Hello guys! Another chapter, shorter yes, but another chapter none the less :) hope you like it!
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Btw, thanks to you all for the great suggestions and ideas and comments, they keep me productive :P
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ENJOY :)
Hunter wasn't in the kitchen. In fact, he was nowhere in the house.
'Oh my god Eric where can he be?' I yelped terror washing over me.
'He can't have gone that far.' Eric reassured me.
'What if someone has him?' I said, feeling tears welling up in my eyes.
'I would have smelled someone. No, I'm sure he went out by himself and just saw something that interested him.' Eric said, looking around the backyard, scanning the darkness. Supernatural sight of course.
'Bill's!' I exclaimed, dashing for the door. Eric followed and a few moments later we barged in Bill's house. We came up to quite a touching sight. Hoyt was swirling Hunter in the air, while Jessica was watching them, laughing.
'Hunter!' I yelped, grabbing him from Hoyt's arms and cuddling him to my arms. 'Are you alright?' I asked him.
Aunt Sookie, I can't hear her either, he thought at me, referring to Jessica. Oh damn, I hadn't told him we couldn't hear vampires.
She's a vampire, like Eric. A nice one. We can't hear vampires, sweetie. You'll come to like that...
'Who is he, Sookie? He says you're his aunt?' Jessica asked. 'I'm sorry I was about to bring him home, really I swear. He's just so cute.' She explained, sincere. I wasn't mad at her, more at myself for letting Hunter get away.
'It's alright. He's okay, that's all that counts.'
Hoyt just stared at Jessica, Eric, me and Hunter, a bit confused.
'Oh. Right.' Jessica muttered. 'You know Sookie, Hoyt? This is Eric. Her... friend?'
'And this is Hunter, my cousin's son.' I added, patting Hunter on the shoulder. 'Where'd you find him?' I asked Jessica.
'He was just wandering on the lawn, looking around. He seems like a curious little boy.' Hoyt said, smiling. The guy was a sweetheart. I was really happy Jessica had found him. 'Then he told us his aunt Sookie was pissed at him so that's why he went for a walk.' Hoyt finished, shrugging.
'I wasn't pissed at you, sweetie!' I pleaded, hugging Hunter tightly.
You said that Mamma was stupid. For letting Sophie-Anne know about me...
I didn't mean it like that, Hunter...It's just Sophie-Anne's real bad. She's a mean Vampire.
Can we go home? I'm tired...he thought, rubbing his eyes.
'You tired, buddy? Happens when you go running about scaring your aunt' Eric said, picking up Hunter like he weighted as much as a pebble. Which was probably how it felt for him anyways. I found it quite adorable that he'd actually carry Hunter. I hadn't known Eric to be such a sweetheart. Hunter laughed and relaxed against Eric's shoulder, sleepy.
'Thanks for finding him.' I simply said to Hoyt and Jessica and out we went and back to our place. My place. Jesus, I was starting to think of me and Eric as a thing. It scared me a bit because I knew this couldn't last much longer. Sooner or later the curse with be lifted and Eric would go back to being the Vampire Sheriff and I would resume my life as the Telepathic Barmaid.
I took a sleepy Hunter to the bathroom where I helped him change to his pyjamas and then made sure he brushed his teeth carefully. I then tucked him into bed, kissed him goodnight and closed the door to my old bedroom.
'Is he okay?' Eric asked me when I finally emerged in the living room.
'Yes.' I replied, slumping down on the couch. The kid had drained me.
'Are you?' Eric asked again, sitting on the floor at my feet.
'I guess. This is such a big mess. With the werewolves, the witches, that bitch Sophie-Anne and Hadley in trouble and Jason missing. Sometimes, I just wish I'd wake up and everything would be back to the way it was before Bill walked in my life.' I said, massaging my temples.
'I wouldn't have met you.' Eric said, his hand on my thigh, drawing patterns on my skin. I shivered under his touch and smiled.
'You're right. You'd have missed out on all the fun that Sookie Stackhouse is.' I replied, sarcastic.
'My life would be quite boring if you weren't in it to rattle the cage.' Eric said, grinning mischievously. His cell phone suddenly rang. His ringtone almost made me giggle. It was a cheesy little song that he had for Pam's calls. He picked up.
'Pam.' He said. 'What is it?' There was a pause while he listened to her. 'Alright. See you later.' He clicked off.
'Pam's coming?' I asked.
'She's on her way. She says they might have information.' He replied. 'I don't regret meeting you one minute.' He continued, as if we hadn't been interrupted. Kneeling, he closed the space between our faces and kissed me softly.
'What will happen when the curse is lifted and you don't have to be with me anymore?' I asked him, more afraid of his answer than I should have been. Our faces were an inch apart and he was gazing at me, dreamily.
