310Ghosts of the Past XXXVIII
Disclaimer: I do not own Moonlight, never have and never will.
Well everyone…this is the final chapter. It has been a long journey of almost a year since I posted the first chapter. This one ran a bit longer because I did not want to break it into smaller chapters. I hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 38
The further that Mick and Beth traveled through the woods, the more Beth could tell Mick was hurting a lot. She could feel his body trembling and the arm he draped over her shoulder was getting heavier with every step. As he leaned on her more, she stumbled on the uneven ground and came to a halt.
"Mick…..how much further is the car?"
"Just a few yards ahead," he replied, trying to keep his voice steady. It was becoming difficult to maintain his human face.
"Mick, you need blood," Beth said seriously and once more raised her free left wrist.
"I don't want your blood," Mick growled in protest. Beth jerked away from him, leaving him swaying and confronted him with fists on her hips. She glared at him.
"Listen here Mick, you have poison in you and it's weakening you. Let me make this clear…there is no way that I am carrying you out of these woods. Are you trying to tell me that the only time you will drink my blood is in the middle of sex? That is stupid and you are heading backwards with that type of thinking. I can help you by giving you my blood, it will ease the pain and we can go home and remove that silver," she lectured.
Unable to mount a defense that would satisfy her, Mick gave up the struggle to hide his vampire visage.
"I'll have you know that this makes me uncomfortable Beth," he stated staring at the ground.
"For Pete's sake…you drank my blood in the desert to save your life. It's not like you haven't bit me since, this is no time to get squeamish. Let me help you Mick, let me be useful," she urged and extended her left arm again. "Just be sure you make it pleasant," she grinned.
"You are impossible," Mick sighed as he returned her grin. "What should I do with you?"
"Drink."
Mick stepped closer and took her wrist, shoving her sleeve up to expose the marks he had left so long ago. With fangs extended, he bit into her arm and drank, doing his best to make it pleasurable. From the deep, satisfied moan that came from Beth told him he had succeeded and her rare blood made the pain in his side recede to a manageable level. Sensing Beth was becoming weaker, he withdrew his fangs and pulled her close to keep her standing.
"Boy, you sure do know how to make a woman weak in the knees," Beth whispered as she sagged in his arms.
"Thank you Beth," he replied just as softly as he stroked her hair. "Let's go home," he told her and led her to the where the car was hidden.
*ML*
Josef emerged from the cabin's bedroom carrying a case to find Kira slumped on the sofa. He set the case down on a side table and went into the kitchen. When he returned he carried a large glass of blood and a small empty bowl. Setting them beside the case, he opened it and withdrew a scalpel, forceps and some gauze.
"Take off your shirt," he instructed.
"Are you sure you know what you are doing?" Kira asked with raised eyebrows. "Usually this would be something that you would hire someone to do."
"I will have you know my sweet that I'm very experienced at removing buckshot. Just because I usually hire someone doesn't mean that I am not skilled. I promise to be gentle, now do as I say."
"You are so bossy," Kira pouted but did as he instructed. She removed her shirt and left her bra on, looking at him through lowered lashes. "Will this do or should I go further?" she asked huskily.
"Not at the moment, you minx," Josef growled, any desire dampened by the red puckered skin on her left side and upper arm. Vampires heal rapidly but the silver would not allow any healing where the pellets had entered her body. "Let me concentrate on getting the poison out of you my pet. Take a drink before I begin."
Kira did as she was told and took a big swallow of blood and smiled at Josef grimly.
"Go ahead, I am ready," she told him as she stretched out on the sofa on her right side.
Josef set to work removing the pellets, first from her side and then her upper arm. Kira gritted her teeth against the pain but was pleased to discover that Josef really was adept at taking out the buckshot. As he proceeded to clean all of the poison out of the woman he loved he was happy to see that the bulk of the shot was in her arm and not deep in her side. He dropped each one into the bowl and wiped the blood away with gauze, pleased to see the skin lighten and begin to heal. Once he was finished, he handed her the glass once more and urged her to drink it.
