Hey guys,
how are you all doing? I'm pretty good. I'll let you in on a little secret, i'm actually typing this thursday night, i'm just too evil to actually set this chapter up as a new one until tomorrow :) I'm going home for the weekend tomorrow so uploading it now means you will actually get it tomorrow, granted it will be late as i'm going to a bonfire with my friends.
In this chapter I reference Koko Kanu, if you haven't tried it, I recommend it. Koko kanu and coke has become my favourite drink, just think malibu and coke times ten. Plus it's stronger so you can drinker fewer which is better on the ol' wallet. Not much as happened really since last friday, just a lot of studying.
So, I want to say a massive thank-you to my betas campyrs and trajedy99, really couldn't do it without them. Charlaine Harris owns the wonderful Southern Vampire Mysteries, and on with the chapter!
"Give me the phone," I whispered frantically as I rolled over to face him. I turned out to be eyelevel with his navel since he was now sitting up, resting against the headboard which meant I could intimately see the trailing of light brown hair leading down. I wasn't to be distracted though and I stretched up, reaching desperately for the phone which he wasn't letting me get anywhere near.
"Oh, I'm sorry Ms Stackhouse," Eric replied to whatever was said over the phone after several seconds of conversation that I just couldn't hear, no matter how much I wanted to. My telepathy didn't work over the phone, before I'd been grateful but not at this minute. It was my Gran; that was the worst person I could imagine to have been calling. "She was sleeping and I was trying not to wake her."
"Give me that," I growled out in my most menacing tone which didn't make even a little bit of difference; he remained relaxed and smiling. I quickly sat up, not bothered about my nakedness as I began to grapple for the phone which was completely out of my reach.
"Can I help you at all?" Another slight pause, a broad grin and then he spoke again. It was killing me inside to only hear his half of the conversation. I was coming up with the worst things that my Gran could be saying. I was already dreading the inevitable conversation with my Gran where I would try to explain this situation.
"I'm sorry, I'm forgetting my manners." His voice held no trace of sleep now but a rather strong accent to what I'd become accustomed to. "I'm Eric Northman. Yes, that's right." He gazed down at me with mischief sparkling in his brilliant eyes. In a move I wouldn't have guessed was possible, even if he had two spare hands, I ended up with my back against his bare chest and both of my wrists gripped carefully in one of his hands. "Oh, the best. I understand that the past was a little rough, I am nothing like that." He turned toward me again, his eyebrows wiggling and crimson flared across my cheeks at the thought of him being rough in an entirely wonderful way; he had shown me that edge to himself at some point during the night. "She will be treated like the lady she is." I could only cringe at what she could be asking to evoke that response.
"Is Sookie doing okay?" I heard my Gran with her wonderfully polite telephone voice and I realised only then that he was holding the phone closer to me than before so I could hear both sides of the conversation. "She didn't call last night and I was getting a little worried."
I instantly felt guilty about making her worry, especially when I didn't have a good reason for not calling her, well I did, just not one that I could actually tell her. I was kind of ashamed in myself too about the fact that I hadn't even considered calling her at any point, I hadn't even remembered that I was due to call her.
"She's fine, just tired out. I'm afraid it was my fault that she didn't call last night." Mortification swept through me followed swiftly by tension that had all my muscles tightened and fighting against the hold I was in. I needed to get to that phone before any more damage was done.
"Oh, and just why is that young man?" I cringed at her choice of words; he was old enough to be her ancestor, older than she could probably comprehend. She must have assumed he was a vampire, most people I knew were these days and I'd had the impression earlier that she'd assumed that he was the vampire I'd told her about.
"I work for Sophie Anne too," he shot me a glance that seemed to be asking how much my Gran knew about the work I did for the vampires. The honest answer was that I just didn't know; I told her as little as possible to try and keep her safe but she was intelligent, she'd put more information together than she ever spoke about. That was also a downside of a telepath living with someone; you picked up on things you just didn't want to know. "We were both working last night and I made her accompany me on an errand. We got back really late and just ended up crashing in my double suite." His information was vague enough that I would easily be able to follow it and detailed enough that my Gran would buy it.
