Chapter Five

Eric called on Darcie the next night at Sookie's home. As he arrived, he tried to remember the last time he had taken out a girl on a date. His interludes of companionship were usually much more straight forward and basically just dealt with having sex. He found that he was looking forward to Darcie's company.

When Sookie answered the door and saw him standing there, she gave him a dirty look and didn't invite him in. Eric gazed at her with a small smile.

"Aren't you going to invite me in, Sookie?" he asked.

"Stay away from Darcie," said Sookie.

"Jealous? Maybe, you want to keep me all to yourself," said Eric with a smirk.

"Sookie? Did I hear someone at the door?" called down Darcie from upstairs.

Sookie gave Eric a frown and turned to call back, "Yeah, your date is here."

She grudgingly opened the door and said, "Come in."

Eric walked in and was just in time to see Darcie gracefully fly down the stairs. She wasn't aware that he was paying such close attention since her head was down. He was struck by how she moved. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something that was off. He remembered the excuse Bill had given for hitting her. He had said that she moved very quickly. She would bear closer scrutiny, he thought. She was wearing regular Levis and a soft cashmere sweater in a powder blue color. He observed that both the sweater and the jeans clung in all the right places.

"Hello, Darcie," he said.

"Mr. Northman," said Darcie.

"I think you should start calling me Eric," he said.

"If you insist," said Darcie.

"I do," said Eric.

Darcie's eyes passed over the vampire and once again she almost wished he wasn't so attractive. She had not been lying in Fangtasia when she had told Sookie that he was just the way that she liked them. Except that she usually liked to be the one in total control. She and the vampire had more in common than she liked to admit.

According to Sookie, there wasn't much to do in the area of Bon Temps. They could rule out going to dinner and that left going to the movies, bowling or Merlott's. So, Darcie decided to go bowling. She wondered if the vampire had ever been bowling. She highly doubted it and just the idea of a vampire bowling had given her a chuckle which made it too irresistible to pass up. Eric had flown, so Darcie drove them in the little Mercedes. She put the top down since it was a warm night.

The bowling alley wasn't used to a vampire bowler and they drew stares. Darcie carefully kept her amusement hidden.

When they had picked up their shoes, the lady renting them had remarked, "Big feet."

She gazed at him dreamily and Eric actually smiled at her. Darcie thought the woman was going to slide off her chair and melt into a puddle.

Darcie set up the machine on their lane and they had started to bowl. Eric went first and threw a gutter ball.

"You do realize the object of the game is to knock down the pins?" said Darcie.

"I've never been bowling before," said Eric.

"Well, unless you want me to beat the pants off you without much effort, you had better try harder," said Darcie.

"You could explain to me exactly what I am supposed to be doing," said Eric.

"It's simple, vampire," said Darcie. "You throw the ball down the lane and try to knock down the pins with it."

She picked up her ball and turned to the vampire. She gave him a smirk and said, "Observe and learn."

Darcie lined up her ball and made her release. As Eric watched he could swear that she had thrown the ball too far to the side. But as the ball traveled down the lane, it curved back to the center and struck the center pin which caused a strike. With a look of satisfaction, Darcie took a seat and waited for him to take his turn.

Eric once again took the ball and let it go down the lane. It rolled down the center of the lane and knocked down some pins in the middle. He was left with pins on either side.

"Okay, you now try to get the remaining pins with one more throw," said Darcie.

"How is that possible?" asked Eric.

"Do you want a demonstration, vampire?" asked Darcie.

"I would appreciate it if you would stop calling me vampire," said Eric.

"I look at it as a little pet name for you," said Darcie with a smirk.

"I don't," said Eric. "I don't call you human."

"Point taken," said Darcie. "Very well, would you like me to demonstrate, Eric?"

Eric nodded and Darcie bowled her ball down the lane. She had aimed at only one side and he had thought that she was only trying to take out the pins on that side. But, as he watched, one of the pins flew out and struck the pins on the other side, knocking them all down.

Eric narrowed his eyes and said, "How did you do that?"

"It takes a human lots of practice, but as a vampire, you should be able to pick this up in no time," said Darcie.

Eric got better, but he still could not approach Darcie's skill. He watched her and she could put the ball down the lane in exactly the same spot every single time. There was not any way that was humanly possible, he thought. He didn't think that he could even do it. She was enjoying beating him so much that she had forgotten to tone it down, he thought. Her skill had caught the notice of several others. Humans on the adjacent lanes were watching her. Finally, a man came and stood behind their lane and observed Darcie as she bowled.

"She's wiping the floor with you buddy," he said.

When Eric turned around and the man saw that he was a vampire, he immediately backpedaled.

"No offense," the man said. "She'd be giving anyone in here a serious drubbing."

