Disclaimer: I own nothing. Though I might just as well own it, as CBS has given up their rights to it.
AN: Once again, my utmost and sincere apologies for the agonizingly long time in between updates. In between severe writer's block, exam stuff, and spending nearly a week at my best friend's house becoming shamelessly attached to her adorable 3 month old niece, I've been sort of busy. Oh, and I've been doing an on-line Civics course as well. Anyway, you good people have waited long enough for a continuation of the story, so I'll keep my ramblings short and sweet. Here's chapter 7, folks!
The hours passed slowly for Mick, Josef, and Dante. Five long, tense hours had passed since Beth and Rory's disappearance, and it was beginning to take a toll on the patience of the three male vampires. A lot of people would say that it was a bad idea for three anxious, territorial, enraged vampires to be in an enclosed space for such a long period of time. Well, a lot of people would be right.
Since Josef had arrived, they had all been waiting anxiously for some sort of message from Reynolds. Josef paced anxiously across the apartment, while Dante sat in the corner repeatedly cracking his knuckles. Mick sat on the couch, hand hovering over the phone, staring off into space. All of them had worst-case scenarios of what might be happening to Beth and Rory playing on a loop in their minds, each scenario more gruesome and dastardly than the last. None of them spoke.
Each time they heard a noise, the movement of the elevator in the hallway, the ring of one of their phones, they would jump up and move with vamp-speed toward the source of the noise. Each time, however, they were devastated and angered to find that it wasn't a message from Reynolds.
As each hour passed, Mick became less and less sure of what Reynolds planned on doing next. Just a few short hours ago he'd been positive that Reynolds wanted something, that he planned on using Beth and Rory to blackmail Mick into handing over all of the evidence against him. Otherwise, why would Reynolds have meticulously planned and orchestrated this whole event. Mick was sure that Reynolds had already had some dastardly plan in mind concerning Rory…but Beth? What did she have to do with all of this, other than the fact that she was connected to Mick?
After five hours of waiting, however, Mick was beginning to doubt that Reynolds was going to contact him at all. What if Reynolds had done this simply to play with Mick's mind? What if he was doing this to punish Mick? What if Mick really wouldn't ever see Beth again? At this deeply disturbing thought, Mick began to feel sick. Soon, however, his train of thought was disturbed by two very loud voices to his left. Looking in the direction of the disturbance, he found that Dante had moved from his spot in the corner and was now standing face to face with Josef, both of them vamped out, their faces centimetres apart.
"…You shouldn't even be here anyway. It's not like this has anything to do with you." Dante growled at Josef. Josef's eyes flashed dangerously, but he remained silent. "I have no idea why Mick even called you."
"He called me here because I have the resources to find Reynolds, you dumb fuck." Josef retorted, "And he called me here because I happen to care about Rory. Unlike you, because if you even gave a damn about her, you wouldn't have been such a jackass and she wouldn't have left the apartment. It's your fault she-"
"JOSEF! THAT'S ENOUGH!" Mick shouted, but it was too late. At Josef's accusations, Dante let out a low growl, which soon turned into an enraged howl. At the words 'It's your fault', Dante had lost all control of his temper and threw himself at the significantly older vampire. He didn't seem to care about the fact that, at less than a year old, he was still a fledgling, nor about the fact that Josef, being over 400 years old, was not only stronger, faster, and more powerful, but that he'd had several centuries of experience in fighting. All Dante cared about was the fact that Josef was encroaching on his territory, his Rory. Dante could barely think past the primal urge within him that was screaming for him to tear Josef to pieces. Furthermore, he was driven by the consuming guilt he felt at the biting truth of Josef's words. The combination drove him near the point of insanity, and the only thought that ran through his mind was that he wanted, no, he needed to kill.
The fight was short but furious. Blood and pieces of furniture and chunks of skin went flying in every direction as the two viciously tore at each other. Howls and grunts and sickening snaps filled the air, the two enraged vampires being beyond the point of words. Though Josef was older, Dante knew how to hold his own, not to mention that his rage was giving him a significant boost in strength, even for a vampire. As Josef pinned Dante to the ground beneath him and began clawing and punching his face viciously, Mick knew it was time to step in. With a frustrated, furious howl, he jumped off the couch and lunged at his two friends, surprising them as he tore them apart and threw them into the walls on opposite sides of the room.
Still vamped out, looking angrily at his two shocked best friends on either side of the room, Mick stood in place, breathing heavily in and out.
