Always 12.04 AM
[x]Title: Always 12.04 AM
[x]Author: hildekitten
[x]Rating: all ages
[x]Warning: none
[x]Pairing: the usual suspects
[x]Genre: General
[x]Spoilers: n/a, this happens after the events of season 1, but it helps if you've seen 12.04 so you know what the background is.
[x]Summary: Mick thought he had dealt with a certain phycho family when he killed Donovan Sheppard. But what when the infinity scar baring crazies show back up in his life?
1. Reunion
2. Really no such thing as vampires
3. On the prowl
4. Fresh from the vein
5. Busted
6. Can't choose your relatives, part 1 and 2
Halloween
The Wild Hunt part 1, two and three.
Voodoo
Valentine's Day
A club down town, it’s new, hip and modern. It’s a more edgy club, playing rock music. There’s a crowd dancing, some others in the lounge area at tables or in some comfy sofas.
Ophelia was leaning against a table, making out with Ben. Her arms around his neck, his resting on the small of her back, fingers stroking her gently as their tongues danced together passionately.
“Oh good heavens, are you people at it again?” Mick appeared from somewhere within the crowd and gave them an annoyed look.
“Don’t you need to go work on that case?” his sister asked, obviously wanting to get back to what she was doing.
“I’m thinking that tonight is a bust, she’s not here.” Mick sighed, it was clear this club wasn’t his scene and he did not approve one bit.
They both looked around when they sensed the decay of another vampire.
“Do you see them?”
“No, you?”
“Probably another vamp clubbing that came close enough to us in passing by.”
“Must be it.” Mick agreed.
Ben reached out to his girlfriend, raising his hand to stroke through her long red curls when she suddenly froze up, her eyes going black, hiding her face in her boyfriend’s shirt.
Ben’s hand is no longer Ben’s and she’s no longer Ophelia. She’s a frightened girl, cornered in an alley. The hand reaching up to her isn’t doing so in tenderness or out of love. She recognises the symbol on it from a previous vision, the infinity scar…
She was held tenderly but tightly against Ben’s chest when the sounds of the club returned to normal around her. Mick was looking at them worried, his hand on his younger sister’s shoulder.
She looked up, determined. She knew what to do.
“Mick, come with me. Ben go home, don’t be here when the shit hits the fan. We can’t compromise your candidacy for DA. There’s too much people around, the cleaner might not be able to get here first. And we have no choice but to investigate this, we can’t risk more mortals getting hurt.”
Ben nodded, kissing her softly. “Call me later ok, be careful.”
She nodded, moving through the crowd for the exit together with her big brother.
Turning past the line of youngsters hopeful to get admitted they turned towards the fire escape.
“Do you smell that?” He asked.
“Yes, blood.” She nodded.
They started walking down the alley soundlessly. The body of the girl was lying there, her eyes were wide open, fear on her face. The bite marks clearly visible to their vampire eyes. Their eyes had turned to their inhuman colour, allowing them to see in the dark.
“Is that what you saw?” Mick asked, a hand in front of his mouth.
Next to him his sister nodded, her big black eyes wide and unreadable.
“The vamps that did this can’t be far off. This is fucked up, the cleaner won’t be able to get in here with that crowd near. We gotta move the body sis. If I pick her up I can jump to that roof over there, and from there to the other one, we should be able to get her out that way. You’ll have to be on the lookout and see I can move her without being seen ok?”
They cursed as they heard footsteps coming from behind them before she could answer her brother, the laughing of mortals, looking for a quiet spot outside the club.
“Scream…” he whispered at her, in a frequency so low no human could hear it.
Taking a deep breath she filled her lungs with air and did as her brother told her, the sound bouncing of walls and alerting the crowd nearby.
*fade to a crime scene. Ophelia was sitting in the back of a police car, the door open. Carl was crouched before her, wrapping a blanket around her and looking worried.*
“You’ll be fine Ophelia, you’re a touch one.”
“I just never expected to find a body there! I just went out to get some fresh air and Mick went with me and then we saw that girl… she was dead!” She sniffed, seemingly upset, looking at Carl with teary eyes.
Mick voice-over
“Someone should give my sister an Oscar the way she’s faking the waterworks on this one. Still her acting is easily diverting attention from us, too bad those mortals appeared before I got the chance to get that body out. I can just hear Josef ranting about torch bearing mobs again. I better join into the act.”
Mick squeezed his sister’s shoulder and looked worried and encouraging at the same time. “You’ll be alright sis.”
Carl handed her a cup of coffee, she pretended to look grateful and used it to warm her hands instead of drinking it. If Carl noticed her doing that, he didn’t say anything of it. He directed his attention to Mick, putting his hand on his shoulder and directing him slightly away from his sister.
“I’ve rang Ben. You take her home Mick and bring her by the precinct tomorrow for a statement, I think it’s best you tuck her into bed for the night, see to it she’s ok.”
“Thanks Carl.” Mick sounded grateful.
“Hey no problem man.”
*fade to Mick’s apartment, Mick handed Beth a mug of tea, she sat on the sofa comfortably, legs pulled up and still in her pyjamas.*
“So what happened?” She asked curiously, taking a sip of the hot drink in her hands.
“I was clubbing with Ben. Coincidentally in the same club Mick was looking for some missing girl.”
“Wait, where is Ben?” Beth asked.
“I send him home, didn’t want to risk unnecessary questions from the media. The DA position is up for election as you well know.”
“I didn’t know he was running.” Mick pondered.
“Neither did I” Beth added.
“Well he’s thinking about it, I’m surprised Ben hasn’t told you about this yet.”
“Come to the point.” Beth had no patience left after been waken up in the middle of the night.
“I had a vision of the dead girl getting cornered in the alley. So I went outside with Mick. And we found the body.”
“So you saw her getting killed whilst it happened?” Beth asked, aligning the facts , making sure she got everything right.
The redhead nodded in confirmation.
“Anyway it was too crowded for the cleaners to be able to do their job, so we were hoping we might be able to move the body or something and whilst we were considering that option we heard some people approaching us that had no clue there was a corpse in front of them so I told Ophelia to start screaming, which she did from there we went on pretending we came across the body by accident.”
“Wow, it sounds wrong, almost like the case of that doctor that got turned against his will and went insane with bloodlust.” Beth said, thinking back of the first case she worked on with Mick after she found out he was a vampire.
“It does seem like some rogues at work.” Mick nodded. “I’ll ring the cleaner so she can deal with them. For now we should just go to bed, there’s nothing more we can do tonight.”
*fade to Ben’s office, Ophelia was walking in with a folder in her hand.*
“Hey hey dearest, Carl said I had to drop off the reports from last night with you. Mick’s is in here too. Neatly typed up and everything.” She sounded cheery, but the fatigue was blatantly obvious.
“Thanks darling.” He gave her a smile when taking the paperwork from her, even though it was tired it still warmed his eyes.
“Are you alright?” Stroking her cheek softly he looked worried. “You look even paler than usual, and you feel so cold to the touch. Have you eaten?”
“I’m not hungry.”
“When was the last time you ate?”
“I don’t know… when were you over at Mick’s and I’s again?”
