A/N: I would like to thank everyone that reviewed. I really appreciate it. I am glad that you are enjoying the story thus far and hope that you continue to support and care about the characters and what happens as I have in writing about them. Enjoy this latest chapter and please continue to review. Thanks. -Kam

Chapter 11: Taken

3 Days Later

It was difficult for Celeste to open her eyes. She sun shined brightly in her room, scorching her skin with its rays. Her mouth was dry and lips chapped as she tried to swallow past the lump in her throat. Her hand felt heavy and hard as she lifted it up to cover her eyes, slowly and carefully opening them. She looked around the room. What am I doing in a hospital? She sluggishly tried to sit up in the bed and leaned back on her elbows. Celeste took a deep breath as she tried to think of what happened. Why can't I remember anything? She looked at the clock above her bed: 1:47.

"What are you doing awake?" A very familiar voice said next to her left. Her head immediately shot in that direction and her breath caught in her throat.

"Sam? What are you doing here?" She was flabbergasted.

"Sookie called me." He sat down at the foot of the bed and took her hand in his. He exhaled and closed his eyes briefly before looking back at her. "When she told me what happened I got here as soon as I could."

"How long have you been here?" Celeste completely sat up, causing Sam to move closer to her.

"A day and a half." Sam smiled, immediately warming her on the inside. They sat in silence, looking at each other, not knowing what to say. Celeste still couldn't believe that he was there. Sam was an amazing person and cared about her a lot, more than most. She wasn't surprised that he do such an irrational thing and leave his bar with Lafayette and Tara, the two most irresponsible people in the world. She squeezed his hand and took in his features. It hadn't been that long since she last saw him, but it felt like forever. She leaned closer and ran her fingers through his shaggy hair in one slow movement.

"You're really here aren't you?" She still couldn't believe that he was there. The corners of his lips turned up in a faint smile as he combed his fingers through her hair as she just did. "Yeah. I am." His hand moved down to the back of her neck as he slowly and carefully leaned toward her. Celeste could feel his breath on her cheek, the heat sinking deep into a skin. The kiss was gentle and sweet; Sam did not want to hurt her anymore than she already was. He placed his other hand on the small of her back and slowly lowered her down on the bed.

Her eyes shot open and her breathing was course and heavy. Celeste clutched her chest, trying to grasp her pounding heart. It was dark in her room aside from the light that flickered over her bed. "Sam?" She yelled between her rapid breaths but did not see him anywhere. The monitors beeped uncontrollably as it mimicked her heart beat, the sound ringing in her ear like an fire truck siren. There was something covering her mouth and she thrashed and struggled to get it off, it was a oxygen mask. She threw it to the side and looked around the room, her eyes dashing back and forth as her heart throbbed in an agonizing pain and her breathing was heavy and quick. There were countless tubes connected to her and an IV going through one of her arms. She pulled them all out, ignoring the pain that most caused, until she pulled out the IV. She started hyperventilating and groaning as she pulled it out, a torturous pain coursing through her not just from the IV, but from her situation all together.

Celeste threw the dripping IV on the ground as she got up from the hospital bed. Her clothes, neatly folded and pressed, were on the seat next to the bed. She quickly put them on as she looked around the room for a third time. There were no windows, no air vent, no nothing. All there was was a door. She put on her shoes and went to the door, carefully opening it just a crack so she could see. There was nothing, complete darkness. She exited and tried to see through the darkness, but there was nothing. She slowly reached out in front of her, feeling like a blind person, hoping that her hands would press into a wall or something that either meant an end or beginning. She stepped fifteen yards away from the door when she saw a very dim light in front of her. It was very far away, how far she couldn't tell, but as she ran towards it the light got brighter and bigger. Celeste stood in front of another door: it was a regular one that anyone would see when they were about to enter an office or some professional setting. Her hand hesitantly gripped the steel knob, her heart and breathing finally calming and returning to normal. Taking a deep breath, she turned the knob and stepped in in one long stride.

Celeste didn't have a seconds moment to look at her surrounding before a black bag was wrapped around her head. She immediately fought back and screamed until she was hit on the back of the head with something metal and blacked out. Her body slightly twitched as she was thrown into something and taken away.

