Hi everyone!!
Yes I am finally posting a new chapter! I am really sorry it took so long to update but I was really busy! :(
Now, so you know, the three next chapters are written, they just need some reading and correction. That means you won't have to wait one long month! :)
I want to thank all of you who put me in their favorite stories and story alert. It means a lot to me and I'm always glad to receive an e-mail telling me that. I thank you for reading my story and I really hope you'll like where I take this story. This chapter is quite sad (yes, I'm sorry for that)... I would love to know your opinion!!
I also thank my two wonderful, great and amazing betas: Ancholia and Moonjat! :)
Now it's time to let you read!!! ;o)
Vampire's secrets
The wind blew in the park around the castle. Dead leaves turned above the ground, dancing with the wind in a last dance before they slowly fell back on the ground. The sky was sad, clouds were slowly and heavily moving in their funeral march. Suddenly tears fell on the park and the nature followed the grieving in a sad silence.
One tall dark shadow stood behind a window and looked outside. The warm and golden light shining in the room contrasted with the gloomy colors of the park. Inside the room, three vampires talked to each other. Their eyes were dark and a light of evil slowly burned as they shared their terrible ideas.
Richelieu sat at his desk and looked at a family tree on an old paper. This one didn't contain parents and children; the relationship between the names was darker. Sires and fledglings were connected by red lines, reminding that blood was the source of their relationship. Richelieu took another list and on the top of it, there was one name, Josef Kostan. Under this name, Richelieu could read all the people he had under his protection and that meant a good part of the vampires in L.A, if not all of them.
Sitting in front of him, the younger vampire looked at his father with a proud smile on his face. His plan was the perfect one.
The dark figure at the window slowly turned and his evil voice broke the silence: "Did she kill the second vampire?"
Lance stared at the old vampire standing behind Richelieu. "Yes, she did. Everything is going exactly like I told you."
Richelieu smiled at his son and asked him. "Do you know where Henri is?"
Lance's smile disappeared and he sat straight. "No, I don't. My man is in Montreal trying to find him."
"I don't think he's in Canada." Richelieu rubbed his lips. "He's naïve but smart. I think he's in the U.S."
The old vampire slowly walked to the other part of the room, listening and thinking. Lance looked at the two vampires. "Are you sure, father? Do you think he's with them?"
Richelieu nodded. "We don't know for sure, but let see what your man is going to find out. Hopefully Henri doesn't know that much about our plan, so he's not the priority."
The old vampire walked behind Lance. "The youngest can be the most dangerous. His mind is full of good intentions, but it also can be source of great damages. If Henri is really with Kostan, then we should use this weakness."
Lance was going to respond but the ring of the phone broke the discussion. The three vampires looked at the black object on the desk until Richelieu answered. His eyes showed that it was someone important. The two other vampires used their senses to listen to the voice on the other part of the line.
"Talbot found the head and he made the connection with the list. But Kostan and the D.A's office have no real trail to follow."
"Good. You did a great work. What are you going to do next?"
"I'll have a talk with someone that Kostan knows very well. It should add some spice to this case."
"Very good! Kostan will be more worried."
Lance smiled. He wished he could see Kostan's face when they would find the third dead vampire.
The line died silently. Richelieu put the receiver back on the black phone. He looked at Lance.
"Go to your brothers and be ready for the next move."
Lance stood up and left the room. The two old vampires were now alone and looked at each other. Finally the eldest one said.
"Are you sure that her past with Kostan won't disturb our goal?"
Richelieu leaned back in his chair. He looked at his desk, then answered.
"This is revenge and that's why she is doing this for us."
***
Beth was on her couch, looking into the void. The apartment was slowly appearing under the shy light of the morning. Everything was silent, dead, just like the vampire who didn't move. A tear fell on her cheek following the same trail than the other ones before. It wasn't only sadness, but also a long and heavy tiredness. She knew she needed to sleep but right now she couldn't. She was remembering over and over again what happened when Mick came by.
"Talbot knows everything."
Mick's face was concerned and worried. He walked closer to Beth and looked at her. He'd never seen his Beth so pallid. Last time he'd been with her, she was okay. It had been just a day and now Beth looked terrible. He could feel all the emotions floating around her. Tiredness, worry, anger and sadness.
He slowly sat down next to her and took her hand in his. She looked at the floor, she was like a ghost. He was completely disarmed by her feelings. He squeezed her hand and put his other one on her chin so she could look at him. "Beth, what's wrong?"
