I know it's been forever since I last updated this story, and I apologize for that, but I've been busy. That, and True Blood lost my interest there for a little while. I just couldn't keep up with the stupid sappy shit. Oh well, my interest has seemed to of peaked again, so I decided to write this out. Please note: I didn't really proof read this. I'll probably get to that later. So I apologize for any crappiness you may stumble upon while reading this. ...Yeah, my bad. Other than that though, enjoy :)

The door swung open towards Pam, so she couldn't see the person who was entering the room, but she braced herself for the worst anyway. Stacy on the other hand, seemed to get really excited whenever that door opened or closed. It was like she enjoyed their captor's presence. The idea irritated Pam. Her peppy, prisoner pal Stacy was going to get them both killed if she kept up with her stupidity.

Pam was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't realize who had actually walked through the door. When she got a glimpse of him, her anger rose.

It was the small, twitchy kid: the one that attacked her. Great, now she was going to be tortured by this twelve-year-old? This adventure just kept getting better and better.

"Kevin!" Stacy squealed in excitement. The kid's face paled and his head shot over towards the door in panic. When he saw no one coming, slight relief fell over him. He turned back to Stacy and shushed her.

"Quiet, Stacy! They can't find out."

Stacy ignored his request. Instead, she proceeded to bounce up and down in her chair making incoherent squeaky noises. Pam rolled her eyes.

"What do you want, Punk?" Pam asked, eyeing the boy carefully. She could handle anything this guy could dish out. Anything at all.

Kevin didn't answer. He put down a backpack Pam hadn't noticed he was carrying and unzipped it. When he returned to eyelevel, he had two bottles of True Blood in his hands. He opened one and went over to Stacy.

"Here, drink it slow this time, okay?"

Stacy nodded, but eagerly gulped down the beverage. Pam watched in awe. Her expression didn't change when he came over to her with hers.

"Uh… this is gonna be a little harder…" He was referring to her position on the bed. Pam turned her head.

"I don't need it." She stubbornly stated, returning her gaze to the ceiling. "If you really wanted to help me, you would loosen one of these restraints." The boy frowned, he looked genuinely upset.

"I-I can't. They'd kill me. The best I can do is this, and you will need it. I'm so sorry they're doing this to you—to both of you."

"What are they doing exactly?"

The boy bit his lip. "I-I don't think I can tell you tha—"

"Come on, kid! If we're going to die, I'd like to know what's going on at least."

He swallowed and glanced towards the door. After a moment's pause he sighed.

"They're V dealers, but they mass produce the stuff. They figured out some weird formula thing that doesn't cause V withdrawals or give the addict a bad high. And it supposedly feels like you're sucking it out of a vampire yourself and not some stupid vile. It involves having a vampire at all times, though—which is why you guys are here. I-I'm sorry."

"Sorry ain't gonna cut it, kid. Why do they need me if they got her?"

"Because…" he glanced over to Stacy who was oblivious to their conversation. The crazy was really starting to get to her. "She's almost out."

"Out?"

"Out of blood. You, to them, are a goldmine though. Your maker is what? A thousand plus years old? The older the vampire, the better quality the blood, the more money they make. They want to drain you, and then use you to get to…"

He trailed off and bit his lip.

"To who? Eric?" Pam laughed. They can't get to Eric. Eric would slaughter all of them."

"I've said too much, I'm sorry. They'll kill me if I say anymore."

He unscrewed the bottle of True Blood and lifted up her head. "But anyway, that's why I keep giving Stacy this stuff. If she can still give blood, she can stay alive. And they won't go to the fresher vampire yet."

"Fresher vampire… you mean me?"

He nodded. "Now, please drink this. And try to get some rest, they won't be home 'til around seven, it's only noon."

For once with these creeps, Pam obeyed. She didn't want to at first, but the moment the True Blood hit her lips, she was reminded of how hungry she was. The thing was gone before she knew it.

"Thank you!" The boy seemed a little more relieved. "Now, I gotta go. If they come home early, I'm so dead. I'm not supposed to be talking to you."

"Wait! I—"

She was cut off by the door slamming shut. Stacy giggled.

"That was Kevin. He's really nice."

Pam blinked in confusion before shifting back to her cool demeanor.

"He's going to die with the rest of them when Eric comes to get us."

Eric was sitting at a barstool face down on the countertop. His head felt much better, but it still held a dull ache that throbbed every time Sookie talked. And she was talking a lot.

"I don't understand. She was coming to see me?" She asked, not taking the hint that Eric just wanted to think for a minute. "But why?"

