Chapter 14
Title: Once Upon a December
Summary: At a very young age a vampire attacked Sookie Stackhouse, now she fears all of them, and with good reason. She is a runaway slave, she hopes maybe she's free from all vampires, but then a vampire bar opens up in Shreveport and her best friends drag her there for Arlene's birthday where she meets Eric Northman.
She's terrified and intrigued at the same time, but everything tells her to run except for her heart, her heart keeps pushing her back toward the strangely familiar man, she knows she knows him from somewhere, but where?
Rating: M
Disclaimer: I do not own the Southern Vampire Mysteries series or the characters.
I didn't wake up until noon the next day, and when I woke up it was to the sound of my cell phone ringing. It took me a few minutes to locate it, plugged in on my dresser. I didn't remember plugging it in, though. I picked it up and saw that I had a missed call from Merlottes. I wasn't in a particularly happy mood so I ignored Sam's call, tossing the phone onto my bed before I moved into the bathroom.
After a long shower I pulled on a pair of underwear and my most comfortable bra and went to feed Lupin, who was patiently lying beside the bowl whining, and grabbed a bowl of cereal for myself. After I finished eating I went into the bathroom and dried my hair the rest of the way with my hair dryer. I found a burst of energy and shaved my legs and arm pits, plucked some stray eyebrow hairs and painted my nails.
When I was done it was about 2:30 so I put on a sun dress and took Lupin out for a walk. There was a large lake behind the apartment complex that I circled twice with him, until he started trying to chase the ducks, and then we went back into the apartment, which is when I noticed the green sticky note on my fridge door.
I tried to wake you up last night but you wouldn't wake up. I'm sorry you had such a rough night; I hope my holding you eased some of your terror. I'll see you tonight. –E.
The note made my heart flutter in my chest and I smiled like an idiot at the little green paper, biting down on my lip and blushing like an idiot. I was suddenly really excited to see Eric tonight. There was a second note underneath it, I also plugged in your phone. You left it on the floor. I thought you may end up stepping on it.
I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and carried the sticky notes into my room; I stuck them on the pile of other sticky notes from Eric and closed the drawer with my hip, twisting the lid off of the bottle of water as I went back into the living room.
A knock at the door interrupted the best part of my book an hour later, Lupin jumped up and ran to the door like a good guard dog while I slipped off my couch and walked to the door, casting my net out. From his mind I found he was human and thinking I was taking way to long to get to the door. Scowling I walked just a bit slower, pausing to look into the hallway mirror on impulse. My face was looking better, the bruising almost completely gone. The pain in my body was diminishing too, it was now a dull ache.
I undid the locks, made Lupin sit and pulled open the door to find a sweaty and annoyed UPS driver, "don't ya'll usually just drop the packages?"
"Usually, but this one was a mandatory signature." He replied, holding out the scanner thing. I glanced at the name on the box 'Amanda Hugnkiss' I signed that name and handing him back the scanner, he passed me the large box and walked off with a huff. I picked it up and set it inside, shut and locked the door and carried it to my kitchen table.
I pulled the pocket knife out of my bag in the kitchen chair and cut the package open, it was a gift wrapped box with a letter on top. I took out the letter and opened it pulling out a rather sarcastic birthday cardfrom Pam. I figured UPSing you the package would be easier than trying to get to you before Eric. Wear this tonight. My mind instantly wondered if I was going somewhere with Eric tonight.
I pulled the present out of the brown box and pushed it aside, setting the second box on the table and carefully undoing the wrapping paper. There was another box inside, a shoe box, that held a pair of peach platform heels, and one of the prettiest dresses I'd seen. It was mostly white halter top dress with a red and peach flower pattern, there was also a small box sitting off to the corner that had a sticky note on it with a winking smiley face.
There was a necklace inside that was an exact replica of the vervain necklace that Elena had on the Vampire Diaries. I smiled and laughed at the necklace, while we were setting up for the night we'd been talking and she asked if I watched the show, she'd stumbled upon it on Netflix, and when I said yes we started talking. I mentioned that my telepathy was like vervain without the cute necklace.
Now I had the necklace. I took it out of the box and slipped the chain around my neck, there was a faint smell of jasmine and when I cracked it open I found some night blooming jasmine tucked inside. I smiled and closed it, it rolled down my dress, settling just above the middle of my bra. I carried the dress and shoes into my room and then settled down on my bed and picked up my phone.
I had texts from Tara, Arlene, Sam, Jason, and Lafayette all wishing me a happy birthday. There was a missed call from Gran, which also held a Happy Birthday wish. I texted back thanks to everyone and called Gran back, we talked until 5:30 until she had to go finish up dinner for Jason and his girlfriend.
