SPOV
I'm running, which is stupid, but so ingrained I don't feel as if I can make any other choice. Running only fuels the need for the chase and he's just toying with me. He could overtake me at any time. I can't even hide, he smells me now and no amount of hiding in the shadows will truly cover me. The dark forest between my house and the cemetery trips me up, slowing me down and brutally ravaging my bare legs. I'm crying and begging for help in my mind…'please someone help me'. I don't know his intentions, but I sense he's cruel just to be cruel—it is his nature. Death, final death, would surely be better than being caught but I can't bring myself to that conclusion. I feel a rush of wind and suddenly I run into a wall….a wall of chest and arms that roughly grab me as I hear maniacal laughing reverberate through the woods.
"Please, no" I gasp.
My begging tone only fuels him as he seems to enjoy the smell of my fear permeating the air around us. He roughly grabs my hair and bends my head back, exposing my neck. He leans in close and takes a strong whiff. Can he smell the vampires whose blood I have had? Does he care? Or is it my Fairy blood that he smells. He scrapes my neck with his fangs before brutally biting my shoulder. He takes two long drags.
He raises his head with glowing eyes, "Oh yes, I'm going to enjoy this. But first I must break you."
I struggle some more to get away, again all instinct, though I know it's futile. He only laughs and says "Oh yes, struggle pet. It makes my cock hard".
He loosens his grip as if to give the illusion that my struggles are working and I momentarily feel a sense of hope, until he roughly jerks me up against him again. This is a cruel, vicious game he plays. He lowers his head to kiss me and I try in vain to turn my face. I struggle to keep my lips closed tightly but he forces his tongue in and ravages my mouth. I can't do anything but allow it, though I think about biting him but fear this would only excite him more. I don't return the kiss and I'm disgusted by him. He reaches down and rips my shirt open and roughly fondles my breasts, pinching and slapping them.
He snarls at me as he pulls back "If you won't pleasure me with your kiss, I can think of another use for that smart mouth of yours"
I begin to panic in earnest and scream, but he clamps a hand over my mouth as he grabs my neck with his other hand and forces me to my knees. With one hand he unzips his pants and his rock hard cock pops out, hitting me in the face. He warns me to be quiet or I will pay in earnest. With no other choice, I nod in agreement. He slaps my face with his cock and forces my mouth open by squeezing my jaw. He shoves his cock into my mouth and I struggle to get away, tears running down my face. He squeezes harder and I still my struggles, afraid he will break my jaw. Once I still, he lets go of my jaw with a warning growl and roughly grabs my hair and neck as he begins to push his cock in and out of my mouth. I am sobbing but can do nothing to stop this abuse.
He shoves his dick into the back of my throat and I gag, reflexively trying to get away. He laughs as he says "Gag on my cock, Bitch" and eases only slightly before he's pounding back in.
I gag over and over and he shoves it so far into my mouth that my nose is flesh with his pelvis. He then presses my head tight up against him while he holds my nose until I fear I will pass out from lack of oxygen or choke from gagging on my own spit. He eases up again but only for a moment. My fear and disgust are quickly escalating out of control, if he's this cruel with a blowjob, I can't allow him to have my body. He will damage me in some way or kill me. Another round of his penis being shoved down my throat and me choking on my own spit and his cock and I reflexively bite down on his cock….hard.
He yelps and hits the side of my head and I go flying backwards, seeing flashing lights and feeling my vision blur. I land against something hard and hit the other side of my head. My head feels light and wet. I feel my body begin to lose consciousness but I fight it. I can't. He will take my body.
Fight, damn it, Stackhouse. I'm nobody's victim. He begins to stalk towards me, eyes glowing red and angry. I feel another hard breeze and suddenly he's in the air being held by his throat.
Someone heard me, they came to help me. Maybe it's Niall or Bill or Eric or Claude. I'm not sure who it is and I don't care as long as they don't allow him to have me. The monster snarls at my savior and lashes out but my savior is too strong and slams him into a tree.
"You will never have her, Mickey." I hear a familiar voice say, but I can't place it, everything is so indistinct. Mickey…..why? Is this retribution for me helping my friend Tara get away from him and Eric calling his Maker, which forced him to leave her alone? Seriously!?
