CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO - Captivity
It was nightfall, and after a day of uncomfortable dozing in their chains, the vampires were wide awake and miserable. Coraline was growling and pulling forcefully at her restraints. Hank said nothing, but watched her disinterestedly. Josef was surprised when she levitated off of the floor and hung in the air like a hot air balloon tethered to the earth with too many ropes. He watched, fascinated as she stayed there, a couple of feet or so off of the damp floor, wishing he could do that to give his butt a break from the hard, moldy, gritty damp floor.
Finally he had to ask, "How do you do that, Coraline?"
"Oh, it's something I picked up back when I lived in France. We had to hide when the mobs came looking, and it was really handy to be able to hide on the ceiling while they looked around down below. It was kind of a game, and I got really good at it.
"I see that! I'm impressed!"
"You just will yourself off the ground. At first, you might only be up a half an inch or so, and maybe for a matter of seconds, but if you practice, you can hang around for hours."
"I had no idea!"
"Go ahead—try it!"
Josef leaned back and laid himself out on the floor, then closed his eyes and imagined he was floating. Nothing happened. He tried again, thinking of Coraline, picturing himself in the air, floating above the floor as she was. He kept that picture firmly in his mind for several minutes. He closed his eyes to really concentrate and willed himself up. He didn't feel it happen, but suddenly became aware that he wasn't on the floor. He didn't know how he did it, but he was floating! He opened his eyes to look below him, and felt his body slam back down onto the slimy cement.
"There! You did it, Josef!" Coraline came back down and sat, then clapped. "See? You can levitate too! Just keep practicing! If you could do it that fast, you'll be a pro in no time!"
He smiled at Coraline. "Wow—that's really cool. How come I never knew about this?"
"I don't think many of us can do it—you've got some of the royal bloodline in you. I think the ability is passed on from your sire, and it's getting less and less common as the bloodlines intermingle. Back in the old days, all the vamps could do it, I hear."
"Wow. I love that. I'm going to practice every. . ."
The heavy door swung inward and crashed against the wall. Two large men cloaked in black carried another shrouded body down the stairs and into the room. This one had no fight in it; it looked like a sack of wet rags. They laid the body on the floor and unlocked the chains, pulling them off, then began pulling off the mail shroud with their hands gloved so as not to handle the silver. The body was male, Josef noted, with large, bare feet that were smooth and white, protruding from blue jeans. The men kept tugging the silver chainmail from the body and it offered absolutely no resistance. When a hand flopped out with Mick's ring on it, Josef sat up straight. Mick's head hit the floor with a whack as they pulled the mail off of him.
"Watch it, there, you idiots! You're gonna give him a concussion!" Josef barked.
The guards looked at Josef stupidly, then at the unconscious form and shrugged. "Don't think no vampire is gonna get no concussion anyways," the taller one said.
"I think you two must already have one!" Josef wondered how these two even had a job. They were obviously two of the most stupid vampires he'd ever met! "What's wrong with him?" he asked loudly and slowly enough for them to understand him.
"We don't know—maybe we left him in the truck too long."
"What do you mean too long? You didn't leave him in the sun in that tin can, did you?" Again they shrugged.
The short one said, "It might 'ha been a little sunny at that." The tall one hit him in the shoulder. "Well, it might!" he said defensively.
"Bring him over here, I want to see him," Josef said in a very no-nonsense voice.
"Why?" asked the tall one.
"Because I want to see if he's dead." Josef's voice was low and commanding. The captors dragged Mick's body over to the man who asked to see him without knowing exactly why they'd obey a chained up naked guy.
Josef touched Mick's forehead and it was very warm—way too warm. He touched his lips and they were dry to the point of peeling.
"What did you do to him? If you two left him in that truck in the hot sun all day, I'll personally tear you limb-from-limb!"
The two thugs looked at each other, then back at Josef and together they shrugged.
"I do NOT believe this! When was the last time he fed?"
"I dunno." Said the bigger one as he shrugged again. "We got 'im real early this morning. We ain't given him nothin' all day."
"He needs blood, and he needs it right now! Go get blood right this second! Hurry!"
"Geez—what's with you? What do you care?"
"I know him—he's my friend. He'd be your friend too if you ever had the privilege of knowing him. Now please—I'll pay you anything you ask when I'm free, but right now I need you to get us blood. Can you do that? Get blood for all of us, at that, or I'm telling you--pretty soon you'll have nothing but a room full of dead vampires! Go! Do you want to be responsible for killing a prisoner? Who do you answer to? I doubt your boss will be happy to find out that YOU have killed us without letting him have the fun of putting us on a rack first!"
