Hey guys! Sorry for leaving you hanging for so long; it's been one crazy week and things will only get crazier next week for me. Anyway, thank you all for reviews and alert adds! I'll try to update again sometime next week! Reviews are most definitely welcome.
Disclaimer: Moonlight and characters don't belong to me; I'm simply a fan having fun with the characters.
The late afternoon sun hung low, streaking the LA sky with pale golden orange rays of fading sunlight. Most of the day's warmth had given way to a light breeze and in his car, parked across the street from Charlotte Thompson's office, Mick pulled off his shades, welcoming the change. He had been on the hunt all day, tracking down the fledgling vamps that Josef's team had identified and spared.
Josef flashed Mick a fanged grin upon noticing his entrance into the office. "Refreshment?" he offered ingenuously.
"No, thank you," Mick replied patiently, taking the liberty of seating himself as he waited for Josef to finish feeding.
Josef sighed as he waved his blonde meal on her way. "Still living on those morals of yours, huh?" He retracted his fangs and allowed his eyes to darken to their normal hazel color. "What a shame…"
"I assume you didn't call me here just to scrutinize my feeding habits," Mick remarked dryly.
"No, no, of course not! My team tracked down another pair of fledgling vamps. A couple actually. And of course, I immediately thought of you." When he saw Mick's stricken expression, he smirked. "Oh don't worry; their relationship is nothing like your messy relationship with Beth. They had a very human, very 'normal' relationship."
Mick scowled. "That wasn't funny, Josef."
Josef only laughed. "Whatever you say, Mick, whatever you say. But if you ask me, all this tight self-control you keep on yourself, some might find it noble, but I think it makes you one wimp of a vampire." His lips curved into a sly smile. "Beth is more than willing, I'm sure… falling for a mortal was already a stupid enough thing to do, Mick. But setting yourself up to grow close to her only to deny yourself any real pleasure? Even stupider."
"What did you mean by very human, very 'normal' relationship?" Mick asked, deliberately ignoring Josef's last comment. "Didn't you say they're fledgling vamps?"
"Ask them yourself," he responded airily. "That's why I called you here."
Mick mulled over what Gabriel and Laura Collins had told him. It was extraordinary that their relationship had survived the transition from human to vampire considering how little guidance Charlotte had provided after turning them. He would have expected them to tear each other apart… but then again, with the way things had ended up between him and Coraline, he wasn't the best judge for what was or wasn't extraordinary in terms of love. To be honest, he had been jealous of what Gabriel and Laura had—talking with them, seeing firsthand, the depth of their feelings toward each other, had been refreshing. Even though he ached afterwards, it had even given him the tiniest spark of hope that maybe even he could have what they had. It was a big maybe, but a maybe nonetheless.
Unfortunately, love was the least of his worries; at the moment, he was more concerned about how big a role Charlotte played in not only the sudden surge of fledgling vamps, but in influencing Shane. If what Gabriel and Laura had told him was accurate, then she had, at the very least, played some part in initiating the turnings.
"Laura, Charlotte, and I, we were all childhood friends," Gabriel explained. "Through the years, we were able to remain close…"
"Or at least, we tried," Laura interjected. "But a few years ago—three, four, maybe?—Charlotte began to grow distant. She was paranoid and secretive and when we tried to coax her into opening up, she refused to talk to us. We didn't know what to do; she was one of our dearest friends and we couldn't just sit by and watch her fall…"
Gabriel wrapped his hand over Laura's and shook his head. "We know now that there was nothing we could have done to help her… that her downward spiral didn't continue because we didn't try hard enough but because of what she had become."
She smiled at him. "Yes, that is true. But about eight months ago, she miraculously cheered up. Said she had met a guy; of course she didn't tell us that it was Shane. We were happy for her but if we had known Shane was the source of her happiness, we might not have felt the same way. When they dated in college and high school, she was crazy about him and when they broke it off for the last time, she had a hard time letting go."
"Did she ever say anything about the plans she had, where her relationship with Shane was going?" Mick asked, trying to ignore the parallels between Shane and Charlotte's relationship and his and Coraline's.
Laura wrinkled her forehead in thought. "I don't think so… she only ever raved about how great he was and how he was the perfect guy. Even when they were having troubles three months back, her belief in him didn't waver; she seemed confident that they would fix things."
