Here's a double chapter for ya. Hope you all enjoy. The reviews you give are so encouraging they really help give me the drive to keep writing. Thank you DC again for pointing that out, I loled too when I saw that (imagine LaFayette throwing some kids on a table, lol). Once again, don't hesitate with your honesty it's much appreciated.
Eric pushed open the door to room six-eighty-six and moved quickly inside. After just leaving Tara it became even more imperative to do what he should have done that night. He studied the man before him. The man's face was unrecognizable, much to his satisfaction.
He'd left a trail of glamoured nurses, doctors, receptionists, and janitors to get in here and had avoided security cameras. Under normal circumstances he would have had someone else take care of this cretin but he wanted to handle this matter himself. He could hear the faint beating of his heart and wanted to reach inside of his chest and rip it out but that would cause too much suspicion.
"Earl?" he spoke calmly belying the anxiousness growing in his gut.
The name felt like vomit on his tongue and he restrained himself from doing any unnecessary damage. Earl's eyes flickered and he waited patiently for them to open fully, when they did they focused on Eric. His face was a mixture of flesh and gashes. His eyelids were little more than slits of skin now. His eyes were bloodshot but watched Eric steadily.
He stared into Earl's eyes, "Do you remember me?"
The small movement Earl made with his head was barely visible but Eric was watching him closely enough to catch it.
"You may not remember me but you do remember what happened before you came here, don't you?"
He watched Earl's eyes lose focus momentarily as he relived his last moments as a physically intact man. He could see the slightest flicker of remorse in his eyes but it did not move Eric's heart, in fact, it hardened it.
"Tara Thornton."
Earl's body began to move slightly and he had no idea what message he was trying to convey nor did he care. Normally he would have glamoured the human by now and killed them but he wanted Earl to know why he was dying. He wanted him to know why he was even in the hospital to begin with. He propped one hand on the bed rail and leaned over him.
"Yes. You do remember," he studied Earl's sickened face, "How many? You're used to forcing yourself on women, aren't you?"
His voice had not changed tone nor tenor but his eyes were harder than granite. If anyone had walked in at that moment they would have thought that he was soothing the man and putting him at ease. He tried not to grip the bed rail too tight or else he'd break it. He loosened his hold but kept his gaze on Earl's face.
"I should have ripped your throat out," when Earl's eyes widened and his heart beat increased Eric nodded his head, "Yes. I did this to you and now I'm going to finish what I started."
Earl's body began to move and shake. His arms was reaching slowly for the nurses button but Eric grabbed his arm with lightning speed and bared his teeth. At the sight of his fangs Earl became completely still, his heart even skipped a beat.
"That's not very wise Earl but you're not a very wise man," he released his arm and pulled a hypodermic needle from his pocket, "You went after the wrong woman, this time. Your last time."
He removed the cap from the needle and held it out to Earl. He watched Earl's eyes stare fixedly at the needle before looking back at him.
"In a moment, you are going to take this needle and pump your veins full of air. You will continue to pump your veins full of air until it is enough to put you down like the dog you are. You will die slowly and painfully of your own doing. You will feel every bit of it and you will know that you and you alone are responsible for your death," he leaned down and spoke into what was left of his right ear, "Humans mean nothing to me but I am going to enjoy watching you die," he paused as his next words seemed to have a life of their own, "For Tara, I wish I could kill you again and again. For her."
Earl's face began to shake violently and Eric pulled away. He stared into Earl's eyes and watched them take on a glazed effect. He directed Earl to his death calmly his expression never changing. As Earl's body began to spasm he watched coldly thinking; for Tara.
Sophie's anger had become common and rooted, lately, it was the only emotion she felt. Things were not going the way she wanted them too. There had been no progress in their search party. They were all no more than slaves now with no lives. She'd had them scour the entire town and the surrounding towns to no avail.
She'd invested too much time and money for her to leave things as they were and if anyone in the High Council found out there was a good possibility that she would be quickly done away with. For some reason, none of that irked her as much as Israel Thomas. He'd still to yet lay his gray eyes upon her and only acknowledged her in passing or when she addressed him. He was always painfully polite and quiet. She always felt as if he was keeping things from her but she had no clue as to what.
