Twenty-Seven
Beth pushed through a hydraulic door and stumbled into a dark hallway, leaving the fearsome snarls and echoing crashes of the fight behind her. She wasn't quite sure what had just happened, but she knew that one vampire had attempted to rescue her (if he'd been telling the truth), and another vampire had interrupted, and now they were fighting. That led her to conclude that the female vampire had not been there with good intentions- at least not as far as Beth was concerned- and that her rescuer had just risked himself so that Beth could get away.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend, Beth quoted to herself as the door hissed shut behind her, cutting off the noises as well as the meager light. She wasn't sure where she'd read that quote before, but she finally understood what it could mean. She hoped it proved true, in her case. She also hoped that her defender hadn't thrown himself to his death for her sake, and her sudden concern for the unknown vampire surprised her for a moment. She'd never met him before that night, but she sincerely hoped he was okay. He'd tried to help her, after all, and might have just taken a bullet for her, so to speak.
Beth stood still in the hallway for a moment, breathing heavily and trying to get her bearings. She took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself down. She felt a bit trembly, whether from the adrenaline rush or from fear, she didn't know. Probably a little of both.
She wasn't sure how the hotel was laid out in its entirety, but she had a pretty good idea of its main floor plan, thanks to her time spent traipsing around in the halls of the upper floors before she and Josef had been ambushed. She wondered with a pang where Josef was and what had been done to him. The image of him laid out on the floor impaled with a stake was seared into her brain. Another thought for later. She didn't have time to hope or to grieve. Not yet.
Her biggest complication now was the lack of light. The lobby she'd just come from and the kitchen she'd been held in had been dimly lit by the moon and random street lights penetrating a few grimy windows. Although it had been dark, her eyes had adjusted. But now she'd entered a windowless hallway and the meager light had become no light.
No light anywhere. No sound but her own breathing and her erratic heartbeat pounding in her ears. It was beyond creepy, and Beth had to fight the urge to find the nearest corner to crouch in. Just like when she'd been in one of the halls upstairs, before Josef had found her wandering, Beth wondered if there was something hiding in the dark now, something that could hear her, see her, smell her, but that she couldn't detect at all.
She wondered for a moment if she should have taken the vampire's advice and just gotten the hell out of there. But Mick wouldn't be found that way, and as she'd told the vampire in the kitchen, she wasn't leaving here without him.
Beth pushed the idea of escaping the hotel from her mind. Mick had been her savior in the past, more than once. She'd be dead twice over, at least, if it hadn't been for him watching out for her. In fact, Beth knew she'd have probably met her end as that terrified five year old in Coraline's grasp. The least she could do was return the favor. Because Beth knew with certainty, without knowing how she knew, that Mick was in trouble somewhere in the massive old hotel.
I am not leaving without him, she vowed one more time.
Beth sidled to the right until she found the wall then moved forward cautiously, following the wall by touch. She considered going back, wondered what she could do while unable to see, but as far as she knew the only other way out of the lobby was through the kitchen she'd escaped from, and that was terrifyingly occupied at the moment.
She'd just follow the wall until she found another door to open or another hallway to follow. Whichever came first. Since she didn't know where she was going, Beth decided, it didn't really matter how she got there.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Josef caught Mick throwing him another concerned glance from his spot against the wall a few feet away. He knew Mick could sense- if not feel- Josef's pain and exhaustion through their connection. Josef was a little concerned, too, though he'd never admit it out loud. His reputation, and all. Had to keep that reputation up. But the tears in the flesh of his wrist burned continuously, inside and out, and it had just gotten worse in the time he'd been chained to that damn wall. But what was even more worrying was the exhaustion he could feel creeping in slowly. Not exhaustion so much as fatigue, really, but he knew it was a bad sign, just the same.
He and Mick both- any vampire, really- had the stamina to endure many hours of captivity without adverse effect. The only danger of long-term captivity was the inability to feed, but that wouldn't be a problem until a good long while had passed. Of course there was frustration and boredom to be dealt with, but the couple of hours they'd been captive should not have affected either of them physically.
