EPOV
Bill and I walk to my office and I offer him a seat while I sit behind my desk. I already know how this is going to play out. Bill will declare that the appetizing human is his, despite the fact that I will know he's lying.
"I will not hand her over to you, Eric. You will just have to accept the fact that she is already spoken for," he says thickly.
"Have you consummated this relationship?" I ask already knowing the answer.
"I was planning that for tonight," he says while glaring at me.
"That may be so, but you bringing her here to my place of business was poorly played."
I abruptly stand up and walk out of the door. Bill comes after me, but Pam is already there slamming him against the wall.
"You had to have known this would happen," she says. "You practically walked the girl into Eric's hands."
"YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH THIS ERIC," he screams.
Good thing I paid extra for the soundproof walls. I'll simply tell the girl that Bill had to leave, but that I'll see to it that she still has fun tonight.
Unfortunately, when I make my way back behind the bar, she is nowhere to be seen. I quickly scan the bowling alley. I hone in on bunch of teenage breathers dancing to a music video on the flat screens, but Compton's former date is no longer here. No problem, I'll go outside and see if I can catch her scent. She couldn't have gotten far.
As I step out into the night summer air, I immediately notice her lying crumpled on the ground. Her face is badly bruised, she's bleeding from the neck, and it appears that her legs are broken. She's clearly dying. I scoop her up into my arms, and take off into the sky.
SPOV
I feel immense pain as I open my eyes. The handsome blond vampire from before (whenever that was), is holding his wrist over my mouth and I can feel his blood trickling down my throat. What the hell is going on here? The last thing I remember is going outside to take a call…
And then it hit me; literally. I was attacked by this red headed bitch. And now I'm in some unknown place, drinking blood from a stranger (gorgeous looking), but a stranger nonetheless.
Slowly I can feel the pain begin to fade away. What was intense pain is now only minor.
"Where am I?" I ask as I remove my lips from his wrist.
"You're at one of my safe houses. You're going to tell me what happened now," he says as he pulls away and is already beginning to heal.
"The skank you slept with last night sucker punched me in the head while I had my back turned. She then proceeded to beat the shit out of me. Apparently the way you looked at me was inappropriate in her eyes," I say sarcastically.
"What exactly did this woman look like?" he says while leaning forward.
I roll my eyes. Great. He's one of those douche bags that sleeps with so many women every night that he doesn't even remember what they look like.
"Red hair with pink lipstick. Ring any bells?"
He shows no expression as he pulls out his cell phone and begins texting. Now he's being rude.
I look around at my surroundings. I'm sitting in a spacious living room with beautiful paintings on the wall and dark leather furniture. This Eric guy is definitely not poor. The fireplace looks brand new, and the ceilings are incredibly high. If I was here because I wanted to be, and not because I woke up here, I'd be impressed. But at the moment I just want to go home and tell Gran that vampires are probably not for me.
I start to stand and although that spurs on a pounding headache, I realize that my dress has been stripped from my body. I'm wearing nothing but my undergarments. Where is my dress?
Eric is instantly standing in front of me and pressing his body against mine; causing me to fall back onto his couch. He lifts me up and arranges me into a laying position, placing a pillow beneath my head.
I'm not dressed. I need to go home. My Gran is probably worried about me. What time is it?
"You're staying here. I've decided to claim you as my human. Bill did me a kindness by bringing you right to me," he says.
"What?" I sputter. "Your human? I most certainly am not! I want to go home. What…."
"Silence. You are not going anywhere at the moment."
"I appreciate your hospitality. I know that you somehow have saved me from dying, but that does not mean that you fucking own me!" I yell.
The next thing I know, Eric is inches away from my face.
"You will watch your tone when you speak to me, human. That language is unacceptable and should you continue to disrespect me, there will be consequences of a most dire nature. This is your final warning."
Now I'm scared. I cannot stay here! I have to be at work tomorrow. Gran will panic. What about Jason and Tara? What does he mean I'm his human? Oh My God! Bill walked me right into a trap!
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have raised my voice at you like that. Would you mind just simply explaining to me what is going on?" I say calmly.
"I have known for quite some time about a telepath in my area because I have a snitch in the Queen's court. Apparently, Bill was sent to retrieve you and bring you to her so that she could use you as her own personal mind reader. But like the genius that Bill is, he walks you right onto my property."
