A.N: Thank you soo much for the reviews! Here's the new chapter, I hope you all will like it! :) And please don't forget to review! :)
Disclaimer: True Blood belongs to the HBO and Charlaine Harris, and any resemblance between my OC's and real persons, dead or undead is purely coincidental. In this fanfiction, I only own the plot points where it is different than the show and books, I also don't own the title of the story and the chapter.
Spoilers: Starts from season 2
Thanks so much to treewitch703 for betaing:)
After hours of watching the video feed, I was two seconds away from taking my gun and putting a bullet through the screen.
Or I could attack it with a flamethrower. That might be more amusing, I wasn't sure yet.
Not only was I stuck in the house, having to watch these stupid things while some vampires were getting their beauty sleep, but now I had to figure out where the records had been changed. Some parts were deleted, some were altered, how could I recover the missing bits?
I woke up at 6 a.m for this?
I officially hate Eric Northman.
I stood up from the couch, straightened my back with a grunt and yawned. Walking to the window, I rubbed my eyes and looked outside. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and it was the perfect weather to go outside and relax.
Or to be distracted, from my case.
Either way….
I walked upstairs, changed my clothes and went back downstairs again. Before I could slip my phone into my pocket, it started buzzing.
"Hey Stacy." I greeted her "What's up?"
"Nothing much sweetie pie, just here in the office. You?"
"Going outside. What happened?"
"The director is asking if you got the records." She said and I sucked in a breath, closing my eyes
"Yeah, I got them." I said slowly, opened my eyes and walked out of the house, squinting into the sunlight, and locked it behind me.
"And…?"
"And…" I trailed off "I'm still working on them."
Because the douche-bag gave me altered records.
"So far?"
"So far nothing. Just fangbangers and vampires having sex and dancing and such." I said, getting inside of my car and starting it. "But I'm only at the beginning of it, so…"
"Alright…" Stacy said "He wanted me to tell you to inform him about anything."
"I always do." I said "Gotta go, bye!"
"Bye!"
I hung up and dialed Connor's number
"Hey Val."
"Hey Connor." I said "What's up?"
"Working. You?"
"Same here." I said "Listen, I'm gonna ask you something. Can you… if a video is changed, or some parts are deleted or something, can you retrieve the earlier data?"
I could practically see him frowning now, and chewing on his pencil if he had one "Depends…" he muttered "Why?"
"I've got something, so…" I trailed off "I tried to save it but failed, and you're better than me at computers…"
"And you want me to take a look." I could hear his smirk "I thought you could do anything, Ms bad ass hunter chick."
"If I had grown up with the same technology that you did, I could've." I retorted "Grew up in a clan remember? Technology is my weak point, and that's where you come in."
"I sometimes feel like you're using me."
"I am." I joked, letting out a laugh "Can you do it or not? It has sex in it and I'll be very-"
"You got me at sex part."
"I know which side my bread is buttered." I giggled "So?"
"Send them to me, I'll see what I can do." He said "What's it about again?"
I pulled over in front of Merlotte's and got out of the car
"Douche-bag vampires who own night clubs." I muttered "How're you holding up in Texas?"
"You know, there are lots of rumors floating around, so, I'm busy as hell. I don't even know where to start!"
"I'm sorry." I muttered, suddenly distracted at the sight of a car that just parked there, behind mine "Is there anything I can help with?"
"Not really, thanks though…" he said and I frowned slightly, then looked over my shoulder
"Huh…" I said "Connor?"
"Yeah?"
"Someone's following me."
"Val, we're in daylight."
"I know…" I said slowly "I-gotta go, I'll call you later?"
"Yeah, be careful."
"You too." I said and hung up. I walked towards the back yard of Merlotte's, still picking up on the footsteps behind me, then turned the corner, while grabbing my brass knuckles. As soon as my stalker turned the corner, I struck, punching him square in the face, then grabbed his collar and pinned him against the wall.
"Why are you following me?"
He tried to save himself from my grip, but then I cocked the gun, pressing it to his temple
"Why are you following me?" I repeated my question as a shadow of fear crossed his eyes. He couldn't be older than me.
"My boss is much scarier than you are." He said, even if I could sense the panic in his voice. I frowned, pulling back a little
"You either give me your boss' name, or I'll start shooting…" I lowered the gun, aiming at his crotch "Speak."
His eyes widened
"Whoa, whoa, Jesus! Aim it for something else!"
"Speak."
"Eric Northman sent me!"
I gawked at him when I heard the name, then clenched my jaw
"Why?"
"I-I don't know, he wanted me to keep an eye on you and inform him."
"Of what I do?" I asked and he nodded, still looking at the gun. I heaved a sigh, shaking my head slightly
"What's your name?"
"Jack." He said "Y-you're that hunter, right? Val whats-her-name Warren?"
I nodded "I suppose there's no way for me to get any information from you?" I asked "Hm?"
He shook his head "He'd kill me."
"And I could castrate you."