But it had, at least in Josef's case. Josef knew what that meant, and he knew Mick did, too. Some of that damned silver had worked its way into his body through the open wounds on his wrist. It was working slowly, so far as Josef could tell, or he'd be dead already. But slow was entirely too fast if there was no way to take care of it. Josef highly doubted a request for fresh blood and medical treatment would be honored. And it would only be a matter of time before even that would no longer work. The silver was far deadlier when it got into the blood as opposed to in the flesh, where it could be removed.
Josef let himself rest his weight against the wall behind him to take some weight off his suddenly weak legs. It wasn't so bad that he couldn't hold himself up, just a slight but sudden sensation that they weren't as strong as they should be, but he might as well save his strength where he could. He'd be damned if he'd be seen dangling limply from his wrists, which would be the case if his legs gave out.
"Josef?" Mick asked urgently from beside him.
"I'm okay," Josef assured him without waiting for Mick to ask it, then immediately winced at his own words. No sense in pretending. He knew Mick could sense most of what was going on with him, and denying it or arguing about it would take more energy than Josef felt he had to spare. Besides, in the event that they found a way to escape, Mick had to know Josef's condition. Especially if they were forced to fight their way out. Josef might not be able to help much, and Mick had to know that and adjust accordingly.
"No, you're not," Mick said accusingly. "I can tell. I can......feel it."
"I'm okay for now," Josef rephrased. Damn, that was annoying.
Josef suddenly had a small idea of how Mick probably felt when the younger vampire was trying to pull something over on him and Josef called him on it. Josef had the ability to block Mick from reading his emotions most of the time, when he wasn’t as weak as he was now. But Mick hadn't yet mastered that ability, so he was almost always an open book to Josef, and the more stressed or tense Mick was, or the harder he was trying to get away with something, the louder he broadcasted. Mick couldn't hide himself from his new Sire. Now Josef was in that quandary, and he suddenly understood some of Mick's complaints on the subject.
"You said the silver hadn't entered your blood."
"So I did. Seems I was wrong."
"Damn it, Josef! We have to get you out of here."
"Calm down, Mick," Josef advised with a worried glance of his own. Mick wasn't usually prone to panic, Josef knew, but his friend seemed not too far from it in his frantic yanks against his chains. Josef attempted to send a small influence of calm toward his fledgling, but it seemed such abilities were also weakened by the silver. It had no immediate effect on Mick, though the effort depleted some of Josef's energy.
Mick seemed to have felt the push, however, because he soon stilled and sent a sheepish glance Josef's way. The glance quickly turned to worry when Josef sagged further.
"Sorry," Mick apologized with a sigh. "I guess I lost my head for a second."
"I noticed," Josef quipped, but his sarcasm lacked its usual bite.
"My nerves are in overdrive," Mick explained. "I'm worried about Beth.....I have to find her. Now you're incapacitated-"
"I'm not incapacitated," Josef interrupted, appalled that anyone would even think to use that word for him. Even if he was.
"Fine," Mick sighed, rolling his eyes. "You're......" Mick paused, obviously searching for a description Josef would approve of. "........uh......"
Josef waited curiously, but Mick finally just shook his head.
"Nope," Mick determined. "Nothing else comes to mind. You're incapacitated, buddy. Down for the count."
Josef scowled at Mick, but he didn't protest again. It was true. He was 'down for the count' and it was going to fall largely on Mick's shoulders to get them out of there. They both knew that, and it wouldn't do anyone any good to pretend otherwise.
".......and I'd really like to know what these people want with us," Mick continued his diatribe as if he hadn't been interrupted.
Josef had to agree. He was quite curious himself to know what these people wanted with them. Or more specifically, with Mick. But that took second chair to getting out safely, and Josef was realistic enough to know that he was going to be a hindrance. He also didn't want to force Mick to have to decide between him and Beth, if it came to that. And he knew it would.
Steeling himself for what he had to say, he turned to Mick and met his friend's eyes.
"You're going to have to leave me, Mick," he stated definitively. There was no inflection in his tone, no self pity, fear, or anger. Just matter of fact.
