What Are You, Mick St. John? [ch. 19] PG13

[NocturneInCMoll]

Author’s note: Once again, SO sorry for the long wait! My muse was balking again. Hopefully you all still remember this story.

Beta: As usual, much thanks goes to the ever-awesome Barb, Bank1115, who is supremely awesome.

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.


What Are You, Mick St. John?—Chapter 19

Carl gazed at a pebble on the ground and lost all track of time. A pair of shoes suddenly entered his peripheral vision and his head snapped up.

He breathed in relief upon seeing who it was. “Mick! —Did you find Beth?”

Mick just stared at him.

Carl threw up his hands. “Right. Of course you found Beth. You’re a two-legged bloodhound,” he muttered, a little bitterly.

The corners of Mick’s mouth turned up slightly. “Sorry for…smelling...what I did earlier, Carl.”

Carl rolled his eyes and sighed. “It’s okay, I know you can’t exactly help it…but can Josef?!”

Mick wrinkled his nose and shook his head. “Not really.”

The two men grinned at each other for a moment. Then their smiles faded.

“I gotta give him credit…at least he knows to shut up when it really counts.”

Mick nodded, then shrugged with his eyebrows. “Well…usually...”

“So…Beth...is she all right?”

Mick looked down at the ground and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “She…wanted to be alone, so I drove her home. She told me she’d know if I was watching her, so I came back to see if I could…help. I mean, with the cleanup and all that.”

Carl looked toward the building. “What,” he paused as his mouth went dry, “do you think they’re doing in there?”

*******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Kostan had thrown Josh back down on the floor. He and the Cleaner circled him predatorily, their irises glowing an eerie white.

Then Kostan spoke. “Well, Mr. Lindsey—it seems all the humans have finally left the building.”

Josh glared stonily at him, but his heart was pounding in his throat. Beth and Carl are gone. They’ve left me—with these monsters.

“—You know what that means.”

All of a sudden, Kostan was grinning and flaring his nostrils six inches from his face and Josh nearly wet his pants. He jerked his head backwards; anything to avoid the feel of Kostan’s cold breath on his face. The vampire just threw his head back and laughed. Josh’s eyes fixated on the razor-sharp points of his fangs and he suppressed a shudder. He glanced over at the Cleaner, who was hovering in the background with a wicked grin on her face. Then Kostan stopped laughing abruptly and commanded Josh’s attention again.

“See, Beth and Carl—they’re smart. They understand how this works—how this has to work—for the stability of the entire planet. You, my man, have failed to grasp that simple concept. Just what exactly was your plan? What did you want the government to do—increase our taxes?”

“No,” Josh choked out, “I wanted them to destroy you.”

“Yes, but why? Did one of us run over your puppy or something?”

Josh pressed his lips together in a thin line.

“What did we ever do to you except exist—the knowledge of which you only just acquired, might I add?”

Josh remained silent.

Kostan stood and walked back and forth in front of him. “Humans and vampires have co-existed for thousands of years. There have been moments in history when large parts of the general population found out and were collectively…uncomfortable…with our ‘lifestyle choices,’ so to speak, and mob mentality took over,” he shuddered, “but for the most part it’s been a peaceful existence, thanks to ‘ignorance is bliss.’”

“’Uncomfortable’ with your ‘lifestyle choices’? I bet you have more dead bodies to your name than all the serial killers in the country combined!”

“Well, that may be true—but what can I say?” Kostan waved his arm in a circle, “When you’ve been around for over 400 years, you tend to accumulate things.”

“Four hundred?!” Josh couldn’t stop his outburst.

Kostan stopped pacing and stared at him in amusement. “I was born in 1599—you do the math.”

“Seriously?!”

“No, not seriously,” Kostan mocked. “Vampires really don’t exist, this is all just one big, elaborate joke—Assistant District Attorney Josh Lindsey, you’ve been PUNKED!” Kostan jabbed the air with his finger to accent the last word.

Ass. Josh was not amused. “I almost wish that were true.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I bet you do. But you started it yourself when you tried to make a phone call you shouldn’t have.”

“The government should know about you.”

“Oh yeah?” Kostan started to smile. “Who says they don’t? Did you ever just stop think about what would happen if the government you called were vampires?”

Josh froze. “ Bush?!”

Kostan snorted. “No. Not good ol’ Dubya,” he drawled. “After he got elected, the Council actually passed a law stating that if anyone tried to turn him, they’d be staked, taken to the desert at high noon, injected with silver, set on fire, and beheaded. —But we have other friends in high places.” He glanced sideways at Josh. “Anyway, you can’t seriously believe your call would have gotten all the way up the chain to the president!”

