No Boundaries - part six (PG13)

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Shadow
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No Boundaries - part six (PG13)

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Disclaimer: Moonlight is not mine and no copyright infringement is intended.









IN BETWEEN
sixteen and . . .





No Boundaries
part six





Ben sat at the desk in the corner of the room, staring at the video monitor, at the fish-eye view of the three people in the cell. Mick hadn’t needed the girl’s help to stop after all. He’d gently pulled away from Beth as soon as her body had begun to waver and sway. Now he was sitting leaning against the far wall, holding Beth’s head in his lap with his good arm as she slept, and the girl Elaine was huddled up against him. His injured arm hung stiffly at his side, obviously still painful, and Ben wondered why he was alive, and if he’d stay that way, blood or no blood. He’d never heard of a vampire surviving fire before.

Olivia had said something strange, about how some vampires could. How could she possibly have known that?

Ben watched the people in the cell for a moment longer, then turned away from the screen. This place was so strange, so high-tech; there were not only cameras hidden in the cell – real time only, for observation, not recording - but gas jets as well, for hands-off incineration. The hunters in Chicago had never had a place even vaguely like this. On the rare occasions they had met, they’d used old warehouses or abandoned buildings by the docks. And since Olivia couldn’t even enlist the help of the other local hunters, how was it that she had access to facilities like these?

Olivia. She’d recruited Ben, showing him proof that vampires existed, that they’d been the cause of Sarah’s death. He would never have listened to her, never believed her, except – he’d seen something, the night he’d found Sarah’s body. From a distance, he’d seen two dark forms crouched over her, eyes glowing silver in the streetlights as they lifted their heads to look toward him. He’d broken into a run, shouting, and they’d vanished like shadows, as if they’d never been there. The friends who’d been with him hadn’t seen a thing. But he had.

Olivia had taught him how to hunt the creatures, what their weaknesses were, how to protect himself. She’d introduced him to the other hunters in the city, and at that time, they’d respected and valued her. She hadn’t been particularly sane even then, but none of them had been, really, living in grief and mired in vengeance. Now, Olivia was alone and alienated, the Chicago group wasn’t even accepting information from her, and she wasn’t acting like anyone he’d ever known.

She was pacing back and forth across the room now, impatient, angry with him because he hadn’t let her kill the vampires yet. And she wanted to kill Beth as well, a thought that shamed him and made him feel sick. For a crazed moment, when he’d seen the bite marks at Beth’s throat, he’d gone into a cold fury, seeing her only as a traitor. He’d thrown her in with the others just to get her out of his sight, but he’d known there was a chance they might kill her. That could have happened, when she’d pulled the stakes. It should have happened, according to all he’d been taught. He hadn’t known it was possible for vampires to act the way Mick and Elaine had.

Olivia picked up her crossbow, checked it, and put it down on top of a file cabinet, close to hand. He knew she kept it loaded with silver spikes, fatal if they pierced a vampire’s heart. But she wouldn’t need such a weapon to kill the people in the next room; for that, she’d only have to throw a switch on the control panel. And she’d been casting frequent glances at the outer door, not the inner one. What trouble was she expecting – now, as the sun was setting?

Her eyes looked crazed, and he knew she wasn’t going to put up with his delays for much longer. What’s happened to her? He’d known her so well once, but now . . . now, he wasn’t sure if he knew her at all.















“They took them,” Esme Morrison said, her voice a low whisper, her face strained. “Mick and the girl were staked, and Beth was unconscious.”

Josef watched her intently. “They were all alive when they were taken from here?”

“Yes. But Mick was burned. A bad burn, on the arm. I don’t know how he was still alive that way, but he was.”

Josef glanced at Coraline, who was standing near Logan, pointedly staying away from Marguerite. Coraline was rubbing at her arm, not seeming to notice what she was doing. Judging by her reactions, Mick was alive even now, though Josef wasn’t sure how that was possible. He’d asked Coraline how she could be so sure that slow healing wasn’t a potential outcome for Mick’s burn, since there couldn’t have been all that many burned vampires in Mick’s generation. One of my brothers was curious, and did experiments, she’d answered, and Josef still hadn’t quite managed to take that statement in.

Esme rose from the floor and Josef pushed the door aside for her, letting her step out into the front yard. The sun was low on the horizon, but it was still bright enough to hurt, and he couldn’t help flinching under its glare. Esme blinked painfully against the sun, closed her eyes, and murmured, “There was a gray van here, and a blue sedan. They were loaded into the van and taken away.”

“Taken where?”

Esme simply shook her head, staring out at the empty street.

“Mick’s sire is here,” he said.

“I know. I saw her.”

“She has a bond with him – do you think you could get anything more from her?”

“Maybe. I’d like to try.” Esme followed Josef back into the house, and Coraline willingly stepped up to meet them. She’d certainly heard Josef’s suggestion. Esme looked Coraline up and down, as if assessing her, and said, “Coraline . . . I owe a debt to you. And there’s something I need to give you.”

“A debt?” Coraline sounded bewildered.

