I Know What You Are, Mick [ch. 2/5] PG13

[NocturneInCMoll]

Beta: Much thanks and appreciation goes to Barb, a.k.a. Bank1115.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.


I Know What You Are, Mick — Chapter 2

Josef entered through the skylight as Mick had and perched in the rafters, assessing the situation. Lee Jay’s two henchmen were dead; one’s neck was obviously broken, the other had been kicked across the room and had cracked his skull against something hard. Other than that, it was not good. Mick was right—Lee Jay had reinforcements, and he’d done his homework. And while Mick was taking care of the henchmen, Lee Jay had come out of nowhere to shoot Mick in the back. With silver. Cowardly bastard. Josef’s eyes flashed white in anger.

Mick was lying on the ground, groaning. Lee Jay was taunting him about the silver buckshot he’d had to order in specially just for him. Josef poised to jump.

Lee Jay was just aiming at Mick for a second round when he heard a voice behind him.

“The guy’s been shot and you’re still too afraid to get close? Wow. I’ve known chickens that were less chicken than you.”

Lee Jay whirled around to point his rifle at the intruder. “Who the hell are you?”

“Concerned citizen—neighbourhood watch. I’m watching, but this doesn’t seem to be very neighbourly.” Josef took a step towards him, hands casually in his pockets.

“I wouldn’t step any closer if I were you,” Lee Jay warned menacingly. “I’ve got another round in here, and it has your name on it.”

“Your last round has my name on it?! Wow. Lee Jay! I mean, I’m just—I’m flattered.” Josef held a hand to his heart. “Especially since you had no idea that I’d be coming, and I suspect you don’t actually have any idea what my name is.”

Lee Jay kept his shotgun trained on Josef as he started to circle Lee Jay with a predatory air. Josef glanced quickly to Mick, who grunted and indicated with a little flick of his fingers that he was okay for the moment—and for Josef to just go deal with Lee Jay.

Josef continued his diatribe. “And really, I’m surprised at you, Lee Jay. Only two rounds? For a guy who had 25 years to plan his revenge, somebody’s not very prepared. Or could you just not afford any more than that, having been in the slammer for two-and-a-half decades? There’s not much money in revenge, is there?”

“Shut up!”

“Tsk, tsk. Did no one ever teach you to respect your elders? Certainly no one taught you to respect women.”

“You keep shooting your mouth off and I’ll pump you full of silver so fast—”

“Well, you can try, but I can move faster than I can shoot my mouth off. Care for a demonstration? If you have a stopwatch, you can time me.”

Lee Jay pulled the trigger, but Josef had already anticipated him and jumped straight up in the air as the gun went off. The shotgun shell cut through the air a split second after he’d been there.

Josef landed, catlike, a moment later. He crouched between Lee Jay and the entrance.

“Aww, Lee Jay, was that your last round?” he pouted, cocking his head. His eyes flashed white. “So sorry I missed it.” He bared his fangs and snarled.

Lee Jay looked frantically at the wooden stakes at a nearby table.

“Ah-ah,” Josef shook his finger. “You’d never make it over there in time.

“Mick should’ve finished you off 25 years ago. He screwed up. I won’t. I’m gonna enjoy tearing your throat out, you son of a bitch.” He licked his fangs slowly and scented the air for his prey—but caught a whiff of something else instead.

“Damnit,” he growled without turning around. “How long have you been standing there, Blondie? You can’t be here!”

“Beth,” Mick gasped from the floor. “I thought I told you to stay in the car.”

Beth was standing there near the doorway, wide-eyed and shaking.

“Oh, this is good,” Lee Jay laughed. “She doesn’t know about you guys, does she? And now you’ll have to kill her, too, to protect your nasty little secret. And you said I had no respect for women.”

Josef reached out and snapped Lee Jay’s neck before he could blink. He threw him to the floor.

“Mick,” Josef growled, “why did you have to bring her here?!”

“Navigator,” Mick grunted.

“Oh, you couldn’t use your superior vision to keep an eye on the road and the GPS at the same time! Got it. Great! Fantastic!” Josef forced his face to return to its human form and turned to glare at Beth. “How much did you see?”

She trembled under his intense stare. “I-um…I came in when Lee Jay was threatening you with the shotgun.”

“So then you saw me jump twenty feet into the air. Fantastic.” He raked his fingers through his hair as he started pacing.

“How—what are—” Beth suddenly looked down at Mick, who was pale and shivering and groaning. “Mick,” she said tentatively, “are you okay?”

“No, he’s not okay!” Josef snapped. “He got shot with silver buckshot—it’s poison to us!” He turned and planted a foot in Lee Jay’s side.

“He needs it removed now, and he needs to drink fresh blood.” His eyes narrowed as he spun around to look at Beth. He displayed his fangs with a hiss and she shrank back in fear.

“NO.” Mick said, trying to get up. “No, Josef. Leave her alone. I’ll be okay, I just need to get home.” He winced and managed to get to his knees before reaching out to Josef for help standing.

Beth cringed. “Before I came in, I told Julia to call the police. They should be here soon, probably with an ambulance.”

“DAMNIT, WOMAN!” Josef roared, his eyes flashing white again. He could already hear the sirens in the distance. “He can’t go to the hospital! They don’t have a special wing for the undead!”

“I’m-I’m sorry—I didn’t know. I’ll help. I’ll fix it. What can I do?”

“I’ll take Mick home in my car and get him fixed up. You,” he fished around in Mick’s pocket for his keys and threw them at her, “drive his car there after you find a way to make sure the cops are satisfied and don’t come snooping around. Then we’ll have ourselves a little chat,” he spat.

“I won’t let him hurt you, Beth,” Mick added, seeing the fear in Beth’s eyes. “But we do need to talk. You wanted answers, remember?”

She nodded nervously.

Josef gave her one last deadly look before he easily threw Mick over his shoulder and sped out of the building.

Beth shuddered. This can’t be happening…They can’t really be…vampires…can they?


To be continued...

[MSJ_sunglasses]

Love your take on this story so far

[NocturneInCMoll]

Why, thank you, MSJ! Glad you're enjoying!

[francis]

Wonderful and entertaining, Nocturne. Your take on this scene could well have been the real script. You deal with the inconsistencies (Why did Mick bring her at all? Why didn't he ask for reinforcement? How did he get back home? Why didn't LeeJay kill him faster?) and Beth didn't have to kill LeeJay and then never talk about her shock again.
Works really well.

[NocturneInCMoll]

Thank you so much, Francis! I'm flattered. I guess in the real episode, Mick was still cocky and thought he couldn't screw up again, or something--despite the fact that this time, Lee Jay knows who/what he's dealing with... I started writing this story so many months ago now that I can't even remember what made me think of Mick calling in Josef for backup. Maybe I thought it would be fun? Regardless, I'm glad you think it works.