Chapter 10
"And you wanted me to try and get you pregnant." Josef huffed and rolled his eyes as he flopped down on the lounge and stretched his legs out, resting his feet in Mick's lap.
"I beg your pardon?" Mick raised his eyebrows and gave Josef a distinctly quizzical look, before he remembered back to a previous conversation they had had some months ago where he had asked if Josef ever wondered what it would be like for them to have children. "Oh," Mick nodded with the realisation, "so I guess you're finding out what it's like to have a child then."
"I'm exhausted" Josef let out another huff of breath and tapped his foot pointedly against Mick's leg. "Roisin kept me up half the night again, feel like I haven't had a decent sleep in weeks."
"Oh you poor darling." Mick tutted in mock sympathy as he went to work on Josef's feet, rubbing them firmly between the palms of his hand and then massaging his fingers in slow circles over Josef's ankles. "Shall I fetch you your pipe and slippers, Grandad?"
Josef rolled his eyes at Mick and huffed again, this time indignantly.
"You know Katherine was watching us the other week, don't you?" Josef asked then, trying to keep the tone of his voice as nonchalant as possible.
In actual fact it had been a little over three weeks since that night. Three weeks in which Katherine had proven to be the veritable star pupil of Vampire fledglingdom, as she went from strength to strength, learning as fast as Josef could teach her. Nevertheless Josef still didn't trust her to look after Roisin without supervision, not yet at least.
Mick quickly suppressed the rising sensation of guilt and disappointment he felt when he thought of his own disastrous attempt at turning Beth into a Vampire, turning his head towards Josef instead and responding to his question with a simple "Yes, why?"
"I want to ask you a favour, that's all"
Mick looked at Josef suspiciously, "What favour?" he asked pointedly, knowing full well that when Josef said 'that's all' it usually meant something else entirely.
"Will you let her watch us again?" Once more Josef's tone was nonchalant, but Mick could hear the words hitch slightly in his throat as he spoke them.
"You what?" Mick looked at Josef with wide eyed incredulousness and shook his head. "What's bought this on?"
"I said watch, Mick. Not join in" Josef pointed out to him hurriedly when he saw the bewildered look that had fallen over Mick's face, "and nothing's bought anything on," he added, trying to be reassuring, "it's just a test for her, that's all."
"A test?" Mick shook his head once again and let out a disbelieving sigh of breath, rolling his eyes at the same time. He turned to Josef then, his voice dripping with sarcasm, and questioned him with, "So Katherine gets to watch us fuck and then…what? She gets a gold star in Voyeurism 101 and goes to the head of the class?"
"Something like that." Josef smiled at Mick and arched an eyebrow before sitting up and shifting over closer to him. "I can't tell you because I don't want you to accidentally give the game away, alright?" he wrapped his arms around Mick's neck and kissed the side of his face affectionately, "So, will you do it then?" he asked.
"Yeah, alright." Mick finally agreed, after a few moments' hesitation, giving Josef a sideways glance and letting out a sniff of laughter as he shook his head once more and wondered exactly what his husband was up to this time.
"Good." Josef leaned in and kissed the side of Mick's face once again, before standing up and offering Mick his hand with a quick direction of, "Come upstairs with me."
"What, now?"
"Yes, now. Katherine will be back from the blood bank at any moment and I want us to be relaxed and comfortable and waiting for her."
"So she can watch us fuck." Mick got to his feet and took Josef's hand, letting out another disbelieving sigh of breath as he shook his head then looked skyward and muttered under his breath. "I can't believe I'm actually agreeing to this."
"Grab a bottle of blood wine," Josef instructed, ignoring the words he had heard Mick mumble to himself and pointing to the wine rack in the corner of the room before he lead Mick up the stairs and into their bedroom.
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Lying in bed with Mick spooned in behind him; Josef quickly turned and pressed a finger to Mick's lips, warning him not to say anything just yet as they both heard the sound of the front door opening.
"Katherine" Josef called out to her, his voice forced casual, "come upstairs, we're in our room."
Mick stifled a slightly embarrassed laugh and Josef hissed at him to be quiet, before muttering a quick apology and reaching up a hand to stroke Mick's face, kissing him gently as they both heard the sound of approaching footsteps and then a tentative knocking of hand on wood.
"Come in." Josef smiled and Mick suppressed another nervous laugh as the door opened slowly and Katherine stood in the open space looking hesitant. "It's alright, come in. Come join us." Josef smiled again, a reassuring smile meant to put his tentative fledgling at ease and patted the space next to where Mick and he lay.
"You sure I'm not disturbing anything?" Katherine moved slowly towards the bed, hesitant, cautious. She noticed the two Vampires lying on the mattress in front of her, sheets only half pulled over them, were both shirtless and she assumed naked under those sheets as well.
"Do you think we would have let you in here if you were disturbing anything?" Josef arched an eyebrow and grinned at her pointedly, then gave a small shrug and said, "I haven't seen you all day, I'd like to spend some time with my fledgling."
Katherine smiled at Josef's use of term 'my fledgling' and covered the last few steps to the edge of the bed with more surety of movement. Climbing onto the mattress, she crawled over to the space Josef had indicated and half lay down, propping herself up on one shoulder and bending one leg in front of her slightly.
"Blood wine?" Josef asked with casual politeness, quickly adding "it's wine mixed with blood," when he saw the questioning look on Katherine's face, and then gestured for Mick to pour the three of them a glass each when she nodded her acceptance.
The three of them lay there on the bed together, sipping glass after glass of the thick, slightly metallic tasting wine. Almost polishing off two whole bottles between them, feeling the relaxing warm glow of the alcohol tainted blood as it coursed through their systems and they engaged in polite small talk.
The usual idle chit chat designed to pass the time. "How was your day?", "How are you?", complaints about lines and waiting times in blood banks and rude Vampires trying to jump the queue. Then Mick heard Josef take a quick breath and hesitate briefly before he broached the subject of why they had asked Katherine to join them in the first place.
His tone matter of fact, his expression open, casual, no hint of challenge, Josef looked at Katherine and asked, "Did you enjoy watching us the other day?"
Katherine swallowed a nervous lump from her throat and quickly averted her eyes from Josef's, pretending to study a particularly fascinating spot on the wall in front of her before she swallowed again and gave a quick nod of her head.
"Yeah, I guess so." She replied, her voice barely above a whisper.
"It's ok," Josef gave a small laugh and reached out to place a reassuring hand on her arm. He waited for Katherine to look at him again and then held her gaze steady with his for a moment, before asking, "Would you like to watch us again?"
