86Once upon a time, there was a much-loved, but short-lived TV show called 'Moonlight'. Fans were numerous & committed, but it wasn't enough to save the show. Many of us congregated on fanfiction sites to continue the story.
I became part of a group of 5 fans, taking on the task of continuing the story, determined to do justice to the original characters, and introduce new ones that fit with the story we developed. I was the principal writer, but everyone contributed with beta reading, research & many, many late night chats among us to discuss plots and answer the question always in our minds: what would our beloved characters do?
I recently went back & reread some of that initial work and decided that, while my writing partners are no longer part of this endeavor, I would do some editing and publish the full chapters here. This first chapter summarizes some of the key elements of the series so that those who are not as familiar with the show can still find it enjoyable. You will also see a song recommendation at the beginning and end of each chapter. Music was a big part of the show and I wanted to continue that tradition.
With so many years having passed, these may fall into a void, but I'm OK with that. It will give me a sense of closure to be able to publish the chapters here that are already written. Over time, I hope to complete the story arc we had originally mapped out. Even if I'm the only one who ever reads it…
This is the first chapter of Moonlight: The Next Chapter, a full-length novel, picking up where the Moonlight TV series ended, just because we loved it…
Chapter 1
Happily Ever After?
Intro Song: I Only Want To Be With You, Dusty Springfield
Slivers of sunlight crept in through the slits between the blinds, reaching golden fingers toward the couch and its' occupants.
Mick St. John's eyes snapped open and he eased his arm out from under the head of the still-sleeping woman beside him. Sitting up, he rubbed tiredly at his face and pressed the heels of his hands over his eyes, the light painful. Penetrating hazel eyes, fringed with long lashes, blinked in an attempt to adjust to the light of the new day. A light that was not welcome to a vampire.
Despite that, he smiled as he looked down at his bedmate, still not quite able to believe his good fortune. After denying himself companionship for over fifty years, he had grown to love this woman whom he had watched over from afar for so long. And, miracle of miracles, she appeared willing to love him back, even knowing what he was.
Despite the smile, his eyes held a hint of sadness, borne from a fear that this, like all good things in his life, would somehow disappear or be taken from him. This time, though, he dared to hope that it might be different. She made it feel different. He had already started turning to her as if – or perhaps, because – she was his salvation. And that scared the shit out of him.
Beth was lying on her side facing him, cheek pillowed on one hand, her hair spilling across the throw pillow like a wave, shining in the faint light. Her shoulders and one bare arm were all that were visible on top of the covers, a hint of goose bumps forming on her silken skin. He noted this evidence of how blessedly cold the room was. It was one of her acts of kindness, turning the thermostat down as far as it would go, despite his telling her that really wouldn't help. The extreme cold of freezers was what he needed – but that would have meant sleeping alone on their first night together, an unacceptable option.
His smile grew wider as he replayed images of this first night just past. He had craved her touch, trying to make up in one night, what he had missed for so many years. As he replayed images of the hours they'd just spent together, memories he would cherish, his need to touch her again grew.
Underneath the mound of blankets, he knew the rest of her was as bare as her arm, the thought alone stirring him. He reached out to caress her cheek, smoothing a stray lock of hair back from her face. His touch prompted a smile from her, even while she still slept, as if she could feel him. He tentatively rested his hand on her bare shoulder, reassuring himself that she was really there, his touch was as light as a whisper of breeze on her skin as his fingers gently traced a line down her arm. He paused, then settled his hand over her breast, so he could feel, as well as hear, the beating of her heart.
"If you keep doing that, you will never get to leave this bed!"
Clear blue eyes blinked open and Beth smiled up at him.. She reached up, tangling her fingers in the thick curls at the base of his neck and drew his face down to hers.
With the brush of her lips, Mick St. John did his best to let go of his fears, his sadness, all of it. The vampire wondered at the effect this one woman had on him. How could she, with her smile, her touch, heal decades of hurt?
"OK, OK, I get it – you want to get rid of me," he teased, as he rolled down on his side, propping his head up with one well–muscled arm in order to face her. Even with the generous dimensions of his couch, it was a tight fit.
