Chapter 8

Sorry this has taken so long! I have not forgotten, just a little side tracked. Okay so I feel horrible for lying but I had to give my laptop back to my school and I will not be able to retrieve the other parts that I've written till the 16th. So I'll give you as much as I can till then.

Raul slumped against the door. He was shaking and his hair was a mess. He slid down till his was sitting the ground. I rushed over to him and knelt down. The walls of the hotel seemed to close in on us huddled at the door. My mind reeled with images of Eric terrorizing Raul.

"Raul what happened?" I asked, "Did Eric find you?" He looked up at me still panting.

"No thank God. I met some other vampires though. They were insane!" Raul shuddered at the thought. "I can't believe you hang out with those types on a regular basis." Huh well they aren't all crazy. I mean most of the ones I hang out with are almost half way decent. Almost being the key word in that sentence.

"Well mostly I do it because I can't hear their thoughts." I scowled at him. Raul had been thinking things that were bordering Fellowship crazy. He grimaced and looked down at his knees again.

"Sorry, it's just that those guys really freaked me out. " Raul shuddered again. I heard Amelia stirring on her bed.

"Oh Shit! Raul what happened?" Amelia rushed over and knelt down when she saw us by the door.

"He had a run in with a few vampires, but no Eric." I told her.

"They must have been pretty freaky vamps for our Raul here to get this shaken." Amelia said. Raul put his head down between his knees. I stood up and walked around the room a few times. I stopped and stood in front of Amelia and Raul who were still on the floor.

"You guys this isn't good. The lookouts keep getting freaked every time we send them. I'm really regretting this whole vacation." I looked down at my hands. Part of me really did regret this whole thing. I mean with the hurting Eric and after that I hadn't really been able to enjoy myself. Heck! I'd been looking forward to his nightly phone calls. I really had it bad, I mean Eric liked me and I liked him, so what the heck was wrong with me? I sighed and looked at Amelia.

"Sookie, honey, do you really think we shouldn't have come?" I bit my lip. Okay well the whole living again thing was real nice. I mean after the war, it had been hard, and I felt like something was missing and coming here had helped me to see the good in the world again.

"Well part of me is glad that we came, but part of me isn't and I'm thinking that we should only stay a few more days. I don't think we can win this little game that we've been trying to play with Eric." Amelia shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess, but we still need to see a lot more stuff, and I really don't want to leave without hitting some really great clubs." Amelia rubbed Raul's shoulder.

"Raul, do you think we could go out tomorrow night?" Raul looked up at us.

"Well I think I can put in where I was tonight and then yeah, I'll be able to find a place that will be Eric free for you two to party at." I felt bad for Raul it seemed like he got nothing out of helping us.

"Dude, tomorrow we need to go shopping. I mean Raul was all handy today but it's not the same unless you do it yourself." Amelia plopped herself down on the bed again. "I need some more rest but you two little cookies can work out our game plan. Night, night." Amelia curled up on the bed and closed her eyes. Raul turned a light on by the computer. I went to stand by the desk.

"Are you going to be alright?" I asked him.

"Yeah, just a little shaken is all. You should get some rest if you're going to be shopping tomorrow. I'll figure this stuff out." Raul set to work on his laptop. I turned the TV off and snuggled under the covers only to have sleep knock me into oblivion.

Amelia shook me awake. And I pawed groggily at my eyes. I could feel a big mass on the side of my head that had once been my hair. She pulled off the sheets and then tore the curtains apart revealing the bright day light.

"Good Morning sleeping beauty." Amelia crooned. Yuck. I felt nasty I managed to throw my legs over the side of the bed and trudge to the bath room. I didn't even bother looking into a mirror yet. It would only frighten me. My hand groped for the light switch on the wall. I stared at the shower. And then I realized how pathetic I was. I mean I could hardly perform day to day tasks without thinking of him. It had been so long ago that Eric had lost his memory, but I don't think I'll ever forget. I took a shower any ways, trying to think about anything but the feel of his hands on me. When I stepped out of the curtain I could see a hint of writing on the mirror. It wasn't that visible since my shower had been mostly cold, but it was there. I turned the water back on, but this time really hot. It steamed up the room all right, but the writing was in French. It said Je vais vous voir bientôt mon amour. I was pretty sure that amour meant love, but other than that I was oblivious. I guessed it was Amelia practicing her French.

I brushed my teeth and washed my face and put a little make up on and then decided it would probably be a good idea to get dressed. I opened the door to see that Amelia and Raul had formed a line.

"Sookie," Amelia breathed "do you have any idea how long you took?" she rushed inside and slammed the door shut.

