Chapter 1
Mick didn't look back as he heard the taxi pull away. He was quite proud of himself for that actually, because he really just wanted to catch up to Beth and fly back with her. What was the point of staying behind if she wasn't there with him? Sitting next to her on the plane for those few hours – even if she were going home to Josh – would have been bliss. She would have been his, if only for a short time.
But he had seen in her eyes and heard in her voice the guilt she felt at turning him down. He knew that had he changed his plans and returned with her those feelings would have been even stronger so he stayed behind. He walked quickly away from the taxi before he could change his mind and kept walking until the sound of the cab faded into the New York night. He pulled out his phone and quickly made arrangements for a later flight, then let his mind wander as he moved through the streets. Beth, open cases, Coraline… not focusing on anything in particular until that last conversation with Josef entered his thoughts.
"All these years, Josef, you ranting about how it could never work between us and humans."
"Well, what happened to Sara is proof that I'm right."
"Josef Kostan in love? That's proof that anything is possible!"
"Well, love can show you a part of yourself you never knew existed."
"Or a part you thought you'd lost forever."
"And then this happened. I guess the universe had a different plan for me. I guess who I am is who I'm supposed to be.
"You gonna try and make the thing with Beth work? … Well, I hope the universe is on your side.
Just a short conversation, but one that was so crucially important and still so full of questions. Could it be that vampires like he and Josef could find happiness? Did they deserve to find love? Was the tragedy that happened to Sara the payment demanded for that happiness?
The good mood he had been in when he'd left Josef's with Beth was quickly disappearing. Perhaps it was best that she had gone – it gave him a chance to think about what they had almost done. Yes, it was just a date, but up until now, they had been mostly about work – his cases or her stories. Would he have been able to let her go back to Josh after having her to himself for the night? She already filled his thoughts. Would spending the night with her – even if it was just out on the town – have sparked his obsessive personality? Turned her into another Coraline – breaking into her house, threatening her boyfriend? At least he knew that Coraline was into it – she wanted that side of him and knew just what buttons to push to bring it out. But Beth was most certainly NOT Coraline and he was a vampire now. Primal, predatory vampire instincts mixed with an obsession couldn't possibly end well when dealing with a human.
Mick looked up to see that he had almost arrived back at Josef's building. Completing the circuit, he wearily pulled himself up the stairs and rang the bell. Paula let him in and he sat in the parlour waiting for Josef, not wanting to disturb him.
He held his head in his hands and tried to decide what the right thing to do was. He knew Beth would say that she should have a say in the matter, but was it right to tell her how he felt when she had the opportunity for a normal life? Was all of her flirting a sign that she wasn't interested in that normal life, or just courting the 'excitement' of being in a dangerous situation, romanticizing vampires like an Anne Rice novel? He let out a sigh and leaned back in the couch, closing his eyes.
All Mick knew for sure was that it took two to tango and right now he was the one on the dance floor with Beth taking her turn at hiding in the shadows. He'd give her a few days after he got back to LA and then he'd see what the universe had in store for them.
"Mick, what are you doing here? I thought you and Beth left already." Mick opened to eyes to find Josef lowering himself into a chair across from him.
"Beth went back. I decided to hold off a bit, so I got a later flight. I thought I'd come by and see if you needed anything first."
"You let her go?"
"Well, I think she was a little…" he searched for the right word. "freaked? I suspect she wanted to get back to something normal." Josef nodded. They sat in silence for a long time. Josef's thoughts, no doubt, were centred on Sara. Mick didn't particularly want to think about anything right now. Unfortunately, his brain wouldn't listen. Flashes in his mind of all the possible futures he could have with Beth. The resignation of watching her live out her days with Josh. The joy of spending the rest of her life with her, only to have to watch her die. But he knew Beth – he knew he would end up turning her if they got together. The thought sickened him and excited him – and scared the shit out of him. His thoughts shifted to Sara and he flicked his eyes to Josef.
"Josef, if you knew then what would happen – what would happen to Sara, would you have changed anything?" Josef looked down and was silent for so long that Mick didn't think he was going to answer. But then he brought his head up; unshed tears in his eyes, brow furrowed in an attempt to keep them in check.
"I'd never give up the time I spent with her. That was the happiest year of my life. In over 400 years, I think it was perhaps the only time I've ever been able to truly be happy, to be able to be completely open with someone. I could live another 400 years and never feel that way again. Since I became a vampire, I've only had two people that I could trust completely – that weren't interested in me for my money or power. One of them is lying in that bed.
"Would I turn her, knowing this would happen to her? I don't know, man. There's still a chance, you know, that she could wake up. Maybe we'll live happily ever, maybe she'll hate me…"
Mick rose and moved to his side, putting a hand on his shoulder. Josef buried his head in his hands. He'd stayed strong for Sara all this time, and even for Beth today. Now, alone with the second person he could trust, he finally broke down. For the first time since that day so many years ago, he wept for the young life he had taken, for her stolen future, and their future together that Josef desperately clung to but didn't think would ever come.