Chapter Seven

Thankfully, Lukas had made it home, but then gone back out with Fox and Mike to the cinema. Naturally, the kid had his frickin' cell phone turned off didn't he.

Pam sighed and rested her head back against the wall. Kids were so much hassle. She'd just have to kill him if he'd gone and got himself caught by the fellowship. Why didn't Sookie just buy a hamster instead of wanting a kid? Hamsters you can lock up in cages and keep track of 24/7, not worrying if someone stole it, because you could buy another. Pam breathed out slowly. Why did she have to like the kid so much? It's not like it's her own. She didn't like any other snotty nose brats. Why this one? Why did she have to care whether this one lived or not. Grace stepped outside and wrapped her arms around Pam.

"He's at home?" she asked, her voice a feather light delicacy.

"He was. But he went to the cinema. We need to find him. Now preferably." Pam replied, finding her throat oddly chocked up.

"He'll be alright. You know he will. He's a strong boy and knows how to fight. One tiny human won't be any match for him. You'll see."

"Yeah, of course." Pam replied and then her vision became blurred by a red line. She touched her eyes, bringing back bloodied fingers. "Oh sweet Jesus." she complained and stormed off to the ladies bathroom. Pam doesn't cry. Pam doesn't have emotions. Why was Pam leaking blood over a child that wasn't even her own.

Why couldn't Sookie get a fucking hamster? Hamster die before you get fucking attached anyway.

Grace smiled sympathetically, leaving Pam to deal with her new human emotions and returned back to comfort a stressed Sookie.

"I can't believe they didn't die." Mike complained as soon as the credits hit the screen.

"I second that. If you get shot three times. You're going to die." Fox agreed.

"I can't believe they didn't die." Mike repeated awestruck. The boys stood from the cinema seats. Fox and Mike raving mad about the apparent 'heroes' of the film who survived where no human couldn't. And hence followed the theories.

"Maybe they're not humans." Fox offered.

"Yeah because Mutant aliens from outer space do exist." Mike replied sarcastically.

"Well, you saw the size of that field. You could easily land 3 flying sauces side by side comfortably in it."

"4 if you weren't too bothered about scratching paint work." Mike allowed. "Then against it depends how they open. If were talking top open, then yeah. But if they have they fancy side exits with ladders and everything, then that's going to need more room."

"That's assuming Alien's need steps. We don't know sizes."

"Well we have to assume that they made the spacecraft themselves, therefore everything would have to fit comfortably and be of relative size. So technically… they would have to be, well…sort of our size."

"So they could be mutant alien folk then." Fox summarised.

"Well yeah. But they could also be living inside Lukas's brain, because let's face it. We've been on about science-fiction for the last few minutes and he hasn't said a word at all."

"Maybe they crawled in and started eating brain cells." Fox agreed and stopped dead. "We should crack open the piñata and have a look at the candy inside."

Lukas was drawn from his daydream when he noticed both Fox and Mike had stopped theorizing. He stopped and turned back.

"Ah, he returns!" Mike announced. "You back with us man?"

"Sorry. Just thinking." Lukas admitted.

"It better have been about the film, your two best buds and how you'll love us forever, or about your girl. Because if it ain't we'll just ditch you right here." Fox stated. Lukas smiled and they knew the answer.

"So how's it going with you and the chic then? She bit you yet?" Fox asked, slinging an arm over his friend.

"Do you want your friend to die? Don't encourage him." Mike argued.

"To say you tongued a vampire last year you really can't talk man." Fox argued.

"Hey. I didn't know she was a vampire! It's not like they wear badges!"

"Mike. She had her fangs out the entire time she was trying to swallow your tongue. Did you really think she just had big teeth?" Lukas laughed and soon they were all arguing and teasing on the walk from the cinema.

"Fine. The man was only half the size. I still don't see how this helps prove anything." Lukas argued for the third time on the same subject.

"Are you kidding me? It proves everything" Fox disagreed, his arms wide as he made his point. Mike had his hands in his pockets on Lukas's other side.

"No, Fox. It proves nothing." Mike agreed.

"You know what, I hope I'm never being pushed off a cliff, because you lot won't know anything about how to save me!" Fox huffed. Shoving his hands into his pockets to avoid the colder turn the weather had taken.

"Fox. How big you are, won't stop you from falling from a cliff!"

"Size has nothing to do with it." Mike agreed. Then realising what he said they all started laughing. Fox's insanity completely forgotten.

"Hey! Ummm, Guys?" A strange voice called from behind them and they all turned. Two tall men jogged up to them.

"We think we might be lost. We're umm looking for diamond cottage." The dark haired one spoke. They were both clothed identically. Black tracksuits, with hoods. Their hands in their pockets, pale skin showing. Both seemed to have moles on each hand. Some cult or something; these were not just lost travellers. Lukas took a step back, grabbing a hand on each of his friends and pulling them back with him. He put his friends behind him and reached out with his mind. It took a few seconds but he got the picture. Literally.

"Run!" he told Mike and Fox then with a kick to the blonde man's shins he took off himself. The boys took as many turns as they could, trying to evade the men. A van screeched its tyres and blocked off their path. They each spun on their heels but were met with an entire blockade of human bodies all in black tracksuits.

