Disclaimer: I don't own the Southern Vampires. Sole copyright belongs to Charlaine Harris. Most of the characters are Charlaine Harris's... but some are mine! All the mistakes are my own.

A/N: Keep in mind when you read this chapter that up to this point Eric has kept Hunter completely out of the loop and he has no idea what the background on Sookie's disappearance is. Now...on with the show!

Chapter Eleven :

Hunter

I stomped out of the bedroom extremely pissed off at my Uncle Eric and Redin. 'What a bunch of assholes.' I thought to myself as I stormed back to my own room. I was not going to just sit here and wait. It seemed the Monster Squad was otherwise occupied and I knew if I was going to sneak out, now would be a good time.

While I was stuck in my room earlier, I had been spending my time coming up with a plan. I had met some powerful individuals when I spent time in the Otherlands and I have grown up around some of the most powerful and cunning Vampires and Shifters within the Kingdom. I'm no slouch and I may be young, but I have been training for years and I have picked up a few things here and there.

When I got back to my room I went straight to my closet. On the top shelf sat a plain black duffel bag and I grabbed it. It was filled with things that I would need if I ever had to run. It was part of one of my Uncle Eric's "Oh shit" plans, of which of course, he had several. I had never taken anything out of it, it was for emergencies only and I knew all too well how quickly those could come up, and this I definitely deemed an emergency. I set the bag down on my bed and opened it. It had been a while since I last took a peak and I rummaged through it quickly looking for anything that might help me.

I disregarded most of it promptly. I had no need for fake ID's or passports, and the hair dye and change of clothing were useless to me. I did however pull out the four stacks of cash, each still wrapped with the paper bands the banks use to indicated each stack held five thousand dollars. I knew Supes do things in exchange for two things, favors or money, so it might just come in handy. I then extricated one of the disposable cell phones which I knew I would need, since I gave Redin mine. I flipped open the phone and dialed Mason. I needed a ride and I knew he would help.

"Yeah?" Mason answered on the third ring, his voice was gruff and it sounded like I woke him up.

"Dude, I need you to pick me up." I said in a rush. I was still digging through the duffel bag and I pulled out a silver knife, some silver pepper spray, a squirt-gun filled with lemon juice, and a Glock 9mm handgun that was loaded with silver tipped bullets.

"Hunt? What's up?" Mason asked, it sounded like he was more awake now. 'Good.'

"I need a ride. Sookie's in trouble and I can't just sit here and do nothing." I replied. I tucked the 9mm in my pants at the small of my back and covered it with my shirt. I grabbed up the back pack that I used for school, dumped the contents on my bed, then filled it with the items I was taking with me.

"Shouldn't you let Eric handle this?" Mason was beginning to sound anxious.

"Look, if you don't want to help, let me know now. I don't have time for this shit. I need to get to the crossroads." I said letting the irritation leak into my voice.

"No man, it's cool. How are we going to do this?"

"Meet me at the corner of Saddle Drive and Light Stone Way. I will come to you." Those were the nearest cross streets to the plantation, but they were far enough away that the guards would not see us from the guard station that sat at the entrance to the property.

"How do you plan to get out?" Mason asked.

"Let me worry about that. You just get your ass here A S A P." I said and hung up the phone. I threw the bag over my shoulder and made my way to the door of my room. I knew there was a hidden passageway in the wall just down the hall. The passageway held a small staircase that lead down two stories to a corridor that extended the length of the building, running under the house and ending about fifty feet from the property line into the woods. It would only be a few minutes jog to get to the place I was meeting Mason from there.

I knew I needed to take off now, but as I cracked open my door slowly, I heard voices. I ducked back into my room listening intently. It was three Vampires, I could tell by their brain signatures. If I wasn't in such a hurry I would have checked the hallway first before opening the door. 'Stupid. Stupid.' I thought furiously. I prayed they didn't hear me and fortunately they didn't seem to.

"Master, you should stay calm. Northman will not take kindly to a confrontation, especially if he is dealing with the loss of the boy. I am sure that is why he has kept you waiting." One of the voices said it was hushed and urgent sounding. The vamp was clearly tense. 'What the fuck did he mean? "the loss of the boy" ' I was straining to hear but they were getting closer to passing my door.

"Do I have to remind you of your place Anton!" Another voice said and this guy was pissed off. "I am a fucking KING! I will not be kept waiting. The boy being taken should have had Eric and Sookie springing into action already! The thought of what's could be happening to my Abbey Lynne, while I sit here idle, is too much to bear!"

"He will save them both and if he doesn't, at least you will still get Abbey back in one piece, Your Majesty. Turik assured me if we helped him get the boy, Abbey would be returned safely. It's a win, win Master, I assure you." the vampire said as I heard them walk past my room. I didn't move or even breath. I didn't want to be discovered listening.

"Shut the fuck up before someone hears us." the King spat as I listened to them moved farther away from my door. I waited a moment, following their passing brain signatures, making sure they were gone and I cracked open the door again.

