Beth
"Damn!" Beth cursed again as she tripped over some unseen obstacle, then she winced at her own loud voice and the clattering of whatever had tripped her. Like it matters, she thought then. They probably heard me the minute I knocked the chair over. Sometimes, knowing as much as she did about vampires wasn't such a comfort. She gripped her wooden stake tighter, feeling like one of those dumb women that she always berated while watching low-budget horror movies. That had been a blessing in disguise, the chair falling over. She hadn't planned it that way, just gotten a bit too zealous in her attempt to pull a piece of the chair loose, but it had done the job. Partly, anyway, breaking some of the chair away and loosening some of the more stubborn pieces. The crack on the back of her head was a small price to pay, but Beth couldn't help a small amount of embarrassment that she'd gotten free mostly by accident.
The stake in her hand would do her no good, she knew; she wasn't fast enough or strong enough to get the upper hand against any one of her captors. The stake hadn't actually been planned. She hadn't been able to untie that particular piece of chair from her wrist, and it did make her feel a little safer. Besides, holding the short piece of wood was better than letting it dangle awkwardly from her wrist by the tight rope that was still chafing her skin.
She stumbled again, this time over her own feet, but she managed to hold her tongue this time. It didn't hurt to at least try to be quiet. She was in the middle of an escape, after all.
Beth was free of her chair, but the complete darkness imprisoned her almost as if she were still tied down. The blackness was uninterrupted by any source of light, and as far as Beth could figure, she'd simply stumbled around for ten minutes in the same room.
How big is this place, anyway? she wondered to herself in frustration. She'd begun her search for a way out, but after wandering in circles for several minutes, she'd changed tactics. Finally choosing one direction and sticking with it, Beth was now shuffling slowly, eyes wide open but unseeing in the pitch dark, and her arms held straight out before her in search of a door or a wall or anything. She didn't know for sure that she was heading straight forward, having tripped a few times, but it was the best she could do. She prayed she hadn't turned herself around when she tripped over the obstacles. She was trying to be a little more cautious, now; her shins and knees were sore from the collisions and the resultant falls, and she'd scraped her hands a little, too.
Beth shuddered as chills ran down her spine, and these chills had nothing to do with the temperature in the building. The absolute darkness was daunting. It reminded her of when she was a child and she'd been afraid to sleep with her closet door open. She'd had the feeling that monsters peered out at her from the darkness there, able to see her when she couldn't see them.
That was how she felt now, but this time she knew her monsters were real. She tried hard to concentrate only on staying on her feet and finding a way out, but she was straining her ears, in dread of catching some sound. Beth had no idea why they'd taken her, though she was sure it involved Mick, or what they planned on doing with her, but she assumed they'd come back at some point, and when they did...
They could be here right now, toying with me, Beth thought, fighting off another chill. She knew their abilities. They could be two feet away from her face and she would never hear them or, in this darkness, see them. They'd see her as if it were daylight, though. She kept half expecting to feel a hand reach out and grab her.
When she finally felt a wall graze her fingertips, Beth jumped backward a step and had to stifle a startled yelp. She'd begun to expect that she'd simply wander in the dark forever, devoid of sound or light, only the floor under her feet. Then she lunged forward in realization that she'd found a boundary to the room. Just in time, too; she'd been tempted to lower herself to her hands and knees and crawl through the darkness to avoid any more falls. That was a very undignified way to orchestrate one's own escape, and Beth was sure she'd never seen a movie heroine escape on hands and knees.
Spared the indignity though, Beth followed along the wall slowly, running her hands across it and up and down, searching for a way out. Just as she was beginning to despair that she'd have to follow the room corner to corner all the way around, her fingertips brushed a vertical ridge, and further exploring proved this to be just what she was looking for. A door.
"Finally," she muttered to herself, false bravado even without an audience. Now she could get this whole business of escaping under way.
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Mick
The longer Mick followed Beth's scent, the stronger her scent became. And the fresher Beth’s trail became, the more encouraged Mick was. It was fresh enough to indicate that she had been that way not long ago, and the lack of blood in her scent was a relief.
Of course, that didn't mean her captors weren't going to pay.