"Lukas, what the fuck is happening?" Mike asked.

"The second you get a chance. Run back, both of you, and find my dad. Tell him the Fellowship is here. Okay?" He didn't give them a chance to respond before the first of the men came forward.

Sookie and Eric were speeding from the cinema down the usual path Lukas took to get home. His scent was feint, barely able to pick him up. Then they came to a fork. The trees gave no secrets and both paths led home. One led past Fox's home first. The other: Mike's. Which had they taken? There was no smell left here. It had been mixed with so many others. Eric looked at Sookie and nodded right. Sookie gave one short nod in agreement and set off full speed down the right path. Eric doing the same with the left. Pam was at their house, in case he came home. Claudine also awake and waiting. Grace was at her own home; it was closer to the cinema and if they thought they were being followed they would go there. Jessica was at her apartment, just in case he went there. Sookie raced, her kitten heels slapping against the stones, she couldn't stop, her muscles burned, but she couldn't stop. The longer she waited, the further her son could be taken. Her feet stopped suddenly and she slipped a little from the sudden halt in momentum. Blood. She changed direction into the trees, jumping logs, roots and twigs. A road was on the other side, but it was barely seen through all the green. There was little light for humans as well. She recognised the blood, but it wasn't her son. That much she knew. She half thought she should just leave, turn back and continue down the road. It wasn't her son. But she knew the blood, not from taste, but smell. It was someone familiar. Sookie panicked for a second, not knowing what to do. If she helped this person, would she loose her son? She ran her fingers through her hair, no idea what to do. Finally she ran toward the blood. She would see they were alright whoever they were and then call an ambulance or something and continue on. But her plan changed as she saw the injured. He was breathing… barely.

Covered in blood. Everywhere.

"God. Fox." she exclaimed and fell to her knees beside him. Her vampire eyes saw the blood that had soaked his shirt through. Her nose found the source, where the blood was most concentrated. She gasped. He was shot. Three times. Who does this to a boy? "Fox. Oh God Fox. Tell me you can hear me!" she wrapped her fingers around his, hoping he could just squeeze her fingers. No. Nothing. The sound of his heart took over her hearing. Slow, thick and dying off. Sookie bit into her wrist and cradled the boys head putting her wrist to his mouth.

"Drink. Please Fox. Drink" she pleaded and finally she felt her blood flow more freely as he started to suck. As he drank she rested his head on her knee her free hand poised over his wounds. The bullets needed to come out. They wouldn't push themselves out.

"I'm sorry Fox, this is going to hurt." She closed her eyes, blood trickling down her cheeks as her fingernails dove into his wounds and fished out the bullets. All wooden. Someone came with the intention of killing vampires. Fellowship.

Eric felt the major shift in Sookie's mood and sprinted to finish his own route and looped back to meet where she had stopped in a record time, if one had ever been set. He found her covered in blood. Some hers. Some Fox's.

"You gave him your blood." he stated.

"Eric, he was dying." Eric said nothing, he just nodded and put the boy over his shoulder. Leading the way out of the hell and dropped the boy at Grace's with Sookie. Eric went back out to continue looking.

"He's angry you gave your blood." Grace spoke as soon as Eric left.

"What was I meant to do? Leave him to die?" Sookie hissed, and sat on the floor beside the couch where Fox lay unmoving. His heart was still beating and he hadn't lost enough blood, nor had she given so much as to turn him. He would still be human. Just a little super enhanced for a while.

"One could argue death is a part of humanity. Everybody dies. Despite how undeserving they are." Grace answered. But Sookie could tell from her tone that she didn't think that, she was just trying to figure out Eric. Especially after what Grace had been through in her once free country. She of all people knew about wanting people to not die, including vampires. She had seen too much death for her own liking. It had ruined her, some would say. Sookie would stand with them. The only confidence she had was within her magic's, which was why she was lighting candles on the desk.

"This is not how Fox dies. He'll die of extremely old age, married to some sweetie pie who bakes for him everyday and entertains his strange quirks with a smile. But not like this. And that's not why Eric's upset."

"You know?" Grace asked.

"The dreams." Sookie simply said. "It's bad enough for Fox now. But with my blood in his system, he might not leave me alone for a long while. I think it scares Eric a little. That other people are thinking about me like that. As far as he's concerned, he's the only one allowed to do as such."

"Makes sense. He always does carry a possessive vibe when around you." Grace admitted and sat, holding another candle and whispered in Latin. Then she fell silent.

"Finished?" Sookie asked, expecting Fox to have just suddenly woken up.

"All I can do. Just don't blow out the candles." Grace sighed and sat on the floor next to Sookie.

"Can I ask why?" Sookie asked.

"You can." Grace smoothed down her dress. "It's because I'm vampire."

"I still don't understand." Grace smiled at Sookie's confusion and apologised.

