Of course, I own nothing to do with True Blood. Just an ASkars/Eric lover.
Thank you all so much for your amazing reviews, and alerts for the story. Every time I receive one, I feel so humbled and flattered, so thank you all for inspiring me so! :-) Hoping you will enjoy this one! x Love you all, you're all truly the most amazing, and nicest people ever! I just love how supportive you all are, the whole True Blood/SVM group. Thank you! x
P.S: I apologize for any errors! Sorry!
Chapter Thirty
I watched Gran with keyed-up fascination, while she worked at one of her cross-word puzzles, her pen zooming along the paper with such amazing speed.
She hadn't changed in the slightest; She still very much looked like my usual lovely Grandmother, aside from the lack of colour to her wrinkled skin. She was also dressed in fashionable clothes I'm assuming Pamela had selected for her; A white, pristine blazer and a pleated skirt. It was the suede high-heels that got to me the most, because the old Gran I knew would never wear them. They used to give her blisters and make her feet swell up. Guess since she was a vampire now, she didn't have to worry about the typical ailments for a woman her age.
She tilted her head, pen still moving across the page, to look at me.
"Don't stare, dear," she said disapprovingly. "It isn't polite."
I looked down at my shoes, thoroughly chided.
"How've you been, Gran?" I whispered breathlessly, still overcome with shock.
"Perfectly well, dear." She gave me a bewildering fangy smile, one that looked startling on her. "I've never felt more alive in my entire life! I get to do crossword puzzles all throughout the night now, and I no longer have to worry about getting tired from staying up so late!"
I had to laugh, because that was so like Gran; She found comfort in humble things most. She always could accept the best in something, or someone, and believed everything had its equal perks and disadvantages; This, no doubt, was another one of those times.
"And they've treated you well here?"
She leaned over and patted a set of purplish-tinged fingers against the back of my hand. I found it was just the right amount of comfort I needed.
"They've treated me just fine. Oh, and that Mr. Northman!" She looked positively delighted, and laughed to herself fondly. "He's told me some very wonderful stories about his time as a young boy and the Viking era. It was truly marvellous."
"Viking era?" I repeated, grasping at straws.
"Yes, dear. He was a warrior Viking many, many centuries ago. His stories were truly delightful." She gave me a sad smile. "But of course, never without their sad points."
Eric was a Viking warrior? Well, that was news to me. No wonder Gran seemed truly fond of him, he must have told her bucket loads of interesting stories; Stories, that she no doubt soaked up like an all-too willing sponge.
"And how have you been... dealin' with all this Gran?" I asked reluctantly, suddenly queasy at the idea of Gran having to consume blood. "Have you been doin' all right, as far as... getting your blood goes?"
"True Blood is my drink of choice," she said, off-puttingly proud. "I don't feel it right to get it from a fellow human being to be frank, dear."
"And it's... all right? It tastes... all right to you?" I didn't even know why I was asking such things to her. I supposed, since she was my Grandmother, of course I would be concerned over her well-being.
"It tastes just fine to me, darling."
"And you're going to be all right, like this?"
She laughed sweetly over my concern. "Sookie, dear. There is no need to worry yourself. I'm doing just fine, I always have been. I'm just so pleased to get the chance to see my Granddaughter again! Eric's been looking after you well, I hope?" She went on, eyeing me hopefully. I was a little unnerved by that question. I didn't even know what she meant by that. Perhaps she saw as much on my face, because she added hastily, "He is such a darling boy, and he thinks so highly of you." I almost laughed uneasily, because clearly, we weren't talking about the same Eric Northman here. "Every second word throughout our conversations together, he's 'Sookie this, and Sookie that'. He does love to fill me in on your life, sweetie."
"H-he does?" I asked doubtfully. Yep, we're definitely talking about a different Eric here, surely.
"In fact, I secretly believe he harbours a little crush on you," she giggled warmly. Then waved her hand in the air dismissively. "Oh, what on earth am I talkin' about? It is really no secret at all! It is the real thing, sweetie, and I am so happy for you to have found it!"
Puzzling me, she leaned over and grabbed my hands, squeezing them tightly in hers. I couldn't help but get the feeling she was congratulating me on something, and I didn't know what.
"Gran, what?" I laughed anxiously.
"I hear the pair of you go at each other's throats like dogs," she said excitedly, "but they do say hate is love turned inside out!"
Well, that definitely threw me off entirely.
"Oh, snap!" She slapped me lightly across my hand. Her pattern of thoughts were clearly all over the place. "Sweetie, you should be in bed by now." Almost as if he had heard her, Eric magically appeared. She was almost bouncing in her seat with excitement then. "Oh, excellent. Mr. Northman, you will take my Granddaughter home and see to it that she'll get in safely, won't you?" She must have held Eric so highly, because she was literally grinning like a Cheshire cat in his presence.
"Of course, Mrs. Stackhouse. I would love to." I could tell Eric was just being a scheming cad to get into my Grandmother's good books, but clearly, she couldn't. He reached out and I accepted his hand grudgingly. I didn't exactly want to have to leave Gran so early, especially not when we had only just started to catch-up again, but there was really nothing I could do about it, I guess.
