Chapter Eleven:
"Here you are Miss."
Mackenzie swallowed hard as she gazed up at the house she hadn't seen with her own two eyes in three and a half years. Nothing looked different at all, the large house, teetering on mansion, was set back from the road, a stonewall barricading the property in. A grand iron gate stood between her and her childhood home, the key to open the gate weighing heavily in her pocket.
This was it.
"Miss?" the taxi driver pulled her out of her thoughts.
Sending the man a smile, Mackenzie fished out the handful of bills and handed them over. "Thank you, keep the change."
The man's eyes widened at the tip, mumbling a thank you as Mackenzie slid out of the taxi. The driver hurriedly climbed out as well, pulling her bags out of the back. Mackenzie was grateful, and let the driver know as she braced herself against the car door. Closing her eyes, she breathed deeply, trying to steady herself as the world spun around her. She should have eaten at the airport, her stomach told her that, but she had just been too afraid that she would get on the plane, and the good day she was having would go down the drain. The good ones were usually so far and few between that she would do whatever she could to keep it from ending so quickly.
"There you go, Miss." The taxi driver rolled the suitcases just before the iron gates, his eyebrows rising at the size of the land. "What a place!"
"Yeah, what a place." Mackenzie couldn't help but smile as she forced her eyes open, gazing back up at the house. Her heart fluttered happily at the sight. She had waited so long to be here, to be standing in this very spot.
She was finally home.
"Have a good night Miss." He nodded at her, getting back into the car.
Mackenzie waved as she pushed herself away from the taxi, shutting the door with her hip, which she immediately regretted. Hissing, her hand went straight to her side, biting down hard on her bottom lip. There was going to be another bruise there soon enough. Not that it would matter. She could barely keep track of them all now. It was why even though it was now summer, and the heat in Louisiana was stronger than she remembered, she still wore her usual long sleeved shirt and jeans. It was the only things that would hide the bruises from view. She was tired of having to answer question after question.
Watching as the taxi rolled away, Mackenzie moved towards the gate, pulling out the key and slipping it into the rusty lock. Her smile soon widened into a grin as she pushed the gate open, basking in the sweet sight. She never thought this day would ever come. She never thought she would be back here.
But here she was, home sweet home.
Or at least she hoped so.
She had no idea what Eric's reaction would be to seeing her here. She hadn't called, she hadn't emailed or sent him any indication that she was coming home. She knew that if she did, he would go out of his way to make sure she didn't get on that plane. It was hard enough as it was, knowing that she was risking rejection, risking another heartbreak by coming here unannounced.
But it was a risk she needed to take.
She could feel her body weakening, and even though she fought tooth and nail to fight through the pain, fight through the destruction the cancer had caused, she knew it was only a matter of time now. And if she were going to die, if she was going to lose the young life she had, then she was going to do so in the comfort of her own home. New York could only be her home for so long. At the end of the day, it was this house that she yearned for, it was her own family, no matter how dysfunctional they were, that she desired.
"Well here goes nothing." She sucked in a breath before grasping suitcase in each hand and began forward.
She had to stop, every so often down the paved path, the exhaustion quickly setting in. Mackenzie frowned as she glared down at herself, cursing this damn disease. She had walked the length of this driveway a thousand times before and had never been out of breath. But she could barely walk from the bedroom to the bathroom without having the wind knocked right out of her.
Mackenzie refused to stop for long, however, and cut her resting time short as she was determined to at least make it to the front door before she keeled over. She could have had the taxi take her right up to the house, but Eric would kill her if he knew she had let some stranger onto their property. She at least understood his reasons for that now, knowing that as a vampire, safety was the number one priority against unwanted predators.
Especially now when you had psychotic church groups just waiting to capture a vampire and fry them to a crisp.
"Almost there." Mackenzie gasped out in encouragement. Just a few more steps and she would be there. It wouldn't be long now until she was curled up in her own bed.
Before she could reach the front porch however, the front door was yanked open, light spilling out of the house. Mackenzie froze, her eyes widening like a deer caught in headlights. She had no idea what to do. She hadn't thought about what she would say to Eric. She hadn't thought that far in advanced. She just knew she had to come here. That was as far as she let herself plan.
Mackenzie couldn't move as a figure came into view, stepping out of the house. He was talking in what she had come to known as Swedish into a phone, not even realizing he was being watched. And by her of all people.