“Sweetheart that was last week… your body temperature is dropping which means that you need to feed soon.”
“Oh… well I don’t need to feed as often as the average vamp anyway.”
Ben took her by the hand, to a corner of his office and sat down on the low filing cabinet standing there, unbuttoning and rolling up his left sleeve. “You’re going to eat right here and right now, before you get into some kind of hunger induced trouble.”
“I’m not hungry so that’s not likely to happen. Besides, you need your strength.”
He gave her an unimpressed look, and ran a claw over his wrist. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply at the scent of his potent werewolf blood. When he held his wrist towards her invitingly she was clearly having a hard time refusing. Unable to resist she drew her fangs, licked the wound, bit down and drank deeply, enjoying the warmth and strength of her lover’s blood course through her veins, warming her skin. She looked him in the eyes when he groaned softly, it was clear he was enjoying the intimacy between them. Warmth and love reflected in their eyes at each other. She felt strength returning to her, her lover’s strength filling her own veins.
And then the vision hit her. Hard.
It’s all a blur, blood everywhere, the stabbing of a knife. A girl watching from a closet, hidden by a loved one in the hope she’ll escape the massacre. “…I see you…” the killer nearly sings it out. There’s darkness, smears of light, chanting, the feeling of family warm and fuzzy yet twisted, dark and nasty at the same time. Death and blood and life again. Like an infinite cycle, the infinity symbol. “…die screaming my name…” devotion, going through hell and back to fulfil the wishes of their master. It feels like how Lance feels when Cédric commands him. This is a family but it’s not her family. This is different kind of infinity, twisted on a whole other level. A girl screams, a girl with brown hair and a mole in her face, she screams in the throws of her death, the last thing she sees is the infinity symbol on the hand that strikes and there’s another scream…
The last scream was her own, panicked as she was shivering all over. Blinking her eyes rapidly she was regaining composure in strong arms. Ben was holding her, still bleeding from his wrist although the wound was closing up rapidly, blood had run down his arm staining his shirt. Carl came running in with Jules on his heel, freezing up when he saw Ben all bloodied, holding Ophelia close to him protectively.
“What the hell…” Carl was looking at them in something akin to shock.
“Oh this is not good, not good at all.” Jules ran over to his niece, recognising the problem straight away. “Let me have a look at her.”
“I don’t think now is a good time.” Ben pointed out.
“Definitely not a good time” Ophelia’s voice sounded muffled, from somewhere in Ben’s shirt. “I’m not hurt! I just got startled by a spider, ‘s all good.”
“What happened to your arm Ben?” Carl sounded worried.
“I got a nosebleed, I must have mucked on Ben’s shirt.” Ophelia said, looking up.
“Your eyes… what are you?” Carl asked, his hand going to his gun reflexively.
“What’s up with my eyes?”
“They’re black.” Jules noted dryly.
“Oh special theatrical lenses! Like them? I’m trying something new!”
“Cut the crap. I’m not stupid and I’ve had enough, this is the last straw so I’m just going to go ahead and ask the questions that have been keeping me awake for months. You never eat or drink, unless its alcohol or home brought, neither does your brother or slim here next to me. It’s always something, allergies, special diet. You’re always hanging out at the morgue. You’re involved in every dubious case. What are you?”
“Jules, he’s your partner, this is your conversation to be had.” Ophelia said matter of factly, her eyes turning from back to grey.
Carl watched it happen and gasped.
“We’re not the bad guys Carl…” Ben said, letting go of Ophelia gently.
She nodded at what Ben said, and got up, unsteady on her legs. Ben grabbed her arm before she fell, supporting her. “I’ll take you home to Mick, come on.”
Jules handed him his jacket “you’ll want to hide that arm.”
“Thanks man.”
Jules looked at Carl “we need to talk my friend.”
Carl watched Ben walk out with Ophelia held tightly to him, making sure she wouldn’t collapse. “Yeah, yeah we do…”
*fade to Mick’s apartment*
Mick had ordered food for Ben, who was devouring the contents of several cartons of Chinese food.
Ophelia was watching them with a small smile on her face and affectionate eyes. “He always gets so hungry after I feed from him, even more than usual. I should bake him that steak I got yesterday.”
“Steak? I’ll bake it myself, you rest!” Ben shouted, getting up and rummaging through the fridge.
“What did you see? I’ve never seen you get this bad a backlash.” Mick sounded worried and handed her a glass of blood. “Here, drink.”
“It was so weird, I kept on seeing different places, different times, it swirled around you know, things like that do my head in. It’s a lot to digest. I’ve been seeing weird things ever since that voodoo case… It started when Noan and I said goodbye. I just haven’t been sleeping well so that’s probably what caused the backlash.”
“She’s not been eating or sleeping properly for a while now” Ben added, baking his steak.
“It’s too fleeting, I just get bits and pieces. Hand me my notebook please, I’m sure I drew all of this, I just need to find it in there, maybe you guys can put it together with me. I don’t know, I may have seen something that means something to you instead of me, it has happened before.”
Mick nodded, rummaging in his sister’s bag and handed her what she requested.
She smiled and whispered her thanks, starting to flick through the pages. “Just let me be for a bit, I’ll be alright.”
Mick nodded, joining Ben at the kitchen table and inhaling the smell of steak.
“Man I wish I could eat that, although I’d bake it more mind, that’s way too raw for my taste.”
Ben gave him an apologetic look.
“Carl found out about us.” The werewolf sounded worried.
Mick nodded gravely. “It was going to happen sooner or later, especially with Jules as his partner. He was bound to start asking questions. I just hope he’ll take it well… The alternative isn’t feasible.”
“No. It really isn’t.” Ben sounded grave.
There was a soft rustle of clothes as Ophelia got up and padded over to them, handing them her notebook. She had drawn several pages and stuck bits of paper in as markers. There was the drawing of a hand with an infinity scar, the girl she saw, the word family, the sentence “die screaming my name”, cold eyes.
Mick looked at all of them, taking it in and putting a hand in front of his mouth, eyes wide in a mixture of shock and surprise when he put everything together in his mind. He put a finger on the drawing of the girl.
“Do you know her?” Ben asked, looking over the other man’s shoulder.
“Yes, this is Audrey Pell. I met her last year. She was being hunted down by Donovan Sheppard.”
“The mass murdering cult leader?” Ben asked frowning.
“He had been turned just before his execution.”
“Why am I not surprised.” Ben remarked dryly.
“He must have turned some of his family members before I killed him and they’re now back to do as he commanded, they’re after Audrey.”
“That dead girl from outside the club looks a little like her, same hairstyle, in the dark the mistake could be obvious.” Ben noted.
“Can you find out where Audrey lives now?”
“Sure, come to the office with me and I’ll look it up.”
Mick nodded, grabbing his coat. He turned to his sister “you stay here, if you get another vision, let me know.”
Ben’s office
They came walking in, finding Beth typing away on a report at her computer.
“Hi guys” she greeted them, leaning in for a kiss when Mick walked over to her.
“I don’t feel comfortable about leaving Ophelia alone.” Ben was clearly worried.
Mick nodded “I’ll make some calls whilst you get that address, someone will be able to stay with her.”
