jesterladyfic (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jesterladyfic) wrote2014-08-30 08:02 pm
jesterladyfic) wrote2014-08-30 08:02 pm
Among the Deepening Shades: Epilogue
Author's Notes: I have some rather extensive notes, see below.
Epilogue
Two months later
George strolled down the lane, enjoying the summer air. Barry didn’t have much of a season, but when it did, it was lovely. He was somewhat sorry to have to leave the area, but he was more excited than anything. People outside of the UK might think the difference between Wales and England wasn’t that much, but he’d gladly point out everything that made England his true home to them in a heartbeat.
He still liked the fact that he had to walk a ways before he got to Mitchell’s car that he’d borrowed for the day. It was too long a trip to walk here, but at least he got to walk this part of it.
Mitchell had done a couple of scouting trips and procured a large farmhouse for them in Surrey. Close enough to the city that they could get what they needed, but far enough away to be able to run in the wild if need be. The basement was large and exactly suited to a werewolf enclosure. There was also a barn with an underground storm cellar that would work as well. Everything was going according to plan.
George would miss the people he’d met in Barry. It was amazing how fast a relationship one could build in a short time. The werewolf pack Mitchell had found for them was led by a man named McNair and his just barely adult son Tom. There were a couple of older women werewolves named Sandy and Pat and then a young teenage girl named Lara. A very elderly werewolf named Leo was the last member of their clan. They even had their own resident ghost, a woman from the fifties named Pearl.
They’d been where they were for years and had kept out of sight and out of harm’s way. They collected anything to do with werewolves so they were a source of knowledge surpassing even Mitchell. They were honest and simple people but if McNair’s necklace of vampire teeth was anything to go by, fierce as well, and not people you wanted to cross.
Their introduction to the pack society had been slow and cautious. It was only within the past few days that George and Nina had fully disclosed the full details of their pregnancy and Mitchell had been introduced to the pack. That had been dicey at best but while McNair wouldn’t allow Mitchell anywhere near the house, it wasn’t like Mitchell was dying to go. They’d been much more encouraging on the subject of the pregnancy and Sandy was a midwife. She’d been staying at the bed and breakfast for the last few days, watching Nina closely.
Tom was easily the friendliest of all the werewolves, anxious to learn, polite and well mannered, with very dry humor. He was a strong fighter like his father, but without the sense of tragedy that hung around McNair like a cloud. He’d already expressed a desire to come to England with them when they moved and George thought with a bit of work McNair would agree to it.
George’s mobile rang in his pocket and he answered it only to be greeted with the frantic swearing of a werewolf in labor.
“Nina!” he shouted.
“Get home, George,” shouted Nina, sounding like she’d very much like to draw and quarter him when he got there.
“I’m coming, Nina, I’m coming,” he said, a frantic feeling rising inside him.
He could well be the exact cliché of an expectant father, but he didn’t care, he was having a baby! He hastily dialed Mitchell and began running for the car.
***
Mitchell exited the rather dubious establishment with a firm click of the doors, his new identity in hand. He was still John Mitchell, he didn’t want to change things too much, but his date of birth and other identifying information had been updated as he was bound to do every ten or fifteen years anyway. He’d been able to use some of his randomly stored funds to help them buy a house in Surrey and put it in George and Nina’s name. In a way this simply erased the John Mitchell who had committed the atrocities he was trying to get away from. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t always carry them, he still felt their weight, but it was easier to bear. Easier because of George and Nina and their support, easier because of Annie and her love.
The Box Tunnel Twenty case was still a big deal in the local media but an earthquake in Chili and flooding in Australia and the rape of a young girl in Kent had taken the rest of the world's attention for the most part. It was a natural cycle but it didn’t make it right. He knew that the families of the people he’d affected weren’t going to be able to forget as easily as the media but their attention lapsing made it easier for him to come back into circulation as it were. He’d heard that the case file was going to be closed since there were no clues leading to a feasible arrest. Eventually the events would fade into oblivion, another tragedy for the locals to gossip about and tell newcomers.
At least now when they moved, as they were due to do in ten days, he would be able to get a job and help support their growing family and not have to access anymore of his other funds. Doing so attracted more attention than he wanted and getting a job would keep him from going crazy with inactivity. Keeping busy was a big step in not succumbing to the hunger which still buzzed in his veins and the back of his mind and which he constantly had to resist.
But things were better than they’d been in a long time. He no longer felt like he was drowning in guilt. It wasn’t like he was miraculously better, that would never happen, but for the first time in a long time he felt like he was going to make it.
His mobile rang as he was pulling out a cigarette and he answered. George’s flustered voice squeaked in his ear.
