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Pam had made it to Sookie's house, but she didn't have to go up to the front door to know that telepath wasn't home. All the lights were off, Pam didn't catch Sookie's scent, and her pathetic excuse of a car wasn't in the yard.

Her next stop was going to be Bill's house, but she had heard through Eric that Bill and Sookie weren't exactly on speaking terms, so the chances of her being over there didn't seem likely. The only other place the vampire could think of was Sookie's place of employment, Merlotte's.

Sam wasn't exactly the welcoming of sorts when it came to vampires, although she had heard that he invited Jessica to come work for him. It didn't change the fact that the sight of her was probably going to make the shifter kick her out before she even had a chance to find Sookie. Not that she particularly enjoyed being in there, though. It reeked of rednecks, gossip, and dead animals, and the thought of entering the hellhole made her groan. She wasn't looking forward to it, but she found herself heading out that way anyway.

When it came to Eric, Pam wasn't someone to mess with. She would die for her maker, and on several occasions she almost had. Eric meant everything to her. The thought that he had almost gotten in trouble with the vampire authority over the whole Russell Edgington ordeal almost threw her into a homicidal rampage, and she refused to have a repeat of the incident.

She would never tell him this of course. It was way too sappy for either party, but she had a suspicious feeling that he already knew, and the feeling was mutual.

Pam looked up from her thoughts, seeing the green, cursive neon light that read Merlotte's through the trees in the distance. She was almost there.

"Now… what to say to Sookie," she mumbled to herself. Sookie may have been furious with Eric, but Pam knew that she didn't want him dead or in trouble. The girl had a habit of trying to help people, regardless of their current relationship status. Pam thought she would try to use this to her advantage.

Snap.

The vampire stopped in her tracks; allowing her fangs to snap into place.

"Funny thing about hiding in the woods," she turned around, but was only addressing an empty, moonlit road. "So many noisy things to step on…"

She took a step forward.

"I know you're there…" she taunted. She sniffed the air and caught a scent, but it dropped almost the instant she had picked it up. Cautiously, she turned back around only to find someone standing right in front of her.

She shrieked and tried to shove the man, but he had caught her wrists with strength that didn't fit his frail, skinny shape.

"Ah, ah, ah! You can't do that to me twice," he grinned. Pam's eyebrows furrowed as she tried to retrieve her hands, but to no avail. From under his legs, a small boy dashed out and smacked her knees, before tackling her and sending her to the ground. He sat on top of her and grinned; his messy black hair covering his eyes.

"Get off of me, freak!" Pam shrieked and shoved him off. She jumped to her feet and faced the two. They were two of the members from the group that was bothering her last night.

"Hello, Beautiful," a voice from behind them rang in a sing-song voice. Pam frowned recognizing the voice. She turned around.

"What do you want, creep?" She asked the leader, raising an eyebrow. The man smirked.

"Beautiful, you never seize to amaze me," he made a motion with his hand and the pudgy man emerged from the bush in the forest. He was holding a chained, silver net that glimmered in the moonlight. Slowly, he made his way over to her. Pam growled, although she was beginning to feel a bit uneasy.

"Your beauty, your grace, your age…" he smiled as the leader continued; ignoring the low, threatening growls that were emerging from her throat. "You are just what we need for our little recipe to work."

"Recipe?" She asked. The man nodded.

"You're going to make us extremely wealthy, Beautiful," he grinned, his teeth still stained the disgustingly yellow that made Pam recoil in disgust. "In more ways than one…"

"You think you can catch me?" She raised an eyebrow, testing him. The man laughed and shrugged.

"We could try. The odds are already in our favor. I mean, it's not like you can run."

Her eyebrows knitted together as she glanced at the two behind her. They both shared a sadistic grin and simultaneously raised their hands to show off their palms that were covered in a light blue cream with black specks swirled into it. She looked down at her wrists and knees; just now noticing they were growing slightly numb. The creamy substance was on her as well, and she tried to brush it off, but she was only smearing it more.

Panicking, she tried to dash away, but she was nowhere near as fast as she normal: running instead like a tiny woman in high heels and not like the 200-year-old, experienced vampire that she was. The small twitchy one caught up to her first, once again sending her to the ground and splashing into a puddle of mud. He rolled her over; her view changing from the dirt to the sky.