His voice was deeper this time, inviting, almost seductive. Josef withdrew his hand from her arm and Katherine drew in a slight gasp of air when she realised that Mick had shifted a hand under the covers and was stroking Josef slowly, kissing his way across the top of his shoulders and along his neck as he did so.
Katherine looked to Mick then, waiting for him to look up at her, to give her some sort of clue as to what she was meant to do, unsure of where exactly this was heading. Mick's eyes met hers and he smiled, a slightly knowing smile, eyebrows arched pointedly as he looked at her and said, "Just watch, nothing else."
Josef heard Katherine let out a small puff of breath, almost a sigh of relief and then saw her give the slightest nod of her head, 'ok'. He turned to Mick and kissed him, softly, deeply, tasting the inside of his mouth with his tongue. After a few moments, he broke away from the embrace and rolled onto his back; pulling back the covers and whispering "Go on."
Katherine watched as Mick slid his way down Josef's body, leaving moist trails of saliva as his lips and tongue traced a path over Josef's chest and stomach. He paused for a moment when he reached Josef's cock, erect and straining against his stomach, stretching himself out into a more comfortable position, and then pressed his mouth against his hardness and ran his lips and tongue over the length of Josef's shaft.
He flicked his tongue lightly against the sensitive underside of the head, almost teasingly, and then encircled the base of Josef's cock with one hand and took him into his mouth.
Josef gasped and reached down to stroke Mick's head, entwining his fingers in his hair as Mick worked his lips and tongue over the length of him and Josef arched his hips involuntarily and thrust himself into Mick's mouth.
"Does he do that well?" Katherine asked, at least some of her previous nervousness banished by growing curiosity and arousal.
Josef groaned and thrust his hips upwards once more and hissed a reply of "Yes" through gritted teeth and then laughed and added almost cockily, "I did teach him everything he knows."
"So he should be a bloody expert then," Katherine arched an eyebrow and quipped cheekily, eliciting a laugh from Mick as he raised his head for a moment and remarked tongue in cheek,
"Like fledgling, like Sire."
Josef rolled his eyes and let out the slightest indignant huff of breath, before he tapped Mick on the shoulder and gestured for him to come back up. Mick quickly complied with the unspoken instruction and Katherine watched once again as he moved back up Josef's body and stretched himself out on top of him, hands gripping the sides of Josef's skull lightly as he pressed his mouth against his lips and kissed him.
They rubbed against one another slowly, hips grinding together in lazy circles, their mouths locked together as they explored the planes and angles of each others body with their hands. The rhythm was teasing, maddeningly so, and Josef broke away from the kiss and pressed his lips against Mick's ear, pleading with him in a whispered hiss of breath.
"Fuck me."
Mick quickly moved to grab the tube of lubricant from the bedside cabinet and slicked his cock in preparation, before pressing two lubricated fingers against the entrance to Josef's passage and slowly pushing his way inside.
Josef lay on his side, facing away from Mick and hooked one leg back over Mick's thigh, opening himself up to his touch. He let out a snarl of approval and bit down on his lower lip when Mick's fingers found his prostate and stroked, lightly, the barest of pressures and Josef let out another snarl and pressed himself back against Mick's hand, wanting more.
Mick placed his hand on Josef's hip, holding him steady, and continued the slow, merciless build up of arousal. His own previous hesitation and nervous snippets of laughter swept away by the heat of the moment. He figured if Katherine was going to watch they might as well put on a good show and he wanted Josef to beg for him.
"Mick, please."
The voice was strained, but not desperate enough, nowhere near desperate enough. He'd have to beg harder than that. Mick smiled to himself and drew tiny languid circles over Josef's prostate with the pads of his fingers, just enough to continue the build up of pressure until Josef bit down on his lip once more and then gritted his teeth and hissed sharply,
"For fucksake Mick, please."
That was the desperation Mick was looking for, an almost demanding plea, and he quickly withdrew his fingers and grabbed hold of his own cock. He could smell Katherine's arousal on the other side of the bed, as he pressed himself against Josef's entrance and slowly thrust his way inside his passage.
Katherine's breathing was slightly shallow, her newly undead, blood fueled heart beating a little faster in her chest. Mick got the impression from the way Katherine's hands were gripping the mattress in front of her that she was resisting the urge to touch herself, probably out of some sense of personal decency. Quite ironic when you considered the fact that she was lying on a bed with two male Vampires watching her own private sex show in full 3D high definition and surround sound, or so Mick thought to himself.
He glanced down at Josef, wondering if he had noticed the state his fledgling was in and saw Josef looking at her, studying her face intently behind his own mask of arousal. And then Mick understood. Josef wanted her aroused, this was the test. A Vampire's control is never as tenuous as when they are hungry for blood or sexually aroused. Starving a fledgling to test control is never a good idea; even Mick knew that, so that left this. Turn the fledgling on, arouse them and see if they kept their inner Vampire in check.
So far Katherine was doing splendidly and Mick cupped a hand under Josef's chin and turned his face around to meet his, mouthing the word "clever" to him and arching one eyebrow in a knowing gesture before he pressed his mouth against Josef's lips and began to move inside him slowly.
The kiss was slightly awkward, a bumping of lips and scraping of fangs and Josef broke away from the kiss and concentrated on pressing himself back against Mick's hips, trying to take as much of him in as possible.
"Does it hurt?" Josef heard Katherine ask him, her voice small and curious and he resisted the urge to make some sarcastic remark like, "actually it hurts like buggery, but he rubs my feet for me when I'm tired so I put up with it", and bit back a moan and shook his head in reply.
"Not if you use lubricant," he told her, hoping she would accept the simple answer, not really wanting to go into the detailed mechanics of anal sex with his fledgling just at that moment. He paused to let out a soft groan as Mick continued to thrust himself slowly in and out of his passage and then added, "We've been together for fifty years as well remember, we've both had more than enough practice by now."
"Can he make you come just from doing that? Without touching you I mean" Katherine's voice was a little bolder that time, her curiosity overriding her natural refrain from asking too many questions at such a time.
"Sometimes, yes." Josef smiled and nodded in reply, a small shiver running along the length of his spine as he felt Mick's fangs nipping lightly at the skin on the top of his shoulders. He arched an eyebrow and grinned at her cheekily then and said, "Clever isn't he," unable to resist making at least one small quip.
"Do you enjoy it?" Katherine asked then, studying the expression on Josef's face as he let his eyes fall shut and another groan of pleasure elicited from his lips.
"Of course I do," the words came out slightly breathless as Mick gradually quickened the pace of his thrusts, "I wouldn't do it if I didn't."