Beth lifted her eyes like if she woke up from a dream.. Her eyes met his beautiful ones. Oh she loved those green eyes, but now they were full of worry. A wave of love from him reached her; she felt a little better but she knew she had to tell him what happened and it wouldn't be easy. She didn't know where to begin, he had to help her, she was lost.
As if he understood her, he squeezed her hand again and asked. "What does Talbot know?"
Beth looked at the table in front of her. She was sitting where Talbot had been and looked at the circle of water on the table, the one made by the glass of water she'd given him. She opened her mouth and she spoke with a broken voice.
"Talbot knows about us and about what I hid from him." Beth couldn't look at Mick. She was so afraid to see disapointment in his eyes. She felt her hand in his and realized that he didn't let her go. His hand was strong and she felt so safe with him. It seemed that all the things that had happened before, never existed. She was home with Mick.
Mick was shocked, he didn't know it would happen so fast. With this case Talbot had many chances to find out about vampires, but they'd been careful. He hadn't thought of Beth and the danger of being around Talbot. She was new in this world and they'd given her a hard case to work on. Josef and Mick were so sure that Beth was ready, but they'd quickly forgotten that she was a one-month-old vampire. Now he could feel and see how lost she was by all those strong emotions and she hadn't been prepared for that. He could feel that she was afraid to lose him now; he had to show her that he was there for her.
"Beth, it's okay. I'm here now. Tell me how it happened."
Beth still looked at the table and tried to remember when this nightmare began.
"Ben called me. He was waiting for me in a pub, he was drunk and had a piece of paper to show me. He'd found a head with a name. I guess he made the connection and realized that I was the one who'd hidden the first piece of paper. He was completely angry and disappointed. He walked outside and I followed him. I tried to explain that I had to do it. Then coming from nowhere, two guys appeared, they'd taken drugs and needed money. They held guns and asked for our bags. I tried to calm them and gave mine, but suddenly everything went wrong. I don't remember what happened, but suddenly I was on the sidewalk in Talbot's arms covered with blood.
He wanted to drive me to the hospital, but he drove me home. I needed blood. He helped me to walk home and I was so close to biting him. I asked him to leave, but he didn't listen to me, he stayed and I was on the edge of jumping on him and dry him."
Beth pulled her head in her hands.
"I went to the fridge and took a bootle of blood. He saw everything and then he fainted. He woke up and of course he wanted explanations. I told him everything, who turned me and he figured alone about the list."
Beth felt so ashamed, she'd failed Mick and Josef by telling Talbot everything. Mick, who still held her hand in his, couldn't believe what he'd just heard. It took some seconds to realize the hell she'd been through. He saw that she was crying and smelled her emotions. That was too much for him. He let her hand and pulled her in his arms. Beth was surprised to find herself in his strong arms but it felt so good. She abandonned herself in his hug surrounded by his feelings. It was love and sadness for her.
She couldn't keep it any longer and began to cry silently, her face burried in his shoulder. His embrace was a moment of peace, far away from her bad dreams and the terrible event with Talbot. She closed her eyes and smelled his wonderful scent that she loved so much. She could feel the vibration from his voice through his chest and heard his sweet voice.
"Oh god Beth. It's not your fault. I'm here now, it will be okay."
He rocked her as he realized what she'd been through. The pain, the need of blood and Talbot's questions. She'd been through all this and still she felt guilty. He was the one to blame, he'd left her alone. Now they had to deal with Talbot; it was his own fault, and Josef's. Mick began to feel angry against Josef for giving so much pressure to her. He released her and looked into her blue eyes full of sadness. He used his sweetest voice to ask her one more thing.
"Where is Talbot?"
"He left. I- I" She tried to finish her sentence but couldn't. She'd done everything possible to show Ben that she'd been honest with him.
Mick held her chin and slowly kissed her. "It's okay Beth. I'll talk to Josef."
He kissed her again. Beth had missed his lips and feeling his love now brought the most powerful emotion through her body. She pulled her arms around him and kissed him back. The tender kiss slowly changed into a passionate one. They had missed each other so much and the strong emotions from that tragical events had increased their feelings for each other.
Mick pulled her close to him. He needed to feel her body in his strong arms. He loved her so much that he could die for her. His fingers went through her hair that gave her shivers through all her body. They both fell in their intense kiss. They hadn't seen each other in a day but it seemed to be an eternity.
