Eric stayed with Annie for the next few hours, slowly making her drink from him as she remained weak and drained, her entire body exhausted and hooked up to monitors. Eric could feel Donald glare at him, as the room remained full of guards, each with their guns pointed at Eric as he kept his wrist against Annie's mouth.
Donald remained on the other side of the bed while he watched Eric.
"So what was it?" Donald demanded to know from Eric. "You don't truly love her. Why are you so taken with her? Is it the thrill of having a human?"
Eric kept quiet, but a smirk did take over his face as he chuckled and gave Annie a rest, letting her rest against the pillows on the bed, watching as she closed her eyes and he healed his wound.
"You think that I am with your daughter because she is just a good fuck?" Eric demanded to know from him and Donald pursed his lips. "And, while she is that, I am with her for more reasons than that. I love her, do you not get it or are you too blinded by your own hatred?"
His glare increased then as he folded his arms and looked down to Annie as Eric wiped her mouth with the towel he had been given that had sat on the table next to her bed.
"I know vampires," Donald said. "They are users. Human life has no value to them."
"Well her life does to me," Eric assured him. "And I would never dream of hurting her like her fiancé has done. Did you know that, Donald? Did you know that the bastard had attacked her?"
Donald said nothing and looked away while Eric felt rage build inside of his body, but he made no movement, doing his best not to lash out as he heard Annie moan in her sleep. Slowly, he bent down to her, checking her breathing before he placed his hand on her forehead, checking her temperature.
"You knew," Eric said in a hiss. "You knew and you did nothing to stop it."
"She is to be his wife," Donald said. "He can take his husbandly rights if he so wishes. She is no prude; I know that. Believe me, Jonathan told me to taunt me often enough."
"But she is not a possession," Eric said. "She is not someone to be used. She is your daughter…your flesh and blood…how can you let her be treated like this? She is innocent and has done nothing to deserve this."
Frowning, Donald grew bored with listening to the vampire as he heard footsteps approach. The door flung open to reveal Michael stood there, his eyes focused on Annie as she rested. But then he saw Eric.
"I heard she was shot," Michael said and Eric rolled his eyes.
"She is recovering," Donald said. "Where have you been? She's been in here for over an hour now."
"Willa," Michael spoke in a stern voice without offering any other explanation. "But take him back to a cell. He is not needed here, is he?"
"I'm saving her god damn life," Eric snapped.
"She is stable," Donald said. "But he has been given her blood. She lost too much in the accident and she needed some. Believe me, if I had any other option then I would have done that, but I didn't. However, I believe she will be safe now."
Eric didn't want to move. He didn't want to leave Annie, yet he didn't want to risk her again. Instead he moved with haste, bending down to kiss her swiftly without anyone recognising. He moved to his feet then, his hands in the air as the guards began to escort him back to his cell.
…
Annie was fuming by the time she woke up and was herself. Her father had urged for her to rest, but she had pushed herself from the bed and demanded some clothes to change into. Donald had relented in the end, demanding for one of the guards to fetch her another outfit.
She had changed into the tight fitting black dress before demanding to see Eric, but that had gone down like a lead balloon. In the end her strength had come back, but she was even more hyped up than usual. Donald suspected that she was slightly high on vampire blood, but he kept his suspicions to himself. He had told Eric to give his daughter just as much as she needed.
It was only when she was led into another room did she freeze, the sight she saw enough to make her want to scream in annoyance. There, in the control room, was Steve and Sarah Newlin. She thought that she was finished with those two when the Fellowship had been destroyed. But Sarah had herself draped over Truman. She was lounging around him while Steve stood in a blue overall outfit, looking at Annie as Donald frowned and Michael chuckled, taking his fiancé by the waist and steering her further into the room.
"Annie," Sarah was the one to coo and Annie wondered what she was doing there with Truman. "It is so good to see you again. Truman was telling me that you finally repented on your ways."
"Well he would be lying," Annie told her. "And what the hell are you two doing here?"
"Well," Sarah said, tilting her head upwards as she began to move towards the glass. "You see, my ex-husband here is now one of the enemy…plus I discovered he was gay. Yet he has proven himself very useful in tracking down the location of two people we wanted to bring here. You'll soon see. I would hate to ruin the surprise. Michael has been looking forward to this moment for a while."
"What are you going to do to him now?" Annie demanded, turning around to glower at her fiancé as she pushed him in the chest, knowing full well that what he had planned would involve Eric. "He's been through enough."
"I don't think so," Michael said, grabbing Annie by the top of her throat and pushing her forcefully against the wall, yet no one moved to help her as she struggled for breath. No one rushed to her side. No one spoke out against Michael. "You see, Annie, I want him to suffer slowly and painfully. I want him to break until he can take no more…until he tells you that he never loved you…make you see what a bastard he is."
