POSSIBLY SAM (PG-13)

[Penina Spinka]

This is the beginning of a new novel. Josef finally gets to meet Sam, and both of them get to meet Francis. It will be an experience, especially for Josef, but it will do Mick good as well. I hope people who enjoyed The Beat will want to read Possibly Sam. Please comment. Thank you.

Possibly Sam - Rated PG-13
Chapter 1

Begins after What’s Left Behind and before Sonata. Completed November 27, 2008, Thanksgiving Day. No copyright infringement intended. This can stand alone, but it would be better if you find and read The Beat first. I finished it while the turkey was in the oven, and I’d be truly thankful for reviews.


Being a vampire has its drawbacks. You can’t have kids. For a few days, I thought maybe I fathered a son after the War, while I was still human. It turned out I was wrong. I’m still glad I was able to find and rescue my best friend’s grandson. Ray was dead, but for a few days, until the DNA test results came back, I thought his son Robert might have been mine. Even if he had been, I couldn’t have told him. Robert remembered and loved his father, the one who truly passed on his genes to him, and that was for the best. I did enough harm, although he never knew about it unless Lila told him. I had loved his wife when Ray was missing in action during the war. We both thought Ray was dead. I had feelings for her, but it was comfort sex. Who knows what might have happened. Maybe I’d have married her and never become a vampire. It turned out that Ray wasn’t dead after all.

When he came back, I dropped out of their lives; what else could I do? At least, I helped find and save Jacob and returned him to the loving arms of his parents. If there is an afterlife, I hoped somehow that Ray knew I had helped his family and that it made up in part for what I did with his wife. Ray had a grandson. Had I known I was going to die in 1952, believe me, I would not have wanted to leave a child behind. It’s not like I could have cared for a child as a vampire. I had no right to have a family.

Josef came by the loft to cheer me up. That’s when I decided to tell him about Sam and what happened when I left Josef in New York City that January day when Beth and I found out about Sarah. I told him how I met Sam outside the Village Vanguard and why I had spent the night in his house. “It was his music that called me to him. He said it was kind of like a spell, the chant and the beat together.”

“So he’s a witch?”

I wasn’t sure whether Josef believed in witches. Maybe, according to some cultures, Sam was a witch. “That’s not how he thinks of himself. He’s a Mohawk shaman with very strong powers. He can hear what people are thinking.”

“He enthralled you. Vampires enthrall humans. I never heard of a human who could do it to us. Don’t you realize what he could have done to you while you slept?”

“Yes, I do. But he didn’t. Sam told me later he looked into my soul and knew I wouldn’t harm him or he wouldn’t have invited me home with him. He has a European vampire friend, one who’s very old, possibly ancient from the sound of it. His name is Francis. Sam says he lives in Rumania, but he visits New York twice a year for the UN. Did you ever hear of him?” Josef shook his head, but he was staring at me in disbelief. “This guy Francis taught him about our requirements. He even bought him his apartment in New York. Sam keeps a freezer there for when he visits.”

“Go on,” Josef prompted. “I’m waiting for the punch line.”

I was saving the best for last. “It’s not exactly a joke so it doesn’t have a punch line. Sam told me he learned from Francis about ancient times, when humans thought vampires were gods.”

“Get out of here. He could have told you anything and you would have bought it. You honestly think this friend of your new buddy is that old? I met a 900-year-old vampire once. I doubt there’s one of us older than that.” Josef rubbed his right hand over his face, not wanting to be convinced. “Why were you so ready to believe him? Were you still enthralled?”

”I don’t think so. He had no reason to lie to me. It was a gut feeling, okay? But I haven’t been wrong very often. Look, Josef, as long as it’s confession time, I’ll tell you more. I needed a distraction that night after I saw what happened with Sarah.”

Josef lowered his head. I thought of a bull getting ready to charge. He could have stopped me with a gesture or a word, but he didn’t. I learned the day I met Sam that Sarah had been in a coma since Josef tried to turn her in 1955. Josef never wanted me to know about his lost love and his failure. I hated to make him hurt all over again, but nothing ventured, right? I had an idea. It might work or it might not, but the decision wasn’t for me to make. Josef had to decide if he wanted to follow up on it.

Although I was excited, I forced myself to speak calmly, watching Josef’s face to see how he was taking my words. “Seeing Sarah showed me how dangerously wrong a turning can go. If I didn’t want to make another vampire because I hate what we are, there’s another reason now. If Beth ever comes to love me enough to want to join our tribe, I’d be afraid to try. It might go wrong.”

“So seeing me and my failure is why you went with a guy who could have been a Vampire slayer.”

“That’s not what I’m trying to say or why I’m telling you this. Just listen to me, all right? Hear me out.” Josef nodded. “He wasn’t a slayer. I was sure of that. I felt a connection between us. Meeting him and his family did me a world of good. It was just what I needed to get through the next few weeks, avenging Josh, turning human, turning back, finding I didn’t have a grandson after all, and getting closer to Beth.”