Mick's urgency was focused on finding Beth and making sure she was okay, but he couldn't help wondering how Josef was faring on his end. Mick knew his friend would need his help, but he had to get Beth to safety first.
Mick's speed increased as he sensed he was closing in on her, his eagerness to find her barely held in control as he remembered the need to watch for potential attack.
After all, Beth was the bait, which meant he was headed full force into the trap.
Maybe Josef and I should've stuck together for this, Mick thought as he stopped long enough to scent the air for other vampires. It would be hard to protect Beth if he became engaged in his own fight to stay alive. He belatedly realized he could have used Josef at his back. But then, Josef was on his own quest to find the Elders. If they were waiting for Mick at the end of Beth's trail, then perhaps Josef would track them there and they'd meet up.
Mick's progress had taken him through the halls of the hotel, through the lobby and then the large kitchen that he assumed had been used to prepare room service orders during the hotel's operating days. When he came to a heavy door, Beth's scent seeping through the cracks, Mick became cautious. He sensed he was nearing where an attack might take place.
The heavy door was sealed by time and rust, but a strong pull dislodged it from its hinges.
All the little particles that made up the scent of his Beth wafted up the filthy stairs, stronger now than before. But Mick tensed. Now he could smell her blood, and the presence of two of his kind, though unfamiliar.
No, Mick thought as he descended the stairs slowly, what had been their presence. They're not here now.
But still he was careful. He knew Beth was close, her scent was fresher than ever, and the smell of her blood disturbed him, but he knew an attack could still come at any time. He didn't sense the presence of Elders or the two unfamiliar vamps but he didn't underestimate the abilities or sneakiness of Elders. One didn't live long enough to become Elder by being stupid.
Mick continually scanned his surroundings with all of his senses as he descended into the bowels of the cellar. It was dark down there, no light at all, but his nocturnal eyes saw everything clearly, and by the time he'd reached the bottom of the stairs, he could see the broken chair and discarded ropes for what they were.
It was obvious to Mick by now that no attack would be forthcoming, not yet. He wasn't sure what they were waiting for, but he could sense that there were no Elders sharing the cellar with him.
Mick hurried to the splintered wood and crouched, inspecting the ropes of Beth's previous captivity. There was blood on the floor, her blood, but Mick was relieved to see how little it was. Nowhere near life-threatening.
So Beth wasn't there. But had she somehow escaped and left on her own? Or had her captors moved her themselves? It could be more of their mind games, but the wreckage of the wooden chair indicated that it probably had been an unsanctioned release.
So where was she?
Damn it, Beth. Where are you? Why couldn't you just wait for me?
Mick wondered if maybe Beth had known something he didn't that had urged her to escape on her own, and the thought sharpened his fear for her. Had there been a threat to her that he was unaware of? Had she known that he wouldn't get to her in time, causing her to struggle to free herself in desperation?
Mick stood. This wasn't the end of Beth's trail, simply a turning point, and he still had to find her. But she had been in this room recently, and that gave him hope that she was still alive.
The presence of her still fresh blood gave Mick the ability to sense, through smell, what had recently happened. He took full advantage of it and received a flash of Beth lying on the floor, still partly bound to the chair, struggling with the ropes.
She'd freed herself. For that Mick was relieved, and he felt a surge of pride for her resourcefulness, but unless she'd found an exit from the hotel, she was still wandering in an abandoned building occupied by the vampires that had kidnapped her in the first place. Mick hoped she'd gotten out, but... there was no way for him to know, so back to work.
Time to get back on the trail. His Beth was still missing.
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Josef
Josef was nervous. Not that he'd ever admit it to anyone. He had to keep up that ever-present reputation, and he kept trying to convince himself that he was simply wary. But there was no way to deny it: Josef was very nervous.
Not scared, of course. He continually reminded himself that Josef Kostan put fear in others, not the other way around. And it was usually true.
But this was such a not-good situation. Too many unknowns, for one thing. And the things that were known weren't encouraging.
Josef hadn't come by his reputation dishonestly. True, he'd mellowed a bit to fit the standards of modern American law. As far as the law was aware, anyway. But he was fully capable and willing to back up his reputation if need be. He often had, in fact, and enjoyed it.