He let her go then, but Annie was quick. She had grown tired of being told what to do. She had grown tired of being bossed around and pushed about. She didn't need it no more. She was full of rage. Lashing out, her hand didn't slap Michael. No, instead this time she balled her hand into a fist and punched him in the jaw, watching as his head turned to the side and he groaned in pain. Annie moved again then, punching him once more while he was doubled over in agony.
"I have known you for less than a week," Annie yelled at him as his hands clutched his chin and he felt blood coming from his mouth as he looked back up to her. "How can you want me to suffer like this? What the fuck have I done to you? I don't love you and you don't love me!"
Donald moved then, restraining his daughter as Truman came to help his son stand up straight.
"That's enough, Annie." Donald demanded from his daughter.
"The fuck it is," Annie hissed back. "I will get Eric out of here. I will get him away from all of you."
"No," Donald snapped at her.
"My, my," Sarah whispered in a small tone, "she has lost her way, Truman. She has lost her path to God."
"It's not God she needs, but a fucking muzzle," Michael was the one to say, spitting blood onto the floor. "She's crazy, Donald. She's not worth this…she's not worthy of me."
"Now, now," Donald said with haste, holding his daughter sternly as she folded her arms over her chest, her knuckles stinging as she did her best not to think of the pain. "I apologise for what she has done. Truly, I am sorry. I know how Annie is, Michael…Truman…but she just needs a firm hand."
"I don't," Annie denied. "If you think I will ever stop fighting then you don't know me."
"Maybe I don't want to," Michael said. "Or maybe I can change your mind."
Annie was about to ask what he was on about then, but before she had a chance to say anything, Michael had motioned for two guards to take hold of her. They grabbed her by the arms and Annie wondered what they were doing. Her father released her, but her gaze met his and she swore she saw something flash inside of him. Pursing her lips, she refused to scream. Instead she went quietly.
"Where are you taking her?" Donald demanded from Michael. "She is still my daughter. I have a right to know."
"And she is my responsibility now," Michael said, brushing himself off. "She is mine to do with as I please, is she not? She will learn her place and if she does not then she is a lost cause and nothing better than a fang banging whore."
"I demand to know where you are taking her," Donald snapped and Truman rolled his eyes as Sarah continued to drape over him and glare at Steve.
"You don't need to worry," Michael said. "I'm sure that I can break her in time. I know that."
Groaning lowly, Donald said nothing as Michael headed to the intercom, a smirk on his face as he did so.
"Bring in Northman and his progeny."
…
The metal cage was tiny. Annie could hardly turn around in it as the guards left her in the room. Her breathing was becoming out of control as she struggled to keep herself from hyperventilating. She couldn't hear anything and she had no concept of time. They had locked the cage and the room behind them, but she had not begged to be let out.
It was only after some time had passed did the door open and she saw the guards walk in. But her eyes didn't go to them. Instead she stared at Eric who snarled at the sight of her caged away like some animal.
The guards opened her cage, pushing Eric inside of it and chaining his wrists to some silver cuffs that sat on either side of it. Annie tried to push them out the way, but they kept her locked inside of it, pushing her back with no problem.
"Eric," she mumbled his name as she stood up and came to face him, knowing that she couldn't escape when the door had been locked again. "What did they do to you?"
"Pitted me against Pam," Eric said, putting his fangs away. "They wanted one of us to kill the other for survival. We didn't do it…we killed the men watching us in the hidden vents instead. I saw into the control room however. Steve Newlin is here."
"So is Sarah Newlin," Annie said. "I was there before…well…they locked me in here for punching Michael."
Smirking, Eric couldn't stop himself as he brushed his nose against hers and kissed her chastely. "Hmm," he murmured, inhaling her scent. "That's my girl."
She kissed him quickly then before looking over her shoulder, the door opening once again to reveal Michael and an armed guard, along with a man in a white coat. Annie turned around, her back against Eric's chest as she glowered to Michael.
"Locking me up with your fiancée," Eric was the one to speak and Annie could hear the taunting tone to his voice. "Not your smartest move, Burrell…especially when she's full of my blood."
Michael chuckled, looking anything but perplexed as Annie watched him. He was looking particularly smug. It was worse than usual.
"Don't worry, Northman," Burrell said. "I'll make sure I keep you alive until I fuck her. You can feel that, can't you? If she has your blood?"
"As if she'd touch a fucker like you," Eric said, but his fangs made an appearance anyway. "Besides, can you even get it up, Burrell?"
"Don't bite the bait," the man in the white coat said and Annie wondered who the hell he was. He looked like a doctor as he moved round the cage, observing Eric with intrigue. "He's a tough vampire, Mr Burrell."