I could see Josef building up a head of steam and resigned myself. “All I hear is that you found a human who can enthrall vampires. Instead of running for the hills, you trusted him while you were vulnerable. You told me I must have had a death wish that day the assassin tried to kill me again. Maybe I did because of what I did to Sarah.” Josef could have moved faster than the human. He could have prevented himself from being injured, but he hadn’t. He just waited on the floor for what the son-of-a-bitch would do next. It was as though he wanted to be punished.

I protected Beth first that day, because she was human. I knew Josef couldn’t be seriously damaged. I killed the assassin soon afterward and removed the stake he’d shoved into Josef’s heart. A glass of blood later and you’d never know Josef had been hurt. “May I speak now, Dad?”

“Don’t call me that. I’m not your sire. All right, speak.” He waved his hand like the aristocrat he was in his first life. “So you felt a connection with Sam. Tell me more.” He stretched out his legs on my ottoman.

“He asked me to come up to his reservation near Montreal. We drove the next afternoon and most of the night. Then we camped out before dawn. He had a folding shovel in his car along with his camping stuff. I dug a trench to sleep in. The ground was pretty cold, so I was cold enough. Sam put up his tent over it so no one could see me sleeping there.”

Josef shook his head. “How did you know he wasn’t going to stake you and bury you out there in the forest, miles from the road? I couldn’t have found you, you know. No one would have known where to look. Maybe you didn’t care whether you lived or died, but was that any reason to throw caution to the wind? What would I do without you?”

I looked at Josef. Yeah, we were best buddies, but when I thought he was dead in the explosion, I was the one who was mourning. It turned out an explosion and a fire couldn’t kill him after all. After my week as a human, since Josef re-turned me to my vampire state, I was stronger myself. With Josef in my new bloodline, I was practically damage proof too.

“You’re my only friend who doesn’t like me just for my money,” he reminded me.

“Yeah. I did say that; didn’t I?” I had to smile.

“Damn it Mick! Just because I had Sarah on my mind that night, do you think I wanted to lose you? Losing her was bad enough.” I had no answer for him. Men don’t talk about the love they have for each other, but it was there and we both knew it. “So, why are you telling me the story of Sam now?”

At last! “Because Sam can reach people’s souls.” Finally, Josef caught onto what I was thinking. It didn’t take shaman ability because we knew each other that well.

“And you’re thinking he can reach out and talk to Sarah’s soul? What if he can? How am I supposed to believe in him? What if he tells me she says I should let her go? Do you think I can do that?”

“Maybe not if he just tells you what he hears, but what if he shares his gift with you like he did with me? What if he can get you to hear what she wants for yourself?”

Josef covered his closed eyes with his thumb and forefinger, but I saw his chest heave as he took a tremendous breath and let it out with an audible whoosh. “Hear her voice again? Oh God!” he said.

[Penina Spinka]

I am going to finish posting the chapters of Possibly Sam here, in hopes that the readers of The Beat will want to read more of Sam's adventures. This one brings Josef to New York to meet Sam. Mick wonders of Sam's gift of talking to souls will reach over to Sarah, so she and Josef can finally communicate. Mick is the narrator.
I'll post one chapter a week and hope someone finds it and will send thoughts.
Possibly Sam - Rated PG-13
Chapter 2

Josef is always afraid to talk on an unsecured phone line. His office and house are set up with secure lines, and so is my loft/office, but we didn’t know what kind of surveillance existed elsewhere and we were talking across a continent on a cell phone. I pressed the numbers to Sam’s cell phone. We had not spoken since I left him at the Montreal airport. As soon as I heard his voice again, I felt good. Funny h that guy affects me.

“Sam, it’s Mick.”

“Mick! It’s great to hear from you. I thought of calling you, but we’ve been kind of busy with my grandmother dying and all.”

I wanted to kick myself. All this time and I finally call him to ask for a favor. How could I be that thoughtless? As Josef would say, that’s me. Not thinking. “Oh. I’m sorry for your loss.” Dumb thing to say, but nothing else came to mind. “Really, I am. She was a great lady.”

“Yeah. She sure was. I’m back in town now, playing again at the Vanguard. How have you been?”

“Well, I’m all right again, but it’s been hairy. All those things your grandmother dreamed for me came true. It was amazing. I’ll tell you all about it when I see you. You said you wanted to meet some of my friends.” I paused but he didn’t interrupt. I was too used to Josef. Sam had patience, no doubt, another one of his shaman abilities. I wondered if the mind reading thing worked over the phone or if we had to be in the same room. “My friend Josef really wants to meet you.” I had told him a little about Josef. He knew Josef was like me in some regards, enough so that I wouldn’t talk about that aspect of our lives on the telephone. Sam would not ask questions that might compromise our secret.