"Queen?" I ask
He turns his head in my direction with that expressionless face from earlier as he says "In the vampire hierarchy, there is a King or Queen for each state. In the state of California, Sophie Ann is our Queen. I am the Sheriff of area 5. I oversee all immediate issues that arise. Then I report directly to the Queen."
"That's interesting," I say. "I had no idea that vampires were so engaged in politics."
"There is a lot that you humans don't know about us. We purposely keep breathers away from such things as a security measure," he replies dismissively.
"So what you're basically saying is that Bill was meant to secure me for the Queen, and you know that, but instead you're going to keep me for yourself?" I say
"Precisely."
I think it's fair to say that I'm in quite a bit of trouble.
BPOV
"Take your hands off me Pam! I am here under direct orders from the Queen! Sookie is meant to be her pet, and Eric is in way over his head by attempting to take her for himself," I snarl. "For once he cannot just take what he wants!"
"We'll see about that," Pam replies as she releases me. "Eric and Sookie are gone. You can see your way out."
She receives a text message and rushes out into the bar, returning instantly with some red headed girl. She's gripping her throat pretty tightly.
I really need to get out of here. I don't wish to see Pam feed on her meal for the night.
As I walk to the parking lot I'm trying to decide if I should go after Sookie and explain to Eric the seriousness of the situation, or if I should just alert Sophie Ann of Sookie's abduction and face the consequences.
Knowing Eric, he's probably several miles away by now and there is no way I'm going to get to him before he can claim Sookie as his own. Not to mention the fact that I'm going to have to cancel the men I hired to encounter Sookie later tonight. My original plan had been to show her a good time bowling and casually bring up her telepathy after I had gotten a few more drinks into her. Then later, when it was time to bring her home, send her outside to start up the car, only to have a bunch of men attack her outside while I pretended that I had some last minute matters to discuss with Eric again. Then I could've came outside and saved her by forcing her to ingest my blood. She'd never know. But that's obviously not happening now.
I push "6" on my speed dial and get ready for the verbal assault that is about to follow.
"Sophie Ann speaking, how are things going Compton?"
"Eric took Sookie and flew off somewhere. He's probably going to claim her and there's nothing I can do about it. I'm prepared to face punishment."
"I saw this coming yesterday when you first mentioned bringing the human telepath to Fangtasia to begin with," she replies. "You will not be punished. This was all part of my plan. Eric Northman needs to go. Now that he has deliberately disobeyed my direct orders to secure the human girl, I am free to punish him as I see fit. The magister does not even need to be contacted now."
Well this is good. I honestly thought that I would meet the true death tonight for bringing Sookie to Eric's bar.
"I'm always glad to be of service, your majesty."
"You are free to do as you wish for now. But stay alert, for I may need you again in the future," she replies before the line goes dead.
I get into my car and drive home.
"Are you done with your duties for the night?" Lorena asks.
She walks up to me and rests her arms around my neck while I place my hands on her hips and kiss her tenderly.
"She has relieved me, for now. Eric decided to take Sookie for himself. That was part of the Queen's plan all along. Now Sophie Ann is off to settle some personal vendetta, and I'm free to spend my time with you again," I say as I pick her up and vamp to the bedroom.
SPOV
I lay on the couch for another hour watching television on Eric's 55" flat screen since he offered me the remote.
The next thing I know, I'm in his bed, and he's next to me sleeping. I must have fallen asleep on the couch at some point and he moved me here. I start to get up but he grabs my wrist. Instinctively I look back at him.
This Eric guy is a total tool.
"Where are you going? Need to take care of your humanly needs?" he smirks.
"Exactly," I say.
"The bathroom is to your left. Find yourself back in this bed within 15 minutes, or I promise that you will not like what follows," he says back in an icy tone.
I can tell from the look on his face that he's serious, so I quickly use the toilet and get back into his bed. At least he doesn't insist on touching me.
Vampires do go to sleep at some point, right? I'll find a way out of here when he does.
…
Four hours have passed and I'm certain that he's asleep. I walk back through his living room and remember that we're in a raised ranch. I walk down the steps to the basement and spot his garage. I stop in the doorway and stare. In front of me are dozens of cars. I count twenty-eight before I realize that I'm wasting precious get away time and decide to just take one. Closest to the garage door is a silver Bugatti Veyron. It looks extremely expensive.
