I always like to write something at the top of my chapters. Today, however, the subject is different.
Please bear with me. I want to start by thanking (again) everyone who has taken the time to read what I've written in the last days and weeks. Again, a special thank you and hats off to those of you who have shared your opinions, your feedback, your ideas, and your thoughts. Some of you have taken the time to write me privately and have given me insight into improving myself as a writer and a storyteller, or shared more in-depth feedback and opinions. When I first began writing this story, I had no idea what a special and unique group of people I had stumbled upon. I never expected how much of a positive reaction I received, and I'm still stunned at the number of 'hits' my story has been racking up. I would like to dedicate my story to each of you who have shared my journey into story-writing. I also would like the chance to apologize to each of you. Yesterday, I received my official orders from one of the few things that can truly interrupt my life. I'm a member of the US Marine Corps Reserve, and my group is being activated before the end of the month. I won't have the time or the ability to continue writing after I leave, and waiting until I get back will be a good amount of time. I have my fingers crossed that Moonlight contracts are extended and renewed and that we get a Moonlight Season 2, even if I may not get the chance to watch any part of it for months or a couple years. I am really sorry that I don't have the chance to write another fifteen chapters and finish my story as I would have desired to. Here is my chapter 14. Before receiving orders, I had this chapter and much of the next chapter completed. I'm putting this chapter up now, and in the next few days I will put up as much of chapter 15 as I can and I will be including my intended plot as to what happens with the characters and where the story goes. It won't be perfect, but each of you deserve an ending to my story. Again, thank you for sharing your time with me. I am really sorry to disappoint, especially when many of you have been so helpful. Semper Fi. -Anna
14. Home again
Several minutes later, the driver pulled up to the building that Beth and Mick called home. Beth opens her eyes at the sound of the vehicle being placed into park. She rubs her eyes, feeling strangely lightheaded. She unbuckled the infant carrier, then picked up the carrier with the sleeping girl inside, picked up the diaper bag, and thanked the driver. She greeted the doorman, who seemed surprised to see Beth with an infant, and Beth just smiled and said she was babysitting. She took the elevator up to the loft, and silently sighed in relief that a couple months ago Mick updated his security system. After he accidentally locked himself out one day, he invested in an eye-scanning override system for the lock on his door. The eye scanner recognized and accepted Beth, Mick, Josef and Sara; although according to the machine, it had data for eight people, as Mick experimented and realized that an eye that was glowing and silver wasn't recognized unless manually programmed that these four glowing irises were acceptable for entry too. Josef and Mick found the entire situation amusing, but Beth personally didn't care for the technology toys.
Beth looked into the scanner, and a moment later, the latch to the door unlocked. Beth entered her home, carrying the infant carrier and diaper bag, feeling wearier than ever before. She bolted the door behind her and reset the alarm. She sighed with exhaustion and realized that she was shortchanging herself on rest, and while she knew what it felt like from prior occasions, she didn't realize it was so taxing to care for a child as a vampire.
She went to the kitchen and poured herself a drink, then realizing that the infant was still sleeping, she decided she'd take her chances with taking a short rest in the deep freeze. She set the infant, still in her infant carrier, just beside the wall of the freezer, near the end where Beth would have her head. She looked at the sleeping girl, took off her clothes, and walked into the small freezer room. The chill was blissful, and Beth lay down and listened, realizing that she could still hear the child's heartbeat and breathing, even through the freezer walls. Quickly she fell into a restful sleep.
She awakened a couple hours later, not by the infant, but by her cell phone ringing in the diaper bag downstairs.
She groans, and decides to ignore it. She rolls over onto her side. The phone stops ringing. She sighs and rolls onto her back again. A few seconds later she hears the phone ringing again.
"Jeez, give it a rest," she thought.
She sits up a few minutes later, the phone still ringing.
Stepping out the door of the subzero, she wraps herself in a towel and ambles downstairs, picking up her phone. It had stopped ringing, but the display said there were 4 missed calls, each of them from Josef.
She hits the dial button, more than a little annoyed at having her slumber interrupted.
Josef answered the phone, and instead of his usual composed greeting, he raises his voice to a near shout. "Where the hell are you, Beth?!" he bellows. "Why didn't you come home?"
"I am home, Josef. My home."
"When are you coming back?"
"With any luck, after the sun goes down."
"Why didn't you come back to my place like you were supposed to?"
"I didn't realize I was under your strict orders of where I located myself," she says sarcastically. "What's wrong Josef?" she softens her tone, realizing that something must be bothering him. Its uncharacteristic for him to get snippy with her, unless he's worried about Sara or Beth.
Josef takes a deep breath and blows it out slowly.
"Nothing is wrong," he stated.
"Yeah, okay. I'll pretend to buy into that excuse. The kid is asleep. Until five minutes ago, so was I. I need to get more clothes, so I decided to get dropped off at my place, I'll drive over later. The baby and I are safe."
"Good," Josef stated simply, and Beth heard the click as he hung up his phone.