"Okay! I'll go," said the shorter man. "You watch them while I'm gone."
"Yes sir." The tall one gave a mock salute and took up his station over by the stairs. The short one trudge up and soon the door slammed shut.
Josef put his hand on his dying friend. "Mick! Buddy! Don't leave us! Wake up, Mick!" No response. He tried shaking him, but Mick was completely lifeless. Josef pulled him over onto his lap and held his head with one arm while he slapped his cheeks, trying to raise any response. There was none.
"Is he dead?" Coraline asked. Hank didn't even look, but stayed in his frozen position, head leaning against the concrete block wall, eyes shut.
"I hope not, but he's very hot and very dehydrated. He's in bad shape."
"Omigod." was all Coraline could say as she watched Josef hold Mick, cradling his friend tenderly as he contemplated what to do to save the unconscious man's life.
"Mick—you have to wake up!" He shouted loudly and desperately. "You HAVE to! Buddy!" When he felt nothing from Mick, he did all he could think to do and hoped to all things good in the Universe it would help. He held Mick tightly with his right arm, then his eyes glazed over and his fangs came out. He lifted his left arm up and bit it hard, drawing a lot of blood. He held his arm over Mick's mouth so that the blood dripped onto his lips. If Mick had any life in him at all, just the smell of the blood and the taste on his lips would cause him to come to and drink. The blood covered his mouth, but Mick didn't respond. Josef's wound began to heal up, and soon it bled no more..
Again Josef bit, this time sinking his fangs deep into an artery, then holding the gushing blood over Mick's partially open mouth. "Drink! Mick! Buddy! You have to swallow!" Josef felt a stab of panic shoot through him. His friend lay completely unconscious across his body—no response, though the blood had to be running down his throat by now.
A third time Josef bit himself, nearly tearing a chunk out of his arm. As a last resort, he put the wound directly onto Mick's lips. He knew that if his friend didn't swallow soon, the blood might choke him, but Josef knew he had to try—he had no choice. This was Mick! He couldn't lose his friend, who now either had to come around and begin to feed or he'd drown in the gush of blood running into him. "Drink, Mick! Drink for me! Buddy! Come on! BETH needs you! BETH, Mick! Do it for BETH! DAMN IT! MICK! SWALLOW! SWALLOW FOR BETH GODDAMIT!"
Mick felt as light as a feather, as if he were floating somewhere—or maybe it was his bed—it was so soft it felt like lying on a cloud. That had to be it! His bed, the one he shared with Beth! It was so peaceful and comfortable. So much better than all of that pain! Sweet relief! He never wanted to leave this place and go back to where he had been! He loved lying here with Beth, her arms around him, close to him. He could feel her warm breath on him and felt her love surrounding him, keeping him in a safe cocoon. 'Oh, Beth!' His mind called out to her. He wanted to touch her, but didn't want to wake her, peaceful as she was, his sleeping princess. In his mind he called her name, over and over, Beth! Beth! Stay with me Beth! I'll never leave you. I love you always. He saw her smile in her sleep and caressed her silky golden hair. Hair like an angel, he thought. Maybe this was heaven and he'd gotten in after all!
Then he heard someone else saying her name—it was so clear—he was saying other things too, but Mick only heard the word "Beth!" Who would be calling her? And why did he feel he was drowning? He didn't have to breathe, but something was wrong. He wanted to go back to the comfort of the cloud and sleep in the bed with her beside him, but an annoying voice kept talking to him! If only he'd shut up! He concentrated again on Beth and their billowy cloud of comforters and pillows. It was so wonderful to smell her and hear her breathing. . .but then her voice was in his ear.
"Be safe, my darling Mick—be safe for me and for our baby. Drink my blood, Mick. Swallow my blood. You need to drink, Mick. Drink for me. . ."
He felt cool liquid clogging his throat, running over his tongue and down, flooding and pooling inside his gullet. Why was she trying to feed him? He hadn't asked her to do that! He didn't want this from HER! Nevertheless, he swallowed once, as she had told him to, and then again, and the liquid flowed swiftly. He gulped, sputtered once, then took a hold of the arm offered him and sucked hard, feeding on the life-giving blood, feeling it pulling him back to this world, back from the place of peace and comfort to this place of pain, and yet he fed, driven by a need and a hunger deep within him to survive. Her voice soothed him.
"That's right, Mick, drink and live. Live for me. . ."