"Like I said, he's much scarier than anything you could do to me."
I snorted, "I'll take that as an insult." I said, then opened the barrel.
"What are you doing?"
I took out a wooden bullet, then put it into his palm, and spun the barrel.
"Tell your boss…" I said, putting the gun to the back of my jeans "That the next time he puts someone on my tail, he'll get the next bullet express."
He seemed like he couldn't understand
"Go." I said, and he ran to his car, I on the other hand walked around, then entered the bar.
"Valeria!"
"Hi Sookie." I said, perching onto one of the bar stools. "What's up?"
"Nothing much, working." She said "You?"
"Starving." I said "I need food and energy and sleep, and since I can't get sleep, I came to get other two."
"Nice."
"So, is the food good here?"
Sookie grinned "Have you met our cook? Lafayette?"
I shook my head and she called out "Lafayette!"
A head peeked out from behind the kitchen pass-through. It was black guy with a purple bandana and glimmering accessories. His lashes were quite long, and it looked like he was wearing glittery eye shadow if I wasn't mistaken.
"Yeah Sook?"
"It's Valeria, the new girl in town. Valeria, it's Lafayette, our cook."
"Nice to meet you." I waved, smiling and he eyed me up and down
"Nice to meet cha', chica."
"She asked if our food is good." Sookie said to him and he grinned
"We gots the best, baby doll." He said as I felt myself blush and let out a laugh "What do you want?"
"Something extremely greasy and unhealthy but yummy."
"Yo' in the right place." He pointed at me with his spatula and turned to keep tending whatever he was cooking.
"So when does your shift end?" I asked Sookie and she smiled
"Soon." She checked her watch, then looked out of the window "Bill will be here right about dark, so…"
"Nice." I winked at her "A date?"
She nodded, her smile getting wider.
"Romantic." I commented and she nodded again
"Yeah."
I tried my hardest not to think about the dates I used to have, but it was no use.
"Come on Val!" Aiden said "You're gonna like it, I promise-"
"That thing is way too high." I shook my head fervently, looking at the spinning wheel in the middle of the fun fair. "No way, Aiden, really…"
"It'll be fun, all girls like Ferris wheels"
"I don't trust technology at all- what if it breaks?"
"It won't break. And for the record, it's romantic, come on." He dragged me towards it, then we took our spots. When we reached the top, my eyes were still closed.
"The view is great, open your eyes."
"Nope." I shook my head, and soon enough, felt his lips on mine
"Trust me." He whispered "Open your eyes."
I opened them and looked around
"I….think it looks good…"
"Val- Valeria?" I heard Sookie's voice and snapped out of my thoughts
"Oh I'm sorry, it's-" I shook my head "That must've been pretty boring for you." I let out a nervous laugh "Anyway, um…"
"Was that your boyfriend? The one you mentioned earlier?"
I nodded
"You looked happy there, what happened?"
This time, I managed to stomp on the thoughts before they popped up.
"It's not important really." I said "Just… some people aren't build for relationships." I shrugged "I actually find it funny that how some people's theme song of their romantic life is "I Will Always Love You" while mine is something like "Smack My Bitch Up."
She let out a laugh, then looked at me sympathetically
"I'm sorry."
"Not your fault." I said "Don't worry about it. So um…anyway! Is- is Jason around?"
"Working." She said, then narrowed her eyes "Why?"
I shrugged again "Just asked."
"Valeria, Jason is…" she tried to find the words "I mean, if you have…"
"If I have what?"
"Any- feelings, or-"
"What? No!" I exclaimed fervently "No no no, you- you totally got me wrong. There's- I mean, he looks like a great guy, but um… no way." I shook my head "I'm kinda planning to live a nun's life or… crazy cat lady life, so… No romance or- nothing at all."
"Oh?" she said "It's just that, he has a past with lots of girls here and I thought if you feel something you should know…"
"No worries." I smiled "Nothing like that."
"Do you feel that way because of him?" Sookie asked slowly "No romance because of Aiden?"
"Just a contributing factor." I said "People are… they fuck you up. So… "
"I used to think I could never be with someone because of " she looked around and dropped her voice "the telepath thing…" she said "Then Bill came along. You never know what may happen."
I opened my mouth to disagree, then someone called her to ask for something. I slumped in my seat, and waited for my food to come, desperately trying to focus on something else.
"I'm totally fucking up your date, you two are aware of it, right?" I asked to Bill and Sookie, who were sitting in front of me on the other side of the table. "I mean, it's very nice to meet you Bill, but-"
"It's fine." Sookie waved a hand in the air, she looked extremely worried since Bill had pulled her aside and talked with her. "There's something you should know, something… you should be careful of."
I shot her a quizzical look and Bill shifted a little in his seat.
"Eric is doing some research about you."
"Eric Northman?" I asked, puzzled "Wait, what research?"
"Apparently he has called some people, some powerful people to learn about you."
I pulled my brows together "And how would you know this?"