But this situation was one he'd have stayed clear of with everything he was worth if Mick weren't involved. He couldn't let Mick face this alone, but no good ever came from challenging Elders. They were stronger and more powerful, sometimes even with abilities rarely seen that came from their very advanced ages. And if they had the support of the Council, there was no hope for their victims.
Josef had no illusions that if he went up against the five Elders on his own that he'd come out of it alive. He and Mick together probably wouldn't come out of it alive, if he were honest with himself. But Josef wasn't going to go down without a fight, and he might even take some of them with him. In a strange, twisted way, Josef was almost looking forward to a good challenging fight. Even at that thought, he felt a growl of predatory anticipation rumbling in his chest.
He didn't sense any of them immediately near, but he'd followed their scents on a meandering course. Josef had finally had to settle on one in particular to stay a straight course. The one he wanted to face personally. Rake.
Despite his better judgement, Josef had let himself trust that vampire, and trust wasn't something that came easily to him. He'd cautiously begun to wonder if Rake would one day be counted among his few friends.
But what came harder to Josef than trust was acceptance of betrayal. Rake hadn't been Josef's friend, they both knew that, and had certainly owed Josef no loyalties. Josef's perception of camaraderie with Rake had been Josef's alone, but Rake had willingly harbored it, obviously for his own uses. Josef could identify with the action - even respect it, maybe- because he had done the same to others in his day. But he didn't care. Rake now effectively fit into the category of traitor.
But strangely, the idea that he might soon be facing unbeatable odds was not the thing that bothered Josef the most.
What bothered him the most was that he was actually worried about Beth.
And it wasn't his worry about her safety that had Josef so bothered, but that he was worried at all.
He hadn't worried about the fate of a human for a good long time. If ever, really. He didn't think Sara counted, because she was, in essence, a vampire now.
But Josef had to admit, he liked Beth. He would swallow deadly silver before ever admitting it to her, but there it was. There was something about her; a liveliness that was hard to hate. She could be annoying as hell, that was for sure, but she'd grown on him. She could take his barbs like a pro and return a few of her own with a spunk that Josef admired. And she wasn't really afraid of him. Beth had a healthy wariness for his nature, but she'd shown an obvious lack of true fear of him, despite his reputation. Maybe in spite of it. That was something he could respect.
And she was good for Mick. She was feisty and clever, and she called Mick out on his issues. Mick listened to Beth in a way that he often wouldn't to Josef. Around Beth, Mick seemed lighter, enjoying a happiness that Josef didn't think he had felt for the longest time. Maybe even the duration of their mutual friendship, the whole of Mick's vampiric existence.
Josef knew without a doubt that if anything happened to Beth, Mick would never be the same. And Josef just wasn't sure if he could deal with an even more depressed and haunted Mick.
When Josef came upon another scent crossing Rake's, a familiar one, he almost thought it was a manifestation of his recent thoughts. But no, the scent was too strong, too fresh, too close.
Josef stopped dead in his tracks and smirked. Speak of the Devil. He could smell Beth's fear in her scent as she got closer, and she was right to be afraid. She was in a terrible position, wandering a dark, abandoned hotel infested with vampires. The makings of a horror movie. Josef leaned against the wall to wait for her, crossing one ankle over the other, the picture of relaxation as he listened to her approach. He was at the end of his hallway and had been about to turn down the other, the one Beth was coming up now. She wouldn't see him around his corner but Josef wasn't going to let her miss him. He couldn't pass up this opportunity.
He wondered absently how she'd slipped her captors and evaded recapture. She was like a little mouse in maze that had a hungry cat around every corner. Maybe Mick had found her but they'd become separated somehow? He hoped not. Josef knew Mick wouldn't have let Beth out of his sight once he found her unless something had forced the issue, and that could be any number of terrible things, beginning with Mick's capture or death.
Josef shook that thought off, and the fear that came with it, as Beth passed him without a glance on her way past his hallway. When she'd progressed with slow, cautious steps a few feet ahead of his position, Josef pushed himself from his wall and stepped directly behind her.