Mick shook his head. "But they didn't; she turned him."
Gabriel and Laura stared at him in astonishment. "After she turned us, she told us about Shane but she never told us she turned him!" Gabriel exclaimed.
"That's what worries me," Mick replied grimly. "The things that she hasn't told anyone… I asked her outright, if she was responsible for the sudden rise of newly turned vamps and she wouldn't give me a straight answer… Tell me, are you newlyweds?"
"Oh no, no, no," Laura said with wide eyes. "Next month marks our two-year anniversary."
"In fact, when she came to us three weeks ago, she said she had an early anniversary gift for us," Gabriel recalled.
"She was also very upset about something; she wouldn't say what," Laura put in. "We suspected it had to do with Shane—despite her confidence, we could tell that they hadn't worked things out—but when we tried to talk about it, she lashed out at us."
"Her gift was vampirism…" Mick said slowly.
"It was," Gabriel confirmed. "She spent the evening talking about love and asking us about our relationship: how did we know we had found the one? Wasn't it a comfort to know we would always have each other? Did it really matter if we ever had kids or not as long as we were together? Wouldn't it be nice to be together forever? Stuff like that. And then she rambled on about how it was possible and that vampires existed and being one wasn't so bad."
"We didn't believe her, at first," Laura confessed. "She was so upset… we thought maybe she had been drinking. But when she saw our skepticism, she lost it; we saw her sanity disappear when she vamped out on us. It all happened so fast, we didn't even realize what had happened until it was all over… she turned Gabriel first, while I watched, hysterical. Did she hear me? I don't know… but she certainly didn't forget me. After Gabriel had settled into a deathly stillness, she turned to me and struck…"
Mick sighed. He had thought, at first, that it was Charlotte's sire who had instilled such twisted beliefs of love in her but now, it seemed more likely to assume that she was the one who initiated those beliefs. The question that bothered him now was, was she alone in her beliefs? Or had she recruited others to help in her efforts to "immortalize" love? It was hard to tell; some of the vamps he had talked to earlier had mentioned Charlotte, but others had never heard of her.
Mick was deep in thought but when he saw a figure exiting Charlotte's office building, his attention snapped to the entrance. Beth?! Panic clawed at him; what was she doing here? She was distressed, that much he could tell. Her steps were quick and she barely paid attention to her surroundings; she probably would have noticed him if she did. What had Charlotte done to her? Oh, why hadn't he warned her that she was dangerous, a vamp? Mick berated himself. He watched as Beth climbed into her car and started the engine, without driving. She seemed fine but still… Mick was torn between the desire to run to her and the need to stay where he was so he could get the truth from Charlotte. He tuned his hearing to her heartbeat: it was racing! He would have gone to her right then and there had he not heard her take deep, shaky breaths that slowed her heartbeat considerably. Reluctantly, Mick remained where he was and as if to prevent him from changing his mind, Beth finally pulled her car out of its spot and drove away.
She's fine, he told himself. She's fine, she's fine… she would call if she wasn't… or at least say something or do something to indicate otherwise… But he wasn't so sure. It was Beth after all, and since when had Beth conformed to his expectations? Never… she's always exceeded them.
Charlotte drummed her fingers on her desk after Beth had left. Interesting. Charlotte was certain she had seen what immortality could offer and yet, she had refused the offer to be turned. She had refused very adamantly in fact. Surely she didn't believe that the bad points of vampirism outweighed the good… Charlotte narrowed her eyes as she recalled the conversation. She had refused but not outright; she had actually taken the time to think about the offer, as if she was really considering it. Charlotte laughed gleefully. Perhaps a little persuasion would help push her in the right direction.
"Kathy!" she called sharply.
The girl rushed in, almost tripping over her own feet. "Yes, ma'am?"
"I want you to get me Beth Turner's address," Charlotte ordered.
"Of course."
"And be quick about it!"
"Yes ma'am." She scurried out of the office.
Charlotte sighed. Humans. She would never understand why some of them were so weak; Kathy had no clue what she really was and her heart still managed to race when she was summoned, Charlotte noted disgustedly. At one point, she had considered bringing Kathy into the fold but now, she was glad she had ultimately decided against it. But Beth… Beth was something different altogether. She was strong, resilient; what a shame it would be to watch that die over the years… Charlotte knew what she had to do; Beth and St. John would both thank her later.