"Oh, well best not wake her then. When she wakes up just get her to call me okay? It was nice speaking to you Eric." I could just imagine her petite frame folded up on the stool she kept by the phone with the little notepad sat beside it on the counter.
"No problem, nice speaking with you too. Goodbye Ms Stackhouse."
"Oh, it's Adele," she added. "Goodbye." Eric promptly hung up the phone, tossed it aside and slouched down on the bed pulling me with him.
"Why did you do that?" I asked with pretend menace while I rolled over since his grip had relaxed enough for me to move. The conversation that I'd actually heard had put me at ease quite a bit, it was bad, there was no getting around it, but it could also have been a hell of a lot worse.
"I wanted to have some fun," he replied, shrugging his massive shoulders that made me jostle too. "I didn't intend it to be like that, I just wanted the inane ringing to stop."
"How did you even hear it? Shouldn't you be dead asleep?" I'd seen several vampires during the day over the past couple of years, Bill mainly, and they'd always been completely comatose dead during daylight hours.
"It's evening Sookie, the sun is going down in about an hour, this is quite late for me. Your grandmother seems very nice."
"Ugh," I sighed and flopped down onto his chest, giving up hope of getting straight answers out of him.
"I have a plan to make it up to you," he whispered into my ear, getting my attention straight away so that I looked up at him intently. There was that glint of mischief again; something about the statement wasn't exactly as it seemed.
"How do you plan that?" I asked with my hand trailing light circles on his chest and the muscles deep in my stomach already clenching tightly in anticipation.
"Not sex," he chuckled and I knew the disappointment I felt was evident on my face. "Not just now anyway, there's something I want to show you first. Later." He promised and I decided then that I would hold him to his word. "We're going out so you'll want to get dressed in the remnants and then go get changed. I'll have you back in plenty of time for tonight's assignment with the Queen and so that you can call your Gran."
An hour later we were walking out of the hotel, I was being guided along by his large hand clutching mine, and we used the same door as before. There was a faint white noise audible throughout the entire lobby area, no distinct words were clear but the general tone of anger and hatred was clear; the guardians had strengthened their blockade outside. I thought they were a rather stupid bunch of people; no one was using the front door anymore and they hadn't gone to investigate any other possible ways in or out. Similar to a couple of nights ago there was transportation waiting for us, the difference being it was a taxi this time rather than a cyclist.
"You like your secrets don't you?" I asked him rhetorically since the answer was clearly evident. We were sitting; he had his arm slung around my shoulders, in the back of the taxi and the driver wasn't paying us any attention at all. As far as I could tell he hadn't even flicked his gaze into the rear view mirror when he was at the junction with the main street coming out of the alley.
"Of course," he replied with a slight chuckle. "I wouldn't be very mysterious if I just blurted everything out now, would I?"
"You're strange," I added on without really thinking how my words could be misconstrued. It wasn't intended as an insult at all, more a general observation about his information sharing traits. My words didn't get me into much trouble this time though; an amused smirk and his eyebrows raised in query. "You're very straightforward when you tell something but you're also very careful about what information you do share. I can't weight it up."
"Again, the mysterious air." He barely suppressed a full out laugh at this and I realised he was in a truly good mood. I shook my head and left that conversation there; I wouldn't be getting anything useful out of him and I might as well sit back, watch the city passing by and wait for us to arrive at our destination.
It was only as we reached Tottenham Court Road that I began to get an inkling of where we were going since there were two main attractions really close to the tube station; the Dominion theatre and the British Museum. As we'd already been to the theatre during the past few days and the evening showing wouldn't be for awhile yet I had to guess at the British museum. My hopes were realised only a few minutes later when the taxi pulled up outside of an astoundingly big building that was spread out before us. Black metal railings encased the grounds in which it sat but even that didn't deflect from the sheer beauty and majesty of the place. The roof was triangular in shape, reaching up from stone pillars to depict carvings of people I couldn't recognise. The stone flagged entrance way was still teaming with people even at such a late hour; the sky had mere tinges of light on the horizon. I knew this because Eric had been very careful when we'd first stepped out of the hotel; it wasn't enough to really cause him any damage but he was very much aware of the vague presence of the sun.