"Hey, Blondie- whoa! Easy!" Josef caught her wrist, the splintered piece of wood inches from his chest. Not exactly near his heart, but it would have paralyzed him just the same, and hurt like hell. Her blood curdling scream had been satisfying, though.
"Damn you!" Beth screamed at him. Josef let her pull her wrist from his grip. Her heart was beating triple time, and she was shaking.
Josef suddenly hoped she didn't tell Mick he'd scared the life out of her. He didn't think Mick would find it was as funny as he had. Josef's eye caught the rope tightly knotted around Beth's wrist. He made a gesture that Beth understood; when she proffered her wrist, he snapped the thick rope with one pull between his fingers.
"Thanks," she said, rubbing the chafed skin.
"Welcome. So. What are you doing wandering around all by your lonesome?" Josef asked her flippantly. He made his tone soothing, though, and was glad to see it was helping her calm down some. His kind didn't have the ability to hypnotize as portrayed in so many of the movies, TV shows and books, but they did have the ability to soothe a victim or to terrify, just by their predatory nature.
"Escaping," Beth explained simply. Josef wondered at the sheepish- or was it embarassed?- expression that flashed across her face.
"Ah. I see. How's that going?"
"Could be better. Where's Mick?"
"Oh, he's uh.....rescuing you."
"Oh."
"I guess he's not doing so well at that, either," Josef joked wryly.
"Well, I didn't want to wait."
"Yes. I've heard his stories. You won't wait in the car, you won't wait at his place... and apparently you won't wait to be rescued. Mick's sensitive, you know. He might have a problem with a damsel that doesn't need him." Josef smirked at her expression.
"I'm not a damsel," Beth protested hotly, "and as for Mick St John, he and I have a few things to talk-"
"Hush!" Josef interrupted her urgently, his attention caught by his senses.
Beth blinked at him in surprise, then, "Excuse me?"
Josef speared her with an intense glare and hissed, "Shut. Up."
Beth's mouth snapped shut, and Josef was gratified to see that she knew when not to push him.
"Show yourself!" Josef demanded. He could sense the presence of other vampires, but they didn't exude the power of the Elders. In fact, they felt younger than Josef himself.
Beth looked around quizzically, then jumped with a startled gasp as two forms detached themselves from the shadows and stepped around the corner. Josef stepped between Beth and the newcomers, putting Beth at his back. Beth was in his care now, and it would take more than these two to get through Josef to the fragile human behind him.
Josef was fully vamped when his hand shot forward, grabbing the closest intruder by the throat and pulling him closer.
"Wait! Mr. Kostan, wait!"
Josef didn't bother to ask how the second vampire, the one that had spoken on behalf of his friend, had known who he was. Josef was the Elder in Los Angeles; all vamps in the city knew him, if not personally then by sight or reputation.
"We weren't going to hurt her, Mr. Kostan," rushed the vamp in his grip. "I swear!"
Josef growled. These two were young and were no threat him, but Beth would have had no chance against them. "You were following her," he hissed.
"On orders!" the first vampire explained. "Only on orders. We weren't going to hurt her."
"Then why were you following her? Whose orders?"
"We were charged to protect her only," the vamp in Josef's grip explained. "We were to make sure she got out safely without exposing ourselves."
"Whose.....Orders!" Josef wanted to know. This was important. It meant someone was on their side and whoever it was could determine the outcome of the whole fiasco.
"Our sire!"
"Who is?"
Josef never heard the answer, if there was one. He did hear Beth's scream, but before he could turn around, he felt a sharp pressure at his back and a searing pain in his chest. Josef looked down to see the point of a sharpened wooden stake sticking out of his chest. Unable to move, Josef's stiff body fell forward, landing hard on the floor of the hallway, the stake protruding gruesomely from his back. Twice in one day, dammit, he thought illogically, groaning at the pain. He couldn't move his eyelids or close his eyes, but in his limited field of vision, Josef saw one of the younger vampires, the one he'd held, lying on his back a few feet away, a silver-handled throwing knife embedded in his heart to the hilt. There was no doubt that he was dead.