***

Eric was anxious to see Celeste for the first time in days. Since the procedure he had been forbidden from seeing her, for what reason he did not know, but she was to be discharged. He was happy to see her again and had a few things planned out for her so that she could make a proper recovery. However, there was a part of him that was nagging about what happened. Why did someone try to kill her? Who were they? How did they know her? But there were two things that bothered him more than anything else: how was the perpetrator able to get past her field? And if they knew that she was still alive, would they try to kill her again? All of these and other questions bothered him as he entered the hospital with Bill and Sookie with him. Eric walked quickly towards Celeste's room in the Intensive Care Unit and entered. What he had expected upon arrival was to see her in bed, with a tray of disgusting food and a remote to her television in hand. He had expected to see her looking at the television then place her attention on him at the sight of him with a smile that would give him all the affirmation he needed to believe that she was okay. However, it was no how he expected it: the bed was empty and made. There was no evidence of Celeste's presence anywhere.

"Is she not there?" Sookie asked trying to see past him.

"No. She was probably moved." He quickly went back to the front desk and asked a nurse of her whereabouts. She checked her computer for a few minutes and waited for a moment.

"What is your name?" She asked Eric.

"Eric Northman."

"Okay Mr. Northman, please excuse me for a second." The nurse said and went to a doctors office behind the front desk. She had a distraught expression on her face and spoke to the doctor quickly. She returned to the computer, the doctor hovering over her as she checked it again.

"Is there something wrong?" Bill asked. The nurse straitened in her seat and the doctor looked from the computer to Bill, Sookie, and Eric.

"I am sorry Mr. Northman but we have no record of a Celeste Monroe being treated here." Said the doctor.

"How is that possible? She has been here for nearly a week." Eric protested.

"I'm sorry, but is it possible you got this hospital confused with another? Probably one she is being treated at?"

"No! We have been here before and she was being treated here." Eric struggled to keep his composure.

"Well what was she being treated for?"

"She was shot, in the back." Bill said. The doctor told the nurse to look for her by case file, she did so diligently but shook her head when she found nothing.

"We have no record of her. You probably got us confused with another hospital." He said.

"We did not get confused. She was here." Eric gritted his teeth.

"If you are so sure than can you recall the name of the doctor that treated her?"

"Yes. A Dr. Jennings."

"Dr. Jennings? We have no physician by that name here." The doctor grabbed a clipboard from a nurse behind him and shared words for a moment. He looked at the board and flipped through a few pages before turning his attention back to Eric.

"That is impossible. We saw the woman ourselves. We watched her take Celeste away." Eric argued.

"Mr. Northman I am the head director of his hospital. I decided which physicians are allowed to work here and I am very close to all that I have hired. There is Dr. Jennings at this hospital." He said sternly.

"That is bullshit!" Eric slammed his hand on the counter, cracking it slightly. "We saw her, both of them damnit!"

"Mr. Northman I suggest you control yourself before I call security on you. I am sorry but there is no record of a Celeste Monroe or a Dr. Jennings. If you would like I could have a nurse call hospitals in this area and ask about both of them but other then that there is nothing else we can do. Now if you excuse me I must go tend to one of my patients." The doctor said, bringing the conversation to a strict and harsh conclusion. Eric combed his fingers through his hair in complete frustration and left the hospital, Bill and Sookie following briskly behind. He took a moment to regain his composure and paced at the entrance of the hospital.

"Eric what are we going to do?" Sookie asked.

"I don't know." He stopped in front of them and crossed his arms over his chest as he started thinking out loud. "We brought Celeste here and she was taken care of by Dr. Jennings."

"You went to her office. What did she talk to you about?" Bill asked abruptly.

"She told me there was another treatment we could use that wouldn't damage Celeste. She was going to use "our" blood," Eric hinted to Bill, which he immediately registered as vampire blood. "She was going to use it to treat Celeste and said it would take a while. She asked me if I wanted to buy some but I told her I would provide her with my own. She already knew that I was . . . one and didn't mind at all."

"I haven't been to that many hospitals but I know that doesn't sound right." Sookie exclaimed.