At the moment, she sat at the head of a round table watching him closely. His head was bent over a stack of files, tedious research the team had done over the past three years. The others at the table were going over similar papers trying to find something or another that they'd missed, which didn't make any sense at all to her. What they hoped to gain from paper they'd written themselves was lost on her.
She tapped the table impatiently with her manicured nails waiting for an update that would shed some light on the situation.
"Aren't you all scientists?" they all stopped and looked at her, except for him.
A few of them nodded their heads and said yes the others watched her warily.
"Then what is taking so long? Why can't you find the damn thing?"
A pale man with red hair by the name of Greg Housam cleared his throat nervously before speaking, "We need to go over the tests we did to try to see what we miscalculated or if there was some other behavior we weren't aware of."
She lifted a perfectly arched brow, "If you weren't aware of it why do you think it would be in your recordings?"
He said nothing and began looking to the others for support. No one heeded him and he began shuffling papers with his hand, distractedly.
She rolled her eyes and stared at the only one still going through papers, "Israel?"
He lifted his head but said nothing. His eyes were focused somewhere behind her and she gritted her teeth. He casually laid the paper he'd been looking at to the side.
"I think we should involve more people," his smooth baritone sounded non-committal, as if it wouldn't matter to him either way.
Before she could open her mouth to admonish him another woman, a vamp, with wide blue eyes and curly brown hair spoke up.
"That's out of the question, Israel. If any of us are implicated we'll be crucified by the public, not to mention the government, and various other groups."
An older man who was balding and reeked of cigarette smoke shook his head, "I don't agree with Morgan on anything but she's right. No one else needs to know about this."
She watched with interest as Israel's face took on a look of disgust while surveying everyone else in the room.
"Do you not understand how dangerous this can be? OD is strong and amped up from vamp blood. We saw what it could do here. What do you think it's gonna do out there?" his right hand balled into a fist on the table, "It's already out of our hands."
Sophie smiled sardonically at him, "The blood's probably worn off by now."
"And if it hasn't?" he asked coolly.
She flipped the hair out of her face to glare at him intensely, "Are you afraid for a few human's lives? If you cared so much about your own kind why did you join this project?"
His expression didn't change but he locked eyes with her briefly and for a second they seemed to change color. Her eyes narrowed. She made a mental note to do a more extensive background check on him later.
"I'm not concerned with..my own kind. If a human finds it they're gonna alert the authorities, the authorities are gonna alert the government. The government is gonna swoop in and do what they do best. They'll hush it up and continue their own little research and we'll have nothing," his eyes lowered to the table, "Unless, you want to start all over, that's three more years we don't have."
She hated that he was right but she wasn't going to involve anyone just yet. She smiled showing her fangs.
"There's only so long it can go without food. It'll turn up. We just need to be there when it does."
It was the only choice she had or the High Council would kill them all.
Tara sat behind the bar leafing through a magazine but not really seeing its contents. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't concentrate on anything tonight. Just a few hours before Eric had turned her world upside down by declaring her his employee and roommate...and that kiss. Truth be told, it was the kiss that she kept thinking about, more than anything. If she was ready to jump into bed with him from one small kiss she had no idea how she was supposed to resist him in his house. That was probably the plan all along; get her where he wanted her, on his terms, then pounce. She didn't care how bad she wanted it or how good he looked she was not about to sleep with him, she'd handcuff herself if she had too. She groaned, now she had an image of handcuffs and them in bed.
A man came in with a green fisher's hat and she immediately thought of Earl. She held her stomach as a wave of nausea came over her. Anytime thoughts of Earl came she'd quickly suppress it and this time was no different. She immediately thought of something more pleasant and her head was filled with thoughts of Eric from her dreams and the kiss from earlier.
She flipped another page of the magazine trying to will all of her thoughts away. She felt someone watching her and looked up at Sookie's concerned face from the other side of the bar.