TBC
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"Damn!" Beth cursed again as she tripped over some unseen obstacle, then she winced at her own loud voice and the clattering of whatever had tripped her. Like it matters, she thought then. They probably heard me the minute I knocked the chair over. Sometimes, knowing as much as she did about vampires wasn't such a comfort. She gripped her wooden stake tighter, feeling like one of those dumb women that she always berated while watching low-budget horror movies. That had been a blessing in disguise, the chair falling over. She hadn't planned it that way, just gotten a bit too zealous in her attempt to pull a piece of the chair loose, but it had done the job. Partly, anyway, breaking some of the chair away and loosening some of the more stubborn pieces. The crack on the back of her head was a small price to pay, but Beth couldn't help a small amount of embarrassment that she'd gotten free mostly by accident.
The stake in her hand would do her no good, she knew; she wasn't fast enough or strong enough to get the upper hand against any one of her captors. The stake hadn't actually been planned. She hadn't been able to untie that particular piece of chair from her wrist, and it did make her feel a little safer. Besides, holding the short piece of wood was better than letting it dangle awkwardly from her wrist by the tight rope that was still chafing her skin.
She stumbled again, this time over her own feet, but she managed to hold her tongue this time. It didn't hurt to at least try to be quiet. She was in the middle of an escape, after all.
Beth was free of her chair, but the complete darkness imprisoned her almost as if she were still tied down. The blackness was uninterrupted by any source of light, and as far as Beth could figure, she'd simply stumbled around for ten minutes in the same room.
How big is this place, anyway? she wondered to herself in frustration. She'd begun her search for a way out, but after wandering in circles for several minutes, she'd changed tactics. Finally choosing one direction and sticking with it, Beth was now shuffling slowly, eyes wide open but unseeing in the pitch dark, and her arms held straight out before her in search of a door or a wall or anything. She didn't know for sure that she was heading straight forward, having tripped a few times, but it was the best she could do. She prayed she hadn't turned herself around when she tripped over the obstacles. She was trying to be a little more cautious, now; her shins and knees were sore from the collisions and the resultant falls, and she'd scraped her hands a little, too.
Beth shuddered as chills ran down her spine, and these chills had nothing to do with the temperature in the building. The absolute darkness was daunting. It reminded her of when she was a child and she'd been afraid to sleep with her closet door open. She'd had the feeling that monsters peered out at her from the darkness there, able to see her when she couldn't see them.
That was how she felt now, but this time she knew her monsters were real. She tried hard to concentrate only on staying on her feet and finding a way out, but she was straining her ears, in dread of catching some sound. Beth had no idea why they'd taken her, though she was sure it involved Mick, or what they planned on doing with her, but she assumed they'd come back at some point, and when they did...
They could be here right now, toying with me, Beth thought, fighting off another chill. She knew their abilities. They could be two feet away from her face and she would never hear them or, in this darkness, see them. They'd see her as if it were daylight, though. She kept half expecting to feel a hand reach out and grab her.
When she finally felt a wall graze her fingertips, Beth jumped backward a step and had to stifle a startled yelp. She'd begun to expect that she'd simply wander in the dark forever, devoid of sound or light, only the floor under her feet. Then she lunged forward in realization that she'd found a boundary to the room. Just in time, too; she'd been tempted to lower herself to her hands and knees and crawl through the darkness to avoid any more falls. That was a very undignified way to orchestrate one's own escape, and Beth was sure she'd never seen a movie heroine escape on hands and knees.
Spared the indignity though, Beth followed along the wall slowly, running her hands across it and up and down, searching for a way out. Just as she was beginning to despair that she'd have to follow the room corner to corner all the way around, her fingertips brushed a vertical ridge, and further exploring proved this to be just what she was looking for. A door.
"Finally," she muttered to herself, false bravado even without an audience. Now she could get this whole business of escaping under way.
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Mick
The longer Mick followed Beth's scent, the stronger her scent became. And the fresher Beth’s trail became, the more encouraged Mick was. It was fresh enough to indicate that she had been that way not long ago, and the lack of blood in her scent was a relief.
Of course, that didn't mean her captors weren't going to pay.
