Chapter Seven: Crashed

There was nowhere to go once I woke up. I tried to shift away from the vampire lying on the bed beside me, but his arm was tightly binding me to him. I sighed in defeat as I squinted through the darkness, attempting to locate some sort of clock. I was relieved to find an alarm clock on Eric's side of the bed and strained to see the time. It was early in the evening, still an hour or two until dusk. Meaning I was still stuck here, in Eric's bed, when all I wanted to do was sneak out of this apartment and find my way to New Orleans. All I had been able to dream about last night was Godric. It was all I could dream about lately. Except this time, it wasn't some horrifying nightmare of his death. No, it was a hopeful dream of finding him. And that only caused me to grow more frustrated at Eric. Why couldn't he just let me go do whatever I wanted to? It's not like he cared. He broke my heart and walked away. He didn't have the right to claim my heart anymore.

But then he swept in last night and saved the day. And as much as I hated him for it, as much as I just wished he had never shown up, a small part of me was overjoyed to see him. Despite the pain and anger I had endured because of him, I still loved him. That would never change. No amount of pain or heartache would ever change that. Eric would forever be the man that I loved, that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. But I knew that it wouldn't happen. I knew that once Godric was safe and sound, Eric would run back off to Sweden or god knows where and forget all about me. But I knew I wouldn't be able to forget about him. Not for a long long time, maybe even never.

That didn't stop me, however, from praying that maybe Eric would stick around. I knew it wouldn't be true, but that didn't stop the desire for him to stay, to love me again. Because while I knew it would take a good long time before I could ever truly forgive Eric for what he had done to me, I knew that eventually I would. Because Eric was who I wanted. He was the one. He was my soul mate. And all I wanted was for us to be together.

"Stop squirming." Eric's low voice broke through my thoughts.

I froze, my limbs falling still as I laid there, Eric's arm pulling me even closer to him. When I felt my back pressing against his bare chest, my face began heating up and I was glad that I was facing away from him. Why did I have to react this way? I should want to slap him, to cause him physical harm. I wasn't supposed to be blushing, to never want to leave this bed. And dare I say, do many different things in this bed than just sleep.

"We'll be leaving soon." He whispered huskily into my ear. "You should take a shower, you smell horrid."

I gained the mobility back in my limbs and elbowed Eric in the chest for his comment. He let out a laugh as he removed his arm from my waist, allowing for me to sit up. I sighed as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, throwing my legs over the side of the bed. Of course, it was still pitch black in the room, and as I attempted to stand and search for the bathroom, I only managed to trip over my own two feet. I threw my hands out as I felt myself falling, only to never reach the ground. Instead, two large arms wrapped around me, steadying me back onto my own two feet.

"You were always so clumsy." Eric lightly tapped my ass as light flooded the room.

I glared at him over my shoulder as I quickly located what appeared to be a bathroom and stormed into it. I closed the door behind me, resting against it for a moment as I regained my composure. Shaking my head, I pushed off of it and walked over to the mirror. I almost gasped when I saw my appearance. I looked horrible, that was the only way to describe it. While Eric may have licked up some of the blood from my once open neck wound, there was still blood caked onto my shoulder and unfortunately, the little black dress. Of course, the blood was the least of my worries as the dressed was filthy and ripped in several places from the fall into the underground tunnel. I was sure I had only managed to dirty Eric's bed by sleeping in it in this state last night. He hadn't seemed to mind of course, but I certainly did. A shower was definitely in the cards, but unfortunately, I had nothing to change into.

"Oh great." I muttered to myself.

I couldn't really do anything about that now, and decided to just strip anyways. I desperately needed a shower after the activities of last night, I would figure out the clothes situation later. I couldn't have been happier when the warm water washed over me. I moaned in pleasure as I just stood underneath the showerhead for a good few minutes, enjoying the moment.

"Would you like me to join you in there? You sound like you're having some fun without me."

My face flushed red and I quickly cleaned myself, not wanting Eric to suddenly just pop into the bathroom. Because god knows I would have no self control if that happened. We had quite the session in his shower back in Shreveport, one that I was certain I would never forget.

Once I was finished, cleaned and dried, towel wrapped tightly around my frame, I looked over to where I had left my dress in the middle of the floor. It looked absolutely gross, and even if I attempted to wash it, I doubt it would do much good. Sighing, I scrunched my nose up and tried to think of what I was going to do.

"Here." Eric just came walking right into the bathroom, one of his shirts in hand. He halted just inside of the room, his eyes roaming over my nearly naked body. I let out a squeak and held onto the towel tightly, as if his smouldering gaze was enough for it slide right off.

