2
Eric Northman sat in his tall leather chair on the stage of the bar, looking at the glowing clock on the wall. He sighed with great annoyance. Twenty minutes ago he was supposed to meet with another vampire to talk business. Eric had no tolerance for a lack of punctuality.
He drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair. Shifting in it, he glanced over the crowd in the bar. He found the patrons quite amusing, what with their gothic makeup and skanky get-ups. Humans are so pathetic. All of them starved for attention. Eric only gave his attention to those he felt were deserving of it. Humans were rarely graced with even a single word from him. They were little more than food to him.
Out of the corner of his eye, Eric saw Pam nod to him. Hank was pushing through the throng of patrons with his vampire companion, Gerald, in tow. They just arrived. Eric stood up and headed to the door leading to his office. Nearly everyone in the room followed him with their eyes. He had that effect on humans. He ignored them all as he so often did.
Pushing through the hallway door he caught a glimpse of many disappointed faces. Turning the corner, he entered his office. As he sat behind the desk in his other leather chair, Hank entered with Gerald. Pam followed shortly thereafter. She leaned against a file cabinet, arms folded across her pink bodice.
Hank sat in a chair across the desk from Eric and his fellow vampire stood in the corner, hands clasped in front of him.
"Can I get either of you a Tru Blood?" Pam asked. She had a way of demeaning those she spoke to without them knowing it.
"No," Hank answered in his thick southern accent, "But I will take something alive."
"Unfortunately that's not possible," Eric interrupted, "We have a reputation to uphold here." He was referring to the laws the bar was obligated to abide by. No feeding could take place on the premises, vampire bar or not.
Hank looked sorely disappointed, "Then we will have to dine together later this evening."
"I suppose we shall," Eric replied indifferently. As sheriff, it was his duty to be somewhat obliging. He paused a moment, "You are late."
"Am I?" Hank asked dismissively.
"I must stress that when I call upon you, that you come at the specific time you are asked," Eric said coldly.
Hank gave a snort of laughter, "Well what would you have been doing right about now, had I not come? Watching the sex-crazed humans wandering around your bar?"
Eric's face hardened. He leaned forward over his mahogany desk and said with great authority, "May I remind you, Hank, that I am seven hundred years your senior and Sheriff of Area Five and you must therefore show me the utmost respect."
Pam laughed to herself. Eric's voice was so icy that Hank recoiled into his chair, "Understood," he said tremulously.
"Good," Eric said with a grin, "Now, down to business. You are having a problem with humans in your town selling our blood." Pam left the room to tend to the bar.
"That's right," Frank replied.
"And you cannot deal with them on your own?" Eric asked.
"We can take care of the humans, just fine," Hank began quickly, "It is the suppliers we are having troubles with."
"Who are they?"
"It is a nest of vampires. There are at least four of them. Most are older than me. The oldest is six hundred years old, I believe. They are too powerful for us."
"So you need the strong hand of the Sheriff, is that right?"
"Yes," Hank said, "If you would be so kind."
"I will not be doing it out of kindness. It is my duty as Sheriff to bring those who wrong our kind to justice," Eric said flatly.
"Yes, Eric," Hank answered.
"Let me walk you through their punishment," Eric began.
It was nearly midnight before Hank, Eric, and the Gerald emerged from the office. Eric found Pam and told her that she would be looking after the bar for the rest of the night.
"Going to have some fun?" Pam asked.
"I wouldn't quite call it fun," Eric replied, looking back at Hank. He was seeing him off out of politeness. He was keen to get rid of him.
She smiled, "I've got it covered."
"Good." Eric said. He signaled to Hank and they left without Gerald. Hank followed Eric around the back of the bar, where Eric's car was.
"I know a really great club nearby. I find a lot of meals there. The girls are pretty nuts about vampires there, " Hank said.
Eric was thoroughly annoyed by this vampire. "Amateur" he thought to himself. Eric definitely did not need to go bar hopping in order to find a good meal and a fuck. He could have anyone he wanted. In fact, he had had a meal not two hours ago. He unlocked his shiny silver Audi and the two got it. Eric turned the key in the ignition. He did enjoy the smooth rumble of the engine starting.
Hank looked around the vehicle and ran his hands along the smooth, black leather. "Impressive," he said.
"Fangtasia brings in a decent revenue," Eric said, nonchalantly.
"I can tell. Have you heard of the club called 'Jet'?" Hank asked.
"Yeah, I know it."
"Well let's head on down there."