Beth Turner laughed. "Oh, yeah, right! That's always what I do when I want to get rid of someone!"
Wordlessly, she leaned in to kiss him again, stroking his face. She put the palm of her hand over his heart, mimicking his gesture and marveled at the feel of him, his skin cool and silky to the touch. Far from repulsing her, she already thought of that as erotic and desirable. It didn't hurt that he was one of the most beautiful men she'd ever seen. What really made him special, however, was the love he had for her. He might be a vampire, but with her, Mick St. John was one of the most caring people she had ever met.
Unfortunately, at that moment, the alarm clock rudely chose to remind them both of their obligations.
Mick, yawning widely, tossed off his covers and stretched before rising from the bed, his nude form gliding toward the bathroom.
Beth ogled him unabashedly, and let out a low wolf whistle, laughing when he turned to look back at her, quizzically raising one eyebrow. She answered with a bold stare, eyeing him up and down. He finally responded with a smile – that smile – and, shaking his head, turned to disappear into the bathroom.
Listening to the shower start, she lay back on her pillow and reflected on how much her life had changed, her mind reliving the coincidences and events that had ultimately brought them together.
Just a few months ago, she had seemed set on a predictable course, her future laid out in front of her. She had just started as an on–air correspondent for BuzzWire, an on–line 24 hour 'news' show, best described as "CNN for 20–somethings". At least that was the way she liked to think of it. When she was being honest with herself, she had to admit that it was a tabloid organization, with a smattering of serious news. Her former editor, Maureen, had been willing to indulge Beth's passion for serious reporting as long as she could put a juicy spin on it - and in Los Angeles, it was never too hard to find the sensational angle.
It was during her first live, at–the–scene broadcast of a particularly bizarre murder of a young woman that she had met the handsome private investigator, Mick St. John. She was immediately drawn to him – in truth, she had the feeling that she already knew him.
Beth had pushed Mick to work with her on the investigation of the co–ed's death. The trail eventually led to a university professor who used the attraction of the vampire legend to seduce his young female students. After meeting with the professor as part of her undercover report - and fleeing from his subsequent attack - Beth was drugged and kidnapped by the real killer, the professor's unstable teaching assistant. He would have killed her had Mick not risked his own life to rescue her.
The hazy recollection Beth had of the events of that night hadn't made much sense to her at the time. She'd thought she had seen Mick run down the car on foot and survive a stabbing unscathed, which was, of course, impossible. Or so she thought.
The rescue had also brought back memories of the night she was kidnapped as a little girl, just over two decades ago, by someone she used to think of as "the scary woman". She'd thought she recognized Mick as the man who had saved her, but he had dismissed all such assertions as the ramblings of a traumatized mind. She went along – after all, this had happened over twenty years ago and he looked to be no more than thirty.
Her reporter's instincts, nurtured by an insanely inquisitive nature, screamed against her acceptance of his explanation, but the numbers clearly didn't add up and he was so adamant that she had been willing to accept it at the time. All that had mattered to her battered psyche was that she felt safe with him. But just a few weeks later, the gnawing feeling that Mick was hiding something from her had been proven correct.
Lee Jay Spalding was a convicted murderer who was released from prison after twenty-five years, as a result of a book that questioned the evidence in the case. Evidence contaminated by "Mick's father". That was the explanation St. John provided for the presence of a 1950 picture of a private investigator that looked enough like him to be his twin. Complicating the case even further, it was a close friend of Beth's that had written the book. Julia Stephens had not only researched the case to prove Lee Jay's innocence, she had become romantically involved with the convict.
Mick knew how dangerous the ex-convict could be and was incensed at the release of the killer. He had made it his mission to make sure Spalding never harmed another woman.
Initially scoffing at the P.I.'s assertions, even angry with his aggressive behavior toward Spalding, Beth again was proven wrong. Mick had recognized the monster that no one else could see – not even she, the investigative journalist and certainly not her friend, the book's author and Spalding's girlfriend.
This time, however, the killer was laid low by her own hand. Acting instinctively to protect the injured St. John, whom Spalding had shot, Beth had killed him with one bullet. Afterward, she was confused and in shock. She'd killed someone! Even if he was a murderer, even if he was threatening Mick, the reality of taking a life had shaken her to her core.