“You’re both coming? You’ll be welcome, but I don’t have accommodations for that.” He meant sleeping accommodations, cold ones. “Besides, Francis is here. He’ll be staying for the week, so I can’t even put you up. How soon are you flying in?”

Josef had been listening. With his vampire hearing, of course, he heard both ends of our conversation so there was no need for speakerphone. “Josef owns a house on the east side. We’ll be fine as far as sleeping is concerned. What I want to know is if you’ll have time to be with us. I think we’d both like to meet Francis as well, if he’s not too busy with his UN work.” Josef threw me a horrified look. If this ancient vampire, this friend of Sam’s was in town, we would be impolite to take up Sam’s time and not meet his guest. For all we knew, he might be able to help as well, with all that ancient knowledge he must have.

Sam chuckled. “He’ll make time. I told him about your visit to the reservation and what you did for us. He’d like to meet you too.”

“Good,” I said with an easy smile. I wanted to reassure Josef. When I hesitated, Sam waited for me to begin again without speaking. I didn’t want to say too much, but I had to say enough. “Sam, there’s a favor you might be able to do for us, if you would.”

“Sure, Mick. Anything I can do. You know that. When will you be here? Where do you want to meet?”

“Just a minute. I have to ask Josef. He’s right here. Hold on.” I looked at Josef.

“There are some things I need to take care of at the house and the office. We’ll fly tomorrow afternoon on my private jet. I’ll arrange for a car to be waiting for us. We should be in the city by midnight. I’ll have the nurse stock up for us so we won’t have to make a stop at the Club for supplies. We’ll need privacy to talk with Sam and his friend. You call it, Mick.”

I got back on the phone. “Thanks for holding, Sam. We’ll come over to your place, between one and two in the morning. You’ll be home from the Vanguard by then, but not ready to sleep, right?” I asked.

“You know me - musicians’ hours.” I could practically see his disarming smile. “What you need, are you sure this is something I can do?”

“I’m not sure, but possibly, Sam. You’re our last hope. We’ll explain it all tomorrow night when we see you. If nothing else, we’ll catch up and you’ll meet Josef.”

“And you’ll meet Francis. I’m looking forward to it.” We said our goodbyes and I looked to Josef again.

“I think I can see why you like him,” he said. “Now about Francis.” I gave him the Sam treatment, quietly waiting with no interruptions. “If he’s really that old, and I’m not saying I believe it, we’ll be able to tell. Remember to be deferential. We don’t want to get on his wrong side.”

I grinned. “I don’t even want to get on your wrong side, and you’re only 400.”

[lila]

Interesting start! I'd love to read more about Sam, and the plot involving Josef. Poor Sarah! I really hope that something good comes out of this... or, at least, that Sam has the same effect on Josef as he does on Mick.

[Penina Spinka]

I'm happy to receive your comment. Good things will happen, and bad, but Josef will have his answers before the end. I hope you'll keep reading. I plan to post a chapter a week. All best, Penina

[Penina Spinka]

Here's the 3rd chapter of Possibly Sam, when Mick brings Josef to NYC to meet Sam. It's best if you read The Beat first, but it can stand alone. I do not own the characters or situations from Moonlight. I just can’t get them out of my head.

Possibly Sam

Chapter 3



I told Beth over the phone that I was going to fly to New York with Josef this afternoon. Before I could ask if I could come over so I could explain and say goodbye, she asked if there was a problem.

“No problem that you don’t already know about. It’s Sarah.”

A moment’s pause on her end -- “Is she…did she…?”

“Neither. Her condition hasn’t changed. Can I come over?”

“Of course. I’m at work. I’ll be waiting for you.” Curiosity and concern filled her voice. I wasn’t sure which was strongest but with Beth, it’s always a toss up. I called Josef and told him to pick me up at the corner of Grand and First. I’d call him to say when after my visit with Beth. I drank down a quick breakfast, packed for a couple of days and called a cab to take me to the DA’s office on Temple Street. I wasn’t about to leave my precious Mercedes in that neighborhood to get stolen or trashed.

Beth must have been standing at the door to her office. The minute her secretary said I was there, she came rushing out to greet me. She looked great in a business suit, but Beth always looks great, even in sweats. Her pale hair was pinned up, very business-like. “Let’s take a walk,” she said. She smiled to her secretary. “I’ll be back in half an hour or so. Tell my 1:15 appointment to wait. Thanks, Bonnie.”

It was sunny on the steps. I suggested we take a walk on the shady side of Temple Street. I had taken Beth out for dinner last night before Josef came over so she was up to date until then. “What’s this all about?” she asked. I was tempted to say, ‘I’m fine. How are you?’ but Beth wasn’t one for small talk.

