The sun had almost set by the time we got back to Gran's house. Sam pulled the car up the dirt drive. I always found something comforting in the sound of tires crunching on gravel. A sound that made me think of the camping trips my family used to take when I was younger. The excitement that set in when we finally arrived at our destination. Where I would practically jump out of the car and be ready to run through the nearby woods. The memory left some bitterness in my mouth. Here I was beaten and bruised from wandering in the woods for a day. A knot tied in my throat, I had never been handled in such a way before. I felt so helpless, so useless…so powerless. I was just a ragdoll for him to play with, toss around and abandon.
"You ready?" Sam called breaking me from my train of thought.
The knot in my throat still twisted there. I was scared if I opened my mouth, a sob would emerge and a rain of tears would cascade down. All I could do was nod and open the car door to retreat into the interior of the house where I would be safe.
The lights on the house were on as we made our way up to the house. Sam opened the front door for me. I waited till he was inside before I trailed closely behind him. Once we were inside and the door was safely closed behind us. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in. I stood in the foyer, almost feeling like a stranger. I shouldn't be feeling that way, I was staying here. I had stayed here on multiple occasions. Why did this time feel so different?
When I didn't move further inside, Sam turned to me, "I'll go find someone, so we can get you out of your clothes."
All I did was nod, Sam squeezed my bicep then left me. I had clothes here, I could just walk upstairs and change myself. Why did I wait for Sam to go find someone? I shifted my weight back and forth between my feet. Even though the lights seemed to be on throughout the house, it was almost silent like everyone was already asleep.
I heard a noise in come from the direction of the kitchen. I vaguely heard something that sounded like Sam talking to someone. The voice seemed to spark me into motion. I made my way towards the kitchen through the dining room. I sincerely hope it was Gran who was there. I needed to see her, the maternal figure she embodied and the comfort she could bring by just holding someone. Like a mother comforting a scared, sad child. I needed that right now.
"She's a bit dehydrated. We need to make sure she drinks lot of water. If she doesn't we should take her to the hospital," I heard Sam say as I walked into the kitchen. I saw the back of Sookie's head as Sam spoke to her. There was a small amount of disappointment that I felt in the pit of my stomach, I had hoped it was Gran. That was okay though, Gran was probably in bed right now. Her arms seemed to be brought up towards her chest from the way I could make out her posture.
God, she looks like a bulldozer hit her and dragged her through the mud. I cringed at Sam's thought as I watched his eyes trail my body. I also found myself wondering how I could still hear his thoughts without the contact. It had been hours since I had any physical contact with Sookie, if that was even how it worked anymore. Sookie must have also heard his thoughts since she turned to face me.
"Adriane!" Sookie breathed and rushed over to me to envelope me into a bear hug.
I hissed a bit at the tight squeeze, biting my tongue to keep from crying out in pain from my sore appendages. But the pulsating warm electrical energy from her touch did sooth me a moment after the initial discomfort. Not quite the touch I was looking for from Gran, but it would suffice for now.
"Oh my God! I'm sorry!" Sookie exclaimed and immediately let me go and backed up.
"It's okay," I found myself yearning for the lost heat, "I've had worst."
"Liar," Sookie lightly scoffed with a smile.
After a beat of silence, I found myself wanting to be alone. Those brown eyes always had a way of looking right through you. Any second she was going to start asking questions about what happened after the club and I wouldn't be able to hold back anything. At this moment, I didn't feel like retelling. Especially looking as grungy as I did right now, they would look at me and talk to me like I was a child. I needed to shower and wipe away any as much evidence as I could of this day.
"I'm gonna head upstairs to take a bath," I croaked, my throat felt raw and sore.
"Okay sweetie, we can talk when y're done," Sookie smiled softly.
I just bobbed my head then I retreated to the upstairs. Wincing with every step, I didn't realize how sore I was. The car ride was just long enough for my muscles to relax, I guess. After my accomplishment of reaching the top of the stairs, I made my way towards the bathroom. Once safe behind the bathroom door, I gazed into the mirror to see the damage for myself. I can't say I wasn't surprised by my appearance.