Mick's urgency was focused on finding Beth and making sure she was okay, but he couldn't help wondering how Josef was faring on his end. Mick knew his friend would need his help, but he had to get Beth to safety first.
Mick's speed increased as he sensed he was closing in on her, his eagerness to find her barely held in control as he remembered the need to watch for potential attack.
After all, Beth was the bait, which meant he was headed full force into the trap.
Maybe Josef and I should've stuck together for this, Mick thought as he stopped long enough to scent the air for other vampires. It would be hard to protect Beth if he became engaged in his own fight to stay alive. He belatedly realized he could have used Josef at his back. But then, Josef was on his own quest to find the Elders. If they were waiting for Mick at the end of Beth's trail, then perhaps Josef would track them there and they'd meet up.
Mick's progress had taken him through the halls of the hotel, through the lobby and then the large kitchen that he assumed had been used to prepare room service orders during the hotel's operating days. When he came to a heavy door, Beth's scent seeping through the cracks, Mick became cautious. He sensed he was nearing where an attack might take place.
The heavy door was sealed by time and rust, but a strong pull dislodged it from its hinges.
All the little particles that made up the scent of his Beth wafted up the filthy stairs, stronger now than before. But Mick tensed. Now he could smell her blood, and the presence of two of his kind, though unfamiliar.
No, Mick thought as he descended the stairs slowly, what had been their presence. They're not here now.
But still he was careful. He knew Beth was close, her scent was fresher than ever, and the smell of her blood disturbed him, but he knew an attack could still come at any time. He didn't sense the presence of Elders or the two unfamiliar vamps but he didn't underestimate the abilities or sneakiness of Elders. One didn't live long enough to become Elder by being stupid.
Mick continually scanned his surroundings with all of his senses as he descended into the bowels of the cellar. It was dark down there, no light at all, but his nocturnal eyes saw everything clearly, and by the time he'd reached the bottom of the stairs, he could see the broken chair and discarded ropes for what they were.
It was obvious to Mick by now that no attack would be forthcoming, not yet. He wasn't sure what they were waiting for, but he could sense that there were no Elders sharing the cellar with him.
Mick hurried to the splintered wood and crouched, inspecting the ropes of Beth's previous captivity. There was blood on the floor, her blood, but Mick was relieved to see how little it was. Nowhere near life-threatening.
So Beth wasn't there. But had she somehow escaped and left on her own? Or had her captors moved her themselves? It could be more of their mind games, but the wreckage of the wooden chair indicated that it probably had been an unsanctioned release.
So where was she?
Damn it, Beth. Where are you? Why couldn't you just wait for me?
Mick wondered if maybe Beth had known something he didn't that had urged her to escape on her own, and the thought sharpened his fear for her. Had there been a threat to her that he was unaware of? Had she known that he wouldn't get to her in time, causing her to struggle to free herself in desperation?
Mick stood. This wasn't the end of Beth's trail, simply a turning point, and he still had to find her. But she had been in this room recently, and that gave him hope that she was still alive.
The presence of her still fresh blood gave Mick the ability to sense, through smell, what had recently happened. He took full advantage of it and received a flash of Beth lying on the floor, still partly bound to the chair, struggling with the ropes.
She'd freed herself. For that Mick was relieved, and he felt a surge of pride for her resourcefulness, but unless she'd found an exit from the hotel, she was still wandering in an abandoned building occupied by the vampires that had kidnapped her in the first place. Mick hoped she'd gotten out, but... there was no way for him to know, so back to work.
Time to get back on the trail. His Beth was still missing.
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Josef
Josef was nervous. Not that he'd ever admit it to anyone. He had to keep up that ever-present reputation, and he kept trying to convince himself that he was simply wary. But there was no way to deny it: Josef was very nervous.
Not scared, of course. He continually reminded himself that Josef Kostan put fear in others, not the other way around. And it was usually true.
But this was such a not-good situation. Too many unknowns, for one thing. And the things that were known weren't encouraging.
Josef hadn't come by his reputation dishonestly. True, he'd mellowed a bit to fit the standards of modern American law. As far as the law was aware, anyway. But he was fully capable and willing to back up his reputation if need be. He often had, in fact, and enjoyed it.