"You two go on," Gran prodded, happily. "Try not to get on each other's nerves now. Oh, and Mr. Northman, you may kiss my Granddaughter good night!" I threw a bewildered look down at her, one that she didn't catch, because she had gotten into her crossword puzzle again with avid interest. For all she knew, Gran might have shoved two dating teenagers out the door, and bidded them good night. It was ridiculous.
"Hope to see you again soon, Gran. All right?" I said hopefully.
"Don't worry about that, dear," she said without even so much as glancing up from her page, brushing me off distractedly. "I'll be here."
Outside the stuffy bar and into the parking lot, I didn't let Eric keep my hand. I wriggled it free and instead walked ahead of him. I couldn't get over everything; Most especially over Gran being a vampire the way she was now. And, truth be told, I was a little angry with Eric over letting me think she was dead for so long the way he had.
"Is something wrong, lover?" I turned to shoot him a very deadly look that told him he very well knew. Even though it was dark out, I could still see the white of his face. He had his lips compressed tightly together and, I knew then, he was fighting back a stupid smile.
"You know full well, Eric."
"I knew how much it would trouble you if your Grandmother died. So I decided to make the decision for you." The way he voiced it, he implied I ought to have been grateful in him making the crazy decision of turning my Gran into a fully fledged vamp.
I clasped my hands tightly behind my back so that I wouldn't react on impulse to slap him. Or bring out my flashlight fingers, Lord knows which. "Well, I thought... I thought she was dead. You told me as much!"
"Sookie, she is."
"You know that isn't what I mean, Eric," I said, very seriously. Then I sighed resignedly. "Please, just get me home. And, another thing, you are entirely responsible for what happens to my Grandmother, all right? If she gets hurt, in any way whatsoever, then I..."
"Pamela has, and always will remain, to keep a close eye on her."
He sounded sincere on that, so I let it slide. I was completely holding him to that promise, though.
When I finally got home, we walked in silence up the porch steps. And, as if he was honouring it now that he had gained my Gran's permission, he leaned down to give me a quick kiss on the cheek. I found myself a little disappointed because, for some reason, I felt he had pulled away and ended it too soon. A kiss on the lips might have also been allowable, in my eyes.
But then, I was finding myself mighty glad he hadn't, when it struck in my mind, yet again, my predicament with a certain missing boyfriend of mine. It was hardly proper, not that I thought Eric cared any about breaking boundaries, or not. But obviously, my Gran had been a somewhat big influence on him, and that notion just made me laugh.
0
I'd never been so rude at work to customers, when I plopped a few beer bottles down loudly for two of the regulars on the table, and it was all Hoyt's disappearance that did it to me. I was in such a foul and anxious mood, that I had to suck it up and apologize to the pair for sloshing beer all over their shirts.
I was well and truly pushed to breaking point, when one of the regulars, Rene Lenier, a Cajan-accented fellow in his thirties, started on me.
"Hey there, chicka," he said, leering at me in a very disturbing way with his small, dark brown eyes. "Where's your pretty boy, Hoyt? I ain't seen him here near you, like he usually is. You two had a fight, or somethin'? You two broken up?"
"Maybe we have, maybe we haven't," I retorted stiffly, setting the jug of beer he ordered onto his table, then worked at placing a tall, clean glass by his elbow.
"Oh, no," he said, without an ounce of pity whatsoever. "That too bad. But hey, I'd be happy to take his place, if you know what I mean?" I sure did know what he mean; he made that disgustingly clear, when he craned his neck back to ogle my ass and threw in a slurping noise for good measure, very crudely. "I know how to take care of a pretty, young gal like you, huh? I'd make it worth your while."
I had such a malicious thought then, one that came out of nowhere and shook me greatly, featuring no more than my old vampire crush himself.
Eric would waltz over, looking all intimidating and threatening with his fangs on show. He'd lean over the table, get right up into Rene's face, and say, in a coolly aloof voice: "I would advise you to seriously reconsider taunting my human that way, breather." And then, I imagined with such malicious spite, Eric biting the heck out of Rene and leaving him a sobbing, bleeding mess slumped over the table. But instantly, I felt horrified with myself in thinking such a thought. Really, it was in super bad taste to wish a death on anyone. But with my sour mood, surely, I could be forgiven.
An unnerved giggle got wedged in my throat, and I had to remind myself to act responsibly.
Instead, I smiled with as much politeness I could muster considering everything. "Very tempting, I'm gonna have to decline your offer."
He slumped back in his chair, lifting his dark brows, disappointed. I had the sick imagery of Eric killing him all over again. I was such a horrible person, it was so disgraceful of me. Still, I had to admit, there were some perks at knowing a vampire, that's for sure.
"You sure about that, huh? You don't sound like it?" Well, now. Rene was just being stupid.
"Like I said, Rene, I gotta decline," I said, working at keeping my stiff smile in place. I glanced down at my wrist watch, pretending to be distracted. "Oops. I'm way overdue out back. See ya." Pervert, I retorted mentally.
There was only so long a girl could keep herself distracted.
I started fretting over Hoyt again, while I went around the restaurant with my little notepad, taking orders. What if he had in fact been captured by vampires? If so, what reason for? Surely, there couldn't have been any good reason enough, unless... what Eric had said, about Mr. Compton demonstrating a little quirky obsession over me was something true? Gosh, what was with me? I couldn't get why a vampire would be obsessed with me, other than what Russell Edgington showed for my Faerie blood, of course.
