Moonlight isn't mine. It's just a place I go to play.
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Beth reluctantly writes out a list of the things she needs. She wants to go with Mick, but she already told him she'd stay at Josef's. Mick sits with her until she drifts off to sleep. He stands to leave and hears her mumble, "Love you" in her half sleep.
He smiles down at her. "I love you, too."
As Mick turns to start down the stairs, he hears a car pull up front and looks out the front window. He sees the limo and wonders who's come calling. He's at the bottom of the stairs and sees Denton walking through the front door. Mick blocks the stairs in full vamp form. There is no way in hell Denton gets past Mick without one of them ending up dead.
Josef and Robert both hear the car at the same time. Robert shrugs at Josef's questioning glance. Robert heads for the door to see who it is and smells Denton. Oh, Shit He turns back to get Josef and sees Josef pass him on his way to the front door.
Josef enters the room to Mick standing at the bottom of the stairs in full-fang vampire mode. Josef thinks if Denton can't see that confronting Mick is really a bad idea, he deserves what he gets. The two have a long-standing hatred for one another. Add in Mick's locked-in rage over what has happened to Beth, and Denton could be dead in a heartbeat. He's older than Mick, but he's no more than a thug and is limited in his abilities. That gives Mick a big advantage, especially in his current state of mind.
Denton holds up his hands. "I forgot a case. I just came back to get it."
Josef thinks Denton must be smarter than he thought, except that in the next instant he tries to move past Mick.
Josef watches Denton go flying across the room, through the front window and land on Josef's Ferrari.
"Damn it, Mick. Be careful of the car." Josef sighs, that window is going to be a pain in the ass to have replaced. It had to be special ordered when the house was built.
Robert moves past Mick. "I'll go up and get this case he says he forgot."
Mick nods and Robert zips up the stairs.
Josef leans against the doorway watching the proceedings. He sure as hell isn't going to get between the two. Josef knows that Robert told Denton to go to the hotel, but he had to sneak back to find out what was going on.
Denton stalks back into the house. Now he's showing fangs and the two of them are about to wreck his home with this throw down. Robert comes down the stairs with Denton's case in his hand. Robert moves past Mick and throws the case at Denton. "Here's the case you say you forgot." Robert spits the words at him.
Josef forgets how much Robert hates Denton. Josef thinks that's the first time he's seen Robert like this in close to a hundred years.
Denton catches the case in midair. He snarls at Mick. "I won't forget this." And he stalks out the door.
Josef moves to block the door to the limo. Denton can't open it without Josef moving. He looks at Josef. Josef gives him his deadliest smile. "I gave you an order, to go to a hotel but you couldn't do as your told. We're done. I don't need people who can't follow orders. Don't ever come back here. If I hear of you bothering Mick or anyone associated with him or me, I will make sure you regret it. Mick has his morals and all that, but he would not hesitate to kill you and he'll get all the backup he might need."
Josef moves out of the way and Denton opens the door and slams it behind him, but the car doesn't move. Josef looks to the other side of the car and sees the young driver standing a safe way back from the car. Josef doesn't have to be a vampire to see the young one is frightened. Having him drive Denton is out of the question. Josef sighs, this gets more complicated by the minute. The only thing that could add to this mess is and oh wait, there it is, Beth is awake and looking for Mick. Since the last thing Josef wants is for Denton to see Beth, he moves back into the house to tell Mick to see to her. He sees Mick already running up the stairs to her.
Josef turns to Robert. "Who do we have that can drive Denton back to the hotel?"
Robert makes a sour face. "No one, but me. I'll do it, just to get rid of him. He won't dare try anything with me. He thinks he could take me. It would be a pleasure to show him he is wrong."
Josef smiles. "I'm sure the keys are in the ignition." as Robert walks out to the limo.
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Beth wakes up to the sound of the crash downstairs. She's disoriented at first; afraid she is back in Mick's apartment with the vampires. When she realizes she's at Josef's and it all comes back to her. She remembers Mick being here and worries that the crash has something to do with him. She gets out of bed and walks to the door only to have him slip in and take her in his arms. She leans back and looks at him. She can see he's upset about something. "Are you ok? What was that noise?"
He smiles at her rather triumphantly she thinks and tells her. "I'm fine. Nothing to worry about, just taking out the trash."
Beth hears a car drive away and wonders what kind of car the trash drives. "Mick, what aren't you telling me?"
"It's not a big deal. There was someone here that didn't belong. I took care of it, although probably not the way Josef would have liked. Now needs a new front window and he has a dent in the Ferrari." He says the last bit a little sheepishly.
Beth shakes her head. "Are you sure? I know you; few things would evoke that kind of response. If there is a threat to me, I need to know what it is."