"It's called knocking." I complained, sending him an annoyed look.

"My house." He smirked widely as he tossed me his shirt. "Put this on."

"I can't wear this outside. It's freezing out." I pulled a face, though I grabbed onto the shirt nonetheless.

"We'll get you something more...appropriate to wear." He rolled his eyes. "Though I would rather you wear nothing at all."

"Not going to happen."

"You wouldn't have complained months ago."

"Yeah well you were also around months ago." I shot at him, my hands clenching into fists at my sides.

"Just get dressed." He muttered moodily, his smirk falling the moment the words left my mouth.

I shook my head at his attitude and waited until the door was closed behind him before I slipped the towel from around me and tugged on the large dark burgundy shirt. I sighed as I inhaled Eric's scent, just as I had done to that shirt of his a month ago I had found in my belongings. He still smelt the same, still smelt so heavenly to my senses. It was enough to distract me for even a few moments before remembering what he had done to me. And then all the emotions, the pain and anger, it came flooding through me and I was nearly caught off guard. Frowning, I tugged the shirt down as much as it possibly could go, and was glad that it at least covered the undergarments I was able to salvage.

"Hurry it up." He knocked loudly on the bathroom door.

"Asshole." I muttered as I picked up the discarded dress from off of the floor and began out of the room. I glared up at Eric as I left the room and passed the vampire, his own glare settled on me. "There you go your highness."

"Don't start, Ellie." He growled, moving towards me.

"No, don't you start, Eric." I snapped. "I'm so tired of your attitude."

He took another step towards me and I quickly put some distance between us.

"Stop acting like an ass. I never asked you to help me last night, and I never asked you to bring me here. You decided that all on your own. Just like you decided to leave. So fine, just go away and leave me alone. Because you're hurting me even more by coming back into my life." I could feel the tears springing to my eyes and I quickly turned around, letting my long damp hair fall into my face.

Erick didn't say a word as I hurried out of the bedroom. I had no desire to look around his apartment and instead found myself in front of the front door, searching for some sort of way out. I tried prying the door open, but it didn't budge one bit. I had a feeling that whatever code he had inserted last night, it was my only way out of here. I sighed heavily, wishing now that I hadn't come to Jackson. I may have remembered about the tunnel, but besides that little tidbit, my time here had only been horrible. Going to Hair of the Dog had been useless and only resulted in a fight, and in that same night I was attacked by vampires, joined by the very vampire that had broken my heart, and fell into a damn tunnel, breaking my ankle. I certainly wasn't riding the luck train lately.

Knowing I wouldn't be able to get out of the apartment until Eric allowed it, I stormed over to the couch and plopped down, my arms crossing over my chest. I was battling with my emotions. Part of me wanted to destroy every piece of furniture in this place, wishing it was instead Eric that I was destroying. But the other part of me, the one I had tried to ignore since last night, just wanted to curl up and cry. It hurt seeing Eric again. It reminded me of not only the heartbreak he had brought me, but all the good times we had as well. It brought me a sliver of hope and I hated that. Because I knew deep down inside that Eric would never be mine again. He would leave, taking my heart with him. And that pained me the most.

"I just want to go home." I mumbled, resting my head on the back of the couch as I closed my eyes.

But I knew that statement wasn't entirely true. While yes, I did want to just crawl into my own bed and pretend none of this ever happened, I knew I couldn't do that. Not when I finally had a lead. Not when I finally had a good indication as to how Godric survived. I needed to go to New Orleans before it was too late and look for the clues that would lead me right to Godric. I couldn't just run home and forget about it. He was my best friend, the only one I had left. I needed to find him, for my sanity's sake.

"You'll be there soon enough." Eric strode into the room, wearing a fresh pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. He was pulling on his jacket, grabbing onto a set of keys from the table beside the door. "Come along, Ellie."

"I don't want to go home." I shook my head as I slowly stood up.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "You just said..."

"I want to go to New Orleans." I crossed my arms again. "I need to go there. I need to find Godric."

Eric sighed. "We went over this last night, Ellie..."

"I really don't care what you think, Eric. You lost the right to dictate what I can or can't do. It's my life, it's my decision. I'm going to New Orleans." I looked him dead in the eye. "I'll find a way there one way or another."

"Let's get one thing straight." He was in front of me in a flash, nearly startling me as I craned my neck up to stare at him. "I'm taking you home and then I'm going to New Orleans alone."

"No." I shook my head. "I'm going to New Orleans."