"What's bothering him?" Beth said out loud to her silent phone. She closed her phone, and set it in the diaper bag again. She padded back upstairs to check on the infant. From across the room she could tell that the kid was fine, and still sleeping. She decides to take the time while the kid is asleep to get herself packed up. She goes to the bedroom and pulls out her suitcase. She takes a couple favorite pairs of pants, a few tank tops, a few long sleeved shirts, and another favored sweater and sets them all in the suitcase. She fumbles through her dresser drawer and finds a few pairs of her favorite matching panties and bras, and a few pairs of socks. She sets them in the suitcase, and, after tossing in a pair of running shoes, she zips it closed. She quietly takes it downstairs by the door.
Walking upstairs again, she makes sure the infant is still sleeping soundly, and she decides to get dressed. No point in trying to get sleep when the baby ought to be up any moment. She finds her discarded clothes, and tosses them in the hamper.
She walks back to the closet and finds a pair of comfortable cargo pants. She smiles to herself, because she knows that Josef finds that specific pair of pants unflattering on her, but they're comfortable and she, at the moment, doesn't care what he thinks. As least they're not olive drab camouflage. She takes off her robe, and puts on her underwear and pulls on the pants. She opens the drawer and pulls out a t-shirt and slips it on.
As she's zipping up her favorite hoodie, she hears her phone ringing again.
"Jesus," she thinks, "Whats happening now?"
The phone has stopped ringing by the time she makes it back downstairs. As she flips it open to find her missed calls, it starts ringing again in her hand. The Caller ID says that its Mick.
She answers the phone.
"Honey, what's going on? Are you okay?", Mick launches questioning, before Beth can even say a greeting.
"I was trying to get dressed, seems like I can't even do that today. Whats up?"
"Josef called me a few minutes ago, wondering if I'd heard from you. Did you and Josef have some sort of problem?"
"Josef and I always have some sort of problem. He's not exactly 'Mr. Personality' you know."
Mick smiles silently into his phone, neither Josef nor Beth had scruples about throwing verbal punches. They're similar in more ways than he'll ever be willing to tell them. "That's not what I'm talking about, hon," he replies.
"Well, um…" Beth trails off for a moment, not even sure how to start explaining the last 20 hours to Mick. "What do you want to know?"
"I want to know why Josef was calling me five minutes ago flipping out because he couldn't find you."
"He's not my damn keeper," Beth says testily.
"Beth," Mick hesitates, then sighs. "Please talk to me honey."
"I don't even know where to start," Beth says, and closes her eyes, recollecting her memories of the last several hours.
"Maybe at the point where Josef lost his temper about Sara and I shopping last night.. Maybe I should start at the point where I was stabbed and Sara was shot last night. Maybe I should start at the point where he decided to come with me to the hospital today," Beth sighs softly, then barges on. "Maybe because I'm at the loft and not hanging onto his shirttails like he'd prefer."
"Whoa, whoa," Mick says. "It sounds like there's a lot going on, hon. Start at the beginning."
Beth takes a breath, and instead of launching into the chronological history of events, her eyes start filling with tears.
"Did you know Annelise was dying?" she asks. "I brought her baby to see her, and the nurse told me that she was close to death."
Beth sobs softly. "I don't want her to die. Not now."
Beth didn't realize she had feelings for a woman she hardly knew, until this moment.
She leans back against the wall, trying to regain her composure.
"I know that must have been rough for you to hear, especially when you're taking care of her little girl."
Mick clears his throat softly over the phone, then steers the conversation in a different direction. "Lets get back to Josef and whats happening now."
"He called a few minutes ago and seemed to be totally livid because I wasn't sitting pretty at his home waiting for him."
"And you're at the loft?", Mick questions.
"No, I decided to spontaneously hop on a yacht headed to Europe," Beth says, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
She rubs the tears out of her eyes, determined to keep her own emotions under better control. "Yes," she finally says simply, "I'm here at the loft."
Mick chooses to ignore her sarcastic commentary. "And you're safe?"
"Yes, I'm not in any imminent danger that I know of. Do you think I'd be having this crazy conversation with you otherwise?"
"Beth…" Mick starts, then trails off, somewhat lost for words. "While Josef was at the hospital, sometime after you left, the car you had been in... It was hit by a truck. It must have split the fuel tank, because the car exploded. The driver didn't survive, and when Josef was informed by his staff that you hadn't returned, he was more than a little worried that you were still in the car too."
"Oh God," Beth says, feeling the blood drain from her face. "I had no idea…." She trails off, lost for words.
Still leaning against the wall, Beth slowly slumps to the floor. She feels like a complete ass for trading words with Josef. She wonders why he didn't just say what happened, instead of acting like the only problem was that she wasn't at his home.
Mick gives her a moment, then softly clears his throat. "Beth," he says, "Don't blame yourself… for anything."
"I think I need to get over to Josef's house," Beth says, and quickly says goodbye to Mick. She closes her phone.
Beth takes a few deep breaths, trying to slow down her heart, that wasn't beating anyway. It's a reflex that she's hardly aware of.
As she stands up, she hears the infant stirring upstairs. Nap time is officially over.