"Thanks," I whispered in awe, not entirely sure whether I was speaking to Eric or the taxi driver who was just being paid. Somehow I ended up on the sidewalk in front of the museum, my hand curved around Eric's forearm and the taxi disappearing off down the road.
"I wish I had a car," Eric muttered quietly as he began to pull me into a walk toward the main entrance where a few other stragglers were walking too.
"Why?" I asked, not taking my eyes away from the building which seemed impossibly large to be in the middle of a city. The building sprawled where nearly every other building I'd seen had extended upward, this one really didn't although it was still very tall. But I could tell without even entering that it had impressive high ceilings; with rooms that were tall rather than having many stories.
"I like to drive," he answered simply and ushered me through the gate, breaking the little attention I'd been paying to his strange observation. "What do you think?"
"Amazing," I giggled since it sounded so pathetic when describing such a place; I'd never seen a museum like it. The pillars in front of us were stretching up to impossible heights, easily ten times my height and the spot lights on the ground lit it up with a magnificence that reminded me of the view from the London eye. I also happened to notice that a lot of the people, both men and women, were staring at us or more precisely Eric. Most held expressions of slight confusion, obviously trying to place the strange man with his towering height which was impressive by even today's standards, his loose and long pale blond hair, probably also the fact he was wearing a thin jumper in the freezing cold night. "I can't believe this place has free entry."
"Yes, all public museums do."
Then I stopped speaking, instead I put my trust in Eric to guide me and simply looked at everything we passed. The bricks that made up the building were huge and old, older than anything I was accustomed to. I found myself wondering how old the actual building was and what it had been used for before it was a museum or if that had been its original purpose. We went up a few steps and were under the shadow provided by the foyer, held up by the giant pillars at the front. A security guard checked my bags and then we were free to do as we pleased. There was another lobby that was completely enclosed and the room we walked through next. This was a library-type little room went off to our right, partially obscured by a semi closed door; and to our left a sweeping staircase wound off to areas we couldn't visit if the red ribbon was any indication. Then I was swept into a brilliantly lit atrium with a metal and glass panelled ceiling that casting intricate shadows on the floor.
The space was vast with a tower rising up in the middle that held several rooms itself, including an upper class restaurant that was only visible when you reached the top. Everything was white, giving the room a gleaming quality of light and openness creating a strange feeling of charm. To my left a visitor's information booth was set up with every shelf lined with different guide books and maps. The Staff were all smiling, probably counting down the minutes until their shift ended since it was so late in the day but they did seem genuine. We didn't head toward the booths or shops; instead we went straight forward toward the stairs that wrapped around the central tower. The steps wound slowly upwards, small flights with long plateaus in between for viewing the area below. We went right up to the upper level where there were, apparently, most of the Egyptology exhibits, according to the signs, which seemed to be drawing the biggest crowds.
"Where are we going?" I asked when we turned right at the top of the stairs, instead of continuing straight ahead with the rest of the people. I'd actually expected to be tired out by the time we reached the top but I wasn't, I'd been too busy concentrating on everything going on around me. My attention captured by the cases surrounding us, containing more history than I could believe from so many years ago that I had difficultly comprehending it; most of the items were even older than the man walking beside me.
"Europe from AD 300 to 1100," he replied instantly and I had a feeling this hadn't been his first visit to this museum. I was completely lost already, we reached the end of the rooms and turned right again, walking down what was essentially a long corridor of interconnecting rooms, walking straight past Roman Britain with all of the stone pieces and other artefacts that practically screamed out for my attention.
"Why?" The latter end dates had to have been when he was alive; he was a Viking, a honest to god warrior Viking, and I knew he was just over a thousand but I couldn't comprehend why he wanted to bring me here of all places. Vampires rarely shared their human history, it was seen as a great privilege to know about their years being truly alive and if he did want to tell me, he could have just said it.
