WOW! Holy response batman! That might have been an evil cliffy, but it felt like the natural place to stop and that was my longest chapter to date! I have to say, thanks again for all of the reviews and alerts, they really do help spur me onto write more! I am so happy that this little idea of mine has been well received.
I am a total failure at responding to reviews… but I figured you would rather I take my time to write the next phase of the story, than to use it responding to the reviews. I am still working on responding, it's just going really slowly.
I have no beta, any errors are my own. I own nothing, don't sue!
Chapter 4
I feel like I have been hit by a Mack truck; even my hair hurts right now. It feels like there is a thousand pounds of rocks and sand weighing me down. I'm so tired that I can't even blink my eyes let alone open them. And why do I feel like I am being licked from neck to naval? Do I even want to know? Now the rocks and sand begins to move and it begins to feel like arms and legs holding me in place. My mind feels like it is slowly beginning to wake up. I hear with my telepathy a mind that seems to be humming and the static filled mind of Doctor Ludwig. My ears are ringing; if I had to guess it is because of blood loss. I vaguely hear my heart rate picking up its pace. Yep, someone is licking my neck. That is just gross! Who does that?
As the ringing in my ears begins to slowly clear, I hear a door click, but I can't tell if it was to let someone in or out of where ever I am. My telepathy seems to be on the fritz right now. I faintly hear voices murmuring in the room. The conversation seems to be beginning to escalate in its intensity. Then I hear a growl come from the rocks and sand… I am obviously missing something here because the conversation stopped at once. Since sand doesn't growl, what or who is holding me so still?
"Alright your Majesty… how is she doing? I see that you have managed to clean the wound and gotten it to stop bleeding for the time being. Has she given any signs of waking up at all?" I feel a small hand take my wrist to check my pulse, and a second hand brushes my forehead, but that hand feels much larger and cooler. That hand must belong to the King, based on what I am feeling now I can tell I am on a sofa or bed being held by the King… Oh. My. Stars! What am I going to do? One side of my mind is screaming- how am I going to get out of this mess now? -and the other side of my mind is saying: girl, lay back and enjoy this, he's super-hot!
"Her pulse has picked up in the last minute or so, but she hasn't moved at all. Thankfully she is not awake yet. I fear she will be in a great deal of pain once she does finally wake up." Then cool lips brush the top of my head. "I gave her a mouthful of blood, there was no other option at the time as you well know. I have the bond shut down right now. If she is in any pain upon waking I want to be notified immediately. I need to see to a few things. This should have never happened." With that, my body if slid onto a soft surface and a blanket is wrapped around me. I feel like a Sookie burrito, but I also feel safe in a soft cocoon. Again, I feel those cool lips ghost over my forehead, nose and lastly my lips. "Sleep well little one." A weight lifts from the soft surface that I resting on. "I will return in approximately 6 hours. Have the room-mates moved to a different room and their belongings moved with them. Bring in a larger bed for her to rest in. I will require a donor later to feed my bloodlust after dealing with the punishments; bring me something… spicy, unbitten and experienced." A cold hand cups my face briefly, then it's gone and with it the King.
"Alright Quinn, you heard him. Get to it. I have to stay here with the… girl. Until after she is in her new bed and has woken up so that I can assess her. I need to get her in top form and quickly, based on his Majesty's reaction earlier."
After what seemed like a few minutes I felt like I was waking up in a cold sweat. Then I hear Hanna in the common room speaking loudly, "I don't get it! Why does she get a room to herself? And she gets a king sized bed to sleep in? WHAT THE FUCK!" She finally ends up shouting at everyone. Before I could hear a response the door closed and my eyes finally blink open.
When I am finally able to get my vision to focus more, I see that I am back in my room, but it's different. For one I'm not in a bunk bed, nor are there any others in the room. The closets are open and empty; they are now positioned to block the view of the door to the common room from the bed, almost forming a hallway into the room. I like the privacy it will provide. Who did all of this and where did the other girls go? I wanted to stay close to Dawn, if for no other reason than to have someone from home nearby. Poor Jessica was abducted outside a friend's house in Monroe. She hasn't even graduated high school yet; she only had a few months more to go. Jessica wants to go to college to become a nurse. She has a kind heart but she is even more naive than I am. As for my last room-mate, Hanna… she came here from Savanna. Hanna is a volunteer here. She wants to get bitten and be owned by the King. Her mind is fuzzy to me, but I can get a read on her thoughts most of the time. I fear she could be a jealous one in bidding for the King's affections.
