"Welcome to Merlotte's, can I get you anything to drink?"

I stood in front of a vamp, short with dark brown hair and equally dark eyes. He seemed brooding, a cliché to all vampires. It made me want to smile. "I thought this was Sookie's section?" the vampire commented, looking around, not giving me much thought.

"You know Sookie?"

The vampire looked up at me. "I'm her boyfriend."

"Oh, you're Bill!" I said, delighted. I was in a good mood tonight. I couldn't place why, but I was. It'd been a week since I'd seen Eric. The dreams kept coming at me, but other than that my life was quiet and calm. I liked it. I liked this town.

He nodded his head once, before he caught my scent. His nostrils flared and his gaze hardened on me. "What are you?" he breathed.

"Oh, I bet you say that to all the ladies." I gushed, fanning myself with the notepad for fun. He didn't think it was funny though, didn't even crack a smile. "I can definitely see what Sookie saw in you." I mumbled to myself, but knowing he could hear. "She got real busy tonight, so I took some of her tables. She's in the back, I'll tell her you're here."

I turned to leave, but cold fingers gripped my wrist. My heart caught in my throat and for some odd, unexplainable reason, fear itched my gut. I turned back to him, to his dull eyes. There was a long second when we just glanced at each other. He didn't say anything, I squirmed in the silence. But he—he was hungry. I saw it in his eyes, tasted it in his chi as it flowed through his grip on my wrist.

And then he caught a hold of himself. He blinked once, twice, before I saw him realize what he was doing. He released me quickly, pulling his hand to his lap. "I'm- I'm sorry." He said. I heard shame lining his voice.

I held my wrist to my chest, massaging the bruises with my other hand. "It's okay." I lied. "I'll get Sookie."

I rushed through the tables, taking empty cups and plates as I moved, and found Sookie blushing. She was talking to Lafayette, though, and that explained everything. "Bill's here." I said hotly.

"Oh—okay." She took a step away, and then paused. "Are you okay?"

I opened my mouth to lie, to say I was fine, but before I could her chi clouded in anger. "What a prick!" she exclaimed. Surprised, I glanced to Lafayette, but he shrugged. "I can't believe he did that to you, I am so sorry."

With that, she rushed off, hackles raised. I got it then. She read my mind. I felt oddly uncomfortable with that. She was too sweet, too innocent, to see some of the things I thought. What if she caught me in a moment of horrific reminiscence? I may not act like it, but I was prone to my moments of crushing depression, reliving every murder, every self hating thought. What if I remembered my teenage years, when it was worst, with my mom— I didn't want Sookie to live through that with me. No one should.

I was taken aback by the tender feelings of protection I felt. I'd known her a little over a week and I'd saved her life. I smiled. It felt nice, caring whether or not someone died. It'd been a long time since I felt that.

The rest of the night, I was oddly upset, unsettling memories coming back up. I smashed them down by focusing on my customers, on their chi's, feeding greedily to forget my own woes. It was a long, busy night. I had too many people, and my feet were hurting by the time I got off. Bill had left a while ago, his head bent. I could hear Sookie yelling at him all of the way from the kitchen. Lafayette and I couldn't stop laughing.

Home was quiet. I wandered around the living room, turning on lights and pulling my shoes off. It was late at night, and I was exhausted. I fell onto the couch, covering my eyes with my arm, and sighed. "Long night?"

I yelped and sat up quickly. Eric stood outside the screen door, smiling wickedly at me. My heart was racing, he'd scared me so bad. I glanced around me, and felt the sofa and myself. I had to make sure this wasn't a dream, another one of those crazy, crazy dreams.

But I was real. Everything was real and Eric was seriously standing outside my door. "Checking to make sure I'm not here on the sole mission to ravish your body?" he mused. When I looked back at him, his fangs were extended, and he leaned casually against the frame of the door. "Care to invite me in?"

"No way." I said, pushing myself back so I was sitting up. "I don't have a death wish."

"Do I look like I'd harm you?" he joked, flashing his fangs in the moonlight as he did so.

I shook my head and wrapped my arms around my stomach. "How'd you find where I live?"

He shrugged. "I asked a few people." He ended it at that and I sighed, knowing he'd say no more. I watched his energy move around him. It was encasing him, moving in elegant patterns. "Let me in." Eric said suddenly.

I looked back up at him, startled by the way his voice dipped into seriousness. "Hm?"