She shrieked and tried to kick and scream and thrash at the boy, but her wrists were numb and her strength was gone. She had never felt so pathetic in her life.

The boy on top of her, fumbled for something in his pocket, before pulling out a small bag that he quickly ripped open. Pam hissed at him in a weak attempt to frighten him to get him off. He responded by dumping the contents of the bag all over her face.

Purple dust rained down on Pam. She coughed and gasped for air, trying to get away from it, but she had already inhaled the strange dust. She felt the boy's weight lift off of her and she used this opportunity to turn around. She tried to crawl away, but she couldn't stop gagging. On all fours, she glanced behind her; still coughing. The leader was walking up to her now. He had a sweet smile on his face as opposed to the group behind him. She kept trying to crawl away, but the leader grabbed her foot and pulled; sending her to the ground again. She sobbed and tried to fight him, but it was hopeless. The man rolled her over on her back and held her chest down with his forearm while stroking mud off her face with his free hand.

"Shhh… there, there," he soothed, stroking her hair and trying to calm her down. She coughed and sobbed and made a weak attempt to hit him in the face, but he grabbed her wrist and held it down. "Hey, hey, we just needed to make sure that you didn't call your maker. We can't have that. Not yet."

"I-I can still—call him" she managed to say between coughs. The group laughed.

"Oh…" He put on a fake, sympathetic look. "Try." He smiled, and she wanted so badly to smack him for mocking her.

"Go on, try. We won't stop you." She coughed again, and squeezed her eyes shut; channeling with all her might, begging her master to please come. To please help her, to please get her out of here: she needed him. She needed him to be here, she was hurting, she was hurt, and he needed to be here. She was sending all of her emotions, all of her pain, and fear, and desperateness…

…But she got nothing in return.

No worry, no concern, no rush… She felt tears forming in her eyes and they streamed down the side of her face. How could he not care? How could he not hear her?

The man's eyebrow furrowed in mocking concern, "Hey, don't cry, Beautiful. You're too pretty for all that nonsense." He wiped away her bloody tears and gave her another sweet smile.

"We're gonna take real good care of you now, okay? We're your masters now." He stood up and looked at the chubby man before motioning his hand toward her. The fat man nodded, and drapped the netted chain over Pam's trembling body. She screamed the entire time they dragged her away.

It was 6:00 in the morning when Sam lazily opened up Merlotte's. He always came in early to settle some morning paperwork, do some safety procedures, and take a quick nap before he was in charge with breakfast. It was also, in its own way, Sam's quiet-time. He enjoyed these moments in his restaurant when it was quiet and the air was still. No clanging of dishes, no obnoxious customers ranting and gossiping about stupid stuff, no telephone ringing and no one answering it…

Just Sam and his restaurant.

It would last until eight or nine when Lafayette came in, but that was plenty of time for the shifter to get everything ready for the day, although he did have an extra amount of things to do considering how hectic last night had gotten.

He had understandably given Arlene and Terry the okay for them to leave to go see Arlene's hospitalized friend, but that didn't change the fact that it was a Saturday night and Merlotte's was busy. It had taken a while to get into the flow of things, and both Sookie and Lafayette had pulled a double to pick up the extra shifts. He felt bad for overworking his friends; especially because they were both scheduled tonight as well, but they had pulled through and done so with no complaints.

It was just another reason to appreciate the silence, and yet another reason to get irritated when the phone started ringing.

"For the love of…" Sam started before getting up from his desk and walking over to the bar. The sun wasn't even up yet, who the hell could be calling? And why didn't anyone know his office extension?

"Hello?" He sounded a little more irritated than he probably should have, but who could really blame him. This wasn't his quiet time.

"Sam Merlotte? This is Northman..."

Sam blinked before glancing at the clock. It was almost seven.

"Eric Northman? The vampire?"

"Do you know another Northman?" Eric asked, not bothering to hide his sarcasm. Sam scowled.

"No, it's just… it's seven and… what do you want?" Knowing the vampire's personality, Sam wasn't going to get as solid answer from him.