"You won't." His eyes narrowed into slits. "You will go home and stay there. Do you understand me? You're only going to get yourself killed."

"It would be safer if you just let me go with you." I pointed out. I really didn't want to be stuck in a car with him for that long, but I knew my only chance of getting to New Orleans would be through him. Or at least it would be the easiest route. Or else I was going to somehow have to persuade Sookie and Sam that it would be a great idea. And even then, I would have Pam to deal with. No, as much as I didn't want to be in Eric's presence, it would be the only way. No matter how much it may anger or hurt me.

"I'm taking you home; it's as simple as that."

"Fine, take me home then. But I'm just going to find some way there anyways." I shrugged. "So either way, I'm going to New Orleans."

"I'll glamour you again if I need to." He warned.

I raised my eyebrow at the vampire. Glamour me? He thought he would be able to glamour me to not go to New Orleans? Didn't he remember that he couldn't? With my mental walls up, he wouldn't be able to get me to do a single thing I didn't want to. But wait, what did he mean again?

And that's when it just clicked. That night when Eric left, the night that I couldn't clearly remember, that's when he did it. He glamoured me that night, for whatever reason, and now I could barely even remember him leaving me. I didn't even know why he walked away in the first place. This asshole had glamoured me against my own free will into forgetting that night, into making me believe whatever he wanted me to. I would never know the true extent of that night. I would never remember what we had talked about, what he had said to me. I would never remember any of it because he made the decision for me to take it all away.

"How could you?" I whispered, the tears forming rapidly. "How could you glamour me that night?"

Realization dawned on his face and he swore to himself.

"It was better that way." He tried to reason.

"No." I shook my head, the first tear escaping down my cheek. "No it wasn't better that way. I can barely even remember that night! How could you do that to me?"

Eric sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "It needed to be done."

"You had no right to glamour me, Eric, no right." Another tear slipped down my cheek and I tried to brush them away. But it was no use. Once those tears had fallen, the flood gates just opened and the pent up emotions I had stowed away for the past month concerning this very vampire began flowing right out of me. "How could you?"

"Don't do that, Ellie." Eric tried to reach out to me but I quickly stepped around the coffee table, putting distance between us. "Ellie."

"I can't believe you. Wasn't it enough that you were leaving? Wasn't it enough that you were breaking my heart?" my bottom lip began trembling, my hands shaking at my sides as I was unable to control myself any longer. The tears were flowing down my cheeks, no end in sight. And it was all because of him. Everything was always because of him. Every time I found myself crying, or in pain, or hurting in any way, it was always because of him. Why did he do always have to do this to me? Did he like seeing me in pain? Had he even cared once about me?

"You know I hate it when you cry." He moved around the coffee table towards me. I tried to get away from him, but he had me pressed against the wall before I could even move a muscle. I tried desperately to push him away, for my powers to work. But I just felt so weak, too emotional to do a damn thing. I truly did just want to curl up in a ball, to wish none of this had ever happened. Why did this always have to happen to me? Why couldn't I just find Godric and be at peace finally? I didn't want this. I didn't want Eric to tear up my heart even more than he already had. This wasn't fair. I didn't want to be in pain any longer. I didn't want to hurt like this. I just wanted to be happy. Why couldn't I just be happy?

"Ellie," Eric's voice was low as he brought his hands up to brush away what tears that he could. "Please stop that. You make me feel...disturbing emotions when you cry."

"I hate you." I shoved a fist into his chest. "I hate you!"

I kept pounding my fists into his chest, wishing they would do some sort of damage. But they barely even tickled the vampire. He just stood there, allowing the punishment until I tired myself out, my arms falling limply to my side. I bowed my head, my hair cascading in front of my face as I just cried as silently as possible. I hated him for hurting me. I hated him for breaking my heart. I hated him for leaving me when all I wanted was to be with him. I hated him for glamouring me. I hated him for showing up out of nowhere. And mostly, I just hated him for making me fall in love with him in the first place. That's what I hated the most about him.

I'm not sure how long we stayed there, my back pressed against the wall, the tears falling down my cheeks rapidly. Eric didn't say a word as he stood closer than I would have liked, but refusing to move an inch. It wasn't until the blackout drapes began rising that I realized it was now night, that it was now time for Eric and I to be stuck in a car for however long it took to find our way back to Bon Temps. But even though now I desperately wished I could retreat home, I knew in my heart that I had to go to New Orleans. It wasn't even the fact that I now had a true lead as to how Godric could have escaped. No there was just an odd feeling I had, like an intuition that I needed to be in New Orleans, that I needed to go to that destroyed palace and find that tunnel. Because I knew it would lead me to Godric, and that was what I truly needed right now.