His eyes were hard, staring into me. I was mesmerized by the way his chi shifted. It cackled and spread. It lifted from his body and snaked through the air like a mist. I watched it come to me, wrap itself around me. I was looking at it, watching it with wide eyes. "Invite me in." Eric demanded.

"Woah." I breathed. I felt the pull of his chi on my mind, felt an urge to invite him into the house. But I was superior here. His own energy could not outwit mine. I was, after all, the one who controlled it all.

I glanced up at Eric, and smirked. "I think you should slap yourself in the face." I said.

I danced across his chi, played with it. It was already so close to me, around me, touching me. All I had to do was whisper to it and mold it.

His chi snapped back into his body, relaying my message, and with one swift vampire movement, he slapped himself clean across the face. He gasped.

I broke into laughter, holding onto my abs, it hurt so much to laugh this hard. Until I heard Eric. He snarled, not like an angry man, but like an animal. When I looked up, his eyes were furious. "Let me in." he demanded, hands resting on either side of the door.

I crossed my legs. I had stopped laughing, but I couldn't hold back my smile. "Nope, I don't think I will."

He fumed at the doorway. "You do not want to make an enemy of me, Alice." He warned.

I felt a chill run through my body. He was being serious, and I took his threat to heart. But then again, I had lived a long life. We all had to die sometime, right? "What are you here for, exactly?"

His face was stony. "I came to talk to you."

"Oh, to talk? Sounds pleasant."

He gave me a small smirk. "I wish to employ your services." He said after a while.

I lifted on eyebrow at him. "My services? Ah, you'd be referring to that little quirk I did in the parking lot, huh? Well, that was a onetime thing. Sort of like when a mother lifts a car to save her child. Nothing special."

Eric actually laughed. I shrugged. I knew it was stupid. Didn't really give a fuck about it. "Alice, honestly. I'd need you to work for me, when I wanted, for however long I wanted. You'd be ready when I called."

I held my hands to my chest. "Oh my god, I've always wanted to be a vampire's bitch! No thanks, Eric."

He leaned against the door frame, crossing his arms over his chest. I remembered a dream when he stood like that. I had invited him in, he took me on the couch, bit me, and I woke up. I felt tingly, remembering it. Warm.

Eric smirked, giving me a shit eating grin, like he knew what I was thinking about. I shifted, suddenly uncomfortable. "Go away, I want to go to bed." I snapped at him turning away.

"Invite me in and we can get this done and over with." Eric suggested quickly.

"Fuck off."

"That's not very proper language for a lady."

"Go away!"

He stood there, and I caught onto the idea he'd be there all night if he had to. I felt the heaviness in my eyes. I wanted to sleep. I had the lunch shift tomorrow and it was already two in the morning. I had to sleep but friggen Eric wasn't going to leave.

"What would you need me to do, if I were to work for you?" I said, sighing.

I could feel his chi shift, practically could imagine him smiling without looking. "Just a few things. Mostly I want to see what you're capable of."

"Doesn't sound interesting." I mumbled. "I'll pass."

He sighed, and I glanced over at him. "I'm sorry to say it, but you've caught the attention of the vampire community, and once that happens, you can't ever leave. I suggest you get on my side, before someone else much less generous comes and snatches you away."

I could hear the threat clearly in his voice and I shivered. "I don't want to be on your beck and call." I said hotly.

"That sucks, doesn't it?"

God, he was such a dick! I bit on my finger nail. "And if I say no?"

"Then we're going to have a very big problem, aren't we?"

It was funny, having this conversation with him while he stood right there, on the outside of my house, the screen door between us. I smirked, and stood to my feet, marching over to him. He straightened, surprised by my forwardness. "Eric," I said softly, staring up at him through the screen. "Go fuck yourself."

I slammed the door shut in his face and locked it quickly. I stared at the door, unmoving, heart beating quickly. Had I just made a stupid, stupid mistake?

Jesus.

**************E************

Eric flew outside her window. She'd tried to sleep with it closed, but it was too hot, and finally, in a sleeping daze, she had risen half naked from her bed and threw it open. A light breeze ran through her room, moving the curtains for Eric to see her.

She was moving restlessly, having a nightmare. He wanted to go in there, touch her skin. He wanted to rub the lines out from between her eyes, sooth her tight muscles. She tossed the sheets off of her and turned around, facing him. Her lips were moving, fingers held in tight fists. He wondered what she dreamt of, what made her that tense. She moaned something he couldn't' make out, and curled into herself, clutching at her abdomen as if a great pain had struck her.

