Hey!
How are you all? Good I hope. Well, at lot's happened in the past week. Classes started up, i've survived my first week of vet school! I'm finally moved back into my dorm room properly and fully, with running water, both hot and cold. I've really settled in well, really loving London and everything is going great really. Classes are difficult but i wouldn't expect anything less and with study time it's manageable, i'm understanding everything pretty well so far. I'm at home for the weekend though, going back to London sunday evening. It takes four hours though and i pretty much had nothing else to do but write or read since my study stuff was in the luggage bay and i don't have my own text books yet.
I want to say a really big thanks to my betas - campyrs, Bloodsucker815 and trajedy99. I only sent this to them a few days ago because as you know i've been having problems with the internet connection. It's all sorted now though so hopefully they'll have a bit more warning for the next chapter. It isn't quite finished yet though. Anyway, Charlaine Harris owns the wonderful Southern Vampire Mysteries and on with the story!
"Sookie, are you hurt?" Well, no shit Sherlock I thought angrily without looking up from my crimson stained hand to see who had actually spoken. She's bleeding! I heard in my head through my shields that had dropped substantially due to my fall, the voice sounded oddly gleeful about current predicament. I recognised the mental signal as the person from the stairwell. My attention snapped up from my hand, the trance like state I was under broken instantly and I scanned the room for the culprit. "Sookie?" The voice I was hearing with my actual ears spoke again and I brought my eyes to land on Caleb who was kneeling down in front of me with concern etched across his face.
"What?" I asked my voice surprisingly confident even though I could feel with the hairs on the back of my neck that the vampires were paying me a little too much attention.
"Are you okay?" He inquired again, enunciating each word carefully. It was a stupid question to ask considering I had blood pouring down the side of my face from the wounds; head cuts always bleed a lot, even when the wounds is small.
"Just a head cut I think," I replied and I gave myself a mental pat on the back for sounding so polite. His eyes wound up my face and I watched as shock covered him as though he hadn't noticed the cut at all.
"Oh my, you're bleeding." His voice took on a shrill quality, fear I think, that even I hadn't used. He jumped to action then, grabbing my hand and began to pull me to my feet. "You're bleeding and we're in a room full of vampires; we've got to get out of here!" I clamped down on my mental shields and returned the grip he had on my hand, allowing myself to be pulled up.
As soon as I stood up I became aware of about ten sets of eyes watching me intently and all bloodthirsty. I scanned along every single pair, searching for a face that I recognised, someone that I could call on to help get me out of the room safely because two humans just weren't going to cut it. I found Eric restraining the vampire that had leapt first in the attack, although the other vampire appeared dishevelled as though he was being held up.
Our eyes locked then and Eric immediately dropped the other vampire, giving him a shove backwards so that another couple of the undead were forced to grab the subdued man or have him fall. Then he was walking towards me with long, purposeful strides and I felt safer already knowing that with him on my side the other vampires would have a problem getting to me when they tried.
"Do you know this guy?" Caleb asked, tugging on my right arm to get me moving but my feet were rooted to the spot, waiting for help.
"Yes," I said at the same point that I began to see bright red out of the corner of my eye. Instantly my hands went up to grab my head, applying pressure to the wound; it was worse than I thought.
"Sookie, come with me," Eric spoke in an authoritative tone as he grabbed my left elbow so that he could steer me through the still gathering crowd. It seemed we were drawing quite a crowd. "We can't stay here."
"Sookie, you can't be around vampires right now, it's not safe." Caleb tugged on my right arm again, and I could feel the wave of caution emanating from his mind.
"Thank-you, but I'll go with Eric." Before the last syllable was even out of my mouth I was pulled left by a strong arm and out of Caleb's grasp. An arm wound around my waist and then I was half carried, half walked out of the room before any of the hungry vampires could get any ideas.
By the time my feet touched the ground, enough for me to actually take a step, we were in a part of the hotel that I couldn't recognise or get back to anyway that I did know. We were essentially in an alcove along a corridor painted in a powder blue, the likes of which I hadn't seen yet in the hotel. I hadn't seen anyone while we were walking, not even any of the hotel staff and my telepathy was telling me that there were no humans around. The closest person was on the floor above and a couple of rooms behind too; we were essentially alone.