"There are some items in here that I want to show you." I was just about to ask 'why' again when he continued on, obviously having guessed I was just going to ask another question. "Several reasons; it's interesting, I want to see them again myself and you shared your history with me, I think I should do the same." It took me awhile to digest all that information and the sheer fact he was going to be sharing his story with me. It must have been something important if he'd been here before to see the items on display. My attention was no longer held by the museum but the gorgeous man walking along with me, guiding me through what was a maze of rooms.
"Welcome to my history," he said softly when we reached the room. His voice had a strange tone, as though he was nostalgic and glad to be rid of the time we were both thinking about. I simply nodded in reply and scanned the room, trying to take everything in all at once. This room, like seemingly everything else including the actual building, was vast and contained more cases than I could count from this angle. The room encased eight hundred years of European history, including the Vale of York hoard, a find that I'd actually heard of before.
A quirking grin broke out across Eric's face when he saw the awe plastered across mine and he guided me over to a corner case where several silver pieces of jewellery was kept; bracelets, armlets, brooches, pins and some things that I just couldn't name. "What am I looking at?" I asked, hoping I wasn't breaking whatever thoughts were running through his head.
"Everything in here would be worn by a woman, there are pieces that come from different standings within the community. Top left is a broach that would have been worn by a woman married to a chief or a cherished warrior. This down here is a comb that would be used by a little girl, women tended to use smaller toothed items." He let me take in the items before me; it was made of antler, with only two of the teeth missing, which created an oddly beautiful dappled affect. The brooch was a Celtic pattern made of dim silver that I could imagine had been simply gorgeous with a high gleam during its day.
"What's the significance of that?" I asked, pointing to a silver band that was just to the right of the centre, the only explanation it had was a simple name tag reading armlet, circa 975.
"That is," he paused and I couldn't decide whether it was from emotion, which I couldn't comprehend, or just thinking about what he could say about it. I had a startling revelation a few seconds later when he started speaking again. "I gave my wife that bangle to celebrate the birth of our fourth child and a successful battle in which I'd just come back." I had to make sure my mouth wasn't gaping open. "The date is wrong," he continued with a slightly amused tone. "It was somewhat of an heirloom, I gave it to Aude in 948 but I know it had been made before 920 according to my mother."
"You had a family?" I whispered out with my brain severely lagging about the information it was receiving.
"Yes," he nodded slowly, staring down at the bracelet with a soft look in his eyes. He didn't say anything else for the longest time, he just stared, deep in thought at the case, with his eyes roaming over the items encased there but always coming back to rest on the bracelet. He was a gorgeous man, I had to admit the bracelet didn't hold my attention as much as Eric's strange behaviour. He ran his hand through his long hair, brushing it back behind him so that it slowly fell forward again. "Come with me," he said and I jumped when I heard him speaking, he'd been silent for so long.
"Okay," I replied. We were walking then, back the way we'd come until we were back at the top of the staircase. We didn't head down though, instead we went into the restaurant where we were immediately seated at a table for two. I'd barely begun looking at the menu when a glass of red wine was placed in front of me a bottle of opened blood was placed before Eric. "Wow," I mumbled at the speed of the service.
"I'll just take the blood, and whatever the lady wants," Eric told the waiter.
"Just the chicken sandwich please," I asked politely. We sat in silence again, me taking awkward sips from my wine and Eric seemingly as relaxed as ever as he lounged in his chair, playing idly with the label on the bottle of blood. I didn't want to start up this particular conversation and he didn't seem to be in any rush, luckily my sandwich was brought over in only a couple of minutes which left us in private to talk.
"Do you want to ask questions?" He asked quietly and without looking at me; his eyes had that glazed over quality that told me he wasn't entirely seeing me sitting before him.
"Yes, but why don't you just tell me what you want to," I offered him a small smile and took a bit of the sandwich to prevent myself from continuing on. I'd developed an odd fondness of talking too much in awkward situations. The sandwich, as a side note, was rather delicious and came with some sort of dressing that I couldn't name but complemented everything else in there.