"I'm on my way." Eric switched to English, rolling his eyes as he locked the front door and made his way down the porch stairs. It was only when he was slipping his phone back into his leather jacket that he looked up. He stopped dead in his tracks the moment he saw her, his entire body growing rigid.
Eric knew the moment he laid his eyes on her that it was Mackenzie. He would know those blue eyes, that mane of blonde hair anywhere. He would never admit it to anyone, though he suspected Pam had discovered it when she was rummaging through his desk the other week, but he had a picture of her as a child stashed away in a drawer. It was a photo Karen had taken on one of her many birthdays, a photo he had found and framed many years ago. It was a reminder of why he was doing this all, a reminder that he so desperately wanted to keep the innocence of that ten year old girl.
But as he stared across the driveway at Mackenzie, he realized she was no longer a little girl. She had grown taller, though she was still much shorter than even Pam was. Her hair he spied, hit her mid back, not much of a change in the style she used to wear it as a child when Pam wasn't forcing some ridiculous hairstyle on her. It was her eyes, however, that told her age. She had certainly matured over the few years he hadn't seen her.
At least not face to face.
"Mackenzie." He found his voice.
"Hi." She greeted softly, looking so much like the frightened four year old he had first discovered fourteen years ago.
"What are you doing here?" He questioned her, trying to understand why she was suddenly here, so out of the blue. He tried to remember if she had called, if she had left him a message indicating she was coming. But no, he couldn't remember any hint at all, and knew that Pam would have told him if she had known. So why was she here? "Don't you have school?"
Mackenzie was shaken from her shock of seeing Eric. He looked exactly as he did when she was a child. He was a vampire; he was frozen in time, never to age, never to change. Only his hair was shorter, and now slicked back instead of hanging down around his shoulder. It was the only difference however, the only slight alteration that reminded her that so much had changed.
"Mackenzie." His tone lowered. The longer they stood out there, just staring at one another, the more danger Mackenzie would be put in. he needed to figure out why she was here and how to send her back away.
Even if all he wanted to do was take her in his arms and never let her leave his sight.
"I…er…I graduated." She shifted from one foot to another. If he had been human, he never would have noticed the sharp intakes of breath she seemed to be taking, struggling to remain on her feet.
"I see." He nodded slowly, his frown deepening. Had it really been three years already? Was she really eighteen and graduating the posh boarding school he had sent her to so many years ago? Time had never mattered to a vampire, but as his gaze swept over the young woman standing before him, for the first time in a thousand years, he was beginning to realize just how short time truly was.
"I thought maybe…maybe I could come home." Her voice was tiny as her gaze dropped. She could feel the toll the walk up the driveway had taken on her body, but with sheer determination, she stayed upright. She knew eventually, she would have to tell Eric and Pam; eventually she would have to come clean. But she wasn't sure if tonight was that night. Not yet anyways. She needed time.
She needed to know she wasn't just going to be thrown back to the curb.
"It's still not safe, Mackenzie." Eric sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Her family never stopped searching for her, and according to his sources, they had taken up company of the Fellowship of the Sun. With their resources, they've become a much bigger threat. One whiff that she was anywhere near here, and Mackenzie's life would be in danger.
He refused to let them have her.
Mackenzie's face fell. "It's been three years since vampires revealed themselves."
"Exactly, it's only been three years, Mackenzie."
"But it's never going to be perfect." She tried to point out. "Humans are never going to accept vampires. It's never going to be completely safe."
Eric didn't respond, his gaze instead rising to the night sky. He didn't want to watch as the tears formed, as her expression crumbled. It was easier to disappoint her over the phone, when he wouldn't have to see the heartbreak in person. He was a thousand year old Viking, but at the sight of her tears, his facade crumbled. It always had. He never wanted to admit it, but she had had him wrapped around her finger for too long now.
"I don't have anywhere else to go." Mackenzie's chest tightened in fear. Had she made the wrong choice? She thought maybe just maybe if she showed up here, if she came without notice, that Eric would have no choice but to let her stay.
But maybe she had been wrong.
"It's too dangerous, Mackenzie."
"But…" she wrapped her arms around herself. "You always promised I could come home. I've graduated now and…and I want to come home."
