Chapter 23: Taken

It had been a long fucking night already and it was only a quarter past midnight. When Eric returned to Fangtasia, he found the place deserted. Not a patron in line, not a car in the parking lot and heavy silence filled the place. When he entered his club there was blood everywhere. He found Pam in shock, crying on the floor and Tara was heavily wounded beside her, blood and guts splattered everywhere. They were attacked by the LAVTF and Tara had been shot by a specialized UV emitting bullet. Eric had to do a botched surgery to get the thing out without touching it. He knew this kind of anti-vampire weapon was coming the second Nora told him they killed a Pentagon official. That was the moment Eric Northman knew the game had changed. Humans now had the power to wipe them out, and there was an invisible clock ticking. The Louisiana Governor was known to be anti-vampire, and the LAVTF came to Fangtasia under his orders. His club, along with all vampire businesses, had been officially shut down. Pam was pissed Eric wasn't around when they came by.

"Sorry I had more important shit to take care of."

"What is more important than your fuckin' family?!" Pam whimpered through anger.

"Don't you fucking dare question my loyalty Pamela," he told her in a low voice, towering over his blonde, pushing her back with his chest. She took a small step back and fell silent but her eyes were pure rage, red tears running down her face.

He was tired of fighting Pam. Tired of Tara barking in the background too. Having both of them constantly yelling, defying, questioning him was exhausting. He read the papers Pam was served, and they confirmed what he knew was coming: they were effectively shut down. Dead people had no rights, according to the state of Louisiana. Fangtasia was no more. He looked around at the empty club. It's over. They had to completely detach from this place. It hurt, especially when he knew how hard Pam and even Tara worked on this club. Pam worked harder than ever to make this place full and fun again after the world had turned against vampires - and his progeny succeeded. This place meant everything to her. It was her idea, her baby. And it was unfairly taken from her.

Eric decided it was time to pay Governor Burrell a little visit first thing tomorrow.

Exactly 24 hours later, Eric dragged a young woman in the long white gown to the inside of Fangtasia, and he locked the door behind them. Kidnapping the Governor's daughter was a 100% improvised plan, but then again some of his best plans were improvised. He tried (and failed) to take the diplomatic approach. In this case, it was to intimidate and glamour Truman Burrell himself, but apparently humans created a new toy: glamour proof contact lenses. As if UV light bullets weren't enough. Humans were now fighting back, just like they did with witches centuries ago.

But Eric hadn't run out of ideas just yet. Plan B was much sexier than plan A. It involved the Governor's daughter. Plan B was going to be fucking delightful. He was going to get Burrell's plans from her, then kill her. Plan B quickly changed when he landed on her window sill and got a good look at her. Willa reminded him a bit of her. The pale skin, the big innocent eyes. But the white gown she wore reminded him of the other her. The one he refused to let haunt his thoughts. So now, he had to improvise plan C. Plan C was uncoordinated as fuck when dragged through cub doors.

"Pam, Tara meet Willa Burrell," he told Pam and Tara who were sitting at the bar. They looked absolutely miserable until they laid eyes on Willa, who was still tripping over herself.

Instantly furious, Pam got up almost knocking the barstool over. "You kidnapped the Governor's daughter?!" She yelled.

"Aw hell no! No, you motherfucking didn't!" Tara complained.

"She has information that I need," Eric told them. "Or at least she better." He sneered at Willa who flinched at the words.

"I will tell you everything I know, I swear! Please don't kill me!" The girl implored.

"Promise me you are going to kill her," Pam ordered him.

"Damn Pam, what you gotta kill her for? Just glamour her to forget and send her back home!" Tara begged.

"Because my sweet lover," Pam retorted, raising her voice annoyed. "Her daddy fucked my bar… And glamouring is boring."

"It's savage shit like that, that makes humans hate us," Tara argued.

The bickering between the two was literally making his blood pressure rise. Eric straight up kicked the hornets' nest. Never had he wished so much that Nora was here. She knew how to navigate politics and men with huge egos like Burrell with her eyes closed. But she hadn't answered her phone in days and her voicemail was full. The only way out of this was running. It felt like deja-vu. The last time he wanted to run, he should have done so. It was up to him now, to make sure Pam and Tara were safe. His progeny was the only person he had left in this world, even if she hated him.

"Be smart, Eric. How is this any different than dealing with the Authority? It's a fuckin' game of chess. Plan a better move, 'cause this is a stupid one."

"That's your problem, Pamela, you don't see it. We've been playing chess while they've been playing fucking hungry hungry hippos. Now pack your shit," he ordered. "I'm sure the Governor's security is on their way here now. We are leaving Fangtasia for good."

