From the Waist Down

Chapter 15

Eric held me close to his chest. I looked over his shoulder, watching the fire shoot up the walls of the Stackhouse family farmhouse. Amelia was standing on the grass, a few feet away from me, talking on her cell phone. The fire department had already been called, Eric assured me, but I couldn't stop staring in horror. This was the second time my house has been lit on fire. I had a sudden craving for anything with liquor. I didn't want to see this, and I didn't want to experience whatever was going to happen next.

"Get in the car Northman," one of the King's goons growled, showing his bright fangs. Eric was stiff like an iceberg. He didn't move.

"Where are we going?" Eric asked calmly, though I could sense the irritation in him.

"King Felipe de Castro expects you in his office as soon as possible," the vampire replied.

"I have been ordered to protect this human," Eric nodded, indicating me.

"She's coming too." One of the other ones made a move to grab me. I clung to Eric, digging my fingernails into his cool skin. My whole body began to convulse. Absolutely not. No one is going to touch me. No no no no no.

"She is under my protection," Eric scowled, sending the vampire's foreign hands back as if by magic. "I will see to her needs."

"The jet's waiting, Northman. Just get in the car."

They drove well above the speed limit, but we made it to Shreveport in record time. I spent the car ride trying to avoid the stares of the vampires huddled around us on every side. While it was better than riding in the trunk (though, in this car, there was no trunk), I couldn't have felt much more uncomfortable. They were all staring at me, hungrily. My heart beat a million miles a second and though I tried not to fidget or be scared, I wasn't too good at it. Every one of them reminded me of Victor. It didn't help matters any that when we finally arrived at the airstrip, a thin line of silver was flung around Eric's neck.

He yowled in pain while two more of Felipe's goons grabbed me and yanked me out of the car. Screams that didn't sound like my screams burst out of my mouth and nose and ears too probably. Was this happening again? How could this be happening again? Eric? ERIC! Instant fight instinct kicked into gear, the fight instinct I'd wanted to have with Victor and didn't, the one that had failed me. Screaming, kicking, flailing, I fought them. Eric was having issues in the car. They dragged him out of the vehicle in silver chains, his skin healing in places where he'd been scalded. A punch caught me off guard, right across the mouth, and for a second, I was reeling in pain. Then my world went dark.

I woke up some time later, though how much time was a mystery to me. Though I was fairly certain my eyes were open, I couldn't see anything. Black. All around me. Panic immediately set in. I'm in a trunk. It was to be a trunk. Calm down, Sook. Breathe. Do those deep breath things that Eric taught you. Focus. Figure out where you are. So, I started feeling along the wall closest to me. It hit a corner fairly quickly, and maybe three feet later, another corner. A tight, small, black space. And was I moving? It definitely sounded like movement, but somewhat quieter and less rocky than the sort of noise that accompanies car travel. Hadn't we been at the air strip?

Logic dawned so slowly that if I'd been in the right state of mind, I would have questioned my own reasoning powers. I'm in a trunk. On a plane. Start panicking.


It was embarrassing, really, how easily I had fallen for this. I had expected to be treated with some fashion of dignity. After all, I am a sheriff, loyal to the King (for the most part), and while, yes, I killed Victor Madden and put his head in a box, I am certainly not some sort of vindictive homicidal maniac. At least, I am no more these things than any other respectable vampire. I had resigned myself, however, to my fate. As long as Sookie was safe, and technically, she was as safe as she could be, passed out in a coffin which was locked from the outside, everything would be fine. Her heart beat had settled to a normal ebb and flow of oxygen and blood, and for a split second, I considered forcing her to pass out more often. Her sanity was on edge because of the attack, but the complete lack of sleep hadn't helped her frame of mind.

I considered all the factors until the moment that she awakened, her blood pressure taking a massive spike, and her breath coming in sputtering gasps. She was trying to find a way out. Flashbacks to Bill and Victor sailed through her brain and I caught the feelings associated with both: panic, terror, apprehension, fear. I tried to send my thoughts back to her, through the power of our bond. If, however, our connection during that initial night was any indication, she probably was not feeling me at all. She was too locked up in her own demons to feel me.

I could hear her muffled voice through the strong mahogany case. She banged on the top with her fists, yelling, crying. The human mind is a peculiar thing. Where I feel completely safe in that box, trapped off from the harms of daylight, humans feel only horror when similarly submersed in the black.

I fought in my chains, though there was really no use in doing so. What possessed me to attack when bound in silver was beyond me, beyond comprehension. Still, I struggled. Her safety was more important than my discomfort. The psychological changes I'd succumbed to since bonding myself to her, if not before that, were unfathomable.

"Shut her up!" One of our guards growled, pulling a face of disgust.

"Why can't we just eat her already?" Another one groaned, fiddling with his keys.

"She's the King's property. We can't just eat her."

"Oh yeah," the key-holder frowned. "I forgot."

The lid on the coffin bounced upright as soon as it was unbolted, and Sookie popped free for a moment, spooked. Her face was devoid of color, and her eyes bounced around like bullets off steel walls. She sought me out and I strained for her, but the silver dug down into my skin and I could move no further.

"I said shut her up!" The first vampire stomped across the plane's galley and threw a rock-hard fist into the coffin, connecting with my lover's jaw. It took only a few seconds before she stopped moving. The lid fell shut again and was locked in place.

I couldn't do anything, not now. But as soon as I was free, that bastard would pay. I could bide my time. What was time in a millennium of life?

We set down in Nevada an hour later, and still my lover had not moved. They removed her flopping body from the coffin and I watched as they set her down in the backseat of an all black Suburban with blacked out windows. I was shoved into the car beside her, and had the chance to look her over. They'd bruised her mouth and jar severely, and I found myself growling quietly at their abuse. I leaned over, though it pained me, and kissed her gently on the forehead. She did not move, but her pulse rate seemed to change in my ears. It was definitely a response.

Time passed slowly that night, perhaps to prolong the evening's events. Had I been a younger creature, a younger man, I might have cursed the gods for their cruelty. But it wasn't their fault. We had been dealt a hand of cards, and we could do nothing but play it out. The Suburban drove through the glittered streets of Las Vegas to the Sanguine Hotel and Casino, de Castro's premiere resort for the fanged set. False windows covered the entire wall that opened out onto the strip, and cars of every shape and color decorated the driveway. We drove around to the back and were unceremoniously unloaded into a docking bay.

Sookie was just coming around. I saw her eyes flicker as a guard grabbed her roughly by the arm. My urge to kill rose.

"The King wants to see the girl first," the head goon announced to his cohorts. "Stick Northman in the hold until the King is ready for him."