Among the Deepening Shades: Chapter Seven

[jesterladyfic]

Chapter Seven

Everyone stood frozen and Nina strained to see over Annie’s shoulder. There were definite disadvantages to being so short.

"It's impossible. It can't be possible. But it's him, it's definitely him," babbled George. "Is it him? Mitchell? What are we going to do?"

"Stake him," whispered Mitchell, still staring.

"What did he say?" asked Nina, still not understanding exactly what was going on.

She couldn’t see properly, didn’t know how a man she’d watched George tear the head off of could still be alive, and had no idea who the women were.

“I think we broke him,” said one of the women with a Scottish accent. “Hello, Mitchell, are you in there?”

Mitchell abruptly turned and strode back into the house, George and Annie scrambling after him, George rambling the whole way.

"It is him, isn't it? I mean, I know it's him, but it's not him, but it is."

Nina got a good look at the people standing on her doorstep.

The Scottish woman was slim, with curly brown hair, wearing a denim jacket over a dress with boots. She smirked at Nina and Nina wrinkled her nose at the woman’s perfume. She definitely didn’t like that scent, but she couldn’t remember why.

The other woman was short with dark hair and had a round, blank face. She was dirty and looked vaguely familiar. With shock Nina suddenly recalled buying coffees from her at the hospital canteen in Bristol.

The man certainly looked like what Nina could remember from that awful night. But he had none of the confidence, none of the arrogance she remembered. This man was small and terrified, looking anxiously from one woman to the other, as if trying to decide who might help him.

“Well, you must be Nina,” drawled the Scottish woman. “I’ve heard ever so much about you.”

“I can’t say the same,” said Nina, folding her arms.

“Oh, I’m hurt. I can’t believe he never mentioned me. I’m Daisy.”

“Train killer Daisy?” Nina asked.

“Oh, so I am known, that’s better,” said Daisy, smiling. “This is Cara. Won’t you invite us in?”

“I’m not stupid,” said Nina. “You’re staying outside until I figure out what the hell is going on.”

At that point Mitchell came charging back down the passageway and Nina was startled at the utter hatred in his eyes.

"Come here, you prick!" he said, reaching and pulling Herrick inside.

Cara leapt forward and crashed into an invisible barrier, Mitchell’s invitation clearly not pertaining to her.

Daisy simply smiled and leaned against the door jam, putting a restraining hand against Cara’s arm.

“Wait, baby doll, this should be interesting.”

Herrick screamed as Mitchell threw him against the wall. Nina ducked out of the way.

"Mitchell, wait!" said Annie.

"Help me! Help me!" cried Herrick.

"George, please do something," begged Annie.

"Somebody help me!" screamed Herrick as Mitchell hit him over and over again.

"George, he's going to kill him," said Nina.

George stood as if unable to move, a look of horror on his face.

"Get up! Get up!" screamed Mitchell as Herrick slumped to his knees, trying vainly to cover his face from the blows.

Annie had turned away from the sight, crying, and glasses began flying off the shelf in the kitchen.

Nina had a split second to decide what to do. She was no fan of vampires, but there was obviously something different about this man. He was terrified and Mitchell was hurting him. George and Annie were clearly useless.

"Will someone control this man?" said Nina in exasperation. She ducked between Mitchell and his target, the stake clenched in his fingers. "Mitchell, don't!"

"Why's he trying to hurt me? Why's he trying to hurt me?" whined Herrick.

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again,” said Nina, facing Mitchell with her hand outstretched against him and Herrick to her back.

Mitchell’s eyes were wild and blacker than she’d ever seen. Nina was scared to death, but she was angry, too. He was about to fly off the handle again and she appeared to be the only one with sense in the entire house.

“Nina, be careful,” George said, appearing to finally come to his senses.

“Bloody lot of good to say that now,” said Nina. “Now, Mr. Herrick, come with me."

Nina edged with Herrick back into the front room and seated him on the sofa. Cara was crying, Annie was crying, George and Herrick were whimpering, Mitchell was pacing like a caged tiger, staring at Herrick like he was meat.

“I’m gonna get you,” said Mitchell to Herrick.

“House meeting. Now!” ordered Nina.

“What’s going to happen to me?” cried Herrick.

