Salutations all my lovely rabid, feral, vampire readers! Here is the next pa-art. : D
One very quick note: The Cleaner's location I changed slightly, from Sunset and East Sixth, to Sunset and EAST SIXTEENTH. Just a very minor detail, do not attach any significance to it.
And my thanks again to everyone who reviewed! Your reviews make me so happy, and keep me inspired to keep writing! : D
Enjoy!
Out of Time (part I)
Consciousness returned abruptly. One minute she was completely out, the next, she was opening her eyes to the sight of Ashton's profile silhouetted by the light of the moon. He looked over at her.
The Cleaner sat up. She was in the back of the van. Her duster was off, bundled up to act as a cushion for her head. The equipment usually kept in the back was gone. Looking through the window, the Cleaner could see the rest of the crew using the specialized equipment to clean up the woman's body that Josef had been feeding from.
She twisted her head from side to side experimentally, checking the condition of her neck.
Ashton spoke. "Your body started to heal as soon as I pulled the stake."
"How long was I out?"
Ashton thought for a minute. "Not too long—about ten, twenty minutes."
The Cleaner sighed with frustration. "Well, the trail has probably gone cold then." She opened the back doors of the van and jumped down onto the pavement. Ashton followed, grabbing her duster and handing it to her. She pulled it on, dismayed to see a small, round hole, in the upper shoulder, where the stake had gone through. The crew didn't say anything, just continued to clean the site, sensing the Cleaner wasn't in the mood for quips.
Ashton asked, "What happened exactly? We found you lying in the alleyway, next to a dead woman's body, staked, and your neck completely broken." He pulled a face. "It was the sickest angle of a broken neck that I've seen for a long time."
The Cleaner allowed a small smile to curve her lips at Ashton's discomfort, but her face quickly returned to all seriousness. "What happened was, I caught up with the perp."
"He did that to you?" Ashton's voice was disbelieving.
The Cleaner nodded. "It was Josef Konstantin."
"What?" Ashton could not have appeared more shocked than if the Cleaner had just told him that the world was ending in the next five minutes. "Josef Konstantin? You're sure?"
The Cleaner snapped, "Pretty hard to mistake a friend you've known for the past four centuries. Yes, I'm sure. It was Josef, and he was out of control. Feral. Fucking insane." The curse slipped out. Damn, I am rattled. The Cleaner rarely found the need to use strong language, as it just wasn't her style. But she was upset. She had just come off on the worse end of a particularly nasty fight with a vampire who she considered a decent friend.
She and Josef had had some fun times…Interesting things always seemed to be going on around Josef, and for someone the Cleaner's age, well, interesting was good. Josef harked back to the old days, to times when men knew how to behave like gentlemen. It was something the Cleaner found extremely refreshing whenever she was in his company. Plus, she also had a strong business relationship with Josef. She did him favors, like taking care of bodies for vampires on his staff—no charge—and Josef hooked her up in the business world, used his contacts when she needed information. It was a mutually beneficial relationship, an arrangement that both appreciated.
The Cleaner thought over how Josef had appeared tonight—his rumpled appearance, torn clothing…and the blood. There had been so much blood, all over him. Soaked into his shirt, and dripping down his face. And his eyes…The Cleaner gave a discreet swallow. He hadn't even recognized her. His eyes had been dead—cold, empty voids that only saw her as a threat to enjoying his meal, not as an old friend. As a rule, vampires generally didn't get sick, so it couldn't be a disease that was causing his delirium. There had to be some sort of explanation for his extreme behavior. And she was going to get it.
She dug through the pockets of her duster, looking for her phone. Ashton handed it over to her. At her expression, he explained, "I took it out when I rolled up your duster. Who are you calling?"
"St. John. I want to know what the hell is going on. There's a hole in my favorite duster, and someone is going to tell me why."
Mick was driving. They had reached downtown, and were now making their way through the tangle of streets to the address on the letter. 854 Sunset Blvd. His phone rang. Keeping one hand on the wheel, he fished his other into his pocket and pulled out his cell.
It was the Cleaner's number again. Mick sighed, and answered, "Hello?" He could see Beth trying to listen in, her expression curious.
"St. John." The Cleaner's brisk voice was snappish. Mick arched an eyebrow. "I want answers as to why Josef Konstan would be downtown in an alleyway, draining some woman straight off the street."
"You have Josef?!" Mick's heart leapt to his throat, and Beth leaned forward eagerly, hands convulsing on her lap.
