The thing about vampires being out of the coffin was that there were now so many things geared towards them. With an internet search or a phone call, any vampire could find hotels, airlines, catering companies, or anything else they wanted with ease. Instead of making human accommodations work for them, vampires had choices for the first time.
Unfortunately for Pam, those choices included movies geared toward vampires. Including horror movies.
When Eric had mentioned the movies to her, she'd laughed. They were vampires for Christ's sake, what kind of horror movie would scare actual vampires? And why the hell would he be interested?
But his curiosity had won out and she'd found herself watching the movie with him in their living room at 2 in the morning. And later on, as they both went their separate ways and she got ready for day, she found herself ridiculously huddled in her sheets, telling herself she wasn't afraid.
Because she wasn't. That would be ridiculous.
Except she was.
She could kill Eric for making her watch his stupid movie except she was really hoping he would come into her room and reassure her.
She thought back to her childhood, so long ago now. As a child, nearly everything was frightening. Monsters lurked under the bed, people hid in your closets waiting to axe murder you, and boogeymen hid in the shadows. Even worse was that when she was a child, there had been no modern conveniences. She'd spent many nights hiding in her room, near wetting the bed but too afraid to go outside to the outhouse in the dark and cold.
She had thought she would grow out of it. She had, in some ways. As a human adult she had too many real world problems to fear the things that lurked in the night. But then she'd somehow become something that lurked in the night, and the world of possibilities opened.
And now, those possibilities were keeping her hiding under the covers. Apparently you did not outgrow survival instincts, even when they seemed unfounded.
Damn her maker.
TRUE BLOOD
Eric watched the next night as Pam came downstairs for the night, finally gracing him with her presence. It was a bit late for her to be just now rising, and yet she still looked terrible.
"What the hell happened to you?" he asked, sipping some of the human blood they had stored in their kitchen. She was pale and her eyes were lined with black. She looked like death, which wasn't too surprising considering that she actually was dead, but normally she looked like a moon-kissed ethereal shade of pale, not a walking corpse kind of pale.
"How nice," Pam rolled her eyes, coming to collapse on one of the bar stools beside him. She reached over and took his mug of blood from in front of him and began to drink.
"Hey!" he cried out, indignant. He snatched his beverage back. "Go get your own, I heated this perfectly." He shooed her over toward the refrigerator and she stuck her tongue out at him before pulling out some of the stored blood.
He watched silently as she went about preparing her own mug. She put the mug in the microwave and leaned against the counter as she waited before pulling it out periodically to stir it. Both of them were quite particular about their procedure to prepare the perfect cup of blood, though they could drink it cold if they had to.
She finally was able to enjoy her breakfast, though she looked like she might fall asleep and drop it at any moment. He felt his amusement rising and made sure she could not feel it as well before speaking at last.
"That movie was actually pretty good," he said, watching carefully at her reaction.
"It sucked," she argued, not giving a thing away. Damn, she was really a masterful liar. Too bad for her that he had felt her fear all day long and knew why she looked like she'd not gotten any rest.
"Oh, it did not," he argued.
"I'm pretty sure it did and no self-respecting vampire would ever want to watch it."
"I enjoyed it."
"My point exactly."
He glared at her for a moment. He was suddenly beside her across the island, draining her mug before she could even react. Ah, the benefits of age.
"Eric!" she screeched in irritation.
"Prepare yourself for another movie tomorrow," he said. "There's a sequel!"
"No!" she protested, but he was already heading up the stairs to get ready for their night.
She looked at her empty mug. "Asshole," she muttered, heading back to the refrigerator.
TRUE BLOOD
She made it through that night, though she was still a bit frightened. They'd had such a long night at Fangtasia and she'd gotten such little rest the day before that she fell asleep pretty soon after she lay down.
The next night, however, Eric kept to his word. He'd forced her through another one of his stupid movies and she vowed to herself that she would suck it up and be a proper vampire. That lasted all of 5 minutes.
"Scared?" he'd teased her as they made their way upstairs.
"From your shitty movie? I think not," she'd snarked. But it was a lie. A big horrible lie.
It was funny to her that she should be so afraid, given that it was actually daylight outside. But inside it was as dark in their home as if it were night, and the movie left her with images of vampires hiding in the homes of others before coming out to silver them in their sleep.
It seemed that no matter how old you were or what species you were, there was always something to fear.
So Pam lay awake for as long as she could before the pull of the sunlight became too much to bare.
TRUE BLOOD
Eric didn't seem to be letting go of his newest obsession. He'd found more of the terrible films and she'd sat through nearly every one with him. She'd managed to get out of one of them but knew that if she sat out of any others he would grow suspicious. And in a way she must be a fucking masochist because even though she hated the films and the later fear, she did enjoy the time she was spending with him.
After two weeks the lack of quality rest was beginning to get to her. So that night she slipped into something slightly sexier and then into Eric's bed.
