The next few days proved to be challenging - specifically night time.

Her day time was all well and good, Alice was doing what she did best: teaching. If anything, her job was a reprieve from her own mind at this point, because when the night came, so did the bad dreams. They always came in the form of Longshadow jumping over the bar, and it got to a point where it started to filter into the day time when she was trying to drive around for work.

She tried not to let it affect her teaching, but it did mean she appeared out of sorts for a majority of the week. The one thing she didn't want to do was to admit to Eric that there was a problem, unless of course it got really bad.

Honestly, it was hard not to think about it, because the moment she realised she had a reprieve from invading images they would pop right back in there.

It didn't help that the bad dreams in general were making some awful repressed memories come to the surface. As if her head didn't hurt at the images of Longshadow, she would more or less shut down when all the problems from England came back to haunt her mind.

Not even sleeping pills helped with knocking her out at this point.

Alice debated avoiding going to sleep, but she realised that would end up making things worse, because she'd just sit there thinking about everything.

Feeling like she was in a Catch-22, she got dressed into her pyjamas and went to sleep.

Standing there as a mere observer, Alice watched as Longshadow jumped over the bar, like she did every night. It made her head hurt. Then something more presented itself to her. She saw where he was leaping to - towards Sookie, who was at a table with a woman bleached hair. Eric and Pam were standing there, watching too. There was another man too, pale, with dark hair - Alice could assume it was another vampire.

That was all she saw. It kept replaying over and over in front of her, and she was locked in place unable to do anything. It was just a dream, just an image - it was going to be hard to anything in the slightest.

Then she was shoved into one of the tables, and she flipped over it, landing in the kitchen of her old flat back in England. She hit her arms hard on the wooden floor, and she stared up at the perpetrator who had done it.

"Why do you never talk to me anymore?" he was angry with her, raising his voice.

"What's there to talk about?" she replied calmly. "Without you doing this every time? You're never happy with me nowadays."

He was fuming, but then something odd happened.

Longshadow came and leapt at him.

Except… the black hair changed to blonde, and it wasn't Longshadow anymore.

It was Eric.

Over and over he went for the other man, until finally his fangs dropped and he properly attacked him. Alice wasn't sure how she felt seeing that, so she looked away until it was over. He was practically dead.

Eric was a bloody mess as he came over to her, holding out his hand. A little frightened, she still took it and allowed him to help her up.

"You're safe now."

Alice woke up in a cold sweat, shaking.

How she managed to sit up and switch on the lamp, she wasn't sure.

She clutched at her tightening chest, willing the thoughts to go away. It was hard, considering she didn't have much else to think about at two in the morning on a Saturday, although in her mind it was still Friday night. She could hardly phone Sookie, she was probably fast asleep.

There was one other person she could summon, but Alice wasn't sure if it was the best idea. She was also aware of the fact that she still had the last remnants of Eric's blood in her system, so she wondered if she internally called for help… would he hear it?

A tapping on her window confused her. Struggling to get out of bed and walk the few feet over to it, Alice pulled back the curtains to see Eric hovering outside. She opened the window and wordlessly got back into bed.

"You've been like this all week. I'm surprised you didn't give the notion for help sooner," he said, shutting the window and taking in her appearance. He frowned as he saw the fading bruises on her arms. "What happened there?"

She jumped and looked down at her arms, but realised if she put them under the covers she'd be far too warm. "Not now. Just… ignore it."

"I can give you more blood to speed up the healing, if you'd like."

Alice shook her head, trying to steady her breathing. "They're nearly gone. It's fine."

"Alright. Explain." He took a seat at her dressing table, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees.

"I had a really mixed up dream… like my past decided to blend with what's about to happen? It's getting more vivid now, and even saying or thinking his name nearly triggers it to flash through my mind."

Eric sighed. "Do you know what self control is?"

"Do you?" Alice said without even thinking. Eric's eyes flashed dangerously for a second while her cheeks burned. "I don't even know what control as a concept is."

He was bemused by that sentence. "You're not even going to explain that, are you?"

"You've not quite gotten to that level with me yet."

