That cold familiar voice crept through her soul as her eyes squeezed shut, a fight or flight reaction waging within her. She slowed her fueling anger as she slowly turned, his smirking deceptive face looking straight through her.
"Did you really think I'd forget about something as unique as you?" he asked condescendingly, walking across the room, her eyes following his every move. "Those eyes of yours are not easily forgotten."
"Who the hell are you?" she said, her mind flashing images from that awful night.
He did nothing but laugh as she clenched her hands into fists. This moment resembled her dreams. His laugh, his voice…even his smell. Everything except his face. After centuries of looking for the man that had killed and destroyed her family and her life…. here he stood.
"Thinking of running off again?" asked Russell, cocking his head to the side, seeing her mind beginning to work on plans of escape. "Trust me, princess…. you won't get far."
"At least I'd die trying." she said, her voice but a whisper.
"Ah, but that's the beauty of it…. you can't die." he smiled. "Easily at least. No, you my dear are something worth keeping alive at all costs."
"I'm not sure I catch your meaning." she said, working to distract him as long as she could.
"Oh, now don't be coy," he smiled, shaking his finger at her. "I know what you are…. what you can do."
He whispered the last of his words as he walked towards her. She could feel the familiar tingle of energy waging through her as his simple presence began to overpower her. The memories of what he had done had taken over her mind, her concentration towards the current situation beginning to fail. The familiar anguish she felt as the lifeless eyes of her children began to eat away at her control.
"Reliving that dreadful night?"
She opened her eyes to see him standing before her, an evil grin settling his face as he watched with morbid fascination as her body and mind began to cave. She felt her hands wanting to expel the pent-up energy she was harboring, but she knew that hurting him probably was not the best of plans.
"I must admit, I feel awful for what I did that night. I never meant to hurt you or your family…. but how else was I to get you to show your true self to me?" he asked, smirking, his voice but a whisper. "My little elf."
Best of plans be damned. She couldn't contain herself any longer. Her eyes hardened as his words of self-justification washed through her. There was too much anger and grief pent up within her to make her see clearly any longer.
"You should have asked." she snarled, as his own grin fell from his face.
The growl began low in her belly and climbed its way up her to her throat. Her palms itched, her eyes brightened, and the energy flowed quickly through her body. She released her fangs and screamed a deep guttural cry as she released the energy through her hands.
Russell's eyes widened as the energy punched him in the chest, throwing him backwards through the room before he felt the wall break around him. The plaster and stone from the wall fell in clusters as he slid to a halt out in the hallway, the gaping hole he just came through framing a steaming Aurea.
She began to advance on him when her back and head where slammed into the wall behind her, the wall crumbling as the force of Russell's strength painfully threatened to crush her skull. Her eyes locked onto Russell's, whose face was inches from her own.
"I am older and more powerful than you, my little elf." he said, sneering in her face before softening his features. "But I must say…. you have certainly amused me this evening. You've become quite the little sorceress, haven't you?
"Get the fuck off of me!" she yelled, using whatever strength she had left to push him away.
"Nog!" he exclaimed, Aurea stopping her resisting the moment he spoke in Swedish. "Now listen to me you little pain in the ass, you will never try this again, understood? Next time I won't be so lenient."
She resisted the urge to spit in his face, but the repercussions that were threatened by Russell stopped her. She tried thinking of what Eric would do in a situation like this. Most likely keep calm and shut the fuck up….at least that's what he would tell her. She did have a nasty habit of speaking too much.
Her eyes fell to the two large gorillas who stepped into the parlor. Russell spoke to them in another language. Russell then turned back to her, his eyes looking into her own.
"Such beautiful eyes…. your youngest- "he said, catching her attention with hardened eyes. "I believe she had the same eyes. What a trait to pass on from mother to daughter. They still held their glow as her life fell from her body, I remember."
Aurea felt the agonizing cry of pain leave her lips as the image of those cold dead eyes wormed its way through, ripping out her dead heart. The sounds of her cry rattled the very walls she was held against, the white light blinding her vision as she once more felt herself slip away from the present.
Eric's eyes snapped open as the darkness of his room clouded his vision. The wave of emotion he felt rush through him pained him, his chest feeling tight and strange. He sat upright almost immediately, his eyes moving back and forth throughout the room as he tried to place the sudden onslaught of emotion.
He thought at first it had been Sookie…. If she had once again had been injured or upset. But the heaviness of this pain was enough to tell him it couldn't have been Sookie. The only other who had ever felt pain such as this was Aurea.
Since she had left, she had closed herself off, bond and all. He had not been able to feel her a single moment she had been gone. Now it seemed as if she had thrown open the door and allowed the crash waves of emotion to be sent to him. He could feel her sorrow and despair, but he could also feel her fear. It was strong. She was in trouble.