"We need to leave." Eric spoke after a moment. "I'll take you to Bon Temps and then..."

"No." My head snapped up, my tears beginning to dry on my cheeks. "No you're going to take me to New Orleans."

"I'm not. It's too dangerous." He shook his head. "Don't start this again, Ellie."

"You owe me this, Eric. You owe me at least this."

"I owe you nothing."

"That's not true." I swallowed back the rising lump in my throat. "You left me, Eric. You left me and glamoured me the same night that you walked away. You owe me at least this. Take me to New Orleans. I won't get in your way. I just...I need to be there. I know it in my heart. I have to go there, I have to find Godric."

"I can't let you do that, Ellie." He refused.

"Damnit Eric!" I let out a frustrated sigh. "Please, just do this one little thing for me! You've hurt me so much. You tore out my heart time and time again. Please. The least you can do is take me to New Orleans. You say you don't want anyone to hurt me, for me to be in any harm, but don't you realize that every single day you're gone, I'm in pain?"

Eric looked away, unable to meet my gaze.

"Just take me there. And then you can leave my life again. Please. I need to find Godric, Eric. I just need to."

I held my breath as he remained silent, not uttering a word. I almost wanted to shake him, to know what was going on in that thick head of his.

"On one condition." He turned his gaze back down to mine.

"Fine what." I asked impatiently, rubbing at my eyes with the palm of my head to rid myself of the remaining tears.

"You will do as I tell you. Should I tell you to run, you'll run. If I tell you to stay in the car, you'll stay. You don't realize what you're stepping into, Ellie. And I won't let you get hurt. You may not believe that, but it's true." He grasped my chin in his large hand. "I'm...I'm regretful for the pain I've caused you, Ellie, truly I am. But it was better for us both to part ways. You may never understand that, but it's true. But I realize that you need Godric, so I will allow this. But you must listen to every word I say, because it's only for your well being."

I wasn't sure what to say, knowing that if I spoke a single word the emotions would flow right back out of me. So instead, I nodded my acceptance of this condition, just wanting to get out of this suffocating apartment already.

"We'll stop once we're out of Jackson to get you something decent to wear." He stared down at the shirt I was wearing. "And I suppose you'll require food."

I was going to assure him I was fine, but my stomach spoke for me. I hadn't eaten since before Alcide and I had left for the bar last night, and after the activities since then, I had worked up quite an appetite. I merely nodded and once his hand released my chin, I let my gaze fall back down to the small patch of floor between us.

"And Ellie," Eric lowered himself until his lips were brushing against my earlobe, his hot breath tickling my neck. "If I could have it any other way, you would be in my bed right now, not worrying about clothes at all."

I shuddered as he laid a simple kiss on the base of my neck before straightening. I looked up at him questioningly but he only motioned me over to the door. I spotted the shoes that I never realized Eric had ensured travelled with us when he flew us here, and quickly slipped my feet into them. It amazed me how only last night my ankle had been broken and now it was perfectly fine. Damn vampire blood.

Damn vampires in general.

Why did they have to be so damn confusing?

We had been driving for an hour, neither of us uttering a single word to one another. Eric had stopped by a department store on the way out of Jackson at my request, allowing me to purchase a pair of jeans, t-shirt, and a jacket to replace the one I had left at Alcide's. After grabbing me a quick bite to eat, and still not a single word spoken between us, we had set off towards New Orleans. I knew it would take a few hours to get there, a few too many hours stuck in a car with Eric. The tension between us was suffocating. It was awkward, uncomfortable, and I was really beginning to wonder if this had been the smartest idea or not. I would glance at Eric every so often, finding him gripping the steering wheel so tightly I was surprised it hadn't popped off yet. He refused to look at me however, staring intently at the road. And that was just fine. Because I was going through enough turmoil inside as it was. Silence was perfectly fine for me. I wasn't sure if I would be able to control the emotions inside of me if I spoke anyways.

As the time dwindled on however, I found myself growing restless. I shifted around in the car every few minutes, unable to find a comfortable spot. I knew I was annoying Eric with my constant moving, but it was all I could do not to want to just jump out of the car already. After awhile, and a glare sent in my direction, I sighed and just stared out the window in hopes of being distracted. It was then that something caught my attention in the side mirror. I frowned as I shifted closer to the window, gazing into the side mirror closely. And there it was, a dark SUV driving closely behind us. It could have just been anyone driving along, but as we hadn't passed another car the entire time we had been driving the back roads to New Orleans that Eric had dubbed a shorter route, I was beginning to believe that wasn't the case.