Beth felt Mick's desire and need surround her. She'd missed his touch so much and she realized that she wanted him too. His hands were all over her and she wanted him to take her from her nightmares. Slowly as she felt Mick kissing her and caressing her, she began to feel strange. Her skin responded differently from Mick's touch, as if she was someone else. Then she felt it, she slowly turned into Coraline and saw images of her with Mick, kissing him.
She broke the kiss and Mick looked at her surprised. She saw in his eyes the love he had for her. He was looking at her, not Coraline. She smiled at him and kissed him back. The passion was back and Mick's hand travelled under her shirt. Beth moaned and responded by kissing him harder. Then the strange feeling came back. Beth's eyes were closed and she saw Mick knocking on the glass wall of Coraline's party house. He wanted her, desired her. She was Coraline, playing with Mick's feelings just like Du Plessis had related to her. The vision vanished and she felt his tongue in her mouth, his hands on her breasts. She caressed his hair and suddenly the vision came back. She stood in the partyhouse, facing Mick who was completely drunk. He suddenly broke the glasswall with a chair and kissed her passionately. Beth didn't know who she was anymore. Mick kissed them both. Beth began to feel mad, it had to stop. She violently broke the kiss and pushed Mick away.
He looked at her shocked, his eyes begging her for an explanation. Beth first avoided his eyes but she looked back at him.
"I'm sorry Mick, I don't feel well. I guess I need to rest after what happened."
Mick caught her change of emotion and tried to understand why she suddenly was so cold. He saw her stand up and followed her.. They were facing each other; Mick still in the passion of their kiss, trying to figure out what had just happened and Beth trying to avoid his eyes. Mick began to wonder if he had done something bad, but he'd felt her desire for him.
Beth slowly walked to the kitchen. Mick understood that nothing would happen between them tonight. He brushed his hair with his hand and rubbed his face trying to wake up from the strong emotions of their kiss. He was confused but he realized that she'd had a tough night and that it was difficult to handle for a fledging. He tried to catch her eyes and said.
"I'm sorry Beth, I forgot what you just endured." She looked at him, her eyes begging for forgiveness. "I'll call Josef about Talbot. Don't worry, it will be okay."
Beth smiled at him, he was so kind to her, always there to help her, her guardian angel. She wanted him to stay and be with her, she wanted to feel his arms around her, his lips on hers, but she couldn't. Even with Mick, Coraline's past haunted her.
He came close to her and slowly kissed her. "Don't worry, Beth. Take some rest and I'll call you." He looked at her. She saw that he was fighting with himself when he finally said. "I love you Beth."
She stared at him, she couldn't believe it. She pulled him close to her and squeezed him against her. Her face buried in his chest, she answered. "I love you too, Mick, so much."
Mick felt her emotions and for the first time he realized that he was the happiest vampire in the world. He kissed her head. Beth felt his soft kiss, her eyes closed, smelling his masculine and sweet scent. Then she saw Coraline in her wedding dress, kissing Mick. She opened her eyes and stepped back.
Mick caught that same cold emotion but Beth was smiling at him. She wanted him to leave. He slowly walked to the door and before he left, he took a last look at her. She was worried and scared; something told him that it wasn't only about Talbot.
Beth couldn't stop tears falling. She'd sat in her couch in hours after Mick had left. She was angry at herself for letting Mick walk away after what he'd told her and she was angry against her dead sire who had destroyed her life as a human and now as a vampire.
Everything went wrong; her relationship with Mick and the one with Ben. Now he knew her secret and he'd left her apartment. She was so scared of what he could do against her and the community. Before he'd walked outside the apartment, Beth had asked him. "Can I trust you, Ben?
The way he'd looked at her was unbearable. He'd stared at her as if she was a monster, someone with a terrible desease that he couldn't approach. He was scared and repulsed by her. He'd slowly walked to the door and turned to face her. "I don't know Beth." The words had been like a silver shot through her heart. He added in a murmur "I need time" and left her alone. Mick came an hour later.
Now Beth was all alone. She was exhausted, her body was screaming with pain. She slowly stood up and went to her room. A new day was beginning and Beth couldn't see any hope for her. She took off her clothes and lay in her freezer, an icy tear on her cheek, knowing what was expecting her in this cold world.
