- Author's Note - Wow! Now that's what I'm talking about! Thank you guys SO much for all of the reviews! As a result, here's another Chapter already! Keep up the reviews and I'll do my best to update daily! :)
Bill could've sworn he heard the same screeching roar above them in the night sky, when he and Elena arrived at the Stackhouse home, and he guided his daughter inside, but there was still nothing to see when you turned your eyes upwards.
Once in the safety of the house, Elena peeled off the remains of her burnt clothing, then climbed into the shower. When she came back downstairs, now dressed in black socks, black skinny jeans, and a black sweater, her long silky chocolate brown hair down and in its usual naturally straight state, she found Bill sitting at the table in the kitchen, examining her charred white Merlotte's t-shirt.
She came to a halt in the entranceway and leaned over against the frame, watching her Father. She almost felt like a small child who had done something wrong, and therefor was now awaiting punishment.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Bill finally asked after several moments of silence that seemed to stretch into an eternity, having sensed her presence as soon as she came downstairs.
Elena took in a deep breath, then released it, while she quirked a questioning dark brow over at him. "Would you have believed me?"
Bill laughed softly, before gently shaking his head. "No, probably not, my darling. Even Vampires are not immune to fire. In fact, it's probably one of our greatest weaknesses." He placed his hands, which still held her ruined work uniform, onto the table's top, then turned his blue eyes over onto her. "Is it a common Fae trait?"
"I couldn't tell you," Elena shrugged. "There aren't exactly enough of us left to take a census."
Bill nodded in understanding, falling silence for another moment, before sighing gently, as he rose from his seat at the table. "Well, it's a good thing Eric likes you, as he's going to want answers for this. He's the Sheriff of Area 9, you know."
"No, I didn't," Elena replied. "But it's a good thing I don't answer to the Vampire community."
"Elena, you slaughtered three of our kind," Bill said, his dark brow furrowing, while he approached her, soon coming to a halt in front of her, where he gazed in concern down into her beautiful face. "In cold blood. It's not just Vampires that are going to want answers."
"I guarantee, Father, the Police in this town won't care about what I did," Elena answered. "In fact, after what happened to Adele, Dawn, and Maudette, they'll probably praise me for it. Besides, your three friends came into a Human bar, terrorized Humans, threatened Humans, assaulted Humans. Everyone in there had a motive to go after them."
"Even if you're right, even if, for some reason, no one suspects you, you still displayed your powers tonight in Merlotte's, in front of dozens of the town's occupants," Bill went on. "You can't hide who you are anymore."
"I don't want to," responded Elena, with a gentle shake of her long dark silky head. "Father, you no longer have to pretend to be anything except what you are. If you can use your strength or speed or blood to save someone, you can do it, with no fear of revealing yourself to be a Vampire. But I've had to hide for over 100 years, watch people I love die and suffer, while I know I could have done something about it. No more. There are barely any Fae left. There's never going to be a "Coming Out of the Coffin" for us. I have to do it alone, for myself, for those I care about."
Bill's long unbeating heart ached at the words his daughter spoke, and the expression of pain so evident on her beautiful, beloved face. He hated that she was continuing to suffer in a way he hadn't for a few years now, in that he no longer had to hide who he was, but she did.
Reaching out, he wrapped his cool muscled arms around her, and drew her to him, where he hugged her tightly, soon lifting a pale hand to lovingly cradle the back of her dark silky head.
"All right, my darling," Bill said, while he felt her own slender limbs lift, then lay up the length of his back, as she hugged him in return. "All right."
Elena arrived at Fangtasia an hour later, still clad in the same clothing as before, and now wearing a pair of black combat boots.
"Well, well, well," said Pam, who was standing at the entrance tonight, once more clad in all black, though her hair was down this time, when Elena approached. "Look who's back."
"Hello, Pam," Elena replied, coming to a halt in front of where the Vampire had a red velvet rope across the front door area. "I need to see Eric."
"Of course you do," the female Vampire smiled, reaching out to unclip one side of the rope, to allow the brunette passage. "Go on in, sugar. I'm sure he'll be delighted to see you."
Elena rolled her rich dark chocolate hued eyes, but brushed past Pam as soon as she could, then pushed open the door, and stepped inside the bar, where her gaze immediately fell upon Eric, sitting up on the dais in his throne, just as he'd been the other night. Only tonight he had his phone out.