"Because," Eric stated, believing that was a good enough answer. He didn't want to mention his soon-to-be trouble with the Vampire Authority and the possibility of them having his head. If he could find Pam, he'd kill two birds with one stone anyway. No need to worry the ignorant little blonde any further than his missing progeny. Besides, Sookie has a nasty habit of getting in the way when it comes to situations like this. He figured it would be best to keep her as much in the dark as he could.

"Because why?" Sookie asked like Eric knew she would.

"Just… because."

"Well that doesn't make any—"

"Sookie! That's not an issue right now, okay?" Eric snapped, his head shooting up to face startled face. He felt slightly bad about the outburst, but he couldn't think of a better excuse to tell her, and he wasn't in the mood to come up with one of his brilliant lies. She didn't seem to really mind his temper, though. After a moment of silence, he slowly rested his head back down on the counter, ignoring the blood that was oozing out of his nose and ears from the bleeds.

"You have a lot of love for Pam, don't you Eric?" Sookie asked. He didn't answer. She walked from around the bar and rubbed his back. "We'll find her, don't worry."

"I know we'll find her," he mumbled just loud enough for her to hear. "But I don't even know where to begin to look."

"Well let's think about this in retrospect. Who would want to take Pam?"

"It's not because she's Pam, it's because she's a vampire."

"How do you know that?" It was a valid question. He knew it because she met all the qualifications for the other missing vampires in his area, but he couldn't tell her that! No. He'd have to feed her some sort of bullshit. It went back to him not wanting her to worry about his own predicament.

"I just do." He sighed, trying to hide his knowledge. She looked at him oddly before dropping it and rewording her question.

"Okay… who would want to take a vampire?"

Who would want to take an attractive female vampire who's at least a hundred years old? That was the real question. To Sookie's question though, he shrugged, and held his forehead in his hands. His head still hurt, and this whole thinking process wasn't helping. Sookie continued anyway.

"Well, let's see. There are anti-vampire groups, religious nuts, vampire fans, V dealers... Has anyone seemed more or less likely to be interested in her lately?"

"People are always interested in her. She's a hot vampire that bounces my bar."

"Well which one seems more likely?"

"I don't know… probably V dealers. The anti-vampire groups aren't that ballsy, and Pam could defend herself against the other ones.

"Okay, Lafayette told me about some V dealers that came into Merlotte's yesterday. I can ask him more about them and figure out where they live." Eric nodded, slowly drifting off. He was fighting to stay awake. How could he be tired? How could he betray Pam like this! It wasn't fair.

"Eric, can you hear me?" Sookie asked. Her hand was supporting the thousand-year-old vampire on the barstool, balancing him so he wouldn't fall off. Eric nodded, although he didn't catch a single word.

"Let me figure some stuff out while you sleep? You can help out when it's dark."

"No." Eric stated, standing up. "I'm coming with you. I'm going to find Pam. This is my problem, Sookie. I'm not going to leave it on you, not even for a couple of hours."

"How can you come with me?" Sookie asked. "It's still sunny outside."

"I don't know… I'll wrap myself in a bed sheet or something. Or hide in your trunk."

"Eric, I think the lack of sleep and blood loss is really clouding your judgment."

"This is not your problem Sookie!" Eric snapped again, this time his fangs snapped into place to emphasize his outburst. Sookie was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt with his current anger problem. He did lose a massive amount of blood after all, and it was pushing five thirty. He's been up since this morning.

"Eric," Sookie began, trying to get through to the vampire. "You can't go outside. Just wait a few more hours and then you can come with me, but you cannot go outside. You'll burn, and that won't help Pam."

Eric growled. He was slightly intimidating with his teeth exposed, but Sookie knew nothing would come of it. She watched as he clicked them back into place and he stood up. He dragged his feet over towards one of his many sofas, and with a dramatic huff, he collapsed face first into one.

"Fine," He dully stated, just audiable through the leather on his couch.

"Good!" Sookie grinned, triumph in her voice. "I'll go speak to Lafayette. You get some rest, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever," Eric let out another sigh as he accepted defeat. He didn't bother to try to hide annoyance.

"I'll be right back!" Sookie chirpped. She stood up from the bar and walked over towards the front door.

"This might sting a little," she was of course referring to the sunlight she was about to let into the dark club. Eric waved his hand in a 'whatever' sort of motion. Biting her lip, she opened the front door allowing sunlight to sweep through the room. Eric made a face as it touched his skin and lightly burned him before the door closed, again engulfing the room in darkness.

For the first time in his thousand-year-old life, Eric thought that being a vampire really sucked.

Yeah, it's a little short. I'll try to make the next one a little longer. At least it's something, right? Right? ...Don't kill me.

-Redd