A/N - Welcome to the final installment of the As Sookie Turns saga. Thanks to all of you who have stayed on this wild ride with me -- this is the first story of any length that I have ever completed. Woo-Hoo! I appreciate all of you who have reviewed, PM'd, and added me to your favorites. You're the best!
I want to give a shout out to Mariaterese for all her help with translating. Also to my beta, joynessdotcom - thank you for making sure I don't make an idiot out of myself! And last, but not least, to ebonyeyez1, thanks for letting me bounce all my crazy ideas your way and telling me what you really think!
That being said -- I want to remind you that life is not all rainbows and daisies; neither is this installment. Read at your own peril -- you have been warned!
All of these wonderful characters belong to Miss Charlaine. The crazy stuff they do in these stories is all mine.
__________________________________________
Pam shut off the lights, locked the doors, and left Fangtasia at two-thirty a.m. She had thought she would never be able to escape from the vermin tonight. The call she received from her master earlier in the evening had her more excited than she had been in ages. She hardly ever got worked up about anything nowadays, unless it was a good fight or a good fuck. Once upon a time she got a charge out of teasing him about his relationship with his human bonded, but in the years since Sookie had moved in with him and he had given her what Pam considered to be Louisiana's answer to the Hope Diamond, there was rarely fuel to fan the flames of her torment.
When Eric first phoned her three nights ago to tell her about Sookie's turning, Pam had almost dropped her phone from the shock. She was sure Eric was just bullshitting. In all the years she had known her, Sookie had never once given Pam any indication she was interested in joining them. In fact, she had voiced her aversion to the idea many times, in spite of her love for Eric and her friendship with many other vampires. Eric had fervently assured her he was not bullshitting, and the urgency in his voice confirmed that he indeed was not. He had even asked her to order a dozen cases of Royalty for the awakening.
'Hardly the same as my first feed,' she thought wryly, as images of a dark-haired, smooth-skinned boy of seventeen flashed through her memory. "How times have changed," she said aloud with a wicked cackle.
Pam continued her drive across town to Eric's house, each mile adding to her nervous curiosity. Twenty minutes later she was driving up to the main entrance of the gated community that was home to her master and his bonded. Byron, fellow vampire and head of night security, recognized her car immediately and opened the gate for her, waving as she drove past.
One left and two right turns brought her to the driveway of Eric's massive six-thousand square foot "cottage," as he humbly referred to it. Before Sookie, he had lived in an unassuming (except for the state-of-the-art security system, of course) three-bedroom ranch in a more modest neighborhood. Yes indeed, times had changed.
Pam pulled up in front of the garage and entered the code on her remote opener. Even after Sookie had moved in with Eric, they insisted she still have access to their home. She pulled her sedan into the open parking space in the expansive five-car garage and pushed the button again on the remote, lowering the door behind her.
Usually a meticulously cautious vampire, Pam was uncharacteristically distracted by her nervous excitement and she failed to notice the shadowy figure that quickly slipped into the garage before the overhead door was seated. She gave herself an unnecessary once-over in the rear-view mirror. After freshening her lipstick and smoothing her hair, she opened the door and stepped out of her car.
As Pam rounded the front Eric's new Corvette and headed toward the kitchen door, the figure that had been crouching on the far side of the car sprang at her, taking her by surprise and roughly knocking her to the ground. 'I don't fucking believe this,' was her first thought as her assailant quickly straddled her hips and pinned her arms above her head with one strong hand. 'Who in the hell...' was her second thought, just before she realized who "Who" was.
"Bill, what the fuck..." was all she had time to utter before Bill reached into the back of his waistband and pulled out a wooden stake. The last thing Pam's confused brain registered was a pair of frenzied, crazed eyes in an otherwise expressionless face as Bill plunged the stake deep into her chest.
***************************************
Eric and Sookie had just finished showering and were in the kitchen heating two more Royalty's in the microwave. Bottles in hand, they headed to the den to wait for Pam.
They had just settled in front of the TV on the soft leather sectional when Eric heard one of the garage doors raise. He turned to Sookie to announce Pam's arrival. "Pam is h---," he stopped mid-sentence. The stricken look on his face sent waves of terror through Sookie, and she felt what she could only describe as sheer panic coming from him through the bond.
"Eric, what is it?" Not one time since she had known him had Sookie seen or felt Eric so distraught. The flood of emotions coming to her through the bond was so strong it made her feel dizzy and sick, all at the same time.