"That's until you take away the thing that means the most to him," Michael spoke.
"I didn't kill Pam," Eric said instantly, "and Annie is here with me."
"Oh no," Michael said. "I'm talking about your sister, Mr Northman."
Annie froze then at the sight of Nora being wheeled in, her body strapped to a table as the guards stood her up on the platform and then left. She was looking around, confusion taking hold of her features as Annie placed a hand to her mouth. Unable to determine what to do, she knew that Eric had lost enough already, starting with Godric. Annie couldn't let him lose anyone else. She just couldn't.
"Get away from her!" Eric yelled, his anger uncontrollable as he tried to break away from the chains that held him.
"Eric," Nora whispered, clearly startled by everything that was happening as Annie watched the doctor remove a syringe from his pocket.
"You see, we have a new disease," he spoke in a soft drawl. "Hepatitis V…" he said. "It is quite deadly to your kind…kills them slowly and painfully."
"No!" Annie was the one to yell as the doctor advanced to Nora. "Michael, don't do this to her! Don't you dare."
Moving to the cage then, Michael banged his fists on the door, his face inches from Annie's as the doctor remained hovered over a quivering Nora.
"And what will you do, Annie?" Michael asked, knowing that if he was going to break her then he had to do it now and in front of Northman. He needed to break her so that she could never look at him again without feeling repulsion. "Hmm? Come on, Annie, what will you do to save his sister?"
"Anything," Annie said, wondering exactly what he was speaking about.
"No," the voice, Annie had expected to be Eric's was actually female. It was Nora and she was looking straight at Annie. "Don't do what he wants, Annie. You can't."
"Shut up, bitch," Michael said, pulling out the keys to the cage now, opening the door and dragging Annie out as Eric began to fight even harder.
Holding her hand inside of his, he let it dangle in mid air as he eyed her with wonder. "Come on, Annie," he urged her. "Show me how much you want to save her."
Eric could hardly look as Annie moved forwards. He could hear her breathing and he could feel the fear inside of her as she leant towards Michael. Eric knew that this was torture. He knew that the Burrell bastard was doing anything he could to torture him. The armed guard looked away, struggling to watch while the doctor remained intrigued as Nora watched the pain in her brother's face.
He could hardly watch on as Annie's lips pressed against Michael's, the man's hands wandering to the zip of her dress on her back. His hands tugged it down slowly and Annie felt the cold air on her back, pulling back and startling.
"Keep going, Annie," Michael demanded from her, his gaze flickering to Eric. "Her life is in your hands."
Eric snarled, but Nora began to fight as she saw Michael tug her dress off her shoulders, slowly revealing her bra as he pushed it down to her waist.
"Who do you belong to?" Michael demanded from Annie. "Tell me, Annie. Tell me who you belong to."
"You," Annie choked out the word and Michael smirked, turning her to face Eric.
Her gaze met his and Eric swore he had never felt agony like it before.
"And tell him," Michael urged her. "Tell him and we will leave here. His sister can live…he might not…but his sister will make it out of this room."
But Annie was quick. She was quicker than anyone had expected her to be. Now that she was not facing Michael she could survey the situation. There was one armed guard, Michael and a doctor. But the doctor was near her. He was the one with the syringe. If she got that…if she got that away from Nora then nothing else would matter.
Moving faster than anyone anticipated, Annie grabbed the syringe from the doctor and held it in her fingertips, backing into a corner as Michael snarled at her and the doctor remained amused.
"We have more of that," Michael told her as her dress fell completely from her body, leaving her in nothing more than her simple black underwear. "I can get the doc to go and get more."
"Perhaps," Annie said. "But what would happen if I injected it, Michael?"
"Nothing interesting," Michael said. "You would end up diseased…Northman couldn't feed from you ever again unless he wanted to die…there would be no benefit."
"Perhaps not," Annie agreed, "but it would slow you down."
"You're being foolish," Michael snapped at her. "You have no chance of escaping here, Annie. Just give me the syringe."
"Annie," Eric hissed her name and she looked to him, her eyes wide and wet as she held the syringe by her arm. Eric had no idea what the disease would do and he didn't want to know. He definitely did not want her putting it into her arm.
"Got it," Annie muttered, but instead of handing the syringe back, she let it squirt onto the floor, completely going to waste as Michael rolled his eyes and Eric shook his head.
"You stupid bitch," Michael said.
"I will go and fetch some more. I trust you can keep her under control?"
"Shouldn't be a problem," Michael said, moving towards Annie as the doctor left the room and Annie knew that there was just Michael and the guard. That was all there was in the room.
If she played this right then she could help them escape. Taking a shaky breath, she went to stand before Michael.