"Hey, chicka!" Rene called, when I was halfway through doing my rounds.
I guessed then, that I was not only fodder for certain vampires, but sick men, too.
Putting the smile back on my face, I strolled my way back over to his table.
"Yes, Rene? What can I get you now?" I ought to have already known I was walking right into a trap. His jug of beer was still full, so that counted out him wanting some more.
"Seriously, though? You and Hoyt break up? That why he's not been hanging around your perky, little ass?"
With ruthless force on my side, I gasped over his unwarranted comment, and grabbed the handle of his jug of beer. Making a sad noise, like it was such a mistake, I went further in pouring the entire half of the contents down his shirt. He yelped like I'd just viciously attacked him and jerked back in his chair. Setting his empty jug back onto the table, I smiled down at him cheerfully.
"Oops," I laughed, enjoying his discomfort at being wet way more than I ought to have. "Now doesn't that just suck when you spill beer all over yourself? Such a pity."
Fangs. Who needed them? I sure did well enough on my own, I could take care of myself, and that did wonderful for my sense of pride.
Unfortunately, I hadn't picked quite the best moment to get my vengeance.
"Sookie!" Mr. Merlotte called from the doorway of his office, sounding very angry and very disapproving.
I turned to look at him, batting my eyelashes innocently. "Yes, Mr. Merlotte?" It was too bad my ploy at sweetness hadn't worked.
"In my office," he commanded sternly, "Now."
"Look, I didn't mean to," I apologized, half-hearted, to a sopping wet and pissed off Rene. "I just don't like people prying into my own personal business, all right?"
"Sookie," Mr. Merlotte repeated, still very angry despite my best effort in trying to placate him.
I hesitated, before walking towards his office, feeling much like a rebuked dog with its tail hanging behind its legs. I heard Arlene call proudly from behind the counter, "That's right, girl!" but I couldn't say that ceased my worries over the lecture I was going to get from my boss one bit. Well, maybe it did. Just a little.
He slammed the door of his office closed behind me, and before I knew it, I started sobbing.
"I'm so sorry," I cried, frightened beyond telling of losing my job. "But he pushed me, and I'm in no mood today to be pushed, Mr. Merlotte!"
Like the good person he was, all he did, was pat me on the shoulder and hushed me.
"What's the matter with you today, huh?" His voice was so gentle and sympathetic, it almost pushed me to even greater water works.
"Hoyt's gone missing, and that's why he hasn't shown!" I said.
"Oh, darlin'." He put an arm around my shoulder, in a way I kind of found both surprising and inappropriate as far as physical contact goes. But knowing that he was Mr. Merlotte, and that I'd had a lot of history with him, I guess I could have let it go for the time being, and just enjoyed someone bothering to be kind enough to hug me and let me cry it out. "Your life's been one hectic day to the next, hasn't it?"
I blinked back tears at that, because though I felt so, it was hard to hear it coming from someone else. I needed inspiring words, not ones that would make me feel even more low.
"Tell me about it."
"You care to talk 'bout it?" He was back into English teacher and counselling mode again, which I found I could appreciate best.
"Eric's said he'd try figure out where Hoyt's gone, we're thinking he might have been abducted," I confessed weakly, slobbering into his shirt. Well, I was thinking he had been abducted.
"Well, shit. That ain't good, is it?" In a way that spooked me, he pulled me into a full blown hug and pressed his mouth into my forehead. I got a whole lot of thoughts bubbling up to the surface, and Mr. Merlotte was thinking about how such a waste it was to see a beautiful girl like me have such a crazy life, how unfair. "Does he know who did it yet?" He asked, sounding very interested. It was a bit hard to focus, when he started thinking about crawling up onto my bed, as Gran's ginger cat, and the way I fawned over her- him?- goofily and petted her- his?- belly.
"Uhm, no. Not yet. But he said if... if Hoyt doesn't show by sundown, he'll look more into it."
"Oh, darlin'."
I looked up, very anxiously, with my wet eyes into Mr. Merlotte's. And then he was thinking that I was such a sweet pretty girl, and that I'd be his type if I ever was older. That well and truly killed my appreciative moment of comfort and, rather instead, got me feeling a tad ill inside. He was my boss- he had been my English teacher- so surely he should also continue to think that way.
"I'm sure he'll come soon," he said gently, and I didn't know whether he was talking about Hoyt or Eric, or both. "He's probably just being a silly kid. You know how kids are, right?" Nope. Definitely Hoyt. Oops.
"I guess so," I sniffled hopelessly, then wiped off my tears. I squared my shoulders and told myself determinedly to man-up.
"Look, I'm sorry to hear the situation you're going through right now. Believe me, I am." It was coming and I sure could feel it. "But you can't just go around throwing beer all over people whenever you feel like it, all right? No matter how much the bastard deserves it, you gotta keep the atmosphere friendly, you hear?"
"Yes, Mr. Merlotte," I moaned defeated. "I'm real sorry. I should have kept my temper in check."
He laughed; a short guilty one. "Don't get me wrong, it was hilarious. But you can't treat the customers like that, all right?"
"Yes, sir," I whispered obediently. "And it'll never happen again."