"You two have unresolved issues. I get it." He started angrily, still looking back and forth between the two. "And our current situation has us all angry and looking for a fight. Okay, fine. But tearing each other's throats out like wild animals solves NOTHING!" Mick shouted the last word, clearly venting some of his own stress at the moment. The other two were silent. Mick took a deep but unnecessary breath to steady himself before continuing in a dangerously low voice, "Now, you're going to stop this pointless bullshit right here, right now, or so help me God," he growled his emphasis on those four words, "I will stake the both of you and leave you out in the middle of the desert at high noon. Save it for when we find Reynolds." Mick stopped talking. Dante and Josef began to growl at each other once more. "I SAID ENOUGH!!" Mick snarled, barely managing to sound human. The other two stopped immediately. Even Josef was taken aback. He'd known Mick for over half a century, and never had he seen him so…vengeful.
There was a quiet sound from the doorway of Mick's office, something between a cough and a squeak. Ryder stood there, looking scared, as though he thought that the other three vampires might turn their rage on him once they noticed him.
"Uh…hem…look, I'm really sorry to have to interrupt but…you might want to see this. N-now would be preferable…"
"What is it Ryder?" Mick interrupted, a little more impatiently than was necessary. Ryder looked even more terrified, if that was even possible. He was more of a "Make peace, not war" sort of vampire, having been turned in the seventies. Needless to say, he liked to avoid conflict if he could help it.
"Uh…it-it looks like your guy wants to have a chat with you via web cam." Ryder stammered.
At this, Mick perked up immediately. The conflict between Dante and Mick momentarily forgotten, all three of them rushed immediately into the office. As they rushed past, Ryder gave a small squeak and jumped out of the way. Mick sat in the chair in front of his computer, Josef and Dante each looking over one of his shoulders. Ryder silently seated himself in front of his own computer equipment, some of the equipment he was actually able to move here from Josef's office, given the short notice, and proceeded to prepare to track the signal. He gave Mick a small nod to Mick, indicating that he was ready to begin tracking the signal, and Mick clicked the "answer" button in the box telling him that he had a call waiting. He was instantly met with a picture of a man with jet-black hair and cold, hard, ruthless green eyes. The man wore a smug smile as he stared at his computer screen.
"Hello, St. John. It seems we finally have a chance to talk face-to-face. Well…sort of." The man's grin grew even wider. "I trust you recognize me by now."
"Reynolds." Mick growled into the mic that Ryder had hurriedly set up. "Where are Beth and Rory? What have you done with them?"
The smile faded somewhat on the other man's face. "Straight to business, I see…pity. I've been looking forward to this opportunity to get better acquainted for quite a while now. After all, you seem to be the only person to have been able to figure me out thus far-"
"WHERE ARE THEY?" Mick shouted, becoming incredibly impatient by the man's avoidance of his question.
"Fine, fine." Reynolds sighed, sounding bored. Apparently, this wasn't exactly how he'd pictured this meeting would go. Mick watched the screen as Reynolds bent his head down and typed something into his computer. A second later, Mick's screen was filled with an image, most likely from a security camera, of Rory and Beth's motionless bodies in what looked like a small partition of a basement. Anger and fear flooded through Mick. Why weren't they moving? They weren't…they couldn't possibly be…
"YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU KILLED THEM!" Mick roared, his eyes bleeding silver and his fangs extending.
A ruthless chuckle came through the speakers of Mick's computer.
"Calm down, Mick. You wouldn't want anyone getting a glimpse of those fangs, would you?" Mick stopped dead. There was no camera on his end, so how…? "Yes, St. John. I know what you are. I've been watching you for a long time, now. I know of the vampire cleverly concealed by your human façade." He grinned, a horrible, terrifying grin. "You know, I'm actually hurt that you think so little of me. No, they're not dead. I haven't killed them. Yet." He added with a cruel laugh.
"What do you want?" Mick growled, forcing himself to calm down.
"I propose a trade." The other man replied matter-of-factly, his demeanour turning suddenly businesslike. "It's simple, really. You've found me out. You've discovered the truth. You have some annoyingly incriminating evidence implicating me in those recent murders. So here's the deal. I'll divulge you the information on their location in exchange for all of the evidence you possess implicating me. Simple, easy…everybody wins."
"Except the women you'll continue to kill if we go along with this." Mick replied coldly.
Zachary gave a genuinely entertained laugh. "It's not like you have much of a choice in this matter. The simple fact is, if you don't, I'll continue to kill women anyway, only your precious Aurora and Elizabeth will die as well."
Mick snarled a frustrated snarl. He knew he was defeated; knew Reynolds was currently holding all the cards.
"Name your terms." Mick growled. Zachary smiled maliciously. He had Mick St. John exactly where he wanted him.