And then there is me. An abductee, whose first encounter with a vampire was in a hall where I was savagely bitten. How am I even still alive? I was coughing up blood and had even more oozing out of my neck. The Doctor must be really good. My ribs don't hurt anymore. My neck is a tiny bit sore, but I guess that is to be expected. As I try to sit up in the bed, I hear the room door open.
"OH! You have finally woken up. I feared the blood loss did more damage than I anticipated. Are you able to take a deep breath? The wound was rather large and deep at your neck. When you were slammed into the wall a couple of your ribs were also broken." Doctor Ludwig has a worried look on her face. I am able to swallow what little spit I have in my mouth.
I whisper my response, "My ribs don't bother me at all, but my neck is still sore. Who did that to me? Why did he attack me?"
After a long pause the Doctor hands me a glass of water and two unidentified pills to take. "That child was a six month old vampire whose maker was drained about a month ago. He had just left another one of the common donors' rooms when you stepped into the hall. Your scent was too strong from him to resist." Now Doctor Ludwig hands me some food and juice. The food looked good, but the juice smelled off. "Thankfully he had already fed heavily otherwise what happened to you could have been much worse. Here is your charm. The chain broke in the attack at my door. I found it next to your flip flops. I am looking at finding a stronger chain for you. For now put it on this safety pin and put it inside of your shirt so you can keep it with you."
After a sip of my water I check the juice again, yep- still smells off. "What's in this juice, it smells funny." I place the juice as far away from me as I can. The Doctor picks it up and smells it, walks it to the kitchenette and pours it down the sink.
"One of your old room-mates made it. I'm not sure exactly what was in it, but since you said it smelled off then we best not chance it. You have enough trouble now as it is without getting sick from food poisoning. How bad is your citrus allergy?"
That must have been in my medical records when she was looking at them in her office before. "Not as bad as my fathers or my aunts. My Dad had issues with lemons and my aunt Linda had issues with Limes. They would stop breathing if the contact was not noticed or corrected quickly. I just get hives all over if I ingest either of them. If my skin comes in contact with the juice I get a really painful rash. My brother and cousin never had any problems though, just me." Just thinking about the rashes I got as a child makes my skin crawl.
"Well, if I know the King, I don't think you'll have to worry about your attacker roaming around the palace grounds anytime soon. The King was set on punishment when he left here earlier. When he gets a hold of the… men who abducted you, well let's just say that they are going to be in a great deal of trouble." It seems like she is talking around a lot of things but not actually speaking specifically about anything.
"Doctor, how did I heal so quickly?" The Doctor looks at me. I don't know if she will answer my question or not. She doesn't seem like she wants to. Instead she digs into her bag and hands me an envelope.
"Some of your questions might be answered in there," as she points to the wax sealed envelope. As I look at the seal I realize it has the symbol of a Viking dragon boat on it; the symbol of the King. "The girls are eager to see you so I will allow them in. Make sure you eat and drink. This bottle of medicine has vitamins in it. I want you to take two of them every four hours. This will help you heal and boost your energy levels." With that she leaves and Dawn, Jessica, and Hanna come in.
I must look worse that I thought. At first they were jealous when they entered, and then they saw my neck. From what I see in Jessica's mind I would have to agree, I really do look bad. Dawn is looking at the broken donor necklace on the bedside table while she fingers her own at her neck. Hanna just has a smug look on her face. I don't even want to know what she is thinking. I just keep getting flashes of anger directed at me and Dawn.
As Jessica sits on the edge of the bed she gets teary eyed. "Sookie, what happened to you? Your neck…" She can't even finish her sentence. I take her hand in mine to comfort her.
"I was leaving Doctor Ludwig's office because she just cleared me medically as a donor… There was a newborn vampire in the hall, he attacked me. I don't know why. I remember Quinn and Alcide were there. I think the King was nearby too because I saw him just before I blacked out." Dawn and Jessica's eyes had gotten large from shock at the mention of being attacked by an unknown vampire. Hanna just had a smirk on her face. "Hanna, what have I done to you? Why are you so happy that I was attacked?"