His hunger took him over the edge. He wanted to sink his fangs deep into the flesh he held. A growl began deep in his throat, and as he was about to re-start the flow that had stopped, he heard his friend Josef.
"Mick! I can't give you any more, buddy. We haven't fed yet either!"
Mick didn't respond, only growled and thrashed around, trying blindly to grab the arm Josef had taken away from him.
Josef was relieved, but knew Mick still wasn't okay. Coraline had been watching the entire ordeal, looking worried. Josef looked over at her.
"Coraline! I need your help here! Pull him over toward you and give him some of your blood—quickly! He's coming around, but he's not out of the woods yet!"
Josef pushed Mick off of him and gave him a shove in Coraline's direction. Mick had gone lifeless again, and Josef pushed as quickly as he could. As Mick's unconscious body came nearer to her, lifeless legs inching toward her, Coraline stretched out her hand and was able to grasp the hem of one leg of his jeans, and she pulled him over to her. She, too, felt his forehead, finding it unnervingly hot, and it scared her when she felt just how limp and wilted he was, like a rag doll.
"He seems to have passed out again, Josef," she said with concern.
"Well, you know what to do, Coraline. Give him your blood! It's not like you haven't done that before!" She remembered the first time he had fed on her and how erotic and primal that moment had been, and she suddenly felt transported back about fifty-five years to their wedding night. She looked at her sweetheart tenderly and brushed a tendril of his hair off of his forehead. He was still the most beautiful man she had ever seen, and her heart filled with pity for him if he truly was dying. She wanted badly to kiss him, maybe for the last time. . .
"Is this little love ritual going to take much longer over there? He's DYING, Coraline! Just give him some blood, will you and stop with the reenactment of your last tryst?"
For the sarcasm, Josef received a wilting look, then he watched as her eyes glazed vampishly and her fangs protruded. Cradling Mick in her arms, as she had seen Josef do, she brought her free arm to her mouth and bit deeply, then put the wound to Mick's mouth.
"Drink, my darling. Drink my blood."
Mick heard Beth again and was confused. Again he wondered why she wanted him to drink her blood! But he tasted the life force in it and knew that what she was offering, he should not refuse. This time his arms came up quickly and tightly held the limb offered to him, and he was grateful for it, subconsciously realizing that he needed it; without this flesh from which the gift of life flowed, he would surely die, and he would leave behind Beth and his child. With these thoughts in his mind, which was rapidly waking up, he sucked desperately until the wound healed up, and the blood stopped flowing. He wasn't finished, though, and he turned the arm for better access to the spot where he smelled the blood beneath the skin. Coraline could feel his fangs sink into her flesh, his tongue licking her skin, and she felt a strong pulse of pleasure go through her body as he bit her and drank her blood. She didn't want him to stop, and she moaned as he suckled from her, taking her inside of him once again. It had been so long! She was overcome with the sensuality of the moment! To her, it was terribly erotic--her husband at long last feeding from her body, and she moaned over and over with pleasure and satisfaction as he fed, feeling his fangs, tongue and lips, and every molecule of blood she shared with him, oozing from her, into him. She was so overcome with the pleasure of it, that she completely forgot to tell Mick to stop. Josef, watching her carefully, felt he had to intervene before Mick took too much out of her.
"Coraline! CORALINE! Stop him!" She came out of her trance, eyes and fangs vamped out and seductive.
"I don't want him to stop, Josef! I want him! I have him now!"
"Coraline! You pull him away or YOU will die too! Do you want to die and leave him here?" Josef wasn't exactly sure why he cared, but he felt that Mick wouldn't want to kill his ex-wife this way. Not here, not now. The time may come when he would have to kill her, but this wasn't it—not when Mick couldn't make the decision for himself.
Coraline finally felt herself weakening, and knew she had to stop Mick. She gently unhooked his fangs from her arm and pulled her arm away from him.
"You'll have to wait for more, my love, she said sweetly. Mick moaned slightly, looking at her, a dangerously attractive vampire with need in her eyes. There was blood on his lips, and before he could lick them himself, she leaned over and licked them for him, like a mother cat cleaning her baby. Mick simply lay on her and didn't make a move to stop her.
"Coraline, stop doing that!" Josef said rather disgustedly. Geez, would this woman ever get the thing between Mick and his wife? He guessed not, since Coraline never thought of anyone but herself.
Mick was still very groggy and out of it, still so weak that moving was an effort, but as he felt her tongue descend once again to his lips, revulsion swept through him and he tried to turn his head away.
