Chapter 26: BLOODMONEY

Olivia didn't cry often. It wasn't on purpose, she didn't consider herself to be too strong, proud or stoic to partake in crying. The last time she had a full-on cry, she was 16 and her father had died. She had loudly sobbed for about 11 hours straight. In fact, she cried so much she honestly thought she would never stop. But eventually she did stop from pure exhaustion.

Maybe she had used up all her allocated tears for her entire lifetime that day, because since she lost her dad she only managed to shed a tear or two. She didn't cry through any breakups. She didn't cry when she had bad days, she didn't even cry watching sad movies. She just wasn't the crying type, and she accepted that about herself.

Today she wanted to cry. She felt the weight of every wrong decision she had ever made crushing her. She regretted every person she had ever hurt, every lie she ever told. The weight of the world was just too much to bear.

She wanted to release the black hole consuming her, but she just couldn't. Nothing came out. She worried she was a psychopath for not crying after the horrible few days she had, and the awful night she knew she was in for. But nothing happened. Olivia lied in bed, trying to cry so much all she got accomplished was falling back asleep. She woke up at 4 PM feeling a little less hungover.

Olivia took a long shower, packed her bag, checked out of the hotel and ate a big meal in the hotel restaurant. It wasn't as soul-filling as the dinner she had the night before.

Then she hired a bellboy to be her chauffeur for an obscene amount of money. You'd think any 16-year-old kid these days would kill for the opportunity to drive a Corvette, but New Orleans was at least an hour drive away and he would have to bus back home. She had no idea how the fuck she was getting this damn car back to Shreveport. Maybe she would take it to a used car dealership in New Orleans, sell the fucking thing and be done with it.

On the other hand, however, she would have to fly home. She wasn't thrilled with the idea of flying again so soon after the Dallas trip where the pilot tried to crash them, Eric ripped his neck off, then they had to literally jump out of the plane as it dove down towards the ground while half on fire.

The boy was ecstatic when he picked up the car off the parking lot and swung around the hotel entrance to pick her up. He helped put her luggage in the trunk. The kid was also an unfortunately loud broadcaster - a lot of teenagers were.

I get to drive the world's coolest fucking car with this hot MILF in the passenger seat?!

She knew in his head MILF was supposed to be a compliment but it surely didn't fucking sit in her stomach like one. She was only 28! And she had no fucking kids?!

When they both got in the car, Olivia felt less than thrilled at his excitement.

"If you cum on my leather seats, you'll be walking home." She threatened him.

A gloriously quiet hour later, and they pulled in the gates of the Vampire Queen's New Orleans palace. A security guard didn't have to check her ID as he recognized her from the time she worked directly with the Queen. It was only a couple of months ago, but it felt like a completely different decade. Liv was surely a different person now than when she was last here. She at least hoped she was.

Brad, her driver, thanked her for the driving gig. He was quiet enough for the rest of the trip, and she was feeling generous so she tipped him a little extra. In his head, he was sad to say goodbye to the car. But most of all, he was the saddest that no one would ever believe him. A taxi picked him up to take him to the bus terminal. Olivia headed inside the mansion. It was bustling with the Queen's staff making final preparations before their Highness rose for the evening. It was as if nothing had changed. Olivia expected to see Mr. Cataliades on arrival, but unfortunately, this wasn't looking like a business meeting.

It was personal.

Fuck.

Eric had been summoned to the Queen palace. Just like the last time he was summoned to this fucking house of horrors, he was met by no one. He parked his Porsche by the entrance, right next to his beloved red Corvette. The engine felt cold. Olivia was here somewhere, and she had been here for a while. He felt an ominous feeling deep down in his chest. Why was she here? What would she say?

He walked down the grand hallways which echoed emptily with his footsteps. He haunted through the house, dreading the Queen's day room located in the East wing. He still hated that place with every fibre of his fucking being. The memory of what had happened the last time he was there didn't make him feel any better.

