a/n: I've gotten a few PMs about this story and I sincerely apologize for the delay with updates. My work is extremely busy right now, so the little free time I do have I'm spending with friends, family etc. I have every intent of completeing this story, it's just taking much longer than I had hoped. Anyway, on with the show...
Everything was a blur. Eric reacted quickly and grabbed the wolf by its throat, smashing it against the floor. He had it pinned down with one hand and was crouched over its writhing form with a snarl. That left me wondering what the hell I could do to help. Eric seemed to be holding his own, maybe I could find Octavia?
Yes! I would find my boss who was likely the source of the blood on the floor.
As I started to creep past the scuffle, the wolf Eric had pinned down started to shift back to human form. I watched with amazement as the animal's body shifted, there was a gloppy sound, a burst of light and then a regular man lying there. Holy shit. The world kept getting crazier.
Eric started to interrogate the werewolf.
"Who sent you?" He growled.
I did not have time to hear the answer because two more wolves came around the corner. How the hell many of them were there?!
I had to think quickly, so I ran. I ran as fast as I could away from Eric and the wolves. When I got halfway down the hall I took a sharp left. I slid to a stop at a small white door and with shaking hands unlocked it. Once inside the small closet I started digging through the shelves. There were plenty of different pill bottles and medications stored in here.
"Fuck, where is it… fuck!" My trembling hands were making a mess of the bottles and supplies. I could hear something coming down the hall. I was running out of time.
Finally I found what I was looking for, sedatives. I grabbed several of the small glass jars and filled three syringes with amounts that would knock out a basketball team in seconds. This was my only chance to defend myself and help Eric. Obviously these wolves were strong but they wouldn't be so strong if they were passed out.
Now let's hope I could actually inject one without getting killed.
I put two syringes in the pocket of my scrubs and kept one ready in my hand. I inched around the corner and spotted the black wolf with golden eyes. I hoped it was the only one that followed me. It eyed the syringe in my hand and darted to my left. It seemed to be assessing the situation.
"If you're going to kill me, just get it over with." I spat, antagonizing might not be the best approach...
I certainly pissed it off. The wolf growled for only a second then ran towards me. Instead of jumping up towards my chest like I expected it went straight for my legs. Its shoulder smashed into my shins and knocked me off balance. I fell to the floor and the syringe slipped from my grip.
Fuck, I was screwed.
I screamed. I felt the wolf sink its teeth into my ankle and it started to shake its head back and forth, causing even more pain. I screamed louder but it kept going. I reminded myself I had Octavia and Eric to think about. So I forced myself to stop screaming and look for the syringe. It was lying on the floor a few inches away. With all the strength I could muster I used my free foot to give the wolf a swift kick in the face. It loosened its grip for only a second but it was long enough for me to pull my leg free and crawl to the syringe.
My fingers wrapped around the plastic tube and when the wolf came at me again, I sat up and stabbed it in the neck, injecting the entire dose into the animal. It turned and bit at my hand but I'd already gotten the sedative into its body. I pulled away and after a few more snaps and growls the animal started to sway. Its eyes drooped and a second later it collapsed on its side. I pushed myself back a few feet, still shaking from the experience. There was blood all over the floor and around the wolf's muzzle. I was going to need a lot of stitches.
The wolf turned back into a human woman just as Eric came buzzing around the corner. There were tears in his clothes and gashes on his neck that were healing. I had no doubt he would have rescued me if he was not almost being killed himself.
"Sookie, what happened?" He eyed the wolf and quickly moved towards my leg.
"I saw more of them coming, so I came down here to get sedatives, I thought it'd help… this one just got me before I could inject it."My leg was really hurting now.
"I can heal you." His eyes darted from my bleeding and torn up ankle to my face.
"Are you going to lick me again?" That seemed strange.
"No, you have to drink my blood. It will heal you, allow your body to heal like mine for a short while."
