Chapter Five

The Massacre

Massacre. There had been a massacre at this place. Though, hours later, coming out of somebody's else mouth: it had been a self-defense.

Bodies lined up for a mile or more. Some were complete, some lost some of their body parts. However they all looked a like. They were covered in blood – black, fishy blood. In some spots, Arlene saw dark red pools.

"That's vampire goo," said Andy. "You know, when vampires are killed, they change into that sticky nasty sh...stuff," he smiled apologetically for almost saying 'shit'. "It takes days to get rid of the smell, let alone the sticky feeling. It is as if it becomes a part of your skin."

Vampires' goo must be really awful if it could make an owner of a seedy, smelly bar complain. Vampires' goo...Arlene pressed her nose against the car's window. Her hands which were on the window as well were shaking. Vampires' goo...the words rang like a bell in her head. What if...what if one of those red pools of blood had been Eric?

"It must have been a huge fight last night," said Andy.

"They looked for death if they were fool enough to attack Northman's place," said Calvin.

"How do you know, Cal? I heard you never leave your village."

"I do, from time to time. Even then, Northman and his people aren't exactly quiet folk. Let's just say, news come to us, whether we want it or not."

What did he mean with 'not exactly quiet folk'? Did things like this happen often? And how many people were his people?

But the car stopped before Arlene could open her mouth and ask him. They didn't tell her to stay in the car this time and somehow she appreciated that. Andy muttered about to watch where she's going and not to get panicked or scared when she stepped on something. Something, heh! Some body parts, that would be more precise.

Arlene stood for a while beside the car. Everywhere around her were traces of blood and pieces of furniture. She shuddered to think what had really happened at this place last night. She had seen what a vampire and two werewolves were capable of in her own house, and what she had seen wasn't exactly encouraging her to move.

"Arlene, are you coming?"

Arlene looked at Andy, who had just finished talking to somebody on the phone. Calvin had already gone inside.

"You'd better stay close to me, Arlene," Andy walked toward her. "Some people will come; they are not what we will call normal people." He reached out his hand. "With blood all over the place like this, it'll be harder to deal with them. And they don't know you. So, if you're with somebody they're familiar with, it'll be better for you."

Normal people. Supes. Two new words that Arlene was certain sooner or later she had to accept. Perhaps sooner, much sooner than she thought.

The sound of screeching tires made Arlene turned around. Two four by fours stopped only some yards away from where Arlene was standing. Around ten men jumped down from the SUV's like dogs jumped over fences.

A man in his late forties – early fifties opened the door. Big sunglasses covered his eyes. Arlene couldn't see the color of his eyes, but she could see that his hands were covered with fur. Instinctively, she moved closer to Andy.

"Bellefleur," that man's voice was deep. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Colonel," Andy's voice was calm, but the hand that was holding the gun looked stiff. "I just arrived."

"I see,"The Colonel came to them and stood only a few steps away from them.

Arlene cursed the sunglasses that covered half of his face. She couldn't see who the Colonel was looking at and it made her feel uncomfortable. That face was emotionless. Whatever was going on inside his head, Arlene couldn't guess. Then, his head tilted. "If you care to step aside, Bellefleur, and let my boys do their work." He raised his hand, and the men behind him started moving, searching, sniffing, checking the surrounding.

"Sorry, no can't do, Colonel. My cousin is probably inside...,"

"If he's inside and he's still alive," Colonel cut him. "It won't be long. Or, he's a lucky bastard, and Northman saved him already. Either which, let us do the work, Bellefleur."

Andy stepped aside. "Calvin Norris is inside," he said. "He's with us."

"I can smell that inbred miles away," Colonel spat on the ground and then walked away.

Arlene's heart beat irregularly. The possibility that Eric might have survived somehow had lifted her spirits and she was more than glad to be able to stand and watch the Colonel's people do the work.

"Be ready to leave this place if I say so, Arlene," Andy hissed. "Calvin's and the Colonel's people don't get along so well. If they think that Calvin interferes with what they're doing, things may get ugly."

However, Andy's fear didn't seem to come true. Calvin came out of the building with blood on his arms, hands and face. It wasn't his, he said when Arlene gave him a shocked look. Arlene had a feeling, somehow, Calvin must have crawled on the floor.

They didn't find anybody they knew, Arlene heard some men tell the Colonel. It was definitely a fight between outsiders and Northman's people.