"As you know I was, am, a Viking, a warrior at that but I never left my family settlement for more than a couple of weeks at a time. We weren't peaceful, don't get that impression, we just didn't go overseas to do our fighting. We hunted, we fought for our hunting rights among the local settlements and we helped in any battles taking place within walking distance of a few days. I married a girl from my village; it was not arranged but it also was not entirely my own doing. My family liked her, she was a social equivalent to us and our status would only be improved during our union since I was such a good fighter." He wasn't boasting at all during this, he was just being genuine; he had been a good fighter, from what I'd seen and heard from him he was still a fighter, probably better than ever. I also had a feeling that his way with women had been similar during his human years if I was reading into his description of how his marriage had come about the situation of his marriage correctly.
"I was young, our first child didn't survive more than a couple of days but we had more, four. Three boys and a girl." I struggled to imagine Eric as a father figure, he would do well with teenage boys who would look up to his impressive nature but I just couldn't see him even holding a child in his massive arms. It seemed like an alien concept. "As I said, my wife's name was Aude. I gave her that bangle during the wedding festivities and it had been passed down in my family for some time. I wasn't intended to have it; I was only the second oldest of surviving sons from my parents but due to death and sickness it was given to me. I was turned into a vampire when my eldest was just short of eight. I never saw any of my family again after that, I don't know exactly what happened to them and I'm not entirely sure what happened to the unborn one."
My eyes grew wide at that; his wife had been pregnant when he'd been changed, a child he would never see. It screamed of sadness to me yet he was quite openly telling me all of this. It wasn't full of emotion, though few ever are with vampires, but it didn't seem painful. I had to wonder whether the saying 'time heals all wounds' was actually true, if you really did give it enough; this man had had a thousand years to heal, just over actually.
"You shouldn't look like that Sookie, it was the way it was supposed to be. Many vampires never see their family again, it is better if they don't for everyone involved." He paused and looked at me, stared would be more accurate as though he could see every little mark on my face, every dark eyelash surrounding my blue eyes and every pore in my skin.
"But you had a child and you don't know if he survived!" I replied softly, keeping the harshness out of my voice. I didn't want children, at least not for a long time as I just couldn't conclude how having a baby and not having full control over my telepathy would go very well. My control got weaker as I grew more tired as well.
"I don't think he did, I think it was also a girl."
"How do you know?" I took another bite of my sandwich to prevent the wave of question I had from spilling out.
"A few years after, I came across a record of the village, it listed that Aude had died during childbirth and that the baby girl died shortly afterward. It only gave the year and since I was changed during January it could have been my daughter or a daughter from another marriage."
"Another," I started out but he continued over the top of me.
"Yes, it was standard to marry again if the husband died, as you can imagine it happened a lot. I know one of my brothers would have taken in my other children."
"How does it not bother you to not know?" He took a long sip of his blood before answering my question and he accompanied the drink by sweeping one his hands through his long hair.
"It did at first, but I've had a thousand years Sookie. Even after fifty I knew that whatever happened to them wouldn't really matter anymore; they would most likely have all already joined the gods." He shrugged his shoulders. "You have to remember when I became a vampire I changed, it isn't like today's young vampires who are freely accepted into society so can potentially keeps friends and family. I gave up that life and started a new one. I was practical and my maker didn't necessarily believe in emotions that ran deeper than lust." Oh, that would open up a whole new conversation; it just wasn't the time for that.
"So you turned your back on your family?" It was only after I'd said the words that I realised how horrible they could sound and I opened my mouth to retract them when he stopped me with his finger brushing against the back of my hand.
"Not exactly how it sounds," he flashed a grin at me and it was the first sign of the vampire I'd walked into the museum with earlier; up until now he'd been strange, more thoughtful than I'd seen him before. "I didn't get much choice when I was changed but now I wouldn't change what happened for anything. I love being a vampire, in so many ways it is better than my human existence and I've seen so many things that I couldn't even dream about then. It was difficult at first I admit freely now but I wouldn't change anything." I couldn't sit in my seat any longer; the story may not have affected him that much but it had definitely affected me. I could feel the hot prickling of tears starting in my eyes and a small lump had formed in my throat.