Josef paused for a moment, reveling in the sensation of being fucked, and then snaked one arm around behind Mick's neck and twisted his head around to meet Mick's face, a similar, slightly awkward position as before. He brushed his lips lightly across Mick's mouth and then let out a slight rushing sound of air and whispered, "I love it, I love him," pausing again for the briefest of moments before he entwined the fingers of his hand through the back of Mick's hair and whispered again, "My husband."
This time it was Mick's turn to moan, the sound being swallowed by Josef's lips and tongue as he pressed his mouth against Mick's once more and kissed him. The kiss was brief, the positioning of their heads too clumsy to warrant anything else from experience. Josef removed his arm from around Mick's neck and turned his head away from him again, grinding his arse back against Mick's hips as he hissed a single command.
"Faster."
Mick complied with the instruction and increased the pace of his strokes, shortening the length of them as he did so, withdrawing his cock only far enough to push back up into Josef's arse in quick, hard thrusts.
Josef opened his eyes again for a moment, sweeping a quick glance of Katherine's face, smiling to himself when he saw there was still no sign of the inner Vampire. He closed his eyes again and then drew in a quick sharp gasp of breath and snarled when he felt cold slippery liquid being applied to his cock and Mick's hand encircled his shaft and began to pump him earnestly from base to tip.
"Is he going to make you come?" Katherine's voice was slightly higher pitched than usual, tinged with excitement and anticipation as she watched Josef pant and moan and press himself back to meet each of Mick's thrusts and Mick continued to work his hand over his cock relentlessly.
"Oh Christ fuck yes," Josef hissed under his breath through gritted fangs, then opened his lips to draw in another sharp intake of breath and panted, "he's going to make me come, oh sweet god in heaven he's going to make me come so fucking hard."
Katherine looked on then as Josef seemingly lost all sense of control and started to fuck himself on Mick's cock as hard and fast as he could. He urged Mick on as his muscles tensed and he started panting and moaning once again. Half choked cries of pleasure erupted from his parted lips as he continued to impale himself on Mick's erection and Mick worked his hand over him faster and faster.
And then he was arching his back, body rigid, mouth hung open gasping silently for air as he hung suspended on a knife edge of pleasure. Mick reached an arm around his shoulder and pressed his wrist against his mouth and felt Josef's cock in his hand swell and harden even more, pressure building almost painfully as his body strained for release.
Josef came then, hard. Hard enough to make him cry out, screaming the word 'fuck' as the sensation tore through him. His fluid flowed over Mick's hand as he bit down sharply into the flesh of Mick's wrist and went into near convulsions of pleasure.
Mick felt Josef tighten rhythmically around his cock, the sensation enough to push him over the edge and send him spiraling into his own orgasm. Sinking his own fangs into Josef's neck and snarling with pleasure as the waves of climax washed over him.
"How was it?"
Josef opened his eyes a few moments later to see Katherine looking at him expectantly. He grinned up at her and mouthed the word 'good' and closed his eyes again for a moment, enjoying the feeling of Mick pressed up against his back, one arm draped over his shoulder and pressed tightly across his chest. He smiled contentedly when Mick pressed his lips against his ear and whispered, "I love you", and he nodded and whispered the word, "ditto", in reply.
"Oh by the way," he began, after a few more moments had passed and he'd recovered his senses sufficiently, addressing Katherine as he opened his eyes and looked at her with eyebrows cocked and the hint of a devilish grin on his face, "Roisin can sleep in your room tonight and you can look after her as much as you want from now on, unsupervised."
Katherine looked at him, surprise and bewilderment mixed with barely suppressed happiness on her face. "I don't understand? When you did decide this?" she asked in a rush of emotion, barely able to contain her excitement.
"Just now." Josef smiled at her knowingly and added, "You passed the test."
"Test, what test?"
A bewildered look passed over Katherine's face once more as she shook her head not understanding what was going on, what was this test she was supposed to have passed and then the realisation dawned on her that it didn't matter. Josef was waving his hand dismissively and telling her those same words and she was once more Roisin's mother and so it was true, it didn't matter. Not one bit.
She kissed Josef impulsively on his still slightly sweat dampened forehead and announced eagerly, "I'm going to feed Roisin and give her a bath."
Josef smiled after her as he watched her race off with all the enthusiasm of the poster perfect new mother, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice, and then he closed his eyes again and settled back deeper into Mick's embrace, falling asleep with him still inside.
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Late Friday evening, a week later, Mick was stretched out on the couch and Josef lay back contentedly in his arms, absentmindedly tracing circles over Mick's forearm, wrapped around his waist, with his fingers.
Josef smiled to himself. Mick had seemed far more relaxed than he had seen him in a while and his trust in Katherine after she passed her test had proven to be well founded. He was almost ready to breathe a sigh of relief, certain the storm he feared had blown over and proven itself be no more than a minor squall, when there came a sharp insistent knocking at the door.
He felt Mick move to answer it himself and sat up. Turning to Mick and giving him a quick kiss, he told him to, "Stay there," and then added, "I'll get it," as he stood up and made his way over to the front door to see who their late night visitor could be.
His heart sank and he swallowed audibly and closed his eyes for a moment when he saw Ryder standing there, disheveled, eyes red rimmed and face creased with worry. Taking a deep breath he opened his eyes again and reluctantly motioned for Ryder to come inside.
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"I'll go get us some drinks." Josef muttered half to himself as he watched Ryder walk through the door, shoulders stopped and brow furrowed with concern.
From the kitchen he listened to snatches of conversation, as Ryder sat in the armchair opposite Mick and recited a litany of woe with Beth.
"The Cleaners will only tolerate carelessness so far, you know that." Josef heard Ryder telling Mick as he took a seat on the lounge next to him and placed a tray of glasses and blood scotch on the table in front of them. He watched as Mick poured himself an overly generous shot and knocked it back in one hurried gulp, hands trembling slightly, before he offered the bottle to Ryder with a quick nod and an arch of his eyebrows.
"No, thank you." Ryder smiled wanly and waved a dismissive hand through the air in front of him. "She's not even bothering to cover her tracks anymore," he let out a frustrated sigh of breath and continued on, "She's feeding openly and leaving the bodies where they fall. It's only a matter of time before she's spotted or worse, picked up by the law and then what?" He paused and shook his head, "it's like she's got a death wish or something."
Josef stole a quick glance at Mick and was almost positive he could see hairline cracks of guilt, appearing like tiny webbed patterns of pain and remorse, over the surface of his face. Mick turned to Josef then and the look on his face was unmistakable.