My face was a bit battered looking, even though I didn't fall flat on my face at any point there was still dirt all over my cheeks. My lips were a bit dried and slightly chapped from lack of water over the heat of the day. I had bags under my eyes from lack of sleep and jetlag. I saw a few cuts from small branches on my cheeks, neck and other exposed skin. All over my face there were a few blemishes caused by all the stress over the course of the 24 hours. My dark hair was greasy and in need of a deep cleansing. My arms were indeed bruised at the biceps from rough touches and manipulations, they were deep colors. I slightly turned with my back to the mirror, the same colors were on my lower back. I lightly touched the area and hissed. The bone was definitely bruised along with the skin. My legs had stubble with light amounts of dark hair that matched the top of my head, I was always disgusted at how fast my leg hair grew. On my left ankle, was a deep bruise from being grabbed and dragged along the ground. There were more busies, light scraps, and redness from what I'm assuming was some sort of poison ivy or sumac or whatever is down here. Miraculously, there were only two ticks on my legs, I'd have to handle those now; hopefully I didn't have lime disease. I sighed and found some tweezers and removed the ticks, washing the down the drain with hot water. I inspected the rest of my body for more ticks before starting the water for my bath.
Once I was soaking in the water, my muscles were soothed by the warmth. It wasn't as soothing as Sookie's touch but it would suffice. I began to wash my arms, the grim rinsed away from my sink and began to change the color of the water. I'd have to turn on the shower to make sure nothing was left on me. Though, the washcloth felt wonderful against my skin. I found myself staring at the bruises on my wrists. The vampire's manhandling left such discolorations on my skin, I almost felt like the skin there wasn't mine. I already bruised easy, but this looked awful. If I these were on someone else's body, I would have thought that the person had broken their wrists. I gripped one wrist and brought it to my chest, lightly twisting my hand on the bruise to see how much it hurt as I looked away. My wrist didn't hurt as much as I thought they would. Eric's eyes had been so intense as he tried to glamor me.
No one had ever looked at me in such a way, even the memory made me nervous. The strength from his gaze, the tingling in the back of my brain. Some part of me wanted to be glamoured, just sub come to his will and be done with it. Hell, I bet he would have let me go almost instantly and erased my memory if he could have glamoured me. Then again, if he had done that I imagine he wouldn't have been remotely interested in me. But why would I want that? Why would I desire a vampire's attention when it already brought so much damage? But those eyes, that azure, only looking at…
There was a knock at the door that caused me to jump, I heard Sookie call, "Adriane? Are ya doin' okay, sweetie?"
"I'm okay, I'll be out in a minute," I replied with a sigh as I started cleaning my body again. I could reflect on Eric later when I was alone in a bed room.
Once I was towel dried, I wrapped the cloth around myself and headed out into the hallway to head to the room I was staying in. Jason's old room. I picked out an outfit that suited comfy not classy. A pair of jogging shorts and a hoodie did the job just fine. I didn't feel like wearing a bra at this point, so a long-sleeved hoodie would cover that area along with the worst of my bruises just fine. The only hand print bruise left exposed was the one on my ankle, where he and dragged me. It was just to hot to wear any sort of pants. I headed downstairs gently and into the living room where Sookie, Sam, and Tara were waiting. When did Tara get here? Or was she here all along and I just didn't see her?
"Adriane," Tara sighed as she rose out of her chair to come over and hug me more gently then Sookie did earlier, "You doin' okay?"
I was already starting to get sick of that question, "I'm alright. I just look worse for wear. I'll be myself in the morning."
"Was Bill the one who did this to you?" Tara said holding my shoulders.
"No! Bill was perfectly fine, this was another vampire," I guess I shouldn't be surprised by Tara jumping to Bill as the culprit so quickly.
"Well don't worry, Adriane, even if it was Bill. I won't be seeing him again," Sookie spoke up.
"That's good," I said with a small smile.
"Did you at least find anything out?" Tara asked.
"I forgot! That vampire mentioned Beth! We never got his answer!" Sookie exclaimed.
"I don't think you two should go back to find out the answer," Sam stated, "We can dig around here in Bon Temps and let the police get their hands dirty with the vampires."