"Good girl, Sookie."
I was thrown into a major panic again. "Now, are you firing me?" I asked.
He laughed, and patted me on the shoulder again. "No, darlin'. This job is yours so long as you still want it, and care for it." Well, that made me feel a fraction better.
"Thank you, Mr. Merlotte. And, like I said, it won't happen from me again."
"Good to hear it, sweetie," he said casually. "You go out there and do your job now."
"Yes, sir."
After his stern lecture, I made certain to keep myself in total control. I couldn't risk losing my job- I loved it too much to let it ever happen. So, I went about my business morosely, my eyes stapled to the door for the first sign of Hoyt reentering into my life. By the time my shift ended, and it still never came, I drove home a teary-eyed mess. I tore off my work uniform, hopped into a quick and soothing shower that did wonders for my tightly tacked muscles, got into my night-gown, and tried to get an early night's sleep. Luckily for me, it was much easier to do, and for a while there, I wasn't full of mind-riddled stress and questions into my boyfriend's disappearance.
After what seemed roughly three or four hours of blissful sleep, someone knocked extra loudly at my bedroom window, disturbing me.
The glass pane rattled and shook, and I let loose a short squeak in fright. I couldn't imagine anyone being able to knock on my bedroom window, especially when my room was a floor up in Gran's house. It was very fishy to me. Rolling over on my belly, I switched on my bedroom lamp, and very reluctantly pulled back the covers on my bed. I slipped my legs out from underneath the sheet and the instance my bare toes hit the floorboards, I hissed through my teeth at its smooth coldness. I could not stop shivering once I padded my way over to my window, and when I leaned over to yank up the blinds, I was plunged into a sudden, deep shock.
Really, I ought to have already known who it might have been. Eric was floating outside my window, making good use of his flying skills. His blonde hair was ruffled, wind-blown from the breeze, and his face was so eerily white compared to the pitch-black dark of the night.
"Well, are you going to let me in, Sookie?" His smile was blinding in the dark, all radiantly pearly whites. Oh, boy. Gathering my bearings, I cursed loudly to myself, and pushed all my muscle into sliding up the stiff window with a grunt.
The biting breeze hit my skin next, when I poked my head out of the window. "Eric, it's too late for this crap, all right?" I growled out at him, hardly concerned whether I sounded like an old, grumpy lady or not. "I need my beauty sleep. Couldn't you have come earlier, like straight after sundown? Isn't that like, um, maybe... the polite thing to do, Mister?"
"Sookie, I suggest you step away from the window this instance, unless you'd like something particularly unpleasant to happen," he said, sounding impatient. He licked his lips and scanned those blue eyes down my body, in a very appraising way. "Unpleasant for you, I should say." His mouth twitched; He was fighting a naughty smile, and I could sure see it.
"You can say whatever you want, Eric, but I still won't be movin' out of the way and letting you in," I told him sternly. "We're gonna have to lay some ground rules here, Mister." I rubbed my arms with my hands; I could feel myself breaking out into little goosepimples all over, thanks to the open window. I couldn't hardly wait to reshut it, and I had a very tempting idea of closing it right in his face. "That means, there are certain times you're allowed to be here. I can't have you waking me by popping in whenever it takes you fancy. It's all right for you, since you don't have to work during daylight hours. All you get to do... is sleep. Well, I'm not like you, if you haven't noticed. I have to get my sleep, so I can be at my best with workin' tomorrow, all right?"
Boy, I didn't think my mouth ever quit talking sometimes.
"Sookie, I'm coming in."
It all happened so fast- one minute, I was completely thrown by the fact he was effortlessly clinging to my window and, in the next, he was sliding in. Unluckily for me, I was standing far too close and I think it occurred to me a moment too soon, just why he was saying how unpleasant it would be for mostly me. I lost my balance, and I stumbled back when he - accidently, I think- collided into me, and next thing I knew, I was hitting the ground and I had his body weight all over me, when he somehow lost his footing too and landed right on top of me. Unpleasant was certainly the understatement, and the side of my face got mashed into his leather jacket. It was incredibly suffocating, and I grunted and heaved for breath underneath the shock of it all.
"Eric," I coughed uneasily, shoving into his chest with my hands. My energy well and truly was drained, soon as I started. I was just too tired tonight. "Get off! You weigh a friggen ton!"
"Sorry," he grunted above me hoarsely, not even bothering to sound sorry in the slightest. In fact, I swore he was enjoying it, and that became clear as day, when he lifted his head, hoisted his body up a fraction with his palms that just so happened to be at each side of my head, and looked down at me. He stared into my eyes and I held his look with as much confidence I could muster, which was mighty hard considering the fact he was lying on top of me the way he was. I laid my head back against the floorboards, feeling my damp long hair spill over me everywhere. "I think I love this." Wicked amusement lit up his eyes. "You underneath me, as you are. Of course, it would be better if you were undressed and-"
"- Eric, you can get off me now, please," I shouted, shamefaced. I'd had enough crude remarks for one day, all thanks to Rene Lenier. I didn't need anymore, especially not coming from Eric.
"Pity." His voice darkened in a super unnerving way, and he gave me a somewhat ironic smile. "I could very well stay like this for hours. Years, in fact."
I pleaded up at him with a muted, hard stare.
