A/N: This is my first fanfic so i would really appreciate reviews, if you love it or hate it, and am always open to constructive criticism. I don't have a beta but I'll try to make sure everything is well edited and feel free to point out any errors. For all the Eric lovers (I'm one of you) our viking takes a little while to appear in this chapter but he is in it a pretty good bit so don't give up before you get to him. Also, this chapter contains an attempted rape scene, its not really graphic or anything but if you're very sensitive to the subject be aware. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy!

In the dark and shadows of and alley behind a line of buildings, a girl sprinted in what she hoped was the direction of an exit. Long dark hair flew behind her and whipped at her face as she repeatedly looked over her shoulder, praying she wouldn't see the men close behind her. Kyla ran as fast as her feet would take her, which was actually pretty fast thanks to the adrenaline rush that resulted from being chased, but even that couldn't overcome the extreme and growing exhaustion she felt. Her lungs were on fire as she tried to take in more oxygen from the chilly night air. Her muscles ached from exertion and her legs felt as if they'd give out any minute, but fear and hope of escape kept her going.

She'd always hated running, jokingly asked her friends that ran on treadmills or around the track at the local gym if they knew that no matter how fast they went they were never going to get anywhere. They replied that they may not be getting somewhere, but they were getting skinnier and had the nice thin bodies to prove it. Kyla had never had to worry about that though. She was barely 5'2" with a petite frame, slender but with nice curves and full chest. Besides, it wasn't that she didn't enjoy exercise, she'd often hike out in the woods or swim in the lake at her cabin when she was there and loved the kickboxing and dance classes she attended near her apartment here in the city. She was good at all that but, ugh, running was never going to be her thing. Though now she wished she had more practice with it, she'd run every day for the rest of her life if it would get her out of this mess. "It's funny," Kyla thought "the things you think about when running for your life." But, letting her mind wander kept her from thinking about how tired and scared she was and she found herself closing in on where the alley appeared to end. Looking over her shoulder once again, she sighed in relief that there was still no one behind her as she approached the end of the alley where she would turn left and head back into the open where surely she could find someone to help her.

Taking the last few paces she turned the corner with relief that instantly turned to despair as she found herself facing a dead end. How could there be a wall here? This was the escape route she'd been counting on and now she was cornered. The only way out was back where she came from, back towards her pursuers. Her panic grew exponentially at that moment when she heard the sound of voices that sounded all too familiar getting louder. She spun around looking for a place to hide, and crouched behind boxes and crates that had been piled up against the wall. Luckily she was small enough to squeeze in between them so she was completely obscured from view. They hadn't seen her come this way for sure right? Maybe they would think she went in a different direction and search somewhere else? But as if answering her thoughts she heard a man's deep, taunting voice call out "We know you're back here girly, come on out and say hi." Kyla recognized the voice from the group she'd heard talking earlier after they'd shoved her in the back of a van. This was the leader, the one called Darren. She shut her eyes tight, as another man who she thought they called Max laughed at Darren's games. "Now, now little girl I said come out! Make this a little easier on yourself, we all know how this will end. You can't win here cher and me and Max aren't real good at patience," he said sounding closer than before. When Kyla still didn't come out his voice rang out again, sounding as if he were only a few feet away. "Okay then, have it your way. If you wanna play, we'll play but I warned you we're very good at hide and seek." She could almost hear his sinister smile in the way he spoke as Max continued to laugh maliciously. His voice got impossibly creepier and she heard the two men moving closer as Darren said "we can smell you cher, smell that sweet scent of yours. We can hear your heart pound louder and louder as we get closer." And right at that moment two pairs of arms ripped away some of the boxes with startling strength and speed, causing her to shriek as she tried to make a run for it. It was no more than a second before big arms wrapped around her tiny frame pulling her back and spinning her around so her back was against the rough brick wall, his hands pinning her wrists on either side of her head. "Told you we'd win cher," Darren said as he pushed his body up against hers and leaned down to skim his nose against her neck as he inhaled deeply, enjoying her scent. She tried to struggle but he was so strong and with all his weight up against her all she was doing was tiring herself out. She raised her head to look at him and dropped her gaze as soon as she met his eyes.

