Don't Get Mad:
This is a dark little tale. I was in a dark mood and decided to write it out. Just a one-shot and not a 'happy' ending. (Fairly sure you'll hate me for the ending in fact so I'll be hiding behind the couch again.)
OK, so I've played with the story a little. It completely diverges after Definitely Dead (the one set in New Orleans) but I've tweaked some earlier details too, hopefully it will make sense anyway.
The story flicks between Sookie and Eric POV though Eric moments are in third person, I just don't feel I can do justice his voice.
Huge thanks to the wonderful treewitch703 for her incredible (amazingly fast!) help, that women is amazing.
Disclaimer: Most characters belong to Charlaine Harris
Sookie POV
I stood looking at the playful script spelling out the brightly lit pun. Although the logo was exactly the same as I remembered, Fangtasia's building had been significantly upgraded. Not surprising really, I'd changed significantly in the last 9 years so it made sense everything else had too. The bar was now much more of a night club and at least twice the size it had been. The queue outside contained the usual array of Fang-bangers but also plenty of regular clubbers just here for the music and a good time. Tourists could either join the main throng or enter the 'viewing gallery' on the upper floor from where they could watch without having to mix.
I hadn't really wanted to come back here. But when I found out this was where my target was going to be tonight I couldn't not come. He'd evaded me too many times already. Not that he knew I was after him, but he moved around a lot and kept a low profile. The last few times I'd tracked him down he moved on before I was able to corner him.
Plus a tiny part of me was curious, both about the place I'd left far behind and my own reaction to coming back. Very little was able to touch me any more. I was pleased with myself when driving past Bon Temps brought no desire to visit my old home. I hadn't kept in touch with anyone from my past life. I written to Sam a couple of times early on but once I started moving around there wasn't anything I was doing that I could tell him about. Then it quickly became safer all round if I wasn't in touch with people.
This particular vamp I was chasing was a real nasty one. Officially, he would be dating one girl, who he would treat really well, all the while using her to access her friends. They were handy feed and fucks. After raping them, he would use his glamour, not to make them forget but so they were unable to tell anyone. He liked that they remembered but could do nothing about it. One of the girls got suspicious and started to investigate her boyfriend. A week later she showed up dead. Her father had hired me. He was a business associate of Amelia's father which is how I heard not only the story but that he was looking for someone to track down and stake the vampire.
Amelia still helps me with spells sometimes and probably is the closest thing I have to a friend these days. She still lives in the same place in New Orleans. She keeps an eye on my apartment, the one I got from Hadley, seeing as I'm gone so much. We catch up when I go back there for some down time or to recover from injuries. She's also done quite a few ectoplasmic reconstructions for me. Before I take on a target I make sure of my facts. Some collateral damage may be unavoidable but I make sure my targets deserve what I do to them and that I do to them what they deserve.
I flicked on my hearing aid as I headed towards the queue with a firm, butt swinging, stride. My hearing was just fine – for a human – but when dealing with vampires it was better to minimise their advantages. I had to sleep with four different brainiacs at MIT before finding the quiet genius that created the amplifier I now wore snuggled deep in my ear. It gave me nearly as acute hearing as a vampire and came in very handy especially on night like tonight. The problem is, you don't just want to up the volume – that's not helpful – you need to be able to differentiate between music and talking, to be able to hear a gun cocking over the din of large crowd and the heart pattern drum and base rhythm from the speakers.
My MIT honey had a warlock in the family (something he never admitted to me but I knew anyway) and I suspected there was more than technology at work here but as long as it worked I didn't question it. He created quite a few little toys for me, some I asked for, some he came up with. I felt a bit like Batman sometimes.
The boy was much younger than me and got a little too attached. I know I broke his heart when I left but I'd gotten what I came for and emotional attachments are not safe in my line of work. Part of me felt that I should have followed through with my plan to seduce a vampire (that sort of thing is easy when you have fairy blood) and get them to glamour all memory of me from the brainiac before killing the vamp, but a job came up and there wasn't time.
Oh yes, the fairy blood. It could be useful. Vampires struggle with blood lust, it clouds their judgement and distracts them, the young ones especially. Sometimes I have used my scent to catch my prey but of course being so distinctive it can be problematic too, so I spend more time suppressing it than flaunting it. It was Claudine that provided the means, apparently she knew someone for whom scent suppressing was a speciality.
I got set on this path after yet another vampire attack, which happened after I tripped and scraped my knee. I got lucky, thanks to the old wooden crate we fell into when he pounced on me (like I said young ones have little control) the vampire bit it before he bit me. As I sat, the sharp piece of wood in my hand, watching his remains crumble and smoke, something inside me snapped. It was the last in a series of things though really, perhaps I should go back further.
Before I became a hunter, I tried to remove myself from this sort of life all together. When I discovered the Queen's bracelet in what was then Hadley's apartment my first instinct was simply to do the right thing and return it. Then as I sat looking at it, a supposed love token that was really just a power play, I remembered Bill giving me a pair of earrings. He had put them on me, even after I returned them. I'd thought it was romantic at the time but after what I had learnt in New Orleans I realised it was really about him keeping control of me, a power play. Vampires saw me as no different from that bracelet. Pretty maybe, useful in their political maneuverings sure, but really just another trinket to be used or cast aside as needed.
I decided, as in the eyes of the vampires, the bracelet and I were of equal value, I would trade one for the other. With Amelia's help I was able to contact the Queen in a way that was secure and make the deal. I would save her ass by getting the bracelet back without anyone being able to prove it had been missing, and in return I would be free. I would have no further obligation to any vampire, they would not demand my services or anything else. They would forget all about me and I would move on.
She wasn't happy about it but she didn't have much choice. I'm not sure what would have happened if things had gone differently. When Peter attacked her anyway she might have argued that the returning of the bracelet did not achieve the desired result and that the deal was off, but then I saved her life. Even if she wouldn't trade my freedom for a piece of jewellery she would trade it for her own life.
I distracted Threadgill at just the right moment allowing her to avoid a stake, plus I was witness to his execution when she and Andre decided to kill him rather than let him face a tribunal. My life for her life, my knowledge for my freedom, that was the agreement. I'd gone back to Hadley's to finish packing up. Quinn had loads of paperwork to sort out after the marriage celebration turned into a war, so it was just me boxing everything up and it took a few days. I wasn't entirely surprised that Bill came to see me the first night – the night of the battle. I sent him away and hoped that would be an end to it. But the next day he sent flowers. I threw them out.