Mick stared back at him for several seconds, his face set in stone, then turned his head to stare straight ahead into the dark empty room. He didn't seem surprised at the conclusion Josef had drawn, and Josef wondered how long Mick had known that was a possibility.
"No," Mick said, his tone flat and hard.
"You have to, Mick," Josef said quietly, sympathetically. "Or you'll have to leave Beth. You don't want that, and neither do I. I have a better chance, even like this, than she does. You know that."
"I'm not leaving you," Mick snapped. "I won't leave you here, unable to fight. You can't ask me to do that."
"Then I won't." Josef's words were clipped and angry, the tone low. "I'm telling you. Don't wait for me. When our chance comes, I'll get out myself, or I won't. But you take off and find Beth. I mean it, Mick. She's counting on you."
"I can't do that." Mick's tone was anguished. "Josef, I can't. I want to save Beth, you know I do. But I can't leave you behind.......it's all of us or none of us."
"Are you so sure Beth would agree?" Josef asked.
Mick stayed silent, apparently not having an answer for that. Josef bristled at Mick's stubbornness, and his refusal to see the reality. But Josef could be just as stubborn. And Josef had an advantage over Mick; he was Mick's sire, and that gave him a certain edge.
Josef reigned in his regret and yes, even that little niggle of fear way off in the back of his mind, and harnessed his anger and indignation instead. He knew what he had to do.
"Look at me, Mick," he demanded, his words hard as stone. He didn't have enough energy left to give his dominance that push of power behind it, but Josef was no slouch at being in command. He would have to do it by virtue of his voice, his body language, his very presence. Josef was a commanding presence every day, and had learned centuries ago to use everything in his power, everything he possessed, to manipulate others to his will. He did it every day simply through reputation, and fear, and his very presence. Mick, for all his knowledge of Josef's ways, would not be immune to his Sire's will. Even without the inner power behind it.
Mick looked over at Josef, surprised at the edginess of the tone, and Josef was gratified to see that he'd gotten his friend's attention.
"This is not a debate, Mick. Leave me and find Beth. I'll get out on my own. Are you listening?"
"Yes," Mick snarled. His jaw was tight with some emotion that Josef would venture a guess to be anger, but Mick was responding to Josef's command by fledgling instinct. That was something, anyway.
Josef kept his tone hard; that seemed to be what Mick responded to. "Good," he snapped. "If you try to take me with you, I'll fight you off. That will leave me open to attack from the enemy, of course, so think hard before you try it. In my weakened state-" and how it galled him to admit that "- that would likely be my death, and it would be on your shoulders. Remember that."
Josef wondered if he'd gone too far, been too heavy handed, given Mick's propensity for self-guilt, but he didn't allow that thought to fully form. He refused to be a hindrance to Mick getting himself and Beth out safely, and a hindrance was what he'd surely be if it came down to it. He'd defend himself against the enemies and escape or die, but he wouldn't let himself be the reason Mick and Beth died, too. Mick couldn't be preoccupied with Josef's welfare, or by trying to defend him.
Mick stared at Josef with angry eyes, but he said nothing. Josef didn't know if that was a sign of compliance or defiance, and he wasn't willing to let it rest until he was sure.
"Promise me, Mick," Josef demanded. "Promise me you'll do as I say."
"Josef, I....." Mick broke off whatever he was going to say, shaking his head.
"Mick," Josef said, now in a gentler tone. "Promise me. You know you'd ask the same of me if our positions were reversed." And like Mick, Josef knew he'd refuse. But understanding how Mick felt didn't change the fact that he wouldn't let Mick risk himself to aid Josef in what would no doubt be
a pointless defense. Josef held Mick's eyes, injecting everything he was feeling into the stare, begging and demanding Mick to understand.
"Fine," Mick whispered hoarsely, then louder. "Fine. I promise. If it comes down to a fight, I'll.......I'll fight my way out and go on without you."
"Good," was all Josef said, and he wondered if it was normal for him to feel so triumphant for having essentially ensured his own death.
Mick broke the stare, returning his gaze to the empty room. "So I'll just have to make sure we get out another way. Without a fight."