“Okay, Mr. Herrick, just keep sitting there,” said Nina. “Do you want to go back to those women who brought you here?” Herrick hesitated, then shook his head. “Fine, then you just sit here. They can’t come inside, but they’ll be waiting for you if you go out there, okay?”

“What about…him?” Herrick asked, eyes darting to where Mitchell paced.

“I’m going to keep him with me,” said Nina reassuringly. She stood up and glared at her three housemates. “Kitchen!”

They followed her like mute puppies, well, at least George and Annie did. Mitchell looked more like a rabid dog.

Once they were in the kitchen George began moaning, sitting at the table with his head in his hands.

"It's going to happen all over again."

"It's not! We get rid of him," said Mitchell.

"I don't understand how he's here. I ripped him to shreds. I killed him!" squealed George.

"Let's just keep our voices down, shall we?" said Nina.

"I ripped his head off!” said George hysterically, evidently past the point of human intelligence. “And you said, you said, that would be the end, no second takes, the end, over and out, so you tell me how has he survived?"

"I don't know!” said Mitchell, grabbing at his hair like he did whenever he was agitated. “I don't have all the answers! I just know we need to get rid of him tonight!"

"But he doesn't know us!” said Annie. “Not you. Of all people he should know you…and George."

"What? You think he's all cured, he's better now? He's bluffing! Why can't anyone see that?" said Mitchell, sneering at her.

"That noise- that noise he made…it was so scared. It was horrible. It was so…so human," said Annie, shuddering.

"But he's not human! He's far from it," hissed Mitchell.

"You're one to talk," said Nina venomously.

"George, you understand, don't you?” said Mitchell, walking to George. “You know there's only one way."

"I can't do it, I can't do it," said George, shaking.

"Hey, hey, I'm not asking you to do anything. I'll do it. But it has to be done. You realize that?"

George started nodding.

“Yes, yes, yes.”

Nina stared at him, unable to understand what she’d just heard agreed to.

“Have you all gone completely insane?” said Nina in a loud voice. They all turned to stare at her. “What is going on inside your idiotic heads?”

“Nina, you, you weren’t there,” said George.

“Thank God, otherwise I might be acting like a lunatic as well. That man is clearly terrified and no one is staking him until we figure out what’s going on. I don’t suppose any of you thought to get answers from the two vampires who showed up on our doorstep? Or were you too busy breaking the furniture and crying like babies?”

“Nina’s right,” said Annie, visibly calming.

“But he’s come back from the dead!” said George like a little kid in a cemetery.

Mitchell started at that and narrowed his eyes before nodding shortly at Nina.

“We should find out what Daisy and Cara are doing here and how they brought him back. Then we can kill him.”

“Mitchell,” Nina said, “do you remember coming in here not an hour ago, completely broken up about having to stake a vampire? Do you?”

“This is different,” he said.

“I can see it’s not the same, but maybe, just maybe, you should think about this rationally. You’re clearly upset and not thinking straight.”

“No,” he said coldly. “No, he’s my responsibility. You don’t know him, Nina, and I pray you never do. Now back the hell down.”

“No, not until I hear an actual reason.”

Mitchell froze and then spoke very slowly.

"Nina, William Herrick has achieved something that nobody else has managed to do. He's a vampire at the very height of his power and every second he grows stronger. Now he can't hurt Annie. Not me, not now, things have changed. You, George, and the baby, Herrick will annihilate you."

"Oh, you're doing this for us? How selfless," she said spitefully.

"You think I'm enjoying this?"

"I think there's a poison in you which has nothing to do with being a vampire so yeah, I think you do enjoy it."

"I'm gonna do what needs doing because I don't need your permission for anything," he answered, his tone hard.

Nina felt irrational anger surging inside and she wanted to claw at his face.

“You will kill him over my dead body,” she said. “You make choices like this with a clear head and when people deserve them. Not a second before or under any other circumstances.”

Mitchell didn’t even look at her, striding back into the living room.

Annie gave Nina an apologetic glance before hurrying after him. George remained slumped against the table for a second before getting up slowly like an old man.

Nina stared at him in disgust before leaving to make sure Mitchell didn’t snap and kill anyone.

***

Annie ran after Mitchell and flinched herself when she saw Herrick scramble to get as far away from Mitchell as possible. Mitchell ignored Herrick, however, and strode to the front door and gestured curtly.

“Get in,” he said.

Daisy raised her eyebrows.