He pushed the large red double doors at the end of the East wing hallway and entered the big room. A woman sat in the center chaise by the pool, her beautiful back faced him. He recognized that peach-shaped ass and strawberry blonde hair from anywhere.

His heart sank two inches when her head turned around to face him. Her brown eyes immediately cut through him. They weren't the same ones who eyed him full of wonder and wanting on the dancefloor last night. They looked heavy and sad.

She quietly turned away from him, facing the wall across the pool. Olivia was giving him the cold shoulder.

Eric approached her slowly and stood next to her chaise lounge. "Fun party last night."

"Did you know?" She asked immediately. She was so pissed off she couldn't hold it in any longer. Things were back the way he knew them.

But he wondered what the question entailed exactly; Did he know she was attending the gala? Did he know Alcide Hervaux was? Did he know Portia and Alcide knew each other? Did he know Willa Burrell was Truman's daughter? Did he know the AVL media had infiltrated the party?

Did he know he was falling for her?

Olivia didn't care for his thoughtful pause or lack of an answer. "Did you know there were people filming inside the party?! You said the AVL was doing a PR stunt."

He was actually surprised Olivia remembered that. She was pretty drunk when he told her. "I suspected it, yes."

She got up in a burst of anger. If he didn't know any better he would have said she was disappointed too. And hurt. "You lying piece of shit!"

He looked her up and down. "My, My- does the great Olivia Carson care after all, or do my eyes deceive me?"

"I thought-"

"Yes, what did you think, Olivia?" He actually didn't know where that anger was coming from, but here it was. "That getting close to me wouldn't have consequences? You live in the shadows, you know what happens when you step into the light."

There was something right there in the tip of her tongue that she wanted to throw at his face badly. But she held back. "They know everything about me, Eric! Everyone does! If you knew what they were going to do to us, why did you let it happen?!"

Eric was transported back to the party. He was standing at the edge of the dancefloor, surrounded by drinking and dancing. Olivia was in front of him, a vision in emerald. Her big brown eyes filled with possibility and happiness, asking him to dance with her. She asked him as if it was a dare.

How could he say no?

Was he supposed to regret one of the best moments of his entire fucking life?

"Oh, so there is an us?" He leered.

Judging by her body language, she was about to smack him. He was ready to catch her wrist and pull her in close. Kiss her where he should have kissed her last night.

But fate had other plans. The side doors of the Queen's chambers opened. Sophie-Anne strolled in the room wearing a white linen pantsuit, and several heavy pearl necklaces around her neck. She had blood-red lipstick on that matched her pointy nails. She looked cold and dead inside at the sight of them. At the sight of Olivia specifically. If looks could kill his accountant would have joined his side at that very moment.

The accountant stiffened up like a statue. She still looked poised and calm, standing right next to him. Chin up high. But her heart was beating a mile a second.

The two women glared at each other filling the room with such tension you could only cut through it with a chainsaw. This confirmed the blaring obvious: the two had a past together. Olivia certainly had the most peculiar tastes in men and women.

Eric knew right then that the least he talked the better.

"Well, well, well if it isn't the hottest couple of the moment," and the Queen said it with a mouthful of disdain. Olivia didn't move or breathe."How did that come to be?"

"It was all rehearsed, your Majesty," Olivia explained, articulating every word heavily. "A PR stunt for the AVL to keep Eric relevant for another week."

He could feel her slipping through his fingers like fine desert sand. She actually believed it had all been a lie, a trick; he had used her as a prop to further the so-called vampire agenda, pushed by people who couldn't care less about either of them.

So why didn't he tell her when he had the chance? Because it was so much easier to act like none of this matters and keep pretending that you still have the high hand, rather than confess his heart was breaking from hurting someone who was never even his.

He shouldn't have accepted her hand for that dance, he shouldn't have carried her across that dancefloor, he shouldn't have let others seen him publicly adore a woman so fervently and let them exploit it for political gain. He shouldn't have risked it all for three songs with her.

Telling her he was too selfish to ever earn her was just too difficult. So he carried on pretending that he didn't want to.

