Savannah Returns (PG-13) Chapter 6

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MickLifeCrisis
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Savannah Returns (PG-13) Chapter 6

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Disclaimer: I do not own Moonlight or any of its characters.
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Mick, Beth, Josef and my OCs Kylie Jenkins and Savannah.


Previously on Savannah Returns:

“Another day,” Savannah said flatly. “I hope Jason is okay and isn’t suffering,” she added, trying to control her emotions.


Chapter 6


Jason’s mind awoke slowly, registering unfamiliarity. Hearing first – but there was nothing to hear. No clock ticking. No heartbeats. Then smell – no scent of old leather, polished wood, burnt logs in the fireplace or human food. And no scent of Savannah. Instead, he smelled dampness. Mustiness. Old smells. Very old. He struggled to open his eyes; it was harder than he expected and when he managed, there was little to see. Even with his vampire eyesight he could barely make out his surroundings. He felt closed in, like a kind of basement. Or even a cave. He was lying on the ground. It was damp and cold, which should be comfortable for a vampire, but he wasn’t. When he tried to sit up a sharp pain shot through his chest and then it all came rushing back to him. Aaron Walker, Levi’s son from the mining days showed up. He was a vampire! They fought. And I lost; he staked me and dragged me out of the inn. And now here I am, paralyzed, in some sort of dungeon.

A dim light started bobbing towards him. He could move his eyes to follow it, but that was all. As the light grew closer he saw it was a lantern. Aaron was approaching and he was carrying … blood.

“Hello Jeremiah,” Aaron said as he set the lantern down on the ground. “I brought you some nourishment,” he added as he took some tubing out of his pockets. He pulled an old wooden whiskey barrel over next to Jason and set a bag of blood on it. He attached the IV tubing and then none too gently jabbed the needle into Jason’s arm resting on the ground. He adjusted the flow to barely a trickle. “Just enough to keep you alive,” he said as looked Jason in the eye. “Maybe I can come up with another arrangement that will let you talk; I’ll have to think about it. Meanwhile, we wait for my father’s money. But seeing as how he’s dust by now, it will be my money.”


MLMLMLML


“Like I said earlier,” Josef began, “I ran the local saloon. Which was also, as Beth so helpfully pointed out,” he stared at her and she blushed, “…a brothel. My girls satisfied the needs of both humans and vampires. One night I took one of my lovely ladies out back to the icehouse for my dinner.” Josef looked off into the distance as he recollected. “As it was later told to me, this huge miner came stumbling into the saloon looking for her. He was already drunk and seemed to have the mistaken notion that she was his girl, and his alone. He was furious when he couldn’t find her and started ranting and raving about what he would do to her and any man he found with her.” Turning to look at his enrapt audience, Josef added, “Unfortunately he was one of the few who knew about vampires. He grabbed a broom leaning against the wall and broke it in half like it was a toothpick. Carrying the broken handle, he went outside, lit a torch, and headed around back towards the icehouse.

“Now Levi had been sitting in the corner and witnessed all this. As soon as this Neanderthal went out and around the side of the saloon, he ran out in the opposite direction and straight to Jeremiah for help. They both came bursting into the icehouse with no time to spare.”

“What do you mean?” Kylie asked.

“I mean that while I was enjoying my dinner, as only I can,” he added looking directly at Kylie and making her blush. “My dinner was also enjoying the experience on my lap. I couldn’t have her sitting on the cold ice, now could I?” He grinned, but it lasted only a second. “I was so intent on feeding that I didn’t hear that drunken asshole approach. He busted through the wooden door, surprising me. I dumped the girl on the floor but it wasn’t fast enough. I saw the glint of the torchlight reflected in his eyes as the makeshift stake plunged into my chest.”


MLMLMLML


Jason had no idea how long he had been laying on the ground in the dark. The trickle of blood into his arm was not enough to sate his hunger or heal his injuries. He sensed Aaron Walker approach again and opened his eyes to watch him.