“Not sure I want to with an invitation like that.”

Cara, however, pushed past Mitchell and hurried in to the front room.

“Oh, my sweet, what’s he done to you?” she asked Herrick, kneeling in front of him.

He shied away from her just as much as he did Mitchell, Annie noticed. Cara didn’t seem to care, running her hands over him as if to reassure herself he was still there.

“You’re making me sick,” said Mitchell, coming into the room.

“Don’t be rude to the poor thing,” said Daisy, strolling in behind him.

“We’re all going to sit down and have a nice friendly chat,” said Mitchell. “Then I’m gonna stake the poor bastard and you’re going to get the hell out of Barry if you want to avoid the same fate.”

“You’ve been throwing your weight around a bit too much,” said Daisy, baring her teeth at him. “I’m not going to play nice much longer.”

“Mitchell, please,” said Annie, putting her hand lightly on his arm. “I know this is hard, but you’re making it worse.”

His arm was tense under her touch, but she held it there for a moment and gradually he relaxed slightly.

“Just tell us what this is all about,” he said to Daisy.

“I see someone’s got a soothing touch,” said Daisy, planting herself on top of the bar, spreading her legs a little too much. “Well, the long and short is that when you didn’t come back, Mitchell, I got all worried and went looking for you.”

George and Nina were standing back by the kitchen and Annie hovered in the room between the werewolves and the vampires like a spectator. At least, that’s what she felt like.

“You weren’t worried,” said Mitchell.

“Cross my heart, I was,” said Daisy, looking about as innocent as a fox. “But you weren’t, were you? You went white hat again, didn’t you, with nary a thought to your poor Daisy. Well, I didn’t find you, but I did find Cara, bricked up and toothless. That was nasty, Mitchell, I almost approve.”

“I don’t want or need your approval, thanks,” he said.

“I couldn’t feed,” said Cara. “I can’t feed. Daisy has to get ‘em for me and all the fun’s gone out of it.”

“Punishment’s not supposed to be fun,” Mitchell said, crossing his arms.

Annie had to look away from them. What they were talking about…it was horrible.

“This is all very nice,” said George, moving forward, “but someone tell me how…that,” he said, pointing at Herrick, “happened.”

“Cara was a wee bit desperate,” said Daisy. “You understand, Mitchell. So once she’d gotten all full and warm, she went a-hunting for bones, wanting her sweet Herrick back.”

“You brought him back?” asked Nina. “How?”

“That would be telling,” said Daisy. “Still, something went wrong as you can see. He’s not himself. We’ve tried blood, but he won’t take it. A bit squeamish. So naturally we’ve come to the great John Mitchell for advice.”

“How’d you find me?” he asked shortly.

“You weren’t that hard to find,” said Daisy. “Not for fellow vampires. Cara sent a little scout out in advance.”

Mitchell nodded as if that made sense somehow. Annie could only assume Daisy meant Graham.

“I’m not gonna help you,” Mitchell said. “Herrick deserves nothing but death.”

“Do you mind not having this conversation right in front of him?” asked Nina.

Cara nodded.

“My poor Herrick’s been through enough on account of you. He needs his rest.”

“I don’t wanna go,” said Herrick, looking at Cara. He pointed at Nina. “I want her.”

Cara’s face fell.

“You don’t know me, precious?”

“You’re all wrong,” said Herrick. “I don’t understand any of this. I want her.”

Nina walked to him and held out her hand and he grasped it like a lifeline.

“I’m going to draw you a nice, warm bath,” she said. “The rest of you…stay here,” she said pointedly to Mitchell and Cara.

Cara began to cry, sinking down on the couch. Nina took Herrick upstairs, George trailing behind until she gave him a look.

Daisy hopped off the bar and flopped onto the couch by Cara.

“There, there, Cara. Mitchell will make it all better, whether he wants to or not.”

“Let’s get one thing straight,” said Mitchell, moving forward menacingly, but he never got a chance to finish his sentence.

Static filled everyone’s ears and Annie felt instantly afraid, moving closer to George and holding onto his hand.

“Hello, hello, is this thing on?” came a voice. The telly popped on and Lia’s voice and face filled the screen. “Hello!” She studied all the people bunched in the room. “Sorry, is this a bad time?”

“Yes,” muttered Mitchell, but not very loudly.

