I was frozen to the spot for a moment, panic making me immobile. For a second, I had a wide range of thoughts going through my head. My instincts told me to book it right then and there, to go find Eric or Evelyn or somebody that could help me. Or I could just pretend that nothing was wrong, and keep serving my kidnappers like I had been for almost the entire night. How did I not notice them before? I counted six of them; hardly a bar full, but still quite the extraction team. Apparently Russell was getting tired of waiting around. If Russell was even behind this whole thing - Evelyn had never really elaborated on that. Not that it mattered much right now. I didn't really care who was in charge; I still didn't want to go.
Making myself snap out of my fear, I delivered the tray of food I had to the right table. They weren't demons, but they looked at me oddly when I set their food in front of them, probably because my grin was just a bit too large even for a friendly waitress. I was on my way back towards the kitchen when I was flagged down. Because luck was always on my side, this particular customer was a demon. I hurried over, walking like there were hot coals under my feet. The woman was sitting by herself, and she looked like she belonged in some hot nightclub in Miami. I wasn't even aware that they made clothes like the ones she was wearing. She had some shiny silver mini dress on. The neckline swooped down to her navel. Every male in the bar had looked at her at least once, and she seemed to enjoy the attention.
"What can I get ya?" I asked pleasantly, but my voice cracked a bit. I was still doing my Crazy Sookie grin. I tried not to stare at her (minimal) clothing, so I was staring intently at her face. She had been gifted with a body that belonged on the cover of a magazine, but her facial features were nothing memorable.
"I'll take a salad. Ranch dressing, please," she said, smiling back at me. For someone who was there to kidnap me, she was acting pretty normal. I had to wonder how she was possibly going to be any help to the others while wearing what she was – that dress had so many danger zones I wouldn't even be comfortable with walking on a flat surface if it was on me.
"Coming right up," I said, turning around quickly and almost jogging back to the kitchen. I had made my mind up, but I wasn't very happy with the solution I had come up with. Obviously, the demons were just going to wait until I got off of work – or just jump me when I wasn't looking and drag me out. Either way, I was pretty much a sitting duck at Merlotte's. I needed to get out of there, and hide out somewhere. I thought about Fangtasia, but it was a good drive away and the demons could intercept me at any time. Plus, Eric wouldn't even be there until the sun set. I could go to Bill's, but he wouldn't be awake either. I didn't even know where Evelyn stayed. They obviously already knew where I lived. My only option seemed to be Jason's.
Funnily enough, I gave Terry the order ticket before I snuck out the back door that led to where the employees parked their cars. I ran to my car without much thought, jumping inside and shakily starting the engine. I almost cried when it came to life with a roar that seemed so loud the whole town ought to have heard it. I didn't know if demons had enhanced senses or not, but I was praying that they were extremely deaf.
As it turns out, they weren't.
I watched in my rearview mirror a group of people hurriedly exiting the bar as I pulled out of Merlotte's. I found myself speeding again, and I tapped my hands in a nervous rhythm against the steering wheel. I had to go home before going to Jason's. He was at work, and his house would be locked up. I had an extra key sitting on top of the refrigerator. I could always just drive around town and find him, but I could run into some of my demonic pals in the process. Going straight to Jason's would be safer for him. If I was lucky, the danger would pass by the time he got home. But I knew better than to put that much faith into wishful thinking.
I was cautious when I drove to my house, examining every inch of my yard and what I could see of my house for any disturbances. It looked like the whole clan had gone to intercept me at Merlotte's. I knew I didn't have a lot of time. I left the engine on and the door open, jogging up to my door. Evelyn had replaced my ruined door last night as well. Considering she didn't seem to even own a car, I wondered how the hell she got the thing over here. If I ever saw her again I would really have to ask her.
I ran into my house, grabbing the extra key to Jason's house and shoving it in the pocket of my shorts. Then, I headed into my bedroom so I could grab some clothes. I had a feeling no one was going to let me stay at my house after this. Vampires were so high handed. I grabbed a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, along with my toothbrush. I figured I probably had pajamas of some sort at Jason's, and I wasn't against using his shampoo to take a shower. Plus, I was being pursued by a group of demons – there was no time to be picky.