"Take your hand away, I need to see the damage," Eric said softly even though his fangs had run down. I couldn't tell whether they were elongated because of the attack or because of my blood. I hoped it was the former although I imagined he would be able to control his urges, he'd had a millennia to practice control.
"Your fangs," I mumbled quietly. I felt the need to be quiet, as though we might be overheard, even though I knew there really wasn't much chance of that happening; I still had to stay hushed.
"Both," he answered my question before I'd even really posed it and then he continued on with his explanation at my slightly perplexed expression. "The attack got me excited; the blood is keeping me excited. I don't bite." He grinned at me, showing off his perfect teeth that somehow managed to make muscles deep in my stomach tighten. Even after two years, the sight of elongated fangs on a handsome vampire got my hormones running wild.
"Well, I won't," he paused; his eyes stared at me intently before continuing with his blond eyebrows wiggling suggestively, "unless you want me to."
I didn't bother to answer; instead I removed my hand from my face and let him see the wound which was really beginning to ache with the adrenaline wearing off. It also felt like it was still oozing blood and there wasn't any bit of my hand that wasn't covered in crimson already.
"It doesn't look too bad, a few stitches if you went to the hospital. I can heal it for you." His fingertips gently traced along my hairline, brushing back loose strands so that they wouldn't get caked with blood. His cool touch was welcome and I couldn't help but lean into it slightly.
"I don't want your blood," I told him, probably more sharply than I should have and I immediately regretted the words that he wouldn't be able to put into context. "Sorry, I need to explain."
"Yes, I think you do," he replied, the grin that had decorated his face earlier had transformed into a slight flickering of his lips at the corner of his mouth. He wasn't anywhere near as angry as I'd anticipated.
"Bill, I took his blood before I even really knew who he was, I was dying, and when I realised it I could never tell whether my feelings for him were genuine or because I'd had his blood. I could go to the emergency if you think it is bad enough." I tagged the last bit on weakly. I kept my eyes downcast as well; I really didn't want to see whatever expression he currently had because I knew it wouldn't be good. I thought the explanation was strange and it was my own, but I had to stand to my ways.
"Don't worry; I can help you heal without you drinking my blood." He explained away while his hand gently grasped my chin so that he could make me look up at him and all I saw was understanding.
"How can you do that?" I'd never heard of healing without drinking the blood so the beginning of awe in my voice was true.
"I'm old Sookie, very old. Therefore my blood is powerful, I can, essentially, rub the wound with my blood. It'll heal much faster, not as fast as with ingesting blood but much faster than normally. You definitely won't need stitches and I doubt there will be a scar." He shrugged his shoulders slightly at the last bit and the motion was very strange considering one of his hands was still holding my chin.
"I didn't know that was possible."
"Yes, it's more pronounced the older you get. There are only noticeable advantages when you hit five hundred years old; or there about. I've discovered that any vampire blood helps a wound, but for about the first hundred years the only thing it will do is stop an infection afterwards." He finally withdrew his hand from my face and I instantly missed the cool contact.
"Are there any disadvantages?" I asked quietly, hoping that the side effects, because there's always down sides when it comes to supernatural things, would be small.
"You may be drawn to me," he grinned again as though he knew a secret that we shared, and I had a slightly sinking feeling that he knew I was attracted to him. "But the attraction would be much less than if you drank my blood. You would be able to tell the difference between real feelings because it wouldn't be enough to affect deeper feelings."
"Okay," I whispered and quick as a blink Eric had sunk his fangs into his right wrist, which caused blood to immediately pool into the deep penetrating wounds. He upturned his wrist so that the blood dripped onto his other hand which he moved to my forehead as soon as there was a substantial amount of blood.
It didn't hurt at all, however it wasn't exactly pleasant either; a deep itching sensation immediately took over that left me dying to scratch at the cut. Knowing that I couldn't just made it all the more worse. When I glanced up at Eric, I was surprised at the expression on his face which was what I could only describe as lustful. I'd seen the same expression on Bill many times, when I'd taken his blood when I was hurt, but this shouldn't have the same affect and yet it was still more concentrated. What surprised me more was that I liked it. I shut my eyes tightly and concentrated on taking deep, even breaths so that he wouldn't know what his mere expression was doing to me.