“Later,” Josef said harshly. He had no idea what Esme was talking about, and right now he didn’t care. There was no time for it. He put Esme’s hand against Coraline’s, and a tremor went through both women. Coraline clenched her eyes shut, as if she was trying to fight something off. An image, a memory? God only knew what sort of things someone like Esme might carry with her . . . Coraline suddenly cried out, her body shaking, but she stood frozen, and didn’t move. Esme pulled away from her, breathing hard, and ran a trembling hand through her hair. “Anything?” Josef asked, watching Coraline uneasily.

Esme nodded, her gaze also on Coraline, who slowly staggered backwards and fell to the floor in front of the couch. What the hell had happened? What was wrong with her? Logan was eyeing Coraline fearfully, and Marguerite’s normally impassive face twitched in a smile – right, Marguerite and Coraline had an old grudge between them - but Josef didn’t have time to worry about it. He turned all his attention to Esme, who took another deep breath, stood up straight, and faced him. “I saw Mick,” she said. “In a room, a cell perhaps. Cement floors and walls, no windows, a door like a hatchway. Beth and the girl are with him.”

Marguerite quickly stepped forward. “You’ve described a Cleaners’ holding cell,” she said. “From what you’ve told me about Cleaner involvement, Josef, that’s where they must be.”

Josef nodded, certain she was right. Finally, finally, they had a lead. “Do you know where this is?” he asked Marguerite.

“Yes, but there are five Cleaners’ stations across the city, Josef. It could be any of them.”

“Can you tell the direction?” he asked Esme.

“No. That’s all.”

“We can only check them in turn, then,” Marguerite said. “We don’t have the numbers to split up and hit them all at once.”

“Agreed,” Josef said. “Let’s get moving.”

As they headed out, Josef glanced back at Coraline. Esme was on the floor beside her now, holding her hands, and though Coraline tried to flinch away from her at first, she finally relaxed and held still. It seemed as if Esme, after somehow terrorizing Coraline, was trying to offer her comfort, and she gently helped the other woman to her feet. Well, it made no sense to him, but as long as they were ready to move, he didn’t care.

“Come on,” he said, and they followed him.















Ben turned to Olivia and watched her as she moved – so graceful, so lithe – and his eyes narrowed. She had access to facilities that must surely belong to the vampires’ own Cleaners. She’d seen Beth’s bite wounds even under her impeccably applied makeup, when Ben hadn’t seen a trace of them. She was small and had no muscle mass to speak of, but she was far stronger than she had ever been before, stronger than should be possible. He’d known her so well once, and he hadn’t wanted to believe the truth, but it was staring him in the face. Quietly he asked, “Olivia, how long have you been a vampire?”

The eternal pacing stopped abruptly. “What?”

“Don’t play games with me, Olivia. How long?”

She stood very still. “Two years now,” she said flatly.

“You chose it, didn’t you? Why?

“Isn’t it obvious? Look how many vampires I’ve uncovered! It was driving me mad, struggling for weeks, for months, to track down even one of them. Something had to be done – so I did it. And then I worked my way in, all the way into their damn Cleaners. I sacrificed everything to get on the inside, where I could finally make a difference! And now everyone is blocking me; they’re trying to make it all for nothing. That call list is a gold mine – why should it matter what I did to get it?”

“Olivia . . . ” She hated vampires with all her heart and soul, and yet she couldn’t see why she was being shunned. The other hunters couldn’t know what had actually happened to her, or she’d be dead now, but they must have realized that something had gone very wrong. Ben didn’t know whether to feel pity for her, or revulsion, and somehow he felt both at the same time. “It does matter,” he said at last.

She shook her head, as if in disbelief. “You won’t stand with me either, will you?”

“No.”

“Then it’s time to cut my losses.”

She stepped immediately to the control panel, her hand reaching for the switch that controlled the gas jets, and he leaped up to yank her hand aside. She whirled, fangs suddenly out, snarling furiously and rushing at him in a frenzy – and he used her own momentum to drive the stake he held into her heart. She’d taught him that trick herself; she’d taught him to always be cautious and ready, to have a stake always at hand. She’d forgotten everything she’d ever believed in, apparently. Dispassionately Ben watched her fall, pausing only for long enough to make sure the stake didn’t get jarred loose. Then he turned toward the hatchway to the other room, picked up Olivia’s crossbow from the top of the file cabinet, and took a deep breath. It would be risky indeed, going alone into a room that held two vampires, but this bow had a repeating action, and he could probably take them both down if they came after him – which didn’t seem very likely. They were both in bad shape, after all, the girl drugged and Mick burned. And if he didn’t go in there, he’d never get the answers he now desperately needed. He looked back at Olivia, who still lay motionless on the floor.

Had he done the right thing when he’d stopped her? He still wasn’t sure. But he knew it was time he found out.














Beth woke to the sound of voices, but she couldn’t seem to find the strength to sit up or even open her eyes. She’d fallen asleep with her head on Mick’s lap, but she was now lying on a cold floor. She heard a girl’s voice, a girl who sounded terribly young and very frightened.

