The Soldiers of Night, Chapter 2: London Revisited
Title: The Soldiers of Night
Fandom : Moonlight
Characters : Mick, Beth, Josef, Coraline, Simone
Rating : R, for some sexual content, violence, and strong language.
Spoilers: Post -"Sonata"
Summary: Twelfth in my post-Sonata series. When a dead body turns up wearing a ring like Mick's, Mick must relive his past and reveal his membership in the brotherhood called, The Soldiers of Night.
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters; no copyright infringement intended.
A/N: I’m glad I caught your interest with Chapter 1! Thanks for the nice reviews. Here is the next chapter, which moves quickly into flashback land. I hope you enjoy it!
Chapter 2: London, Revisited
Beth looked at me in shock, and I didn’t blame her. She knew I’d been a vampire since 1952, so I’m sure she wondered how I had become a vampire hunter more than a decade after I’d been turned. Josef turned around, and took a seat behind his desk. There would be no help from that quarter. He’d warned me, once upon a time, that hunting and killing your own kind would not sit well with even the most conservative of the vampire community, including him.
I sighed, running my hand through my hair, wondering where to begin. I nodded toward the conference table and we both took a seat. I was anxious about telling her this story, because it involved Coraline and some things in my life I wish I could forget. There was no easier way than starting at the beginning.
“Things were becoming unbearable between Coraline and me in LA back in the sixties. I’d caught her cheating on me with her freshies, but she excused it by saying I wasn’t paying enough attention to her…needs. Truth was, I hated what I’d become, and being around her just reminded me of it more and more. Her wild parties, her addiction to freshies-I was tired of it all. Coraline suggested a change of scenery, so we went to Europe for a few years to get away, hoping it would lessen our problems if she was back in her old stomping grounds. At that point, I was willing to try anything. But it didn’t help. It just made things worse. I was a naïve idiot, still in love with her despite her selfishness, her spoiled behavior. We were living in London, and Josef had moved in with us for moral support…”
London, 1968
The pub had been raucous with drunks and students getting stoned in the dark corners. Josef and I drank a few pints but it really wasn’t our scene. The sixties wasn’t my favorite decade, and I was seriously thinking of going back to the States, changing my identity, and reenlisting in the Army. But as much as I wanted to fight for my country, it would have been impossible to fight in Vietnam as a vampire. I mean, how would I ever justify being unable to fight during the day or desiring only blood in my C rations? Not to mention the freezer situation. It was damned depressing that I was basically hiding out in Europe so no one would question me about how I’d avoided the draft.
Josef hadn’t found any desirable freshie prospects that evening, none whose blood wasn’t filled with alcohol or chemicals, so it was only one a.m. when we both decided to call it quits and slink home for the night.
“You know, Mick,” Josef was saying, “I miss good old American women. They’re eager to please and just as eager to hop in the sack. I really have to work hard for these London girls. And all this rain, it’s really damned depressing.” We pulled up our collars against the light mist that was falling. It made it more comfortable to get around during the day, but we both were missing LA’s perennial sunshine. We were an odd pair of vampires. We totally stank at being expatriates, because we actually wanted to be home.
“Thanks for moving in with us for awhile. Coraline and I need some sort of buffer to stop us from killing each other. It’s nice to be able to talk to someone without yelling.”
“Haven’t you made any other vamp friends here?”
“Nah. Met some of Coraline’s friends, but they’re very upper crust and extremely British. I’m just not in to playing cricket or polo, or sipping afternoon tea, even if it’s liberally laced with blood. I’m bored as hell here.”
Josef laughed, lighting up a cigarette. We’d both taken up smoking to pass the time. He handed me the last one in the pack, and I cupped the match as I lit it. About this time, our ears and noses picked up a nearby vampire. We walked along more cautiously, because it sounded like the vamp was engaged in some sort of fight. We stopped short at the entrance of a narrow alley. A human was fighting this vampire, and he had stakes and a machete on him, so he obviously knew what he was up against.
“We should help,” I murmured. “That vamp is gonna kill him.”
Josef shrugged. “None of our business, Mick. This isn’t our town, or even our country. We have no rights here. Let’s just move on and avoid any hassles. Besides, it’s not like the guy is unarmed.”
I didn’t like it, but he had a point. We began to walk on past, when suddenly the vampire gained the upper hand and knocked the man’s weapons away. The vamp threw him against a brick wall, going in for the kill. My old protective instincts kicked in, and didn’t even stop to think about it.
“Mick!” Josef called, as I lunged toward the other vampire. We struggled a minute and I got him away from the man. Next thing I knew, I’d broken the vamp’s neck and I was kneeling by the man to offer my help. He had a pretty good lump on the back of his head, but he was alert and allowed me to get him to his feet.
“Thank you,” said the Brit, who seemed to be in his thirties. He was well dressed and very much the English gentleman. I wondered how such a man would get involved in fighting off vampires.
