Twists of Fate chapter 24 (3/28) (PG-13)

[francis]

The usual disclaimers still apply.
Thank you to my fantastic beta, redwinter101.

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link to chapter 23: viewtopic.php?f=75&t=5307
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When I got to Morgan’s house in West Hollywood she wasn’t alone. I could hear voices inside. I knocked, and she took a while to come to the door.

„Josh!“ she said as if she was surprised. „Come in.“

I saw Mick and Beth standing in her living room. Beth smiled, Mick frowned. Morgan prowled. „I totally forgot that I invited Josh over for dinner. Are we ready yet?“

Mick was inspecting various things from her table. „So you managed to scare him away. What did you do then?“

Morgan sauntered from the door to the stairs to the sideboard to her desk. „I checked the door, it wasn’t damaged, but the lock had been picked. I pushed a chair against the knob and then I sat down on the stairs. I couldn’t go back to sleep, but it was three in the morning. I put a towel around my arm and when it didn’t stop bleeding I took a cab to the ER to get my arm seen to, which took forever, and then I went to the police to give a statement.“

Mick was staring at Morgan, obviously deep in thought. Beth was picking up on the mood, too; she seemed uncomfortable and confused. Morgan was so calm, in control of us all but her main focus was Mick. She barely took her eyes from him for a second.

Beth broke the uncomfortable silence. „So we established that he wasn’t after cash. He left all your valuables.“

Morgan turned to face her. „I mean my cameras are worth at least eight grand. He took those.“

Mick continued to pace, seeming more interested in the furniture than in the discussion. „Maybe he was interested in what was inside the cameras. They said it was arson, right? Well, maybe your thief was the one who set the fire.“

„Maybe he thought you took a picture of him,“ Beth added.

Mick looked at Morgan. „Yeah, those arsonists. They really stick around to watch the burn.“

Morgan took a key chain with a flash drive from her neck. „Well if he’s after photos then he’s out of luck, because I don’t leave them in my cameras. I don’t let anybody see these until I sell them.“

We all moved behind her desk to see the monitor. With a few keystrokes she had the photos up and started to flick through them.

Mick saw something there, his eyebrows knitting as he focused on the image. Morgan was careful to play it cool, „It’s nothing.“

Beth looked over her shoulder and said: „No, look. There is something. Right there.“

I moved around the desk to take a look. There was the photo she had faked, the one of me and her. She had photoshopped us into the fire, as if we were in the burning building.
Morgan sounded surprised: „That’s him. That’s the thief.“ I whipped my head around and glared at her. What was she talking about? That was me.

Beth was horrified. „He’s killing her.“ She obviously didn’t recognize me. Mick was unusually quiet. He stared at the photo with wide eyes, terrified, moving his hand to his mouth in horror. What kind of nightmare memories was this bringing back for him? I suddenly felt sorry for him.

The women were the only ones talking. They surmised that the murderer must have seen Morgan while she took the photo, and that she caught the murder on camera.

„Do you think it’s possible that he thought I would recognize him?“ Morgan asked, sounding worried.

„It’s possible,“ Beth replied. „But he would probably be wrong. From what we can see this could be anyone dark and tall. It could be Josh.“

I whipped around. Morgan giggled. „It could also be Mick, you know. The photo isn’t really in focus. If I hadn’t seen the thief, I would never have recognized him.“

Beth was animated. „Well, let’s look into this. If we find the thief, we find the arsonist.“

I knew that Beth would want to investigate this, and I couldn’t let her. For one, the experts at Buzzwire would immediately see that this photo was manipulated. If they blew it up she would recognize Morgan and me. Now it was just a brunette being choked in a fire by a tall, dark man. And I was pretty sure that the thief story didn’t hold water, as Morgan had already admitted to me that the stitches were from the wound caused by the cure. She was peddling different stories to Mick, the police and me; who knew if any of them were true?

From the look of things Coraline had already succeeded in giving Mick a headache. He was clearly rattled by the hints she was dropping, but she held her Morgan persona effortlessly. If I hadn’t known I would believe her too. But where did that leave me?

Mick took Beth’s arm. „We need to get going. I’ll check this out, investigate the Franklin fire and see where it gets me, okay?“

Morgan nodded. „Thank you for your help. Beth, I’ll see you later.“

They left and we were finally alone. She sauntered to the kitchen and started pulling out ingredients for a salad. I followed and sat down at the counter. „What was that all about? Was there really a thief, or are you making that up to get Mick involved?“

She smiled. „There was a thief, but I hired him. I gave him my camera and told him where to put it. I’m sure Mick will get it back.“

So there was another poor sap falling into her traps. I wondered how she had found someone who was willing and able to do a little fake B&E. She watched me closely, „You’re not comfortable with this.“

„No. You know that. Talk to Mick openly or leave him alone. This is just wrong.“

She smiled. „Poor Josh, you’re so hung up on doing the right thing. It’s cute. But Mick and I go way back, and he deserves anything I throw at him. We used to argue and make it up, there was violence and hurtful words on both sides. It’s not as if he’s delicate. He can take it like the man he claims to be.“

„Why do you hate him so much?“ I asked, settling myself in a chair.