"It's fine. I'm sorry I woke you. Go get back in bed. I'll be back before you know it." She nods, but decides she's going to have a talk with Josef or Robert or both. There is something he's not telling her.
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Denton sits in the back of the limo thinking about the altercation with St. John. Well, he found out what he wanted to know, the hard way certainly, but at least he knows what they are protecting. Denton is not an idiot. First off, he could smell the human and that smell, her smell had not been there before. He's sure she must belong to St. John. In all the years they have known one another he has never gone to such lengths. He's sure there is only one thing that would elicit this kind of violence from St. John and that is a female he is protecting. She must be something special for Josef to add his protection to her as well.
Mick drops off the things Beth requested, and then heads back out.
First stop is his apartment. He needs some time in his own freezer. It has been a long night, and into the morning, by the time it's all said and done.
The next afternoon Beth is dressed in her own clothes again. Much earlier Mick went to her place and got her clothes, he said so he wouldn't have to smell Josef every time he kisses her. She laughs at the thought. Mick also brought her a couple books and her MP3 player. He's trying to find things to keep her from being too bored.
Josef's chef is human named Xavier. While he's making her a sandwich, she spends some time quizzing him. She wants to know what it's like living in this house and cooking for Josef's girls. She can tell she's driving him crazy and she finally feels sorry for him and leaves him alone.
Beth decides that she will sit at the table off the kitchen and have her sandwich. It feels odd in the rest of the house with everyone asleep. It feels empty and she doesn't like feeling like she's alone. A girl wanders into the kitchen. Beth watches her talk to the chef. She notices the girl is about twenty and unbelievably beautiful. She figures this must be one of Josef's girls. She never sees them because they spend all their time in another wing of the house.
Xavier hands the girl a salad. She starts to come to the table Beth is sitting at and stops. The girl hesitates. Beth smiles at her hoping she will sit down. Beth would love to have someone to talk to.
The girl stops short of the table and narrows her eyes at Beth when she sees the fang marks on Beth's neck. Beth realizes the girl thinks they are from Josef and she laughs. "Come, sit down. It's not what you think." The girl is still hesitant but figures maybe she can find out if this is the reason Josef didn't come see any of them for a whole day.
Beth smiles at her. "My name is Beth."
The girl looks at her warily. "Emily." She says.
"Well, Emily it's nice to meet you."
Emily nods at her. "Are you a friend of Josef?" Emily asks.
Beth smiles "Yes, but not like you're a friend of Josef. I'm a better friend of Mick. Do you know Mick?"
Emily smiles at her for the first time. "Yes, I know Mick. He's a nice guy and we all like him even if he doesn't ever, well, you know."
They chat for a little while and Emily looks at Beth's neck more pointedly. "Ah, I was wondering, about the marks on your neck, Mick?" Emily hopes she hadn't asked the wrong question. Beth seems upset.
"I was attacked the other night by three vampires. Two of them bit me. Josef found me and took care of me until Mick could get home. He was out of town."
"You know, I forget sometimes that there are vamps out there who aren't like Josef and Mick. Well, unless that awful Denton is visiting, then I remember. I wish Josef wouldn't let him stay here. He's not nice. I was glad when I heard Mick tossed his butt out of here last night. I would have loved to have watched him sail through the front window."
Beth perks up at the mention of the fight. "Hey, I was sleeping when that happened, and I didn't get a chance to ask Mick about it. What happened?"
They hear someone clearing their throat. Both turn to see Josef standing in the doorway. Beth wonders how long he's been there. Damn sneaky vamps. Josef looks at Emily, "I think you two have had enough of a visit. Beth needs to rest. She's had a rough time of it."
Emily smiles at Josef and turns back to Beth. "It was nice talking to you. You know if you put some Vitamin E on those wounds, they will heal up faster." Emily picks up her salad and smiles at Beth. "Bye."
"Thanks, I'll do that. It was nice talking to you."
Beth turns to Josef. "We were having a nice time. How come you made her leave?"
He smiles gently at her. "You need your rest."
"If I get anymore rest, I'm going to go stir crazy. Josef, how come Mick threw that guy through the window?"
Josef sighs and sits down. "You tell Mick he owes me for this. He should have discussed this with you himself. I think he's feeling over-protective and doesn't want you worrying about anything. Mick and Denton hate each other and have for years. Denton is a thug; he will do things that need to be done that, let's say, Mick won't do, so I've tolerated him. I got rid of Denton before I brought you here, but he came back for a case he left behind. I'm sure he did it on purpose so he could find out what was going on. Mick was in no mood for him. He stood at the bottom of the stairs and would have killed him before he would have let Denton up those stairs. So, he tossed Denton out." Josef snorts. "I guess you haven't been to the front entryway. If you had, you'd see that Mick threw Denton through the special ordered, pain in the ass to replace, plate glass window and dented my Ferrari." Beth covers her mouth trying not to laugh.
