Cold as Ice (PG-13) challenge #124

[francis]

This was written for the "Cold" challenge. No copyright infringement intended. This is kind of a sequel to the story "Groceries", from Mick's POV.

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Mick stared at the limp form in his lap for what felt like hours. The blonde hair, the white skin, the lace on her dress and the little hat she was wearing – it all was spoiled by the blood splatters that he left when he drained her. She was dead. No heartbeat. He startled when he realized that he could tell without taking her pulse.

He shivered. It shouldn’t have been this way. He didn’t want to kill her, he had tried with the last leg of his conscious mind to avoid this, to stop before she was seriously hurt. But he hadn’t. He had lost it, lost all remnants of decency, of humanity, of restraint, and had taken her blood until there was nothing left. It had smelled so good, tasted so good, and Coraline had been standing above him, smoking a cigarette now and smiling that indulgent and satisfied smile that he craved like air and water.

He still couldn’t move. He sat there, on the pavement behind a parked car, while dawn was painting the sky blood red in the east, like some deranged parody of a Pieta, the dead girl in his lap. He didn’t even know her name, didn’t know who would miss her, what her plans were for her young life. Maybe if he tried to see her as some kind of food, it wouldn’t hurt so much. But he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t get over the fact that he felt energized and content with her blood in his veins, that it had thrilled him to taste her fear, and he recoiled from the thought that he had become some kind of monster tonight.

Coraline snuffed her cigarette, reached out and took the girl from his lap, then placed her on the backseat of the car and came back to him. She was silent, smiling as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. She reached out a hand to help him up.
“Come on, Mick, let’s get home. Sun is rising, and soon you will see that fledglings aren’t supposed to be out in the day.”

His eyes sought hers, and he couldn’t help but feel good when she smiled proudly at him, as if he had done his first baby steps or said the first words. How had she changed from his wife to his mother? It felt awkward. When he took her hand and rose, he suddenly had the urge to kiss her senseless. Not quite the feelings a kid should have, right? But he was no kid, and he was going to prove it. He crashed her body against the hood of the car, kissing her forcefully, hissing and growling and moaning. Very soon he realized that it wasn’t all his, that she was making as much noise as he did. She enjoyed what he was doing with lips and fangs and hands. He stopped.

She wanted him to be the monster. She had made him into one. He wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.

He took a step back and opened the passenger door. “Let’s get home,” he said and tried to keep any emotion out of his voice.

She lifted her eyebrows, smoothed down her jacket and entered the car. They drove in silence, and he tried not to think about the dead girl in the back seat. But the blood on her clothes still thrilled him and made him remember the way he enjoyed his meal.

Back at the mansion Coraline took his hand and led him to a hidden closet in their bedroom. He hadn’t seen it before. There was a big freezer in its centre, and when she opened it it was empty. “You should sleep,” she said. “Get out of your clothes and climb in.”

“In a freezer?” he squeaked. Not very manly, he admitted to himself, but this was ridiculous.

“Try it. You will love the cold. Much better for your rest than digging a cellar.”

He kept his underwear, and she laughed. The same melodious laugh that had made him realize he was in love. “You will only freeze to the bottom if you keep that on. And you don’t need a blanket either, isn’t that fine?”

“Do I need to go alone? Will I have enough air?”

She laughed again. “You don’t need to breathe when you sleep, silly. And there’s not enough room for two. I have another freezer in the bedroom. Now go, you need more rest than I for you are still very young. You will feel better tonight.”

He relented and climbed in. The whole package of the marriage, the night of his turning and the morning where he tried to run away from her left him emotionally drained and exhausted. She closed the lid with almost something like tenderness. When she turned around he opened it from the inside just a little to be sure he could get out on his own. She took one last worried look at him and left.

The cold actually felt good, he had to admit. Cold as ice, that’s how his life would be. Cold as ice was how Coraline felt to him, now. He would be like her, unfeeling, stagnant for eternity, not aging, not living. Taking blood from poor innocents and killing them.

His heart would need to become much colder to survive this.

[lynnrxgal]

Very nice take on the theme of cold! Brrrrr...

[allegrita]

Oh, poor Mick...

This is beautifully done, francis... Mick's hopelessness comes through so much here. I'm just so desperately sorry for him. And Coraline is trying to be a good sire, but she's got no understanding of the man he really is. She has no sympathy for his feelings of dread and sorrow over what he is. She can't sympathize with him any more than she can sympathize with the human she brought for Mick to kill. It's gonna be a long, hard marriage...

I love that you incorporated the Pieta image into this story. So your trip to Rome was story research, in a way....

[jen]

Francis

This is chilling (no pun intended)

With all that happened to Mick in the last twelve hours, he has no ability to process what has occurred, so he has adopted a type of mindset to go along with Coraline--to take the path of least resistance.

In the years and decades to come, he will thankfully learn that much of the man he was has survived, and that is who he prefers to be.

Thank you!

Jenna

[darkstarrising]

Wow, francis! The contrast between human and vampire in this piece is stark and wonderful.

