Chapter Twenty One:

"I can't believe you talked me into this," Alcide grumbled. "Bon Temps? Really?"

"Hey I never got to try their burger the last time I was there!" Mackenzie held up her hands innocently. "I was too busy collapsing because I'm dying."

"You're going to use that card now to get whatever you want, aren't you?"

"Probably not. Unless I want a burger then probably," she couldn't help but grin. "I promise we'll be back before anyone even notices. Eric won't be up for hours."

Shaking his head, Alcide continued to drive his beat up red pickup in silence. Mackenzie glanced out the window, her stomach growling every so often as they grew nearer and nearer to Merlotte's. It was the first place that came to mind and she was adamant on the small town bar and grill.

"What are you doing?" Mackenzie wondered as she watched Alcide out the corner of her eye. He kept glancing at the rearview mirror, his frown deepening each time. "What's wrong?" she glanced behind them, searching for whatever he was seeing.

"The van behind us in the next lane," his hands began to curl around the steering wheel tightly as the tension grew in his arms. "They've been behind us since we got onto the highway."

"It's not against the law to get on the highway," Mackenzie pointed out but continued to watch the van with interest. "I'm sure they aren't following us."

Alcide was still suspicious however. He didn't know why he was hired to protect Mackenzie, but he had never doubted his instincts before. They were screaming at him that this van was following them for a reason.

"Look, they're getting off two exits before us," Mackenzie nodded as the van ended up passing them. "See, nothing to worry about."

Alcide's eyes narrowed. "They could have realized we were on to them."

"This isn't some spy movie," she rolled her eyes, turning back around in her seat. "You're just being paranoid now."

He didn't respond, keeping his gaze trained on the road. Soon, they were getting off on their exit and were traveling closer to Bon temps. As they passed the welcome sign, Mackenzie began growing excited, licking her lips as she could practically taste the juicy burger.

"You're acting like you haven't eaten in years," Alcide mused as he turned onto a narrow road. He had finally relaxed, though Mackenzie noted that he continued to glance in the rear view mirror just in case.

"Feels that way," Mackenzie shrugged. "I don't usually have an appetite."

"Neither did my mother," he commented offhandedly.

"Your mother?" she asked curiously.

"We're here," he ignored her question as he pulled into the parking lot of Merlotte's. He gazed out of the window at the building with a raised eyebrow. "This is where you dragged me to?"

"Mhmm!" Mackenzie jumped out of the car, only to grab onto the door as she suddenly felt dizzy.

"Mackenzie?" Alcide climbed from the trunk and hurried to her side.

"I'm fine," Mackenzie assured him, plastering a smile on her face as she grabbed his arm and began dragging the large man towards the restaurant.

Merlotte's was exactly how she had remembered it from weeks ago. Only it wasn't as bursting with business as it had been. With it only in the early afternoon, only a few sporadic tables were filled with gossiping women that had nothing better to do or road workers taking an early break.

"Are you sure this is where you want to eat?" Alcide eyed their surroundings.

"Shh, dying girl here," Mackenzie nudged him with her elbow before catching sight of a familiar blonde.

The moment Sookie turned the corner from the back hallway, her head snapped up to catch the gaze of an unexpected visitor.

"Mackenzie?" her jaw dropped as she scurried over, her gaze sweeping over Mackenzie's form. The last time she had seen the young girl, she had collapsed in the bathroom. "How are you feeling? Are you feeling okay? Shouldn't you be resting…"

"I'm fine," Mackenzie interrupted with a smile.

"But you collapsed. You're sick," Sookie didn't look convinced.

"It's a good day," she assured. "I was actually craving that cheeseburger I never got to have the last time I was here."

"Does Eric know you're here?" Sookie could only imagine how furious Eric would be if she had gone behind his back. She didn't understand the relationship the two shared, but she had seen enough that night to know that he cared about her. Knowing she was sick, that she was dying, Eric would never risk Mackenzie running off alone.

It was then that Sookie realized Mackenzie was in fact, not alone.

"And who are you?" she narrowed her eyes as she stared up at Alcide suspiciously. She had never seen him before and she knew everyone in the small town of Bon Temps.

"This is Alcide. He's my…ah…" Mackenzie searched for the right word. "Friend."

"Friend?" Sookie raised an eyebrow, not believing the teenager. "Right. So Eric?"

"He knows," Mackenzie's orbs darted around the bar as she lied to the waitress. "So that burger…"

"He doesn't know, does he?" Sookie's shoulders slumped. "You snuck out."

