Chapter Text
Eric knew something was wrong the moment he opened his eyes. His white fangs extended defensively at the pervasive feeling and his face twisted into a dark expression of anger. The bond between him and Sookie, forged by his blood in her veins, now pulsed with worry, guilt and fear that did not belong to him.
Forcibly retracting his fangs was a testament to his age, the usually instinctual, unconscious action was culled with his self-discipline, snapping back into his mouth with an audible click as he slicked back his hair.
He shouldn’t make a scene, yet, until he gained more information about the situation Sookie had found herself in. For now, the feelings sent through their one-sided bond wasn’t in what he would consider dangerous territory, not escalated to the point of panic but slowly fading in and out as if something were constantly reassuring her, but yet, scared her.
He ran to his club, although Sookie had insisted it be a ‘Bar & Grill’ during daylight, with speeds incomprehensible to the human eyes. The world simultaneously slowing down and speeding up, with street lights flashing and murmured human gibberish passing through his ears.
When he arrived his concern grew, his eyes quickly scanned the heads of every human he could see, none the right shade of blonde. A human was waving him down, one of the waitresses on the night shift, any other he would have ignored, while they didn’t understand their attraction to him, it was only natural that his presence was alluring to humans. But he and Sookie had personally selected their waitresses carefully and none would frivolously seek his attention, much preferring to talk to Sookie further promoting his untouchable status in their eyes.
He approached as a man on a mission and watched with boredom as the woman’s eyes widened, her heart beating faster, blood swelled in her cheeks as her breath labored with the telltale sign of desire. Eric was half tempted to growl, to flash his fangs, to watch as that arousal turned to fear when faced with a creature she couldn’t understand.
But, patience was a virtue he most certainly possessed so he instead plastered that smile he had perfected over the centuries, not showing too much teeth and yet not shying away from pleasantry, a smile that could make one feel as if they were the center of his attention, “What can I do for you?” He purred, careful to hunch so that his height wouldn’t cause any discomfort in the human, at the same time making himself seem smaller, and friendlier.
The woman stayed stunned, and for a minute Eric thought he had overplayed it, but thankfully she gathered herself and her senses with a deep gasp, replying in what he assumed she thought was a sultry tone, “Ms. Stackhouse is at the police station.”
Despite himself, Eric’s eyes widened in surprise. What? In the weeks they had arrived in this small town he had done everything to evade any confrontation with human police. That included perfecting their existence with something his glamour couldn’t cover, like fake documents. There was no reason for the police to take interest in them.
The woman noticed his suspicion with a shrug, “Just said to let you know.”
Eric nodded in thanks, smiling at the woman once more before turning to the door and replacing his faked expression with a frightening look. Stepping outside he mapped the path towards the police station in his head, thinking it easier to cut through the woods so that he could run at full speed without alerting the humans. As he dodged branches and leaped over stones nearing his target his instincts flared as his supernatural hearing caught a growl behind him.
Stopping in place he cautiously scanned for anything out of the ordinary, the noise hadn’t sounded like a bear. In fact it sounded like– There, in the blackness of the forest a pair of amber eyes peered back at him. As he turned to his right another pair of eyes, to his left was a similar occurrence. Before he knew it he had been completely surrounded by a pack of growling giant wolves, although Eric had an inkling of their true nature.
Eric hissed in warning, counting 10 wolves, but Eric wouldn’t underestimate their numbers. Were packs usually held numbers in the 30s or 40s.
His blue eyes narrowed in interest as the creatures backed away warily before setting their resolve. At the moment they stood at an impasse, Eric with his fangs exposed, his body set in a carefully disarming pose, however, ready to strike at any hostile movement, and the wolves circling him, making sure that he wouldn’t be able to run away.
“I’m busy,” Eric finally stated as he eyed what he assumed to be their alpha. It was a large black wolf, its tail straight out and slightly raised, higher than any of the others in its pack. Eric’s voice was full of impatience, “That means shift and we’ll talk like civilized supes or get out of my way were.” His lips pulled back as he hissed.
The wolves seemed to have a conversation as the growls turned to yips and yaps before the alpha retreated into the forest and emerged a man. He was taller than Eric had assumed he would be, a couple of inches taller than himself at full height. The man had tan skin and wore a pair of gray sweatpants to hide his indecency.
Eric couldn’t help but chuckle, “Modest werewolves, that’s a first.”
The man growled, “And a bloodsucking leech. You said you were busy, killing the locals is too much work for you?” He accused.