“Look, I think you might have a concussion. Better go easy the next few days. Maybe get someone to wake you up during the night.” That was my medic training speaking.
“You’re a vampire, aren’t you?” He asked, looking up into the fading silver of my eyes. I guess there was no point in denying it.
“Yeah. But I’m not like that guy,” I said, indicating the mangled vamp at my feet. “I don’t hunt humans.”
“Mick,” Josef was urging, not liking the situation one bit. “Let’s get out of here. The guy might have friends nearby…”
“Sorry. We’d better go.”
“Wait. Let me at least buy you a drink for your pains. I was all but done for when you arrived.”
I shook my head. “No thanks. Go home and take care of that head.”
“You interested in a job?” The man asked softly when I’d nearly caught up with Josef. I turned around.
“What kind of job?”
“Helping me track down more of these…creatures. Your sensory abilities and obvious physical strength would be a great asset. And I could pay you quite well, actually.”
“Well, I happen to be one of those creatures, as you saw. I don’t generally make a habit of killing my own kind.”
“I only kill those vampires who attack humans. I hunt them, you see.”
“I don’t know…” I hesitated, but the idea actually intrigued me. I was at loose ends in London, and it might feel good to be involved in something meaningful.
“Well, I wish you’d consider it. If you want the job I’ll be back here tomorrow night, around midnight. I hope to see you again, Mick, was it?”
“Yeah. I’ll think about it.”
I rejoined Josef, who was obviously agitated at the conversation he’d just witnessed.
“This is bad news, Mick. I seriously hope you’re not considering becoming a goddamn vampire hunter. It’s… unnatural.” He flicked his cigarette butt into a puddle. I’d lost mine sometime during my fight with the vamp, and I wished I had another right then.
I chuckled. “Maybe. A little. But I know you don’t like vamps who go out and haphazardly kill humans. You said yourself such behavior draws too much attention to our community, makes it unsafe for the rest of us to stay in one place. I’d be doing the law-abiding vamps around here a favor.”
“I don’t think most of them would see it that way. Most would see it as the ultimate betrayal. If word got out, you’d be a marked man.”
I shrugged. “It’s just a thought,” I said, wanting to get off the topic with him so I could have the chance to think about all the ramifications myself.
We reached our three bedroom flat on Chapel Street, and Coraline was there lounging among her friends and a handful of freshies, both men and women. Cigarette smoke and the dulcet tones of a Beatles record filled the air. Coraline seemed like she was in a good mood for a change, since she was the center of attention, just like she liked it.
“Back so soon, boys?” she asked from her position on the divan.
Josef grinned and made his way toward a cute little freshie in a miniskirt. He had a thing for legs. Well, and necks too. “The pub was a bore. Glad to see you have drinks here at home.”
Coraline nodded. “Be my guest.” He led the young woman back to his room.
Coraline patted the cushion beside her and I reluctantly sat down. She held out the arm of the boy she’d been feeding off of-he looked about eighteen-politely offering me a taste. I shook my head and watched as she continued, getting turned on despite myself. Coraline really was charismatic and sexy, and while I wasn’t quite sure it was love I felt for her anymore, she still had sexual power over me. Killing that vamp earlier had gotten my motor running, and I leaned in and began nuzzling Coraline’s neck while she suckled the forearm of her young freshie.
“Send them a way,” I whispered into her ear.
She licked the boy’s wound and turned her full attention on me. A few words from her, and everyone was gone in about two minutes flat. I threw Coraline on the floor and proceeded to tear away her red wraparound dress, taking her over and over on the white shag carpet, while the Beatles’ guitars gently wept.
****
I didn’t tell Josef or Coraline where I was going the next night, but Josef knew, and shook his head in disapproval as I left the flat, a wooden stake concealed in each pocket and my machete hanging in its scabbard beneath my leather jacket. True to his word, the man awaited me in the same alley where we’d met. I purposefully hung back to watch him a minute as he scanned his surroundings, seeming to strain his senses to reach into the darkness. Then, with a burst of vamp speed, I was suddenly standing beside him. He jumped away, startled.
“If I were hunting you, you’d be a dead man,” I said softly, noting his accelerated heartbeat.
“Yes. Quite. Mick, glad you came, albeit nearly frightening me to death. You have much you could teach me.”
“Maybe. I thought about your offer, but I have a few questions first.”
“Please, ask me anything.”
I sighed. “Well, to begin with, what’s your name?”
He smiled. “Terribly sorry. Royce Hampton.” We shook hands. “And what’s your surname, Mick? I would hazard a guess that you are American.”
“St. John. Yes, I’m from California.”
“Awww…St. John. A prophet who lost his head. Ironic name for a vampire.”
“Well, I’m no saint, but retaining my head is a personal goal of mine. And fighting murderers would go a long way toward easing my guilt for things I did in the past.”