Tonight had not gone as he had planned. He'd planned to seduce her, make her work for him, and have sex with her to get her off of his thoughts. That's how it worked, right? Indulge what you wanted most to get it out of your head? That's how it worked for Eric, anyways.

Instead he ended up slapping himself in the face and having a door slammed on him. Never, in a thousand years, had he been so shocked. And then so angry. A human had just shut the door in his face. A mortal.

He wanted to burn the house down and force her outside, make her realize he was the vampire, he was the Viking, and she was never to treat him like that ever again. He'd been lenient with her, let her go about unclaimed, and this was how she repaid him?

But then she had sighed behind the door, and he could image her breath slipping over his skin, and it calmed him faster than anything had before. It scared him to no ends.

He wondered how far her talents could be taken. She's healed herself, healed Sookie, and forced a 1000 year old vampire to hit himself. She was fantastic. Powerful. Yet scared, he saw that as she tossed around in her sleep, barely covered by a long, ratted t-shirt and a pair of panties.

She was beautiful, the way the moonlight draped itself over her soft skin. Her hair, brunette, looked so soft. Her lips opened, he imaged for him. He wanted to run his fingers along them, feel her breath on his dead skin. He caught sight of a ragged scar on her skin, where she had clutched at it earlier. Curiosity spiked more than ever. She could heal, yet she had left a scar on her body? For what reason? He ached for her, more than anyone else. He wanted her, yet he was trapped out here, out of her house. She was the powerful in this situation, controlling it all, and that infuriated him.

She was going to be the death of him, he mused, as she slept restlessly through the night. He watched her until the sun began to rise, and even then he was hesitant to leave her to herself.

*************A**************

I came home before work, loaded with groceries. I'd been living off of saltine crackers for over a week and considering I was getting sick of them—and you never, ever get sick of saltine crackers—I figured I'd buy something else. Mostly it was ice cream. It was dangerous to be in an ice cream kind of mood for a girl, but hey, I had a rough night. After Eric left, I dreamt of killing. Of being killed

I don't know what it was with me a reliving awful memories lately. But I couldn't stop it. I saw the boys from when I was a teenager, lost in lust, but awoken from it by the wide eyed dead look of an innocent boy. I saw men who'd tried to take advantage of me cry out as I killed them. I saw myself mad with hunger, killing relentlessly and without remorse. I saw my mom, saw a burning house and me, running away with my mom's car.

I shivered as I put my things away in the small kitchen. My voice machine beeped, and I noticed the blinking light for the first time. One new message, it read.

Carefully, I let it play, knowing who it was.

Alice, this is Pam. I interrupted you an Eric during your throws of passion the other night. He has summoned you to Fangtasia tonight, and if I were you and I wanted to live another night, I'd come. He was not all too pleased by your actions last night, however amusing they were. Be here by six. It'll be interesting to meet you again.

I groaned and rubbed my temples. I knew he wouldn't just let my indiscretion go. I'd slammed a god damn door in his stupid face. He was an arrogant shit head, and he could not let it slide. Whatever. Now I had to decide whether or not I'd actually go. If I went, he'd know I'm scared of him, and that gave him power. If I didn't, I was basically begging to get hurt. The asshole knew the predicament he was putting me in, too. Jerk.

I took a quick shower and put my work uniform on. I was working with Sookie today, who seemed to always be working, and I found myself waiting to confide in her. It felt nice, being able to go to someone, to have someone I can talk to.

I parked next to Sookie in the lot when I arrived, and found her sitting at the bar, idly twirling a strand of hair around her finger. I paused, zoning in on fresh bite marks on her neck. "Oh, Sook, your neck." I said softly, coming to a stop beside her.

She looked up at me, shocked. "What—what's wrong with my neck?" Her fingers rose and touched the puncture wounds, then sighed. "Oh, yea, I was with Bill last night."

"Do you—do you want me to heal them?" I asked cautiously.

She smiled at me. "That's so nice, Alice. But I like them. They make me feel owned."

I frowned. "Owned? You like the idea of being owned?"

"I like the idea of being wanted." She corrected. "And not just desired, but wanted. I've worked here a long time, and when people look at me, I'm desired by every man. But with Bill, he wants me. He wants to spend time with me, and love me, and make me feel good. It feels better than anything else, Alice."

I kept silent as she twirled her hair and her eyes drifted off, a soft smile playing on her lips. I could never image being owned like that, parading bite marks on my neck like a badge of honor. I'd stab Eric if he ever bit me and forced me to walk around.