“What’s wrong?” the worry was obvious in Beth’s expression.
“I’ll fill you in while I find that info for Mick, step into my office Beth.”
Mick stepped outside, ringing his best friend.
“Josef! Could you go by my house and keep my sister company whilst I’m out?”
Josef was raising one eyebrow. “Mick! I’m not a babysitter! Besides, you know your sister and I don’t get along that well, are you sure you trust her and I alone in your home?”
“Can you have Simone do it then?” Mick sounded annoyed.
“What did the redheaded terror do anyway that she needs a jailor?” Josef’s curiosity obviously didn’t win from his desire to be snarky.
“She didn’t do anything, she’s just been having a lot of issues with her sight these days if you get what I mean. So I rather not leave her alone right now as earlier today it was pretty bad” Mick choose his words carefully whilst some people passed him by.
“Oh. Well I’d help you out but Simone and I are in a big business meeting today with a client that has flown in from Tokyo, I can’t possibly cancel.”
“I’m going to try someone else.” Mick hung up, already dialing another number when Ben stuck his head outside.
“I’ve got my sister on the phone, she’s not working today and she’s heading to your place right now.”
“Thanks man, please thank her for me yeah?”
“Will do.”
*fade to an office block down town*
Audrey was coming out of the building, it was the cities department of child wellfare, dressed in a smart grey suit and carrying her laptop bag, she looked content as she walked. She greeted some co-workers on her way to the outside parking lot on her way to her car. Frowning she picked up the note from underneath one of the window cleaners, turning to printed side towards her she grew pale. It read ‘Hello sweetheart, I see you. I’m back…’ Underneath the words was an infinity symbol painted in blood.
She dropped do her knees in shock, screaming at the hand on her shoulder.
“Audrey it’s me, it’s Mick, I know what’s happening, I’m here to help.”
“Mick! How did you know I need help? How did you know about any of this?” She clung to him like a drowning woman to a lifeline.
“Let’s say I have my ways.” He replied as he wrapped his arms around her protectively, looking around the surroundings, scanning them for possible threats.
She looked at him for a moment, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. “What are you Mick?”
“Let’s go to my flat, come on.”
*fade at them leaving together, Mick with his arm around Audrey protectively*
*Mick’s apartment*
He was walking in with Audrey, surprised to find Ben, Carl, Jules and Beth all there.
“What are you guys doing here?”
“We figured you’d come here, so we did too.” Jules shrugged, his eyes wolflike.
“What are you people?” Audrey asked, she was obviously uncomfortable, looking around over the occupants of the sofas.
“Beth!” The relief in her voice was obvious when she saw her friend, and welcomed the hug the blonde woman was enveloping her in gratefully.
“These are good people Audrey.” Beth said earnestly.
“I know that. I just want to know what they are.” She was eying Jules suspiciously, even though he was looking perfectly human now.
Footsteps on the stairs made Audrey look up from Beth’s shoulder.
Ophelia looked at her, head to one side, with those big black eyes of her.
She smiled wearily pointing at herself “vampire”, at her brother “vampire”, at Beth “human”, at Carl “also human”, at Ben “werewolf” and at Jules last “dual natured.”
“What does that mean?” Audrey turned to Jules.
“I was born a werewolf like Ben, but I was turned into a vampire when I was 25.”
“How old are you now?”
“99. I’ll be a 100 later this year. I was born in Belle Epoch France, Paris to be exact, hence the lingering accent.”
Audrey sat down in the sofa, looking at Mick. “I’m nearly 83 years old, my sister is 6 years younger than me.”
“But you both look so young…”
“Vampires don’t age, werewolves age very slowly once they reach their twenties.” Beth explained.
“It’s a lot to take in isn’t it.” Carl remarked. “Trust me I know what you’re going through, I only found out today myself.” He went to sit next to Audrey and looked her in the eye. “Look at me Audrey. These are good people. They’re not human like you, me and Beth, but they’re definitely the good guys. They will do whatever they can to keep you safe and find who’s after you, together with Beth and I.”
“I know that” she nodded. “I just thought, I thought this would finally all be behind me after Sheppard had died.”
“I know honny” Beth hugged her again. “We’ll get them this time I’m sure of it.”
Ben looked at Ophelia “can you tap into your gift?”
“Without external factors not no.”
“Can’t you use voodoo?” Beth asked.
“Santeria. And no, I’m not a practitioner anymore remember.”
“What about your contacts?”
Her brother beat her to the answer. “Beth you’re a genius! If those psychos are hanging out anywhere, it’ll be in the typical hide outs.”
“Underground clubs.” Ben agreed, unfolding his arms.
“Time to go undercover.” Jules nodded.
“Beth, you can Carl stay here with Audrey. Ophelia will stay with you guys.”
“Ok” Beth nodded, determined.
Mick looked at Audrey “don’t worry, it’ll be ok, you’ll see”.
*fade to a small club downtown in one of the lesser parts of towns. There’s Goth kids outside in black, with too much make-up on their faces and styling products in their hair. Quite a few look sickly pale from a life outside sunlight.
Jules was eying some girls looking at him with lust in their eyes suspiciously.
“What a fucking rainbow coalition of freaks.” Mick said quietly as he moved to the entrance with his friends.
They got into the club easily, paying the $ 5 admission and getting their hands stamped.
The music was deafeningly loud and they cursed inwardly at the lack of possibility to use their hightened hearing.
“Fan out!” Ben shouted above the music.
“Let the phone ring 3 times, hang up and do it again, that way we’ll know if we need to find each other.” Jules shouted.
Mick nodded in agreement and set off in a different direction as the others.
Mick voice-over
“There’s no scent of vamp here, I hope they’re not trying to hunt her down at my place.”
*fade to Mick’s apartment*
Audrey was sipping from her drink, trying hard to be brave.
Carl had just finished cooking dinner and was piling food onto plates, going over to Audrey to hand her a meal.
“No thank you, I’m not hungry.”
“You have to eat Audrey.” Beth said.
“I don’t understand how you guys can at times like these.”
“I suppose we just try to maintain some level of normalcy as a coping mechanism” Beth said thoughtfully.
Carl nodded in agreement “besides, if we had to forgo meals every time something strange happened then we would have died from starvation ages ago.”
“Ophelia isn’t eating.” Audrey remarked.
“Well she’s a vampire, she only drinks blood. And she fed off Ben earlier today, werewolf blood is very potent I understand so I think she’s simply not hungry or needing food.” Beth explained.
“Eeew gross!” Audrey exclaimed.
“I can hear you guys you know.” Ophelia called out from where she was sitting on the stairs.
Audrey clasped a hand in front of her mouth. “I’m sorry, it’s a lot to take in.”
Suddenly Ophelia ran into the office, coming out with a shotgun and throwing it at Carl.
“Hold the fort, I smell decay. Beth, protect Audrey.”
Beth nodded, pulling her duty weapon.
The fear was obvious in Audrey’s eyes. “Don’t you need weapons?”
Ophelia turned to her “don’t worry, I have all I need.” She pulled open the front door, disappearing into the hall. Carl was looking at the monitor, seeing her go through the hallway.
