Awakenings (PG-13) Champagne Challenge 163 03/15/15

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darkstarrising
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Awakenings (PG-13) Champagne Challenge 163 03/15/15

Post by darkstarrising »

Hi all :wave:

This is my (late) answer to challenge 163, writing a story based on a Moonlight song. The way music was used in the show was one of the factors that made the series so attractive. One song in particular, 'Dark as Love' by Melissa Ritter, made a tremendous impact, providing the background as Beth finds the pictures Mick took of her growing up. I thought the music and the scene meshed perfectly and inspired the following story describing the possible aftermath of Beth learning about her guardian angel not only for her, but for Mick as well.

Story is rated PG-13

Quotes taken from '12:04 AM' and 'No Such Thing as Vampires' are reproduced with respect to Jill Blotevogel (12:04 AM) and Trevor Munson, Ron Koslow (NSTAV) who authored them.

As always, I don't own the characters, but dearly love to play with them.

Please, enjoy!

Awakenings

As the sun cleared the horizon, one woman slept, finally freed from her decade long nightmare. Another stood alone on a balcony, chilled, seeking the morning’s promise of warmth. Beth was physically exhausted, the adrenaline rush from the previous night long since gone, but too many unanswered questions left her unwilling to sleep.

OK, I know things usually happen for a reason, so why did I cross paths with Audrey now, at an execution, no less? I get that Audrey was looking for closer, but Shepherd was just a story for me. Or was it because I wanted to see how another traumatized child turned out? Not so well, it seems. Audrey was so, I don’t know, skittish, like the boogey man was going to jump out of the shadows any minute, which, he did, actually. Guess that’s what you get for remembering your ordeal. Me? I did everything I could to forget my abduction. Then I met Mick and things started coming back. Until last night, I didn’t know why. If I hadn’t met Audrey, I still wouldn’t know. Coincidence? Probably not….

Beth came back into the loft, and seeing Audrey was still asleep, curled up in a chair across from her. At some point, she’d wake the young woman and take her home, but for now, a deep, peaceful slumber was something Audrey desperately needed.

Sooo…what happens when you wake up? I know you didn’t see what happened to Shepherd, which, trust me, is a good thing. What Mick did with the body, I’m not sure even I want to know. Thankfully, you accepted Mick’s word that monster was gone for good. I just hope you haven’t changed your mind and have a million questions when you wake up. I’ve got a few of my own that need answers.

A few hours earlier, Beth had confronted Mick with some of those questions, surprised how reticent he was. He seemed almost embarrassed that she’d finally learned the truth, or part of it anyway. Or was it something else?

‘You have every right to be angry.’

‘I'm not angry. I found my guardian angel. I just wished...I just wish he'd talk to me.’

Talk to me, talk to me, talk…to…me


The words echoed hypnotically now in Beth’s mind. Finding out that Mick St. John was the man, no… vampire, who’d saved and watched over her so many years ago had been shocking enough. Finding out who he’d saved her from had put a whole new spin on their relationship.

Talk to me, talk to me, talk…to…me

Mick had side-stepped her plea, for the most part. When her words failed to move him, she’d graced his cheek with a gentle kiss. He left her then, retreating to the sanctuary of his freezer. It wasn’t so much the rising sun he feared as it was the growing feelings they had for each other, or at least she had for him.

‘Now you know why it could never work.’

Actually, she didn’t. As far as Beth was concerned, Mick being undead didn’t seem an insurmountable obstacle. In time, she was sure she could make him see that relationships between humans and vampires could work. Unless, of course, someone else still held his heart.

‘What else do you know?’

‘That he had to kill a woman he cared about.’


Did he still care for Coraline? How could he after everything she’d done? Beth rubbed her temples, trying to make sense of it all. Her friendship with Mick had been a two-steps-forward-one-step-back kind of relationship from the beginning. At first, he’d tried the ‘I’m too dangerous to be around’ bit, but she’d persisted. Being a vampire didn’t define him, at least not in her mind. If it had, he’d have drained her in the desert. After that little adventure, the tenuous bond between them grew even stronger.

That’s how she felt, anyway. Mick, on the other hand, distanced himself. A few weeks later, high on black crystal, Beth did everything she could to seduce him. Again, he resisted, and the next morning, it was she who pulled away, blaming the drug for her behavior. Unlike her sultry strut a few hours earlier, she’d scuttled up the stairs, not able to face him.

I hurt him. I could see the disappointment on his face. Worse, I lied to him. Why?

Beth knew the answer; she just didn’t want to admit it. Black crystal had exposed a side of herself that thrilled yet frightened her. Was that woman in the mirror who she really was? If so, it still wasn’t enough to get her closer to Mick.

