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Disclaimer: I do NOT own True Blood (it's really a shame I don't), its characters, or any other copyrighted/trademarked material that may be mentioned within the story. I DO own my original character, Annabelle Carnevare, and those of OC's of her family members.
~Annabelle's POV~
Muffled voices filtered through my ears, touching my senses lightly before pulling back then surging back in to touch them again. Vaguely it reminded me of waves, cresting high then dipping down before crashing into the shoreline on the beach, crawling up the sand then slipping back into the ocean once again. My brain fought the unconscious current as I slowly filtered back into the land of the living (and undead), my eyes blinking lazily as they tried to focus on what was around me.
People, lots of people actually.
That's what was around me.
Sookie sat across from me on the couch opposite me, Sam was hunched over and trying to speak to her in comfort. I could dimly hear the voices of the Sheriff and that dick of a detective I didn't like in any way, shape or form coming from the kitchen. Two other voices echoed from the direction of the kitchen as well, but I didn't recognize them.
And then there was the gentle hum.
The hum that signified a vampire was near, blocking out the thoughts of all those around me unless I really tried to hear them.
My eyes cut to the left and I saw the looming form of Eric, his back to me as he spoke adamantly with another person in front of him. My eyes narrowed and I fought to remember where he'd come from before my eyes widened as the memory of inviting him into the house surged forward. As if he'd heard me thinking of him or as if he'd felt me come-to (which he probably did) Eric's head swung around sharply, his now dark blue eyes meeting mine. They roamed over me quickly, assessing that I was generally alright before he held up a single finger and turned back to the person he'd been speaking to. I squinted and recognized Bill's worried face that was mixed with anger as his eyes first landed on me and then on Sookie.
"All this blood…must be thirty stab wounds…ripped her open…holy hell we've got ourselves a serial killer."
I winced as the thought broke through the guards I'd put up and the gentle hum of Eric and Bill's presence. I wasn't the only one that had heard it though; Sookie darted up from her seated position and hurried out the front door to the dark and deserted porch. I gripped the back of the couch and slowly lifted myself into a sitting position, worried about my cousin.
"Are you mad at me?" I questioned her mentally, sending the thought directly to her.
"No! God no Belle, I just couldn't sit in there anymore with all those thoughts about Gran…I just…I couldn't." Her mental voice replicated what her actual one would be, broken and sad.
I nodded even though I knew she couldn't see me as my eyes wandered over the living room furniture, still completely numb from the shock of finding my grandmother bloody and ripped open on the kitchen floor. I sucked in a ragged breath as once again the memory of finding her merged with flashes from my mother's death. Blood coating tiles and flooring, cabinets, their hair and bodies. The nausea rose and I sucked in deep gulps of air to push it back, nearly missing the soothing mental words of my cousin even though she too was going through almost the same thing.
"Have Bill come out there. He'll give you silence." I suggested to her after a few minutes of silence.
Moments later I saw Sam shuffle into the house back through the semi-open front door like a dog with its tail between its legs. He approached the two vampires cautiously, murmuring something about Sookie. Bill immediately ended the conversation with Eric and zipped through the front door, leaving Eric to stride over to me. He eased himself into a sitting position on the couch to my right, his shoulder connected with my back because of the way I was turned and I shuddered as his coolness moved over my skin.
"I forget that I'm-"His deep whisper echoed through my silent mind as he moved forward some.
I grabbed onto his arm immediately and drug him back, shaking my head. "No don't. It's fine, it feels…good. You keep away the…noise."
Eric's sharp gaze searched my eyes as he sunk back into the couch again, resuming his original position. We had yet to have the discussion of what I could do, what abilities I had, though I'm pretty sure he was more than aware or he at least had his suspicions based on what had happened in Fangtasia the night I'd gone with Sookie and Bill. Obviously he could sense something was up since he'd made the comment earlier in the evening about me not being entirely human.
Silence settled between us, though it wasn't uncomfortable, as I gazed at him. He looked almost comical, his giant form folded into a cramped position on the low couch. His knees were almost practically level with my chest. A small giggle rose up, though it remained unnoticed.
By everyone except Eric that is.
I glanced down as another shiver ran through me to see that my hands and legs had been cleaned and no longer were stained red after kneeling in my grandmother's blood. In a vague attempt at humor, my mind wondered rather I'd been wiped or licked clean with two vampires around, and I almost laughed out loud. My thoughts became serious again as something occurred to me though, wiping away any trace of a smile.
"I jinxed it." I murmured.