Josef stared at Mick, frustrated by his friend's stubbornness. Another wave of fatigue dissuaded him from arguing further, however. They'd just have to wait and see what happened, and when it came down to crunch time, he'd make Mick see it his way, come hell or high water.
He tried to believe himself.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Beth stumbled through the door, falling to her knees hard. The door swung closed behind her and she hoped it wouldn't be as hard to open the second time as it had been the first. She blinked her eyes, unsure at first if the vague shadows were really there or if she was imagining them. She wondered if constant darkness could make someone see what they wanted to.
It didn't seem likely. After all, if she was to imagine the light she wanted to see, it would be full daylight, or bright overhead lights, not the dim shapes brought to life by the meager streetlight through a dirty window.
But at least it wasn't the tar black she'd been stumbling through for the last little while. She'd begun to crave the smallest glimmer of light like she craved air to breathe. This small room, dark though it was, offered her a refuge, with its beam of streetlight, from the blackness on the other side of the door. The gray on black was almost a cheery sight. Almost.
Beth pushed herself to her feet, wincing at the pain. Her questing hands found that her jeans were torn open at both knees, and her fingers came away sticky. A tickling trickle down one shin confirmed that she'd scraped her knees enough to cause bleeding.
Wiping her hands on her jeans, Beth stood up straight and ignored the stinging of the scrapes. Looking around and squinting through the dim room, Beth realized she was in some kind of closet, a maintenance closet, by the looks of it.
The room was small and the walls were lined with shelves. A large window was on the wall opposite the door, and that was the source of the meager light. Under the window was what looked like a kitchen sink, only in the floor, and the mop bucket next to it confirmed its use.
Obviously, she wouldn't be getting anywhere through this room, but Beth didn't want to leave. She wasn't sure she could face the darkness again. Not yet. But what would be accomplished by camping out in a closet? Not a thing.
Beth tried the faucet on the floor-sink, wishing desperately for a drink of water, but nothing came out. She stood up, disappointed. Then a shape on one of the shelves caught her eyes.
She stepped over to the shelf and reached out, her hand closing on the flashlight. She was almost giddy with excitement.
Oh, God, she thought to herself, I could handle it out there if I had some light.
Her excitement was quelled, however, when nothing happened after several flicks of the thumb switch and she groaned in despair. She unscrewed the top and leaned toward the yellowish light source from the dirt-encrusted window to look down into the flash light where the battery should be. Of course, it wasn't there.
A glance back at the shelf revealed that there were several more flashlights- probably stockpiled for power outages, she figured- and she made short work of trying each one. All were empty of the batteries they needed.
Beth became frantic, her thoughts in whirl, wanting light, needing light, unable to face the thought of darkness for one more minute.
She searched for batteries among the shelves, knocking things around and tossing items out of her way. She paid no attention to the cleaning rags, tools, cleaning supplies and rolls of garbage bags that fell- or were thrown- hither and yon by her desperate search.
But she found none. Finally, breathing heavily, Beth slowed her thoughts and her actions, and stood in the middle of the now-messy closet in something close to despair.
"Who doesn't keep batteries with the flashlights?" she asked no one, and she was surprised to hear suppressed tears in her voice.
Frustration welled up and she kicked the bottom shelf, then it faded as quickly as it had come. Beth sank slowly to the floor and brought her knees up to her chest. She was at a loss for what to do next, and she wasn't really sure she could continue. She turned her head to the window, her eyes seeking the small bit of light, she wondered if she could leave without Mick.
Through the window, maybe. But no. She couldn't. She couldn't leave Mick behind, even if the window wasn’t just a single pane set into the wall with wire mesh covering it.
I guess they did that to keep people from breaking in, she thought to herself. I bet they never thought it would be keeping anyone from breaking out. The idea of going back out into that terrifying dark, not knowing what else was there with her while she tried to find Mick before the monsters found her......
Fear and desperation overwhelmed Beth, and she trembled where she sat among the fallen cleaning aids and trash bags and lightless flashlights.
No batteries though, she thought in an irrational humor that had no place with the fear.
