Over the years she had accumulated some knowledge on vampires. She knew they couldn't come out at daylight, as everyone knew. She knew they had masters and children, though she didn't know how that happened, or what the process was. In fact, she didn't even know what it meant. Personal expierence taught her that they were apex predators. A severe lack of resources taught her they kept to the shadows, intellectually speaking.
For a moment her mind drew her to that fateful night. She could still hear the pinging of thousands of shards of glass flying towards her as a body lunged out of the window of her home. She could still feel the cold hands wrap around her neck before she was dragged through the window. Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes. She couldn't think of that now. Only the future. Always the future.
Dropping her bags onto the floor she came back from the Shreveport City Library feeling exhausted and hopeless. She hadn't found anything she hadn't already read on supernatural creatures, and most of the books she had found on old historical events correlated on that which she already knew. With every passing day the murderer she looked for and was hoping to kill, was out there with more power and knowledge than she had.
Trying to accumulate a deeper understanding of vampires and how to kill them felt like running through quicksand; the more she struggled to obtain the knowledge, the deeper down into the abyss she sunk. She was an outsider looking in to a world she didn't understand. And there was no one to help her. Vampires, as she had come to find out through a way she never did want to find out, were ruthless savages. And they terrified her. She hated them. All of them.
Going over to the fridge she squatted down and took a long hard look at whatever was let in the fridge. She was running low on money and surviving was beginning to prove difficult.
Dragging a carton of old Chinese food, she unceremoniously dumped the remaining contents into the pan. Twisting her dull brown hair in a bun she took a long look at herself in the oddly placed mirror above the kitchen sink. She didn't know what she was hoping for, when she looked at her reflection. Perhaps her parents standing behind her. Perhaps the signs that this was all a nightmare. But try as she might to stare into that mirror, all she saw were herself, shoulders pulled down in defeat.
Rubbing tiredly at her eyes she tried to get the lingering dream out of her head. The meeting with the blonde vampire had been one that struck a chord of fear within her. He may have looked like family, but the way he treated her cemented in her mind that he was still a vampire. A ruthless, violent vampire. She was glad he wasn't actually related to her, even if he carried impressionable characteristics.
As she turned off the stove the doorbell rang and her brows knitted in confusion. Winn didn't know anyone in Shreveport. Sighing she wiped her hands on her pants before going to the door. As she swung it open her breath caught in her throat and her eyes widened. It was the blonde vampire from Fangtasia. Winn froze up.
He was staring at her intently. The silence was deafening. His eyes flickered over her face, seemingly drinking in her features. Once again she was acutely aware of their height difference. He towered over her, and with his broad shoulders he filled the doorway like a barrier.
"What do you want?" She breathed.
"Winifred Vik." He was testing her name, placing extra emphasis on the first letter of her first and last name.
She stared at him. The agitation that had filled him the club was gone. Now he was looking at her with an expression she couldn't place, but it wasn't one she liked. It was too interested.
"Can I come in?"
She shook her head.
"I think you'll the conversation we'll be having would best take place inside."
Her hand tightened on the side of the door. "Like you told you earlier, I was just drinking water and that's it. Nothing to do with you or your club."
His slim fingers adorned with runic rings drummed lightly against the doorframe before settling. "And yet, it has everything to do with me."
At his admission her mouth went dry and her heart began pounding in her chest. She understood. He was working with The Vampire.
He raised a brow, "I'm not here to kill you, breather. If I was interested in that it would have happened before you could even draw your first scream. Now why don't you let me in? I won't ask again."
"What is it you want?"
"So aggressive. Thats no way to treat your family, is it?" As he spoke the words he sounded almost angry.
Winn stared at him, blinking rapidly. "What?"
The vampire pretended to move a non-existing piece of lint from his suit in disinterest. "Hm, yes, after weeks of research as it turns out . . . you share common ancestry with me. You are from my little sisters lineage."
She gave a mirthless laugh as she looked at him, unimpressed. What kind of game was the leech playing? Like she'd let him in just because they were apparently related. She was smarter than that. "Funny. I don't remember any family of mine dying and turn into a creature of the night." She moved to close the door.