Holding my items in my arms, I opened the door with a bit of a challenge, and set my stuff in the passenger seat. Looking back now, I should have gotten Jason's keys and left. And I really shouldn't have gone back to lock the house up. It was obvious that locked doors did not deter the demons any. I was acting more out of habit than anything else. I had just stuck the key in the lock when someone grabbed me from behind, putting their hand over my mouth to muffle my scream. I thrashed and clawed at the mysterious arms dragging me back to no avail. I lifted my legs, kicking wildly. My feet slammed against my door, and the two of us stumbled backward. We fell down the steps of my porch, and I connected with the stairs. I landed on my arm, and it gave way under my weight with a crack.
Once I was done falling down the stairs, I was on top of my kidnapper. It was my good pal Luke. Perfect. I scrambled away, crawling back up the steps toward my door. My left arm was completely useless, but I was too scared to even glance at the damage.
I screamed again when a hand clasped around my ankle, and I was dragged backwards. My chin snapped against one of the steps. The force of the hit and now the combined pain of my jaw and arm made me disoriented for a minute. I came to when Luke tried to pick me up, and I went back to fighting. I tried to hit him, but my arms weren't long enough to land a solid punch. Eventually I managed to kick him in the pelvis, and he fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
I got up and bolted for my door, slamming it shut behind me and locking it. I backed away, expecting my new door to be broken down and for the chase to continue. But the door wasn't touched. I wasn't brave enough to look through the peephole. I opened the closet at the bottom of the stairs and pulled out the shotgun that Sam had given me. I tried to lift my arm to hold the barrel, but it wouldn't respond. I wasn't a doctor, but I knew that wasn't a good sign. Tears started to stream down my face, and I cradled the limp limb against my chest. I could taste my blood in my mouth, and I moved my jaw experimentally. Whoa, ouch.
I heard tires on the gravel. Sneaking into the living room, I pushed the curtain aside just enough to peek outside. A big black truck was parked in the middle of my yard. What, could they not even bother to stay on the driveway? They had to ruin my yard too? I watched the club girl jump down from the driver's side of the truck, and a man jumped out from the other side. Pretty soon the rest of them congregated in front of my house, including Luke. I felt mildly proud to see him covered in blood, although I realized most of it was probably mine. He did have an arm going over his rib cage, though, so I concentrated my pride on that little accomplishment.
They were all talking with one another, apparently discussing the best ways to get me. I wondered why they just didn't barge into my house and take me – not that I was complaining. Perhaps they had some code they had to follow, like vampires. Maybe they had to be invited in also? I dejected that idea almost instantly. They had broken into my house with no problems, it seemed. Still, just watching them stand around outside like this was some sort of social gathering was really irritating. I knew I should do something to defend myself, but I had no ideas as to what that might be.
They all turned towards the house and started to walk towards me. I lunged back from the window and ran down the hallway. I went into the spare bedroom right across my room – Gran's old room – and slipped inside the closet. I opened the trap door in the floor, and crawled inside. Bill had made himself a little hidey-hole that he could sleep in so he could stay at my house during the day sometimes. It was too small of a space to even crouch in, so I had to lie on my back. I heard a loud bang and the splintering of wood. I was going to have to get myself another door. At least it wasn't the new one. I shut the trap door and was engulfed in darkness.
I tried to keep my breathing shallow as I listened. I could hear several footsteps, and I guessed that they were searching the house for me. I moved my head a little bit, looking around my hiding spot, but not seeing anything other than black. Bill had really made sure that this thing was light proof. I supposed that was kind of important, but it was pretty good craftsmanship. I tried not to think too much about how I was currently in a hole that a dead guy used to sleep in, or about how me being in the hole was kind of ironic considering I was alive and all. I felt the cold metal of the shotgun's barrel resting against my neck. It was comforting, even though I wasn't going to be able to use it. Jason had taught me a long time ago how to shoot a gun, but I wasn't skilled or strong enough to wield such a weapon one handed. Hell, I could barely handle slicing pork with a butcher knife one handed. Brute strength was not my strong point – pun intended.
