Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Eric wasn’t working at the hospital tonight, so when he rose for the evening he could be a bit more leisurely than normal.  He certainly had other things to do since he had other responsibilities, but there was nothing so pressing to draw his immediate attention.

He did need to go to his own home so he could take care of those “other” things, but he wanted to check on the status of his patient from the night before.  Logging into the electronic medical record from a laptop that he kept in the basement, he was able to see that Jason Stackhouse was doing quite well.  He was awake and responsive, and based on the nurse’s notes, his broken ribs and concussion were healing nicely and the residual effects did nothing to stop him from a little flirtation. Apparently, Jason was a bit of a ladies’ man and he had endeared himself to the nursing staff.

As Eric perused the chart, he saw that there was a notation that Jason’s sister had stopped by for a visit.  The lovely Sookie Stackhouse — she did intrigue him, but that was somewhere he wasn’t prepared to go. He shook the thought of her out of his head and continued to prepare for his departure. 

The sun was setting when Eric collected his things and made his ascent from the basement.  He was always careful to listen for any other people who might be near, as it was important to keep these quarters secret. He also wanted to avoid instigating any questions as to why he was there on his day off or what he was doing in the basement.

As expected, it was warm outside and he wondered how his luck had landed him in Shreveport. He guessed his luck was just that bad.  He didn’t enjoy the heat and humidity and much preferred the cold crispness of his birth country. It was nights like these that he especially missed Sweden and being outdoors filling his lungs with air so cold it was biting.  That never bothered him, of course, and he found that it always helped to clear his mind of unnecessary clutter.  And right now, he could use some de-cluttering.

Eric’s home was sitting on a few acres of land at the outskirts of Shreveport.  He liked the privacy that living outside the community afforded him. He had few interruptions and he liked it that way.  He was able to conduct his other business in relative seclusion from the outside world far from the prying eyes of noisy neighbors or town gossips and, most importantly, it supported the duality that had become his life.

His red Corvette pulled into his nicely paved driveway.  He arranged to have his driveway paved every few years, and while it seemed out of place living where he did, he couldn’t see the point of having a nice car ruined by the gravel driveways that seemed to be so prevalent.  He entered his house and went straight to the den.  He needed to check his email to see what events had taken place that might require his attention.  He was hoping it had been quiet and that he could catch up on the paperwork that had accumulated while he worked at the Emergency Room.

He read through a few reports before his mind began to wander to Sookie Stackhouse.  Damn, if he couldn’t keep her out of his head. He set the papers down on his desk, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.  His mind began to replay the previous night.  He could recall the shape of her face and the blond hair that framed it. He could see her big brown, red-rimmed eyes and the trail of dried tears that ran from them. He recalled the sweet sound of her voice, timid and scared, and begging for reassurance.  

He sat stock still while he reminisced. Several minutes passed before he was brought out of his thoughts by sound of a text message coming across his phone.  He took a look and it was Pam.  She was checking in, wanting to make sure everything was okay, and asking him if he could take a shift the following week. He texted that he was fine and that he’d check his schedule and get back to her. 

Shaken from his thoughts and now back to the present, he decided that he needed to get out to clear his mind.  He stepped out onto his porch, looked into the moonlit sky, and decided that was where we wanted to be.

Eric felt the wind in his face and it rejuvenated him like nothing else.  He loved the sounds of his clothes flapping and the way the air flowed through his hair.  He felt a free-ness that otherwise seemed to escape him.  Moments like there were far and few between and, it was times like these, that he remembered the exhilaration of being who he was.

Out of nowhere in the distance, he saw a flash of light.  It wasn’t the typical light that one would attribute to lightning. No, this was decidedly different.  It was bigger, it was brighter – it was otherworldly.   It was twisted, made up of blue, red, and gold, and when it exploded in the sky, it didn’t quickly dissipate. It hung in the air before it disappeared. There was no question that it was beautiful, but it was hard to look at it and not sense the anger that permeated it.

Eric had seen a lot in his lifetime and had heard of even more, and this fell into the latter category.  He had heard tales of a light like this, but they were, indeed, the stories of myth. He had lived a long life. There were some who had lived longer, and none could say the light was anything but a fairytale.

Yet, here he was faced with something not seen for eons and he was drawn to it, partly out of curiosity, but also out the power and lure of it. Eric was fascinated. Off he sped into the direction of the angry glow.  As he got closer, he could see a car driving down the highway.  Moving faster, he was struck by how small and lonely it looked driving into the vast darkness.

Eric continued to follow, hoping to get another glimpse of the light. He figured that he was in proximity to where it last fired and so he slowed down waiting to see what happened next.  He was about a hundred yards away before he could easily see the occupant of the car.  It was a woman who was driving.  The car had drawn his attention, but it wasn’t long before another missile came suddenly from the sky.  Eric immediately stilled in the night watching the events unfolding before him. The light hit the car despite any maneuvers made by the woman driving, and once it hit, it looked like it was attempting to swallow it up. Whatever this light was, it was inarguably alive.

As he watched the woman struggle to keep the car on the road, she turned her head and recognition overcame him.  “Sookie Stackhouse’ he breathed out. Without thought, he raced towards her and the light. As he quickly approached, Sookie lost control and drove straight into a ditch.  Eric’s only thought was to get to her, so he didn’t notice that the light disappeared the moment he arrived at the scene. 

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