Hi guys! Are you still there?
So, this chapter IS betaed. By Gonsalsy. Many thanks to her.
A fair warning - it is also, hands down, the most violent chapter in this story.
Disclaimer: It seems that I can own even less than before. I don't own SVM and I don't own 'Hoist the colors' too.
Previously:
But the longer I watched her, the more sure I was that everything was not all right.
"Halleigh?" I repeated uncertainly.
She was staring at the distance, her eyes unseeing, and she wasn't responding to my words in any noticeable way. Something was wrong. I dipped into her mind and to my alarm discovered that she was glamoured.
That's when I saw the second figure, who stepped out of the shadows, as if waiting for my arrival.
Glued to the wall and still, he had been almost invisible until he moved.
He put his hand on Halleigh's neck and stood completely blocking the path leading to the door: Charles Twining.
"If you scream, I'll reap her throat open," he said.
"What do you want?" I asked after a heavy pause.
"It's not personal," he said. "I have nothing against you."
A cold feeling started to settle in my stomach.
"You're here to kill me," I said, noticing that my voice sounded strangely numb.
Unfortunately, he didn't laugh at my words, nor did he deny it. He nodded.
I gulped.
"Why?" I asked.
For the time being I didn't have any bright ideas. Stalling seemed like the best thing I could do at the moment.
"As a payment."
"Payment? For what? For whom?"
"For a debt. I came to Louisiana to collect payment for the debt. I thought I'd be able to do this more discreetly, but now I have to hurry. I hoped that the sheriff would send me to your bar instead of his child if I introduced myself as a barman. Everything would have been much easier then… and now the Viking is breathing down my neck – but that only proves how right I was to choose you. I'm sorry, but you're perfect for my purposes."
"You set the fire under my house," I realised with a sudden clarity.
Another nod was my answer.
"What else? How did you know that I would ask Eric for a bartender? Have you met Sweetie before?"
"The cook? A lucky coincidence and a perfect cover for me. She served as a distraction – but she wasn't the one who shot your boss."
The bullet from Sam's shooting didn't match the other ones.
"It was you."
"Yes."
"Why shoot Sam? Why not just shoot me on the spot?"
"It wouldn't be enough of a satisfaction to pay off the debt."
Instead, he had been playing with me like a cat with a mouse.
"What debt?" I asked, swallowing to clear my dry throat.
"The debt to my maker's maker."
Charles took a step in my direction. I could still hear Halleigh humming the same tune somewhere in the background:
...Yo, ho, haul together,
hoist the colors high...
"You owe him to kill me? How does that make any sense?"
"It's not about my debt to him. All I owe him is loyalty, and he ordered me to collect the debt."
"Whose debt is it then?"
"The Viking's – and yours, too."
...Some men have died...
"I don't understand."
...and some are alive...
"Northman spilled blood and he has to pay. The money is not enough."
...and others sail on the sea...
I felt myself starting to shiver. I was running out of questions.
"Why would killing me pay Eric's debt to your maker's maker?" I asked hurriedly eyeing the diminishing distance between me and the pirate with apprehension.
...and the Devil to pay...
"He killed someone. He took away something very precious from him. Now I'm going to take away something from the Northman, something equally important to the Viking, so losing it would hurt him just as much. A life for a life."
"Who is your maker's maker?" I asked finally. "Who was it Eric took from him?"
...The bell has been raised…
"Hot Rain."
The name sent an electric shock through my nerves, though I'd never met its owner. If I hadn't been scared before, it would have been enough to make me pale under my tan at the very sound of it. A fog filtered through my mind and I remembered Eric mentioning it to me once before in some stray conversation. It helped me to understand my situation with a terrifying clarity.
Hot Rain. The maker of the vampire Eric had staked in my defense the first night I'd worked for him. It seemed like centuries ago.
"Long Shadow," I whispered.
I was screwed.
...We are a call to all...
"I'm really sorry, Sookie," Charles said.
And then he leaped at me.
Only because I tried to dodge, his fangs landed on my arm near the gunshot wound, instead of my throat. I shrieked when the sharp teeth cut easily through my clothes and pierced my flesh. Charles growled and quickly slapped a hand against my mouth. I felt myself falling, crushed under his body. I fought with all my might, but it didn't make much difference since my opponent was a vampire. He blocked my legs from moving pressing me into the ground with his full weight and making it impossible for me to kick him in the only place that might have made any real difference.
The maddening tune was still ringing in my ears making me question if I wasn't going crazy.
...pay heed the squall...
The blood must have distracted Charles, because instead of going for my throat he got peeved with the inconvenience that was all the layers of clothing separating him from the wound and he ripped his fangs out of me to remove the barriers. Tears of pain streamed down my face but his hand muffled my scream. I heard the sound of ripping when he pulled at the seam that held together the sleeve and the rest of my coat, then got through the thinner fabric of my shirt and bit again.
He sucked hard, taking big, greedy gulps that were draining me quickly. I tried to break free but I found myself completely helpless. Adrenaline made my heart beat wildly, which only caused it to pump my blood faster into the pirate's mouth.