“Mitchell, it’s time, it’s happening. You’re going to come, right, you’re coming?”
“George, relax,” said Mitchell. “I’m on my way. Did you leave a message for Annie?”
“Uh, no,” said George. “Just hurry, because she’s coming. I’m leaving McNair’s now.”
“I’ll be there, George. Just breathe; you’re going to have a daughter.”
“I am, I am,” said George and hung up.
Mitchell tucked his mobile in his jacket and put away his cigarettes. Time to play the reassuring uncle.
***
Annie chatted happily with Sykes, detailing all their new plans. Sykes listened patiently though she got the idea that he’d much rather be doing anything else and not investing further in a friendship with such a talkative ghost. She was proud of him for sticking it out though. She’d been spending a lot of time in Bristol trying to help him keep the ghost community in line since her adventure there a few months before and it had renewed their acquaintance through constant exposure.
Things had been in a bit of a panic with rumors flying around about someone called the Ghost Eater and Annie wasn’t too thrilled about having a new nickname, especially one so cannibalistic. But she’d done some reassuring, helped people cross over when she could, and gradually the name of Ghost Eater had become something she was only to enemies and not to her own.
Just how she’d managed to gain a following was a bit beyond her, but the rumors included tales about her time on the other side and what she’d done to the Gray Man and there was a bit more communication between the other side and the mortal world now, and not just ghosts terrorizing people and clogging up radio waves. From what Annie could tell, Gilbert was really taking people in hand on the other side and nothing new and terrible had arisen from what she’d done. She still had her fingers crossed but it appeared like it was business as usual with doors appearing when people resolved their unfinished business.
Lia was apparently truly fitting in and making friends and seemed less about the revenge but Annie didn’t think she’d ever be able to fully trust her. Sykes was a liaison of sorts when Annie thought it necessary to deal with people in Purgatory. She had hopes now that eventually he’d actually be able to cross over himself and not find the horrors that he believed he would. He wasn’t quite there yet, but she was working on him.
She was working on a lot of people. She had a legitimate business growing. She’d discovered that her ability to feel the feelings of the living could translate to ghosts as well, being a good method of helping them figure out why they hadn’t crossed over yet. It wasn’t like the ghosts could pay her, but she’d gotten information and favors and it was a good barter system. She was even teaching them to use their abilities just like Sykes had taught her.
She’d practiced enough that she was confident she could open a business once they moved and work up human clientele. Having the ability to ghost in and out of solidity would make it possible for her to get a sense of their psyche on their first visit, and then move on from there. Mitchell was helping her with paperwork for her existence and her business. She was honestly excited about the future and couldn’t wait to get started.
Her life was such a far cry from the lonely ghost who’d asked a demented priest to exorcise her barely half a year before. Annie felt more alive than ever if that was possible and could be said with a straight face.
She bid farewell to Sykes and prepared to hop back to the house. She wanted to check on Nina who was getting closer and closer to having her baby girl.
Annie rent-a-ghosted home, then paused because blood-curdling screams were echoing through the house.
***
Nina sucked in another breath but it felt like they were being snatched away from her before she could get any benefit from them. Everything hurt, she was being compressed and stretched and she really wanted to kill everything she could with a rage that had nothing to do with being a werewolf and everything to do with being a woman in labor.
She’d called George and he’d panicked and he would come, but in the meantime Nina was stuck with Sandy, who was the most competent of midwives even if Nina wasn’t exactly excited about having an almost stranger be the only person present at the birth of her daughter. A bit of the old fear started to creep into her mind, brought on by the immense pain, no doubt, but Nina didn’t want to feel abandoned or useless or fearful or angry or bitter right now.
A cool hand slipped over her forehead.
“I’m here, Nina,” said Annie’s voice. “I’m right here.”
“Annie,” said Nina, sighing with relief as the contraction eased and she could breathe again. “Thank God.”
“I’ll try not to take that personally,” Sandy said matter-of-factly, whisking around straightening sheets and somehow making the room feel better, while managing to wink at Annie conspiratorially.
A door slamming below signaled the presence of another person in the house only it wasn’t George, but Mitchell, who Nina was relieved to see but ordered out of the room immediately.
“I don’t care how close we are, you are not being present for this!” she said.
Mitchell actually laughed and wished her luck before leaving. She almost got up to kick his vampire ass down the stairs.
Annie’s hands were marvelously cool and Nina calmed as she listened to Annie’s soft litany of reassurances. Having Annie there was good, very good. Soon George would be there; soon they would have a daughter. She’d already been doing this for longer than she’d ever want to do anything. It couldn’t last much longer, at least she hoped not.
