Quickly, I ran to my car. 

For a brief moment, I was incredibly grateful to Eric for not being able to resist meddling in my affairs - without the full tank that he apparently also left me, I probably wouldn't have made it to Sookie's house. 

"Buckle up!" I called to Sam as a command. Irritated, I turned to my passenger seat when I didn't hear a click or reluctant hum. 

Sam wasn't in the car. 

"Sam?" Actually, he was nowhere to be found. "Seriously?Men!" First, they talk big, and then they tuck tail. 

My tires screeched as I was still trying to shift gears. As fast as my little Toyota could manage over the broken streets, I sped to Sookie's. Just in time, it seemed. A scream tore through the air as I came to a stop with gravel spraying underneath me. 

"Sookie!" 

As fast as my feet could carry me, I ran in the direction from which I thought I had heard the screams. 

What you're doing here is unnecessary and stupid!, the voice inside my head scolded me. You have no idea how to help her. No weapons, no support... 

But I could fight, I just had to get close enough to the two of them, and then I could - 

Zap. 

Everything around me was dark. Stuffy. Tight. Panic set in as I tried to open my eyes, but they were too heavy. I couldn't even lift my arms. But then again, I didn't really want to. It was cold. So cold. And yet cozy. I could just sleep. Wait, didn't I have something important to do? Whatever, I'd deal with that later... Let my sluggish thoughts drift away... 

"Ash!" 

Oh, someone was calling me. How nice. Hello to you too! 

"ASHLEY!"

Phew. That was getting a bit too loud now. Besides, I don't like being called Ashley. Ash was much nicer. Suited me better. 

"I think we're late!" 

Someone was crying. I always feel uncomfortable when someone cries. Please stop... 

"We aren't!" 

Oh God, what was he doing here again? Could vampires be reported for stalking? 

"Give her your blood!" 

"Oh, Miss Stackhouse! You and your demands... Well, why should I do that? Humans live, humans die. My blood, on the other hand, is sacred." The conversation was weird. I didn't quite understand what it was about. I just couldn't concentrate. "Eric, PLEASE! What do you want from me to help her?" 

Sookie, no! I wanted to open my eyes and knock the girl unconscious to stop her from talking, but I was just too exhausted. Through the fog, I was pretty sure I had Sookie and Eric in front of me, negotiating some kind of devilish contract, but I was too tired to confirm it. Everything around me and within me spun again, turning from black to white. I felt like I was caught in an unyielding whirlpool, pulling me further and further underwater. And struggling against it was exhausting. They'll take care of me, I could just let myself drift... 

"Be mine!" 

"No, I'm Bill's!" 

Eric growled before continuing disinterestedly. "Too bad then..."

 Even though I was too tired, this sound brought me back to the surface a little bit. It was threatening and yet somehow comforting, even though the content of his words would probably have bad consequences for me. My befuddled brain focused more on the vibrations of his voice, which was like the hum of a car engine... I used to fall asleep immediately when my parents drove the long way down to Georgia to my grandma's house. Even when my parents were arguing... 

"We can't drive thousands of miles every time this happens!" my father hissed at my mother, who had taken the wheel. "I'm missing work, I'll soon lose my job, money to make ends meet!" My mother's voice hissed back just as angrily. 

"Don't come at me with careers and money now! Would you rather our girl were dead?" 

"You're exaggerating, just because she glows a bit-" 

She cut him off, her voice shrill and louder. "You have no idea what you're talking about. They'll notice and then we'll all be dead. Or worse..." 

"Mom?" She turned around, and my breath caught in my throat. I had forgotten how beautiful she was. Bright blonde curls framed her face and made her green eyes shine brightly. She smiled at me reassuringly, and my heart warmed. Bright light surrounded her. 

"Hey darling. God, what are you doing here already? You'll be seeing Mama again soon! And we'll be there too. Don't be afraid." 

"I'm not afraid, Mom!" 

She took my hand and squeezed it. When she spoke now, she had Eric's voice, and I flinched. "Oops, time's running out..." 

"You damn bastard," my father answered from the passenger seat in Sookie's voice. 

"Uh, what language, Miss Stackhouse, you do have some fire in you after all. Interesting..." 

My mother put the fingers of her left hand on my neck. They were ice-cold. "Uh, not for long. Ten... nine... eight..." Panicked, I looked at my mom. She smiled at me reassuringly, and I relaxed a bit. I'll be with you soon. 

"ERIC!" 

"Sookie?" 

"Do something! I owe you one... A favor!" 

"I have your word." Silence. "Five... four... three..." 

Their voices grew quieter. Only muffled through cotton reached me. Now my father also reached out his hand to me, a warm smile on his lips. My heartbeat slowed- and calmed down. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the sun shining through the car window... 

"You have my word!" I was moved and opened my eyes again, only to see the panicked looks of my parents. 

"What is it? Mama? What's wrong?" 