"Eric."
Unless my eyes were deceiving me cruelly, I thought I saw his eyes soften. He laughed, a little uneasily, and at true last pulled himself off me.
"As you wish, lover."
"What are you doin' here?" I blurted out, sliding up onto my backside. I felt like I was being burned alive by flames, it was crazy. "There better be a good reason for this."
He looked around my bedroom curiously, in a way that sincerely embarrassed me. It's not like my bedroom was as messy as Jason's was, I kept it spick and span. But it was the way his eyes zeroed in on my bed that got me feeling all jittery. It might have been the way he looked all wistful when he inspected my pillow with strangely morbid interest. Hadn't he ever seen a bed or pillow before? Ass. Then again, he did sleep underground in a coffin. Maybe that was why? I almost cracked up laughing. Maybe he missed sleeping in a bed like a human? Or maybe he was just thinking dirty? Eww.
"You know what purpose I have in being here."
"Do I?" I grumbled, flattening down my hair.
"Yes." He looked down at me. "I am here because of some developments on a certain missing breather of yours."
Oh my God. I instantly felt guilt. Hoyt! How could I forget like that? For one brief and momentary minute, all because Eric was in my bedroom. Some good girlfriend I made.
"You... you heard something?" I asked eagerly. At least, I felt concerned about Hoyt, and keen for whatever there was to informed of. That meant I wasn't completely devoid, right?
"Yes, we've managed to find the whereabouts of his truck," he told me honestly. "It was parked three miles from Shreveport. Your human wasn't inside, but the door was left open and the lights were still on."
I gulped. What did that mean for Hoyt, then?
"We also discovered several markings on the ground, which indicated he had gotten himself into something of a scuffle." Straight to the point, arrow shot to the heart. I didn't know how I felt about that. Really, I ought to have felt pleased he was telling me all this, but it only deepened my fears. "There was also a small amount of blood. I'm thinking you were right on your theory, about him being taken. By who, that's another question altogether."
"How much blood are we talkin' about here?" I asked nervously. "Was it a... serious amount of blood? Like, did someone bite him, or something?"
He grimaced at my words, and that unsettled me deeply. "It would come as no discomfort to me if he were, in fact, dead," he said quietly, in a way that cut me. He then added brightly before I could even make the attempt to shoot my mouth off at him, "But, for your sake... I'd say he just lost blood in the struggle. Clearly, whoever this person was, he wasn't willing to go along with them so easily, which was considerably brave, but not very smart. The culprit had to resort to bloodshed instead." And then, completely throwing me off track, he said, so suddenly, "You've just had a shower, I take it," he murmured, closing his eyes for a second's worth, something weird and resembling appreciation flitting across his face. "Although I can smell the body wash you've used, I do still recognize the Faerie scent. How nice."
Holy shit.
Since when could he smell me? Horrified by the thought, I grabbed a piece of my damp hair and sniffed it. I didn't smell anything at all. Must be part of his vampire senses, or some crap. How creepy.
"So, you have any hunches on who might have abducted him?" I threw at him, trying to very hardest to stay on topic.
"There was a scent lingering on in the air." He turned to glance down at me again. His eyes were bright, fervent... excited, which hardly matched the weight of our conversation one bit. "Vampire."
"Then, did you... recognize it?" I pressed urgently.
"I did not, otherwise I would have told you so. I hardly feel it necessary to keep secrets from you." It took everything within me not to bring to light the fact that he'd been keeping secret from me concerning Gran being changed into a vamp for a very long time. I had to bite my tongue.
"Well, all righty then." That took a long moment to digest. At least, we were one tiny bit closer to finding out where Hoyt was. We knew it was a vampire who had taken him. We just didn't know... who. My mind instantly went to Mr. Compton again, for some reason. "All right. So, we know it's a vampire. Who do you think it might be- just by speculation, of course?"
"I am not one to jump to assumptions lightly." He grunted. "That would be a unlogical thing to do. Plus, it would make me a shitty Sheriff if I did."
"You're a Sheriff?" I breathed out, unable to contain my awe. "Seriously?" I envisioned Eric then, wearing a cowboy hat and shiny star badge. A gun-toting vampire. The picture amused me way more than it probably should have, and I giggled.
"Indeed, I am. After very nearly thirteen years away, it feels great to be back again. I also happen to be Sheriff of the area your human went missing in, which unfortunately, puts his vampire abduction a number-one priority to me."
"You've never told me this," I whispered in surprised, and sounding the slightest tad accusing while I was at it, because it sure would have been helpful to know.
"And why would it be necessary to tell you that?" he asked dryly. "Either way, it does not concern you. Your Grandmother is a very strong woman, isn't she?" I could tell he was purposefully trying to deflect the conversation into different grounds, and, in all things considered, it was working.
I caught myself smiling fondly over Gran. "I can't believe you dared to keep all that a secret from me. All this time... five years, of thinkin' she were dead." I shook my head, still unable to truly believe it. "Five years spent... thinking she was gone. Some nights, I would lie awake crying my heart out because of it. You really should have told me sooner, rather than let me feel miserable the way I had!" I told him fiercely in scolding. "Not to mention poor Jason!"