Frantic footsteps heralded the arrival of her almost to be husband. Muttered and loud exclamations came from him just outside the door and then Mitchell’s voice answered more calmly.
George poked his head through the door and he already looked less frazzled which Nina could grudgingly contribute to whatever Mitchell had said to him.
“I’m here,” he said, coming to her, slipping his hand in hers.
She was in the midst of another contraction so she didn’t say anything, simply gripped his hand as tight as she could. Annie’s presence and George’s strength stayed with her for many blinding minutes of pain. She wasn’t sure how long it lasted; only that she hated every minute of it.
But some time later, she heard Sandy’s voice say dimly that she was ready and for her to push.
Nina could barely concentrate but she did what Sandy said, instinct and pain driving her. She squeezed George and Annie’s hands and bore down as hard as she could. She had no words for the sensations that happened next but she’d remember them vividly, she knew that.
“Keep going,” said Sandy. “The head’s out.”
Annie was hopping up and down, but her hand was still held fast in Nina’s. George was silent, but when Nina managed to look at him she could see how white he was.
Nina pushed again and pushed and pushed and pushed and it was a nightmare cycle of push and stop and assess until she felt something give way and Sandy announced Eve’s birth.
George let out a whimper and Nina flopped back onto the pillows, ignoring the uncomfortable sensation of the umbilical cord and the tightness in her body. She was so tired and she barely noticed all the usual business of cutting the cord and cleaning the baby and Annie announcing the arrival to Mitchell in the hall.
But now Nina was ready, ready to see her daughter. Sandy handed Eve to George who held her with steady hands but he was shaking and tears fell from his eyes.
“Look at her, Nina,” he said, bending close to the bed. “Look at how beautiful she is.”
Nina reached forward with limp arms and held Eve. She was beautiful just as George had said, she had a full head of hair but there was no other sign that she was the daughter of two werewolves and the insignia of a new age to come. She was big and had blonde hair with blue eyes, George’s eyes, and Nina’s nose.
“Oh, she’s so beautiful,” said Annie, hands clasped to her chest.
The moment was perfect and once Nina had finally finished all the other nasty parts of childbirth and Sandy had cleaned her up a bit, she could finally enjoy it.
Mitchell came in from the hall while Sandy bustled down to the kitchen.
“Who’s this then?” asked Mitchell.
“This is Eve,” said George hoarsely. “This is our Eve.”
“Hello, Eve,” said Mitchell gravely.
Nina wasn’t quite ready to give her up to anyone just yet, but she held Eve higher so Mitchell could see her.
Mitchell dropped a finger across Eve’s cheek softly and then stepped back, reaching for Annie’s hand.
“Isn’t she amazing?” asked Annie, having already dusted Eve with kisses.
“She’s beautiful,” he said. “Got her mother’s ears, thank God.”
George protested a little bit, but Nina wasn’t listening to the banter between the three of them. She was watching Eve’s face, her barely open eyes, studying the four of them. Nina was experiencing an event she’d never thought she would, the instant connection between mother and child she’d always scoffed at. It had a calming effect on Nina’s nerves and she wasn’t afraid anymore.
It was the most normal thing in the world and Nina wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.
1. The Box Tunnel 20. Frankly, I was confused in the first couple episodes as to why it seemed like nobody knew it was Mitchell. I mean, clearly, everyone knew it happened. How could they not think it was him? They all knew he was not playing for the white hats during that time. Who wouldn’t put that two and two together? I just assumed that everyone knew about it until it became very clear he was trying to cover it up.
Part of that, I guess, is me being way too blasé about vampires killing people. A side effect of our culture's obsession with them. So I sadly don't automatically go to the place where a vamp killing a train full of innocents is a horribly immoral thing. However, one of the great bits about BH is that it refuses to let its characters get away with anything (except for George shagging Daisy, but that’s a S2 thing. Not that it stopped me from dealing with it here, even though I was really reluctant to, not being quite sure how to do it). Nevertheless, it doesn’t make any sense for them not to have known, even with George announcing in the S2 finale that he wouldn’t be Mitchell’s confessor, (and clearly he did figure it out) but it’s just insulting to Nina and Annie’s intelligence to say they had no clue.
A little sub-note to this is in regards to Mitchell’s slaughter at the Kemp facility. So…Box Tunnel 20 = 'horrible, no good, very bad Mitchell, how could he have done it?' reaction, but they watched him kill all those people at the facility and try to kill Lucy and Kemp and that didn’t bother them? That was a forgivable slip off the wagon? The entire premise of S3 falls apart a little bit with this double standard and it annoys me.