There was a long silence. Was she going to fight him on this too? He really had no patience left to handle Pam. She had been acting like a little spoiled child for way too long and there was literally no time for this. Her bad behaviour was going to get them killed. They had to leave and leave now.

"You are just going to roll over like that?" Tara asked her.

"NOW!" Eric snapped.

And finally, the two love birds left. Willa flinched again, so he threw her near a bar table, and she carefully sat on the stool, tears welling up.

Leaving was hard, he knew that. This had been their home for over 30 years. But there was no time for goodbye's now, not if they wanted to live. How could Pam not see that? He looked back at Willa. She looked like the common southern daddy's girl, it almost made this fun. She had pale white skin, and dark brown hair, with pink cheeks and rosy lips and big round brown eyes with thick eyelashes. Willa looked like a human doll, with a long vintage gown. She had an old fashioned beauty he liked. Too bad he had grown to hate white dresses lately.

He looked deeply into her brown eyes, but she stopped him. "You don't have to glamour me. I want to help you. I don't like what my father is doing any more than you do." She confessed.

Well then, finally some cooperation.

"Earlier, you mentioned something about experiments," He told her.

"It's...it's horrible," Willa said, looking down at the table.

"Tell me." He asked.

"Remember the ballot measures last year? None of that money went to the highway system,"

Politicians embezzling money? Groundbreaking. "Where did it go?"

"Some of it he spent on turning the Governor's mansion into a vampire fortress. Like, top top notch security. But most of the money... He used it to build a camp. It's part prison, part research facility. The vampires who are being arrested are not being taken to jail. They are studying y'all. Your biology, your physiology, psychology, shit like that. It's sick, sick shit."

"Where is this camp?"

"I don't know." He had come way too far to end up at this stupid answer. He reached for her and pulled her around the table with force, making her face him. "I don't know! I don't know!" She sobbed. "Please don't kill me, the only reason I know any of this shit is because I've been snooping around, I swear I don't know!"

He knew she wasn't lying. Glamouring her wouldn't be much help either. An idea he hated popped in his head. It went a bit beyond than killing her. He knew right away he couldn't tell Pam. Not being able to trust her killed part of him. The echoes of high heeled boots came in, as Pam and Tara strutted back holding a single cardboard box with some papers, photos and jewellery boxes.

"The only thing your daddy left us, fits in this box," Pam told Willa in a sour note.

"Good." Eric stood up. "Now let's go. Willa, you're coming with,"

"FUCK NO! She is not coming with! Tear her head off and leave it on her body for her daddy to find and have that image seared in his brain forever. Or do as Tara suggested but don't bring her with!" Pam shouted.

"None of this is ours anymore!" He explained. "Burrell already took it and we have nothing to negotiate with. No weapons to fight with! The whole world is at war against us and there is no place to run. All we have is her, so the girl lives," for now. "The world is changing Pam, and we have to change with it."

"That's rich coming from you." Pam scoffed.

Eric never wanted to snap her neck so much as he did right now. "Say that again," He dared her, lightly pushing her around with his torso, both their faces were inches apart.

Why God, WHY couldn't Pam just go with the fucking flow for once? Why did she have to fight him at every turn, question him every time he opened his fucking mouth? This was not the Pam he knew and loved. He was starting to hate whoever this blonde vampire was who looked at him with so much hurt in her eyes.

But she didn't say anything. She didn't have to. Without a single word, the two of them had an entire conversation with just their eyes. Resentment. Anger. Hurt. The truth was, Eric loved Pamela. He loved her more than anyone he had ever loved before. But he wasn't in love with her. He didn't make her his whole world. Their blood was broken and Pam was an untethered ship lost in a stormy ocean, merely pretending these were the water she was used to. He had let her go, but she refused to leave. To live her own life, as he commanded her to do so. To Pam, Eric was her whole world. To Eric…

Pam's anger probably came from the fact she alone wasn't enough for him. She discovered that with Sookie, and then again with Raven. Maybe for a moment, Pam thought Eric would come back after he lost them as he did with all the other women he ever fell for in the past. It gave her hope things would go back to normal again. But what Pam didn't understand is that Raven wasn't a fling. Raven Blackwood was his, in a way no one else ever was. She took a vow not even God herself could break. Raven was worth standing up to a King for. She was worth all the bonds he lost. She was worth killing and dying for.

And just like anyone he ever loved, he lost her. But her death brought the realization that he was the one to blame for all the loss he's ever had. Godric killed himself because Eric wasn't enough. Sookie denied him because of all the lies he told her. Nora left him because he pushed her away. Raven died because he killed her.

All he could do was try to fix the whole world just so Pam could live.

No pressure.