And he wanted her here. Oh how he wanted Mackenzie to come home. As frustrating as the teenage girl was, she had breathed life into this house, into his every day routine. Especially now, with mainstreaming in affect, with the AVL and Authority riding the Sheriffs harder now than ever before. His duties had increased, and most days he just wanted to sit in seclusion instead of up on his throne at Fangtasia. Even before the stress had gotten to him, Mackenzie had always been his distraction. He yearned for a mere hour of just sitting with her, watching her ridiculous TV shows or just watching as she read one of her many novels. It had been his only escape from he responsibilities as Sheriff he never wanted. The only reason he had taken this job was to ensure he and Pam would be well off. He didn't care about politics, about keeping the peace.
And now here he was, doing exactly that.
Feeling more alone than he had in his thousand years.
But could he risk her life, just because he was selfish, because he wanted his surrogate daughter all to himself? Her life was more important to him than any other breather's has ever been. He would go to the end of the world and back to ensure her psychotic family didn't lay a finger on her.
Even if that did mean breaking her heart.
"It's just too dangerous, Mackenzie. I'm sorry but it is." Eric risked a glance down at the girl. At just the right angle, as the moon shined down on them, he caught just how pale she was. Eric frowned, remembering her to be tanned and full of life the last time he had seen her. Albeit, she had lived in the north for the past three years, but she was nearly as pale as a vampire. Her eyes looked sunken in, the skin stretching across her cheekbones. Her shoulders looked sharp as her clothes hung off of her. She may not biologically his, but he could feel it in his bones that something was off, that something was wrong. She had only gotten sick once in her life, a time he didn't like to remember.
So what could possibly be wrong with her?
"Please?" her eyes filled with tears as her hope began to dwindle. "I just want to come home."
At the first sighting of tears, Eric couldn't stop himself as he closed the gap between them, raising his hands to try and brush the tears away.
"Don't do that. You know I hate it when you cry. Stop that. I forbid crying, remember?"
"I'm not crying." She tried to pull away from him, but she just didn't have the strength. All that she could muster was just trying to keep her from falling over. She was starting to feel lightheaded and knew she would have to lie down soon. But how was she supposed to voice that without giving it all away? She had already noticed the odd looks as his orbs swept over her. Eric wasn't an idiot. He was going to figure out something wasn't right eventually.
She just really didn't want that to be tonight.
"Always so stubborn." Eric rolled his eyes.
"Your fault." She muttered.
"Too right you are." He brushed a lock of hair back behind her ear, cupping her cheeks in his hands. He searched her face, searching those blue pits in hope that he could find all his answers. But she was heavily guarded, learning from the best. He could have just glamoured her, but he had made himself a promise too long ago never to do such a thing. He couldn't betray her like that. "What am I supposed to do with you?"
"Please don't send me away again." It tore his heart to pieces to hear her pain. "Please let me stay. I just really want to come home. Please?"
"Under one condition." He silently cursed himself. This was going to come back to bite him in the ass, he just knew it.
He just wasn't sure if he could destroy her again.
"No more crying." He gave her the smallest of smiles
She sniffed, trying to rub at her eyes, looking so much younger than she was. "I can't make any promises. I'm a girl. We cry a lot."
"Just don't make it a habit." He tried to sound serious, but he couldn't wipe the rare smile away as he brushed his lips against her forehead. "You should feel very lucky, Mackenzie. I've come to hate breathers as of late."
"You've always hated humans." She pointed out, trying to pull herself together. She couldn't hide, however, the relief that flooded out of her. She had been so worried. She had feared that he was just going to turn her away again, that all hope would be lost, that she would yet again, be alone and abandoned.
But Eric, much like he had when she was only seven, had surprised her.
Maybe he always would come back for her.
"Good point." He snickered before letting his hands drop back down to his side and took a step back. The mask he had perfected over the years returned to his face as he remembered the time and the annoyed progeny he had waiting at the bar. "I have to go."
For a moment, Mackenzie froze, wondering if her relief had been for no reason. Eric, noticing this, nodded at the house.
"Go get settled, Mackenzie. I'll try and get away as soon as I can."
Her shoulders slumped forward, the smile he had missed spreading across her lips. "Thank you."
"There will be rules though. We'll talk about it later. Now go." He motioned her towards the house before he slipped his car keys from his pocket. "I better go before Pam rips a human apart for just looking at her wrong. Wouldn't be the first time."
Mackenzie wasn't sure whether to laugh or feel disgusted. Eric smirked at her reaction, ruffling her hair before moving towards the garage.