"It's been a slow night hasn't it? I'm practically falling asleep on my feet."
She nodded absentmindedly at Sookie's words.
"Hello? Earth to Tara," Sookie waved her hand in Tara's face, "Where are you? You've been out of it all night."
She thought about whether or not to tell Sookie about her situation but decided against it. She didn't want to go into her trials and tribulations in a bar and she wasn't in the mood anyway.
She sighed, "My mind's just been all over the place, lately."
"You still looking for a apartment?"
She flipped a page real hard, almost tearing it, "Nope. I found a place but it's not in my budget right now."
Sookie's face fell then brightened again, "Keep trying, I'm sure you'll find it. Remember, you said I can decorate," she glanced over her shoulder, "Looks like someone's finally decided what they wanted to order."
Sookie walked off and Tara continued flipping through the pages. Usually, she couldn't wait to closing but she wanted tonight to last for several reasons. In the morning her entire life would change and anyone on the outside looking in would say it was for the worse. She had no idea what to expect and it had her stomach in knots.
She glanced at the clock on the far wall and saw there was about an hour left til closing. She gripped the counter and took a long slow breath.
"Tara?"
She glanced up when she heard Sam's soothing voice.
"Yeah?"
"You okay?"
"Umhm," she nodded not trusting herself to speak at the moment.
He walked around the bar to stand next to her.
"You haven't really been the same since you had that accident, maybe you should have went on to the hospital."
"I am fine, there's nothing wrong with me," she said exasperatedly.
He held up his hands, "Okay, don't bite my head off."
She gave him an apologetic look, "I'm sorry," she forced a small smile, "I haven't seen you mooning after Sookie lately. Have you decided to give up?"
He looked quickly in Sookie's direction before turning back to her.
"Nice way to change the subject," she shrugged, "No, it's just that I'm backing off. The more I tried to show her that Compton was wrong for her the more she seemed to cling to him."
She leaned both of her elbows on the counter, her nerves slowly slipping away, "I could have told you that, Einstein."
"Yeah, well, I heard about the Guess Who's Coming to Dinner episode."
"From who?"
"Arlene," they both said at the same time and laughed.
Tara's laugh still had a bit of a nervous ring to it bu she began to relax a little more.
"So, you've warmed up to him?"
It was obvious he was fishing for any type of information he could get.
"He's a vamp. What else is there to say? I don't trust any of 'em as far as I can see 'em."
Sam leaned on the counter, as well, and turned his head towards her.
"Considering how vocal you've been about them I'm surprised you went."
"Sookie asked," she explained poorly, "What was I gonna do, say no?"
Sam nodded as if that was the only logical conclusion, "The Tara I know would, hell, I can't even imagine you sitting at the same table as him."
She thought for a moment about his words. She couldn't imagine herself a few weeks ago sitting at the same table as Bill, even if Sookie asked. She felt like she was changing and was powerless to stop it. There was just so much going on and so little time to process it all, she didn't even know where to begin.
The scariest thing of all was she didn't know if she was warming up to vamps or if she was warming up to Eric. It felt like the latter but for the time being she'd just pretend it was the former. How could she ever explain warming up to someone who had made her and Lafayette indentured servants? She should hate his guts and be proud of it, regardless of the fact that he saved her life twice. If he had done it out of the goodness of his heart, maybe, but since he didn't have a working heart his good deeds were null and void.
She broke out of her thoughts and tried to find a reasonable response, "It's not like I enjoyed it."
Sam sighed, "It just seems like everyone's jumping on the vamp train and I'm not convinced."
If he only knew about her situation with Eric, he'd probably feel betrayed.
"I'm not on any train right now. I'm just trying to survive."
He gave her an inquisitive look, "Interesting choice of words."
She didn't like Sam being suspicious of her but she didn't like lying, unnecessarily, to him either.
She just hoped he kept his inquiries to himself.
"What are you trying to survive from?" he asked after moments passed where she said nothing.
"Life."
"Life?" he didn't look or sound convinced in the least, "I guess I can understand that."