"No, it doesn't. She had V and she knew I was one." Eric looked at the hospital. "This is not a regular hospital."

"Where do you think they get it?" Bill wondered.

"I don't know. But I get the feeling if we find out it might help us find Celeste." Eric thought intently about the situation, starting from the beginning. He remembered acting strange when they first arrived and leaving the burlesque club when he lost her. He also recalled her sudden disappearance at the hotel and then the argument and then her leaving and getting shot. The more the thought about it he knew something was very wrong. Celeste didn't argue with him because she was mad at him, something was bothering her before that and he believed it had something to do with what was going on at the hospital. "The hospital has no record of her." He said. "But we brought her here and met the doctor."

"But they still have no record of her." Sookie said confused.

"That means somebody doesn't want anybody to know that she was here. Even if she discharged herself there would be a record, but since there is none and she's not here, it could be possible that someone took her, and they don't want us to find her." All three of them took a deep breath, thinking about the possibility that such a thing could happen.

"How is that possible though?" Sookie looked from Bill to Eric. "Celeste has her field."

"They shot her Sookie, it was probably easier for them to take her." Bill replied.

"Maybe even easier to take her while she was in a chemically induced coma." Eric noted. "Whoever took her either had to be non-human or have a weapon of some sort that is able to penetrate her field, which would be impossible since she told me herself that her field is impenetrable."

"What if they have some kind of ability? Like me or Celeste?" Sookie said more to herself than to them.

"Well we will not know until we found out who took her and where she is." Bill said. "We have to start looking for her Eric before something bad happens."

"Something bad already happened. She was taken." Eric looked at the hospital.

***

Sam drummed his fingers on the bar and looked off into the distance, completely zoning out. It had been nearly a week since he last talked to Celeste, and he was getting a little worried that she had no called him or anything. Of course he wanted to call her, but after the stunt he pulled before she left he thought it would be best that she got over it and talk to him when she was ready. He grabbed an ice pack that was next to him and placed it on the side of his head; ever since she left he always had a headache or was running a fever. Sam closed his eyes and probably would have fallen asleep if a crowed of loud people hadn't entered and demanded a drink. He told Tara to take care of them and retired to his office. He closed the door, immediately blocking out the noise and sank into his seat. He laid his head back, the ice pack still on, and closed his eyes. Knock knock knock! The sound of a fist pounding on a door rattled his head. He yelled whoever it was to enter and was surprised to see Terry's head peep in through the door.

"Hey Sam. Are you busy?" He asked.

"No. What's up Terry?" Sam turned around in his chair and set the ice pack on the table. Terry opened the door and entered, closing it behind him. He sat down in one of the seats in front of Sam's desk and locked his fingers together. "What's going on Terry?" Sam asked again.

"Umm . . . I was just wondering if you got any word on Celeste?"

"No." Sam sat back in his seat. "Why you asking?"

"Well I got a call from one of my old army buddies. He works at a hospital in Los Vegas as a nurse with his wife. He told me about a patient there named Celeste. He told me it might be her"

"How would he know about her?"

"I called him before she left, asked him to keep an eye out for her if he heard about her on the news or wound up in the hospital or something."

"And he said Celeste was in the hospital?"

"Yeah, well more or less. I sent him a picture of her by fax and he was positive it was her."

"Well did he tell you what she was doing there?" Sam asked with urgency. It was the first news he had received from Celeste since she left, he was nervous and excited all at once. Terry sucked on his teeth and looked away.

"Yeah . . . about that Sam. If it is our Celeste, I'm not sure if it is our isn't, but if it is, he told me she was shot."

"What?" Sam almost yelled.

"That doesn't mean she's our Celeste. It could be someone else with the same name. At least I hope it is." Terry pressed his lips into a fine line. "I knew I shouldn't have told you." He said under his breath.

"No Terry. I'm glad you did." Sam drummed his fingers on his desk. "Like you said, it might not be our Celeste. Just someone with the same name." But, even though Sam said it, why did he feel that deep down inside he knew he was wrong?

