The Portrait - PG-13

[bluedahlia3]

Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. But they’re welcome at my house anytime. Thanks to Trevor Munson and whoever else has a legal claim. No infringement intended.
Many thanks extended to Librarian_7 for her honest comments
Rating: PG -13
Words in italics are not spoken, rather heard in the mind.

Time: Fall 2007
Prior to Dr. Feelgood
Episode 3



The Portrait


It was just before dawn. Mick pulled the cuff of his jacket up enough too expose his wrist and the Gucci watch. The digital readout said 4:32. He had stalled to long and the night was slipping away. It had been raining for several days. Sheets of moisture were carried inland from the Pacific Ocean drenching the city and anyone foolish enough to venture outdoors. He was taking advantage of a break in the weather to complete an overdue errand. The driver’s door of the black SUV opened releasing him onto the gravel drive. He turned up his collar as protection against the wind and walked towards the mansion.

Mick entered through the ornate iron gates and ran down the stone walkway. The moss-covered lion on the crest looked down at him and seemed to sneer with a nasty grin. Mick resisted the temptation to snarl back, his fangs held in a grimace of distaste, the fog deadening his footsteps. He opened the front door and entered the house. This had been their home, a sanctuary purchased after they were married and after she had given him the ultimate gift of vampirism. It was a gift he neither wanted nor asked for.

The carved mahogany door closed with a soft thud. As he moved inward his feet scattered the dust in the long abandoned house. The house had a damp, closed feel. He turned to the right as he had hundreds of other times and stared up into her face. His eyes lingered over the details of her black hair, her dress clinging to the curve of the breasts and draping away from the long legs and red shoes. It was her eyes that shook him. They seemed to follow him as he moved toward her. Eyes that called to him in a primeval sense. He walked forward aware of a tingling in his groin that warned of an erection. Aw cut it out Mick, he thought. Good god this woman can’t still have the power to do this to me? He turned away and headed up the stairs to the bedroom they once shared. Moving to the closet, he opened the safe to retrieve the documents he needed. He wouldn’t have come at all, but Josef needed the stock certificates to finalize the sale. Mick wanted none of it. But it was his, or half his, depending on how you viewed the death of his wife. And the sale of the stocks would provide the community center with an income for a long time.

The room still smelled of her. How the hell could that be? But there it was. Her perfume, her soap, the odor of her body tantalized his nose. Decay hundreds of years old, not that humans could detect that, but he could. Blood too and probably semen. Well, lack of sex wasn’t the issue. God, I’ve got to stop thinking about sex when I’m in this house, he reminded himself. The safe opened on well-oiled hinges, and there on top was the leather pouch with the certificates. He tucked them into his jacket and closed the metal door. Out in the bedroom he hesitated, savoring the details of the room. Impenetrable, woven brocade drapes graced the windows blocking out the dreaded incoming light. Commanding attention in the center of the room was a massive bed. Tall carved corner posts of some exotic dark wood stretched to the ceiling. The surface was laden with chenille bedding and pillows, enough to provide the ultimate platform for whatever sexual fantasy Coraline fancied that night. No. No! But there were those thoughts again.

Mick shut his eyes, shaking with emotion and allowed his memory to slip back. He drifted, savoring recollections of a time long ago, of the two of them - long before she died. He was remembering when they couldn’t get enough of each other. So are you going to light this for me or am I going to have to wave it for effect? She had a marvelous voice, like spun silk drifting on an evening breeze. He pivoted on the ball of his foot, leaning towards her. Mick wasn’t sure if it was a low moan or a growl that escaped from his lips as his fangs extended. Flicking his lighter he lit the end of her cigarette with one smooth motion. Smoke curled upwards towards the ceiling. A smile pulled at the corners of her lips and his breath caught in his throat. Coraline never failed to make him stare. Light shimmered off her hair and played with her dress creating a fluid mix of skin and fabric. Her left hand found his shirt buttons and raked across his chest sending needles of pain and desire out in all directions.

Are you staying or going? Came the question he needed to hear.