"Try and get some rest, you look…tired." It wasn't the right word to describe how she looked. She looked like death. Eric just wasn't sure why.
"It's been a long day." Mackenzie covered.
Eric simply nodded, twirling his keys around his fingers. "The kitchen is more or less empty, did you want me to pick you something up on my way home?"
"Oh, um…" her hand went to her stomach, her nose scrunching up. "I'll be okay."
Taking in her too skinny form, Eric noted to himself to have Pam pick her something up.
"I'll be home soon." He assured her.
Mackenzie nodded as she grasped onto her suitcases and slowly rolled them towards the porch. Eric frowned as he eyed her while pressing open the garage door. She looked as if she was forcing herself forward, like if it wasn't for her sheer will, that she would topple over and just break before his very eyes.
Eric made himself a promise to get to the bottom of what was wrong with his Mackenzie. And sooner rather than later.
"Colour me impressed." Pam smirked, her hands planted on her hips as she took in the sight before her. Shaking her head, she shot her maker a wider smirk. "She certainly surprised us, now didn't she?"
"I thought I was seeing things when I left tonight and found her outside." Eric admitted, walking across the Library to where Mackenzie had, as she always tended to do, fallen asleep in her usual corner chair with a book in her hands. He brushed a few stray stands out of her face before lifting her with ease. He did frown, however, when he realized just how light she was. She barely weighed a thing for an eighteen year old girl.
"Can't believe she just showed up." Pam commented. "Then again, she has spent far too much time around us."
"If I didn't know better, I would think she was trying to play games with me. I was set to send her back to New York." Eric carried Mackenzie out of the Library and up the stairs to her room.
Pam followed close behind, doing her best to try and conceal the smile threatening to grace her lips. "Her family has moved on from Louisiana, Eric. They have for a while now. I don't see why you didn't go there yourself to get her."
"I couldn't risk it." Eric shook his head, gazing down at the sleeping girl in his arms. No matter how old she got, she would always be so tiny to him, so much like the little girl that ran around these halls not long ago. "I couldn't lose her because I was selfish."
"It's not selfish to want your daughter in the same state as you." Pam pointed out.
"She's not my…" Eric trailed off, sighing as he pushed open the door to Mackenzie's bedroom. It wasn't the first time the room had been opened. Once in awhile, he found himself drawn to the room, just seeking out her scent, to ensure himself that the past fourteen years hadn't just been one long, drawn out dream.
"Believe what you want, Eric." Pam rolled her eyes. After fourteen years of raising her, Mackenzie was his, theirs. Eric could try his hardest to deny it, but she was his daughter in every possible way except blood.
"Are you sure Chow can close up?" Eric tried to change the subject as he set Mackenzie down on her bed. He pushed down the bed sheets before lifting them over her sleeping form. He halted, however, the moment he noticed the hem of her shirt begin to ride up. Frowning, he peered closer and was alarmed to find a large bruise forming on her hip.
Pam waved his question off. "Chow's a big boy. It's about time he learned to do something useful. Longshadow may have stolen from us, but at least he did his share."
Eric wasn't paying her any attention however, as he gently lifted the bottom of Mackenzie's shirt just enough to realize the forming bruise was only one of many.
"Are you even listening to me?" Pam huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and raising an eyebrow. "What are you even doing, Eric?"
"Come here." He ordered, stepping back as he motioned towards Mackenzie. "Look at this."
Pam, intrigued, crossed the room and peeked over Eric's shoulder at Mackenzie's bare side. Only it wasn't bare. Black and purple bruises littered her hip and side, and she could even spy some inching across her abdomen and back.
"What the…" Pam moved closer, shooing Eric away as she got a better look. Lifting the girl's shirt some more, she was shocked to find more bruises. "What the hell?"
"Who did this to her?" Eric growled, the anger boiling inside of him at the prospect of anyone laying their hand on Mackenzie. He would seek them out and rip them apart, limb-by-limb, until he was satisfied.
"You don't know if anyone did this to her." Pam pointed out as she set Mackenzie's shirt back in place, placing the sheets over her as she stepped back. She gazed over her shoulder at her maker, and wasn't surprised in the least to find his fangs extended, looking ready to attack. "Oh calm down, Eric. We don't know anything. The bruises could be from anything."