"PAMELA!" Eric's booming voice rattled the windows of the den. In the next second he was bolting for the door. "Don't move!" he hurled at Sookie just before he disappeared.
Too frightened to move, Sookie cowered into the cushions of the sectional, eyes wide with fright. 'Some fine vampire I make,' she lamented to herself. 'I'm just as much of a wuss as I was when I was human.' She strained her ears to listen for Eric or Pam. She was so on edge, if her heart were still beating it would have surely stopped from the adrenaline running through her.
Leaving Sookie in the den, Eric tore through the house in search of Pam. He intercepted Bill as he came through the door from the garage into the kitchen. "Compton, what the fuck are you doing here? Where is Pam?"
One look into Bill's eyes told Eric all he needed to know; a quick glance over Bill's shoulder into the garage confirmed his suspicions. The pile of ashes that was his first child said everything. "You son of a bitch! What have you done?"
"I should be asking the same of you," was Bill's icy reply. "What have you done, Eric?" Bill leaned toward Eric until their faces were only inches apart.
Eric grabbed Bill by the throat and threw him backwards to restore the distance between them. "What in the hell do you mean 'what have I done?' I have done nothing. I have not left this house for three days. And if I had done something, who are you to question me? About anything?" Eric had taken two steps forward and was now leaning down over Bill, his fists clenching and unclenching with his rage. The loss of his child and Bill's insolence had nearly driven him to his breaking point.
Bill looked up into Eric's eyes, his voice steadied by the calm known only by those who have totally abandoned their grip on reality. "What have you done to Sookie?" he spat at Eric.
Eric snapped. His hand was around Bill's throat again before Bill had time to register the movement. With millennial strength, Eric brought Bill's face to his until they were nose to nose, their difference in height leaving Bill's feet dangling in the air. "You forget yourself, Compton," he hissed through his fangs as he flung Bill across the kitchen.
Bill crashed into the far wall, leaving a giant hole in the drywall before sliding to the floor. He was younger than Eric by centuries and no match for him in hand-to-hand combat, but he was not a new-made vampire, either. He was on his feet and headed toward the den, his feel for Sookie guiding him to her, before Eric could cross the kitchen.
Sookie both heard and felt Bill crash into the kitchen wall. She desperately wanted to see what was going on, but Eric had told her to stay put and, frankly, she was too frightened of what she might see. She paced back and forth in front of the fireplace, waiting to see or hear something from Eric to let her know what was going on.
As she paced, Sookie barely had time to register what was going on before she was wrapped in Bill's arms. "Let me go, Bill!" she cried as she put her hands to his chest and tried in vain to push herself away from him. "What in the hell are you doing here?"
"Look at you, Sookie! My god, what has he done?" Bill kept one arm tightly around her waist as he stroked her hair with his free hand. He looked down at her face – her suntan glow had been replaced by the pallor of the undead. His soul cried out in his anguish.
"Let her go, Compton," Eric commanded from the doorway. He cautiously moved closer to where Bill stood with Sookie, knowing that even though she was now vampire and much stronger than she was as a human, it would take nothing for Bill to snap her in his hands like a dry twig.
Bill tightened his grip on Sookie, practically dragging her as he moved them further away from Eric. "You fucking bastard," he shot at Eric. "How could you do this to her? You know how much she was against this. And yet you did it anyway."
Sookie pounded her fists against Bill's chest. "I asked for this, you asshole," she spat at him. "Eric did this for me, not to me. And who the hell are you to invade our home like some raving lunatic?"
A shroud of anguish covered Bill's face as he looked down at his once-beloved turned vampire. Not since he was human had he cared so much for a woman. If he were truthful with himself, he hadn't even loved his wife as much as he loved Sookie. Now she was vampire – Eric's child. She could never again be his.
Eric advanced toward Bill and Sookie, moving slowly so as not to further incite Bill's agitation. "Let her go, Bill," he commanded, his voice like cold, smooth steel. Centuries of practice enabled him to contain his growing rage even though Bill had already killed one of his children and was holding the other hostage. He had never won a battle by letting his emotions rule his head. "Let her go, and I will not cause your final death tonight." He added the tonight for clarity – no one could ever call Eric Northman a liar. Bill would most certainly meet his final death for his actions. One way or another.