"Is Sookie Stackhouse there? I need to ask her something and she's not answering her phone." There was an unusual desperate cling to his voice. It was barely noticeable, but there nonetheless. Sam's eyebrows furrowed.

"Uh… she's probably sleeping. She kinda had a rough night last night, and she's not in here until two. You okay, man? You sound a little—"

"—I'm fine!" The vampire snapped. "Two? In the afternoon?"

Sam hesitated, still not entirely sure how to take Eric's attitude.

"Uh… um… yeah, man. We're not open at two in the morning. You sure you're okay? I might be able to hel—"

"—I said I was fine," Eric snapped again, but he still sounded unusual. "I gotta go."

Sam blinked at the sound of the dial tone. Slightly angered, the shifter hung up the phone, and walked back over to his office. It was too early for Eric's shit anyway…

Eric hung up the phone and rubbed his temples. The sun was going to be up soon, and Pam still hadn't come back to Fangtasia. The conversation couldn't have been that long. It was a yes or no answer, and although Sookie was known to drag things out unnecessarily, there was no way they could still be talking. Something must've happened.

He looked at his cell phone that he had clutched tightly in his hand. He was half expecting it to ring and vibrate; the caller ID reading: Pam… but it didn't.

He flipped it open again and hit redial for the seventeenth time; shakily holding the phone up to his ear. It rang and rang before going to her voicemail.

"God… DAMNIT!" He shouted, chucking his phone across the room. It smashed into the wall and split into pieces, scattering in every direction. He slammed his fist on the desk in frustration.

Pam was in trouble. He could feel it. Her emotions were going haywire. Happy, sad, angry, happy, super happy, angry, sad, scared, worried, dead, and then happy again… and the worst of it all was how he couldn't pinpoint her location. She was in Bon Temps, and then California, then Canada, then she didn't exist, and then she was in the Atlantic Ocean—he couldn't take it!

The sun was coming up, but sleep was the last thing on his mind. It never even occurred to him until this very moment in time that Pam had every single characteristic of the victims that were missing.

Vampire, female, attractive, 200 years old…

The thought angered him. How could he have been so stupid? How could he not have thought that maybe… just maybe… she might be targeted? He reached up and grabbed his hair, almost pulling it out.

Pam was all he had. He couldn't lose her, he wouldn't. He refused. He would tear apart every man, woman, child, and vampire in his area before he even let the thought cross his mind.

Returning to his desk, he grabbed the corded phone and forcefully pounded her number into the base. Again, it went to voicemail. Eric had to restrain himself from crushing that phone too.

Instead, he stood up and left his claustrophobic office, hoping that more space would help him think better. He wished he could go outside, but he had twenty minutes tops until the sun finally rose and took its rightful place in the sky, and that wasn't enough time to get anything done.

All he wanted was a phone call from someone—anyone—telling him where Pam was. He didn't care if it was Sookie calling to tell him that Pam had stayed the night with her. He didn't care if it was Sam Merlotte calling to tell him that Pam had passed out in the freezer, and she'll be up when the sun goes down. Hell, he didn't care if it was some random person calling to say, "We've kidnapped your progeny"—because then he would know where she was and then he would know how to handle it. Not knowing anything was driving him insane.

He sat down at one of the tables in his bar, staring at the wall as if it would give him all the answers. The sun was up now. He could feel the sickening taste in his mouth and the silent throbbing in the far corners of his head. It was his body warning him of what was about to happen if he didn't go to bed.

But he didn't care. How could he? Even if he were to try to go to sleep, he seriously doubted he could. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate, trying hard for the first time to truly locate Pam.

It was like trying to tune a radio, but there was no clear station, and all the wrong ones were painfully loud, earsplitting screeches that forced the vampire to break out of his concentration and clutch his head. He couldn't help the scream that erupted from his throat, or the dizziness he suddenly got from trying to call her. When the pain was gone, he slowly opened his eyes.

He was staring at the ceiling. Somewhere in his painful struggles, he had fallen out of his chair and collapsed on the floor. He removed his hands from his ears and saw blood—a lot of blood.

It wasn't just the bleeds that had done that to him. It was still too early to have that much blood loss. Shakily, he repositioned himself, trying hard to get back into the lounge chair.

