Rating: PG-13
Characters: Mick, Beth, Josef, Simone, OC
Warning: Do I really need to? Ah heck...it was my first fic...terribly contrived.
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
Shadows of the Past
Mick kept his promise. In the next two weeks, he spent every day with Lauren. They didn’t always do or say much. Mostly, Mick just sat by her as she slept. He stood by her as her body became increasingly feeble, and her strength waned. He was a comfort to her as her eyesight faded into total darkness. Not once did he resent the time he spent with her, except that he hadn’t the time to mend his relationship with Beth. The rift between them tortured him greatly, and he hoped with all his soul that there was some way he could fix things. However, Lauren’s time was growing short, and he couldn’t leave her.
One day, when mick went to see her, he found her sleeping on the couch, which was surrounded by a mound of cardboard boxes. She seemed to hear him and began to stir. “Who is it?” she asked.
“It’s Mick,” he answered, “What’s going on here?”
She pushed herself into a sitting position before she answered. “Ben was sorting through a bunch of our mom’s old things. We were reminiscing about when we were kids. Here, come sit with me,” she said and motioned to the empty space beside her. Mick sat down slowly so as not to disturb her, and she laid her head lightly on his chest. They had been sitting there quietly for a while when Mick noticed an old photograph sticking out slightly from one of the boxes beside him. He reached out for it and held it gently in his hand, staring deeply into the face that seemed to stare straight into his soul. He couldn’t refrain from sneaking the slightly wrinkled picture into his coat pocket.
That night, Mick sat alone in his apartment, gazing intently at the image of the young, dark-haired girl in the photograph he had taken. In the photo, she looked perfect and untouched. Memories flooded his mind…haunting, painful memories. As he studied the girl’s gentle, sweet face, pangs of sorrow flooded his body causing him to shudder. He attempted to force himself to dismiss the persistent notion that dominated his thoughts. He was desperate and told himself that he was being irrational, that it went against everything he believed. Still, the idea refused to die. It controlled his whole being like an obsession. He took one last look at the smiling visage, and his heart cried from grief and guilt. He knew it was late, but he had to see Lauren. Considering her present condition, he didn’t know if he could wait. He didn’t know what he would do, but, at that moment, being with her was all that mattered. He left his apartment building and ran to his car. He made his way as quickly as possible to Lauren’s house. It was after midnight, and he figured that both she and Ben would be asleep, so he removed the spare key that Lauren had given him from his pocket and silently entered the house. Once inside, he crept up the flight of stairs and snuck into Lauren’s room. He could see her frail form nestled peacefully in a mound of blankets. From where he stood, he could make out the sound of her heartbeat, erratic and weaker than it had been earlier. He knew she didn’t have much time left…days at most, maybe only hours.
He sat lightly on the side of her bed and placed his hand in hers. He whispered her name in a comforting voice. She grasped his hand desperately. “Mick? What are you doing?” her voice was shaky and sounded full of pain.
“I need you to come with me,” he replied, and ran his free hand down the side of her face.
“What? Where?...Now?” she was full of questions.
“I don’t know where…just somewhere. I can’t think right now,” he answered.
“You’re insane,” she whispered.
“I know, but I just need you to come.” The insistence in his voice spoke to something inside her, and she couldn’t refuse.
“Will you come?” he asked again. She didn’t speak, just looked into his eyes, but he understood. He wrapped her blanket tightly around her, and picked her up carefully in his arms, as if he thought her fragile body would break in his hands. He carried her through the house and out to his car, where he placed her in the passenger’s seat. She was shivering, so he took off his jacket and draped it over her. He drove off, somewhat aimlessly, into the night. However, some force directed him back to the park where they had spent so many happy afternoons. He picked her back up and carried her to a grove of trees, where he set her on the soft grass and held her close. They just sat there unmoving. Suddenly, however, Lauren asked to be let go. She forced herself to her feet with some newfound strength. She stood shakily under the trees beside Mick, and her unseeing eyes began to weep. She began to speak, for she needed, more than anything, to let the world know what she was feeling. “Why is this happening to me?” she was staring blankly towards the sky and was almost shouting, “What have I ever done?” She turned in Mick’s general direction and spoke more softly, but still, her words were nearly drowned out by her sobs, “I don’t want this, Mick. I’m afraid! I’m not ready. I don’t think I’ll ever be ready to leave. The world is such a beautiful, beautiful place, and I’ll never be able to experience it. You know, even though I can’t see it anymore, it still amazes me, and I don’t want to give it up.” Her sobs grew louder, and Mick could see her legs were about to give out. He jumped to his feet and caught her as she began to fall. She clung to him and buried her face against his chest. He held her securely.
Her words brought back the idea that he had been trying to quell, but which haunted his thoughts nonetheless. “I’m not ready to let you go, either,” the words escaped his mouth before he could stop them, “What if…what if there was a way out… Would you take it?”
“I don’t understand,Mick,” she managed through her tears.
“If I offered you a way out of all this, but with …a cost,” he explained, “would you take it?”
“Yes… I think I would,” she answered, but her voice was growing weaker.
“Do you trust me, Lauren?” he asked, “I need you to trust me!”
She was slipping away from him. Her eyes were closed, and her body limp. Mick was sure she was unconscious, but, seemingly out of nowhere, she whispered, “Yes.”
He was desperate. He had no more time to debate this. Lauren had no more time. He pulled her long hair away from her neck. Half of him was telling him to stop, but the other half was overpowering. He pulled her body to him as gently as he could, and placed his mouth over the nape of her neck. He could feel his fangs descend and pierce through her skin. A feeling that he was somehow betraying her overwhelmed him as his mouth filled with her blood, but he kept drinking. He listened, as he drank, to the diminishing sound of her heartbeat. He needed to know when to stop. With as weak as she was, it would be easy to go too far. He finally pulled away, when he dared go no further. He needed to be quick now. He bit deeply into his arm and let his blood flow freely. He held his arm to the girl’s mouth and let the blood trickle through her lips and down her throat. There was nothing left for him to do. He just sat on the soft grass, holding her and praying that it had worked.