Just Us Chapter 29
The difficult, dangerous and complicated was never just going to go away.
Sometimes Beth's curiosity takes her places she would rather not go.
Cheers :) penni
A few hours later Beth had had enough and was about to call it a night. As far as she was concerned she had fulfilled her obligation to the DA and Ben Talbot. She had every intention of calling Mick to pick her up until she spied Christopher Barrett at one of the many bars that had been set up in the lusciously decorated ballroom. She hadn't seen him around so she assumed that he had gone back to wherever he had come from. As always, her curiosity got the better of her and she made her way through the crowd to talk to him. Beth had forgotten how handsome he was, tall and dark with large dark eyes that seemed to draw you in. She wondered just how old he really was. He looked older than Mick and Josef but it was impossible to tell.
Barrett smiled when he saw her approaching him. "Miss Turner, what a pleasant surprise to see you here."
"Please, call me Beth."
"Okay, Beth it is. Should we go somewhere a little quieter so we can catch up?" He gestured towards a little alcove that contained comfy armchairs.
Beth nodded but put her hand up refusing a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. Once they were both settled they chatted for a while about recent cases, her work with the police and possible career choices. With his vast experience he had a lot of contacts in the field if she was interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement, he could certainly help her. Beth didn't think that she would take that route but she promised that she would keep it in mind. While they were talking Barrett studied the beautiful woman sitting across from him, marvelling at her warm smile and her genuine interest in what he had been doing since she had seen him last. After a while Beth felt brave enough to talk to him about more personal matters.
"Christopher, I was so sorry to hear about your wife, your son."
Barrett smiled grimly. Of course St John would have shared his story with Beth.
"Mick told me. I know it's none of my business." Beth dropped her head regretting her words that caused a flash of pain to cross his face at the mention of his family.
"It's okay Beth, you haven't offended me. It's only fair that you know a little about me since I know so much about you."
Beth wondered what he meant. "Excuse me?"
"Surely it can't be a surprise to you that most of the vampire community knows all about St John and his history."
There had been outrage in the community at the time and it was only Josef Kostan's intervention and eventually, the support of the Council, that prevented a growing demand for St John to be put down as a rogue. A rape turning, a tumultuous relationship with his sire that ended with the kidnapping of a child with the intention of turning them was all damning evidence against Coraline Duvall. St John was spared on the basis of the circumstances and on the proviso that Josef Kostan took full responsibility for him. These details were kept strictly confidential under lock and key. St John would never know how close he came to ceasing to exist.
"No, I guess not." It probably should have been but it wasn't. She was already resigned to the fact that a lot of people knew more about her than she would have liked.
"St John was a very young vampire who killed his sire to save a little human girl."
"He didn't kill her." Beth responded defensively. If she hadn't been so distracted she would have asked him how he knew so much about them.
"No, as it turned out, he didn't. Apart from the scandal there was concern that you would expose…."
"I was four years old." Beth strongly objected.
"True, but little girls grow up, they remember things."
Beth stayed silent wandering why Barrett was trying to get her to talk about the kidnapping. She was getting upset, the feeling of being so scared came back to her like it was yesterday.
"You never told anyone the truth about what you saw that night." Barrett probed.
"No I didn't." Beth replied stoically. She looked him in the eye almost daring him to say otherwise.
She hadn't told a soul, not all the doctors or the therapists, not even her own mother. It had been hard sometimes but she never told how the scary lady and the man who saved her and took her home had pretty silver eyes and very sharp fangs.
"That's pretty amazing for someone so young." His admiration for her showed in in his voice.
Yes, she had been young but she was stubborn and determined even then. She couldn't tell. She saw the man ram the stake in the scary lady's chest, start the fire when they were leaving. She knew that the lady would not be able to get out, that she would die. If she told anyone that, the man would have been in trouble. She couldn't do that to him.
"You saw his face?"
Beth knew that he meant his vampire face and nodded her head slightly. '"I didn't really understand that part of it till later. I guess I blocked it out. I'm not sure."
"The mind is able to protect itself in extreme situations. It's quite normal to block out things that we find difficult to grasp. It helps us cope. You weren't scared of him?"
"Of Mick?" No!" He had been kind and gentle, had taken care of her. "I've never seen him as the monster he thinks he is. Coraline on the other hand….." Her words drifted off.
"Such a heavy burden for one so young to carry."
The meaning of those words were twofold. A child taking on the responsibility of keeping a monumental secret and the burden of a young woman in a relationship with a vampire, his sire and ex wife, her kidnapper, alive and well and still a threat to them both. From what he knew of Coraline Duvall and her family, they were capable of anything. It was an impossible situation for Beth to be in. She was brave and courageous but no match for centuries old vampires that had no real boundaries, moral or otherwise. The Council was the high authority when it came to vampire law but rarely rocked the boat when it came to the ancient bloodlines. Josef Kostan had every right to his low opinion of their fitness to govern the vampire nation.
Beth was lost in her own thoughts.
When she was little it was like she was keeping a secret that was just between the two of them; little Beth and the man that saved her, her guardian angel. Every year on her birthday she would make a wish that she would see him again. Her mother told her once that if you told what you wished for when you blew out the candles on your birthday cake it wouldn't come true, so she never did. When she was older she fantasised about him. She thought that if he trusted her enough he would come back to her. After a while, Beth convinced herself that she had made the whole thing up. It was easier on her young heart to think that it was a fairytale rather than believe that her knight in shining armour had forgotten all about her. She tried to get on with her life but she never forgot him. Years of secret birthday wishes had come true. Her angel had been close by the whole time.