He still couldn’t move. He sat there, on the pavement behind a parked car, while dawn was painting the sky blood red in the east, like some deranged parody of a Pieta, the dead girl in his lap. He didn’t even know her name, didn’t know who would miss her, what her plans were for her young life. Maybe if he tried to see her as some kind of food, it wouldn’t hurt so much. But he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t get over the fact that he felt energized and content with her blood in his veins, that it had thrilled him to taste her fear, and he recoiled from the thought that he had become some kind of monster tonight.

They drove in silence, and he tried not to think about the dead girl in the back seat. But the blood on her clothes still thrilled him and made him remember the way he enjoyed his meal.

The Mick you show us is one who still thinks and feels like a human, trying desperately to not give in to his vampiric feelings, but seems helpless to do so. He loves Coraline, loves her enough to marry her, and reacts to her pride in him, yet now sees her in an entirely different light and wonders what life will now hold for him.

The cold actually felt good, he had to admit. Cold as ice, that’s how his life would be. Cold as ice was how Coraline felt to him, now. He would be like her, unfeeling, stagnant for eternity, not aging, not living. Taking blood from poor innocents and killing them.

His heart would need to become much colder to survive this.

Wonderfully done

[cassysj]

This is so sad. Mick breaks my heart being torn between man and monster. He's happy he pleased Coraline and horrified at the same moment. He wants to be with her, I wonder if a freezer for two would have helped their marriage in the early years. If he could have felt her close that may have given him a psychological blanket but we would probably have a very different Mick. A Mick that was more Coraline then the man we know.

[francis]

Thank you, lynnrxgal. Brrrr indeed.

*hands allegrita a kleenex* Thank you, allegrita. Yes, the trip to Rome was just research.

jen, thank you! It all went a bit fast, and for now Coraline has all the control in her hand. He’s just a fledgling for now, dependent on her to make the decisions. It will change.

Thank you for your review, dsr. Mick is still not quite there yet. He’s feeling human and acting vampire. Having your sire be proud of you is essential for a fledgling.

Thank you, cassy. I don’t think a freezer for two would have helped. In a way he’s glad that he has some privacy for now.

[Lucy]

I always wondered what happened....I felt a shiver (like I was there)......could smell the cigarette smoke and Coraline's Chanel #5.

I saw the pain in his eyes.....you painted it all so clearly.

Brava, francis!

[francis]

Thank you, Lucy! I didn't even write in what perfume Coraline used, so I'm very pleased that you could smell it.

[Luxe de Luxe]

Yes, a wonderful exploration of Mick's responses in the early days and is really interesting psychologically. This sentence stopped me in my tracks,

How had she changed from his wife to his mother?

You're so right. I hadn't really thought about this before. Of course that would have happened. The turning totally changed their dynamic. I haven't read many Mick/Cora stories, but I've always been fascinated by what went wrong between them, given that Mick said infidelity wasn't a problem and that what we actually saw of them in the show demonstrated a lively erotic charge between them both. The wife to sire/mother would definitely have raised a load of difficulties as this,

Not quite the feelings a kid should have, right?

alludes. Problem was,

She enjoyed what he was doing with lips and fangs and hands.

'Nuff said!

[PNWgal]

Poor Mick.

He fights with the last shreds of humanity not to turn into the monster he feels Coraline made him, but he can't stop it.

He couldn’t get over the fact that he felt energized and content with her blood in his veins, that it had thrilled him to taste her fear, and he recoiled from the thought that he had become some kind of monster tonight.

He doesn't want to enjoy what he is, but he can't help it.

And this:

How had she changed from his wife to his mother?

Mick had to have suffered from a hearty dose of confusion - Coraline's his wife and his sire.

The cold actually felt good, he had to admit. Cold as ice, that’s how his life would be. Cold as ice was how Coraline felt to him, now. He would be like her, unfeeling, stagnant for eternity, not aging, not living.

Easier said than done for our Mick, I think.

Lovely, francis.

[MoonlitRose]

Very interesting look at Mick's early hours as the fledgling that he didn't want to be.

Coraline certainly seemed cold as ice when it came to finding prey for Mick, and offering him his first meal. So cold.... and so far from the warmth that Mick thought he would experience in his marriage.

[Moonlighter]

Wow, francis -- I ache for Mick here as he tries to come to terms with who -- or what -- he is now. And the wife as sire/mother idea threw me back to the days when people were creeped out when they pictured Mick as Beth's boyfriend/father figure. It is all rather complicated, isn't it? And I liked his unease at the idea of sleeping in the freezer. I kind of laughed when he peeked his head out to make sure he could get out if he wanted to. Poor thing.

Well done.

[francis]

Thank you!

[jen]

Saw this on Active Topics and read it again.

Mick was able to see through the trauma of those early hours of his vampiric becoming to understand that Coraline was not going to protect him from the guilt and anguish of this existence. To her, that was totally unimportant.

We know that he stayed with her, off and on, for thirty three years before, as Josef said, the crazy got to be too much.

Wonderful, Francis!

Thank you!

Jenna