He probably drives this one a lot. Oh well, he should've thought about that before holding me captive in his house. I'm getting the hell out of here.
Luckily for me, the keys are already in the ignition. I fumble around with the buttons on the wall and figure out how to open the garage door. I find out which one closes it back, and press it; then I run to the car and drive away before the garage door can close back.
This car runs like a dream; a major step up from my piece of shit yellow car. I stop after a few miles when I realize that I have no idea where I'm at. Then I remember that this expensive car has a GPS on the dashboard. I fumble with it a bit and figure out how to input my home address.
Oh good. I'm only 20 miles away from home. It won't take me forever to get back into my own bed.
When I park the Bugatti at my house, I notice that the lights are still on inside. Sure enough, when I walk inside, my Gran is asleep on the couch.
She attempted to wait up for me, but failed. At least now I won't have to explain this whole crazy situation to her until tomorrow when I've actually had some decent sleep myself. I'm done with vampires. I will die single before subjecting myself to an episode such as that again. Of course that Eric guy is going to want his car back. I'll make sure that happens. But I'll bring Jason with me rather than go alone.
I take a long hot shower and get into my night clothes, but before I go to sleep I pray long and hard that tomorrow will be much better than today.
…
I asked Tara to pick me up and take me to work because we happened to be on the same shift today. She cast me a funny look when she saw the Bugatti, but kept her mouth shut. Tara has always managed to keep herself out of trouble. I admire that about her.
My boss Sam is for some reason in a bad mood and Arlene has spent the last hour complaining about how short her tips have been for the past few days. I just want to get out of here and go home. Yesterday has really taken its toll on me.
EPOV
I awake and immediately realize that the girl is more than 30 miles away. She disobeyed me.
I take to the sky and follow her scent to a rundown bar named Merlotte's. I can see my human inside waiting tables. I walk inside, pick her up, and throw her over my shoulder. She starts kicking and screaming. I ignore it. I see several humans gathering outside before I swing her into my arms and take to the sky.
"If this is about your car, I have it at my house," she squeals.
"My car? Of course, how else would you have gotten away? Which one did you take?"
"The Bugatti," she replies.
"Well for your sake I hope there isn't a speck of dust on that car, as it cost 1.7 million dollars. Show me where you live, and I will retrieve it."
She spent the next 2 minutes giving me directions to her house. She attempted to apologize, claiming she had no idea how much the car was worth, but I can care less what she has to say.
An elderly woman is outside on the porch when we land.
"SOOKIE!" the elderly woman screams. "I just got a call from Sam Merlotte. He says this vampire took you and frightened everyone. I'm so glad that you're ok!"
Sookie? So that's this human girl's name. How precious.
Sookie attempts to say something, but I clap my hand over her mouth. I say nothing as I open the passenger door of my Bugatti, pick Sookie up, and place her into the seat. Then I vamp around to the driver's side, and speed away. I really don't have time for this. According to my snitch, the Queen will be arriving at my San Diego residence in an hour.
"That was my Gran and she's scared to death! You have your car. Why can't you just leave me alone?" Sookie asks almost immediately.
"You are mine, Sookie. By leaving my nest without permission, you have purposely disobeyed me. I'm not even going to get started on you taking my car. I'll address that later. For now, Keep Your Mouth Shut."
Intelligently, she doesn't say another word.
When I pull into my garage, I'm ecstatic that Sophie Ann hasn't already arrived. This was the perfect time for her to be late. I pick Sookie up and carry her into the house. This is a public residence. The one I had Sookie at last night is not known by anyone else except Pam.
"Make yourself comfortable in either the living room or the bedroom and wait," I instruct her.
Sookie walks into the living room and turns on the television. I retrieve something from my room and stand close by. A few minutes later I see that Sophie Ann has pulled into my driveway. She has 5 guards with her. I already have the door open before she can ring the bell.
"Eric Northman, it appears that you…"
I slice her head clean off with my katana before she can even finish her sentence. It hits the ground with a loud thud. I look at the other five guards that she brought with her. They turn and run. Behind me it appears that Sookie has seen the entire altercation.
"Time to deal with you," I say as I take a step toward her.
A/N: I didn't want to just jump into the action without a bit of character development. Hopefully I've achieved my goal. Please review. I like to know how I'm doing. In fact, if you review, I'll send you a preview of Chapter 3.
As always, thanks to my creative beta camp30.
Kay