"Josef do something, please."
Josef bit his lip for a moment and raised his eyes skywards before lowering his head and pressing two fingers either side of his skull, massaging his temples with slow circular pressure. He stayed like that for a few moments, trying to rub away the dull roar in his head as he sat and considered this latest predicament and what exactly he was expected to do about it. With sudden clarity he knew precisely how he was going to handle things.
"I'm going to the freezer." He stood up and announced matter of fact to no one in particular.
"Josef!" Mick caught up with him at the bottom of the stairs, reaching out to grab him by the arm and spinning him around to face him.
"Let go of me." Josef growled and flashed Mick a quick warning look, before seeing the confused expression on Mick's face and immediately softening. "I just don't know how you expect to fix this, Mick," he told him quietly as he wrapped a hand around the back of Mick's head and drew him towards him, pressing his forehead against his. "Or more to the point," he continued, "I don't know how you expect me to fix it. I can't just wave a magic wand and make this all go away you know." He let out a small sniff of laughter and shook his head. "Why do you do this to us Mick? Beth's a big girl now, if she wants to fuck things up then maybe it's time for you to let go and let her make her own mistakes."
"Even if those mistakes may end up costing her her life?" Mick reared back and looked at Josef with utter incredulousness, shaking his head in disbelief at the words he had just heard spoken. "That's not what she needs, Josef." He added with an almost defiant note of challenge.
"And what does she need, Mick." Josef threw back his own challenge, shifting his hands down to grip the top of Mick's shoulders as he held Mick's gaze firmly with his.
"She needs to not be a Vampire." Mick sighed and Josef watched as the hairline cracks began to run into deep fissures, threatening to break him apart.
Josef relented then, wrapping his arms around Mick's neck and drawing him into his embrace. He muttered a quick apology and held Mick to him, trying to offer him the sense of security and direction he needed in that moment.
"For fucksake, here we go again." Josef thought wryly and mentally rolled his eyes as he stroked the back of Mick's neck and entwined his fingers through Mick's hair.
"I'll have a security detail set up to follow her. At least we can try and keep her one step ahead of the Cleaners until we figure out a more permanent solution" He let out a reluctant sigh of breath and looked over at Ryder, furrowing his brow and shaking his head as he gave him a pointed look of "You poor bastard, Christ what an unholy mess."
Ryder acknowledged the look with another wan smile and a brief downwards inclination of his head, before he stood up and brushed the creases from his suit.
"I'd best be going." He said as he made his way to the front door, the weight on his shoulders lessened slightly for having shared it.
Josef reached out to Ryder as he walked past, grabbing his hand for a moment and giving it a quick reassuring squeeze before letting go and mouthing the words "take care", offering him a sympathetic smile at the same time.
Turning his attention back to Mick, he listened to him whisper repeated thanks; his sense of relief palpable as Josef drew his arms tighter around Mick's shoulders and held the both of them together.
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"Shit" Josef stabbed at the end call button on the phone with his finger and slammed the handset down on the table in front of him.
The security detail he had set up to track Beth had been in operation for five days and five nights. They reported in with Josef on a daily basis and every report was the same, a catalogue of bodies and a cremation bill that was fast burning a hole in his pocket.
"Ah Christ Mick, you and I both know this is not going to end well." Josef thought as he pressed his fingers against his temples and attempted to massage away the buzzing in his head.
"What's wrong?"
Josef looked up to see Mick leaning in the doorway of the office, a forced smile attempting to cover a mask of pain and uncertainty.
"Nothing." He waved a dismissive hand through the air in front of him and attempted to offer Mick a reassuring smile, gesturing for him to come in at the same time.
Mick hesitated for a moment and then walked over to where Josef sat behind his office desk. "It's something to do with Beth, isn't it?" he asked, as Josef reached for him and pulled him down onto his lap.
Mick's attempt to keep the question as matter of fact as possible failed miserably. Josef could hear the crack in his voice and the audible hitch in his breathing.
"It's just the reports from the security detail; it's nothing to worry about." Josef replied, tracing circles over the small of Mick's back with his hand. "Hey, you want to go out tonight?" Josef hoped a night out on the town might just do the trick of taking Mick's mind off of Beth, at least for a few hours.
"Sure," Mick offered a noncommittal shrug, "what did you have in mind?"
"I don't know? Catch a play, go see a movie, sit in a café somewhere and watch the night go by?"
"Hey, why don't we take over from the security detail for the evening and track Beth ourselves." Mick stood up and turned to face Josef, a far too eager expression on his face.
Josef gritted his teeth and suppressed the urge to call Mick an idiot to his face. "That's not exactly the sort of night out I had in mind, Mick." He replied with a pointed smile.
"Oh come on Josef." Mick's stance was challenging, legs apart and arms folded across his chest, "I'm not stupid, I know how much it's costing you to run this security detail for Beth. What's wrong with giving them the night off and saving some money? Besides, I could try and talk to her again."
"Yeah, because that just worked out so well last time didn't it Mick." Josef held Mick's gaze, challenging him to deny the stupidity of what he had just said.
The expression on Mick's face never wavered, eager and pleading behind the folded arms and open legged defiant stance. Josef studied Mick's face for a moment and then relented. "Ok." He let out a reluctant sigh, "We'll take over from the security detail and track Beth ourselves for tonight. If that's what you really want."
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It was well after midnight when they arrived in Cologne. They wandered the streets for more than an hour, Josef looking on as Mick's expression went from hopeful to frantic as they looked for Beth in vain. Just as Josef was about to gently suggest they call it a night, they rounded the next corner and came face to face with an image that burnt itself indelibly into Mick's brain.
The snarling creature in front of them with its fangs embedded in the lifeless body of its victim as it drained the last of its blood, bore little resemblance to the girl Mick had once known. Before Josef could stop him, he stepped out of the shadows and called her name.
Beth removed her fangs from her victim's neck and looked up, letting the body fall to the ground at her feet at the same time. Not bothering to wipe the overflow of blood from mouth she looked at Mick and offered him a smile that sent chills down Josef's spine.
"Beth." Mick took another tentative step forward, "Beth, this isn't you."
"Of course it's me, Mick." Beth laughed, a sound that would've been almost been merry were it not for the distinct note of insane menace. "Who else would it be? I'm a Vampire now, remember. This is what Vampires do, isn't it Mick." She spat the words out like a bad taste and took a step forward.
Josef hovered in the background, his senses on full alert, watching for the moment Beth decided to launch an attack on Mick in her feral state. He said a silent prayer that the moment never came, killing Beth with his bare hands in front of Mick was not a thought he particularly relished.