She went outside, pretending to be vulnerable and off guard and sure enough, she was pounced on by two family members as soon as she pretended to find her car key in her trouser pockets. One was staked as she allowed them to pull her to the ground. Pushing the other one off she got to her feet so fast she was a blur, stomping on his throat with vamp strength, smashing in his windpipe and then his skull with her heavy combat boots.
Leaning against the wall she sighed before looking around and starting to drag both vampires inside by a leg each.
As soon as the elevator hit her floor and she stepped outside, still dragging her captives behind her. The eerie silence made her realise the proverbial shit had hit the fan.
The front door was open and Carl was on the ground, knocked out. She rushed over, shaking him. “I’m alright, find the girls, they ran out of the front door when they came in through the glass.” He groaned, starting to sit up slowly.
She dragged her captives in, unstaking the one and shouting in his face. “WHERE ARE THEY!”
“Where you can’t get them.”
She growled at him, her eyes pitch black, fully vamping out at him, she suddenly had more fangs then was normal.
“WHERE?!”
“What are you?” He stared at her with eyes wide in terror.
“Your worse fucking nightmare, now TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE!”
“The cellar, beneath Dark Desires.”
She hit the stake home again and rammed a stake in the other one’s chest on principle.
She looked at Carl, who was looking at her pretty baffled. “Stay here, I’ll deal with this…”
*fade to the club*
Jules and Ben had rejoined Mick, and they were standing shoulder to shoulder in a small circle, looking around them.
Mick felt his phone vibrate trice, stop and repeat. He went outside to pick up. “Yeah.”
“I got two of them, but we had to split up. They’ve got the girls, I think they’re underneath you.”
“Are you here?”
“Yes, I’m about to get in.”
He looked around and ran up to her when he spotted her approaching, pulling her close to his chest as soon as he saw the chance.
She shook herself loose, as if she felt she didn’t deserve his affection and pressed past a group of girls, her eyes jet black. She ran to Ben and Jules as soon as she spotted them, starting to apologise profoundly when Mick also joined them.
“We’ll talk about that later, we need to find them as soon as possible.” Mick was worried about Beth quite obviously.
Ben looked at Jules “ready?”
“Oh yes.” He grinned mischievously, obviously on the exact same page as his friend.
Mick pulled Ophelia against a wall and reached out for her, holding her hand.
Ben and Jules both reached for their badge and went to the DJ, showing them their IDs. It took less than a minute before the music stopped and Jules voice sounded through the sound system, clear as day “This is the LAPD on a drugs bust.”
The desired effect was immediate, even before Jules had finished speaking, everyone was pressing towards the exit. Mick held on to his sister to make sure she wouldn’t be pressed along in the fold. A useless gesture he knew, because she could stand her ground just fine but it was a matter of principle to him. Plus he knew it would make it impossible for her to just go up in the crowd and go chasing family members on her own.
He grabbed the barkeep when he was running by, going for the exit “where’s the basement?” he screamed, barely managing to keep his fangs down.
“Through there, but the others won’t appreciate you trying to hide in there with them.”
“I’ll take my chances!” he released the guy, running towards the trap door in the ground that was pointed out to him, pulling it open.
His sister slid in first, running through the hall. Mick was second and they could hear their friends slide in behind them, pulling it shut after them. One second there were footsteps, the next there was the running of paws on the dirty ground. Ben was last, letting the 3 with better vision in the dark go before him.
They could hear shouting, Beth’s angry shouting and they followed it like a homing beacon. Mick kicked in the door and Jules launched himself into the dirty room, finding Beth chained to a rusted pipe.
“I’m fine, they just chained me up and left me here. Find Audrey!”
A blood curdling scream made them gasp, and they started running to the source, leaving the werewolves to release and help Beth.
Ophelia paused next to the door, sliding her long leather jacket off her shoulders dropping it the ground, pulling one sword and turning to Mick to allow him to get the other one.
“Glad to see you brought the swords.” He whispered to his sister.
“Yeah well, it’s like uncle Lance said: never go hunting without them.”
Mick narrowed his eyes and rewarded the statement with an unimpressed look. “Ready?”
They nodded at each other and Mick steadied himself.
Kicking in the door they were facing the two vampires torturing Audrey.
She was tied to a chair, unconscious and had lost a lot of blood.
“How dare you disturb us? Try to destroy our master’s revenge.”
“We’ll allow you to join him in final death.” Mick snapped at them. “I’ll destroy you just like I destroyed your master!”
They launched in battle, snarling and growling, eventually coming out victorious, the heads of the family members rolling over the floor.
Mick was untying Audrey “If we don’t get her help soon she’ll die. We have to get her to a hospital right now.”
“Let me sort this.” Ben appeared in the door, slicing his wrist whilst he walked over and pouring the blood into the worst of her wounds. Slowly Audrey was regaining consciousness.
“Here, drink my blood, it’ll help you heal.”
“No…” she sounded weak.
“You won’t be anything than human Audrey, it will just help you heal.”
*fade at Audrey drinking from Ben’s wrist, sobbing.*
*fade to Ben’s parents’ house*
They were sitting at the dinner table. Mick had his arms around Beth, Ophelia had her arms on the table and was resting her head on them whilst Ben gently stroked her back. Jules and Carl were just sitting there awkwardly. Carl was obviously put off his coffee at the sight of Jules drinking blood from a beer glass.
“I’m sorry for allowing you to get taken…” Ophelia whispered at Beth.
“Don’t be stupid Ophelia, they would have gotten in anyway, and not even you can deal with 6 vampires at once.” Beth wiped away the other girl’s guilt.
“Had you been there it would have been worse” Mick agreed. “You being outside when it happened at least allowed us to find them.”
“We really need to talk about your home security Mick, because it’s not keeping out vamps.” Beth pointed out.
“Yeah I know, I’m going to talk to Josef first thing tomorrow evening so he can send in his guy.”
“What happened to the other turned family members?” Ben asked.
“The cleaner’s sniffed them out and dealt with them.” Mick replied coldly.
“What about Audrey?” Beth sounded worried.
“The werewolf nation will take care of her. She will be given a new identity, we will keep her safe. There are many places like my parents’ house, where those in need can find a place to be safe, where they are helped to a new life.”
They turned when Audrey walked in, cleaned up and in fresh clothes. Claire was besides her. She ran over and hugged Beth before hugging the others.
“Thank you so much.”
“Don’t thank me, if I hadn’t gone outside…” Ophelia was clearly still blaming herself, trying to get out of getting hugged by pulling away.
“Don’t be stupid, had you been there it would have all been worse, I would be dead now, I am sure of it.”
“Are you ok with what’s going to happen?” Beth asked, worried.
“Yes, I want to be safe. And I have no family to leave behind since my grandmother died earlier this year. I can still stay in touch with you guys, I’m looking forward to finally be able to live once and for all.” She sounded determined.
Mick nodded at her “you’ll be fine, you’re a surviver Audrey.”
Mick voice-over
“I was so sure that I had dealt with these infinity freaks when I killed Sheppard. But god knows how many of his twisted family he turned, god knows how many are still out there, lurking in the shadows waiting for the first moment we drop our guard.”