Wait, why'd I instantly assume Eric would be the one to bite me? I shook my head. "Look, Sookie, I have a problem."

"Oh?" slowly, she was pulled from her memories, her eyes filled with concern. "What'd you do?"

I frowned. Why'd she assume I was the one that did something? I mean, in this case, and pretty much every other case, that had been how it turned out. But still. "Eric tried to get me to invite him in yesterday and I made him slap himself then slammed the door on his face."

Sookie stopped twirling her hair and let it drop softly against her shoulder. "Oh." She breathed. "Oh Alice."

I bit my lip waiting for her response. I wanted her to slap me, push me or hit me or scream at me. I wanted her to tell me I was stupid, that I'd done something wrong. My whole life people have been bending to me because they're attracted to my chi, no one ever told me I couldn't do anything, they encouraged me, actually, to do anything I wanted. I needed Sookie now, to tell me I was wrong.

"God, you're so stupid." She breathed, shaking her head, closing her eyes. I sighed, smiling. I wondered if she had read my mind and known what I wanted. I didn't care right now. "Eric's going to be pissed, Alice. He's going to make you pay one way or another, trust me. He wants you—your powers, and he's not going to stop until he has them. It's what he does. It's who he is."

I chewed on my lip relentlessly. I could barely think. "He called me, wants me to go to Fangtasia tonight."

Sookie nodded. "Then you should go. You have no other choice."

"I could run." I said quietly. I could pack my bags tonight and be out of here before anyone could blink. People would forget my name within a week, forget my face and body the next month. I'd move to a new town, be more careful. If a waitress was getting beaten to death in the parking lot, then I'd let her. I felt bile rising in my throat. Is that what I'm becoming? Over the years, is this what has happened to me?

"He'd find you." Sookie said gently. "You can't run from this one."

I collapsed onto a bar stool beside her. "Shit." I breathed. I rubbed my temples. "I—I want to be left alone." I admitted. My voice sounded small and it disgusted me.

"That's hard to do when, you know, you can do whatever it is you can do." Sookie said, laying a comforting hand on my knee.

"I'm not sorry I saved your life." I said eventually, so she knew. "I'd do it again, if I had to. Hopefully I won't, but I'm just saying. You know. Just in case." My voice sounded dry. I wasn't good at feelings. I only absorbed them, only took them from others chi's.

Sookie smiled wide, genuinely, catching onto what I was trying to say no matter how clouded it sounded. "Thanks." She said. "I appreciate it."

The restaurant opened after that, and a steady stream of customers filtered in. I took care of them easily, with a smile and a friendly voice. I got good tips that day.

I wondered what Eric was going to do to me. Bite me? Would he do that? I'd known him for maybe about ten minutes, collectively. I had no idea if he was capable of that much . . . ruthlessness. He could hit me. That sounded easy enough a punishment. I can take a punch, I can hold back tears of pain. It seemed more painful to think of it coming from Eric, though.

He could hand cuff me to his desk, force me to stay there until I gave into his requests. That made me quiver in fear that maybe he could, maybe he might take me, against my will. I shivered. No, he wouldn't. I'd kill him before he could even think of it. Could I? Could I drain him, kill another person?

I was bringing out a hamburger and a soda to a boy sitting across from his young girlfriend. They smiled at each other, and the boy made the girl laugh. I gave them their drinks, and caught sight of Sookie, running around in a blur of white shirt and blonde hair. I wondered what she would do. If Eric were to take her and try to bite her, drain her, and she had a stake in her hands, she wouldn't kill him. She'd cry and scream, but she wouldn't kill him. She couldn't, wouldn't.

I wondered what that was like, not having that ability to kill. And not just that, but to not kill at any time. I have killed just because I was hungry. But to not only kill for food, but to not kill for my own life? It seemed impossible. It involved the mindset of placing every life above my own, involved being prepared to die at any moment, any second in my life and being completely okay with that.

And I wasn't. I wasn't okay with that.

I don't know what happened, but somehow the day stretched itself thin, and the day blackened out. My replacement had come in, a sweet high school girl. Her name was Amanda or something. I filled her in on my section, what was up with who, who needed to have their keys taken away, who was having a mental breakdown and so on.

I was in the break room, taking my apron off. I grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder but I couldn't move. "Hey." Sookie said, coming in softly behind me. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "Yea."

"It's going to be okay." Sookie said. "He's not going to hurt you."