"Eric isn't the only vampire who has resources." He said "And since you're Sookie's friend…"
"You thought I should know." I finished his sentence for him "So… He does research about me and it means I'm in danger?"
"It means you caught his eye, and that means you're in danger."
"He can't do anything to me." I told them "Bureaucracy would chew his ass."
"He'd be careful enough not to leave any trace behind, that would lead them to him."
A shiver ran down my spine and I crossed my arms
"He put someone on my tail, I know about that…"
"The Queen knows you're here, for example."
My head snapped up and Sookie pulled her brows together
"The Queen?"
"Government probably let the Magisters know, what use would it be to him if the Queen knew?"
"What queen?"
"Vampires have this hierarchy…" I told her "At the top, there's the Authority, then Magisters, the monarchs, sheriffs, and other vampires without titles."
"And there's a Queen?"
"Of Louisiana." Bill nodded "I'm telling you to be careful. If Eric is your enemy…"
"I should watch my back." I nodded "I know."
Fuck…
I could hear my heart beat getting faster and tried to keep the panic at bay, then I downed the rest of my soda.
"Thanks." I told Bill "Really. I- it means a lot, I won't forget this."
"Good."
"I should- I should probably leave you to... get on with your date." I smiled at them "Going home. Good night!"
"Be careful."
"Always am." I said to Sookie, then walked out of the bar. I slid into my car, started it, then stepped on the accelerator.
I'll be fine. I assured myself I'll be okay.
He was doing some research about me, so what? I had done the same when I first got here…
Minutes later, I pulled over in front of my house. Trying to resist the urge to run to the house like a scared child, I inhaled deeply, locked the car and skedaddled into my house, letting go of a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.
I scrambled upstairs to take a shower, and after I was done, I got into my pajama shorts and tank top, ran my fingers through my wet hair and wandered back downstairs. I opened my laptop, sent the records to Connor, then switched on the TV, making myself comfortable on the couch.
Just as I had lit another cig, someone knocked on the door. I frowned slightly and pushed my body off the couch, and walked to the door. As soon as I opened it, I held my breath then abruptly coughed out:
"Mr Northman."
He just stood there and eyed me up and down, and even that was intimidating. I tried not to take a step back and close the door. He smirked as he heard my heartbeat start to gallop, and I gulped, crossing my arms, feeling naked compared to his black shirt and jeans.
"I don't respond well to threats, Valeria."
"I don't respond well to vampires putting people on my tail." I retorted, my nose in the air. "You had no right to do that."
He only arched his brows, shooting me a mocking look.
"It was just a test."
"Of?"
"Whether you're good at what you do."
I clenched my jaw "What's it to you?"
"If we put your childish behaviour behind us…" he said "I'm here to make you a job offer."
I gawked at him "What?" I asked, confused "Mr Northman, I already have a job."
He shot me a sideways smile "Think of it like a…side job."
"Working for you?" I asked "And let me guess, you'll want to know what my department is up to and such, about vampires."
He only watched me in silence.
"I'm afraid I'll have to-"
"With 10,000 bucks per case."
My jaw dropped "Just how much money do you have?!"
He just smiled and I inhaled more smoke, forcing myself to think clearly.
"I'm not interested in playing a double game."
"Twenty grand then."
"Is this you or your queen making me this offer?" I asked him and his look suddenly changed.
"And you accuse me of putting people on your tail."
"I don't need to put people on your tail, Mr Northman." I smiled at him sweetly and he huhed
"Impressive."
"Thank you. Either way, I'm not interested."
"Won't you invite me in so that I can convince you?" he asked and I let out a laugh
"Not really." I said as he took a step closer
"Valeria…"
"Mr Northman."
"You can call me Eric."
"I don't see us getting that friendly, Mr Northman." I said "And if that's all, I will be going to bed now. I'm sure you have someone in chains waiting for you back at Fangtasia, let's not waste each other's time."
He looked at me as if he couldn't believe it
"And also, I want the records." I said "The real records, Mr Northman, not those fake ones you gave me and thought I would actually fall for."
"You refuse me?" he asked slowly and I arched a brow
"You'll live. Well, technically."
"You sure about that decision?" he asked hoarsely, getting closer. Now only thin air was keeping us apart, that and the invisible wall between him and me. He towered over me and I could even smell his scent. The power radiating from him was almost too much, and I gulped, suddenly feeling a shiver all over my body.
"I can change everything you believe…" he muttered and I let myself look into his eyes, then pulled myself together.
"Mr Northman, I do believe you have an overrated opinion of what keeps popping up in your body other than your fangs, and I can assure you, I'm interested in neither." I pulled the cigarette from my lips, then exhaled the smoke right to his face "Good night."
I slammed the door to his face, and went to fling myself onto couch, trying to calm my heartbeat.
"What keeps popping up in your body other than your fangs"?
Seriously, brain?
A.N2: So, what do you think? Please tell me your opinions, comments, parts you liked, parts you didn't like, constructive criticism, ideas anything! =) I need to hear them!;)
