5. Influence

Three nights later Eric was sitting behind his desk at Fangtasia, he was lost deep in thought. That happens to him a lot since Lindsey Border came into his life. He was confused at the mixture of thoughts and feelings swirling around in his head. He thought of Lindsey as something deeply demonic yet to his displeasure, he also found her very attractive. He had never seen a woman or creature like her and he knew that there was more to her than being a hell hound, which was another oddity. There isn't a whole lot to know about hell hounds other than the myths and legends surrounding them but he never knew of a hell hound to take human form. He never saw Lindsey in anything other than human form, in fact he wasn't even one hundred percent positive that Lindsey was a hell hound. All signs point to her being one but he didn't understand her ability to shape shift. Nights ago when he and Pam saw the hound take the man on the street, it was a dark and quick moving blur. The only part that he positively made out in the sight of it was the glowing red eyes, demon eyes. He saw an overall shape of a very large wolf-like hound but it was a completely black figure. Eric was beginning to wonder if it was really bad thing that he and Pam saw this creature because as far as the legend goes, seeing or hearing the creature meant that death was upon you. He was fairly certain that it didn't apply to them since they were technically no longer one of the living but he couldn't help but wonder.

The door to his office opened to reveal Pam stepping inside. She closed the door behind her as she made her way to the couch. Eric barely made notice of her entrance into the room and she frowned in disappointment, she knew he was completely lost and consumed in thought over Lindsey. He had many reasons to be and it worried her that her maker and friend's life was in jeopardy, he was also putting her own in jeopardy as well. She was well aware that Lindsey was after a pendant, she had no clue why neither did Eric but she knew that Eric was in possession of it. Lindsey was more than willing to kill for the pendant and had already made threats on their lives to regain possession of it. She hated that Eric was headed down the darkest path that anyone could ever venture on, he was attracted to and intrigued by a hell hound. How does that end well? Normally Pam would appreciate Lindsey's level of darkness and destruction but she was honestly very frightened.

"Eric…" Pam said quietly and he looked up at her. "Any sign of her last few days?" She asked cautiously. She hoped that Lindsey would somehow just go away or that Eric would just give the pendant to her and worry about trouble from the queen later. The queen's punishment would be nothing in comparison to what Lindsey is possibly capable of.

Eric let out a deep sigh. "No… nothing… it's strange." He said slowly. "I think I am going to look for her." He said looking away from Pam's gaze and back to some papers on his desk, one of them being a picture he printed out of her from the computer. Not to hopelessly stare it in a lovesick manner but he studied everything about her appearance. Looking for anything that would give him any sort of clue about her.

"Why would you do that Eric?" Pam asked sharply. Eric's eyes moved to hers quickly and he looked at her in a punishing manner for having the audacity to speak to him that way. Pam averted her gaze and looked at her folded hands in her lap. "I'm sorry… I just don't think that is wise to go looking for her. That could be asking for death Eric."

Eric ran a hand through his hair. "I just need to find out more about her and see what exactly I am dealing with. Maybe there is a way to work out some sort of arrangement with her. I'm not saying I want to talk to her necessarily but I also need to." He let out another sigh and looked at the papers in front of him again. "There's so much about this that I don't get and I need to know what is so special and important about this pendant before I can even think of handing it over to her. If she truly is a hell hound then how is she able to take human form? How did an outlaw, a human woman, become a hell hound? I've known and seen some dark people in my time but what happened to her in her life for her to be so ruthless and a killer without reason or remorse." Eric said softly as he thought over each question, he really wanted the answers to them. He really wanted to know Lindsey Border, he wanted to know why she is what she is. Her story, he found fascinating.

"I understand… but… please be careful." She took a deep unneeded breath and rubbed her hands together nervously. Eric found her actions peculiar and her hidden admissions of her care for him. "Eric…" She began but paused and looked deeply into his eyes for a long minute. "Sometimes when you look into the abyss… the abyss… looks back into you."

They sat in silence for a few long minutes and just stared into each others eyes. Pam's words chilled him to the core as every bit of that statement was frighteningly true. At that moment he realized that Lindsey Border just might be the death of him and at over one thousand years old the thought of the end of his immortality scared him. He's never truly met anyone in all that time that could take it away from him, sure there had been threats and he's been through some battles but he's always come out on top and he's always found a way around it. Lindsey is by far the darkest and most powerful he's ever faced and what freaked him out even more was just how appealing that was to him. The Spartans always spoke about a beautiful death, a worthy adversary killing them on the battlefield would be the beautiful death. Spartans were extremely powerful and skilled warriors, it would take one hell of an opponent to end their life in the heat of the fight. As a former Viking warrior himself and now an extremely powerful vampire, maybe Lindsey is his worthy adversary and maybe she offers the death he has so long avoided.