"I wouldn't be so sure." I mumbled. "You didn't see how angry he was after I—you know—made him slap himself."

Sookie sighed. "You didn't see him when he gave you his blood." Sookie said. "He looked like he—cared. I've never seen Eric act that way. He just saw you on the ground and gave you his blood without thinking about it. I don't see why he'd hurt you right after healing you."

I rubbed the back of my neck, but nodded. "Okay." I breathed.

I turned around and gave her a quick, tight hug, before rushing out of the bar. I waved to Sam behind the counter, who gave Sookie a questioning look as I drilled by everyone. I hopped into my car, turned it on, and began driving before I lost my nerve.

Fangtasia was only twenty minutes away. I watched my headlights flash over everything as I drove, saw it highlight the empty forest. A deer ran across the road, prancing away without a care in the world. I sighed. Great, now I was wishing I was a deer.

I pulled into the parking lot of Fangtasia. It was incredibly busy, and the line of people was out the door. I pulled the tie out of my hair with shaking fingers and shook it out. My roots ached in my skull. I stepped from the car and locked the doors, then tried to skillfully step in the back of the line.

I was behind a large bloke, clad in black leather and heavy eyeliner. I tried hiding behind him.

There was a small breeze that chilled me and suddenly a breath, cold on the back of my neck. I whirled around, surprised. Pam stood there in a skin tight red dress, her eyes undressing me as she looked me up and down. "Mmm." She hummed, running her tongue over her extended fangs. "I see why Eric has taken such an interest in you."

I swallowed. "Hi?" I said lamely.

She smiled. "He's waiting for you inside." She said, and was gone.

I slumped my shoulders in defeat. Hiding hadn't done me any good, it seems. I walked past the line of people, very aware of their stares as I was let in. I heard them shout protests, but Pam flashed them her fangs and they were all silent in an instant.

The club was alive with energy. It cackled in the air, screamed of sex. I stopped the second I was hit with it all. It absorbed into me, I let it, and it exhilarated me. For a moment, I forgot what I was here for, forgot that I was supposed to be scared out of my fucking mind. I just felt the chi, swirling and dancing and pumping with the music. People were all clad in dark clothes and leather, sweating and moving to the drumming beats sounding through the air. They panted and breathed against each other, skins touching and sliding and moving.

I was . . . hungry. I hadn't realized it before, but it had been a while since I had fed. It shocked me. Usually the minute I'd gone too long without feeding, I felt the hunger. But maybe working at Merlotte's, finding a friend in Sookie, had distracted me. Before, it had only been me and my hunger.

I could feel my eyes darken and the beast inside rear its head back. It wanted this, wanted the chi, wanted to feed. I moaned.

I felt Eric. It was the oddest sensation, but I felt eyes on me and I knew it was him. I found him quickly, and my lips quirked into a smile. He sat on top of a throne, above all the sweating humans and vampires, his legs slightly apart, eyes filled with hunger. A different kind though. I recognized that one as much as my own.

I glanced away quickly and made a bee line to the bar. If he can summon me here, he can pay for a drink or two. "What can I get for you—" the bartender, a thick man with long black hair began, but paused. I watched his nostrils flare as he took a breath of me in. He was a vampire. "My my my, don't we smell lovely tonight."

"Thanks." I rolled my eyes. "Just give me a shot of something strong."

He raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask. The liquid he gave me was clear, in a small shot glass and I downed it quickly, reveling in the burn running down my throat. "Another one." I demanded. It'd be easier to deal with Eric when I was at least buzzed.

I felt Eric watching me, and couldn't help a glance. I saw humans watching him. I saw their chi, the color of it, the glow, surrounding them, yearning for Eric. They wanted him to bite them, to drink from them, to add to their collection of scars across their bodies. They wanted him to mark them. I shot back another gulp of the burning liquid the bartender gave me, and hissed. It burned so good. Without a word, he filled it.

My eyes danced around the room. Vampires and humans alike stood up on platforms, dancing around poles, moving and bending. They became one with the music, I saw, eyes closed and hips swaying, arms reaching for the crowd, the crowd reaching back. It reeked of sex, yearned for it. I swallowed nervously. I'd met a witch a few years back. She made me nervous, with all the incantations she did. We had roomed together for a few weeks before I ran again. She'd discovered my . . . talents. Not because I tried it out on her, no way her chi was dark and dangerous, but because she could feel it on me, the energy I possessed. She tried to convince me to join her clan, even though I wasn't a witch, because she thought my talents could be 'useful". She told me what I was, the power I held. As a succubus, I was unlimited.

