Copycat (PG-13) chapter 3

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francis
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Copycat (PG-13) chapter 3

Post by francis »

This is a collaboration of Jenna and francis.
Here's the next chapter. Disclaimers still apply.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef Kostan had been Mick’s best friend ever since they met at one of Coraline’s parties. Coraline had done nothing to ease his way into the vampire community, showing him off like a prize won at a carnival. She kept him dependent and despondent. Josef offered him freedom and helped Mick move past the bond to his sire; letting him gain control of the blood lust and learn to feed responsibly without killing the human involved. In a sense, Josef had been Mick’s step sire long before he re-turned him to save his Beth from Pierce Anders.

Mick and Josef had a falling out in the late 50s when Mick, out of some misplaced sense of honor (or just the pull of an addiction), attempted to reconcile with Coraline. Josef could see the train wreck of their inevitable breakup coming and decided to remove himself from the situation. He vanished for a few years and didn’t tell Mick where he’d gone.

Even though Josef didn’t approve of Mick’s feeding habits, he recognized that the P.I. was an important asset. He had taught the younger vampire to protect the security of the Tribe at all costs. While Josef was far less concerned about the human casualties, his friend was careful around them when he was on his own. Add Coraline to the equation and all bets were off. Generally though, Mick’s beliefs made sure that accidents were taken care of long before the human public caught on.

They needed each other.

So, using his influence to get a vampire victim off the streets was just one favor of many. At the time, neither of them gave it much thought.

But it was the start of trouble.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Any experienced profiler will tell you, the condition of a murder scene in general, and the victim in particular, provide insights into the mental state and personality of the killer. Are they calm, methodical, and calculating or driven by rage and anger, taking out real or imagined slights on the helpless victims?

During the long drive back to the loft, Beth’s mind turned tighter and tighter circles around her suspicions. The details gleaned about this killer told her that this was not someone she ever wanted to meet and yet, as much as she didn‘t want to entertain the possibility that it was someone she knew and loved, they had already in her mind.

The slashes and the bite marks beneath, the blood and the fear frozen in the dead eyes of Helen Arnaugh told her that this killer wasn’t one of the calculating ones. He was rage and anger personified. He totally abandoned all restraint during a kill and became a monster in every sense of the word.

Whatever Helen Arnaugh had done wrong in her life, it didn’t condone the violence or brutality she had been endured before she died; but wait…wasn’t that what vampire justice was?

No.

They had their own rules of right and wrong that differed from human rules sharply in many areas. There was little mercy in vampire justice and penalties were quite harsh. From what she had seen, they didn’t go around issuing death sentences on human criminals. Except for… Mick.

He never told her about what happened to Josh’s murderer, but she had seen him throw Bustos into a tree and kick his associate’s head back brutally. She had seen him break the neck of the assassin in Sarah’s room, had been present when he dispatched the feral doctor and he later told her that he had decapitated Sheppard. She shouldn’t be surprised.

On the other hand, Mick never acted with the rage, hatred or lust to inflict pain that she had seen in this case. His was always a collected, measured response to bring someone down with as little collateral damage as possible, more like a soldier than like an angry maniac.

Could Mick have a darker side that he wouldn’t let her see?

Was he capable of hurting her if he became angry? He hadn’t exhibited any sign of violence to her at any time -- not when he was injured with silver, not in the motel when he was dying from hunger, not on her balcony when she rejected him after Josh died, not on the rooftop when he kissed her with a desperate passion - but she couldn‘t help wondering if there was a limit to his control that she hadn’t yet seen…

Her Prius slid into the parking spot next to Mick’s Mercedes like it belonged there.

She almost wished Mick wasn’t home. She was not looking forward to the conversation that they had to have, but as quickly as that thought formed she dismissed it forcefully. This was the man she loved and she needed him to reassure her that he loved her and that he hadn’t been murdering people. As she rode up in the elevator, she wondered if there was a way to bring it up without letting him know of her doubts.

What if her fears in fact were true? No. She did not want to go there…

xxxxxxxxxx

Mick was home and she could hear his shower running. He had either just gotten up, or was from an errand. Taking advantage of the situation, Beth silently went through the pockets of Mick’s coat that had been casually draped over a chair downstairs. It was wet and there was an old concert ticket in one pocket, nothing else. Glancing at the stairs and listening at the shower as it continued to run, she entered his office and smiled fondly at the paper calendar on his desk. Mick clung to several old fashioned habits and she had always found it rather sweet, but at the moment it was also quite useful. She had his own record of his activities at the times of the other murders. He had a meeting with a client later. For last night there was a short note: “Meet H. 251 Amway Street, 1 am.” Beth sighed. That was nowhere near the place Helene was found, but the coroner said she was only dumped there. No clue one way or the other.

She heard Mick coming down, blushed and abandoned her snooping. She told herself that she just wanted to clear him of any suspicions, but she felt bad anyway. Still…

“Hey Beth, I heard you coming in. How was your day?”

He walked up to her and kissed her. His skin and hair was still damp from the shower.

“We have another victim of the vigilante slasher.”

He stiffened. “Be careful, Honey. I don’t like the thought of what you are confronted with here.”

They sat down on the couch together.

“I’m tough, Mick, and you know me: I actually love the thrill. But you’re right, the sight of that murder scene tonight was gruesome. Carl was so blasé about it I was shocked. How does one stand to see something like this all the time? How does a vampire live with the people he killed?”

He frowned. “Many vampires got used to it, and some even learn to embrace the beast within. In the early days after you are turned, the bloodlust is much stronger and it is easy to be driven by it during those days. That is why it’s so important that a sire controls the newby during those days. Coraline did nothing to help me gain control back then. She directed me a little and showed me how to be careful, but didn’t do much to show me a better way. Eventually, I learned to feed without draining the donor and even later learned that I could obtain packaged blood. It’s all a matter of choice. As for gruesome things I’ve seen there still wasn’t anything as horrible as the war in Europe, even after all the murder victims and brutality I encountered in my line of work. I try not to forget that I was human once.”