[x]Author: hildekitten
[x]Rating: all ages
[x]Warning: none
[x]Pairing: the usual suspects
[x]Genre: General
[x]Spoilers: n/a, this happens after the events of season 1, but it helps if you've seen 12.04 so you know what the background is.
[x]Summary: Mick thought he had dealt with a certain phycho family when he killed Donovan Sheppard. But what when the infinity scar baring crazies show back up in his life?
1. Reunion
2. Really no such thing as vampires
3. On the prowl
4. Fresh from the vein
5. Busted
6. Can't choose your relatives, part 1 and 2
Halloween
The Wild Hunt part 1, two and three.
Voodoo
Valentine's Day
A club down town, it’s new, hip and modern. It’s a more edgy club, playing rock music. There’s a crowd dancing, some others in the lounge area at tables or in some comfy sofas.
Ophelia was leaning against a table, making out with Ben. Her arms around his neck, his resting on the small of her back, fingers stroking her gently as their tongues danced together passionately.
“Oh good heavens, are you people at it again?” Mick appeared from somewhere within the crowd and gave them an annoyed look.
“Don’t you need to go work on that case?” his sister asked, obviously wanting to get back to what she was doing.
“I’m thinking that tonight is a bust, she’s not here.” Mick sighed, it was clear this club wasn’t his scene and he did not approve one bit.
They both looked around when they sensed the decay of another vampire.
“Do you see them?”
“No, you?”
“Probably another vamp clubbing that came close enough to us in passing by.”
“Must be it.” Mick agreed.
Ben reached out to his girlfriend, raising his hand to stroke through her long red curls when she suddenly froze up, her eyes going black, hiding her face in her boyfriend’s shirt.
Ben’s hand is no longer Ben’s and she’s no longer Ophelia. She’s a frightened girl, cornered in an alley. The hand reaching up to her isn’t doing so in tenderness or out of love. She recognises the symbol on it from a previous vision, the infinity scar…
She was held tenderly but tightly against Ben’s chest when the sounds of the club returned to normal around her. Mick was looking at them worried, his hand on his younger sister’s shoulder.
She looked up, determined. She knew what to do.
“Mick, come with me. Ben go home, don’t be here when the shit hits the fan. We can’t compromise your candidacy for DA. There’s too much people around, the cleaner might not be able to get here first. And we have no choice but to investigate this, we can’t risk more mortals getting hurt.”
Ben nodded, kissing her softly. “Call me later ok, be careful.”
She nodded, moving through the crowd for the exit together with her big brother.
Turning past the line of youngsters hopeful to get admitted they turned towards the fire escape.
“Do you smell that?” He asked.
“Yes, blood.” She nodded.
They started walking down the alley soundlessly. The body of the girl was lying there, her eyes were wide open, fear on her face. The bite marks clearly visible to their vampire eyes. Their eyes had turned to their inhuman colour, allowing them to see in the dark.
“Is that what you saw?” Mick asked, a hand in front of his mouth.
Next to him his sister nodded, her big black eyes wide and unreadable.
“The vamps that did this can’t be far off. This is fucked up, the cleaner won’t be able to get in here with that crowd near. We gotta move the body sis. If I pick her up I can jump to that roof over there, and from there to the other one, we should be able to get her out that way. You’ll have to be on the lookout and see I can move her without being seen ok?”
They cursed as they heard footsteps coming from behind them before she could answer her brother, the laughing of mortals, looking for a quiet spot outside the club.
“Scream…” he whispered at her, in a frequency so low no human could hear it.
Taking a deep breath she filled her lungs with air and did as her brother told her, the sound bouncing of walls and alerting the crowd nearby.
*fade to a crime scene. Ophelia was sitting in the back of a police car, the door open. Carl was crouched before her, wrapping a blanket around her and looking worried.*
“You’ll be fine Ophelia, you’re a touch one.”
“I just never expected to find a body there! I just went out to get some fresh air and Mick went with me and then we saw that girl… she was dead!” She sniffed, seemingly upset, looking at Carl with teary eyes.
Mick voice-over
“Someone should give my sister an Oscar the way she’s faking the waterworks on this one. Still her acting is easily diverting attention from us, too bad those mortals appeared before I got the chance to get that body out. I can just hear Josef ranting about torch bearing mobs again. I better join into the act.”
Mick squeezed his sister’s shoulder and looked worried and encouraging at the same time. “You’ll be alright sis.”
Carl handed her a cup of coffee, she pretended to look grateful and used it to warm her hands instead of drinking it. If Carl noticed her doing that, he didn’t say anything of it. He directed his attention to Mick, putting his hand on his shoulder and directing him slightly away from his sister.
“I’ve rang Ben. You take her home Mick and bring her by the precinct tomorrow for a statement, I think it’s best you tuck her into bed for the night, see to it she’s ok.”
“Thanks Carl.” Mick sounded grateful.
“Hey no problem man.”
*fade to Mick’s apartment, Mick handed Beth a mug of tea, she sat on the sofa comfortably, legs pulled up and still in her pyjamas.*
“So what happened?” She asked curiously, taking a sip of the hot drink in her hands.
“I was clubbing with Ben. Coincidentally in the same club Mick was looking for some missing girl.”
“Wait, where is Ben?” Beth asked.
“I send him home, didn’t want to risk unnecessary questions from the media. The DA position is up for election as you well know.”
“I didn’t know he was running.” Mick pondered.
“Neither did I” Beth added.
“Well he’s thinking about it, I’m surprised Ben hasn’t told you about this yet.”
“Come to the point.” Beth had no patience left after been waken up in the middle of the night.
“I had a vision of the dead girl getting cornered in the alley. So I went outside with Mick. And we found the body.”
“So you saw her getting killed whilst it happened?” Beth asked, aligning the facts , making sure she got everything right.
The redhead nodded in confirmation.
“Anyway it was too crowded for the cleaners to be able to do their job, so we were hoping we might be able to move the body or something and whilst we were considering that option we heard some people approaching us that had no clue there was a corpse in front of them so I told Ophelia to start screaming, which she did from there we went on pretending we came across the body by accident.”
“Wow, it sounds wrong, almost like the case of that doctor that got turned against his will and went insane with bloodlust.” Beth said, thinking back of the first case she worked on with Mick after she found out he was a vampire.
“It does seem like some rogues at work.” Mick nodded. “I’ll ring the cleaner so she can deal with them. For now we should just go to bed, there’s nothing more we can do tonight.”
*fade to Ben’s office, Ophelia was walking in with a folder in her hand.*
“Hey hey dearest, Carl said I had to drop off the reports from last night with you. Mick’s is in here too. Neatly typed up and everything.” She sounded cheery, but the fatigue was blatantly obvious.
“Thanks darling.” He gave her a smile when taking the paperwork from her, even though it was tired it still warmed his eyes.
“Are you alright?” Stroking her cheek softly he looked worried. “You look even paler than usual, and you feel so cold to the touch. Have you eaten?”
“I’m not hungry.”
“When was the last time you ate?”
“I don’t know… when were you over at Mick’s and I’s again?”