"What are you doing here?" he greeted her, waking with no effort on her part. There was almost no sneaking up on a 1000 year old vampire, even a sleeping one.
"I can't miss my maker?" she asked innocently, though truly she just felt safer at his side, even knowing that she was just about as safe in her own room. She moved closer to him and pressed a kiss to his lips as his arm came to rest around her.
"I suppose you can stay," Eric replied, squeezing her ass as her short nightgown rode up.
"Why thank you," she said sweetly, kissing him once more before snuggling into the bedding and his side.
He lay awake for a while and watched as she was able to finally sink into a restful sleep. He pressed his face to her hair and inhaled the familiar scent of vanilla. Maybe he was a cruel maker to scare her on purpose, but honestly it was just a bit of fun. She'd done much worse to him, on many occasions.
He kissed her temple before sleeping as well.
TRUE BLOOD
Pam spent two more nights in Eric's room, not quite ready to go back to her own. Even though her fear had lurked in the back of her mind, she'd honestly enjoyed sleeping with him. They were often affectionate with one another behind closed doors, but she still loved when it was just the two of them like this. It brought her back to her early days as a vampire when everything was so new and wonderful and to this day she didn't think she would ever be able to get enough of him.
Eric had enjoyed her company, as well. He missed the simpler moments between them, at times, and even though he knew that all he had to do was ask and she would offer him her company, body, or anything else freely, he enjoyed her coming to him. She did not need him now as much as she had when she was new, and he realized that he missed that, as well.
He'd been preparing to stop with the horror fest, but now he was reconsidering.
TRUE BLOOD
Pam stood outside Fangtasia waiting for Eric to hurry up. She wanted to go home and take a long hot bath but he was taking his sweet time in his office. She'd been hovering over him so long he'd eventually told her to go wait outside.
Now she found herself waiting in the parking lot, wishing that they hadn't driven. Even though they could both now fly, she hated to mess her hair up on the way to Fangtasia and always took the car.
She thought she heard something in the bushes and whipped around to look. There didn't seem to be anyone around, but she still felt like someone was watching her. She'd been feeling it for weeks, actually, ever since Eric began his movie sessions.
She debated leaving him behind and taking the car, knowing he could get home more quickly without it anyway. But then he would just pester and tease her and she didn't want that.
"Ready?" he said from behind her and she jumped a little in surprise.
"I've been ready," she reminded.
When they arrived home he grabbed a few things from his room as she followed him.
"What are you doing?" she asked as he changed his clothes.
"I have to head to New Orleans tonight. The sheriff of Area 2 needs some help," he explained.
"What?!" she demanded. "You have to go right now? What did that idiotic little vermin do?" She was not a fan of Area 2's sheriff and never would be. He'd once spilled his Tru Blood on her while trying to look down her blouse.
"He needs help with some human-vampire conflicts," he said. "I'll be back tomorrow night," he reassured. "Assuming you can hold the fort down in Area 5 for that long?"
"Of course I can," she defended.
"I know." He leaned over to kiss her forehead. As much as he had been tormenting her lately, he knew that she was capable and could do whatever he needed her to do.
"I'll be back," he told her. "You won't even miss me."
TRUE BLOOD
For the first night in about a week Pam found herself sleeping alone. With Eric off to do his sheriff's business she huddled in his bed, hoping that his belongings would make her feel better. It was too early to go to ground, only 3 am, but she was couldn't think of what else to do. She'd already had a bath and done her nails so she figured any extra rest wouldn't hurt.
She was actually hovering between awake and dead when she heard a noise that startled her to full alertness.
She pulled the covers down and looked around the room but found nothing that could be the source of the knocking she'd heard. It was probably just the house or something. Even though this was a fairly new house there could be stuff falling over in another room.
She hoped so.
Her eyes darted to the closet as she heard a scraping sound. Maybe something fell off a hanger?
She tried to push down her ridiculous fear and forced her eyes closed. Unfortunately with the sun nowhere near rising it was much more difficult to fall into unconsciousness, even when she wasn't afraid.
The handle on one of his closet doors started rattling and she jolted upright, clutching the sheets. When the handle started turning she could no longer deny that something was really going on and she decided she'd had enough. She jumped out of the bed and was passing the offending door knob just as she saw the closet door begin to swing open on its own.
She picked up her speed and vamped down the hallway. She was at the top of the stairs when she felt something grab her from behind and she yelped, trying to knock the person off. She tried to punch at the attacker, but they were too strong.
A second later she was pinned to the wall, looking into the eyes of her maker as he laughed around his fangs.
"Asshole!" she screamed at him. She continued to hit at his chest in anger and he let her go.
She immediately stormed down the hallway to her room, embarrassed and pissed.
"Pam, come back," he tried to soothe. He'd finally regained control of himself and was starting to feel a little bad. She slammed the door to her room and he came to press his face against it.
