Chapter Seven - Sleep:

I'm having a hard time
I'm making you do the hard time too.
I'm stuck in a bad way
And I'm gonna make you pay for it.

All the World - Fauxliage

Beth came awake in a sudden start, eyes opening in fear. And as she sat up reflexively, she became aware of the sudden pain and she hunched, her hand lifting to her face, her breath suddenly strained.

“Are you with us?” a quiet, accented voice asked.

Beth started, immediately scrambling back across the hard floor and into a corner. She drew her legs in warily, eyes scanning the darkness and she cried out, “Who is there?”

There was a small chuckle and the sudden onslaught of evil. Something moved in the blackness and she sensed an alien presence to her right, instinctively hunching her shoulders and turning her face from it. “I know what you are!” she cried into that blackness, still shielding her face. “I know what you are-“

A hand grasped her by the chin, forcing her to turn her head out into that darkness. “You have no idea what I am,” the voice whispered against her mouth, against her parted lips, and she cried out, flailing. Fisted hands and desperate kicks caught a hard form and a sudden blow to her face stilled her, silenced her in a moment, her breath catching in her throat at the unexpected explosion of white behind her closed eyes. “No idea, mortal.”

Beth hunched over, tears springing up.

The presence beside her took hold of her once more, forcing her face up and even opening her eyes, she saw nothing in the darkness. “You are here and alive for one reason. One reason alone.”

“What do you want?” she cried weakly, wincing painfully.

A breath crossed, caressed, her lips and she was aware that her captor was within inches of her, was breathing in her mortality and savoring it. “We want Josef Konstantin. And to get him, we want Mick St. John. I trust you recognize that name?”

Beth stared out blindly into darkness for a moment, dumbly. And then, “No. No!” she shouted, feeling anger rise inside. “I will not give you Mick-“

A second hand appeared in the black abyss, slipping in under the first hand and wrapping around her neck tightly. She instantly choked, her breath caught in mid-intake. “You do not have a choice, mortal! You have nothing here!”

Beth whimpered, her breath rattling and catching in the silence. Her hand came down on the arm attached to the hand encircling her neck and she brought her fist down on the forearm frantically, struggling for a breath.

Mick-

And then a second blow struck her in the face and she fell away into darkness.

Mick awoke with a start, splashing water. He had put himself back in a bathtub full of ice water and all the ice had melted, leaving behind a lukewarm bath at this time of morning. He had been exhausted upon arriving at the hotel and now he was just wet. And a little bit agitated. He stared at the ceiling for a long while, merely thinking. Dwelling on that last kiss. That had taken some balls, he thought with an inward smile. But he didn’t regret it. Not one bit. But he would have to stop by and apologize for it. And for letting himself come clean. It had made him feel lighter but he doubted it had made her feel the same. Rising a bit, he paused, looking about the bathroom. Did she even sleep during the night? He hoped she had. He had fallen asleep like the walking dead after a long day of being in sunlight and with barely any blood. But as a mortal woman she had probably stayed up because of stress. He didn’t want to be to blame for that.

Dressing himself, he floated out into the main room and packed up certain hotel amenities in a small towel, leaving everything ready should he feel the need to run once more. And he hesitated, uncertain. No. He had to go to see her. Maybe bring her a cup of coffee and talk to her once she was alert and once he had passed by the blood bank for a drink himself. Talk to her without alcohol in her system. But then, she hadn’t had any alcohol in her when she had kissed him on the roof of the BuzzWire building.

He shook his head inwardly. He had no idea at all what to do. But at the same time he tingled all over as if she had just touched him, had just pressed herself to him and brushed her lips against his with unabashed desire. The same feeling as if he wanted to smile all day or merely float through the world without a care.

I love her. And I told her I did.

Grabbing his jacket, he went for the door and let himself out, intent on speaking to her and explaining that it had all been a mistake.

Upon making it to her apartment he realized almost immediately that something was wrong. He came to the door, paused outside of it and lifted a hand to the frame, running his fingers across it gingerly, his other hand clutching a dark bag full of presents from Guillermo. What was this feeling? Bending a bit, his knuckles rapping the wooden door lightly, he leaned toward the door and strained to hear something. Anything. Even the deep breathing of a sleeping human. Or the small sounds of someone beginning their day.

But he heard nothing.

Bringing his hand down to the doorknob he turned it and broke the lock easily. He would pay for a replacement lock later. At the moment he had to be sure.

Letting himself in, he closed the door behind himself quietly and scanned the room. She had been not more than ten feet from where he now stood and if he looked down at that spot long enough he could almost imagine she waited for him still on her knees. He came in a few steps, merely staring at the spot. He should talk to her. And he didn’t know how long the talk would take. Stepping sideways a bit, shaking himself from his reverie, he deposited the bag of blood on the kitchen counter, hoping she wouldn’t mind. If their talk took a long while he would have to drink in front of her. She never seemed to mind when he did but certain things still felt awkward for him to do in front of her. The island was a bit cluttered with read mail and old bills, a small plain card set aside a bit. He looked at it for a moment but it was face down.

“Beth,” he called out as he straightened away from it. And he turned about, glancing toward her bedroom. “Beth, it’s me-“

Her bedroom door hung open on one hinge.