“Mick,” the girl whispered, between struggling breaths, “I’m so thirsty. So thirsty . . .”

“I know. But it’s just the drug. It’ll pass as it wears off. You can hold out, Elaine; I know you can.”

“Just how do you know so much about it?” Elaine snapped. “They used it on you in New York, didn’t they? God, Mick! Have you ever told me the whole truth about anything?”

Beth heard the rustle of fabric and the sound of faltering footsteps, and then felt Mick’s hand on her arm, pulling her toward him. She groaned and sat up as Mick moved, and she realized he had carefully put himself between her and Elaine.

“What is it?” she murmured. “What’s wrong with Elaine?”

“She’s starving,” Mick said, his voice very low. “They drugged her . . . and there are side effects.”

“I didn’t think drugs worked on vampires.” Beth, alarmed, watched Elaine’s uncertain progress across the floor.

“Ordinary ones don’t. This is something the Cleaners developed.”

Beth frowned, troubled, at the mention of the Cleaners. Elaine made her way back to them with something clutched in her hand: a bloody stake, probably the one that had been in her chest before. Mick reached out, as if hypnotized, and took it from her.

“If I lose control, then use it,” Elaine said hoarsely. “I’m not killing anyone else, damn it, not anyone ever again. Least of all Beth. Promise me you won’t let me.”

“I promise,” Mick said, his hand tightening around the stake. Beth’s gaze was drawn to his other arm . . . had her blood cured him, healed the burn? No. He was holding that arm stiffly, and the burn was still there, blackened and charred. She touched his shoulder, and though his fever was much lower than it had been, he was still far too hot.

“Mick . . .”

His attention was on Elaine, not on her, and he gave a slight shake of his head, quieting her. Was Elaine that close to breaking down? Would he really have to stake her? But Elaine suddenly spun away from him, looking at the door, and Mick’s head came up as if he’d heard something too. Beth stiffened, getting ready to jump to her feet, to put herself between Mick and whatever came through the door.

But when the door opened, and Ben stepped into the room, Elaine was the first one who moved. She was halfway across the room before Beth even realized what was happening, moving with that terrifying vampire speed, but somehow Mick caught her before she reached Ben. He pulled her around to face him, and though her body fought against him, Beth saw the desperation on her face. “Stop me!” she cried, and Mick grabbed her and flung her down, falling with her, driving the stake into her heart as they both hit the ground. He rolled away from her and in a flash he was up again, lunging at Ben with his fangs bared, but Ben had a weapon raised by then, and was poised to shoot. Mick can take Ben down, but he’ll die doing it . . . “No!” Beth screamed, and by some miracle both men froze in mid-attack, turning to look at her. Mick’s eyes were wild and white, and Ben’s hand was taut on the trigger of his crossbow – but they’d stopped.

“Wait,” Beth said breathlessly, taking a careful step forward. “Wait, Ben. Don’t shoot. You didn’t come in here to kill us. Isn’t that right?” Surely he’d have brought Olivia with him, if he’d meant to kill them? He’s just frightened . . . but no less dangerous, for that. She crept closer to Mick, who stood crouched with every muscle tense, ready to leap. “Isn’t that right, Ben,” she said again.

“Yes,” Ben whispered. His gaze was still fixed on Mick . . . on Mick’s eyes, Beth realized, on those pale vampire eyes.

“Then why are you here? What do you really want?”

“Answers,” Ben said, his voice barely audible. But Mick was listening, analyzing – he can always tell if a human is telling the truth – and his body was slowly losing its coiled tension.

“What answers?” Beth asked.

“I – I don’t understand why . . .” He broke off, glancing down at Elaine, and said abruptly, “Why did she come after me? She didn’t want to, and she’s – she’s not a killer.” He blinked, as if startled by his own words, and his eyes looked a little glassy.

“It’s the drug you gave her,” Mick said. He took a single step back, and Ben’s hand relaxed a fraction on his weapon. Mick’s breathing was fast and shallow, and he shoved a tangle of sweaty hair back from his eyes, his hand trembling a little. The burn. What’s happened to it, in this chaos? There was new-fallen ash on the floor at Mick’s feet.

“The drug?” Ben said uncertainly.

“It causes an uncontrollable hunger as it wears off - if it doesn’t kill you first,” Mick said, his voice very tight. “You really might want to learn something about it before you use it again.”

“I didn’t know about the drug at all,” Ben said. “Olivia just said she had proof about you. I had no idea what she was going to do.”

Beth found this hard to believe, but Mick didn't dispute it, and as she watched, his eyes began to change, their pale glow darkening to deep hazel. Ben must be telling the truth after all. Beth couldn’t help being glad about that, glad that Ben had not intentionally tortured Elaine. Mick slowly backed away and knelt beside the staked girl, putting his hand on her shoulder, and when he looked up at Ben again, his whole demeanor was different.

“Look, it’s me you’ve been after all this time. Not Elaine. You questioned her under the drug, for God’s sake - you must realize what kind of person she really is. Let her go, Ben. She’s just a kid.”

“She’s twice as old as I am,” Ben said.

