30 Years Past

The next night I awakened more refreshed than I had felt in years, maybe this single thing was actually going to work out after all. After fully waking up and getting ready I decided to head into town to Merlotte's. I pulled in, parked next to Sookie's yellow car and when inside. Thankfully Sookie was working and immediately got my Trublood. She set it down on the table and took a seat so we could talk.
"So Sam tells me you have a new guy" She smirked, so much for keeping them two off my mind.
"Well not really, an old friend is in town, but we aren't together or anything. I can't believe Sam Merlotte is a gossip" I rolled my eyes sarcastically.
"Well I asked and he accidentally let it slip out, plus reading his mind and stuff helps as well" Her laughter brought me back to reality.
"Hey Sookie could you use your gift to keep tabs on anyone that knows about supes and has any info about the recent disappearances" She nodded a quick yes as Sam hollered at her to get back to work. I gave her a small smile and she was off to wait more tables. Sitting in a bar in a small town can be a little unsettling, even though I've been in town for a while and now live close by, people still look at me oddly. Granted I can understand I'm a vampire, but I'm not blind I can still see everyone staring at me when they think I'm not looking. Finished with my Trublood and tired of all the stares I decided to go for a walk. The night sky was clear of clouds and you could see every twinkling star in the raven black sky. I stopped for a moment to take in the sight and was almost caught off guard by Eric emerging out of the trees.
"What, are you stalking me now?" I couldn't help but as an as a quirky smile.
"No I was hunting when I came across a vampire walking alone at night with rouge Were's on the loose. And I thought to myself who could be so foolish as to put their immortal life in danger, Valary Dravenport, came to mind, and here you are doing just as I thought you would" He said this very sternly with no emotion. Even though his words were meant to be sarcastic he kept a stern and serious face that said he meant business.
"Oh, well I'm a big girl I can handle myself, but thanks for the concern doll" I have him a toothy grin and a wink before I began to walk away. I glanced to my right to see if Eric was still behind me but was surprised to see him keeping pace with me as I walked. I immediately stopped in my tracks and faced the tall blonde vampire, glaring at his arrogance.
"Oh please, can't I just walk in silence in your proximity" He growled. I tilted my head to the side in confusion and shrugged my shoulders and began to walk once again. We walked in silence for about ten more minutes and it I was actually enjoying it, though I would never actually admit that out loud to anyone, especially Eric.
"You know" I stopped and turned to face Eric, "This is really the first pleasant encounter we have ever had, you should really stay stoically silent more often, it's quite nice" I could't help but laugh as Eric smirked at me.
"You never could take anything seriously could you?" He asked rhetorically.
"Not in my nature babe" I turned back to the walk and continued on not really having a destination to where I was walking to.
"What is your nature Val?" That question caught me off guard and I stopped to look at him and caught a flash of emotion in his eyes. I contemplated my answer as I tried to search for the sadness I thought I saw in his eyes.
"I've never really thought about it honestly" I could only imagine what my face looked like as I was trying so very hard to think about the thought provoking question, "I would say it's survival of the fittest, only the strong survive, and I'm the one stronghold. I don't need anyone to survive but company doesn't hurt. Emotions are a weakness, so they don't get shown. I'm independent and am not afraid to stand my ground, that's sort of how I've always been even when I was human" I could see Eric was tossing that around in his head for a while and he finally nodded getting the gist of my life philosophy.
"And no one will ever change that" He stated because he knew it was true, I was someone that couldn't be tamed human or vampire and most of the people close to me knew that and never bothered to try.
"Eric, is everything ok?" I hesitated asking because he was acting a little odd. He quickly cleared his throat and looked at me clearly back to old maniacal Eric.
"Everything is good and fine, I should be getting back to Fangtasia someone may have reported news about the hunt" And with that he was gone without another word or another glance. I was alone once again and it wasn't too inviting, I sped back to my car and drove home in silence listening to the sounds of nature and clearing my mind of all thoughts that involved the two men I would someday have to choose between.By the time I got home I wasn't in the mood to do anything but curl up in bed with a good book and escape the hell everyone called reality.

Eric's POV
I was tracking a werewolf that we suspected was part of the recent disappearances and killings. I was keeping my distance but could still tell that it was hunting another supernatural being. I could have laughed at the ignorance of the wolf oblivious to me trailing it, but that would only give my position away. Suddenly the wolf stopped and sniffed the air I was for sure I had spoken too soon and it had caught onto my scent. To my surprise the creature sniffed the air and simply changed direction paying no never mind to me. We were nearing the edge of the wooded ares when I spotted the prey the wolf was stalking, it was none other than Valary, damnit doesn't she know she isn't supposed to be out alone at night, what the hell am I going to do, I contemplated and acted before I could think. The next thingI knew I was on top of the dead wolf and wiping my hands clean, well so much for interrogating him. I got cleaned off and walked out of the tree line and stalked toward Valary.
"What are you stalking me now?" She retorted, I had to bite my tongue form saying not you, but your killer. I cleared my head of all emotions and warned her about walking alone at night with a bunch of psycho supes on the loose. I walked in silence with her for a bit just to make sure that the wolf was not hunting in a pack. As soon as the conversation got too personal I decided to leave.
When I arrived at Fangtasia only a few minutes later I called up Jude, as much as I disliked the guy he was still helping in the search. After telling Jude of the wolf and where his body was I kept myself busy by reorganizing my desk. It was such a mundane thing to do but it kept my mind preoccupied from thinking of things I dared not think about. As i moved around things on my desk i found a stack of photos I had forgotten I had. I soon found myself flipping through the photos and reliving the memories captured in all of them. Most of the photos involved me and Valary in our adventures across the country and sometimes the world, I could only imagine what my face looked like to Pam when she walked in because she took several double takes.
"What Pam?" I threw the photos on my desk as if they meant nothing and stood up making sure to press my authority down upon her before she said something to piss me off.
"Visitor" She raised and eyebrow and glared at me because she hated feeling like she was beneath me when I had always treated her like and equal.
"Send them in" I commanded and sat back down as Pam turned and walked out of the room. I gathered the pictures and tossed them into a drawer before there was a light knock on my door frame, I looked up to see Bill Compton and waved him into my office.
"Compton" I nodded as he sat down in front of my desk.
"Northman I have news" Bill began and i leaned forward to listen.

Valary's POV
I awoke in the middle of the day after having several nightmares all containing the same theme, Jude and Eric being taken away from me. After I awoke the fourth time I could no longer go back to sleep, every time I closed my eyes I could see them being taken by a larger Were and there was nothing I could do about it. It all felt too real to only be a dream. I had a strange thought about it maybe being a premonition of some sort. For safe measures I texted Eric and warned him to watch his back and then tried to get some more sleep without having anymore nightmares.

My phone jolted to life and made noises waking me up. Thankfully I had actually slept the rest of the day and it was now nightfall. I glared at my phone for disturbing my slumber before picking it up and checking the message I had received.
*I'll watch your's if you watch mine*
I glared at the phone even harder because of Eric's smart remark, I knew he wouldn't take me seriously, he was similar to me nothing scared him. I heard a faint knock on my door downstairs and hurriedly stretched and got out of bed. I threw on my house coat and padded down the stairs to check the front door. I was not surprised to see Eric standing there when I opened the door.
"What can I do for you?" I asked not even wanting to start anything this early in the morning, I half expected Eric to come right in and make himself at home and start poking fun of my house and trying to get in my pants, but when I focused on his face there was nothing sarcastic and smug about it.
"Val, Jude is missing"