"Maybe…"

"He is going to kill you," Sookie sighed but grabbed two menus and motioned the two to follow her. "And then he's going to kill me. And likely you, too," she eyed the man following Mackenzie. Friend her ass. "I'm sorry I did get your name."

"Alcide," he held his hand out, a warm smile on his face.

Sookie grasped the man's hand, only to quickly snatch her hand back away, her cheeks flushing deep red. She all but threw the menus down onto the table before mumbling that she'd be right back.

"Well that was strange," Mackenzie mused as she slid into the booth.

Alcide gaze followed the waitress as she shot towards the bar, her cheeks still burning. His head tilted to the side, taking an inconspicuous sniff of the air. Something smelt odd – sweet, but odd.

"Uh Alcide?"

"Sorry," he mumbled before sliding in across from the teen. He picked up the menu but his mind was centered around the blonde waitress. There was something different about her but he just couldn't put his finger on what it could be.

"I'm just going to pretend you're not acting incredibly strange," Mackenzie rolled her eyes as she eyed the kitchen window across the restaurant, the smell of grease ridden food lingering in the air. Her mouth watered as she imagined biting into that glorious hamburger. "Well I'm ready to order."

"You've been ready to order since we left the house," Alcide chuckled but quickly decided on his own meal before setting his menu down. "She is right though. Eric is going to kill us if he finds out."

"And he won't," Mackenzie reassured him with a smile. "You worry far too much, Alcide."

Alcide sighed but nodded, letting the sick girl have her way. He wasn't sure if he had the heart to say no to her.

"Are y'all ready to order?" Sookie returned to their booth, though she kept her gaze solely on Mackenzie, only flicking her attention onto Alcide as he placed his order. "I'll be right back with your sweet teas…why is he your bodyguard?"

Mackenzie and Alcide both froze, staring at one another in surprise. Neither had even spoken the word bodyguard or the reason why Alcide was with her.

"What?" Mackenzie's eyes were wide as she stared up at the waitress.

"Why is he your bodyguard?" Sookie's eyebrows were furrowed in concentration. "Who nearly attacked you in your house?"

Mackenzie was as white as a ghost. "H-how did you know all that?"

Realizing what she had blurted out, Sookie's own eyes widened. "Shoot! I didn't mean to say that out loud."

"Well you did. How did you know that?" Mackenzie questioned, her heart racing in her chest. How could Sookie have known all of that? Not even Alcide knew about the men that had almost attacked the house. How could she?

"Sorry," Sookie looked ready to dart away, only to be stopped by a standing Alcide.

"How did you know those things?" Alcide wondered, his eyes narrowing. His large arms crossed over his broad chest as he stood in her path. "Who told you? Who are you working for?"

"No one," Sookie shook her head, her gaze darting around Alcide to wave the owner of the bar off as he reached for the shotgun under the bar. "I swear I just heard it."

"Heard it?" Mackenzie frowned in confusion. "How did you hear it?"

"Crud," Sookie sighed, her shoulders slumping forward. "I'm a telepath. I can hear people's thoughts."

It suddenly made complete sense to Mackenzie. There had been a reason Eric had suddenly wanted to have a family dinner at some small town hick bar when they had never gone out as a family before. There had been a reason Eric had chosen that bar instead of the many other restaurants in Shreveport. There had been a reason Sookie had been so worried about her in the bathroom, why she seemed to know something was wrong.

Sookie was a telepath.

"He wanted you to find out what was wrong with me, didn't he?" Mackenzie asked barely above a whisper. "Didn't he?"

Sookie sighed, nodding her head. "He was worried and wanted to know what you were hiding from him. I'm sorry; if I knew I wouldn't have…"

Mackenzie sat back in her seat, so many thoughts running through her head. Eric had tried to get a telepath to find out what was wrong with her. He had hired someone to waft through her thoughts, her memories, without her consent. Maybe it had been for a good reason, but it didn't change the fact that Mackenzie felt violated knowing the truth.

"He was really worried when he first came to me, asking me to do it," Sookie insisted. "I know Eric Northman well enough to know he doesn't care about many people, especially not humans. But he does care about you."

"Did you read his mind?" Mackenzie shot at her, beginning to lose her appetite. This wasn't how she wanted her afternoon of freedom to go. This very well could be the last meal she could stomach, the last time she could enjoy summer, and now it was completely ruined. Alcide had been right; they shouldn't have left the house.

"I can't read vampires," Sookie shook her head. "But the way he reacted after you collapsed, I've never seen him act that way. He acted…well hell, he acted like a father."

Mackenzie felt numb. She didn't know how to feel, how to comprehend this new piece of information.