It sounded disgusting. I did not want blood in my mouth. It would be as gross as drinking cow's blood like I had seen tribal people do on Discovery channel one time.
"Please Sookie, there are still more of them. I won't let you lose a limb or die of blood loss." Eric's blue eyes were pleading.
"Fine" I huffed and braced myself.
Eric sank his fangs into his wrist until there was dark blood oozing out of the two puncture wounds. He held it out to me and I very reluctantly leaned forward to drink it.
This was disgusting. I had to suck on the wound to get the blood to continuously come out. Oddly enough Eric seemed to be enjoying it. That must be another vampire thing. His blood was warm and thick but it did not have that rusted metal taste human blood had. I remembered a similar taste the last time I bit my cheek. This was definitely different and if I had not been constantly thinking about how this liquid was blood, I might not have minded it so much.
When I pulled away Eric kissed me, his tongue sliding over my lips to clean up any stray drops. He wanted to continue but a distant growl reminded him we were not alone. I watched my leg heal up right before my eyes. Each puncture wound from the wolf's teeth stitched back together. It was amazing, a miracle. I could only imagine the lives that would be saved if vampires donated some of their blood to the medical industry.
"Come on, we have to hurry." Eric helped me up and I tested my leg out, putting a bit of weight on it. It was fine.
"Jesus, you're going to have to explain that more later" I looked up at him and he grinned.
Eric took the last two syringes full of sedatives and we headed back down the hall again. We passed the body of the first wolf that had attacked. The man had his throat ripped out, flesh lying in mangled pieces on the floor as the pool of crimson blood grew. Eric had killed him. But I also knew that wolf would have killed both of us if he had the chance, I picked us over them any day. Did that make me evil? I didn't think so.
"I can only smell one more, stay close." Eric whispered and I kept right on his heels.
We went by the front desk and I could see more blood ahead. There was another dead werewolf on the ground but it looked like there was a separate trail of blood…leading to Octavia's office. I tried to be quiet like Eric but it was impossible. He was like a stealth fighter jet, deadly but freakishly quiet. I also realized he had never looked more like a vampire than he did now. His body was in position to attack and there was blood smeared across his face.
When we arrived at the office door Eric kicked it open and a deep growl erupted from the room. I swear I heard a groan, was Octavia alive?
Eric moved so quickly I couldn't see the movement of his arm as he stabbed the unsuspecting wolf in the neck. It was expecting Eric to fight, not stab it with a needle. Luckily the last of our foes went down easily. I hoped there were no more. The wolf shimmered and shifted back into human form. This one was a lanky looking man with wiry brown hair. Eric picked him up and started tying him to Octavia's chair. Meanwhile I rushed to my boss's side.
She was on the floor and bleeding from a cut on her head. From a quick assessment she seemed alright just very shaken up."Are you okay? Octavia?"
She tried to get up but I urged her to lean back against the wall and remain sitting. "Can you tell me how many fingers I'm holding up?"
"Two, I'm not old enough to be blind yet." She gave me a tired smiled.
"Thank god you're okay. I'll go grab some supplies to take care of your cut. Eric are you sure he's not going anywhere?" I eyed the tied up man and he nodded.
I ran down the hall and into the closet I ruined earlier. I found everything I needed and returned to Octavia.
"This will sting a little." I carefully cleaned the cut and put some butterfly stitches on for good measure.
The entire time she was watching Eric with suspicion. He had just saved us, she ought to be thanking him.
"I assume these things were here for you . With vampires always comes trouble." She muttered.
"Octavia, this isn't Eric's fault. He did not ask them to come here and do this." I reasoned in an attempt to keep the peace.
"Maybe not, but trouble always follows their kind." She sighed and leaned back against the wall.
I had no way of defending Eric since for all I knew vampires did cause a lot of trouble. He was silently watching our prisoner and did not react to Octavia's statement. The werewolf was out cold still.