He grabbed for his phone instantly and tried calling for her, but the phone had been shut off. He growled before dressing himself into a pair of dark pants and his normal black tank top and jacket.
He flew to the club, entering through the back as to not gain unwanted attention. Tonight, he was not in the mood. He went instantly to his computer in hopes something would point him to where she was.
Nothing but requisitions and status updates on vampires filled his email. Nothing to give him any clues as to where she was or who she was with. His office door opened and Pam walked in, looking bored as ever.
"There's someone here to see you." she drawled.
"Not now, Pam." he said, biting his lip as he looked hard onto his desk.
"It's Sookie. The bitch can't understand 'no' even if it was spelled out in front of her." said Pam, noticing his forlorn look. "Everything alright?"
"Aurea is missing." he confided, Pam suddenly standing at full attention.
"What- since when?" she asked, stepping closer into the office.
"She has been away for a week…but not until tonight have I felt that something was wrong." he said, absent mindedly rubbing his chest where the pain still lingered. "Something has happened."
"Have you tried calling her?" she asked.
"Her phone has been turned off." he sighed, the feeling of desperation beginning to fill within him. "I have not heard anything from her in a week."
"Where did she go?" asked Pam.
"I'm not sure." whispered Eric, regret rushing over him at ever letting her go. "Knulla!"
"Eric, you need to stay calm- "
"I should have never let her leave. I told her she would be in danger, that she wasn't safe!" he yelled, throwing a book from his desk against the wall. "I should have ordered her to stay."
"You love her too much to do anything of the sort." said Pam, her tone unusually soft as she watched Eric break apart in front of her. "You need to remain calm or else you'll never find her."
"What does Sookie want?" he growled, wanting to rush the telepath along so that he could continue his findings.
"Something about Bill, again." sighed Pam, checking the polish on her nails.
"Send her in." he complied.
His thoughts ran amuck as he instantly began thinking of who could possibly have his wife. Someone was out to hurt him, or her. It couldn't have been The Fellowship, not so soon after Dallas. Nothing else seemed to make sense, other than the usual blood drainers. But the pain he had felt had been too deep to be caused by any redneck with a needle.
"Where's Bill?"
Eric rubbed the bridge of his nose before turning his gaze to Sookie. She looked beautiful he would admit. Her hair was done up and her lavender dress hugging all the right places…. but the eyes that looked back at him did nothing for him. They weren't familiar, they weren't the calming violet and green he had grown accustomed too.
"I do not know where he is." he replied, sitting in his chair.
"Where were you around 11 o'clock?" she asked, stepping forward.
"Home…." he replied. "If you are here to accuse me Miss Stackhouse I'm afraid to inform you that you are wasting your time."
"Where is Aurea? I'd like to talk to her." asked Sookie, her chin lifting ever so slightly.
"Aurea is not here this evening." he replied, his voice soft and light.
"Then I'll go talk to her at home." said Sookie, turning to leave the office.
The roar of Eric's voice and the sound of his fist slamming against his desk made her heart leap from her chest, the murderous look in his eyes told her she had overstepped some line.
"As I told you…she is unavailable this evening." he replied, his tone calming as he regained himself. "As Bill Compton is a member of my area it is my duty to search for him. This does not concern you and when I find Bill, I will return him to you. Now will you please show yourself out?"
"What the hell crawled up your ass and died?" barked Sookie. "I'm trying to find Bill and if you aren't going to help="
"I already explained to you that I would help you, but unfortunately he is not my top priority at the moment. Now if you would please allow me to do my job." he said, gesturing to his door.
"Why couldn't you feel my distress earlier?" she asked. "You made me suck your blood, you know what I'm feeling, why didn't you come running when I found Bill missing?"
"As I told you, I have other greater worries that need my attention." he barked. "You are not my top priority."
"Then why did you make me drink your blood?" she asked, his words hurting her, though she would never admit it.
"Trust me….it is a decision I am greatly regretting each day." he said, noticing her face fall only slightly. "Now as I've asked before, please show yourself out."
The huff of her attitude and the light clicking of her heels told him she had left, the office becoming once more a silent prison looming over him. He felt lost and hopeless in his search. Where would he start? What would he do if he never found…when…. when he found her?
He decided to alert the channels of vampire sheriffs around his area and areas farther out, she couldn't have gotten far. If she had traveled outside his area, she would need to present herself as a form of respect. Hopefully she had been smart enough to do that.
Hey everyone! I've got my rhythm again for this story so I am hoping you are enjoying! Let me know what you think and stay tuned. Much love!