Then Beth's fear heightened and froze her in place as the stiff door pushed open of its own accord. She could see nothing beyond but the blackness of that ever-so-dark hallway, and her heart beat against her chest as her breathing stalled in terror. A figure stepped forward, a black shape in the doorway against a blacker background.
Beth was too terrified to scream.
TBC
Return to Chapters Page
The enemy of my enemy is my friend, Beth quoted to herself as the door hissed shut behind her, cutting off the noises as well as the meager light. She wasn't sure where she'd read that quote before, but she finally understood what it could mean. She hoped it proved true, in her case. She also hoped that her defender hadn't thrown himself to his death for her sake, and her sudden concern for the unknown vampire surprised her for a moment. She'd never met him before that night, but she sincerely hoped he was okay. He'd tried to help her, after all, and might have just taken a bullet for her, so to speak.
Beth stood still in the hallway for a moment, breathing heavily and trying to get her bearings. She took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself down. She felt a bit trembly, whether from the adrenaline rush or from fear, she didn't know. Probably a little of both.
She wasn't sure how the hotel was laid out in its entirety, but she had a pretty good idea of its main floor plan, thanks to her time spent traipsing around in the halls of the upper floors before she and Josef had been ambushed. She wondered with a pang where Josef was and what had been done to him. The image of him laid out on the floor impaled with a stake was seared into her brain. Another thought for later. She didn't have time to hope or to grieve. Not yet.
Her biggest complication now was the lack of light. The lobby she'd just come from and the kitchen she'd been held in had been dimly lit by the moon and random street lights penetrating a few grimy windows. Although it had been dark, her eyes had adjusted. But now she'd entered a windowless hallway and the meager light had become no light.
No light anywhere. No sound but her own breathing and her erratic heartbeat pounding in her ears. It was beyond creepy, and Beth had to fight the urge to find the nearest corner to crouch in. Just like when she'd been in one of the halls upstairs, before Josef had found her wandering, Beth wondered if there was something hiding in the dark now, something that could hear her, see her, smell her, but that she couldn't detect at all.
She wondered for a moment if she should have taken the vampire's advice and just gotten the hell out of there. But Mick wouldn't be found that way, and as she'd told the vampire in the kitchen, she wasn't leaving here without him.
Beth pushed the idea of escaping the hotel from her mind. Mick had been her savior in the past, more than once. She'd be dead twice over, at least, if it hadn't been for him watching out for her. In fact, Beth knew she'd have probably met her end as that terrified five year old in Coraline's grasp. The least she could do was return the favor. Because Beth knew with certainty, without knowing how she knew, that Mick was in trouble somewhere in the massive old hotel.
I am not leaving without him, she vowed one more time.
Beth sidled to the right until she found the wall then moved forward cautiously, following the wall by touch. She considered going back, wondered what she could do while unable to see, but as far as she knew the only other way out of the lobby was through the kitchen she'd escaped from, and that was terrifyingly occupied at the moment.
She'd just follow the wall until she found another door to open or another hallway to follow. Whichever came first. Since she didn't know where she was going, Beth decided, it didn't really matter how she got there.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Josef caught Mick throwing him another concerned glance from his spot against the wall a few feet away. He knew Mick could sense- if not feel- Josef's pain and exhaustion through their connection. Josef was a little concerned, too, though he'd never admit it out loud. His reputation, and all. Had to keep that reputation up. But the tears in the flesh of his wrist burned continuously, inside and out, and it had just gotten worse in the time he'd been chained to that damn wall. But what was even more worrying was the exhaustion he could feel creeping in slowly. Not exhaustion so much as fatigue, really, but he knew it was a bad sign, just the same.
He and Mick both- any vampire, really- had the stamina to endure many hours of captivity without adverse effect. The only danger of long-term captivity was the inability to feed, but that wouldn't be a problem until a good long while had passed. Of course there was frustration and boredom to be dealt with, but the couple of hours they'd been captive should not have affected either of them physically.
But it had, at least in Josef's case. Josef knew what that meant, and he knew Mick did, too. Some of that damned silver had worked its way into his body through the open wounds on his wrist. It was working slowly, so far as Josef could tell, or he'd be dead already. But slow was entirely too fast if there was no way to take care of it. Josef highly doubted a request for fresh blood and medical treatment would be honored. And it would only be a matter of time before even that would no longer work. The silver was far deadlier when it got into the blood as opposed to in the flesh, where it could be removed.