But this situation was one he'd have stayed clear of with everything he was worth if Mick weren't involved. He couldn't let Mick face this alone, but no good ever came from challenging Elders. They were stronger and more powerful, sometimes even with abilities rarely seen that came from their very advanced ages. And if they had the support of the Council, there was no hope for their victims.
Josef had no illusions that if he went up against the five Elders on his own that he'd come out of it alive. He and Mick together probably wouldn't come out of it alive, if he were honest with himself. But Josef wasn't going to go down without a fight, and he might even take some of them with him. In a strange, twisted way, Josef was almost looking forward to a good challenging fight. Even at that thought, he felt a growl of predatory anticipation rumbling in his chest.
He didn't sense any of them immediately near, but he'd followed their scents on a meandering course. Josef had finally had to settle on one in particular to stay a straight course. The one he wanted to face personally. Rake.
Despite his better judgement, Josef had let himself trust that vampire, and trust wasn't something that came easily to him. He'd cautiously begun to wonder if Rake would one day be counted among his few friends.
But what came harder to Josef than trust was acceptance of betrayal. Rake hadn't been Josef's friend, they both knew that, and had certainly owed Josef no loyalties. Josef's perception of camaraderie with Rake had been Josef's alone, but Rake had willingly harbored it, obviously for his own uses. Josef could identify with the action - even respect it, maybe- because he had done the same to others in his day. But he didn't care. Rake now effectively fit into the category of traitor.
But strangely, the idea that he might soon be facing unbeatable odds was not the thing that bothered Josef the most.
What bothered him the most was that he was actually worried about Beth.
And it wasn't his worry about her safety that had Josef so bothered, but that he was worried at all.
He hadn't worried about the fate of a human for a good long time. If ever, really. He didn't think Sara counted, because she was, in essence, a vampire now.
But Josef had to admit, he liked Beth. He would swallow deadly silver before ever admitting it to her, but there it was. There was something about her; a liveliness that was hard to hate. She could be annoying as hell, that was for sure, but she'd grown on him. She could take his barbs like a pro and return a few of her own with a spunk that Josef admired. And she wasn't really afraid of him. Beth had a healthy wariness for his nature, but she'd shown an obvious lack of true fear of him, despite his reputation. Maybe in spite of it. That was something he could respect.
And she was good for Mick. She was feisty and clever, and she called Mick out on his issues. Mick listened to Beth in a way that he often wouldn't to Josef. Around Beth, Mick seemed lighter, enjoying a happiness that Josef didn't think he had felt for the longest time. Maybe even the duration of their mutual friendship, the whole of Mick's vampiric existence.
Josef knew without a doubt that if anything happened to Beth, Mick would never be the same. And Josef just wasn't sure if he could deal with an even more depressed and haunted Mick.
When Josef came upon another scent crossing Rake's, a familiar one, he almost thought it was a manifestation of his recent thoughts. But no, the scent was too strong, too fresh, too close.
Josef stopped dead in his tracks and smirked. Speak of the Devil. He could smell Beth's fear in her scent as she got closer, and she was right to be afraid. She was in a terrible position, wandering a dark, abandoned hotel infested with vampires. The makings of a horror movie. Josef leaned against the wall to wait for her, crossing one ankle over the other, the picture of relaxation as he listened to her approach. He was at the end of his hallway and had been about to turn down the other, the one Beth was coming up now. She wouldn't see him around his corner but Josef wasn't going to let her miss him. He couldn't pass up this opportunity.
He wondered absently how she'd slipped her captors and evaded recapture. She was like a little mouse in maze that had a hungry cat around every corner. Maybe Mick had found her but they'd become separated somehow? He hoped not. Josef knew Mick wouldn't have let Beth out of his sight once he found her unless something had forced the issue, and that could be any number of terrible things, beginning with Mick's capture or death.
Josef shook that thought off, and the fear that came with it, as Beth passed him without a glance on her way past his hallway. When she'd progressed with slow, cautious steps a few feet ahead of his position, Josef pushed himself from his wall and stepped directly behind her.
