A/N: Thanks again for you guys' comments. They really give me ideas and kind of help me steer the story when I get a little nuts. I know a lot of you have exams and holiday buzz, so I hope this helps you relax a little! Thanks again for reading!! (P.S.: Poor Eric!)

The Runaway

Chapter 10: Already Gone

Eric found her as he had never seen her before. Her eyes black with blood lust and her teeth sunk deep into the throat of a young man in a white button down now drenched in scarlet. Her hands gripped his shoulders against the wall so tightly that he could see the veins and bones flex as she fed. Savage noises that he had never heard from her before - growls and moans - escaped her throat. The body in her hands hung limp against the alley and it was easy to see that he was past saving. Her first kill. It was the point of no return.

Her first kill and she was all alone.

He would have thought that this Damon guy would stick around and take care of her, but now Eric was really going to torture the bastard when he got his hands on him. He took an apprehensive step, careful not to startle her, and paused when she turned her head swiftly to him. With her cheek and chin smeared with blood, he wasn't sure what to feel. He was proud, yet horrified. Worried yet aroused. The smell of blood and Blair was paralyzing.

"Come home with me, Blair."

The body fell to the floor with a thud and she slowly ran the back of her hand across her face, leaving streaks of red against her skin. "I don't think that's going to happen, Eric." The tips of her hair grew stiff as they dried and, in combination with the look in her eyes, she looked wild. "Although I am curious, are you sick of your little toy already?"

She sneered at him with pink-stained teeth and he could tell even without words that she was already planning her escape. Just as she lunged to the right, though, he caught her and had her pinned against the wall by the wrists in a second. "You know better than to leave your messes behind, Blair. I taught you better than that." He watched her struggle against him, her body familiar even if the hostility wasn't. She gave one last push before she gave up, settling for a withering glare instead. At this proximity, Eric finally got a good look at her. Beneath her fair, nearly translucent skin, her spidery veins ran dark. "The bastard. He's been starving you, hasn't he?"

She growled, a noise deep in her throat. "What do you care?"

He released a wrist to run the back of his hand against a blood-stained cheek, his eyes locked to hers just as they used to be when they made love. "You know I-"

The silent, blunt force could have only come from another immortal being and as he fell unconscious, Blair flexed her freed hands. "How was dinner, doll?" Damon held out his hand for her to take, his blue eyes glittering in the lone back alley light. She smiled wryly at him and he wrapped his arm around her small waist, her back still against the wall. He nudged Eric's body aside with the toe of his shoe before planting a big one on her; the blood still tasted fresh on her tongue. "Still hungry?"

She nodded and looked up at him, her teeth bit down on her lower lip. She was his now. "The city awaits." She gave her maker an extra kick, right in his chest, as she jumped away, her new companion's hand swinging in hers.

* * *

It took three hours for Eric to properly dispose of the body they had so carelessly left behind and he had just enough time to slip back into The Palace before the sun rose. Even with the pain in his head and the bruise on his chest, all of his thoughts revolved around her safety. Did she get back before sunrise? Had she been discovered? He ran through all the rookie mistakes she could have made and with each, became even more anxious.

He fell onto the couch in the Bass suite, completely ignoring Bill and several of New York's most influential individuals, and sighed. He had grossly underestimated this Damon and they would have to start their search anew.

"Good to see you're still the same mannerless prick you were this evening." Apparently the gloves were off. Even the blond lapdog was starting to bite. "Did you manage to at least get something useful done?"

Eric groaned, his hand covering his eyes while his feet dangled off the side of the love seat. "I found her, if that's what you mean. I'm guessing that's more than you-"

"Wait, you found her?"

"Well, Eric, where is she?"

"Is she all right?"

Were these people brain-damaged? He expected it from Sookie and the other blonde, but Bill as well? Looking at the two girls, he could only think of eager, excited puppies. He hated puppies. He heard a sigh from the man he nearly threw across the room about twelve hours ago. "How bad was it?"

"What are you talking about, Chuck? He found her! That's good news, right?" It was nearly heartbreaking the way Serena's smile drooped slowly as she realized that there was nothing good about the situation. "...but she isn't here."

Eric sighed. "No, she is not."

Bill took a seat, now somber and unaffected by the ladies' infectious smiles. "What happened?"

It was difficult for Eric to find the right words for the delicate feminine sensibilities and he could hardly predict their reactions. They are human, after all, and prone to over react. So he kept his eyes on his fellow vampire and laid it out plainly. "She killed." The words tasted poisonous around his tongue. She had been so pure and good, even as she sunk her teeth apologetically to the Southern fang bangers who willingly offered themselves to her. He couldn't protect that. "He starved her and she killed."

Serena's pout was matched with her small voice. "She told me she'd never done that before." She reached for the small bite marks on her neck, remembering the sensation and trust...