2. Lia. So, don’t get me wrong, I really like her, and I think she’s a great character, but I’m just wondering where she gets all her power. I get that it’s ironically tragic and powerful for Mitchell to self fulfill his own prophecy and take the decision into his own hands, but it doesn’t make any sense for the prophecy to be fake. Because if it is then Lia is this random new ghost who somehow has the ability to take Mitchell down memory lane and just give him Annie for free and then talk to him through the tv and then form the ‘wolf shape bullet’ and then animate dead corpses to speak rhymes, all for her own revenge? No…doesn’t make sense. Say she just has the ability to do most of those things because she’s dead and in purgatory…well, okay, but to be able to send Annie home…that had to come from higher up. All of S2 Annie was running from doors trying to swallow her whole because they wanted her back so badly and then they just…decided, ‘eh, Lia’s a good kid, she should get her revenge, and if that means giving up our own obsession, that’s a-okay by us?’ Yeah, didn’t think so.
3. Herrick. Yeah, Herrick’s a great villain, bringing him back, really helpful for making Mitchell nuts, but it’s just rushed and not well thought out. They bring him back for one morally charged episode where everyone’s figuring out what their limits are and then it’s just like they forget about him. He’s just kinda there to be ‘crazy old amnesiac Herrick’ living in the attic, there to drive wedges between everyone when they bother to remember he’s living there.’ Sure, Mitchell goes up occasionally to terrorize him and I’m sure Nina’s very good at giving him shaves, but THEY JUST LEAVE THE AMNESIAC KILLING MACHINE ALONE IN THE HOUSE ALL THE TIME. He’s never taken into consideration.
Everyone else got mad at Mitchell for letting Nancy talk to Herrick alone but they all left him alone all the time. Like it was an issue for one episode, but then…'eh, whatever' after that. George pops off for some family time and then Nina runs after him without giving a single thought to the mad vampire in the attic. It just drove me crazy every episode when they would leave the house and I’d be like…'hello, killer in the attic' who doesn’t need, say, locks on the doors, or a guard, or something. Did everyone take their stupid pills that month? Whatever happened to ‘he’s your murdering fugitive, if you want to keep him, you have to look after him?’
4. McNair. Now…again, I really like him. Very interesting guy, but he and Tom were just a little too plot device-y. The big story of the Season is Mitchell is going to get killed by a werewolf, let’s add a bunch more werewolves to the mix for suspense! Let’s make McNair a really bad ass fighter too. And then…George and Nina are having what could be the first ever werewolf pregnancy, let’s give Tom and MacNair a really tragic and interesting backstory to help with that plotline. Wow, Herrick’s back and we need a way to get him all murder-y again, why not have Herrick be the reason that MacNair became a werewolf and started on his sad life? Conveniently in the exact same cage that started this whole season. Because I guess Barry is the center of all demonic convergence in Wales. The total Hellmouth. How spooky that everyone ended up there again.
5. The inevitability of vampires being evil. In a way it’s refreshing to have such evil in vampires again who’ve been rather neutered of late, but…the way I see it, it’s depressing to have your main character irredeemable simply because of what he is. Regardless of how you feel about Mitchell, he put in a dang good try to be good, and if he can’t do it, well, no one can. Therefore, all the vampires are just…two dimensional all of a sudden. Their struggles, their humanity, their personalities, all of it pales because I know that in the end they’re just going to fall. It didn’t matter how amazing they made Hal after that, there was no point in my getting invested in another vampire who struggles to do good but just can’t make it in the end. What was the point of Ivan or Daisy or Lauren because they’re all just slippery slopes of doom? I approved of Lauren making the choice for her death, it worked for her character, but to have Mitchell just copy that path in the end was, I felt, a cheat, a cop out. I need a bit of hope, yes, it may be a struggle, yes, they may fall, but I want there to be a hope that in the end, they can make it. Oh, Aidan Turner, why did you have to go and become the hot dwarf?
6. Annie being used as a plot device in Mitchell’s story. This is not necessarily something I don’t get, but something that irked me. She’s barely in the first episode and what there is of her is used to promote Mitchell. She comes back and she’s obsessed with making him happy and ends up messing things up a lot. She doesn’t really have anything to do other than fall in love with him and even when she gets a purpose (ie finding out the BT20) that ends up being all about Mitchell too and her feeling betrayed about it and broken hearted about him. Etc. She was the weapon forged against him. That’s all. It would have been much better if she’d had PTSD about being in Purgatory or developed her poltergeist-y powers or dealt with what she’d done to Kemp (yeah, so that line about how she’d never even hurt a butterfly…did we just conveniently forget she dragged Kemp INTO HELL?) or anything like that. S3 they talked about the danger not being from either supernatural or human but from within. But it would have been nicer if it was the darkness inside all four of them then just Mitchell railroading.