Staying, he exhaled, oh God, staying. His hands found the tops of the garter belt holding her nylons in place. It was nighttime and a streetlight outside lit up the room with just enough illumination to create shadows. The scent of gardenias wafted through the room and he heard a new Billy Holiday tune playing from the huge radio sitting in the corner. The ice in her glass clinked as she finished off the whiskey. His mouth found hers and he enjoyed the mixture of smoke, liquor and blood. She must have fed recently. His body molding to hers, he was lost in her essence, scorched in his heat, his lips curling around hers. The room spun.

Mick, she whispered, coiling herself into the core of his body, My Mick.
His cell phone rang and the illusion vanished. The sound brought him back to the present with a rude jolt. It was Josef.

He coughed clearing his throat. “Yeaaaah?” He dragged his hand across his lips trying to wipe away any trace of Coraline. His fangs retracted, hidden now as his head cleared.

“Got ‘em?” Josef asked. He was Mick’s best friend and he was well aware of the perils that were encompassed in this task of retrieving the stocks.

“Yeah, I got ‘em.” Beads of sweat started to pool around his ears and on the back of his neck.

“Where are you?” The voice in the cell phone asked.

“I’m still in the house, just leaving.” he lied.

“Nooo…you’re drowning again. Get out of there and off memory lane before it sucks you back!” Josef snapped. He had an uncanny knack of pegging Mick’s emotions and he knew his friend’s inner thoughts better than anyone else. The cell phone clicked off. Josef didn’t need a reply.

Mick turned and fled the bedroom as quickly as he had entered. Thrusting his way into the corridor he turned and headed back towards the stairs heading to the main entry. He paused above the landing, blood hammering in his ears. Sweat trickled down between his shoulder blades and onto his back. His shirt was getting sticky in the heat. Down, down. His legs were pumping now as he reached the safety of the first floor, the pounding in his head still building. The roar ended with a release as he came into the light.

Streaks of early daylight filtered into the huge entry hall drifting through the dust covered second story windows. The tree limbs from outside cut a bizarre pattern on the walls and furniture. He stared upward at the painting. Coraline’s gaze caught his attention again. She was frozen in time by some gifted master, long since dead. Her malevolent violet colored eyes followed him. The heavy gold frame surrounding her portrait should have been darkened with age but somehow it hadn’t. It picked up the highlights in her eyes. Eyes that watched him. Laughed at him. Taunted his every movement since the day he killed her.

God this wasn’t my fault and yet it was. He could no more have controlled his actions then than he could now. He’d wanted her with every cell in his body. To possess her. Totally. And in the end it was she who possessed him. Coraline had found him, changed him into a monster, and set him on a course bouncing through history from which there was no going back.

[alyssa]

Val, you know I love this one, I just had to read it again.

[Lullani]

Very interesting. Liked the way Mick couldn't overcome her in the house with his emotions.

[bluedahlia3]

Thanks ladies.

Alyssa - a true fan, thanks so much for posting. I know you're read this one before.

Lullani - I glad you enjoyed my efforts. I found it an interesting idea to have Mick 'haunted' by Cora after all the years. So many people don't disconnect even when one relationship fails and they try to move on.

[nutmegger911]

Nice piece. It captures Mick's turmoil well.

ETA: I just reread your fic and wow! Just wanted to let you know that it is really, really...Wow!
Your emotional tension coils like an overwound clock spring. I hope you write more.

[bluedahlia3]

Thank you nutmegger, it's so nice to get comments on a repost.

[wpgrace]

Ah... this is such a beautiful piece!

I had read it on the other board, but had to come read it again...

You could sooo see that Mick struggled with this very stuff when he ran into "Morgan" on the show... You have done a marvelous, delicious job in putting those sensations into words... I think it would be just like this for him to go back to that house... interesting that in the show, it was Beth who went there in FdL... Mick never went back... and one assumes because of moments JUST like the one you painted.

ANd good ol' Josef... knows just how to pull a drowning Mick out of the pool...

One of my favorites bluedahlia... a truly fabulous piece. Thank you.

[bluedahlia3]

Thanks wpgrace so much for your nice comments. I'm glad you enjoyed the piece.

[coco]

bluedahlia I'm re-reading this through the Coffee House and I can see why this was nominated for this month's discussion.

This gives us a great insight into why Mick reacted the way he did to Morgan in the show. The unhinged, out of control Mick is very understandable when you read this fic. You can see how much they got to each other and how passionate and intense their relationship obviously was.