"Damnit! Don't let him intimidate you!" she thought to herself. She was stubborn and determined not to let them see her fear, but she'd already messed up when she looked away from him. In a different situation she might have found the man handsome, he had a nice sculpted jaw, shaggy brown hair and eyes so dark they were nearly black but it was the sadistic look in those eyes that made her shudder with fear and recoil from his gaze. "Aw c'mon beautiful don't be like that" he said, causing another laugh from behind him, reminding Kyla of Max's presence there. Max was a little lankier than Darren, but still muscular, and had short dirty blond hair. "Is that all you're here for?" she asked him "To stand around and laugh at his bad jokes? Somebody has self esteem issues." she finished, lacing her voice with as much confidence as she could manage. Shock briefly crossed both their faces before Max stepped forward and grabbed her by the hair pulling her away from Darren. "I'll have my own fun with you later. You'll learn respect girl," he said. before he slapped her face hard and held her in place with her arms behind her back. "None of that now Max." Darren laughed before turning to Kyla "You're feisty, I like it,"he said walking up to her and rubbing his hands up and down her body. "Besides," he continued, "you've got too nice of a face to damage. Ugly girls are no fun to fuck." She felt the blood drain from her face, and he winked at her before ripping open her shirt. She struggled even harder and tried to scream before Max readjusted his grip, freeing one arm to clamp his hand over her mouth, pulling her head to the side so he could kiss and lick down the side of her neck. Darren began massaging her breasts through her bra and she tried with all her might to keep from crying, she wouldn't give them that power and she wasn't going to stop fighting. "Put her on the ground," Darren said, his voice husky with lust. Max had to release her arms to change positions and Kyla took advantage of the opportunity, jabbing her elbow into his ribs and pushing his hunched form into Darren. She scrambled away and got a good few yards before a hand grabbed her arm and yanked her back sending sharp pain shooting through her shoulder, she managed to let out a short scream before she was pushed roughly to the ground twisting her ankle on the way down. Her head cracked against the concrete and she nearly blacked out. She was still seeing stars as Darren climbed on top of her, quickly straddling her waist and covering her mouth again. Max was close behind sending a quick kick to her ribs claiming it was only fair before pinning her wrists to the ground. "That wasn't very nice Kyla," Darren scolded grinding his crotch into hers. "But like I said," he continued, "I do like them fiesty." He began to kiss down her chest, and then down her stomach, lifting her skirt and squeezing her thighs while Max held both her hands in one of his own so he could stroke himself through his jeans. Kyla began to feel light headed and realized she could feel a good bit of blood running down her head from where she'd smacked it into the pavement. She saw through blurry eyes as Darren reached down to undo his jeans and shut her eyes tight.

Kyla was waiting for the inevitable when she heard a door swing open just around the corner so someone could throw a trash bag out into the alley. Startled, Darren jumped off her, freeing lower body. Kyla sent a good kick straight to his groin, making him drop to the ground in pain. She struggled to sit up and as Max wrapped his arms around her from behind she swung her head back hard, catching him right in the nose. She rolled onto her feet and sprinted to the door that was swinging back closed. She made it just in time to catch it and threw herself through the door way and accidentally into the arms of the person on the other side. "Help," she managed to cry out in a small voice before her legs gave person holding her lowered her to the floor of what she realized was a small office. Kyla looked up to see her savior and saw the most gorgeous man she'd ever laid eyes on. He was tall, well over 6' and muscular with long, shiny blonde hair and striking ice blue eyes. His fair skin was smooth and cool and almost seemed to glow. "Maybe I actually died and he's an angel," she thought with a mental chuckle before she heard banging on the door. The color drained from her face and she scrambled as far away from the door as she could get and huddled in the corner on the other side of the room "Pam!" the angel man called out as the door to the alley was busted open by a furious looking Darren and Max. "You're outnumbered bloodsucker!" shouted Darren, "give us the girl! Kyla is ours." With whoosh of air, a beautiful blonde woman, who Kyla assumed must be Pam, suddenly appeared.

Eric, meanwhile, thought about the girl in the corner, he really had no stake in her life but by the goddess did she smell delicious. She certainly was something special, not to mention amazingly sexy. He remembered those bright blue eyes, almost the same color as his own, that stood out so beautifully against her dark hair and long lashes; he made his mind up quickly. Kyla, as the were had called her, was staying with him. With Pam by his side he replied to the were, "Now the numbers are even. However, the odds are still not. I am Eric Northman, Sheriff of this area and over a thousand years old, dog. I could end you both with my eyes closed," he said. Darren and Max gave each other a quick glance before swiftly retreating with inhuman speed.