"Elsa was your grandmother. Three generations before her there was Sigurd, and five before him was-"
"So you found my family tree somewhere. Incredibly creepy, extremely suspicious, and not at all heart-warming." Despite her strong voice she found herself becoming fearful. How did he find all of this out? How had he even figured out her name when she had given none? Was he actually connected with The Vampire? Was this another game?
"My, aren't you paranoid." He drawled.
"I don't trust-"
"What, you don't trust vampires?" he interrupted, "Maybe you should trust family."
"Maybe family shouldn't trust me." She replied bitterly.
"Look at me." He commanded, voice soft. She did, and noted his eyes were as blue as the icelandic sea. It was mesmerising. "I am not a threat to you right now."
She looked at him suspiciously, but felt her shoulders lower a fraction. So far in the past few weeks he had done nothing to harm her or threaten her . . . much.
"Won't you invite me in so we can talk a little more comfortably?"
She bit her lip uncertainty before giving a heavy sigh of defeat, "Fine. Come in. But don't try anything sudden."
He gave a small smirk, "Thank you for your invitation, Winifred."
She pursed her lips, stopping herself from correcting him.
"Winifred a problem? Winny? Fred? Some other droll human abbreviation to spare you the embarrassment on something no one cares about?"
"Just Winn."
"Duly noted, Winifred." While he sat down on the couch she opted for the coffee table. The studio wasn't big, after all. His presence made the studio feel small, more confined; his self-assured demeaned seem to spread out. "Well, you're here." She states. Winn didn't have any intentions of carrying on this conversation. Whatever else he was to her, he was a vampire first and foremost. He was a monster.
"I'm Eric." He added like an afterthought.
Winn stared at him with distrustful eyes.
"Well to answer your first question, the reason you probably wouldn't recall any significant changes in your lineage is because I am over a thousand years old." He answered, as if she had even asked.
Her eyes flickered between his, trying to see if it was a lie - at least a joke. Instead she leaned back, "Jesus." She breathed.
"Not that old."
She gave exasperated sigh. "What do you want, Vampire?"
Eric reached into his pocket and pulled something out, placing it on the coffee table. It was some small wooden trinket. Hesitantly picking it up, Winn turned it around slowly. A viking ruin was carved into it, but what it meant was beyond her understanding. "Do you recognise this symbol?" He asked.
Winn looked at it for a second longer and shrugged. It did look familiar. But he was a vampire, who had somehow worked his way into her apartment and was failingly trying to convince her of their relations.
"Winifred?" He asked and she looked up. His face was neutral as he spoke and his gaze piercing, "You trust me enough to tell me."
After a second of deliberation she spoke, "Yeah, I've seen it a few times, sometimes carved into the back of photo frames in our home or other objects, here and there. I don't know what it means. No one does anymore, we just know it belongs to our family."
"Have you ever heard a story of the king and the wolves?"
Recognition flickered in the back of her mind. Where was he going with this? She played along. The information was harmless, and the quicker they got to the point, the quicker he was gone. "Yeah something about a demon who controlled wolves. He killed our family back in the viking age and left. But it's just a myth."
"It is absolute truth. Someone supernatural wanted the kings crown, when he denied it to the stranger, he killed them both - the king and queen - with his werewolves. The kings son remained alive because he was . . . failing his duties elsewhere. The little sister had been taken for an evening walk."
"But you can't know that story. That's only been passed on through the generations - and only to us." She whispered.
He raised his eyebrows, face earnest for the first time. "Unless I'm telling the truth."
There as a long pause as she looked out the window at the moon, contemplating his words. "Alright. Say you - say you are part of my family. You're still a vampire, so you're not here because of your heart. So why are you here?"
"I'm not sure." He admitted, "There was something about you that reminded me of her."
Eric didn't elaborate on who her was. Or who he was. He knew the myth of their family. And he was ancient, that much she did believe. It wasn't much to go on.
"Clearly I'm not her. So if we're finished." She stood up, hoping he would take the not subtle hint and leave her life permanently.
Instead he reclined back into the seat with a smug look. His voice was an obnoxious drawl, "Now I'm not familiar with human customs, but isn't kicking someone out considered rude?"
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and made her way over to the kitchen counter, hoping her movement seemed casual. Then, grabbing a knife she whirled around and looked at him, "Well I don't know what more you want." Except she did and she wasn't going to let him take it from her. She'd go down fighting before he took even a drop of her blood.