“No,” Mick said softly. “Emotionally, we don’t really age. She was turned at seventeen; she’s still seventeen. And Beth . . .” Mick suddenly glanced toward her, with an expression on his face that frightened her. “Beth is human, Ben.”

“Mick . . .” Beth said uneasily. She was sure Mick was trying to sacrifice himself, for her and for Elaine. But she wasn’t going to leave him, and she knew Elaine wouldn’t want to either. As she spoke Ben turned toward her, looking nervous and undecided. The implacable coldness that had fallen over him when he’d seen the bite marks was gone now, and he seemed more confused by her than furious with her. Could there really be a chance of reaching him? We have to reach him. Even if Mick had killed him, we wouldn’t have gotten free - Olivia’s still out there. Our only chance is to win Ben over to our side.

“What are you and your friend planning to do with us, Ben?” she asked.

“Olivia wants to see you die.”

“What about you?”

“I don’t know yet.” His hand tightened on the crossbow, and Beth took an uncertain step back.

“I saw the file you have on Mick,” she said, her voice as calm and steady as she could make it. "You’ve been collecting information on him for a long time, haven’t you? But you didn’t take any action against him. You must not have been sure that was really the right thing to do.”

“That’s because I wasn’t sure what he was,” Ben muttered. “Now I know.” He looked back at Mick, but his expression was still more puzzled than assured, and Beth saw no hatred there.

“Have you been doing this since Sarah died?” she asked, pulling his attention back to her. “Hunting vampires?”

Ben twitched a little. “What do you know about Sarah?”

“Not very much. I know you were engaged, and that she was murdered. Was it – was it a vampire?”

Ben nodded stiffly. “Yes. It was.”

Mick spoke up then, his tone strangely understanding. “And you wanted revenge for that. For what happened to her.”

“Of course I did.”

“So you dropped out of sight, and started hunting vampires,” Beth said. “But then you took a job in New York City. Why? It couldn’t have been likely that Sarah’s killer was there.”

“When I started to recover, I – I wanted to start over. To find other ways to pursue justice that weren’t so . . .” He didn’t finish the sentence, but Beth was fairly sure he’d had regrets about what he’d done. He hesitated, then went on. “I did keep my eyes open, though. And when the news came down about Josh Lindsay, I saw Carl Davis’s report about the Tejada murder. There were some pretty odd things in that report.”

Mick winced a little at that. Beth knew very well who had killed Tejada, and exactly what the witnesses had seen. She bit her lip, wondering if there was any way to convince Ben that there was another explanation. She’d wanted to start talking to Ben about the people Mick had saved – Jacob, Bonnie, Leni – not about the one he had killed.

But Ben directed his question directly at Mick. “Did you kill Tejada?”

Mick didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

“Why?”

“He’d evaded justice too many times. He knew how to get around the system, how to kill and get away with it. He nearly killed Beth, and he did kill Josh Lindsay . . . who was one of the best men I’ve ever met.” Mick’s voice became impassioned as he spoke, and he seemed to have forgotten he was talking to a hunter. The bitter wariness was gone from his voice, and the tension had slipped from his body.

And Ben had lowered his weapon, listening. How could admitting to a murder have been exactly the right thing for Mick to do?

“Ben,” Beth said, and he slowly turned to look at her. “Why did you stop hunting back then? Why did you decide to go work at the DA’s office instead?”

Ben shook his head, as if he didn’t even know.

“If a human had killed Sarah, would you have gone out on the street and started killing random humans?” she asked, as gently as she could. “Maybe you realized that what you were doing wasn’t right.”

He looked shaken, but he stubbornly shook his head again. “The analogy doesn’t hold, Beth. Most humans have never killed anyone, or ever even imagined killing. Most vampires have killed a lot of people.”

“And how do you know exactly which ones have done that? How do you know which ones were turned against their will, and had no choice?” Beth slowly moved to stand by Mick, who still knelt at Elaine’s side. “Mick was turned against his will. He would do anything to be human again, but there’s no way back.”

Ben’s attention was fixed on Elaine now. “Then why did he turn someone else?” he asked.

“She was dying,” Mick said, his voice breaking as he gazed down at the girl. “She looked up at me, and she begged me not to let her die. She was so scared, and I . . .” He stopped, looking away, and Beth’s heart ached for both Mick and Elaine. She’d thought it must have been something like that, but she couldn’t even imagine how terrible it had been for Mick. Two innocent people died that night, he’d said, and she shuddered, remembering the pain in his voice.

“You didn’t do her a favor,” Ben muttered.

“I know.” Mick touched Elaine’s hair, smoothing the dark strands against the floor.

“Will she be . . . okay? After that drug?”

Beth caught her breath at Ben's question – was Elaine a person to him, now? - and so did Mick. “She should be,” Mick said, looking thoughtfully at Ben. “If she gets out of here, that is.”

“Yeah.” Ben frowned, glancing over his shoulder at the door. Then he turned back to Mick. "Look. There's a list, that has her name on it. And yours. And the names of a lot of . . . others like you."

