Just wanted to let everyone know that I won't be able to update for about a week and a half to two weeks because I have to visit family that have no internet and no cable (say a prayer for me), so please don't think that I've left for good. Please enjoy & Review It's always good to hear what your thoughts are on the story. Good or bad. Thanks again!
After a restless night of tossing and turning, my alarm clock finally went off at 7:30 am, which didn't really allow for a shower before meeting with Fernando, but it did allow time for Starbucks, which was probably better anyway. Hello caffeine! So after heading through the Starbucks drive-thru and getting the largest espresso known to man I headed to the motel to face the guy I ran down the night before. Once I got to the motel, I knocked on the door and waited for him to open it holding the sweet nectar that only Starbucks can provide (at least in Bon Temps) and the Walmart bags all the while hoping that this wasn't a colossal mistake.
"Ahhhhh, Buenos dias Arabella. I'm so glad to see you have returned and with the items I requested. Please, please come in." Fernando motioned with his arms for me to enter the room as he greeted me with sincere happiness. He really seemed like a genuinely nice guy. He was also cleaned up from the night before, standing there in only a towel. I guess I wouldn't have wanted to stay in the clothes he was in last night either. Strange, it didn't weird me out whatsoever that the guy was only in a towel because he was so, what's the word I'm looking for, fatherly? Yeah, fatherly. It didn't feel like I had to fear anything with him. What amazed me the most, however, was that not only was all the blood cleaned off of him, but he didn't appear to be any worse for wear, at all. What the heck? Shouldn't he have some bruises, cuts, SOMETHING?
I walked into the room and Fernando shut the door behind me as I started, "Well, here are the clothes and toiletries you asked for. I hope it's everything you needed and that it fits."
Fernando looked into the bags and said, "Yes, everything appears to be in order. I must add that I am truly grateful that you were able to get them. I'm going to go into the bathroom and freshen up. Please, stay and I will esplain about last night."
I strongly considered just bolting out of there, seeing as I had a lot on my plate right now and didn't necessarily need this mess on my hands as well. Fernando seemed perfectly fine, and even if I did leave, he didn't look like he would've ratted me out to anyone, he was hiding out in a motel for goodness sake, but my conscience and curiosity got the best of me, so I stayed. I hit this man with Sook's car. I couldn't just leave. It wouldn't be right and damn if I didn't want to know what the hell he was running from. Finally, after my short internal debate, Fernando came out of the bathroom looking like a new man in the clothes I brought him.
"Come, you must be hungry. I could hear your stomach grumbling in the bathroom. Where can we go for a good greasy breakfast?" He said taking my hand and leading me out of the motel room towards Sookie's car. Huh, well I guess he would know what it looked like seeing as he was intimately acquainted with it's front end.
"Well, Dixie's Dive is down the street and they have awesome haystacks." I said as my stomach growled again. Did he really hear my stomach growling in the bathroom with the door shut before? Nooooo, right?
"I don't know what a 'haystack' is, but I bet if you like it I will too. Come vamanos. I also have some esplaining to do." Fernando said smiling once we reached Sookie's car. Getting into the car I thought to myself, I'm really going to have to get my own set of wheels.
The drive to Dixie's was thankfully short, as I was now ready to eat a small village I was so hungry. We got out of the car, headed in and were seated promptly. No problems so far.
After the waitress took our order I asked, "Fernando, if you don't mind me asking, why don't you seem worried that the people chasing you last night might just be, oh, I don't know, still looking for you?" I asked, looking around nervously.
"Oh, those idiots have been taken care of, don't you worry little one." Fernando replied sitting back and taking a sip of the coffee the waitress had brought as if he had not a care in the world.
"Taken care of, by who, and how?" I asked. He asked me to do his shopping last night and seemed to be all alone, what gives?
"I trust you, I don't know why, but with everything that has happened, I can tell that you are a good, trustworthy person. Call it intuition. So what I am about to tell you, you cannot tell another soul, no one. Is that clear little one?" He stated, not threateningly, but with purpose. I nodded. "Well, let me start at the beginning. That's always a good place, no? You know how vampires have come out of the closet? Well, let's just say they weren't the only ones hiding in there, if you catch my meaning."
Leaning closer toward Fernando I said softly so that only he could hear, "Holy shit. What else is out there?" with my eyes bugging out, wondering how many other things that go bump in the night were really true. Thank God I didn't hear about this stuff being true when I was little. I would've never gone back to sleep.
Of course, this is when the waitress came with our food. The haystacks were placed in front of us and smelled wonderful, but all I could do was stare at Fernando and wait anxiously for a response.
"Oh, this does look and smell tasty, good choice little one." Fernando said as he dived into his food with enthusiasm.