Epilogue
Two months later
George strolled down the lane, enjoying the summer air. Barry didn’t have much of a season, but when it did, it was lovely. He was somewhat sorry to have to leave the area, but he was more excited than anything. People outside of the UK might think the difference between Wales and England wasn’t that much, but he’d gladly point out everything that made England his true home to them in a heartbeat.
He still liked the fact that he had to walk a ways before he got to Mitchell’s car that he’d borrowed for the day. It was too long a trip to walk here, but at least he got to walk this part of it.
Mitchell had done a couple of scouting trips and procured a large farmhouse for them in Surrey. Close enough to the city that they could get what they needed, but far enough away to be able to run in the wild if need be. The basement was large and exactly suited to a werewolf enclosure. There was also a barn with an underground storm cellar that would work as well. Everything was going according to plan.
George would miss the people he’d met in Barry. It was amazing how fast a relationship one could build in a short time. The werewolf pack Mitchell had found for them was led by a man named McNair and his just barely adult son Tom. There were a couple of older women werewolves named Sandy and Pat and then a young teenage girl named Lara. A very elderly werewolf named Leo was the last member of their clan. They even had their own resident ghost, a woman from the fifties named Pearl.
They’d been where they were for years and had kept out of sight and out of harm’s way. They collected anything to do with werewolves so they were a source of knowledge surpassing even Mitchell. They were honest and simple people but if McNair’s necklace of vampire teeth was anything to go by, fierce as well, and not people you wanted to cross.
Their introduction to the pack society had been slow and cautious. It was only within the past few days that George and Nina had fully disclosed the full details of their pregnancy and Mitchell had been introduced to the pack. That had been dicey at best but while McNair wouldn’t allow Mitchell anywhere near the house, it wasn’t like Mitchell was dying to go. They’d been much more encouraging on the subject of the pregnancy and Sandy was a midwife. She’d been staying at the bed and breakfast for the last few days, watching Nina closely.
Tom was easily the friendliest of all the werewolves, anxious to learn, polite and well mannered, with very dry humor. He was a strong fighter like his father, but without the sense of tragedy that hung around McNair like a cloud. He’d already expressed a desire to come to England with them when they moved and George thought with a bit of work McNair would agree to it.
George’s mobile rang in his pocket and he answered it only to be greeted with the frantic swearing of a werewolf in labor.
“Nina!” he shouted.
“Get home, George,” shouted Nina, sounding like she’d very much like to draw and quarter him when he got there.
“I’m coming, Nina, I’m coming,” he said, a frantic feeling rising inside him.
He could well be the exact cliché of an expectant father, but he didn’t care, he was having a baby! He hastily dialed Mitchell and began running for the car.
***
Mitchell exited the rather dubious establishment with a firm click of the doors, his new identity in hand. He was still John Mitchell, he didn’t want to change things too much, but his date of birth and other identifying information had been updated as he was bound to do every ten or fifteen years anyway. He’d been able to use some of his randomly stored funds to help them buy a house in Surrey and put it in George and Nina’s name. In a way this simply erased the John Mitchell who had committed the atrocities he was trying to get away from. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t always carry them, he still felt their weight, but it was easier to bear. Easier because of George and Nina and their support, easier because of Annie and her love.
The Box Tunnel Twenty case was still a big deal in the local media but an earthquake in Chili and flooding in Australia and the rape of a young girl in Kent had taken the rest of the world's attention for the most part. It was a natural cycle but it didn’t make it right. He knew that the families of the people he’d affected weren’t going to be able to forget as easily as the media but their attention lapsing made it easier for him to come back into circulation as it were. He’d heard that the case file was going to be closed since there were no clues leading to a feasible arrest. Eventually the events would fade into oblivion, another tragedy for the locals to gossip about and tell newcomers.
At least now when they moved, as they were due to do in ten days, he would be able to get a job and help support their growing family and not have to access anymore of his other funds. Doing so attracted more attention than he wanted and getting a job would keep him from going crazy with inactivity. Keeping busy was a big step in not succumbing to the hunger which still buzzed in his veins and the back of his mind and which he constantly had to resist.
But things were better than they’d been in a long time. He no longer felt like he was drowning in guilt. It wasn’t like he was miraculously better, that would never happen, but for the first time in a long time he felt like he was going to make it.
His mobile rang as he was pulling out a cigarette and he answered. George’s flustered voice squeaked in his ear.
“Mitchell, it’s time, it’s happening. You’re going to come, right, you’re coming?”