His sharp eyes turned back to me from gazing around the room at my words.
"Jinxed what?" Eric asked quietly.
"Her. I jinxed her. I never should've been talking about my mother's death, it jinxed her and now she's dead." I spoke quietly but strongly.
Inside I knew the logic wasn't rational, that I was grasping for anything to try and make what Sookie and I were now faced with make sense. I couldn't think of why anyone would want to hurt Gran, a woman who was loved by the entire community of Bon Temps, so I had to come up with illogical reasons for it…and blaming myself seemed like a good enough idea.
"No you did not." Eric murmured lowly, his arm settling behind my back.
I bit down on my lip when I detected what sounded like the faint tone of comfort in his smooth and deep voice, although I wasn't positive, and the oldness of his sentence formation without contractions appeared again to betray his age. His cool, long fingers traced their way slowly over my bare shoulder and I closed my eyes at the touch, a single tear slipping out and gliding its way down my cheek. To my complete surprise, Eric caught it on his right hand's finger before he slipped it in his mouth quickly to taste. An angry sound came from across the room and it jerked me out of my wide-eyed stare at the blonde vampire in front of me.
"Annabelle I don't think you should be sitting with him, you should be resting. Why don't you go upstairs?" Sam growled out, glaring at Eric.
Without warning, I heard a faint clicking sound and knew without looking that Eric's fangs had descended and locked into place. His lip would be curling up to display them and Sam's wide-eyed look of shock was enough to put to rest any doubts that I'd had about my theory. Eric had stiffened next to me almost instantly at Sam's words and his arm now clamped down across my shoulders in an almost possessive stance that surprised the hell out of me.
"I doubt that you of all...people...have any right to make decisions for her." Eric snarled, shifting on the plush couch to stand.
I dropped my hand on his thigh quickly, hoping to hold him in place and avoid a fight. Instead he stood anyway and latched onto me. In less than a second I was standing and Eric had settled me by his side and slightly behind him, another protective and possessive stance that left me staring at him in slight confusion.
Was it just that vampires did this when other guys tried to tell them what they could and couldn't do with the girls around them?
Or was this something…else?
"Shut up Annabelle, you're reading too much into this." My inner-voice rolled her eyes at me.
"You should stay away from her. Both of you should stay away from them, you're going to get them killed." Sam seethed, ignoring the clear warning signs in front of him.
Mistake.
Eric had him by the throat and up against the beam that separated the living room from the foyer before I could even blink, lifting him clean off his feet. I stood, shocked, as Sam coughed and choked while Eric murmured something low enough that I couldn't hear near the man's face. Sam instantly stopped fighting against him and my eyes narrowed in curiosity.
But I didn't have time to ask questions, this definitely wasn't the time and place for a supernatural brawl.
"Eric," I murmured quietly. "You need to put him down. I don't want the police blaming you for this."
His stance stiffened and he continued to stare at the man he held in his hands, baring his fangs angrily. Sam's worried eyes darted back and forth between me and the vampire in front of him that basically had him in a death grip. I knew that there was nothing I could do if Eric actually wanted to kill him, that's why I didn't make a big deal out of it, plus I was too numb to go completely nuts. I just spoke quietly, logically, hopefully enough that it'd bring Eric out of his anger and back to the situation at hand.
"Please Eric." I murmured again.
It did the trick.
Eric slowly lowered Sam to the floor and I heard the faint sound of his fangs retracting from sight. I breathed a quiet sigh of relief as Eric fluidly stepped away from the man in front of us almost at the same time Sheriff Dearborne and Detective Bellefleur rounded the corner from the kitchen to walk straight toward me. Eric loomed up by my side, watching the men approaching as his arm settled behind me, his hand pressing into the small of my back and turning my body in toward him, though that was the extent of the touching. It was made to look possessive in front of the other men without putting me at ill ease.
"Miss. Carnevare, you're awake. How are you feeling?" the Sheriff asked quietly.
I stared at him blankly and felt Eric tense beside me. My silence seemed to indicate what I felt I didn't need to verbally, the fact was that my grandmother was dead, I had found her, and he was an idiot for asking such a thing.
"We'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind." The Sheriff's eyes darted between me and Eric's towering self that had taken on a more protective stance than before, hauling me into his side so that my body was touching his and turned into his chest.
I was silent for a moment, gazing blankly at him yet again in disbelief, and it was enough for Eric to jump in over me.
"She minds." Eric's voice was low, almost too quiet to hear, but it was clearly laced with warning.