He didn't drop it, he kept sending me things, all of which I threw out immediately. He tried to call a couple of times I told him to leave me alone. He said he couldn't. Every time I left the apartment after dark he was there in the shadows. Even when I stayed in I knew he was outside. With each gift, each sighting, I got angrier and angrier. The betrayals piled on top of each other in my mind and I started to see just how much Bill had manipulated me. He hadn't even been that subtle about it but I'd let him because I was so grateful to be loved.
When I added up everything Bill had done I felt sick. The next time he called I agreed to see him as long as he could promise me it was completely personal, that it was about no one but us. He looked proud of himself when he felt how pleased I was that he hadn't even told a soul we were meeting. I yelled and cried, then I let him comfort me, then I even had sex with him. It was easier than I'd expected. That was when I disassociated sex from emotion, it was a tool to get what was needed, that's all. When he fell asleep at dawn I chained him to the bed with silver.
By the time he woke up the silver had burned deeply into his flesh. I could have just opened the shutters on my cousin's bedroom but I didn't, I wanted him awake when I did this, I wanted him to know. He looked genuinely shocked when he understood what was happening. I realised I'd never seen a genuine expression on his face before in the whole time I'd known him.
"You don't have to do this Sookie," he'd said as I stood over him with the stake in my hand. "I can feel your doubts." Fool, he still didn't realise that was the problem.
"Just as you probably felt my doubts and disgust when we had sex last night? Didn't stop you did it. Well luckily for us both, you'll never have to feel anything from me again," I said and I rammed the wood into his heart.
I was impressed by how practical I was. Using the bedsheet, I dragged his disintegrating remains to the shower room which luckily was what Amelia told me was called a wet room. The whole room was tiled and it had a floor drain. Pulling the sheet out from under him, I turned on the shower and left. I cleaned the rest of the apartment, which was easy as it was so empty by that point and by the time I went back to the shower room, nothing was left of Bill. I sat in the middle of the living room floor and stared out the window. It was a beautiful day.
The problem was that I wasn't as upset as I should be. I'd been through too much already. I realised how much I'd changed and knew I couldn't go back to being crazy Sookie, living in Gran's house and working at Merlotte's. I decided that day to stay in New Orleans for a while.
Quinn and I had tried to keep seeing each other at first but it soon became clear too much had changed. I had changed. After spending my whole life in a small town where everyone knew everyone else, I loved the anonymity of the big crowds. I loved merging with the shopping crowds and not recognising a single face. I loved going to a club and dancing with six different strangers then leaving without saying a word to anyone. I loved knowing that I could do that without half a dozen people calling me the next day to say they heard what I was up to last night.
Quinn's favourite argument topic was the fact that I'd had Eric's blood. As far as I knew, no one knew what had happened to Bill, but having his blood didn't bother Quinn so much.
"Vampires do not just hand out their blood Sookie – you do not understand the gravity of it." He'd rant when I tried to blow the subject off with a phfft.
"Bill gave me his blood too, that doesn't seem to bother you."
"That is more understandable. He is much younger, and was sent to secure you, he was using his blood to control an asset, it's rare but not unheard of, that's why the Queen sent someone so young – his blood is less valuable – it is less of a tie to their kind."
"So what, now I'm tied to all vampires just because Eric's such a grandad?" I was distracted for a moment wondering if Eric really was a grandad – did he have any children other than Pam? I'd never got the impression that Pam had made another vampire but they weren't exactly big on sharing. Quinn continued his rant.
"No, but you will always have that aspect in you. The improved health and appearance, being stronger than you should be, the touch of vampire to your scent, it wears off from younger blood but humans don't live long enough to allow a thousand years of immortality to wear off. Whenever I look at you or smell you, there's him."
I had thought about the Eric issue myself of course. Part of why I killed Bill was the tie he had to me, the ability to find me and feel my emotions, and Eric had that too. But there were several differences. For a start, even if I wanted to, killing Eric wouldn't be nearly so easy as killing Bill. Eric didn't underestimate me the way Bill did, and was unlikely to get 'caught with his pants down' in the same way. Besides, Eric wasn't stalking me. I hadn't seen or heard from him since he'd jumped on me for a kiss in the middle of the battle (I guessed that was Eric's version of 'taking a breather'). I decided as long as he stayed away from me, I'd stay away from him. I knew he'd have been told by the Queen that I was free from all vampire obligations now. Eric might be a bit of a maverick but he wouldn't ignore an edict.
The whole Eric thing was just an excuse for Quinn anyway. What really bugged him was that I wasn't the innocent little country girl any more. I said what I wanted, did what I wanted and didn't hide behind my disability. Quinn wanted me to be the little woman, who he could charm and protect – well I'd already had that kind of relationship and it was neither charming nor safe. Quinn and I ended for good when I knocked out a Polar-were (like their animal selves they prefer colder climates but he was on vacation).
I'd danced with him in a club and he thought that meant I'd go to his hotel with him. He got too insistent when I tried to leave without him and grabbed me in the alley beside the club. I hit him with a metal bin lid and laid him out flat – Quinn was right about that, I was still stronger than I should have been – though not as strong as I had been when I first had the blood.
I'd called Quinn to help me get him back to his hotel – I hadn't wanted to leave him in the alley with all the pick-pockets that frequented that part of town. It was the last time I did a favour for a supe just as a kindness. They didn't understand the concept. You only did something for another if you were getting something in return. Despite making sure he was safe, even though he'd practically attacked me, he still held the view that he was right and I was wrong. Quinn took the Polar-were's side when he said I was asking for trouble the way I'd been acting in the club and that was that.
When the argument got nasty I screamed and screamed until hotel security turned up, then laying on the waterworks I said I just wanted to leave. Security held Quinn and the Polar-were for questioning and by the time he got back to my apartment I'd packed a bag and gone on the road. I left him a note to leave his key with Amelia once he'd packed all his stuff.