She watched as a blond girl approached the stage, then asked the Vampire if she could take a photo of him. He put his phone down, extended his fangs, and agreed, while Longshadow stalked the woman only a few inches behind her. As soon as she took it, the bartender took her phone from her hands, then crushed it against the nearest table, declaring no photos were allowed. When the girl objected, saying Eric had agreed she could take it, the Vampire picked up his own phone once more, and grinned, saying he hadn't stated she could keep it. Longshadow chuckled, and the girl immediately took off in fear.
Elena sighed softly, before she began through the crowd, walking directly up to the dais, where she came to a halt only one step away from Eric in his throne.
"You two are hilarious," she stated.
Eric looked up from his phone, and the sight of Elena standing right in front of him caused his grin to fade, while his fangs instantly retracted.
"Elena," he said, as he straightened up from his lounging position in his throne.
"Come on," Elena replied, offering him one of her slender hands, while she shifted slightly in her standing position to do so a bit sideways, as she nodded her long dark silky head in the direction of his office.
A fresh smile lit up Eric's handsome face at her actions and words, and he set his phone down once more on the small table next to his throne, before rising from the chair, reaching out to take up her extended limb with his own much larger limb, and allow her to lead him down off of the dias, then through the crowd, which gazed in shock at the Vampire being led away by a girl they assumed was simply a mere Human, down the hallway, and finally into his office.
"To what do I owe this visit?" Eric asked, turning to face Elena, while she closed the door behind them.
"Three Vampires were killed in Bon Temps tonight," Elena replied, as she moved nearer to him.
"Oh?" Eric inquired, with a quirk of a dark blond brow. "I hadn't heard yet."
"I did it," Elena said.
"What?" Eric asked, unable to help the light chuckle of surprise that escaped him at her words.
"I killed them," Elena explained. "They came to my place of work earlier and terrorized everyone. They also threatened to kill my Boss and nearly took a friend of mine's head off with a piece of a pool stick."
Eric didn't respond, instead taking a moment to absorb this information. Turning, he walked over to his desk, where he perched himself on its front, grasping the edges on either side of himself with his large hands, as he lifted his blue gaze to the beautiful brunette still standing across the room from her.
"That's not why you killed them though, is it?" he asked. "If Vampires were killed every time we came to a Human place of business and incited fear, we'd be extinct already."
"No," Elena replied, as she began to walk over to Eric. "No, that's not really why I killed them. A few years ago, they mauled the man I loved like animals, and left him to die in my arms when I came home."
Eric nodded his long blond head in understanding, even as he felt himself experiencing both jealously toward the man who'd been privileged to be with her, and pain at the knowledge of the horrible experience she'd been forced to live through.
"I'm sorry, Elena," he said to her. "If that's true, then these three Vampires got what they deserved."
Elena's dark brow furrowed, and she gazed across at him in question. "What, that's it? I tell you I killed three of your kind and you're simply fine with it?"
Eric chuckled deeply at her actions, before nodding his blond head at her. "Come here."
Elena paused at this, flicking a glance over him, then began walking toward him once more, continuing until she was right in front of where his long legs were parted, and her chocolate brown eyes met his own ocean blue, as he reached out to take up both of her slender hands with his own much larger limbs. With him sitting on the edge of his desk, she was much closer in height to him, so she was able to look right at him, instead of having to crane her head backwards in order to gaze up into his handsome face.
"Elena," he spoke in his Swedish accented voice, while he held her hands in his like they were the most precious jewels in existence. "I know you don't remember our previous life together. But I would've done anything for you. And that hasn't changed in over a thousand years."
"So, you're just going to let me get away with murder?" Elena asked. Despite his hands being naturally cool, her own limbs felt an indescribable warmth as they were held by them.
Eric chuckled softly once more at her words, before smiling, as he gazed at her as though she was the greatest beauty in all of the World, which, to him, she was, and always had been. "Yes, I am."
"What are friends for, I guess," nodded Elena, before she began to pull away from him, and turn.
"Elena," Eric said, immediately rising to his feet, as he maintained his hold on one of her slender hands, and she stopped to look back up at him. "You know I don't want to be your friend."
"Yes," Elena sighed. "I do. But I can't offer you anything else, Eric." She gently shook her long silky dark head. "Especially after tonight. One of them, one of the Vampires, said something to me, and, at the time, I believed it to be a lie. Just his sorry attempt to keep himself alive. And maybe I still believe it's not true, but I have to find out for sure."
"Does it have to be tonight?" asked Eric. "Can't you at least give me tonight? Then I'll help you, any way I can, to find out what you need to know."