I stood up from my chair, ignoring his perplexed expression and crouched down in front of the giant Viking, placing my hands on his shoulders. Carefully I leaned forward and kissed his lips so softly I felt as though I was melting. He remained still beneath me for a moment before kissing me back with equal tenderness so that our lips barely moved. I poured all my emotion into that one kiss between us, letting him know exactly how I felt. Slowly I pulled back, sighing against him as I did so, with a slight smile playing across my lips. When my eyes opened and I could glance back up at him a second later there was a bigger grin on his handsome face; the nostalgic being from only a few seconds ago completely gone.
"Let's go back to the hotel," he said and took my hand to lead me back, having already deposited way too much money down on the table to cover the bill.
"Thank-you," I said when I found that we'd pulled up outside of the hotel, down the side alleyway again, and I laid a gentle kiss to his cheek. Well, I was aiming for his cheek but he twisted round smoothly so that our lips were in perfect alignment, it was tender sweet and full of emotion that just felt strange coming from a vampire. He pulled back slowly, letting our lips linger together for as long as possible; with his eyes still closed softly. It was a beautiful sight, one that I only saw by pure accident; his face completely relaxed, the edges of his mouth pulled up ever so slightly in happiness.
The moment was soon over and Eric moved to pay the taxi driver, no doubt giving him a hefty tip, before helping me out of the car. We walked silently back into the hotel and down the deserted staff corridor that we were now all using, at least I'd seen several guests going this way when I'd been in the lobby area. Eric's hand never left my waist as we walked, even though the space in the corridor wasn't really big enough for us to walk side by side.
"I have to leave you here," he whispered into my ear, still looking forward. "I need to go and get something from my room. Will you be okay on your own?" I nodded my head. "Good, because you have a nose for trouble and I'd hate to miss it, you provide way too much fun." His lips brushed against my ear with the last word, sending tingles through my body and then he was gone, leaving me alone walking toward the elevators.
It was only as I was waiting for an elevator to arrive that I realised that I didn't need to go to my room at all; my clothing was suitable for the meeting, I was actually wearing a shirt that the Queen thought was suitable for work and I barely had half an hour spare anyway. So, I turned around and headed toward the bar, thinking that a drink would help about now, one wouldn't be enough to hinder me in any way but it might just take the edge off of the meeting I had to sit through.
I took a seat on one of the bar stools near the middle of the bar and managed to get the bar tenders attention quite swiftly. "Koko kanu and coke please," I asked, finally remembering the name of a coconut rum that Sam had introduced me to awhile ago; it tasted similar to Malibu but it was stronger in alcohol percentage and flavour, so overall it was just plain better.
"Coming right up."
"Is this seat taken?" It was a voice; that sounded very cheesy using a fake deepness. When I glanced up I found Caleb standing beside me, his hand on the bar stool to my right and a broad grin stretching across his lips.
"No, go ahead," I replied with an uneasy smile in return. I turned back to face the bartender and I found that my fingers had automatically started thrumming an impatient beat on the wooden counter top. This was the first time I'd seen Caleb since I'd come to the conclusion that something just wasn't right about him; my senses were telling me to be careful and up until now I hadn't been but, I had to have more faith in myself. Just as all the vampires had noticed, I seemed to have a nose for trouble and I didn't want to find any more so even if my rational brain thought it was something silly I had to take notice. So, I didn't want to be sitting beside him at the bar with no one around to help if the need arose and Eric would be gone for at least another ten minutes.
"How are you doing? I haven't seen you in awhile," he indicated to the bartender, who had just placed my drink in front of me that he wanted a pint of Tetley's and something to eat.
"I've just been a little busy, been going into London to see a few more of the sights."
