have been there. Finally we meet some old clients, paranoid vamps who've been around and routinely switch up their dining habits.
Gloria, who still enjoys a henna rinse, a bee-hive hairdo and enough gold jewelry to make the term "bling," dismissive, meets us behind an illegal card parlor. "I'd complain about my cards getting cold, but I only play with humans I know these days. I have to let them win. Someone brought a 'friend' to my other place and I shut it down. Can't be too careful, turned out it was his ex-brother-in-law in town on a convention." She looks us over carefully studying us with all her senses, "Have you two ever been through something like this before?"
We shake our heads having fallen into defensive positions on either side of the alley.
"How old are you and what do you know?" I ask gruffly. Guillermo gives me a look that says mind your manners .
Gloria just chuckles, "Boys, I'm old enough to give you advice." She drops the butt of her expensive foreign cigarette to the ground and grinds it out with the toe of her emerald green cowboy boots. "You can't run… but you can hide. Cities are the best place to hide and eventually the Legion just moves on. Sometimes things get out of hand, like the French Revolution… but those bastards had it coming." She lights another cigarette.
I want to ask about Beth but that's as good as handing her a calling card. "What do they want in LA?"
"The same thing they always want… to reduce our numbers and remind us they hold the leash." She shakes her head like we're a couple of kids who aren't very bright. "Vamps have always worked for governments as spies and secret police. They need us, but they don't like us or trust us. We live too long and learn too many secrets. Why LA? Could be our number was up. Could be they don't like Kostan, he doesn't work for them or that Duvall putana's experiments. Who knows, they're here now." She pats Guillermo's arm before she turns to leave as she picks up the cooler she says, "You do a good thing, Guillermo. Hunting is passé." She glances at me with the last comment. "I've got humans who will feed me… but this lets me keep business strictly business."
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The next stop is death all around, six humans and one vamp, beheaded, in a stucco bungalow. Things are starting to stink; I wonder what the neighbors heard, as I call for clean-up.
A single cleaner shows up wearing her civilian clothes, black jeans and tight T-shirt. She's driving her private vehicle, a black Toyota pickup truck windows darkly tinted. It must be a busy night.
"Fuck!" Is all she has to say when we let her in to the house, "Call Carmen. We're going to have to tent this one as a bug extermination; god-damn overtime daylight hours."
…..
Carmen arrives in twenty minutes a scowl firmly in place. We all know what happened we can smell the confusion and violence, humans used as cannon fodder until shear numbers overwhelmed the vamp. "Why are you here St. John? Get tired of pining over your human," she snarks at me.
I've been avoiding the mention of Beth all evening. It wouldn't matter who mentioned her… but to hear the sarcasm, distain for "my human ". I look at Carmen with a predatory focus, growling. Guillermo moves, I can see him at the edge of my vision… getting out of the way of a fight. It distracts me… the sound of a zipper, one human bagged for processing.
"Carmen," I growl before I look away. She looks pissed, but I can tell… Smell? Predator's vision?… more than that, she looks sad. She ignores me to talk with the cleaner and then strides past to help Guillermo bag the bodies.
Whipping her ponytail back over her shoulder she looks back at me with a scowl, "What's a matter Mick? Did I hit a nerve?"
"Back off." …she's an obstacle… part of Josef's secrecy… where is Beth… disgust when she looks at me… I would attack her for answers… if she had them. I pull myself back from the edge, my voice barely civil. "I want answers same as the rest of us."
"Really? Well here some answers. We are in the middle of a culling and the Duvalls are making a power play within the vampire nation."
I stand there listening to her spout off things I already know, the need to hunt growing inside of me, the smell of old rotting blood fills the house… I should feed. "I'm aware of all that Carmen. Why are you so worried about my motivations anyway?" I eye her suspiciously. For just a moment I see her tough girl mask drop.
"Because Mick, your recklessness puts those I care about in the line of fire," she sighs and goes back to bagging the bodies.
"And just who would that be," I fling back at her. "I thought your career was all you cared about." I want someone else to hurt like I hurt right now. She zips the last body bag lifting it over her shoulder. She turns back to me and speaks just one name. "Oscar, he's worth two of you." And with that she leaves.
Guillermo drops me off at my place; Carmen has called him back in to process the human dead. "Tomorrow night?"
"Yeah, glad to…" I sigh involuntarily as I open the passenger door it's like the loneliness washes back in with the LA air. I stand up… and freeze… an empty landscape… I only live here.
"Mick," he leans over to look up at me. "Drink something; I'll let you know what we find out.
"Thanks, man."
….
The rising sun sends sunlight raking across my apartment, dust making each ray sparkle… no one lives here. Drink something… A glass, pouring a drink, sipping… these are human gestures that I've shed without Beth around me.
I fix… new/old blood in my veins makes the trip to my brain… I replay impressions of the fight with humans that took a vamp down… what, sometime last week… and imagine fresh blood as my face shifts.
