Moonlight – Virtual Season 2
Episode Two – Out of Time
Rating: PG
Writer: ClChen
Beta'd: Writers Group
VS2 Writers Group includes PhotoSue, CIChen, Sunny, Misfit, Evilous, Osage Phantom, mxwwmickd, Night Owl, PhantomPhoenix and Candomom.
Disclaimer: Moonlight and its characters are owned by CBS and Warner Brothers. All use of Moonlight and its characters in this venue are for entertainment purposes and completed solely for the pleasure of Moonlight lovers. The original storylines and episodes have been created by the VS2 Writers and Discussion Group. We hope you enjoy.
Does a Vampire know when he is going to die? Can we sense when our end is near? It would seem that Death doesn't claim one over the other human or Vampire; luck and time eventually running out for all of us.
The one thing our powers can't help us with is when one of our own falls tragically, it's just as hard, just as painful
Out of Time
Ryder sat with a huff in his leather sofa, not sure if he was happy or sad being back in LA. South America was nice and so were the Freshies. He gave a rueful smile and drank some of the AB- blood that Josef had given him. He leaned his head back and froze.
"Mr. England." The voice polite. Both men were masked, and Ryder didn't understand how they had entered undetected. How was it possible? He felt the cold blade against his neck and he swallowed, a new sensation, stinging, coming from the silver blade. "Rise slowly Mr. England." The masked man spoke softly and Ryder did as he was beckoned. As he rose, the other man placed handcuffs on him, and Ryder knew immediately, they were laced with silver, his strength was slowly fading. Both men grabbed his arms and pulled him toward the door, not saying a word to him and adding a jacket over his cuffs so they weren't visible.
Ryder was led to the back of his building and down a service elevator. As it opened he squinted against the sun, his brow already heavy with sweat. Ryder England was scared, he didn't know these men and they had gone undetected, he didn't even sense them in his home, had no idea who they were or where they were taking him.
"Mr. England has been picked up." The voice said into the radio. Two men in a van across the street observed as Ryder was placed in the car and, once it pulled away, the Van followed.
MLMLMLMLMLMLML
Mick stood at his kitchen checking his watch, it had been 2 hours since Beth had left his apartment. Just as the warm crimson liquid touched his lips he smiled at the thought of her.
Flashback
"You sure you want to leave?" He said as he nuzzled her neck closely. Beth giggled as she tried to pull away already feeling Mick kissing his way up her neck.
"No I'm not, but…" She paused as he got closer to her chin, she giggled and began to squirm in his arms. "Talbot sounded upset, and I'm pretty sure he's figured out that the file is missing, not misplaced." Mick froze at her cheek and straightened giving a quick sigh.
"You're right." He nodded and gave a smug grin, releasing his grip on her and placing his hands on her shoulders to gently rub them. "How bout, say in a few hours I take you to lunch?" He said smiling a little more. Beth nodded, giving him a quick kiss and pulled from his arms to grab her purse.
"Deal" She threw him another kiss as she left through the door.
Mick was soon pulled from his thoughts by his phone and by the ring tone it was Josef.
"Yes Josef." He said quickly, finishing his lunch and setting it down.
"Ryder's missing." Mick could already tell Josef was agitated.
"Isn't he in South America, and how do you know he's missing?" Mick walked to his desk with his phone already feeling like Josef was panicking.
"No, he's back." Josef said as he moved past his desk from his new office. He stared out the high rise window, his nerves on edge.
"When?" Mick said quickly.
"A few days ago," Josef said with more edge.
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Ryder flinched as the mask was ripped from his face. He was feeling sick from the silver, and now he was hot and thirsty, powerless to do anything about it. He could tell he was in a warehouse, but he wasn't sure of anything else. As his eyes focused he felt his fear return. Before him stood 5 men, all in masks; one of the men had an executioner's sword. He swallowed hard and looked up.
"Good-bye Mr. England." The man with the sword stepped forward, raising it to shoulder height. Ryder spoke finally, it was only a whisper "No…" He could feel the air from the blade, and then, nothing.