"Stop moving, darling, I think I left a spot." She was as relentless as a starving kitten with a bowl of milk, and she licked his mouth until no trace of blood remained, then went ahead and kissed him with a full-blown open-mouthed, passionate, wet kiss, filled with desire and bold posession. This brought some fight back into him as he tried impotently to resist her assault on him. He growled and thrashed, and even pushed at her, but she only took his actions as a sign of arousal, and it turned her on to have him in her arms again, moving about wildly, his body so close against her, rubbing and touching, and she felt a stirring inside of her that was strong and needy as she realized that once again he was completely at her mercy—just as she always liked her men.
She looked into his vamp-glazed eyes. "I love you, darling. I'll love you forever."
"Coraline!" Josef shouted. "Stop that! Push him back to me!"
"He likes it, don't you sweetheart?" Mick closed his eyes to shut her out and tried to think of Beth. He felt like gagging and knew he didn't want to vomit; something inside of his fuzzy consciousness told him he needed to keep the blood inside of him. However, his loathing ofor her went so deeply that it was almost as if his body wanted to reject her blood, life-saving or not!
"Beth," he whispered softly. His mind wandered to where he had last seen her, curled up with him in their bed. It had felt to him that night like the last act of their play, the closing curtain coming down on them way too early. Even in his semi-conscious state, he knew it was Beth he wanted, not this woman who held him, and he longed to be out of her reach and in the arms of the one he loved. "Beth," he murmured again, and it was a plea that she would be safe and waiting for him to come home to her.
Coraline was very displeased that he kept calling out for his insipid little freshie "wife!" After all, it was SHE who had just fed him her very own blood to save his life! Why wasn't he calling for her! He should be highly aroused by now, having her feed him and kiss him, holding him close. He should be able to smell her desire, and yet all he could say was that blonde bimbo's name!
"Stop saying that, my love. Call me by my own name," she whispered.
Mick could smell arousal all around him, but it wasn't Beth's. The taste of this woman's blood was still on his tongue, and though it tasted very familiar, it wasn't Beth's blood, and he had not been at all aroused when he took it from her. In fact, he had felt nothing but a sense of easing the terrible thirst that had consumed him. It had been as exciting as drinking blood from a glass.
"Coraline, push him back to me, please." Josef said evenly.
"I think he likes it when I hold him!" She smiled down at him, though his eyes were closed and he seemed unresponsive again.
"He does NOT like it! Coraline! Give him back to me!"
"Oh, Josef—I just want to hold him for a little bit." She still smiled, looking down at his peaceful face, but she couldn't know that he only closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to see her. She couldn't have known either that his heart was closed to her as well. She hugged him to her, and smelled his familiar scent, and wished she could be alone with him!
Mick remained as lifeless as a doll. He tried to garner the strength to roll off of the woman he now registered as Coraline, but it was too much effort, so he continued to feign unconsciousness.
"You know he's a married man now. You may as well stop thinking he'll ever come back to you," he heard Josef say to his ex. 'Good going, Josef!' he was thinking to himself, and a quick smile touched his lips.
"Oh, Josef! Just be quiet! He's smiling! You know I was his first! He'll always love me! That human girl can never give him what I can! You know that too!"
It occurred to Josef right then just how crazy this ex-wife of Mick's really was! She thought she could play dolls with him and he'd be her boy-toy! It filled him disgust and hatred.
A deep growl came out of Josef's throat. Coraline looked up. "What's wrong with my dear friend Josef?" she asked, a look of seduction on her face and in her eyes. To Josef, her sing-songy voice wasn't alluring at all; in fact, to him it sounded more like a coo-coo clock chirping irritatingly than a siren calling her lover.
"I'm going to tear you apart if you don't let him go."
"Oh, and how are you going to do that? Lovely necklace and bracelets you have there!" Her laugh was pure evil, the laugh of a lunatic. Even in his semi-conscious state, Mick recognized it and felt gooseflesh cover him. He was revolted by her, and even the smell of her body was disgusting to him as she held him, hand at the back of his head, pressing his face into her cleavage.
The door swung open once again, and the second guard came tromping down the stairs, bearing four bags of blood. One he gave to Josef, then one each to Coraline and Hank. He looked at Mick laid out across Coraline's chest.
"How do I get the dead guy to drink this?" he asked stupidly, holding the bag of blood.
"You pick him up and bring him to me. I'll be sure he gets it down," Josef said, again with such an air of authority that the man did exactly as told. He went over to Coraline and easily swung Mick's body up into his arms, then carried him over to Josef and laid him down next to the naked man.