She hated when he looked at her like that, like he could see through all the lies and her insecurities. His eyes were always filled with such warmth and understanding. She had no idea why Sookie refused to see what was right in front of her. Sam was one of the best men she knew, if not the best.
"You ain't gotta worry about me Sam. If there's anything I know how to do, it's survive."
"Speaking of surviving, I heard you were looking for an apartment."
"Arlene again?"
He chuckled, "No, Sookie. And before you get upset she only told me cause she thought you might, eventually, need help moving."
"I doubt I'll need help moving for a long time."
"Well, just in case," he offered then cleared his throat, "Uh...the reason I came over here was to ask if you wanted to go with me to the hospital."
She quickly grew agitated, "Didn't I tell you I didn't need to see a doctor?"
He straightened up, "No, not for you. I wanted to visit Earl, I haven't had a chance to since that first night."
She raised her brows in surprise, "What were you gonna visit him for?"
"He did get, practically, mauled to death in front of my bar, I think it's only respectful if I pay him a visit or two."
Okay, that made sense but what the hell did he want her to go for?A thousand horses couldn't drag her to the hospital to see Earl. She was afraid of what she might do if she saw him.
"Yeah, that was crazy. Do the police know what happened," she asked remembering her conversation with Bill.
"As far as I can see it's an unsolved mystery. Bud doesn't really know what to make of anything and he's been asking around."
They still weren't allowed outside without a chaperone, which she was really starting to become annoyed by.
"What did you want me there for?"
"Earl was always right here at the bar, so I thought, you might be concerned about how he's doing."
He was giving her that look again.
"I am...concerned," she swallowed the bile rising in her throat, "I just don't like hospitals, they creep me out."
He nodded his head very slowly as if he was trying to make himself buy her lie despite the war within him to do the contrary, "If you change your mind, I'm going in the morning, around ten."
"Okay."
He went off and disappeared into the back, moments later she heard him saying something to Lafayette. Her mind was already drifting away.
Eric knocked patiently on the chipped wood door, the paint had disintegrated years ago. The entire property looked as if it had been abandoned long ago and he couldn't imagine anyone living on the premises, let alone Tara. It wasn't long before the door opened to a woman who was clearly drunk and holding her crutch in her hand.
The woman didn't resemble Tara at all to him, in physicality or spirituality. Her features seemed to be built to withstand weakness of the flesh whereas Tara's was built for strength and endurance. He'd heard about how her mother, Lettie Mae, was drunk, more often than naught but it was a different thing entirely to witness it first hand.
Her eyes were so glazed over from the hard liquor that she could barely concentrate on his form. He could smell the scent of her blood immediately rendering her unlike Tara in that sense. Weak-willed humans were the easiest to glamour, so easy, in fact, that simple manipulation usually did the job.
"Who the hell are you?"
He stared into her brown eyes, so unlike Tara's, and spoke, "I am Eric Northman, invite me in."
Her eyes suddenly became clear and dazed, "You may come in Eric Northman."
He stepped in and surveyed the tiny house. He was tempted to go around the house and see just where Tara came from, but this visit was supposed to be quick.
"Movers will come in the morning for Tara's things," he explained, "You will cooperate and smile and tell them where everything is. You will not hinder them nor try to stop them in any way. Are we clear?"
She nodded her eyes vacant now, "Is Tara moving out?"
"Yes, she is. She will be staying with me now. She will be safe and well provided for."
She said nothing more and he took the opportunity to look around him. He noticed a picture sitting on an end table and went over to it. He picked the picture up and studied it. It was a picture of a young Tara with a blue dress on and blue ribbons in her hair. She was smiling but it looked strained for a little girl. He noticed her eyes were sad, even then. He studied the picture for a few more moments before quickly putting it down.
"Have you been a good mother, Lettie Mae?"
"No."
She didn't elaborate and for that he was glad. He ignored the feelings rolling over him at the thought of the childhood Tara had.
"Tara is in my custody now."
"Yours?"
"Mine," he stressed, "You are not to harm her mentally or physically."
