My Hero Day and Knight

In the arms of fate

*MICK'S POV**

Emily just suddenly collapsed for an unknown apparent reason. My arms caught her fall. Her skin was cold to the touch. Her heartbeat wasn't normal. Something wasn't right with her. I quickly lay her gently on the couch, taking off my long trench coat and covering her with it. Her body looked lifeless. I tried to get her to come to.

"Emily, Emily wake up!"

I yelled frantically, touching her forehead and her cheeks. Her skin looked as if the life of her was just sucked right out. She wasn't responding. I ran to the kitchen, quickly grabbing a glass of ice cold water and a cold wet towel and ran back to aid her. I put the towel on her forehead, set her up beside me, holding her with one arm and pressing the ice cold glass to her lips. I forced her mouth open just enough for the water to run through.

"Come on, Emily..."

I pulled the glass away with ease. Then her eyes started to flutter open. I sat the glass on the coffee table, got up and lay her head on one of the pillows. Her heartbeat was normal again and her skin started to warm up. Her eyes closed again. She must have collapsed from exhaustion. I let her rest, but I'm going to keep a sharp eye on her. This wasn't normal, not even for a human. This probably wasn't her first time either of collapsing. I pulled the leather chair across the floor next to her. I sat watching her, making sure she was okay. The color of her skin came back within a couple of minutes.

Hours had passed and she still was asleep. Her left arm was hanging out from underneath my coat. I moved her arm back under it. She hadn't moved from that position since I placed her on the couch after she had collapsed. My phone vibrated and I took it out of my pocket to find out it was Josef calling. I got up and walked into the kitchen, still keeping an eye on her. I answered.

"St. John?"

"Have you heard?"

"Heard what?"

"There's a killer on the loose and apparently, he's a rogue vamp. Newly turned."

"You happen to catch his name perhaps?"

"No. So you have heard?"

"Yes, I have. I'm working on it now."

"Well, mind if Ryder and I come over?"

"There's a change in that."

"Why?"

"I have company over."

"Well, I'd like to meet them."

"Josef..."

"What? I always get to meet your company. Why not this time?"

"Because she's sleeping. She had an accident."

"Oh....a lady friend....is she...?"

I butted in.

"No, not a freshie. She's a human who I'm watching over and protecting from the rogue that almost killed her."

Josef paused.

I just realized what I just said. It slipped.

"She knows?"

"She's not sure what she's knows what's going on. She's still in a shaken state and collapsed from it. Yes, I'm tending to her."

"Well, we can talk in your office as usual about business that needs to be taken care of before it gets out of hand."

"I know. I said I'm working on it. I'll handle it don't worry. She's not going to say anything else to anyone. She came to me for help, so I provided my aid to help her in anyway I can. And that rogue is after her. That's why she will be staying with me for a while until he's dealt with."

"Then after he's dealt with, then what? You're going to let her go?"

"Josef, please, not now."

"Well, you're always moping around about how Beth left. Look man, I'm sorry, okay? But you need someone else in your life to take that away from you."

"The problem is, I don't think it's going to go away."

"Why is that?"

"You'll see when you get here. Just be quiet and if she does wake up, please don't freak or weird her out, man. She's been through enough already."

"I never like those words."

"Just, please? For once in your life act normal."

"Eh, I can't promise anything. I'll 'try'."

"All right."

We hung up and I went back to the chair and watched over Emily while she rested. She needed some rest.

A half an hour passed and there was a knock at the front door. Gotta be Josef and Ryder. I got up, without any sudden moves and walked to the door, opened it up and welcomed them in.

"Not so loud."

Josef just glanced at me. He was wearing the usual. Dressy clothes. Suits. Ryder wore normal clothes. We walked over towards Emily and Josef's eyes widened. He stared at her for a couple of moments then turned to face me with an odd look on his face.

"Is that Beth?"

"No. Her name is Emily Turner. She's got to be Beth's twin sister. She sounds the same she walks the same and acts the same. Weird huh?"

"So that's what you meant when 'you'll find out when you get here' phrase."

"Yep."

Ryder never said a word.

"She's a perfect doppelgänger for Beth. It's terrifying, knowing there is another person out there somewhere that's identical to you. She does."

"That's what I meant too. Looking at her is like the giant hole in my chest suddenly got bigger. Now, it's even harder for me because she looks like Beth so much. But in another way, I can't let Emily go. I don't want her to get the idea or you get the idea that I don't want her around because of that. I do want her around. To me, it's like I was given a second chance."

"You mean a third chance. Coraline then Beth now Emily. You just haven't found the right one yet, because you thought it was Beth. Maybe she's a lot more different from Beth."

"Maybe. But she's going to find out what I am and she's going to hate me well being since one tried to kill her."

"It's like with Beth, Mick. I understand. But she followed you around no matter if it was danger or no danger, she always stuck by your side. Not to mention Josh."

"Please, don't bring up the details about that day."

"I'm setting an example, Mick."

"I know, but Beth hated me for not turning him. I wasn't going to turn him. Then she brought it up a few times about me turning her. I couldn't allow that to happen. And I don't want Emily to end up that way like Beth did. Ended up leaving and taking taking pieces of me with her."

"Look, sooner than later, you're going to have to turn someone you love dearly enough to be with forever. I know with Coraline wasn't the be option. But like I said before and I'll say it again, Emily is probably different."

I motioned for Josef and Ryder to both follow me to my office so we could talk amongst ourselves without disturbing Emily. They followed without hesitation. Can what Josef say be true? I pondered the thoughts that ran through my head. Maybe I was lucky enough again. And hopefully this time it doesn't turn out as bad as the last two did.