“George, relax,” said Mitchell. “I’m on my way. Did you leave a message for Annie?”
“Uh, no,” said George. “Just hurry, because she’s coming. I’m leaving McNair’s now.”
“I’ll be there, George. Just breathe; you’re going to have a daughter.”
“I am, I am,” said George and hung up.
Mitchell tucked his mobile in his jacket and put away his cigarettes. Time to play the reassuring uncle.
***
Annie chatted happily with Sykes, detailing all their new plans. Sykes listened patiently though she got the idea that he’d much rather be doing anything else and not investing further in a friendship with such a talkative ghost. She was proud of him for sticking it out though. She’d been spending a lot of time in Bristol trying to help him keep the ghost community in line since her adventure there a few months before and it had renewed their acquaintance through constant exposure.
Things had been in a bit of a panic with rumors flying around about someone called the Ghost Eater and Annie wasn’t too thrilled about having a new nickname, especially one so cannibalistic. But she’d done some reassuring, helped people cross over when she could, and gradually the name of Ghost Eater had become something she was only to enemies and not to her own.
Just how she’d managed to gain a following was a bit beyond her, but the rumors included tales about her time on the other side and what she’d done to the Gray Man and there was a bit more communication between the other side and the mortal world now, and not just ghosts terrorizing people and clogging up radio waves. From what Annie could tell, Gilbert was really taking people in hand on the other side and nothing new and terrible had arisen from what she’d done. She still had her fingers crossed but it appeared like it was business as usual with doors appearing when people resolved their unfinished business.
Lia was apparently truly fitting in and making friends and seemed less about the revenge but Annie didn’t think she’d ever be able to fully trust her. Sykes was a liaison of sorts when Annie thought it necessary to deal with people in Purgatory. She had hopes now that eventually he’d actually be able to cross over himself and not find the horrors that he believed he would. He wasn’t quite there yet, but she was working on him.
She was working on a lot of people. She had a legitimate business growing. She’d discovered that her ability to feel the feelings of the living could translate to ghosts as well, being a good method of helping them figure out why they hadn’t crossed over yet. It wasn’t like the ghosts could pay her, but she’d gotten information and favors and it was a good barter system. She was even teaching them to use their abilities just like Sykes had taught her.
She’d practiced enough that she was confident she could open a business once they moved and work up human clientele. Having the ability to ghost in and out of solidity would make it possible for her to get a sense of their psyche on their first visit, and then move on from there. Mitchell was helping her with paperwork for her existence and her business. She was honestly excited about the future and couldn’t wait to get started.
Her life was such a far cry from the lonely ghost who’d asked a demented priest to exorcise her barely half a year before. Annie felt more alive than ever if that was possible and could be said with a straight face.
She bid farewell to Sykes and prepared to hop back to the house. She wanted to check on Nina who was getting closer and closer to having her baby girl.
Annie rent-a-ghosted home, then paused because blood-curdling screams were echoing through the house.
***
Nina sucked in another breath but it felt like they were being snatched away from her before she could get any benefit from them. Everything hurt, she was being compressed and stretched and she really wanted to kill everything she could with a rage that had nothing to do with being a werewolf and everything to do with being a woman in labor.
She’d called George and he’d panicked and he would come, but in the meantime Nina was stuck with Sandy, who was the most competent of midwives even if Nina wasn’t exactly excited about having an almost stranger be the only person present at the birth of her daughter. A bit of the old fear started to creep into her mind, brought on by the immense pain, no doubt, but Nina didn’t want to feel abandoned or useless or fearful or angry or bitter right now.
A cool hand slipped over her forehead.
“I’m here, Nina,” said Annie’s voice. “I’m right here.”
“Annie,” said Nina, sighing with relief as the contraction eased and she could breathe again. “Thank God.”
“I’ll try not to take that personally,” Sandy said matter-of-factly, whisking around straightening sheets and somehow making the room feel better, while managing to wink at Annie conspiratorially.
A door slamming below signaled the presence of another person in the house only it wasn’t George, but Mitchell, who Nina was relieved to see but ordered out of the room immediately.
“I don’t care how close we are, you are not being present for this!” she said.
Mitchell actually laughed and wished her luck before leaving. She almost got up to kick his vampire ass down the stairs.
Annie’s hands were marvelously cool and Nina calmed as she listened to Annie’s soft litany of reassurances. Having Annie there was good, very good. Soon George would be there; soon they would have a daughter. She’d already been doing this for longer than she’d ever want to do anything. It couldn’t last much longer, at least she hoped not.
Frantic footsteps heralded the arrival of her almost to be husband. Muttered and loud exclamations came from him just outside the door and then Mitchell’s voice answered more calmly.
