Blood Plot
"Destroy it all!" Sam screamed in his mind.
She heard me! He thought. The agony in his gut was unbearable. The sacrificial knife had been pressed so deep into the flesh- that damn, wicked Mary Ann! - that his innards were cut open.
Real nice fucking way to die.
As soon as Sookie let go of him, her eyes were filled with determination. She knew what she had to do.
Now, Bill had better keep his promise! Sam thought. As soon as Sookie took off with a vengeance, Sam started to fade out. The madness, the crazed maenads (once his friends and customers!), the night sky, the fires - all of it - began to fade away. He caught one glimpse of Bill in the crowd. Pale, solemn looking Bill, glowering at him from across the yard.
Then Bill was gone - like a flash. No, like a phantom. Vanished.
Sam, his arms outstretched on some crazy, god-damned cross, had the sudden realization that this was it. It was all over. Bill had lied to him, told him he'd get him out of this insanely stupid, suicidal act of self-sacrifice. What was it he'd said? I can bring you back to life. Great. Wonderful.
Suddenly a breeze swept by Sam's cheek and something wrapped itself around him. He felt himself being lifted, carried somehow. In a blur, he was floating above ground, through the trees.
Oh my God, I'm leaving my body. I've heard this is what happens when you die.
It felt nice though. At least he was away from the maniacs that had been chanting lustfully for his blood. It was quiet out here in the woods. Was that the moon up there behind the trees? The full moon? All those nights of transformations, I'll miss 'em. The lure of the woods, the darkness, where the animal senses are so sharp.
Then Sam could feel the soft ground beneath his back. It was cool and damp. Was this a grave!
"Hurry, we don't have much time!"
Sam knew that voice, the tender Southern drawl of vampire Bill. Dazed, he focused his eyes and saw Bill staring down at him, holding him in his arms. God damn it, I'm still alive.
Bill bared his fangs and tore a gaping hole in his own right wrist. When he pulled his mouth back, dark, black blood oozed from the wound. He lifted Sam's head with his other hand and offered his blood to Sam's lips as if he were giving him a whiskey sour.
Sam at once felt paralyzed with fear. What the hell am I doing!
"No!" he pushed Bill's arm away, "Let me die!"
Bill flopped on top of Sam and leaned his face close, "Sam, I promised you this will work. But you have to drink from me. I won't let you die - I wouldn't do that to Sookie."
Sam felt the crushing weight of Bill along the length of his body. Bill's penetrating gaze locked with his own eyes. He could feel darkness rushing up from the ground, ready to take his life. Was this the only way? Helplessness choked his cry.
"Okay," Sam gasped, and as quick as that, he wrapped his lips around the open wound.
Electric shivers radiated down Sam's body as the vampire blood went down in gulps. Bill breathed hard, his eyes closing as he enjoyed the ecstasy and the danger of letting a mortal feed on his veins. Not just any mortal, but Sam Merlotte, a shifter. A rival.
Sam groaned, his energy and his life gaining strength. He could hear the pumping of his own heart, and he could feel tingling in his extremities. He clamped down on Bill's wrist with his fingers, his mouth locked on the wound. He felt a sexual rush at the intimacy of this embrace with another man. He didn't want this to end. It was unlike anything he'd ever experienced before - total immersion with another being.
"Stop, Sam, please…" Bill said wearily, "You can't drink too much of me. I'll be too weak."
Sam didn't seem to hear, so Bill took him by the hair - sun- streaked blond, Bill thought dreamily - and pulled him back. Sam looked up at him, his eyes burning, his face flushed. His lips were stained, dripping with vampire blood. If only we had a few more minutes, I would enjoy a nice long kiss, Bill thought to himself.
"You should be strong enough now to transform. I think I hear Mary Ann coming this way." Bill staggered back, lifting himself to his feet shakily. "Go!"
Sam took a moment to collect himself, sitting up sharply. The last few moments seemed to have taken an eternity. Suddenly his purpose became clear. Sookie needed his help!
Jumping to his feet , Sam looked at Bill for a moment, somewhat bashfully, "I'm sorry I doubted you for a second. This is my first time -"
"Sookie needs you - I can't help her."
"I know," Sam responded, and took off at a run, stripping off his clothes. As Bill watched, the naked Sam stepped into the woodland shadows, and a magnificent white bull took his place. Bill sank down to his knees, exhausted.