MLMLMLMLML
"And what makes you think he's missing? Maybe he wasn't ready to come back and he's left again." Mick sat down at his desk turning on his computer, just incase.
MLMLMLMLML
As the man swung it was a clean cut, completely severing Ryder's head. Taking a silken cloth from his pocket, he wiped the blade clean, nodding to the other men. He pulled out a remote, pressing a button to start the timer. With a last look at Ryder's body, they all turned and left the warehouse.
MLMLMLMLML
"Mick, Ryder doesn't do anything unless I give him permission. He's missing, and I'm worried. He was supposed to be here a few hours ago and he isn't answering his phone. Trust me, this is BAD!" he put emphasis on the last words as he turned sharply back to his desk.
"Fine, I'll swing by his place and see what I can find." Mick hung up his phone and shook his head. Somehow he felt like this was going to be a wild goose chase.
MLMLMLMLMLML
Beth sat her desk going over the surveillance tapes of people coming in and out of Ben's office, trying to find someone she didn't have to; the person who took the file.
"Beth, let me know if you see anything, a file just doesn't sprout legs and walk out." Ben's voice was tight and agitated
"Oh... oh ok." She tried to sound anything other than guilty. Beth could feel the blood drain from her face and her stomach lurched, her heart was beating way too fast from fear; fear of being discovered. Her eyes darted up a few times from the monitor as she observed Ben move in and out of his office, certain at some point that she was going to be the one he brought in to question. She jumped, startled, as the phone on her desk rang.
"DA's office, Beth Turner speaking." She said quickly.
"There's a body at a warehouse in Little Tokyo, 2225 San Pedro." Beth was about to speak when the line went dead. She quickly rose, wrote down the address and headed to Talbot.
Mick pressed the send button to Logan with a list of things for him to do. He wanted him to see if there were any strange phone calls coming to Ryder. He sighed heavily again, not completely convinced that Ryder was missing. After everything that happened 2 weeks ago at Josef's garage and Josef's revelation about vampire hunters in LA, he just couldn't chance it. Mick was just about to get up from his desk when his phone rang again.
"St. John." He said quickly.
"There's a person of interest to you, he's at a warehouse in Little Tokyo, 2225 San Pedro." Then the line went dead. Mick frowned and looked at his computer. He quickly rose and headed for his keys.
As he pulled into the warehouse, he didn't notice anything in particular. The warehouse was old and deserted and he inhaled slowly trying to see if he could pick up any new scents. He picked up one right away, it was Ryder. Mick rushed inside, coming to a stumbling stop as his stomach lurched, and his dead heart jerked in his chest. Ryder's head was at least 2 feet from his body. He made his way slowly to Ryder's body and touched his hands, jerking back as he felt the burn of the silver. Wiping his hands quickly on the floor, he froze as another sound registered the steady Tick, Tick, Tick of a timer. He quickly searched the room and located the bomb, cursing as the timer showed it had only 2 minutes left. He bent to Ryder's headless body and picked it up, bolting for the door.
Ben pulled his car into the street next to the warehouse, immediately noticing Mick's car.
"Now why doesn't this surprise me?" Ben shook his head and squinted from the sun as he looked at the warehouse. Ben wondered how long Mick had been in the building and if he had anything to do with Beth's phone call.
Beth stepped out as well and looked to the front. In the blink of an eye, the warehouse exploded. Beth was thrown back into the car and Ben dropped to the side, covering his eyes with his arm, debris flying everywhere.
"You alright?" Ben yelled into the car at Beth. She nodded and looked around.
Beth shook her head and slowly rose from the car, looking frantically toward the entrance, her heart pounding wildly. As smoke rolled from the warehouse, a figure could be seen stepping from the black smoke. Recognizing Mick, Beth let out a haggard sigh and ran immediately for him. Smoke was billowing from his back, he was coughing and his face was black with suet. Beth stopped just before him as she realized he was carrying a headless body.