A/N: My sincerest apologies for this chapter taking so long to posted. I knew what I wanted but it just wouldn't get out of my head and onto the computer.
Thank-you so much for all of the support I have received for this story, it has inspired me to keep writing. And a BIG thank-you to all of the people who review and an especially BIG thank-you to my close friend Carlisle's grl, without you this chapter probably never would have been written!
PLEASE R&R everyone…yes that includes you
Chapter four – Tears and pain
EPOV
As I pulled up out the back of Sookie's house I probed the edges of the bond, everything I could feel was incredibly faint but that was to be expected due to the block still in place. From what I could feel her emotions didn't seem to be ones of anger, defiance, resentment or even listlessness but I still didn't have a choice, this had to be done.
The second I opened the door to the Vette I caught the scent of seven human men. There was no breeze so I was able to smell each unique scent clearly, four of the scents were coming mainly from the woods surrounding the small farm house. I strode purposefully to the side of the house to inspect another of the scents, this one was centred around Sookie's bedroom window. 'They were spying on my bonded!?' I thought and failed to suppress a growl, these men were going to suffer when I caught them. No-one watches my bonded without my or her knowledge, no-one. The final two scents seemed to be emanating from within the house itself, so I ventured in. Luckily Sookie was yet to rescind my invitation so I was indeed able to enter.
Once inside the house I followed the two strange scents to the back door, which seemed to be the point of entry. The back door hung only slightly ajar just enough that if I hadn't looked closely I wouldn't have noticed, the lock looked to have been picked and poorly too, there were scratches all over the outside of it. At least now I knew that whoever they were they weren't professionals, this was a small relief but they had obviously still managed to take Sookie and possibly the witch too. I could tell that the older witch had been gone for at least two nights. The scents lead into the living room where I could smell Sookie and the witch very strongly. There was glass everywhere and I found that the front window had been broken, most likely shot out due to all of the bullet casings scattered across the floor. Sookie's shotgun lay by the window, loaded and ready to be fired, the thought that my lover had put up a fight pleased me. 'My bonded is a brave and strong woman, she will fight and not let anything more happen to her' I thought, knowing that no matter what had happened to her she was still alive and she would fight to stay that way, I have faith in my woman...no not my woman...just Sookie. I needed to stop thinking like that, she can't be mine.
I plucked my mobile phone from my pocket and hit speed dial number 3
"Master" Pam answered her phone on the second ring
"Pamela, what took you so long to answer? Get to Bon Temps now!" I thundered into the phone, instantly irate as the gravity of the situation finally hit me.
"Yes master. And what may I ask is the problem?" Pam inquired completely oblivious to the intensity of my displeasure
"Sookie has been taken! Now stop asking questions and get here now!" I demanded of her
"Yes master" Pam replied hanging up without saying goodbye. I slammed my phone shut and shoved it back into my pocket before stalking back to my Corvette, leaning against the driver's side door and waiting for my child, trying not to think of what Sookie might be going through at that moment.
***
SPOV
I came to in almost complete darkness, the only light in the room seemed to be coming from a small barred window on the wall opposite me. I tried to sit up and 'Ouch!' I thought 'What did I do to deserve that kind of headache?' I tried getting up again, a little slower this time. My thoughts were a bit blurred and I tried to remember how I ended up in this...cell? Is that where I was? It certainly looked like a cell...and felt like one too. I ran my hands across the cold stone floor, but it wasn't smooth the way prison cells were supposed to be, and weren't there supposed to lights too?
I remembered gunfire...and...Oh my god the men outside my house! The one shooting at me and then Amelia ducking for cover and... Amelia! Where was she, what happened to her?! My brain was no longer in a fog, in fact it seemed to be moving a mile a minute. Slowly, okay, very slowly I stood up. Every single one of my joints ached as if I had just run a marathon, but now was not the time for crying over achy joints so I moved as quickly as I could (which wasn't very fast at all) towards the tiny window on the other side of the room. Once there I gripped the bars for support, I didn't know what they had done to me but I was certainly out of it, I could barley stand for more than thirty seconds without hanging on to something. If I was like this I shuddered to think of what they had done to Amelia in the time that I had been knocked out (and I had no idea how long that was, it could have been days for all I knew.) 'Stop whining Sookie and find a way to get out of here and find Amelia' I mentally chided myself, so I ignored my pounding headache, sore joints, thirst, inability to hold myself upright and desperate need to use the bathroom and brought my face up to the bars to try and figure out where I was.
