Beauty and the Beast

Over the past couple days, my dad had been getting moodier and moodier. He seemed to crack at the smallest stuff and I noticed he had been drinking often.

The bar was unusually empty today. The new waitress my dad had hired, Daphne, was one of the first people in besides me and my dad. My dad had me cleaning glasses because Tara wasn’t in yet.

I spoke too soon. Tara came in the front door with a dark haired woman who just seemed to radiate power. I stopped washing the glass that I was working on and stared at her. Her very presence made my skin crawl. My head felt like someone was slamming it into a concrete wall.

She grabbed a menu and started talking to my dad like they were best friends. She took a seat at one of the booths and my dad was still talking to her.

“Dakota?” I snapped back into reality when I heard my name being called. “Dakota?”

I turned towards Tara. “What?”

“Are you alright? You don’t look so good.”

“Oh, um….I just…..” I couldn’t think straight.

“Look, why don’t you go lay down in Sam’s office for a while. I can handle this.”

I finished washing the glass and turned the water off. “Oh, and Tara?”

“Yeah?” She turned to me.

“Thanks for yesterday. That was really sweet of you.” I smiled at her.

I made my way back towards my dad’s office. I ran my fingers through my hair, which was almost down to my low back now. I sat down and pulled my knees to my chest to try and get rid of the nauseous feeling in my stomach.

“Daphne!” I heard my dad yell.

I got up and walked around the corner to find the new waitress Daphne with my dad standing over a pile of food on the floor.

“That’s right on my feet! How am I supposed to ignore that?”

“I’m sorry.”

“What crawled in his ass and died?” I asked myself out loud.

Later that evening, I decided to take a walk. I walked in the woods behind Merlotte’s away from the bar.

I got so caught up in my thoughts that I hadn’t even looked where I was going. Now I was lost and cold. I could just faintly see the moon through the trees, which gave me a little light. I heard a rustle behind me so I walked a little faster. I could hear footsteps behind me.

“Hello?” I turned around and asked the darkness. There was nothing. I turned and started speed walking.

Then there was heavy breathing behind me, almost like snorting. I stopped and slowly turned around and looked behind me. There was some sort of bull like creature a few feet from me. I slowly started walking backwards before turning around and full out sprinting.

I ran until there was no ground beneath me and I was falling. I hit the ground hard knocking the wind out of myself, even though it was only a 3 foot drop. I started army crawling as fast as I could before pain shot through my lower back, stopping me in my tracks. I screamed as white hot pain took over my body. I felt like I was choking.

There was a rush of cool air and a pair of cold hands brushed the hair out of my face. I felt something rise in my throat before I started coughing it up. There was a scream from close by.

“Jessica! Got get Sookie and her car!” A familiar voice shouted. I was turned over by the person- vampire- and cradled in their arms. I finally got a short look at the vampire. Bill. “Dakota.” How did he know my name? “Dakota can you tell me what attacked you?”

“Bull.....person.....didn’t get....a good look.” I managed to sputter out.

Light flooded over us and I could hear a loud sound like an engine running.

“Bill?”

“Sookie, I need you to drive to Fangtasia. Jessica, get in the passenger side.” I caught a glimpse of a red headed girl before Bill got in the back seat.

Nearly 10 minutes later I started having sharp pains in my chest every time I would inhale.

“She’s fading quickly. Eric already has the doctor there.”

Hope grew inside me as I heard Eric’s name. I knew Eric would never let anything happen to me.
The car came to a sudden stop.

“Jessica, as your maker I command you to drive home. Sookie, go with her.”
“I’m not leaving Dakota.”

“Sookie please.”

“No. I care about Dakota almost as much as I care about you.” I rested my head against Bill’s chest.

“Fine.” Bill got out of the car and carried me towards the door.

Sookie knocked on the door and I placed my forehead against Bill’s neck. My body was burning. Eric opened the door and I almost didn’t recognize him. His hair was now short and slicked back. He led Bill to a cushion with a blanket spread over it. He laid me down on my stomach and backed away from me. The doctor cut the back of my shirt open. I heard Sookie gasp.