Initially I'd just felt the need for a change of scene, Amelia had called a friend of hers in Mississippi and arranged for me to stay with him. I'd planned to chill for a couple of weeks then head home. My third night there was when I skinned my knee and staked another vamp that was too drawn to the smell of my blood. Amelia's friend was shocked by the state of me when I got back to his house but most of the damage had been done when I started throwing things around the alley in my frustration and anger at how this shit always seemed to happen to me.
Like Amelia he was a witch and offered to start looking for ways to maybe keep me safer.
"Sound's like you don't need it though, the way you kick ass," he'd joked – I'd told him that I killed the vampire and that he wasn't the only one I'd killed (though I didn't elaborate). It gave me an idea. I looked up fighting techniques and joined several different classes at the gym round the corner from his house.
Claudine came to visit me around then too and provided the scent suppressant. She was surprised by the amount of training I was doing but understood I wanted to be able to protect myself as much as possible. I was also learning from basic magic. Nothing powerful, just a little veiling (which used to be known as glamour in the human world before the vampires came out). I seemed to have a natural talent for it and quickly learnt to alter my appearance to human eyes. Doing it without it being detected by supes took much longer to master and will never be fool proof – magic always leaves it's mark. I still don't use it around vamps much because they might see the ripple of magic around me and it can draw attention. But it does come in useful when leaving locations the morning after an assassination. Both human and were witnesses saw someone quite different than me.
I'd worked in a restaurant in New Orleans and gotten a bar job while I was staying in Mississippi but when my host started getting serious about another witch in his coven it ended our casual fling (he was more powerful than Amelia and able to block me). I knew it was time to move on. We hadn't had deep feelings for each other, we just got along and were together a lot. Amelia had told me that there was by then an official search for Bill going on back home so I decided to use some of the money I had from Hadley to see a bit of the country.
It was while I was travelling that it really started. I met a girl who was having trouble with a vamp. After over-hearing her thoughts during the movie we were both not-watching I decided on a whim to help her, maybe she just reminded me of me – of who I had been before all this shit happened. I didn't tell her, I just got the info from her head and dealt with the vampire. Anyway, after that one, I met another and another and soon it was just what I did.
I only became aware that I was getting a reputation when I heard someone thinking one day that they wished they could hire me. Of course they didn't know who I was, they had just heard that there was this person that helped with vampire problems. That no one knew who they were but there were several stories online about people who'd been victimised by a vampire and then someone had taken care of the vamp.
Curious I went into the man's head and led his thoughts down the path of what he'd do if he did know how to contact me. He was willing to pay a great deal to get his daughter back from the vampire that kept her locked in her own house while he worked his way through her savings. From what I could get, the vampire sounded a lot like Mickey.
I left the father an anonymous note telling him a place to leave the cash. He didn't know how I knew about him, or even that the amount charged was only what he'd planned to pay in his head but he was so desperate he did it without question. That vamp had been an easy one too. He had a pattern, bringing girls back to fuck and feed from in front of the girl he was living off. Each time he'd glamour them to go through the same routine so I was able to get from her head what was expected of me.
Vampires have no fear of glamoured humans. Once I had the silver collar tight around his neck and the stake half way into his back, I made him glamour the girl into forgetting everything about me, she knew only that someone had come and freed her. (I needed her Dad to know he'd gotten his money's worth) then, despite my promises otherwise, I finished the vampire and left before the girl could come out of her daze.
I didn't only do vamps, though that became my speciality. One case I took was a group of FotS. They were using an extreme form of behaviour modification to 'deprogram' fangbangers. They claimed they were only undoing the effects of the vampires' glamour but the extreme aversion techniques they were using were basically torture and besides, electro-convulsive therapy will not restore a part of the mind burnt away by vampire glamour no matter how high you turn up the charge.
I'd blown up their whole facility – unfortunately there were a few fangbangers I wasn't able to get out first - the operation had gone a bit wrong and it was their lives or mine – like Eric once said, I like me better. It wasn't the only time there was collateral damage and I gotten used to it by then.
The first time an innocent had died because of me I had nearly walked away from the whole thing. Claudine came to stay with me, and was very supportive. My fairy Godmother hadn't liked my career choice and had been keeping her distance until then, just leaving me letters occasionally. She was very good about not saying 'I told you so' even though it was exactly what she had warned me about. She'd offered to help me start again anywhere I wanted. We were setting things up for me to spend the summer in Barrow, in North Alaska. Approximately 85 days of continuous sunlight. After that I'd decide where I wanted to settle.
But before the plans were finalised I'd wandered past a nest while I was out picking up some milk. I heard the thoughts of the family tied in the basement. The vamps had liked the house and moved in. They kept the family alive for feeding and sex, even the children. I freed the family and bound the vampires in silver during the day. Then, come nightfall, dragged them all out to the garden. I was sure to give them a full night of knowing what was coming as I sat and watched, waiting for the sun to rise.
I never saw Claudine again. I did my best to avoid killing innocents but sometimes you just couldn't prevent it. I figured I did more good than bad on the whole and that was the best God could ask of me. It's not like he hadn't handed me a raw deal in the first place, what with the fairy blood and the telepathy, it was kill or be killed and I wanted to live.
I'd been a full-time hunter for 6 years now. I knew I had a reputation and was on every vamp hit list going but no one knew who I was, or how I was contacted. I picked up jobs by watching the papers and the internet for tell tale signs and then went where the problems were. It normally didn't take long to locate the mind of someone wishing to hire me, though sometimes they needed to be informed I existed. It's amazing how easy it was to direct them to somewhere that they would hear about me. I was getting good at planting ideas in human minds, though I was still careful about it. I never suggested they should hire me, just made sure they knew it was an option, the rest was up to them.
Occasionally people were stupid enough to make very public enquiries about how to engage my services. I never worked for them. Neither of us would live long if I did that. I contacted the ones that needed help, could pay and were discreet enough not to get caught. I arranged for the payments to be made to an account protected by demon magic so it could not be traced to either me or my client. I did pro bono work too, but a girl's got to live. Besides, explosives and silver for melting into weapons were expensive.
Now I was back in Northern Louisiana. I hadn't avoided the state, I knew vampires would pick up on something like that. I treated all areas and jobs the same. Which was why I was ignoring my apprehension and excitement at returning to Fangtasia. I hadn't bothered with any veiling, I knew Eric's sharp eyes would pick up something from that. I looked so different now anyway. I had several new scars, my hair was cropped short and coloured (currently brunette but I changed it regularly). I knew I walked with a different type of confidence, that my eyes held cold cynicism rather than wide-eyed innocence. My figure was firmer and more athletic (though still quite full). If we weren't talking about vampires I suspected I would have been unrecognisable. I'd used the scent suppressant; that would have been the biggest give-away.
