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Chapter 24 - SPOV

When I came to, I was completely disoriented, drenched from head to toe and so so hot. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face, and I began to panic. And when I say panic, I meant that I was having a full blown panic attack.

I very quickly realized that panicking was not helping my state of being, so I started to school my breathing; in through my nose, out through my mouth. The air was incredibly thick, and I was coming to the realization that I was stuck in what I could only guess was a coffin. I had about ten inches of free space between my face and the top of the box.

I started to feel around for some find of handle, or latch or anything that I could manipulate to help me get out of this godforsaken place, but it was futile. Not only that, but maneuvering around was difficult seeing as my hands and feet were bound in shackles.

I knew that I couldn't get myself out, so I began to scream. "Please! Let me outta here!" I screamed, and I began to see sparks emit from my fingers, but it seemed to be ineffective and the sparks began to fizzle almost as quickly as they started.

I calmed myself and assessed my situation so that I could formulate a plan. I decided to focus on facts, mentally making a list of the things I knew. First, I had been taken and I could just assume that my captor or captors cared nothing for my welfare, seeing as how they shoved me in a coffin.

Second, they obviously knew about my heritage because they bound me in iron shackles which, not only hurt, but also seemed to be restricting any powers I had.

My bracelet had also been taken off me, and I was left pretty much defenseless. Third, Claudine was dead and Claudette's whereabouts and status was unknown, and that unnerved me to no end.

Third, I was taken by Weres, so I could assume that supernaturals were behind my abduction.

I still had my telepathy, so I concentrated on my surroundings to see if I could "hear" anyone. After a few minutes of listening, I came to the conclusion that I was pretty much alone. I had never gauged how far my telepathic range was, however if there were anyone close I know I would have heard them…unless. Shit vampires.

I had no idea what time it was, I knew I had been taken during the daytime, but it wasn't out of the range of possibility that a vampire would use Weres to do their daytime bidding. It was completely possible that the sun had already set…plus I was locked in a coffin. Not too many species just randomly kept spare coffins lying around.

Okay, so I deduced that Weres had kidnapped me at the behest of a vampire, but who would have a vendetta against me? I had personally driven the stake through Russell Edgington's heart and saw him turn into a pile of goo, so perhaps this was retaliation for that.

Eric had my blood, and I his, so we had a connection of sorts. How strong that connection was, I had no idea, but I hoped it was strong enough for him to track me.

I felt a void quickly approaching, and I prayed that it was Eric or Godric, but I should have known not to get my hopes up, not when vampires are involved.

The lid to the coffin was lifted and it took a minute for my eyes to adjust to even the dimmest of lighting. My eyes quickly focused on a man, actually vampire, that I had never seen before. He had deep brown eyes that almost looked black. He was probably about 5 ft 8" give or take with raven black hair. His facial bone structure was sort of odd, and he didn't have a lot of fat on his face so he looked perpetually starved, but he wasn't a necessarily an emaciated looking vampire by any means, in fact he looked quite muscular.

He looked at me with unadulterated odium and it made me feel quite scared for my existence. He could take me out in a heartbeat, especially because he had managed to bind my magic.

"So you are the infamous Sookie Stackhouse." He said in a bored tone, that I associated with all vampires. I didn't think he actually wanted an answer to that question, so I just looked at him with what I'm sure was a terrified expression.

"You have caused me a lot of problems, do you know that?" He asked, again was that rhetorical? I didn't even know him; much less know how much trouble I caused him.

He grabbed me by the shackles and lifted me from the coffin as if I was as light as a feather. He dragged me out of the room, then out of the house, or should I say shack, and then threw me unceremoniously into the trunk of an older model Lincoln Continental.

I wanted to ask about Claudette, but a part of me wasn't prepared to know the truth. Also, I was afraid to upset the vampire because the truth was that I had no idea what his motivation for taking me was, and I didn't know if I had anything to bring to the negotiation table.

We drove for only about ten or fifteen minutes, before the car stopped and the trunk opened. The vampire, again, grabbed me by my shackles and pulled me from the car, dragging me to a field where I saw two other people standing across from one another. I could hear their thoughts, though they were slightly muffled because they were Weres, but they were thinking about casting a spell.

I had never known that Weres could be witches as well, but these two women were. They both held a book of matches and a mason jar filled with herbs. Their thoughts were pretty concentrated on the task at hand. This spell that they were going to cast on me was going to remove any vampire blood in my system, which would effectively block Eric from finding me.

At that realization, I felt any hope I might have had leave completely. I felt incredibly powerless and hopeless. It was clear that this vampire knew me incredibly well. He must have known about my association to Eric, otherwise why would he insist that this spell take place.

"Marnie." The vampire spoke authoritatively. "We cannot waste time. Do the spell." He ordered, then pushed me towards the two Were witches.

"Stand here and hold this." The witch, Marnie, said roughly handing me a mason jar and a pack of matches. "Go stand over there." She ordered me and pushed me a little closer to the other witch. "Put down the Jar." She said without emotion. "When I say go, you light the match, place it in the jar and walk around the jar three times." She instructed.

I didn't want to do what she asked me, because I knew what the consequence was, but I also didn't want to upset two Were witches and a vampire.

I couldn't help the tears that were falling silently. I tried to be so strong, god knows I did, but I truly felt hopeless.

The witch began chanting, and I saw my fingers light up slightly, as if my body was trying to repel the spell, but again the sparks died out quickly.

"Strike the match, then walk around the jar." Marnie instructed, and I did exactly what she asked. The little flames burned brightly in my jar as I circled it three times, as instructed. I didn't really feel anything, but I suppose the spell worked.

"It's done." Marnie declared. "My debt to you has been fulfilled." Marnie declared to the vampire.

"Your debt is finished when I say its finished!" The vampire boomed menacingly. He lunged at Marnie so quickly that I hadn't had time to see him make a move. He ripped out her heart and sucked the blood from her aorta like she was a juice box.

A small sob escaped my mouth and I cringed at how brutal this vampire was. The other witch collapsed on the ground and looked to be in some kind of shock.

The vampire sauntered back over towards me and grabbed me roughly once again, and pulled me to the trunk, shutting the lid. I felt the far depress, and the engine start. We drove a little farther this time. It seemed as though we were on the road for half an hour maybe a little longer.

This time when he stopped and the trunk lid popped open, I looked around, cataloging every detail of my surrounding.

Dirt road, cracker house with unpainted wood surrounded by a thick forest of trees and bushes. I smelled Louisiana Bayou, so I knew I was close to some kind of water.

"Now." The vampire said dragging me from the trunk again, which was getting old by the way. "Let me introduce myself" He said dragging me into the house. He threw me down onto an old, dirty couch.

"I am István." He declared as if that name was supposed to mean something to me. He gauged my reaction for a few minutes as he hunched down and got right in my face and said the three words that sealed my fate.

"I made Lorena."