Bill worked his way to the wall that held a display of Eric's swords, dragging Sookie along with him. When he reached an easily-accessible long sword at the edge of the grouping, he shoved her away and grabbed the weapon off of the wall. Holding the grip with both hands, he extended the blade toward Eric and advanced toward him, the shell of calm that had previously surrounded him shattering into a million pieces.
"Bill, do not be stupid. Think about what you are doing." Eric tried to convey calm and reasoning with the tone of his voice, but Bill was too far gone in his fury to notice. His eyes were wild, his fangs were out, and a menacing growl rumbled from the depths of his chest. He lunged at Eric, the tip of the sword missing Eric's face by mere inches.
"Bill, stop this now!" Sookie screamed, but Bill was undaunted. He continued to advance on Eric, slowly backing him into the far corner of the den, away from the wall with the weapons.
As Bill continued his assault, Eric searched frantically for something to use in his defense. When he spied a carved wooden table lamp within his reach, he grabbed it and ripped the shade off in one smooth motion.
With both hands around the base of the lamp, Eric parried Bill's thrusts until one cracking blow from Bill's sword split the lamp in half, leaving Eric with just a jagged, foot-long scrap of wood. Eric's fangs gleamed as he smiled at Bill. The match was now evened up.
Sookie watched nervously as the two men rallied. Bill's inept, albeit aggressive, swordsmanship and Eric's twisted love for battle became too much to bear. She knew she had to put an end to the confrontation before someone got hurt...or worse.
"Just stop!" she screamed, testing the limits of her new lungs. "BOTH OF YOU STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!" She took a step closer to them, hoping to breach the aura of frenzied bloodlust that now surrounded Eric and Bill.
Bill lunged wildly at Eric, slicing with abandon, following through with the full measure of his strength and rage. His blade hit home, its finely honed edge finding little resistance from the firm vampiric flesh. In one fell swoop, a body lay in two pieces on the floor.
"NOOOOOO!" Bill's agonized cry was more like a howl as he dropped the sword and backed away, his eyes wide with the horror of what he had just done.
Eric stood frozen, unable to move, his ice-blue eyes seeing but not comprehending the scene that was in front of him.
Bill's aim had been swift but was far from true. Sookie's body lay between them in two pieces on the floor, flaking away to nothing in front of their eyes.
Bill dropped to his knees, his head in his hands, his sorrowful wailing reverberating off of the walls of the den. Guilt, shame, and remorse consumed his soul like flames in a tinderbox.
Long minutes passed, neither man moving. When Bill finally looked up, he saw that Sookie's body had been reduced to nothing more than two small piles of ash. He crossed the room and knelt down next to her remains, bowed his head and said nothing for several long minutes. He rose to his feet and walked out of the room and out of the house.
Spurred back to reality by Bill's movements, Eric blinked his eyes and focused on the scene before him. He didn't run after Bill; there was no need. The edict Eric had set down long ago, the edict that ordered Bill's final death in the event of his own, would see justice was done. Did you really think I would ever let you have her, Bill?
Whether it was served warm or cold did not matter -- Bill would receive his heaping helping of Eric's revenge.
Eric knelt next to the powdery remnants of what was once his bonded, his child, his Lover. Tears flowed unchecked from his eyes, rivers of red coursing down his face to land on the piles of ash beneath him.
He cried from the ripping, ragged pain in his soul that was the remains of their bond. He cried for her physical loss, knowing he would never again feast his eyes on her face, feel her skin beneath his caress, hear her voice that was a chorus of angels. He cried for the loss of their future, the one that he had yearned for, for so many years, the one that had been so full of promise...
He also cried for himself, for the life sentence that had just been handed to him. As if the thousand years he had walked the earth without her hadn't been enough.
'It was enough,' Eric thought to himself. Another thousand years would not give him back what he had lost tonight, not even close. He knew he had the final say. No matter what cards the gods had dealt him, it was his option to fold his hand.
He took a deep, unnecessary breath and tightened his grip on the remnants of the lamp that was still in his hands -- the jagged, gnarled scrap of wood that would be his salvation. Holding his arms out in front of him, he took careful aim. This final strike must be swift and true.
"Vænta ą mig, min ælskare," he whispered. "Jag komr följe dig,"
With blinding speed and millennial strength, he drove the makeshift stake home.
A/N - Translation of Eric's last words: "Wait for me, my lover. I will follow you."