Josef ignored his own hunger and thirst for the time being and opened the spout on Mick's bag of blood, tipping it into his mouth.
"You're back with me, buddy, and now you have to feed. This blood is nasty, but it will bring you back to life, so drink it."
Slowly Mick's lips closed over the tube, and he sucked. Josef put pressure on the bag so the blood would flow more swiftly, allowing Mick to drink without much effort. It was a slow process at the start—Mick kept forgetting to swallow and choked several times before he finally got into a rhythm and drained the bag.
"Good job, brother, " Josef said to his friend.
"Thanks," Mick whispered.
The two guards swiftly came over to Mick and picked him up by the arms and legs, carrying him over to another set of restraints. Mick simply laid on the floor as they chained him up, offering no resistance whatsoever. When they were done, they turned to leave, but Josef caught them before they were out the door.
"Wait just a damn minute, guys! I know our allotment of blood is only two bags a day, but you almost killed this guy here today, by being stupid, and the lady and I just had to feed him our own blood to try to keep him alive. I'm telling you now—three of us are in danger of dehydrating to death if you don't bring us more blood."
"I think—no can do, Mr. Kostan." The short man looked genuinely sorry. "The blood supply is closely watched by our employer."
Josef tried to rise up and look as authoritative as a naked man can.
"You gotta hear me, Comrades. Get more bags of blood down here as soon as you can." He pointed to Mick. "This guy over here has a LOT to answer for—believe me, your leaders will punish you if you just let him slip away without allowing them torture him for his wrongdoings! So get him some blood now. If you let him die down here, I sure wouldn't want to be YOU!"
Both guards nodded. The bigger one said, "We'll try, Mr. Kostan."
Josef wasn't sure if it was the way he said it or the fact that they knew who he was, but he was grateful that they seemed to understand. "Thank you, and as I said, do this quickly. The almost-dead guy isn't doing well, and he took a lot of my blood out of me! We need it fast!" He thought he may as well tell them what else to bring him—they seemed rather compliant at the moment. He caught them right before they turned to leave.
"Hey! One more thing! You also need to bring me some clothes. My butt is going to grow ferns on this nasty floor pretty soon! I wear a 34 x 36 for the pants, and a Large or XL for the top. I don't care what color, just something to cover up with!"
"Yessir, Mr. Kostan," they said in unison, and up the stairs they trudged. With a slam of the door, they left.
Within an hour, everyone had another bag of blood to drink, and this time Mick sat up and managed to drink without help. Things were looking up, Josef thought, as he looked down at the ridiculous pair of pants he wore. The shirt wasn't so bad, but the pants were made for a short, fat man, not for him, and they were brown and polyester! He had, however, managed to talk the guards into removing his restraints long enough for him to dress, and he felt more comfortable now that he was covered, even if exceedingly unfashionably.
--
Beth slept fitfully that night. She kept dreaming strange dreams that woke her up. In one, she was a raven, pecking the flesh off of a dead carcass. The carrion was tasty and she enjoyed the meal until the carcass began to move and speak, asking her why she was killing him! She explained to the carcass that she hadn't killed him, but had found him dead from lying in the sun too long. The carcass asked why the sun was bad, and she had to tell him it wasn't really bad unless you let yourself dry up and die in it. The beast was quiet then, but after talking to it, she found she no longer had an appetite.
"AH!" She cried out as she sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. What a terrible dream! Eating dead flesh! What was THAT about! She tried not to think about it—she put her head back down on the pillow and prayed for Mick. Maybe he needed to feed. 'Please, God, keep him safe for me. If he's hungry, help him find blood.'
When at last she fell asleep again, she dreamed she was swimming. The water was cool, like the ocean, and she imagined she was back in Mexico with Mick, jumping the waves and splashing in the cool sea water. She opened her eyes, though, and to her horror, found she was swimming in a sea of blood, and it was trying to suck her under, like a strong undertow, and as hard as she fought it, she couldn't surface. She stayed submerged in the blood, knowing she would soon drown, and as she opened her mouth to scream, the blood flowed into her mouth, and she was so surprised that she swallowed it! It tasted good, so she took another swallow. Soon, she was gulping it, drinking greedily as it filled her up, making her feel warm and safe. She felt her belly growing distended with the liquid, but still couldn't stop drinking! When at last she was as full as a tick and ready to burst, she found that the blood sea was gone and she was standing all alone in the empty sea, so she simply walked to the beach and lay down in the warm sand. She looked down at her full belly and was shocked to see it so large. Something inside was moving around, so she assumed she had swallowed a fish. She wondered what to do! How could she get the fish out of her belly!