MLMLMLMLML
Rory awoke to the sharp painful sensation of something chewing on the fingers of her left hand. She spent most of her time shifting in and out of consciousness, her body too weak to maintain extended periods of consciousness. The heat and humidity began to play tricks on her mind as she lay there, and she nearly gagged at the stench of decomposition that hung heavy in the air; no doubt due to the fact that they had spent too long outside of the freezer, combined with the stifling heat around them. She wasn't ever sure how long they had been trapped there like animals, the hours seeming to melt together in an eternity of torment and suffering.
Rory struggled to shift her position enough to be able to see what it was that was causing her pain. As she looked down at her hand, she was horrified to see that a large, furry rodent, no doubt thinking that she was dead, was beginning to nibble at her hand. Suddenly, her ears were filled with the fast pitter-patter of the creature's heart, its veins visible to her through its thick fur. The blood was singing, calling to the vampire that lay dormant. Her eyes bled silver as she watched it, waiting, preparing…
…And then, in a move that sapped her of all remaining strength, Rory quickly lifted her hand and, before the rodent even had time to register what was happening, her hand came crashing back down on top of it, snapping its neck and severing its brainstem instantly. As the creature's heart stilled, Rory lay there, panting, resting in an attempt to regain enough strength to bring the creature's tiny corpse to her mouth.
After what seemed like an eternity of just lying there, she finally managed to summon enough strength to grasp the furry creature and bring it to her face. Somewhere in the semi-conscious recesses of her starved, overheated brain, she noted briefly that the rodent appeared to be a mole before losing the ability for conscious thought. Instinct took over as she brought the dead mole to her parched, cracked lips, sank her fangs into it, and drank hungrily. Under any normal circumstances, the creature's blood would have tasted revolting. Rory was so far gone, however, that it was the sweetest thing she'd ever tasted in her entire existence. She drained the creature ravenously, draining it dry of all of its life fluid. She continued to try to drink long after the last drop of the creature's blood had been devoured, her consciousness surrendered to the ravenous vampire, making thought impossible. As the vampire finally realized that there was simply no more blood to be had, it flung the rodent aside angrily and gave a frustrated wail.
Rory returned to herself, forcing the vampire back down, as Beth stirred in the corner. She wasn't sure exactly how long it had been since she'd fed Beth her own blood, but it had helped at least for a little while. As time had worn on, however, Beth had begun to drift in and out of consciousness as well, and had only brief moments of lucidity before becoming babbling and incoherent again. Rory had even watched helplessly as Beth had suffered several fits of what appeared to be seizures before slipping into an extended period of unconsciousness. Half the time, Rory was unable to tell whether Beth was unconscious, or if she had succumbed to starvation. She was utterly relieved when Beth would regain momentary consciousness long enough to babble something incoherent and lose consciousness once more. At least it told Rory that Beth was still alive and fighting.
"…Rory?" Beth whispered, and Rory half-dragged herself over to where Beth lay, unable to even lift her head. "Rory…it's so hot in here. I'm so…so hungry…" Beth managed to get out weakly as Rory came to sit by her side.
"I know, Beth." Rory whispered back, tears in her eyes. She was sure her best friend was dying, and yet she had no idea how to help her, or how long she could hold on. She was happy, at least, that Beth was having one of her few moments of clarity. "But just hold on a little longer, okay? Mick will come and get us out of here soon. You've just got to keep it together for a little while."
Beth nodded once, so slightly that it was barely imperceptible. "Mick…" She whispered, before her eyes unfocused and her head tilted to the side, her eyes beginning to drop.
"Beth…come on, Beth…stay with me!" Rory said frantically, shaking her best friend as she slipped once more into unconsciousness. If she could just manage to keep Beth awake and coherent then maybe…just maybe, she could manage to keep her alive long enough for Mick to arrive. "Beth!"
Beth had already slipped back into unconsciousness. Rory gave a frustrated snarl; tears beginning to drip down her dirty face. She hated not knowing…not knowing if Beth would wake up lucid or incoherent…not knowing if Beth would wake up at all. And she hated the solitude…being left alone for hours with only her own thoughts for comfort. Considering their situation, her thoughts themselves weren't very comforting at all. She needed another person, someone…anyone…to keep her from losing it and going completely insane.
As Rory sat there silently cursing her current situation, a now all-too familiar pain suddenly overwhelmed her. Her stomach ached and she writhed in agony. Since she'd been trapped there, she'd managed to catch four rodents, three rats and the mole she'd just drained, and drank from all of them. After each one, she'd been struck by the horrible protests of her insides. She knew now that it was simply a reaction to drinking animal blood. Vampires, having been engineered to consume human blood exclusively, had a difficult time processing the blood of animals. Because animal blood carried more impurities than human blood, not to mention the fact that the blood itself was foreign, the vampire's body would have difficulty breaking it down, thus they would have violent attacks of pain.
