The Confrontation Part 3

Seconds seemed like an eternity, each tick of the clock only prolonged what she was now sure would be the last moments of her life. And as time seemed to stand still, she began to lose hope that Mick would indeed be able to save her once again. She knew without him, she wouldn't stand a chance of defending herself.

For but a nanosecond, her eyes flitted to the rack of carving knives that sat on the pristinely kept kitchen counter. Could she……?

"Don't even think about it," came Josef's deadly warning.

Beth started as she looked back to the man standing before her. Had she been that obvious? It felt as if he could read every nuance. She was sure that even now, he was analyzing her every twitch, every blink of her eyes, even the sound of the blood rushing through her veins. The thought of blood took her back for but the briefest of seconds to that moment in the abandoned motel in the middle of the blazing desert. The moment she had uniquely and permanently bonded herself to Mick. To have been able to save his life was an amazing feeling. To have done so in such an immensely personal way was life-altering. If his declaration of being a vampire had connected them, freely giving her blood to him in order to save his life had cemented that link. Never in her life had she ever felt more in tune with anyone. On some instinctual level, Beth knew, without a doubt, that Mick would always be an overwhelmingly important part of her life; a life however, that at this moment very much hung in the balance.

"Look….." Beth stammered, hoping beyond hope that she could somehow find a way to defuse this situation. A few years of interviewing and plying the right people for information had helped to hone a certain skill in that area. Question was, would it work on a god-only-knew-how-old vampire. Swallowing past the bile threatening to rise in her throat, she continued, "I'm sorry for being so defensive. I really had no right to yell at you like that. I….I can see that. And if you are a friend of Mick's, then I think that we sort of……you know…..owe it to him to try to……get along." The last bit came out more as a question than a statement, but Beth didn't really care. She was more concerned with reading the individual standing before her. Had his eyes dimmed a bit? Did she detect an easing of the tenseness in his posture? Was he even registering what she said at all, or was he simply waiting for the right moment to attack?

For whatever reason, whether it be her apology or the fact that he now had her almost literally cowering in the corner, Josef did indeed begin to return to the position he held before her outburst. The eyes returned to their normal color and he seemed to relax more and more with each second that crept by. For the barest of moments, Beth also could have sworn she saw a hint of a smile lift the corner of his mouth. Perhaps it was only her rattled nerves or perhaps a trick of the light that made her cling to the hope that she had somehow gotten through to him.

Surprisingly, Josef turned his back to her and walked a few feet further toward the living area of Mick's apartment. His gaze seemed to stop for but a flash on the front door, before he turned yet again to face Beth. The enigmatic smile had returned with more than a hint of mischievousness twinkling in his eyes.

"Perhaps you're right, Ms. Turner. We do owe it to Mick to, as you say, get along. He's been a friend of mine for quite a long time. I would hate for anything to interfere with that." His smile widened, and Beth couldn't help but wonder how old this man really was standing opposite her. He was too practiced at this, too used to being able to turn the tables in but a blink of the eye. She imagined that immortality had one perk if not others; the ability to read human nature and profit from it and exploit it.

For her part, Beth tried her best to return his smile. Hoping that she didn't fail miserably at the attempt. Now that things seemed to be calming down a bit, she couldn't help but flash back to what he had said just minutes before, and the reporter in her couldn't resist asking the question, "You said judge and jury…..that you were my judge and jury……what exactly did you mean by that?" The inquiry hung in the air. And as soon as the last word left her mouth, Beth desperately wanted to retrieve it. As much as she wanted to know, she almost equally dreaded the answer.

Josef nodded his head in understanding, the smile changing to one of admiration almost as if he appreciated her bravery for asking. "We have a problem Ms. Turner….Beth….may I call you Beth? If we're to be friends, it would only be proper don't you think?" Not waiting for an answer, he continued, "You see, Beth, you have been given some information. Information that, in the wrong hands, could be both damning and have devastating consequences." Glancing in Beth's direction for a split second, Josef continued with the slow back and forth pacing that he had started at the beginning of his speech. "I know that Mick has told you about us. About what we are. I'm not at all happy about that, you understand. None of us are. That knowledge and how you deem to use it has the potential to destroy us." He then stopped and turned to her once more, as if wanting to make sure that the next part was delivered with the utmost impact. "I won't let that happen."

Beth's eyes widened slightly, still not sure that she wouldn't die that afternoon. Some of the fear that had been ebbing away began to seep into her pores once again. On some level, she understood his trepidation. Mick had made it abundantly clear that absolutely no one could know about him….about them. To do so would be to deliver a death sentence.

Beth unsteadily nodded her head in sympathy. "I understand….I really do. But I can assure you that I would never say anything. I promised that I wouldn't."

Josef bowed his head for a moment, obviously contemplating her words. Looking at her once more, he responded, "Promises can be lightly given and discarded when necessary and at will, I'm afraid. As much as I would like to believe that you're being sincere, I'm afraid that many of us doubt the ability of a human to keep such a secret safe," he continued, his head cocking to one side for an instant almost as if sensing a noise or disturbance.

Again, Beth couldn't argue with his logic and even his fear of being discovered for what he truly was. For a second after Mick's revelation, her inner reporter had almost squealed with glee at having uncovered the story of the century. She'd felt more than slightly guilty at even having thought about it. If she had followed that temptation and revealed what she knew to the world, the response would have been swift and bloody. The human race had more than a passing history of hunting down and killing what it didn't understand. Vampires, although powerful, would have never stood a chance.

Eyes now filled with concern, not only for the situation that vampires faced on a daily basis, but also for her own situation - not knowing if there was any way she could remedy this situation. Promises were, indeed, just words. And, unfortunately, Josef was right. Promises were so effortlessly made and discarded on a daily basis. How could she possibly hope to make him understand that she would never betray what she knew?

"Again, I understand. You don't know me. You have no idea what type of person I am. I wish I knew what I could say to convince you that I would never dream of divulging the secret that I've been entrusted with." It was now Beth's turn to pace, slowly she walked back and forth behind the kitchen island. Head down, eyebrows knit in concentration and worry. Mentally she scrambled to find the answer, for there had to be one.

Stopping but seconds later, she finally decided to reveal to Josef what she hadn't even been able to tell herself in her most private moments. Perhaps enough of his humanity remained that he would hear more than just the words she was about to utter.

"I would rather die than reveal what I know about Mick….about all of you. I know how much it cost him to tell me what he told me that night. How ashamed he was at having me find him like that." She looked into Josef's eyes, hoping beyond hope that he would be able to read the all too raw emotions that centered in her now tear-filled eyes. "He means more to me than I could have ever imagined, more than I could ever tell him and hope to have him understand. He's my heart and the other half of my soul." Sniffing softly, she gave Josef a sad, resigned smile. "I'll keep this secret with me until the day that I die. And I'll do that, not for you…..not for any other vampire walking this planet. I'll do it because, revealing what I know would put him in danger, and I would rather die than let that happen."

Josef's eyes never left Beth's as he watched the tears slowly slide down her slightly flushed cheeks.

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Outside the apartment, Mick leaned heavily against the door, his hand still gripping the handle he had been so ready to turn just seconds before. He'd heard most of the exchange between the two people inside, and had been poised to enter if Josef had indeed tried to harm Beth in any way. At first he had been frozen in place, having finally been faced with what he had hoped to avoid, a meeting between the woman he loved and the friend he had so heavily relied on through the years.

But what kept him on the other side of the door now was Beth's declaration of affection. His undead heart both ached and swelled at the thought. Chest slightly heaving, he closed his eyes and prayed for the first time in more years than he could count.

To be continued………

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