They stepped inside Ginger's small house, decorated in the most awful taste - but it wasn't surprising at all since it was Ginger. It was as if she bought everything at Ross's decor section during the last 10 Halloweens. Ginger was also now… A redhead? She had bright red but poorly dyed hair. She was, as always, way too happy to see Eric, but the excitement quickly faded away when she realized he didn't drop by for a sexy visit as he had brought Pam, Tara and another woman with him.

"Ginger, Tara and I will be using your queen-sized coffin tonight, Pam and Tara you take the basement."

"Uhm, okay," she agreed. "But where do I sleep?"

"Of course you are sleeping with her," Pam groaned, rolling her eyes.

"You are going to take issue with who I sleep with now?!"

"Yes Eric, I take issue when you sleep with the girl who reminds you of your little -"

"The girl is sleeping with me Pamela, because I don't trust you not to kill her!" He roared.

His patience was gone. He thought he knew why she was acting this way, but he was done with it either way. If he could release this fucking bitch again, he would. At this point, he questioned if he should bother trying to save her at all. Pam didn't dare yell back at him, she just disappeared down Ginger's basement. He could hear her sobs.

Still pissed off, he entered the master bedroom, Ginger following him close at the heel. In the small room sat an enormous black, red velvet-lined casket which took most of the space. He threw Willa into the coffin and then got in it himself. It was surprisingly comfortable. He ordered Ginger to lock the coffin from the outside so Willa could not escape during the day. Hesitant and disappointed she wasn't going to be joining them in her coffin, Ginger Finally closed the lid, shutting out the shitstorm of a night he had.

Inside, finally some silence. All he could hear was Willa's calm breathing and heart beating. He could feel the warmth of her skin beside him. He couldn't help it but imagine she was someone else. And in an instant, he drifted into the deepest sleep he had in months.

"Mister," a whispering voice woke him. "Mister. Hey Mister,"

He could tell it was sometime during the day. His body felt heavy and slow. He completely forgot humans had biological clocks that woke them during the day, regardless of how late they went to sleep. She must have been awake for quite a while because if she was speaking, she took the duck tape off her mouth. Which meant she also got her wrist restraints off. Good thing the coffin was locked.

"I'm a vampire. I'm meant to be dead during the day," he told her. "Now put your tape back on."

"I thought you might wanna talk," her voice was soft, whispering sweetly.

"No."

"Remember last year," for fuck's sake, here we go. "When the scandal broke out that my daddy was having an affair and that's why my mom left? Well, it was actually the other way around. She had an affair with a vampire-"

Eric opened his eyes. Now this was interesting. "Really?"

"Yes," she batted her long eyelashes. "He owns a bar out in Hollywood, kind of like yours."

"There's only one Fangtasia, Willa."

"Totally, yeah, of course," she agreed. "Anyway, I really wanted to move out to California to live with my mom and her boyfriend,"

Eric wasn't an idiot. He knew where this was going. "Is this your way of telling me you are 'okay' with vampires? That you're open-minded?"

"No! I'm just making conversation, I guess. Trying to distract myself from the fact I might not have much time left to live. But to answer your question, I do like vampires. Very much." She glanced at his lips and he heard her heart skip a little beat. She blushed and gazed at his eyes deeply. Willa had beautiful brown eyes. He could feel her skin getting hotter and the slightest scent of arousal filled the coffin. But she wasn't the one he really wanted, despite having some resemblance to her. But Willa couldn't be more different than Raven. She didn' tell Eric to fuck off once, for starters. Willa leaned towards him, lips almost touching. Her finger caressed his jaw, towards his ear lobe. "You have the bleeds," she whispered, touching the blood that seeped out.

"Like I said, I'm meant to be dead during the day," his face an inch from hers.

He seriously considered fucking her for a moment. The sweet scent of her arousal was getting to him. The way she touched him. How she looked at him. She wanted this. Surely fucking her would royally piss her daddy off. Her hand recoiled towards her mouth, the tip of her finger was red with his blood. He quickly grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

"I can't let you do that," he told her before putting her finger in his mouth and licking his blood off. She breathed harder feeling his tongue on her finger. Having a blood bond was not something he would ever take lightly ever again. He craved Raven all over again. It was like a hunger that nothing else could satisfy. So much for trying to forget her.

Eric pulled away, putting some distance between him and the human. "Put your tape back on."

And he closed his eyes, waiting to fall asleep again. A memory played in his head. In another life… I would have loved you so much more than this. That's what he told her as she died. But he was still stuck in this life without her. And he still loved her without her being here. He loved her alone.