“You remember Sam?” I asked. “My Sam, not your Sam, the computer wiz.”

She stopped short. “The medicine man?”

“Shaman. Drummer. Mohawk. You can give him a few more descriptive nouns while you’re at it, but don’t make him sound old or like something out of a Karl May novel. He’s only 25.”

“Only 25? Now, you’re making me feel old,” Beth said.

I shook my head and gave her a lopsided smile. “Don’t forget to whom you’re speaking,” I reminded her. She knew very well that I was 85, although I looked and would always look 30.

“Okay. Drop that. What’s this all about?” she asked me for the second time.

I took her arm to keep her from walking into the crowded street. She gets something in her mind and the world fades out. “Thanks,” she said. We waited for the light to change. Did I mention Los Angles is congested?

“Sam can read minds. I told you that already.” She gave me a slight nod, her eyes on the cars until we were on the sidewalk again. “Scary,” she said.

“Very,” I agreed. “I nearly bailed when he mentioned that, but I’m glad I didn’t. I think he can help Josef communicate with Sarah.”

She stopped. Her eyes opened wide and she turned to me. “You think he can wake her up?” she asked.

“I didn’t say that. I just said ‘communicate’.

“What? Talk to her ghost or her spirit?” She made a sound halfway between a snicker and a giggle.

“Exactly. Come on. We’re blocking the sidewalk traffic now.” I took her arm to get her moving again.

“It’s voodoo,” she said.

“I think he tried that already, but it didn’t work. He’s already planning on being disappointed. He needs me along to introduce him to Sam and hold him together. He won’t say it, but he’s nervous. Sam doesn’t even know what we’re going to ask him to do yet, but he said he’d do anything he can for me. Not for Josef. That’s the other reason I have to be there. You know I don’t like to leave you, especially now. We’re just starting to be a couple. Aren’t we?” I asked, hoping for reassurance. I didn’t want to come across as too strong or taking her for granted. She was a little fragile since Josh’s death although she wouldn’t admit it. I didn’t want to push her away.

She stopped again and pressed my hand. “Yeah. We are,” she said quietly. “I think we can start heading back now. Sam and you must have gotten pretty close if he said he’d do anything for you.”

“Anything he’s able to do. Yeah. We did get pretty close. I’m pretty close with Josef too. That has nothing to do with us. You understand that, don’t you?”

“I never thought I’d get to keep you all for myself.” That was one of the best things she could say to me. “How long do you think you’ll be gone?”

“We’ll both be back before the dedication of the Sarah Whitley Memorial Stadium at Hearst College. Josef has to be there because he‘s the guest of honor, and he’s making the dedication. They can’t hold it without him. I have to be there because we have a date, our fourth I believe.”

Beth’s face took on a peculiar expression. “The pertinent question now is whether Sarah will be there too,” she said.

I almost walked into a car myself at that. “It’s dangerous hanging out with you, Beth,” I said. “I hope you know that.”

“Just a giant thrill ride, isn’t it?” I didn’t answer. She loved to throw my words back in my face. “I hope all goes well,” she said seriously. “If it doesn’t work out, Josef will be all right, won’t he?”

“You’re really concerned for him, aren’t you?” I asked, but it was a rhetorical question. I knew she was. I walked her back to her office and gave her a goodbye kiss, short enough that if someone walked by, Beth wouldn’t be embarrassed. She worked with the people here. “I’ll call you,” I promised. “Remember. There will be things I can’t say. Don’t ask any specific or compromising questions. I’ll tell you everything I can when we’re face to face again.”

“I understand that. Really, I do, Mick. Good luck,” she said softly.

“Thanks. Josef is the one who’s going to need the luck.”

She touched my cheek, then turned and walked in, leaving me in the hallway to call Josef. I told him I was ready for him to pick me up and I’d be waiting on the shady side of the street.

[draco]

I'm looking forward to the next part. I'm excited about the reunion of Mick and Sam. I hope he can help Josef

[Penina Spinka]

Thank you for writing Draco. Sam is pretty amazing for a human. Keep watching.

[Penina Spinka]

I'm won't be near my computer from August 17 to August 31, so I'm going to post chapter 4 of Possibly Sam early. If you read it, please comment. Penina
Possibly Sam

Chapter 4

If you want luxury, travel with Josef on his private jet. We had two hostesses for the two of us. We’d been flying for a couple of hours. The sun was still in the sky. Our blackout shades and curtains were drawn, but we felt it. The air in the cabin was cool; vampire comfortable, and we were able to catch a few hours of sleep.

Josef woke up and gave me a shake. My eyes snapped open. “Sun’s down. Time for breakfast,” he said.

“I’m not hungry,” I said, yawning. “I can wait.”

He didn’t believe me. “Maybe you’re not desperate, but you’ve got to be hungry. You’ve fed on humans recently - in the desert with Beth and on the reservation with Sam. Don’t tell me you don’t remember how it’s done.”