Once again, Beth awoke with a start and stayed very still, panting from the exertion of the vivid dream. What did it mean? She wished she had a dream interpreter! She put her hands on her stomach, and found that it wasn't huge at all. Only a small bump was palpable where her baby lived. As she lay quiet, she imagined the tiny butterfly wings brushing her inside, and she wished she could feel the baby—maybe then she wouldn't feel so terribly alone. It was the end of July—almost the first of August. Two and a half months. She knew she'd have to wait a while to feel anything, but she wanted to feel it now. If only Mick could be here! Mick should be singing to their baby! They shouldn't be alone here without him! She wondered where he was and if he needed her. She thought of drinking the blood. It seemed clear to her that swallowing the blood was important, but she didn't understand why.
"Be safe, my darling Mick—be safe for me and for our baby. Drink my blood, Mick. Swallow my blood. You need to drink, Mick. Drink for me. . ." She said the words, but didn't know what they meant. She asked God to be sure Mick got the message.
She turned her face to her pillow and cried, missing him, falling asleep eventually, this time, dreaming of sea horses and babies swimming together in the big aquarium in Dr. Mineo's office.
--
Within two days or so, Mick was feeling pretty much back to normal. He, Josef and Coraline all practiced levitating, and though Coraline was the one who could stay up the longest, Mick and Josef weren't bad. They practiced for hours, since there was nothing better to do, and even got so they could stop concentrating on the levitating and talk to each other as they hung in the air, chains the only thing binding them to the floor. It was a fun game, and Coraline watched them, smiling, taking the credit for teaching her students well. Mick had known Coraline could do it—he had found her hovering on the ceiling the night he saved Beth, but he had never had a chance to ask her about it, and, frankly, had forgotten it. Now he wondered if it might come in handy for escape. Maybe Coraline had floated above the fire that night and saved herself!
As usual, Hank did nothing and said nothing. He completely ignored everyone, never entered into their conversation, didn't try levitating and pretty much stayed inside of himself. Josef and Mick noticed that Coraline didn't seem all that upset when she tried to engage him in conversation, but all he could say to her was "shut the fuck up." Eventually she stopped trying.
--
Logan had been watching the abandoned FOX lot for days on his satellite GPS feed, but had seen nothing of interest since the night of Mick's abduction. That night, a black panel van had driven out there and had gone behind a building. He couldn't get a crystal clear picture of what was going on due to an overgrowth of brush trees, but from what he could tell, two men in dark clothing had carried a large bag into an underground bunker of some sort. The only other activity he had seen over the past thee days was the same two men driving to the bunker and going in and out a few times a day. Usually they carried backpacks, but those didn't look big enough to be important. Still, he called Ben Talbot to tell him what he had seen on the video stream, and Ben said he'd check it out.
Logan also called Beth every day and told her basically the same thing. She was encouraged when he said that Ben would take a team out to comb the area.
"Thanks so much, Logan! It helps to know that somebody is trying to find out what happened! I'm just so frantic, worried about Mick!"
"I know, but hang in there! Ben is a good man! He'll be able to find them if anyone can!"
Sarah was now spending a few hours a day with Beth at Mick and Beth's place. Ben thought it might help both of them to talk and keep each other company. Beth had to stay indoors due to the threat that might be out there, since they still had no location on Coraline, and had no idea what the Legion had in mind. Ben had hired men to block up the balcony door and cover the windows with shatter-proof material. Beth was essentially surviving in a cave, but she enjoyed her visits with Sarah as they got to know each other, and even cried together at times as well, missing their men. Sarah wanted to know everything about Beth's pregnancy, since she was hoping to have Josef's baby soon. She was kind of surprised to hear that her smoking habit wasn't good for her, and further, that she'd have to leave the apartment to go smoke. Beth wouldn't allow smoking around her and the baby.
"It would be better if you'd quit—I mean, you did quit for over fifty years, when you think about it! Your doctor will tell you to stop, and if you want to get pregnant, well, you'll have to quit the smokes for nine months!"
"Wow! That's all new to me! Everyone used to smoke! I didn't know things had changed so much! Why, I was ushered out of the grocery store last week for lighting up! I couldn't believe it!"
"That's how it is now. Of course, some women do smoke when they're pregnant, but you have a higher incidence of low-birth-weight babies and lung complications, I hear."
"Sara made a face. I guess I'd better give them up! I want our baby to be perfectly healthy! Hey Beth! Our kids could grow up together!" she said with enthusiasm.
