CHAPTER FIFTEEN

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     THE PAIN WAS UNBEARABLE AND ALL DAKOTA COULD THINK WAS HOW MUCH SHE'D LIKE TO DIE RIGHT NOW. How much she would love to be relieved from this pain she was feeling. Sookie sat on her knees beside her, screaming for Bill frantically. Dakota was unable to move, not even her finger as she laid on the cold soil. 

"Oh god!" Sookie cried, seeing the blood staining the back of her dress.

"Sookie!" Bill had appeared beside them, falling onto his knees. He had heard her screams from the car and vamp sped toward them as quickly as he could. "What happened? What did this?"

The vampire grabbed ahold of Dakota shoulders and carefully twisted her in his arms. Dakota cried out in pain, tears flowing down onto her cheeks as she laid on Bill's lap. It felt as if her entire back had been ripped off and she was now paralysed.

"It was some sort of bull-human, I don't know!" Sookie said, holding her cousins hand tightly. "It struck her and then just ran off into the woods."

"I can't move." Dakota breathed. "It hurts."

Bill didn't hesitate as his fangs protruded from his gums and he bit his own wrist, blood oozing out of his pale skin. He brought his wrist to Dakota's mouth and told her to drink. Dakota tried, but as soon as his blood went through her mouth she started coughing violently.

Dakota started to convulse, foaming at the mouth and Bill turned her on her side, praying she wouldn't choke to death.

"Oh, gross." Jessica whimpered, appearing at their side.

"Get the car, now!" Bill demanded.

Jessica disappeared soon after, doing as her maker told her to do. Dakota had stopped seizing, and was now gasping for air. Her eyes were open, though she couldn't see anything from the force of her coughs. 

"Is she going to die?" Sookie trembled. "Please, tell me she isn't going to die."

Bill shook his head, looking around frantically. "She won't die."

"What if that thing comes back?" 

"I'll deal with it." he said.

The path was illuminated as Jessica drove up toward them. Bill got up, taking Dakota in his arms as her head lolled from one side to the other. He got in the backseat whereas Sookie sat back down in the passenger seat, turning to keep her gaze on her cousin, worriedly.

"Where too?" Jessica was already driving as she asked the question.

"Fangtasia." 

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SOOKIE'S YELLOW BUG CAME TO A SCREECHING HALT BEFORE THE VAMPIRE BAR IN SHREVEPORT AND DAKOTA LET OUT A PAINFUL MOAN AT THE FORCE OF IT. The parking lot was empty as Fangtasia was closed today, the neon sign at the front was slightly flickering. Jessica turned in her seat, brows pulled together as she looked at her new friend with worry.

"Drive straight home." Bill instructed, opening the car door.

"But I wanna go with you." she tried.

"As your maker, I command you." Bill then turned to Sookie. "You too, Sookie. Go home. It's not safe here. I will keep you updated. Jessica make sure she gets home."

"I'm not leaving." Sookie announced.

"Sookie, please." Bill pleaded.

The blonde furrowed her brows and moved her gaze to her cousin, who's face was contorted into an expression of intense pain before turning back to Bill. Sookie gave a single nod and Bill got out of the car and slammed the door shut. Jessica turned the engine back on and sped off toward Bon Temps.

Bill pounded on the doors, grunting as Dakota's body shook in his hold. The door opened and he was greeted by an annoyed looking Pam, sharp eyebrow raised. Her icy blue eyes moved from his to the girl in his arms and the look of surprise didn't go unnoticed by bill. The smell of her blood was intoxicating.

"What the fuck happened?"

The blonde vampire let him in, the place was empty apart from Eric sitting at the bar in a blue tracksuit. He caught a whiff of Dakota's blood and stood up, vamp speeding toward them, brows pulled together. Pam had pushed a table toward the middle of the room as Bill gently laid her down on her stomach. Dakota took in a painful breath, eyes closed tightly.

"She was attacked." Bill said, glancing at the blood on his shirt. "I didn't see what did it. Sookie said it was some sort of bull-human."

The fabric of her dress was being ripped open and she cried out as the material stuck to her wounds. God, this hurt even worse than the actual attack itself. There was a hiss above her as Eric peeled the fabric from her shredded skin and pulled a face. It were three deep wounds, formed by some sort of claw. It was ugly, new blood oozing down her bare back.

"Let me heal you." Eric said, kneeling beside her face.

"I tried." Bill shook his head, stopping him from biting his wrist. "I gave her my blood but she started seizing and her mouth filled up with foam. I don't think this can be healed. That's why I came here."

Dakota opened her eyes slightly and she could make out the vikings pale face in front of her. He was talking but she couldn't hear him, all she saw was how his mouth moved but no words formed. "Eric," she cried. "it hurts."

Eric turned to his progeny. "Call Ludwig, say it's urgent."

Pamela sped off with a nod to retrieve a phone as Eric frowned at the woman before him. Dakota would have his head by the way she was displayed onto the table, but he doubted she cared right now, she probably didn't even notice that her dress was ripped, revealing her underwear.

"She'll be here in ten minutes." Pam said.

"Who's this 'Ludwig'?" Bill questioned, eyeing the viking suspiciously.

"No one," Eric answered, meeting his gaze lazily. "It's almost dawn, why don't you go home. I don't have a spare coffin for you to reside in, unless you'd like one that's been fucked in thousands of times by Longshadow?"

Bill wrinkled his nose and shook his head 'no' and said, "I promised Sookie to keep her updated."

"We got it." Pam drawled, raising a brow. "If she dies, we'll call you."