"You won't find a lot of vampire witches Sookie, and it's for a good reason. When you first start as a witch, you have to use the power within you. To use your own life force to stir magic's, which is why you start off with small things like floating pens. Easy things. Then, as you advance you start to mix elements with your own life to control fire, or water, or even the air. If you manage to control them, you can become able to rely entirely on the elements and not have to draw from your own life force. It's very rare witches can do this. You need perfect control, calm and grace." She smiled. "But when you turn vampire, you have no inner power. No life force running through you. This means you can't start witch craft, and you cannot perform magic without replying completely on a power source outside yourself. I had managed to advance in magic's before I was turned and I could draw energy solely from elements which allowed me to continue my magic as a vampire. It greatly increases your power though. Your body becomes an empty vessel which the magic can run through, which amplifies it and gives it more power. As long as you have a power source for it to start from." she nodded to the candles. "I like fire." Grace commented. "It's full of power and if you use it with candles, it smells nice."

Sookie smiled.

"You must have started to learn magic early then." she noted.

"My mother believed it would help her heal, when she was ill. So this one day this woman came by and healed her with magic's. That's when I was first interested and I wanted to have the power to stop people from dying. To save the ones I loved. In trade for my work with her, she taught me a few things. She had other friends she passed me around. They were all very wealthy and all had different things to teach me. I was eager to learn. I took in everything they told me. I wanted to see my mother again though. Once I had paid for my learning with hard work and plain slavery they allowed me home. I had one day with my mother. One great day showing her all I had learnt. The special things. Then that night, something came towards us and attacked. My mother was already weak and could put up no fight. She died quickly. My sister was next. But the woman stopped by me. She was seductively sweet and told me she had followed me for a long while. She took me as her meal and student. She forced me into darker magic's ones that didn't help, but hurt people. She told me I would live if I carried on learning. But the moment I could draw from the elements she sank in her teeth and forced her blood down my throat. Promising me eternal greatness. A couple of hundred years later we were in Salem causing a great fuss. I sold her out to the mayor in thanks for her decision to turn me. Then I watched in glee as town folk danced around her burning body. The smell of charred flesh was sweet with freedom. She didn't even seen annoyed when she saw me in the crowd doing nothing to save her. I suppose now that she saw it coming. She must have known that whenever the opportunity arose I would take that smallest chance to be free of her."

"Grace…" Sookie sympathised.

"To be honest, she wasn't that bad. She taught me well. Treated me with care. I was so special to her. So fragile and delicate. But I held a grudge deep in my heart and swore by my mother's bloodied body that I would have my vengeance. I wouldn't have been free until I could let go of that image of mother bloodied and defeated."

A groan came from the couch and Fox's eyes opened.

"Speaking of bloodied and defeated." Grace whispered and went to fetch a cloth to remove the blood from Fox. It didn't really seem that important when he was on the verge of death.

"Hey. Fox. How you feeling?" Sookie asked. Fox breathed heavily and scanned down his body.

"I think I'm dead." he whispered and patted down his chest finding the shirt wet and bloodied. "Or maybe not. Ma'am always said the afterlife was a clean place."

"You're not dead Fox. You did get shot 3 times."

"And I'm alive?" he spoke wondrously. "Am I an alien mutant?"

"What?" Sookie blinked, maybe the spell screwed up his head a little too.

"Never mind." He shook his head. "How exactly am I alive? Shouldn't I be dead if I got shot 3 times?"

"Yeah. But I healed you."

"One hell of a doctor you must be." he commented and shifted to sit up then crippled again, one hand across his ribs where a bullet had shot into. "Yep. I'm most definitely alive."

"Fox, you can't tell anyone, but vampire blood heals. It has some other side effects as well. But this is a very important secret. And you will be taken to your grave by telling people."

"Not even Lukas and Mike?" Friend solidarity is hard to overcome.

"Lukas will already know, and if Mike saw you get shot he might have to be told. But no-one else." Sookie rested a hand to his. "Fox. I'm going to need to know what happened. Where are the boys? And who shot you?"

Fox leant back on the sofa and accepted the wet cloth to wash off some blood. Grace then sat in an armchair and started a whisper quiet chant again. The flames flickering gently in response.

"The fellowship. They came at us. Chased us and blocked us into an alley. Lukas told us to run, to find Mr Northman and tell him it was the fellowship. But we didn't get the chance. They took us down easily, bound our wrists, ankles and gagged us, then shoved us into a van. Most of the men scattered to their own cars but some stayed in the back with us. Lukas kicked one unconscious, and with the others distracted trying to pin him, me and Mike kicked open the back door. We sliced the ankle ties on some broken metal and started to run for it. They followed and Lukas was making his way out behind us. But then they came again. Like magic, out of nowhere, there were millions. They caught Mike and Lukas and threw them back into the van and then drove. I'd got too far away or something, but this man found me, knocked me down into the trees and then shot me. Saying he was tying up loose ends. I tried to help, to go back for them. I don't even know where they were taking them." Tears were rolling in hot streaks down his cheeks before he had even finished and Grace stood. One Latin word more and the boy fell back down, unconscious.

"He needs to sleep. His body won't mend if he doesn't. Go find Eric and your boy. I'll keep Fox safe. I promise."

Sookie nodded and was out the door, calling Eric as she flew to where she had found Fox to retrace his steps.