"Russell is not going to be pleased."
Well I could be sure who was behind this now; not that it wasn't basically spelled out before. I listened to their conversation, my head leaning against the couch and my eyes closed. My whole body seemed to be throbbing with pain, but I was able to ignore it pretty well – or at least keep a straight face. I didn't want anyone other than myself to know that all I really wanted to do was curl in a ball and cry until I couldn't even manage to do that anymore. But tears wouldn't get me anywhere.
"Look, he wanted us to get the girl. We got her," Luke said. "She might not have been protected by the fangs, but this wasn't no cakewalk. So what if she's a little banged up? At least she's not dead." Luke was such an optimist.
"He didn't want to waste her blood," the big man replied. "Apparently it's some sort of delicacy." He sounded disgusted. I felt the same way.
I struggled to open my eyes, and then tried to push myself up. The giant man was in front of me in a second, forcing me back down. "Stay there," he said coldly. I thanked the Lord he didn't touch my injured arm.
"I'm getting blood on my couch," I complained. Evelyn had just cleaned the house, and here I was getting it dirty less than twenty-four hours later. Then again, if I had any say in it, the whole place would still be sparkling. I never chose to get beaten up, but it still happened rather often. The giant gave me a funny look. I really didn't like him. He was big enough to make just about everyone think twice about even raising their voice to him, but I knew a Viking who could kick his ass.
After getting over how odd I was, he smirked at me. "That's the least of your problems, lady."
I glared. "Just let me get a chair from my kitchen and I'll sit in here all nice and quiet while ya'll talk about what color bow should be tied around me when you deliver me to Russell." I was lying. I was lying through my teeth and was very well meaning too. Time wasn't going by any faster, and I just couldn't sit here waiting for Evelyn or Bill to come to my rescue. They obviously had wanted to avoid them, and I was sure we'd be leaving my house before the sun set. I had a blood bond with both Bill and Eric – a little fact that always made me feel awkward – so they could track me. There were a lot of complications that came with them tracking me down, though; Russell had the advantage. Plus, I could be dead by the time they found me.
He looked at club girl. "Escort her to the kitchen," he ordered.
She nodded, and walked towards me. The shortness of her dress might be a contributing factor, but I thought she had gorgeous long legs. She reminded me of the dancer Yvette who used to work at Fangtasia. She stood in front of me, kicking my leg lightly with her stiletto-adorned foot. "Let's go," she said.
I could feel the anger clawing at the inside of my stomach. It took me a second to stand up, and she must have gotten impatient because she tried to help me up. I smacked her hand away. "I don't need your help," I snarled.
A wave of soft laughter went through the room, and the club girl's face flushed a deep red. Her hand shot forward and she grabbed my arm despite my protests, and my skin under her hand started to burn. There were no flames, but I saw a faint reddish glow between her palm and my arm. Before I could even start to scream from the pain, the giant man smacked her roughly upside the head. "Don't make her condition worse," he chided. She let go.
Tears brimmed my eyes again, but I blinked them away angrily. I stomped into the kitchen, the click of heels right behind me. At this point I wasn't sure if my left or right arm hurt more. My throbbing jaw was also a good contender. The aftereffects of the burn still clung to my skin, and already it was starting to blister. I grabbed a chair from the table, pulled it out slightly and then left it. I went to the counter, tearing off a piece of a paper towel and running it under cool water in the sink. I clamped it in my fist to wring it out, but then I struggled with actually putting it on my burn. For the first time I tried desperately to move my left arm, to even wiggle a finger. Try as I might, nothing happened. I tried to calm my growing panic with unstable success.
"Let me." Club girl was beside me now, reaching for the damp paper towel that I had failed to get on my arm. Her voice was much softer and I almost thought it was actually friendly. That couldn't be, of course. Friendly people didn't give you second-degree burns.
I gave her what I hoped was a searing look, but I let her take the towel from my hand. She grabbed my wrist gently and held out my arm, placing the towel over my forearm. The contrast between the burned skin and the cold dampness was nice, and the pain instantly started to ebb away. She kept her eyes on what she was doing. "We'll have to keep it covered for about fifteen minutes. It should be covered afterwards. Do you have bandages?"
"Thanks for telling me. I'm so glad that I got burned just so I could learn this valuable piece of information!" I didn't care that she was acting all nice and sincere. I didn't owe her one ounce of politeness. She was here to kidnap me, for God's sake. I was pretty surprised when she actually flinched at my tone, though. I stared at her for a minute, then huffed. "The bathroom in my room," I said finally.