It had been another shitty night so far. They had to run from Ginger's the second they woke up from the Governor's armed forces. It seemed like the guy had his own private military, which was surprising that Louisiana could afford such luxury, considering how run-down the whole state was. Eric told Tara and Pam to leave Louisiana immediately and never return. He told them to go to Dallas, as Texas was more vampire friendly. He would meet them there the next night. He didn't stay long enough to hear Pam yell at him for not coming with them. Instead, he just flew away with Willa and landed in a closed small amusement park, about fifty miles away from Ginger's house. He was now on Plan R or S, he had lost track but he knew the options were running out and quickly.

He was dreading what he was going to do next. He was going to make Willa his progeny. It was time to have a blood bond with this stranger. But there was no other way out.

Willa agreed to turn but asked him not to die a virgin. Of course, Willa Burrell is a virgin. Despite being a, you know - huge sacrifice on his part - he complied. The sex was okay, he tried to make it as nice and gentle as he could. She smiled when they were finished, between heavy breathing she thanked him. Then, he killed her. This was the only way for Burrell to see vampires as beings was to turn the only person the man loved into one of them. Vampires may not be human, or alive, but they still had souls. The Louisiana Governor was definitely the most extremist of politicians when it came to vampires, but if he were successful at eliminating vampires, quickly other states were following suit. Soon, the whole world would be one LAVTF. Vampires would have to disappear as witches did centuries ago. It would take at least another thousand years for humans to forget them enough to wonder if they were really real. And with today's technology, there was a very real chance that humans may never forget.

Still, it weighed Eric heavily. He didn't want a bond with Willa. The girl seemed nice and sweet, and most definitely had a touch of Stockholm syndrome. But Eric didn't want any of these things. Sure she was beautiful, but she wasn't the one he really wanted. Despite Willa agreeing to help him, he doubted she really knew what she wanted. She was barely a woman. All Willa wanted was to stick it to daddy. But he didn't care enough about her to explain what she was about to become. In fact, it was easier not caring about her at all.

Eric hated waking up underground. It was cold, smelly, hard to breathe, and dirt always got under his clothes. Plus it was hard to get the smell of damp earth off his hair. He pushed the dirt off, dug his way out of the shallow grave and examined his surroundings. There was no one around the small park. Human curfew had its pros after all. Now he had to get things going if he wanted to make it to Dallas all in one piece.

"Willa, get up," he told her.

He reached for his phone. No new messages.

Did you get to where I told you to go? He texted Pamela, being extra careful in case their phones were hacked.

Where the fuck are you? He sent Nora. He hadn't heard from her since he shunned her from Fangtasia. He didn't even care if she had answers or not at this point. He just needed to know if she was okay.

He glanced at the unmoved dirt pile beside him. Willa didn't get up yet. Maybe she was too weak to dig herself out? Eric had only ever done this once before, with Pamela. He wasn't exactly a pro at making progenies. But still, he had hoped his blood would still make stronger progenies than that. He pushed the dirt off Willa, unburying her little body and bringing her out to the grass. She looked fast asleep still, her gown was completely dirty. The fang marks on her neck were still visible.

"Willa, come on," he poked her cold stiff body. "Willa?"

He poked her again. The smell of dead flesh hit his nostrils.

"Willa?" He called her out again, shaking her shoulders.

Willa was dead. And not vampire dead, but dead dead. It didn't work. Thoughts raced his mind a mile a second. She didn't turn. Why didn't she turn? He did everything right, they exchanged blood, she died and he buried them together.

At least I can still sire children, a cold voice said in his head.

"Fuck," he muttered under his breath.

It was Lilith.

She took away his ability to make progenies. Even this he had lost. For the first time in his life, Eric felt small. Even this was taken from him. Panic hit him suddenly, crashed into him like a wave hitting a rock. Eric just fucked, killed and buried the only plan he had left.

His phone buzzed, and he reached for it eagerly. "Finally," he said to himself, every fibre of his body aching for some good news.

But it wasn't Nora or Pam texting him back.

It was a picture sent by an unknown number which ultimately squashed and killed the very last bit of hope he had in him. The last bit of anything that he had left. It was a photo of a white circular room with bright white lights. The angle of the photo gave away it was a security camera footage of sorts. But inside the room, there were two women in dark grey jumpsuits: Pamela and Tara.

Burrell had taken them.

He had won.

A.N.: Hello!

The next chapters are going to be hella intense. Stakes are going to be higher than ever. Can't wait for next week already! Also, I may have to split one of the chapters into 2, so it might end up with 28 total chapters. I honestly have no idea how people write stories 2-3-4x longer than this one. I feel like I'm running a marathon already

Also, I revised and updated all of Blood Moon (book 1) and I will start revising Black Moon Lilith once I'm done writing/editing the ending. Again, no plot changes will be made.