There was no one else besides us on the street. From my spot on the pavement, with my cheek pressed against the cold, concrete surface, I could see the curb, a part of some fence and a lock of my own hair falling into my face. The light from the street lamp caught a metal disc stuck between two flagstones. Someone had lost a coin.
...and turn your sail toward home!...
While I lie there vulnerable and aware of my own fast approaching death, listening to Halleigh's voice, a strange feeling came over me. Everything seemed so surreal. Seconds ticked and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Was this it? Was this how I was going to die? Just like this?
Apparently – no. Not this time.
Someone brutally jerked Charles off me. I flinched when I felt his fangs being ripped out of my arm, but the pain was worth the relief that came with the sudden lack of his weight on me and easier access to oxygen when he released my mouth. I took a greedy gulp of air. Unfortunately, the force used to separate me from the vampire also momentarily lifted my body from the ground only for me to fall back the next moment.
Confused, I tried to raise my head and see who my savior was. I must have hit my head pretty hard, because at first I couldn't understand what was going on. Or maybe it was the blood loss?
I heard angry hissing. When I finally managed to pull myself into a sitting position I turned and saw two vampires crouching and facing each other, ready to leap. One of them was Charles, the other Pam, who seemed to work as my full-time bodyguard that night. I'd never been so happy to see her before.
They were both showing teeth.
"You slimeball," she ground out looking straight at Charles.
And then they jumped to each other's throats.
When vampires fight they move so fast it's hard to keep up with what is going on. I wasn't even sure which one of them was winning. At some point Charles broke free from Pam's grasp and leapt at me. I squeaked and started to crawl away, but Pam grabbed him by his legs in the next second and knocked him down. They rolled away without stopping the fight for a moment. I was lucky that he didn't get the opportunity to reach me, because I was certain that this time he would have just gone for the kill, without any further delays.
I looked around frantically wondering what I should do. Try to help? Scream? Call for assistance? Run?
If I screamed and got people there, would I be helping, or the opposite, not to mention endangering innocent people? Would anyone take it upon themselves to attack Charles without hurting Pam in the process?
I pressed my palm against my wounded arm, trying to stop the bleeding. If only I could get inside the house, I would be safe and maybe I could arm myself somehow so I could do something, not just sit there and wait like a sacrificial lamb. I could call someone – I doubted police would be of any help, but maybe Sam? Eric for sure, if he wasn't too far away to get there in time. Hell, even Bill.
The problem was, I had dropped my bag during the scuffle – the bag which held my keys and which was lying in the middle of the battleground at the moment. I wouldn't be able to grab it without risking getting caught in the fight, so I stayed put for the time being.
Much to my dismay it looked like Pam and Charles were well-matched opponents. They must have been of similar age, since neither of them seemed to be visibly stronger than the other. There was no way for me to predict the result of the fight that had been going on for some time already - though how long it was really, I had no idea.
Halleigh was humming her song.
And then something incredibly fast charged onto the scene and between the adversaries with great impetus. I inhaled sharply when I realized what happened. The power balance shifted dramatically in a split second. Charles didn't have a dog's chance. I was just about to sigh with relief when a momentary pause in the movement I'd been following with my eyes allowed me to take a better look at the black-and-blond flash I had recognized as Eric and my breath caught in my throat. A cold shudder ran down my spine. Eric looked absolutely terrifying.
There was nothing human in his face.
His eyes darkened so much that in the poor light they looked completely black. They were burning with pure bloodlust. His extended fangs were so long that for the first time I noticed that they were not straight, but slightly curved, as serpent's teeth or the sabre's blade. There was a low growl coming from somewhere deep within his throat.
All of that took about a second. The vampires used it to assess their positions and then got back to fighting, but the image was burned in my brain. Charles was losing fast, though it looked like he was determined to fight to the end. He was turning from Eric to Pam, not knowing who he should defend himself from and I thought that they might literally rip him to pieces. At some point it looked like they were tossing him back and forth between themselves like a rag doll. Pam threw her head back and laughed a throaty laugh that made all my hair stand on end. And then, suddenly, she pushed Charles to the ground on his belly, and straddled his legs keeping him down. She gripped both of his wrists in one hand twisted behind his back while Eric held his shoulders, preventing him from breaking free.
...Yo, ho, haul together...
Pam gripped Charles by his hair with her other hand and roughly jerked them, forcing him to raise his head. Pam and Eric shared a look over the pirate's head and grinned at each other. Their smiles were the stuff nightmares were made of.
...hoist the colors high...
Charles' only eye stopped its desperate wandering pausing on Eric, who stood in front of him and crouched, filling his view. Charles suddenly stopped struggling and froze.
I think he knew it was the end.
...Heave ho, thieves and beggars...
Eric trapped his head holding it with both hands like a vice and looked him right in the eye.
"She. Is. Mine," he snarled in a hoarse voice that sounded nothing like the one I knew.
...never shall we die.
I held my breath bracing myself for Eric to snap his neck. I screamed when he ripped his head off.
I confess - I'm grinning evilly right now. I can't wait to find out what you think!
Next up: It's time to lick the wounds.
UPDATE: I just found found out that I got nominated to the 'Energize W.I.P. Award' (thank you for letting me know!). It's a double pleasure, since the company in SVM section is really good:) Check it out! Voting starts 02.06.