After we hung up I changed into a better bra and a matching pair of panties before I went into my bathroom. I spent awhile trying to cover up the lingering black bruise under my eye, it took some work but I managed to do so without looking like a Dorito. Afterwards I put on some mascara, eyeliner and a light shimmering eye shadow.
Afterwards I pulled out my curling iron and separated my hair into sections and spent more time than I'd like to admit working on it until it was perfect. Once I was done I pinned a few uncooperative hairs down and then headed into my room where I put some lotion on my legs and arms and picked up my book to continue reading.
At quarter to seven I put on my dress and slip on my heels, I put some lipstick on at the last minute and recheck my hair before going into the living room; I take Lupin out for a quick bathroom break and then head back upstairs. I make sure he's got water and feed the fish their dinner. At 7:30 Eric knocked on my door, Lupin hardly moved when the knock filled the apartment.
I didn't need to cast my net out to know it was him; I could feel it through our bond. I smiled and had to force myself to walk to the door at a leisurely pace, pausing to grab a small peach purse I'd gotten years ago and put my pocket knife, car keys and a mini perfume bottle inside after spritzing some of the perfume on. I picked up my house keys from the table in the hall and then opened the door.
Eric's reaction to me was subtle, but very flattering. His blue eyes widened just slightly and his lips parted in shock before he smirked. He was leaning against the railing with his hands in the pockets of his black slacks, he had one leg crossed over the other and the wind was gently moving the front strands of his hair and making the silky fabric of his red button up ripple across his chest.
"Good evening." He greeted once I'd shut and locked the door. He offered his arm and I took it, "you look lovely tonight."
"Thank you, you look amazing." I told him, biting my lip nervously. He turned his head to smile at me briefly before leading me to his red corvette. He held the door open for me and shut it once I was tucked inside; he was in the driver's seat in a blink.
"It's going to be a lengthy drive, you can turn on the radio if you'd like." I didn't turn it on for the first five minutes, but Eric was oddly silent during the drive so I leaned forward and turned on the radio, spending a few minutes scanning through stations until I found one doing an hour commercial free, but I kept the volume low.
I stared at the window as we drove and tapped my foot along with most songs, but there was something about Royals that I couldn't resist singing, "and we'll never be royals, royals, it don't run in our blood, that kind of lux just ain't for us. We crave a different kind of buzz. Let me be your ruler, ruler, you can call me queen Bee, and baby I'll rule, I'll rule. I'll rule, I'll rule, let me live that fantasy."
I glanced at Eric and he had a small smile on his face, it looked like he was trying not to laugh, "I know I'm not the best singer, sorry." I mumbled. He turned to look at me and chuckled, down shifting as the car suddenly slowed to a stop at a light down a frontage road, he reached over and took my hand in his, bringing it up and kissing the back of it behind setting my hand back in my lap and shifting the car into gear to go.
"I was not laughing at your voice, I'm just glad your comfortable enough around me to sing in front of me." he explained, when the song changed he reached forward and turned it up, and he actually started singing along.
"You listen to pop music?"
"I spend a lot of time listening to a lot of different music." He replied, "Welcome to the new age, to the new age, I'm radioactive, radioactive." I burst into hysteric laughing, trying to blink away the tears building in my eyes as I sucked in deep breaths to calm down a few minutes later. Eric was laughing as he merged onto the highway.
The rest of the ride was more comfortable an twenty minutes later we were pulling up outside a restaurant with a French name written in fancy script. I didn't have time to protest or stare at the building baffled, Eric was out of the car and at my side of the car in no time, holding out his hand to me. Once I got out he handed the valet his keys and he escorted me inside.
The lights were dim and music was all instrumental, giving the place a very intimate feeling. The hostess didn't even ask Eric's name, she simply grabbed a menu and asked Eric to follow her. The tables were spaced far enough apart to give every table as much privacy as possible; we got a table by a window where we could look out over a pretty lake.
Once the hostess left I looked at the menu, luckily it was written in English and they had a decent sounding chicken meal. When the waiter came he poured me a glass of red wine and pour something that looked like wine into Eric's glass, "they have specialty blood, like TruBlood." I nodded and took a sip of my wine. The waiter came back and took my order and the menu, "I hope this isn't too much…"
"It's not, this is really nice. It's not everyday a girl turns 26." I replied with a small smile. I'd never gotten much fun on my birthday, not even after I escaped. I'd sometimes have cake with friends and a little party, once I got to celebrate my birthday at the strip club with some cake and my friends putting on a mock strip tease for me, but nobody had ever gone through the trouble of getting me gifts like Pam had or taking me to dinner like Eric.
