Storymania - Haven by Tyler Moretz

Haven (19)
Tyler Moretz

Jill saw two men leave one of the motel rooms, both looking very flustered. Much to Jill’s surprise, she could hear their every word.

“How long do you figure she’s been dead?” Dom asked solemnly.
“No more than a few hours, I’d say.” Jack did not seem very pleased with the situation either. “You say that is the girl you mistook for a vampire?”
“Yeah, that was her. I don’t know what Martin would have wanted with her, though.”
“There is no time to speculate now. We have trouble coming.” Jack pointed away down the street to a small blonde woman walking toward them.
“More than you know,” returned Dom, pointing in the opposite direction. A trio of people came marching toward them. One of them was certainly Martin.
“Are you armed?” Jack asked hurriedly.
“One pistol, one knife, three packs of Render,” he rambled off.
“Go for Martin. I will hold off Ms. Trinity.” Jack started toward Grace leaving Dom standing there for a moment wondering why they had not both gone for Martin.

“This looks like trouble, Seamus,” Martin said over his shoulder. “She’s in room twelve. Go.” Seamus wasted no time in heading for the motel, avoiding Dom entirely.
Finally, Dom reached the two remaining vampires. Immediately he fired two bullets into the chest of each of them. “It’s nothing personal, Martin, but I have to kill you.” Dom drew his knife and started toward Martin who was now on the ground. Before he made it very far, though, a hand clasped him hard around the throat from behind. “Sorry, man, but I’m gonna have to ask you to stop what you’re doin’.” Martin looked up to see Amanda standing naked and blood-covered behind Dom. Sarah, who had made it to her feet, leaned and lifted Martin to his.
“What do we do now?” Amanda asked.

Jack lifted the knife to shoulder height before he had made it halfway to Grace who was still walking calmly forward. He had not bothered treating the small curved blade with Render before attacking. As he came closer to her, she only stopped, dropped her bag, and waited.
When he was practically on top of her, Grace dropped to one knee and slashed at Jack’s ribs with the knife she had kept concealed behind her arm. Expecting just such a maneuver, Jack deftly avoided the blade and buried his own somewhere in her back.
She twisted away from him, dislodging the knife in the process. “You’re a little slow for a Fixer, aren’t you?”
“How many Fixers have you encountered?” he asked calmly.
“When I kill you, it will make four.
“I’m afraid you are in for a fight first.”
“You’ll have to catch me first.” Grace turned on her heel and ran…but not very far.
A strong arm flashed through the night and caught her by her hair. Before she had time to react, Grace was lying face up on the asphalt, staring up at Mark. “Do you ever do anything but run?” he said looking down at her. No one had a chance to speak, though. Another voice had broken the night. “Who is responsible?” Seamus’ voice rang out across the entire block. He had come out of the motel room where he had found Abby’s dead body. He did not wait for an answer. In a second he was at Martin’s side staring at Dom. “You did this.” It was not a question.
Dom nodded. It was the last thing he ever did. In a half second his neck was broken and he lay dead in the street. Seamus looked at Sarah with a fire in his eyes. “Martin is responsible for the High Ones’ deaths. He led these people here.” Sarah looked at Martin sternly. He nodded as well.