"I see," Sophie-Anne studied the two across the pool, judging whether or not she believed the farce. Or the farce about the farce - there was nothing fake about how he treated her last night. "And you agreed to it, Olivia?"

"It was her idea, my Queen," Eric added. It was technically the truth.

"Hm," she eyed the two head to toe, deciding on whether or not to believe them. "No wonder it was so effective. You two are everywhere. Jason Wu looked wonderful on you."

He had no fucking clue what she was talking about. Who was Jason Wu?

"Now, how can we be of assistance this evening?" Eric asked, but what he meant to say was what the fuck do you want?

The Queen finally sat down on her sofa, crossing her legs theatrically. "Fangtasia, when will it reopen?" Sophie-Anne spoke in a cold and flat voice.

"We should be three weeks out-" Olivia answered right away.

"Unacceptable," the Queen barked. "Have it open by the end of the week."

That was impossible.

"May I ask why?"

Sophie-Anne glared at Olivia and her lips became a fine line. "Because I need the fucking money, Olivia. Ever heard of a bankrupt Queen ruling for long?"

Bankrupt? But he gave her so much fucking money.

"We can get you some influx through the renovation costs of Mr. Northman's recent acquisitions and Fangtasia's rebuilding, but there will be higher markups since there are more people to pay off-"

"What part of I want my fucking money was not clear to you?"

Olivia's breathing became deeper. This was going well. "How much do you need per week?"

"A lot more."

"How much?" Olivia insisted.

"150."

Thousand?! Eric's mouth went dry. Olivia warned him this was going to happen. Even if they had three Fangtasias up and running they couldn't increase her revenue that much. Not without being immediately caught anyway.

But there was one thing he could do. And it was going to hurt like hell to do it. "There's a vintage Porsche parked in your driveway, your Majesty. That should more than cover it for the next two weeks."

For the first time tonight, the Queen smiled. "Now that is the kind of forward-thinking I like, Sherriff."

"That doesn't solve the issue," Olivia did not know how to the W. Why could she not just shut the fuck up? Where was that cold shoulder now? "We can't increase our income like that, out of the blue-"

"Then why the fuck do I pay you for? I allow you to harvest the most expensive drug on earth, I take on a huge personal risk and all I get from you are fucking excuses!"

She takes a huge personal risk? Now, that's not very Queen-ly of her.

"We talked about this, Sophie-Anne. Being too greedy, growing too fast and taking on too much of a risk without being smart is what gets the feds on your ass-"

The Queen scoffed. "They have no dominion over me. I am a Queen."

Ah, such naivete. She was fucking dreaming if she thought the humans wouldn't come for her for breaking their rules. Her title wasn't recognized by them, she wasn't untouchable. In fact, she was a target.

"This is insanely reckless! To get you that kind of money we have to increase the distribution volume, recruit more almost every vampire in area 5, recruit dozens of more dealers, and to launder that much money, I'd need to use every vampire business in Louisiana, maybe more; I can get you that kind of money in maybe 1 to 3 years, but we only grow that fast if we get sloppy, and if we get sloppy we will get caught by the feds-"

Actually, the DEA finding out would be the least of their fucking worries. That much V circulating the streets and the Magister would certainly catch them. And Jorge Alonso needs far less evidence to painfully and slowly kill him for the next 100 years than Uncle Sam does. That ominous gut feeling he felt earlier had made itself present again. This was it. A thousand years on this earth and this would be his undoing - his loyalty.

"I DON'T CARE!" She yelled. "Move the fucking product, Olivia! Sell it at half price if you have to!"

That was another monumentally bad fucking idea.

Olivia's fists were white. "No."

In a flash, the Queen jumped across the pool, hissing loudly like a wild animal. She lunged at Olivia with fangs and claws out, with both hatred and passion. Then, unexpectedly, Olivia flinched. It was a small quick reaction he had never seen her do before. It led him to the only logical conclusion he could make at that moment: the Queen had hurt Olivia before.