She smiled a bit, which just pissed me off more. I didn't want to be smiled at. I wanted to beat her and her friends over the head with a brick. I wanted to be alone in my own house, or at least have guests that I actually invited. I wanted to not get beaten up and have to drink vampire blood just to heal. Most of all, I didn't want to be a fairy. The whole concept had seemed to be boring to me when I first found out I was part fae. Now I thought of it as more of a curse - a very unfair, horrible curse.
"Let's go," she said, keeping her hand gently cupped around my forearm while steering me out of the kitchen. We had to go back through the living room, and everyone turned to look as we walked in. "Bitch won't stop complaining about her damn arm," she said, "I'm going to clean her up a bit." A few of the males grinned perversely as she spoke, but no one stopped her. I was afraid she was going to tighten her grip on my arm just to make my discomfort seem more real, but the pressure remained light and compared to the other pain I was experiencing hardly noticeable.
I led the way into my bedroom. She sat me down on the edge of my bed, positioning my arm so that the damp cloth wouldn't fall off when she let go. I told her the bandages were behind the mirror, and she walked into the bathroom. Finally being alone, my mind went wild with possible escape routes. Crawling out the window would be the quickest option, as it was very close and there wasn't a gang of demons I would have to go through. But I knew from the warm summer nights that settled on Bon Temps every season that the window practically screamed when it was opened. Not only would it get the attention of little miss short dress, but the rest of the clan as well. Perhaps a more logical choice was my back door. I would have to sneak out of my bedroom and down the hallway, and then open the door without anyone noticing. Thinking about it made it seem just as difficult as going out the window. I frowned, but my inner debate was cut short because the club girl came back, bandages in hand.
She removed the paper towel, which was now stained a sickly yellow that made my stomach churn, and unrolled the bandage. I watched her wrap my arm delicately. "What's your name?" I asked her, keeping my eyes on my arm. I had no personal interest other than I was getting tired of referring to her as the girl who should be in a club.
"Kali," she said. Her voice was indifferent, but not mean. I was starting to notice a pattern here.
"This is a really bad idea, what you're doing, Kali," I told her earnestly. As if she were going to listen to me. I was hurt physically and mentally, and I was pissed off. I admit that I was a little afraid too. Okay, really afraid. I was too proud to just completely lose myself in a frenzy of panic, but my confidence was shaky. Selfishly, I wanted somebody else to feel just as unsure as I did, and Kali was the only one in the room.
Her facial expression didn't change as she continued bandaging. "Really? I would have thought you'd like to have this bandaged up. It won't heal otherwise," she said sarcastically, making it a point to not look at my face.
I rolled my eyes. "Why bother? You and your friends are just going to hand me over to Russell Edgington and he just wants to drain me dry. So I'm going to die anyway. How'd demons even start working for a delusional bastard like him?" I snapped, jerking my arm away from her slightly in response.
She grabbed my wrist with impressive reflexes and kept me from moving. "Sorry, but that's not my problem. He paid us all very well to come and get you. He said it was too dangerous for him to do it himself, and unsurprisingly he found his werewolves unreliable for the task." She was speaking with pride in her tone and it made me sick. "But he made it clear that your blood was not to be spilled. Luke underestimated you. Twice." She sounded kind of amused now. "Since you've obviously bled, we'll probably get a dock in our pay."
Well wasn't that just a pity. "I'm friends with lots of vampires," I told her with a sneer. "Aren't you the least bit afraid of what they're going to do to you when they find out who you all are?"
"Not really," she said calmly, and I visibly deflated. I really sucked at this mind fuckery thing. I was going to have to spend more time with Pam. Or, maybe not. I wasn't interested in picking up that lesbian weirdness that Eric's child practically radiated just because she knew it made me feel awkward. I really wasn't into stuff like that. Kali looked at me curiously. "That old vampire though, where'd you find her at? She's about as old as they get. She'll be a bitch to deal with."
I had to keep back a smile. If the thought of Evelyn even gave her an ounce of discomfort, then I would take it. There was no need to mention that Eve wouldn't hurt a fly. "She's a good friend of mine," I said. There was also no need to mention that I was exaggerating just a bit.
Kali actually looked impressed. "Too bad she just didn't kill Russell from the get-go," she said, tucking in the end of the bandage and standing up.
She had a point. Why hadn't Eve just killed Russell following Talbot's death? It would have saved me a lot of grief as well as everyone else. I wouldn't be in this situation right now if Russell was dead – as in dead dead. I stood up as well, just a bit more cautiously. I heard an engine start outside.
