The next part arriveth!
First of all a HUGE thank-you to all my reviews and especially to Emerald124! Wow! Thank you for taking the time to review each chapter, I was simply stunned when I checked my email this morning, to find I had 30 new reviews! : D
And SocialMoth, hopefully this chapter clears up your confusion…you were just a little ahead of me in your thinking… : P
Onto the next chapter! Enjoy!
Brothers Divided"…If you make the correct choice, the payment for that choice, is a drainage of strength."
"…I don't understand."
"When I changed my fate, I came to the key crossroad and was able to recognize it for what it was. So instead of acting how I had seen myself behave in the vision, I made a different choice, and took different actions. The moment I did…it felt…it felt as though someone or something, some powerful force was draining my strength from my body. Over the next hour my senses dulled, down to more human levels…I couldn't walk straight, see straight anymore…changing the future drains you, there's no other way I can explain it more clearly."
"Calista, my pet, I want you to go find Josef. Bring him back here. The drug will have completely run itself through his system in the next few hours, and we'll need to inject him with another dose."
…For a moment she thought she saw something glimmer far down in the depths of the pale orbs. Some small spark of intelligence, of humanity.
Mick was having a hard time keeping his feet. But whether this was from Josef's relentless attacks, or because of how he was feeling, he didn't know.
As Josef had charged him, and Mick had prepared to dodge the attack, he suddenly had heard an extremely painful, high-pitched ringing. He had staggered sideways, as waves of nausea rolled through him. He didn't understand what was going on. Before he could regain his bearings, Josef had slammed into him, pummeling him backwards into the side of a Porsche, denting the side, and shattering the passenger window.
Mick had landed on one knee. Josef had charged forward again, and it was all Mick could do to get his arms raised in time. The ringing in his ears was getting louder by the second, the nausea increasing, and a feeling of exhaustion was settling over his limbs. What's happening to me?
Josef had picked him up from the floor, and thrown him across the room. Mick had crashed on top of one of the wooden tables, and it had collapsed underneath him. Mick shook his head, and staggered to his feet. The ringing had stopped, but everything sounded muffled to him now. His vision wavered, and he still felt nauseous. He fought not to throw up. He ran forward, surprised at how exhausted he felt—he could barely run straight.
He looked at Josef. Josef was watching him come, and took a step forward to meet him, and then…then, to Mick's surprise, Josef paused for a split second. Mick watched, his heart soaring with hope, as the pale blue of Josef's eyes briefly went brown for a second. But then Josef shook his head, and the blue frost was back. Still feral. But the glimpse of his friend, somewhere deep down underneath the drug's sway, gave Mick renewed hope. He prayed for the drug to wear off soon.
He had turned his mind back to what was going on with his body. The overwhelming feeling of exhaustion was slightly lifting, but Mick didn't feel his old strength returning...
All of a sudden he had realized what was happening to him. It was the price that Josef had told him about—of how changing the future drains one's strength. Josef had said that it pulled vampire's senses down towards more human levels. So Mick's muffled hearing, his weakness in his limbs, and his suffering vision must all be symptoms of the price he had to pay. Shit. Josef had told him that the drainage continued over a space of a hour, so with a sinking feeling Mick knew he could expect an even greater loss of his abilities. If he was no match for Josef when he was operating at full strength, how could he possibly manage to subdue Josef in a weakened condition?
Mick didn't have the answer to that question. For now, all he could do was try to live through Josef's brutal assaults, and to make sure that Beth stayed out of danger.
Currently, he and Josef were fighting up on the pedestal displaying the green Porsche. Josef was raining blows down on Mick, and Mick couldn't move nearly fast enough to stop them. He took the beating, head bowed, his arms up to protect himself as best he could. He fell to his knees, feeling a few pieces of glass embed themselves into his calf. He ground his teeth in pain.
He felt Josef plunge his fangs into his neck, biting him. Mick wrapped his arms around his friend's chest, and pushed forward off his knees, to send them both flying through the air, until they were brought to an abrupt halt by Josef taking the brunt of them smashing into a blue Porsche. His fangs were ripped from Mick's throat, and Mick felt the wounds start to heal, but they were healing at a much slower pace than normal. His blood was flowing freely down the side of his neck.