"Pam…" Eric spoke breaking the silence. "I think it's time for me to look into the abyss. I'm sure there are wonders there." Eric said with an unsure voice as he has no idea what is compelling him to walk into complete darkness.

"Are you afraid?" Pam asked carefully. "I would be if I was in your position… well… I am afraid even not being in your position." She admitted as she looked up at her maker showing the unease on her face. Eric had never heard Pam admit to being afraid of anything before and it certainly never showed on her face.

"Every fear hides a wish, doesn't it?" He responded thoughtfully. It made him wonder what wish he was hiding. Pam scrunched her eyebrows together as she wasn't sure she believed that statement to be true but it did provoke thought.

Eric stood from his chair without saying another word and put his jacket on over the somewhat fitted t-shirt he was wearing. He made his way to the door and looked at Pam for a moment before nodding his head at her slightly before making his exit from the office. He made his way out the back door of Fangtasia and looked around into the black night that surrounded him. He heard nothing and caught no scent so he knew she wasn't nearby. He launched himself into the air and began flying over Shreveport looking for any sign of Lindsey and after about a half hour he finally faintly caught her scent.

He landed in the side yard of a quaint house just outside of suburbia Shreveport and he could smell Lindsey way before he saw her, there is no forgetting her scent. It was a little different right now, it was more wild and furious if that was a possibility. Looking inside the window he saw her, the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his thousand plus years. Lindsey's eyes looked dark and sinister as she moved to the blonde haired woman in the room and Eric was surprised that the blonde was standing her ground. He saw a certain glow around the blonde as he watched her image change in front of him, her skin glowed as a pair of wings appeared out of her back. He thought his eyes were going bulge out of the sockets at the sight in font of him… wings. The woman had wings coming out of her back and they were magnificent. They were grey in color and large, he imagined if she spread them they would be about six feet in wingspan.

The glow faded and the blonde was in a stare down with Lindsey. He was mesmerized by what he was seeing.

The blonde woman turned her back on Lindsey and walked into the kitchen of the house. She didn't seem alarmed and looked like she was going to make some tea for the two of them. Eric felt sorry for the blonde in that moment as she had no idea what exactly was in her house and what she was in store for. Though he felt a confliction within in himself as this blonde had wings and had a glow to her, now his mind started to worry that Lindsey could be playing with something dangerous. He suddenly recognized the blonde as the woman Lindsey was watching dance at Fangtasia a few nights ago. He remembered Lindsey being in a near daze and practically drooling, lost in a trace over the woman. The coincidence of that and Lindsey being here in the woman's house now was too exceptional. Eric no longer saw the lust in Lindsey's eyes that he saw when they were back in Fangtasia for the woman, what he saw replaced in them was a hunger. She looked as though she was seething in anger and the only place that emotion showed was in her eyes. He couldn't hear the words but he saw Lindsey say something to the blonde and the blonde's reaction puzzled him, her wings fluttered slightly.

Lindsey didn't look surprised in the slightest as she was leaning on the frame of the archway with her arms crossed over her chest. No words were being spoken now but both parties looked relaxed. Eric was amazed at the sight in front of him, an angel (possibly) and a hell hound (possibly) standing in a room together. The woman turned around and he wasn't sure how he missed her grabbing it but she had a large silver knife in her hand, it looked like it was forged in a different world. Her hands were at her side and she was looking at Lindsey with her still very calm face and a new trance like look on her face as Lindsey pushed herself off of the arch way she was leaning on and smirked. Lindsey out stretched an arm and curled a finger at the woman in a gesture that Eric saw as 'bring it'. Nothing could drag him away from this scene right now as the standoff was underway. The zoned out look on the woman's face made Eric wonder if Lindsey's words were responsible for that, some sort of spell to put her in a trance.

The winged woman followed Lindsey into the other room as Lindsey turned and walked out. Eric knew Lindsey was confident but to turn your back on what appears to be an angel with one hell of a knife wasn't a smart move in his book. He quickly moved to another window to get a good view of what he could only imagine was going to be one hell of a showdown. Eric blinked rapidly once he stopped in front of the new window as he saw the two woman face to face in a very seductive manner. Lindsey's hands were gently placed over the woman's and she was holding them like you would a lover's. She moved in in an achingly slow pace and pressed her perfect lips on the woman's. The woman responded accordingly and moved her lips on Lindsey's, Eric grunted softly as he felt the bulge in his pants make itself known again. He placed a hand over it as he watched Lindsey's hands glide up the woman's arms as she leaned her back on the coffee table behind them.