"Well, I better be on that level sooner rather than later - I can't keep tiptoeing around you forever. Someone's going to snap eventually." He smirked at her.

"Do you mean you?"

"It could be you. When you eventually tell me what happened." Eric cocked his head to the side, eyeing Alice intently as she tried to keep herself calm. He cleared his throat. "So… back to the point. No self control, hmm?"

"It's… a new concept for me, let's put it that way."

"Have you considered… well, not controlling it - but managing it like you would your anxiety? No, no, don't give me that look - it's clear as day that's what's wrong with you. Plus your pills are literally right there." Eric pointed at her bedside table, and she angrily tossed them in the drawer. He chuckled, glad to have found some amusement in all of this.

"That thought hadn't quite occurred to me…" she murmured, now hugging her knees to her chest. "You know, you're the one who said you're helping me. Why haven't you tried to help me sort out control over the visions sooner?"

He shrugged. "I was hoping you'd figure that part out for yourself." He was quiet for a moment, chewing his lip in deep thought before he said anything else again. "I have a bloodlust that I need to keep under control. Think of it like that. You take certain measures to make sure it doesn't overwhelm you. Consume you. So you don't fall into a pit you can't climb out of."

"That's an interesting comparison," Alice said.

"I'm struggling to keep control right now, sweetie. You smell better than dinner," he told her dryly. "My fangs are just aching to come down when I'm around you, but I don't. It would be impractical for both of us if I drained you dry."

"Well, at least you're honest…" she rolled her eyes, not exactly reassured by what he had just told her. "Before we get back to the point, can I ask you something?"

He nodded.

"Have you ever killed anyone?"

"I'm over a thousand years old - what do you think the answer to that is?"

"Yes."

"Does that scare you?"

"Oddly enough, no." Alice frowned. "You were in my dream just now, and you killed someone who had hurt me. You told me I was safe."

"Perhaps don't confuse dreams with reality," Eric warned her. "I'm not loyal to you, so don't get the wrong idea about me. I'll help you with this, yes, but don't think for a second we're friends."

She pursed her lips. "Fine. Doesn't explain why you come here so often."

"I'm hardly one to refuse a lady," he had a half smile on his face, "but I'm not kind. Understand that about me."

"Sure…" Alice muttered sarcastically. "We'll see how this Longshadow thing plays out then, and then we'll see who's right."

He scowled at her. "What do you mean by that?"

"You're so cold and heartless that I wonder who hurt you," she mused. "Or if that's just the product of being alive for so long you refuse to get attached unless you know they're going to live forever."

"Stop it," he snapped at her. "This kind of topic is off the table unless I say so."

The tightening in her chest got a tiny bit worse.

"I can't keep tiptoeing around you either, Eric," she then pointed out. "I've done enough of that the past year. So if you can be so blatantly honest with me, then I'd expect the same courtesy extended to me."

"Fine. No personal questions or remarks though," he agreed. "But back to the point?"

She nodded. "I need to somehow push back at it, don't I?"

"Good girl. Now, if you keep doing that we might just get somewhere. And I have a favour to ask of you."

"Go on."

"I need you at Fangtasia tomorrow night. I may need your assistance with something there - the club will be closed to the public tomorrow night."

Alice shrugged. "I'm not doing anything tomorrow night, so sure. Time?"

"About half past nine, that would be good." Eric stood up, adjusting his jacket and going over to the window. "You know… if you manage to get yourself in check, I might just consider loyalty. I don't want to, but I think I have to." There was a far away look on his face, and it made Alice curious about what he was thinking about. "Good night, Miss Carter."

"Good night, Mr Northman."

Then he was gone.

Alice knew deep down this was going to continue to be a regular occurence, whether he liked it or not. The good news was that she was able to sleep a little better after that visit.


Anybody smell an Eric in denial? Because I definitely do. ;)

Anonmyouscsifan: I'm so glad to have someone regular to be checking in! I'm glad you're enjoying this, and you'll be pleased to know that in the next couple of chapters their relationship does develop a little bit more... it's gonna be a fun time. Hope you're well, lovely. Can't wait to hear what you think :)

Comment?

-OL.