“I found some silver chains,” he said cheerfully showing Jason the heavy chains he was carrying in his gloved hands. “And it wasn’t easy, up here in the middle of nowhere, believe me.” While he talked he wrapped the chains tightly around Jason’s ankles several times and locked them with a heavy duty padlock. When he shackled Jason’s wrists together Jason let out a hiss as the silver touched his skin but Aaron took no notice. He attached the wrist shackles to the ankle chains with another padlock. Then Aaron yanked the IV needle out of Jason’s arm and dragged him over to the stone wall and propped him up. “Now we can have a conversation,” he said as he grabbed the wooden stake and wrenched it out of Jason’s chest.


MLMLMLML


The room fell silent and Josef had stopped pacing. Kylie looked positively stricken with fear. “Hey doll, it’s okay. I survived, you know?” He smiled at her and she finally took a breath and relaxed.

“Sorry. I was just so caught up in the story,” she said with an embarrassed giggle. “So what happened next?”

“He dragged me by my collar from the ice block over onto a bale of straw. Just as he lowered his arm to light the straw with his torch, Jeremiah and Levi came running in the door. Jeremiah grabbed that gorilla from behind and threw him sideways to the floor. With a single stomp of his boot, Jeremiah stepped on his neck and broke it.” Someone from the table let out a small gasp.

“What about the torch?” asked Kylie.

“And the girl?” asked Beth.

Josef stood behind his empty chair and rested his hands on the back. “When the torch fell to the ground Levi immediately started stepping on the flames and with Jeremiah’s help they both stamped out the fire. Jeremiah pulled the stake out of my chest as Levi knelt by the girl and tried to stem the bleeding from her neck. You see, I hadn’t been able to close the wound.”

“Did she make it?” Mick asked solemnly.

Josef nodded. “She did.” A collective sigh rose from the table. “So you see, I owe my life to Jeremiah. And a vampire doesn’t forget that.” Josef poured himself a drink and sat back down at the table.

“So presumably, Aaron would know that whole story,” Mick surmised.

“But why kidnap Jason? Why not try to kidnap Josef?” Beth asked.

“Or even me?” Savannah blurted out. “Did he think Jason wouldn’t pay a ransom for me?” She swallowed hard.

“I can think of a couple of reasons,” Mick said matter-of-factly. “First, Jason was only an eight hour drive away, whereas Josef is across the country, so Jason was easier to get to. And with a little bit of searching on the Internet he probably discovered that Josef could afford to pay a much higher ransom for Jason’s life than vice-versa. And Josef owed his life to Jason, not the other way around, correct?” He looked at Josef for confirmation and Josef nodded. Mick continued. “As for Savannah,” he turned to look at her. “I’m sure Jason would have paid to get you back. But Aaron figured he could get more money out of Josef for Jason’s life than he could out of Jason for yours.”

“This is so confusing! I’m getting a headache,” Kylie said and the laughter relieved the tension.

“So how did Aaron figure out that Isaac Foster, the saloon keeper, is now Josef Kostan, wealthy hedge fund trader and founder of Kostan Industries in LA?” Beth brought up.

“Who the hell cares how he found out?” Josef shouted, slamming his glass on the table and causing the girls to jump. “He found out. That’s all that matters!”

“Take it easy Josef,” Mick said calmly.


MLMLMLML


Jason gasped when the stake was removed and it took him a few minutes to recover, though the wound showed no signs of healing. He glared at Aaron. “Where the hell am I?” he demanded.

“You don’t recognize it? Why, we’re deep inside one of the old copper mines.”

“What do you want?”

“I told you what I wanted in the letter I sent you. I want what would have been my father’s share of the money you and Isaac Foster made from the mine if you hadn’t ditched my father. Assuming wise investments plus interest… I think $175 million would be a satisfactory amount. In cash.”

“I don’t have that kind of money lying around in cash! Besides, Levi wanted out; it was his choice. I bought out his half of the mine fair and square.”