Elena flicked her rich dark chocolate hued eyes over every inch of his handsome face. It was moments like this that she wished she could read Vampires the way she could all others. But, at the same time, she knew she didn't have to read Eric's mind to know he was being sincere.
"All right," she answered after a moment of silence that appeared to stretch into an hour. "Let me go home first. Make sure we'll be alone. Then come over." She quirked a brow up at him, as a smile of joy took over his handsome face. "I assume you know where I live?"
Eric nodded. "Yes, I do."
Elena returned the gesture. Once again, she found herself not really caring about how he knew such a thing, just as she hadn't cared the other night when he'd called her after Adele's funeral.
"I'll see you soon then," Elena said.
Eric smiled at her, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb for a few seconds, before releasing his hold on the limb, and then watching as she left his office.
Elena had convinced Bill she wanted to be alone earlier, which was how she was able to travel to Fangtasia, so the only other Being that was waiting for her back at the house was Tina, Adele's cat, whom she let out to roam free for a while.
She had a six pack of O Negative Tru Blood in the fridge for her Father, and she doubted Eric would drink them, but, as silly as it sounded, she grew up in an era where you always had something ready for a guest.
Elena sat at the kitchen table for a bit, texting friends, most of whom wanted to know how she was doing. Sam said the Police and such had shown up at the house about a half an hour after she and Bill left, but they couldn't have cared less about who was responsible. As she'd guessed, they mostly wanted to praise whoever had taken out the three Vampires.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Elena rose from her seat with her phone in her hand, and was heading upstairs, when there was a knock on the front door, almost exactly as she passed by it.
Looking over from where she was just about to step onto the staircase, she could see Eric's outline through the drawn curtain on the front door, and walked across the foyer to it.
Reaching out, Elena opened the front door, and, sure enough, there on the front porch stood the 1,000 year old Viking Vampire, who smiled in greeting at her, an action she returned, as she found herself genuinely happy to see him.
"Come in," she said, nodding inside with her long dark silky head, while she stepped out of the way to allow him passage upon her invitation.
Eric stepped over the threshold and into the house, lifting his blue eyes to look around, while she closed and locked the front door behind him. "Now, how were you able to do that?"
"The house is in my name now," Elena explained.
"Ah, I see," Eric replied.
"You can look around, if you'd like," Elena offered, gesturing with one of her slender hands. "None of this stuff is mine anyway." Taking in a deep breath, then releasing it, she flicked a glance over what of the home she could see. "I'm still trying to decide what to keep and what to put away in storage, or give to charity."
Looking up at Eric, she found him gazing quietly down at her, so she gently cleared her throat, then nodded at the kitchen. "I have some Tru Bloods in the fridge. But I'm guessing you don't drink them."
"I fed before I came over," Eric said, as he moved into the next room to flick a glance around.
"Oh," Elena replied, and she couldn't believe it, but she actually found herself feeling a kind of protective type of anger toward Eric at the idea of him feeding off of another girl.
"Are you jealous?" asked Eric, as a brilliant smile lit up every last inch of his handsome face, at the sight of the expression on her beautiful one.
"What?" Elena said, her dark brow furrowing, before she gently shook her head. "No, of course not."
"Have you ever been bitten by a Vampire?" Eric inquired, while beginning to stalk toward where she still stood in the foyer.
"Yes," Elena replied, as she titled her head back in order to look up at him as he got closer. "Though it wasn't my choice."
"Well, next time it will be," said Eric, even as he felt a surge of rage toward the Vampire who'd tasted her against her will.
Elena met his gaze for a few seconds, before smiling softly, as she reached out, and took up his nearest large hand. "Come on."
Eric once more allowed her to lead the way, and followed her upstairs to her room, which she guided him into first, before she entered herself. Every part of the living quarters was bathed in her scent, her touch, in her, and he could easily picture himself drowning in it.
"I've been meaning to move into Adele's room," Elena said. "I've had furniture ready in France for years now, for when I was ready to move into my family's house here, but she made me feel so safe here, so at home, I just never left, and now. . . " She flicked her chocolate brown eyes over the room. "Now it's mine."
"Bill Compton is your Father, isn't he?" Eric asked, looking over, as she stepped further into the room.
"Yes," Elena nodded. There was really no point in hiding that anymore either, just like her abilities. "How did you know?"
"I've known Bill for quite a long time," Eric replied. "I've seen all sides of him that exist. But the one I saw of him the other night, when the two of you came into the bar, that was new. That was a Father, not a lover."
"Well, that makes you significantly smarter than everyone I see in this town on a daily basis," Elena sighed. "They all still believe I'm sleeping with him."