Sex made me hungry. So very, very hungry. I grabbed the shot glass and drank it before throwing the glass back on the counter. I felt my head spinning from consuming such a strong liquid in so short amount of time. My stomach turned. I ached for other life forces. I stood on shaky legs and without my consent they led me into the thrall of everyone. I touched skins with everyone I passed. I stood out in my work uniform. People watched me, drifted to me. A man, a human with short brown hair and skin shining with sweat, came behind me, gyrated his hips into me. I curled my arms behind me, behind his neck, danced against him.

They all tasted so good. I drank them all up, touched as much of them as I could. I drifted through the room, ate all I could and even when I was full I could barely stop. There was so much, so much energy, moving and bending and shifting within this room.

A human would walk into this bar and see a frenzy of people dancing.

All I saw was a thick hot mess of color and energy. It was a heavy mist of life. It came to me of its own accord, sometimes from all the way across the room and I couldn't help but take it all in, feel it all. My hands ran across my own body, across others. It all felt so . . . so real.

A cold, hard body pressed behind me. My eyes were closed, but I didn't need to look to see who it was. I turned around and placed my hands on his chest, breathed him in. His chi was different than anyone else's. His was electrifying. My fingers tingled as they danced across him. His hands found my waist, he moved with me, we moved together. I drank him in, elated. I felt high one everyone's life. The room spun around me. I felt Eric, hard yet soft against me and I enjoyed it, his chi, his body, his hands running along me. So good.

There was a blur of color and before I could blink, I was out of the room. Eric had me in his arms, strong and circled around me. He took us to his office without a word, opened and closed the door without me even seeing him use his hand. I was dropped on top of his desk. My butt pressed into something sharp, my leg rested on a pile of papers, but I didn't care. My fingers clawed at his chest, needing, hungry.

His lips crashed against mine. They were starving. I felt the rawness as he yearned for me. I opened my mouth for him and tasted him. He was sweet, salty, and dangerous. I moaned into him, into his chi. His hands roamed over my body, touching everywhere, his cool fingers leaving a trail of fire wherever he went. I couldn't get enough of him, no matter how much he did, I wanted more, and more and more—

"Woah!" I said, startled. My eyes opened wide. I felt sick. "Woah, no, no, back off."

The monster and the beast within me shut down, buried beneath the amount of energy I had within me. I felt my body pulsing and vibrating with it all. I'd never been so—so full. I was terrified. The energy was humming and beating a tune I could not figure out. Eric stood so close, shirt off. When had that happened?

I shook my head and pushed at him, tying to move him, but he wouldn't budge. "Seriously, Eric, I—"

I looked up at him then, into his eyes. I paused. He was so raw, the hunger I saw in there. His eyes were pure black, fangs extended. He was breathing, heavy and hard even though he had no need to.

"O-oh." I breathed.

He growled, but stepped back, turning his back to me to gain his composure. I glanced down at myself, fixed my shirt (somehow it had come half way off) and jumped off of the desk. My body was almost in pain. I felt like I was to the brim with it all, all of this energy. Even with Eric away from me, I moaned against it all. What was happening?"

"Alice." Eric said quietly, menacingly from where he stood, pulling his back shirt back over his head. "If you truly want me over here, away from you, then don't moan like that. Otherwise I'm inclined to ravish you wholly and completely until you scream my name over and over again."

I smiled, quivering from the sound of his voice, but quieted. I wanted him, wanted him to do those things he promised to me. I wanted to scream out his name, wanted all of my dreams to come true. But this energy within me was dangerous. I'd never felt like this before, never fed so fully, never even been to a club before which was why. But I felt the potential within me and if I didn't put all my focus into just containing it all, just the sole fact of keeping all my walls up, then I had no idea what would happen. I was scared I could hurt him.

And that scared me.

I stood up on trembling legs and sat down heavily in the small wooden chair across from his desk. Eric, having composed himself, sat across from me, staring at me with serious, full eyes. "Hello, Alice." He said.

And that made me laugh. I don't know why, but it did. Maybe because we'd just stopped ourselves from bumping uglies seconds ago, and he was acting like we were just meeting each other now. He tilted his head to the side from my reaction, but I giggled none the less. "Hello to you too, Eric."

"Why does this make you laugh?" he wondered.

I shook my head. "It's nothing."