"This is not what Vampires do Beth." Mick held his hand out in front of him and tried to reason with her. "We have rules."
"Rules, Mick?" Beth threw back her head and roared with laughter, "We're top of the food chain; there are no rules for us."
Josef's heart sank. He had heard those same words spoken in a thousand or more ways over the centuries. It meant only one thing. Beth was beyond help. He saw Mick reach inside his coat, his eyes fixed on the creature standing in front of them. Before Josef's mind could fully register what was happening, Mick had rushed forward and plunged a stake into Beth's chest.
"Help me get her to the car." There was a note of hysteria in Mick's voice as he looked up at Josef, eyes wide and pleading.
"And just what the fuck do you think we're going to do with her Mick?"
"What do you mean, Josef?" If Mick realised the truth of Beth's situation he certainly didn't show any sign of it. "We're taking her home with us, she needs help."
"Mick." Josef knelt down and reached out to caress Mick's cheek, brushing strands of hair away from his face. "Look at her, that's not Beth and you know it."
"I know, Josef." Mick rolled his eyes and huffed, tapping Josef's hand away from his face. "I'm not an idiot alright. I can see she's back on drugs."
"Mick for fucksake." Josef gritted his teeth and spat incredulously, "She's not on drugs, she's feral."
He hadn't meant to speak so harshly. Taking a moment to bring his frustration with Mick back under control, he moved to apologise just as two black leather clad figures stepped into his field of vision and addressed Mick.
"Your friend here is quite right, Mr St. John." The taller of the two Cleaners, who Josef recognised, said simply. "We've had Ms Turner under surveillance for quite sometime now. She's been causing more than her fair share of work for us. You must realise we cannot allow things to continue this way?"
It was a rhetorical question. Josef shot Mick a warning look, silently willing him to stay quiet. Once he was sure Mick wasn't about to do anything stupid, he stood up and looked at the Cleaner who had just spoken.
"A word please Ariadne." His smile was politely charming as he gestured for the Cleaner to walk with him for a moment.
Mick watched nervously, hardly daring to draw breath as Josef and the Cleaner moved away from where he crouched by Beth's side and proceeded to carry on a short, heated conversation in a language he didn't understand or recognise.
After what seemed an eternity to Mick, Josef returned to Mick's side and gestured for him to pick Beth up. Josef's body language was tense, his heart rate elevated and Mick obeyed his direction without question as the two Cleaners turned and disappeared back into the shadows.
"What happened back there, what did you say to her?" Mick waited until they had reached the car and carefully slipped Beth into the back seat, before rushing forth with the question.
Josef quickly hopped into the driver's seat of the Ferrari and opened the passenger side door for Mick without replying.
"Josef, what happened back there?" Mick repeated as he climbed into the passenger seat alongside Josef.
"I just sold my soul for you Mick." Josef thought. Out loud he said, "You should know better than to ask me that, Mick. We'll work something out," he added hurriedly and reached to give Mick's hand a reassuring squeeze, "let's just get Beth back to our place and take it from there."
With that Josef let go of Mick's hand and gunned the engine of the Ferrari, pulling the vehicle onto the road and aiming it in the direction of Salzburg. Josef's hands white knuckled the steering wheel in front of him as he pressed his foot down on the accelerator and kicked the Ferrari into top gear, the words of the Cleaner echoing in his head.
"If she steps out of line again, either his life or hers will be forfeit. By your hand."
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"Put her over on the couch."
Josef watched as Mick silently obeyed his instruction, carrying a staked and paralysed Beth over to the black leather sofa in the middle of the room and laying her gently down on top of it.
"You know, don't you?" Josef thought, swallowing away the lump of tension in his throat as he noted the way Mick purposefully avoided looking at Beth's face. "What the hell's going to happen to you when reality finally comes crashing in Mick?"
Drawing in a sharp breath and pushing any thoughts of Mick and impending breakdowns to the back of his mind, Josef moved over to Mick's side and quietly helped him pack the bags of ice they had purchased on the drive home around Beth's prone form.
"Don't." Josef snatched Mick's wrist in mid air as Mick went to reach for the stake in Beth's chest. "That's not a good idea." He placed a comforting hand on Mick's shoulder and added gently, "I'll call someone. Get them to give her something to make her sleep."
"Ok." Mick nodded, his voice barely above a whisper, continuing to avert his eyes from Beth's face.
Josef knelt beside Mick then, arms draped around his neck and lips pressed against his temple as he silently willed him not to fall apart.
"I'll be right back." He reassured him, brushing his fingers through Mick's hair and pressing his lips to Mick's temple once more, before going to place the call.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mick, come on the sun's been up for hours. We need to get some sleep."
The Doctor had been and gone over an hour ago. One of Josef's human contacts who were privileged enough to be allowed knowledge of the Vampire community, he had quickly slipped a needle filled with blood and Nembutal into a vein in Beth's arm and rendered her unconscious. They had sat together in silence for the most part, since then, Mick with his back against the wall opposite the lounge, still unable to look directly at Beth, and Josef by his side, trying to offer what comfort he could.
"You go. I want to stay here."
It was the same response Mick had given when Josef had gently suggested they get some sleep just after the Doctor had left. Despite Josef's continued reassurances that Beth wouldn't even be aware of their presence and there was nothing more they could do for now.
"Mick, please."
Josef stood up and reached a hand down towards Mick, before he had a chance to stop him Mick's hands were clutching his arms and he was being pulled back down on top of him. The force of the sudden embrace enough to elicit a rush of air from Josef's lips, as Mick clung to his neck and smothered his face and neck with rabid snarling kisses.
"Mick –"
"- Josef please, I need to stay down here and I need you with me and right now I need to feel connected to something."
"You tell me to go in one breath and beg me to stay in another, you don't know what you need, or want for that matter, Mick." Josef thought as he held Mick at arms length and studied his face. Nevertheless he couldn't refuse him; he had spoken the same words to Mick in the storage shed several weeks prior, when he had felt as if the ground was shifting out from underneath him at a hundred miles an hour.
"Ok." Josef nodded his understanding and gripped the sides of Mick's face with his hand, drawing Mick back towards him and crushing his mouth against Mick's lips.
Josef broke away from the embrace a few moments later and helped Mick out of his various layers of clothing before pausing to strip off his own. He paused for a moment then, hesitant and uncertain in the face of Mick's palpable desperation and asked, "are you sure you want to do this now."
"Yes." The response was a forced hiss of air through gritted teeth. Mick wrapped his arms around Josef's neck and lay back on the cold wooden floor beneath them, pulling Josef down with him.