Within a blink and a breath, Mick had eerily vanished from the crime scene - but how could he have gone? She knew he had been shot...she'd seen the blood on his coat and the holes caused by the buckshot from Spalding's gun. His disappearance only compounded her confusion, but she shook off the haze induced by all that had happened and left the chaotic scene as soon as possible, heading for Mick's home to check on him. She wanted – needed – to know he was okay.
The open door to his apartment, the sight of him on his knees, back bloodied, leaning against the foyer table, had confirmed her fears. He was wounded, and desperately needed help.
She had tried to offer assistance, but was rejected by Mick, who turned away from her, only serving to reinforce her tenacity. What was wrong with him?! Long, tense moments had passed before the dance of avoidance was over and they at last faced one another.
Nothing in her reality could have prepared her for the pale stare, the blood, the fangs...
"Please don't look at me!"
Immediately, Beth had regretted her reaction - the gasp and the expression of horror that must have played across her face. Those anguished words and the pitiable plea in his voice still echoed in her ears. His expression had been one of shame and resignation. It moved her beyond fear to ask a ludicrous question, bracing for the unacceptable answer.
"What are you?!"
"I'm a vampire." The impossible reply came reluctantly, his face reflecting pain and defeat.
The revelation had been both astounding and frightening.
He later told her she was the first human with whom he'd ever shared the tragedy of how he had become a vampire – how his ex–wife, Coraline, had turned him without his consent on their wedding night. He had had no inkling that she was anything other than human. In his agonized words, "I went to bed a happily married man – and woke up a monster."
How did she repay this rare confidence? She'd gone a week without even calling him. Julia had asked her how he was multiple times and she'd made up answers. Even when she did reach out to him, the contact was at the behest of Josh Lindsay, her boyfriend, who worked as an assistant district attorney. Suspicious of leaks within his department, he'd needed St. John's help to find a missing witness. Later, she gave Mick the weak excuse that she had needed "time to process". He had deserved better.
The more she was around Mick, the more intrigued and attracted she had become, despite her fears – and regardless of her relationship with Josh. Beth couldn't pinpoint the moment when she realized that her feelings had changed. She only knew that, when her blood had saved Mick's life when he was stranded in the desert, something had happened between them. Even Josh had seen it, despite her vigorous denials. She was lying to both men...and to herself.
What about the trip to New York, when she could have done the honorable thing by both men? On the night she and Mick were to leave to pursue the case they were working on, Josh had again confronted her about her feelings toward the private investigator. This time, she hadn't denied them. Had Mick not come to her apartment at that moment to collect her, interrupting the conversation, she knew what her answer to Josh would have been. He had been giving her an out, telling her what they both really already knew.
And how had she handled that? She'd left Josh behind to travel to New York with Mick. There, she'd again denied her feelings, leaving New York and Mick, to return to Los Angeles and her mockery of a relationship.
She could still remember the look on Mick's face that night in New York when she left, one corner of his mouth ticking up in an attempt at a smile. He'd tried to get her to stay, to enjoy New York with him, but her guilty conscience about Josh wouldn't let her. When she said she had to go back, he'd been a gentleman about it, but his face had betrayed his sadness. When she climbed into the cab to go to the airport, his hand splayed against hers on the cab window. Her thumb stroked the glass where their fingers might have – should have – touched.
More out of fear of her growing feelings towards Mick – and all that a relationship with the vampire could entail – than any belief that her future was with Josh, Beth had tried to pretend that nothing had changed. There was something comforting and safe about the mortal steadiness of Josh. He was a decent, honorable man; attractions and desires aside, she could have a normal life with him.
Ultimately, fate cast a different lot for her. Within a few months, Josh was murdered as the result of a drug case he was prosecuting – one from which he had initially recused himself, only to return at her insistence that he not back down. He died, leaving her with a small inheritance, his grandmother's newly-set engagement ring – and a mountain of regret.