'You'll be mine.' He simply said, capturing my mouth once more. 'That's how it should be.' He concluded. I could feel a mix of emotions through the bond: he was excited and horny (as of usual), but he was also very caring, protective. And boy did I feel safe with him.
'Eric.' I muttered against his lips, tensing.
'What?' He grunted, his mouth all over my neck.
'Pam's here.' I replied, smiling a bit.
'Who cares?' He said, continuing his ministrations on my neck. God was I enjoying it. But then again I had to let Pam in.
'Let me go, evil man.' I giggled before finally detangling myself from his embrace. I went to the door and opened it to a somewhat more lively Pam. In fact, I'd never seen her look more...alive. It was bizarre. She looked all jittery and excited.
'Hello Sookie.' She said her voice as cool as a cube of ice. Oh right, so much about a lively Pam.
'Hey Pam, do come in.' I invited her, moving out of the way so she could come in. She looked around my house with genuine curiosity. She'd been here before but apparently the place had not been worthy of her attention until her master had inhabited it. Eric came out of the living room, looking guilty but I couldn't tell why.
'Eric.' Pam greeted him, cocking a playful eyebrow. Her nose twitched and she turned to look at me than at the closed bedroom door where Hunter was sleeping.
'You have a miniature human in the place?' she asked, confused as to who the miniature human could be.
'It's my nephew, Hunter. He's here for the night.' I explained, still confused as to why Eric looked so guilty.
'I hate children. They're moppy and whiny. Do you mind if I speak with Eric for a minute?' Pam coolly asked me. I retreated to the kitchen but realised I could still hear them. Ah well...Sneaky little me was curious anyways.
'So that's what you're doing whilst we're trying to fix the mess you've made in Shreveport? Fucking the human girl?' Pam asked, sarcasm dripping from her every word. Geez Louise, she wasn't pleased was she?
'This is none of your business, Pam. I can't be in Shreveport right now and you know it.' Eric snarled.
'Right. But I still have to fix the mess. And you're still fucking around whilst you could be doing something useful such as asking the local Wiccans for their help!' Pam replied, equally pissed. What the heck? Holly was the only local Wiccan I could think about and I didn't trust her the least bit.
'Cut to the chase, why are you here?' Eric asked, pissed. I stepped out of the kitchen and came to stand by his side. Pam looked at me as if I were a mere piece of furniture and turned back to Eric.
'We know why the witches want you so bad.' Pam dropped, eyeing me suspiciously.
'And why is that?' Eric asked.
'Think a bit, Eric. What could bloodthirsty and power driven witches want from you?' Pam taunted, sneering.
'Oh sweet Jesus!' I exclaimed, suddenly understanding. 'They want to drain him?'
Pam looked at me and almost smiled. Yes, Pam, humans have brains too.
'The human has it. You're worth a lot on the market, Eric...' Pam added. Eric looked unimpressed.
'That's it? They want to drain me? How do they expect to do that?' he said, his voice cool.
'Capture you and silver you? Or simply capture Sookie. You can't stay away from her, they'd just have to wait for you to magically show up. They're no ordinary witches, Eric. Hallow and her brother are both werewolves and they fuel themselves with V. They are much faster and nastier than your average witch. And smarter.' Pam replied.
'So they want your blood for their personal use? Wouldn't they have some for like... a lifetime with how tall you are and all?' I asked Eric.
'Considering a vial of blood is now sold around 400$ on the market when the blood is of quality and the fact they don't need that much for their use, I'm guessing they want to sell it...' Pam muttered, gloomily.
'Okay. So what are we supposed to do?' I asked, furious at the mere idea that some bitch wanted to drain my Viking.
'Don't trust anyone. Except maybe the local Wiccans. I know for a thing that they don't like Hallow's gang much. She's tried to pressgang them into her bunch but they all refused. They could be of help figuring out how you guys could get rid of the curse.'
'We could talk to Holly. I know for a thing she's Wiccan. She practically yells it on the roofs. I just don't know if she's trustworthy.' I said, my hand on Eric's arm. He seemed to be experiencing downtime and he was looking at the wall pointedly. His fingers however grasped mine when we touched.
...How can I keep her safe if they want me? Maybe I could trick them into capturing us and then what... where do they hide anyways? Damn it... wish Pam would go away so I could get back to...
Oh. My. God. I swiftly removed my fingers from Eric's hand and stared at him, dumbfounded.
'What?' he asked, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration.
'No..Nothing.' I said, moving backwards towards the kitchen. 'I'll be right back.'
I went into the kitchen and pressed my forehead against the cool fridge. I had just heard Eric's thought. That was the only explanation possible. But how? I'd never heard a vampire's thoughts before. Was my ability developing? Or was it the blood bond? Or the curse? Whatever it was, I couldn't let Eric know that. The fact I couldn't hear vampires was the sole reason I hadn't been murdered my first night in Fangtasia. There was a reason why vampires let me be around them even though I was...special. And it was because I could hear everybody's thoughts but theirs. If they knew...