Josef bent Mick's legs back against his chest and quickly slicked his cock with saliva. Pressing himself against Mick's entrance, he began to his ease way inside, slowly, not wanting to hurt Mick with the lack of proper lubrication.
Mick had other ideas. Digging his heels into Josef's arse he let out a single desperate snarl and forced Josef into him. Clinging to Josef's back he gritted his teeth and hissed repeated commands of "harder," as Josef withdrew and then thrust back into him repeatedly, picking up the pace a little more each time.
"Mick, I'm not going to hurt you if that's what you expect." Josef stopped mid stroke a few minutes later, raising himself up on outstretched arms and looking down at Mick with concern.
Mick's response was to sink his fangs hard into the top of Josef's shoulders and tear at the flesh of Josef's back with his nails.
"Mick, Jesus Christ what the fuck are you doing?" Josef didn't really need to ask that question. He knew exactly what Mick was trying to do. "That's not going to work Mick; I told you I'm not going to hurt you."
Josef gripped Mick's wrists and pinned his arms above his head. Determined to bring the both of them off as quickly as possible, he adjusted the angle of penetration and started driving himself hard into Mick's body, hitting against his prostate with every stroke.
Moments later Josef felt Mick tense beneath him and then he was snarling his release and biting into Josef's shoulder, shaking with pleasure as the waves of climax tore through him. Josef thrust himself into Mick's body a few more times and then fell with him, growling out the rhythm of his own release as he felt the orgasm overtaking him and he sank his own fangs into Mick's neck.
"What the fuck was that?" Josef snapped at Mick, withdrawing himself from Mick's passage and rolling off of him when the last pulses of their respective orgasms had been spent.
Mick turned onto his side, facing away from Josef, and burst into tears. Josef lay alongside Mick and draped an arm across his shoulder, listening helplessly as Mick sobbed and convulsed on the floor in front of him.
"Oh Christ fuck Josef, this is bad isn't it. This is so fucking bad." The words were barely decipherable and Josef tightened his embrace, drawing Mick closer into his body.
"We'll work something out." Josef tried to reassure Mick, but the words sounded empty and hollow in the face of Mick's pain.
"I'll work something out. I have to." Josef added silently, certain that he had never been as close to losing Mick as he felt at that moment.
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Sometime between the break of day and the drawn out hours of before, Josef had finally managed to get Mick to the Freezer. One arm draped protectively across Mick's chest he had watched, and listened, as Mick's cries turned to occasional soft hiccups of breath and then ceased all together.
Mick may have fallen into something resembling a state of sleep then, but for Josef it was a different story. Fearful for Mick's state of mind, he had lain awake and searched desperately for a way out of the current predicament. An hour before dawn he had finally hit upon what he hoped was a solution.
"Mick." Josef turned to Mick in the soft blue glow of the freezer and gently tapped his shoulder, "Mick come on, wake up."
Mick woke with a start. He would have cracked his head on the glass top of the Freezer if it hadn't been for Josef pressing the release button in time.
"Beth, where is she, is she…" Mick looked around the room, frantic, eyes wide as he struggled to shed the last vestiges of a disturbed sleep.
"She's downstairs, asleep." Josef placed one hand in the centre of Mick's chest and steadied him, "I gave her some more Nembutal before we went to bed, you obviously don't remember."
"I remember." Mick drew his legs up and rested his forehead on his knees. "She's not aware of anything is she?" He turned to Josef a few moments later and asked.
"Not a thing." Josef stroked a reassuring hand over the top of Mick's head, wrapping tendrils of Mick's hair around his fingers as he did so.
"Good, that's good." Mick muttered half to himself as he ran a hand over his face. "What time is it?"
"It's early; a bit after sunrise." Josef climbed out of the freezer and extended his hand out to Mick. "Come on, get up." He drew in a breath and then added, "We need to talk."
"Look, if this is about what happened downstairs," Mick huffed in immediate defense, sitting bolt upright and purposefully shying away from Josef's outstretched hand, "I've already apologised for that."
Josef gritted his teeth and suppressed an urge to respond with a cutting remark of, "Apologise, Mick? What for? Slicing my back to ribbons and tearing chunks of flesh out of my shoulder with your teeth? And here I was thinking you were just overcome with passion."
"I know you have," he reassured Mick instead, "it's not about that."
Reluctantly, Mick accepted Josef's proffered hand and climbed out of the Freezer. Whatever Josef had to say to him, Mick wasn't sure he wanted to hear. The movements of his body were stiff, his posture closed and uncertain, signifying his continued defense as Josef lead him over to their bed and instructed him to sit down.
"Mick, look at me." Josef's tone was firm as he gripped Mick's chin with his fingers and turned his face towards his. "I have to leave shortly. I'm going to try and sort stuff out for Beth, but…"
"You've worked something out then?" Mick's attention was suddenly focused, "What? Tell me."
"It's best you don't know." Josef smiled simply and caressed the side of Mick's face with the back of his hand. "I'm certainly not going to compound your guilt by telling you what I'm planning to do." Josef added to himself, studying Mick's face for a few moments, his concern evident. "Anyway," he smiled once more and let his hand fall to the mattress below, "as I was saying, I am going to try and sort something out for Beth, but I can't give you any guarantees Mick."
Mick opened his mouth and drew a breath to say something else and Josef held up a hand in front of his face to stop him. "There are no guarantees Mick," he repeated, "Right now Beth is feral. You know that and you know what the final outcome has to be if the situation can't be changed."
"Oh yeah you'd love that wouldn't you Josef." Mick spat in reply and turned his face away in disgust.
"Well of course I would Mick." Josef responded with acid barbed sarcasm, "Nothing in the world would give me greater pleasure than to have Beth die and then get to watch the man I love being crushed under a weight of guilt. For fucksake what do you take me for?"
The hurt in Josef's voice was clear, even behind the sarcastic edged sting. Mick mumbled a hurried apology and looked suitably contrite for a moment.
"It's ok, don't worry about it." Josef drew in a sharp breath and made a reluctant dismissive gesture in the air with his hand. "I know things are hard for you at the moment, so maybe I'll just pretend I didn't hear what you just said." He turned to Mick and added pointedly, before standing up and announcing matter of fact that he would be leaving in a few minutes and he wanted Mick dressed and downstairs to keep an eye on Beth while he was gone.
"Josef?" Mick called out after Josef's retreating form, his voice plaintive.
"What?" Josef hesitated in the doorway for a moment and then turned back to face Mick.
"Aren't you going to kiss me goodbye?"
