Author's Note: It's been forever, I know! Please, lovely readers, don't hunt me down! I have no explanations, aside from the average hectic life of a twenty-something and the loss of my muse. Luckily though, she's back! I've been rewatching lately, and loving it, so with that has come fuel for the writing fire. This chapter I'm kind of iffy on, mainly because it's something I have to do to get to what I can't wait to write about, and also because it's part filler, plus a little short (just shy of 2,000 words). So enjoy what you can (yay, drama!) and be on the look out for more!

*Want to see our adorable Belleric duo in a certain situation through the series? Send in your suggestions via review or PM! I'm always willing to listen to new ideas that will fit in with mine, and credit will be given where it's due!

Your continued support through favorites, follows, reviews, and suggesting the Crave You series to others is both amazing and appreciated! I love my readers to death, you guys are fantastic! If you're new, or not, please feel free to leave a review with your feedback, I love hearing from you! Constructive comments are coveted, but please keep all flames to yourself! (:

Disclaimer at the beginning!

~Chapter Seventeen~

"Shit!"

My eyes flew open, beads of water dripping from the length of my lashes as I stared straight ahead into the tile wall. The shower jets beat down on my skin, turning it a faint rosy pink as I rinsed the shampoo from the long strands of my hair while I finger-combed through them. I had been trying diligently to push the sight of blood from behind my eyelids, and to ignore the way the scent of Eric's shampoo and body wash clung to my skin, prompting a shiver I couldn't explain to ripple down my spine. In doing so, I had managed to compartmentalize the actual reason I was spending the night at Fangtasia in his bed to begin with.

My grandmother was dead.

Murdered in cold blood.

As if that wasn't already hell enough, it was late afternoon and I had yet to return back to Bon Temps. In the ease of comfort while being in Eric's bed that I refused to acknowledge, I had overslept the time I had intended to wake. After the strange dreamscape, something I was praying had simply been a figment of my imagination now that I was thinking more rationally, I had immediately jumped into the shower to rid myself the image of crimson stained on the bright white of the bathroom sink. Retreating beneath the heavy stream and cloudy haze, I had been there for at least an hour, and still hadn't made contact with either Sookie or Jason.

I was a terrible family member.

Scrambling to shut off the water and jump from the slick confines as I wrapped an overly fluffy towel around my body- who knew vampires enjoyed the fluffiness?! –I sighed again in frustration as I glared down at my small pile of already worn clothes. I'd taken the liberty of raiding his closet the night before, considering my bag was nowhere to be seen. It was still sitting in the Corvette outside no doubt, and I mentally cursed the pale (albeit, gorgeous) vampire that remained in his coma-like sleep out in the bedroom.

I still moved cautiously, eyes glued to his immobile form as I crossed the bedroom floor.

My fingers hesitated after wrapping around the door handles, the breath hitching in my chest as a part of my mind began to fear the darkness hidden behind the heavy oak. An image from the night before flashed across the back of my eyelids, the phantom sensation of stickiness on my fingers as I had fumbled for the light switch rippled over the soft skin. Irrationally, I worried over what awaited me. But as I breathed in deeply and then exhaled heavily, swinging the doors open all at once, the tension in my limbs drained.

There was nothing.

No blood, no bodies, just row upon row of material.

Such a dumbass, Carnevare.

Sighing in both relief and annoyance once the lights flicked on of their own accord, I gazed at the bars of clothing and drawers that spanned the length of the walk-in space. There wasn't much to work with, considering Eric was a man, and a tall man at that. A pair of silky black boxers easily became a pair of shorts on my smaller frame, and another black v-neck shirt that would have been snugly fitting on the vampire nearly transformed itself into a dress on me, the hem teasing the skin just a few inches above my knees. I couldn't tame the blush that heated my cheeks as his scent washed over me, bathing my body in a masculine cologne that was mixed with the salty scent of the sea, something that I remembered well from the dream.

That wasn't real, of course.

I wanted nothing more than to crawl right back onto the mattress in the moment, sink down into its plush softness where I could forget all about the horrors from the night before. I was dreading this, knowing already that I would catch judgmental hell from Sookie over my new attire once I showed my face, and that the smug bastard still sleeping behind me would have a permanent smirk fixed on his kissable lips once he found out. Because he would, there wasn't a single doubt about that.

Especially considering I was stealing his car.

~.~.~

I knew something was wrong the second I pulled up.

Granted, my grandmother was dead and the front yard of the Stackhouse residence and driveway were each littered with vehicles of both neighbors and townsfolk, every single one of them ready to gobble up any and all bits of gossip surrounding Gran's death before trading ideas about who, or what, had been involved with it.

But it was something more than that.

Cutting the engine of the Corvette as soon as I guided it into an open space beside Donatello, my eyes flickered across the scene playing out in front of me. The front porch was riddled with guests who had taken it upon themselves to show up, all of them with their eyes glued to Jason and that same detective I couldn't stand, though some were now gazing at me, the unknown latecomer hidden behind the special tint of Eric's windshield. Most looked slightly worried or shocked, their mouths moving as they whispered amongst themselves. I frowned as I watched them, eyes flicking back toward my cousin, easily mistaking his shaky and erratic behavior for something other than what it was.

As soon as I popped the driver's side door open and Jason's agitated shout filtered through my ears, a churning sensation roiled through my gut, warning me to just get right back in the car.

To stay away.