There was nothing I could do about the blood tie though. It had been a long time and should be fairly weak but it wouldn't be gone. I had no idea what it felt like to a vampire, the feeling of their blood in someone else, so I had no idea how aware of my presence Eric was likely to be. I didn't kid myself that I was likely to be lucky enough for it to be a night he wasn't here. If my life worked like that I wouldn't be here at all.
I knew my target would be looking for targets of his own. He'd be watching the groups of girls. Identifying the one he wanted to work his way through, and which member would be his focus. I wouldn't have a group of friends with me, so trying to seduce him wasn't an option. I was going to have to be creative. I smiled to myself. I'd gotten good, it was nice to have a challenge.
I was planning to stick to my original agreement with myself regarding Eric. If he left me alone, I'd leave him alone. He didn't abuse humans for sport so he wasn't the kind of vampire I usually went after. But if he figured out why I was here, who I was? My only safety lay in the fact that no one knew what I did. He'd had power over me before. I wasn't going to let that happen again. I'd killed older and stronger vampires than him. Plus, the tie he had to me did make him something of a threat anyway. No I wouldn't go after him. Unless he tempted me to.
EPOV
Eric was in the middle of dinner when he felt a small vibration in his blood that surprised him. He withdrew his fangs from the girl's neck, lifted her off his cock, and passed her to Pam to deal with.
"Give me a minute," he told his child as she looked curiously at him.
Well well well, Sookie Stackhouse, he thought. She was close, very close. What was she doing here? Had she come for him? He was intrigued by this idea and a slight smile curved his lips. It was unlikely though. Whatever the vampire community liked to say, Eric knew that if Sookie killed you again, you had probably done something to deserve it. Not by vampire standards maybe, but Sookie always had her own standards.
Of course apart from him, vampires didn't know the identity of the assassin many of them feared – though they would never admit that of course. He had figured it out soon after word of someone killing vampires – apparently at random – started to spread. The Queen had asked him to look into it and he had. He quickly discovered that while the vampires that had disappeared (it was through their blood ties – makers, siblings and children that they were known to have met the final death, no trace of where or how they died was ever found) had no connection to each other, they all had one thing in common, a reputation for mistreating their pets. These killings were not random, they were retribution.
He had suspected Sookie after some research showed that the first vampire to disappear was Bill Compton. No one had made the connection because Bill hadn't been important enough for anyone to raise much fuss. His database had been handed over to a computer whiz-kid who had been turned especially for the purpose. As Bill's maker was already dead and he hadn't been a maker himself, there was only Lorena's other child to feel the loss and she never reported anything. The few that had even noticed his disappearance concluded eventually some vamp that objected to being in the database had killed him. Only Eric and Pam had suspected otherwise, and neither of them had ever said a word, not even to each other.
It had taken a while for anyone to connect the mysterious disappearances, but as the body count started to rise, word started to spread. Vampires killed each other, of course, and there were always a few that disappeared mysteriously but not in these numbers, not with no trace of who had killed them. The tracks were too well covered. It was another year before the vampire community realised it wasn't a vampire that was doing it. And another two before they accepted it was a single human, not a group like the FotS.
Even before Sophie-Ann asked him to check, as soon as word reached Eric there was an assassin, one that seemed able to avoid leaving a trail, he had been interested. At first it sounded like the anti-Sookie, someone who was unnoticed and scentless. But he couldn't shake the initial pricking of his thumbs. From the moment he was asked to investigate, he had followed the trail closely.
Sophie-Ann had been pleased when he had assured her that the connection was mistreatment of pets. She may see them as 'only human' but the Queen treated her pets quite well, she was unlikely to be a target. Eric didn't mention his suspicions about Sookie, but he did follow them up. From his tie to her he decided to ascertain if she was in the area whenever these things happened and after the third time this was true he was convinced.
He actually watched her, the night she chained an entire nest in silver, laid them out in the yard of the house they had appropriated and watched them all night waiting for the sun to rise. It was the first time he'd laid eyes on her since the battle in the ballroom. He had been relieved when she'd decided not to return to Bon Temps, he'd been too interested in her. He'd needed some distance. Besides, he knew he could find her any time he wanted. He sat watching her as she sat watching the silver-bound nest. She hadn't changed as much back then, not externally anyway.
She hadn't tortured the vampires, or even said a word. She had watched them in silence, the whole night, not moving, her gaze steady. Even the dullest of humans would have been able to see how much the vampires were squirming under that gaze by morning. Eric suspected they were happy when the sun came up. Her eyes had always held something other worldly. Her silence and stillness in the face of their threats and bargaining (luckily they did not lower themselves to begging, Eric might have flown down and staked them himself) it was unnerving even to him who knew her. He stayed hidden in a tree far enough away not to alarm her if she sensed his presence. If she did, she didn't show any sign of it, not in her posture or emotions.
Eric could almost feel the way she was building walls around her heart that night, just as she'd once told him she did around her mind. He was watching her become more lethal, he was also watching her lock away so much of what made her who she was. But he could do nothing but watch, he was too fascinated to interfere. That had always been the problem with Sookie, she was too interesting.
He still didn't tell the Queen what he'd discovered, even after Sookie killed Andre two years later. Eric guessed what had happened. Despite Sophie-Ann's agreement with Sookie, Andre had come across the feisty telepath and tried to claim her. It was that incident that really solidified Sookie's reputation. The unknown vampire assassin that had somehow gotten into the King of Arkansas compound and killed him and his whole retinue. The human that had also gotten out without leaving any clues and without anyone seeing them. That was when she'd earned her nickname. Eric wondered if she knew it. She probably did.
There was much debate on the gender of the assassin, the powers and abilities, the species. Many were convinced it had to be some sort of strange cross-breed only posing as a human. They hated to think a mere human could be dangerous to them, could make them feel fear. Eric knew many had increased security and were much more careful about the humans they picked up. Nothing was agreed upon and Eric amused himself sometimes by helping to spread some of the more outlandish rumours, such as the one that it was a shifter that could change into some sort of super-mosquito that could drain an entire vamp in seconds.