Irritation boiled inside of Eric, he like many vampires aren’t fond of werewolves, but he in particular still bore a centuries-old grudge that killing Russel Edgington could not soothe. He wasn’t in the mood to entertain the company of the same race of creatures that had killed his family, much less over some misunderstanding or misconception. He gritted his teeth before he did something he would regret… well he wouldn’t regret it, in fact he might enjoy it, but that would mean making his night longer and bloodier than it had to be.
“You’ve got the wrong vampire then because I haven’t killed anyone since I’ve stepped foot in Washington,” He raised his arms in mock surrender. A wolf to his right barked.
“So you have killed then,” The man growled, his expression turning wary as if expecting an attack at any instance, his body had started vaguely trembling.
“Of course,” He waved seeking to appease them, “One inevitably makes a mistake or two in 1,000 years of life,” Eric gave a falsely benign smile that highlighted the fangs still extended in his mouth, “Don’t worry, most deserved it.” He said, making it very clear what he meant by ‘mistake’, his expression murderously darkened as he remembered his more satisfying kills and the many people that have paid the price for wronging him. The man in front of him exposed his fear as he shivered at Eric’s easy admittance to murder.
“However, if you are worried about the humans in this area, I wouldn’t lay a hand on them, I’m mainstreaming,” Eric said, giving a wary gaze to the werewolves who have grown closer. He explored the possibilities of a hostile encounter between them, he could easily snap the necks of a few, while using the rest as shields to block any form of retaliation, but would naturally acquire injuries as their numbers overwhelmed him, something he was hoping to avoid.
“Mainstreaming?” The man’s eyebrow rose at the unfamiliar term.
Eric sighed, he had forgotten in this world, universe wherever they had found themselves in, Mainstreaming was not a common practice among the supes. His lip twitched queerly at the thought that he might be the first to use the term. Godric would be proud.
“Vampire politics, it means that I view humans as our equals, treating them as such, no killing of innocents involved.” Eric of course didn’t mention what he would do to those he deemed guilty.
The wolves shifted at his proposed stance, they seemed to consider his response and before they could change their minds Eric looked down at his nonexistent watch before continuing, “As pleasant as this conversation is going, like I said, I have places to go. Let’s exchange information and go our separate ways, perhaps in the future we will have much to discuss.” He nodded towards the rest of the giant wolves, carefully reaching into his jacket pocket, pulling out a few flyers, printed on the top in stylised italic font was the word Fangtasia.
“Eric Northman, Co-owner of Fangtasia, you might have heard of it, simply present this at the door, first round is on me.” The man takes the flyers with a stunned expression, he had not been expecting to be advertised to, which is exactly what Eric had been hoping for.
The man responded hesitantly, “Sam Uley, Alpha of the Quileute pack,” He continued flustered before seeming to gain back his wits, “Wait, you aren’t allowed to leave yet.”
Eric smirked, “Thursdays are ladies’ night, so be sure to bring a date,” Eric looked at the rest of the wolves side-eyed, “That is, if you can get one.”
There was more than one wolfish snort of laughter.
“Gentlemen, I’ll be off,” Eric didn’t give them any time to respond before he quickly levitated above them. The wolves looked up stunned, they had never seen a flying vampire before. Eric gave a cheeky wave before flying away.
When he finally walked through the doors of the police station he carefully ran his fingers through his windswept hair, trying and failing to push it back. One of the cons of flying was having to redo your hair every time, which wasn’t an issue for Eric, he always looked decent. Eric walked up to the receptionist, all he needed was a smile and the woman was under his control.
He spread his influence staring into the woman's eyes, he felt the woman slipping into the coldness of his glamour with no hint of resistance. He enjoyed the feeling a little longer than he should’ve, Eric would not lie, he had missed using glamour freely. It made business much harder to conduct once glamour proof contacts became commercialized.
“A woman named Sookie Stackhouse arrived at this station, where is she?” He purred, watching in satisfaction as that familiar dull look clouded the woman’s eyes. She murmured in a slow and even tone, “She is in the back being questioned by the Chief, Charlie Swan.”
“Why is she being questioned, surely she’s done nothing illegal,” Eric asked, he needed to assess the situation before he played his next move.
“She’s done nothing wrong, she is a witness in the Jessica Stanley case, poor girl has gone missing.”
Hmm, an interesting development, Eric replayed the confrontation with the weres in his mind, their aggression towards him was because people have started to go missing, and they thought he had a hand in it.
“Thank you,” Eric said softly as he slowly withdrew his influence, “I am Eric Northman, Sookie’s boyfriend. I just arrived a minute ago and you agreed to take me to her.”