"I'd love that," Beth said wistfully, hoping against hope that it would someday be true.
--
Mick was studying the cuff on his wrist, looking for a place to spring the lock. He hadn't been wearing a coat when they took him, so his lock picks weren't with him.
"Hey, buddy—too bad you can't just pick us out of here, huh?" Josef said, reading his mind.
"That's what I'm thinking—if only I had a pin, a hairpin, just something. I've scanned this floor a hundred times, and all I see is dirt."
"I know—it's a real sensory deprivation chamber, isn't it? The only good thing I can say about it is that it's awfully cold in here!"
"Yeah, at least they got that part right! Bumbling idiots! I wonder who's holding us here?"
"I don't know who the current Grand Puba of the Legion is, but his minions are a bunch of pinheads."
"No kidding! If we could only think of something, they'd be easily fooled. We could probably make them help us."
"We need a locksmith," Coraline said, then remembered Mick could get into any place he wanted!. She had an idea. "Mick—is there anything on our clothes that could work to pick a lock? I mean, I have a zipper and a button, and my bra has a couple of hooks. What do you think?"
Mick looked at Coraline. "Not bad thinking, Coraline, but I need something that's straight and pretty strong and very thin. I NEED a pick!" He felt around his jeans pockets, then lifted a butt cheek and felt in the back pocket. Nothing. He looked back at Coraline. "That bra doesn't have an underwire in it, does it?"
"I don't know! Let me check!" She felt around. "I think this one does, actually. I wonder if it's only plastic, though." Mick could hear her ripping the fabric and watched as she picked at it with her nails. Out from her blouse she pulled a long, thin wire. Mick's heart leaped as she held it up for him. "Will this work?"
"I think it might. Throw it to Josef." She did, and then Josef handed it over. It looked like it would be the right size, if it would stay strong enough when he worked it. He stuck it into the little hole near the locking mechanism of his left wrist. Within a few seconds, the lock popped and the manacle released. "Open sesame!" He looked at Josef and beamed.
"What do you think, bro?" Josef asked him.
"What I think is that we are going to leave this place tonight! Let's plan this, though—I want to wait until the goons have fed us and it's getting dark."
"I'd say wait a couple of hours then. If my inner time clock is at all accurate, they should be here pretty soon for our stale dinner feed."
"After they leave, I'll get to work, but for now I can try picking the locks on our bracelets. What I'm going to have trouble with is the necklace."
"You go ahead and work. I'll listen for footsteps." They both stopped for a moment and looked up. They did hear footsteps right above them, or at least above the high ceiling in the cave.
Mick said, "Do you hear that?"
"Yeah, but it doesn't sound like the normal foot-stomping sound of the Two Stooges coming with our ration of blood! I don't know WHAT that is!"
They all remained quiet, and soon the noise left.
"I don't know what that was about—maybe it was deer or something."
"Could be! There isn't much out here to compete with if you're an animal!"
"Well, I'm going to try to get myself unlocked before the Stooges come back." Mick put the left bracelet back on his wrist without locking it shut, then went to work on the right one. It popped in less than thirty seconds, even though he was working with his left hand!
"Good one! Buddy! You did it!" Josef was elated.
"These aren't hard to spring, Josef," Mick said, putting the bracelet back on, but again, being careful not to lock it.
He realized that he wouldn't be able to reach his ankle cuffs until he undid the restraint around his neck, so he felt around for an opening, but couldn't find one.
"Josef—turn your necklace around so I can see where the lock is."
Josef watched as his friend scruitinized his own neck restraint, as he turned it slowly for him, lifting it up so Mick could see all sides of it.
"There! Stop! Let me see where that indentation is." Josef held steady while Mick felt around on his own restraint until he found the spot that felt like the one on Josef's looked. He tried to insert the wire, but had a hard time finding the little hole he sought. After many tries, he turned to Josef.
"Can you see a little tiny hole anywhere on this thing?"
Josef looked at Mick's neck restraint and said, "Rotate it an inch or so. . .yeah, I see it. Right there—no, move your hand up just a quarter inch. You're right on top of it."
Mick smiled at Josef as he felt the wire slip into the lock. He wiggled the wire until he heard the lock spring. "Now we're cookin' with gas!" he said, the elation in his voice hard to miss.
"You did it man! You did it!" Josef beamed at his friend, who flashed a shy little smile back.