As she consumed the blood, he could see the she was able to regain her human face and her eyes once more glowed a beautiful green.
"Now there's my girl. Do you feel better?" he enquired.
"Yes…..I do," Kira replied as she stretched her now uninjured arm out before her. She could feel the healing sensation race through her body.
"And how are you emotionally?" he asked curiously.
"I'm fine Josef," Kira said in irritation. She sat up, swinging her feet to the floor. "Stop staring at me as If I'm about to fall apart because I killed Douglas. I'm a big girl and very happy to have no further connections to the Carrington family."
Josef moved to sit beside her and took one of her hands in his.
"I'm not worried about that family anymore," he said seriously. "What concerns me is that you have not killed much in your life, so this will take some toll on you. The last time you took a human life, you disappeared for fifteen years. I can't lose you again my dear," Josef finished honestly.
"I will be okay Josef," Kira assured him as she squeezed his hand. "My darling vamp, I do not enjoy taking any lives but in this case it was necessary for our safety. I have no regrets about what I've done," said added calmly. "I am happy to be a vampire."
"I love hearing that," Josef declared and pulled her into his embrace. "You constantly amaze me my love." He kissed her passionately.
"Do you have any idea what I wish?" Kira murmured when their lips parted.
"What?"
"I wish to have you alone in that bedroom with the AC cranked up to the coldest setting," she whispered. "We have a victory to celebrate." Her fangs glinted in the light.
A huge smile lit Josef's face.
"Your wish is my desire," he said happily and rose to his feet. "I took care of the AC when I got the medical kit," Josef stated and reached down to lift her into his arms.
"My hero," Kira sighed as he carried her into the bedroom.
Josef kicked the door shut behind them before setting her gently on the bed.
"Shakespeare was right….."all's well that ends well";" he grinned as he kneeled on the bed beside her.
*ML*
Back in Los Angeles, Charles Patterson disconnected his phone and looked at his three grim-faced companions sitting in his living room. With a very grave expression, he addressed the trio.
"Gentlemen, you may have gathered from my side of the conversation that James and Douglas Carrington are dead. Their foolish attempt to destroy Kostan and Starling backfired."
"I was afraid Douglas was plotting something stupid," Kelvin MacIntosh sighed. "I was counting on James talking some sense into his son. I should have made a greater effort to make him step up and stop this nonsense."
"You tried Kelvin. You could not change their minds," Charles assured him.
"So what do we do about this?" a younger, dark haired man demanded. He looked like he was spoiling for a fight.
"Calm down Jason, our leadership has no intention of seeking retribution in this case," Charles said firmly. "Their orders are that no one must take any revenge on Kostan, Starling or St. John."
"And why is that Charles?" the other man in the room asked. He was also in his mid-thirties, displaying a military bearing.
"I do not have those answers, I am only aware that their instructions are that those three are not to be touched. I am in no position to question their orders," Charles replied.
"So we are just going to sit back and let those creatures kill a member of our organization?" Jason sputtered angrily. "That is wrong!"
"Douglas knew that the course of action he chose went against Sentinel orders," Charles stated, annoyed to have to continue this discussion. "He defied our leaders to satisfy a personal vendetta. He put our entire organization at risk."
"Jason, Douglas chose to follow a path of self-destruction from the moment he learned of Kira Starling's existence," Kelvin added quietly. "There was no reasoning with him. If he had lived he would have been subjected to sanctions from our leaders and you know it."
"So we just forget about these night crawlers? Isn't it our purpose to eradicate them from the earth?" the fourth man enquired.
"That is still our ultimate goal Warren," Kelvin confirmed.
"And just when do we realize this goal?" Jason complained shifting uncomfortably in his chair. "Our organization has been in existence since the French Revolution yet vampires still walk this planet. We kill a few here and there but we've made no major headway. If we had more men available tonight Rick wouldn't have just been observing…we could have made sure Douglas and his dad survived. It seems all we do is watch."