'What's wrong Sookie?' Eric said, turning me around to look at him.
'Nothing.' I lied, my heartbeat erratic.
'I can feel your pulse. And even if I couldn't, you're a terrible liar.' He muttered, his gaze drilling holes in my eyes, as if he could excavate the truth from my brain. 'Tell me, what is it?'
'You'd kill me if I did.' Was all I whispered before I walked out of the room. I went back to the living room and sat across Pam on the sofa. She was handling one of my Buffy DVD case and finding it rather amusing.
'Do you humans actually enjoy this?' She asked me.
'It is quite entertaining, you should try it sometime.' Eric said, as he followed me into the room. He looked annoyed and pissed. And the bond told me it went actually deeper than that. He hated information being kept from him.
'We'll talk later.' Was all he said to me before greeting Pam goodbye after giving her instructions regarding the witch situation.
I was in trouble, I could tell. He barged back into the room and tackled me against the wall.
'Now, tell me why I'd have to kill you if you told me what's wrong.' He ordered me, cupping my chin with his hand. I was about to tell him when someone knocked at the door.
'I have to get it. It might be important.' I muttered. He let me go, his left arm still on the wall and he looked at me as I walked towards the door.
'Sookie! Please open up!' I heard a female voice yelp. Hadley. Panicked.
I opened the door and allowed her in. She looked dishevelled and scared and she almost fainted when she spotted Eric.
'What's he doing here? Has he come to finish her job?' Hadley whispered, hiding behind me. Eric simply cocked his head, unsure.
'What is it Hadley? Who's after you?'
'Sophie-Anne. She's decided to turn me.' Hadley dropped, tears in her eyes.
'What?' Eric and I both snapped. I looked at him and then out the door, gesturing for him to close it.
'Why would she want to turn you?' I asked Hadley, helping her to a kitchen chair.
'She says she loves me and wants to keep me with her forever. But I know all she wants is to order me to hand you or Hunter over to her. I used to like her but she's been acting so weird these past weeks. That's why I brought Hunter here.' Hadley hiccupped, tears rolling down her cheeks.
'Why did you even let her know you had a son? She doesn't know what he is, does she?' I muttered. Hadley looked from me to Eric.
'He knows?' she asked me, fearful.
'He figured it out. Hunter doesn't control it very well, Hadley.' I explained. 'But he won't turn in him to Sophie-Anne, I can promise you. He'd have to kill me first.' I replied, pointedly starring at Eric. He starred back with as much intensity. Obviously, he had not forgotten our aborted discussion and intended to finish it the moment the Hadley situation was taken care of.
'I want Sophie-Anne to go down just as much as the two of you.' Eric simply dropped, leaning on the kitchen counter.
'Okay, what do you want us to do, Hadley?' I asked her, offering her some tissues to wipe her face.
'I don't know, Sookie. I don't know. I need to get Hunter to safety, and I'm guessing the only safe place for him right now is very far from me...' she said, her voice raspy.
'Can't you bring him to his father's place?' I asked, pragmatic.
'I could. I'd need to call Remy first and ask him if he doesn't mind keeping Hunter for a few weeks.' Hadley answered.
'Where was Hunter the whole time you were at the Queen's Palace?' Eric asked.
'He was with Remy. I had Hunter only twice per month, always on weekends. But the last time he was with me, Sophie-Anne came over and met him. I told him to be careful and never allow anyone to know what his power was, ever since you made me realise he was like you.' Hadley explained. 'But you know Sophie-Anne. She's jealous and doesn't tolerate her humans to have anyone outside the palace. She wants me rid of Hunter I think.'
'And she thinks that if she turns you she will get what she wants...' Eric completed.
'Yes.' Hadley replied, looking at him, all hopeful. 'Can you help? I know you're strong and all...' she started.
'I am older than your Queen... But until the new Magister can find enough evidence to bring her down, I must obey her. Even though she is young, selfish and foolish. She thinks the whole political part is just a game, she doesn't see the bigger picture.' Eric growled.
'Than what do we do?' I said, my voice empty.
'I'm afraid we can't do much for Hadley.' Eric replied, causing Hadley to double back in tears. 'But we might be able to protect Hunter.' He added. 'We have to bring him to his father. It can't be you bringing him otherwise Sophie-Anne will simply follow your track...' Eric started and then he looked up at Hadley, as if he'd just realised something. 'You've had her blood haven't you?' He asked, alert.
'Yes and she mine.' Hadley muttered.
'Then this means Sophie-Anne knows where you are. She might even be on her way...' Eric dropped. Talk about luring the wolf to the sheeps, I thought grimly. We were really in deep, deep shit.