Alas, I still do not own Moonlight. If I did, I doubt I'd be writing fanfiction.
Mick's POV:
Vampires are nearly indestructible. Despite what the old myths say, there are very few ways to kill us. Fire is one of them, so it's a good thing Lenny and I weren't in the car when it was hit. Unfortunately, the other is sunlight, and our escape from the exploding car left us stranded along an uncomfortably sunny stretch of California highway. My first thought was to call Beth for help, but there was still no signal on my phone. Lenny was still staring at the wreckage in shock when I first heard the sirens. There was no way to know if they'd be on our side or Fayid's.
"Cops," Lenny pointed out, nearly a minute after I'd heard them coming. "Do you think we can still trust them?"
I checked for reception in vain once more before telling Lenny I didn't want to wait around. I glared up at the sun. If only there was shade somewhere, anywhere. I looked as far as I could. There, off in the distance, was a building. It was at least three miles away. There was nothing closer. It would have to do. "Come on," I said to Lenny. We had to get across as quickly as we could. I didn't know how long I'd last under the California sun.
When I was still human I survived the Battle of the Bulge. Six weeks in a trench in the Ardennes. Coldest winter I'd ever felt. My buddy lost a foot to frostbite. I'd thought that was hell. I was wrong.
What is hell? Hell is knowing that every minute you spend under the blazing hot sun is driving you closer to death, and knowing there's nothing else you can do. In hell, you know that there is only one thing that will help you, and you've sworn never to do it again. Lenny's blood called to me, promising relief and strength. I walked right next to her; it would be so easy to grab her…
No! I was doing this to protect Lenny. I'd get her out of this desert if it killed me. Which was looking more and more likely.
Lenny had a jacket tied around her waist. She passed it to me, and I held it over my head like an umbrella. It helped, but not enough. "You look dehydrated," she observed. "Do you want to stop for a while?"
"We can't," I answered. The longer we were out here, the more I'd be poisoned by the sunlight. We had to keep moving.
Time and space lost all meaning in that desert. There was nothing but sand and sun and thirst. Lenny walked right behind me, a constant temptation. Vampire survival instincts are simple: If you're dying, you need blood. It didn't matter that I'd sworn to protect Lenny and her baby. If I couldn't get blood any other way, I'd have to feed on her.
I wouldn't be able to stop myself.
She was walking right next to me now, holding my arm to help me walk. I could feel the blood pulsing in her arm, and my fangs sprang out. Relief was coming. Casually, she brushed her long, dark hair away to expose her slender neck. I leaned in closer. I could almost taste the sweet relief…
"Mick, look!" she exclaimed.
What am I doing? I looked in the direction she was pointing. Oh, good. She'd seen the building. I'd almost forgotten this godforsaken journey had a destination.
I pushed the thirst down. It wouldn't be much longer until I was out of the sun, and then the immediate danger would be over. For both of us. I started walking again, and stumbled. She put her arms around me to steady me once more. This is Lenny, I reminded myself. You're here to protect her. And she's going to have a baby.
The building turned out to be an old, abandoned motel. I grabbed a key from behind the desk and opened the door to one of the rooms. Lenny followed me inside. I felt immediate relief from the sun as soon as we walked in, but it wasn't enough. Lenny said something, but I didn't hear. "Find the ice machine," I instructed her. "Get a lot. Please, go. Go."
I opened the other door, which led to the bathroom. Fortunately, the water was still running, so I turned on the cold as far as it would go. My hand slipped under the cool stream. Now, at last, I could relax.
But my body still felt like it was on fire. I tore my shirt open, which provided no relief. After stumbling and falling over the edge of the bathtub, I was able to pull myself in. The cold, swirling water hit my body and I gasped. Oh, God, it was cold. So cold. Maybe too much of a shock. But after a minute, I was able to adjust.
Still, it wasn't enough. I needed blood. No amount of cold water would cure my thirst. Lenny came in a minute later with a giant bucket of ice. Good girl, listening to my instructions. I pulled the ice towards me, feeling the fire cool just a bit more. Lenny turned off the water and offered me juice from the mini-bar, which I declined. She'd never know what I really wanted to drink.
Lenny put a hand to my face. I was still hot enough that she felt cool against my burning skin. "We need to get you to a hospital," she decided. "This is not just regular dehydration. There is something seriously wrong here."