"I don't know Mick." Josef arched an eyebrow and grinned, "Are you planning to leave my lips attached to my face?"
Josef watched as Mick's face crumpled in a heap, the threat of fresh tears welling in his eyes.
"Mick for fucksake, you don't need to go to pieces on me." Josef suppressed a laugh and shook his head, "I was joking. Smile darling it won't crack your face." he added with a cheeky grin and then walked over to Mick and placed a tender kiss on his lips. "Come on, get dressed and come downstairs with me," Josef directed Mick then, "I'll give you a proper kiss goodbye before I leave. Ok?"
"Ok" Mick let out a reluctant sigh of breath and slowly moved to obey Josef's instruction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's not your fault." Katherine pulled up a seat and sat down at the kitchen table opposite Mick without waiting to be invited.
"It is though Katherine; I'm the one who turned her." Mick didn't bother to look up from the half empty tumbler of Blood Scotch he had been nursing for the past hour.
"Josef's told me what happened back then" Katherine replied simply, "You were put in an untenable situation by all accounts."
"Yeah well he would say that wouldn't he." Mick let out a scoff of laughter and raised his eyes for a moment, before returning to his dark reverie of glass watching.
"It's true though isn't it?" Katherine waited for Mick to look up once more and then held his gaze with her own, "It can't have been easy for you, having to deal with the sudden development of romantic feelings for your best friend."
Mick shrugged and mumbled a noncommittal reply of "I guess not."
"And when you needed Beth to stand by you," Katherine continued on unabated, "What happened? She couldn't handle things and left you to fend for yourself."
"It's not her fault; none of this is her fault." Mick drained the remainder of the tumbler and then placed it down on the table in front of him with a resounding chink of glass on wood.
"No? Then whose fault is it, Josef's? He's the one who turned you after all, ignited all those feelings that were so hard to deal with back then."
"You. Leave him out of this. This is nothing to do with Josef." Mick's voice was razor sharp; the stab of a finger across the table in Katherine's direction making it clear that he would broker no argument on the subject.
"Of course not." Katherine looked across the table at Mick with false contrition, "Besides" she added with sarcastic breeze, waving a mockingly dismissive hand in the air between them at the same time, "you're doing just fine dragging him into this mess all by yourself."
"What's that supposed to mean." Mick sat back, eyes wary, arms folded across his chest in a defensive gesture.
"Well the way you've been treating Josef lately anyone would think the fault is his entirely and now you expect him to snap his fingers and fix everything for you on demand."
"I have not." Mick started to protest, although his words sounded small and pathetic even to him. "I haven't meant to." He added under his breath.
"Well if that's the case," Katherine stood up and walked around to the other side of the table. Reaching across she refilled the tumbler in front of Mick with the last dregs of the bottle of Blood Scotch next to his arm, "might I suggest you stop acting like an ungrateful whelp and start showing Josef the appreciation he deserves."
With that she shoved the now full glass pointedly towards Mick and then turned and strode out the room.
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"How is she?"
It was the first question out of Josef's mouth as he stepped through the open front door.
"She's fine, still asleep; I gave her some more Nembutal." Mick greeted Josef's return with a quick kiss and then wrapped his arms around Josef's waist, drawing him close.
"And how are you?" Josef asked then, reaching up to brush a stray strand of hair from Mick's forehead.
"I'm…" Mick hesitated for a moment, searching for an answer that wasn't a complete lie, "…getting there," he said finally.
"That's good." Josef nodded his approval and then leant back against Mick's arms. "Well?" He arched an eyebrow and gave Mick a questioning look. "Aren't you going to bombard me with questions about where I've been and what I've been doing?"
"I trust you."
Mick's answer was a sincere as it was simple and Josef was momentarily caught off guard. "What's bought on the sudden change in attitude?" He cocked his head to one side and regarded Mick with momentary suspicion. "Or more to the point," he added with another raise of an eyebrow and a quipping smile, "where's my Mick and what have you done with him?"
"He's right here." Mick let out a sniff of laughter and then looked at Josef sheepishly, "Let's just say a certain fledgling had words with him."
The tone of Mick's admittance had been as much embarrassed as it was reluctant. Josef decided it was best to not make too big an issue of it. He brushed aside Mick's embarrassment with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"At least you seem to be feeling better." He leaned in and pressed his lips tenderly against the side of Mick's face. "Come on," Josef announced then, disentangling himself from Mick's embrace and taking him by the hand, "I'm parched. We'll grab a bottle of Blood Wine and spend the rest of the evening watching crappy late night television."
"Actually I thought we might go out for a while?"
"Ok then." Unable to resist the urge to tease Mick ever so slightly, Josef grinned and added mock serious, "And who will we be tracking this evening my beloved?"
"Oh ha ha Josef." Mick rolled his eyes and smirked at Josef in return. "Actually I had something involving a little less legwork in mind."
"Like what?" Josef regarded Mick with a simple smile and pulled him back into his arms.
"I'm not sure?" Mick shrugged and chewed his bottom lip for a moment, "Just go out and see where we end up I guess?"
'What about Beth?"
"Katherine's already agreed to look after her for the evening." Mick suppressed a rising wave of guilt and offered Josef an indulging smile, "So, do you want to go out or not?"
"Let's see where the night takes us." Josef pressed his lips to Mick's ear and purred.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Oh Christ, fuck." Josef gritted his teeth and gripped fistfuls of Mick's hair in his hands as Mick worked his mouth and tongue over his cock and pressed two lubricated fingers into his arse.
The evening's festivities had started with the both of them stepping out the front door together, and ended with Mick insisting they immediately proceed to one of the best hotels in Salzburg.
The Hotel Sacher, in the heart of Salzburg, was a living testament to old world charm. Mick had demanded they spare no expense and booked the costliest deluxe room available; flashing Josef an adoring smile and insisting that he was worth the added luxury. Josef didn't have the heart to point out to Mick that it was actually his money that would be paying for the room.
Moments later Josef found himself stripped naked and staring up at the ceiling of the luxury appointed hotel room, Mick's lips wrapped expertly around his erection.
Mick had kept Josef on the brink of no return for what seemed to Josef to be an eternity since then, backing off and letting his arousal fall every time Josef arched his back in frustration and tried to thrust into his mouth.
"Mick for god sake you're killing me." Josef snarled in sudden desperation and Mick shifted back up Josef's body in one swift, inhuman motion and pressed Josef's knees back against his chest, entering him in one hard thrust.
Mick bent his head towards Josef's and pressed his lips against Josef's mouth, feeling the reverberation in his chest as he withdrew and then thrust back into Josef's arse and Josef growled his approval.