Staring, his jaw clenching, he went to the door and slipped around it, all senses at the ready, his muscles hard.

Bad feeling, bad feeling, bad feeling-

Scanning her room he found the covers pulled away as if they had been yanked, pooling on the floor in a haphazard mess. A lamp had been knocked over and some jewelry scattered. He went to the bed, hesitating beside it and he reached a hand out slowly, his fingers coming to rest on the soft surface as he inhaled deeply.

She had gone to sleep. Through a haze he watched as she had risen from the floor after he had left her, as she had gone into her bathroom and had tossed herself into a shower. And watching the small glimpses of her nude frame, he was not ashamed. The vision flashed to her in a towel, to her climbing into sweat pants and a sleeveless shirt, as she huddled under the covers and stared at the ceiling for a long time before sleeping.

And then darkness came for her. She had woken in the night, feeling that someone was in the room with her, someone she did not know and would not trust. And upon snapping awake, the intruder had struck her and yanked the covers back as she had flailed, had pulled her from the bed by her arm then her neck. And one final blow had rendered her unconscious, her frame falling limp.

Mick flashed back to the present, his breathing ragged and angry. Angry. He was furious. Storming out of her room he paused halfway into the living area and counted to ten before inhaling deeply once more. And this time he was witness to the man as he propped Beth’s unconscious form over his shoulder, running a twisted hand up her calf where it hung beside his head and coming to a stop exactly where Mick now stood currently.

“Mick St. John,” came his voice and Mick started, snapping clear out of the vision as he realized that the vampire knew. The vampire in his vision knew he himself had visions. Fighting the cold shiver that raced down his spine, Mick closed his eyes once more, inhaling, head twisting to the side with the deep breath.

“I have your mortal,” the vampire said quietly, his voice brusque. Sinister. “I’m leaving you an address. If you would be so kind as to bring us Josef Konstantin, we’ll gladly give her back to you. I’ll try not to…” the vampire hesitated, cocking his head a bit against Beth’s hip, “take a bite. I would hate to ruin my dinner.”

Mick held on to the vision, struggling not to let his anger shove him away from the images yet.

The vampire took a step toward Beth’s kitchen island and pulled forth a small card from his jacket pocket, depositing it on the hard surface.

Finally snapping out of the vision, Mick dashed toward the kitchen island and slammed his hand down on the white card, flipping it about immediately. He knew the address printed on the other side, recognized it as being part of the torn down warehouse district. He hesitated, his hand shaking slightly. He wouldn’t take Josef. It was exactly what they wanted. One person in exchange for another. And in the end the chances that they would merely take Josef and give him back Beth were slim. No doubt if he brought Josef with him there would be three dead instead of two. No. He wouldn’t involve Josef. He would go himself and see about getting Beth back on his own. Pulling out his cell he dialed Josef’s number quickly, heading for the door.

There was no answer. He had left Josef two messages and had called repeatedly but there was no answer. Mick hesitated as he pulled up into the warehouse district, his eyes scanning the dilapidated buildings, feeling almost as defeated as they looked. It was dark out. The morning sun would rise in a couple of hours. Which was good and bad if he could get out alive with Beth. All around bad for vampires.

Parking his vehicle, he dropped his cell phone into the glove compartment and climbed out slowly. Scanning the addresses, he began to float down the block a bit, looking about. Perhaps this would be a better search from the roof. Pausing beside a warehouse, he glanced straight up and caught sight of an old flagpole protruding from the face of the wall. Quickly glancing around to make sure he was alone, he dug his feet down under him and then sprang, easily making the two stories to the flagpole. Catching it in his grip he hung suspended for a moment then hoisted himself onto it, wobbling for a moment before regaining his balance. And he looked up once more. Three more stories. Not too hard a jump. Five stories he wouldn’t have made in one jump. This he could do. Readying himself along the pole, he jumped once more and caught the edge of the warehouse roof, his hands curling and securing him to the side. With a silent breath he lifted himself up and over, resting on the roof and glancing over the side to gauge the distance. A few seconds. Not too bad.

Lifting himself from the roof, he looked around in the darkness. All was silent. Much too silent. He got low to the surface under his feet and moved on, crossing from roof to roof, looking across the old streets to make sure he was keeping up with the addresses. After a long silent trek he paused. If the number of the warehouse across the street was correct, it meant that the warehouse under him was-

A small sound behind him alerted him to the fact that he was not alone and just as he whirled a loud explosion of sound went off. A sudden pain flashed across his chest and he felt himself go down roughly, vampire teeth springing to life as he crashed. For a moment he held himself tight, the sting streaking and throbbing across his chest and as a footstep sounded close he opened his eyes. And his vision wavered strangely.

“What the-“

Lifting a hand to his chest slowly, he pressed his palm to his wound, not understanding.

It’s just a gunshot. I’ve been shot before-

And as his hand came away he became aware of his blood and something else in the gunshot residue. He forced his eyes to focus for a moment, long enough to see the silver in the dark stain of the gunshot marks. And with an angry hiss he felt himself lose consciousness in a blur of pain and blackness.