Like the fact that I crave human blood and don't have a pulse? "No hospitals," I told Lenny firmly. I'd given her my phone, and told her to try Beth again. "Just talk to her," I cautioned. "Only Beth."
"Who is she?" Lenny asked.
"I trust her," I answered, not really answering the question.
"Hey, is she your girlfriend?"
"What? No," I responded immediately. "It's…complicated." Now was not the time to go into the whole Beth situation. I had to get Lenny out before I lost the tenuous grasp on my self-control.
"Is there anything else I can do?" Lenny wondered.
Lean in a little closer…Lenny's heart pounded like a drum, drowning out everything else. Then I heard her call my name and the fog cleared for one precious moment. "Please, you must leave," I told her emphatically.
"No, I want to stay here with you," she protested. Foolish girl.
"Call Beth," I instructed. "Go, go." Thankfully, she listened, leaving me alone and thirstier than ever. I swirled the ice cubes around me again, hoping they would help. They didn't.
A minute later, I heard her walk back into the room. I sat completely still. She was saying something, but I wasn't paying attention to the words. Only her presence. She came closer, like a moth drawn to a flame. I willed my body to remain completely motionless. Lenny came closer, and leaned down. That was when I struck.
My fangs came out instantly, and I felt a perverse thrill as she let out a scream. I could taste her blood flowing through my body, but I felt no relief. Why did I still feel as though my veins were on fire?
"Mick!" Lenny cried. I snapped back to reality. There were no marks on her neck. I hadn't actually bitten her. Yet. "Mick, did you hear me?" she asked anxiously. "Beth's coming."
The words didn't register right away. "Get out!" I screamed at her. "Get out, Lenny! Get out now!" Before I do something I regret. Panicked, she turned around and quickly retreated to safety. Just in time, too. What was happening to me?
It wasn't until after Lenny was safely gone that that I recalled her words: Beth's coming.
She'd better get here soon,I thought.
I slipped into a feverish dream.
A cockroach scuttles across a tiled floor that probably hasn't been cleaned in decades. Water drips from the faucet into the tub where I lay, trying to cool my body as it burns with this fever. Disjointed sights and sounds fill my mind, and I half-wonder if I'm delusional. Part of me longs for death, because it will mean relief from this horrible pain. But I don't want to die in this place. Not here, not now.
Suddenly I see Beth's face before me, and I know everything will be all right. She's kneeling next to the tub. She leans in toward me, almost as though she's going to kiss my lips. Then she tilts her head to the side, offering her neck to me. I sink my fangs into her neck and drink. The blood is cooling, healing; it erases everything else from my mind. It drips down the side of the tub. Oh, God, have I killed her? I've killed her!
Suddenly she's gone, and I realize she was never here. A delusion, cooked up by the fever. Beth is fine. She's not even here.
She won't be here in time to save me.
What do you get when you put a vampire in the desert? Maybe no more vampire…
The next thing I remembered, Beth was pulling me up from the water and shouting my name. I knew that this time it was real. My senses were aware of every tiny movement, the sound of her every heartbeat. I felt her cooling touch as she held my face in her delicate hands. My imagination couldn't conjure up such a realistic fantasy. "Mick! You're burning up," she observed, worried. It was already too late for me.
Suddenly, I recalled Lenny in the other room. "I bit her," I cried, struggling for breath. "I'll die before I feed on her." I still wasn't sure whether I'd actually hurt her or not.
"Mick, Lenny's in the other room; she's fine," Beth said firmly. She looked me directly in the eyes. Beth wouldn't lie to me, I knew.
Relieved, I smiled. "I guess…I guess I am a delicate flower," I concluded. Ageless, incredibly fast, and powerful, but prone to nightmares. And I wilt in the sun.
Beth smiled back at me, amused. "I guess you are," she agreed.
"Take Lenny back," I instructed Beth. "Get her out of here. He's coming." There was still time, before the assassin found our latest hiding spot. And he would, I was sure of it.
"I'm not leaving," Beth protested. What was it with these women? Surely Beth would understand how unsafe it was to be around me.
"You have to protect her now," I said firmly. Beth was more than capable of looking after Lenny. If I knew they were both safe, I could die in peace.