The receptionist nodded, her eyes slowly clearing as she regained consciousness, she smiled bashfully at Eric before leading him, “Of course, right this way Mr. Northman.” Eric gave her a good-tempered smile, trailing behind her.
She led him to a room, in it was a one-way mirror in which he could see that blonde hair twisted up into a ponytail that he loved. The first thing he noticed about Sookie was how tired she looked and the wringing of her hands as she stared at the man in front of her with nervousness.
“Charlie,” The receptionist said as she pressed a button, the speakers in the gray room played her voice to the humans inside. “Are you finished yet? Mr. Northman is here to see Ms. Stackhouse.”
The man, Charlie, looked up in confusion at the clearly unfamiliar name, but he noticed the relieved look on Sookie’s face and seemed to connect the dots. “Thank you for your time Ms. Stackhouse,” He said, wrapping up questioning, “I’ll be sure to notify you if anything happens.” He extended his hand towards Sookie in a friendly manner and she shook it before replying, “Of course, I hope you find her.”
The two adults stepped out of the room and Sookie without a moment's notice buried herself into Eric’s waiting arms. The pair stood like this ignoring the world for as long as they could before they ultimately had to return to reality, the receptionist put a hand over her mouth with a soft expression on her face as an “Aw” escaped her lips.
The officer however, looked embarrassed at the public display of affection, turning away to give them a sense of privacy all while twirling the hair of his mustache nervously.
Eric nodded in acknowledgement towards the chief, “Eric Northman, I own the bar with Sookie, were you able to get everything you needed?”
The chief nodded, hand still stroking his mustache, “Yes, thank you once again Ms. Stackhouse.”
“I hope you find her,” Eric said to the man sincerely as Sookie embraced him fiercely, “She was a good worker.”
“I hope so too,” the chief said somberly. The, before it’s too late, went unsaid.
When Bella arrived at the school parking lot she wasn’t surprised by the strange looks that followed her every move. After all, the zombie girl had just returned to life, and if she wasn’t annoyed by the ‘Fankenstein’s Monster’ aspect of it all, she would’ve been flattered.
Oh who is she kidding, she never once liked attention, good or bad the effect it had on her was the same leaving her vastly uncomfortable.
She ducked her head into her dark hoodie as she shut the red doors of her old truck, swinging her bag over her shoulders to present the facade of normality. Charlie hadn’t come home last night, so without her usual ride she had no choice but to fish her car keys from the box Charlie thought he had hidden well from her, and start up the beast that hadn’t been driven in months.
Of course the sputtering and fight of it all left her worried for the health of her vehicle. She decided that after school she might as well make a trip to La Push.
When Charlie first gifted her her ancient truck she thought it would have a lot of problems that she couldn’t afford to fix, but Jacob Black had kept it in good shape when it belonged to his father. Perhaps he could take a look at it and work some magic?
The rest of the day passed in a blur as she allowed herself to settle into that unemotional state of consciousness, vaguely noticing the increasingly strange looks and whispers that followed her.
When lunch rolled around she remembered the heated conversation that had happened between Jessica and her the night prior and felt her cheeks flush. Maybe if she apologized she would be able to savage whatever remained of their relationship?
She walked up to the lunchline, grabbing the easiest thing to consume, a yogurt and an apple, standing awkwardly as she stared down the lunch table she had usually sat at every day since she had arrived at this school, although yesterday she had skipped lunch entirely, content to sit in the classroom until it was over so that she would have no chance encounters with Jessica.
Mike, Angela, Eric, Conner, Tyler, Lauren, Katie Marshall and Austin Marks all sat at her usual table. The boys were playing with their food, Angela had a book in her lap and Lauren and Katie were talking in hushed tones of what Bella assumed to be gossip. With no Jessica in sight she hesitated for a moment, before she gripped her tray and walked toward the group.
The conversations quickly died down with her approach, leaving an unwelcome silence. Angela hadn’t looked up from her book.
Bella felt her cheeks flush again as the group stared at her, each with an unfriendly expression on their face. She was wondering if she should torture herself more by attemption to sit when the decision was made for her by the person she had least expected it from. Mike Newton said, “Bella, why don’t you take off,” It was a cold tone and he didn’t look at her when he said it. Angela turned a page in her book, but Bella wasn’t sure if she was actually reading it, or feigning busyness.