Something overtook him. Eric's hand immediately cut forward. He forcefully grabbed Sophie-Anne by the armpit and pulled her away from the human and slightly off the floor, as he stepped between the two women.

The Queen shrieked, startled. "Unhand me you fucking brute!"

The two vampires hissed with their fangs out like vipers.

"I hold an edict of protection on her and that includes you, your fucking Majesty." Eric's voice was cold and clear like glacier water.

Sophie Anne squirmed under his grip but his squeeze tightened, making her whimper.

"Is this a fucking joke? I AM YOUR QUEEN!" She thundered.

"And I am Eric Northman," he pulled her even closer. "And I don't joke about the vows I take. You told me to protect her, so here. I. Am."

Sophie-Anne let out a howl and Eric was about to rip her dainty little arm right off her body when Olivia shouted.

"Stop!" The room stood still. "I'll do it! I'll find a way to get you more money."

Sophie-Anne's eyes challenged him. She thought she had won this little game, but in fact, everyone in that room had fucking lost. Sophie-Anne slowly relaxed under his grip and retracted her stupid fangs in. Eric threw her back and the Queen landed harshly on the chaise Olivia sat on just a minute ago. She looked at the quickly fading black bruise he left on her arm. Sophie Anne should be really fucking thankful she still had an arm. And a head.

"Get out of my fucking sight." She barked.

"Gladly," Eric growled. He was at least grateful he didn't have to pretend to like his Queen anymore.

Olivia did a small and hateful curtsey and the two of them walked out of the room in silence. As Eric opened the door, the Queen's voice echoed behind them, seeping down the hallway.

"Olivia, whether last night was really rehearsed or not, I should warn you," Eric watched his accountant freeze next to her. She looked at the Queen one last time. "He doesn't have the heart you think he does."

That was quite a fucking bold statement, considering Eric was standing right fucking there. Whatever happened between them was painful and destructive. Knowing her, he wondered whose fault that was. If the Queen wanted to self-destruct, she was trying her damn best to drag Olivia down with her. And the rest of the fucking world too.

Olivia glanced up at him before she answered. "It is your definition of heart that is precisely the problem."

Oh, burn.

Sophie-Anne tilted her head like a haunted doll. Her lips curled in an evil smile. "Oh, I see. Let's make a bet then. Eric," he suddenly felt like spiders were crawling all over his skin. "If Olivia fails to increase revenue in a fortnight…"

He wished he had ripped the Queen's head off when he had the chance. "Kill her."

The two of them made their way to the front driveway in complete silence. Eric gave the Porsche keys to one of the Queen's servants and if it hurt him at all to part with yet another car, he didn't show it. She had a thousand things to say, and a thousand reasons not to. As they made their way down the steps, Olivia reached in her purse and tossed Eric the car fob. He caught it and naturally made his way to the driver's side. Guess this stupid toy-looking car is making its way home after all. Funny how some things work out in the end.

As soon as they made it past the gates, Olivia let out the deep breath she had been holding all night. Fucking hell. Two weeks. She had two weeks to fucking live, unless she could pull the fucking impossible. Was Sophie-Anne serious?! She knew the Queen to be petty, but was she willing to risk everything just to make some silly point? Maybe her gambling problem was much worse than she thought.

"So, which bank are we robbing first?" Eric asked in a light tone.

He seemed completely relaxed as if nothing had happened. He just hadn't risked his own life to protect her. His Queen hadn't ordered him to kill her if she failed to turn them into a Genovese crime family in two weeks. But why would Eric care about that? He was the master of apathy; completely unphased. She could not say the same.

"You really shouldn't have intervened-"

He was surprised at her reaction. "That is a funny way to say thank you." There was a certain irony in the statement. Eric had odd ways to show gratitude too. "And you should have kept your mouth shut. Why push her like that? Don't you know she doesn't like to be pushed?"

She knew he was right. But Olivia didn't like to be pushed either, especially when she was right. "I'll thank you if I make it out of this."