"I really think I can get us out of here, Josef!" Mick tried not to sound too excited, but he was quivering with it. Then he looked his friend straight in the eyes, questioning. He knew Coraline was keeping an eagle eye on them, and momentarily he glanced that way. Josef understood and nodded ever so slightly so Mick could see it, but she could not. Mick raised an eyebrow, which Coraline could see, and Josef answered back with a roll of his eyes toward Coraline and Hank and then made just the slightest shake of his head, which told Mick exactly what he had been thinking: He'd get Josef and himself out of here, but would leave the two of them. Mick nodded a quick nod and said, "I'd better put this back on. They could be coming any second."
As soon as he had his neck restraint back in place, looking as though it was holding him, he put the wire behind him and sat on it. Just then, they heard the door crash open and down the stairs came the Two Stooges, as they had begun to refer to them, or sometimes as Mutt and Jeff. Either way, these guys were no longer threatening to any of them. On the other side of them, however, danger lurked as serious as a heart attack.
The shorter, more muscular one, Jeff, said, "Dinnertime for the doggies!" And he waved the bags of blood as if calling his pit bull in for a treat.
"Real funny, asshole," Hank said. Everyone looked at him. They'd all but forgotten he even existed!
"Well, just for that, you get yours last!" Jeff said indignantly as he handed Mick his bag, then Josef, then Coraline, and then stood in front of Hank, hands on hips. "Maybe I don't wanna be givin' ya nothin' come to think."
"You don't think, you fool. Do what you want." Hank leaned back again and closed his eyes, arms crossed over his chest.
"Well, it ain't up to me—I got four bags to hand out is all I know. I kinda like the Lady, though." Coraline smiled beguilingly at him and he was smitten. "Here, Lady—have an extra on the old douche bag next to 'ya." He handed Hank's blood to Coraline, turned, nodded to Mutt, and out they went, up the stairs, slamming the infernal door behind them as usual.
Mick and Josef were sucking away at a fast pace. It seemed they could never get enough, even if this blood was from a very cheap source! Probably morgue blood from old corpses.
Coraline sipped slowly, having a hard time swallowing, as usual, but doing so to stay alive. "Here, Josef," she said as she threw Hank's bag of blood over. "I can hardly get my own down, much less an extra one!"
Josef caught the bag mid-air. "Why thank you, Coraline. I owe you one."
"I'll look forward to collecting," she said seductively. Josef was again amazed that she thought she raised any interest in him at all! She may as well be a dead skunk, he was thinking, but he smiled back at her just to play nice.
Josef and Mick finished their feed ration at about the same time. Josef held up the extra one and looked at Mick. "I'll share with you, buddy, if you'll promise to get me out of here."
"Deal."
Josef took the first few gulps, then handed it over to Mick, who did the same. They passed it back and forth until it was gone—about sixty seconds or so was all it took.
Josef sat back and patted his stomach. "Well, I don't know about you, but I think I'm feeling good enough to blow this joint!"
"My thoughts exactly," Mick said as he ripped off the neck and wrist manacles and slid down to unlock his ankles. With two pops in short order, he stood up and stretched. Amazingly, the ceiling on this underground cave or whatever it was seemed very high—maybe fifteen or sixteen feet, which no doubt had helped them all feel cooler during their confinement. Air circulation, though stale, had been enough that they didn't overheat.
Mick went to work on Josef's wrists, then the neck, then the ankles. In about three minutes, Josef stood for the first time in days and gave himself a good, long stretch.
"Man, it feels so good not to be flattening my ass anymore!"
"I hear ya, brother. What do we do now?"
"Wait just a damn minute!" Coraline shouted. "You aren't going to leave me here, are you?"
Josef looked at Mick, who looked back at Josef.
"The thing is, Coraline, if I let you go, I'm afraid you'll try to harm my wife. I can't have you doing anything to hurt Beth." Mick was dead serious, and Coraline knew it. He was so damned protective of that little tramp!
Coraline pouted. "Mick—you know me better than that! I wouldn't hurt your wife!"
"Yeah—like always. You'd never hurt me or Beth. Why don't I believe you?" Huh! Could it be that you've tried to get us both killed before?"
"Oh, Mick, Honey! Remember how I saved you from Lance? I could have let you die then, but I didn't! Just let me go, Mick! I promise I'll get out of your life for good!"
"Yeah, and I'm Brittany Spears! Come on, Josef. Let's go."
As they headed for the stairs, they heard footsteps approaching. They looked at each other, and even in the dark, each could read alarm on the other's face.
The door crashed open again, and this time it wasn't the Stooges, it was a well-dressed man in a $5,000 suit who came down the stairs and entered their prison.
"Well, well!" He said in a nasally voice. "Just what is going on here?"
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