The itching began to ease until it was just a slight prickling sensation that wound its way down my cheeks and across under my eye. His fingers still lightly brushed along where the cut had been, though I doubted it was even looking remotely fresh anymore. Eventually all the pain disappeared except for a dull ache that settled in behind my eyes and I just knew it wasn't going away anytime soon; I needed to get some Tylenol in me. Eric's fingertips lingered for a few more seconds and then he pulled back. When I opened my eyes, slowly, there was a small smirk on Eric's face that told me he knew exactly what he was doing to me.
"How you doing?" He asked me, his voice still lilting with teasing even though it was barely above a whisper and I couldn't help but wonder whether he was doing an actual imitation or, whether it was a mere accident. I had a feeling Eric didn't have many accidents, even so I chose to ignore the possible meaning behind the words.
"Better, the actual cut doesn't hurt but I have a terrible headache." I brought my own hand up to trace where the cut had been and only found a slightly raised rough patch that I could only assume was the damaged skin that had formed some sort of scab. Nice. When I pulled my hand back, my fingertips ended up ghosting past Eric's that were still against my face, I found them still coming away covered in crimson. Of course, I should have realised he hadn't taken care of the blood. Yet.
"Do you need to go back to your room?" He sounded sincerely worried about me although his eyes were still sparkling with what I could only describe as mischief.
"No, I just need some Tylenol, a baby wipe and I'm good to go. Sophie Anne won't accept a headache for me shirking my duties."
"I have something better than Tylenol," he smirked at me from only inches away and I found that my neck was craned back so that I could really see into his brilliant blue eyes.
"What's that?" I asked after a couple of seconds during which it became obvious he wasn't going to be explaining any further without more prompting.
He didn't give me any warning, although he did move humanly slow so that I had time to pull back if I wanted to, however, I really didn't want to stop him. His lips were on mine; at first a light brushing against mine that I didn't have time to respond to but made a frustrated groan escape3 my throat in protest. My eyes fluttered open, I wasn't entirely sure when they'd shut, in time to see a smirking grin on his face before his lips were covering mine again and all that filled my word was the feeling of ours lips moving together.
One of his hands cupped my cheek, holding me steady while the other wound into my hair, twisting the thick blond strands around his fingers without tugging at all. My own hands snaked up his muscular arms; they felt good, until I could wrap them around his neck which I used to pull myself up to him. I stood on tip toes and leaned into him. Behind his soft lips I could feel hard fangs that were elongated, and every so often I could feel the very tips dragging slightly across my bottom lip and all it did was make me want more.
His tongue swept across my lips and snuck inside my mouth when I made a small gasp. In my defence it had been a very long time since I'd been kissed anything like this and I needed it. Our tongues danced together, fighting for dominance and explored each other. I found that his fangs weren't a problem when I probed into his mouth, rather they were tantalising, giving a sense of danger and I easily explored them. My tongue traced the points delicately and carefully scratched, just not quite enough to draw blood before I was thrown back into submission and Eric was kissing me.
Just as unexpected as the kiss had started, it stopped. I was still stood up on my toes and hands wrapped around his neck. I'm also pretty sure my lips were still at least a little puckered which matched my fluttering eyes as I tried to blink the world back into focus. My entire field of vision was taken up by Eric's toothy grin.
"So, how do you feel?" He asked and I could hear the laughter he was suppressing.
"What?" I replied eloquently and I pulled my eyebrows down in a frown. "I feel fine." I added on the end when I realised I hadn't really answered his question though I couldn't understand why he was asking it in the first place.
"Good." He actually chuckled then and I was still standing close enough to him that I could feel the vibrations that we were reverberating in his chest. It was at that moment that I became truly aware that I was pressed up against a vampire in an alcove of a strange hotel where we could be discovered at any moment; I hadn't exactly been paying attention to my telepathy.
I extricated myself from his powerful arms and took a step back so that his scent was no longer washing over me with every breath and I found that I could think properly, though I still couldn't fully comprehend why he'd asked if I was okay.
"We should get you to your room." He turned around partially and offered me his arm like an English gentleman, complete with a flourish.
"I have to go back to the party," I told him after I'd already linked my arm through his. "The Queen will expect me to return." I could have sworn I actually heard him sigh then but I didn't dare ask and it was over in half a second.