Josef staggered to his feet, shaking his head back and forth. Mick called out to him, "Josef! Shake it off, man! You're stronger than this!"
Josef's pale eyes filled with confusion for a brief moment and then the confusion vanished. Mick knew it was only a matter of time before the drug wore off completely. This time, when Josef attacked, Mick could tell his friend's movements were off, more sluggish and less smooth than his usual deadly grace and speed. Mick just had to survive long enough...
Beth watched, wide-eyed, from behind the the Porsche's hood as Mick and Josef fought. She felt scared and helpless. Mick was out there, exposed and in the open, putting his life on the line for her, and all she was doing was cowering behind a car. She knew that Mick wanted her here, needed her here, safe and out of the way so he could focus on the fight. Normally, Beth wouldn't have such a problem with that...she understood that Mick would be distracted with worry about her safety if she joined in the fight.
But this wasn't a normal fight. Something was wrong with Mick. Beth could tell. His movements and reactions were slow, slower than Beth had ever seen them. He seemed to be struggling to do simple maneuvers, and at one point it had looked like he was retching, trying to suppress vomit. Josef was annihilating him.
Beth couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't just sit by and watch Mick get the shit beat out of him. She knew that Josef would eventually kill Mick, and she simply wouldn't allow that to happen. She wouldn't let Mick save her, only to die himself minutes later.
Beth looked over at Josef. She had seen his brief moment of hesitation, and her heart had pounded with wild hope, thinking that maybe this time the drug wouldn't pull him under again. But luck didn't seem to be on their side, and the drug had regained its vicious hold over Josef. But Beth knew eventually the drug would have to run through Josef's system. Mick just needed to outlast his friend. Right now, though, that didn't seem likely. Hang in there, Mick. Just hold on.
Beth took a deep breath. When both Josef's and Mick's backs were turned to her, she quickly crawled out from her hiding spot, avoiding all the glass on the floor, and darted behind another car hood. The two friends hadn't noticed. Their fight was moving onto the spinning pedestal. Beth darted forward again. She was moving closer and closer to the wooden table that had collapsed under the force of Josef's throw and Mick's weight. She had heard a large crack come from the table when it had happened, and now she hoped to find some piece of wood she could give to Mick, to help him overcome Josef.
One more move, and she would be at the table. Josef was facing her direction right now, so Beth waited until the pedestal had spun around enough so that it was now Mick who facing her. His face was lined with exhaustion. I'm coming, Mick! I'm bringing help!...I hope... She crawled forward again.
She had managed to hide herself alongside a blue Porsche, right next to the table. She looked through the debris, frantically searching for something that would help...Yes! Beth exhaled a sigh of immense relief. There buried in the table splinters, was part of the table's leg. It had snapped in two when Mick had landed on the table, part of the reason why it had collapsed so easily. The broken half tapered down to end in a sharp point…a perfect wooden stake. Now, all Beth had to do was get it to Mick in time...
Suddenly, the car rocked with a heavy impact. Glass shattered. Beth sucked in her breath in fright. If she cried out, she would give away her position. She peered under the car. Josef had been thrown, hard, back against the Porsche. Mick was staggering upwards. Beth could see ugly bite marks in his neck, healing at what she thought was a slower rate than normal for Mick. Something is definitely wrong with him...
She heard Mick shout to Josef, in a hoarse voice, "Josef! Shake it off, man! You're stronger than this!" Beth read the brief hesitation in Josef's muscles, and then her heart sank as Josef ran forward again...the drug was still too strong. She had to get the stake to Mick...before it was too late.
Mick was stumbling backwards under Josef's onslaught. Even off-kilter from coming off the drug, Josef was still much more powerful than him, especially since Mick was weakened himself. His vision was starting to blur slightly. He had lost track of Beth, and with his dimmed senses of hearing and smell, he was struggling to find her again. Another wave of exhaustion had settled over him, draining even more of his strength. Mick knew he must end this fight soon, or he would die. And then there would be no one to protect Beth.