Mick only nodded, acknowledging this.

"Olivia put it together, and she didn’t give it to anyone but me," he said. "And I won’t pass it on. So you should be safe enough. But I won't destroy my copy, either. If anything should – happen - to me, I guarantee you, it will go public.”

Mick nodded again, and Beth was finding it hard to breathe. Things had turned around so suddenly. Was Ben really talking about letting them go? Or was this some kind of trap?

“What about Olivia?” she asked.

Ben shrugged. “I’ll leave her to you. She’s in the other room.”

Beth looked at him in confusion. Did he think they could easily overpower the smaller woman? After the way Olivia had pinned her to the wall, she wasn’t so sure about that.

“She’s restrained,” he said quietly. “You’ll have no trouble with her.” His weapon still in hand, he turned on his heel and walked out of the room, leaving the door open behind him.















Mick still didn’t really believe it. Was Talbot going to just let them go, after everything that had happened? When Beth started to run for the door he grabbed her and held her back, and they went on more slowly together, as cautiously as possible. But no traps lay in wait for them, and no one was waiting to kill them. Ben was long gone, his scent already starting to fade from the air. And Olivia –

“Oh my God,” Beth said, putting her hand to her mouth. “Is she alive? Is she a vampire?”

"Yeah, she is," Mick said, looking down at Olivia’s furious face.

“But she was a hunter,” Beth protested.

“I guess she thought she could kill more vampires as a vampire,” Mick said. He’d never expected it, never imagined such a thing, but somehow he wasn’t really surprised. It seemed likely that Olivia had in fact become a Cleaner, thus gaining access to their secrets. And if she was a Cleaner . . . he stiffened, catching sight of the control panel, realizing for the first time exactly where they were. He moved closer to the panel and a memory washed over him: Olivia with her hand on the switch; Talbot leaping up to stop her. Mick froze, shocked by the image. Talbot actually saved us. And Olivia . . . He would have killed her on the spot, but they still needed information from her; they needed to know if Talbot’s words were really true. He turned his back on her and hurried into the cell to get Elaine. He knelt by her and tried to lift her into his arms, but suddenly he realized he couldn’t manage it. It’s fading already. Beth’s blood had revived him, giving him back his strength, but the burn was eating it away again, relentless.

“I can help,” Beth said, kneeling quickly beside him. She grabbed one of Elaine’s arms and he took the other, and together they dragged Elaine out of the holding cell into the office, settling her carefully on the floor beside the desk.

“Can we take the stake out now?” Beth asked anxiously.

“No. We have to have blood ready for her first,” Mick said. A wave of dizziness passed over him, and he sat down abruptly on the floor. He could do with more blood himself – a lot more blood. He glanced down at his arm, at the drift of ash now falling from the burn to the floor. There was more ash than there had been before, spreading over a wider area, and he was afraid he knew what that meant. Beth looked at him worriedly, then hurried across the room and collected her bag from the corner, pushing their coats out of the way. The coats were both singed by fire, the sleeve of his burned away, and he could smell the nauseating odors of smoke, charred cloth and burned flesh. The smell of smoke always brought him back to Coraline; it had lingered in his lungs even after he’d left the scene, underlying his horror at what he’d had to do. Beth didn’t seem to notice the smells; she was rummaging in her bag, probably for her phone. Good. They needed to call for help, and he didn’t have the energy to do it himself. He could feel his fever rising again, and the pain in his arm was overwhelming. What had it felt like for Coraline? When she’d been pretending to be Morgan, she’d graphically described what it might be like to die by fire, a description that had chilled his soul. And he knew, now, that in a way she had actually experienced it. She’d healed, maybe as quickly as Lance had . . . but maybe not. And she’d been burned over her entire body, not just on her arm.

The cold cement felt good against his legs, and he let himself slide all the way to the floor. He heard Beth’s voice, speaking urgently to someone. Was that Josef, on the other end of the connection? Beth pushed open the office’s outer door to look outside, and the faint light of dusk poured into the room.

There was still light out there in the world. That was good. But it was painful too, so very painful. Mick turned his back on it, lying on his side and holding his injured arm in front of him. Time skipped like a stone on water, one moment passing in a flash, the next endless. Beth spoke to him and held him, her voice as soothing and gentle as a caress. “Hold on, Mick,” he heard her whisper, close to his ear. “Hold on to me. Don’t let go.”

“What’s happening?”

“Josef’s almost here. He was already on his way, can you believe it? I don’t know how he figured out where we were.” Her voice was trembling badly. “He’ll know what to do. I know he will . . .”

Her words faded away, and he tightened his grip on her, afraid of losing her. “Beth?”

“I’m here. I’m not leaving you.”