"Oh, go on your own?" He asked with a precision to his speech that I didn't really like but I was too busy thinking about what he could really want to know, and therefore trying to control my shields more than before, that I didn't fully comprehend what he was saying.
"No, I went with one of the vampires." I felt the moment that my words sunk in; my face drained of colour and my sixty watt smile was immediately plastered across my face.
"Who?" There was an edge to his tone now; his pretences were beginning to slide and I was beginning to get the edges of a wave of red anger. I couldn't get into his brain, it was impenetrable almost, somewhere between a shapeshifter and a vampire, but with a distinctly human pattern to it.
"Eric," I whispered back and I knew it was the wrong thing to say, the really bad thing was that there wasn't a right sentence to use as a reply. Caleb didn't like Eric, it was clearly evident but I just didn't know why.
"What have you been up to?" I asked trying to cover my tracks and covering up my too bright smile by taking a long sip from my drink. It didn't feel like Caleb knew that something was going on, that I'd picked up on the otherness about him.
"Just been hanging around really, nothing much." He shrugged his shoulders and took a deep swig from his pint before wiping his lips on the back of his hand.
I had a burning desire to ask him a question that had been plaguing me for awhile now, I just didn't know how he was going to take it. My body was full of tension; my shoulders were beginning to cramp and my fingers were gripping onto my glass so tightly my knuckles were showing white. "What is it exactly that you do for the vampires?"
"Oh, I'm their day time human," he replied easily.
"Don't you have any special jobs, you know like what I do?" I couldn't believe that he was merely their day time human; he was around too much, he knew too much about them and about the other groups, there was something deeper to it than that.
"Not really, definitely not as important as you Sookie," he replied. I wasn't important, at least they didn't treat me as important even though Sophie Anne was always saying that she needed me around for jobs. If I got that low level of respect for doing something that actually helped the vampires out, there would be no way that Caleb would have been allowed to come to England, this trip was classed as a privilege.
"Oh right, that's kinda cool," I mumbled in reply, having no idea what was the proper reply to a statement like that. I took another sip of my drink, letting the strong coconut flavour wash over my tongue, and I used the motion as an excuse to take a long hard look at the man sat beside me.
His hair was a mess, in a rather cute way that said he ran his hands through it too much and maybe he'd been for an afternoon nap, but it also desperately needed cutting. It was the in between length where it's a little bit too long to slick back and not quite long enough for him to be able to hook it behind his ears. It was still the same jet black as I remembered but his blue eyes, striking in their appearance, seemed to have more intelligence and cunning in them today. Whether my brain was just making me see what I almost expected, I couldn't tell; it was still unsettling though. I finally took in the rest of his body, I'd never really looked past his face except to note that he was quite tall. He was also lanky, slim on the side of being skinny and I could see the play of small muscles in his forearms that flexed with every little motion. It was then that I also noted he was completely relaxed, not an ounce of tension rested on his shoulders and it was that fact that helped me lose a little bit of my own tension. Not much.
"Are you going to the meeting tonight?"
"Yes," I replied and it was barely audible since he'd already started asking another question.
"Will you sit by me? My group are giving me lax instructions for tonight." I didn't want to sit next to him at all, now I was aware of his problems I wouldn't be able to concentrate on my duties and with the amount of humans, possibly shifters as well, I would be really needed. Luckily for me I did have an easy way out of it that I'm sure the other person involved wouldn't mind.
"I'm sorry but I can't, I have to sit with my group. The Queen requires my close presence so she can give clear instructions and Eric will be sitting with me too."
"Oh," he started out and then took a large gulp of his beer before he continued. "Why do you have to sit with him?" He emphasised the last word, elongating it slightly and wrinkling his nose in distaste, a motion that knocked about five years off of his age. "Are you two actually together?" He managed to get control of his tone for that utterance, making it sound more jovial, almost as though we were two girlfriends gossiping.
"Well, it's complicated," I started out and I felt like a cliché even as I was speaking.