“Fair and square?” Without warning, Aaron growled and kicked Jason in the chest where his stake wound was. Jason howled in pain. “You liar!” Aaron fumed. “You and Foster knew the mine would produce. You just sat on it until my father ran out of money and energy. He didn’t have the stamina of a vampire. He had a wife and child to feed! You let us starve!” he shouted.

“That’s not true!” Jason countered with gasping breath. “I never let him or your family starve! Levi was my friend! He wanted out!”

“But you knew about the new mining method, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t know if it would work.”

“Bullshit! You knew it would double profits from the mine and you wanted Levi out so you could have more for yourself!”

“That’s not true! Besides, it was Foster’s idea!”

“Yeah, I’ll bet it was.” Aaron spit on the ground. “That’s why I also sent a picture to Isaac Foster. Or should I say Josef Kostan. He probably drops that much money in a month.”


MLMLMLML


“Let’s take a break and all get something to eat,” Beth said after Josef’s outburst. The women all stood from the table and went to the kitchen. A few minutes later they came back carrying plates, sandwiches and glasses of blood for Mick and Josef. The men sat brooding while the women chatted about the inn. As the dishes were being cleared, Ryder called Josef back to report he hadn’t had any luck locating Aaron’s phone. They all gathered around the table once more, ready to get back down to the business of finding Jason.

Mick started off the conversation. “So we are agreed that Aaron Walker feels his father Levi was cheated out of a profitable mining operation by Isaac and Jeremiah, now known as Josef and Jason.” Heads nodded. “Upon learning the whereabouts of Jeremiah, and after somehow connecting Isaac the bartender-slash-silent-partner in the mines to wealthy Josef Kostan, Aaron kidnaps Jeremiah and demands monetary compensation from Josef for what he feels was owed his father.” More murmurs of agreement. “Now the big question is, where is Aaron keeping Jason?”

“Do you think he took him back to Chicago?” Kylie posed.

Mick shook his head. “No, I don’t. When he came up here to confront Jason and fought him in the office, I believe he would have taken him someplace nearby. It would have been too dangerous to travel with a presumably staked vampire in his car.”

“I concur,” Josef said. He reached for a cardboard mailing tube he had set aside when he arrived. Opening the end he pulled out a large paper and unrolled it on the table. “This is a map of the mining area where we were located at the time.” Everyone helped hold the edges down and looked at the old map. “My guess is that he hid Jason in one of these mines.” Josef looked at the map and sighed. “The only problem is finding which one. Most of these mines were sealed decades ago.”

“Hold on!” Savannah said excitedly. She jumped up and ran from the room while the others exchanged glances and shrugged their shoulders. She rushed back in carrying a tourist brochure.

“What’s that?” Josef asked somewhat disdainfully.

“It’s one of the tourist brochures we carry at the inn for guests. It has a map of the mines that are still open where they give tours. Maybe we can match it up to the old map,” Savannah said hopefully.

“Let’s try!” said Kylie with enthusiasm as they started comparing the maps.



To be continued...
Last edited by MickLifeCrisis on Wed Apr 30, 2014 6:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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librarian_7
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Re: Savannah Returns (PG-13) Chapter 6

Post by librarian_7 »

Now, that's a chapter. It's all coming together, and I wouldn't want to be that jerk when Mick and Josef catch up to him!
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Re: Savannah Returns (PG-13) Chapter 6

Post by allegrita »

Ooh, that was smart of Savannah! :hearts: I hope it helps.

The past is coming back to haunt Josef and Jason. I sure hope Jason makes it out alive--I mean, undead! That Aaron is a real creep. He deserves what he gets from Josef! :nonono:
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Re: Savannah Returns (PG-13) Chapter 6

Post by MickLifeCrisis »

Thanks for reading and commenting Lucky and Alle! Glad you are enjoying it so far. Yes, I think they are finally starting to get somewhere. Still some pieces of the puzzle to figure out yet.

:thanks:
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Re: Savannah Returns (PG-13) Chapter 6

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Good! The more chapters the better! :teeth:
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