I'm home a couple of days after Longshadow dies. I got a text from Eric inviting me over for the night to play Wii. Who knew vampires enjoyed playing Wii? But apparently, it's a good pastime. I drive out to see him with Dem right after sunset.
"Hey, Charlotte. How are you this evening?" Eric asks as he answers the door. I see a Chinese vampire sitting on the couch. "This is Chow. He is Longshadow's replacement. Chow this is my soul mate, Charlotte."
"Hi Chow," I greet. "Dem and I are good." Dem has made himself comfortable on Chow's lap. Chow starts to pet him. I think they like each other. I see Pam sitting on a chair in the corner. "Hi Pam."
"Hi Charlotte" she says smiling then looking pack down at her phone.
Eric hands me a Wii remote. I take it and pick ping pong. I love playing that game. We play against each other until eventually I win. We play a couple of rounds of Tennis, Boxing and the sword fighting. He wins some and I win some. After we hand the remote off to Chow and he plays golf. We sit on the couch. I'm curled into his side.
"I will have to take Bill to trail in a couple of nights." Eric tells me.
"Alright how long will you be gone?" I ask.
"I shouldn't be gone too long. I hope to be back in about four nights." He says.
"Alright, I understand." I say. "It will give me some time to work."
"What is it you do?" He asks.
"I'm a bookkeeper." I tell him.
"Great Fangtasia needs a new bookkeeper. Want to do it?" He asks hopeful.
"If you give me the books you have before you leave, I can look it over and have a decision by the time you get back. What happened to your accountant?" I ask him.
"We let him go. After we got him a job at a human firm." Eric says.
"I'm glad. He probably liked that more." I say.
"Well, he makes less money, but he likes the job more." Eric says.
"Yes, He's done it again another lovely shot. Hole in one." The Wii says.
We both look up and see Chow getting ready to take another shot.
"I thought you would want some time with me before I left for the tribunal." Eric says.
"Thank you. I did enjoy this. Even if it was just playing Wii. It was fun beating your lil character into submission." I say laughing. Pam laughs as well. Eric pouts. "You will have another opportunity to try to beat me."
"You know this for sure?" He asks.
"No, but this is something I can guess. I wonder does Godric know how to play?" I ask him.
"I wouldn't know." He says burring his head in between my neck and shoulder.
"Maybe we can teach him." I tell him. We continue to play and watch Wii until Pam and Chow have to leave. "I should get going as well." I tell him.
"I will have the Fangtasia books delivered to you tomorrow. By noon." He tells me. He walks me to the door and gives me a quick good-bye kiss. I'm happy it's a quick kiss or I would want to stay.
I drive back to the house and head to sleep. Knowing that I will need to be awake for noon. Dem follows behind me.
Adele is humming around the kitchen giving Demetrius tons of goodies off the table.
"You are going to make him pudgy." I tell her walking over to the fridge to find something for breakfast.
"He's my only great grandchild let me spoil him." She says feeding him more.
"Alright. I won't comment" I says eating a bagel and lifting my hands up facing here. "What has you in such a good mood?"
"William is going to be speaking about the civil war at the church tonight." She tells me.
"Wasn't that supposed to be done earlier?" I ask.
"Yes it got postponed." She informs me.
"Alright. I will be here just working." I say
"Yes you did get a package delivered for you. Is it from your lover?" She bugs me.
"Yes, it's the books for his club." I say.
"What a lovely thoughtful gift." She says sarcastically. Her and I both laugh.
"I'm guessing Sookie is still sleeping." I say.
"Yes, if she is awake all night, she sleeps all day. Unlike you. You seem to wake up earlier." She says.
"I nap during the night if I need. I also know I needed to work on Eric's books today." I tell her.
"Alright I will let you get to it." She says turning back to her cooking.
I head back upstairs and pull out my laptop and his books. I will be making his books electronic and connect them to the bank accounts making it harder for someone to steal next time. Adele knocks on my door then comes in.
"Sookie and I are heading to the church. You will be alright here?" She asks always concerned about me.
"I am perfectly fine here, Adele. I have Dem to protect me if I need." I say as Dem trots happily into the room.
"I took him for a small walk earlier. I thought I needed some fresh air." Adele says.
"Well thank you. I know he appreciated it." I say.
"I appreciate it as well. He gets me out of the house." Adele tells me.
She closes the door behind her. I hear the house door close as her and Sookie leave. I head to the kitchen with my laptop and Dem at my feet. I swear he is getting bigger and bigger everyday. I heat up some leftovers and work in the kitchen. I feed Dem and he enthusiastically eats all his food. I go back to working on making Erics books electronic. Looking at the books I see that Longshadow took some smaller sums and then a large sum is what set things off. I make sure to mark that off. I know Eric got all the money back. I debited and credited it appropriately, so it is on the records.
The door opens and I look up and see Adele come in.