“I can wait until we get to the house. You said you had your nurse stock up. It won’t be that much longer.”

“I don’t like to insist,” he said, but I felt the undertone. He could pull rank on me.

“So don’t,” I said. He brought me back into the Vampire Nation. He re-turned me, which made him my second ‘sire’. It also meant I owed him my obedience. Even if not for our strange relationship, with age comes power. He was over 400 and I was a lad of 85. Josef habitually complained about my reticence to feed properly since I gave it up. Except in extraordinary circumstances (and the instances he’d mentioned were), I only drank fresh for revenge. The last time was not very long ago. I gloried in letting the monster out then, because for once, I could drink until I couldn’t hold any more. The man deserved to die.

With all this talk about feeding, I was beginning to get hungry. If he insisted, I’d probably have to go along with it.

He lifted his chin and I nearly heard the words, there will be other times. To tell the truth, since Josef changed me back, I was no longer that opposed to feeding fresh. It was more a matter of habit, and with a Freshie, it felt the tiniest bit like I would be cheating on Beth. Foolish thought. Josef called the hostesses over. “You, Darla, stay here with me. Patricia, please bring over a bag of blood for my friend.”

“Of course, Josef,” Patricia smiled warmly to him, but then looked me up and down. I felt a tinge of disappointment from her. She opened my tray and left us. A moment later, she was back with the plastic bag along with a cut-glass tumbler. “Would you like me to pour for you, sir?” she asked.

“I’ll do it,” I said. She gave me a professional smile and walked back to the crew section behind the curtain where she probably bundled up in her quilt. I’m sure Josef paid our hostesses well for double duty. I opened the bag and poured myself a cup.

Josef threw me a look of weary disgust. “You insulted a member of my flight team. You really need the practice if you’re going to make it work between you and Beth. The first time you make love, you don’t want to drain her.”

“Thank you for reminding me of what I think about at least ten times a day. I just don’t have your control,” I admitted.

“All the more reason to begin again while I’m here to guide you.”

I’m sure my jaw went rigid at that. “I’m 85 years old, not two days old.”

”If you don’t want to get any better at it, never mind then. Watch if you need pointers on how it’s done.” Damn him, I thought. He already had Darla on his lap. Josef doesn’t waste time when he’s hungry, but he’s always courteous to a willing Freshie. Darla wasn’t going to complain, but Patricia might be our only functioning hostess before the plane landed.

I tilted my glass and took a sip of my blood. I wasn’t going to allow Josef to get to me, but I didn’t look away either. Her hair was already pinned back. He brought Darla into an intimate embrace, and sniffed at her delectable neck, tracing her blood vessels with his finger. Darla tilted her head and closed her eyes, ready and willing for Josef to pleasure her. The blood loss she was about to undergo did not concern her. She was practiced at both her jobs, and Josef was an accomplished drinker in more ways than one.

Josef struck, attaching his mouth to her artery like a leech, not a word Josef would have chosen. Darla gasped at the initial sting, then moaned as he enthralled her into the pleasure his own release gave him. If the process were too painful, no Freshie would return for a second encounter with one of us. There was a time that I was good at that. None of my donors who lived through one of my feedings complained, but I’ll never forget the times I got carried away. Josef had tried to console me then. “They’re only human,” he would say. “There’s plenty more.” I took another sip of blood from my glass. At least no one died to keep me alive this time.

When he was done, Josef pressed his tongue against Darla’s wounds to stop the flow of her blood. When he was satisfied, he drew away to look her over. He pulled her close once again to clean her neck, licking his lips to savor every drop of the precious fluid. “You’re fine,” he whispered.

She smiled lazily and repeated his words. “I’m fine.”

“You loved it.”

“You know I did.”

“That’s my good girl.” He picked her up, one arm supporting her legs, one under her shoulders, her head leaning against his chest. He carried her to her lounge in the crew section and settled her down with a comforter. He pulled something from the galley pantry and brought it over to her. I heard him whisper again. “Rest, my dear, and drink this.” He handed her a box of orange juice with a straw. In my day, people squeezed their own orange juice and drank it out of glasses. Leave it to Josef to have the latest food technology for his Freshies. He waited while she finished it, handed her a bag of salt pretzels, and then returned to me.

“How do you manage to get bags of blood through security, Josef?” I asked. “Bribes?”

“I could have done that once, but these days, we have to show respect for America’s security. I live here. I had my staff get the FCC to authorize bringing aboard several units of special purified blood for transfer to a very sick woman in New York. This is A Negative, Sarah’s type. No one would think of interfering with such a humanitarian cause.”

“Thank you for thinking of me and my needs.”