When she was done throwing a fit about the loss of her child, Sophie-Ann admitted that Andre had both a cruel streak when it came to humans and a lot of interest in Eric's investigation into the assassin. She blamed this for him becoming a target and told Eric to back off and keep an eye on the situation from a distance. (Eric's investigation was held to be his fault rather than hers and he and Pam had been silvered for three nights. It was a light punishment considering her loss.) She also passed several edicts commanding good treatment of pets. Eric had needed to work hard to hide the laughter from his voice when she called with these orders.
He continued to keep track of Sookie from Shreveport. He knew when she settled in Massachusetts for a while and took up with a student ten years younger then her. He also knew that she had left the poor boy devastated when she moved on. Eric had visited the college himself to glamour all memory of her from the boy. He almost felt bad, the kid was losing a lot of good stuff – just like he had, but his knowledge could be dangerous to Sookie and Eric liked being the only one that knew about her and the gadgets she now carried.
Eric knew one thing more about Sookie, something maybe even she didn't know, what it was that made her so good. Sookie wasn't careless or capricious but she didn't care for her life. She went into each situation with success her first priority and survival her second. He wondered if that was true tonight. Who was her target? She must be aware he would feel her presence. Eric felt a rush of excitement as he contemplated again the unlikely possibility that it might be him. He wished he hadn't had Pam take the fangbanger away. He was going to have trouble controlling his cock all night now. He knew that soon he would have his hands on Sookie, but would they be fighting or fucking? Maybe both.
"Pam," he did up his jeans and settled himself behind his desk.
"Eric?" She entered his office wiping blood and sexual juices off her mouth. Pam's curiosity was burning through their bond. Eric decided to let her enjoy a bit of a surprise.
"Two things, first bring me the files on all new vampires in the area and any reports of ones that haven't checked in." The frustration was showing on her face, she already knew he wasn't going to tell her what was going on. But he needed to give her a hint because he needed her to play her part.
"And the other thing?" Her voice had that sulky edge.
"When a familiar face appears tonight – do not react, that is an order." He could see she was going to ask who. "You'll know, trust me," he gave his winning smile and Pam rolled her eyes, it never had worked on her.
He remembered the night he met her. He approached giving her that smile, the one that had women creaming usually and she had raised her eyebrows at him and said,
"Why do you look like that? Have you had too much wine?" He'd laughed and the look on her face showed she'd concluded that was exactly what had happened. She was beautiful, of course, but not used to such advances. For men at that time she was considered a little too delicate and narrow, men wanted a more robustly built woman, one that would survive childbirth. And one that didn't give her opinion so freely. Narrow minded fools, they should have realised her strength of spirit was worth ten times what slightly bigger hips would do. She had fought for her life long after most others would have given up.
"The files Pam, there isn't much time," he added. She nodded and opened the filing cabinet.
Eric sank into himself and focused on his tie to Sookie, it was tenuous, he had only properly given her blood once and that was many years ago. The few extra sips she'd had back then helped but it was only due to his age that he was still able to feel her over distance and even then it took concentration. That's how he'd known she was near, when he felt her without trying. It didn't help that she had become as good at controlling her feelings as a vampire. Without strong surges it was harder to track her. He closed his eyes and followed his blood. She was right outside, probably in the queue to enter. He would have to hurry.
He opened his eyes and looked at Pam. She was narrowing her eyes at him as she held out the files.
"Leave Ysadora on the door tonight, I want you watching the floor." She continued to give him a narrow eyed glare. "Unless you would rather work the viewing deck?" Everyone hated tourist duty, it was the primary form of punishment for minor infractions. But Pam knew Eric was up to something and wanted her on the floor for a reason, so she wasn't too worried. She put her hand on her hip as she strutted out the door.
"I finished your dinner, by the way," she threw back casually. "Her legs were wobbly from my attentions so she's gone home for an early night." Pam shut the office door with a snap. Eric got the dig, Pam was claiming to have satisfied the girl in a way he hadn't. But even if that were true, for once he didn't care.
His fangs still remembered the taste of Sookie's blood and he often felt like he was on the edge of remembering those lost days, he was sure that Sookie herself was the key to full recall. First things first, who was her target and would he allow her to complete her mission before he confronted her? There was fun to be had either way. It would be interesting to watch her work, but if the vampire was important, having something happen in his area could cause problems. Besides it might also be interesting to see how she responded to his interference.
Sookie POV
I didn't recognise the vamp on the door and she gave no indication of recognising me. I'd become a study in vampire reactions, obviously. While more subtle than in humans, most still had tells, if you knew what to look for. The older they were the harder it was to spot them, I was curious whether I'd be able to see any on Eric, but it would have to wait. I intended to sort my work first, then decide if I was going to talk to the Viking. Either way it was dangerous. If he knew I was here the same night a vamp got dusted he might put two and two together, he was possibly the only one that could. Then again, if I didn't speak to him and he found out I was here anyway, then he'd definitely know something was up.
I spotted my prey and grabbed a passing fangbanger to dance my way over towards him. As I pulled our hips together and started to grind I realised I'd grabbed a girl, it made no difference to me. Her eyes lit up and I gave her a kiss, she responded a little too enthusiastically, her mouth a little too wet, but it was good to have as much of her scent on me as possible, it made my lack of a distinctive scent less noticeable. (Having no scent was as much of a flashing light as my fairy smell I'd quickly realised when I first started suppressing it – the trick was to only slightly suppress it, so it wasn't distinctive, then blend it with as many other scents as possible to confuse the different smells.)
When we reached a good spot, I settled into a comfortable 'turn in a circle' type dance so I could check the rest of layout and see if anyone was paying attention to me. The fangbanger was sucking on my neck in the way vampire groupies always did – it was really nothing remotely like being bitten, but they liked to do it anyway. I chewed on Maud's earlobe as I had a good look around (I know – seriously, a Fangbanger called Maud).
The first familiar face I spotted, apart from my target, was Pam. You would think she either hadn't seen me or hadn't recognised me, if you didn't know her and hadn't spend the last eight years studying vampires. I suppressed any reaction of my own. Her nonchalance answered a few questions, Eric knew I was here and was waiting to see what I was up to. I would have to speak to him, or Pam at least, and come up with a good reason for being here. I would also have to think of a way to make sure I couldn't be linked with the vampire that was going to disappear soon.