"Wait," thought Kyla as her brain caught up with what she'd just heard "over a thousand years old and Darren called him a bloodsucker... Fuck! Their vampires! How didn't I realize? Damn I must have hit my head hard, oh shit my head, I'm bleeding all over the floor and vamps drink blood!" Her fears were confirmed as the two vampires turned to face her, fangs in full view. In a motion too quick to follow the woman had left the room and the man was crouched in front of her. Kyla shrieked in surprise and tried to retreat farther into the corner, defensively throwing her hands up in front of her body before crying out at the pain that caused her shoulder and ribs. "Shh. You are Kyla? I am Eric. Let me see your injuries," he said reaching for the arm she was cradling. "No! Just let me go, please!" Kyla flinched away from him making him furrow his eyebrows at her. She was probably right to be afraid, her blood smelled intoxicating and different from any other he'd ever come across. Even with a millennia of perfecting his control, he was having to work hard to fight the bloodlust. He looked into her eyes, and spoke again, this time using glamour, "You are not afraid of me. Let me see your injuries." "Look," she said, "I know y'all like blood and I'm bleeding a lot but please just let me go. I'm sure you can get blood somewhere else. Please, I just wanna go home!"Shock crossed Eric's face, she couldn't be glamoured! She was a supe, had to be. If she was a supe, why didn't she protect herself from the weres or ask for official protection from me as Sheriff when she got here? Maybe this is a trick, she was sent here to spy on me by getting my protection, luring me in with a pretend attack by werewolves and her sweet blood and body? No, he would not be expected to protect her... it was very unlike him and her fear seemed genuine but you can never be too careful. Regardless, he needed to know what was going on because he hated not knowing things. He grabbed her by the arms and stood her up preparing to question her. She cried out but fought his hold stubbornly, pushing away from him with a defiant stare. However, as soon as she was upright without support the room seemed to spin before her eyes. The head trauma, blood loss, physical and emotional overload all hit her at the same time and she passed out on the spot.

Eric caught her just before she hit the ground. Depositing her on the couch with a sigh, he pulled out his phone and called Dr. Ludwig. He knew he shouldn't really care about what happened to the girl but he was drawn to her, plus now she was a mystery he needed to figure out. He looked at her closely, she was beautiful even in this state. Long dark hair, creamy olive toned skin that was silky smooth to touch, perfect little body... at that thought, he caught his eyes moving to her ample cleavage where her shirt had been ripped open, down her flat stomach and to her slim but muscular thighs, he growled at the bruises he saw beginning to form there from hands forcing her legs apart. He was boiling with rage, he should've killed the weres when he had the chance. The thought of them forcing themselves on her... she didn't smell like they had succeeded but you never know. Regardless she was strong to fight them and he was shocked she wasn't in total hysterics earlier, sure she had been upset but no screaming, no tears, and still fighting...hmm a strong woman indeed.

A"pop" sounded through the room, signaling Dr. Ludwig's arrival. "I don't appreciate the late night visits vampire. Move over... You'll be paying for my help regardless but if you want to ensure she lives she'll need your blood immediately. She's losing blood from this head wound too quickly and she's already lost quite a bit" she said looking at him expectantly. He bit his wrist immediately and the doctor positioned it above the wound so it would drip onto the cut and stop the blood flow. When it healed she had him bite it again and put it to Kyla's mouth. He felt the unconscious girl draw on the wound by pure instinct and immediately grew hard. Each pull made him want her more and he had to force himself to pull his wrist away. Eric experimented with feeling the connection he and Kyla now shared and was surprised at its strength. "Now that that's settled we can carry on" said Ludwig. "Hmmm... who did this?" the little doctor asked. "Weres, why?" Eric responded. The doctor explained "that makes sense for the physical injuries. She had a major concussion, a dislocated shoulder, two cracked ribs, a badly sprained ankle and the obvious plethora of bruises and scrapes covering her body. Your blood will help with everything but it will still take time with the larger injuries because she has so many and I'll need to reset her shoulder. However, there is also magic upon her a spell that surrounds her, though I'm not positive if its necessarily harmful... You have ascertained she is not human I'm sure but even I cannot tell exactly what she is and it may have something to do with this magic that seems to cloak her. If you wish to figure it out, which I'm sure you do because you were curious enough to keep her alive, I recommend locating a witch with some considerable talent." She said before popping Kyla's shoulder back into place with a quick motion, causing an audible crack. She reached into her bag and handed Eric a bottle of pain pills and tea leaves which she explained were sedative and helped with the healing. "I'll expect my deposit within 24 hours Northman, and good luck with this one... I think you'll need it." Just like that, the little doctor was gone leaving Eric alone with his questioning thoughts and the unconscious form of the girl causing them.

TBC

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