The Cleaner's next words dashed Mick's hope. "No. He escaped. What the fuck is wrong with him, St. John?" Mick winced. Boy, did the Cleaner sound pissed. Mick couldn't blame her.
"Josef's feral right now—"
"Yeah, you know, I kind of figured that out myself."
Mick spoke with a slight edge in his voice. "Let me finish. He was captured by the vampires responsible for the rising body count—"
"What?! He was—"
"Still not done." Mick sighed. "He was captured, by some extremely old vamps by the smell of things, and they injected him with a drug."
"Drug? What drug?"
"Hang on, first you tell me where you ran into Josef."
"On Sunset and East Sixteenth."
Mick blinked. Sunset? The Cleaner was right where they were headed. No way! They were already in the neighborhood. He spoke to the Cleaner, "Sunset and East Sixteenth? I'm close by. I'll head over to you. Don't leave."
"Fine. And then you are going to tell me exactly what you've discovered and what the hell is going on." The Cleaner hung up.
Beth spoke, "I'm assuming that was the Cleaner?"
"Yeah. Man, she is pissed off. Sounds like she ran into Josef, and came off on the losing half of the encounter." Mick pulled into a side street, then backed up, turning the Mercedes around. East Sixteenth was behind them.
"She saw Josef?" Beth's voice was quiet, nervous.
"That's what she said." Mick's face was worried, and his shoulders were tense. "She said he was feral." Silence reigned in the car as the weight of those words sank in. Josef was still out somewhere in the city, hunting and killing. Mick turned onto Sunset. Though he didn't know it, his thoughts were along the same track as Beth's… worry for Josef, and wondering whether or not that next turn around the corner would catch them up with the future he had seen.
Calista hunted down Josef easily enough. He was still in the downtown area, and he reeked of blood. For someone with her centuries of finely honed senses, his trail was absurdly easy to follow.
She confronted him on a street corner. He tried to attack her, but she simply sprinted out of the way, out of range. When she had fought him at his home, his intelligence had made him a minor threat. But feral, with no intelligence behind his actions…she was old enough that she could outmaneuver him.
She had brought along a wooden stake, but she decided there was no fun in just staking him and hauling him back. So instead she made pointed assaults, forcing him to retreat where she wanted him to go. Slowly, dragging out her pleasure, she drove him backwards towards the factory. Josef snarled at her, and tried to fight back, but there was nothing he could do. She was more powerful than him.
Calista looked into his face. His eyes were wild. She giggled and then with another shriek of laughter and rage, she pushed him back another two steps. Two steps closer to the factory. Two steps closer to a second dose of the drug…
"So you're telling me, that two vampires—this Damien and Calista Fay—have developed a drug that causes vamps to go feral? And that's why the body count is up?" The Cleaners voice sounded slightly incredulous, both of her eyebrows were raised.
Beth was standing close by Mick's side. Even she could sense the power radiating from this woman.
Mick answered, "Yeah, pretty much. And now Damien's got Josef, and Josef's been injected. He's not in control of himself. What you described of your fight confirms it."
Mick and Beth had been talking with the Cleaner for around twenty minutes. They had pulled up next to the van. Mick had looked at Beth, "Do you want to wait in the car?"
"What? And miss a chance to see this mysterious Cleaner in person? No way." She had hopped out of the Mercedes and stuck by Mick's side. Just because she wanted to see the Cleaner, didn't mean she wasn't slightly scared. She hadn't realized that there would be so many vampires around.
The Cleaner had been standing apart from the main group, who was spraying down the pavement with a high-pressure hose. Beth had stared openly at their actions. Two other vampires were stuffing a woman's corpse into a body bag. Beth had turned away and studied the Cleaner. Just as when she had heard the Cleaner's voice over Mick's phone, seeing her in person hadn't been what she was expecting.
Once Beth had formed the impression that the Cleaner was some sort of vampire cop, she had pictured the vampire dressed in a business suit, or some sort of professional clothing. Slacks and a dress shirt sort of thing. She hadn't prepared herself at all for the black leather. The Cleaner was simply drenched in it. A short, black-leather skirt, a dark top, black-leather boots that went up to her knees, black-leather gloves, and to top it off, a long black-leather duster—with a small hole in the shoulder. The Cleaner's hair was also longer than Beth had imagined. And she was blonde. She looked nothing like Beth had pictured. The only word that came to Beth's mind to describe the Cleaner was…well…cool. Beth had to admit it, the Cleaner looked pretty damn cool.