My head is so fuzzy, like it's filled with cotton and my vision is obstructed by the darkness of the night and whatever that wetness is running down my face. I hear the snapping of the tree trunk as they slam into the tree again and I see my savior reach out, grab a huge splinter of wood and stake my captor right in the heart. Mickey turns to ash almost immediately.
My savior slowly turns, I still can't make out his features since it is utterly dark in the woods but his eyes are glowing a faint red and I am fearful again. I begin to try and crawl away but not being able to see clearly impedes any progress I make. I feel him hover above me and I begin to scream and curl into a ball to try and protect myself. I feel his hand reach down and touch my shoulder, I flinch and scream again, hiding my face.
"Shhh Sookie, I am here. I will not hurt you. I promise."
I only vaguely register the voice, though it soothes me some. I try to turn and look at him but still I can not see him and that scares me all the more.
"Who are you?" I whisper.
"You do not remember me?" he asks.
"I don't know," I respond, "I can't see you or anything. I know your voice but can't place who you are. Please don't hurt me." I beg. I reach out with my mind and the void I feel tells me he's a vampire too. My being telepathic serves some good, though it certainly didn't help me earlier.
"Sookie, it is Eric. I am here. Do you know who I am? I want to take you home and help you. I am not sure how injured you are. Can I lift you?" he says all this in a very quiet, soothing manner as if talking to a hurt animal.
"Eric? Oh God Eric!" I instantly relax and huge sobs begin to wrack my body, as I blindly flail my arms out for him. I know I am safe with Eric. He may be a 1,000 year old Viking vampire and we have our share of history, and granted not all of it is positive, but one thing I am absolutely positive about, is that Eric would never hurt me and he will protect me from anyone who wishes to hurt me and for that I am grateful.
"Please….please take me home." I manage to get out.
He slowly reaches down and places one arm around my back and the other under my knees and I try not to flinch when he touches me. He growls when I turn my face to him but I know it's not directed towards me. I must look horrible. I feel so ashamed and I bury my face in his neck. My face feels likes the skin is stretched so tight across my cheek where Mickey hit me and I can still vaguely feel the wetness on my skin. Eric takes to the air and within seconds I am on my front porch. I have never been so glad to see my home and I can hardly squelch my need to throw the door open, run inside and hide. Eric asks if the invitation I granted him before has been rescinded, I shake my head and we enter my home.
Eric gently places me on the couch and covers me with the afghan he finds so hideous. If I were in better spirits, it might make me smile. He quickly leaves and returns with a warm washcloth and begins to bathe my face. The cloth is quickly covered in blood….ah so that was the wetness I was feeling.
Eric curses under his breath and states, "Sookie, I am going to pick you up again and take you into the bathroom. This rag is not sufficient to clean your injuries and I need to better assess the extent of them. I must know if Dr. Ludwig is needed".
As he picks me up to move me, I note to myself that Eric's accent is more noticeable and he's dropped all contractions, this can't be good. It only means one thing, Eric is emotional and likely he's either angry or upset or both. I just hope it's not with me.
As we enter the bathroom, I notice Eric tries to angle his body away from the mirror so that I cannot see my face, but I peer around him and draw in a sharp breath. I barely recognize myself as I stare at the bruised and battered face in the mirror, my hair is matted, bloody and in disarray and my cheek is turning a disgusting myriad of colors. My eyes are red rimmed and my lip is swollen and split. My face is covered in streaks of blood, running down from my scalp. I begin to cry and Eric notices I am staring at the mirror.
"Damn it", as he turns further away and tries to shield my view with his broad chest. "Sookie, do not cry. I will heal you. But first I am going to clean and bathe you. This will put you to rights."
As soon he as mentions bathing me, I begin to struggle in his arms as the thought of a man touching me intimately sends terror and embarrassment through my bones. I know it's silly to be embarrassed or shy given our past relationship when he was cursed and without his memory. He stayed with me for safety purposes and we engaged in a variety of uh...extracurricular activities, but it's been months since I was with Eric sexually and it wasn't this Eric, it was my Eric who disappeared the night the witch broke the spell on him and he regained his memory, just the not memories of our time together.
