172. Warned

Bridgeport, present day...

Michaela kept her promise to Cameron. She met with J.D. and Krimsyn at the penthouse and filled them in on her talk with Ellie in Hollow Creek the previous day.

Her parents were stunned by the news, but also relieved that their suspicions about Joshua were not unfounded.

“I’m so sorry you had to leave home. Why didn’t you come to us? You should have told us what was on your mind,” Krimsyn murmured as she brushed away her tears, she was heartbroken for her daughter, sad that she’d felt so alone lately.

“I didn’t want to trouble you; I already put you through so much with my bloodlust in Hollow Creek,” she explained.

J.D. knelt in front of her and took her hand. “We are your parents, and it’s our job to be here for you whenever you need us.”

“I know. But you seem to get on so well with Joshua, and I didn't want to ruin the relationship you've formed with him,” Michaela sobbed in her hands. The stress of the past few weeks had finally taken its toll on her.

“I’ve been getting on so well with him only because you haven’t stepped up to your role as Sire. I understand why you haven’t and I thought I was helping you by stepping in. But my getting on with Joshua doesn’t mean I love you less or that I don’t miss you or want to spend time with you, because I do.” J.D. gave her a reassuring hug.

Michaela’s phone rang then. It was Leigh, she was waiting for her at the mall, they were supposed to get stuff for the tots.

“I have to go,” she smiled apologetically at her parents after she hung up from Leigh.


“Are you happy with Leigh and Krisis? You can always come home, and we’ll find a place for Joshua,” Krimsyn offered. She really missed her and wished she’d come home. But she understood now why she left.

“I’m happy with Leigh and Krisis,” Michaela assured them.

They fell apart the moment they were alone. They felt like they’d let their daughter down again and for the first time in their relationship they didn’t know how to move forward.

J.D. couldn’t understand how they’d missed the signs with Joshua, about him being a predator. Krimsyn could though, Joshua was a totally different person in their company. Sure they still found him a little unsettling. But he was always polite, helpful, respectful. He was a model house guest.

"He's good!" Krimsyn hissed as she ran a shaky hand through her hair, thinking about the magnitude of Joshua's deception.

J.D. nodded his agreement. "I'll speak to Ben, push him for results," He added. Ben was one of their close friends, the same PI Krisis had hired a while back to find Leigh when she went missing and they'd retained him when Joshua resurfaced. So far though other than the string of bodies Joshua had left in Hidden Springs and Hollow Creek, Ben had failed to uncover anything new or ghastly. In fact, his report from Hollow Creek about Joshua was spotless, no criminal records, no scandals, nothing. As they sat in shocked silence, they both understood now that Ben hadn't found any dirt in Hollow Creek because Becky, Ellie's friend, had stayed mum about her incident with Joshua.

“We have to find him his own place,” Krimsyn spoke up suddenly, slicing through the tension filling up their living room.

J.D. agreed with her, but moving Joshua from the penthouse wasn’t going to change anything. As Michaela’s fledgling they were still responsible for him regardless of his past actions. They had a moral obligation to look after him because their daughter had turned him into one of them.

“I just want my child home, that’s all. Am I wrong for wanting Mickey to come home?” Krimsyn cried in her hands. Lucky barked at her feet. She got up from the couch and absently filled his bowl.

“Of course you're not wrong and I also want Mickey home. But Syn,  whether we like it or not, she turned him into one of us. We can't change that or wish it away, ” J.D. pointed out.

Krimsyn knew he was right, but she didn't want to accept it. And for a while they talked about their options, trying to find solutions to their predicament. But there were none, really. And Krimsyn did what she always does when she feels helpless. She cried. And J.D. couldn't stand her heartbreak.

“Hey, no more tears, okay?” He took her in his arms and brushed away her tears. "We'll work through this. We'll get Joshua his own place and support him financially."

“Okay," Krimsyn found herself compromising too. "I’ll try and accommodate him, you know, get him help. Maybe in a loving environment he can change.”

“For his sake let's hope he can,” J.D. caressed her cheek; he'd hate to have blood on his hands because his daughter's fledgling couldn't change.

Shortly after he lit a fire under Ben, J.D. set out to find Joshua.

The younger man was surprised to see him when he walked into the office, he’d just come back from patrolling the grounds.

“Is something wrong?” Joshua asked.

“We know about Ellie’s friend.”

Joshua went ashen at his announcement. And for a brief second J.D. thought he saw something very close to shame dance in the boy’s eyes.

“I was young,” he mumbled after some time.

“It’s no excuse,” J.D. sprung from the bar and approached him, stopping just mere inches from his face.

“I welcomed you into my home because my daughter is your Sire. But let me be clear Joshua, Michaela is and always will be my first and only priority. If you so much as look at her the wrong way or worse dare to do anything to hurt her, I will make your death slow and very painful. Are we clear?”

“Yes, sir!” Joshua nodded quickly.

J.D. glared at him for some time, wondering why he still couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was very wrong with him, and it wasn't just the stuff with Becky, it was more than that, way deeper. He hoped Ben would piece together the boy's movements in recent weeks.

“I’m really sorry about Ellie’s friend,” Joshua spoke again; he was clearly uncomfortable under his unwavering gaze.

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to,” J.D. murmured as he let himself out of the office...