As the pain overwhelmed Rory, she curled up into the fetal position and rocked back and forth, whimpering quietly, all the while praying to whatever God happened to be listening at that particular moment that Mick and Josef would hurry up and come for them.
MLMLMLMLML
Mick, Josef, and Dante all stood waiting at the designated drop spot. Mick had been strongly considering leaving Josef and Dante at the loft, but quickly realized that if he did so he would return to find his apartment in shambles and one or both of them dead. So, having no other alternative, he had grudgingly brought them along, giving them a warning that, should they start anything, he had a stake with each of their names on it. Needless to say, it had been a surprisingly quiet trip.
Mick looked at his watch and swore loudly. Reynolds had insisted they wait two agonizingly long hours before heading to the drop spot. Mick knew that every second they wasted, the chances that Rory and Beth would come out of this okay grew slim, but unfortunately he didn't have much choice in the matter. Reynolds held all the cards right now, and therefore called all the shots. Mick had to admit; despite the fact that Zachary Reynolds was a total psychopath, he knew how to get what he wanted.
All three vampires were pacing anxiously back and forth; and although they weren't saying anything to each other, Dante and Josef were glaring dangerously at each other and, without fully even realizing it, circling each other.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, a beat-up old Chevrolet rolled into the parking lot. Mick approached the car quickly, followed by Dante and Josef. The window of the car rolled down as they approached.
"Mick St. John?" The rough-looking man, most likely a former convict, questioned.
"Yeah, that's me." Mick replied. He slipped a large, thick manila envelope out of his trench coat pocket and handed it to the stranger in the car. "Everything's there…there are no copies. I held up my end of the bargain. Now where are they?"
The man didn't respond. Instead, he handed Mick a piece of folded paper.
"Go to the payphone in front of this building one hour from now. Zachary will phone you with the information."
"Now, hold on a minute, that wasn't part of the-"
"Mr. Reynolds prefers to exchange the information over a secure, untraceable line. He's a very precautious person." The man responded, "And since it appears that you haven't got much of a choice in the matter, I suggest you go and wait by the phone."
With that, the man rolled up the window of the car and sped away. Mick let out an enraged growl and began attacking the nearby dumpster, until Josef and Dante had to forcibly restrain him.
"Mick, this won't do anything to help the situation." Josef told Mick as he struggled to keep the angry vampire restrained, "Come on…let's just go wait at the payphone."
After some persuasion, Josef was finally able to get Mick calmed down enough to get him into the car and make their way to the payphone.
MLMLMLMLML
The hour had come and gone, and Josef, Mick, and Dante were all waiting anxiously beside the payphone indicated to them. They all jolted as the payphone began to ring suddenly.
"Reynolds." Mick growled, after grabbing the phone at the first ring.
"Hello, St. John." Zachary responded smugly, "I'm glad to see you're good to your word. Your co-operation was most pleasing."
Mick suppressed the growl that threatened to tear from his chest. "Alright. I stuck to my word, now you stick to yours. Tell me where Beth and Rory are."
There was a cold silence on the other end that chilled Mick to the core. Soon the line was filled with an even icier chuckle.
"You've stuck to your word, and so I've stuck to mine. You see, there's something you should know about me, Mick. I like a challenge…and I like issuing them. You see, you've intrigued me from the start St. John. You've figured me out when no one else has been able to. I'd like to see just how brilliant an investigator you truly-"
"YOU SICK SADISTIC BASTARD!" Mick roared into the phone. "YOU HAVEN'T TOLD ME ANYTHING!"
"Oh, but I have." Reynolds replied with another cold chuckle. "I've told you multiple times already. You just have yet to figure it out." There was a momentary pause, "And I suggest you figure it out soon, Mick. The full moon's in a few days' time. If they even last that long."
With a last ruthless chuckle, Reynolds hung up.
Mick just stood there, receiver still in hand, looking at the other two vampires, who'd listened to the whole conversation. They looked back at him with the same terrified expression.
TBC…
AN: Yeah, I know. I really am evil. I make you wait sooooo long for an update, and now that I finally give you one, I make it an evil cliffie. :D But you know me…I'm an addict. Just can't resist them. So here it is! And hopefully I won't have to take so long before the next update. Life's busy, you know, in between sleeping and on-line coursework and burning waffles for ritual sacrifice, it's hard to get a spare moment to write. So just bear with me.
Love always, Cat.