Darcie noticed the man and smiled politely.

"Hello, I'm the owner and I couldn't help noticing your score. I've never seen a little lady bowl so well, or anyone else for that matter," he said.

"Thank you," said Darcie. "But, I think that I'm just having a good run of luck, tonight."

"Well, it has been such a pleasure to see someone of your caliber bowl that your games on the house," he said.

"That's very kind of you," said Darcie.

"There is a local team that would literally kill to get their hands on you, if your interested," said the man.

The man smiled and left. And Darcie returned to the serious business on soundly defeating Eric.

Afterwards, Darcie drove them to the local make out spot. She had to ask Sookie where it was. Sookie had not been happy, but had given her directions. Darcie didn't want to have to make out with the vampire in front of Sookie, so she didn't want to do that at her house. As Darcie arrived at the secluded spot see saw a few other cars already there. She parked the Mercedes well away from them and put up the top and turned off the engine.

Eric leaned in and brushed his finger down her arm.

"You were enjoying beating me tonight so much that you forgot to tone down your abilities, Darcie," he said.

"I don't know what you are talking about," said Darcie.

But, he felt her tense up at that accusation.

"I think that you do," asked Eric.

"Just because a girl, a human girl, beat you at a silly game that is no reason to suspect that I am something not human," said Darcie.

"But, I wasn't the only one who noticed, Darcie," said Eric. "You do that a few more times and people will talk and your precious cover will be blown."

He tugged a strand of her hair behind her ear and said, "Why don't you just admit to me what you are?"

"You are just imagining things, Mr. Northman," said Darcie.

Eric leaned in and kissed her on the cheek and said, "Am I imagining that you are attracted to me?"

"Yes," said Darcie. "And even if I was, I would not engage in a relationship with my blackmailer."

"But, you do have to pretend for Sookie's sake," said Eric.

"That's why we are out here, Mr. Northman," said Darcie. "We are going to spend some time out here and say that we made out instead of doing it in front of her."

Eric ran his fingers into her hair and said, "You still have to let me bite you, Darcie."

"I'm not the kind of girl that would allow that on a first date, Mr. Northman," said Darcie.

"I think you are," said Eric.

He leaned in and began to kiss her neck and that was when a rapping on the car window startled both of them since they had not been paying attention to anything else except for each other.

Darcie turned to see a policeman with a flashlight at her door. She quickly glanced at Eric and gave his knee a squeeze as a signal for him to do nothing.

The policeman made a signal for her to roll down her window. Darcie did as he requested and stared at the policeman with a pleasant smile.

"Good Evening, Constable," said Darcie. "Is there a problem?"

"There isn't supposed to be any loitering here, Miss," he said. "Can I see your driver's license?"

Darcie locked eyes with the policemen and said, "You don't really need to see that, do you?"

"Why, no, I guess that I don't," he said.

Darcie smiled at him, now, and said, "It's a lovely night, isn't it?"

The policeman smiled back and said, "Yes, it is."

"You came up here to see if there were any randy teenagers parked her," said Darcie. "But, you didn't find anyone here, did you?"

"Not a soul," said the policeman.

"I think that it's time for you to leave and go back to town, don't you?" Darcie said.

"I was thinking the same thing, Miss," said the policeman.

"Goodnight, Constable," said Darcie. "And, remember you didn't see anyone here."

The office turned and went his vehicle and drove away. Darcie sat silently and Eric could sense her anger at having to reveal her powers in front of him. He was completely impressed. It was total mind control. He was sure if Darcie would have told the officer to take out his revolver and blow out his brains, he would have done it with a smile. He wondered how she was able to hide this ability from another telepath like Sookie. And then, he wondered if this was her only power.

Eric leaned in and kissed her on the shoulder and said, "I believe you were telling me that you are just an ordinary girl, Darcie."

Darcie sighed and said, "No one likes a smart ass."

She started the car and then drove back to Sookie's.

As they arrived at Sookie's house, Darcie wanted only to get away from him. But, he grabbed her hand and stopped her.

"Remember, you still have to pretend for your cousin," said Eric.

He gently put his hand on her cheek and kissed her. When he looked into her eyes, he saw a rare flicker of fear again. It was only the second time that he had seen that in her eyes. But, it didn't give him any triumph.

"Relax, Darcie," said Eric. "That only makes you more interesting to me."

"I don't want to be more interesting to you," said Darcie. "If you thought that I was just a plain, ordinary human girl, you would let me go."

"You can go whenever you want," said Eric. "Remember, those are your terms. Although, I don't want to let you go."

He leaned in and kissed her and said, "I only want you to stay."

Darcie looked into his eyes and said, "You are playing me."
Eric smiled and said, "It takes one to know one, Darcie, and I know when I'm in the presence of a grand player."