I didn't see anyone in the hallway so I exited my room, closing the door behind me as quietly as I could. I crept as silently as I could down the hall, in the opposite direction that the passing vampires had gone, and made it to the passageway entrance. I turned the sconce to the left of the dark wood panel and the wall panel slid silently to the side revealing the entrance to the old wooden spiral staircase. I entered and turned to the left pushing a button on the wall just inside that closed the panel back up. It slid as silently back into place as it had opened and I made my way down the stairs. When I got to the bottom, I turned to my right and entered the corridor. It was made entirely of concrete and small emergency lights lined the ceiling every fifteen to twenty feet or so. They were not bright but they lit the long corridor enough that I could walk comfortably without having to worry about not being able to see where I was going.

I made my way hastily through the corridor, which had a slight upward grade and brought you closer to the surface. I saw the door that led to the room that rested underneath a small hunting shack that sat in the woods just outside of our property. I typed in the code to the security door and gained entrance, or should I say exit. The room was very small, more of a closet size, only about five foot by five foot and a ladder was bolted to the wall leading up to a trap door in the floor above. If someone stumbled on the little shack, they would think it was just some dilapidated old building that had not been used in many years, but that was the point though, wasn't it, to be inconspicuous.

I made my way up the ladder and into the shack. I dropped the trap door back into place and it seamlessly blended in. I moved as fast as I could, leaving the shack and making my way through the woods. I got to the place I was meeting Mason and I stood in the dark shadows of the woods waiting for him to arrive. I knew if he left right after my call, then he should be here any minute.

I shifted back and forth impatiently as I waited and used the time to think over what I had overheard back at the house. The Vampires that were staying with us were trying to get a girl named Abbey Lynne back. I knew now that the same people who took Lynne were the same ones that took my Aunt Sookie. I couldn't help but wonder if this Abbey Lynne and my Lynne were one and the same. I guessed it was possible. I kinda held onto the hope that if I found my Aunt Sookie, I would find my Lynne as well. I would need help, that's for sure, but I figured that if I used my new gift I might just be able to take on a Vampire myself...and win.

Mason showed up a few minutes later and I put my thoughts on hold while I raced over to the jeep and hopped in. Mason spoke as soon as I closed the door. "What the hell is going on Hunt?"

"Everything is so fucked up." I dropped my head in my hands. I was so tired and I had lost count as to how long ago it had been that I had slept. 'This is a nightmare.'

"Yeah, I got that." Mason laughed and I yanked my head up to look at him. He was always so laid back. Everyone around me was always so dire, serious. Everything was all life and death, but Mason was more the glass is half full type of person, and I liked that about him.

"To make a long story short, Aunt Sookie was kidnapped and Uncle Eric went ballistic. He and Redin tried to kill each other and I blew up at them. I decided not to wait for them to get their heads out of their asses and I am going to look for her myself. Lynne was taken by the same people that took Aunt Sookie, so I figure, I will kill two birds with one stone and save them both." Well that was the plan anyway. I figured I would go to the Otherlands and talk to Tuma by myself and then I might pay the Fairy Tania a visit. Okay, this probably wasn't the best plan but it was the best I could come up with.

"Shit...sounds like you've had a long night." Mason said and then he played with the dial on the radio for a minute before settling on the local alternative station. They were playing Headstrong by Trapt and Mason and I bobbed our heads as we sped down the road towards the crossroads.

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Sookie

I knew I had to think quickly, Drazan looked murderous, his hand twisted in my hair, and the knife was pressed right to my throat. My adrenalin was pumping and I reached out with my soul, I was surprised I was able to do it. I had been unable to use my Shaman powers earlier, but I had some sleep, and I had hoped that the loss was temporary due to my soul being out of my body for so long. I was too weak to do any real damage to Drazan's soul, but I thought if I could calm him I might just might be able to sway him my way. "I'm not your enemy." I said in a cool calm voice. Drazan's soul was torn to shreds, fishers ran threw it like cracks through glass. I wrapped my soul around his to sooth him, the effect was almost always one of calm. It would bring on the feeling of serenity to the one I was doing it do. When I had tried this on Eric he had told me it was like being wrapped in a warm blanket of tranquility, which he found hard to resist. I had picked up this little trick from Noz when we shared a body, and to this day, I still hold some of his memories.

I watched the wave of peace come over him and I searched his face for some further sign that this was working but he became utterly still for a moment, then he made a strange sound, not like a growl, more like a tuning fork that has just been struck. I continued, "I am nothing more than a small town girl who happens to have a little fairy blood, but Sargon is dangerous, ruthless, and he can't be trusted. I saw how he acted towards you upstairs, he thinks of you as a slave, a servant to his will. He obviously doesn't plan to keep you, since he hasn't turned you. Release me, let me out. I can take him out. You would be free."