“What kind of doctor are you?” I asked her as she put on latex gloves.

“The healing kind. I’m Dr. Ludwig. What’s your-” She touched one of the scratches on my back and I couldn’t help but cry out a little from the pain. I saw Eric flinch from the corner of my eye.

“Dakota. D-Dakota M-Merlotte. Am I dying?”

“Yes.” Se said simply.

“No! She can’t die!” Sookie shouted.

“Well, we don’t have a lot of choices. 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 your nervous system till you’re good and helpless, then it will devour you alive.” It was becoming harder and harder to breathe.

“I was scratched by a dragon?”

“No, but the poison is similar, but way more efficient. Don’t think I’ve seen it. It’s hard to tell without further testing and we don’t have that kind of time. Give us some privacy. I need to remove her clothing.”

“Sookie.” I said, looking at her. She knelt down by my head. “She-can-stay.” I choked out before more of the frothy liquid came up.

Sookie helped Dr. Ludwig remove my shirt. She fished around in her bag before pulling a blue vial out.

“Sookie, I’m going to need you to hold her as still as possible. Dakota, this is going to sting. A lot.”

She began pouring the substance in the vial on the cuts. I felt like my back was being lit on fire. I couldn’t hold in the screams. Whatever she was doing to my back was putting me in more pain than I had ever felt before.

“Stop!” I screamed. “Stop!” I felt a couple wet drops hit my cheek and I knew Sookie was crying.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the pain dulled and Bill and Eric came back into the room. Eric knelt down in front of me and tried his best to smile at me, but I knew he was in as much pain as I was. Dr. Ludwig began wiping my back clean. Eric took my hand in one of his and brushed some of the hair out of my face with the other.

“You can give her blood now. Her body should accept it.”

Bill and Eric shared a glance before Bill raised his arm and his fangs popped out. Eric was at his side in a flash, Bills wrist in his grasp.

“She’s already had my blood once before. Allow me.” Bill moved aside and Eric bit into his wrist before moving it to my lips. I allowed the sweet substance to flow down my throat.

“I expect my payment by the end of this week.” Dr. Ludwig said walking to the door.

“It’s always a pleasure doing business with you.” Eric said.

“Fuck off.”

“Clearly the pleasure is one sided.” Bill said.

“She’s not a fan of the fang. She tolerates us because our blood is of such great value to healers.” Eric pulled his wrist away from my mouth. “Now, we don’t want to overcook you.” He gently laid my head back on the cushion.

The door to the bar opened and two sets of footsteps could be heard. I could see a blonde woman in pink and a large man with dark hair dressed in black from behind Eric. They were both covered in dirt.

“The area has been scanned.” The blonde woman said, placing her hands on her hips.

“Tracks were human but the smell was distinctly animal.” The man said.

“What kind?”

“A filthy one.” The blonde replied.

“We didn’t recognize it.”

“Send an alert through the appropriate channels. Find out what the neighbors know. And, Pam,” ‘Pam’ turned back around. “those were great pumps.” He smirked as they walked away. He gently kissed my forehead before standing up.

“We can’t take her yet.” Bill said.

“Of course not. I’ll make sure she’s taken care of.”

“Well I’m not leaving her.” Sookie stepped forward.

“Longshadow kept a coffin in back. He liked to feed before resting so it might be a bit messy, but you’re welcome to it. Sookie can stay out here on the couch.”

Eric gently wrapped a blanket around my shoulders before he lifted me into his arms.

“I want to thank you for your hospitality.” Bill said. “And for saving Dakota’s life.”

“I’m sure there’s a way she can repay me.” He said before turning back around and walking out of the room.

He walked down the stairs to where his coffin was. There was a bed next to the coffin.

“What did you do to your hair?” I whispered, gently taking a soft strand between my fingers.

He chuckled and gently took my hand, kissing each of my fingers. “You need to sleep.”

He tucked me in before going over to the coffin.

“Eric?” I whispered. He was at my side in an instant. “Will you stay with me? At least until I fall asleep?”

“Of course, älskling.” He climbed in and gently pulled me against his chest, wary of the now healing scratches on my back.