"They're Humans," shrugged Eric. "Their range of comprehension tends to only reach so far."
"Well, it's hard to understand what you don't even know exists," Elena said, before she brushed past Eric, and headed over to her bed, which she climbed up onto, then sat Indian style on, before nodding at the item of furniture. "Come on."
Eric smiled, as he walked over to the bed, and sat his tall muscled form down onto it, reaching up while he did so to remove his black leather jacket. Upon seeing this, Elena moved behind him on her knees, and helped him out of it, he had a black long sleeve dress shirt on under it, but nearly half of the buttons on it were undone, revealing a good portion of his powerful chest.
Eric sent her a fresh grin up over his shoulder, seeing her avert her dark gaze away from his body, as she climbed off of the other side of the bed, and walked over to sling his jacket onto the back of her vanity chair.
Returning, Elena flicked her rich brown eyes over him, as she came to a halt a few feet in front of him. Eric sat there, allowing her all the time she wanted to examine him with the orbs of hers that were like endless pools of liquid chocolate. Stepping closer after a moment, she position herself just inside his long parted legs, then reached out, touching the shoulder length blond locks that framed either side of his handsome face.
"You always did like my hair," Eric said after a moment, as he soaked up the feeling of her touching his golden tresses for the first time in over 1,000 years.
"I always seem to like men with long hair too," Elena replied. "Cullen's hair was shoulder length too."
"Is he the man you lost?" inquired Eric, and Elena nodded, as a soft sigh slipped past her lush pink lips. "Tell me about him."
"He was a good man," Elena said, smiling gently. "We met when I was 14 and he was 34. As a result of our age difference, he always called me, "kid". He'd fought in the Civil War, just like Bill. His family owned a tobacco plantation, but it was destroyed in a battle, so he began working on the construction of the railroad."
"Were you married?" Eric asked, quirking his dark blond brow questioningly at her.
"No," Elena laughed softly. "Faes don't really believe in marriage. Or age differences. Or different sexuality. Or even having only one partner, should we find another. To us, age is just a number, gender is just different equipment, and love is love, no matter how many are a part of it. My Mother used to tell me stories about Faes Mating so far as in the dozens hundreds of years ago, when there were many of us. That's what our kind used to call it, when we were with more than one, we were each other's Mates. Not boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, or any of that. All loved all equally, there were no favorites, or preferred. And some did not even have to be intimate with one another, if they had a common Mate. They would just be intimate with that one Fae. Their relationship with the other would be more described as friendship or the love of family members."
"Quite a fascinating race," Eric replied.
"Yes, I suppose we are," Elena said.
"How long until dawn?" asked Elena, as she gazed over at where Eric was standing, looking out her bedroom window, while she sat once more cross legged on her bed.
"Not long," Eric replied, while he held open one side of the curtains with a large hand. "An hour or so." Looking over at her, he smiled, quirking a questioning brow. "Are you going to miss me?"
"Maybe," Elena answered.
Chuckling softly, Eric released his hold on the curtains, and walked over to the bed. "Well, I can come back, once the sun goes down, if you'd like."
"Maybe," Elena repeated. She had to find out if what the Vampire Liam had said about Cullen still being alive was true, before she thought about more time with Eric. "I need to get some sleep for now though."
"May I hold you?" asked Eric, as she began to move to get ready for bed, and his words caused her to halt, then look back up at him. "Just for a little while."
Elena remained silent for a moment, while she thought over his words, before ultimately nodding in agreement. "Okay."
Smiling, Eric moved closer, and fell into a crouch beside her bed, as she swung her legs over it, in order to remove her boots, an action he reached out to do for her, and, once the surprise faded, Elena sat back, allowing him to do so.
While he tossed her boots off to the side, Elena got under the covers, then watched as Eric pulled his dress shirt free of his pants, then undid the cuffs of his sleeves, rolling them up a bit, before he climbed in behind her, laying down on his side, and resting an arm over her slender form.
Elena smiled, then lifted herself up a bit, allowing him to slide his other arm between her and the bedding, before she laid back down, resting her dark silky head on his bicep, rather than the pillow, then cuddling into the blankets, closing her eyes, as she felt Eric stroke the length of her hair for a moment, before wrapping his arm around her, and she found herself pulling her own limb free of the sheets, in order to place it overtop his across her midsection.
She sent Eric a soft smile over her shoulder, an action he returned, before she settled down once more, closing her eyes again, and this time easily drifting off into sleep, enveloped for the first time in years in the safe, loving arms of someone.