"That sedative should last awhile, it's strong and we definitely overdosed him." I started to help Octavia up. She needed to get home and rest.
"I will call Pam to pick him up." Eric pulled out his cell phone and hit a number on speed dial.
I wanted to ask how Pam could possibly help and what he intended on doing with the man. He was going to keep the guy? Why not just call the cops?
"Shouldn't we call the police? They attacked us." I reasoned.
"No, human law enforcement will do little when it comes to werewolves. Pam and I will handle this ourselves." Eric seemed to be set in his decision. I had no experience with wolves to give a sound argument, so I gathered Octavia up and helped her out of the room.
An hour later we were sitting in a van Pam had brought. It freaked me out to be so close to the vampire that hated my guts. However she seemed to be on her best behavior since Eric told her she could not touch me. We had dropped Octavia off at her home and now we were heading to Shreveport. I knew that Eric lived in Shreveport but it looked like we were heading towards the business area instead of the residential side of town.
"So why the hell did these flea bags come after you?" Pam asked and her eyes focused only on Eric. We were sitting on a bench seat in the front of the van, with me in the middle. It was very awkward.
"I do not know yet, that is what we are going to find out from our prisoner." Eric reached over and wrapped his hand around mine.
"You must have knocked him out good." Pam mused as she turned into the parking lot of a dilapidated building.
"Sookie had the idea to drug them with sedatives from the hospital. That's why he's been quiet for so long."
Pam just nodded and I took that as her begrudging way of admitting the human had a decent idea. It was minor, but at least it was better than her growling at me. Somehow I was managing to keep my cool. I think when I got home it would hit me and I would need days to figure out how I felt about all of this. For now I just wanted to get this guy out of the van and find out why he was after us.
"Take him into the basement" Eric said as the van rolled to a stop behind the old building. I don't know what it used to be but it looked empty now. The windows were dark and a few were boarded up.
"Where are we?" I got out of the van and felt a little scared. I was behind an abandoned building with two vampires and a werewolf. This sounded like a good recipe for disaster.
"This is one of my properties, the bar I told you about. We will be safe here." Eric opened the back door and Pam effortlessly picked up a man easily fifty pounds heavier than her and carried him inside.
Eric stopped me as I stepped in the doorway. "You do not have to stay for this Sookie. It will get messy. I can bring you home if you like."
"No, I want to know why he came after us." I gathered up my courage and walked inside. There was a flicker of pride in Eric's blue eyes. Plus if this was a part of Eric's supernatural life, I ought to be exposed to it and know what I was getting myself into by dating him.
Once we were inside he started turning the lights on. The place was much nicer inside and obviously under construction. It looked like we were in an office area right now. I followed Eric down a narrow hall. At the end of the hall I could see it expanded into a larger room with a bar that was still being installed on one wall. So this was the place he had told me about. I wondered what it would look like completed. Right now all of the walls were a drab grey. I bet this place was some kind of office space before.
We turned left and through another doorway. There was a set of cement stairs leading down into a dark basement. Okay, this part suited the outside of the building with its creepy factor. It was like a dim cave or dungeon down there. At the bottom of the staircase was Pam, hands on her hips, watching the werewolf start to wake up. She had tied him up on a metal cot with chains. He was definitely not getting free.
Wasn't this illegal? Wouldn't we get in trouble for abducting someone? My mind was racing as the reality of this sunk in. Eric seemed to sense my anxiety and rubbed small circles on my back.
"Who are you?" Pam walked closer to the cot and prodded the man in the face with one finger. He opened his eyes and looked around. Once he realized who was standing over him he grimaced.
"I ain't telling you nothin' blood sucker." He sneered.
"That's what I suspected your attitude would be. I don't have time to sit around and wait for you to pick all the fleas out of your brain. Let's speed this process up, Eric?" She smiled like the cat that ate the canary.
"Are you sure you do not want to tell me what your business at the hospital was?" Eric strode over to the man and looked down at him. He was the picture of serenity and I had no idea how he remained so calm.