"What is it you want?" Annie demanded from him. "You want to fuck me in front of him? Make me yours instead of his?"
She pretended not to notice the hardness in his trousers as she cocked her hip and tilted her head. He seemed to gulp then as Eric shook his head.
"Don't you dare," Eric demanded from her as she shook her head, ignoring Eric and moving to the single metal table that was in the room.
"Annie," Nora also warned her as she watched the girl sit on the edge of the table, Michael's eyes following her.
"If you want to fuck him out of me then I don't want an audience," Annie said.
Michael chuckled. "Do you think I will send my men away?"
Annie rolled her eyes and stood back up, marching over to where the armed guard was. Clearly his gaze was anywhere but on her face as she took hold of his chin and forced his gaze to Eric's. She began to speak as Eric looked at the guard, wondering what Annie was doing, but then he soon clocked on as she looked at him.
"Do you want him to suffer?" she demanded from the guard as Michael frowned.
"I hate fangs," he said.
"And we hate you," Eric said, but he had eye contact. That was all he needed to glamour him. And glamour him he did. "So you should go to sleep and we might spare you."
The guard dropped to the floor then as Annie grabbed hold of the gun he had been holding, placing it in front of her body as Michael looked at her. Did the guards not have the contact lenses they needed? Were they mad?
"In the corner," Annie demanded from her fiancé, moving closer to him.
"Or what?" Michael asked of her. "Do you think you will get out of here alive?"
"I'm pretty sure we will," Annie said. "Really, Michael, do try not to think with your cock as much next time. Did you really think I would go anywhere near you?"
"You're stupid," Michael said.
"I'm not the one being held at gunpoint," Annie said. "And trust me, being shot hurts. So give me the key to Eric's chains and I will go."
"As if I would do that," Michael said and then Annie did what she had to.
She shot him in the leg, watching as he fell to the floor, unable to stand as he screamed in pain. Moving quickly, Annie grabbed hold of him by the jacket, still holding the gun as he screamed in pain. She said nothing as she found the keys in his jacket pocket.
Moving with haste, she unlocked Eric from his restraints and the vampire took hold of her by the arm, dragging her out as they both went to help Nora get off of the table. Annie kept silent, focusing with intent and ignoring Michael's screams.
"Get dressed," Eric demanded from her.
"No," Annie said. "If we need to get out of here then we need a disguise."
"Like what?" Nora asked, slipping to the floor.
"Swap with me," Annie demanded Nora. "Give me the blue jumpsuit. Eric…take the guard's uniform…we need to be quick."
They all did that, finally dressed and in the appropriate attire. Eric was dressed as a guard while Nora had on Annie's black dress. Annie slipped her heels off and passed them to Nora as she finished buttoning up the blue suit that vampires wore. She scraped her hair from her face and looked to Eric.
"I know my way around here," Annie told him, but he was looking at Michael as he withered on the floor. Annie took his arm. "He's not worth it."
"The fuck he isn't," Eric sniped. "He would have raped you in front of me. If you think I will let him live then you're sorely mistaken."
"There are worse things than death," Annie urged him. "Trust me, as soon as we are out of here and people know the truth…he'll be locked in jail…or perhaps you can give him to other vampires to drain?"
"No, I want to kill him," Eric said, but Annie kept her grip on his arm.
"And, believe me, a part of me wants to see you kill him, but I don't want…Eric…" she didn't know what she wanted. She had staked Jonathan and Eric had killed plenty of people in his lifetime. Annie frowned, looking to Michael as he continued to bleed. She just didn't want Eric to kill anymore. She didn't want him to do it, even though it didn't bother him.
"Kill him," Nora spoke. "It is more than he deserves."
Saying nothing, Annie watched as Eric moved towards him but they were soon interrupted. The door opened and the doctor stood there, another syringe in his hands as Nora dealt with him, knocking him unconscious and stamping on the syringe, its contents going everywhere.
"We need to go," Annie said with haste. "I know the way out, but we're not safe here. Come on. We need to leave."
But that didn't stop Eric moving with haste towards Michael, his fangs bared as he let them quickly move into the man's throat and rip it open. Michael continued to scream and Annie felt sick at the sight, but she felt no remorse. If Eric didn't kill him then Michael would have killed Eric. There was no mistake about that.
She felt nothing as Eric took her arm, pretending she was a prisoner as Nora walked in front, acting professional as they made their way through the corridors.
"You were brave," Eric whispered down to her so no one could hear. She kept her head down, not wanting to be spotted as they went. "What you did…"
"Let's just get out of here," Annie whispered back as they took another turn and Eric watched her, wondering exactly what would happen if they escape the facility.
…
A/N: Let me know what you think!
