A/N: Let's just say writing is going well and leave it at that. :P This may be it for the week, but it's still early. :P

Chapter 14

Just like the day before, Sookie woke up in Eric's arms. He never moved after he died for the day, of course, and he had his face tucked into her neck again. She couldn't feel him, so she figured the sun must be still up, but she couldn't feel it, either. She was so sleepy, though, and closed her eyes and started to fall back into her rest. Her eyes opened again. Something was wrong.

She managed to peer over his shoulder at the digital clock, but it wasn't lit up. She thought that the power must have gone out, and wondered why alarm bells were going off in her head over such a non-issue. It didn't make sense. She disentangled herself from Eric and got up.

She scanned the house, but there was nobody nearby. She couldn't hear anything, either. Just some background white noise sounds that she couldn't really identify yet. She was still getting used to her new sensitive senses, and she didn't really know the sounds of this house yet. She'd only been there for one full night, which had been more than a little bit busy. They'd made lo… had sex three times after the blood exchange with the knife, and she'd had more orgasms than she knew what to do with. She couldn't really deny that this new existence came with some perks, at least. He could play her body like a fiddle.

She needed to focus, but it was so hard. She was so tired, and her mind kept wandering all over the place. She went into the bathroom and splashed water on her face to wake herself up, and then took a deep breath to try to centre herself.

She could taste smoke. And not like someone was smoking a cigarette or a brisket, either. She took a deep breath, through her nose this time, and it was really strong. Acrid. It hurt her nose. And it was close. So close.

She was no longer tired, but she was starting to panic again, just like two nights ago. Eric had said that she couldn't go upstairs when the sun was up no matter what, but they sure as hell couldn't stay stuck down in the basement to burn to a crisp, either. She slapped herself across the face hard enough to hurt, and made herself stop, close her eyes, and breathe for a few seconds.

She pushed Eric closer to his edge of the bed. The comforter was heavy and dark, and she pulled it off of him, tucked the edge under him on her side of the bed, and then rolled him one way and pushed him the other until she ran out of blanket to wrap him in. She went into his closet and threw on a pair of his sleep pants with a drawstring and a hoodie, and figured it would have to do. She hoped that the garage was still ok. She didn't know how she was going to get the car out with no power, but she figured she would cross that bridge when she came to it. She hoped she could get him to safety before she burned up, either from whatever was on fire upstairs or by the sun.

She opened the door to the upstairs and the white noise got louder. Fire. She saw smoke but no flames. She pulled up her hood and crept up the stairs to try to figure out where the fire was. It was so bright, but she didn't know if it was fire or the sun. She peeked around the corner and the front wall of the living room was engulfed in flames. She had to go through there to get to the kitchen and then the garage, but she thought that she could make it if she hurried.

She hadn't really tried to use her new strength or speed yet. Everything had been so busy and frankly she had been too scared to. Everything else she'd been through since she rose had been change enough, thank you very much. She wasn't ready for any more. But she didn't really have a choice.

She went back down and stood next to the bed. She could do this. She took a deep breath and picked Eric up and threw him over her shoulder. And it was easy.

She couldn't waste any more time. She took one more deep breath and ran as hard as she could for the kitchen. It took seconds, and not very many of them, and she could hardly believe that she could move that fast. She grabbed Eric's keys off the counter, unlocked the door to the garage, ran through, and slammed it behind her as quickly as she could. She didn't want to feed the fire any more than she had to.

There was the Corvette, which had a hatchback and a teeny tiny trunk. That wouldn't work at all. Next to it was a fully restored 1968 Cadillac DeVille. Red, of course. And thank goodness the keys for the Caddy were on the same keychain. She popped the trunk and sort of half threw and half dropped Eric inside. The trunk was huge and she managed to get him in without uncovering him.

She got in the driver's seat and tried the garage door opener, but of course it didn't work. She couldn't crash her way out; the trunk might crumple and let the sunlight in, and she needed to save Eric. She could hear sirens coming, but they were still far away. Regardless, she needed to get the hell out of there, pronto.

She covered her hands with her sleeves and hoped like hell her face wouldn't get burned too badly and that she was able to at least get Eric far enough away to be clear of the fire and anyone who might want to look in her trunk. She pulled the front of the hoodie up over her nose and pulled the hood down so it almost covered her eyes.. She took another deep breath she didn't need and ripped the garage door off its track. She threw it out onto the lawn. She got into the Cadillac and sent out a huge thank you to Alcide, who had taught her how to drive the van, just because. She said a prayer and backed out onto the road and into the sunshine. It was so bright that it hurt, and her eyes felt like they were being stabbed with stakes, but so far, nothing felt like it was burning. But she only had a sliver of her face showing, and she had pulled the visor down to keep it shaded a little. She peeled away so fast that she left skid marks on the road, and managed to get around the corner and onto the cross street before the ambulances and police cars and fire trucks hit her rearview mirror.