"Believe me, there were more than enough times where I wanted to spill that little tidbit myself." He looked down at me, his expression nothing but completely sincere. "I almost foiled a few operations as Sheriff because the pain I felt over your pain was that strong. I felt like I was going to weep over it, which as you can imagine..." He jerked his head indifferently, as if to clear all that he was saying away, "...was quite intolerable."
"Whoa." I never really put all that much stock into just how profoundly he could feel my feelings.
"Tell me about it. Those short weeks in the months when you were clearly PMS-ing were disturbingly worse." He looked horrified, and honestly, I couldn't blame him. At least, now he knew how it felt for a girl, I took in, with some malicious satisfaction. "I tore more than just a few skulls off several bodies due to short-temper, that's for sure." He chuckled softly, darkly.
I felt kind of sympathetic for him, yet I couldn't stifle the smile. "Could you feel the cramps, too?" I asked, mostly teasing, and then I laughed, because it was so ridiculous to even believe possible.
"I could certainly feel something... fluttering. And frankly, it wasn't all that pleasant, either. Pamela resorted to nick-naming me Whiny Bitch."
"Well, now you know how it feels," I pointed out stoutly. "Serves you right into tricking me into this pledge-thingy as a young girl the way you did." Deal with it.He sure had a way of distracting me from the matter at hand. "So," I started, with a firm toss of my head, getting my brain working again, "We know that Hoyt's been taken. What do we do about this now? What's the next course of action here?" I sort of felt like a detective, only a weak one. My voice was too unsteady, and I absolutely hated it.
"Well, whoever it was, I have no doubts they will probably be coming after you next. They took something personal away from you, something they knew you cared about. I'd say they did it purposefully as some type of intended threat."
Some type of intended threat?
My head whirled.
"I believe the best approach here, would be to have you by my side at all times," he said, thinking smartly. "Even in the day, I'll find someone who can guard you. Alcide, no doubt, should be more than happy, since he developed a certain liking towards you. Plus, he still owes me. Do you think it's possible for you to ask your disgusting Shifter boss for a week off work?" Clearly Eric hadn't gotten over his hatred for Shifters. Really, it didn't surprise me.
"Where would I go, then?" I asked, oddly unsettled by the idea. If I couldn't do a day's work, what then would I do? Working helped take my mind off everything. Now what would do any help? "What would I... do with myself?"
"Why, you'll stay at Fangtasia, of course. Since you'll be indoors, it will be far easier for me to protect you if, say, anything does come to cause you harm."
He was being so strategic and unaffected by the whole thing, I couldn't understand how anyone in their right mind could be. Then again, maybe that was just Eric?Practical and meticulous.
"Added to the fact, we are pledged. I will be able to feel your emotions at all times, and any fear that does come to you. It would be best."
So I would just stay at Fangtasia during the day, literally doing nothing? Well, that was kind of uneventful. And boring. Not to mention, unproductive.
"This doesn't solve anything with Hoyt, though," I reminded him. "It still means he is out there... somewhere, with somebody. I can't just sit through that, and let it all happen! I can't!"
"Well, your human boyfriend is not a concern of mine. Worst comes to worst, we will avenge him."
What? So did that just mean we would sit around, and let Hoyt die if it happened? How could he be so cold? He ought to have known better than to think that I would just sit there and wait around!
"If you think I'm just gonna wait around at Fangtasia for whoever it is who has Hoyt to come for me, you're wrong," I pointed out. I'd managed to keep my voice fairly level, but I couldn't help the anger from boiling to the surface over it. "I'm not just gonna let it happen, and wait! I wait to go after the person who did this and, hopefully, get to them before they kill my boyfriend! How can you be so friggen cold?"
He made a disgusted noise at me. "Sookie, I hardly care if your human dies," he said, sounding more furious than I'd ever really heard him go before. "If anything, it will come as a relief to me to have him out-of-the-way from what I ultimately want."
"And what is it exactly that you want, Eric?" I hissed up at him disdainfully.
"If you have to ask what I want, then clearly I've overestimated your intelligence," he retorted flatly. It got my blood boiling, and I felt like I was going to change into such a mad woman. How dare he insult me, time and time again!
"You know what, you've outstayed your welcome," I said, in such a way that would have put my Gran into a whirlwind of disapproval in me.
He gave me a curt nod and started towards my window. "Duly noted."
"Oh, and I don't care what you say! I'm going after this person who has Hoyt, and I'm gonna find Hoyt alive, whether you like it or not!" That got him into a seriously dangerous mood. It seemed in me saying that, I'd truly pushed his buttons, and to a risky level, too.
He truly looked like the vampire he was, when he stopped dramatically by the window and turned 'round to stare me down. I definitely didn't want to be in his bad books, if that ever happened for me. His blue eyes were as cold as if I'd just been doused with ice cold water in the face, and though the fangs were not on display, he still looked lethal as all hell. He was gritting his teeth together, his eyes flashing dangerously with ferocious anger.
"Do not test me, Sookie," he said, trying to keep himself carefully under control.
"Then don't you test me!" I shot back harshly. "Unlike you, I don't want my boyfriend dead, and I will be going to find him, whether I have to do it myself!"
"I will chain you to your bed myself, if that is what it will take to prevent you from being stupid in searching after your ridiculous human!"
Well, that idea was kind of scary to contemplate.
Still, I kept up...