As they had approached, the Cleaner's sharp gaze turned upon her. Beth had felt small under the weight of the stare. The Cleaner jerked her head in Beth's direction and asked Mick, "Who's your friend?"
Mick opened his mouth to introduce her, but Beth beat him to it. She wanted to show the Cleaner that she wasn't intimidated. "I'm Beth, Beth Turner. Mick's girlfriend." Mick had smiled at her spunk. He put an arm around Beth, showing her support, while at the same time, ideally placing himself to protect her should things turn ugly. Though Beth wouldn't admit it, she was very grateful for the act.
The Cleaner stepped towards her and gave a small sniff. Her eyebrows shot up. "Human?"
"Yeah, human. And perfect just the way she is," Mick said in a defensive tone, clearly daring the Cleaner to make a comment. Beth felt warm all-over inside. Mick clearly felt no shame about dating a human. A happy flush rose to her cheeks.
But the Cleaner didn't make a smart retort. She said nothing more on the subject of Beth and instead demanded, "All right. I want my explanation. And it had better be good, St. John."
"Trust me, it is." Mick had explained everything. In return, the Cleaner had told him of tracking Josef, and of their fight. Beth now understood that the hole in the duster was because Josef had staked her.
Now Beth asked, "Do you know where Josef went?"
The Cleaner looked at her for a moment. Beth had the feeling that the woman was trying to figure her out. She was pleased she presented a puzzle to the vampire. Finally, the Cleaner sighed, shaking her head. "Unfortunately Miss Turner, Josef's trail was cold by the time I'd recovered. I'm afraid I can't help you there." She turned to Mick. "What's your next move?"
Mick turned to Beth and she pulled out the letter. It was Beth who answered, "We were on our way to this address—" she pointed to the number on the envelope "—when you called. We have reason to believe that Damien may be there."
The Cleaner's eyes gleamed in the dark, "Do you need backup?"
This time it was Mick who responded, "Actually, we need you to go out to Josef's place. There are bodies there. Damien and Calista slaughtered his house staff and freshies. Josef's absence at work has probably already been noticed, and the cops are going to start sniffing around soon."
The Cleaner nodded. "I'll take care of them. Call me when you can."
"Right." He took Beth's hand and they left the scene.
Beth heard the Cleaner snap at her crew, "Ethan, are you blind? This part of the pavement is still covered with blood." She glanced back over her shoulder to see the Cleaner bearing down on a member of the team, arms on hips.
Beth slid into the Mercedes, breathing a sigh of relief. Mick got in behind the wheel. They sat in quiet for a second and then Mick started the car, backing out, returning to their course to the address.
After a moment, he spoke. "I believe you managed to do the impossible and impress the Cleaner."
Beth seized upon the chance for conversation. Anything to distract her from the returning fear of the future, and the feeling that she was riding to her death. "Do you really think so?"
"Yeah…the Cleaner has no taste for spineless women, as you could probably tell from her attitude."
"She seems really interesting. She wasn't what I was expecting."
Mick's mouth turned upwards in a small smile, "That's probably one of the highest compliments you could give her."
They drove through the night. Every turn, every stretch of street brought them closer and closer to their final destination…
Calista had Josef back at the factory. They were in one of the main rooms, where huge assembly lines ran through the entire space. Assorted car parts rested on them, pieces of metal waiting to be put together by the machines. Currently, all the lines were shut down. Calista had locked the doors to the room, and was entertaining herself by keeping Josef trapped inside. She would wait until Damien returned to administer the second dose. She didn't know enough about the drug, and she didn't want to overdose Josef and kill him. She knew that would anger Damien.
So while she waited for her husband, she entertained herself by toying with the 400-year-old vampire. Josef tried climbing the wall to break through a window high up, near the ceiling. In a flash, Calista was there ahead of him, snarling. She pushed him roughly back to the floor. He slammed into some machinery, denting it inwards, roaring with fury. She laughed. She hadn't had so much fun for such a long time…
Damien Fay entered the dark apartment. He could already sense that no one was home. He shut the door behind him, and relocked it. He didn't want to scare off his prey.
He glanced around curiously. The air was thick with the smell of vampire, but there was also quite a hefty bit of human mixed in. It must have been the woman Calista had mentioned, this 'Beth'. Damien didn't care about her. As a human, she didn't matter. She was no threat to him.