“You have a handicap no sensible vampire would inflict on himself. You look for the worst you might do instead of the best. You’ll never convince me Darla didn’t enjoy what I did to her. If I cater to your ridiculous ways, it’s because you have your uses.”

I poured and tipped back the last of my blood and finished it. Patricia came to get my glass and either wash it or sterilize it. “My ridiculous ways? Is that why you agreed to come to New York to see if Sam can do something for you and Sarah?”

“I don’t expect anything will come of it, but if there’s a chance in a million, I couldn’t pass it up. Maybe I came because I want to prove to you that reviving Sarah, or even listening to her, is a pipe dream, a lost cause.”

“If you believed that, you wouldn’t be here.” Josef had the grace to look down and give me a helpless shrug. “Francis might have some ideas about it too. Sam mentioned he was a doctor in several different centuries, in ancient Babylonia and various times since then. He keeps up with it.”

Skepticism flowed off Josef. I crossed my arms and turned away from him to watch the gray clouds float past my window, and the brightly shining stars between them. We were going into an unknown situation. I counted on Sam to see us through it, in one way or the other.

[draco]

Well, I for sure wouldn't mind to travel with *Kostan-Airlines*
I can detect a lot of hope in Josef but also an incredible fear. Whatever the outcome, I'm sure he couldn't make it without Micks backup. This friendship is an enormous surce of comfort, understanding and strength both physically and mentally. Sometimes I wonder if they even realise how much they really need each other. But than the possibility of losing the other one at that explosion in Josefs office gave them a good idea, I guess.

Looking forward to the next parts. I hope Josef will get whatever he expects to get out of this (but then he doesn't even know what he wants, does he?!)
Lets see how Francis and Sam will react to the request. But I don't think that Sam would let Mick down if he can help it

[bluedahlia3]

Very nice and I caught four chapters at one clip. Wow! Your story telling skills are incredible and you catch the boys voices so well. I can't wait until NYC. It would be nice if Josef could 'talk' to Sarah at least one last time. It would be so healing for him.

Have a nice time away in August.

[Penina Spinka]

Thank you Blue. I'm leaving Sunday night, so this will be the last chapter I will post until I get back the last day in August. I hope it pleases. Josef is about to enter the lion's den.

Possibly Sam

Chapter 5

No copyright infringement is intended by this story. No money will be made and highest respect is paid to characters I borrowed and the authors who created them.


Josef parked his rented Porsche in the visitors’ section of the parking garage and we walked into Sam’s building. It was a genteel Greenwich Village apartment, either classic chic or urban renewal chic - I couldn’t tell the difference. The lobby was lit golden with wall sconces against stonewall finishing. There was a fireplace and fancy upholstered chairs and couches. Since it was May, instead of flames, the fireplace held large Chinese-looking urns filled with bunches of lilacs. The place reminded me of a 1930s Hollywood movie set starring Frederick March and Veronica Lake, or maybe Jean Harlow, one of Josef’s celebrity girlfriends. She was my favorite actress when I was a sub-teen. Who knew she used to fool around with a vampire?

My memories of the 1930s were far different than Josef’s. To me, everything was a little shabby, a little run down. Stores and factories had closed. People lost their homes. To those of us who lived through it, the Great Depression seemed like it would never end. Kids like me who grew up then, were now in their 80’s. So was I, but I couldn’t walk up to one of them to reminisce. I still looked 30, may age in 1952 when I died and woke up to my new life. They’d take me for one of their grandsons. By 1929, my parents already owned a paid-for house and car so we didn’t lose them. My neighborhood was still nice, large houses and trees, but my friends and I thought everyone was poor after Black Friday. Vacations didn’t happen anymore and we amused ourselves with stickball on empty lots, and marbles. Today’s kids can’t imagine what that was like, but who knows. Bad times may be coming back.

Sam’s was the kind of building Josef might have lived in during the Depression, waiting in luxury for the Stock Market to correct itself. I didn’t remember much of the place from my first visit to Sam’s. Like Josef said, I had been enthralled. I found Sam’s music, his beauty and his voice irresistible. Before we buzzed him, I strolled around the lobby to get a feel for the place where he lived when he wasn’t at the reservation. The urns and the furniture were either chained down or bolted. “I’ll bet they didn’t have to bolt things down when this building was new,” I said.

“You’d lose the bet,” Josef replied. “You think we didn’t have thieves in the 1920s? The ‘30’s were even worse with so many people out of work. Thievery became nearly a respected profession. Good thing the Second World War came along to end the Depression. The unemployed went off to war.” That would have been me, but I didn’t want to say so to Josef. He was ranting because he was nervous.

“My mother said Roosevelt ended the Depression.”

“That socialist?” I didn’t want to encourage him. We had to see this through. Josef was procrastinating, peering into the fireplace and through the glass doors that led from the lobby to the elevator. “There used to be a doorman here, and an elevator operator,” Josef said. “There was a superintendent or a janitor to shovel the coal, fix the plumbing and keep on eye on things. Now, it’s a condo. There’s no one to check up except the people who live here. If they notice anything out of place, they call the management company. At least the building still looks good.”