Lia’s face turned hard.

“Sorry, what was that? I couldn’t quite hear it.”

“What do you want, Lia?” interrupted Annie, feeling less afraid.

She could handle Lia.

Lia was all smiles again.

“Well, we were worried about you, Annie. Big spikes of distress issuing from you lately.”

“I’m fine. Please leave me alone,” said Annie.

“The affairs of the really dead are so boring,” said Daisy, leaning back with a sigh.

“This isn’t happening, this isn’t happening,” said George.

“You must be George,” said Lia brightly. “I’m ever so glad to meet you. I hear nothing but good things.”

“Hi,” said George hoarsely.

“Well, what’s up then?” asked Lia, leaning forward with her chin in her hands. “Looks exciting and I need to get my kicks now somehow.”

“We’re a little bit busy,” said George

“Maybe I can help?”

“It’s about me, do you want to help now?” asked Mitchell.

“Temper, temper,” said Lia. “I guess you can’t chalk everything up to mind games anymore, but that’s no reason to pout. I did warn you.”

“What’s she driveling about?” asked Daisy.

“Mitchell’s imminent death,” said Lia as if she was talking about getting ice cream.

Daisy leaned forward and Mitchell gave Lia a look of annoyance.

“Death? Oh, how horrible,” said Daisy. “Do tell.”

“Mitchell, do you want me to tell?” asked Lia.

“No, thanks,” he said. “I’m good.”

“Oh,” said Lia. “Well, then, I guess there’s nothing to say.”

“Cheers,” he said dismissively.

“I’d be careful if I were you,” said Lia. “Too long in the mortal world and you’re already forgetting everything you saw. There’s always an excuse with you and in the end that’s what’s going to rip your head off and drag you to hell.”

Mitchell stood still as if she’d stabbed him. Annie felt a current of white-hot anger inside and stepped forward, standing right in front of the television.

“Switch off,” she said hotly and the telly went instantly black.

“Annie!” whispered George.

“Neat trick,” said Daisy.

Mitchell simply relaxed as if he’d been holding the weight of the world.

“What the hell is going on now?” asked Nina, coming back in.

“I need a drink,” said George, rubbing his head.

“That’s a great idea, George,” Daisy said, rolling her rs in what seemed to Annie to be an entirely unnecessary fashion, sauntering toward him while he shied away and then swatted him on the bottom before sliding into the bar area. “What’s everyone want?”

George turned scarlet and hurried over to Nina.

“Well, um, yes, this is all very interesting,” he said. “But we still need to decide what to do. Who’s for a vote? Shall we let them stay and try and help Herrick or do we kick 'em out? Vote? Good idea. Yes, let’s vote.”

“Well, I vote for helping them,” said Nina.

“Yes, me too, yes, absolutely,” said George.

Everyone stared at him for a second.

“You’re mad,” said Mitchell, but he didn’t sound as convinced as he was before.

Annie was curious as to why Mitchell suddenly felt it was okay to keep Herrick around when before he’d been acting like a homicidal maniac. Was it because of Lia?

“I vote we keep them around,” she said. “Just until we figure things out.”

Nina nodded and spoke to Daisy and Cara briskly.

“He’s having a bath, but I’ll put him in the attic. You both can stay in the extra bedroom. But let me make one thing very clear. Our house, our rules. You do not kill while you’re under this roof, is that understood?”

“I like her, George,” said Daisy, licking her lips again. “It almost makes me wonder.”

“What?” said George, his voice nervous. “What?”

“We’ll see how it goes,” Daisy said, putting her head sideways and winking at George. “I’ll keep Cara in line for now. But, Mitchell, this all ends one way.”

Mitchell nodded shortly and Annie wondered what they’d just agreed to.

The meeting ended with Nina supervising Daisy and Cara’s induction into the house and George being forcibly sent to help Herrick should he need it.

Mitchell vanished into the attic and Annie thought about going after him but she didn’t want to fight just then and she suspected that’s what would happen. She couldn’t blame him for being upset and she was angry herself. Weren’t they dealing with enough without their combined worst nightmare coming back to haunt them?

Well, one thing was clear; Lia’s call couldn’t have been a coincidence. Annie would have to do something about that.