To this Bill bared his fangs, Pam did the same and Eric stood up, glare on his face. "Go home, Bill."

The vampire clenched his jaw, glancing down at a shivering Dakota before nodding his head. He disappeared out of the door, slamming it shut behind him and Pam and Eric shared a glance. Their eyes fell onto her oozing back just as the door reopened, revealing a rather short woman, wearing a doctor's coat.

"Where's my patient?" she demanded, peering up the vampires through her glasses.

"Here," Eric led her to Dakota and the woman sighed.

Doctor Ludwig took gloves from her briefcase and pulled them on, not taking her eyes from the ugly wound on the woman's back.

"What kind of doctor are you?" Dakota croaked.

"The healing kind." Ludwig drawled. "I'm Doctor Ludwig, what's your -?"

Dakota let out a screech as the woman touched the wound on her back, feeling as if her skin was being burned off. Ludwig retracted her hand with a hum and went through her briefcase to search for whatever material she was going to use on the woman.

"D - Dakota Elkins." she breathed. "Am I dying?"

"Yes," Ludwig stated bluntly.

Eric sat on a chair beside them, brows furrowed as he watched Ludwig work on Dakota. He didn't know why, but he didn't like to see her in pain and the smell of her blood was so strong he was sure every vampire in Shreveport could smell it. Pam sat at the bar, eyeing her maker as he watched the half naked woman on the table, cocking her head to the side slightly. 

"Can you save her?" Eric asked and the urge in his voice didn't go unnoticed by his progeny.

"Well, we don't have a lot of choices." Ludwig said. "She's been poisoned. You ever heard of komodo dragons? Their mouths are teeming with bacteria. After one has bitten you, it will track you for hours, days, just waiting for the toxins to slowly eat away at the nervous system till you're good and helpless. Then it will devour you alive."

"I was scratched by a dragon?" Dakota grunted, wanting so desperately to hold onto something, but her muscles wouldn't let her.

"No," Ludwig said. "but this poison is similar but way more efficient. I don't think i've seen it before, but it is hard to tell without testing and we don't have that kind of time. You are running out of time." 

Dakota began spluttering again, spitting out white foam and she cried out. Eric kneeled beside her, ignoring Ludwig when she said they should wait in the other room for this. Dakota began almost choking, gasping for air and eyes wide with fear.

"Pam," Eric turned to face his progeny. "take Chow and search the woods around highway seventy-one."

"He can do it." Pam said as Chow came into the room. "I am wearing my favourite pumps."

Eric said something in Swedish, and it sounded like a command. Pam sighed and left Fangtasia with Chow in tow. 

Ludwig took out a small blue vial with clear liquid inside of it and Eric watched with interest as she began pouring it over Dakota's back. The woman screamed bloody murder when the liquid made contact with her mauled skin. Despite having been paralysed moments ago, she began kicking her legs and flailing her arms around, caused by the intense amount of pain she was in.

Eric glared at the woman. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Hold her down!" Ludwig demanded. "Or let her die, your choice."

Eric didn't hesitate and slid toward the head of the table, in front of Dakota and held onto her biceps so she couldn't hit anyone. Dakota screeched as she tried to get out of his grip, but the vampire wouldn't budge. He had to admit, she was strong, stronger than he had thought and he clenched his jaw, trying to make eye contact with her.

Ludwig was now digging around one of the slashes, moving her fingers around and fishing out a talon within. The small doctor held it up, inspecting it and placing it in another vial before going through the next one to see if there were more. 

"I'm taking the venom out." she explained, as Eric eyed the vials. 

There were two more talons and Dakota had stopped trashing around, her body had gone numb from the pain and her eyes were half closed, watching Eric as he hovered in front of her.

Dr. Ludwig had taken out the last of the venom and tapped the slashes with an oil infused cloth. "Alright, you can give her blood now. Her body should accept it." The small woman began to collect her materials back into her briefcase and turned toward the viking. "I'll expect my payment by the end of the week."

"It's always a pleasure doing business with you, Dr. Ludwig." Eric commented from his place beside Dakota.

"Fuck off," and with that she was gone.

Eric turned his blue eyes toward her and saw that she was already looking at him, hazily. His fangs pierced his wrist, blood oozing from his artery as he brought it to her mouth. The thought of her having his blood in her system send a thrill through him, knowing he'd know where she'd be all the time. It excited him. "You need to drink."

Dakota barely registered what happened but opened her mouth as soon as his skin touched her lips, and his blood flowed over her tongue. It was metallic, and was supposed to be horrid but Dakota found that she didn't mind it as much as she thought she would. Her hand reached up to hold onto his forearm and he brushed a strand of hair from her face.

He could already feel the effect it had on her as her unease diminished. He could hear his blood running through her veins, healing everything that might have been broken within her body.

Eric removed his wrist, not wanting to overcook her and felt his skin healing. The wounds on her back were slowly stitching together. Dakota closed her eyes, too tired to keep them open any longer. He wiped a trail of blood away from her lips with his thumb.

Pam and Chow stalked inside and Pam rested her hands on her hips, looking rather annoyed as she glowered, "The area has been scanned." 

They were covered with mud and twigs and looked somewhat comical. "Tracks were human, but the smell was distinctly animal." said Chow.

"What kind?" asked Eric, getting to his feet.

"The filthy kind." Pam retorted. "We didn't recognise it."

"Send an alert through the appropriate channels." instructed Eric. "Find out what the neighbours know. And Pam. Those were great pumps."

Eric shot his progeny a grin and with a roll of her eyes she and Chow walked out of the room. He turned his head toward the woman on the table when he heard a whisper of his name.

"Thank you."