He holds me a little tighter and whispers "Shhhh. It is ok. I will leave your underclothes on. Would that be better? I'm not sure I trust your ability to bathe yourself right now."
Suddenly Eric stops and stares at me with his intense gaze, "Did he….did I not get there soon enough….did Mickey rape you, Sookie? Is this why you are frightened of me bathing you?"
I mutely shake my head 'No' but whisper "It was close. That was his intention, but he….he did…..other things to me."
Eric closes his eyes and I hear a deep, frightening growl bubble up in his chest, but he shuts it off before I am too frightened. He sets me on the toilet lid and leans over to start a bath, as it is filling he gently strips off my ruined clothes and never cracks a smirk or sexy grin or shows any interest that way for which I am grateful. He leaves my bra and panties on (thank God I'm wearing my sensible panties today) as he lowers me into the tub. I gasp as the warm water touches my skin and I breathe a sigh of relief. I vaguely wonder how a vampire would know just the perfect temperature of a human bath but I quickly push the thought aside as I focus on Eric gently wiping away the grime and blood. He hisses and his eyes darken when he reaches to wash my shoulder and notices the deep bite marks.
"He fed from you?" he asks.
"More like he just wanted to hurt me and bite me. He only took two pulls of blood, so I don't know if that counts as a feeding. But it hurt like hell. Not like when Bill or you have bitten me."
Eric gently bathes my shoulder and I hear his fangs snick out. He bites his finger and gently rubs his blood over the holes and they begin to heal. He takes his finger and rubs my lip with it as well, careful not to get any in my mouth or make it sexual in any way. He then finishes cleaning my body, careful to avoid my womanly parts. He leans my head back gently and begins to pour water through my hair. The off pour is tinged red. He reaches up for my favorite shampoo (though I'm not sure how he knows which one is my favorite) and begins to lather and wash my hair. I remember back to another time when he did this for me…..our first time together when he joined me in the shower and I am simultaneously filled with contentment and longing.
I crack my eyes open to see Eric's forehead creased and his eyes staring at me curiously. I guess he can sense my emotions, so I try to stifle them some as I don't want him asking about that time. He still hasn't regained his memories of that time and I just don't have the energy to go there tonight.
He finishes my hair, grabs a towel and wraps me up in it as he lifts me from the tub. He hands me my robe from the back of the door and asks if I can finish undressing and put the robe on myself. I assure him I can and he backs out of the bathroom. I know he's right outside the door because I can sense his void. I pull off my bra and panties and pull on my pink, fluffy robe. I grab a headband and pull back my wet hair. I look in the mirror again and decide Eric was right, I do look better, though it's still pretty horrible. I'm glad he hasn't mentioned healing me again. I don't think I want his blood tonight, I need to feel human.
As I stare at myself in the mirror, my gaze drops down to my mouth and I can suddenly feel Mickey shoving his dick in my mouth and I lean over, fearful I'm going to retch. I grab the sink and pull up to where I can grab my toothbrush and toothpaste. I begin to vigorously brush my teeth and mouth, over and over until my gums are bleeding. I vaguely register a knock but I ignore it as I continue to scrub my mouth and tears stream down my face. Suddenly a cold hand covers mine and he gently takes the toothbrush from my hand. My knees buckle and he catches me and lifts me up to his chest. He dries my mouth with a towel and whisks me from the bathroom.
I end up back on my couch, folded up on Eric's lap and covered by my afghan. He strokes my hair and down my back, over and over in a soothing motion.
"Tell me what happened Sookie. How did he get to you?"
I look up and Eric's eyes are closed as his face is grim.
"Are you sure you want me to?"
"Yes I must know where the holes are in what little security you have around here and then remedy that immediately"
Ever the practical vampire, though right now I am grateful for his practical nature, it helps me stay calm and steady. Though I sense, he's only calm on the surface and much is percolating underneath.
"Ok. I got home from work and wanted to go to Gran's grave. I had bought some flowers to take since today was her birthday. I had meant to go earlier today but Sam called me early to see if I could work a double shift since one of the other girls had called in sick, so I didn't have time. I was so tired when I came home. I rushed in, changed my clothes, put my things away and didn't really scan like I usually do, though I didn't sense anything at all. I headed towards the cemetery and had just finished putting the flowers on her grave when I felt the void nearby. I initially thought it was Bill as he wanders a lot at night but he would have revealed himself once he saw my head lift up. He would of known I sensed him and would not of kept silent." Eric nodded his head in agreement.