Just wonderful

[cassysj]

I came here from the Coffee House. Interesting perspective, it shows how deeply Coraline was under Mick's skin whether he wanted to admit it or not. Despite their numerous problems, it reminds me how Josef described their relationship to Beth. I actually don't fall into either a Mick/Beth or Mick/Cora camp, I obsess over Josef but I can see Mick being effected like that.

[librarian_7]

I've always liked the intensely visual nature of this story...I seem to remember, Blue, that when you were writing and revising it, you were worried about too much detail bogging things down. But I feel pretty strongly in this type of piece, without the detail, it would be a pretty non-memorable sort of thing. It's being able to see the place through Mick's eyes, to understand the rich history of the location for him, and at the same time to make it into a sort of spooky, Gothic ambiance, is great. It reminds me of movies from the 40's, somehow...atmosphere being used to create the mood and the feel.

This is a very well-realized piece. Worth reading and re-reading.

Lucky

[allegrita]

Bluedahlia, I'd never read this story before, and I'm so glad I was introduced to it by the Coffee House. I love the lush detail and the use of sensory imagery. Josef is right--Mick drowns in that house. The portrait, the scents of Coraline, the memories of their passion all suck him in and he's almost powerless to resist them.

This story vividly illustrates some of the things Mick and Josef talked about regarding his relationship with Coraline. It shows why he couldn't just leave her--why he could never completely be free of his passion for her, even after he thought she was dead.

Beautifully crafted.

[Fleur de Lisa]

This is so gloriously powerful. The effect this woman had over him--you captured it perfectly. And the beautiful descriptive prose: just lovely. What a walk back in time for Mick, and what a friend he has in Josef, rescuing him from his memories before he loses himself in bitter regret once again.

What a truly remarkable piece this is.

[darkstarrising]

Blue,

I'm here a la Coffee House as well.

What I loved about this piece is how well you capture the hold that the past still has on Mick, or more appropriately, the hold that Coraline still has on him. He wants to believe it's over, but once he enters the house, he knows it's not.

The house had a damp, closed feel. He turned to the right as he had hundreds of other times and stared up into her face. His eyes lingered over the details of her black hair, her dress clinging to the curve of the breasts and draping away from the long legs and red shoes. It was her eyes that shook him. They seemed to follow him as he moved toward her. Eyes that called to him in a primeval sense. He walked forward aware of a tingling in his groin that warned of an erection. Aw cut it out Mick, he thought. Good god this woman can’t still have the power to do this to me?

Ah, but yes, she still has the power, even as his own body reacts to the sight of her frozen forever beautiful in her portrait.

I loved this passage. His remembrance of her is so sensual. He feels her in the room, he smells her perfume and he is caught in the web of forgotten memories

Mick shut his eyes, shaking with emotion and allowed his memory to slip back. He drifted, savoring recollections of a time long ago, of the two of them - long before she died. He was remembering when they couldn’t get enough of each other. So are you going to light this for me or am I going to have to wave it for effect? She had a marvelous voice, like spun silk drifting on an evening breeze.

Yet in the end, it is Josef who releases him from the web spun around his friend

“Where are you?” The voice in the cell phone asked.

“I’m still in the house, just leaving.” he lied.

“Nooo…you’re drowning again. Get out of there and off memory lane before it sucks you back!” Josef snapped. He had an uncanny knack of pegging Mick’s emotions and he knew his friend’s inner thoughts better than anyone else. The cell phone clicked off. Josef didn’t need a reply.

Wonderful portrait, indeed, Blue, of a man and a woman and what their love and they each had done to the other.

[bluedahlia3]

coco - I'm so glad you liked it. I love the passion in Mick; the sick, vicious relationship he had with Cora and the beautiful gift he was able to find with his Beth. Incredible TV.

cassysj - Thanks for your comments. 'Like an infection?' Right?

lucky - Yep, you and I had several discussions about how far out I could stretch and still keep the readers from yawning. Thanks for all your help.

Thank you allegrita - I saw this so clearly in my mind and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Fleur de Lisa - I'm glad you enjoyed it. Had we gotten a season two I would have loved more Mick / Cora flashbacks/ My favorite. Boy Cora is a treat!

darkstarrising - Josef...always the voice of reason. Perhaps it's that aged soul? Thanks for reading and commenting.