"It wasn't really a request so much as a courtesy." The Sheriff said.
I sighed deeply and unthinkingly slipped an arm around Eric's waist to squeeze it in silent communication. AKA- Don't rip these people's heads off because they're stupid. When I'd finished I let go of him, blushing slightly as my mind slowly registered the contact I had made with him. Eric only gazed at me without blinking, watching every single move I made or expression I had, and I dimly got the feeling that if I even indicated I wanted to be done with this, he'd end it.
"It's fine. What would you like to ask me?" I murmured, gazing back over at the men in front of me.
"You found Mrs. Stackhouse, is that correct?" The Sheriff asked.
I swallowed and closed my eyes before nodding. "Yes, that's correct, I found my grandmother."
"And the reason you returned so late is?" Dearborne questioned, his brow arching in judgment.
My eyes flitted to Eric before I narrowed them at the Sheriff. "I'm sorry, but I don't believe what I do with my personal life has anything to do with finding my dead grandmother."
"It might have more to do with it than you believe." Dearborne shot back, gazing at me in disapproval.
He turned away from me and to Eric, dismissing me. "We'd like to speak with you and Mr. Compton, alone."
I glared at the men in front of me in outrage, completely pissed about being treated in such a way in my own home and I wasn't too numb to realize it. I was about to open my mouth when Eric suddenly leaned down, his body aligning with mine in cool support, and pressed his lips to my ear softly, sending a shiver directly down my spine as he spoke.
"It's alright Belle. I'll take care of it." Eric murmured, his voice hard and sure.
I was still pissed but I nodded, conceding to the idea that it was best if the two vampires handled the whole thing anyway and completely missing the point that Eric had taken to using my nickname. I was still in shock and obviously wasn't handling myself as well around police as I should be, and Sookie was barely speaking. Eric's low voice sounded out next to me as he guided me carefully to the door.
"Bill the police want to speak with us. Come inside."
I glanced around for the other vampire for a moment before I remembered their keen senses and smiled a little as I passed Bill while he walked in and I walked out before I settled myself on the front steps next to Sookie. We were silent for a while, both of us sitting side by side, our bodies touching as we stared out into the night sky.
"You okay?" Sookie's mental voice filled my brain and I sighed audibly.
"Not really. You?" I asked her in return.
"Not really." She replied, leaning into me more.
Her head settled on my shoulder and mine settled on top of hers as our thoughts continued to trade back and forth between each other, never issuing a sound.
"Those guys are bastards." I thought darkly. "They've got absolutely no sensitivity."
"I know. Especially with vampires around. Dearborne can't stand the idea of…well you know." Sookie's voice filled my mind.
"It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Is it really that big of a deal down here?" I asked heatedly.
A few minutes of silence passed, my question remained unanswered, and I could vaguely hear the sound of voices floating from the house. It was Eric and Bill's trading off in answer to Dearborne's prying questions.
"Belle?"
"Hmm?"
"Why was Eric here tonight?" Sookie asked curiously.
I sighed again before answering. "He showed up at the meeting wanting to talk. We went and got something to eat…well I did at least. Then he brought me home."
I mentally set up certain walls, blocking the memories of Eric tasting my blood and of my undeniable attraction toward him, along with the pull and trust in him that I couldn't explain, from her wondering mind. I had been expecting this question to eventually come and didn't want to cause a stir with either of them.
"You don't think he…?" She murmured mentally.
"NO! Sookie he hadn't even been invited in until you were there. Besides, no vampire could leave all that blood, you know that." I chastised gently.
"I know…it was just weird seeing him rush in to keep you from falling like that. And he held onto you for a long time, he even used a rag to get you cleaned up. He didn't seem to act like Bill said he would." She mused.
I was about to say something in return when the sound of the screen door creaking as it swung open distracted Sookie and I from our mental conversation. Right behind the creaking came the sound of hurried and heavy footsteps before cool hands gripped my arms and lifted me to stand while another set did the same to Sookie on my left. I looked up in surprise to find Eric and couldn't even speak before he was moving me quickly away from the door while Bill repeated his actions yet again with Sookie.
"What's going on?" Sookie questioned, her eyes darting back to me and Eric behind her as Bill pulled her forward.
"They're moving your grandmother." Bill's quiet voice echoed back to me and I gasped a little.
Eric's hands tightened on me reflexively at the small sound and I leaned into him a little more, not even embarrassed this time. I needed his extra vampire strength because I absolutely couldn't believe that in less than a year...
I was doing this for the second time.