"Fernando, you can't leave me hanging like this!" I added as I needed to know what he was about to say before.
"Ahhhh, I cannot speak for every other species out there, but I will tell you that I am a werewolf. We are very strong, and that is how I survived last night. The older the werewolf, the stronger and I, my friend, am very old. Also, with age comes an accelerated healing ability, which is how I do not have any marks on my body this morning. I noticed your surprised look upon seeing me, so I thought you should know why that was so."
"Holy shit." I said again. Shock written all over my face. Obviously the shock also took away my ability to come up with something less vulgar to say as well.
"Yes, well, let me continue. Werewolves normally live in packs. I am not from here, but my sister Maria and her family live with the Shreveport pack. I was here on business and visiting her family when this whole mess started. Maria's son, Alcide, and I were at the lumber yard near the road where you and I met when we were attacked by some were's from another area, from the Jackson, Mississippi pack I believe. As it turns out, Alcide's girlfriend, Debbie, well, ex-girlfriend now, has been cheating on him with someone named Cooter in that pack.
"Cooter?" I said snickering. Yes, sometimes a thirteen year old boy must live in my brain.
"Yes, a stupid name for an equally stupid man. But, let me continue. It was such a shame , what Debbie did. She used to be such a buena chica, but alas, something has changed in her. Once the attack started, Alcide and I decided to split up to force those attacking us to split up as well, so we'd have a better chance of overtaking them. I, being older, was able to really give the two after me a good pummeling before forcing them to follow me through the god-forsaken swamp. Two others followed Alcide through the piles of lumber. Let's just say that the two who chased me made a good meal for a couple of very hungry alligators." He said this with a slightly wistful smile on his face.
"Ummmm, wow. This is so not the story I ever thought I'd be hearing. What happened to the two following your nephew?" I said completely enthralled with the story.
"Yes, well Alcide is no pushover. He handled those two pretty quickly. They will not be bothering Alcide, or anyone else for that matter again."
"Ok Fernando, but when you crashed into my car, you said that there were people chasing you, but now you said that they were eaten by alligators?" I didn't know what to make of that.
"Well, the two chasing me had met that fate, but I didn't know for sure what happened to the ones with Alcide, or if there were any others for that matter, so I figured it was a good thing to say to convince you to get us out of there quickly. I did not know what happened with Alcide until I spoke with him over the phone later in the night. I am sorry for the slight deception little one." Fernando said as he took my hand. I knew he meant it.
"So, it sounds like you and Alcide ended up okay, but did you ever find out exactly why you were attacked?" I asked curiously.
"Yes, well, it seems that Alcide was the intended target. I was unfortunately at the wrong place at the wrong time, for those idiots. Debbie's new fling wanted Alcide out of the picture, permanently." Fernando added.
"Do you think that they'll come back to finish the job?" I asked.
"No. Those morons know that they cannot come back and do that again without risking a war, which neither side particularly wants. Also, the Shreveport pack met later that night and kicked Debbie out. She's probably in Jackson right now as we speak. She will never be accepted back in that pack ever again, not with that kind of dishonor upon her. They can keep that trash. Poor Alcide though. He really loved that crazy girl." Fernando said shaking his head.
"Why did you have me take you to this motel instead of just taking you to your sister's house? And, why did you have me get that stuff at the store for you?" I asked. He had family here. Why didn't he have them take care of him.
"Well, I can see why you would ask that. My sister Maria is always worrying about her boys, that's what she calls all the men in the family. She knows that being a werewolf can sometimes be dangerous. We were's do tend to be hot-headed. If Alcide and I came home looking the way we did, she would've had a heart attack. I did not want to upset her, so I asked you to do what you did." Fernando replied.
"But what about Alcide? Where did he go? And also, wouldn't your sister have found out anyway about the attack when she heard that Debbie was kicked out. It seems like that would be pretty big news in your pack, right?" I asked.
"Yes, well Alcide has many friends. He is very likeable you know and so he ended up at one of their houses. Alas, you are right of course about Maria finding out eventually, but at least she would not have to see us worse for wear."
I nodded at him in understanding and asked, "So, what's next for you Fernando?"
"Well, I must head back to my life in California. My nephew is supposed to pick me up here after breakfast with you to take me to the airport."
"Wait, how does he know to pick you up here?" I asked him while thinking… Is there some sort of werewolf esp or something? It's not like we told anyone where we were going.
"I texted him my location during our conversation. I may be old, but I still have a few tricks up my sleeve little one." Fernando said with a wink. I smiled back. We then both fell into casual conversation and ate the delicious haystacks. Nothing's better than a good greasy breakfast.