The woman broke from the intense kiss and shut her eyes as she arched her back at the feel of Lindsey's roaming hand. The hand moved from behind her head and down her neck as Lindsey laid soft kisses along the woman's jaw to her ear. Her hand raked over the woman's heaving chest and down her stomach before rounding over her ribcage and to her back, Eric let out a soft moan as the throb in his pants became that much stronger. Lindsey's hand was moving up the woman's back as her mouth worked over hers in a deep kiss, Eric with his excellent vision could see Lindsey snake her tongue in the woman's mouth as she arched her back even more at the sensations Lindsey was providing her. This very well could be the most erotic scene Eric had ever witnessed and he was practically panting, well he would be if he breathed. As Lindsey continued to skillfully move her lips down the front of the woman's throat, the hand that wasn't rubbing up the woman's back was slowly inching the ancient knife from her grasp. Moments later it dropped to the carpet below and the woman was too lost in ecstasy to notice. Eric groaned again as the strain in his pants was becoming painful, if only he could enter the home.

He slid a hand down the front of his pants as he watched Lindsey completely control the woman laying underneath her. Lindsey's mouth was working the woman's as her hand moved up the woman's back one more time and he twitched when he saw Lindsey wrap her hand around the top part of the woman's wing. She broke the kiss and he heard her sinister laugh break out as she started pulling on her wing. The woman screamed in agonizing pain and wriggled underneath Lindsey, all Lindsey did was continue to laugh. Eric's jaw dropped open and his stroking hand froze as he took in the sight inside the house. The woman was now thrashing and fighting against Lindsey with all her might. Lindsey held the woman down with a hand wrapped around her throat as she ripped the one wing off with incredible force. Eric could hear the bones crack and break as the woman sobbed, pure terror on her face.

Lindsey jumped off of the woman and threw the wing to the floor as she tossed her head back and let loose a roar that came from deep within. It was a roar that would make a lion piss himself and Eric had a feeling wash over him that maybe he shouldn't be here watching this. He hated that he still found Lindsey so attractive despite her obvious evil nature. Eric had an animalistic side to him as well but he only inflicted it on those whom deserved the punishment. Such as Royce, whom had taken silver to him and was drained because of it. He also ripped his limbs off in the process. It was the most erotic thing he had ever witnessed in seeing Lindsey make out with this woman and then to start ripping her apart. Him being a vampire, he found the destruction seductive and no one did it better than Lindsey.

He removed his hand from his pants as he watched Lindsey grab the woman by the collar and yank her up off the coffee table. She reached around and grabbed a hold of the other wing as the woman tried to fight her with all her might. She slapped, kicked, punched, and kneed as Lindsey began ripping off the wing. Blood was still pouring out of the wound from the first wing and the scent of the woman's blood was just starting to creep in on him. He had never smelt anything like it before, it was the purest blood he had ever gotten a scent of. He knew immediately that the blood was old, in fact it must be ancient but it smelt like heaven. He heard the bones crack and snap as cartilage popped and flesh was torn. The woman's screams were high pitched and her face was streamed with tears as Lindsey tossed the other wing on the floor. The woman slumped in Lindsey's grasp and with a jerk of her arm the woman was thrown to the ground.

Lindsey made the same mistake in turning her back to the woman on the floor as she walked over to inspect the wings. Eric caught sight of her face and her eyes flickered as light from outside hit them, they held a dull red glow and Eric shuddered at the sight of her. She was about to bend over to pick up one of the wings when the woman leaped off of the floor with the previously discarded knife in her hand and thrust it in the side of Lindsey's lower back. Lindsey howled in pain and whipped around grabbing the woman by the throat, she ripped the woman's trachea straight from her throat and flung it to the floor. The woman dropped to the floor lifeless and Lindsey reached around to grab the knife sticking out of her back with a snarl. She howled and hissed as she pulled the knife from the wound. She spun the knife in her hand and dropped downward with as much force as she could and stabbed it into the woman's chest. She pulled it out only to stab again and again in the woman's chest. Lindsey collapsed slightly and laid a hand gently over the wound in her lower back and Eric felt the wanting within him to run in the house and heal her somehow.