"She never did." Bill rested his chin on his folded hands as he assessed the situation. He knew how messy a vampire kill could be and he couldn't imagine the pristine little princess getting herself into that sort of dirty work. This Damon character must have been more dangerous than they thought.

"We hunt." Chuck rose from his seat and Eric watched as he straightened out a twisted diamond necklace on display at the mantel. His finger tips lingered on the heart pendant dangling in the middle. "We hunt that bastard down and get her back."

Before falling into an exhaustion-induced sleep, Eric nodded. He couldn't agree more.

* * *

"I'm having so much fuuuuuun!" She spun around the house they had just taken over from their entree (alley prey were for appetizers at best). Her hair was still wet from her shower and beads of water that still held her scent fell on his skin. She was drunk on her binge.

"Didn't I tell you that this would be good? That we would be good?" He turned on the elaborate sound system in the bachelor pad and he lulled momentarily to the jazz that filled the room. "Come here." He held out his hand and was more than pleased when she obliged and twirled herself into his arms.

She swayed, her head tilted back and a nonsensical smile on her face. He was right. There was no way Eric could make her this happy when she knew that Sookie was hanging around. She danced on tip toes with her bare feet hopping from the living room to the kitchen, leaving a damp trail as she went. She gripped his hand and he followed, her spirit infectious as he, too, soaked in the decadent music.

She led him to the bedroom, where the rich bastard had silk sheets covering his bed. Sure beat the hotel they were staying at. Before he could say a word, she was laying on the bed, her eyes trained on him as if they were luring him into a trap. He took a minute to admire the view. "So no more running back to that guy, huh?"

A hint of anger flashed in her eyes before she had her hands behind his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist. She hissed when he grabbed her thigh. With a lazy smile and a quirked eyebrow, she said the words he'd been waiting to hear. "I'm all yours."

* * *

"Drinking before noon. A man after my own heart. It's no wonder Blair chose you out of all the vamps in the world." Eric hardly spared Chuck a glance when he saw the billionaire stroll into the living room kitchen of his penthouse in his bathrobe. In the morning, when things were quiet, they were okay.

He swished the artificial blood around in his bottle before he offered in jest, "blood?"

Maintaining his cool with a wave of his hand, Chuck impressed Eric. "I'm more of a scotch man myself." He watched the ease with which the barely legal New Yorker poured himself a drink. Under different circumstances, perhaps the two of them could have been friends.

That is, if Eric were the type to have friends in the first place.

* * *

Seven days.

Well, more accurately, seven nights.

Damon could no longer deny that he was absolutely infatuated with this girl. She was vivacious in a way he could never rouse from Catherine or Stephen. It was a side of her that he had proudly unleashed. The power without the self-loathing that so often came with the fangs. She enjoyed the hunt as much as he and even shared the spoils on occasion. There was nothing more perfect than the look on her face at the end of the night as she stretched out beside him, sated.

It helped that she shared her bed with him now.

Of course, on occasion, he had been woken by surprise when she brought food home and threw the man on their bed, but that was what he called a delicious surprise. Besides, he couldn't possibly be more shocked than the prey itself. For whatever reason, even when they saw him, the first thing that popped into mind was "threesome."

Humans.

As if he would ever let- as if they were worthy of-

Her skin was soft beneath his hands as he wrapped them around her. The rough part was over now and she no longer fought. Instead, she was like a sweet child with her tempting eyes and pleasing smile. She knew to bat her eyelashes and give sweet kisses when she wanted something and, like every good suitor, he indulged her every whim. She became increasingly bold - her exploits in public places and the way she would unbutton the top few clasps on her dresses made her positively electric in his eyes.

She did own this city, even if the denizens themselves didn't know it. They'd fed in every borough, marked the bars and alleys they had hit in Brooklyn and Queens. The Bronx was a bit too rowdy and animalistic for their tastes. The hunt was always too easy in a place where no one had much to live for.

There it was again - that teasing smile. "What can I do for you now, my dear?"

She rolled herself on top of him, her curves resting perfectly on the planes of his body. "There's a lot you can do for me now." She laughed, a tone deeper than when she had met him. "But I was thinking we could do something a little... different tonight."

He brushed his hands down her sides when she gave a little nip to his chest. He loved her when she was playful. "What did you have in mind?"

"Let's go into the city." He cocked an eyebrow. They had stayed out of Manhattan since she left her maker. "It's time to fish in a bigger pond."

It was telling exactly how much the girl knew him when she rolled her hips at that precise moment in that mind-numbing way of hers - all lip biting and leisurely even as his grip attempted to hold her in place and his breath struggled to remain in control. "Whatever you want," he growled as he rolled them over. He slipped into her with practiced ease. "Whatever you want."

He sealed it with a kiss.