"She just really had to go." Raul rolled his eyes and grinned. He looked a lot better today than he had last night.

"Are you feeling alright Raul?" I asked. He shrugged his shoulders and leaned against the bathroom door. "I mean you looked really shook up last night."

"Yeah, I was pretty freaked, but I think I'm better now plus I found a great place for you and Amelia to party tonight. I hear it's a pretty rad party scene." Amelia suddenly jerked the door open and Raul tumbled backward. Amelia had the foresight to step out of the way so Raul landed on his ass. Amelia looked at me and we both started laughing. We laughed so hard I started to tear up.

I was ready for my day of shopping when Raul finally came out. His hair was still wet, dripping a little over his bare shoulders. I couldn't help but stare. Raul was really good looking, plus he was French. Amelia noticed the direction of my stare and let out a whistle.

"Lookin' good Raul." She came over and kissed his cheek. Raul batted at her.

"I have to keep up otherwise what kind of a butler would I be? I mean a butler that can't do karate, now that's just pathetic." Raul had the good sense to put a shirt on. I finally managed to close my mouth which had been gaping a little.

"Are you ready for a little fun Sookie?" She grabbed my arm and pulled me out the door. We traipsed through the hotel. Amelia said hi to almost everyone. I had almost forgotten how much joy Amelia got just from shopping.

She took me to so many stores that by the time we were done and back at the hotel I was exhausted. I lay down on the chaise and sighed.

"Amelia I don't think I have enough energy to go out tonight. I'm spent." I shouted to her. She wailed from the bathroom.

"No Sookie, you have to! You have time for a nap, we can go after you've slept a little." I sighed a little and laid my head down.

"That would be nice." I murmured. I blacked out after that. It felt like I'd been asleep for months when Raul woke me up. He was kneeling by me and his face was really close to mine.

"Whoa." I jumped awake and Raul sat down the space vacated.

"Amelia is getting ready and she asked me to wake you up. Are you feeling better? Raul had stayed at the hotel while we were gone and he hadn't had to endure. I was pretty sure though that he knew what shopping with Amelia was like.

"Yeah I feel a lot better actually. I'm gonna go find something to wear." I stood up and stretched suddenly filled with a fierce desire to party it up. Amelia and I were gonna paint the town and dance till dawn. I put on a short white dress that I had bought that day. It was kind of fancy though. Amelia threw some chain link necklaces over my head while I was looking in the mirror.

"Wear those and some black heels and you'll be perfect." She was wearing a bright blue dress. "Oh can I do your make up?" She played with my slightly messy hair.

"Sure, I guess." I told her. Of course that was a mistake. Amelia sat me down and wouldn't let me look until she was done. I was seriously hoping that she hadn't made me look like a hooker.

I was pretty amazed at what I saw. She had done up my eyes with some black eyeliner and smudged dark eye shadow on and put on a lipstick that was a little darker than my natural lip color. I looked good, almost hooker, but more like foreign vixen. Amelia had set her hair perfectly her curls framed her face and really brought out her cheek bones, which she had put some really pretty blush on.

"Holy crap." Raul stared at us in the mirror. "I guess it's a good thing I take karate. I'm gonna have to fight of every man in Paris tonight." Amelia smiled and I rolled my eyes. "Shall we?" Raul held out an arm for each of us.

"Yes we shall." I said.

The club that Raul took us to was huge. There were two stories though the second was more like a balcony looking over the dance floor. Stairs on either side of the entrance led up to it. There was a turn table and a DJ in the far back. The walls had booths. Most of them occupied, but it was dark and there were flashing lights, so maybe they weren't all taken. The dance floor was crowded. I doubt anyone could make their way through that. Raul took us over to an empty booth that said Reserved on it.

"Raul this place is the shit!" Amelia shouted over the ear splitting music. Not that I minded. The music was great and I really wanted to dance. Amelia was already snaking her body to the music. Raul told us he was going to get drinks before Amelia dragged me onto the dance floor. We danced together for a while. Guys would come up and try to dance with us, but we stuck together. Amelia and I ground our hips around. I lost myself in the music I think I might have danced for hours. It was more like minuets. I noticed after a little bit that Raul had come to join us. He was near Amelia. It looked like he was watching over us more than having a good time. I felt a guy behind me then. He was really tall. I could tell by the way his legs felt. He was a pretty good dancer too. He kept rhythm with me and my hips. I wound my arm up around to feel his neck. My fingertips brushed hair.

Suddenly his body and mine were humming with electricity. He felt amazing. I ground my hips against his more. He bent over and nipped my ear. I felt my head lean to one side.

"Mm, how I've missed you lover."