„You remember I told you he killed me.“

„Well, he tried to.“

She paced the room. „Do you have any idea how hard it was to recover from that? The burns, the pain? Having to leave everything I had built up here, to run away and regroup? I was disfigured for days until my skin fully healed…“

„You healed perfectly.“

She scoffed. „It hurt. What hurt most was that he did it. He was my fledgling and my husband, he should have submitted to me. I have no idea why that didn’t work out. He should have been unable to hurt me.“

„So he never did it before?“

„You know, most vampires aren’t opposed to a little pain. We bite when we … you know. And I liked it. He didn’t. He had all those hang-ups about being human, about not hunting, not killing anyone. It doesn’t work like that. His instincts revelled in it, his conscience shied away. Nothing I did could change that. In the end I asked Josef for help.“

She talked about Mick as if he was a spoiled child and I wondered if she realized how condescending she sounded. If it were me, I wouldn’t have wanted that. Not from my wife. Certainly not if this was decades before, when men still thought they had to provide for their wifes. In some ways, we still had these instincts.

I stood up and closed the distance between us. „You told me that you turned him without telling him before. Did he know you were a vampire?“

She looked up, confused. „No, and I told you he didn’t take it well.“

I took her hands. „Coraline, did you ever think about Mick’s side of things? I mean, for him this must have been like living a horror movie. Waking up next to his bride, and his whole life changed, without his consent. He had to leave his friends behind, his family, and you were the only one he could rely on. You were the one who did this to him, and he must have some serious trauma from that. And now you’re back and you play games with him again.“

She spun around, stalked to the door and opened it. „Get out!“ she spat. „If you turn against me because of a bit of ancient history, then I don’t want you around. Get. Out.“

Okay, if she wanted it like that. I took my jacket and left. She slammed the door behind me. I just hoped that she wouldn’t do anything rash while she was that angry. She was a powerful being, and even in her human form she could raise some hell. But then I heard her crying. Maybe I just made her face something that she needed to get over alone. If only I could make her stop playing games.

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link to chapter 25:
viewtopic.php?f=75&t=6305
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[NocturneInCMoll]

"Morgaline" is very scary. Josh better get Mick and Beth in the loop, fast.

[NightAir]

I'm glad you posted a new chapter!

I love the way you have interwoven Josh into the story we saw on screen.
He is feeling the same draw to Coraline that Mick felt, but he is much less clueless.
He wants to stop Coraline from playing games. I'm not sure that's possible. Is she capable of behaving any other way? Would she even know how?

[crazy fluffy]

Yay, a new chapter!
Morgan is a bit scary and Josh want to stop her playing games...I'm not sure if that works out well.

[francis]

Thank you, nocturne, Night Air and crazyfluffy. Let's see where this is heading. Josh hardly dares to make a move, he's caught in between. What if Coraline frames him for the murder and arson?

[mitzie]

I really think Josh should confide in Mick. Morgan/Coraline certainly seems to be confident in her plans! I love this story and the way you weave everything together so seamlessly. I'm off to read the next chapter...


mitzie

[francis]

Thank you, mitzie. It seems that Josh is still reluctant to tell Mick about the vampire thing and who Morgan really is. He hopes that Mick finds out by himself and that Josh doesn't have to breach Morgan's trust in him.

[VampFan5]

Hey Francis,

Sorry I missed this one the first go around. I'm glad you're sending out PMs again. So according to Morgaline Mick as a fledgling was hard to deal with and even a little feral. I wonder how much of that is actually true. Josh is way in over his head now. If those pictures go public it could be possible he would be facing murder charges before someone figured out they were fake and then there would be more questions. You can see that Coraline is laying the trail and all the clues for them to follow and enjoying her game play out until her boy toy decided to leave. I think Josh has some feelings for her even though he knows she a buckett of crazy. Onto the next chapter.

VF5

[francis]

Hey Francis,

Sorry I missed this one the first go around. I'm glad you're sending out PMs again. So according to Morgaline Mick as a fledgling was hard to deal with and even a little feral. I wonder how much of that is actually true. Josh is way in over his head now. If those pictures go public it could be possible he would be facing murder charges before someone figured out they were fake and then there would be more questions. You can see that Coraline is laying the trail and all the clues for them to follow and enjoying her game play out until her boy toy decided to leave. I think Josh has some feelings for her even though he knows she a buckett of crazy. Onto the next chapter.

VF5

Yup, Morgan has Josh with this photo, so he knows he can't go against her plans too much, or she will twist the knife and make his life hell. But he's doing his part in helping Mick find out things. Now she's not happy with him, let's see how it ends.

[jen]

Wonderful chapter, Francis.

This is very intresting. Coraline/Morgan is really dealing with her feelings here. Or I think she is. It is hard to tell with her. The way I see it, she was used to using people for her amusement and Josh has forced her to face the unfairness of her dealings. Perhaps she faced something that she has carefully reasoned away for the first time. That her treatment of Mick was monstrous.

I would like to see some growth from her, but she will never get past who she was when she turned Mick against his will until she does. And will also not be able to move on, until she does.

Thank you, Francis!