George poked his head through the door and he already looked less frazzled which Nina could grudgingly contribute to whatever Mitchell had said to him.
“I’m here,” he said, coming to her, slipping his hand in hers.
She was in the midst of another contraction so she didn’t say anything, simply gripped his hand as tight as she could. Annie’s presence and George’s strength stayed with her for many blinding minutes of pain. She wasn’t sure how long it lasted; only that she hated every minute of it.
But some time later, she heard Sandy’s voice say dimly that she was ready and for her to push.
Nina could barely concentrate but she did what Sandy said, instinct and pain driving her. She squeezed George and Annie’s hands and bore down as hard as she could. She had no words for the sensations that happened next but she’d remember them vividly, she knew that.
“Keep going,” said Sandy. “The head’s out.”
Annie was hopping up and down, but her hand was still held fast in Nina’s. George was silent, but when Nina managed to look at him she could see how white he was.
Nina pushed again and pushed and pushed and pushed and it was a nightmare cycle of push and stop and assess until she felt something give way and Sandy announced Eve’s birth.
George let out a whimper and Nina flopped back onto the pillows, ignoring the uncomfortable sensation of the umbilical cord and the tightness in her body. She was so tired and she barely noticed all the usual business of cutting the cord and cleaning the baby and Annie announcing the arrival to Mitchell in the hall.
But now Nina was ready, ready to see her daughter. Sandy handed Eve to George who held her with steady hands but he was shaking and tears fell from his eyes.
“Look at her, Nina,” he said, bending close to the bed. “Look at how beautiful she is.”
Nina reached forward with limp arms and held Eve. She was beautiful just as George had said, she had a full head of hair but there was no other sign that she was the daughter of two werewolves and the insignia of a new age to come. She was big and had blonde hair with blue eyes, George’s eyes, and Nina’s nose.
“Oh, she’s so beautiful,” said Annie, hands clasped to her chest.
The moment was perfect and once Nina had finally finished all the other nasty parts of childbirth and Sandy had cleaned her up a bit, she could finally enjoy it.
Mitchell came in from the hall while Sandy bustled down to the kitchen.
“Who’s this then?” asked Mitchell.
“This is Eve,” said George hoarsely. “This is our Eve.”
“Hello, Eve,” said Mitchell gravely.
Nina wasn’t quite ready to give her up to anyone just yet, but she held Eve higher so Mitchell could see her.
Mitchell dropped a finger across Eve’s cheek softly and then stepped back, reaching for Annie’s hand.
“Isn’t she amazing?” asked Annie, having already dusted Eve with kisses.
“She’s beautiful,” he said. “Got her mother’s ears, thank God.”
George protested a little bit, but Nina wasn’t listening to the banter between the three of them. She was watching Eve’s face, her barely open eyes, studying the four of them. Nina was experiencing an event she’d never thought she would, the instant connection between mother and child she’d always scoffed at. It had a calming effect on Nina’s nerves and she wasn’t afraid anymore.
It was the most normal thing in the world and Nina wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.
1. The Box Tunnel 20. Frankly, I was confused in the first couple episodes as to why it seemed like nobody knew it was Mitchell. I mean, clearly, everyone knew it happened. How could they not think it was him? They all knew he was not playing for the white hats during that time. Who wouldn’t put that two and two together? I just assumed that everyone knew about it until it became very clear he was trying to cover it up.
Part of that, I guess, is me being way too blasé about vampires killing people. A side effect of our culture's obsession with them. So I sadly don't automatically go to the place where a vamp killing a train full of innocents is a horribly immoral thing. However, one of the great bits about BH is that it refuses to let its characters get away with anything (except for George shagging Daisy, but that’s a S2 thing. Not that it stopped me from dealing with it here, even though I was really reluctant to, not being quite sure how to do it). Nevertheless, it doesn’t make any sense for them not to have known, even with George announcing in the S2 finale that he wouldn’t be Mitchell’s confessor, (and clearly he did figure it out) but it’s just insulting to Nina and Annie’s intelligence to say they had no clue.
A little sub-note to this is in regards to Mitchell’s slaughter at the Kemp facility. So…Box Tunnel 20 = 'horrible, no good, very bad Mitchell, how could he have done it?' reaction, but they watched him kill all those people at the facility and try to kill Lucy and Kemp and that didn’t bother them? That was a forgivable slip off the wagon? The entire premise of S3 falls apart a little bit with this double standard and it annoys me.