Beth hugged him. “You still are. But now, you are also more.”

She looked down. “Mick, I have a question, but I don’t know how to ask it…”

“What? I’ll tell you everything I can.” A shadow flitted across his eyes and was gone.

“I don’t know if I want to know the truth, if I can live with it.”

“That’s for you to decide, but whatever it is, I’m there for you.”

She blinked, watching his face. He was perplexed about her sudden seriousness, but his whole demeanor showed only love and support.

“Did you… did you kill Tejada?” She swallowed hard.

He lifted his eyebrows. “What brought that on?”

“Just answer my question, please,” she pressed.

He stood and paced, then stopped to look at her.

“I did. He was responsible for the death of a good man and your grief. So when it looked like he was going to get away with it again, I let the vampire out.”

She curled in on herself as if the air had suddenly left her. He took her hand.

“Beth, what’s the matter? Why is this suddenly coming up? I’m sorry for a lot of things I have done, but this isn’t one of them. The world is a better, safer place without him in it. Tell me you understand.”

Beth looked up with tears in her eyes. “I do, sort of. I wished him dead, too, I just didn’t have the means to do it and isn’t that how it’s supposed to be? How do you decide who to kill and who not to kill? What gives us the right to decide?”

He nodded. “It’s a hard question. All I can tell you is that I try to follow my sense of right and wrong but sometimes it doesn’t work out. I try to only kill in self defense or when a vampire threatens our secret. But I will admit that sometimes I haven’t entirely kept to my own rules. No women, no children and no innocents. Please, Beth, don’t judge me. I couldn’t stand it if you hated me.”

A strangled sob left her throat and she leaned into his arms. He hugged her close.

“I could never hate you, Mick,” she sobbed “it would be much easier to hate myself than you.”

Something was still clearly bothering her but he let it go for now. She would tell him when she was ready.
Last edited by francis on Thu May 12, 2011 6:15 am, edited 2 times in total.
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allegrita
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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 3

Post by allegrita »

Oh, no... Mick is telling Beth the truth, but she's interpreting what he says in the worst possible way. I hope they figure out soon what's going on... and stop the vamp from Mick's past before he kills again. :Mickangel:
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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 3

Post by Kara »

Oh no. Big gaping hole in the communication dept there. Of course I could clearly understand how Beth would take his explanation knowing what she knows. Their trust or at least on Beth's part will be sorely tested here as more and more evidence points directly to Mick. Mick gotta tell Beth about the vamp that's been impersonating him. Otherwise, he will become her #1 suspect. :eek2: :no:

Thank you guys. Can't wait for next. :rose:
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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 3

Post by maggatha3 »

Does Mick even know that there is a vampire out there who impersonates him? I wonder... And I really guess not...he would put one and one together. Beth is making a huge mistake here, and it feels as if both Mick and Josef could be accused, the first for commiting and the latter for covering up a crime...Beth has been asking for his trust for so long and now she fails him.... :no: :madface:
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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 3

Post by MickLifeCrisis »

:confused2: Beth needs to keep talking and keep asking questions. Please! You've got me so nervous now! :nails: Well, okay, I was before, too. :snicker:

More soon!
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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 3

Post by Kara »

maggatha3 wrote:Does Mick even know that there is a vampire out there who impersonates him? I wonder... And I really guess not...he would put one and one together. Beth is making a huge mistake here, and it feels as if both Mick and Josef could be accused, the first for commiting and the latter for covering up a crime...Beth has been asking for his trust for so long and now she fails him.... :no: :madface:
Hey mag - Chapter 1. Mick & Josef knows there is a vamp copying him which is why the freshies think Mick is back to feeding fresh. He needs to let Beth know that before she hears the freshie gossips.
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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 3

Post by francis »

Thank you, everybody, for your comments and for the discussion.

Kara, good thinking, but it might not be the same vampire... :whistle:
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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 3

Post by cassysj »

Oh no! These two really have to work on their communication skills.
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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 3

Post by darkstarrising »

Uh-oh....the little notes on the calendar could be misinterpreted...and Mick admitting that he doesn't always live by his own rules!!!?? That's got to make Beth even more worried than she was before.

As for Tejada, even Beth has to agree that vampire justice was in his case the right call. Good thing she didn't witness his death :gasp:
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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 3

Post by redwinter101 »

So Beth asks him the question, but she only really half asks it - hiding her real reason for wanting to know, and Mick now knows something's up. Very true to form for our lovely, but not-particularly-skilled-in-the-communication-department, couple.

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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 3

Post by nutmegger911 »

Oh dear, Beth is not asking the question she really wants answered, but she's treating Mick's response as if it is to her intended query. Poor Mick has been set up to be completely blind-sided. Thanks, ladies, for reeling me in with your story.
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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 3

Post by jen »

At least Beth is not shutting Mick out completely. They need each other,
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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 3

Post by jen »

Poor Beth is in a very dark place--alone.

Thank you!

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Re: Copycat (PG-13) chapter 3

Post by allegrita »

This story is so true to the spirit of the show--Mick and Beth love each other dearly, but they are terrible at saying what they really want to say. :sigh: Beth was a reporter--she should act like one, and ask straightforward questions instead of hedging and trying to get information out of Mick without really letting him know what she actually wants to know. Now she is even more worried, and he's trying to give her space instead of asking her what's really bothering her. :witsend:

You did a great job of piling up the mystery and the angst in this story. It's addictive! :clapping:
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