The air was still and the night sky clear as it could possible be. The streets were eerily quiet as she walked aside him down the streets of Bon Temps. It was never this quiet, not in a town that was infamous for its supernatural goings on both past and present. So for things to be this quiet, for the businesses to be closed so early-it was barely 8 at night and on a Friday to boot, it was strange. Her Viking seemed to be a little puzzled as to why things were as quiet as they were an usually, it meant a calm before a storm. They were both used to that happening, things turning bad fast. And sure enough, shadows emerged from every nook and cranny around and above them. Attacking the couple were so many vamps and upon closer look, Sookie was taken aback at seeing the black veins in their skin. "I thought that was obliterated with new blood." she said as she looked at Eric, his face as puzzled as she was about seeing hep v vamps. But they hadn't the time to ponder this and had to fight their way through the throng of attackers. Naturally, the Viking made quick work out of them and she herself didn't do half bad, using her own dual nature to her advantage. Ten minutes later, they were ankle deep in the remains of the diseased vamps and they looked at one another with shock. Shock that for Sookie, turned to her as she put her hands over her mouth as he looked back at her, puzzled. "What?" he asked. "Blood in my hair?" he joked, having told her long ago how he had wound up having his hair glorified and then cut by Pam, a story that had amused and grossed Sookie out. But hadn't really shocked her, him being who and what he was. Par for the course, blah blah blah.
"No…..look at your skin….I….I cant believe….again?" she asked, alarmed at seeing the terrible veins marring his perfect skin. She had seen this in the past, seen people die and want to die from this illness and it was a cruel instance of history repeating itself. She saw it in his eyes, the struggle, the madness she knew this illness had brought in in other vamps and though she had been glad he himself had been able to fight the worse parts of it off-the ravenous hunger, the brutal, merciless hunting and madness-she also knew the depression he had been in. here, she saw the darkness, the worst part of the illness taking hold and he pushed her aside. Not before she herself saw her own skin, the veins turning dark as his had. And form out of the shadows, they watched as their friends and family all-human, vampire and otherwise, came out of the woodwork all with those veins that signaled the virus that had already caused so much pain and heartache.
Her legs felt like jello as she saw the faces more clearly, all her friends and family looking little more than zombies, all clearly out of their minds. "This…its not real. it's a dream….it has to be….we….need to….." she was stopped by her Viking leaping away from her and making a beeline towards the parade of familiar faces that had been coming at them, moving like zombies, all looking just as ravenous. She watched as he went after one after the other, lunging for their necks, hungry as if he hadn't eaten in weeks. Seeing her loved ones in such terrifying states told her what she knew deep down was happening. This was, in fact, a dream. A terrible, horrible no good very bad one and she was hoping at any moment she would wake up. But she had had dreams that were realistic and intense before and it was when she had overindulged on V…and before falling asleep, she and Eric had taken to enjoying a intense….shall she call it bloodletting session….in which they had both very much indulged in one another….perhaps too much, she was wondering. Could too much of a good thing cause a dream to twist into a nightmare? Boldly stepping in between her Viking and a zombie like Jason, she winced at seeing her brother, her friends as warped versions of themselves but dragged her Viking to a nearby alley, trying to get him to focus on her. And it worked. Too well. She felt him bite hard into her neck, not seeming to care if he was hurting her and though this was a dream, something inside her told her in the real world, the waking world, she was in some serious trouble. Relying on her instincts, she managed to get her hands free as he had pinned her to the wall, continuing to drink. She didn't have much time, if she didn't wake herself or him up from this fevered dream, someone was going to die in an ill likelihood it was going to be her.
"I don't…..I don't want to be doing this. I cant stop myself." he said, pulling back for a moment, looking more scared than she had ever seen him. She held him back with her hands and explained that they were in a V-induced dream. A intense one that was causing very real harm in the waking world. "I…I am killing you." he said as she finished her theory that was becoming more and more solid as she looked at her skin. It was fading. She was fading. "Wake up….please. Or maybe you can try to wake me up…one of us has to wake-" she was stopped in mid sentence as they were overran by their friends and she felt herself being pulled down, down into darkness. The last thing she saw and heard was a blur trying to fight the horde attacking them off, right before turning on her, reluctance and regret on his face as the uncontrollable hunger overwhelmed him and she screamed as everything went black.
It was minutes later, she felt her body shaking and opening her eyes, she took in a deep breath and sat up, feeling the silk sheets around her, she noted the smell in the air, the dampness of the sheets and saw, even though they were black, were soaked in blood, both of theirs. And though the shock of the dream had gotten her back to the waking world, she could not say the same for the Viking, who was tossing and turning and destroying his pillow in his fevered , deep nightmare of a dream. She went to try to rouse him and instead found herself flat on her back on their bed, her already bloodied body pinned under his own. Clearly, she noted, they had gone to town on one another in their shared nightmare somehow and it was only now that the wounds were healing, though the stains of blood remained. It looked like a murder scene and unless he did something soon, it very well could become one.