2. Lia. So, don’t get me wrong, I really like her, and I think she’s a great character, but I’m just wondering where she gets all her power. I get that it’s ironically tragic and powerful for Mitchell to self fulfill his own prophecy and take the decision into his own hands, but it doesn’t make any sense for the prophecy to be fake. Because if it is then Lia is this random new ghost who somehow has the ability to take Mitchell down memory lane and just give him Annie for free and then talk to him through the tv and then form the ‘wolf shape bullet’ and then animate dead corpses to speak rhymes, all for her own revenge? No…doesn’t make sense. Say she just has the ability to do most of those things because she’s dead and in purgatory…well, okay, but to be able to send Annie home…that had to come from higher up. All of S2 Annie was running from doors trying to swallow her whole because they wanted her back so badly and then they just…decided, ‘eh, Lia’s a good kid, she should get her revenge, and if that means giving up our own obsession, that’s a-okay by us?’ Yeah, didn’t think so.
3. Herrick. Yeah, Herrick’s a great villain, bringing him back, really helpful for making Mitchell nuts, but it’s just rushed and not well thought out. They bring him back for one morally charged episode where everyone’s figuring out what their limits are and then it’s just like they forget about him. He’s just kinda there to be ‘crazy old amnesiac Herrick’ living in the attic, there to drive wedges between everyone when they bother to remember he’s living there.’ Sure, Mitchell goes up occasionally to terrorize him and I’m sure Nina’s very good at giving him shaves, but THEY JUST LEAVE THE AMNESIAC KILLING MACHINE ALONE IN THE HOUSE ALL THE TIME. He’s never taken into consideration.
Everyone else got mad at Mitchell for letting Nancy talk to Herrick alone but they all left him alone all the time. Like it was an issue for one episode, but then…'eh, whatever' after that. George pops off for some family time and then Nina runs after him without giving a single thought to the mad vampire in the attic. It just drove me crazy every episode when they would leave the house and I’d be like…'hello, killer in the attic' who doesn’t need, say, locks on the doors, or a guard, or something. Did everyone take their stupid pills that month? Whatever happened to ‘he’s your murdering fugitive, if you want to keep him, you have to look after him?’
4. McNair. Now…again, I really like him. Very interesting guy, but he and Tom were just a little too plot device-y. The big story of the Season is Mitchell is going to get killed by a werewolf, let’s add a bunch more werewolves to the mix for suspense! Let’s make McNair a really bad ass fighter too. And then…George and Nina are having what could be the first ever werewolf pregnancy, let’s give Tom and MacNair a really tragic and interesting backstory to help with that plotline. Wow, Herrick’s back and we need a way to get him all murder-y again, why not have Herrick be the reason that MacNair became a werewolf and started on his sad life? Conveniently in the exact same cage that started this whole season. Because I guess Barry is the center of all demonic convergence in Wales. The total Hellmouth. How spooky that everyone ended up there again.
5. The inevitability of vampires being evil. In a way it’s refreshing to have such evil in vampires again who’ve been rather neutered of late, but…the way I see it, it’s depressing to have your main character irredeemable simply because of what he is. Regardless of how you feel about Mitchell, he put in a dang good try to be good, and if he can’t do it, well, no one can. Therefore, all the vampires are just…two dimensional all of a sudden. Their struggles, their humanity, their personalities, all of it pales because I know that in the end they’re just going to fall. It didn’t matter how amazing they made Hal after that, there was no point in my getting invested in another vampire who struggles to do good but just can’t make it in the end. What was the point of Ivan or Daisy or Lauren because they’re all just slippery slopes of doom? I approved of Lauren making the choice for her death, it worked for her character, but to have Mitchell just copy that path in the end was, I felt, a cheat, a cop out. I need a bit of hope, yes, it may be a struggle, yes, they may fall, but I want there to be a hope that in the end, they can make it. Oh, Aidan Turner, why did you have to go and become the hot dwarf?
6. Annie being used as a plot device in Mitchell’s story. This is not necessarily something I don’t get, but something that irked me. She’s barely in the first episode and what there is of her is used to promote Mitchell. She comes back and she’s obsessed with making him happy and ends up messing things up a lot. She doesn’t really have anything to do other than fall in love with him and even when she gets a purpose (ie finding out the BT20) that ends up being all about Mitchell too and her feeling betrayed about it and broken hearted about him. Etc. She was the weapon forged against him. That’s all. It would have been much better if she’d had PTSD about being in Purgatory or developed her poltergeist-y powers or dealt with what she’d done to Kemp (yeah, so that line about how she’d never even hurt a butterfly…did we just conveniently forget she dragged Kemp INTO HELL?) or anything like that. S3 they talked about the danger not being from either supernatural or human but from within. But it would have been nicer if it was the darkness inside all four of them then just Mitchell railroading.