"And we found this, Colonel," one of the men handed out a jeans jacket.

The Colonel took the jacket and sniffed it. "Jackson's," he said. "Jackson was here. Are you sure you didn't miss anything?"

"Yes, Colonel. We have swept the place twice and we didn't find anything else."

"Do it again."

"Yes, Colonel," the men spread out and did what the Colonel told them.

"May be, he was taken to the Haugr" thought Arlene. And obviously, it was a loud thought because now the Colonel turned to her.

"What did you say?"

Suddenly Arlene had a feeling that she had said something wrong. Those eyes were bright yellow again and as he took a step forward, Calvin did exactly the same. Now, the two men were standing, facing each other in alert.

Arlene knew she didn't have any choice but to tell them the truth. "Last night, when I was with Eric Northman, Burnham called him and told him that Herveaux was brought to this place. He was wounded."

"Who brought him here?"

"I don't know. Burnham didn't say. He only said it was a shapeshifter." Arlene swallowed her spit. "I didn't know what happened after that because when I woke up, I was at Jason Stackhouse's place."

"Do you still remember where Northman's place is?"

"I haven't been glamored," Arlene raised her face. Well, yeah, once, only to be told to kiss him. She forced herself to act normally. "However, I can't tell you. I don't know how well you know Eric Northman, but he isn't exactly a man who likes to share information."

For a moment they stared at each other.

If there was something that was useful in years of practicing law and facing many kinds of people in court was the knowledge of how people would react in certain given circumstances. Based on her experience, the scarier or more intimidating some people tried to be, the less they had in their hands. Those who looked calm or cold were always the more dangerous ones. Because they were always prepared with surprising evidence or they simply didn't have any remorse about the crimes they had committed.

Colonel or whatever his name was was now trying to scare her. His eyes were narrowing, his lips formed a flat line, and his jaw tensed. Arlene knew, he wouldn't do anything stupid like harming her. Andy was ready with his gun and Calvin's claws were spread. As much as the Colonel wanted to know where the Haugr was (to think of it, Arlene was sure the whole community or supernatural beings would surely want to know too), he wouldn't jeopardize his or his people's safety.

It was as she had thought, after a while, the Colonel smirked. "You'd better come with us, Ma'am," he said. "It's not safe here."

"No," Arlene said. "I'll go with Calvin."

"As you like," the Colonel moved away. "If you are what I think you are, there will be other people who will be after you. And since you are here, they will be able to catch your scent. Going with Norris will mean that he will have to take you to his village. I don't think Norris will like the idea of having uninvited guests in his village tonight, will you, Norris?"

Calvin cleared his throat. "He's right."

Arlene looked at Calvin. "Jason will be worried," she said. "I can't do that to him. I still have to represent him in court."

"We'll take care of it, Ma'am," said Colonel. "We'd better leave soon. The longer we stay here, the easier it will be for them to catch your scent. Besides, you really don't want to be here when the evening comes. Northman won't take this situation easily."

-1-

The big black gate made screeching sound as four men pushed it to let the Colonel's and Calvin's car enter the grounds. Arlene turned her head around to watch the gate as it was being closed. As they moved slowly away, she had a strange feeling of entering forbidden territory– a territory, where you can go in but can't get out.

"Don't worry, Arlene," said Calvin without turning around. His eyes, which Arlene could see reflected in the front mirror were yellowish. "They won't do anything to harm you."

Arlene forced herself to smile. She wished she could believe that.

There were four buildings in the grounds. One was a hall, two of them were some sort of barracks, and the last one was a storage house. The Colonel took Arlene, Calvin and Andy to the hall. He asked them to stay there and not leave the building. He was going to fetch somebody, he said.

"I am worried about my cousin," said Andy suddenly. His chubby face was sweaty. "I told him to quit his job, but he never listens."

"Why does he work for Eric?" asked Arlene. "I can't imagine working for a vampire would be so much fun."

"Money," Andy sighed. "What else? Northman pays him really good."

"And why don't you?"

"I never liked working for somebody else," he smirked. "If I get a good offer for my bar, I think I'll try my luck with the sheriff's office. Because if I have to work for somebody, then it will be for Uncle Sam."

Arlene smiled. "That's a good plan. Who knows, Eric might want to buy it," she said, " a replacement for his."