"I begin to feel anxious and knew it wasn't any vampire I knew out there…..not Bill, not Bubba, not you or Pam. Any of y'all would of come forth when you sensed my anxiety. I know it was stupid but the human side of things told me to run, as fast as I could. You know, good ole' fight or flight. I knew I was just adding to the chase but I couldn't stop myself. He toyed with me, let me get deep in the woods as I tried to reach my house. I knew if I could just get to my house, I would be safe, but he grabbed me way before then and then you got there pretty soon after that."
I didn't want to go into the details of what happened but I had a feeling Eric wanted more details than I had given him. He looked at me intently.
"I know you do not wish to discuss this further but I need to know more than this, especially if I have to answer for killing Mickey. This way I could speak for you and you would not be required. I am sorry Sookie."
I sighed, "Oh I don't want you to get in trouble Eric, but this is really hard to talk about…..he grabbed my hair, smelled me and bit my shoulder. Then he forced a kiss on me and ripped open my shirt and put his hands on me. Then he forced me to my knees and …well….." I began sobbing.
"It's okay Sookie. I understand." Eric replied.
Now that the floodgate was open though it's like I couldn't stop it…..
"he forced himself into my mouth and it was so vile, I thought I would vomit. He was so abusive and hurtful. I finally bit him hard and then he hit me and I went flying into the air. I hit my head on something when I landed and thought I was going to pass out but then you showed up and saved me. Thank you for coming. I kept screaming for help in my head, hoping someone would hear me or would sense me. Thank you Eric, thank you for coming…..I know what he was planning."
Eric looked at me quizzically.
"I didn't know" as I tapped my temple, "but as a woman, I knew his intentions and I knew that would kill me. He would kill me. I feel so dirty and violated like before when….."
I stopped suddenly as I almost mentioned Uncle Bartlett, my "funny uncle" when I was young and then my thoughts flashed to that car trunk when I was trapped with Bill, after I had saved him in Jackson and he had been brutally tortured and was weak from blood loss. He almost drained me and he did rape me before Eric found us, but that was different than Uncle Bartlett. Uncle Bartlett was not someone I really talked about with people. I just hoped Eric hadn't picked up on anything and if he did, he'd let it go.
"When what, Sookie?"
Of course, he had to pick up on it, Eric was one of the most perceptive beings I knew, must be his 1,000 years. You learn to notice everything.
"Hmmm? Oh nothing." I try to dodge.
"It's not nothing. When what, Sookie?" his voice even lower than before, which was not a good sign.
"Oh Eric, do we have to talk about all this anymore? I'm so tired." I ask, hoping he will acquiesce.
"Very well Sookie, but we will resume this conversation at a later time."
Not if I have anything to say about it. I was beginning to feel the effects of the night as my eyes grew heavy and my body felt weighted down. Eric easily scooped me up off the couch and carried me to my bedroom, he turned down the covers as I headed into the restroom to take care of my human needs. When I came back into the bedroom, I saw Eric sitting on the edge of my bed, with his head in his hands. He heard me enter the room, his head popped up and he stared at me with such intensity, I took a step back.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Nothing is wrong. Come to bed, lover. You are tired"
I paused at his use of the endearment, 'lover', and narrowed my eyes at him. He rarely uses it now, but that was his favorite name for me during the time of his memory loss when he stayed with me and we had actually been lovers. But I was really too worn out to explore anything with him right now, so I decided to place it in the 'talk about it another time box'. Eric and I actually had quite a box full of other topics under the same heading but neither of us were in much of a hurry to explore them.
I walked over and got in bed and Eric pulled me close to him as he laid down with me. Normally, I wouldn't allow this closeness with him as it's too painful and brings back too many memories, but tonight, I needed him. I needed my Eric for just a little while. I needed to feel that I meant something to him, even if it was false or under terrifying circumstances. I just needed to feel him so I could feel myself again. I sighed and snuggled into him even closer. I felt him briefly tense and then relax. I was drifting off before I could ask him if I was too close.