Just the thought made me want to cry, Eric stared at me quizzically but said nothing. While I ate we talked about his past, I really liked hearing about his human days and his days with Pam, Chow's stories were really nice to hear, but Eric told them with such enthusiasm it was impossible to not totally focus on him and forget to eat.
When I finally did finish Eric had gotten two more glasses of blood, and after I declined dessert Eric paid the bill and once again offered me his arm. I hooked mine through his and happily walked out with him. I couldn't help but feel safe standing outside with his arm around my shoulder; I almost wanted to wrap my arm around his back but refrained. He held the door open for me again and closed it behind me, but this time he walked slowly around the car and sunk into the drivers seat.
We drove back toward Shreveport without the radio, he continued to tell me stories, and I was happy to listen, "Pam wishes for us to stop by Fangtasia tonight, if you don't mind." Eric told me after checking his phone.
"Sure, why not. She probably wants to see me in the dress she bought me." I replied, gesturing to the dress.
"She shops way too much. You should see some of the rooms in her house."
"Rooms?" I asked, he nodded. Pam had rooms of clothes. Holy shit, I still hadn't gone through all of the clothes she'd stocked my closet with. We arrived at Fangtasia fifteen minutes later, I stepped out and fixed my dress and checked my hair before walking up to the employee entrance, Eric following behind me texting.
The bar was in full swing, I could hear the music even though the thick door separating the hall from the main bar, it practically slapped me in the face when I opened the door, "I'll meet you in there, I need to get something from my office." Eric told me.
"Alright." I shrugged, stepping into the bar. My eyes swept across the room, I spotted Chow first, behind the bar, and walked over to him, sliding onto and empty bar stool. He didn't see me at first, but when he turned around and spotted me he gave me a quick toothy grin and slid a drink down the bar to someone.
"Well you look extra delectable tonight." He commented.
"Gee, just what every girl wants to hear." I replied in a teasing tone, "where's Alice with Fangs?"
"I'm right here, Tinkerbell." She informed me, suddenly she was on the bar stool next to me, I gave her a flat look, casting my eyes quickly around the bar. There were no vampires in the bar tonight except for her and Chow, "don't worry I wouldn't put you in danger. It's not like any of the other Princesses fit you, anyways."
I rolled my eyes, though she had a point, and glanced toward the door leading to the offices, what was taking Eric so long?, "thanks for the necklace by the way." I wrapped my fingers around it, "did you put jasmine in it?"
"Yes." She answered, "Eric loves the smell." She winked at me as she slid off the bar stool, muttering something about 'enthralling the vermin' as she walked away. Eric came out about five minutes later, talked with Pam for a couple of minutes and then asked if I was ready to leave.
"Would you like to go to my place?" Eric asked once we were back on the main road. Oh boy would I. I nodded and couldn't help but notice the small satisfied smile on his face as he sped up a bit. He lived in a gated community in a large house with a three car garage and two stories. His grass was perfectly cut along with all of his neighbors grass, his hedges were trimmed and his flowers perfectly placed. He pulled into his garage and shut the door behind us, shutting off the car and stepping out. I opened the door carefully, nervous about hitting the wall, and slipped out, shutting the door after I grabbed my purse.
I followed him inside the house, the door from the garage led straight into the kitchen, which was plain and looked untouched, not surprising since Eric didn't eat. The kitchen had two doors, one led to the entry way and the other to a small dining room, also unused. Across the entry way was a living room where Eric directed me while he stayed in the kitchen.
I walked across the entry way and stepped into the living room, the lights clicked on as soon as I stepped in. I set my purse down on his table and circled the small room. So far this looked like the most lived in room, there were a few paintings on the walls and a bookshelf full of worn books that he'd probably read a million times, some were in English and some weren't.
"Wine?" he asked, holding out a glass, I nodded and took it from him. When our fingers brushed an electric shock moved through my body, I quickly pulled my hand away and lifted the glass to my lips, "do you like the house?"
"It's nice, not what I expected, but nice." I told him.
"I'd like to take a walk with you, but I don't think you can walk well in those shoes." He mused, glancing down at the heels.
"I can walk barefoot." I offered.
"If your sure." I nodded and took off the shoes, setting them beside the couch. Eric led me through the living room to a sliding glass door and out onto his porch. I finished my wine glass and set it on the railing before I stepped off the porch behind him. "I come out here a lot after work, its peaceful, since most of the humans are usually in bed by them. And there's a nice lake out back."
We walk down a small path of uneven stones that would have undoubtly tripped me up and down a small dock. Eric sits down at the end and swings his feet over the edge, pausing to look back at me before unbuttoning his shirt and setting it on the dock beside him, "thank you." I whispered, carefully sitting down on the shirt, trying not to think about how expensive it probably was. I swung my legs over the edge, my feet weren't even close to hitting the water, but Eric's were swishing through it casually.