I couldn't believe that I didn't even notice him texting during our conversation but I really was so engrossed. I did however notice the amazing looking guy that walked in as Fernando was taking care of the bill. Tall, dark and handsome pretty much summed it up. Oh my, his muscles had muscles and gosh if he wasn't tall as the sky. Boy, today was NOT the day to forgo the shower and wear my sweats and a tee shirt. Damn! At least I had time to run a brush through my hair, although makeup would've been nice. Double Damn! My heart nearly skipped a beat when mister tall, dark and handsome walked over to our table. Triple Damn!
"Hola Tio Fernando. Como estas?" said the good looking man standing by us.
"Bueno, bueno Alcide. Come, meet our new friend Arabella." Fernando said to, oh my god, Alcide! That's Alcide. Wow! No pushover indeed!
"Hello Arabella. My tio, I mean uncle, has told me lots about you." Alcide said with a warm smile.
"Well, all good things I hope." I returned with a huge grin on my face. What was I stupid, I ran over his uncle with Sook's car. I know Fernando said it was okay, but I don't know how it translates to a good thing to others. Oh well.
"Yes, well, let's head outside as I have a plane to catch soon." Said Fernando.
We all headed out the door and towards Alcide's pick-up truck. From the detailing on the side of the truck, it looked like Alcide owned his own construction business. Must be how he kept himself in such good shape. I hoped that I wasn't drooling right then. I glanced in the windows of the restaurant quickly to make sure I didn't look too much like an ass. No such luck.
"Arabella, I regret that I do not have more time to sit and chat, but my plane takes off soon and I cannot miss it. I want to let you know though that I own a resort of sorts in Los Angeles, a resort that caters solely to werewolves and their families. It's a place where they can feel free to be themselves on vacation. Here is my business card. It has my business numbers on it as well as my home numbers. These are not to be given to anyone else. They are very private. I give them to you however so that if you are ever in need of a safe haven, need a job, whatever, you just call and I will take care of the rest. You have helped me out immensely and I do not take that lightly. I owe you and this is the best way I can repay. Hide the card in a safe place so that if you need it, you have it. Take care little one. " Fernando said as he lightly kissed both of my cheeks and got into Alcide's truck. Through the window he added, "Alcide will give you his number as well, so if you need any local help, he can be there for you. Alcide, give Arabella your card."
"Yes Tio. Here you go Arabella." Alcide said handing his card over.
"Oh, and Alcide hand Arabella your phone as well so she can put her phone number in there." Fernando added after which I did a little happy dance in my mind that he would have my number too.
"Thank you Fernando, and Alcide. Hopefully if I call, it won't be because I'm in any sort of trouble. It was a pleasure meeting both of you, even though the circumstances were a bit bizarre. Take care of yourselves." I said as I turned around and headed to my car. Boy, I could use a real good excuse to call Alcide. God, between drooling over Eric and then Alcide, my libido was heading into overdrive. I needed a shower for more reasons than one now.
Alcide then got into his truck and started to drive his uncle to the airport. While driving he said, "Tio, you smelled them on her right?
"Yes Alcide, it was very faint though, not as though she was touched by them, but just around them. That's why I thought the best form of repayment was to give her an out if things got bad with the vamps. They must smell her scent even stronger than we do. Poor girl." Fernando said.
"Yeah, you didn't tell me how beautiful she was." Alcide said to his uncle.
"Well, I knew you'd see it for yourself when you met her. Her beauty is not skin deep though, she is also a beautiful soul. But I don't want you barking up that tree Alcide unless you really like her. Don't try to use her to get over Debbie." Fernando warned his nephew.
"Tio, I wouldn't do that to her. I know I need time to get over Debbie." Alcide said sadly.
"Yes, well that is true, but in any event, don't take too long either Alcide. Debbie isn't worth your time and sadly, I don't think Arabella's going to be on the market for too long." Fernando said as they continued down the highway toward s the airport.
As soon as I got to my car I decided I needed to talk to someone. So I pulled out my phone and dialed the first person I thought of.
"Jessalyn?" I said as she picked up on her end.
"Bella, what the hell? Do you know what time it is here? There is a time difference you know." Jessalyn said clearly pissed off.
"Oh shit, I'm sorry Jess. I did forget. My mind's not altogether here right now and I just needed to talk to someone normal for a moment." I said.
"It's okay. Are you okay though. You're not in any kind of trouble, are you?" She asked, worry all through her voice.
"No, no, I'm fine. A lot has happened. A LOT. But I don't really want to talk about all that right now. I just want to talk about something mundane, like the weather, or the hot sex with Owen, or surfing in the ocean." I said.
"Hot sex with Owen is NOT mundane, but I know that's not what you meant. " Jessalyn said lightly as we fell into a friendly chat about absolutely nothing that helped me to forget about absolutely everything for a brief moment. That's what friends are for sometimes, right?