Josef let himself rest his weight against the wall behind him to take some weight off his suddenly weak legs. It wasn't so bad that he couldn't hold himself up, just a slight but sudden sensation that they weren't as strong as they should be, but he might as well save his strength where he could. He'd be damned if he'd be seen dangling limply from his wrists, which would be the case if his legs gave out.
"Josef?" Mick asked urgently from beside him.
"I'm okay," Josef assured him without waiting for Mick to ask it, then immediately winced at his own words. No sense in pretending. He knew Mick could sense most of what was going on with him, and denying it or arguing about it would take more energy than Josef felt he had to spare. Besides, in the event that they found a way to escape, Mick had to know Josef's condition. Especially if they were forced to fight their way out. Josef might not be able to help much, and Mick had to know that and adjust accordingly.
"No, you're not," Mick said accusingly. "I can tell. I can......feel it."
"I'm okay for now," Josef rephrased. Damn, that was annoying.
Josef suddenly had a small idea of how Mick probably felt when the younger vampire was trying to pull something over on him and Josef called him on it. Josef had the ability to block Mick from reading his emotions most of the time, when he wasn’t as weak as he was now. But Mick hadn't yet mastered that ability, so he was almost always an open book to Josef, and the more stressed or tense Mick was, or the harder he was trying to get away with something, the louder he broadcasted. Mick couldn't hide himself from his new Sire. Now Josef was in that quandary, and he suddenly understood some of Mick's complaints on the subject.
"You said the silver hadn't entered your blood."
"So I did. Seems I was wrong."
"Damn it, Josef! We have to get you out of here."
"Calm down, Mick," Josef advised with a worried glance of his own. Mick wasn't usually prone to panic, Josef knew, but his friend seemed not too far from it in his frantic yanks against his chains. Josef attempted to send a small influence of calm toward his fledgling, but it seemed such abilities were also weakened by the silver. It had no immediate effect on Mick, though the effort depleted some of Josef's energy.
Mick seemed to have felt the push, however, because he soon stilled and sent a sheepish glance Josef's way. The glance quickly turned to worry when Josef sagged further.
"Sorry," Mick apologized with a sigh. "I guess I lost my head for a second."
"I noticed," Josef quipped, but his sarcasm lacked its usual bite.
"My nerves are in overdrive," Mick explained. "I'm worried about Beth.....I have to find her. Now you're incapacitated-"
"I'm not incapacitated," Josef interrupted, appalled that anyone would even think to use that word for him. Even if he was.
"Fine," Mick sighed, rolling his eyes. "You're......" Mick paused, obviously searching for a description Josef would approve of. "........uh......"
Josef waited curiously, but Mick finally just shook his head.
"Nope," Mick determined. "Nothing else comes to mind. You're incapacitated, buddy. Down for the count."
Josef scowled at Mick, but he didn't protest again. It was true. He was 'down for the count' and it was going to fall largely on Mick's shoulders to get them out of there. They both knew that, and it wouldn't do anyone any good to pretend otherwise.
".......and I'd really like to know what these people want with us," Mick continued his diatribe as if he hadn't been interrupted.
Josef had to agree. He was quite curious himself to know what these people wanted with them. Or more specifically, with Mick. But that took second chair to getting out safely, and Josef was realistic enough to know that he was going to be a hindrance. He also didn't want to force Mick to have to decide between him and Beth, if it came to that. And he knew it would.
Steeling himself for what he had to say, he turned to Mick and met his friend's eyes.
"You're going to have to leave me, Mick," he stated definitively. There was no inflection in his tone, no self pity, fear, or anger. Just matter of fact.
Mick stared back at him for several seconds, his face set in stone, then turned his head to stare straight ahead into the dark empty room. He didn't seem surprised at the conclusion Josef had drawn, and Josef wondered how long Mick had known that was a possibility.
"No," Mick said, his tone flat and hard.