“I thought it might. You’ve managed to retain a great deal of honor from your previous life. From my experience, that is a rarity among your kind.”
I shook my head. “Not really. There are good and bad vampires, just as there are humans. I try to avoid the bad and stay with the good, although sometimes one bleeds into the other, if you’ll pardon the pun.”
“I see your point. You said you had more questions…”
“Yes. Why are you hunting vampires? What are you getting out of this? Do you work for someone else?”
He paused, and I heard his heart skip a beat at my questions. Whatever he was about to say, this quest of his had deep meaning for him.
“A vampire killed my pregnant wife, right before my eyes. There was nothing I could do to stop it.”
“I figured it was something like that,” I said grimly.
“I made it my mission to discover the habits of the vampire, how to fight them, how to kill them. The first few I killed, it was purely out of vengeance. Now, it is for justice. I work for no one. I teach at university during the day. But I have several who work for me now, most of them purely voluntary. We call ourselves the Soldiers of Night.”
The irony of the name didn’t escape me. I couldn’t be a soldier during the day anymore, but this was a way I could fight with a different kind of army, against an enemy just as real as the Vietcong. I could make a difference. I could help people.
Hampton held up his right hand, and it was then I first saw the ring that would eventually have its place on my own finger. And so began my six-month association with the Soldiers. I kept my secret from Coraline, saying only that I had found a night job. She didn’t complain because the money was good, and I came home every morning with a smile on my face and then usually went on to put a smile on hers as well. She was free of my judgmental presence to have her little parties, and I was free of attending them. We had the afternoons together and we were getting along well, for us. That is, until I killed one of her friends.
“Mick, Morty Solomon was killed last night.”
“Who?”
She thought a minute. “Maybe you’ve never met him…anyway, his wife Ginger was with him when a gang attacked them, beheading poor Morty right in front of her. She swears one of the gang members was a vampire.”
Hmmm…well, “gang” was a bit of an exaggeration. It had been Royce, another Soldier named Steven, and I. I remember the woman vamp had gotten away, and I would have run after her, but this Morty guy had been a handful. We’d found the couple outside a pub, feeding on a drunk young girl til she was nearly drained. Royce had taken her to a hospital, but she’d died of massive blood loss. I had plans to track the female that night.
While I thought about the night’s events, I realized too late that Coraline was pretty good at reading my expressions. When I met her eyes, hers were narrowed with suspicion.
“You know anything about this, Mick?”
I schooled my features, trying for a blank slate. “No. Sorry you lost a friend.” She considered a different approach.
“What do you do at night? What’s this job you’re so passionate about?”
I’d been prepared for this question for months.
“I’m a night watchman, for a hotel.”
“Really? Which one?”
“The Savoy.”
Royce had set things up for all of the Soldiers. He had a friend sympathetic to our cause in the hotel’s employment office, and should anyone ever inquire, he would be able to produce work schedule cards, and job applications on file for all of us.
“Hmm…Why have I never seen your uniform?”
“I’m allowed to wear my everyday clothes. Are you accusing me of something?” My annoyed expression seemed to snap her out of her suspicions, at least for now.
“Of course not, Mick. Just curious.”
That night, I knew Coraline was following me, so I went directly to the Savoy downtown, making a few turns around the grounds of the hotel for show, until I sensed she was no longer watching me. I stayed a little longer, the length of two cigarette smokes, before heading out to track Ginger. Knowing her name made things even simpler, and after asking around in the guise of Coraline’s husband, I found her coming out of a high-rise apartment building not far from our flat. I paused when I saw Josef Kostan on her arm. He sensed me at once and helped Ginger into her car, then ambled casually over to me.
“Comforting the grieving widow?” I asked him.
He grinned. “What can I tell ya-it’s a gift. Now, if you’ll let me, I’ll pick out the next married woman I’d like you and your gang to widow for me.” So he knew. I shouldn’t be surprised. Josef seemed to know everything, no matter where he lived. He must have met Ginger at one of Coraline’s parties.
“You know she’s the next on the list, now,” I said, all traces of humor gone.
“Not while I’m around,” he stated matter-of-factly. “Come on, Mick. From what I hear, that girl’s death was an accident. Monty’s paid for it. Let this one pass.”
I looked past his shoulder to where the red-head, Ginger awaited him in the car. “I don’t know if I can do that,” I said evenly. “She saw me last night.”
“Then we have a problem.” His voice had grown cold, with a sharp edge I’d never heard directed at me. We stood there in silence, the machete heavy against my back.
“Go then,” I finally said. “But it’s on your head if she kills again.”
“Okay. But I’ve got a question for you, Mick. What if I’m the one who kills? Does that move me to the top of your list?”
I didn’t have an answer for him. I could only stand there and watch as he walked away and got into his car with Morty Solomon’s widow.
A/N: Thanks for reading-please review if you have a minute! Chapter 3 will be up soon.