She looked at me intensely. When she spoke now, thankfully, it was with her own voice again. "You have to break it. As soon as you wake up, you have to find a way to disappear!" I looked at her, then at my father, who nodded insistently. 

"I don't understand..." 

She interrupted me. "Don't forget, you're special! Don't let him get to you!" Her hand had clutched my arm so tightly that it almost hurt. Her gaze was so intense that I automatically nodded. Despite her cryptic answer, it was no more revealing than before. "Don't let him inside you."

I bristled at that, confusion and guilt varying.

"Let her go, Alice. It's not time yet..." My father's voice was sad, directed at my mother. She took a deep breath and then released her fingers one by one from me as she nodded sadly. As her mouth opened again to speak to my father, I was startled by the unexpected change back to Eric's voice. 

"I'll remind you! Trust me!" 

The whole scene in the car had frozen, my parents frozen in place. A glance out the window showed that the car wasn't moving either. Even a bird in the sky seemed to be hovering in place. Then, completely unexpectedly, my mother jumped from her driver's seat to me in the back and grabbed my head by the neck, pulling me forward forcefully. I wanted to pull back, but she was stronger, so much stronger than me. She covered my mouth, and I felt pressure on my lips. Then, warm liquid flowed along my lips into my mouth. I swallowed automatically before realizing what was happening. Everything around me was white again. Then I felt as if I were in free fall into nothingness. I screamed as everything stopped unexpectedly, as if I had pulled my parachute cord and opened my parachute. I was pulled upwards almost painfully by invisible threads.

I opened my eyes while I was in the middle of straightening up. The first thing I saw was Eric's face merely inches from mine, his teeth completely extended and his gaze dark and veiled. I slapped him soundly. "Put away your teeth!" 

"Not a morning person, I see..." 

"What in heaven's name...?" It took me a moment to reorient myself. Eric, apparently not upset by my slap but rather satisfied, and a tearful, pale Sookie sat opposite me. We were in Sookie's living room, with Sookie trembling on her coffee table and jumping up for a sudden hug, pushing me back into the cushions. 

"Sookie?" 

"Oh my God, you're alive!" 

"Not for long if you keep strangling me!" 

Sniffling, she let go of me and in a maternal gesture, brushed my hair behind my ear. Only now did I see her properly and gasped in shock. "Oh my God, Sookie, your face! What happened?"

She laughed bitterly. "Have you looked in the mirror, Ash?" When I shook my head, she held the handheld mirror lying on the coffee table up to my face. It took a moment for my brain to recognize the bloodied person staring back at me as myself! "Holy shit!" 

"You can say that again!" 

"What happened?" 

Sookie took a shaky breath and told me the incredible events of the evening. René had tried to kill Sookie after realizing she had exposed him as Drew Marshall. My attempt to come to Sookie's aid had ended for me with a glorious, almost fatal blow to the back of my head. I must have instantly passed out. After Sookie and Sam had overcome Drew in a fight for survival, Sookie, and I can hardly believe it happened, with the vigorous support of BILL, had decapitated Drew Marshall with a shovel. 

"Stop, back up for a moment!" 

Sookie looked at me with wide eyes. "Huh?" 

"Bill decapitated a human with you?!" Even to my ears, my voice was a bit shrill. I cleared my throat. 

"Yes!" 

"In the sunlight?" 

"Yes!" Sookie's eyes filled with tears. 

I looked at Eric, who was rolling his eyes for the first time since I knew him. Groggily I noticed, that since knowing him, I had completely forgotten about his and his ominous presence in the room. Instead I rather felt his presence deep inside me, but I wasn't nervous or scared because of it. And even without looking, I knew exactly where in the room he was. It was... comforting to have him near me. 

Okay, that was new. 

"Is he..." 

"Dead? That remains to be seen. He's just taking a nap in the front yard!" Eric explained the circumstances emotionlessly while Sookie sobbed again. 

Goodness, what a drama. I let my thoughts wander again as I finally noticed a circumstance. 

"Wait a minute. I thought I was knocked unconscious by that psychopath?" I reached for the back of my head, where dried blood was sticking to my hair. Disgusting... "Where the hell is my wound?"

 Awkward silence fell over us, and this time, none of those present were eager to answer me. But Eric's satisfied grin from earlier reappeared on his face, and that worried me."Sook?" 

"Hm?" She looked away. 

"Sookie Stackhouse?"

 She looked at Eric for help, who chuckled before taking over the conversation. "I gave you my blood."

I must have held my breath because after a good ten seconds of complete silence, I audibly gasped. When I found my voice again, it was at least three octaves too high. "Excuse me?" 

Silence. 

"I must still have blood in my ears because I thought Mr. 'I've never heard of boundaries' just said he gave me his blood!" By the end, my voice had become a bit shrill, so I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. My heart was racing. Not good. Not good at all. I was tempted to wring Eric's neck, for so many reasons, but the angrier I got, the more his former smirk turned into a satisfied, mocking grin. 