He closed his eyes and tipped his head back and I couldn't help but stare at him. The moonlight made him look paler than he was, almost as if he was glowing. His arms were propping him up as he leaned back, his muscles on full display. I really just wanted to reach my hand out and feel them, just to see if they were really real.
I didn't, instead I reached over and brushed a strand of his blonde hair off of his cheek, pausing when his eyelids snapped open and those bright blue eyes focused on me, something about those eyes and that intense heat he always had in his stare made my stomach all knotted with nerves and anticipation, but he looked away the next second and I dropped my hand away from his face, letting it fall into my lap.
We stayed by the dock for almost an hour, I ended up telling him a few stories about past birthdays, he got a kick out of the strip club story, and afterwards we headed back up to the house, "we should head back to your apartment…" he whispered, stepping up onto the porch. I wanted to say that I'd stay, but I had Lupin to think about.
"I wish I could stay…" I murmured.
"Well maybe you could, you could take one of my cars home in the morning and Pam could go take Lupin out…if you'd like." Eric buries his hands in his pockets. He'd never pegged me for a nervous type, but around me it was like he wasn't sure if he should act himself or reign in his dominating personality.
"I'd like to stay." He nodded and we stared at each other for a long time silently before he excused himself to call Pam. I picked up my purse and located my phone, setting an alarm for 8 am so I could get home and feed Lupin and then I tucked my phone into my bra so I made sure to have it with me.
Eric came back a few minutes later and I followed him up to his room. It was dark and huge. Most of his furniture was tall and his bed had to be custom made to be that big. The windows were all covered by heavy drapes, "you can change into this, I'm going to shower." Eric handed me a shirt and disappeared into a door to the left of his bed.
I set the shirt on the bed and circled around the room, looking at the few photographs he had hanging up around his room, a few of the books on his night stand, and a vase of way beyond dead flowers that I couldn't identify. Once I was done looking I unzipped my dress and slid it off my body, after looking around I found a chair to hang it over until I could ask Eric where to hang it and then unhooked my bra, I twisted it and tucked the cups into each other, setting it down on top of the dress. I turned to grab the shirt at the same time Eric opened the door, stepping into the room in a pair of loose fitting sweatpants.
We stared at each other silently for a few minutes before I hastily tugged the shirt over my head, "where can I hang the dress? I don't want it to be all wrinkled tomorrow."
"I'll get you a hanger." He replied, walking to his closet, he tossed a hanger to me, it took a bit to get it on the hanger and once I did he took it from me and hung it up in his closet.
"I've got to…" I gestured to the bathroom and stepped around him and closed the door. After pulling the pins from my hair I twisted it in a knot behind my head and tucked my hair so it'd stay and then started washing the makeup off my face, using some of his hand soap to wash away the stubborn makeup. I knew I'd gotten it all when I could once again see the faint bruise on my cheek; I pulled the door open after drying my face and stepped back into his bedroom.
Eric was stretched out on the right side of his bed with a book in his hand. Without pausing to think about it I crawled into the bed beside him, he set the book down when the bed moved, "your bruise is looking better."
"Feeling better, too."
"And are you still feeling too guilty about lying to Pam to accept my blood?" my cheeks burned and I looked away, "we don't blame you for lying, but you are in a lot of pain-even if your ignoring it, I cannot."
"I don't even hurt that much." I replied, "just when I wake up."
"Come on, you can't afford to be sore, you need to be in good condition should something bad happen. You think you can run with those broken ribs? Those wont heal anytime soon." I scowled at him, "Just a little, even."
"Fine." I conceded, he bit into his wrist and held it out to me. I pulled his wrist toward me and slowly sucked the blood into my mouth, just enough that I started feeling the tingling sensation, and then I stopped.
"Thank you." Eric whispered.
"Yeah, yeah." I mumbled, moving so I was lying next to him. I wasn't feeling too tired until I put my head on the pillow, "I really enjoyed dinner, and hearing your stories."
"I did too," Eric moved so he was lying beside me, "I hope we can do this again in the future."
"We should. But maybe a less fancy date, I really like fancy restaurants and all, but sometimes spontaneous dates to Chili's are nice too." I yawned and closed my eyes, I'd already started drifting off. Eric kissed my cheek and wrapped his arms around my back before I was lost to the world.
So I was just checking on some of my stories and saw that this is now my highest reviewed stories-it has 201 reviews! Holy crap, that is so awesome, especially for a story I put on hiatus for almost a year. Thank you guys so much for reviewing, reading and favoriting. I hope you're still loving the story and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!