I had a few drinks with Maud then changed up to a guy. Terry was hot and under normal circumstances I might have kept his number for a post-kill quickie, but getting it on in the Fangtasia parking lot was just asking for trouble. As Terry tried to get his hand down my pants (there is more than one reason I wear such tight jeans) my target started to look promising. He'd just glamoured one of the girls from the group to go outside with him, was this his selection? If so he'd be easy to track for a while, I'd just keep tabs on her – even befriend her and wait for him to come to me.
I hopped into Terry's head and he excused himself to go to the toilet. I told him I was going to get some air for a second and cool down, it really was hot in here.
I got my hand stamped so I could get back in and walked outside with a stretch and sigh. Trying to sneak around was a dead give away. It was better to act as though you didn't care who saw you. Tipping my head back with my eyes closed I enjoyed the cooler air on my face while reaching out for the girl's mind.
Shit. I hated this sort of thing. Still, I was fairly pragmatic these days, in the long run her sacrifice would be for the greater good.
You see what I picked up from her mind was that she was not the chosen girl in this round of the vampire's game. She was one of the friends. He was branching out this time. He was going to rape this girl first, right here in the parking lot. He'd glamoured her to remember, as usual, only rather than saying nothing, when asked she would gush about what a nice guy he was and how lucky her friend was to have his interest. After raping her, he was going to force her to convince her friend she should go out with him. It was sick.
So here's the bit I hated – I would have to let him hurt her. It was too dangerous to take him out here, I wouldn't be able to cover my tracks. Even if I was prepared to kill him here, he needed to be distracted by what he was doing to her for me to be able to get close enough to strike. I'd been hoping to make him suffer, preferably for quite a long time, though I'd give that up to save the girl the horror of rape if it were possible. Of course killing him right outside Fangtasia had a whole load of other problems too. Eric would definitely investigate something happening to one of his patrons.
I heard Terry looking for me and had an idea. He was talking to some other lads outside the doors and their thoughts tickled my imagination too. I turned back to my target, I still needed an opening. There were no other vampires outside, I'd checked carefully. We were in the darkest corner of the lot, hidden from the camera's that covered the front of the club. Even so, he would sense me coming if I wasn't careful about timing.
He'd forced his hand down her shorts, around her panties and up into her. He was being rough on purpose, he wanted it to hurt and he was succeeding.
"Tell me what you think of me," he whispered to her as he finger-raped her.
"You're such a nice guy, any girl would be lucky to have you," she said brightly even as her mind screamed the opposite and a tear from the pain he was causing ran down her face. Sick bastard. But it was the opening I needed. He was so involved in his own sadism that he wasn't paying enough attention.
I remembered the lines from Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes:
The small girl smiles. Her eyelid flickers. She whips a pistol from her knickers.
Ok, so it wasn't a pistol and I'd whipped it from my bra, but … Actually it was a specially crafted weapon I'd designed and had built. It was a cross between a pistol and a cross bow. It looked more like a gun, though only about the size of my palm, but fired small wooden darts at the speed of a bullet. It had three firing strengths, I set it on the lowest. I was close and I didn't want to shoot the girl through the vampire. Cleaning up human bodies was much more difficult than vampire remains, vamp remains mostly took care of themselves.
The dart was already disintegrating his heart as he turned to look at me. I blew him a kiss. It really was a shame not to have made him suffer more. The girl hadn't seen me and I ducked back into the shadows so she wouldn't. Sinking into her mind I started my directions. I was hoping she was more of an 'under the carpet sweeper' than an 'analyse everything to death' type of person, this could either liberate her or destroy her, but I had to cover my own butt.
I sank into her thoughts, get away from him, never mention it again, if anyone asks I know nothing, other vampires might blame me if they knew I was here, better to never mention any of it again, after all, it could have been worse, if he hadn't died when he did. I was impressed by how practical she got as I directed her thinking this way. She'd crawled out from under him the second he'd turned from her and so, apart from where he'd forced her to the ground, her clothes weren't marked. She brushed the dirt off her butt and smoothed her hair.
She took a moment to shake herself and pulled a tissue out of her pocket to wipe her face which she then fixed with a small compact she was also carrying. With a last look of disgust at what was now a flaking mess she walked quickly back to the door and went back inside. I checked the remains. About three more minutes before they consume themselves completely, then it was just the scent to worry about. I sleeked along the shadows to pop up among the group of lads standing outside as if I'd been there all along. As we chatted, I started to drop the idea in their heads.
Nice and cool out here. We can talk and smoke. Easier just to stay out here. It we want to piss we'll just go down the end of the lot, it's dark back there, no one will see.
It's not like they hadn't been thinking it anyway.
I wandered back inside on Terry's arm, time for the next phase. Finding the right people was going to be the tricky bit. Terry was ready to sit and chat for a while and therefore useless. I dumped him with some of his friends and moved on. I spotted the perfect person to hitch myself to. You've seen people like this, they wander from group to group and seem to know everyone. They are loud and full of life, but if you actually pay attention you'll notice they arrive alone and leave the same way.
I slipped my arm round him and rubbed my hand over his butt. Leaning in I whispered filth in his ear, making sure my lips brushed the skin. He gripped me round the waist.
Predictably, he said, "Come and meet some friends of mine." I smiled at him and let myself be dragged along. He was just what I needed for this stage of the operation. As we staggered around (he wasn't letting go no matter how hard it made walking) talking to this group and that, I wasn't expected to add much in the way of conversation so I just smiled and let him slap my arse cheeks playfully. Instead I was jumping from head to head (I'd need some Advil later) any guys about to leave I'd 'suggest' relieving themselves over the last resting place of one complete asshole on their way home but I was looking for something else.
I found five. People with the right personality, who'd seen the asswipe that had also come with a friend or friends who'd dumped them to go off with others. Steering the thoughts of these people was harder, it wasn't necessarily something they were thinking anyway, which was why right personality type was important too. Long story short I planted in their minds the plan to report to their friends that they had gone off with said vampire, taken him home and had a really good night.