I had to ask. “You’ve been here before, in this building?”

“In the 1920s, I lived a few blocks away. I used to come over here to play poker here with a couple of buddies. By the ‘30s, I owned the house in Hollywood Hills. In 1953, I came to work on the New York Stock Exchange. I met Sarah two years later.”

“I wondered where you’d gone or if I’d see you again. I didn’t know about Sarah until a few months ago.” His young-looking face turned solemn as it did whenever her name was mentioned. He was probably upset that I ever learned about her, but if I hadn’t, Josef would be dead - not undead. The assassin Sarah’s father hired to kill him for stealing away his daughter would have kept trying. Fire and a stake weren’t enough. He would have to detach Josef’s head from his body. Josef refused to defend himself and eventually, the assassin would have succeeded.

We had procrastinated long enough. I found Sam’s name on the Directory and pressed the button for the intercom. His voice came on so quickly; he must have been waiting. “Mick?” he asked.

“Yes. We’re here.”

“We’ll come down and get you. Give me a minute.”

“We?” Josef’s voice was hardly a whisper.

Less than a minute later, Sam stepped out of the elevator. A dark, curly haired man was just behind him. Sam was nearly five feet ten. This man was a few inches shorter. If Francis were really as ancient as Sam indicated, he would have been taller than average when he breathed. He could have passed for 35. He was pleasant looking, not a man you’d pick out of a crowd, but for his dark penetrating eyes. I could feel them looking us over. “Francis,” I whispered to Josef. “It must be him.” We waited for Sam to open the doors and let us in.

Josef did not change expressions, but I felt his anxiety. Although he was not my original sire, at my request, he took my temporary human life and fed me his blood to bring me back. That made him my sire by adoption. Our blood bond was stronger than most, compounded by our friendship. I sent him a wave of support. I was certain Francis would not endanger a friend of Sam’s. Sam knew that Josef was important to me. As far as I could tell, there was no reason for conflict between them, so why was Josef so scared?

Sam approached me with the open smile that won me over the first time we met. I’m not a touchy feely kind of person, but a moment later, we were hugging. “It is so good to see you again.” We said it at the same time, and laughed.

“Sam. Meet my friend Josef,” I said. Josef offered his hand and Sam took it. “Mick’s told me a lot about you,” Sam said. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“He’s told me a lot about you too,” Josef said. That left a lot unsaid but there would be time to sort it out later.

Sam gestured to the man beside him. “This is my friend Francis. Francis, meet Mick St. John and Josef.”

“Kostan,” Josef said, supplying his last name. I knew Josef felt intimidated by Francis. I should have been more intimidated since I was the youngest, but I never considered myself to be more than a kid to an elder. Josef was used to deference and respect. His world was shaken by the fact that another immortal, possibly ten times his own age, was standing a few feet away from him.

Francis gave us both a small bow, very continental. Josef returned it. I just nodded. The only continent I knew was North America, not counting my introduction to Europe in World War II, one I wished I could forget. “Mr. Josef Kostan and Mr. Mick Saint John,” Francis said. His voice was as musical as Sam’s. He had met Sam at the Vanguard too, like I did. Sam is a vampire magnet, but he knew how to hold his own with us. Most guys would have run screaming into the night rather than exchange pleasantries with three vampires, one nearly as old as Noah, but not Sam.

“We know your first name,” said Josef boldly, “but not your family name.”

Francis looked around. It was 1:30 in the morning. No one was there but us. “It hardly matters since I change it every few decades,” he said. “It’s Radu at the present time. Shall we go upstairs?” Josef nodded and we headed for the elevator. We knew each other’s age by scent. The vampire hierarchy for respect was based on the power that comes with age. Sam was right. Francis Radu was more than very old; we truly was ancient. I was prepared to believe he walked with the pharaohs.

“We won’t stand on ceremony, Josef,” Francis said when Josef stood aside to let Francis enter the apartment first.

“As you wish.” Josef said, but he waited for Francis to precede him inside. They were being as formal as possible. I didn’t know how Josef was going to tell Sam why we had come, with Francis there. I began to suspect if Francis deemed Josef’s failure with Sarah a crime against the Vampire Nation, he could punish my friend severely. It came down to a test as to how much Josef wanted to do what was right for Sarah. I never knew Josef to be a coward, but I never knew him to be this frightened.

Sam led us into his living room. There were drums and guitars on stands and a piano against the wall. I remembered this room crowded with Sam’s musician friends, and playing until dawn. Sam and Francis took chairs opposite the couch, leaving us to sit side by side.