***

Mitchell paced the attic trying to get himself under control. He’d never considered having to deal with seeing Herrick again, but the instant he had, the fear had been completely overwhelming. The others couldn’t understand. They knew Herrick, but not like Mitchell, no one knew Herrick like Mitchell. He’d been Herrick’s pet for almost a century and had witnessed every mood, every whim, every advance against humanity.

They didn’t know how subtle Herrick was, how persuasive, how charming, how deadly. Mitchell could feel the pull inside himself, even now, to reach out and grasp hold of whatever Herrick was offering. It was more than just the normal bond between a vampire and their sire, it was something uniquely Herrick’s that Mitchell had never been able to resist for long. So, yes, he was desperately afraid.

Whether Herrick had really lost his memory Mitchell didn’t know, but any form of Herrick was dangerous. Nina might think she was protecting them all from further black marks against their morality, but Mitchell couldn’t see it the same way. All he could think about when he first saw Herrick was getting rid of the danger.

But Lia’s conveniently timely interruption into the proceedings had reminded Mitchell of his untimely death - a death that Herrick had survived. Somehow that could not be a coincidence. The other side had allowed Herrick to be brought back exactly when Mitchell needed a method for surviving death. What were they trying to prove and why? Wasn’t the point for him to be tortured and have everything taken away? Maybe it was to give him hope only to snatch it back. That was probably it, yet it was too late for realization. Hope was already burgeoning inside him. He wanted to know the secret and now that Daisy knew about the prophecy, she’d withhold that information. What the hell was he going to do?

On a perverse note, he was glad there were now more vampires in the house than werewolves. It provided a certain comfort level that at least numbers wise he was in the clear. Not that he could count on the three that he did have. What he wouldn’t give for a few vampires like Carl or even Ivan. Ivan was the only one who had any luck in controlling Daisy and especially with what Mitchell had witnessed between George and Daisy, the last thing any of them needed was for Daisy to start acting out.

Somehow he had to get control of the situation. He’d lost himself for a moment or two in panic and anger, he could admit that. He’d scared Annie, pissed off Nina, and thoroughly confused George. He didn’t want to be that person to them. He was only just starting to get control of himself again and now this had to happen. It truly wasn’t fair. He shouldn’t have to deal with this - was it only earlier today he’d staked Graham?

No matter how he felt about the situation he was out of options that didn’t involve compromise. Either he had to string Daisy and Cara along enough to get the secret of true immortality out of them and then stake Herrick, or turn them away and deal with the inevitability of his own death. The first option meant he’d be putting everyone in danger and the second was terrifying.

It felt like no matter what he did or where he went Mitchell was faced with these kinds of decisions. He couldn’t just live a normal life with normal decisions about paying the mortgage on time or picking up milk on the way home. He had to make life and death decisions that marked and cursed whatever soul he had left.

Quinn had told him, standing by the riverside only a few months ago, that the end doesn’t justify the means. Sacrificing your morality to save other people wasn’t noble, it just meant you were perpetuating the cycle of evil. It wasn’t always about monsters, nothing was clear cut. When Mitchell had made a deal with the police commissioner, he’d been saving humanity from a worse evil, but part of that very same humanity had killed an innocent kid to protect him. It was all so muddled and he hated every one of his choices.

He wanted to run again, but that wasn’t an option. His problems would keep following him, there were werewolves all around the world, and he would be hurting the people he loved. None of these thoughts were helping him get himself under control.

He flopped down on the bed and sat with his head in his hands. He needed to calm down. There was too much at stake. He let his gaze wander over the attic and he stopped cold. There was a playhouse left in the corner, colored magnetic letters stuck to the side. They spelled out words he could just make out. He strode over and dropped to his knees.

Wolf-shaped bullet.

He hastily scattered the letters and then stood up. He had to figure out Herrick’s secret. Whatever else was going to happen - well, he’d deal with it as it came.

He was playing into someone’s hand, someone, somewhere, but his hands literally shook, and he didn’t know how to stop.

“Someone help me,” he whispered to the air.

He didn’t expect anyone to answer him. No one did. He might have friends, but he was alone, because if he didn’t know the answer, nothing they said was going to help. The only thing telling them would accomplish would be shifting the burden to their shoulders. Annie already tried to fix everything even when she couldn’t. George had Nina and the baby to think about. Nina had the wrong mindset to even approach the problem.

Mitchell took a deep breath and then proceeded downstairs to deal with whatever came next.