"You think he might?" he looked at her with twinkling eyes. "You know, you might try to...talk him into it."

Heh, if she ever saw him again, talking to him about buying a bar would be the last thing on her mind, she had plenty of ideas on what she would do to him!

The door was opened. The three of them looked at the door. Behind the Colonel was a tall figure, clad in a red woodcutter shirt and black jeans. His face was somehow familiar to Arlene. As they moved closer, the new man reached out his hand and introduced himself as Alcide Herveaux, Jackson's son.

"I'll appreciate if you can tell me anything you know about my father, Arlene," his deep voice sounded distressed. "We've been trying to locate him since last night, without result."

"I would, if I could," said Arlene. "All I know is your father is wounded and was brought to Eric's establishment by a shapeshifter (Arlene prayed that she sounded normal as she said it). Then, Eric didn't tell me anything anymore."

"Merlotte," Alcide sighed. "It has to be him."

"Merlotte? Sam Merlotte?"

"Do you know him?"

"He's my...," Arlene cleared her throat, "...secretary." Sam Merlotte is a shapeshifter? He could change into animals? Dear Lord!

"You seem surprised."

Arlene nodded. "I didn't know that he's...,"

Alcide lifted his eyebrow. "That's Merlotte, all right. He bottles everything up. Arlene, would you do me a favor?"

"If I could...,"

"Please, stay here for a day or two."

"I..."

"Please. I have to know what happened to my father."

"I don't understand," said Arlene. "What does it have to do with me? And what can I do by staying here?"

"It's the only way to make Northman comes to us," Alcide said. At first, Arlene thought he was joking, but when her eyes met his, she knew he was serious. Those green eyes blazed with anger, and as she stared at them longer, yellow color started spreading from his iris outward, like the flickering of firecracker in the dark sky on the fourth of July.

"You really think that Northman cares about me?"

"He didn't kill you. He must have a reason."

Everybody kept saying that. Who was this Eric Northman anyway? Why did everybody seem to think that this man – vampire – was a killing machine, who would kill anybody at will? What was so special about her that made people think Eric was interested enough in her that he decided not to kill her?

Arlene tried to brush off the thought by saying, "I have a job to do. I have to go to the court, and my client...,"

"Jason Stackhouse, right?" Alcide interrupted her.

"Yes. How do you know?"

"He works for me," said Alcide. "I'll talk to him. Don't worry about the court, Arlene. I am sure we can think of something. Calvin, can I have a minute with you? Would you excuse us, Arlene?"

Calvin got up.

Arlene nodded.

Calvin and Alcide moved some steps away and talked in very low voices.

"Andy, may I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"You've known them for a long time, haven't you? What would you do, if you were on the same situation?"

"Do you mean the supes or the Long Tooth Pack?"

"Both."

"They are under a lot of pressure right now. Jackson is missing, it seems they know something about the vampires that I don't, and they are facing the pack election in two months." Andy leaned closer. "I heard rumors about the vampires, but I am not sure if it's true or not."

"What?"

" I heard they were about to come out in the human world."

Arlene felt her heart stop beating. "What do you mean?"

"I heard they would make themselves known and live with us like normal people." Andy sounded breathless. "How are they going to do that? Using us as cattle or something?"

So, it was true. Eric had told the truth. They wanted to come out with the help of the artificial blood.

"Can you imagine what will happen? I mean, what about what the Bible says about living after death? What if I found out that my great grandfather wasn't dead, but he had become a vampire? How would we live with our vampire neighbor without being afraid that they would knock down our doors and suck us dry?"

Yes, she could imagine that.

"I've known them long enough to say they still scare the shit out of me, Arlene. And I am still not sure what I'm going to do when the day comes."

Arlene looked at Calvin and Alcide. She wasn't sure either. Huh, even Eric wasn't sure! Suddenly, as if Calvin could see or hear what she thought, he turned around and gave her a reassuring smile. She smiled back. Que será será.Whatever will be, will be?

After a while, both men came to her.

"Jason's place is not safe for you anymore," said Alcide. "They knew you were there. I think it's better if you stay here. They wouldn't dare to enter this compound, I promise you. Unless they have a death wish." His voice sounded stern, and his eyes looked thoughtful when he continued, "I am sorry to drag you into our problems, Arlene. We shouldn't have hired your firm, alas, it happened and what is done is done. When everything is over, I can only repay you by inviting you to be the friend of the Long Tooth Pack. I do hope, you'll accept my invitation," he smiled. "I'd be most grateful."