"You have neglected your history lessons Jason," Charles chided. "We failed miserably when we tried to destroy the vampires in the early days. They managed to outsmart us and they flourished. They are experts at protecting themselves so we must observe to discover the weakness that will let us defeat them once and for all," Charles lectured.
"James and Douglas had a clever plan and yet they failed," Kelvin pointed out. "Any plan we create must be foolproof and assure a victory. If we don't….they will go into hiding and multiply while many innocents die."
"At this rate we will never see this plan come about," James grumbled. "So what if we can't eliminate them all, if we take out the influential ones it would be a big blow and we could go after the weaker ones later."
"Young man, have you completely forgotten what the Sentinels' doctrine is? Are you turning your back on your pledge? Our goals may not be achieved in our lifetimes. We have pledged to provide our leaders with all the information we can so they can create the ultimate plan to destroy all the vampires. To do this we must operate in secret so they don't see us coming," Kelvin answered calmly.
Warren rose to his feet and paced the room. He paused by the windows and turned back to the older men.
"I understand our doctrine and I believe Jason does too. But I just can't understand why these three vampires can kill our members and not have to pay for it. It feels wrong to ignore their actions," he said.
"Warren, I cannot explain our leader's orders. I have not been made privy to their reasons. I for one do not to plan to disobey their orders knowing their power. Do you wish to oppose them?" Charles asked pointedly.
Silence hung in the room and Warren shook his head and returned to his chair.
"You have made a wise choice," Charles approved. "No one touches those three unless told otherwise, is that clear?"
Everyone nodded and Charles smiled in satisfaction.
"Good. And while we don't touch them, it doesn't mean we don't keep a close eye on them."
*ML*
At Mick's LA loft, Guillermo said goodbye after extracting the silver from St. John's side. Beth poured a mug of blood and returned to the couch to give it to Mick. She settled next to him as he drank the whole mug.
"I am amazed at how quickly you heal," she said as her fingers stroked his now unblemished torso.
"It's definitely a plus in my line of work," Mick replied mildly. He could see and sense that something was still bothering her. "What's wrong Beth?"
"I can't help thinking we need to worry about the Sentinels. Ben had to have had a reason to stop by here, he was fishing for something. Will they believe the scene the Cleaners create?" she asked anxiously "How do we know you are safe?"
"We will know when they don't act against us. If they plan to come after us I'm sure Ben will know about it. I'm counting on his caring about you to tip his hand…I'm sure he'll try and protect you from any fallout," Mick said with confidence. Slipping an arm around her, he pulled her close. "I wish I had planted a bug at Patterson's house but I wasn't sure if he swept for listening devices and I didn't want to make him suspicious. Thank goodness the Carringtons never found Brian's bugs."
The television had been playing on mute since they arrived home and as Mick held Beth, he glanced over at it and saw a news alert scroll across the top of the screen. It stated that in breaking news…the CEO of a top computer company and his father had died in a fiery car crash near Lake Arrowhead. More details would be coming after further investigation.
"Well…it appears that the first piece of the game is now in play," he murmured to Beth. She looked up to read the feed and he could feel her whole body relax.
"It seems that the police are taking it at face value. It is a good start," she sighed.
"Our Cleaners do good work, no human police will know it is anything other than an accident," he promised. "We are going to be fine."
Beth nodded, resting her head back on his bare chest.
"As long as we are together we will be," she agreed. "I love you."
"And I love you," Mick rumbled softly. He stoked her back and promised himself that he would do anything to protect Beth from all the treats to their happiness.
End story.
And so ends another story. It always makes me sad. I don't know when I will post again. There are a few ideas fighting in my head and I need some time to sort them out. I do hope it won't take too long but it depends on the muse. Thank you so much for reading and those who reviewed hold a special place in my heart.