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Lost Things-Chapter 5

Josh walked to his office feeling like a complete idiot. He had thrown holy water at a guy thinking that he as a vampire! Josh flopped down at his desk. Josh get your head back on straight…vampires don't exist. Vampires were monsters in horror movies or action movies. They were not real, were they? He had been so sure Mick was a vampire. The suspicious background was one thing, but then Josh remembered the cut Beth had gotten out in the desert with Mick. It looked just like two puncture wounds that a vampire could cause…if they existed. Everything seemed to point to Mick being a vampire. He still couldn't believe he was saying the words. Even in his head they sounded completely stupid.

"Josh Lindsey?" Josh looked up to see a short woman with brown hair and brown eyes standing at his doorway. The woman sounded like she meant business.

"Can I help you?" Josh asked, annoyed. This wasn't the time for visitors.

"Yeah I've got information concerning a Mr. Mick St. John. Information that I think you would be very interested in hearing." The woman came to the chair sitting in front of Josh's desk and took a seat as she through a file on his desk.

Confused, Josh picked up the file. There were pictures of Mick with some pretty woman with brown hair standing around, and then there was a picture of him jumping up some building like he had wings. There were more pictures of him from even before he met Beth. "What am I looking at?" Josh inquired.

"It's proof that vampires exist, and that Mick St. John is a vampire," explained the woman.

Josh turned to the last picture. It was a picture of Mick from a distance with snowy white eyes and long fangs. In disbelief, he dropped the file and glared at the woman. "I was right?" he whispered.

"Yeah," the woman said with a satisfied grin on her face.

"How did you know I was thinking about this?" questioned Josh. Either the woman had an impeccable sense of timing, or she had been following him.

"Well I was following Mick and saw you. I know you don't like him. It's understandable of course; the guy is competing for the love of a certain blonde reporter."

Josh's interest turned to anger when he realized what the woman was saying. "Why were you stalking him?"

"That's none of your concern, but I you do have a concern. You see I want you to get a sample of Mick's blood."

"Why me? You seem to know him better than I do."

"Well Mick wouldn't suspect you. He would…well he would know me."

"How the hell am I supposed to get a sample of his blood? And why do you want it?"

The woman smiled wickedly. "Because it's the ultimate proof of the existence of vampires. The pictures are one thing, but the blood is irrefutable. And there are ways to stop vampires. A stake through the heart will paralyze him. Don't kill him though; I want him alive."

Josh sighed and held on tightly to the arms of his chair. "What if I don't want to do it?"

Again a wide grin came over her face. "You will because I happen to have a certain thing or rather person that you're looking for."

Josh's eyes opened wide in realization. "What did you do with Beth?"

"Beth is fine for now at least. It really depends on how quickly Mick can find them, but if you don't get his blood I can make a phone call and let you listen to the sound of your girlfriend dying," threatened the woman.

"You're really going to blackmail a district attorney? What makes you think I won't have you arrested right now?" Josh inquired his voice shaky along with his body.

The woman stood up and adjusted her shirt looking completely comfortable. "Because I have some friends that are waiting for me to make a phone call in the next fifteen minutes. If I don't make that phone call they kill her anyway." Smiling, she walked to the door and then turned to face Josh. "So you can be the cause of your girlfriend's death or you can do a simple little task for me. Get me enough of Mick's blood to test. Oh and you have two days or she dies. Well that's if she makes it that long in the first place. And Josh don't bring the police into this. I even think I hear a siren and she's dead. I'll be watching by the way." Then the woman slipped out the door.

----

Mick waited in the living room of Josef's gigantic mansion. The old vampire was taking an eternity and Mick was rather impatient. Josef came into the room looking annoyed. "What the hell was so important? I was having a very important phone call. You know trying to come back to life is a hard thing to do." Josef flopped down on the couch in front of Mick. "So what's the big deal?"

"Beth and Coraline are missing," explained Mick simply. "And they're in a lot of trouble if I don't find them soon."

Josef's angry face turned interested but not worried. Mick expected this. Josef wasn't the kind of vamp to worry too much about others. All he cared about was himself. "Well that's not good," he said simply.