"I must warn you, I have business to attend to at Fangtasia. I will not be able to stay very long." Eric lied, speeding out of the parking lot and into the direction of Jet. Within moments they had arrived.
They entered the club. Eric found the song that was playing terribly obnoxious. He scanned the dance floor, hoping to see a woman that might please him. There were plenty of sweaty, overweight people dancing along to the music. He grimaced. Hank was pathetic. There was nothing special about this place.
Eric headed over to a couch in the corner of the bar. At the sight of him, all the people sitting cleared out. He sat down and placed his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands in front of him. Hank followed him. He sat a couple of feet away, smart enough to know that Eric liked his space.
"God I love this place!" Hank said.
Exhaling slowly, Eric said, "Please stop trying to impress me."
Hank looked down, embarrassed. Eric no longer cared of Hank's feelings.
Eric began looking over the dance floor again. Most of the girls were homely. He noticed a skinny brunette in a bright blue dress moving her hips around. She was too thin for his taste. He watched her for a moment. She turned around so he could see her face. She was unsatisfactory. When the song changed, he watched her run off toward the bar.
Eric took notice of the girl the woman had been dancing with. She was a slender girl in a purple, one-shoulder dress. Her long, blonde hair flowed down her back. He followed the silky strands down to her buttocks. She had a round bottom, one that her dress accentuated nicely. It was short and tight around her hips and loosened towards the top. Her legs were long, not too thin, and toned. Her legs were very attractive, indeed. He became impatient, wanting to get a look at her face.
The woman was dancing nicely to the music and to Eric her movements seemed to happen in slow motion. He took in the way her hips moved and how her legs reacted. He felt his appetite growing. At last she had turned. He was surprised at how beautiful she was. Her features were smooth and defined. Her bright eyes glittered in the flashing lights and her lush lips shined. He could see her round breasts moving freely under her dress. She was astounding, easily the loveliest creature he had seen in perhaps a century. Maybe he underestimated Hank's taste in clubs, after all.
Hank noticed the look on Eric's face and turned to see what he was so interested in. Hank smiled at the sight of her.
"Delicious," he said.
Eric placed a hand out, signaling to Hank that he could not have her.
Looking disappointed he said, "She is almost too beautiful to feed on. Such a waste it would be."
"Indeed," Eric responded.
Hank took the hint that Eric had set his sights on her for himself. He frowned. "But damn, would I love to watch her scream." Hank said with a laugh.
Eric shot him a fearsome look. Hank apologized vehemently and said, "She's all yours, Sheriff," before walking off through the crowd. Eric was glad to be rid of him, having little tolerance for inferior vampires like Hank.
The brunette had returned with two cocktails and they both headed toward the terrace. Eric was out there before they made it, shooting across the bar. He slipped by everyone without being noticed. He sat himself on a bench directly across from the doors. He wanted to watch her. A moment later the two women walked out onto the terrace and took a seat at a table just to the left of the door.
She placed one long leg over the other. Her skin was a lovely glowing color. Leaning over the table, she moved her hair to one side, revealing her neck. Eric felt his fangs emerge at the sight of it. He hid them by keeping his lips closed. A drop of sweat rolled down her already glistening neck. She took a sip from her drink and Eric observed every gesture.
A cool breeze caused her hair to brush across her face. As he watched her eyes close in appreciation of it, he caught a waft of her scent. Her skin smelled surprisingly sweet and her hair smelled of roses. Eric closed his eyes too, taking in every aspect of her sweet and unique smell. He exhaled deeply, trying to contain his hunger. It was as if someone had lit a fire inside him, a fire her had not felt in many years. There was just something about this human.
He caught the human glance at him and look away quickly before a drunken redheaded woman fell into Eric's lap, interrupting his view. She was giggling. "Hey, there handsome!" she said, "Do you wanna dance?"
"No," he replied curtly, pushing her off his lap, being careful to control his strength. Although, he wanted very much to throw her through the glass door. She turned around and leaned over him so that her face was only inches away from his. Here eye-makeup was smudged and her breath reeked of alcohol.
"Come on, baby," she said, "Let me get you a drink!"
"I don't drink alcohol," he said, with an emphasis on the 'alcohol.'
"I'll let you take me home!" she said, giving him a wink.
"I don't think you'd like that," he replied.
"Oh, baby! Of course I would. And I would show you a good time!" she said, moving her hips from side to side. Eric flashed his fangs at her and she stumbled backward in surprise. Too drunk to scream, she looked horrified.