"Don't worry we won't be going back there again," I looked at Sookie with a dead stare.
"No we won't," Sookie replied looking away to avoid me.
"That's good to hear, I would hate for us to lose another friend," Sam stated.
"What happened?" Tara asked, "How did you get separated?"
"Well there was a raid by the police. Eric grabbed Adriane; Bill grabbed me. We went down this hallway and we went outside and Bill took off with me and…I lost sight of Adriane," Sookie explained.
"Then what happened?"
"Bill took me home and I waited for Adriane to show," Sookie looked to finish my side.
"He dropped me in a clearing, I had a panic attack and he left me in the woods. I guess he didn't like all the human emotions. I got into a tree when I heard some noise, then a wolf showed up. I waited till morning to leave the clearing once the wolf was gone. I made it to the road, found some service to call Arlene. Then Sam found me," I summarized as quickly as I could for them.
"A wolf? There's no wolves in Louisiana, right?" Sookie asked looking as surprised as I was at the time.
"I don't know but I've heard there are panthers out there in the woods," Sam said looking a bit tense at the idea.
"At least it was a wolf and not a panther," I shifted from foot to foot, "Wolves can't climb."
"I'm glad you are safe," Sookie got up from her spot on the couch and held me in a short hug. I shivered at the short contact, I don't think I'll ever get used to touching her. The touch wasn't as intense as others. I'm guessing either because of the cloth that separated the skin or that she was as tired as I was. Once she stepped away I shoved my hands into the hoodie pocket.
"I take it you guys are still going to the Descendants of the Glorious Dead?" I asked.
"We were still planning on goin', but if you want us to stay we can," Tara stated standing up.
"No I think I'll be okay, you guys should go. The town will be expecting you guys. Besides, I think Gran will want your support," I said wanting to throw the hood up and plop on the couch watching some sort of trash TV while falling asleep.
"Do you want to go? We can wait for you to get dressed," Sam asked.
"No I had enough of an outing today, I just want to get comfy and fall asleep," I gave Sam a small smile.
"As long as you keep drinking water," Sam threatened.
"Don't worry I will."
"Well we should get goin'," Tara stated, "Gran wanted us early to help set up the church."
"Don't let me be the reason your late, I won't be leaving the house. I'll be okay," I smiled, "I'll probably just be sleeping while you are there."
"Don't hesitate to call us if you change your mind about being alone, we will come back," Sookie commanded.
"Go, I'll be okay," I shooed them out the house. The idea of having the house to myself was exciting enough. I'd grab myself a small drink and plop on the couch and fall asleep watching the new or something.
Once they were gone and the door was shut I sighed. I kept my promise to Sam as I entered the kitchen and got a glass from the cupboard. Filling the glass with tap water I opened the fridge to see what was inside. There was nothing in there that would just need to be nuked to eat. I sighed and settled on an apple as I headed back to the living room. I plopped on the couch as I turned the small tube TV on with it's remote that was sitting on the coffee table. I scrolled through the channels. The first thing I ran across was the news. I image between Sookie and Gran they didn't need all the channels that cable provided. I settled for the news as I nestled deeper into the cushions. I finished off my water glass and took a bite of the apple. The news was always the same. Very rarely did they have anything new on it. I gave an exasperated sigh as the vampire portion of the news started. It was always the same argument, either they should or shouldn't have rights. Of course, they should have rights. They should pay taxes, they should have the right to becoming legally married, they should have the right to own property. They had been doing it for years illegally, well at least property and marriage. Now that vampires were out in the open they should have to pay taxes. If they commit a crime, then they should have to go to jail for it.
I rolled my eyes as I took another bite of the apple and changed the channel again. I found something that I could fall asleep to more easily. It was one of my favorite shows growing up, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". I set down the remote, deciding this would be perfect. Tonight's rerun was an Angel and Buffy centric episode, one of the episodes from the second season just after Angel became evil.
"I can't believe you watch that shit," I heard someone call from behind me.
My head snapped in the direction of the voice, as I jumped up. The quick motion caused me to fall off the couch while yipping and onto the floor, landing on my aching tailbone. I let out a small yelp at the pain. After that split second, I looked up and saw Eric in the window just behind me. I didn't even know the window was open.