"You have to, Mick," Josef said quietly, sympathetically. "Or you'll have to leave Beth. You don't want that, and neither do I. I have a better chance, even like this, than she does. You know that."
"I'm not leaving you," Mick snapped. "I won't leave you here, unable to fight. You can't ask me to do that."
"Then I won't." Josef's words were clipped and angry, the tone low. "I'm telling you. Don't wait for me. When our chance comes, I'll get out myself, or I won't. But you take off and find Beth. I mean it, Mick. She's counting on you."
"I can't do that." Mick's tone was anguished. "Josef, I can't. I want to save Beth, you know I do. But I can't leave you behind.......it's all of us or none of us."
"Are you so sure Beth would agree?" Josef asked.
Mick stayed silent, apparently not having an answer for that. Josef bristled at Mick's stubbornness, and his refusal to see the reality. But Josef could be just as stubborn. And Josef had an advantage over Mick; he was Mick's sire, and that gave him a certain edge.
Josef reigned in his regret and yes, even that little niggle of fear way off in the back of his mind, and harnessed his anger and indignation instead. He knew what he had to do.
"Look at me, Mick," he demanded, his words hard as stone. He didn't have enough energy left to give his dominance that push of power behind it, but Josef was no slouch at being in command. He would have to do it by virtue of his voice, his body language, his very presence. Josef was a commanding presence every day, and had learned centuries ago to use everything in his power, everything he possessed, to manipulate others to his will. He did it every day simply through reputation, and fear, and his very presence. Mick, for all his knowledge of Josef's ways, would not be immune to his Sire's will. Even without the inner power behind it.
Mick looked over at Josef, surprised at the edginess of the tone, and Josef was gratified to see that he'd gotten his friend's attention.
"This is not a debate, Mick. Leave me and find Beth. I'll get out on my own. Are you listening?"
"Yes," Mick snarled. His jaw was tight with some emotion that Josef would venture a guess to be anger, but Mick was responding to Josef's command by fledgling instinct. That was something, anyway.
Josef kept his tone hard; that seemed to be what Mick responded to. "Good," he snapped. "If you try to take me with you, I'll fight you off. That will leave me open to attack from the enemy, of course, so think hard before you try it. In my weakened state-" and how it galled him to admit that "- that would likely be my death, and it would be on your shoulders. Remember that."
Josef wondered if he'd gone too far, been too heavy handed, given Mick's propensity for self-guilt, but he didn't allow that thought to fully form. He refused to be a hindrance to Mick getting himself and Beth out safely, and a hindrance was what he'd surely be if it came down to it. He'd defend himself against the enemies and escape or die, but he wouldn't let himself be the reason Mick and Beth died, too. Mick couldn't be preoccupied with Josef's welfare, or by trying to defend him.
Mick stared at Josef with angry eyes, but he said nothing. Josef didn't know if that was a sign of compliance or defiance, and he wasn't willing to let it rest until he was sure.
"Promise me, Mick," Josef demanded. "Promise me you'll do as I say."
"Josef, I....." Mick broke off whatever he was going to say, shaking his head.
"Mick," Josef said, now in a gentler tone. "Promise me. You know you'd ask the same of me if our positions were reversed." And like Mick, Josef knew he'd refuse. But understanding how Mick felt didn't change the fact that he wouldn't let Mick risk himself to aid Josef in what would no doubt be
a pointless defense. Josef held Mick's eyes, injecting everything he was feeling into the stare, begging and demanding Mick to understand.
"Fine," Mick whispered hoarsely, then louder. "Fine. I promise. If it comes down to a fight, I'll.......I'll fight my way out and go on without you."
"Good," was all Josef said, and he wondered if it was normal for him to feel so triumphant for having essentially ensured his own death.
Mick broke the stare, returning his gaze to the empty room. "So I'll just have to make sure we get out another way. Without a fight."
Josef stared at Mick, frustrated by his friend's stubbornness. Another wave of fatigue dissuaded him from arguing further, however. They'd just have to wait and see what happened, and when it came down to crunch time, he'd make Mick see it his way, come hell or high water.