His smile dropped and he abruptly stood up. Grasping the knife so tightly her knuckles whitened she stared at the vampire unblinkingly. Her eyes were sharp as a hawk as she followed his every movement. "Careful, breather. I don't like being threatened. Even if it is by someone as . . . precious, are you."
"Neither do I."
A lazy smile grew on his face, and at that moment he reminded her of a lion about to pounce on the timid little mouse in front of him. "Then it seems we have a problem."
"Get out before I call the police."
"You wouldn't even hit the nine before I snapped your arm in half."
Her heart was hammering against her chest, palms slick with clammy sweat. Her grasp loosened a fraction on the dirty knife.
Eric took a step towards her, seemingly unperturbed at her weapon. "I'm going to be sorting this situation out sooner rather than later, so if you could just stand still like a good human."
Her stared unflinchingly at him as he came closer. Winn raised the knife. And then her shoulders relaxed and her lids lowered as she became mesmerised by the vampire in front of her. Her mind seemed to ebb and flow like the ocean lapping at the sand. Nothing else quite mattered any longer.
"Now," he muttered, "tell me about the vampire who was responsible for the death of your parents."
Her eyelids fluttered and her lips trembled as if trying desperately to fight a contradiction. He wanted to know more, and she should - had to - give it to him. But it felt as if she were hitting a brick wall, chocked full of denial and terror. As much as she tried, she couldn't. Her head began throbbing in pain.
With a harsh blink she drew away from him; he was looking elsewhere for a brief moment before his eyes flickered back down to look at her. "Hm, it seems the vampire you came across was smart. Killing two but not the third . . . It's the why I want to know about." There was a haunting darkness in his eyes that disappeared as quickly as it came. He resumed his supposed nonchalance.
Winn shook her head, lowering the knife. "I don't care for its reasons."
Eric readjusted the lapels of the suit. His head turned to look at the door. "I have work to attend to, Winifred Vik, but we will be seeing each other again. Have a good night." With a blink he was gone; she heard the door shut gently behind him.
After locking the door Winn slid down it and stead straight ahead at nothing in particular. Thoughts whirled like a volatile cyclone. She had a vampire, one who was in her family. Not just that, but she had let him into her studio. The action was incomprehensible, just like telling him about her parents murders had been. But he had to be family, he couldn't be lying. He had told her stories - things no one else knew. Those stories were ones passed down from word of mouth only. It could mean that he was family, or perhaps he had found someone in her lineage willing to tell him about the story. She knew she was reaching then and there with the comment. There was only a few distant cousins of hers left, and she was fairly certain not even they knew, or cared to remember, the myths.
With a sigh she heaved herself off of the floor. There was lukewarm Chinese to be eaten and more research to be done.
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A week later she found something of interest. Knowing a vampire was in her family had made her refocus on Norse mythology and as close as she could come to autobiographical tales. When she found one with a story about a brutal demon in nine-hundred A.D. off the British coastline where the Vikings had travelled, she realised she could ask the vampire for help. Well, try too. It was highly unlikely Eric would help her at all, and he may just try to drain her for annoying him. But she was beginning to come to wits end as she reached another dead end.
Winn found herself back at Fangtasia that night. Eric was in his usual place. As she began towards him he gave her such a cold glare that she felt her veins freeze. "Later." He commanded. His expression was cold and devoid of all emotion.
Winn took heed of his words and immediately backed off. It was only one A.M. and the bar didn't close up five. Great. With an annoyed sigh she took her seat at the bar, farthest from anyone else. The bartender gave her a nod of appraisal before coming over to her. Once again she ordered water. The bartender looked over to Eric and then seemed to raise his brows in understanding. When he gave her the cup, she saw there was ice cubes in it.
She watched as he first served a customer a bottle of True Blood. The vampire took a deep swig before looking at her with what could only have been an attempted seductive look before he wiped the back of his mouth. Body tensing, Winn looked sharply looked away.
The night drew out endlessly. The bar began filling up. As she slid off the stool to go to the bathroom, just for movements sake, she bumped into someone. Winn excused herself and saw she had bumped into a woman who was severely out of place at a bar like this. The girl didn't seem insulted by Winns accidental movement nor deterred when she tried to move out of the blondes way.