“You know you cannot kill me,” Grace spat at Mark and Jack. “Neither of you.” She pushed herself up to stand on her knees. “Just let me do what I have to do, and this will all be over.”
“I’m afraid you are a wanted woman now,” said Jack “It’s my job to see that you make it back to the Organization.”
“She is mine to kill,” Mark interrupted. Things suddenly got very tense among this trio as each of them looked around and realized that only one of them could survive. Then something very strange happened. “But, vengeance seems less important to me than it did before. You are free to go as far as I’m concerned.”
“Yes, I think that seems fair,” said Jack. “I was sent here to stop a rogue Cleaner, but since killing Martin will stop you, then I think letting you go sounds like a wonderful idea.”
“I’m glad we could reach an agreement,” Grace said, standing. She smiled at the fact that neither of these two were aware of the subtle mind controlling abilities demons of her kind possessed. She had been able to manipulate Dom the same way, only not as strongly. “I’ll just be on my way then…” Grace started to move away from them. The two men only stared at each other in a stupor.
“It would be nice if life were really that easy, wouldn’t it?” Grace froze in her tracks. This was not a voice she expected to ever hear again.
She turned slowly to be sure her ears did not deceive her. Only a hundred feet from her Jenny limped closer and closer with two lumbering figures close behind her. “How did you…?”
“It would appear that my original opinion of the raksasha was a little unfair. It seems that they possess some very effective healing abilities.”
“I will be sure to be more efficient this time.” Grace took a step toward Jenny.
“At least let me finish. Another of their habits that I was not aware of is that they feed on magical beings. You know, spirits, demons, that sort of thing. They’ve just been in a frenzy to meet you since you came to town, so I thought I’d play welcome wagon and introduce you guys.” Jenny smiled with bloody teeth and nodded back to the figures behind her. “Why don’t you go and shake hands, boys.”
The two blue-skinned beasts hulked into the streetlights. They bared rows of slavering fangs as they moved toward Grace. She did not move. In a moment they had overcome her and pushed her to the ground.

“How could you do this, Martin?” Sarah asked the question in a soft disappointed voice. “You have betrayed your people and your home.”
“I had no choice, Sarah. You know I would have never done this on purpose.” His voice was quiet and somber.
“It does not matter, Martin. We have laws here, and you knew that coming back here meant being judged by those laws.” Bloody tears rolled down Sarah’s face as she spoke. “Seamus, take the girl away.”
Seamus took Amanda by the arm and led her toward Mark and Jack.
“Sarah, let me say this before you do what you must do. I came back here to try and help put things right. Do not let that be misunderstood after this night.” He stared at his feet for a long time.
“No one will speak ill of you in my presence.” Sarah wrapped her arms around him and kissed his neck. “I am sorry, Martin. You were always my friend, and much more.” She sank her fangs into his throat.
“Do not look back on this and feel guilty, Sarah. This is what I’ve wanted from the night you created me.” She tried to drain him as quickly as possible, but it seemed to take an eternity. Finally, Martin fell limp and dead in her arms.
“I am sorry,” she said through bloody tears.
Down the street Grace screamed.

* * * * * * *

“Well, that just about sums it up,” Methos said to Jill. “The end of another verse.”
“But what happens now?” Tears rolled feely across her face.
Methos took her arm and began to lead her off of the roof. “The vampires of Haven will disband. They will move out into the world. Mark and Amanda will live happily every after…for ten years or so. Jack will continue to kill for a living. Seamus will be bitter for a while, but eventually he will move on with a regular vampiric life. Sarah will go back to England and try to recreate Haven’s environment in London. We’re still not sure about that one.”
They exited the building and Jill and Methos watched and waited on the street for a while. “Can you tell me about me?”
“No, that ruins the fun. I’ll give you some advice, though. Be the mayor for a while. I think you’ll enjoy it. Haven is going to go through some very intriguing changes.”
“I think I’ll do that. I’d like to take that kind of credit.” Jill smiled at the idea of a good future, but she was not so sure about the present.
“Well, Ms. Morgan, I believe that I shall be on my way.” Methos smiled and squeezed Jill’s hand.
“I think I might go home and get some sleep too.”
“Why don’t you stay here for a while? Think things over a bit.” The old man took a few steps away from her and disappeared.
Jill sat on the steps for a long time, thinking about everything that she had witnessed. It was already taking on that surreal feeling, and she wondered if years later she would remember it only as a passing dream.
It soon became apparent that this was not going to be the case. She saw the stooped figure moving toward her at a fair distance. Jenny limped up to the building and sat down beside the mayor. “You would not believe the week I’ve had,” she said hoarsely.
“What do you say we get out of here and you can tell me all about it while the sun rises.” Jill plucked a tissue from her purse and wiped some blood from Jenny’s face.
“I think that sounds pretty appealing. It’s been a while since I’ve been invited into someone’s home.”
They both stood up and started walking. Both of them would be glad to see a lot less of the past in Haven’s future.

END

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