He wanted to try calling her again, but his head was still throbbing from the first time. What had happened? That was not normal. Where the hell was Pam?

Before he could think any more of it, Fangtasia's front door opened and sunlight washed out the darkened room.

Eric hissed at the burning rays and flew backwards in his chair, unwillingly flipping over it in an attempt to get out of the sunlight. The intruder was startled. She jumped and blinked, confused as to why someone else would be in the building.

"Oh… uh… Sorry!" she apologized, although her shock didn't fade fast enough for her to act. She stood in the doorframe, blocking most of the light, but not enough to keep her boss from burning.

"Ginger, you stupid, fucking bitch! Shut the door!" Eric hissed. Ginger blinked in confusion and fumbled with the door before finally managing to seal it shut. She ran over behind the lounge chairs and crouched down next to Eric; hovering her hands over him as she tried to think of something to do to help.

"I-I'm sorry, master, I just—you're not normally—I'm usually the only one—I'm sorry!" she stumbled over her apologizes, still dazed as to why he was awake. "Are you okay?"

Eric became a blur, grabbing Ginger by the throat and slamming her back against the lounge chair, fangs at her throat. She coughed and choked out another apology, gripping her weak fingers over his hand. Eric hesitated. His burns hurt, but they were healing, and he didn't have the stomach for food. Growling in frustration, he relaxed his hand and let her go.

"I'm sorry, bossman," Ginger repeated, rubbing her neck. She looked at his bleeding ears with slight concern. "You're not normally awake when I get here, you know?"

"I know that, Ginger, thank you," he got up off the floor and brushed himself off. Weakly, he walked over towards the bar and sat down on the stool. He propped his throbbing head up with his hand and closed his eyes, focusing on the quiet to make his headache go away so he could possibly call Pam again.

"Did you… need anything? Something to drink? I can make you a True Blood," Ginger offered. She felt bad for hurting her boss. When he didn't answer, she walked around the bar, stopping only to catch a glimpse of him before she headed toward the fridge.

She pulled out a bottle, not thinking twice about what type of blood it was, before she unscrewed the top and set it in the microwave. As she pushed in the time, she glanced back at her boss.

Blood was seeping out of both his ears. A small puddle was forming on the countertop from his nosebleed. The vampire's head kept bobbing up and down as if he was fighting consciousness. Ginger bit her lip and walked over to him; gently tapping him on the shoulder.

The Viking shot up, eyes wide open as he woke up and scanned his surroundings. His eyes rested on Ginger's concern face before he relaxed again.

"Are you okay, bossman?" she asked cocking her head to the side. Her eyes looked him over. "You're bleeding, and you look really tired. Should I call 911?"

Eric sighed at her idiocy, although he was somewhat thankful she was here. She was distracting him from his horrid thoughts of what could be happening to Pam, and if he was left alone with those horrid thoughts, he would have probably torn Fangtasia to shreds. Ginger, in a stupid, pathetic way, was keeping him sane.

With that thought in mind, he forced a smile and shook his head no.

"911 won't do much, Ginger, dear. It's nothing a rag won't fix though, do you mind?" he pointed to the washcloth that was hanging on the wall behind her. She blinked, but got it for him.

"Thanks." He wiped away the blood dripping down his nose and in his ears.

The microwave 'binged' and Ginger went to pull out the glass bottle of blood. She handed it to the vampire.

"Here, you should probably eat something…"

Eric tiredly eyed the bottle before closing his eyes again.

"Thanks, but I'm not hungry…"

"Well… uh… did you want to go to bed?"

He lazily shook his head no.

"I'm not tired."

"You look tired," she bit her lip, "Y-You look sick. Are you sure you don't want me to call someone?" Eric shook his head no. His head felt so heavy; he unknowingly set it on the countertop.

"What time is it…?" he trailed off, his voice weak and exhausted.

"10:30," Ginger answered, noticing the vampire was drifting off to sleep. "Did you uh… want to go in your bed? I can help take you there."

"No… no… I need to stay awake. Gotta call Sookie at two… Gotta ask her where… Pam… is…"

Ginger blinked, "Where is Pam?" she asked, looking around cautiously as if the pretty vampire was about to jump out of one of the cabinets and attack her.