The woman reached out her hand, "Hi! I'm Sookie." Her voice was cheerful. She was exactly what Winn imagined a typical Southern Belle would be like. And ridiculously gorgeous. Winn was hoping she could edge away from the woman so they wouldn't be so easily be compared side by side. Then she remembered she was surrounded by vampires who were more focused on blood than beauty anyway. For the first time it was a reassurance. Barely. Besides her stood a male, so pale he could be nothing else but a vampire. His eyes flickered around the room warily. What did he have to be unsure about?
"I'm Winn." She replied, voice tinged with surprise.
"This place is so interesting, right?" She whispered excitedly.
"Not exactly the adjective I would have used." Winn muttered, eyes gliding across the room. It felt as if the majority of the eyes were on them, and she knew it was Sookies fault. The blonde girl stuck out like a sore thumb, like a precious bunny surrounded by ravenous wolves. Winn rubbed at her neck.
"Hey, where are you from? I don't recognise your accent."
"Norway." Winn muttered, her eyes glancing around the club. She was keenly aware at the focus Sookie was pulling not just on herself, but now Winn as well.
The blonde seemed to be thinking hard over Winn's location.
"Scandinavia - up North." Winn helped.
"Oh, yeah, right of course! Wow, you're a long way from home." Sookie beamed at her, eyes lit up with enthusiasm over meeting a foreigner, "What brought you to Shreveport? I mean, it must be pretty boring compared to, you know, Norway and all."
"Unfinished business." Winn answered. Her mind drifted - tried to drift - to The Vampire. Yet, all of a sudden she couldn't recall what it looked like. It was a blurred indescribable figure, and it was like trying to grasp mist. The memory slipped right through her fingers.
Sookie gave her an odd look and the a nod. "Well I hope you finish it then." She said with a smile. "Want to grab a drink? I'm so thirsty, real warm night out."
"It's always warm here." She muttered.
"Must be so different, coming from that cold weather. You guys have snow, right?"
"We have snow." Winn answered, attempting to sound amicable and miserably failing. At one point she would have been a natural converser, now she saw little point in small talk or feigning kindness with someone she wouldn't see again. And Sookie seemed like the bubbly, naive girl who could continue talking about all sorts of random things. Things Winn didn't care about.
They trailed off awkwardly. Winn made her way towards the bathroom before the dark-haired moved in front of her and she flinched. "You know him?" He asked, his looking behind her. Turning her head she saw Eric was straight at her.
"Uh . . ."
"He's summoning you." The male announced.
Winn sighed. Finally. Eric gestured with his head towards the office. Reluctantly Winn began moving towards the confined space. As Winn entered the office she was flanked by both Eric and his blonde companion. There was so many blondes she had met recently she was beginning to wonder if she was back in Norway. The door closed gently behind them.
The female raised a delicate brow as she looked at the girl from head to toe, before frowning in disapproval and looking at Eric. "Your lineage has had appalling mating choices."
"I am aware of the subaltern fall of my genealogy." Then Eric turned to Winn, "Winifred, this is Pamela Swynford de Beaufort."
"Nice to meet you?" Winn questioned.
Pam put a hand on her hip and raised a delicate brow. It was good they both seemed to have utter disinterest in the other.
Crossing his arms and leaning against the desk Eric spoking in his usual obnoxious, drawling tone. "And have you accepted the truth now, breather?"
Breather. Human. Bloodbag. Beneath Vampires. All those derogatory terms, she hated them. They might have surprised humanity by coming out of the shadows. But humans hadn't come this far on strength alone. One day vampires would find out they stood no chance against technology and science. Winn hoped she would be there for that revolution.
Chewing her lip she took a moment to speak. "Eric I've come with a request."
He raised a brow, urging her to continue.
"Do you know any tales of vampires in Britannia, around nine-hundred A.D.?"
"That depends." He was referring to her request.
"On what?"
"On you." He pushed off from the desk and took a step towards her.
She took a step back, brow furrowing. "On me what?"
Before he could answer there was commotion outside. Eric looked at the door with loathing. "It appears there is business I must attend too."
It was only Pam and Winn left. She wondered if Eric would ever come back to this request of hers. Pam looked at her up and down. "A thousand years to evolve and this is the best you came up with?" Then she glided out of the room, having said her piece.