"Now, now. No need to be scared, its only me," Eric smirked as he placed a hand against the glass above him. He then leaned closer to the screen.
"You!" My heart thundered against my chest as I quickly scooted away until my back bumped against the wall next to the fire place.
"Yes, yes, me," Eric rolled his eyes and then continued, "We never got to finish our conversation. I hope you had a chance to calm down since yesterday."
"How-" I felt my eyebrows furrow as I started at him, "How did you…?"
"How did I find you? It was easy, vampires have better sense of smell then a human," Eric stated.
My eyes flitted to the door then back to him. Why wasn't he barging in and dragging me out of the house and taking me captive? Was the rumor you could only invite them in true?
"Why don't you invite me in? We could continue this conversation in a more comfortable setting?" Eric questioned giving me a smile that wanted to be persuasive.
"This isn't my house," I replied, I could feel my heart pounding away in my chest.
"It doesn't matter if you live in this house or not, you can still invite me in."
Well that definitely answers my question about the invitation. He wasn't trying to be polite about coming inside, he wanted to enter the house and to have power over me. Well I wasn't going to let him. He had no control over me as long as he was out there. He couldn't drag me around, he couldn't grip me, he couldn't enter the house. I had power over him right now, "No."
"Let me in," His voice came from his chest as the words rumbled out.
I felt my spine begin to return to me. Even though it was just glass and wood separating us right now. It was enough, "No."
"Fine, I guess you won't know what happened to your friend," Eric smirked as he pushed himself off the glass.
"Beth?" I whispered.
"Yes, Bethany. You'll won't know what happened to her unless I come in," Eric replied.
"What if I come out?" I inwardly cursed myself it came out before I could even think about it. I was giving him the power again, but Beth was more important at this moment. She need help wherever she was, "This isn't my house. I can't just invite anyone in."
"I suppose that would suffice," Eric replied and held out his hand in a gesture towards the door.
I quickly rushed towards the door. I placed my hand against the knob, I squeezed my eyes shut as I sucked in a breath. What was I doing? I could still feel his hands on my wrists and the strength they held. Eric wasn't a kind man. He wasn't even a man. Well, he was a man at some point but now he was a vampire. In my only encounter with vampires, it haven't ended well. The first, and I was hoping the last, time being abandoned to the woods. Now here I was walking back into their world. For Beth. I needed to help Beth. Whilst turning the handle I let out the raggedy breath and exited the house. I hope he had some useful information on her.
"Finally," I heard Eric say as I shut the door behind me.
I placed my back against the door as Eric approached. My heart was pounding against my chest I could hear the beat in my ears. I imagine he could hear it too. I wish I had kept the door open so I would have an escape if things should turn sour. He would be able to stop me before I could even turn the handle if I should decide to run inside. Thankfully Eric kept his distance away from me.
"Well I can't say I love that outfit on you," Eric stated while looking me over, "I much prefer last nights."
I looked up as I saw Eric's eyes land on my exposed discolored ankle. I crossed my left ankle behind the other and pretended to use it to scratch my right. I pushed some stray hairs back behind my ear as I looked down at myself, "I wasn't expecting any company. The plan was to go to bed."
"Hmm, what a shame you weren't expecting company. But now that I'm here, I could join you," My eyes widened and shot up to his face at his suggestion. Eric approached me and leaned his arm against the door above me. I felt my hands come up and grip the opposite arm, I wanted to put distance between us right now. I cursed myself for not leaving the door open where I could retreat to safety, "I did promise to change your mind."
My lips trembled. How could he be thinking about something like that when he was here to discuss something he needed from me? Unless…that was what he wanted from me? My heart had already been pounding away before, but now it was hammering against my chest. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack in any second. No, he couldn't want that from me. I'm not attractive enough to get his attention. He was just saying that to raddle me. I felt a knot begin to form in my throat. I couldn't be weak right now. Beth needed me, I had to be strong for her. If I was going to get any information I needed to straighten my spine and speak.
I felt my jaw tremble, somehow I managed to croak out, "Where's Beth?"