These sorts of stories don't hold up under scrutiny but they can confuse and delay any investigation. By the time all the false leads have been proved such, the real ones have dried up. That and the new outside toilet should cover where he died. I was also covered because I was still here, anyone with a blood tie to the vampire will know what time he died again, as I won't have left Fangtasia until much later, clearly I was not responsible. I laughed inside at the thought that Eric himself was my alibi, as Sheriff he'd be the one asked to find out what happened.
Speaking of the Sheriff, there he was again, it seemed he was in my line of sight a lot in the last hour. Again I didn't react to his presence nor him to mine. What was he playing at?
"Sheriff, I have the latest report on the Onychomys. Those three vampires that disappeared in Nebraska last week, they weren't killed by him. Tracks were left and some Fellowship members apprehended," said the vampire that had approached Eric after bowing deeply.
I made no change in the way I was tapping my foot and smiling at my current squeeze as my hearing aid picked up the familiar nickname. I'd had to google it when I'd first heard it and realised it was referring to me. It's a type of mouse, a Grasshopper Mouse, or Killer Mouse. But the reason the vamps call me it, (or rather the assassin that they don't know is me) is the Onychomys kills larger and stronger prey than itself such as scorpions and snakes. It does this in part by being immune to their venom, like my immunity to glamour I guess. The name fits in other ways, the Onychomys is nocturnal, unlike most of its kind (I mostly kill at night, I like them to know what I'm doing), it stalks it's prey quietly, like a cat, and once committed to a kill it does not give up. Best of all they look very cute. I was actually quite proud of my nickname.
What was interesting though was that Eric was getting updated with the latest information on me, even regarding something I didn't do in Nebraska.
"Give the report to Pam to put on my desk," Eric replied. He seemed to be surveying the bar but I had the distinct impression he was watching me out of the corner of his eye. A thought suddenly wandered through my brain and it took a lot of effort not to panic, even the slight raise of my heartbeat could give me away. I slipped from under the guys arm I'd been trailing round with and pulled on his hand once towards the dance floor as a new song started. He turned to follow me and I slipped through the crowd quickly hoping to join another group before he got there.
Once dancing, where an elevated heart rate was not suspicious, I pondered the thought I'd had. Eric had placed himself in front of me, had someone mention Onychomys, then watched me for a reaction. Which, I realised, I'd given him, by coming to dance just after. But I had bigger worries than Eric knowing I'd reacted, it was how much else he knew. That I was the assassin, probably that I'd just killed a vampire in his parking lot (since he'd only started popping up after that) and most worryingly that I would be able to hear the whispered comment across the noise of the room. If he knew that, he'd known about me for much longer than just tonight. He'd spoken to the kid at MIT. How much else did he know? And why hadn't the vampires come after me? And what was his game now?
As I thrust my hips to Lady Gaga's Marry the Night, (oddly apt) I made my choice. I'd have to kill Eric, and I'd have to do it tonight. There would be a lot of casualties, I realised as I planned. Once I'd killed Eric, I'd have to kill Pam, probably immediately. Then I'd have to cover my tracks. You couldn't kill a sheriff in his own bar as easily as a scum-bag in an alley way and Eric was too smart to get him away without anyone knowing who he'd left with. I'd have to kill him here and that meant taking out the whole bar afterwards to hide what I'd done. I could wait to strike until they were closing, so there wouldn't be so many about but there would still be staff and a few stragglers.
I found it soothing to make these plans, to know what I was going to do. This part I was good at, I'd been laying my contingency plans all night, I was more ready than I seemed.
EPOV
Cheeky little mouse had actually killed a vampire in his parking lot. Just like that. He knew he should be pissed, but it was quite amusing too, her fearlessness. The kill was clean, and quick. If he hadn't been watching so closely he'd have missed it. He'd installed hidden, infra-red, cameras in the back corner as it was the obvious place for anyone watching the club to linger. He'd caught a few Fellowship spies with them but they were motion activated and hadn't even come on in months. They needed cleaning, the picture was blurred as he sat in his office watching.
Eric wondered if the other girl had been glamoured. It was hard to tell, she didn't seem to be yelling for help but she wasn't submitting either and she hopped up quick when Sookie shot him. But then she didn't seem to see Sookie or even appear curious as to what happened. She just cleaned herself up and went back to her friends. Eric was fascinated. He knew Sookie had been able to direct human thoughts sometimes and wondered if that was what she'd done.
Most impressive had been the fact that he'd been monitoring Sookie herself carefully through his blood and she seemed barely to react. Slight spikes of disgust, anger and excitement but nothing that would indicate that she was out there killing. She looked amazing, Sookie. In skin tight black jeans and a cropped halter-top that left her midriff bare, showing the scar she still carried from being staked. The long sleeved shrug she wore covered only a thin strip across her back so he could also see the thin white trails from the Maenad. Eric had noticed several new scars as well and wondered how she'd got them. Her shoes had high block heels that gave her more swing to her hips without making her totter like stilettos did so many women. Her strides were still comfortable and confident.
He had watched her work the room, flirting with men and women equally. She was good. Her target was not obvious but Eric had narrowed it down to one of two new vampires in the area, he had been trying to decide which one she was after when she'd gone outside. Eric was still in his office. He'd been watching her on the monitors that displayed the camera footage from the whole building. He was thinking of going up to watch her from the roof when the infra-red camera had come on drawing his attention. He had finally determined Sookie's target.
He had been hoping to watch her stalk the vampire for a bit, try to figure out how she planned her attacks, how she left no trace, but now she had shot the guy right outside Fangtasia. He would have to either hand her over or kill her himself. He couldn't hand her over, if his tie to her was discovered his existence would be forfeit too. They'd never believe he didn't know all along she was the assassin – which was true of course but not really the point. Besides the memory of that taste, no, if this was the last that any would drink from Sookie Stackhouse he wanted it all to himself. Perhaps he would share some with Pam. She'd never forgive him otherwise.
First he would play with Sookie a little, get a reaction. Give her chance to approach him, then, if she didn't, he'd simply sweep her up to dance. She was a good dancer he remembered and even the Onychomys wouldn't attack a Sheriff in the middle of his own club with all these humans around. It would be a blood bath. Eric felt himself get hard at the thought, he really hoped he'd be able to seduce her before he had to kill her.