“Sweetheart that was last week… your body temperature is dropping which means that you need to feed soon.”
“Oh… well I don’t need to feed as often as the average vamp anyway.”
Ben took her by the hand, to a corner of his office and sat down on the low filing cabinet standing there, unbuttoning and rolling up his left sleeve. “You’re going to eat right here and right now, before you get into some kind of hunger induced trouble.”
“I’m not hungry so that’s not likely to happen. Besides, you need your strength.”
He gave her an unimpressed look, and ran a claw over his wrist. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply at the scent of his potent werewolf blood. When he held his wrist towards her invitingly she was clearly having a hard time refusing. Unable to resist she drew her fangs, licked the wound, bit down and drank deeply, enjoying the warmth and strength of her lover’s blood course through her veins, warming her skin. She looked him in the eyes when he groaned softly, it was clear he was enjoying the intimacy between them. Warmth and love reflected in their eyes at each other. She felt strength returning to her, her lover’s strength filling her own veins.
And then the vision hit her. Hard.
It’s all a blur, blood everywhere, the stabbing of a knife. A girl watching from a closet, hidden by a loved one in the hope she’ll escape the massacre. “…I see you…” the killer nearly sings it out. There’s darkness, smears of light, chanting, the feeling of family warm and fuzzy yet twisted, dark and nasty at the same time. Death and blood and life again. Like an infinite cycle, the infinity symbol. “…die screaming my name…” devotion, going through hell and back to fulfil the wishes of their master. It feels like how Lance feels when Cédric commands him. This is a family but it’s not her family. This is different kind of infinity, twisted on a whole other level. A girl screams, a girl with brown hair and a mole in her face, she screams in the throws of her death, the last thing she sees is the infinity symbol on the hand that strikes and there’s another scream…
The last scream was her own, panicked as she was shivering all over. Blinking her eyes rapidly she was regaining composure in strong arms. Ben was holding her, still bleeding from his wrist although the wound was closing up rapidly, blood had run down his arm staining his shirt. Carl came running in with Jules on his heel, freezing up when he saw Ben all bloodied, holding Ophelia close to him protectively.
“What the hell…” Carl was looking at them in something akin to shock.
“Oh this is not good, not good at all.” Jules ran over to his niece, recognising the problem straight away. “Let me have a look at her.”
“I don’t think now is a good time.” Ben pointed out.
“Definitely not a good time” Ophelia’s voice sounded muffled, from somewhere in Ben’s shirt. “I’m not hurt! I just got startled by a spider, ‘s all good.”
“What happened to your arm Ben?” Carl sounded worried.
“I got a nosebleed, I must have mucked on Ben’s shirt.” Ophelia said, looking up.
“Your eyes… what are you?” Carl asked, his hand going to his gun reflexively.
“What’s up with my eyes?”
“They’re black.” Jules noted dryly.
“Oh special theatrical lenses! Like them? I’m trying something new!”
“Cut the crap. I’m not stupid and I’ve had enough, this is the last straw so I’m just going to go ahead and ask the questions that have been keeping me awake for months. You never eat or drink, unless its alcohol or home brought, neither does your brother or slim here next to me. It’s always something, allergies, special diet. You’re always hanging out at the morgue. You’re involved in every dubious case. What are you?”
“Jules, he’s your partner, this is your conversation to be had.” Ophelia said matter of factly, her eyes turning from back to grey.
Carl watched it happen and gasped.
“We’re not the bad guys Carl…” Ben said, letting go of Ophelia gently.
She nodded at what Ben said, and got up, unsteady on her legs. Ben grabbed her arm before she fell, supporting her. “I’ll take you home to Mick, come on.”
Jules handed him his jacket “you’ll want to hide that arm.”
“Thanks man.”
Jules looked at Carl “we need to talk my friend.”
Carl watched Ben walk out with Ophelia held tightly to him, making sure she wouldn’t collapse. “Yeah, yeah we do…”
*fade to Mick’s apartment*
Mick had ordered food for Ben, who was devouring the contents of several cartons of Chinese food.
Ophelia was watching them with a small smile on her face and affectionate eyes. “He always gets so hungry after I feed from him, even more than usual. I should bake him that steak I got yesterday.”
“Steak? I’ll bake it myself, you rest!” Ben shouted, getting up and rummaging through the fridge.
“What did you see? I’ve never seen you get this bad a backlash.” Mick sounded worried and handed her a glass of blood. “Here, drink.”
“It was so weird, I kept on seeing different places, different times, it swirled around you know, things like that do my head in. It’s a lot to digest. I’ve been seeing weird things ever since that voodoo case… It started when Noan and I said goodbye. I just haven’t been sleeping well so that’s probably what caused the backlash.”
“She’s not been eating or sleeping properly for a while now” Ben added, baking his steak.
“It’s too fleeting, I just get bits and pieces. Hand me my notebook please, I’m sure I drew all of this, I just need to find it in there, maybe you guys can put it together with me. I don’t know, I may have seen something that means something to you instead of me, it has happened before.”
Mick nodded, rummaging in his sister’s bag and handed her what she requested.
She smiled and whispered her thanks, starting to flick through the pages. “Just let me be for a bit, I’ll be alright.”
Mick nodded, joining Ben at the kitchen table and inhaling the smell of steak.
“Man I wish I could eat that, although I’d bake it more mind, that’s way too raw for my taste.”
Ben gave him an apologetic look.
“Carl found out about us.” The werewolf sounded worried.
Mick nodded gravely. “It was going to happen sooner or later, especially with Jules as his partner. He was bound to start asking questions. I just hope he’ll take it well… The alternative isn’t feasible.”
“No. It really isn’t.” Ben sounded grave.
There was a soft rustle of clothes as Ophelia got up and padded over to them, handing them her notebook. She had drawn several pages and stuck bits of paper in as markers. There was the drawing of a hand with an infinity scar, the girl she saw, the word family, the sentence “die screaming my name”, cold eyes.
Mick looked at all of them, taking it in and putting a hand in front of his mouth, eyes wide in a mixture of shock and surprise when he put everything together in his mind. He put a finger on the drawing of the girl.
“Do you know her?” Ben asked, looking over the other man’s shoulder.
“Yes, this is Audrey Pell. I met her last year. She was being hunted down by Donovan Sheppard.”
“The mass murdering cult leader?” Ben asked frowning.
“He had been turned just before his execution.”
“Why am I not surprised.” Ben remarked dryly.
“He must have turned some of his family members before I killed him and they’re now back to do as he commanded, they’re after Audrey.”
“That dead girl from outside the club looks a little like her, same hairstyle, in the dark the mistake could be obvious.” Ben noted.
“Can you find out where Audrey lives now?”
“Sure, come to the office with me and I’ll look it up.”
Mick nodded, grabbing his coat. He turned to his sister “you stay here, if you get another vision, let me know.”
Ben’s office
They came walking in, finding Beth typing away on a report at her computer.
“Hi guys” she greeted them, leaning in for a kiss when Mick walked over to her.
“I don’t feel comfortable about leaving Ophelia alone.” Ben was clearly worried.
Mick nodded “I’ll make some calls whilst you get that address, someone will be able to stay with her.”