Josh shrugged. The Cleaner smirked.

“Your call probably would have gotten forwarded to Eddie,” Kostan continued. “He’s our guy in the branch of the FBI that investigates paranormal activity. He would have made sure any investigation into your ‘outrageous’ claim went nowhere. Ironically, he’s worked there twenty years, and no one’s noticed anything paranormal about him. Never underestimate the stupidity of humans,” he smiled and shook his head nostalgically.

“Didn’t you used to be one?” Josh sneered.

“Yes. Apparently you’ve forgotten that, too.”

Josh fell silent.

“Anyway, I was going somewhere with my vampire government story—Mr. Lindsey, do you remember the French Revolution?”

Josh raised an eyebrow. “Do I remember the French Revolution?”

“Oh—right. Sorry, used to dealing with people a lot older than you. Are you familiar with the rendering of the French Revolution given in history books?”

“Generally,” Josh admitted warily, his eyes following Kostan as he paced again.

“Pretty brutal, right? Well, that’s the kind of thing that happens when someone opens their big yap and alerts the conspiracy hounds to the existence of vampires. Can you imagine that in this age, with weapons of mass destruction? We may as well just blow up the planet and be done with it. That is why secrecy is imperative and why we do not and cannot tolerate threats,” he continued darkly. “You”—he pointed at Josh—“have made multiple threats and shown no respect and no remorse. Ergo, you must die for the good of the entire universe.”

“Oh really? This has nothing to do with Beth? Or your buddy Mick? He brainwashed her!”

“Boy, somebody has a one-track mind, doesn’t he? Don’t be ludicrous,” Kostan scoffed. “It’s only a myth that vampires can hypnotize people.”

Josh looked at him doubtfully.

“Really! We can’t change into bats either, although that would be cool, wouldn’t it?” He locked eyes with Josh for several moments, never wavering, even when he finally shrugged. “Look, there’s a few things that perhaps you should understand about Mick…and his history with Beth. It’s true, they share a connection—but it’s deeper and longer-running than you, or even she, at this point, is aware of.”

Josh couldn’t hide his surprise at this. “What the hell are you talking about?” he scowled.

“Mick became a vampire on one dark, cold night in 1952. It was his wedding night, and Coraline, his blushing bride—so to speak—hadn’t informed him of her nocturnal feeding habits, or her tendency to bite down when—well, you know,” Kostan smirked and began pacing. “His reaction was quite similar to yours—he thought himself a ‘monster.’” He sighed dramatically. “Their relationship was tumultuous before, but this took it to a whole new level. It was hot and cold for 33 years until Coraline made one last big push to get him back—she thought perhaps if she could give him something he’d always wanted—a family—he’d come back to her. Don’t know if you’re aware of this, but vampires can’t have children—at least not in the traditional way. But it’s also kinda hard for us to adopt; background checks don’t usually end well,” Kostan shook his head and made a moue before continuing, “So Coraline, ever-creative, stole a little girl from her bed as she slept.” Here he paused and looked at Josh pointedly.

Josh swallowed hard as the realization hit him. “Beth…”

“…Beth,” Kostan nodded. “It was the last straw. Mick couldn’t stand the thought of a child dying for him. It finally gave him the strength to break free. He killed Coraline, and took Beth home to her family. He’s watched over her ever since from afar—until that night at the fountain, when she noticed him.”

Josh was silent for a moment. “And now, now that she’s, what, old enough, Mick’s trying to seduce her away from me?” he seethed suddenly.

“—What?” Kostan said incredulously. “Did you just use ‘Mick’ and ‘seduce’ in the same sentence?”

“She’s been obsessed with him, lying for him. I felt her pulling away from me—he’s been drawing her in.”

Kostan crouched down in front of Josh. “Not intentionally, believe me.” He looked him in the eye. “But you can’t blame Mick for your failure to keep a girl satisfied.”

Josh spat in his face.

Kostan rose calmly and removed a handkerchief from his jacket pocket. He used it to wipe the spittle from his cheek, then held it out to the Cleaner. “Burn that,” he commanded. She nodded and took the handkerchief by the corner.

“You can’t do this—you can’t kill me!”

“Oh, really?” Kostan cocked an eyebrow. “I was unaware you were an immortal. Your spit is very human—who else would stop at McDonald’s for lunch on their way to look at a crime scene?”