I watched the SUV for a few minutes, watching as it grew closer and closer. My heart was pounding in my chest, my breathing matching its pace as I started to get worried. Why would anyone be following us? I tried to remember if there had been someone following us when we left Jackson, but I just hadn't been paying attention at all. But I certainly was now.

"Eric?" I turned my head towards him, hoping he had noticed the car behind us. But it appeared he hadn't as he shot me another glare.

"What?" he snapped.

"Um," I glanced behind us, looking out the back window and was concerned to find that the SUV had grown even closer. "We're being followed."

"No we're not." He shook his head as he rolled his eyes.

"have you not realized that a black SUV has been following us and looks like it's about to jump into the back seat?" I stared at him as if he was insane. Was he blind? I knew he couldn't be. He was supposed to have heightened senses as a vampire and yet he hadn't even noticed we had been followed. And this was who was supposedly trying to keep me safe?

"You're jumping to conclusions." Eric shot me a dirty look. "Just sit there and be quiet, Ellie."

"But Eric..."

"Ellie!" He cut me off angrily.

"But I really think..."

"I will gladly turn this car around and take you back to Bon Temps if you don't..."

He never had an opportunity to finish before suddenly something came crashing down onto the hood of the car. I let out a scream as Eric swerved the car, the wheels squealing on the road. My eyes grew wide as I braced myself, my hands grabbing onto the dashboard. There, planted firmly on the hood of the car was a vampire, fangs baring and all. Everything felt like it just stopped in time for that split second. The car was twisting around and Eric tried to get a handle of it, using every possible vampire reflex he had. The vampire on the roof hardly budged though. In fact, the wide smirk displayed on his eerily pale face showed his amusement in the matter.

"Eric!" I screamed at the vampire beside me.

"Hold on." He growled, his fangs extending with a click as he turned the car this way and that, trying desperately to rid ourselves of the attacking vampire.

"It's not working!" I was panicking. How could you not when there was a vampire attached to the hood of the swerving car you were strapped into?

"Now is not the time to be yelling at me, Ellie!" He flashed his fangs at me before glaring at the vampire who was now reeling his arm back. "Get down!"

My eyes were as wide as saucers as suddenly the vampire's fist came smashing right through the windshield. I let out another scream as I tried to cover myself, only to find that Eric had practically thrown himself on top of me to protect me from the fly glass. That however, only caused Eric's foot to press down on the acceleration, the car speeding down the road in a direction I wasn't even aware of. The car was the last of our worries however, as suddenly the vampire reached right through where the windshield had once been and ripped Eric right off of me and out of the car.

"Eric!" I was furiously trying to unbuckle my seatbelt, only to find it stuck. My heart was pounding so hard in my chest I was certain it was just going to explode right inside of me. I didn't know what to do. Everything was moving so quickly I hardly even knew what was happening around me. Eric had been ripped out of the car, the one that was now coming to a complete halt on its own accord, only to be slammed into by the SUV behind us. The car twisted around while I was still stuck in the passenger seat, praying to a god I wasn't even sure I existed that I wouldn't find myself on the side of the road dead after this.

If there even was an after this.

Once the car came to a screeching halt, now turned almost completely around so I could face the SUV, I knew where my problem now laid. Two vampires were attacking Eric while a third was leaving the car and began approaching me. I was frantically doing whatever I could to get out of the car. I tried everything I could think of, not once being smart enough to resort to using my powers. Not until the vampire ripped the door right off of the car and reached in to grab me right out of my seat. Without even knowing what I was doing, I grabbed onto the vampire's arm tightly, my eyes squeezing shut as a red blinding light suddenly filled the car. Screams of agony were heard from the vampire yanking his arm away and crumpling to the ground, a flame of fire erupting around his form. This distracted the vampires attacking Eric just enough for him to get the upper hand and shove a tree branch right through one of their chests. The vampire exploded into a bloody mess right before my eyes, and I was relieved. With only one vampire left that I knew Eric could take care of, I began tugging at the seatbelt until it finally dislodged itself and I was free. I quickly climbed right out of the car, my eyes catching a glimpse of the vampire that was slowly burning into ash, before making my way over to Eric.

But I was stopped right in my tracks, the blood rushing from my face as I watched helplessly as the last remaining vampire shoved the same tree branch Eric had used to kill his friend with right through Eric's chest.

"NOOOOOOOO!"