We're both quiet for a moment, and I spend it looking at him. He's so handsome, with his hair disheveled, his shirt slightly skewed. His eyes were bright and alive with the recent events, hunger lingering at the corners. I knew how he felt. But I hated the need to keep him from danger, from me.

"Why—why'd you call me here?" I stuttered, regretfully bringing us back to the present.

He smiled, and flashed me his fangs, making my heartbeat take off. I know he could hear it, knew it exhilarated him, and it made me angry. "I wanted to see how'd you react." He said eventually.

"React? React to what?" I asked, breathless. React to him? React to whatever punishment he was about to rain down on me?

"React to the club." He said slowly, as if I were stupid, purposely making me angry. "To the people inside. I know you fed off of energy. I wanted to see how the energy of the club made you act."

I stared at him for a moment, dumbfounded. So he was . . . testing me? Like I was some experiment? There was no punishment, he wasn't even angry. He just brought me here to watch me feed. What a sick fucker.

"You piece of shit."I breathed. He glanced at me with on perfect eyebrow raised, the corner of his mouth turning upwards. "Do you have any idea how many people I just fed from? I could have killed someone!"

"Could you have?" Eric wondered aloud, watching me rant with an air of amusement around him.

"You saw what I did to Mack, asshole." I snapped. "I lose any ounce of control and BAM, someone dies."

"As far as I saw, you lost a good amount of control and everyone is perfectly fine."

"You took advantage of me." I accused, standing up.

Eric's smirk disappeared instantaneously and he gave me a very serious, very scary look. "I would never take advantage of you."

"Then what the fuck do you call what just happened!" I shouted. My breathing was coming in short, ragged gasps. I felt the energy inside of me, all of the life forces, begging to be let out. I held onto it, though my anger clouded everything.

"We were locked in thralls of passion, lover." Eric said, that quip of amusement back on his face.

"Stop calling me that!" I shouted.

"I've never called you that before, lover." Eric says, seriously now. "Has someone been dreaming of me?"

I fumed inside, felt it turning with all of the chi. "You know I have, you cocky prick. It was your friggen blood, I can't control it."

His lips turned upwards into a seductive grin. I hated how my legs trembled from that one easy look. "And what do I do to you, exactly, in these dreams?"

I groaned and closed my eyes, tried grabbing control of my annoyance, my anger, my irritation. The chi inside of me screamed to be let lose, the anger goading it on. I was growing tired. This was a new battle for me, one I'd never fought for before. It was strange and awkward and I had no idea what I was doing.

"Shut up, Eric." I seethed through clenched teeth. I refused to open my eyes, watch him smirk at me in that way. "I want to go home."

"Not yet." Eric sighed. I opened my eyes to look at him sharply. He motioned towards the chair, his smile gone. "We have some matters of business to discuss as well tonight."

I rolled my eyes, but sat down. I could leave, but I wasn't home now, wasn't in the sanctuary of my house where he had no invitation. This was his domain. "What." I snapped.

"So feisty." He breathed, looking me over. I felt naked under his gaze, and hugged myself in an attempt to cover my body from him. He smiled, seeing my reaction. "I want to employ you." He said finally.

"I already told you I don't want to work for you." I spat across the space between us.

His face became very serious then, no sign of sexual jabs. "You don't have a choice in this matter." He stated simply, and my stomach dropped, knowing this was true. It just sucked hearing him say it like that, throwing it right out there in the open.

"What exactly would you have me do?" I asked.

"It depends on what you can do."

I stared at him, waiting, before I caught on. "Oh, this is the part where I gush to you about all my lovely talents, right?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Yes."

"Well then, if you say so. Firstly, go fuck yourself. Secondly, I want to go home."

Eric didn't give me a smile or an amused look. He didn't take kindly to my insults, then. I wasn't as scared as I should be, I realized. But the life forces inside me blocked out all rationality. I felt them all at their peaks, moving and bumping into one another, screaming and laughing and bubbling within me. They were wonderful and distracting. I felt myself retreat into them, away from Eric and this place.

"I don't take kindly to insults, Alice." Eric warned in a strained voice. I glanced up at him, swallowing. "I'll ask you once more to explain yourself."

I bit my lip. I came to a sudden conclusion to tell him, to spill it all whether it be lies or not so I could get out of her and run somewhere secluded where I could release this energy and find some peace. "I feed off of chi." I said quickly. "I'll die without it. I can heal myself, and others. I can feel emotions inside someone's chi, feel sort of what their thinking, if I focus just right, but that's not always conclusive. Sometimes I don't get anything at all."