“What’s wrong?” the worry was obvious in Beth’s expression.
“I’ll fill you in while I find that info for Mick, step into my office Beth.”
Mick stepped outside, ringing his best friend.
“Josef! Could you go by my house and keep my sister company whilst I’m out?”
Josef was raising one eyebrow. “Mick! I’m not a babysitter! Besides, you know your sister and I don’t get along that well, are you sure you trust her and I alone in your home?”
“Can you have Simone do it then?” Mick sounded annoyed.
“What did the redheaded terror do anyway that she needs a jailor?” Josef’s curiosity obviously didn’t win from his desire to be snarky.
“She didn’t do anything, she’s just been having a lot of issues with her sight these days if you get what I mean. So I rather not leave her alone right now as earlier today it was pretty bad” Mick choose his words carefully whilst some people passed him by.
“Oh. Well I’d help you out but Simone and I are in a big business meeting today with a client that has flown in from Tokyo, I can’t possibly cancel.”
“I’m going to try someone else.” Mick hung up, already dialing another number when Ben stuck his head outside.
“I’ve got my sister on the phone, she’s not working today and she’s heading to your place right now.”
“Thanks man, please thank her for me yeah?”
“Will do.”
*fade to an office block down town*
Audrey was coming out of the building, it was the cities department of child wellfare, dressed in a smart grey suit and carrying her laptop bag, she looked content as she walked. She greeted some co-workers on her way to the outside parking lot on her way to her car. Frowning she picked up the note from underneath one of the window cleaners, turning to printed side towards her she grew pale. It read ‘Hello sweetheart, I see you. I’m back…’ Underneath the words was an infinity symbol painted in blood.
She dropped do her knees in shock, screaming at the hand on her shoulder.
“Audrey it’s me, it’s Mick, I know what’s happening, I’m here to help.”
“Mick! How did you know I need help? How did you know about any of this?” She clung to him like a drowning woman to a lifeline.
“Let’s say I have my ways.” He replied as he wrapped his arms around her protectively, looking around the surroundings, scanning them for possible threats.
She looked at him for a moment, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. “What are you Mick?”
“Let’s go to my flat, come on.”
*fade at them leaving together, Mick with his arm around Audrey protectively*
*Mick’s apartment*
He was walking in with Audrey, surprised to find Ben, Carl, Jules and Beth all there.
“What are you guys doing here?”
“We figured you’d come here, so we did too.” Jules shrugged, his eyes wolflike.
“What are you people?” Audrey asked, she was obviously uncomfortable, looking around over the occupants of the sofas.
“Beth!” The relief in her voice was obvious when she saw her friend, and welcomed the hug the blonde woman was enveloping her in gratefully.
“These are good people Audrey.” Beth said earnestly.
“I know that. I just want to know what they are.” She was eying Jules suspiciously, even though he was looking perfectly human now.
Footsteps on the stairs made Audrey look up from Beth’s shoulder.
Ophelia looked at her, head to one side, with those big black eyes of her.
She smiled wearily pointing at herself “vampire”, at her brother “vampire”, at Beth “human”, at Carl “also human”, at Ben “werewolf” and at Jules last “dual natured.”
“What does that mean?” Audrey turned to Jules.
“I was born a werewolf like Ben, but I was turned into a vampire when I was 25.”
“How old are you now?”
“99. I’ll be a 100 later this year. I was born in Belle Epoch France, Paris to be exact, hence the lingering accent.”
Audrey sat down in the sofa, looking at Mick. “I’m nearly 83 years old, my sister is 6 years younger than me.”
“But you both look so young…”
“Vampires don’t age, werewolves age very slowly once they reach their twenties.” Beth explained.
“It’s a lot to take in isn’t it.” Carl remarked. “Trust me I know what you’re going through, I only found out today myself.” He went to sit next to Audrey and looked her in the eye. “Look at me Audrey. These are good people. They’re not human like you, me and Beth, but they’re definitely the good guys. They will do whatever they can to keep you safe and find who’s after you, together with Beth and I.”
“I know that” she nodded. “I just thought, I thought this would finally all be behind me after Sheppard had died.”
“I know honny” Beth hugged her again. “We’ll get them this time I’m sure of it.”
Ben looked at Ophelia “can you tap into your gift?”
“Without external factors not no.”
“Can’t you use voodoo?” Beth asked.
“Santeria. And no, I’m not a practitioner anymore remember.”
“What about your contacts?”
Her brother beat her to the answer. “Beth you’re a genius! If those psychos are hanging out anywhere, it’ll be in the typical hide outs.”
“Underground clubs.” Ben agreed, unfolding his arms.
“Time to go undercover.” Jules nodded.
“Beth, you can Carl stay here with Audrey. Ophelia will stay with you guys.”
“Ok” Beth nodded, determined.
Mick looked at Audrey “don’t worry, it’ll be ok, you’ll see”.
*fade to a small club downtown in one of the lesser parts of towns. There’s Goth kids outside in black, with too much make-up on their faces and styling products in their hair. Quite a few look sickly pale from a life outside sunlight.
Jules was eying some girls looking at him with lust in their eyes suspiciously.
“What a fucking rainbow coalition of freaks.” Mick said quietly as he moved to the entrance with his friends.
They got into the club easily, paying the $ 5 admission and getting their hands stamped.
The music was deafeningly loud and they cursed inwardly at the lack of possibility to use their hightened hearing.
“Fan out!” Ben shouted above the music.
“Let the phone ring 3 times, hang up and do it again, that way we’ll know if we need to find each other.” Jules shouted.
Mick nodded in agreement and set off in a different direction as the others.
Mick voice-over
“There’s no scent of vamp here, I hope they’re not trying to hunt her down at my place.”
*fade to Mick’s apartment*
Audrey was sipping from her drink, trying hard to be brave.
Carl had just finished cooking dinner and was piling food onto plates, going over to Audrey to hand her a meal.
“No thank you, I’m not hungry.”
“You have to eat Audrey.” Beth said.
“I don’t understand how you guys can at times like these.”
“I suppose we just try to maintain some level of normalcy as a coping mechanism” Beth said thoughtfully.
Carl nodded in agreement “besides, if we had to forgo meals every time something strange happened then we would have died from starvation ages ago.”
“Ophelia isn’t eating.” Audrey remarked.
“Well she’s a vampire, she only drinks blood. And she fed off Ben earlier today, werewolf blood is very potent I understand so I think she’s simply not hungry or needing food.” Beth explained.
“Eeew gross!” Audrey exclaimed.
“I can hear you guys you know.” Ophelia called out from where she was sitting on the stairs.
Audrey clasped a hand in front of her mouth. “I’m sorry, it’s a lot to take in.”
Suddenly Ophelia ran into the office, coming out with a shotgun and throwing it at Carl.
“Hold the fort, I smell decay. Beth, protect Audrey.”
Beth nodded, pulling her duty weapon.
The fear was obvious in Audrey’s eyes. “Don’t you need weapons?”
Ophelia turned to her “don’t worry, I have all I need.” She pulled open the front door, disappearing into the hall. Carl was looking at the monitor, seeing her go through the hallway.