"You're dying!" Beth cried. She stared at me for a long moment, and then stood up and threw her coat on the floor. With horror, I realized what she was about to do. She pulled her hair away from her throat with a trembling hand. "I don't know how to do this," she began, "but I know you need it, so…"
"No!" I cried as she pulled the collar on her shirt. "Get out! Get out!" I shrank towards the wall, trying not to look at the horribly tempting sight. Beth was playing with fire. It would be so easy for me to lose control and take too much from her.
"You need blood," she pointed out.
"Not yours!" If something were to happen to Beth, especially if it was something I did…I'd never be able to live with myself.
"Look…" She leaned down and grabbed my face again.
"Not like this," I protested. This was all wrong. She felt like she owed me something, that was all. I'd saved her life and she had to return the favor. But she didn't realize that she was gambling with her own life in the process. The stakes were too high.
"I want to do this," she insisted. We stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, and I realized that she meant it. For whatever reason, she felt that my life was worth saving. And she trusted me with her life. Silently, I acknowledged her choice and decided to accept her help. She leaned back. "I know you won't kill me," she said, trying not to sound afraid. Not if I can help it. "And I know you wouldn't try to turn me either," she continued, a wrinkle of disgust crossing her face at the idea. At least she had enough sense to not want to become a monster like me. "I've got this vampire friend who's been explaining this stuff," she added.
Slowly, carefully, I reached over and took her arm. Beth gasped in fear but didn't try to pull away. I held her arm for a moment, letting the rhythm of her heartbeat embed itself in my mind. Her heart was racing now, and she had to struggle to keep her breathing even. The thirst was raging, and I knew if she tried to pull away now I couldn't possibly control myself. But she sat very still and closed her eyes. "At some point," I cautioned her, "you're gonna have to stop me."
My fangs shot out. I brought her arm to my lips and drove my teeth through the skin. Her blood was even better than I'd imagined, cooling and healing and satisfying all at once. I drank, lost in a swirl of emotions, until at last the thirst subsided. Gently, I pulled my head away from Beth's arm. I spoke her name. There was no answer. "Beth?" I called again, worried. She was nearly unconscious. "Oh, God, I'm sorry," I whispered. "Beth, forgive me." I could feel her heart beating steadily, so I knew she wasn't in any danger of dying. Still, I'd nearly taken too much.
Gently, I laid Beth's head down on the floor next to the tub. I stood up carefully, feeling stronger than I had in a long time. After letting the water out of the bathtub, I moved Beth as carefully as I could and stuck a folded-up towel under her head as a pillow. I sat and watched Beth's chest rise and fall, making sure she would be all right.
The sun had finally settled below the horizon when Beth began to stir. I reached over and touched her shoulder, and she startled awake. "Beth…" I said. She flinched away from me. Guess I deserved that. Words flashed through my mind, but none of them covered everything I wanted to say. "Thanks," I said finally.
Still looking afraid, she nodded. "Yeah." When in doubt, keep the conversation monosyllabic. She struggled to sit up, and looked at her arm. I passed her a towel, assuring her that it looked worse than it was. Without saying another word to me, Beth stood up and left me staring after her.
I heard her call Lenny's name, and then a muffled scream. A familiar voice hissed, "Scream and you're dead." I hadn't even heard the assassin come in. Stupid, stupid Mick. "Where's the girl?" he demanded.
With vampire speed, I raced to the door and grabbed him. This required the destruction of the door, but I don't think Beth minded. As soon as I grabbed the assassin, he let go of Beth. I snapped his neck like a twig and dropped him unceremoniously on the floor. He wouldn't be able to threaten Lenny or her baby again. Beth looked up at me with fear in her eyes.
I opened the half-destroyed bathroom door and walked out to make sure Beth was all right. Then I heard Lenny's voice. "Mick? Are you okay?" she asked. She was peeking out from behind the corner.
"Yeah, actually I feel better," I told her with a grin. I remembered the thrill of twisting the worthless assassin's head until the bones snapped with a satisfying crunch. I'd never felt so powerful. Then Lenny ran over and gave me a hug.
For the first time that day, I was able to be near her without fear that she'd become my lunch. I put my arms around her, hesitantly at first. When I looked down at Beth, she was still in shock. Well, there it was. The only human who'd ever known about my secret was finally driven away after seeing the monster I am inside.
Relationships are complicated, which is why I usually avoid them. But for a brief moment, I thought I saw acceptance in her eyes. That was even more disturbing. If Beth didn't have the sense to avoid me on her own, I'd just have to help her out.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Please let me know what you thought of Mick's POV.