"Let me worry about the Queen, you're pretty much healed but you need to sleep, you said you still," he stopped speaking abruptly as though he was going to tell me something he wasn't supposed to. If he was human he would have blushed, as it was, a slight crinkling around his still sparkling eyes was the only indication that he might possibly be embarrassed.
"I still what?" My mind cleared considerably when I realised he was holding something back from me and I managed to infuse a lot of heat into my voice. I wasn't angry, not yet, but I had a lot of energy from that kiss.
"Never mind, I can take care of Sophie Anne though." He shrugged his shoulders as though it would be no big deal and started walking down the corridor in the same direction we'd come. Since we were connected I had no choice but to walk with him.
"She outranks you," I was about to say more when his phone began to ring with the sound of one of Kuhlau's sonatinas, it was an odd choice for him but for all I knew he'd met the guy. Before I could take the thought further he reached into an inside breast pocket and snapped the phone open, bringing it to his ear in the same movement.
"Yes. Fine. Yes. Two minutes." He shut the phone again with the sound of plastic breaking somewhere and thrust it angrily back into his pocket, this time his pants' pocket. He'd never broke stride while he was on the phone, the exchange had lasted only a few seconds, but now he slowed down. "The Queen requires your presence at the party, there's a group of vampires she wants you to meet."
We walked the rest of the way back to the ballroom in comfortable silence. I revelled in the true quiet that his presence afforded me; vampire minds seemed to muffle human brains and their cool calmness makes it easier to maintain my shields. He adjusted his long strides to match mine and he kept the slower pace so that I could keep up, even in my high heels.
"Oh, one more thing," he said as he paused when we rounded the corner to the conference room and were just beside the double doors that lead into the ball. From inside the room we couldn't be seen yet; we could still see a few feet into the room which meant that we could see if we were going to be walked upon.
"Yes?" I asked while turning to face him and keeping my arm looped through his. He never gave me a verbal reply though; instead he placed his thumb on my lips and held it there, unmoving until I spoke. Before I'd even got one word out though the tip of his thumb was in my mouth and it was my instinctual reaction to pucker my lips around him, in an almost kiss. A smirk played out across his handsome face to match my look of shock. Quickly he pulled back and his hand swept up to my face where he rubbed his damp thumb gently across my forehead, taking away the blood that had been left, the rest had flaked off already. Before my eyes he brought his thumb up to his own lips and sucked my blood, making sure he got every little drop. He even gave an appreciative groan which made the muscles deep in my stomach tighten at the thought of where else I might hear that moan.
"You are delicious, exquisite," he murmured before turning around and acting like nothing had happened.
He began to walk towards the door but he'd gone less than a step when he found out that I wasn't moving, instead I was staring up at him with nothing but confused emotions warring inside me. He glanced back at me, and the smirk that hadn't dimmed grew brighter. He leaned forward, tugging slightly and I began to walk alongside him. I'd only just schooled my face enough, helped by years of practice, into a bland expression by the time we walked through the open doors and we came face to face with a roomful of vampires.
I couldn't see Sophie Anne anywhere so it was lucky that Eric was able to steer me in the right direction even though he wasn't standing as close as he had been outside. His posture had changed too, instead of seemingly relaxed, the tension thrummed through him and the muscles in his forearms that I could feel under my hand were clenched. We made our way slowly, weaving through the crowd, to the second conference room where I assumed the Queen was waiting for us.
When we cleared the doors I finally saw her; a figure dressed in a pristine white ball gown that trailed down to the floor in a swath of sweeping fabric. Behind her, arranged in a half circle, were the vampires that made up the Southern state's group and were acting as bodyguards. I was relieved to see that the Queen's second, Andre wasn't in sight and it led me to hope that he wouldn't be here at all. I was beginning to really believe that someone had something against me and having Andre here would just make it a more horrid a situation. I was also the only human with the group; and the fewer vampires that I was surrounded by the better it was when it wasn't my choice of company.
In front of the Queen's group were about five people, all with their backs to me and all of them were males. I kept my mental shields clamped down because I could tell that one of them was a human and they were beginning to gather quite an interest from the surrounding people. These people were standing in a line as though they were passing before the Queen. Eric didn't seem to mind what they were doing though and he walked us straight up to the queen where he promptly, yet still with a lot of grace, dropped my arm. He left my side, gliding the few paces required to cover the distance and bent down to whisper something in the Queen's ear. She laughed heartily before turning her attention towards me; the corners of her lips were twisted up in a sadistic smile.