"Oh, someone's not happy about the circumstances!" he cooed, trying to get me even more riled up. "Although I honestly expected a bit more gratitude..." And once again, he scrutinized me from head to toe, making me feel hot all over. 

I growled, he laughed. My gaze shot back to Sookie, who defiantly stuck out her chin. 

"One of you is going to give me a detailed explanation of what exactly happened!" 

When Eric just continued to grin broadly, Sookie started to babble. "Ash, your injuries were serious. Very serious. I didn't know you had come to help me and didn't even realize that you were injured, lying between the trees in the cemetery. I only came to myself again when Eric stood in front of my door with you unconscious in his arms..." She started crying again. 

My gaze returned to Eric, who was still sitting amused next to me on the sofa. "What a stroke of luck, hm? And you just happened to be in the area?" 

"I had business in the neighborhood, yes!"

 Yeah, right. I looked at my apparent savior more closely. For once, he was actually not wearing leather pants or one of his tank tops. Black jeans and a black T-shirt were not exactly a business outfit, but compared to his usual attire... well, better. 

Okay, hot. 

Quickly, I turned my warm face away from the knowing vampire. "And so you thought you'd just open your vein to me because... what? We're such good friends?" My voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Eric raised an eyebrow. "I'm already getting my money's worth, Mr. Simmons." He looked at Sookie, who avoided my gaze and grinned again. I sensed trouble, but that was a problem I would have to deal with later. A multitude of questions swirled through my mind. 

"And now? Do I have a drug problem now and need to go through withdrawal?" 

Considering how much I had always feared the consequences of drug abuse, I spoke with surprisingly calm and firm voice. I should have been more excited and panicked, but deep down, I was just... calm. Relaxed. Happy? Oh yes, I must definitely be high. I hadn't felt happy in years...

 Sookie shook her head. "Do you remember what happened when those lunatics caught me in front of Merlotte's?"

 I flinched before nodding. Sookie had almost been beaten to death by the two crazy V dealers. Only Bill's intervention had saved her from certain death. 

"The blood heals the serious injuries, but it doesn't have the same side effects as under normal circumstances. No addiction, no hallucinations. Just a few..." She looked at Eric, who seemed to enjoy her obvious discomfort. Sookie's explanations faltered, and she blushed. Oh. Oh. Not good... She cleared her throat. "Eric, won't you fill in the gaps?" 

"Oh, as I see it, Miss Stackhouse is well informed. Interesting to find out what Mr. Compton has told you..."

I wrinkled my eyes suspiciously. That was a lie – Eric was skillfully evading us. 

"There's more!" He turned to me emotionlessly.

 "Is that so?" 

"Yes, that wasn't all." 

"And if it were?" He leaned forward threateningly, scrutinizing me. Once again.

"Stop it!" 

He ignored my statement. And I pondered how I could get him to talk. He was a closed book. And I absolutely couldn't change that. I couldn't just hold him upside down and shake the answers out of him like loose change. I sulked. 

"I thought so!" He smoothly and noiselessly straightened up to his full height. Like pulled by invisible threads, I stood up as well, but only reached his chest in height. He leaned forward one last time, bringing his face closer to mine. "If you still have questions..." his right corner of his mouth lifted "or have other reasons to want to visit me, Ashley..." 

"Ash!" 

"Of course!" He leaned back again, smiling broadly. "Then you know where to find me!"

 And with that, he turned around and disappeared through the front door before I could reply. "That's not going to happen!" I shouted into the empty space before turning to a curious-looking Sookie. 

For the first time, I noticed the whole room around her. It was as if someone had turned on the light and made the surroundings visible. I stood amidst pure chaos. Toppled furniture, a broken vase, and blood-soaked towels and blankets were scattered everywhere on the floor and tables. Sookie was in the middle of it all. 

"What is going on between you two?" 

Guiltily, I started to gather the blood-soaked towels. It dawned on me slowly how close I must have come to death. "Huh?" 

Goodness, that must have been several liters! 

Sookie grabbed my hand firmly. "Ash?" 

"Yes?" 

"Are you okay?" 

"Sure, everything's fine..." I wanted to pull my hand away, but she didn't let go. Instead, she forced me to look at her. 

"Are you sure?" 

"I'm standing, I'm breathing, everything's fine..." 

It was clear that I wasn't okay, but it was just as clear that I didn't want to talk about it, so Sookie sighed heavily and started to silently tidy up the living room next to me. As my suddenly powerful and strengthened body diligently cleared away the chaos (which must have been one of the mysterious side effects of the blood), my brain began to digest everything that had happened. I didn't really like any of this. But the wound could have been fatale for me. So should I be grateful to them? What consequences would Eric's blood have? The thought of owing him my life didn't sit well with me, but for now, all I could do was destroy the evidence of the evening and rejoice that Bon Temps had one less murderer. 

One Down, One to Go...