Winn was more stunned they had even left her in the office, with all the personal information. Eric might have decided he had business to attend to, but Winn had been here for three hours now and she wasn't going to be put on the backburner again.
In the short span they had been in the office the club was well active, like a beacon drawing in sailors. Tonight the club was especially crowded.
Standing in the corner was a leathery looking vampire, face grim and slightly hunched over as if he carried the weight of the world of his shoulders. "So that's what Gollum got up to after the movies ended." Winn muttered absently.
Just as she was about to walk up to Eric who was in deep conversation with a vexed looking Sookie and the raven-haired vampire, something caught her attention. Squinting through the darkness she inhaled sharply. Oh that was not good. The man who looked one mask away from becoming a full on gimp was up to no good. Her hand tightened on the weapon beneath her jacket. Licking her lips nervously she walked behind him and hurried towards the exit. Whatever she had with Eric would need to wait.
Flinging the door open she breathed in the cool night air and walked hastily to her car. As she looked behind her, the man was still inside the club. Good.
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It was only one night before Eric visited her again. After Dallas she was heading somewhere else, maybe another continent.
He had rapped on her door in several quick successions. "You knew of the raid on my club?" His voice was silky.
"What? No." She answered in surprise. Winn didn't know the shifty guy had lead to a raid on his club, but it served Eric right. If there had been a planned raid on his club it was likely with good reason. She hoped they caught whatever it was he was up too. Judging by how he was standing on her doorstep, however, he got away with it.
His eyes narrowed. "Then take the time now to delve into your impeccably timed leave."
"No, I didn't know he was planning a raid on your club. I just knew he was in the army. Tattoos tell a lot about a man. Usually they end up working in enforcement later and he was way too shifty for being off-duty. Those guys go hard as a mother when they're out partying. So I got out."
"And why does that have any bearing on you?"
She licked her lips and was hesitant to give an answer. but his looks of irritation at her withholdings was enough to confess, "I'm carrying several illegal firearms with me. I need to move around the U.S. freely, not locked up in some jail figuring out if I like being bottom or top."
His eyes wandered back to her. "Observant."
"I don't have the luxury of being blind to my surroundings."
He made a noncommittal sound. A long silence ensued and Winn was closing her door when he spoke. "I'm going up to Dallas for a few days."
"Great."
"Would you care to join me?"
"No."
"A shame you so adamantly refuse. Sookie Stackhouse was much more willing to take me up on my offer."
Winn opened the door a fraction wider and eyed him suspiciously, "Sookie is going with you?"
He gave a slow nod and each drawled word was punctuated, "Hm yes, she's quiet excited to be surrounded by all those vampires."
"Why is Sookie going with you?" Winn had the impression that Sookie wasn't particularly fond of Eric. Coming up to Dallas with him didn't seem logical. The girl was stupid, that much Winn knew. Going into a dark bar full of vampires had been an exciting adventure for her, and to be placed in a potentially perilous situation with many more seemed suicidal. Just thinking about it raised the hair on Winns neck.
"A friend of mine has gone missing: Godric. I intend to find him." Erics eyes seemed more focused now.
"Sookie comes in to this . . . how?"
Eric was the epitome of nonchalant as he gazed at her. "She has unique abilities that she's planning on using. And she has a debt to settle with me."
"So you're forcing her into the situation."
"My, so quick to think the worst. Sookie knew what she was going into when she struck a deal with me to excuse her friends poor behaviour. Regardless of your opinions, she is coming, though we will see how her naiveté deals with more cunning opposition."
Oh damn him. Maybe she could switch Sookies place for her own. The words were forced out through clenched teeth, "Do you need someone else more qualified than Sookie Stackhouse to go?"
"Are you asking to join?"
"I'm asking if I can switch places with Sookie." Winn ground out.
"Ms. Stackhouse is quiet the stubborn little thing, but if you were to accompany her . . . "
Winn understand now. Sookie was apparently hellbent on going. And the only way Winn could keep her safe, or attempt to, was to come along. She hated vampires. And the thought of being surrounded by them was making her heart pound in her chest, but it had to be done. It had to be done for Sookie fucking Stackhouse. Winn raised her head and stared at him, "I'll go. But you need to tell me more."