"Hey, Blondie- whoa! Easy!" Josef caught her wrist, the splintered piece of wood inches from his chest. Not exactly near his heart, but it would have paralyzed him just the same, and hurt like hell. Her blood curdling scream had been satisfying, though.
"Damn you!" Beth screamed at him. Josef let her pull her wrist from his grip. Her heart was beating triple time, and she was shaking.
Josef suddenly hoped she didn't tell Mick he'd scared the life out of her. He didn't think Mick would find it was as funny as he had. Josef's eye caught the rope tightly knotted around Beth's wrist. He made a gesture that Beth understood; when she proffered her wrist, he snapped the thick rope with one pull between his fingers.
"Thanks," she said, rubbing the chafed skin.
"Welcome. So. What are you doing wandering around all by your lonesome?" Josef asked her flippantly. He made his tone soothing, though, and was glad to see it was helping her calm down some. His kind didn't have the ability to hypnotize as portrayed in so many of the movies, TV shows and books, but they did have the ability to soothe a victim or to terrify, just by their predatory nature.
"Escaping," Beth explained simply. Josef wondered at the sheepish- or was it embarassed?- expression that flashed across her face.
"Ah. I see. How's that going?"
"Could be better. Where's Mick?"
"Oh, he's uh.....rescuing you."
"Oh."
"I guess he's not doing so well at that, either," Josef joked wryly.
"Well, I didn't want to wait."
"Yes. I've heard his stories. You won't wait in the car, you won't wait at his place... and apparently you won't wait to be rescued. Mick's sensitive, you know. He might have a problem with a damsel that doesn't need him." Josef smirked at her expression.
"I'm not a damsel," Beth protested hotly, "and as for Mick St John, he and I have a few things to talk-"
"Hush!" Josef interrupted her urgently, his attention caught by his senses.
Beth blinked at him in surprise, then, "Excuse me?"
Josef speared her with an intense glare and hissed, "Shut. Up."
Beth's mouth snapped shut, and Josef was gratified to see that she knew when not to push him.
"Show yourself!" Josef demanded. He could sense the presence of other vampires, but they didn't exude the power of the Elders. In fact, they felt younger than Josef himself.
Beth looked around quizzically, then jumped with a startled gasp as two forms detached themselves from the shadows and stepped around the corner. Josef stepped between Beth and the newcomers, putting Beth at his back. Beth was in his care now, and it would take more than these two to get through Josef to the fragile human behind him.
Josef was fully vamped when his hand shot forward, grabbing the closest intruder by the throat and pulling him closer.
"Wait! Mr. Kostan, wait!"
Josef didn't bother to ask how the second vampire, the one that had spoken on behalf of his friend, had known who he was. Josef was the Elder in Los Angeles; all vamps in the city knew him, if not personally then by sight or reputation.
"We weren't going to hurt her, Mr. Kostan," rushed the vamp in his grip. "I swear!"
Josef growled. These two were young and were no threat him, but Beth would have had no chance against them. "You were following her," he hissed.
"On orders!" the first vampire explained. "Only on orders. We weren't going to hurt her."
"Then why were you following her? Whose orders?"
"We were charged to protect her only," the vamp in Josef's grip explained. "We were to make sure she got out safely without exposing ourselves."
"Whose.....Orders!" Josef wanted to know. This was important. It meant someone was on their side and whoever it was could determine the outcome of the whole fiasco.
"Our sire!"
"Who is?"
Josef never heard the answer, if there was one. He did hear Beth's scream, but before he could turn around, he felt a sharp pressure at his back and a searing pain in his chest. Josef looked down to see the point of a sharpened wooden stake sticking out of his chest. Unable to move, Josef's stiff body fell forward, landing hard on the floor of the hallway, the stake protruding gruesomely from his back. Twice in one day, dammit, he thought illogically, groaning at the pain. He couldn't move his eyelids or close his eyes, but in his limited field of vision, Josef saw one of the younger vampires, the one he'd held, lying on his back a few feet away, a silver-handled throwing knife embedded in his heart to the hilt. There was no doubt that he was dead.
TBC
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