Eric shrugged, half-asleep. He cracked open his eyes. "Help me stay awake, Ginger, dear."

Ginger bit her lip, "How? I thought vampires were supposed to sleep during the day."

He nodded and yawned, folding his arms and placing them under his head.

"We are, but I got something to do at two and it's really important. So please help me stay awake…"

Ginger's eyebrows knitted and she bit her lip. Keeping the vampire awake did not sound like a good idea, but she was way too small and frail to lift the Viking up to move him to his bed.

Instead, she went into his room and grabbed a blanket, bringing it back out to the bar. She draped it over her boss and wiped his nose with the rag he had in his hand before returning to her daily duties. Waking him up at two seemed a little easier than keeping him awake until then. Besides, she did have a job to do.

Grabbing the spare washcloth, she started to clean and straighten up Fangtasia. She stocked all the alcoholic beverages, cleaned all the dirty dishes, swept, mopped, and wiped the counters (making a mental note that she was going to have to go over the spot that Eric was bleeding all over again).

Normally, she was out of here by one, but if her boss really had something to do at two, she didn't mind sticking around for another hour. Sitting on the couch, she played with her phone for the remainder of the time. At ten 'til two, she closed her phone and walked back up to the slumbering vampire.

Eric was making a lot of indication that his sleep was unpleasant. Although she had told herself she would wake him, she didn't think it was such a good idea anymore. He looked a lot better than he had just two hours ago. He wasn't bleeding anymore, and some color (as much color that a vampire can have anyway) had returned to his face. Even though there was no way he was comfortable, he was healing; and he really looked like he needed it.

Ginger bit her lip. She said she would wake him. Swallowing nervously, she tapped her boss on the shoulder.

"Bossman? It's almost two. Master? Eric?" She shook his shoulder.

Eric's eyes fluttered open before reality came back to him. He shot up, nearly falling off the barstool while doing so.

"What time is it? How long was I asleep?" he demanded, although he was still a little dazed.

"Relax, bossman, it's 1:55. You fell asleep, I thought I'd just wake you up, but I gotta go, so you might want to go into your—"

Eric vanished, zipping off the barstool and into his office. The door slammed shut with a thud. The suddenness of his actions had caught Ginger off guard and she shrieked before calming herself down. Angrily, she huffed out the door.

"You're welcome!" she snapped, before leaving Fangtasia asking herself why she still works for theses ungrateful assholes. She didn't even bother to lock the door.

The phone at Merlotte's was ringing again. Tara was making a point not to answer nor acknowledge it; clearly sticking to her statement that if it was important, they would know Sam's extension. Instead, she was reading a magazine when Sookie walked in for her shift.

"Hey, Sook!" Tara smiled, closing her book and turning her attention to the blonde.

"Hey, Tara, are you going to answer that?" she asked, referring to the phone behind her friend.

"Psh, they'll call back if it's important," the phone stopped ringing and after a moment of silence, Tara grinned in triumph at her friend. "See? No call back."

"Sam's gonna be angry," Sookie informed as she headed back to his office to put her stuff in her cubby.

"Sam can shove it. We ain't that busy," she turned back to her book, ignoring the phone that began ringing again. "Motherfucker, you really want to get a hold of us, don't you? Sucks to be you."

Sam was in his office when Sookie walked in. She greeted him, but he didn't seem to notice her. His head was down and he was tapping his foot impatiently at his desk.

"Are you okay, Sam?" Sookie asked while she tied on her apron.

"Is it really so hard to answer the damn phone?" Sam snapped, looking up from his paperwork. "I mean, I get if you don't want to talk to people, but—God! Is it really that hard to just pick it up and say, 'Hello? Sorry to make you wait, but I'm too busy being a bitch to turn around and help you'?"

Sookie laughed, "Tara is Tara. Why do you think this is the longest job she's ever had?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Sam mumbled. He stood up and headed towards the dining area. Sookie smiled and followed him.

"Oh, hey, Sam," Tara greeted, the phone still chirping for attention behind her. Sam pointed to it with a stern look on his face before picking it up.

"Hello? This is Sam Merlotte," Sam greeted, trying to hide the frustration in his voice.