"We will make out of this. In case you haven't noticed, I am also fucked if we don't settle the Queen's debts."

"What do you mean?" Olivia asked.

"Sophie-Anne's ship is sinking and there are only three ways down: either another monarch marries her and settles her debts-"

"Many have tried to already, but Sophie-Anne refuses to be bought."

"Very cute lie. It's actually because they would certainly find out about the V business and throw all of our asses to the Magister. The second way she's going down is if the feds find us - any of them, the IRS, FBI, DEA would all love a slice of the LeClerq pie to make an example of in court and appease the republicans who seem to think vampires spend all their money funding democratic super PACs,"

It was strange hearing Eric speak human. But he was right again. The second way would fuck him too.

"And the third way?"

"Somebody kills her and takes her place."

"That's not so bad-"

"Except when new regimes take over, Sheriffs are taken out and replaced first. Can't risk management having misplaced loyalties."

The rules of corporate mergers also apply to Vampire Monarchies, who knew. That turned a dark corner. Eric may not have gotten a 14-day expiry notice like she did, but he had his own doomsday clock ticking, and it had been ticking for a while.

"Why not you?" Olivia asked, just as she remembered Eric had told her being King was his greatest fear.

"Being King? Absolutely not." He said it with the poise and arrogance only Eric Northman could.

"I think you becoming the most powerful and rich vampire in all of Louisiana is the best plan pitched so far-"

"No."

"Why? You're a good Sheriff-"

"I never wanted to be Sheriff in the first place. It only looks like power to the people on the outside, but it's actually prison. I committed a sin, and now I will forever be atoning for it. Trust me, me having more power is not what I want. I will never sit on any throne, ever."

Olivia was too scared to ask what he could possibly have done in order to be forced into a life (death?) sentence of servitude. She felt that helpless feeling again. The black hole inside her grew heavier. No. She had to use this as more fuel to her fire. She refused to fail. Rule number 6: Losing was not a fucking option.

"I will think of something. There's always something."

Silence took over the night as Eric made his way out of the city and onto the highway, heading north. It was a five-hour drive back to Shreveport, but at least her own bed and home were waiting on the other side. Once rested, she could put her remaining 5 brain cells to work.

She hated facing Sophie-Anne tonight. She hated letting Eric see her weakness more than the fact that she had one to begin with. Olivia couldn't help but wonder if Sophie-Anne still loved her or if all had been successfully converted into hatred. Had she ever even loved her to begin with? Every day that passed Olivia realized a little more that you don't drain people you love almost dry. Nor do you threaten to kill them to prove someone else doesn't have feelings for her.

God, was that really it? She thought Eric liked her? Of course. Why else turn her savior into her executor?

Olivia couldn't help but remember Sophie Anne standing in the sun covered in her blood. She had always known that if humans discovered what she could do with her mind, they would certainly lock her up. They would force her to read minds of State enemies, of criminals, terrorists and serial killers, of political rivals. She would be bought and sold to the highest bidders, used as a weapon, and be tested on like a lab rat. She would never be free again. But the knowledge that vampires would also do the same to her was new. If vampires discovered what her blood could do…. She would become Fancy Feast, or be leashed like an exotic animal. She didn't know which fate would be worse. And to be honest, the fact that the Queen didn't do that to her was the only reason why she thought she may have loved Olivia at all.

Watching Eric drive was a soothing distraction from the rabbit hole her mind was spiralling through. She was still pretty mad at him for playing her like a fiddle and getting her face plastered across America. And in trouble with her mother, apparently. She couldn't believe he had faked it to appease Nan Flanagan. Didn't he hate her? And for what? More drama? All to get Harvey Levin and the blond surfer-looking douchebag to pit Olivia against Willa Burrell's 19-year old perky tits on TMZ?