"I ain't a traitor." He growled through clenched teeth and stared at the ceiling.
"As you wish" Eric had a screwdriver (I have no idea where he got it) in his left hand and raised his arm up, then smashed it down into the man's hand.
I held back my scream but then realized he had stopped just a hair above hitting the man's flesh.
The man was startled but he kept his mouth shut.
"Last chance" Eric's voice was smooth as silk but somehow lethal.
"Are you sure we can't call the cops? This feels wrong, we can't torture him." I finally spoke up. I was used to the law doling out justice, not me.
"Excuse me Miss Sunshine" Pam glared at me like I was gum on the bottom of her expensive heels. "But the cops aren't going to do shit about the dog over here. They'll arrest him for assault if you're lucky but then more of his friends will just come after you. We need to know why they came if we want to stop them. The cops don't even know werewolves exist, how could they possibly question him? They're a bunch of fucking asses that like to eat artificially flavored dough in the shape of circles anyway. They're useless."
I sighed and sat down on the basement steps. She was right but I did not want to admit it.
"Sookie, he will not talk on his own, he's made that much obvious. If we do not find out why his pack came after you at the hospital tonight, I can not protect you. We have to know why." Eric reasoned and I just nodded.
They were both right and I knew it. However the moral Christian in me wanted to be righteous to avoid guilt later on. But if these wolves came to the hospital for me or Octavia we had to find out why, so we could defend ourselves in the future.
Eric and Pam returned to their work and I tried to block out the man's screaming when the screwdriver hit.
"Wait!" I yelled. I ran over to the cot and put my hand on his, the one that wasn't oozing blood. Before his thoughts had been snarly and unfocused, now that he was injured it seemed I could read them more easily. Pam was ready to pull me back but Eric motioned for her to wait.
"Who are you? What's your name?" I looked into his eyes and he just leered at me.
Not telling this bitch my name, if Eric finds out I'm from the Long Tooth pack he'll come after us all.
"He's from the Long Tooth pack, does that sound familiar?" I looked over at Eric and he nodded.
What the fuck? How did she know that? She some kinda supe? Ugh, we was supposed to just find Northman in human form and kill him. Shit always gets complicated!
I pulled my hand back and gasped. "Eric, they weren't after me or Octavia… they were trying to kill you. They thought you were still human."
"Well isn't that a handy trick." Pam smirked, not concerned in the least about the threat on Eric's life.
The man finally seemed to snap.
"course we were! That fanger killed Johnny!" He spat and tried to rip free from his chains.
"Eric?" Was that true? Had he killed this man's friend?
"I killed his friend after he repeatedly was caught silvering vampires and draining them for their blood. When used properly it can be a drug, and this man was an addict. I gave him a warning but he continued, so I put a stop to it for good." He explained.
I guess that made sense. Eric was defending his own kind and had not made the first move to kill this 'Johnny' it even sounded like he tried to give the guy a second chance. Once again this was a situation they could not call the cops for.
"Fuck you! He didn't deserve to die!" The werewolf snarled and started fighting the chains again. I noticed his eyes glowing and that shimmering light started glow in the air around his body. He was going to shift again.
However before he got the chance to break free Pam snapped his neck. In a second all was silent in the basement except for my own erratic breathing.
"We got what we needed from him. I'll dispose of the body."She started undoing the chains.
This was insane. I don't know how I felt about all of this. I just watched a man get murdered.
"I will get in touch with the Long Tooth pack master, lets hope this group went rogue and the entire pack is not on our asses." Eric grumbled and put his hand on my lower back, leading me back upstairs.
I really needed to process what I just witnessed.
a/n: Thanks for reading! Next chapter Sookie will find out more about the effects of Eric's blood, and if the entire pack is actually after them! Too bad Eric isn't a wimpy human anymore so he can kick some ass! =)