"Come on, Pam, that was hilarious!" That might not be the best thing to say. "I'm sorry," he tried instead.
"No, you're not, you giant dickface!" she yelled through the door and her ridiculous insult sent him into laughter once more.
"Dickface? My, Pam, I do believe you are losing your touch." She ignored him and he finally opened the door to see her tidying her room. She was a nervous cleaner. Pretty much the only time her room was in order was when she was stressed or worried.
"I don't want to talk to you," she said without looking up. He didn't say anything at all and waited until she couldn't stand the silence any longer. "You've been fucking with me this entire time, haven't you?"
"Pretty much," he admitted.
She rolled her eyes and continued cleaning off her vanity.
"I didn't think the movies would scare you so badly," he explained. "And then it was too good of an opportunity to pass up." She glared in response. "And I was enjoying our sleepovers," he added truthfully.
"Still hate you," she mumbled.
"No, you don't," he smiled, seeing he was wearing her down. He came over and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I promise no more scary stuff." She brought her arms up around him and he put his chin on her head.
"Fine," she finally said. "But you better make it up to me."
"I can think of a way," he said, reaching down and sliding her gown up her thighs. She lifted her arms and allowed him to pull it over her head.
He pressed his mouth to hers as he walked her back to lie on her bed. He held himself above her as they kissed before trailing kisses down her chest and settling between her legs.
"You really owe me," she reminded.
"You'll forgive me," he promised as he got to work making her moan with pleasure.
TRUE BLOOD
Eric kept his promise and stopped with his movies. Pam was coming back to herself, though she'd stayed in Eric's room for the next few nights. These stays, however, were much more enjoyable seeing as he was still atoning.
A week later she was taking some of the packing crates outside before they closed. She heard a rustling sound behind her and turned to look. Once again there was nothing there, though she was beginning to get spooked once more.
The leaves in the tress rustled with the fall winds. Finally deciding that she was losing her mind again, she turned around to go back inside.
TRUE BLOOD
Eric was sitting on his throne when he felt a low hum of fear from Pam. It was the same buzz that he had felt for the past few weeks and he tried not to smile. It had been a while since he'd stopped and yet it seemed she was still affected. He'd apologized, but if he could go back in time and change anything, he wouldn't. The look of fear on her face as he'd hid in his own closet had been hilarious. He was once more thankful that he knew her well enough to know that she would stay in his room instead of her own.
Suddenly her fear skyrocketed and he knew immediately something was wrong. He rushed outside to find her writhing on the ground in pain. Instead of moving to her side he scanned the area to find a young human male pointing a gun at her.
He rushed over to the human and had him by the throat before he could blink.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" he hissed, holding the man so that his toes barely scraped the ground.
"I, uh," he stuttered, clearly not having planned ahead enough.
"Too slow," Eric said and tossed the idiot human the 10 or so yards back to Fangtasia where he landed in an unconscious heap.
Eric made his way to his progeny, who was curling up in pain.
"Pam?" He put a hand on her shoulder and forced her onto her back.
"He shot me with fucking silver bullets," she grated out.
He sighed in relief. Sure, it was painful, but she would be fine as soon as she pushed the bullets out.
"Here," he said, opening his wrist and allowing her to drink from him. He cradled her head on his lap and together they waited the few minutes necessary for her to push the silver out. He stroked her hair back as tears of pain leaked from her eyes.
"Let me rip him to shreds," she finally said.
"Not yet," Eric told her.
"Eric, I just took enough silver to make a fucking necklace!"
"I want to find out why he attacked you first," he reasoned. "Then you may play with him all you like. Let's get you home."
TRUE BLOOD
Later that night Eric returned home to find Pam in her bathtub. He sat on the floor beside the tub and placed one of his hands in the water to stroke her arm.
"Did he say anything?" she asked.
"Please, give me some credit," Eric said. "You think I couldn't crack one puny human?"
"What'd he tell you?"
"Well, he's no mastermind. He saw you at the door once and has been stalking you. He planned to kidnap you but he's a moron and he froze."
She thought back to all the times she'd felt someone watching her. She'd thought it was in her head, but it seemed that her fan was the actual reason. He could have struck at any time. He could have waited until she was asleep, even, since humans could wander into any vampire home they wanted.
"Hey," Eric said, catching her attention. "He's nothing."
"Yeah, well, he still took me down," she replied, embarrassed.
Eric frowned. He wasn't really sure what was going on here, but he did know that his guilt was going through the roof. He'd enjoyed messing with her, but feeling her fear for real had quelled any desire to scare her ever again.
"He caught you off guard," Eric offered.
"Is anywhere ever safe?" she asked.
"No," he admitted. "But as much as you don't like to admit it, you're still a very young vampire. With every minute you are alive you get stronger."
She smiled at that. At least it was honest.
"Get in with me," she said.
As he sank into the water behind her, she was ready to put all this behind her.