Though she fully hoped to avenge this act of betrayal someday, she had much bigger fish to fry. And maybe it was the fact that he stuck his neck out for her, maybe it was just how hot he looked driving (or just existing). Exhausted, hungover, and bored, she decided to just enjoy the view for the night. He was wearing all black as usual, topped with his heavy leather jacket. It created a contrast against his pearl white skin and the smoothness of his dirty blond hair. His stubble was still there, and his ocean eyes didn't stray from the road. Eric was tall and lean, but he filled out most of the car. He had broad shoulders and defined muscles everywhere.

She watched his large hands lazily rest on the steering wheel. She tried to imagine him killing her with those hands, obeying the orders of his Queen. But when she imagined those hands on her throat… Well, it wasn't dying she pictured exactly.

Every so often his right hand would shift gears right next to the thigh. If you just saw him now, you'd be in awe at how absolutely mouth-watering he was. You'd never believe that an hour ago he was about to tear a powerful vampire apart like a goose feather pillow. Olivia has seen him kill people before, more than once. It was dark, and blood-chilling to see. But there was something to be said about knowing he would tear flesh for her.

And at that oddly comforting thought, she drifted into a dreamless sleep. She woke up with the car slowing down and coming to a full stop. It took a few seconds for her to realize where she was. A circle K in the middle of nowhere. She couldn't see the highway anywhere near, she had no idea where they were. It was just bushes and woods on both sides of the road.

Eric parked next to the gas pump and got out of the car. Her phone was dead and she had no idea how long she was asleep for. Years, according to her stiff joints and aching butt. Olivia decided she needed to get out too. The night air was hot, humid and thick. It was like walking into a dog's breath. She told Eric she was going inside the gas station convenience store to buy some water, and pay for gas. He nodded quietly from the back of the car and watched her head inside with his intense smouldering eyes.

The clerk abruptly woke up once the store's front doorbell rang as she walked in. Olivia grabbed a cold bottle of Dasani from the fridge and drank half the thing in one go, basking into the cold air coming from inside the fridge. Feeling hungry, she grabbed a protein bar, a bag of peanut butter M&Ms and briefly considered getting beef jerky but her vampire driver would certainly object to it. So she grabbed three.

Eric was waiting by the register already with his wallet out by the time she made it back to the front of the store.

"Oh, I'll pay for it." Olivia put all her items on the counter. It was technically her car still. And he had saved her life that night (after ruining it, but she was still intact and breathing).

Surprisingly without protest, Eric put the slip on the counter and his wallet back in his jacket pocket.

"That's 247 dollars," the clerk said.

Surely she had misheard the total. "Sorry, what was that?"

"That's two hundred and forty seven dollars. Cash or card?" The clerk repeated.

She could feel Eric beaming next to her. Of course he didn't protest. "What the hell did you fill the tank with? Liquid gold?!"

"It's an 18-gallon tank, and I only use premium gas."

"Eighteen gallons? Is that why the trunk is so fucking small?!" Olivia had to take a deep breath as she slid her credit card across the counter. Alcide had paid for the gas on the way down to Baton Rouge, but the agent hadn't said anything. She should have felt bad for him, any normal person would have. But she sure as hell didn't.

After paying and grabbing her snacks, they exited the little store. Eric was grinning all the way back to the car. The heat of the night was really just the icing on the fucking cake. But, it did make Eric finally take his jacket off and put it in the trunk. His arms were sculpted in marble by Antonio Corradini himself. "Why are you so surprised? Is this your first time filling up the tank?"

"Yes! I haven't driven this thing yet and now I don't think I can afford to." This fucking car was going to be gone tomorrow. Or today, she wasn't sure if it was past midnight yet.

"What? Why?"

"Because," she sighed. Here we fucking go. "I don't know how to drive standard."

"What, daddy didn't teach you?" He mocked her.

"Daddy died before he could."

It was always awkward telling people her dad died. People always immediately fill up with dread and guilt for bringing the topic up. As if the pain and grief of losing your father only happened if she talked about it.

But Eric didn't make it awkward. "Come over here." He motioned for her to walk around the driver's side, then ducked inside the car.

Olivia knew she was going to regret whatever it was he had planned, but she was partially too tired to argue, partially too intrigued.