He explored the apartment thoroughly, seeing the room with the freezer, and finding the hidden compartment full of blood in the kitchen. The decorations scattered throughout the place were tasteful and elegant. All in all, it was very nice, he decided. It spoke of control and order—qualities that were most likely reflected in this St. John's personality. Damien studied the apartment's every detail. Know your enemy's environment, it tells you about your foe.
He strolled over to the bookshelf, studying the titles. Seeing as it didn't seem like this Mick St. John would be returning anytime soon, he selected a book from the shelf. It was a historical novel on the Renaissance. Those were good times. Damien settled back into the armchair by the bookcase, and began to read. He was patient. He would wait all night if he had to, for St. John to return. And when he did, Damien Fay would be ready for him.
Mick pulled up to the curb. He turned the key off in the ignition and the Mercedes engine died. He and Beth were again sitting in a deafening silence. Something we seem to be doing a lot all of sudden, he thought. He glanced at the building outside the car window. His heart began to hammer. He hadn't been able to clearly see the building in his vision, but this building had the same general outline and shape of the blurred one in his vision. No, no. It's not the same one. We still have time. But in his soul, he knew the truth.
Mick turned to Beth in the car. He could feel tears welling in his eyes. Beth looked up at him. The moonlight was flowing across her, illuminating the depths of her blue eyes, lining her face with its silver light. Her golden hair shimmered. Mick opened his mouth to speak, but her beauty took his breath away. He reached out a cupped her cheek with the palm of his hand.
"Mick, what is it?" she asked softly. Her voice was the voice of an angel. His angel. She had saved him just as much as he had saved her.
Mick swallowed, blinking back tears. "Beth, just know, no matter what happens, I love you. Okay? I love you."
Now Beth's eyes were the ones filling with tears. "You sense it too, then? We're nearing the end, I knew it." She took a shaky breath. "Mick, I know you'll do everything possible to protect me, but just in case it's not enough, know that I'll always be with you." Mick saw a tear trembling on her lashes. "I'll always love you." The tear fell, and she gave a wavering smile. "I suppose it's futile asking you to not feel guilty if I…if I…"
Mick placed his other hand on her other cheek. He looked her in the eye, "I'm not letting you die, Beth. You are not going to die. I give you my word." He needed to be closer to her. Leaning forward, while pulling her gently in towards him, he kissed her with all the force of his love.
A wave of heat, and passion swept over the two. Beth fell into Mick's kiss, and he lost himself in her. He held onto her, never wanting to let her go. Tears trickled down his cheeks. His heart breaking, he pulled away from her, catching her own delicate teardrops with his thumb as they splashed down from her eyes. She murmured, "Oh, Mick…"
He took a deep breath, calming himself. He turned to Beth one last time, and asked her, "Are you ready?"
She gave a small nod, and said quietly, "I am always ready when you are beside me."
Mick gave her hand a squeeze. He stepped from the Mercedes onto the sidewalk. The car door shut behind him with a slam. He had sealed his fate. There was no turning back now.
Beth came around the hood and stood next to him on the sidewalk. Mick knew… ---He and Beth standing out on a sidewalk…Beth's voice, echoing, "This must be the place…"---
Beth's spoke up from next to him. "This must be the place."
Mick gave a heavy nod, chills racing through him at her words. "Beth, get out the gun."
Beth reached into her purse and pulled out the revolver. It was shaking slightly in her grip. Mick placed his strong hand over hers, steadying her nerves. Beth looked into his face and gave a small, scared smile. "I'm…I'm not afraid."
"You're the bravest woman I know," Mick whispered. And then, just barely audible, "I love you, Beth Turner. With all my heart."
Beth whispered back, "With all my heart." She held on tightly to him.
Together, they walked up to the building's entrance. It was some sort of car factory. From a bird's-eye-view it was shaped like a giant 'H' on the ground. The front entrance was unlocked. Mick steeled himself and then pushed the door open. He went inside, leading Beth by her hand, the door swinging shut behind them.
They were committed.
Finis.
There you go! I already have the next three chapters outlined, but unfortunately I still am not sure when I can get the next update posted...I will try to get it up to the site quickly, but it may be another couple of days. So sorry!
also, i know in Dr. Feelgood, Beth saw the cleaner...but she didn't actually know that it was the Cleaner that she saw, remember? She just said 'some strange woman took Gerald away..' Plus, in my AU i'm deciding that Beth has never before seen the Cleaner..so pretend with me, please? Thanks! : P