"And sex?" he asks. I wonder how he knows that's my trigger. Maybe from the way I reacted in the bar just minutes ago.

I shrug. "It tastes better during sex." I admitted. Eric smirked.

"Is that all?" he asked.

I nodded and shrugged. "Not too exciting. I don't see what I could ever do for you."

He waved a hand over my body quickly. "And this?" He asked. "What's going on now?"

I'm startled he can tell what's happening to me. Am I tense or strained? I don't care,

I just sigh and lean back in the seat. "I don't know." I admitted. "I lost control and fed while dancing with all those people and I can feel them all, all of their chi's, just dancing around inside me. Their straining to get out, there's so many of them. I've never felt this way before."

Eric regarded me with guarded eyes. "Let them out." He said simply.

"Excuse me?"

"I want to see what happens if you just relapse them all. You said this is new. I'm curious."

I stood up. "Yeah, well I'm not. Look, I don't care, I'll work for you, whatever, I've already established I really can't do anything. But I won't dance or sit on your lap or whatever. I'm not your stripper in case that's what you're thinking. Just let me know."

I left the room then, turning my back to him and rushing through the crowd. Amazingly, the minute I entered back into the crowd of people, I wanted to feed again, wanted all of them inside of me. I whimpered and ran out the door, past Pam who watched me with curious eyes.

I made it to the parking lot before I let the fear and the anger and the hunger all wash over me in one tidal wave. I didn't want to work for Eric. He'd use me, I knew he would. It was who he was. I barely knew him, but I for sure knew he'd hurt me, not just physically, but mentally. And I hated him for the way he looked at me and the way he undressed me with his eyes, how he said all those things that got me all hot and bothered and made me be the one to pull away, to stop us.

My hands were trembling. I looked down at them and held back a scream. They were glowing. I never glowed. My chi had always remained within me, didn't outwardly show like I saw on everyone else. But there it was, shining, whispering out of my finger tips and through the air. My hands were shaking so bad, the chi was trembling. I felt it within me, turning and trembling and aching.

I fell to my knees, holding on the gravel, feeling it dig into my palms. "Alice?" Eric appeared by my side, his voice concerned. Had he followed me outside? I'd never heard him sound like that, not since that night when he gave me his blood . . .

A surge of anger, hot and mighty, ripped its way through my body, leaving a burning trail. I hissed from the pain of it. Eric. This was all Eric's fault. I was here, on the gavel, because of him. I was angry and sad and hurt and tired because of him. I wanted to go home, wake up and go to work tomorrow, then go back to sleep. That's all I wanted. I didn't want him, or any of this. My hand shot out to push him aside and there was a shiver through me, through my whole body.

Time slowed. The world spun around me and I felt it, felt it more than anything I have before. Every fiber of my being shuddered with energy, with the extremity of it all. And then Eric was gone. I looked around, surprised. He had been there, and then he wasn't. I spotted him flying through the air, my arm following his body. I cried out. It was me, the energy was me, pushing him, forcing him away. I grabbed my arm, pulled it to me side, and Eric fell. I held my arm to my body. I was leaking this energy, it was forcing its way out and I couldn't hold it, couldn't do anything it was going, going, gone—

There was a rumble through my body. It growled once. Twice. "Alice!" Eric was calling my name. The people in line out front of the club were running, screaming. "ALICE!"

I exploded.

I lost my breathe, as if I had been socked right in the gut. Eyes wide, I rolled to my back. I looked up at the night sky. It was so clear, so beautiful. Pure.

The energy rushed out of me, threw itself into the ground, rumbled across the pavement. All the windows of every car shattered, imploded, glass tinkled everywhere.

There was an earth shattering moment where I was weightless, floating through oblivion. I felt the shards of rock dig into my back, the glass rain down and cut my delicate skin. I felt the cold air brush across my cheek and my chest, rising and falling with every breathe I took. But I was empty. All walls collapsed in an instantaneous second, and all energy rushed out from within me. I was socked in the stomach, I couldn't focus.

But it was just a second. An awful, awful second, before it rushed back into me. My body, operating on pure survival, took it all back, like it was an elastic band. It had stretched itself out, and now it was snapping back into place, back into me.

I collapsed back onto the ground. Eric's face came into view above me. I felt empty, but I saw him, and reached for his face. "I guess we can add something else to your list." He breathed, and gave me a shaky smile before his hand lightly touched my face.

"You're such a—"

I passed out.