Eric had spent the last two days and nights awake which was why he dismissed the strange prickling at the back of his mind at first. But as the evening wore on and the prickling feeling grew into something more pressing he decided to focus on it.
The moment he did he felt relief flood through him.
Pam was alive.
From what little he could tell she was still hurting and weak, but she was alive and that was all he cared about.
He tried to reassure her and send some of the relief that he was feeling in discovering that she was alive, but he was in so much physical pain now from the silver that it proved difficult. Especially as he was determined not to distress her further by allowing her to feel any of his own pain.
He felt her anxiety levels heighten and realised that he may not have been so successful at screening how he was feeling from her. Pam was always much better at shielding her feelings from him than he was at shielding his from her.
She claimed it was because she was female, he claimed it was because she didn't mind her own business (though when he had suggested that perhaps that amounted to the same thing she had slapped him).
He smiled a little at the memory but made his face carefully blank when he heard the men returning to the basement, there was no way he was going to let them know Pam was alive.
"Well, fanger," said one, "the time has come for you to join blondie."
Eric felt that he couldn't agree more, but decided to hold his tongue.
"Why me?" he asked instead, genuinely curious, as he watched them make their preparations to move him. "Out of all the vampires in the area, why single out me and my child?"
The men looked at each other before looking at him, "Because you're in a position of power amongst the vamps," a second man explained
"And one of the oldest," piped up another.
"So, you're an example," the other man continued, "your child was just a bonus," he added with a shrug.
As they cautiously made their way over to him, afraid of what he might do despite their bravado, Eric contemplated his next course of action. He couldn't let them find out that Pam was alive or they would kill her.
Eric didn't think he was strong enough to survive if she really was taken from him.
He had been prepared to sacrifice himself for his revenge, could he do the same to protect Pam?
Eric felt that he could.
He only hoped she would forgive him and not be stupid enough to try and avenge him.
...
A/N: This may seem a little OOC for Eric, but he has been awake for 48 hours or so and thought Pam was dead during this time, I figure this might have skewed his judgement slightly.