"I told you," Eric said. She turned and stumbled back inside. She wanted nothing to do with him. He began to laugh to himself.
He looked back over at the woman in the purple dress only to meet her gaze again. She looked away quickly again, whispering something to her friend. Eric held his gaze. She was as good as his. Hardly any human woman could resist him. This was something that annoyed Eric most of the time, but made it very easy for him to feed. He was hoping his irresistibility would help him in this situation. She was incredible, for a human.
But he wasn't sure he would make her his just yet. He figured he would make a game of it, first. Yes, that is what he would do. He might as well have some fun with it. Besides, if he got her so easily, he feared her appeal would wear off. The thought disappointed him.
He got up from the booth and was soon next to her. She had not noticed his shift. He saw her look over at where he had just been sitting. She looked around a bit, but could not see him. At that moment, he slipped her a flyer for Fangtasia. She looked down. He saw her stare at it before turning to look at him, but he was already on his way back into the club. He smiled to himself. Yes, he thought, this was going to be very interesting.
He watched the two women hurry out to the parking lot. He walked out onto the terrace to watch from there. After a moment he saw them walk over to a mustang. Smiling, he noted that they were parked next to his Audi. The car sat there a moment. He blocked out the noise from the terrace, closed his eyes, and concentrated on the mustang.
The woman in blue was encouraging the beautiful one, who he learned was called Liv, to not be so turned off about the fact that he was a vampire. He began to like the brunette a little more. He heard the engine rumble to a start and he opened his eyes. In less than a second he was in the trees on the corner where the bar sat. The mustang made a right and he followed it, hugging the tree line. There was nothing like the thrill of a chase for a vampire and so far Eric was enjoying himself very much. If he had a pulse, it would have been racing as he wove through the trees, following the blue mustang.
It was not long before the car pulled into a secluded looking driveway. Eric took care to memorize its location. The driveway opened up and revealed a rather large Victorian-looking house. It was painted a pale yellow with white trim. Such a house was not too common in Louisiana and it was well hidden.
Eric stopped behind a large oak, watching the car carefully. He heard the barking of a dog and his head snapped toward the window. The dog was barking in his direction. Eric scowled at the creature.
His human got out of the car and rushed up the stairs. Eric had to stop himself from launching himself at her then and there. She hurried and locked the door behind her and the mustang drove away. Moving over to the porch, he looked through the window.
The house looked more comfortable on the inside than on the outside. The home was clean and well furnished, but it was clearly done so by a woman. The colors were light and airy. Personally he found the place distasteful, but Pam would have liked it.
His eyes were pulled from the walls when Liv headed upstairs. He watched her hips swing as she went. Listening for where she was moving, he jumped onto the roof and stood on the edge. Now he was looking into her bedroom. The atmosphere there matched that of the rest of the house. Her curtains were a pale blue and her quilt had a design of a compass on it. The walls were a natural light green and photographs hung on the walls. The photographs were large, black and white. They were not photos of family or friends, but were more artistic.
The dog hopped onto the bed without noticing Eric's presence. It began to sniff at the flyer Eric had given to her. The girl looked over after pulling off her heals and said, "Good, boy. You remember that vampire's scent."
"Smart human," Eric said to himself. He wouldn't have pegged her for being that keen. He looked carefully with his sharp vampire eyes at her driver's license that was sticking out from her bag. Ruslana was her real name, as he found out. He liked it much better than her nickname. It sounded more vampiric. Her surname, Barnhardt, was Scandinavian. As a former Viking, he always liked those who had came from his part of the world, though things have changed a lot in a thousand years. Ruslana Barnhardt.
He noticed Ruslana pulling her dress over her shoulders. Her back to the window, Eric looked at her smooth, tan skin. His fangs were exposed again. Just in her white cotton panties, she walked into the bathroom. He could see somewhat into it from where he was. He heard the faucet of the tub being turned and she walked back over to the sink and washed her face after pulling her hair into a messy bun. She then walked out of his line of vision and he heard a window being pushed open. Listening for her to enter the water, he waited to move to the other window.
Lucky for him Ruslana was facing away from the window in the bathtub. Her bun had fallen loose and her long hair hung out of the back of the tub, almost brushing the floor. Her knees were sticking out of the water and her thin wrists were perched on the edges of the tub. The water rippled as she breathed.
Eric silently reached through the window and pulled a handful of her pretty hair up to his face, smelling the sweet scent of her shampoo. She took no notice. He smiled and headed home.