I should've listened to it. I should've never climbed from the seat, eyes filming over with unshed tears as I scrambled to rush toward him, the need to comfort him in his grief taking control of my actions.

But I did.

"Jay!" I cried out his name, hurrying across the thick grass.

I should've been able to pick up on his emotions, the anger and betrayal tainting the air as they mixed with the overwhelming confusion, crowding his already chaotic thoughts that twisted and snarled within his mind. I should've been able to anticipate what was coming next, foresee it to a certain degree given my gifts, but I was blinded by my desire to reach out to him. The need to fold into his strong arms and cry for the family we had lost so callously, to cry over the loss that gaped within my chest.

That was my downfall.

Jason shoved the detective away from him with such brutal strength; the larger man was sent flying backward into the side of his truck, the sound of impact making all those who witnessed it flinch. His body fell to the ground in a heap then, pained groans adding to the gasps of shock and outrage that tore from the lips of onlookers, myself included. I froze in surprise, eyes widening as I watched Jason stride toward me, his eyes darkened to a near black color and sweat pouring from his brow and down his face as he lifted his hands in front of him.

A hug I thought, the need to sweep me into the safety of his arms.

My stupidity knew no bounds.

Everything moved so unbelievably fast in the next few seconds, yet unimaginably slow.

From the corner of my eye I noticed Tara slamming her way through the front screen door, her panicked voice tearing from her throat in a higher-pitch than usual as she yelled for someone to keep Jason away from me. It struck me as odd considering the closeness I had shared with him, and I couldn't even begin to imagine why she would demand such a thing. Lafayette tore down the stairs, already crossing the grass when I turned back toward Jason, my bag left forgotten on the grass as I rushed to sink into his embrace, ignoring Tara's shout to back away.

There was a sharp CRACK!

It echoed through the clearing, bouncing off trees and quieting the nature beyond.

And searing pain erupted across the side of my face, pulsing back around behind my eyes, blinding my vision as I lost all ability to stand and crumpled to the ground.

Startled cries rang out from behind us, the sound of hurried footsteps and shouting barely noticeable through the ringing buzz in my ears. My entire body trembled violently as I lay at his feet, my lungs stuttering in their attempts to pull in full breaths of the humid air. Tears gathered and spilt from the rims of my eyes unbidden, trailing down my cheeks, and I bit back a shriek as I palmed the throbbing, heated skin that was the right side of my face. My mouth had fallen open in shock, the taste of blood coating my tongue as a dim informant that my lip had been split open with his powerful backhand.

"Jason…" The sound barely more than a whisper from my lips, small and scared.

I glanced up slowly, a new gasp ripping through my throat when I took in the wild, crazed look in his black eyes. I nearly flinched with the amount of hate leveled upon me, cowering into the grass in a position that was so unlike my usual spirit. I normally would have had to push back the instinct to defend myself, but for some reason, I simply huddled down before him in sharp twinges of fear and betrayal.

"Let me go!"

He grappled and scuffled with the detective who had pulled himself up from the ground sometime during the altercation, an equally bewildered and outraged Sam Merlotte having appeared from inside the house, adding to the muscle needed to pull Jason away from me. He fought them each and every step of the way, straining and kicking out at them, his voice cracking as he yelled and screamed like a maniac the entire time.

"It's your fault, you an' Sookie! Fangbangin' whores the both of ya!"

Jason roared, completely blind to the gathering crowd as he did so, his veins bulging unhealthily in his arms as he pulled against their hold. I swallowed harshly; his words gave life to the dark thoughts that had been lurking at the edges of my mind since the night before when I had found myself covered in blood, the same ones Eric had convinced me were unfounded.

"You never should'a fuckin' come here Annabelle!"

Like a knife, they sliced right through flesh and bone, piercing the very heart of me with dread and guilt.

"Gran is dead because of you!"

I wasn't really sure what happened after that.

The tall form of Lafayette blocked my vision of Jason, not that it really mattered anyway. Black spots were crowding in through my sight, transforming my surroundings into blurry, hazy blobs of color. Bright greens, flashy purples and blues. Warm arms wrapped around me from the side, though they were much slimmer than I had expected, feminine. It wasn't until Tara's marginally panicked voice pushed through the buzzing in my ears that I realized it was her, the slightly shorter girl struggling as she attempted to hoist my dead weight up from the ground.

"Can you hear me Belle? C'mon sweetie, open your eyes-"

"Back up man, just calm down-"

"Get him out of here!"

"…need to get her inside…wait until she comes to…same thing to Sook-"

Their words drifted and faded, steadily becoming lost in the swirl of darkness that was clouding my mind. I blinked lazily, barely catching a glimpse of anything as my eyes only managed to pry open to slits. Thoughts, words, emotions; they all funneled together, forming one huge, overwhelming wave that crashed against my mind, battering it down into submission. Darkness rose to greet me, wispy tendrils slinking around my wrists and ankles before giving sharp tugs, pulling me underneath the conscious world, even as my name was being shouted aloud.

Briefly, right before I gave into unconsciousness, a pair of endless blue eyes flashed across my mind's eye, their expression intense and their depths fiery. I didn't even hear the whisper of the name that accompanied them leave my lips, the sound so soft it went entirely unnoticed.

"Eric..."

*One last note- review responses! I started answering reviews after publishing this story, or maybe just didn't think to do them for this one. Either way, I will begin answering your awesome feedback here at the bottom of chapter updates! In the meantime, those who have already reviewed I'll probably shoot a PM to those that I can.