God, how embarrassing. I don’t know what I should feel worse about – that Mick saw me naked or that he didn’t take me up on my offer. OK, so why didn’t he? Does he really have boundaries and didn’t want to take advantage of me or is he still in love with Coraline?

After that rather awkward evening, things had gotten back to normal, at least as normal as things could be between a human and a vampire, until Morgan Vincent arrived on the scene. That’s when Beth saw a side of Mick she’d never seen before.

With Morgan passing for Coraline’s twin, all those feelings Mick had for his ex-wife came back and not in a good way. He’s just lucky Morgan didn’t have him arrested after that stunt he pulled in the cemetery, which leads to a begging question of why she didn’t. When Mick told me about his ‘insanity’ regarding his affair with Coraline, I thought he might still be in love with her. But Morgan isn’t Coraline, is she?

Beth drew the blanket closer around her warding off the loft’s chill, trying to stay awake.

OK, so maybe Morgan looks like Coraline, that doesn’t make her Coraline. Besides, Morgan is most definitely human. If she were Coraline, and I’m not saying she is, wouldn’t I remember her? Or have I blocked out so much of the abduction that I can’t recognize her? Then again, I didn’t recognize Mick right away, either. But after I met him, Mick started showing up in my dreams. So if Morgan looks so much like Coraline, why hasn’t she triggered similar memories?

Fatigue finally got the better of her and Beth nodded off, drifting into a deep sleep. Maybe it was the power of suggestion or maybe the fragments of lost memories finally began to form a more complete picture in her dreams.

An angel emerged from the shadows, floating down from heaven to the earth below. Yet the child Beth knew the woman in white was no angel. She surrounded Beth, her cold embrace causing the child to shiver. Then a man appeared.

‘It'll work, Mick. You, me, and baby…’

The dream shifted, the adult Beth replacing the child. Releasing Beth, the woman in white slowly approached Mick.

‘I once gave you a gift of eternity, Mick. Now I have another gift to offer, the gift of mortality. You can become human again, Mick. I have. Come back to me and we can be together again as you always wanted.’

The woman in white now stood before Mick, her eyes locked with his.

‘I’ll love you forever…’

Mick drew the woman into his arms and he kissed her deeply. When they parted, the woman turned to Beth and for the first time she could clearly see the woman’s face.

Morgan!!

As Mick wrapped his arms around her, the woman smiled in triumph.

‘Silly child. You were nothing more than a means to an end. Mick is mine, now and forever.’


“Mick!!”

“Beth, wake up.” A concerned Audrey gently shook Beth. “Are you OK? I heard you moaning, then call Mick’s name.”

Beth struggled to get her bearings and keep her dream from drifting away. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a bad dream, that’s all. I’m sorry I woke you.”

“No problem. I should be going, anyway.” Audrey looked around the loft. “Is Mick here? I want to thank him for all he did last night.”

“I don’t think so, at least I haven’t seen him.” Beth hesitated, wondering whether she was pushing her luck. “About last night…”

“Beth, as far as I’m concerned, Shepherd deserved whatever happened to him. All I care about is that he’s gone.”

“He’s gone. Really. I promise.”

“Then my nightmare is over. It’s time for me to start living again.”

As the two women gathered up their things, Audrey chattered away, with Beth only half-listening. While Audrey’s mood had lightened considerably, Beth found her own had darkened.

I know it was just a dream, but if Morgan really is Coraline, then she and I have a score to settle. I’ve got to be careful, though. Human or not, Morgan could still be dangerous. But how do I prove who she is without tipping her off? Where do I even start? No idea. After I get some sleep, maybe I’ll know what to do.


As the two women left the loft, a half-dressed man stood hidden at the top of the stairs. Mick panicked hearing Beth call his name, but stopped seeing she was only dreaming. He was relieved Audrey wasn’t asking any awkward questions, but concerned Beth would keep digging into her past, their past. She was getting close to him, too close for her own good. If Morgan really was Coraline, she’d see Beth as a rival for his love, one she’d happily and easily remove.

Beth had her questions, but Mick had his own as well. How the hell had Coraline become human again when Josef swore it wasn’t possible? What did she want? Why all the game playing? At least he knew the answers to those last two questions. Coraline was clever and tenacious, never giving up on anything she wanted and Mick was something she’d always want. She knew he’d give anything to be human again. By becoming ‘Morgan’, she’d put on quite a show for Mick savoring all the simple human pleasures lost to him. She’d dangled the proverbial carrot of mortality in front of him, but at what price?