In that moment, she was the only thing that existed in his world, and he seemed to see her across time . . . a little girl with her arms tight around his neck, a sobbing teenager he couldn’t give comfort to, a woman walking barefoot through the freezing waters of a fountain, colored lights glowing around her, her face brightening with a smile when she found him waiting beneath the trees. He saw her as an older woman, her face lined and her blond hair shot with silver; he saw her as a woman just as old but looking no more than thirty, her eyes nearly white and a glint of fangs in her mouth. Both of the visions seemed true, somehow . . . He drifted back to the present, to Beth as she was now, and then the timeless moment shattered in a whirl of voices and scents. Josef and Logan. Esme. Marguerite. He’d forgotten that Josef had sent for her. Coraline. Why was she here? Beth . . . but Beth wasn’t touching him any more, she’d moved away from him.

Someone grasped his arm just above the burn, and he let out a moan, trying to pull away. “Take it easy, Mick.” It was Josef’s voice. “Coraline, what do you think?”

“I told you. If he was going to heal, he would have already. He’s dying.” Her voice sounded just like the nurse’s in the field hospital. Strange. There was pain in Coraline’s voice, actual physical pain, and she seemed troubled emotionally as well. The pain in her voice echoed in his arm, in his whole body, and a moment later he realized what she’d actually said. He’d been afraid of it all along. He hadn’t healed at all, and he had no doubt that Coraline was right. He was dying, just more slowly than a burned vampire normally would. Beth had kept him alive this long with her blood, with sheer willpower, but there was only so much she could do. Even she couldn’t keep a vampire from dying by fire. Oh, Beth. Where are you? Come back to me, please come back. She’d stepped away to make room for the others, and he knew she was nearby, but that wasn’t enough. He tried to call out for her, to reach for her.

And then Beth was back at his side, as if she'd somehow heard him. Her hand clasped his, so comforting, so strong. “No," she said, to Coraline. He could feel her anger at Coraline, her wavering trust in Josef, her determination to save him. “No! He won’t die. I gave him blood, and he got better. His fever went down. He just needs more blood, and a freezer.”

“Your blood did save him,” Coraline said, her voice very flat. “He’d be dead now without it. And if we keep him cold and give him more blood, he’ll live for a while longer. But he’ll still die in the end.”

“Josef?” Beth sounded desperate now. Mick managed to open his eyes, and he looked up at her, wanting to see her face again, but his vision was a blur.

“I think she’s right, Beth,” Josef said heavily. “We’ll try to save him, of course we will, but -- ”

No.” Beth’s hand, holding his, was so cool. And his was so hot; he was so hot again, burning again.

“There is one thing that might work,” Coraline said, and a wash of hope flooded over Beth, mingling with her distrust and hatred of Coraline. There was a rustle of fabric and Coraline held something out, something small that held a glint of silver. Beth reached out and quickly grabbed it. Mick heard a faint click, as if a small box had been opened, and he felt Beth’s confusion. She didn’t know what it was.

“What is this?” she asked.

“That’s the cure,” Josef said, taking the box from her hand. “You want to turn him human, Coraline?”

Josef sounded bewildered, but Mick suddenly saw it. Even he knew that a human with a burn couldn’t be turned into a vampire; such a person would turn to ash instead. But the reverse . . .

“Josef, a burn is the only injury that’s worse for a vampire than it is for a human,” Coraline said. “This burn is only as bad as it is because he’s a vampire. If he was human, it wouldn’t be like this - there wouldn’t be this char and ash. He’d still be hurt, but it would be something he could heal from.”

“Are you speaking from experience?” Josef asked, but he didn’t seem to expect an answer, and he didn’t get one.

Mick wondered if she was right. Is this something I could heal from as a human? Was that possible? As a vampire he couldn’t heal from this; he could feel it in his bones. If he got into a freezer and took in blood he’d survive for a while, in a kind of limbo, but he’d eventually die. Limbo. Mick’s mind was racing now, making connections he’d never seen before. He was only halfway aware of Beth’s fear, of Josef’s precise questions about how the cure worked and how it should be used, about how he would be protected from the family. He was thinking instead of Sarah, Josef’s Sarah, caught in limbo for so many long years. Could the cure push her back into her human state, and set her free? Or was he hallucinating again? Had Coraline even brought the cure, or had he imagined it? Why would she have brought it, after all? Why would she want to save him from this, after what he’d done to her?

He looked up and saw Coraline leaning over him. She seemed strangely confused, and Mick didn’t think he would have been able to read her expression even if his vision had been clear. She touched his face, her hand very cold, and then got to her feet and stepped back.

“You’re leaving?” Josef asked.

“Yes. I have to go.” She took one more step back, her eyes on someone on the other side of the room . . . a flash of red hair; it must be Esme . . . and then she spun about and hurried out of the building. The door fell shut behind her, and there was a long silence after she left.

“Never thought I’d see the day when Coraline did something like that,” Josef said at last.

“Was she telling the truth?” Beth’s voice was shaky. “Josef . . . do you think she really wants to help Mick?”

“She’s certainly not above tormenting him, or even torturing him,” Josef said. “But she does love him, Beth, in her own . . . different way. And she doesn’t want to lose him. I don’t think she wants him to die.”

“She doesn’t.” Esme said from across the room, her voice very low.

Josef glanced up, alert to Esme’s words, but Beth hadn’t heard her. She was looking straight at Mick, her expression intent and worried. “Mick,” she said. “Should we do it? Should we use the cure?”