Josef smiles, "Actually it was good for Mick. It took some of the edge off him. He was wired pretty tight after what happened."
Beth looks a little nervous. "Is Denton likely to be trouble?"
"I don't think so. Mick and I made it clear that he was not welcome here again. I made sure he knew that Mick and anyone he associates is under my protection. Don't worry about it. Besides once Mick finishes up his business and you leave here; you're going to be lucky if you can shake him for some time."
She smiles, that knowing smile women have when they are in love, and Josef wonders if Mick has any idea what he's in for.
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When twilight rolls around, Mick takes a good look at his apartment to make sure that the evidence of Beth's attack was erased. He knows that it is going to take a little while for her to feel comfortable in the apartment again. He doesn't want anything to make it worse. He admits Victoria's crew did a pretty good job on the cleanup. He moves a few things around to hide a couple of pictures that were removed because of broken glass.
Next Mick calls Victoria. "Hey, I'm back in town. Any chance I can meet you somewhere. I'd like to talk about the guys who attacked Beth."
"Sure, we've just rolled up to an alley over on 34th by that little Korean dinner. I'll meet you in the parking lot."
"Thanks." Mick says.
Mick walks across the dark parking lot. "Nice to see you didn't get caught in the crossfire." He laughs softly, "Heard she took a shot at Josef. Beth was worried she might have hit you when I mentioned you were there. Thank you for helping Josef with her and thanks for getting my place back in order."
Victoria grins at him. "You know, I'm not much for your average human, but that girl of yours did pretty well. She stayed alive and managed to take out one of the bad guys. Not bad. She'll make a good vampire someday."
"You sound like Josef. So, what do you have for me on the dead one?" Mick asks.
Victoria snarls softly. "He was only sixty; name was Miles, just your average punk. From the sounds of it, he would have had to be put down at some point anyway. This wasn't the first time he and his buddies were involved in something like this. The three of them killed a couple of other women, one up in San Francisco and another here somewhere. They aren't hiding their fang marks or calling me or anything else they are supposed to do. They are a danger to us all. The difference from what I can find out is that your girl fought them."
"Any idea about the other two? Has anyone seen them around?" Mick asks.
"The bartender at Bennies, over on 5th told me he ran with two others about the same age. From what I could find out, you can find them there most nights. Although that may not be the case if they know you're hunting them. Are you going to take care of this?" She asks.
Mick flashes his fangs. "What do you think?"
"Yea, dumb question." Victoria takes out a pen and her card and prints the names of the other two Mick is looking for.
He takes the card. "I'll call you when it's done. Send me the bill."
"Can't. Josef said he's paying the freight on this one. Call me when it's time."
They both disappear into the darkness.
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In the early evening, a messenger shows up. Robert takes the package and Josef tells him to give it to Beth. The two of them look on as she tears into the package to discover a very nice new laptop.
There is a note.
To the lovely Beth, this one has about twice the power and memory of your old one. All your files transferred with no problem so everything should be there. Ask Josef to give you the guest codes for his wireless network.
Ryder.
P.S. It was Josef's idea.
Beth gives a yell and is so happy to have her laptop back she gives Robert a hug, and then runs to Josef and hugs him. Beth looks up at Josef. "I'll pay you back when I get paid."
He waves it away. "This ones on me."
She smiles and hugs again. "Thank you so much."
She sits down to check out all the new features on the laptop. Josef smiles. That should keep her busy for a couple days and hopefully out of trouble.
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Denton sits in the airport bar waiting for his plane. He is going back to Detroit. He will think on how to get even with St. John from there. No need to stay in California.
Denton smells the decay before he sees her. All he knows is that she is very old. He looks up as she sits down across from him. She's a very beautiful vampire, no idea of her age of course but if he had to guess he would say over 400. She is older than Josef that is for sure. He doesn't say anything just watches her.
She smiles at him, "I understand that you and Josef have had a falling out due to St. John."
Denton nods. "Word travels fast."
"How would you like to get even with the two of them?"
Denton smiles "You've got my attention. Keep talking."
"St. John and Josef need a lesson, and you can help me give them that."
"That's all well and good. You're right, I would like to get even with those two, but I still need to get paid. I don't do anything for free."
"How about I make St. John's human a present to you?"
Denton perks up immediately. "If you can help me get that, you can consider that all the payment I need."
"I thought that might be the case."
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Comments are always welcome.