Mick feared he knew the answer to that as well, worried that he might just be willing to pay it
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francis
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Re: Awakenings (PG-13) Champagne Challenge 163 03/15/15

Post by francis »

How wonderful. You really captured Beth's mood in that episode. She was on a kind of crossroads there, wasn't she? And with Morgan in the picture things are getting way more complicated.
I love how you wove that together. :hearts:
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Re: Awakenings (PG-13) Champagne Challenge 163 03/15/15

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A very interesting story and I really liked your capturing some of the language and thoughts from that episode. Helps to keep the dream of Moonlight alive all these years later. Thank you.
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Re: Awakenings (PG-13) Champagne Challenge 163 03/15/15

Post by allegrita »

Ooh, I've always liked this song, especially the way it's hypnotically repeats the lines as a sort of echo. And you've done the same thing with Beth's unspoken call to Mick. The swirling of the song's patterns becomes the swirl of Beth's thoughts as she struggles to cope with all she's learned and experienced over the past couple of days, and tries to figure out what the future holds for her. This is a great transition from the gentle, hopeful Beth on the balcony at sunrise, to the angry, suspicious Beth we saw at the beginning of Fleur de Lis! I can really imagine this happening--the nightmare giving her insight into Coraline's motives, and launching her into full-on investigator mode (with a generous dash of jealousy). And Mick, standing at the top of the stairs, with his own thoughts turning in very similar circles. That last line is a grabber--Beth has reason to be concerned about Coraline's effect on Mick, but it's pretty obvious even now that what really draws him is the chance at mortality, not the idea of sharing that mortality with Coraline. Yes, the attraction is undeniable, but so is the anger and the wariness. He knows what she's capable of. But she's got that amazing, impossible prize... what's it worth to Mick to attain it?

I'm so glad you finished this great story! (And I took the liberty of updating the Challenge thread, to add your story.)
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Re: Awakenings (PG-13) Champagne Challenge 163 03/15/15

Post by darkstarrising »

francis wrote:How wonderful. You really captured Beth's mood in that episode. She was on a kind of crossroads there, wasn't she? And with Morgan in the picture things are getting way more complicated.
I love how you wove that together. :hearts:
Thanks, francis :hug: At the end of 12:04 AM, Beth was alone on the balcony, with so many questions, questions Mick wasn't happy about answering. I had to ask myself what happened later and that's how this story came to be.
Moonlightsonata wrote:A very interesting story and I really liked your capturing some of the language and thoughts from that episode. Helps to keep the dream of Moonlight alive all these years later. Thank you.
You're very welcome, Moonlightsonata :hug: So many questions, so few answers, all of which preyed on Beth's suspicions.
allegrita wrote:Ooh, I've always liked this song, especially the way it's hypnotically repeats the lines as a sort of echo. And you've done the same thing with Beth's unspoken call to Mick. The swirling of the song's patterns becomes the swirl of Beth's thoughts as she struggles to cope with all she's learned and experienced over the past couple of days, and tries to figure out what the future holds for her. This is a great transition from the gentle, hopeful Beth on the balcony at sunrise, to the angry, suspicious Beth we saw at the beginning of Fleur de Lis! I can really imagine this happening--the nightmare giving her insight into Coraline's motives, and launching her into full-on investigator mode (with a generous dash of jealousy). And Mick, standing at the top of the stairs, with his own thoughts turning in very similar circles. That last line is a grabber--Beth has reason to be concerned about Coraline's effect on Mick, but it's pretty obvious even now that what really draws him is the chance at mortality, not the idea of sharing that mortality with Coraline. Yes, the attraction is undeniable, but so is the anger and the wariness. He knows what she's capable of. But she's got that amazing, impossible prize... what's it worth to Mick to attain it?

I'm so glad you finished this great story! (And I took the liberty of updating the Challenge thread, to add your story.)
Thanks, alle :hug: You've got it, exactly. The song 'Dark as Love' really grabbed me as Beth was looking at the photos, especially the repetition in the refrain of 'hypnotize'. Beth was mesmerized by the images and the implication must have jarred some of her memories. When she confronts Mick, he acknowledges that he was the one who saved her, but tries to keep her from getting any closer. Why? Is it because he fears that Coraline will harm Beth if she gets to close to Mick or because he wants to understand how Coraline became human again or both?

Originally, I thought it strange that '12:04 AM' was shown in between 'The Ringer' and 'Fleur de Lis', but when I thought about it, there needed to be some event that spurred Beth into looking into Morgan to see if she was Coraline or not. If they'd been shown consecutively, you might think Beth was driven solely by curiosity, tinged with a bit of jealousy. By inserting 12:04 AM, Beth comes to understand more about her abduction and anger becomes the driving force. It's just not a matter of curiosity anymore. It's about revenge.

As for Mick, that shower scene with Coraline in 'Fleur de Lis' clearly showed there was still some attraction to Coraline, but the real attraction was how she became human again. Had the cure been permanent, I wonder what price Mick would be willing to pay to regain his humanity.
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