He tried to nod, and squeezed her hand. In this, he found he trusted Coraline, and anyway, it was his only chance. Beth seemed to understand, because she turned to Josef and said quickly, “Let’s do it.”

Josef didn’t hesitate. He took Mick’s good arm, rolled up his sleeve, and pulled out a knife, and Beth steadied his arm as Josef made the cut. Mick felt the cure go in, felt its slow spread from the wound, but it was so different than it had been before, so very different - not warm but cool, wonderfully cool, somehow pulling the unnatural heat from his body, easing the burn. He felt his whole body relax, and Beth reached out to take his hand back in hers.

“He’s cooler,” she whispered.

“The cut I just made – it’s not healing.” Josef sounded fascinated, and more than a little horrified.

“But look at the burn. Oh God, Josef. It’s working, isn’t it? It’s not turning to ash any more. It looks like a normal burn.”

Mick glanced toward his arm, and saw that Beth was right. The burn wasn’t black and charred any more; it was a blistered, angry red. And he could see it clearly - his vision was back. He looked up and saw Josef’s face, and Beth’s, smiling through tears. He clasped Beth’s hand more tightly and hesitantly pushed himself up, careful of his injured arm. It still hurt badly, but it wasn’t killing him any more, and though he was still feverish, the terrifying heat he’d radiated before was gone. Josef and Beth steadied him as he sat up, and he reached out hesitantly for the little silver box on the floor, running his fingers slowly along its lid. It wasn’t the same box Coraline had shown him before, and it was nearly empty, but it didn’t take much of the cure to make a miracle. “Is this really true?” he asked uncertainly.

“It’s true. You’re human again,” Beth said. “And this way you can heal.”

He glanced down at the burn, and then back up at her. “I never thought this could happen again,” he said dazedly. “I never thought there’d be another chance.” He reached out for her then, stroking her hair reverently, marveling at the feel of it, and she shivered. Over her shoulder he saw Elaine leaning against Logan, her arm around him, the bloody stake now on the floor beside a pile of empty blood bags. His daughter was safe, she would be well. And beyond all hope, he was human again.

And he wasn’t going to lose this chance again, no matter what. He stroked back Beth’s hair, put both hands to her face, and without the least hesitation, he leaned in to kiss her. Beth kissed him back, delighted and passionate, and now he knew what her lips really felt like against his, how her mouth tasted, how it truly felt to kiss her as a human. He took it all in, savoring every sensation, saving every instant to hold in his heart forever. And then he simply held her, his head on her shoulder, and let the rest of the world disappear.













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aolver
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Re: No Boundaries - part six (PG13)

Post by aolver »

This was beautiful. Mick will heal now. Thank you so much. :hearts: :rose: :flowers:
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Re: No Boundaries - part six (PG13)

Post by susieb »

Excellent! I'd hoped that Ben wouldn't turn out to be rotten to the core! And those musings about Sarah and the cure.... hmmmm.... very interesting!! Now, what did Esme learn from/tell Coraline?!
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Re: No Boundaries - part six (PG13)

Post by Shadow »

Thanks so much, aolver and Susie . . . there will be more to come soon, hopefully . . . :flowers:
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Re: No Boundaries - part six (PG13)

Post by jen »

Shadow

This is fabulous and I almost this new chapter, thinking it was the previous chapter popping back up on Active Topics!

I'm relieved that Ben is not a vampire hunter to the core like Olivia. When it came right down to it, he was able to see past his need for revenge for his Sarah's death, and we don't yet have the whole story of what happened there.

Coraline, too, has proven to have escaped the mantle of a single minded villain as she has helped save Mick's life.

The abilities of Esme and Coraline in being able to connect to Mick and feel what he is feeling provides more interesting details of the sire/fledgling connection. It still endures. I really look forward to the next chapter as it will provvide some details as to how Mick will handle being on the cure now. I know some of what he will do this time, and who knows how long it will last.

Thank you!

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Re: No Boundaries - part six (PG13)

Post by Shadow »

I'm glad you found this chapter, Jenna! (At one point I was planning to subtitle all the chapters . . . maybe I should have, so it would be easier to tell which is which . . . ;))

Mick's experience of being human this time will indeed be quite different than what it was before . . . and hopefully I'll have that next part up soon. It's great to know that you're looking forward to it.
Thanks so much for your comment! :hearts:
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Re: No Boundaries - part six (PG13)

Post by wpgrace »

:gasp: WOW!!!!!!!!

I did not see this coming!

Total turn of events!
And delighted to see Cora and her story brought back in. :happysigh:
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Re: No Boundaries - part six (PG13)

Post by Shadow »

Glad you found this, Grace!

