A Silver Bell, a Loud Shriek and a Shy Stranger
A relationship between a vampire and a human was difficult at the best of times. Mick was usually sleeping while Beth was awake and vice versa. He preferred the shadows while Beth needed the light. They both became experts at compromising.
So when he woke to a loud shriek, he assumed it was Beth. Running the possibilities of what she might have found in his apartment that he had accidently left out through his head. Beth wasn't the type to shriek over a spider in the shower. He almost ran into her as he climbed out his freezer. "What's wrong?"
"That wasn't me." Beth had thrown on one of his shirts after she had gotten out of the shower it appeared. They had timing down to an art.
Who was in his apartment at this hour of the morning? Quietly moving towards where the sound had come from, Mick grabbed his gun and his jeans. Stopping long enough to pull on his jeans and make sure Beth stayed behind him, he made his way to the kitchen.
Standing in front of his open fridge was a short brunette with green eyes. Clearly stunned by the bags of blood in the fridge where there would normally be food, there was still the question of how she had gotten into his apartment in the first place.
"Can I help you?" Mick was certain the woman wasn't a threat when she jumped at the sound of his voice.
"What are you doing in my Aunt's apartment?" At least her first question wasn't about the blood in the fridge.
"I don't know who your Aunt is, but this is my apartment. My office is next door." Mick couldn't quite work out if this woman was lying or just confused. She was avoiding eye contact but her heart was racing, but that could be because they surprised her as much as she had surprised them.
"How long has it been since you last saw your Aunt?" Beth moved out from behind Mick. She had a feeling this woman was no threat to them.
"I guess it's been about eight years." The woman was more comfortable with Beth but still wasn't making eye contact, but then the only thing Beth was wearing was his shirt.
"I've been here for five." Mick watched the woman's interaction with Beth. "What's your name?"
"Stacey Munroe." She was looking anywhere but at Mick.
"Babe, why don't you go and put on a shirt." Beth figured this woman couldn't be more than twenty years old. It was entirely possible Stacey hadn't seen many half naked men.
"You're wearing it." Mick quipped. Stacey had broken into his apartment. He was within his rights to walk around naked if he chose to. If Beth hadn't been here he definitely would have been. Josef had caught him that way on more than one occasion but because it was Josef he couldn't care less.
"You own more than one shirt." Beth nodded towards the stairs. She waited until Mick was out of sight. Stacey wouldn't know that Mick would still be able to hear them. "How did you get in here? Mick added a security system when he moved in here."
"I thought my Aunt had added the security system. My dad works for the company that puts these systems in." She looked at her feet. "I help my Dad at work a lot."
"Even if your Aunt had still been living here, it wasn't a good idea to break in." Beth knew Mick was listening from upstairs. Stacey didn't seem to mean any harm. She was just shy and had been expecting to find her Aunt and not two strangers wearing very little.
"I should have called first." Stacey shut the fridge door. "Why is there blood in the fridge? That is blood right?"
"My boyfriend needs regular blood transfusions." It was the first thing that popped into her head.
"I guess that's why he's so pale." Stacey looked embarrassed. "Do you know where my Aunt moved to? I came to give her a birthday present." She pulled a silver bell from her pocket. "She collects them."
"It's beautiful." Beth suspected that Mick probably had a forwarding address for the previous tenant for their mail. That didn't mean Stacey's Aunt hadn't moved again. Eight years was a long time.
"This is the address I sent her mail onto." Mick came down the stairs. "You might want to call first to make sure she's still there."
"Thanks." Stacey took the piece of paper from him. "Sorry about breaking in and going through your fridge. I thought I'd grab some breakfast until my Aunt got up."
"No problem." Mick walked Stacey to the door. "Do phone first before breaking into another house. Your father probably has the number." He waited until Stacey got on the elevator before closing the door. "Now, can I have my shirt back?"
Beth shrieked as he chased her up the stairs. Later that day, Mick changed the security system.