She woke only a few hours later to a very short woman in scrubs standing over her. There was an IV drip in her arm and for a moment, Lex was frightened. She recoiled slightly until she heard Eric's voice.

"Alexsandra," the voice was commanding and immediately Lex turned to it, finding Eric sitting on the other side of her in the bed, one of his hands gently combing through her soft hair. "This is Dr. Ludwig," Eric motioned to the doctor.

Lex nodded in understanding, relaxing into the bed again. Eric continued to unconsciously run his fingers through Lex's hair, and she found herself focusing on the comforting motions instead of what Dr. Ludwig was trying to tell her about her injuries.

"…quite a concussion, and six broken ribs. Your knee was gashed up pretty badly as well, but I think I've wrapped it so the gash will heal up well enough on its own. I cleaned it out, though, so you'll avoid any infection." Lex turned her head to acknowledge the doctor. "I've wrapped your chest to help them heal, and I've already giving you a potion that works pretty well with resetting broken ribs."

Potion? Lex wondered. She looked down to see that her upper body had been wrapped in a thick white ACE bandage. It squeezed uncomfortably against her injuries. Shifting her legs slightly, she also realized that a pair of silky boxers had been put on her at some point in her sleep. She was grateful for the comfortable shorts, and realized Eric must have done that before the doctor showed up.

"Problem with that resetting tonic is that it'll probably make you feel pretty sick, but that's all normal. Symptoms should go away pretty quickly." Lex nodded at the doctor, only partially listening to her. She was just so tired…

"Alright vampire," the small doctor addressed Eric. "If you can keep from killing the girl, she should heal pretty nicely." Dr. Ludwig removed the IV drip from Lex's arm and gathered up her supplies.

"Thanks Doctor," Eric acknowledged, looking at the small healer.

"Yeah, whatever. Fucking vampires."

Lex smiled slightly at the old woman's distaste for vampires. Eric chuckled as well as he listened to Dr. Ludwig descend the stairs and exit his home.

Eric stopped running his fingers through Lex's hair and fingered her bandages lightly.

"Well little human, the doctor says you'll heal nicely," he said, repeating her words.

Lex nodded, still too tired to really comprehend everything. The bed she was in was so comfortable, she noticed as she snuggled a little deeper into the pillows, and the pain in her sides seemed to be subsiding a little.

Eric took in a deep unnecessary breath. "Sunrise," he breathed out, "will be here soon."

Lex nodded again, briefly wondering how long Eric would keep her until he either let her go or killed her. For the moment, she forgot the worrisome thought and concentrated on enjoying the nearly pain-free moment she was having. She closed her eyes and turned her body toward Eric, curling it slightly as she relaxed into the bed.

Lex woke up with her arms clutched around her stomach, her broken ribs completely forgotten as violent pain ripped through her belly. She moaned loudly, curling her body in a fetal position in order to try and get rid of the hot pain. Her knees collided with something hard and she opened her eyes slightly to find Eric about a foot from her, lying in bed facing her.

She straightened her legs out immediately as something else seemed to rip into her stomach. She bit on her lip to keep from screaming out. She squeezed her eyes shut as tight as she could as the pain continued to roll through her stomach. She opened them a minute later to see Eric staring at her intently.

Lex whimpered slightly, bringing her knees up and then straightening her legs again, attempting to find a position that relieved some of the pain. It seemed to be burning her from the inside out.

"Alexsandra." His voice called her eyes to his again. He saw her face scrunched up in pain, part of her hair falling over her face as she brought her chin down to her chest.

She met his eyes and very quietly said, "It hurts."

Eric nodded in understanding. He pushed her hair out of her face and scooted closer to her. He reached a hand out and pulled her closer to him.

Lex was oblivious to his movements as pains continued to rip through her. When she looked up again she found herself pressed up against his cold bare chest, the coolness calming her slightly. She found herself curling against his body, attempting to get as much skin-to-skin contact in order to cool the burning pain inside of her. She buried her head in his chest and dug her nails into his arm. She wasn't sure how long she stayed like that or if he was awake anymore, but she continued to press herself against him, desperate for some relief from the pain.

"Easy girl," she heard him whisper as she clutched to him desperately.

In a moment of anger, she pushed against him, furious at him and at the pain she was suffering through. She balled her hands into tight fists and hit against his chest as hard as she could, digging her nails into his indestructible skin as tears fell silently from her eyes.