She nodded absently and he, growing tired of her presence, decided to leave. He took one more glance at the picture of Tara before quickly exiting. So far the night had been long and he had a lot of things to do at Fangtasia before he went underground. The next time he awakened it would be to her, in his home.
Tara had managed to close her eyes for only an hour when she heard someone knocking at the door. She sat up quickly and threw the blanket off of her. She touched her hair self-consciously before jumping up and going to the door before Lafayette heard it.
"Who is it?"
"Luther Vandross," the voice replied.
Her eyes widened before she flung the door open. A muscular black man stood on the other side and she stared at him incredulously.
"Come again?"
He gave her a wide toothy smile, "It's Luther Vandroth. People hear me and their minds fill in the rest."
She smiled, reluctantly, "Can you blow like Luther?"
He shook his head, "Not a tune."
She held the door open for him, "Eric sent you, right?"
"Yes," he stepped inside and the glare of the sun came in, full blast, "Do you have any boxes here?"
She motioned to the edge of the wall, "There's a few bags but that's all."
He went to the wall and picked up all five bags as if they were nothing. He said, "excuse me," and moved past her as he went back outside. She threw on her shoes and grabbed her jacket. She didn't know why she was so nervous, it wasn't like she'd be seeing him when she got there.
Lafayette came out of his room looking at her up and down, "I know you wasn't just gone leave without saying good-bye."
"No. I didn't want to wake you up just yet, though."
He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, "You want me to come with you?"
She shook her head, "Not a good idea."
Luther strode back inside and Lafayette straightened up giving a low whistle. Luther watched Lafayette stone-faced.
She cleared her throat, "Uh, Luther this is my cousin Lafayette. Lafayette this is Luther."
They shook hands, although it seemed reluctant on Luther's part.
"Sexy Luther," Lafayette grinned.
Luther quickly pulled his hand back and turned to Tara, "Are you ready to go?"
She looked around the room but could find nothing else she need, "Yeah, I'm ready."
He cast a sidelong glance at Lafayette, "Is he...coming too?"
"No, it's just me."
He nodded at Lafayette then addressed her, "I'll be in the car."
Once Luther was gone Lafayette started fanning himself, "Is everything looking up for you cause it's certainly looking up for me. Who was that?"
"I don't know, somebody that works for Eric."
"Mm, with a body like that..."
"Boy, just give me a hug good-bye, with your crazy self," she held her arms open and he went into them hugging her tightly.
He kissed her on the side of her cheek and gave her another squeeze before pulling away, "Don't do nothing crazy, Tara."
"Crazier than move in with him?"
"I mean something you can control. He may not hurt you cause he like you-"
She scoffed, "Like me? I doubt if he likes anybody. I've barely seen him show an emotion."
"With the way he look at you; he must like something. Just be careful."
"I will," she gave him one last peck on the cheek before going outside.
She was surprised when she saw a limo. She walked up to the door and Luther seemed to appear out of nowhere, opening it for her. She said thanks and climbed inside. The seats were pure leather and felt cool to the touch. She scooted close to the window and stared out as the car started moving.
Since she had no clue where she was going she thought it would be best if she memorized the route. They drove for about ten minutes through familiar areas until they reached what looked to be a dead end near a field. She thought Luther had got lost until he began driving through the field and made a sharp right into a barely seen path that led into a clump of small trees. The trees eventually turned into a full wooded area and from there she was lost. She didn't know where they were or what the place was even called. Obviously, Eric liked seclusion, which didn't really fit his Fangtasia image at all.
They rode on for another five minutes until the woods stopped and they came out into a clearing. Her mouth widened in shock when she saw the land before her. It was a huge landscape with what looked like a mansion sitting in the middle of it. There was a huge circular driveway with a fountain in the middle of it. The mansion looked like a revised plantation that had been updated to slightly mimic a small castle. There were roman pillars in front and she couldn't really get a good visual of the back but it seemed to stretch on forever. As far as she could see there was two stories and a balcony in front.
