8 - Sookie Stackhouse and Eric Northman Look to the Future - Part Two

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Chapter Eight

The van guy's drug hazed brain was a cesspool of hate, misogyny, prejudice and malice towards all. There was a strong refrain of self pity and blaming others too. He thought pretty women were stuck up, that they deserved whatever they got for not being available to him.

He had stalked the attractive petite waitress for weeks, parking his van next to her car and waiting patiently for her to come to the dark edge of the lot where he could grab her.

He had no plans on bringing her back. The reason he focused his sick plans on her was because she had smiled at him and made a comment about the weather late one night when he stopped in to the hotel coffee shop for a cup of coffee and a sandwich. Her friendly smile had sealed her fate.

Until I came along. He hadn't counted on a vampire in the parking lot. Or maybe he knew that vampires rarely interfered in the affairs of humans. Or maybe he didn't know what hit him.

"What are we going to do with him?" I asked Eric.

"We?" Eric asked, his blond eyebrows raised in amusement. "He is your prey. Do with him as you will."

I suddenly realized that with one hand I could snap this man's neck like a twig. As soon as I thought of his neck I heard the blood flowing there. The man's grooming might be a hot mess but his blood was good. I bent to get a closer look at his neck.

The stench of his lack of hygiene was layered over top of another smell, the smell of food, my food, his vibrantly delicious blood. His eyes fluttered and opened. As he realized a vampire was hovering over him he tried to scoot backwards but he was already backed up against the tire, there was nowhere for him to go.

"No, no," he said, feebly. "Stay away." He held up his grimy hand as if that would make any difference.

I looked him in the eye and asked, "Is this the first time you have grabbed a woman?"

I felt very focused on him as if he and I were the only ones in the world at that moment.

He went slack, staring unblinkingly into my eyes. "No. I took another one but she got away before I could get her home." His voice was a monotone.

"How did she get away?" I asked.

"She jumped out of my truck while I was driving," he said without inflection.

I realized that I had glamoured him without even knowing that was what I was doing. It seemed like a perfectly natural thing to do. I briefly wondered if I could have glamoured people when I was human. I had never tried, but glamouring came so easily to me now I wondered if I had always had the talent.

"Did she get hurt?" I asked.

"I don't know. Maybe. I was driving pretty fast. She was just a whore," he said woodenly.

"Are you going to do this again?" I asked, already knowing what the answer would be.

"Yes," he said dreamily, a small smile lifting his lips at the thought of the next victim.

"Stay there and don't move," I commanded him.

I turned to Eric. "He's going to grab another woman if we don't stop him," I said. "What should I do?"

"Does it trouble you that he is going to attack another woman?" Eric asked, leaning back against the caved-in van door in a casual pose. He knew me, I was sure he knew what I would say.

"Yes! Yes! It troubles me very much! I have to stop him," I exclaimed.

Even as I spoke I knew what I was saying. To stop him I would have to kill him. He wasn't going to change his evil ways just because I told him to, glamour or no glamour.

I shook my head no.

"I can't kill him, Eric. You promised me you wouldn't let me kill anyone," I reminded him. I sure enough wanted to kill him, though. I was glad I hadn't killed him already.

"True. You could feed from him while we decide what to do with him," Eric said, thinking.

"He's too yucky," I protested. My stomach rumbled. Under all that grime was my next meal.

"That can be fixed," Eric said, throwing the man over his shoulder like a sack of rotten potatoes. "Follow me but watch where you're going," he cautioned.

At a little less than warp speed Eric went back into the parking garage. I followed, managing to miss hitting anything on the way.

We went back to our hideaway and locked the door. Eric went right into the shower and dumped the man, clothes and all, on the shower floor. He looked up blinking, but didn't make a move to run away.

"You have a great ability to glamour," Eric praised, observing how docile the man was. "Tell him to undress and clean himself."

I used a commanding voice and told him to undress and thoroughly scrub and shower himself. I stood outside the bathroom door while he showered, trying to think of what to do. Nothing came to me.

Eric saw me struggling with the whole thing. "Do not worry, Sookie. Worry is now a thing of the past. Feed, then I will take care of him. He will not abduct any more women," Eric assured me.

"Are you going to kill him?" I asked. That would hardly be better than if I killed him myself.

"That will not be necessary," Eric said. "I will intimidate him after we release him. That should be enough to scare him away from his plans."

If anyone could scare someone straight it was Eric.

"And you won't let me drain him?" I asked, hearing the shower stop.

"No, I will make sure he leaves here alive," Eric said, giving me a hug. He most likely thought this was endearingly kindhearted of me.

The bathroom door opened and the dazed robotic man walked out. He looked and smelled squeaky clean. His skin glowed pink from the hot water and all the scrubbing.

I was glad to see he had a towel wrapped around his waist.

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more to come ... (Wonderful Wednesday All! It is raining here but the sun shines in my heart from all the love we are sending and receiving. I send good thoughts for your health and happiness.

Welcome to the new readers, so glad you found your way here! My next post will be on Sat Nov. 26th. Happy Thanksgiving to those that celebrate turkey day. I give thanks for my dear readers. Without you I would just be talking to myself, lol!)

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