When I first looked out my eyes went totally blurry trying to adjust to the change in light, it only took a few seconds until I could see clearly but what I saw confused me even more. It was just a hallway made completely of concrete, or something like it. At the end of the hallway was a big door, I wasn't sure what it was made of but it sure looked heavy. There were no windows in the hallway just a single light bulb hanging by a string from the ceiling, there was nobody there but as I stood watching silently a man walked in through the door. I was right about the door it must have been heavy because the man struggled to open it, he was only young, no more than seventeen, he was tall and scrawny and had really bad acne. His short jet black hair was tousled, like he had just rolled out of bed and not even bothered to do anything with it, as he came closer I noticed some of the details I had not been able to see from down the hall. He had the most incredible jade green eyes that seemed...sad?... guilty?...even apologetic? Why would this boy feel sorry for me? I pondered that question for a few seconds, but then decided that I had better things to do than to wonder why this mysterious teenager felt sympathetic towards me.
Then I saw the gun slung over his right shoulder. 'Who in their right mind would give a gun to a teenage boy?' I considered it but then realised exactly what kind of person would give such a young person a gun...a kidnapper of course. I grimaced at my foolishness, I wished my brain was moving as fast as it was before, that could be helpful in a situation like this. I was pulled out of my internal monologue by the boy's thoughts, which, strangely I hadn't heard until now.
'I wonder how long they're going to keep her down here...Gee what time is it?...I'm hungry...Wonder what's for supper...That new girl is pretty...Why send me to do this?...I wanna go back to bed...' The teen's thoughts weren't really helpful, pretty much the only thing that I had discovered was that I was underground somewhere, like I said, not very helpful. But if I could just get him to come a little closer maybe I could ask him some questions and actually find interesting details about my current predicament. The boy stopped in front of the window to my ah...room?...cell?...whatever and cleared his throat before pushing a small bottle of water between the bars and dropping it to the ground. I carefully leant down and scooped it up hastily unscrewing the cap and downing nearly half of the bottle in a few gulps.
"Zachary" I croaked, plucking the teenagers name from his head when I figured I could speak above a whisper. I instantly heard his thoughts turn confused and then frightened and when I peeked into his head I heard 'Oh crap', 'mind-reader' and 'witch'. Who were these people? Just because I'm a telepath doesn't mean I'm a witch! Didn't they know that? I was just about to notify him of the difference when he spoke to me for the first time.
"I- ah...I mean I'm not supposed to talk to you" Zachary mumbled so quietly that I barley caught it. He didn't look up at me, only stared at his shoes the whole time almost as if he was afraid that if he looked me in the eyes I might put a curse on him or something.
"I know that Zach but I'm not a witch, I promise." I told him, completely honestly
"Then how did you know my name?" He asked still not meeting my eyes, but he was speaking a little louder at least. I struggled to find an answer that sounded normal and fumbled around in his brain looking for anything that might help. And then I found it, he had only thought about it in passing almost subconsciously, but it was there and it was exactly what I needed.
"I remember you from that little cafe on Lunar road, you're a waiter there right? Yeah I remember you now. You had a crush on that nice red-head sitting on the next table right?" I lied, sincerely hoping that it was enough for him to believe me. This might be my only chance so I crossed my fingers and waited for his answer.
"How did you-" He said blushing slightly
"Oh it was obvious from the way you looked at her" I answered praying that I was on the right track.
"Oh" Zachary muttered, glancing up at me and then looking straight back down as if he had been stung. "No, I- I really shouldn't be talking to you. I'd better go they'll be wondering where I have gotten to." He turned to retreat down the hall
"Wait Zachary, Wait!" I called but he didn't turn around and then he was out the door and I was completely and totally alone, with nothing but a half empty bottle of water. I sank down to the ground, tears threatening to roll down my cheeks. 'No-one is coming to find me' I thought staring helplessly across the cell. Jason hasn't spoken to me for ages now, Bill wouldn't be back from Europe for at least two more months, Sam might have noticed that I hadn't gone in to work for however long I had been down here but I was doubtful, who knows what had happened to Amelia (I really didn't want to think about that) and Eric... Now the tears did fall. I wasn't anything to anyone I realised, I wasn't a sister, or a friend, even Eric didn't want me, all I was to him was telepath-for-rent and a one time lover.