She was carving something as Eric could hear the sounds of the bones in the woman's chest breaking, soon he saw the red chunk in Lindsey's hand. It was the woman's heart and his eyes widened at the sight and he found himself intensely curious as to what she was going to do with it. To his surprise she did nothing other than crush it in her hand and drop it to the floor. She had trouble standing up and she had her hand over the wound in her back, after stumbling a bit she made her way to the front door. Eric looked at the woman's body in the living room go up in blue and white flames until every part of it was gone. Eric ran to the front door when he heard it open, the scents that hit his nostrils just about knocked him off his feet. Lindsey stumbled out of the house and he was surprised she was hurt so bad considering she just might be a supernatural beast, he figured she'd heal just as quickly as he did.

He ran over to her and caught her in his arms before she tumbled to the ground. He lowered himself to the sidewalk and sat with her upper body cradled in his arms. Her eyes were fluttering as she was about to loose consciousness, Eric shook her a bit and she growled. Her eyes shot open and she took the sight of him in. She coldly stared into his eyes for a minute before she spoke.

"You shouldn't have watched that." She said with a groan. "There's no turning back now." She said but her voice came out broken and in between choppy breaths. She was suffering from the stab wound and Eric thought of offering his blood.

"I couldn't help it… though it's not what I expected to see considering how it started. I am dying to know what you are." He confessed in a low voice looking at the stunner in his arms.

"Did you get any answers?" She fought to get the words out.

"I thought you were a hell hound but now I am not so sure." He said as he brushed hair off of her face and she looked at him strangely. It was apparent to him that that sort of gesture was foreign to her but there wasn't much she could do about it at the moment.

"Wha… what changed your mind?" She asked with a groan.

"Well, what would a hell hound be doing pulling the wings off of an angel? Why would a hell hound be on a mission to kill her?" He questioned and she rolled out of his lap with a few grunts and groans. "Why would a hell hound… a supernatural beast of incredible power be suffering so much from a stab wound?" He asked as he assisted her struggle to her feet.

"Well… I'd like to see how you'd feel after you were stabbed by a divine sword." She managed to say shortly and with a chuckle. "That sword is the weapon of an angel… do you not think it has power? It was fucking forged in heaven." She stated with a look on her face that said, 'you're a fucking idiot'.

"Ok… so you killed an angel." He took a deep unneeded breath as that thought processed through his brain. "Why? I thought angel and demons fought each other. Why would a hell hound, with only one purpose, get involved?"

"She crossed a line and I dealt with her. That's why I got involved." She said with a hard look at him, making it clear that he was in no right to question her. "Hell hounds are demonic creatures and more powerful than any other." She said with a grimace on her face, showing the amount of pain she was in.

"Even more powerful than a demon?" Eric questioned and she nodded. "Would my blood help any if I offered some?"

Her eyes shot up to his and she cocked her head to the side slightly and then raised her brows and shook her head slightly. "No it wouldn't help and I am surprised you would even offer." She said looking at him with a contemplative look on her face. "There's only one that can help but this isn't severe enough to warrant his help. I am already healing." She groaned as she lightly moved her hand over the wound. "More powerful than a demon because demons are only aloud to influence, where as I can make deals with those looking to sell their souls and I collect lost souls. I also collect souls when their time on their deal is up. Typically hell hounds only have one purpose but I guess you can say I am a bit higher on the food chain. I have friends in high places or should I say low." She had glint of red flash in her eyes and an evil smirk on her lips. "Demons and angels are only allowed to influence or sway a human to sin or to do good. The second they do more than influence they cross the line and are to be punished. It's the oldest and most sacred treaty, if you will. God and the Devil fighting for human souls… their stupid war…" She trailed off and Eric was amazed at the amount of information that she did share but it let him know that there are many different sides to her and that she is different. She doesn't strike him as the usual hell hound and she let it be known that she wasn't. Since this is the first he's ever seen or come into contact with it was hard to judge but he knew there was something special about her and that drove him wild.

Eric stepped close to her and was surprised that she didn't move. He leaned down sniffed her hair and she turned her head to look at him, she had a perplexed look on her face. Eric chuckled. "You smell incredible. I never would have imagined that the blood of a hell hound would smell so enticing." He reached behind her and swiped his hand over the wound in her lower back gently and brought the blood soaked fingers to his mouth. In a flash she grabbed his hand in a crushing grip before his fingers slipped inside his mouth and looked at him wide eyed.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asked with an arched brow. "You don't want that blood. You do not drink the blood of a hell hound." She warned him. "In general it is very strong and a drop might be too much for you but right now it is poisoned with that sword having been in there." She dropped his hand and he wiped the blood off of fingers onto his pants after the broken bones healed. "You shouldn't have come here. It's not good for someone to see what just went down, even a dead man. I am about ready to just kill you and just say 'fuck the pendant'."