The tears started falling then. Beth got up and walked over to the window, trying to get her emotions under control.
Barrett wanted to tell her that he would be there for her, that there were people that would help her with the situation that she found herself in. She knew too much about vampires for them to let her go on her way if she ever decided that was what she wanted. She would be relocated and given another identity, watched, monitored for the rest of her life. He decided that he had upset her enough already. He would wait for another opportunity to pass on that information. "Please forgive me Beth. I didn't mean to upset you. I'm just interested as an outsider on the fringes of the vampire community. It's a fascinating story for an old historian like me."
She could hear the genuine concern in his apology. It wasn't his fault. Beth understood the curiosity for any snippet of insight into the world she had found herself in. She swiped her tears away with her hand.
"Why did he let me see him that night, at the fountain?" She didn't realise that she had said it out loud till she heard Christopher respond.
"Perhaps that night, you were both finally ready to meet each other again."
Beth had had enough. Her emotions where all over the place and she wanted to go home. She made her apologies to Barrett who politely asked her if she needed a ride home. Beth assured him that she was okay and that Mick was coming to pick her up. Barrett left her then, telling her as he went that he hoped to see her again and that if she ever needed to talk, she could call him anytime. Beth was grateful for his offer of friendship considering that there was really no one else she could talk to about her situation. The only catch was that she hadn't even talked to Mick about a lot of this stuff. She couldn't trust a virtual stranger with her innermost thoughts when she couldn't share them with the person she loved most. The offer had been made. It was up to her if she did anything about it.
Beth made her way through the crowd to leave not feeling the need to let anyone know that she was going. She stopped dead when she saw Simone Walker deep in conversation with Ben Talbot. As far as she knew they didn't know each other well apart from the unfortunate fact that Simone had been an early suspect in the Dominic Michaels case. They were both lawyers; maybe they were talking shop, though Ben seemed to be doing all the talking. Simone looked agitated. Was Ben hitting on her? Anything was possible. There was no way to get closer to them so that she could eavesdrop on their conversation without them seeing her so she let it go. It may be nothing. Her cell buzzing in her evening bag broke her away from her musings. It was Mick calling. There were two missed calls from him as well. Did he know somehow that she was upset, that she needed him?
Beth sniffed, took a deep breath and pressed the button to take the call.
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Seven vampires sat around the large round table in the oppulent surroundings of Josef Kostan's study. The fresh blood and single malt were flowing while cigar smoke wafted through the room like a fog. The stakes were high and each of the players had a stack of the green stuff in front of them. The very old, highly decorative glass ampules of rare blood types they usually played for were not in use. Money was the stake of choice tonight.
Six pairs of eyes followed Mick St John as he suddenly got up and left the room without a word. He had his phone out before he hit the door.
"I can't believe he's calling her again." Terrance shook his head in wonder.
"He's got it bad for that girl man." Guillermo stated drawing out the word 'bad' for added effect.
"She must really be something." Patrick, a semi regular guest at Josef's poker nights chimed in.
"You've never seen her have you Pat? She is really hot." Ryder added his confirmation of the human girl's ability to mesmerise.
"Yeah. She has really beautiful eyes." Logan stared into space wistfully thinking about Beth's blue eyes and long golden tresses.
All eyes turned to him before the room erupted into loud laughter at the boy vamp's innocent assessment of the girl that had St John in a spin. Logan didn't take kindly to the perceived insult to Beth.
"Well, she does." He declared snippily, not realising that they were laughing at him.
Josef sat grinning from ear to ear listening to the others laugh and make jokes at his best friends expense. Ryder and Logan would never have said anything about Beth in front of Mick for fear of retribution. His exit from the room had made them brave enough to voice their opinions along with the rest.
"Relax, Chewbacca."
"It's Llando Cal…."
"Whatever." Josef tried to sound totally uninterested but he loved getting a rise out of Logan. It was so easy to push his buttons.
Another round of guffaws filled the room.
"Cut Mick some slack okay, the kid waited a long time." Josef felt a rush of brotherly affection wash over him. Mick had finally found what he was looking for and was as happy as he had ever been. Josef put Mick's anxiety this evening down to the fact that Beth was out without him. They could all smell Beth all over him when he came in, had mercilessly ribbed him about it. Allthough Mick had gotten into the spirit of the night, Josef could tell his thoughts were elsewhere.
He looked up to see the others staring at him like they were hearing things. Josef Kostan, the king of the snarky comment, would normally be all over something like this.
"What? I'm just saying."
Josef looked around the table. Everyone present had had their share of being razzed by the others about their sex lives at the poker table over the years. They may have been losers in love but they were all excellent at poker.
"Enough of the warm and fuzzy stuff. Let's play poker."
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"Hey it's me." Mick felt relieved when Beth picked up after the first ring.
"Hi. I'm glad you called."
"How you holding up? Do you want me to come get you now?"
"Yeah, I've had enough."
"Okay, I'm on my way. Beth, wait for me …"
"Inside, not out in the street. I know I know." she laughed a little at his instructions. Did he ever stop worrying about her?
"Okay. I love you." He hung up before she could tell him that she loved him too.
Beth turned suddenly at a hand on her arm. It was Ben Talbot.
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