Drazan's face became stone and could tell I was losing him.I pulled back my soul. 'FUCK! It's now or never.' I thought as I grabbed the hand that held the knife and I struggled to push it toward him and away from me. My sudden attack startled him and a look of disbelief cross his face before I saw anger flash in his eyes. He pushed back at me, but my hands were tight on his wrist and I did what any woman would in a situation where a man is physically threatening her, I kneed him in the balls as hard as I could. I took a small step back releasing my hold on his wrists, and as he involuntarily bent to grasp himself, I grabbed his head and drove it into my knee. It hurt like a son of a bitch, but I needed to move swiftly. Drazan moaned as he dropped and the knife clattered to the floor. I scrambled over to get it when he reached out to me with one hand and grabbed a hold of my ankle, the blow to the head should have knocked him out and I didn't see it coming.

He yanked at my ankle and I fell to the floor onto my knees. My right knee, that was already aching from the blow I gave to Drazan's fore head, gave a sharp pang. I cringed from the pain and kicked at him with my other foot hitting him in the face several times before he released me. When I reached again for the knife and this time, I got it. I whirled around sliding onto my behind, holding the knife out in front of me. The dress I was wearing was making it hard to move agilely. I rolled to my side then pushed up trying not to put weight on my right leg. I stood up as quickly as I could manage. He was whispering something over and over in a language that I didn't recognize while he began pushing himself off the ground. I could smell the magic in the room become thick and a high pitched ring began in my head. It was persistent like the sound of a fire alarm but seemed to continue to ratchet up in volume as he chanted. It was a strain to remain focused, and I knew I had to move now before I could not take the pain the sound was causing in my head. Just as Drazan was almost to his feet, I leapt at him, my force causing him to fall onto his back, cracking his head on the hard stone ground, and the sound in my head came to an abrupt stop. I straddled him and held the knife to his throat and let the blade slide in just enough to let him know I was serious.

"Remove…these…bindings…NOW." I commanded. "or I will...slit you... from ear...to ear." I was panting and gasping as I spoke, digging the knife just a little deeper and staring into his eyes intently.

Drazan looked dazed and started to say something but I cut him off. "I'll have your throat cut open and your blooded spilled on the floor faster than you can blink if I think you are trying to spell me again. NOW RELEASE ME OR FUCKING DIE!"

Drazan grabbed at my waist, in an attempt to flip me on my back and I slipped the knife into his throat. He pushed me off of him and grasp at his throat. I couldn't take my eyes off him as the blood streamed down his neck soaking his black robe and pooling on the floor. He reached for me and grabbed my wrist, I recoiled and ripped my wrist from his weak grasp, the life was fading from his eyes. I was shaking almost uncontrollably as I watched him die. I looked down at my shaking hands they were covered in blood. I turned them over and with a clank the binding on my left wrist fell to the floor. My eyes went wide, as I tried to figure out what had caused it to come off. I replayed the last few horrible moments in my mind, then it came to me. Drazan had grabbed my wrist, his hand was covered in his blood. 'His blood?' My eyes shot open and I crawled over to Drazan's body. I just stared at him a few minutes almost waiting for the horror movie moment when he came back to life and tried to kill me again, but he didn't move. I knew I had to pull myself together. I needed to get off the shackles and get the hell out of here. I dipped one finger into the pool of blood that seemed to be creeping its way across the floor away from his body. I ran my finger over the shackle on my right wrist and it opened up, falling to the floor. 'Why is it always about the blood?' I thought as I repeated the process on my ankles.

When I was free of the shackles I could feel my power coming back to me. I tested this by running electricity across my skin, I could not help but feel relieved and the first thing I did was try to pop out of the room. It didn't work and I cursed, wracking my brain for a plan. I stood and leaned over Drazan's limp form. I pulled the knife from his neck and wiped the blood off the blade on my now stained dress before I leaned over and cut the hoop out of my skirt. I knew it would only be a hindrance. While I did this I thought of my next move.

I just stared at Drazan for a second then thought I better check his body of anything I could use, I really didn't want to do this but I knew I had to. I opened up the front of his black robes, unbuttoning it as quickly as my fingers would allow, when I got them open I was surprised that he was wearing jeans and a tee shirt underneath. 'Huh.' I searched his pockets and found a ring of keys and surprisingly a long lock of hair held together with a bright red ribbon. I was a little astonished but shrugged it off, I didn't have time to think about that. On second thought, I tucked the tied lock of hair into the top of my dress. 'It may come in handy, for what, well who knows, but it must be important for Drazan to be so attached to it.' In the world of magic things weren't always as they appeared.

I needed out of this area. It seemed to be warded against teleportation so I knew if I was going to try again it would have to be from somewhere else. Suddenly, I remembered that the only way out of this room was with a fingerprint and I cringed. I knew I was going to have to do something very unpleasant and my stomach rolled. I just wanted to get this over with and get back home, so I did the only thing I could do, I took Drazan's hand, laid it flat on the floor, and I sliced off his thumb.

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A/N: Well I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you to those of you that have left reviews. They mean more to me than you know.

XOXO