Someone walked into the spare bedroom. Letting go of the shotgun, I clamped my hand over my mouth. I really didn't know if they could hear me breathing or not, but I didn't want to do anything to help them. I could hear the floorboards creaking near me, but they retreated in a quick manner and the room was empty again.
I wasn't really sure how long I lay there, and I also wasn't sure how much longer I would have to continue laying there. I couldn't hear anything as far as movement went, so I reached out with my mind. They were still in my house, and there were more than just the ones that had been at the bar. I could pick out Luke's "signature" amongst all the others. That Luke and I, we were really beginning to get to know each other. The next step in our relationship was to exchange phone numbers and meet up for coffee. Maybe that would happen when my arm healed and my head didn't feel like I had just been smacked with a brick.
Someone was yelling now. It was a male voice, but not one that I recognized. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but he wasn't very happy. I imagine that had something to do with me, so I felt rather smug about that. Of course, my pompous mood was deflated when someone reentered the bedroom. I heard things being moved around, and from the sounds of it the spare bed had just been completely overturned – frame and all. So much for Evelyn's cleaning deal. I quickly forgot about that when the closet door was opened, and there were two distinct thumps right above my head. Dust dislodged from the cracks in the board, and I just so happened to be breathing in through my nose right then. I felt a horrifically familiar tickle in my nostrils, and I slammed my hand against my nose so hard that it hurt. Just another addition to the injuries list. At least that one was self-inflicted.
I tried not to breathe, held my nose shut and ground my teeth together, but there was just no stopping it. I muffled the sneeze with my hand, but the damage had been done. Whoever was standing above me jumped at the noise, causing more dust to fall and I closed my eyes to avoid irritation. The feet moved back and a pair of hands briefly rubbed over the floor until they found the latch to the trap door.
I was roughly yanked out of my hiding spot. I had planned on going quietly, because quite frankly I was tired and wanted to reserve a bit of my strength for when I would really need it. But one of those giant hands grasped my left shoulder, and the pain made me cry out. The agony turned into adrenaline, and I started flailing again. The man hit me, and my knees buckled. He grabbed my hair and dragged me down the hallway. I clawed at his hands with my usable arm, digging my nails as deeply into his flesh as I could manage but to no avail. Sometimes, it really sucked to be human.
As I was lugged through my living room like a suitcase, I saw the legs of several other people. I was tossed on my couch, and I managed to turn my body just in time so my left arm was spared any extra pain. My eyes hurt from crying, and I could feel the tearstains drying on my cheeks. I was sure my face was mottled with blood; I could still taste it on my lips. I looked at the big man who had thrown me on the couch. He made me wonder if giants were real. He was taller than Eric, and he had so much muscle I figured his mother must have been pumping him full of steroids since he was on the bottle. I couldn't help but stare at him for a while, even though his back was to me and he was talking to his friends.
Looking to the others, I saw Luke first. He was standing off in the corner, looking ashamed for some reason. Well, good. Hopefully he was suffering severe emotional trauma. I think I would even be happy to hear he had just been diagnosed with cancer at this point. My unchristian thoughts made me feel better, and I sat up a bit straighter. The only other demon I recognized was the club girl, whose dress was riding dangerously far up her thighs. I didn't know the others, but there were a lot more of them than there had been at the bar. Apparently I required reinforcements. I felt pretty good about that, too.
"He's not going to be happy," the man said to his companions, still not facing me. He sounded worried. "We weren't supposed to deliver damaged goods."
Luke threw his hands up in the air. "I tried! She's a feisty little bitch," he complained.
I seemed to have been forgotten. I glanced around at my captors, and then calculated how long it would take me to get out my door, into my car, and drive away to safety. I still had Jason's keys in my pocket. I shifted my weight forward a bit, which attracted the attention of everyone in the room. No one said anything, and there seemed to be some sort of staring contest going on between me and them. I lost. I leaned back again, and they returned to completely ignoring me. Holding my hurt arm close to my side, I glanced at the clock on the wall. My bottom lip trembled for a second. It was another two hours before the sun would set.