She continued to push against him as he held her there, shushing her gently. Eventually, Lex's anger and pain calmed slightly, and her fists quieted against his chest. Her body still moved with her small sobs, but soon those also stopped. Lex felt as Eric pulled her closer against him, and she found herself comforted as she burrowed her head against him again.

"Sleep, Alexsandra," he commanded gently. With a final deep breath, Lex closed her eyes and relaxed. She was exhausted, and succumbed to darkness immediately.

Lex woke the next day with a clear head. She felt completely refreshed after the confusion and pain that had filled the last two days. She snuggled into the soft sheets before opening her eyes, surprised to find she was snuggling against a cold, hard body.

It had been a long time since Lex had slept with a vampire. She missed their coolness and how still they were when the slept. Like stone, they did not move, but slept peacefully from sunrise to sunset each evening. It was predictable, something that she had loved when she was growing up.

She was only twelve. It had only been a year since the death of her parents but she had grown close to Nicholas. He called to her from his darkened room. It was nearly sunrise, and he would be retiring. He stood in the middle of the room as she entered, wearing only a pair of black pajama pants. His hard chest was pale under the bedroom's dim lights, except for the dark tattoos which circled his arms. He smiled as she entered the room.

"It's time to sleep Alexsandra," he said quietly.

Lex smiled. She loved the hours she had been able to keep while living with the vampire. Since he had taken her in, she had grown used to sleeping during the day and playing during the night. She followed Nicholas into bed. She brought her knees up into her chest, curling up against him while burrowing her head against his cool chest.

"Sh," he soothed her before singing her lullabies from his human life in ancient Greece.

"Nicholas," she whispered, barely knowing that the name was escaping from her lips.

Lex shook her head from painful past memories. She lived in the present only these days—one of the most important reasons she had moved to Shreveport was to get out of the past and on with the present.

She opened her eyes to find Eric staring at her. She arched her eyebrows at him, feeling playful, enjoying being in the arms of a vampire once more.

"Is this how you get women into your bed? Torture and nearly kill them, just to have a warm body to sleep with at night?" She gave him a half smile.

"Sometimes," Eric said, his eyes joking. "Who's Nicholas?" he asked suddenly, startling Lex with the question.

She closed her eyes tightly as she answered. "An old friend."

Eric did not press the subject. He knew that Pam should have a background check on the mysterious Alexsandra, and then perhaps he would find out more about where she came from, why she resisted glamour, and what vampire had marked her.

Eric traced circles on Lex's bare shoulder, momentarily mesmerized by the goosebumps that arose wherever he touched.

She watched him interestedly as he followed her skin down from her shoulder.

"What's this?" he asked, fingering a long scar that ran from below her shoulder to her elbow.

She shrugged away from his touch as he fingered the scar. It gave her chills.

"You know, old wounds," she answered quietly.

He was quiet as he took in her reply.

"So Sheriff," Lex addressed him, "am I prisoner here forever or am I free to go?"

Eric's eyes were thoughtful. "I haven't decided yet," he admitted. "What're your opinions on the matter?" He smirked.

Lex raised herself up on her elbow slightly, putting a little bit of distance between them.

"I personally believe I've paid for my offense and should be free to go."

"But you've not yet told me where the vampire blood came from," Eric argued. "What kind of Sheriff would I be if I allowed vampire blood users to run free and their suppliers to go unpunished?"

Lex shrugged, the movement causing her black wavy hair to fall over her bare shoulders. "I don't care much for vampire politics," she said honestly.

"You act as if you know about our politics." Eric eyed the beautiful girl before him quizzically.

"I know enough," Lex admitted. She knew that it was politics that had taken the vampire who was her brother, her father, her son away from her. That was enough for her.

As she laid thinking about the past once again, her stomach growled loudly, a thankful interruption to her thoughts.

"Someone is hungry," Eric commented, the corner of his mouth turning up slightly at her obvious humanity.

"Hmm," Lex agreed. "I don't suppose a vampire has any human food in his home?"

"No," Eric answered, "But I can make some arrangements."

Lex cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Leave a list for me and I'll have the items picked up," Eric told her.

Lex let out a frustrated sigh and turned so that she was lying on her back staring up at the ornate ceiling above her.

"I suppose that means you're planning on keeping me here for a while longer," she said to the ceiling.

"I'm not sure I'm ready to release you yet," Eric answered truthfully. Lex let out an aggravated snort at his answer.