Josh clenched his jaw. “I meant—”

“Yeah, I’m sure you think you know what you meant.”

“All I know,” Josh growled, “is I have a girlfriend who said she loved me, then threw me to the wolves.”

“What is it with people and wolves, lately?” Kostan scowled. “Werewolves, this, werewolves, that…”

“Werewolves exist, too?!” Josh gasped.

“Of course not! Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Oh, but vampires are plausible,” Josh mocked.

“Um, obviously!” Kostan pointed back and forth between himself and the Cleaner.

“Enough of these games, Josef,” the Cleaner interrupted, moving lithely towards Josh. “It’s time to end him.”

Kostan looked between her and Josh and tapped his finger thoughtfully against his lip. “You know…I don’t think we should kill him…”


To be continued...

[wollstonecraft61]

Kostan snorted. “No. Not good ol’ Dubya,” he drawled. “After he got elected, the Council actually passed a law stating that if anyone tried to turn him, they’d be staked, taken to the desert at high noon, injected with silver, set on fire, and beheaded. —But we have other friends in high places.” He glanced sideways at Josh. “Anyway, you can’t seriously believe your call would have gotten all the way up the chain to the president!”

I almost peed my pants on this one! Will Josh live to regret putting his foot in his mouth again? What does Josef have in store for him?

[NocturneInCMoll]

Tee hee, thanks, Woll. As far as what Josef said last, all I can say is: Consider the source.

[wpgrace]

Gotta hand it to Josh... he should be begging and whining and he's fighting and arguing... but they really OUGHT to just go ahead and end him... he is being most ungracious towards Mick...

[redwinter101]

Gotta hand it to Josh... he should be begging and whining and he's fighting and arguing... but they really OUGHT to just go ahead and end him... he is being most ungracious towards Mick...

Hell, yeah. I had been feeling sorry for Josh, but not now. Ungracious towards Mick is a capital offence... I just wonder prescisely what Josef has in mind.

Lovely chapter, Julie.

Red

[RangerCM]

Each time you post a chapter, I find I have to use every ounce of my will power to keep myself from skimming ahead to the end......it's just so exciting, but at the same time, I don't want to miss even one little word!

Great chapter! Thank you so much for indulging us with your talent

[NocturneInCMoll]

WP--he's a lawyer, arguing is his thing! Agreed, though, he is being rather ungracious and stubborn. Thanks for sticking with this story!

Red--Thank you! Yeah, Josh just won't give up his crimes against Mick--the results of seeing his girlfriend lie to his face about him. He figures Mick must have done something to turn her against him. I guess he doesn't find Mick exciting and charming like we do.

Ranger--Wow, thank you so much! I'm flattered. Glad you enjoyed!

I promise I'll try not to take so long with the next update...it's about half done, I'd say.

[coco]

Nope, not feeling sorry for Josh at all.

[mitzie]

I wonder what Josef has in mind for Josh??!! It better be good, no disrespect meant Josef!!! I am not feeling at all sympathetic towards Josh anymore and he's dense too!!!! I really love this story and can't wait for more...

mitzie

[NocturneInCMoll]

Thanks for reading, Coc & Mitz! Yes, Josh certainly isn't endearing himself to anyone. He really just does not get it.

As for what Josef said..."Consider the source."

[darkstarrising]

Kostan looked between her and Josh and tapped his finger thoughtfully against his lip. “You know…I don’t think we should kill him…”

O for pity's sake, why not? Josh is ungrateful, vengeful, spiteful and jealous who would lie to get his girlfriend back!!!!

But I'm sure you have a reason for Josef's line of thought, Julie, and I can't wait to see what you and Josef have in mind for this weasel!!

[NocturneInCMoll]

Thanks for reading, Karen! I'll try to have the next update soon...

[ash]

ok... Josh is offiically is studpid idiot. He keeps running his damn mouth. I hope Josef as something really really good cooked up (of course he does)

[NocturneInCMoll]

You may be right, Ash. I'll try and update soon. Thanks for reading!

[greenleaf9]

Have to comment here too Nocturne, to let you know yet again, just how absolutely hilarious I found this passage...

“Seriously?!”

“No, not seriously,” Kostan mocked. “Vampires really don’t exist, this is all just one big, elaborate joke—Assistant District Attorney Josh Lindsey, you’ve been PUNKED!” Kostan jabbed the air with his finger to accent the last word.

Ahahahaha!!!!