He tried to believe himself.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Beth stumbled through the door, falling to her knees hard. The door swung closed behind her and she hoped it wouldn't be as hard to open the second time as it had been the first. She blinked her eyes, unsure at first if the vague shadows were really there or if she was imagining them. She wondered if constant darkness could make someone see what they wanted to.
It didn't seem likely. After all, if she was to imagine the light she wanted to see, it would be full daylight, or bright overhead lights, not the dim shapes brought to life by the meager streetlight through a dirty window.
But at least it wasn't the tar black she'd been stumbling through for the last little while. She'd begun to crave the smallest glimmer of light like she craved air to breathe. This small room, dark though it was, offered her a refuge, with its beam of streetlight, from the blackness on the other side of the door. The gray on black was almost a cheery sight. Almost.
Beth pushed herself to her feet, wincing at the pain. Her questing hands found that her jeans were torn open at both knees, and her fingers came away sticky. A tickling trickle down one shin confirmed that she'd scraped her knees enough to cause bleeding.
Wiping her hands on her jeans, Beth stood up straight and ignored the stinging of the scrapes. Looking around and squinting through the dim room, Beth realized she was in some kind of closet, a maintenance closet, by the looks of it.
The room was small and the walls were lined with shelves. A large window was on the wall opposite the door, and that was the source of the meager light. Under the window was what looked like a kitchen sink, only in the floor, and the mop bucket next to it confirmed its use.
Obviously, she wouldn't be getting anywhere through this room, but Beth didn't want to leave. She wasn't sure she could face the darkness again. Not yet. But what would be accomplished by camping out in a closet? Not a thing.
Beth tried the faucet on the floor-sink, wishing desperately for a drink of water, but nothing came out. She stood up, disappointed. Then a shape on one of the shelves caught her eyes.
She stepped over to the shelf and reached out, her hand closing on the flashlight. She was almost giddy with excitement.
Oh, God, she thought to herself, I could handle it out there if I had some light.
Her excitement was quelled, however, when nothing happened after several flicks of the thumb switch and she groaned in despair. She unscrewed the top and leaned toward the yellowish light source from the dirt-encrusted window to look down into the flash light where the battery should be. Of course, it wasn't there.
A glance back at the shelf revealed that there were several more flashlights- probably stockpiled for power outages, she figured- and she made short work of trying each one. All were empty of the batteries they needed.
Beth became frantic, her thoughts in whirl, wanting light, needing light, unable to face the thought of darkness for one more minute.
She searched for batteries among the shelves, knocking things around and tossing items out of her way. She paid no attention to the cleaning rags, tools, cleaning supplies and rolls of garbage bags that fell- or were thrown- hither and yon by her desperate search.
But she found none. Finally, breathing heavily, Beth slowed her thoughts and her actions, and stood in the middle of the now-messy closet in something close to despair.
"Who doesn't keep batteries with the flashlights?" she asked no one, and she was surprised to hear suppressed tears in her voice.
Frustration welled up and she kicked the bottom shelf, then it faded as quickly as it had come. Beth sank slowly to the floor and brought her knees up to her chest. She was at a loss for what to do next, and she wasn't really sure she could continue. She turned her head to the window, her eyes seeking the small bit of light, she wondered if she could leave without Mick.
Through the window, maybe. But no. She couldn't. She couldn't leave Mick behind, even if the window wasn’t just a single pane set into the wall with wire mesh covering it.
I guess they did that to keep people from breaking in, she thought to herself. I bet they never thought it would be keeping anyone from breaking out. The idea of going back out into that terrifying dark, not knowing what else was there with her while she tried to find Mick before the monsters found her......
Fear and desperation overwhelmed Beth, and she trembled where she sat among the fallen cleaning aids and trash bags and lightless flashlights.
No batteries though, she thought in an irrational humor that had no place with the fear.
Then Beth's fear heightened and froze her in place as the stiff door pushed open of its own accord. She could see nothing beyond but the blackness of that ever-so-dark hallway, and her heart beat against her chest as her breathing stalled in terror. A figure stepped forward, a black shape in the doorway against a blacker background.
Beth was too terrified to scream.
TBC
Return to Chapters Page
|
|