Eric crossed his arms, looking down at her. He seemed satisfied by her answer. "The Fellowship of the Sun had something to do with it, I'm sure. His blood is valuable, moreso than nearly any other vampire who walks this earth."
Winn disregarded his blood-power comment for now. Eric wasn't forthcoming with information and it was nonsensical to her anyway. Her brows drew together in confusion, "The church right outside of Dallas?"
He tilted his head in appraisal, "You know of it?"
Winn knew of it, alright. Her eyes wandered as her mind began racing. This could be a beneficial trip, then. Not only could Winn keep Sookie safe, but she could inquire about some of the Newlins new infrastructure. They had been receiving ample donations from their members before, but the money needed to build on more acres of land meant huge sums of money was going into their accounts. Whoever was funding this clearly had resources. And where there were resources, was a better chance of Winn locating a weapon strong enough to kill The Vampire. At this point she had read all she could, at least in the state. The Vampires trail had run cold. This was the best option. It was time to move on.
"Yeah, I know of it. Are you sure they took your . . . friend?" Winn wasn't sure if vampires truly understood the concept of friendship.
"He is old and powerful, but it is a possibility I must look into. He will be found." It was a promise, and one that carried dark undertones. It was clear he would do whatever it took to get this vampire Godric back.
Winn had to remember she was only going for Sookie and that was all. Whoever this vampire was, she hoped for her own sake that he was quick to be found. Winn couldn't be bogged down with this little detour for too long. She had a vampire to end. Absentmindedly she toyed with the hem of her sleeve. "I've already met some of the Fellowship, and they just don't seem like the - '
"It is a possibility and we will look into it. Godric missing is dangerous." His eyes had darkened and Winn swallowed nervously. Whoever this vampire was to Eric, his disappearance had struck a nerve with him. Or maybe it was just that a vampire was missing in general. Winn wasn't sure.
She had met some of the members when she had been going up to investigate if they had any use against hunting vampires. Short of being useless, they offered her nothing. The only one who was capable of doing damage was Sarah Newlin, but she being weighed down by an insanity of her own making, and one day it would crush her. Winn didn't want to be dragged down with her, and so she had left. It seemed Eric didn't want to hear this and was determined to travel to Dallas anyway.
Eric brought her attention back. "The jet leaves tomorrow night. A car will pick you up."
Her eyebrows shot up. She couldn't care less about his wealth unless she could utilise it. But being confined in a car and then a plane with vampires? Conversing with one with the regularity she was doing with Eric was bad enough. Being in a confined space? Suicidal. Not to mention the arsenal of weapons she was planning on bringing, for her own as well as Sookies protection. She didn't think her best defence getting caught was "I didn't know they were there" would work dragging a bag loaded with unlicensed weapons.
He interpreted her disbelief as lack of bribing. "When Godric is found you will be given fifty-thousand dollars."
"Do you think I'm dense enough to believe you?"
"I keep my guarantees." He growled in warning and her breath stopped.
"Alright, fine." She breathed. "Fifty-thousand dollars. I'll be taking the train to Dallas, then."
"The plane is safer,"- she snorted-"more luxurious, and faster means of transport."
"Still taking the train."
He shrugged, growing bored. "That is your prerogative then. You will be in Dallas tomorrow night, five A.M. at the very latest."
Winn nodded sharply. "Understood."
As he turned to leave he looked over his shoulder. "Also, Sookie can read minds. I'd rather not have her figure out we are related to one another. Not yet, at least."
While she didn't know Eric's reasoning, it was an opinion she could whole-heartedly agree on. She didn't want anyone know they were related either. Having a vampire in the family wasn't something she'd ever tell anyone. Then it hit her that Sookie could read minds - wait, what?!
As she opened her mouth to rain down questions on Eric he had disappeared into the night. Winn blinked. Then shivered. Vampire speed was terrifying and another stark reminder of the power they held. It was only after he left that she realised she had no way of knowing where exactly Eric wanted to meet her in Dallas. It wasn't a small town, afterall.
With a sigh she shut the door behind her and began to pack her bags. Still, she had to go. Figuring out the specific details would come later. Hopefully. She was going to Dallas. And then she was moving on. There was a vampire to kill.