Mick's efforts to save Josh that day had been heroic but doomed to failure. Although she had begged the vampire to turn Josh when human efforts to save him failed, he had, rightly, refused. In the aftermath of Josh's death, confusion, fear, and overwhelming guilt made her resentful and angry, lashing out at Mick unjustly. He had been patient and understanding through it all, even when she had turned her anger and guilt on him and pushed him away. It had taken time for her to work through her conflicting emotions and admit what she felt for him, allowing her relationship with him to resume.
He didn't deserve what she'd put him through.
"Hey Beth, I left the water running for you so it would get warm." Mick's voice snapped her back to the present.
As he emerged from the bathroom – wet, hair dripping – with a towel wrapped around his waist, she struggled with herself. Everything she felt for this man was welling up inside her. The memory of her actions yesterday evening was painful. After months of fighting the attraction she felt for him, last night she had told him that she didn't want to continue. It had broken her heart, but in her despair over recent events, brought to a tragic apex by the Monaghan case, she didn't see any other option.
Because Mick had always been the consummate gentleman with her, she had expected him to walk away after her pronouncement, and never return. He did leave, but, as she stood in the foyer of her apartment, sobbing inconsolably at the thought that she'd seen him for the last time, he had burst back through the door. His words – about love, about being together in the here and now – had cut through the wall of despair surrounding her.
She had remembered her conversation with Emma Monaghan, and how touched she had been when Emma said she still remembered what her husband, Jackson, was wearing when they first met 150 years before. That had made the vampire seem human to her eyes.
Last night, she had put that question to Mick when he rushed back into her apartment. Taking a deep breath, she'd spoken, without turning around. "The night we met – or met again, whatever – what was I wearing?"
"Blue jeans, white–striped shirt, cream jacket." The answer came without hesitation.
She spun around. "What about my shoes?"
"You were barefoot." The beginnings of a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, and a glimmer of hope shone in his eyes.
Her face still wet from tears, Beth cried, "How can you remember that?"
"Because I love you." His eyes bored into hers with the simple answer.
That was it – from that moment on, she knew they had to be together, no matter how hard she fought against it, and regardless of how difficult, dangerous or complicated their life might be. This vampire – this man – was where life and fate had led her.
The night that followed had been intense, with the pent–up emotions of the last several months spilling out. Mick, in particular, seemed to crave physical contact, telling her repeatedly how wonderful it felt just to hold and be held.
Sitting there on the bed, all of it hit her… the memories coalesced into a slide show in her mind. Her shame grew as she reviewed her behavior. She'd insisted so many times that he was not a monster, that he was worthy, yet how many times had she pulled away?
"Beth… what's wrong?!"
With no warning, she jumped up from the bed and ran to him, pressing her naked form to his. She burrowed her face into his muscular chest, hugging him as tightly as she could.
"Mick, I'm so sorry… I never should have sent you away, I never should have blamed you for Josh's death, I never should have doubted you, I love you, I …"
"Hey, it's okay. Beth, it's okay. We're here now. That's all over and done. Let it go." He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.
The sense of peace she so often felt within the security of his arms overtook her. Beth lifted her face to his and kissed him, her lips lingering, then moving over his body, her hands following.
She wanted to show him just how much she needed him, how thankful she was that he'd stayed. How much she loved him – all of him, vampire and human. Mick returned her kisses in kind, growing arousal calling them both back to bed, each touch a heady mixture of love and lust.
Then, as if on cue, each of their cell phones rang.
It took them both a moment to pull themselves out of their intimate world and back to reality. They dove for their respective phones – his in pants discarded on the bedroom floor, hers buried deep within her purse, hanging just a few feet away.
Neither was pleased with what showed on their displays.
"Why is Talbot calling?!"
"Josef calling this early can't be good…"
Turning away, Mick said "Yeah, Josef…"
Beth, brooding over the interruption, hit the 'answer' button on her phone.
"Hello, Talbot, you are working early. What can I do for you?" Her face grew concerned. "Of course – no, I didn't know – I haven't had the news on this morning. I'll be in as quickly as I can." Thumbing the 'off' button, she turned to Mick, who was just hanging up with Josef.
Eyeing each other, they chorused, "Trouble!"
End Song: Back to Life, Soul II Soul