"I feel… drawn to you." Eric told her carefully and she rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. "I followed you here because of that but also because I needed to know for sure what you are. I have to know what I am dealing with." Eric raised his eyebrows at the somewhat uncomfortable look that was on her face. "You don't like knowing that someone is draw to you…" He wanted it to be a question but as the words found their way out of his mouth they formed into a statement.

She chuckled and then groaned and hissed as she stood up a little straighter. "Why should someone be drawn to me? You know what I am… people can't even see me anyway. When I walk by them they get an uneasy feeling… my presence is not supposed to make anyone feel remotely good." She looked him up and down. "I guess you being a member of the undead you might feel a bit different but even then I am not a warm and cuddly creature… I can still do very bad things to you." She said with a smirk and Eric felt a shiver run down his spine.

Eric stretched his arms out, opening himself up and inviting her in for a freebie. "Then do it." He stated confidently. "I am tired of your threats and the destruction and chaos you have been causing. You want your pendant… come take it from me." He hissed at her and when she didn't move he dropped his arms back to his sides. "Maybe you feel drawn to me as well…"

"The other night I stabbed a silver blade into your shoulder and I killed the vampire that worked the bar for you, a business partner, right? I killed one of your waitresses and kidnapped your beloved Sookie. You confuse that with me caring somehow?" She questioned in a cynical tone. "I just simply can't kill you while you are in possession of the pendent." She chuckled lightly. "And that's only because I don't want to, there's really nothing holding me back from doing so should I choose to. Remember that." She warned with a menacing tone.

"Why is that? Why wont you hurt me or torture me for the pendant?" He questioned as he paced a little in front of her. "Why not take the fight to me especially when you've known all this time that I have it?"

"Well…" She started slowly and with her eyes glowering. "Right now it's more fun for me to torture and torment you but I am growing bored of it." She said plainly and he stopped pacing. "You've never spent any time in hell… you can't imagine the tortures I can inflict on you and will inflict on you if I don't get what I want. I wont kill you because it's too easy, you're off the hook then." Her voice had taken a lower register and was coming out in a raspy tone. Eric just stared at her in wonder because he didn't just hear her warning and threats, he actually felt them. He could feel this invisible force wrap itself tightly around him as she stared at him coldly. "But I could drag you to hell and perform unspeakable tortures on you day after day for thirty… forty years. Remember that time passes differently there…" She averted her gaze and suddenly the force that had been constricting around him was gone.

He looked at her in wonder because despite all her threats and acts towards him he could tell that she was still being easy on him. He figured instead of making her more angry or making her lash out in someway that he should try to reason with her on some level. "What is so special about the pendent? I have orders from my highest superior to make sure it never gets in your hands. You know what those orders mean in my world. What power does this pendent hold?"

Lindsey slowly walked right up to him and then circled him, looking him up and down. "You are older than your queen and therefore more powerful. Even then, a fight with her is not what you should be worrying about." She stopped in front him and looked up to meet his eyes with hers. She had a devilish grin on her beautiful face. "Besides… you ask all the wrong questions."

Eric scrunched his eyebrows together. "What questions should I be asking?" He asked her as she was slowly walking away from him. She continued walking for a few seconds but then stopped to turn and look at him over her shoulder, he gained no confidence by the look on her face that it was going to be anything good.

"Where have you been the last few days? What have you been doing?" She said lowly and then smirked slightly before disappearing into the night.

A/N: Yeah... so I apologize for the long wait on an update. I offer up no excuses just an apology.

Thank you to everyone that has been reading and reviewing! It rocks my world! The feedback and love this story is getting surprises me a bit since it is on the dark side but I am so glad that you awesome peeps are liking it. Lindsey is one evil bitch and I see she has some fans. LOL I love it! Thanks to those that have favorited and alerted this story!

Big thank you to my dear friend Jensi for her continual encouragement and support. Especially on the days I whine like a child and wanna throw my computer through a window and doubt what I am writing. You're always there when I need ya! Thank ya and love ya my unofficial beta!

Sorry for the cliffhanger. I know how much they suck. So what do you think Lindsey has been up to? What do you think is gonna happen next? Most importantly as I am curious... what would YOU like to see next?

Hit the review button peeps and let me know your thoughts!