I decided to take one of the back roads to Merlotte's hoping to save some extra time so I'd be able to pick some brains and catch up with some of the locals I knew there. It was a two-lane (barely) road with its fair share of pot holes and overhung trees that looked like it was straight out of a horror movie. It would've been scary to drive on the road had I not done it ever since being a child. So, now instead of being scary, it was actually kind of serene and quiet, that is until I heard the 'THUNK' of something hitting my car.

"Holy shit! What was that?" I screamed as I slammed my foot on the brake pedal bringing Sookie's car to a screeching halt.

"Please, you must help me! Thank goodness you came when you did. I'm being chased but can't run much longer." This being said by the man who popped up in front of my car in a Spanish accent as he placed his hands on the hood of the car, which of course caused me to scream in shear fright. He was bleeding all over and should've at least have been lying on the ground in pain, if not dead. But looking at him further, I wasn't sure if his state of injuries were from me or from something else. His shirt looked like it was torn to shreds. I don't think that my hitting him with the car would have done that. But then again, I did just hit him with a car… SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!

"I am so sorry I hit you sir. Please, let me take you to the hospital. You look like you're in a real bad state." I said, shaking and ready to cry. I couldn't believe I just hit someone (especially in the middle of nowhere).

"NO! NO! Not the hospital, they may look for me there, and truth be told, I don't need one. If you could take me to the nearest motel, that would be preferable. And please, as quickly as possible. I believe the men after me are not far behind." The injured man said as he quickly made his way from around the front of the car to the passenger side door and into the car.

"Great." I thought to myself as I pushed the pedal to the metal. Not only have I just hit a man with Sook's car, but he has people chasing him, well us, now. Why are men chasing this guy in the middle of nowhere?

"Sir, exactly how much danger are we in?" I asked the man, not knowing if I really wanted to know the answer.

"Quite a bit I suppose, but the sooner we get out of here, the sooner the danger shall pass. I know you probably have a lot of questions, but I will answer what I can once we are out of danger."

The rest of the drive was quiet as I sped to the nearest motel. The man kept his eyes closed and seemed to try to do some sort of yoga like chant and pose. I didn't know exactly what he was doing, but it seemed to help him with controlling his pain. During this time, I couldn't help but panic a little. What if this guy was the killer? Or, what if those chasing him were the killers? My heart was beating out of my chest. How stupid was I to let this guy in my car. I let my guilt over hitting him cloud my judgment. But… he really was in no condition to do anything now anyway.

We arrived at the motel soon enough and I got a room for the man, seeing as he was badly injured and bleeding profusely. I doubted that the motel manager was going to rent a room out to him if he asked for it. Also, I still had the whole guilt thing about hitting him as well.

"Um, sir, it'd be great if you could explain a little bit about what just happened." I said, standing close to the door so that I could exit quickly if need be. I had tried to enter his mind earlier, but all I saw were flashes and words here and there, nothing that made sense. I chalked it up to his situation and left it at that.

"Yes, in due time miss. I need to rest a bit though. I also need a few things, which in my state now would be impossible to get. Would you be a dear and get them for me?" He asked with his smooth Spanish accent.

"Um, it depends on what you need and how soon. I need to pick up my sister from work soon."

"Well, I probably won't be going anywhere until tomorrow morning, so if you could bring me these items by 8:00 am that would be best." He said while jotting down a few items on the motel notepad.

"Sir, if you don't mind me asking, why don't you seem upset at me for hitting you with my car?" I asked, noticing for the first time that the man had not yelled once or even brought up the fact that I had hit him with the car.

"Please, no more 'sir'. Call me Fernando. Well, miss? Ahhh, what is your name miss?" He asked.

"Arabella."

"Well, Miss Arabella, and might I say a beautiful name fitting for such a beautiful girl, you did not so much hit me, as I ran into you. I wanted to stop you so you could help me out of the predicament I found myself in." The man said cryptically.

"Oh." I replied confused. Who runs intentionally into a moving car?

"I know you are confused, as your facial expression shows, and I did promise answers, but now, I really need to rest. Come by tomorrow with those items and we shall have breakfast and chat. Oh, and here is some money. This should be more than enough to cover the cost of the items." He said, almost as if we were best buds now. Very weird.

"Um, okay. I'll l do my best to get these things for you si…. I mean Fernando."

"Thank you very much Miss Arabella. Until tomorrow." He said as he rose off the bed where he had been sitting, took my hand and kissed it, not passionately, but with respect and thankfulness. I also couldn't help but notice that his hand was exceptionally warm. I wondered if he had an infection setting in.

"Bye. I hope you feel better in the morning Fernando" I replied as I took my hand back and grabbed the door handle.

Before I left the room I took a moment to memorize what he looked like, just in case I needed to have that in my memory bank. He kind of reminded me of Antonio Bandaras, good looking with dark brown wavy hair and brown eyes, definitely of Spanish descent, about 5'11 or 6 ft. tall. He looked to be in his late 40's, maybe early 50's, but definitely still physically fit, well aside from the obvious injuries. He also looked like he had been wearing a suit of some sort, but the jacket was missing, the shirt was ripped to shreds, and the pants were torn to above his knees. The dress socks he was wearing were covered in mud and the expensive looking shoes were in dire straits. This guy looked like he got tangled in the worse part of a Louisiana swamp. I had to admit, I was curious about what happened to the man, but now I needed to get to Merlotte's and get Sookie. Wait, I need to clean the car up first and then get Sook. Don't know that I really want to get into this with her now… it would only make her crazier with worry. She was already on edge with Jason's situation and Gran's death. Not that I was doing much better, but I didn't want to burden her with this if I didn't have to, at least not yet. So, off to a pit stop at Walmart for Lysol wipes, towels and Fernando's items before Merlotte's. Thank God Walmart never closes.

"Sook?" I said as she answered her cell phone.

"Arabella, are you on your way?" Sookie asked seemingly excited about something.

"No, I have to make a pit stop at Walmart before. I hope you don't mind. Oh, do you need anything?" I replied.

She said that she was fine because she had company there at Merlotte's and asked if I could get a couple things for her. She didn't seem to notice that I was rattled in the least. Something definitely had her attention at Merlotte's. Good. I needed the attention not to be on me at the moment.