Mick placed one hand under Josef's hips then, raising them up slightly and changing the angle of penetration, starting to hit against Josef's prostate with every stroke.
Josef panted and snarled with pleasure, feeling the first stirrings of impending climax moving through him, hands clutching Mick's back and fingers digging into the muscular flesh of Mick's shoulder. Mick stepped up the pace and began driving himself into Josef's passage, his movements becoming increasingly erratic as he approached his own orgasm.
Brief seconds later they both fell headfirst into the abyss, each snarling out the rhythm of their release as they sank their fangs into each other's flesh and rode out the high of their respective orgasms.
"I am so going to get you back for keeping me hanging on the edge like that." Josef traced a finger along Mick's sweat dampened brow and then down the side of Mick's face.
"Promises, promises Josef." Mick laughed and pressed his lips against Josef's once more, still feeling the aftershocks of his orgasm humming through him.
"Another time though Mick." Josef told him gently, pausing to run tender fingers through Mick's hair as Mick withdrew himself from Josef's body and rolled off to lie alongside him. "We need to be going soon; Katherine will want to get some sleep."
"I know." Mick swallowed his reluctance and reached for Josef, drawing an arm over Josef's chest and draping his leg across Josef's thigh. "Just a little bit longer, please."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They had both drifted into sleep then, wrapped up in the warmth of each other's embrace. Waking a few hours later they dressed hurriedly and then made their way back home, only to be greeted on their return by a wide eyed and frantic Katherine.
"Josef, I'm so sorry. I couldn't refuse to let them in." The words spilled out in a sudden rush of fear.
Josef moved to placate Katherine, unsure what had gotten her so upset until he stepped through the front door to be greeted by the vision of Ariadne, the Cleaner he had only half tongue in cheek joked to himself about selling his soul to, flanked by two Cleaners of slightly lesser rank, standing where Beth lay unconscious on the lounge.
In that very moment Josef felt time stand still.
Character Death Warning: This page is dark and angsty and contains the death of an established Moonlight Character, namely Beth. Please do not read it if the content is likely to upset or offend you.
"Josef Kostan, I assume you know why we're here?"
There it was again, that same strange archaic tongue Mick had heard Ariadne and Josef speaking the night before last.
Josef instructed Katherine to go upstairs and stay there and then turned to Ariadne.
"No, actually Ariadne I don't," he said, stepping in front of Mick and holding an arm out to shield him, flashing him a quick warning look to stay quiet at the same time, "considering Beth has lain there on that couch, unconscious, for the past forty or so hours."
Ariadne stepped forward and handed Josef a piece of paper. He laughed, a hollow, empty laugh, when he read the contents. The only thing he could think was "what a relief he didn't end up faxing those papers off to Lance" and "how disappointed Lance was going to be that he wouldn't get to see Josef make a pauper of himself to 'placate that 'idiotic bricon' of a lover of his'."
"That was sent to the editor in chief of one of Germany's biggest newspapers still in print, last week. It has only just been bought to our attention." Ariadne pointed a finger at the paper in Josef's hand, "I don't think I need to point out how fortunate we all are that that was intercepted by one of our contacts or what might have befallen us had it been actually been printed for all to see."
The piece of paper in Josef's hand contained an article, signed by Beth and detailing every last piece of information she was privy to regarding the Vampire community at large. Beth had just signed her own death warrant.
Josef turned to Mick then, eyes filled with remorse.
"Mick, I'm sorry I can't…I don't have a choice."
"Josef, what the fuck? No." Mick rushed towards the Cleaners, a growl emanating from his lips and found himself pinned by strong arms, gripping him vice like and holding him back. "You can't let them take her."
"Mick." Josef's tone was commanding, desperate to get Mick to understand and see sense, "She's put our secrecy at risk. I don't have a choice."
"Josef, please."
One of the lesser ranked Cleaners stepped forward then, holding a sharpened wooden stake out to Josef and gesturing for him to take it. He refused, citing the fact that Beth was still heavily sedated and not likely to put up much of a struggle under the circumstances.
"It's not for her, Mr Kostan." The Cleaner replied matter of fact. "We can't risk Mr St John attempting to play the hero now can we? Besides that we can't have him trying to make a break for it if you're unable to fulfill you're part of the bargain."
The tone of her voice made the meaning of those last words perfectly clear. Josef accepted the stake and then turned Mick around to face him.
"For Christ sake will somebody please speak in English and tell me what the fuck is going on." Mick snarled in helpless frustration, arms still pinned to his sides.
"Close your eyes." Josef pressed his lips to Mick's ear and whispered to him.
"Josef, please. No." Mick bit down on his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood.
"Close your eyes." Josef repeated, pressing the pads of his fingers gently against Mick's eyelids and then leaning in to place a warm wet kiss on Mick's lips, tasting blood overlaid with salty tears.
A single gasp of momentary shock and pain erupted from Mick's throat as Josef plunged the stake into his chest.
Josef carefully lowered Mick to the ground as the paralysis overtook Mick's body. He knelt over him and bent down to kiss him once more, lingering this time.
"I won't lose you." Josef spoke in earnest, "Not if I have a choice in the matter."
Josef stood up then and watched in mute terrified silence as Ariadne picked the unconscious Beth up off the lounge and gestured for him to follow her into the night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I don't need to remind you of the terms of our previous agreement, do I? Josef Kostan." Ariadne warned as Josef aimed the nozzle of the flamethrower at Beth and then hesitated, fingers trembling, unable to take the final step.
"You would sacrifice his life for this ungrateful excuse for a Vampire?"
"No."
Josef squeezed the trigger and aimed the stream of fire full blast at the figure of Beth lying on the concrete floor of the Warehouse in front of him.
The scent of burnt flesh permeated the air around him, hot dust flying into his mouth and leaving a soft residue of powder in his hair as he reduced Beth to a pile of bones and ash. When it was done Ariadne gave a curt nod of approval and then retrieved a small cell phone from the pocket of her jacket, making a quick call to the other Cleaners still keeping vigil at Josef's house, informing them that they could now stand down.
The task was complete.
Outside Josef staggered pass a busker on the street corner, oblivious to his guitar and voice out of tune as he strummed and sang "Ring of Fire" with apparent gusto.
What kind of rat bastard psychotic would play that song right now at this moment?
Josef flew into a blind rage and tore the man apart with his bare hands, crushing his guitar into tiny wooden splinters, and then fell to his knees and vomited black blood and bile into the ruined shreds of the man's corpse on the ground beneath him.