She went outside, pretending to be vulnerable and off guard and sure enough, she was pounced on by two family members as soon as she pretended to find her car key in her trouser pockets. One was staked as she allowed them to pull her to the ground. Pushing the other one off she got to her feet so fast she was a blur, stomping on his throat with vamp strength, smashing in his windpipe and then his skull with her heavy combat boots.
Leaning against the wall she sighed before looking around and starting to drag both vampires inside by a leg each.
As soon as the elevator hit her floor and she stepped outside, still dragging her captives behind her. The eerie silence made her realise the proverbial shit had hit the fan.
The front door was open and Carl was on the ground, knocked out. She rushed over, shaking him. “I’m alright, find the girls, they ran out of the front door when they came in through the glass.” He groaned, starting to sit up slowly.
She dragged her captives in, unstaking the one and shouting in his face. “WHERE ARE THEY!”
“Where you can’t get them.”
She growled at him, her eyes pitch black, fully vamping out at him, she suddenly had more fangs then was normal.
“WHERE?!”
“What are you?” He stared at her with eyes wide in terror.
“Your worse fucking nightmare, now TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE!”
“The cellar, beneath Dark Desires.”
She hit the stake home again and rammed a stake in the other one’s chest on principle.
She looked at Carl, who was looking at her pretty baffled. “Stay here, I’ll deal with this…”
*fade to the club*
Jules and Ben had rejoined Mick, and they were standing shoulder to shoulder in a small circle, looking around them.
Mick felt his phone vibrate trice, stop and repeat. He went outside to pick up. “Yeah.”
“I got two of them, but we had to split up. They’ve got the girls, I think they’re underneath you.”
“Are you here?”
“Yes, I’m about to get in.”
He looked around and ran up to her when he spotted her approaching, pulling her close to his chest as soon as he saw the chance.
She shook herself loose, as if she felt she didn’t deserve his affection and pressed past a group of girls, her eyes jet black. She ran to Ben and Jules as soon as she spotted them, starting to apologise profoundly when Mick also joined them.
“We’ll talk about that later, we need to find them as soon as possible.” Mick was worried about Beth quite obviously.
Ben looked at Jules “ready?”
“Oh yes.” He grinned mischievously, obviously on the exact same page as his friend.
Mick pulled Ophelia against a wall and reached out for her, holding her hand.
Ben and Jules both reached for their badge and went to the DJ, showing them their IDs. It took less than a minute before the music stopped and Jules voice sounded through the sound system, clear as day “This is the LAPD on a drugs bust.”
The desired effect was immediate, even before Jules had finished speaking, everyone was pressing towards the exit. Mick held on to his sister to make sure she wouldn’t be pressed along in the fold. A useless gesture he knew, because she could stand her ground just fine but it was a matter of principle to him. Plus he knew it would make it impossible for her to just go up in the crowd and go chasing family members on her own.
He grabbed the barkeep when he was running by, going for the exit “where’s the basement?” he screamed, barely managing to keep his fangs down.
“Through there, but the others won’t appreciate you trying to hide in there with them.”
“I’ll take my chances!” he released the guy, running towards the trap door in the ground that was pointed out to him, pulling it open.
His sister slid in first, running through the hall. Mick was second and they could hear their friends slide in behind them, pulling it shut after them. One second there were footsteps, the next there was the running of paws on the dirty ground. Ben was last, letting the 3 with better vision in the dark go before him.
They could hear shouting, Beth’s angry shouting and they followed it like a homing beacon. Mick kicked in the door and Jules launched himself into the dirty room, finding Beth chained to a rusted pipe.
“I’m fine, they just chained me up and left me here. Find Audrey!”
A blood curdling scream made them gasp, and they started running to the source, leaving the werewolves to release and help Beth.
Ophelia paused next to the door, sliding her long leather jacket off her shoulders dropping it the ground, pulling one sword and turning to Mick to allow him to get the other one.
“Glad to see you brought the swords.” He whispered to his sister.
“Yeah well, it’s like uncle Lance said: never go hunting without them.”
Mick narrowed his eyes and rewarded the statement with an unimpressed look. “Ready?”
They nodded at each other and Mick steadied himself.
Kicking in the door they were facing the two vampires torturing Audrey.
She was tied to a chair, unconscious and had lost a lot of blood.
“How dare you disturb us? Try to destroy our master’s revenge.”
“We’ll allow you to join him in final death.” Mick snapped at them. “I’ll destroy you just like I destroyed your master!”
They launched in battle, snarling and growling, eventually coming out victorious, the heads of the family members rolling over the floor.
Mick was untying Audrey “If we don’t get her help soon she’ll die. We have to get her to a hospital right now.”
“Let me sort this.” Ben appeared in the door, slicing his wrist whilst he walked over and pouring the blood into the worst of her wounds. Slowly Audrey was regaining consciousness.
“Here, drink my blood, it’ll help you heal.”
“No…” she sounded weak.
“You won’t be anything than human Audrey, it will just help you heal.”
*fade at Audrey drinking from Ben’s wrist, sobbing.*
*fade to Ben’s parents’ house*
They were sitting at the dinner table. Mick had his arms around Beth, Ophelia had her arms on the table and was resting her head on them whilst Ben gently stroked her back. Jules and Carl were just sitting there awkwardly. Carl was obviously put off his coffee at the sight of Jules drinking blood from a beer glass.
“I’m sorry for allowing you to get taken…” Ophelia whispered at Beth.
“Don’t be stupid Ophelia, they would have gotten in anyway, and not even you can deal with 6 vampires at once.” Beth wiped away the other girl’s guilt.
“Had you been there it would have been worse” Mick agreed. “You being outside when it happened at least allowed us to find them.”
“We really need to talk about your home security Mick, because it’s not keeping out vamps.” Beth pointed out.
“Yeah I know, I’m going to talk to Josef first thing tomorrow evening so he can send in his guy.”
“What happened to the other turned family members?” Ben asked.
“The cleaner’s sniffed them out and dealt with them.” Mick replied coldly.
“What about Audrey?” Beth sounded worried.
“The werewolf nation will take care of her. She will be given a new identity, we will keep her safe. There are many places like my parents’ house, where those in need can find a place to be safe, where they are helped to a new life.”
They turned when Audrey walked in, cleaned up and in fresh clothes. Claire was besides her. She ran over and hugged Beth before hugging the others.
“Thank you so much.”
“Don’t thank me, if I hadn’t gone outside…” Ophelia was clearly still blaming herself, trying to get out of getting hugged by pulling away.
“Don’t be stupid, had you been there it would have all been worse, I would be dead now, I am sure of it.”
“Are you ok with what’s going to happen?” Beth asked, worried.
“Yes, I want to be safe. And I have no family to leave behind since my grandmother died earlier this year. I can still stay in touch with you guys, I’m looking forward to finally be able to live once and for all.” She sounded determined.
Mick nodded at her “you’ll be fine, you’re a surviver Audrey.”
Mick voice-over
“I was so sure that I had dealt with these infinity freaks when I killed Sheppard. But god knows how many of his twisted family he turned, god knows how many are still out there, lurking in the shadows waiting for the first moment we drop our guard.”