There were beautiful rose bushes surrounding the driveway and she couldn't wait to get out so she could pick one. She almost felt like she'd landed in a fairytale but quickly reminded herself of the circumstances, not to mention, vampires weren't usually featured in fairy tales.
She was so caught up in looking at the house that she didn't realize the limo had stopped until Luther opened her door and she nearly fell out.
Luther grabbed her quickly, "I apologize, Ms. Thornton, I didn't realize you were so close to the door."
He helped her out and she tried to take in everything around her.
"This place is huge. How many bedrooms are there?"
He seemed to think for a moment, "Twenty-seven or twenty-eight. I can't remember, you'll have to ask Novella."
She remembered Eric mentioning that name, "Who's Novella?"
Luther pulled her bags from the trunk, "She's the head of the house, keeps things running, makes sure everything is in line. She'll give you a tour of the house."
She followed him down the driveway and up the steps to the huge front porch.
"Are we gonna go get the rest of my things from home?"
"We moved your things in from home before I got you. Your things are all in your room."
She waited for him to elaborate on having a verbal and or physical showdown with her mother but he said nothing. She couldn't imagine her mother playing civil in this situation and made a mental note to ask Eric about it later. She didn't like her mother but she was her mother and she hoped he hadn't done anything to her.
As they reached the double door with golden carvings it suddenly opened up to a petite older woman with a white dress on that slightly resembled an old nurses uniform. Her features were petite as well and she bore no make up. She was very pretty but she could tell that business came first with her before anything else.
"Tara Thornton?"
"Yes?"
"I'm gonna take her bags to her room, I'll be back."
Luther went on through the doors and disappeared. Novella gave her a tight smile and ushered her inside. She followed dutifully behind and took in the great indoors. She was almost expecting something similar to Fangtasia but was surprised again. There was nothing about this house that would make anyone think that Eric owned a club like Fangtasia. The place reeked of ancient and regal. The design was very masculine and screamed bachelor but was soft enough to enjoy aesthetically. The walls were a creamy white and the floor looked like white marble. There was a two-way grand staircase in the distance and she tried to make out the upstairs area. There seemed to be several halls leading off to different places and she was officially dying of curiosity. She had a feeling she might get lost if not careful.
"I'm Novella Prince and I take care of the house for Mr. Northman. If you need anything while you're here or need help getting around just ask."
Her eyes were still drinking in everything around her as she spoke, "What if I can't find you?"
"This house is big but it's manageable. After I give you a tour and you get used to everything you won't get lost but if by chance you do, I'll give you my cell so you can call me."
She nodded absently.
"I'll take you up to your room right now and let you move in. I'll show you around later when you're ready."
She motioned for her to follow her and they moved deeper into the room and began walking up the right sided staircase. The carpet was so white she didn't want to step on it with her shoes but trudged on anyway. Once they reached the top of the stairs there were three halls that resembled an upside down T. She followed Novella into the middle one and they walked for at least two minutes and passed by countless paintings from different periods that she knew had to each cost a small fortune. At the end of the hall was a huge floor to ceiling window that lit up the expanse of the hallway with sunlight.
They finally stopped at the last door on the left. The door was already open and she could see Luther inside putting her bags down. Novella stood aside and she stepped into the room almost losing her breath. The room looked bigger than her mother's house and Lafayette's put together. There was a huge canopy bed in the middle of the room and huge dressers and armoires. There was even a vanity at one wall. Everything was down in a royal purple with gold embroidery. The carpet, walls, and ceiling were done in a beautiful lavender color and made a cooling effect to the deep purple everywhere else.
She felt like she'd stepped into a Queen's chamber and felt horribly out of place but had to fight the urge to jump onto the bed.
"Come on Luther, let her get settled."
Novella exited and Luther followed behind, "Nice meeting you Tara."
"Likewise," she smiled at him.
Once the door shut behind them she took off her shoes and put them near the door. She walked over to the bed and fell down on it. She felt exhaustion take over her and quickly drifted off to sleep. The moment she closed her eyes she saw him and she smiled.