The entire little scenario had me cringing about what had just transpired between Eric and me. I couldn't believe I'd forgotten they were together, I wasn't sure of the nature of their relationship; it was definitely strange but there was a definite fire between them. I was beginning to really think that they weren't together in the romantic sense; romantic relationships between two vampires were rare and there wasn't anything that I'd seen that would say they even liked each other. Still, it wouldn't be good for the Sherriff to be getting with the Queen's telepath.
"This is Sookie Stackhouse, human with our group," the Queen introduced me to the other vampires and I couldn't help but notice the contempt that dripped from her voice when she said human. I turned to face the other vampires and found that I'd actually seen them all before, even though I didn't personally know them. I didn't bother speaking up; they didn't expect me to although I did spare a smile for Caleb who was the human. These vampires made up the northern states apparently.
Caleb moved from where he was standing, in the centre of his group to the side where he motioned for me to move along with him. Soon we were standing close enough to our groups to show that we were accompanying them but far enough away that we could actually whisper to each other without getting glared at.
"How are you? There's barely a mark there," he stated quite happily with a definite element of awe in his voice and his hand was bobbing in the air as though he was trying to resist the urge to run his fingers over the nonexistent cut.
"I'm good thanks, Eric sorted the cut out for me, I didn't even know they could do that, heal you without drinking their blood," I replied quietly, standing close to Caleb so that I would be able to hear him.
"It's certainly worked."
"What's going on here?" I asked him after a few seconds during which we'd simply watched the vampires talking since we couldn't actually hear them.
"They're talking about a possible trade off of resources; I thought I caught your name though before you arrived." He shrugged his shoulders, showing that he didn't know anymore.
"Miss Stackhouse," a vampire called me. It was one of the men that I'd only seen, never spoken to, and I suddenly understood why. His fierce eyes and strong, sharp features identified him as one of the vampires that had been brawling earlier. More specifically, he was the vampire that had been held down by Eric and a quick glance at Eric's stony face indicated that he recognised him as well.
"Yes?" I answered politely, hoping that my face was schooled enough to show that I wasn't angry.
"Are you a telepath?" He asked without any warning and getting straight to the point. The only reason I didn't blurt out something that would have given me away was that I was used to, sadly, having to pretend about pretty much every factor of my life, to at least someone.
"No." I stated clearly and confidently and thankfully my voice sounded much more confident than I actually felt. I was a wreck with panic that was swirling about inside me; no one had told me explicitly to hide who I was but I knew I wasn't supposed to exactly broadcast it. I thought lying would be the best way forward at this point. The vampire stared at me for a couple seconds longer and then turned back to the Queen, dismissing me silently.
"What was that about?" Caleb asked quietly, leaning down so that he could whisper in my ear. His warm breath, which was oddly strange against my skin, tickled slightly.
"I'm not sure," I replied back just as quietly and I flecked my gaze toward him, finding that there was a strange look on his face, one that said he wasn't quite trusting the situation playing out in front of him.
"Are you a telepath?" He asked softly as he laid his hand on my forearm and I got a blanket of curiosity straight from his mind as it cut through my shields from the contact. Strangely I didn't get any definite thoughts.
"No," I whispered back and I hated to lie because the change in his mind was instantaneous; it was as though he knew I was lying right to his face.
"Okay then," he nodded, gave my arm a squeeze and then pulled back.
"You are dismissed," the Queen said idly to me, barely even moving her gaze toward me and she even included a little wave. It did at least save me from Caleb's questions; I didn't want him to know, he was the only human I'd really met here and people didn't tend to take the news of my telepathy well.
"I'll see you tomorrow, breakfast?" Caleb asked me before I had chance to turn around and I nodded, accompanied by a smile before I began walking towards the exit doors.
I'd barely gone five paces out of the main conference room doors into the lobby when a hand touched my waist, long fingers wrapping gently around my hip.
"Argh!" I yelped and began to pull back, extricating myself from the grip while earning a few disgusted looks from the people milling around.
"It's me pretty woman," a deep voice told me and even through my shock I could hear the laughter at my surprise. I relaxed instantly even though I could still feel my heart thudding dangerously fast in my chest and I spun around as much as I was able to find Eric standing beside me. "You don't escape that easily."