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Is that all? Ben Talbot wonders, Beth Turner calls in sick and then just stops coming to work. No more threats, no more mysterious phone calls. He should have filed a missing persons report, but that would only lead to vampires. Vampires who Beth maintained she trusted and even loved. Talbot felt the tension growing in his neck and jaw at the thought of another day of pretense, that Beth was just another investigator beneath the notice of ADA Ben Talbot.
Arriving at work, his assistant lets him know that lawyers for the defense in the environmental cleanup fraud case called to set up a meeting. The discovery evidence was pretty damning… Lunch today… he'd have to cancel with Jackie.
"Ok, Dakota, go ahead and set that up. I'll handle rescheduling my afternoon appointments." Ben still gets a case of nerves when he calls Jackie, they've had a few more dates and her daughter no longer calls him a loser, at least to his face. "Hey, Jackie… or, should I say, ADA Benavides?"
"What's up, Ben" Talbot imagines he can hear the smile in her voice.
"I've got to ask for a rain check. A lunch meeting just got scheduled in the clean up and containment fraud case."
"How about this weekend Ben, Gracia's with her dad and I don't have a curfew."
Ben is sure that Jackie can hear the smile in his voice, "That would be great, let's talk tonight about plans."
"Talk to you later then."
.....
Beth Turner, where is she… Ben finds himself thinking about her as he rides up in the elevator. He should be thinking about the case but it's moments like this that his conscience bothers him; his conscience and the anger which seethes just below the surface at the possibility of another unpunished vampire crime. Would St. John come to him if Beth's disappearance was connected to the mysterious phone calls? What else could he do? It wasn't right to let this drop.
He is shown into the conference room to meet the corporate lawyer, Hank, a middle aged man with a degree in chemical engineering and the long time legal representative of the chemical company. A civil handshake; the professional courtesy that lawyers extend to each other regardless of the adversarial relationship in the courtroom.
"Thanks for coming, Ben. I've finally convinced the board we can't win this one even though a settlement would have driven the company into bankruptcy."
Talbot frowned, "What changed, the old man was going to fight this all the way, the good name of the family and so on."
The lawyer shrugged, "A bio-hazard disposal company bought a controlling interest and they have contacts at the CDC. It's an infusion of new capital and all they wanted was that we settle this case. It's an offer we can't refuse." The door to the conference room opens to admit a petite middle aged woman with dark hair piled elegantly and loosely atop her head.
"Hello," she says in a low voice…it's like phone sex , holding out her hand. "I'm Myra, Hank's new assistant."
"Ben Talbot," Holding her offered hand a moment to long, Ben finds himself staring at Myra's body, squeezed into clothing a size too small… A Dolly Parton vision for a 12 year old boy. Hank seems oblivious to her charms as he leafs through the papers in his brief case.
….
How did Myra end up sitting between them, passing papers… settlement terms… details he can't keep straight… When Hank leaves the room her hand is on his thigh… moving up… breathe, Ben… His clothes are too tight… the room is too hot…
"What do you think of these terms, Ben?" Myra asks. There is an edge of authority in her voice. She's just an assistant?
Talbot knows he can't make any kind of rational decision as he pushes this chair back from the conference table and away from Myra. "I'll have to take it back to the DA for review."
She smiles at him, a mild smile… at odds with her recent advances as she pushes reading glasses up on her nose. Talbot wonders, What was I thinking . Myra appears pretty but ordinary, in her middle to late forties. So what if she wears her clothes too tight. "Some of the new board members would like to meet with you before you leave."
"Sure," Ben stands and reaches up to adjust his tie, which is choking him. He wants some control in this situation. The door opens at the end of the room to admit two men, ordinary haircuts, everyday suits who slide easily into a couple of chairs at the conference table.
"Mr. Talbot, you have already spoken to some of our other colleagues, or rather they spoke to you. We regret they weren't entirely clear about what we needed from you, the current whereabouts of Beth Turner."
Without the safe distance of a phone call between them, these men seem much more threatening for all their bland appearance. "We've noticed that Beth Turner has left LA, we want to know where she is."
"Y'know, for all the mysterious phone calls no one has ever given me a compelling reason why I should join your little… anti-vampire League. Sure the vampires I've met aren't my favorite people but I have a hard time imagining businessmen hunting down peasants."
"Ben, do you think all vampires are tame like Mick St. John?"
"Actually, I don't, they are beyond the law and I have no evidence that they police themselves. The human justice system keeps me more than busy."
"We police them."
"How do you do that? Acts of terrorism? Who are you?"
"The wildlife management branch of the CDC."
"What!"
"When there is an imbalance of predators we decrease their numbers."
"Well, happy hunting." Ben turns as if to leave only to find himself yanked back and then held up against the wall by Myra, who examines him with a fanged smile and reflective eyes. Her tongue flicks against her teeth and Talbot is mesmerized and aroused.