"Complicated," he stated in a dead pan tone, clearly disbelieving me. It was actually the truth, I didn't know what the situation between me and Eric was, I really needed to ask him, but I had to admit it was also because I didn't want to tell Caleb. It wasn't any of his business.
"Well, yes, honestly it is. We're assigned together while we're here at the conference, he's acting sort of like a body guard in addition to his normal duties." He nodded his head slowly, digesting the information and obviously making his own conclusions with the little information I had given him; I could feel his brain working, I knew he was deep in thought I just couldn't tell what he was thinking.
"Potato chip?" He opened and then brandished a bag at me that I hadn't even been aware had been what he ordered for food. I nodded, being polite, and grabbed the bag to steady it as I reached in for a chip.
My fingers brushed his as I did so and his thoughts washed over me in a swarming torrent that I had absolutely no control over. I recoiled back in horror, snatching my hand back and holding it my chest as though that would protect my mind from his.
"I have to go," I stammered out as I shuffled out of my seat. "I need to meet Eric before the meeting," I added, trying to cover my tracks while every fibre in my body was screaming for me to get out of the room.
"You haven't finished your drink yet," he replied with an expression that somehow managed to show confusion and innocence both at once.
"Oh," I mumbled out and grabbed the glass, downing the entire contents that was still left, in one go, letting it burn slightly at the back of my throat. The rich coconut flavour was thick as it slid down and formed a lump where my throat met my chest since I was too stressed out. "Sorry," I muttered before I spun on my heel and walked as fast as I was able to out of the restaurant and into the lobby.
"Fuck," I whispered with as much intonation as I could infuse. I needed to find Eric, quickly, and I could only hope he wasn't on his way back down, because I wasn't going to be going to my hotel room. I headed toward the bank of elevators and pressed the call button. I waited restlessly, tapping my foot, as I watched the red numbers lighting up that the elevator was descending.
I was overcome with a sense of foreboding, an undecipherable urge to move away from where I was and just run. Move away and not look back, the only problem was I only had one place that I could possibly run to. Instead of fleeing I turned around and looked at the people milling around me. There was the Staff at the reception desks but they wouldn't be able to do anything even if they did believe me. Some vampires were heading toward the conference room; early for the meeting but again they were no help to me. I didn't know them and I was of no great importance so they wouldn't lift a finger to help me. On the flip side of that, it also meant they were unlikely to go against me either. There was no sign of Caleb though, I assumed he was still at the bar enjoying his potato chips, however I still had an overwhelming sense of dread.
When I turned around back to the elevator I found the person I least wanted to be there leaning against the marble wall between two metal doors. I flinched back, almost taking a step before a leering smile came across his face. All I could see from his brain was a cloud of red anger that matched the pin prick pupils and blood shot eyes of his rage.
"Now then Sookie, where do you think you're going? You don't run away from your friends, especially not into the arms of a vampire." I couldn't think properly, the only thought running through my mind was a consistent strain of shit shit shit shit, mingled in with an intermittent fuck. I needed to get away from this situation.
"Caleb, you don't want this," I whispered out, hating our weak my voice sounded but I knew how helpless I really was against him, I'd seen inside his mind and I knew exactly what he was.
"Yes I do, and I'll get the reward for it too. I think the vampires will understand if I have a little fun first. Now," he pushed himself off of the wall and before I could take more than one step backward his vice like grip clamped down on my arm, faster than I would have thought possible for the amount of human he had in him. His hand covered my mouth before I could even attempt to scream and it smelt strange, rather sweet, but it took my strength. My hands beat against his chest, becoming weaker with ever swat until I couldn't even lift my arm. My last discernable thought, before the blackness engulfed me, was screaming for help in my head as though someone would be able to hear me. Too bad there weren't any other telepaths in the hotel.
So what did you think? You all knew this was coming with how this story opened up, and i know that none of you like Caleb. So, who knows what's different about him? You know I love feedback almost as much as i love a certain Viking vampire.
This weeks title, Your blood shot eyes will show your heart of treason comes from the Green Day song Viva La Gloria (little girl)
So, that's it folks until next friday. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful week.
*hugs*