The driver's door was wide open, and he was sitting inside. Eric reached under the seat and pushed it all the way back. His legs were really long, so the seat didn't slide too much further. He then reclined the seat back as far as it could go. Eric was so low on the ground he looked like a rapper in a music video on MTV. With the body of a Viking.

"Get in," he told her, lightly tapping his hand on his thigh.

Olivia stood between the gas pump and the open car door holding her little bag of snacks for a long pause, trying to decipher what else he could possibly be trying to insinuate. There was no way in hell he wanted to teach her how to drive this car by sitting on his lap, right here, right now.

"You can't be serious."

"Come on. We don't have all night."

She had every reason on earth not to sit on Eric's lap and let him teach her how to drive. Read that again. That's insane. In fact, she was probably going to crash this car into the bushes in less than a minute. That is if she doesn't drown the engine from stalling so much, or whatever the fuck happens when you stall a car. Not to mention, sitting on his lap.

But she thought about how fucking wicked it would be to finally learn this basic life skill she had procrastinated so much. She imagined telling her dad she learned how to drive a standard in a Corvette, and her heart filled up. It would be healing, in a way. She could use some healing right now.

But what really sealed the deal was the prospect of maybe being dead in two weeks. That really made her do it.

Olivia took a deep breath, and without saying anything she awkwardly tossed her bag of snacks to the passenger seat and crawled into the car, sitting on Eric's lap. The car's roof wasn't tall enough for her to sit upright, so, you guessed it, she had to lean back and lie her back against his entire torso. He was firm as he looked. She tried her best not to move too much. God forbid she accidentally grinded her ass against his-

Eric pulled the seatbelt over her front and tied them together tightly.

"Alright, look at your feet. The left pedal is the clutch, press on it with your left foot." He spoke softly right next to her right ear. It made the hairs on the nape of her neck stand up. It was like her neck remembered his gentle kiss at the end of their deadly tango last night. Her waist remembered his body picking her up over broken glass in her kitchen. How he picked her up and literally jumped out of a plane.

She had to shake those thoughts away. Olivia refocused - It was dark, and there wasn't enough room for her to lean and look at the pedals, so she had to feel around with her feet. She pressed it with the ball of her left foot. It felt weird and completely foreign to be using your left foot to drive at all.

"Now press on the brake with your right foot, it's the middle pedal." Using both feet felt wrong and extremely scary. She had no idea why she was trusting him with this, especially when she was still coughing up water from the last time she trusted him. But she carried on. "Okay, now start the car. Keep your feet where they are."

Olivia pressed the START button in lieu of the ignition. Lights came on the dash, headlights illuminated the darkness ahead. The car let out a loud roar under the hood, then it smoothed into a purr.

"Next you put the car in neutral," his right hand came up and took the back of hers from the steering wheel. He placed it on the gear and enveloped her hand with his, and together they moved it from second to neutral. It sent shivers up her arm.

"Now take just your left foot off the clutch, and release the emergency brake." His hand moved hers and they pulled up the e-brake together. She could feel the brake disengage under the car.

"Now, if you take your foot off the brake the car will start rolling freely, so don't do that yet. We are going to shift gears first. Foot back on the clutch," he waited until her foot moved. "And we are in first gear."

Their hands moved the gear stick to the middle then all the way to the left.

"Slowly release the clutch, press the gas and let the car go all the way to 1500 RPM on the dash. With practice, you'll be able to just feel it."

"Feel what?"

"You'll see."

Olivia slowly took her left foot off the pedal and the car started moving forward. Once she hit the gas she felt the engine run. Her heartbeat picked up with it. The car rolled out of the gas station, and onto an old side road.

"Hit the clutch again, and we'll move up a gear."