"Why the hell do none of you answer your fucking phone?" Sam blinked in confusion, clearly taken aback, but it wasn't because of the caller's attitude. He looked outside, and then at the clock in hopes of some sort of clarification, but nothing he did was helping.

"…Eric?" Sam asked. The blonde waitress looked over, her eyebrows knitted in confusion.

"Yes, is Sookie there? You said she worked at two. It's now 2:15. Is she there? I need to ask her something…" Eric had made no attempt to hide the desperateness in his voice this time. It was slightly frightening to hear the vampire freaking out like he was. Sam wasn't entirely sure what to do.

"Sookie?" Sam looked over at the blonde who quickly shook her head no. "Uh… sorry man, she called out today. She said she wasn't feeling well. Something about—"

"Sam, please, if Sookie's there, please let me talk to her. It's really important. Please, just let me talk to her…" His voice was shaky and he sounded terrified. Sam was positive if he told the vampire no one more time, Eric would flip out and start begging.

"Uh… here she is," Sam held out the phone to the blonde who huffed in annoyance before walking around the bar. She angrily snatched the phone from her boss before holding it up to her ear.

"What?" she snapped. "I told you Eric, I wanted nothing to do with—"

"Sookie, shut up! Would you just shut up for once in your Goddamn life and just fucking listen? It's not always about you!" Eric spat. He didn't mean to come across so harshly, but the whole event was already throwing him out of character. He needed his Pam back.

There was a moment of silence before the Viking continued.

"What time did you see Pam last night and when did she leave?" His foot was tapping impatiently for an answer.

"What?" Sookie blinked. "I didn't see Pam last night at all. I was here at Merlotte's working a double and then I went home." There was silence on the other end of the line as everything inside Eric had stopped.

"What?" He choked out. There was no emotion in his voice. Sookie felt her heart sinking as she began to realize the seriousness of this conversation.

"Eric?" She asked; her anger was gone. "Eric, are you okay? What's wrong? Where's Pam?"

"She was supposed to be with you…" Eric muttered. He sounded like a small child talking to himself rather than the 1000-year-old Viking Sookie knew him as. "But she's not with you… she's supposed to be… but she's not…" Eric trailed off, not knowing what to think, what to say, what to do.

Pam had never made it to Sookie.

He couldn't wrap his mind around it. It couldn't be true–how could it be? That made no sense–where was she? Why couldn't he call her?

"Eric? Eric, answer me!" He didn't even know she had asked a question. "Are you okay? Where are you? Hello? Eric?"

"Thank you for your time, Sookie," his voice still lacked emotion. It frightened the waitress. Eric sounded dead. "I'm sorry I bothered you…"

"Eric, WAIT!" There was a click on the other end of the line that was quickly followed by the dial tone. "Eric? Eric? …Shit!"

Sookie hung up the phone and turned toward her boss, just now noticing that Tara, Lafayette, and Sam had all been watching her.

"Sam, I gotta go." She hurried, not waiting for an answer, although Sam had nodded in understanding. She ran to the back and grabbed her stuff, before running back down the hall.

"Is he okay?" Sam asked.

"I have no idea. I don't know why he's awake, but I think something's really wrong." She fumbled with her keys before rushing out the door.

"Sookie, wait!" Tara ran around the bar and out the door, following her friend. The waitress stopped just short of her car.

"Tara, I can't wait, I think Eric needs help."

"Girl, he's a vampire! He don't need help! You told me just last night that you were happy that all this crap was done and over with, and now here you are running right back into the line of fire? Uh uh, hell no! I ain't letting you go."

"Tara, I love you, but I really don't have time for this. I know Eric, something isn't right. I gotta go. I'll be back in a bit, okay?" And with that, she jumped in her car, jamming the key in the ignition and letting her car roar to life.

"Sook, if you really want all this vampire stuff to stop, you need to let it. You're not their therapist, let him sort out his own crap." Sookie smiled at her friend's concern.

"Thank you, Tara," she said, "But I've got to do this. I'll be back soon, okay? And if not, I'll see you at home."

"You better!" Tara warned before backing up and letting her friend reverse. Sookie waved goodbye to her friend before U-turning and heading toward Fangtasia.

I'll try to update soon-

-Redd