"Oh, really?" I laughed, crossing my arms over my chest stubbornly. "Well, then. I'd like to see you try!"
"Careful." His voice got all hoarse and threatening when he said that, and I couldn't help myself from shivering. He shook his head, and swore underneath his breath. "You're not even worth the effort. Goodnight, Sookie."
"Don't you dare goodnight me, Eric Northman! I-"
My words literally went to thin air, because next thing I knew, he was gone and there was just the rattling of my curtains in his place. I could feel my face crumple in despair over the certainty he had left. I just hated being alone. Most of all, I hated that we'd left on such a bad note. Why was it so easier to argue with him? Maybe it was another one of life's mysteries I would never know. It occurred to me then, that Gran was certainly right; We did yak at each other, like two dogs.
In a royal huff, I stomped over to my open window and slammed it roughly shut. Then, I crawled myself back into bed and smothered my face into my pillow.
A hand stroked my shoulder and ran slowly down my arm, like a soothing caress that washed all troubles away from shore.
Relief swept over me.
Hoyt was in bed with me, he had come to me so quickly, I could feel it was him, and everything just seemed perfectly right in the world again. I knew it, I just knew he hadn't been kidnapped, afterall. He'd just stepped out for a while and I knew, in the back of my mind, that he would return to me in no time. Now everything was fine again. We could go back to normal again, where I could tell him about my day, and he could tell me his. And he could make me laugh again, make me smile and feel happy. I no longer had to worry, because there he was! I buried the side of my head more snug into my pillow, and eased over onto my side to press my back right up against him.
He sat up beside me and started trailing kisses around the back of my neck, while his hand travelled over my navel, and my heart started pounding in my ears something shocking, and I accidentally whimpered. I closed my eyes, and felt a deep frown settle on my face. Since when was Hoyt so... sexual with me? It didn't seem like Hoyt one bit. I found out the reason why, a moment later, when I lifted my head from my pillow and peered behind my shoulder.
It wasn't Hoyt at all. It was... Eric? What the fudge? I thought he had left. Clearly not.
"So, you were saying, lover?" he whispered softly, full of interest. "Finish."
My breath stuck in my throat when he leaned in to kiss the front of my throat, and I made an embarrassing "Umph" sound, in which he chuckled softly over my skin at. I wriggled myself an inch away on the mattress, and pushed myself up. He had his head resting against my pillow, his eyes staring intently into my own.
My eyes took notice a belated moment next, that he was shirtless and most likely stark-naked underneath those covers of my bed, and that unsettled me deeply, yet thrilled me all at the same time. The whole thing was unbelievable, I couldn't remember anything from... before at all. Unless the whole bewildering thing was not real. I sure hoped not, because although Hoyt was missing, he was still very much my boyfriend. I hardly thought I was foolish enough to let a very naked Eric Northman jump into my bed.
"You were saying?"
I felt my frown deepen. I was saying something?
"Huh?" I murmured uneasily. "I've completely lost track of what I was saying."
"Yes," he breathed, his eyes still on mine. "You were in the middle of telling me what names your human calls you when you make love, and I was morbidly intrigued."
I gasped. "I was?"
He nodded and gave me a smile, like my confusion was so endearing to him. He leaned up on his knees and hovered over me, his eyes burning into mine with such intensity it was startling. I told myself, like a responsible girl would, not to look lower, because when he pulled himself up onto his knees the way he had, the sheet fell... away. There was a whole lot of him to see unclothed to the eye, and my eyes were controlled on going nowhere lower.
"Does he...call you names while you make love?" he asked, his voice soft. Staring into my eyes, he reached down and cupped my chin, pushing it up, giving him clear access to my throat. I swallowed dryly, riveted. The fangs slid out, and he licked his lips, very deliberately slow in a way to daunt me, I believed. My Lord, was he going to bite me? "Where does he place his hands on your grown, voluptuous body?" His fingers guided down my throat to the small dip in my collarbone, and my body was just... crying over the attention. "Here," he breathed, running his large fingers along my collarbone. "Or here?" Up my throat again.
Hot damn. Somebody call a whole bunch of firemen, because the rooms sweltering and I'm on fire like meat scorching on a barbeque right about now for Eric Northman, cheesy as that totally sounded. Now would have ever thought?
"Where, lover?"
I wanted so badly to reach up and kiss him then, but I made myself take a few deep breaths so I didn't do the one thing I would have only come to regret later. Instead, I made myself fold my hands underneath my pillow, like a good girl should, to douse the temptation I felt to respond and touch him. I'm only human, really, and when a guy's hovering over you in a bed way too close for comfort, naked as a jaybird, whether he be Eric Northman or not, I think anyone would have felt mighty tempted regardless.
"Well, that's funny, because Hoyt and I have absolutely no sex life to speak of!"
"You're saving yourself for me," he stated brusquely, in a way that ticked me off.
"I beg your pardon!" I was forced to lie, because I had heard him completely, still... I couldn't hide my embarrassment over the blunt statement that had just fallen from his lips.
"Let us make love, just once," he pleaded eagerly. "It's all I ask of you."
"Eww. No, thank you," I said, aiming for reasonably placed disgust. "You're being disgusting and I don't see you that way at all! Gross!"
"Then why are we naked in your bed?"