And for the second time in a row, I cried myself to sleep.
***
EPOV
Ten minutes after I had hung up the phone on Pam she arrived in her pale pink minivan. Why she drives that infernal death-trap I'll never know, sometimes even my own child bewilders me. She hopped gracefully down onto the gravel drive and strode meaningfully towards me a mask of indifference plastered on her face.
"Took you long enough to get here!" I snapped glaring at my child
"Hey I got here in record time! It should have taken me at least twice as long normally and if I were to obey the speed limit it would have been even longer!" She hissed, narrowing her eyes she added, "Master just because you're in a foul mood due to your Sookie's disappearance doesn't mean that you need to take it out on me."
"Pamela!..." I bellowed before realizing the truth in her words. "Pam" I said lowering my voice considerably "Let us not have this argument now, there are much more pressing issues to deal with at the moment. Like the fact that my lo- ...that Sookie is missing."
"Yes Eric, you're right. What is it that you wish me to do?" She asked submitting just as she should. I sighed and took a moment to order my array of thoughts before replying.
"I want you to see if you recognise any of the scents of the seven males that took Sookie, report back to me on your findings and I will then give you further instructions." I answered before wandering to the back porch and sliding down onto the top step. This was my fault. If I hadn't rejected Sookie so badly, if I had just given in to what we both wanted then she would have more than likely stayed with me that night and during the day, and she wouldn't have been here when those men came for her. She would have been safe... What am I thinking? This isn't my fault at all! Of course she wouldn't be safe! She would undoubtedly be in even more danger than she is now, that was the whole reason that I had denied us both. Being the bonded of a Sheriff is one thing but being more than that, being known as that important to me, that's en entirely different thing. It would be sure to put her in the firing line and I would not risk that.
"Eric?" Pam approached me somewhat hesitantly, interrupting my train of thought.
"Yes Pam, what did you find?" I asked eager to hear any news that could allow me any closer to finding my... my bonded
"I'm not sure..." My child paused, considering her answer. "I'm not certain but I think that I may have encountered at least two of these men before"
"Where?" I demanded, becoming impatient
"At the club, they seemed...on edge but I just dismissed it thinking that perhaps it was their first time in a vampire bar and they were nervous, or frightened, or something of the sort. But like I said, I cannot be sure. You know how the vermin are, their scents all intermingle with each other and eventually it is difficult to discern their scent from all the others on them." Pam explained carefully as if she were afraid that I was going to harm her.
"Do you think you could create an accurate description of them?" I queried, desperate to find these men and dispose of them...slowly. My fangs slid out to their full length as I thought about what I would do to the scum who had taken Sookie when I found them.
"Yes" She replied
"Good, do it and then place a call to Felipe DeCastro informing him that we will be unable to meet him in Nevada at his request." I ordered
"And if he asks..." Pam trailed off unsure about how much she was to tell the King of Louisiana.
"Explain to him that Sookie has gone missing, we are currently searching for her and are unsure of how long it will take to locate her" I said, purposefully leaving out what had happened between my bonded and myself last night. As to not alert him to the fragile relationship between us.
"Yes master" Pam answered diligently and moved with vampire speed into the old farm house, leaving me still sitting on the porch being completely useless. Then I felt something in the bond stir, it felt so good to have the bond totally open again, I had felt deprived of it after only one night with the block in place. I focused on the emotions coming through very, very faintly and tried to practically pull them into me with as much force possible. It wasn't very long perhaps only five minutes and in that time I felt a rush of many different emotions, first confusion then pain, curiosity, hope and frustration and then finally a wave of sorrow so painful that it nearly consumed me and so strong that I almost burst into tears right on Sookie's porch. Then all at once it faded and I could feel nothing but the hum of her life force through the bond which I hoped meant that she was able to escape whatever horrible situation she was in via sleep, if only for a few hours. She deserved at least a little peace.
'Hold on for a little bit longer lover, I'm on my way.' I thought, allowing myself to call her my lover one last time. Hoping that she could hear me and that she would listen to me, just this once.