"So, how about those burgers?"

"Mackenzie? Did you still want…" Alcide gazed down at the girl worriedly before something caught his eye out the window. "Shit."

Mackenzie barely heard him however, staring mutely at the table.

"We have to go," Alcide reached around Sookie and grabbed Mackenzie's arm, jostling the girl from her thoughts.

"What?" Mackenzie blinked before frowning, realizing something was wrong. "What's wrong?"

"I was just being paranoid, huh?" he nodded out the window.

It felt as if she were in a horror movie as she slowly turned to find the very same van that Alcide had been worried about pulling into the parking lot. It wasn't only that, however, that spooked her. It was the fact that she had seen that van before.

"No. Oh god no," Mackenzie's eyes grew wide as her heart stopped.

She had definitely seen that van before.

She had watched as it came hurtling towards her down the driveway of her supposedly safe home.

"It's the same van," Sookie voiced for her, reading her thoughts. "The very same one, Mackenzie?"

Mackenzie could only nod.

"We need to get out of here," Alcide pulled her from the booth. "I knew we shouldn't have left the house. They must have been watching and followed us the minute we left."

"I-I didn't think they would."

"Come on," Alcide began towards the front entrance before the doors slowly opened.

"Out the back. Come on," Sookie ushered them towards the back hallway "Quickly!"

Alcide didn't waste a minute as he dragged Mackenzie behind him, the teen glancing over her shoulder as three men stepped into the bar, their eyes darting around. It was only a split second that she caught the middle one's gaze, but it was long enough for them to realize they were there.

"Alcide!" Mackenzie called out in panic.

"I know!"

"Through here," Sookie led the way down the hallway and through the backdoor. "If you make a run for it you might be able to…"

"They went back through the front," Alcide shook his head, whipping his head around looking for an escape. "Shit."

"Sam's trailer," Sookie suggested, motioning to the trailer behind the bar.

Alcide looked uncertain, but after a glance over his shoulder, he quickly ushered the two women towards the trailer.

"Wait," Mackenzie froze on the wooden steps, Sookie hurriedly throwing open the door behind her. "What are you doing?"

Alcide wasn't following them. He remained in the parking lot, staring at where the men would turn the corner in only minutes. He didn't look at all like he was going to dash into the trailer with the women.

"Alcide what are you doing? Come on!" her heart was racing, her eyes widening as she called to the man. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Get in the trailer and lock the door." Alcide called over his shoulder, his hands curling into fists at his sides. He knew what he had to do; he knew what he would have to become in order to protect Mackenzie and it was the last thing he wanted her to witness. "Mackenzie, now!"

"I'm not going to leave you out here. What are you going to do?" Mackenzie shook her head refusing to just leave him in the parking lot. "Alcide!"

"Mackenzie please," Alcide sighed, glancing over his shoulder at the teen. "They want you; it's my job to make sure they don't lay a hand on you. Let me do my job."

"But…" she had only met Alcide barely more than an hour ago and she already liked the man. He knew about her illness, about her fate, but he hadn't treated her any differently. Sure he had been persuaded to take her to Merlotte's, but there wasn't the pity, the sympathy that she had received from too many people in the past seven months. And she liked that. She just wanted to be a normal eighteen year old, even just for a little while.

"I'll be fine, I promise," Alcide's head snapped to the side, his eyes narrowing as shadows began to creep around the corner. "Go!"

"Mackenzie come on," Sookie insisted, grabbing the girl's arm and gently tugging her into the trailer.

Mackenzie allowed for herself to be dragged into the trailer, Sookie immediately locking the door as the two stood at the window, watching anxiously as three men rounded the corner.

"Is he going to be okay?" Mackenzie whispered nervously to the blonde telepath.

"He'll be fine," Sookie assured, though she too had her doubts. She took in his size compared to the other three and that doubt began to grow. "Probably."

Mackenzie wringed her hands as she waited for the inevitable. Eric really was going to kill her for this. She didn't see how Alcide could possibly overpower the three large men.

"Sookie, what are we going to…" she began before the colour drained from her face. "What the…"

Sookie was just as wide eyed as they stood watching as Alcide began ripping off his shirt, his hands going to the belt of his jeans. Before she could question what Alcide was doing, the muscles in the man's back began to change, shifting as he bent forward. What burst from the once man was a sight neither expected to see.

"Did he…did he just…how the…what the…" Mackenzie was speechless as a wolf stood in Alcide's place, growling at the just as shocked men.

She didn't even get a good look at the wolf before it leapt at the men.