She stared up at the ceiling, considering her situation. She knew that Eric was very old—which meant he was powerful and strong. If he wasn't ready to release her then there would be no possibility of her escaping.

Lex was fairly certain the Viking vampire was finished hurting her, and she wondered if she should consider her captivity as a type of vacation. Eric was gorgeous, even by Lex's abnormally high standards, and as he currently had her lying in his bed and not in the bar's basement, she assumed that he was taken by her as well.

"God damn vampires," Lex cursed. She rolled her eyes to the side to catch Eric's smirk.

"You're not a fan of the fang, I see." Eric raised himself up on elbow to look down at the girl who lay beside him.

When she didn't reply, Eric pushed further. "Why can't you be glamoured?" he asked her.

Lex shifted in the bed uncomfortably at his question. She reached up to adjust the top of her bandages slightly, ensuring that it was still completely covering her chest.

With a sigh, she turned to look at him.

"My mind has been strongly guarded since before I can remember," she said, her answer honest yet vague.

"And why would that be?" Eric questioned.

Lex reached an arm up, rubbing her eyes with her hand in annoyance.

"I don't know. Maybe I'm just an exceptionally talented human?" she offered, throwing the blonde vampire a sarcastic smile.

"Or perhaps you're lying to me," Eric growled softly.

"Kinda makes you wish you could glamour me doesn't it?" Lex gave him a playful smirk.

"There are other ways to obtain information besides just glamour," Eric mused. For a moment he contemplated throwing the girl back into his basement and torturing the information he wanted out of her. He quickly reined his temper in though and reminded himself to be patient.

"You vampires really get off on your torture don't you?" Lex commented with a sigh, her legs shifting uncomfortably as she did so. Eric noticed her discomfort and quickly used the moment to question her further.

"Who gave you them?" He asked, almost softly.

Lex feigned ignorance. "What are you talking about?" she asked, although she knew what he was referring to.

Eric narrowed his eyes at her. Sitting up, he pulled the sheets away from her small body and moved down towards her legs.

Lex cleared her throat uncomfortably.

"Please don't," she said quietly.

Eric ignored her and spread her legs slightly with his strong hands. He fingered the scars that littered her olive skin. They would have been nearly invisible to a human, but there were clearly dozens of them—most of them seemed violent, as if her skin was not pierced gently but was instead assaulted by fangs.

"These are from when you were young?" Eric mused, fingering a single scar.

Lex shivered from his touch but nodded slightly.

"What happened?" Eric asked, truly intrigued. Not many vampires he knew would take such a young child, unless they intended to kill her.

Lex shrugged as the memory hit her again—a memory that had been buried a long time. She had buried that memory with Nicholas, the night that he had taught her that some vampires could be trusted.

She swallowed nervously. "I was twelve," she began. "Vampires killed my parents," she said simply, hoping to shorten the story as much as possible. "They tortured me for a while before I…escaped."

Eric cocked an eyebrow at her questioningly, coming back up to sit by her again.

"And how did such a young and injured girl escape vampires?"

Lex shrugged. "A friend."

Eric realized she wasn't going to divulge much information, but he pushed her further nonetheless.

"And what did you do once your parents were dead?"

"I moved on," Lex said simply. "Traveled a bit." She smiled slightly.

"At such a young age? You managed all on your own?" Eric questioned, watching as Lex's eyes seemed to glaze over with memories.

"I lived with my friend," she said quietly, closing her eyes slightly and turning back to face Eric.

"Nicholas?" Eric guessed.

Lex nodded slowly.

"Nicholas is vampire?" Eric continued.

Lex gave him another nod, her eyes casting downward to the sheets.

"You aren't one to divulge much are you?" Eric asked her, feeling quite annoyed at all of her secrecy.

"Vampires aren't always the best secret keepers," she replied, locking eyes with him intently.

"I disagree."

"Yeah, well, you would," Lex said sarcastically. She moved to settle herself in a seated position against his headboard and winced at her sore body.

Eric stood up from the bed, and Lex couldn't help but marvel at his wide, muscular chest.

"You'll tell me what I want to know, Alexsandra," Eric told her as he disappeared into his bathroom.

Lex rolled her eyes once he was out of sight.

"Why do I always end up with vampires?" she groaned quietly. A small chuckle emitted from the bathroom.

"Stop fucking eavesdropping!" she yelled to Eric's empty bedroom, although she knew that the vampire had heard her.