"What?" I sat up against my pillow, taken aback by that news. It was like a massive slap to the face, because sure enough, he was right. I was naked, I felt all bare and exposed, and he was naked. Not a good sign at all.
"You don't care about your human. You've already abandoned him... for me." Though it stung that he would even make such an incorrect assumption in regards to my concerns for Hoyt, his words were a dangerous, seductive dance falling from that voice of his. Very persuasive, but not true in the slightest. "He could be dead already, and you wouldn't care. You care only... for me."
"That's not true!" I protested, a little loudly in an effort to plead my case. "I want to find Hoyt, I do!"
"No, you don't," he insisted smoothly, making a pretty darn good effort of it. "You're hoping he is out-of-the-way, because it makes it easier on you. You don't enjoy having feelings for two people at the same time, and it confuses you. His death would only make it convenient for us in the long run."
I considered that in silence for several quiet minutes, biting my lip. Was he actually being right on that? Of course, I cared about Hoyt. I wanted him safe, and I was fretful over the news Eric had given me. But my mind was also hazy and swarming with something a bit like lust over the too-tempting predicament I had found myself in, in having Eric stark-naked along with me in bed. But did that mean I didn't care for Hoyt? No. Surely, it didn't. I knew then, that all he was saying, was both equal parts accurate and wrong.
"You and Hoyt are like comparing Satan with Christ," I said, through gritted teeth. "He's sweet... kind. Not an empty cold monster inside, like you." I didn't believe that anymore. Well, I didn't really believe that at all to begin with. Eric had proven in a whole lot of ways that he cared for me. The flowers and the card he sent for me, for one thing, and how quick he was to agree in helping me find Hoyt. Not to mention the fact he saved my Gran to keep her in my life, despite how unfavourable it was that she was a vamp now.
"I used to think you were an irritating little human," he muttered, with a tenderness that was hard to get past, coming from him. "How times have changed. I like your sense of humour, if only that." His head was near mine, our noses very nearly touching, naughty playfulness etched across every part of his handsome face.
"Oh, but there's the catch. I'm not joking, A-hole!"
"Detestation to conceal your true feelings for me," he whispered, alarmingly appreciative. "I love it!" In a way that surprised me, he ran his fingers through my hair.
I couldn't resist any longer. Here it was, no point of return. There was no going back from this. Ever.
"You know, I used to find you such a cold-hearted S.O.B," I said, feeling the blood coating my cheeks, when he lifted my hand to his lips and kissed each knuckle gently, careful not to get me with his fangs. "I was wrong."
He smiled down at me in a way that made me all jittery. "Oh, really? You're wrong?" He raised his fair eyebrows at me, a wickedly amused expression on his face.
"I guess I am," I allowed stiffly. "I think you care more about people than you initially let on."
He didn't say anything about my observation. At least, not for an achingly long moment anyhow. Instead, he bent down and ran his nose along my shoulder-blade, up the base of my neck, my blood singing to the heavens to just surrender and dive in for the quick and horribly unfaithful kill.
"Like who, lover?" He whispered into my neck, then planted a soft kiss at the hollow of my throat. I swallowed uncomfortably underneath his lips.
"Pamela," I whispered breathlessly. "Godric..."
"And?" He prompted meaningfully. He kissed me again, taunting... teasing. So friggen unfair.
"Me?" I whispered, uncertain, and mighty embarrassed over my bodies uncontrollable reaction. Reactions which, no doubt, he was positively aware of, with all his creepy vampire perks.
He stilled from kissing 'round my throat to glance down at me while I rested there with my head on the pillow. There was something in his eyes. Was it blood-thirst, or lust? Hell, if I knew, but it was scary with a capital S.
"I once heard this song, and it said... you always take the sweetest rose, and crush it until the petals fall." I didn't know what to make of that, at all. But a different edge had taken on his voice; something calculating, ruthless, and it did not go unnoticed by my overheated ears one bit. His fingers slipped into the back of my hair, too tight... too... painful. I hissed, and gnashed my teeth together in surprised agony at the unexpectedness of it all. He leaned down, his mouth near my neck, his breathing sounding just as ragged as mine. "This is... inevitable, Sookie. I will... crush you."
His bare chest scraped against me, and without warning, he dived in, biting the front of my neck. I thrashed wildly, and there was nothing at all nice about the experience. I groaned, and then he let go suddenly with his teeth, and then my pillow felt all wet and dark with blood, and then his entire lips were covered in it, his teeth were stained with it, and then my whole body was bleeding, and my airways were clogged up and I couldn't even breath. I gurgled and spluttered, and I tasted blood in my mouth, and then... it was everywhere.
I woke with a start, my head pounding.
It was just a dream. I thought I'd gotten over the whole dreaming-of-Eric experience, throughout the years. I guess not. And, maybe... it would never go away? Maybe it was another side-effect of our pledge-thingy that he hadn't bothered to disclose to me? He had left me in the dark, in more ways than one. How could a dream feel so real? It made me feel all the more guilty that I was having a somewhat erotic, yet horrifying dream of him, while my boyfriend was out there being held against his will, most likely all because of me... somewhere.
LOL I'm so sorry if this chapter was horrible :( Hope you'll forgive me. Thank you so much for reading, you're all amazing!