"Myra works for us. We thought you should see what little chance a human has to resist a vampire. Sex, blood, your life… whatever Myra wants you'd give it to her gladly."
She's barely 5'3" in heels but somehow she runs a cool tongue along his neck, yanking his shirt open, buttons popping… she bites him above his nipple, bringing him to the edge of an orgasm, and then lets him go. Ben is breathless and uncomfortable, but he leans after her. She indulges him with a quick lick… that leaves him grateful and ready to follow her.
"Find out where Beth Turner is or kiss your free will goodbye, Ben." With that the three of them leave the room, "We'll be seeing you soon… you can't refuse meeting with us now that we have business with the city."
[url=.com/watch?v=pOwoG0dFqko&feature=related] Ache [/url]
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It's a dull gray afternoon with high maritime clouds damping down the daylight; hunger has pulled me out of my freezer early and pushed my human face aside. It's still hours until I meet Guillermo. I consider a glass of blood; a hunter's edge doesn't serve me now. So what St. John, you bite Beth, feed on her and now you're a picky eater… damn right I am… I get the kit out and promise myself that I will inject enough blood that I can think straight…
The intercom buzzes and the video turns on. It's Talbot. With a vamp? I don't see anyone in the picture. I let him in… there's the smell of vamp all over him. It's mixed in with the scent of his own blood. Someone has marked him.
"Come in Talbot, you look like hell."
"You don't look like much yourself."
My eyes are still bloodshot and my pale skin would tell any vamp I'm not feeding enough… I laugh in spite of myself. I sound like an asthmatic dog.
"Need a drink?" I search out an unopened bottle of scotch as Talbot finds his way to the couch; I've been negligent…if I still have a full bottle… or I stopped at the liquor store. I can't remember. "Ice?"
"It doesn't matter." I bring the bottle and two glasses and find him staring at the needle and vials of blood on the coffee table.
"So what happened to you, Talbot, or rather who…" Talbot's giving me a look, I can't tell if it's because I left the needle and the blood out or if it is the wary uncomfortable look you see in the locker room. I hitch my pajama bottoms up and collect my breakfast. "Start without me… I'm going to get dressed."
….
"Here's a shirt, Talbot." I toss a white shirt on the couch beside him, starched and folded from the laundry. I wore it when I was human.
"Can you all do it? Yank us "humans" around like we don't have a will and make us like it." Talbot glares at me over his glass. "Vampires…" he says it like it's a disease. "You look completely human now, although not exactly the sun worshiper…"
"We have to eat," I shrug. "I don't know, Ben; we can all charm our prey to some extent. You have to practice and you have to like that sort of thing… I don't. My ex-wife on the other hand likes to play with her food."
"They… these vampire hunters… want me to find out where Beth is."
"And you came to me?"
"Where else would I come? I'm angry, St. John, I gave you the benefit of the doubt because of Beth. After I knew about vampires, I asked her about my parents and she didn't dismiss it or pretend it was anything except a horrible crime. She hinted that you killed the girlfriend."
I did… and Tejada… and I turned Emma over to the cleaners… "Beth was kidnapped by my ex-wife when she was four… I tried to kill my ex-wife too, unfortunately that didn't work out. I know this doesn't help, but it is considered negligent carelessness to kill your dinner and a dinner date is expected to be mutual."
"What do you people do when it's not mutual?"
"Not much… but if you kill your dinner, clean-up can cost thousands. If you can't pay you work off your debt… there is only one rule. No one knows about us and killing people is a good way to attract attention."
"Like Dominic Michaels?
"Yeah, well I helped take care of that one too… it was almost a deal breaker with Beth." I'm getting tired of this, Talbot's questions. The silence lets Talbot's memories catch up with him… "Whoever she was, really did a number on you, didn't she?"
"It's like porn and death… I can't stop thinking about her. It's like I would work for them just to see her again.
"It will fade. Get mad and stay mad… the only thing that let me break free of my wife was that kidnapping a child, any child was unforgivable. Think about your mother and how you feel… do you think she had any kind of free will?" Sure I walked into Coraline's open arms and maybe Talbot's mother did the same. I've got to get him pissed off. He looks at me… should I insult her memory or…
"She had to like it…"
"Of course she liked it. I liked it too until my wife turned me into a vampire on our wedding night. It doesn't mean I was willing."
I sort of get Talbot back on his own two feet; it takes a lot of scotch and my promise of vampire justice for his parents. His phone rings, a woman he cares about… he says he'll see her tomorrow… that helps too. He lies, his meeting this afternoon turned into drinks… too many. He's thinking like a lawyer again. The city should be happy with the settlement… that helps too.
"Look, Ben, let the Legion think you are working for them. It's the safest thing to do. Tell them I don't know where Beth is either… that's true."
"I can tell them you're drinking and talking too much… I learned more about vampires this evening…"
"So we're drinking buddies now?"
"The way things are going… I wouldn't say no to a drink, period."
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