"Like?" he challenged her. "Look at her Pam. Tell me something isn't wrong. I dare you."
Pam sighed but glanced back down at Mackenzie. Eric had a point. She was far too thin, looking on the verge of starved, and she was paler than even a vampire. She looked like the epitome of death.
"So something might be wrong." Pam shrugged, trying not to make a big ordeal out of it. Though it was all an act. Inside, Pam was trying to ever recall a time when Mackenzie attempted to call and sounded off. Maybe she could have prevented something like this from happening. "She could just be sick, Eric."
"Explain the bruises."
"There's a million reasons why she could have the bruises." Pam turned towards her maker. "Don't make a big deal out of it just yet Eric. You can't go tearing apart New York jut because of a few bruises. That won't exactly do well for the mainstreaming movement."
"I don't give a fuck about mainstreaming." Eric hissed with narrowed eyes. "I just want to kill the fucker who did this."
"Always such a fucking Viking." Pam shook her head. "Just let her tell you what happened."
"I'll wake her up right now and…"
"No." Pam pressed a hand to his chest. "From the looks of it, she needs the rest. Just let her sleep. When she wants to tell us, she will."
"She'll tell us now. Even if I have to glamour her."
"We both know that you won't."
Eric glared down at her, but knew she was right. It killed him, however, to just let the matter go. He knew earlier that something wasn't right, and now that he had discovered the bruises, it just didn't sit well with him. He needed to know what was wrong with her. Had someone hurt her? Or was Pam right, was there more to it than what met the eye?
He didn't need to wake the girl though, as she began to shift on her own, her eyelids beginning to flutter.
"Well now look what you've done." Pam sighed. "She should be sleeping, Eric."
"Just go back to the bar and make sure Chow doesn't screw up." Eric dismissed her, taking a step towards the bed.
"Eric, don't make things worse. We just got her back." She warned.
"As your maker I command you."
Grunting, Pam had no other choice but to leave.
Hearing the front door close, Eric gently sat on the edge of the bed, watching as Mackenzie slowly woke. He should have just left; he should have just let her sleep. But he had seen the bruises; he had seen her sickly appearance. He couldn't just drop it. He needed to know. If someone had hurt her, he would track them down and kill them. And if it were something else, well he would fix that too.
"Eric?" she mumbled tiredly, her eyes slowly opening.
"I couldn't get away as early as I would have liked, but I brought you home something to eat." He tried to hide the real reason he had woken her up.
She frowned as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, her eyebrows shooting up into her hairline when she realized she was lying in her bed. "How did I get here?"
"I found you sleeping in the library." Eric shrugged. "You really should stop doing that."
"Never intend to." Her nose scrunched up as her back started to ache more than usual. She had learned a few months ago that she couldn't sleep anywhere but in a certain position in bed or else her body would ache and her stomach would churn.
"Are you hungry?" he thought of the disgusting bag of food he and Pam had stopped off for before coming home. The smell of it was repulsing, but Mackenzie looked like she needed as much greasy food as possible.
"Not really." She shook her head. Despite only the water and bottle of juice she had today, her stomach was already working against her. Part of her hoped Eric would leave so he wouldn't be there if she had to rush into the bathroom.
Eric frowned. "You should eat something. I doubt the airport had anything edible."
"I'm not hungry." Mackenzie assured. "I'm just tired."
"Mackenzie…" her started, before halting as she shifted and curled up on the bed facing him. She looked like an angel when she slept. She wasn't a monster, she wasn't a frustrating burden. She was just a gem, one that he had fought so hard to protect these last fourteen years. And now, from the looks of his surrogate daughter, something was fighting against him and harming her.
"Hm?"
"Nothing." Eric sighed, not having the heart to keep her up. He never should have woken her up in the first place. "Go back to sleep, Mackenzie."
She just nodded, drifting off into a peaceful slumber as Eric continued to watch her. He was glad when she was finally asleep as he leaned over, leaning his forehead against hers.
"I won't let anyone, or anything hurt you, Mackenzie." Her murmured, brushing his lips across her forehead. "Whatever it is, we shall battle it together."
A/N: Have I mentioned lately that I'm a liar? I just had too much inspiration that I couldn't stop even though I still have to pack before tomorrow morning. There might be another chapter or two, as after I get settled tomorrow, I'll have till Wednesday mostly free. and then, maybe I'll be too busy to write lol, who knows haha