***

Celeste was jerked up and thrown into something. Her vision was blurred, not that it mattered since there was a black bag over her head, hiding her in complete darkness. Her wrists were strapped down roughly and her ankles were as well. Her head rolled left and right as she slowly became conscious, sluggishly resisting the hands that were tieing her down. She struggled to pull her wrists from beneath the bond, cutting off some of the circulation of blood to her hands. Suddenly, the bag was pulled from over her head and a bright light hovered over her, blinding her. She hid her face and squeezed her eyes shut from the light and slowly opened them as they adjusted. She could barely see anything, but heard footsteps and voice around her. Once she could finally open her eyes, she saw very familiar faces surrounding her. She looked down at her bound limbs and saw that she was in a chair. She looked around again, immediately recognizing the room. It was a warehouse like room, very large, very boring. The walls were a clouded grey and large lights dotted the ceiling.

"She's finally awake." Someone said in front of her. She could not see who it was since there were so many people, but took a wild guess that just so happened to be right. Malcolm emerged from the crowed like a demon raising from the darkness, killing everything in its wake. Celeste struggled slightly in her seat. "She finally awake." He grinned and folded his hands in front of him. "You have no idea how much we have missed you Celeste." He smiled as he paced in a circle around her. "Some of us thought you might be dead when we didn't see or hear from you after a while." Malcolm looked at one of the people in the crowed. "But I knew you were alive. You were too good to die. And apparently, you were too good for us." Malcolm stepped behind her and pressed his hands into her shoulders. "What in that pretty little head of yours made you think that you could just leave?" He hissed. He stepped back and slapped the side of her head.

"What made you think I would stay?" She hissed back. Malcolm nodded at someone behind her and before she could do anything a large fist collided with her face, tipping over the chair and plummeted to the ground. Celeste's face struck against concrete and her mouth filled with blood from the blow. She spit some out, her breathing becoming more rapid. Malcolm nodded to another person behind her and the chair was quickly lifted back up, cracking and popping here and there.

"Celeste, you really did bring this upon yourself. If you just did the order that I asked you to then none of this would have happened."

"Bullshit. What you asked me to do was horrible. You knew I wouldn't do it so why did you even bother asking?" She yelled.

"Keep your voice down. We wouldn't want the neighbors to come over and find this. Then you would have killed other innocent people."

"My parents didn't deserve to die. They had nothing to do with this!"

"They were protecting your brother Celeste!" Malcolm punched one of the people next to him without warning out of sheer anger and frustration. "And that's why they died. If you had just killed him they would still be alive. You only have yourself to blame." Silence filled the room. Malcolm took a deep breath and combed his fingers through his hair. "Do you know why I brought you here?" He asked.

"I don't give a fuck," Celeste spit out more blood and looked at him. "why you brought me here."

"Watch your tongue before I have big boy hit your pretty face again . . . . I brought you here because I have forgiven you. That screw up you had is a past memory and I want to look to the future. I have a proposition for you."

"A proposition?" Celeste laughed.

"A good one." Someone behind him handed him a manila folder. He opened it and flipped through it's contents. "There has been some trouble going on in District 8, a group there has been trying to take out the vampire sheriff there under the presidents orders. However, they have been unsuccessful of late and have lost many people. The president now requests our services . . . and by 'our' I mean yours." He grinned.

"I don't do that anymore Malcolm."

"I would send Margo, but because of the incident that happened with you I can no longer trust him with anything. You and Margo are one of a kind, two rather. But you are far more experience than him. Not to mention you can keep a level head." Malcolm stepped in front of Celeste and squatted, his body only a few inches away from her. "I'm giving you a choice here Celeste." He pressed. "You can either do it willingly . . . or I can activate you. And we all know what happens when I do that." There eyes met. "I never had to activate you before Celeste, and honestly, your life is more valuable to me then any of the sons of bitches here. So you have a choice. Do the job for five million in cold hard cash just like old times, or I can force you, and you can get nothing." Malcolm stood up. "It's your choice. You have 24 hours to decide, then I'll send someone to get you, willing or not." He stepped back and nodded at one of the people behind Celeste. Before she could blink she was knocked out and the black bag was placed over her head again.