"Wake up….come on, I did, you can too." she pleaded as she tried to keep herself from hurting him with her powers. But as it was if she let him go on any longer ravaging her, there wouldn't be a her left. Using her power, her hands lit up and she managed to blast him up and off of her, she herself taking her turn to straddle him, seeing he was so clearly asleep still and yet very much a danger to himself and her. Struggling to maintain her hold on him, she used her magic to see into his mind and sure enough, the scene she had shared with him was visible in her mind. The violence he was unleashing and that which was being sent his way was one sided, his power and ability even in the dream superior to even these twisted figures of her friends and loved ones. Remembering what she had done once to break him free from a powerful necromancy spell, she hated to do it, knowing how much more potent her mixed blood was now, how her fairy magic was so powerful now. But she had to end this and hoped she could do this without ending him in both the dreamscape and reality. Here in the dream, she saw herself fading and knew in the waking world that she had fled from she was being drained of her blood and light. Strong as she was, she never underestimated him, his own power and in this v-induced state he was a mess. In this fake and yet very real reality that was they shared virtual reality, dream, she threw a hail mary and dived in between him and her brother as the Viking was about to do some serious damage to dream Jason. Instead, he got her and the shock of what had happened…
She opened her eyes as she had left her dram/meditation state she had went into to return to their shared dream but found herself once again bloodied and slightly beaten up, though she was slowly healing. The shock of what he had done had been the trick and even that, she had suspected may not be enough to free him of his dream state, frightening as it was. "I never thought that would happen…I've not had one of those in….well…." he seemed at a loss for words as he racked his brain to think back on the last time he had had a dream such as this. "I should have told you this was a possibility. If a couple is bonded as strong as we are and share a little too much of one another, it can result in some very realistic and sometimes dangerous shared dreams. Or nightmares, as we just experienced. I experienced such a dram before and when I finally come to…it wasn't pretty. Ill spare the details."
She said nothing but put her hands on his temple, using her power to see his thoughts, an ability she had come to since becoming a faerie-vamp. And she saw flashes of the carnage he remembered so grudgingly, memories he wanted gone. But her powers had limits and she couldn't, nor would she ever remove anything from his mind. She knew he wanted to remember everything no matter how unpleasant. Body parts were strewn everywhere, he towering over the remains of the people he had inadvertently slaughtered. Women, she saw, a twinge of jealousy quickly replaced with pity. And sadness. She knew he had had a taste for the ladies in the past and knew she shouldn't be shocked by what she had seen, that the remains were of all pretty women. "I am so sorry you went through that." she finally said as she pulled herself back, appraising him.
"It was not one of my finer moments. I killed five women that night and had to set the building on fire to hide my crimes. It was over three hundred years ago, and it still haunts me. And that I could have done the same thing to you….." there was a pause. "I suppose we should take comfort in the fact that our connection is that strong, that it can cause such intensity…but caution I suppose should be used from here on out. Too much of a good thing and all that."
She nodded in agreement and sighed. "At least it's a rare occurrence, is that right? I mean, if we were to get too frisky again, it isn't a guarantee of a repeat of…." she gestured with her hands to the mess around them.
"I think perhaps we shouldn't get as carried away as we did. Though at the time I think it was quite….enjoyable. You never don't taste delectable." he grinned wickedly at her as she rolled her eyes. "And I know since coming into your vampire side, you have taken to enjoying how I taste."
"I still struggle a little that I actually do like a taste more often than I ever thought I would but that's who I am now." she shrugged. "Who knew that this is how I would end up. But god help me, I like it. I…..I love who and what I am now even though I still get a bit squeamish now and again. I'm not gonna lie." she laughed.
"It will get easier over time and with us, we have almost all the time in the world, unless we meet some terrible fate. Sorting I have managed to avoid for some time now and have been rather successful. So I like our chances."
She grinned and sighed. "I have had good dreams about and with you in the past…..but lets not try to have another one like this anytime soon. That was not fun."
"No sense of adventure." he feigned a pout. "I suppose we should clean all this up….allow me. I've had experience cleaning up messes like this in the past."
And with an amused look, she stood and watched him scrub, change blankets and sheets in mere seconds. It was good he could work so fast and efficiently but in her mind, she was grateful that he wasn't so fast in other departments, the saucy thoughts in her mind making her grin as he looked pleased with himself with the fast cleaning job, pulling her back on the freshly remade and cleaned bed. And as if he had heard her thoughts, he told her for what he planned next, he wouldn't be so speedy but rather….thorough.
THE END