We looked at each other, not speaking. Since I instigated this visit, I wondered if I should explain. I looked at Josef and raised one brow in question. Francis was elder to all vampires as far as I could tell, but Josef was my direct elder and adopted sire. He shook his head slightly. It was for him to speak.

“I’ll explain why we came,” Josef said. We gave him our attention. I knew what it cost him to put himself forward, frightened of Francis as he was. “Sam, thank you for letting us come and offering to do all you can, even though you didn’t know what we would ask of you. I know it’s because of Mick that you said you would try to help. I understand your affection for him, and his for you. You did him a lot of good when he visited you. If you’re ever in Los Angeles, under any circumstances, alive or undead, if I’m still there, you’ll be welcome and under my protection.”

“Thanks,” Sam said looking to me quickly and then back. “What’s this about?”

“Mick couldn’t say over the phone. He knows our secrecy must be maintained. I’m the one requesting this favor, not Mick.” Francis’s eyes never left Josef’s face.

Josef directed his next words to Francis. “You’re my elder. You’re probably an elder to all of us. When I tell you what I did, you may decide I’m not worthy. You may chose to kill or punish me for my failure and that’s your right.” For the first time, I had more of a clue why Josef was so frightened. “Whatever you decide, I will accept it. If there is any chance Sam can help my Sarah, and I didn’t ask, I won’t be able to live with myself anyway.” Francis sat so still, he might have been a statue but for his intense gaze. He motioned with one hand for Josef to continue.

“I fell in love with a human. She wanted me to turn her. I tried to talk her out of it, but she insisted. She wouldn’t give up and, like I said, I loved her.” Josef swallowed dryly, but he forced himself to go on. I could hear tears in his voice. “I tried to bring her over. I did everything that worked in the past, but she didn’t come out of her death sleep. She got stuck in between. Her body hasn’t aged, but she’s been in a coma since 1955.” Silent tears poured down his cheeks. He ignored them. “If there’s any chance Sam can reach her soul, and get her to tell me what she wants me to do, I ask, no, I plead with him to try it. No matter what the cost to me, money or anything else, I have to ask. Mick told me what he did with him on the reservation with the exchange of blood – how both Sam’s shaman powers and Mick’s senses increased. I hoped he would do that for me, so I can talk to Sarah’s soul and hear her. If what I did by trying to turn her without permission is worthy of death, I’m ready, but don’t punish Sarah for what I did. It’s my fault and my fault alone. Don’t punish her.”

I felt my friend’s agony. Josef bit his lip until the blood came. He licked it way and turned his pained eyes to the wall for a long moment. When he had collected himself, he looked to Francis, not Sam. He waited like a supplicant before a king, for his verdict. In the old days, he might have knelt.

Except for a quick look to my friends, I couldn’t take my eyes off the elder vampire. Although Sam and I were no longer linked, I felt his sympathy and his warmth. It’s part of what drew me to him. Like Josef, I waited for what Francis would say.

“It happens sometimes,” Francis said softly, “that a human can’t be brought over. I don’t blame you.” Although we don’t have to breathe, I heard Josef’s sigh of relief. “Maybe, if we approach this together, we’ll be able to do something for her.”

Josef had lifted his head when Francis spoke to him. “Thank you,” he said.

“Everyone knows age gives power,” Francis said, speaking to all of us. “I would hope it gives us a little wisdom as well, and maybe some compassion. I would never blame Sarah.” Now he spoke directly to Josef. “It wasn’t your failure; it was a failure of Sarah’s blood to be able to change completely. It was fate and none of us can escape that. If you blamed anyone but yourself, you didn’t love her enough. You were man enough to confess your part and take full responsibility. If you hadn’t, I don’t know if I’d want to help you, but I do. You’ve suffered for a long time.” He rose. “Mick, come with me. Sam, do what you can to comfort Josef while we think what to do next.”

[draco]

the relieve Josef is feeling is nearle palpable.
I'm glad Francis reacted the way he did and that he made it clear, that something like what happened to Sarah happened to others, too.
Must be relieving when at least the head knows that it was no ones fault, even when the heart will never really get it

I hope you have a great time, wherever you're going

[Penina Spinka]

We're going by Amtrak from AZ to Baltimore to see my children. Our train leaves tomorrow night. When I get home on Aug 31, I'll post chapter 6. I'll do the second half of Possibly Sam in a separate post from the first 5 chapters. There are 10 altogether. Again, thank you for reading and commenting. I'm am still trying to find an agent to market my next publishable novel. It's a tough market for professional writers, but Moonlight fan fiction and reviewers keep me inspired. Penina

[jen]

This is a wonderful continuation of the fascinating characters I first met in the Beat.

What a fabulous accident to find this intriguing fic!

Thank you!

[jen]

This is a wonderful continuation of the fascinating characters I first met in the Beat.

What a fabulous accident to find this intriguing fic!

Thank you!