Bella felt as if she had cold water poured on her. Mike had always been friendly to her, even during times when she had thought he wouldn’t be, like when she had been dating the Cullen. She would even go so far as to compare him to a golden retriever, with a goofy smile that had always been eager to see her. But now as she looked at his face, then Angela, and then the rest of her friends she felt as though she were looking at strangers instead. Oh, she thought dully, it’s happening again.
Reality reminded her just how lonely life could be and she couldn’t take it.
She emptied her tray of uneaten food with apathy, watching as the waste slid off into an abyss of trash . She returned the tray to the counter before bee-lining toward the girl’s bathroom. She slammed the door open, before cautiously looking at the stalls. She heard no noise and assumed there was no one inside.
She went to the sink, turning on the faucet before splashing her face with the cool water, once, twice, three times.
She didn’t stop until the heat she felt on her cheeks disappeared and when she looked at herself in the mirror she didn’t recognize the girl who stared back. She looked into her dead eyes but was so disturbed by the emotionlessness found within that she quickly looked away.
She stood in front of the sink, catching breath she didn’t realize she had lost and contemplating the situation with racing thoughts. Did Jessica make due with her promise? Was that how this worked, one word from her and the comfort Bella once had, the people she thought were her friends no longer were?
When the door opened behind her she flinched as she saw Lauren Mallory walk in through the mirror.
Lauren sighed, stopping at the sink right next to hers. She pulled out her purse and reapplied any lipstick that had rubbed off during her meal. The entire time vainly staring at her reflection, before her sharp eyes met Bella’s.
“Bet you thought you could get away with it,” She said lightly, her tone would be friendly if it were coming from anyone other than Lauren. Bella looked up at Lauren through the mirror, “Get away with what?”
“Your little goody two shoes act,” She replied simply, smiling in the mirror, the redness on her lips was the color of blood.
“I’m not acting,” Bella denied.
“Sure you aren’t, but let me be clear Bella, with Jessica gone things around here are going to be very different.” Lauren’s smile tightened, the look in her eyes unfriendly. She looked away from the mirror for a moment, glancing at Bella dismissively before suddenly laughing. “Don’t tell me you don’t know.” Her eyes shined with something Bella couldn’t identify as Lauren stared at her through the mirror.
Bella’s face was only full of confusion.
“Jessica’s been missing since Monday,” Lauren said unsympathetically, she put her lipstick back into her purse before pulling out a curler and started curling her eyelashes. “Angela told everyone all about it, hence the attitude. Apparently the police called her mom about it, they called mine too if you’re wondering.” She snorts, “Wasn’t long before the whole school heard about it. Isn’t your dad the chief of police, thought you knew.”
Her grin twisted, “Or maybe you’re just playing dumb and you know what really happened to her.”
Bella’s face went pale, Jessica’s missing? Did this have anything to do with their argument?
“Do you understand now?” Lauren said with a mocking tone, her voice filled with venom as she spat, “This is all your fault, if you weren’t such a freak maybe she would still be here.”
Bella felt hurt, confused, worried and humiliated all at the same time.
“That’s not true,” She said quietly.
“Yes it is Bella,” Lauren said as if stating a fact, “I bet that’s why the Cullens skipped town, probably threw you out after they found out you were a dyke.”
Bella felt as if that statement came out of nowhere, but Lauren only chuckled darkly, “Oh come on, I know you’re completely dense, but Mike broke up with Jessica and the next day she goes out with you and Angela Webber? Likely story,” Lauren said dryly, closing her purse.
Bella only shook her head and backed away, just as she reached the bathroom door Lauren’s voice found her one last time, “Oh and Bella, I liked you better when you were a zombie.” She sneered. Bella turned around and didn’t look back. She didn’t want to know what look had been on Lauren’s face.
As she hastily walked towards the front door of the school she bumped into Angela, her book falling to the ground. “Sorry,” Bella said without bothering to help her pick it up.
Angela didn’t answer her. Suddenly Bella had the urge to ask something, to hear anything from her, so she questioned, “What’s today's date?”
Finally Angela looked at her, and Bella regretted it because she didn’t like what she saw.
“January 21st.”
She nodded in thanks as Angela quickly walked away.
When she arrived at her truck she covered her face with her hands as she leaned on the wheel. She had never skipped school by herself before but there was a first time for everything and she didn’t feel like sitting in that suffocating atmosphere any longer than she had to. Maybe she should just go to La Push right now? Anything to escape Lauren.
Bella let out a heavy sigh, unhappily reminiscing. “Three days and a year ago was my first day,” She couldn’t stop the tears that welled in her eyes then.
Everything’s changed.