Mick frowned and sat up. "Yeah."

"Do you know who took her?"

"A girl named Sarah Nelson. I killed her mother and she's getting her revenge."

"Killed her mother eh? She must have the wrong vampire," taunted Josef.

"Surprisingly she has it right. Her mother was a vampire and I killed her. The girl was young and didn't know about her mother."

Josef threw his head back, laughing. "You screw things up so much for a vampire as careful as you."

Angry, Mick stood up. "Listen Josef I know I make stupid mistakes, but will you just please help me find them?"

Taking a deep breath, Josef looked down debating how to answer. "Fine. I guess I can't say no to you after what you did for me. I got myself into a tough situation and I'd be dead if it wasn't for you." Josef stood up slowly. "So let's go find them."

"Thanks Josef," said Mick as his phone began to ring. It was Josh.

"What?" Mick greeted, irritated. He was still annoyed with him from before.

"I need to come with you to look for Beth. I…" he paused thinking of a good way to lie, "…got a call from the kidnappers too. They said the police couldn't be involved or they would kill Beth," explained Josh fighting back tears.

"Sht," cursed Mick. "Ok I've got a friend that's going to help. You can go in your own car," Mick said.

"No," Josh protested, "my car's messed up." His voice was without emotion.

Mick cursed again in his head. The thought of having to ride with Josh was almost excruciating. "Whatever. I'll come pick you up from your office in about thirty minutes." Then he hung up.

"That was weird," Mick commented after he hung up.

"What?" Josef asked.

"He sounded scared almost," explained Mick.

Josef shrugged his shoulders. "He's probably just worried about Beth."

Mick glared at Josef in deep thought. Something wasn't right with Josh. Mick had been around a long time, and he could tell when someone was hiding something.

--

Beth watched Coraline curiously as the vampire explained why she was the way she was. "My sire was a nice person. She turned me when she found me near death but not wanting to die. She became my best friend, and I thought I could not live without her." Beth could hear the sadness in her voice. "Well she was an old vampire and had unfortunately acquired some enemies. Some of them were vampires but others were humans. So one night when we were feeding they found us. She saved me, but lost her own life because of it." A small tear rolled down Coraline's face, and Beth tried to fight feeling sorry for her. "She was my best friend, my sister. My whole world revolved around her, and after she died I had nothing, no one. I was an extremely lonely vampire. I did have some friends, but they were more just there. They weren't the kind of friends I could tell anything to. Anyway after she was killed my heart turned to ice out of hate and anger for those wretched things known as humans, the creatures that ripped away my only friend. So I would look for ways to make them suffer as I had because I hated them so much and I got good at it. I guess I got so used to acting heartless that I actually became heartless, and then I found Mick. I loved the way he looked at me. Most men went after me because of my looks, but he seemed to have a genuine curiosity in me; something that went beyond the way I looked. Somewhere in there my heart melted a little and I fell in love." Coraline paused, thinking about all the events in her life.

"So you turned him?" Beth asked trying to get her to continue.

"He said he'd love me forever so I thought as long as we were together he wouldn't care about anything else." She laughed a little. "Well needless to say he lied. I turned him hoping he'd make me feel less lonely but our time together was the loneliest I'd ever felt. He hated me for what I did, but I did it out of love. And when he tried to kill me I realized that he would never love me as I was so I came back human hoping to finally win him over, but it was too late. He was in love with you." Coraline turned to Beth with a strange look in her eyes. "You had stolen him from me after all I'd been through with him."

Beth took a deep breath taking in the story and Coraline's last words. "I'm sorry, but Mick and aren't in love," lied Beth. Even as she said the words she felt her stomach churn. Her heart knew it was a lie, but her mind believed the lie or tried to believe it.

"Oh really? Are you sure about that?" inquired Coraline with a sly look in her eyes.

Beth thought about her answer carefully. She could either lie to a vampire who would catch it or tell the truth. Either way probably wouldn't make Coraline happy. "No," answered Beth.