Mick looked into his friend's wild face. He had never seen Josef so out of control. He knew that if Josef were in his right mind, this would never be happening. His heart mourned for his friend. Josef didn't mind killing, yes, but he never killed for the fun of it. Josef had a respect for life than ran just as deep as Mick's. Mick knew, for all of Josef's badass reputation, his friend was a good man. It was why he wanted to stop Josef without killing him. Josef's death would be an unbearable loss. But if Josef didn't come out from the drug's sway soon, Mick was going to have to do something drastic...He didn't yet know how he would accomplish that, but Mick knew he couldn't hold out much longer...and if it came down to Josef or him, Mick knew he would have to kill Josef, to protect Beth's life.
Their fight ranged across the room. They had crossed back behind the Porsche Mick had tackled Josef against. Glass crunched under their feet. Mick finally caught Beth's scent. She was behind the Porsche. Still safe. Mick felt a little strength return as the relief at knowing where Beth was swept through him...but the relief only lasted for an instant as Josef brought his fists down hard across Mick's shoulders driving him to his knees, and then to the floor. Glass dug into his cheek. Mick cried out in pain...
Beth watched with horror as Mick fell into her line of sight, crying out. She saw Josef kick him in the ribs, hard, and Mick curled in on himself, moaning. Beth knew this was probably the best chance she would get to give Mick the stake. She could slide it under the car to him...
"Mick!" she hissed. "Mick!" But he didn't respond. If Beth didn't know better, she'd say he hadn't heard her. Yeah, she had spoken quietly, but with his vampire hearing he should have been able to pick up her voice easily. But Mick didn't turn towards her. And before Beth could try to grab his attention again, Mick was lifted from the floor, by Josef, and hurled across the room.
Beth's heart flew in her throat, as she heard the sound of her lover crash into something, screaming with pain. She crawled to the end of the car to see what was happening. Josef was quite a bit a ways down from her, to her right. And to her left, Mick had been thrown against another Porsche, to land, sprawled, next to one of the remaining wooden tables. With a start, Beth saw something gleaming on the ground, near the table...the Smith & Wesson...
Josef's kick landed on his side, and Mick felt a rib break. He moaned in agony.
Josef bent down, snarling in his face. Lifting him, he hurled him across the room. Mick crashed into the side of yet another Porsche, his broken rib taking the brunt of the impact. Mick screamed as white-hot waves of burning agony raced through his chest. He stumbled from the Porsche, to collapse to the ground next to one of the wooden tables.
A gleam of metal caught his eye...he turned his face slightly upwards to get a better look. Josef's gun swam into focus. It was within reach.
As though someone else were controlling his body, Mick saw his hand move forward and grasp the gun. He felt detached from himself, as if his mind couldn't quite believe, or process his actions. He rose to his feet in a lurching motion, and his arm extended, holding the gun at chest level.
Mick blinked. He had the gun's sights dead center on Josef's heart. He looked at his friend, and whispered, "Josef?" The older vampire's face showed no traces of personality, of awareness. Josef was completely under the drug's influence. Mick could also see the savagery present in his friend's eyes. Josef intended to finish this...Mick knew he wouldn't survive another assault. He was too weak, too injured. His rib had only just started to heal, and it was at a depressingly slow rate. He couldn't fight with a broken rib...Josef would kill him, and then drain Beth, killing her. Mick couldn't allow that.
As Josef attacked, running forward, Mick steadied his shaking hand. A tear slid down his cheek. "Josef, forgive me."
Josef leapt forward, eyes wild, fangs extended and dripping with blood...
Mick squeezed the trigger...
Finis.
bring it on, rabid readers! I am safe inside my fortress of pillows and soft cuddly things! : P
...what?! What do you mean china can still hurt through a fortress of pillows?!
..."meep" : O
and an important note, please remember, because some of my friends who read this had forgotten, the bullets in Josef's gun ARE SILVER!! sorry, if i just took away your last bit of hope, but it's an important plot point. THE BULLETS ARE SILVER!!