He wasn't surprised she'd come back inside, disappearing would be suspicious and she was too smart for that. He didn't know how long she'd stay though so started to move in immediately. First he made sure she could see him, as much as possible, to see how she reacted. She was good, not a flicker of her eye or a skip of her heart gave away each time she saw him. Also there was no guilt. She didn't feel the slightest bit bad about what she'd just done.
But she was up to something, there was something hiding in the blood, some sort of concentration. Was she using her skill? Maybe checking if anyone saw anything? He continued to move around, staying very visible and watching her work. What was she up to? Then, just as he was thinking of going over to say hello, she finally reacted. But not to him.
Lester was a new vampire to the area and not the brightest subordinate he'd ever had. However he was happy to spend a vast amount of his existence staring at that stupid internet thing. (Eric admitted it had its uses but he preferred real existence to virtual.) So that was Lester's job, keeping an eye on all Vampire internet traffic – the chat rooms, websites, news, anything that might affect Eric's area.
Eric could have removed the idiots tongue when he made his report. Sookie would almost certainly have heard him, with that little electronic hearing thing of hers. But then Eric decided he was happy to up the stakes. (Ha) It would certainly be more fun to find a way to kill her with her knowing he knew who she was. Game on, he thought. When she moved to go dance he was amused, she was trying to hide her reactions. He started to make his way towards her slowly. He'd watched from a distance long enough, besides, he didn't want to give her too long to plan. She had an impressive record. He'd love to know how she killed Andre for example.
As she spun on the spot, swirling her hips to the beat he whipped in, vampire speed, and pulled her against him, matching his movements to hers so her rhythm wasn't interrupted.
Sookie POV
Eric was suddenly holding me in his arms. I'd seen him stalking me but he'd kept his distance until now. I was glad my heart was already elevated from dancing. His eyes burned down into mine as I looked up at him with a steady inquisitive gaze. Had he always been so big? If he hadn't been a vampire I would have sworn he'd grown since I was last in his arms. Which was actually the last time I'd seen him, on the floor of the Queen's ballroom just before he attacked an Arkansas vampire with Wybert's head.
"Protecting me again?" I asked with the image of the battle still in my head. From Eric's smile I'd say he knew exactly what I was talking about.
"Now if I were doing that, you wouldn't still be upright," he admitted his eyes locked on mine. I remembered that more than once I'd been flat on the floor squashed under Eric while he 'protected' me.
"Very true, though I'm glad to stay on my feet for once, your floor is sticky, it needs a good polish," I allowed myself a shudder at the idea of lying on the floor of Fangtasia.
"I can think of some other places we could lay down," he pushed his hips against me to prove this was exactly what he was thinking about. He really hadn't changed.
"And here I was thinking you might actually want to dance with me after all this time." He spun us fast a few times then settled back into the rhythm.
"Were you ever going to acknowledge me?" he asked after a few more bars of music.
"Yes." He raised a sceptical eyebrow. "I didn't know what to say, 'you look well' doesn't really work with vampires as they always look the same."
"You however are looking quite different." He ran he eyes over me again and took the opportunity to move one hand down to my butt.
"Well I'm not the same person any more,"
"That you are not," said Eric meaningfully. "We cannot talk here, let's go to my office." He turned and left leaving me to trail after him. I did.
When I closed the door to his office he was perched on the front of his desk looking at me.
"Do you have any idea how much paperwork you have created?" he said sternly. "You couldn't have waited until he was off my property at least?" I gave him an unrepentant look.
"Do you always allow your vampire customers to rape your human customers right outside the club like that? You used to be more on the ball, maybe you've changed more than I thought, lost your edge?" I countered. His lips twitched.
"You're not going to try and deny it? Or pretend you don't know what I'm talking about?"
"Would there be any point?"
"No, I have plenty of evidence." I looked at him and he looked frankly back, but I didn't ask the important question, not yet.
"How is Pam? I'm assuming you told her to ignore me."
"Yes, I wanted to observe you before we interacted. She is well. I gave her a year off last year but she was happy to return." I nodded. Small talk wasn't my strong point these days. My interactions were mostly purely business or purely pleasure, neither of which involved much in the way of chat. It was a pity it was too dangerous to have sex with Eric, I knew he was good and I still had that post kill tension to work off.
He walked forward slowly, being non-threatening but leaving me very little space between him and the door at my back. Then he started sniffing me. I put up with it. Clearly whatever else he'd learnt, he didn't know how I was doing that. After subtly inhaling, then pulling me closer to sniff my hair, he gripped me even harder as he ran his nose down my throat.
"Such a pity, you used to smell so good, delicious," he said releasing me and moving back to perch on his desk.
"I still do," Eric's eyes lit up.
"Prove it," he challenged.
"Now why would I want to smell more edible to a vampire?"
"Please," and he actually gave me puppy eyes. I had to laugh. He was shameless.
"I'll think about it," I said. I couldn't risk leaving my scent here. Even after I blew the place up, some vamps could trace every single smell, no matter how vague.
The office was much bigger than his old one and the furniture fancier. I moved forward into the room to have a better look, though I knew the layout from the blue-prints I'd studied. There was a whole wall of small screens which I figured were attached to the security cameras. They caught my eye as one that had been blank flickered on. The picture was in green tones and poor quality. A figure stumbled into view and, despite the blur, was clearly urinating. A moment later he stumbled off again, then the screen went blank. Well that would be his evidence then. Still it would go with the club, I already knew the security cameras ran on an internal system rather than one that transmitted somewhere else. I'd checked on that before I'd come tonight.
Eric had gone back to inspecting me. He was keeping a soft smile on his lips and an indulgent expression on his face and I suddenly realised it was an act. He was going to kill me, he had to. Several things happened at once. With a carefully practised twist of my foot, I activated the remote in my shoe that would set off the bombs planted all round the club throughout the evening, and pushed my hand out, the wooden stake that released from a mechanism up my sleeve plunging into Eric's chest as his hand wrapped around my throat and shifted to snap my neck.
So this was always meant to be a one-shot and might remain so, but while editing I have had several different 'what happens next' ideas – Do you want more? If so what would you want to happen?
Thank you for reading, any and all comments very welcome :)
For those who enjoyed my other stories, two new full length fics are in process but RL means I can't work on them as much as I would like. I will start uploading them asap.