She followed. They were now driving through God knows where. Rural Louisiana looked abandoned and forgotten with sparse rusting trailers dotted alongside old farms and decaying barns. There were no streetlights. All the road signs had shotgun pellet holes and were completely illegible. Eric walked her through the next four gears, letting her feel the engine roar under her. It told her when she needed to go up and down. She understood what he meant by feeling the car. She could distinguish where the engine wanted to go by the way it hummed. It's like it talked through the vibrations. It was asking to be pushed harder. She didn't know what the speed limit was, but she was sure they were way past it.

Olivia was no longer scared. She was flying through the night, rubber tires barely touching the pavement. As his hand pushed the gears forward one by one, she felt closer and closer to the edge. The edge of what she didn't know, but the thrill of chasing it was indescribable.

Eric took his hand off. For the first time in a while, she was completely in control. She controlled everything. The wheel, the engine, the road, the whole fucking universe. The Corvette was so low she felt like she was running herself, like a cheetah through the night. She did curves smoother than anything she had ever driven. In fact, Olivia was doing speeds on these curves she wouldn't do on a straight line in any other car. This wasn't simply just a car, this was a race car. It was powerful. It felt like a weapon, somehow. She understood the appeal of it now.

They saw a railroad coming up ahead, the crossing light flashing yellow with urgency. A train was coming. Olivia pulled her foot off the gas and prepared to stop by pressing the clutch.

"We can make it," Eric told her. It was the first thing he said in a while.

Her heart was beating as loud as the Corvette's engine was running. Without hesitation, she pushed the gas pedal all the way down to the floor. She felt the car lengthen forward through space and time. The whole frame shook like an earthquake.

Instead of slowing down, she moved it into the 8th gear, pushing it further than she thought it was possible to go. The dashboard was reading 6500 RPMs, 189 MPH and rising. She could feel the G force pushing her against Eric's body underneath her. Train lights were moving through the trees ahead at full speed, ready to intercept them.

When the tires went over the tracks, Olivia could see the locomotive less than 20 feet from them at full speed. Its horn blew up, exploding its deep sound through the woods. It was the only thing louder than the car's engine.

As soon as they cleared the tracks, she hit the clutch and the break. The car came to a weeping and halting stop. Eric's body fully pressed her chest against the steering wheel, the seatbelt almost cut her whole body into three pieces. Her forehead almost touched the windshield.

They both settled back into the car seat, untouched. Alive.

"I told you we could make it," Eric whispered quietly in her ear. She felt blood rushing everywhere.

Olivia threw the car in park, unfastened the seatbelt, grabbed the door handle, pushed the door wide open and immediately jumped out of the car.

The train's horn along with the Corvette's engine and her own heartbeat were still ringing loudly in her ears, drowning everything else out. The car's brake red lights illuminated the train passing by behind them, like a moving red wall cutting through the forest. Everything else was pure darkness and nothingness. Meaningless.

Olivia breathed deeply, trying to supply her brain with enough oxygen to keep running at the speed it was. Her entire being felt high and sharp as if she were still driving at 200 trying to beat a fucking freight train.

The fog inside her lifted. The black hole inside her went supernova. For the first time, maybe ever, everything was so crystal clear to her. She had travelled through madness, through fear, through regret, through death itself. On the other side, she found the answers clear as day. She knew exactly what to do about the V, the money, the laundering, Fangtasia, Alcide, Debbie, Portia, the Queen. About Eric. The puzzle was all right there, right in front of her.

"Eric, I solved it! I know exactly what we have to do!" She said breathlessly, pushing hair out of her face.

The vampire swung his body out of the car and stood tall by her toes. He was taller than anything else in a thirty-mile radius. If she had travelled through death, he had shown her how.

Eric looked at her, with an urgent and dark light in his eyes. "Yeah, me too."

He leaned forward and kissed her.

A.N:

*Internally screaming*

Nope

*EXTERNALLY SCREAMING*

Man that was wild to write! I really hope you sweet angels liked it! Disclaimer though, *I* do not know how to drive standard, so I had to watch a lot of youtube videos to write this part. So if the math does not check out, my apologies.

Anyway, I hope you are still enjoying this story as much as I am!

Until next time xoxoxo