"Charlotte, what are you doing downstairs? I thought you would be up in your bedroom." She says shocked.
"I decided to come down for a change of scenery." I tell her.
"Is that young adult for you got hungry?" She asks jokingly.
"Yes, it is." I say laughing.
"Well, we should both probably get some sleep. Sookie won't be home for a while." Adele tells me turning out the lights. I Close my laptop plunging the room in darkness. I freeze feeling like someone is watching us. I hear Adele scream and Demetrius's growling. He sounds like he has his mouth full. I quickly grab the pan that I used to heat up my leftovers and head over to her screams. I hear the sound of a thunk then a whimper. I hit What looks like a man. I hit him over the head as hard as I can. He hits the ground. Adele has been stabbed and lying beside the man. Demetrius is injured. I panic. I tell my phone to call Eric.
"Hello?" He answers
"Eric!" I scream. Not knowing what else to say. I am holding Adele's wound putting pressure on it. I hear the wind around the phone. The door then opens what seems like hours later. In reality it was probably only a few minutes.
"Charlotte, are you hurt?" He asks me. I shake my head still terrified. "Alright, I'm going to give Adele some of my blood. That will heal here. Are you okay with this?" He asks me.
"Yeah, I think." I say still a little lost. He bites his wrist and puts it to her lips. She drinks some of it and wakes up. "Adele!" I exclaim.
"What happened?" She asks.
"I… I… Demetrius." I just say still very lost.
"Charlotte, I will take him to a 24-hour vet. You call the police to pick up the human male on your floor. You can then explain to Adele what happened. I have Demetrius. He is in good hands." Eric says calmly. He picks Dem up gently and takes off. I call the police.
Sheriff Dearborn comes in the door.
"Are you ladies alright?" He asks Adele and I.
"Yeah, I think so." I say. Adele changed so she doesn't have any visible blood on her.
"So, what happened?" He asks.
"Well Adele came home, and we were about to head up to bed. Adele went to go lock the door; cause Sookie wasn't going to be home for a little while. I heard her scream and Demetrius, my dog growling. I brought a pan and hit the man trying to attack her on the head." I explain.
"Where is your dog?" Sheriff asks.
"Dem was taken to the vet. The man seems to have kicked him." I say tears falling down my face.
"This is Rene Lenier." Officer Bellefleur says after turning over the knocked-out man. "You got him good, Charlotte." He wakes Rene up.
"That bitch hit me when I was trying to check in to make sure Adele got home alright." He yells at Andy.
"That's why my dog bit you. If you knocked on the door like a normal person instead of coming in here and trying to kill Adele, he wouldn't have bitten you." I say.
"Rene we will have to lock you up for the night at least." The Sheriff says. They cuff Rene and take him out to the squad car. Sookie comes running in.
"What happened, Gran? Are you okay?" She says stopping to kneel by Adele. She turns to me. "What did you do?"
"Sookie!" Adele exclaims. "All that Charlotte did was save my life."
"Oh" Sookie deflates but offers no apology. Bill walks in.
"You ladies are alright?" He asks us.
"Yes. We are alright." I say. The police finish up and clear out. Eric walks back in. "Demetrius, how is he?" I run over to him. He pulls me into his arms.
"He will be just fine. He has a cast around his foot and has his chest wrapped. They are keeping him for observation overnight. We can pick him up right after sundown tomorrow." He tells me.
"Dem will be alright?" Adele asks.
"He will be perfect before we know it." Eric replies. She relaxes.
"I'm going to head to bed. I have had enough exactment for tonight." Adele says excusing herself.
"I'll make you two a cup of tea. It will help you settle for the night, Adele." Eric offers heading to the kitchen and putting the kettle on.
"Thank you, Eric. That is very thoughtful of you." Adele says following him to the kitchen. I follow behind them. I don't want to be left alone with Bill and Sookie. I know Eric is in the other room, but still. Sookie is probably still blaming me for Adele's attack. Eric hands us both a cup of camomile tea.
"Thank you," I say quietly. Wrapping my hands around it.
Adele takes her cup to her room after thanking Eric and saying goodnight to us both. Eric grabs my laptop and leads me upstairs to my room. "Are you leaving shortly?"
"No, I won't leave you till you are asleep. I will make sure your house is locked up tight. I'm going to have an alarm system installed." He says worried. "You didn't see this?"
"I don't see everything, Eric. I do miss a lot. Especially if I don't touch anyone in the situation. I haven't touched Adele's skin in years." I tell him.
"Alright, I understand that. I just don't want anything to happen to you." He says. I lie down in bed. He lies beside me. I drink my tea then curl up in his side. I cry myself to sleep missing Demetrius. I want him here with me.
I do apologize about the order. I realized I forgot to include Adele's death. I knew I didn't want to kill Adele off, so hopefully you don't mind the way I decided to put it.