Sookie hadn't been to Shreveport in a very long time, and she had no idea where to take Eric. As far as she knew, there was nothing underground in town because of the high water table. Well, other than Eric's bedroom, and that was just because his house was built into the side of a hill. She managed to get herself out of the subdivision without attracting any attention, and followed the route they'd taken Saturday night back to Interstate 49. She needed to get somewhere safe, and quick. Her head was starting to pound from the glare, but she still wasn't burning.

She took the first exit, and she just followed her nose, turning onto roads when they just felt right. And, just up ahead, she found what she was looking for. There was an old barn on an abandoned farm. The for sale sign was old and the grass was high. There were no cars in the driveway, but a skeletal tractor languished in the unploughed field. It was in the middle of nowhere, and she couldn't sense any brains nearby at all.

She pulled into the driveway and drove over to the barn. It was rough going, and she hoped that she didn't hurt the car. It was pretty fucking sweet. She got out and opened the barn doors and drove the Caddy inside. There were windows, but only a couple, and they were so ancient and filthy that they were almost opaque. She parked in the darkest corner and closed the barn doors.

She didn't know what to do. The trunk was big enough for two, but what if they couldn't get out? She was pretty sure that Eric would be strong enough to get them free, though. And, hell, maybe she could, too. That garage door thing was kind of nuts. And she really wanted to be closer to him. She popped the trunk and climbed inside. She pulled it closed and cuddled around him, still cocooned in his dark blue comforter. She was almost immediately dead for the rest of the day.

When Eric rose, he was extremely disoriented. He was somehow restrained, and in an enclosed space. Sookie was with him; he could feel her in her almost rest. Had they been captured? He wasn't silvered. He tore the fabric that was wrapped around him and freed himself.

They were in a car trunk, and he didn't see any light shining through, but he didn't want to take any chances. It was still nearly an hour until sunset, so he turned over, put the torn blanket over them as best he could, held Sookie, and waited. He wondered why her hair smelled like smoke.

Eric felt Sookie rise less than thirty minutes later. He whispered in her ear. "We have been captured. We are in a car trunk. I will get us free as soon as the sun sets."

She answered in her normal tone of voice. "There's nobody here. Not anyone for miles. And we're in a car trunk because your house caught fire. This is your Cadillac."

She didn't think he was going to say anything else. She had almost slipped into downtime when he said, "Sookie, how did we get from my burning house into a car trunk, apparently in the middle of nowhere?"

She took a deep breath and blew it out. "I woke up because something was wrong. I smelled smoke. I got you wrapped up and carried you to the garage and put you in the trunk and drove here."

"In the daytime."

"Well, yeah. But I covered my face with your hoodie and put the visor down, so it was fine."

Another long pause. "Where are we?"

"I don't really know. A few miles west of Kingston, maybe?"

"Sookie, vampires can't just drive for thirty miles in the daylight because they are wearing a hoodie."

She laughed, and it might have sounded a little hysterical. "I guess I beg to differ? Or am I the exception that proves the rule?"

They didn't say anything else for a while. He needed to think.

As soon as the sun set, Eric punched the trunk lock with just enough force, and it popped right open. Sookie climbed out first. The hysteria had left her, along with the adrenaline, and the weight of everything just kind of hit her. Eric climbed out and, of course, he was naked. She cringed. "I'm sorry I didn't think to grab you any clothes."

He was in front of her so fast that even she couldn't see it, and he was kissing her so hard that it would have taken her breath away, if she had to breathe. He picked her up and carried her to a pile of hay and lay her down. He pulled his sleep pants down over her hips and pushed into her. He locked eyes with her again. "You are incredible."

She was so turned on, but feeling so vulnerable. He had sounded almost mad at her in the trunk. She closed her eyes and bared her throat to him. "Mmmm. You, too, baby."

He stopped, holding himself over her until she looked up at him again. "No, Sookie. I have no idea how you did it, but you saved us."

He leaned down and kissed her so hard again, and then he was all over her. Fucking her and kissing her and touching her everywhere he could reach and telling her between kisses how amazed he was by her and how proud he was of her and how sexy and beautiful and fuckable she was and then biting, and she came so hard that, when she was done, she felt almost like she was floating.

When they were through, they lay in the hay together, and she didn't even mind the pieces of straw that were poking her here and there. He kissed her head. "Thank you."

She kissed his chest before cuddling back down into his arms. "It was my pleasure."