"Why are you following me?" I asked him as we began to walk toward the elevators again; his hand never wavered from my waist.
"You are too much fun to not be around."
"What's that supposed to mean?" There was an edge to my voice and I couldn't make my mind up whether it was all in good fun or whether there really was a bit of annoyance in there too. It was not good to be considered fun by vampires; I'd learned that the hard way.
"You have a nose for trouble, being around you is infinitely more fun than being in there. Do you know what they're discussing right now?" The elevator doors slid open and we stepped inside, breaking apart for the couple of seconds it took us to get turned around.
"With what I got asked, whether I really am a telepath," I replied and I let all of the exasperation of being the topic of conversation again into my voice, which made it have a gruffer edge than normal.
"Half right," Eric conceded, giving my waist a slight squeeze before he continued, "they're also discussing loaning you out if it is true. The Queen hasn't said anything explicitly but the other group knows you have some form of telepathic gift. The northern states want to borrow you for something during the summit."
"So when they asked me if I was a telepath, they were seeing if I could be appropriately quiet about my talent."
"Essentially yes," he agreed along with a nod of the head that sent his long blonde hair waving down his back. It really was a remarkable shade.
"So it isn't just random events?" I sighed loudly, folding my arms over my chest. Eric didn't bother to verbally question me, instead he simply raised his eyebrows and I'm sure it would have made his subordinates ramble. For me however, it made me sigh again before continuing on with my thoughts. "Someone really does want me; it's not just an idle thought. That probably means that the stairway incident wasn't just a random member of the fellowship."
"Guardians of the Day," Eric corrected me and I remembered that they were indeed the English version of the Fellowship of the Sun.
"Right, a random Guardian making an attempt to take anyone who associated with vampires. What about the vampires fighting, with me caught up in the middle of it? That seems plausible either way." I was cut off abruptly as the elevator doors opened to reveal a member of the staff waiting to get in and I realised, when Eric's hand stopped me, that we weren't at my floor yet.
"Good evening," the cleaner; was what the tag around his neck indicated him to be said politely as he stepped into the elevator.
"Evening," I replied politely while Eric didn't even bother to acknowledge him. The next three floors were painfully awkward, spent in quietness with only the sound of breathing breaking the silence. Eventually we reached my floor and we quickly shuffled off into the corridor and we kept our silence until the elevator had safely closed its doors.
"Well, this is me," I whispered dumbly. My heart began to race again in my chest and butterflies started flapping their wings in my stomach; I was reacting as though this was some form of date and I was expecting a kiss. After the moment we'd shared in the corridor earlier I was really hoping for another kiss. Having had millennia to practice his technique, it really did show and I was willing to reap the rewards of all his practice.
"I know," he grinned at me. Heat flushed my face and I spun around to hide away from him, using the guise of unlocking my door using the electronic key card.
"I have a question for you," I started out and I dared to look up into his sparkling blue eyes that were alive with, well life.
"And what is that?" He asked, his voice full of teasing joy and I knew he was enjoying this little situation entirely too much.
"I need to know, are you and Sophie Anne together?" His face broke out into a brilliant grin that lit up his eyes and a deep rumbling chuckle emanated from his chest that made his shoulders visibly shake.
"Let's see if this answers that question." Suddenly his lips were on mine once more. We moved together instantly and his tongue flickered out to meet mine. My hands went up to grip his chest, feeling the hard muscles underneath my fingers and I poured more fervour into the kiss. Then, just as quickly as it had started he pulled back. "No, I most definitely am not with Sophie Anne." He wiggled his eyebrows at me a few times before turning on his heel and walked down the corridor, his deep laughter echoing down the hallway which left me standing in the doorway thinking about what had just happened. I had no idea where our actions left us and now I also had a headache. I had a sinking feeling that the headache had been there because of the tension strain created from my worrying thoughts.
So what did you think? You know I love feedback almost as much as I love a certain Viking vampire :) Thanks for the all the reviews that have been coming through and all the favourite story/alerts too, makes me feel appreciated and it all the more worthwhile to write.
The title, I Wanna Watch You Bleed is from the song Welcome to the Jungle by Guns n' Roses
Thanks guys and have a good weekend