Kali heard it too, and she turned her head towards the door. "It's time to go," she said, grabbing my bicep and dragging me along.
I started to really think about what was going to happen to me. Russell wouldn't waste any time in drinking from me. There would be no Eric to save me (even though I still wasn't truly convinced that was his plan the first time around), nor would Bill be there. My last moments would be in the hands of some psychopathic killer with his fangs buried in my neck. I wouldn't even have the opportunity to say goodbye to anyone that I loved; Jason, Tara, Sam, Bill (though I hated to still admit it). I wasn't sure what category to put Eric and Eve in, but I would miss them too. The hysteria that I had tried so hard to keep at bay overwhelmed me. I didn't want to die, especially in the arms of a sadistic vampire King.
I felt a surge of energy start to rush to my hand, and I quickly broke free of Kali's grasp and set my hand close to her face. There was a flare of light and the demon was sent flying down the hall, knocking into a couple of her companions who had come to see what we were doing. I turned and ran, practically jumping off my porch when I got outside and charging into the woods. It was raining now, as luck would have it, and every now and again you could see the dark clouds light up from the thunder. I was soaked from head to toe by the time I reached the shelter of the trees. This was just a hell of a day.
I heard frantic shouts behind me, and I pushed myself to run faster. I was tired and the pain from my various injuries was returning with a vengeance, but I kept running. Ihad to keep running or else I was going to die. Let me tell you, that was damn good incentive to keep the speed up. I was aiming for Bill's house, because in my frenzy of thoughts that was the decision I had come up with. All other options I had exercised seemed to fail anyway. I would wake Bill up somehow – dammit, I would. I didn't care if I had to stab him with a fork in order to do it, either.
The number of times I went across the cemetery to get to Bill's house was literally uncountable. I could probably get there with my eyes closed if I went the way I usually did. In my desperation to put some distance between my kidnappers and myself I hadn't really paid attention to where I was going. I knew I was traveling in the general direction of his house, but I had never run through the forest before. I just knew that the trees would help worsen disability along with the rain.
I tried to be quiet as I weaved through the trees, sometimes getting so close to them that parts of my body would scrape against the bark. I didn't slow down though. I did realize that I should check in to see how far away the demons were from me. The combination of the rain and the thunder made it impossible to hear their voices if they were even using them. I used my mind, almost tripping over an uprooted tree branch. I could sense them everywhere; behind me, to the left and right, but not in front yet. They were working on it, though. They had figured out where I was going, and were trying to cut me off.
In the middle of a rumble of thunder, there was a scream. I stopped, slamming my back against a tree, and looked around. It sounded a ways off, and it had stopped just as suddenly as it had begun. The thoughts, or intents I guess, of those around me changed. It changed from a slightly panicked need to find me and to get to Bill's house into an absolute frenzy for survival. There were more cries of pain, and when one ended, another seemed to start. It was like some sort of horrific symphony, and I was scared witless.
I was running again, not completely sure who my enemy was now. I tried to find out, using my telepathy, but everything was so scrambled and cluttered that I couldn't get a clear read on anything. For a second, I forgot what the hell I was doing out there. Bill's house, I reminded myself. Get to Bill's house. I wondered what kind of trouble I was going to be dragging with me through the front door.
I let out an audible sigh of relief when I saw Bill's house through the trees. Actually, I felt so good I almost laughed. It was short-lived happiness, though, because I felt a presence behind me and it was too late to react. A hand shot out for my throat, clamping around my neck with alarming strength. I rasped in a breath, wrapping my hands around a white arm trying to lessen the grip. I had no effect whatsoever, of course.
The vampire holding me had a lean build and a pronounced face. He had dark colored hair that was wet and plastered to his head. I imagined I looked fairly similar to him; only I was in a lot more pain and couldn't breathe. "The Queen demands your presence," he said to me. I wanted to kick him, but I was too close to really make it effective. First a King, and now a Queen. There was only one Queen that I knew of, although I've never actually met her. And I had to say that I wasn't really interested in it, either. She was the one who ordered Bill to come to Bon Temps so he could deliver me to her.
I was about to ask him if the Queen preferred me to be dead seeing as that's the direction I was headed in, but I never got the chance. My throat was suddenly freed, and I bent over coughing. I looked in front of me, but the vampire wasn't in front of me anymore. I saw a dark lump lying on the ground. And there was someone else standing over this lump, and I could just make out enough of the facial features to recognize Evelyn. She was grinning at me. I did laugh then, because a wave of certainty over my safety washed over me.