-2-

Cool wind entered the room as Arlene opened the window. She just had to do it, even when Alcide had warned her not to. She couldn't stand the pressure she felt heavily on her chest. She needed fresh air.

The sky was dark; some stars, which were twinkling somewhere on the South, weren't able to chase away the darkness that came abruptly. The sun had set one or two hours ago, and yet, the wind was already cooler. Autumn was coming. Arlene loved Autumn. The world seemed more colorful at that time of year, even when the wind was strong and getting colder and colder.

Her room was on the second floor. Alcide said, if they decided to come to get her, at least, they would have to face the Long Tooth pack members first. And he promised her, he and his men weren't going to let them get her easily.

This Long Tooth Pack was a group of people, whose faces were as grim as people who had lost their cases in court. Nobody smiled, and conversation was limited. Only one or two words came out of their mouths, as if they had to pay for any word they spoke. However, the scariest part was their bodies. Most of them were built, and furry. Not like any normal man with hair on their body, the members of Long Tooth Pack – men or women – had long black hair which covered the skin which was not hidden under their clothes. It made them look like monkeys.

When she asked Calvin, who was also covered with hair; he said, "The full moon is coming They are werewolves, Arlene. Their bodies react to the power of the moon, without them being able to control it."

"What about you, Calvin? Are you a werewolf, too?"

"No. I am a werepanther. But my situation is a little bit more complicated than theirs. I'll tell you all about it one day." His eyes looked straight into hers. "If you are still interested in finding out."

Werepanther, that's news to her, but then what wasn't news to her lately? The world was becoming a strange new place.

"You are safe, Arlene. You are in a werewolves lair. Who would be fool enough or desperate enough to break in and try to get you?"

Yes, who would be fool enough? Arlene couldn't think of anybody, who would be desperate enough. John? Heh, it would be a miracle if that man would even dare to try to contact any of his powerful friends to find out her whereabouts.

Arlene sighed. She should've said no when Selah came with the idea of having a fun night. She should've said no when Eric asked her to invite him in. "Damn you, Selah. Damn you, Eric!"

"Missed me, already?"

A soft almost soothing voice made Arlene shriek and jump.

Eric. He was standing beside the window, folding his hands in front of his chest.

"What are you doing here?" asked Arlene, almost yelling.

"You have to leave this place," he said. "Now."

"There's no way that I will leave with you!"

He smirked. "Who said anything about leaving with me?"

A knock on the door. "Arlene, are you all right?"

Calvin was at the door.

"Tell that panther to leave, otherwise I'll skin him alive," said Eric. Still with his soft voice. But Arlene didn't miss the threat.

"I am fine, Calvin. Thanks. It's just a stupid stinky bat hit my window," Eric lifted his eyebrow as he heard that, but Arlene didn't care.

"Call me if you need me. I'll be in the hall way."

"I'll do that."

Eric reached out his hand. "Come with me. I'll explain everything."

"I don't trust you."

"I don't ask you to. But it will make you feel better."

"What?"

"My explanation," he smirked. "Or I will."

"You...," Arlene couldn't find a word to describe his arrogance, cocky, careless and stupid behavior.

"I don't have much time, Arlene," he said. "Sooner or later they will catch my scent. Take off your shirt and trousers and leave them here."

"What?"

"So that they can smell you."

"I will not...,"

"Don't be childish. Sex is the last thing that is on my mind right now."

Arlene felt her face hot, but she did what Eric said. She took off her t-shirt and trousers, and put them on the bed.

"Climb on the window," Eric said as she returned to the window.

"Why? Can't you just come in? I'll invite you."

"You can't invite me in. This is not your house."

Arlene climbed on the window. "Are we going to the Haugr?"

Eric grabbed her waist and asked her to close the window. "Somewhere safe, although," he started flying away from the window. "I can't guarantee that."

"Why?"

"You're with me. Nobody is safe with me."

Arlene turned her face around, but she couldn't see his face. Something cold touched her cheek.

"We have an unfinished business, you and I," he whispered. "And I intend to finish it."

Arlene's heart jolted, but before she could say anything, Eric had already shot the two of them into the darkness.

xxxxx