She lightly laughs and begins to turn away from us to leave the room. "You just got disqualified from being a donor for the King… He only wants unbitten donors to pleasure him… remember? There is no reason that they should be keeping you here, yet here you still are, and in a room all to yourself…" Dawn, Jessica, and I all look at each other in shock. She is right! They should be letting me go, not keeping me here. Something else must be going on. Just as Hanna reaches the door, Quinn arrives and states that the King requires Jessica and Hanna's presence in his private chambers immediately.
"Don't worry, Jess… the King almost has an innate sense of what his donor needs or requires in the moment, you will be safe." Dawn reassures her with a hug and leaves the room as well. I have a great deal to think about, but first I really need to shower. I slowly make my way to the common room door and close it.
After my shower, I chose a long sleeve cotton nightgown, opting for comfort over fashion. While I am sitting down to read a book, I hear a knock at the door and Alcide enters. "Hey Sookie… You up?"
"Yeah. What's up Alcide? Here to let me go home now?" I look at the bags he is holding then back up at his face. He has a confused look on his face.
"I have some pre-cooked meals for you that Doctor Ludwig wants you to eat. They smell really good. Just follow the heating times for the microwave that are taped to the lids and you should be fine." As Alcide begins to place the last containers in the refrigerator and freezer he asks, "Why do you think you're going home?"
"I was bitten by a vampire who was not the King… I am disqualified now… soiled goods, right?" As he closes the freezer door, he turns to look at me. Then his eyes wander over the room and end on the nightstand. He walks over and picks up the forgotten envelope and hands it to me.
"I think you should read this. Make sure you pin your charm back on. It's still on the nightstand in the corner. Good night, Sookie." I probably sat and looked at the envelope for at least an hour, long enough for Jessica to return to the room wearing nothing but smiles.
"I get to go home Sookie! The King wants me to finish high school. He gave me a personal check for $200,000.00 for my college education. He is not a monster, he is very kind. He gave me a royal donor's necklace to wear to help keep me safe. I will try to find your brother and your boss to let them know where you are. I will do what I can from the outside to get you out of here. I promise! I have to go pack!" And with that, hurricane Jessica leaves the room.
Her mind played the conversation back over and over, it was totally all true. He had Hanna grinding on his lap while he was sitting at his desk speaking to Jessica. He had one hand up Hanna's skirt while the other was lightly caressing her available skin. As Jessica was leaving the room she turned and saw the King rip off Hanna's dress. He pushed Hanna over the desk and impaled himself inside of her. Jessica stood still and watched curiously and slowly walked back behind the desk and stood next to the King. She watched for quite a few minutes mystified as his cock slammed in and out of Hanna's entrance. He motioned for Jessica to sit on the desk and he proceeded to fuck her with his fingers slowly while still slamming himself over and over into Hanna. He bit Jessica on her neck as she came and took two mouthfuls of her blood then kissed her cheek. He pulled his fingers out of her and whispered for her to go. He licked one finger clean and then the other. As Jessica left the room he winked at her and began to roughly pull Hanna's hair and slammed his cock into her at a lightning speed. Hanna seemed oblivious that anything else was even happening. Jessica closed the office door as she heard Hanna scream out with her own release.
As I come back to reality, I look at the envelope again. I should just open it. After all, it's just paper. What harm can it cause me? I have no reason to be frightened. Taking it in my hands I can feel that the paper is of a high quality. The hand writing is clear and elegant.
~~Sookie~~ I hope this letter finds you better than when I left you. Please accept my personal apology for your attack earlier this evening. As a guest here within my palace you should have been safe. Rest well in the knowledge that all those who have harmed you will be punished this evening. If I find time in the coming days I will visit you soon. I deeply regret the manner in which you were brought here. I wish to know you better. Please allow us the chance to know each other; I believe it would be very good for the both of us. Heal well and Dream of Me. ~~Eric Northman, King of Louisiana.
During my sleep I did indeed dream of the King. At one point I swear I woke up and saw him in my room by the locked door. Another time I thought I was sleeping in his arms using his bare chest and shoulder as a pillow. The next day I woke up and found a vase filled with daisy's and baby pink roses. The attached card was in the same hand writing as the letter. It said, 'You're in my waking thoughts. ~E'
Holy cow! I just flowers from the King!
AN: Thanks for taking the time to read my story. Reviews and constructive criticisms are welcome.
5/18/12