From Eric came an exasperated sigh as he leaned back and away from me, "Always about Bethany. I'm beginning to wonder if you swing for the other team."
Well that was all it took, I found a bit of my spine tucked away somewhere. With the distance he gave me I could breathe again. I furrowed my brows and quickly replied, "She's my best friend. She's gone missing and I'm worried about her."
"If you want to know what happened to her, you need to assist me with a favor. I'm in the need of your unique talent."
What?
"I-I-I don't want to go back there," I stammered.
"Then you won't get to know about where she is," Eric replied as he turned away and walked down the steps of the porch.
I swallowed as I watched him begin to walk away. My heart screamed go after him; while my mind told me to stay put, it was too dangerous. But what if Beth was in danger? What if Beth needed me? What if the only way I could get her back was going with him? What if Sam wouldn't be able to dig up any more information about Beth? The police haven't been much help in the way to hunting. They are more concerned about the serial killer then a missing person. The department is only so big here, they can't be in too many places at once. What if Eric is the only person who knows what happened to her? Tears welled in my eyes and I was off. If this is the only way to help Beth, then I would have to do it. I can't be a coward and run away while Beth is in danger. She needs me. Beth needs me.
"Wait!" I called out chasing after the vampire.
Eric didn't stop as he continued to walk forward. Bastard knew he won and here he was making me chase after him. I finally caught up to him after a moment, his long strides made him capable of being faster than me even walking.
"I-I-I'll help you," I stammered again as I rounded around him blocking him from walking father forward, "As long as you promise to help me find Beth."
"Are you in a position where you can be making demands? Maybe I'll just get Miss Stackhouse involved here, she seemed more willing to work with our kind," Eric asked raising a single eyebrow at me.
Instantly regretting my choice of words from the look on his face. I licked my lips as I pushed my hair out of my face, "No, but…I need to know you'll help me. You're the only one who has had any idea about where Beth could be. There's no need to bring anyone else into this. Besides, you don't seem to like Mr. Compton. If you involve Sookie, he most definitely will tag along. No need to bring him into whatever this situation is."
Eric smirked and reached out to grip my chin, "Exactly why I chose you over her."
I gulped, he had me exactly where he wanted me. I was going to be alone with him. No back up will be coming, no one will know what happened to me if things go wrong. I'll just be another missing girl. I didn't like the glint his eyes held as he held my face towards his.
"It's getting late, I'll come and pick you up tomorrow night," Eric released my face and looked towards the sky.
"What time?" I asked rubbing my left arm and looking away.
"You planning on running?" Eric smirked.
"No!" I recoiled and looked at him. Eric looked at me with that raised eyebrow gleam again and I looked to my left, "No…No, just so I know when to be ready by."
I guess I didn't exactly give him a reason to trust me that I wouldn't. I left the area he placed me in for safe keeping…but then he never did say that he would be coming back for me. He just left me in the middle of the clearing. I had no reason to feel guilty about leaving. He was manipulating me again.
"Just after sunset," Eric replied and was gone in a blink of an eye.
I huffed and pushed my hair out of my face again. So, I was going to be helping Eric, to find out what happened to Beth. Some sort of mainly one sided "quid-pro-quo". Fan-fucking-tasitic.
I crossed my arms and began to turn back to the house when a car came up the drive. I squinted my eyes against the bright light from the headlights as the car pulled to a stop. The passenger side door opened but I couldn't make out who stepped out of the car. The headlights were turned off as the car engine was killed. I could fully see it was Gran who came from the passenger side of the car. I guess the meeting was over. I didn't think I was talking with Eric for that long.
OH MY GOD! I'm so sorry for the late update! I finally finished with school and work from March to May. I seriously had no days off till the second weekend in May and then I was studying for boards. BUT! I passed and I graduated! Now starts the next stressful part...finding a job...So! Anyways! I should have time to pick this back up! I was extremely frustrated with these chapters, I rewrote at least a dozen times. It's still not perfect for me but you guys deserve something for waiting so long! (Once again I'm so sorry!) I'm gonna keep to every other week update, I went and reread some of the chapters I had drafted and absolutely revolted with them. So I'm rewriting a vast majority of what I had already set up. I want this to perfect for you guys!