And that it could be a bit of a surprise, too. :hearts:
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Re: No Boundaries - part six (PG13)

Post by maggatha3 »

I was left with such a sweet taste with the last scene in the previous chapter, I didn't even quite realise the danger Mick was in. What a clever thought, that a burnt vampire could be saved if turned human!!
Cora, now, I have such difficulty believing in her. She looked at Mick in a way he described as ''strangely confused''.Why? And why did she have to run again and disappear, while things were still uncertain? I mean, Esme seemed to be really reassuring as far as Coraline was concerned, but maybe she fooled Esme too. :chin:
Ben has come a long way in those few hours too. For somebody who has lost who he loved by vampires ,he seems really stable and understanding of their nature more than would be expected ,doesn't he?
Once again, I loved the end of the chapter. Mick hasn't healed yet, but he is already taking full advantage of what his humanity has to offer. And the image of all of them leaving the Cleaners' place , together, as a family gathered in need was formed right in front of my eyes.

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Re: No Boundaries - part six (PG13)

Post by Shadow »

maggatha3 wrote:And the image of all of them leaving the Cleaners' place , together, as a family gathered in need was formed right in front of my eyes.
Maggatha, how I love that you got such an image at that moment . . . it may not have been written out, but that's just what was in my mind.

So wonderful to know that you liked the end of this chapter . . . not to mention the end of the last one! :happysigh: I so like getting your thoughts on Cora and Ben, too. Thanks ever so much, little fledgling!!
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Re: No Boundaries - part six (PG13)

Post by allegrita »

Ohhhhh man... I had a horrible feeling they were going to amputate Mick's arm. :chair: :gasp: :hankie: :hankie: :hankie: :hankie:

Thank you, Coraline, thank you so much for giving him the cure again. :hug: You've saved him. And now he will get to have a Krispy Kreme with Beth. :hearts: (Feeling very sorry for Coraline right now...)

And Logan's OK!! :hyper2: :hyper2: :hyper2: I guess he just smell-saw Elaine, like Josef did. :phew:

OK, I have a million questions. In Mick's WWII hallucination, the nurse had such deliciously cold hands. And then when he heard Coraline's voice, he thought she was that nurse. Was Coraline a nurse in WWII, in Italy?!? Did she know Mick before??? :chin: And what is the gift that Esme wanted to give her... and what did they talk about?

About her brother's experiments... just uggghhh. :confused2: Dr. Mengele comes to mind. :scary: Coraline definitely comes by her ruthless streak honestly... *shudder*

And hmmmm... will Mick remember to tell Josef his thoughts about Sarah and the cure? Will Josef believe him? And bigger question--if he does believe Mick, will he use the cure on Sarah?!
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Re: No Boundaries - part six (PG13)

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allegrita wrote:OK, I have a million questions. In Mick's WWII hallucination, the nurse had such deliciously cold hands. And then when he heard Coraline's voice, he thought she was that nurse. Was Coraline a nurse in WWII, in Italy?!? Did she know Mick before??? :chin: And what is the gift that Esme wanted to give her... and what did they talk about?
I hope you got all these questions answered by the end, Alle! The bits of Coraline's past throughout this series, including this part, all came from Night Moth . . . (apparently I really like having all my stories connect. ;) )
allegrita wrote:Coraline definitely comes by her ruthless streak honestly... *shudder*
Not sure why, but I've always had the idea that Coraline is by far the nicest one in that family . . . and that Lance is a close second . . . .
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Re: No Boundaries - part six (PG13)

Post by allegrita »

I obviously need to camp out in your fic office and just reread everything. :teeth:

I agree with you about Coraline and Lance. When you think about it, Lance seemed utterly menacing... but he didn't do anything bad to Mick, other than beat him up a couple of times. (Which, from Lance's POV, he richly deserved.) :brow:
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Re: No Boundaries - part six (PG13)

Post by Shadow »

allegrita wrote:I obviously need to camp out in your fic office and just reread everything. :teeth:
I'll leave the campfire on for you . . . :biggrin:
:tent: (Wow, but we have a great supply of smilies! Can't believe I found a tent and campfire in there. . . :laugh:)
I need to camp out in your office too when RL lets up . . . I know I've missed some things . . . :sadface:
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Re: No Boundaries - part six (PG13)

Post by Marigold »

This was another amazing chapter, Shadow! :rose: :notworthy:

Coraline to the rescue! :yahoo: Now we know what she did when she slipped out of the house in part five. But what's going on between her and Esme? :chin:

I love this part of the conversation:
Shadow wrote:“If a human had killed Sarah, would you have gone out on the street and started killing random humans?” she asked, as gently as she could. “Maybe you realized that what you were doing wasn’t right.”

He looked shaken, but he stubbornly shook his head again. “The analogy doesn’t hold, Beth. Most humans have never killed anyone, or ever even imagined killing. Most vampires have killed a lot of people.”

“And how do you know exactly which ones have done that? How do you know which ones were turned against their will, and had no choice?”
Beth is completely right -- there are good people, bad people, good vampires, and bad vampires. It can be very difficult to determine who fits in each category. What the hunters were doing wasn't right. :noway:

And now, Mick is human again! :hyper2: :yahoo: :hyper: :woohoo: I hope he enjoys his humanity to the fullest -- Beth, food, sun, beds, etc.... :cheering:

Thank you, Shadow! :hug: I am looking forward to reading the next part! :cloud9:
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