As Good as I Once Was
Disclaimer: I have become addicted to True Blood out the yin-yang. Season 3 seems to be better than that piece of disappointment season 2. And by (surprising) popular demand, here is part two of "To The Stars and Back Again". LOL. I honestly didn't think you guys would have liked that first one that I did so bad. But I'm glad that you did! The song as the end is Toby Keith's "As Good As I Once Was." The other song in the middle of the fic is part of (Well, most of) Korn's "Love Song".
I hope you like it.
"Men ought either to be indulged or utterly destroyed, for if you merely offend them they take vengeance, but if you injure them greatly they are unable to retaliate, so that the injury done to a man ought to be such that vengeance cannot be feared."
-Niccolo Machiavelli
"Vengeance is a dish best eaten cold."
-English Proverb
By: VampireQueenAkasha
"Vampire bar wasn't all it was made out to be. I hear there are a lot of freaks and people from Arkansas."
-Arlene, True Blood
Bon Temps
The wood was nothing.
The grass at her feet was nothing.
She was God. She was Day and Night. She was Sun and Moon.
And Sookie Stackhouse was as sure as dead.
Victoria Bartlett's death had taken a toll on the elder Bartlett of the family, Agatha. A Pack Master of her own kind. A Werewolf.
A mother bearing a grudge.
Agatha ran as fast as her paws would take her through the nightly wooded terrain of Bon Temps until she would reach Jackson's borders where she knew her old pack still resided; probably in a run-down old shit hole the way that they had always been before she unfortunately disappeared. She would find them and reunite with her old comrades. But where to go from there? She wanted her vengeance to be fresh, to be sweet and to be sooner than later.
Agatha had always been a "special" kind of werewolf. She didn't run like a wolf the way the modern race did. She didn't associate with vampires and she most certainly could not be controlled by them due to her wild and feral nature. She was a monster of old, a creature of lore. No petty little fanger could take that from her as much as he or she tried. And here with her recovery, she was twice as strong as she had ever been.
Pausing once to take in a deep gulp of air, she scented her surroundings and catching the scent of something through her nostrils.
HUMAN.
Agatha slowly and carefully scaled a thick tree with her sharp claws to observe her possible prey. There were two of them, two lovers from what she could attest by the sight and sounds of their bodies rubbing against one another. The werewolf huffed loudly and felt disgusted by the foul stench of sex and hormones coming from the filthy creatures. But then, it reminded her of her old life with Adolph and their romantic moments that they would share in the forests as well. Almost every night would be shared with hunting, making love and running under the stars; she could still smell his soft wet fur against her own, his tongue against her cheeks and his breath that misted her nose.
How she missed her dear mate ...
But her thoughts derailed and she felt nothing but hunger in the pit of her stomach. Hunger and blood lust at the naked, writhing things of meat before her. It had been long since she fed from fresh, hot meat and she wasn't about to let this moment pass by. Not on such an empty stomach, anyway.
They screamed louder than she had expected when her claws sliced through their flesh like it was made of wet paper. Agatha felt a searing rush like no other when her jaws came down upon the slender, female neck where a gush of hot, steaming blood poured into her mouth and slid down her throat. Her screams were silenced by the dull snapping of her neck, but the male. Ahh, when she looked up, he was trying to flee to his pickup truck in the opening of the forest. Apparently, love didn't run too deep with this one after all. As he fled through the trees, Agatha surged after him and her claws immediately connected with soft, warm flesh and bone.
The silly little meat puppet even attempted to hit her with his puny fists that she had barely felt at all. Agatha was amused as she tore into the screaming creature's belly with her sharp teeth, finding strips of entrails and splitting them apart with her mighty jaws. Humans ... they fell apart so easily. How could such destructive little animals be so easily destroyed themselves?
After taking her fill of human flesh and blood, Agatha resumed human form and bathed in a cool stream nearby from the scene. Nudity had never bothered her before nor had it now; she really didn't enjoy wearing clothes anyway because they made her feel constricted and less than free.
Agatha resumed her monstrous form and continued racing toward the scent of her pack.
The sounds of wild banter and wolf hooting could be heard for miles by any vampire or werewolf. Agatha could see the "Club" from her perch in a tree and she made her way toward it where two other wolves were standing. She approached and they jolted at the sight of the naked woman there, like they had never seen one in the world before. But despite their biker-like appearance and rough demeanor, they acted prudish toward her nakedness.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" one of the wolves spat coldly, "There are no females allowed in here tonight! Try tomorrow."
Agatha smiled at them. "I'm here to see your pack master."
The two wolves suddenly laughed cruelly at her. Obviously, they had no idea who she was and what she could clearly do to them. They must have been New Blood. Ah, well, she never had a reason to allow for her powerful scent to be used as a means to cause fear. It was petty and there were always so many more ways to frighten someone.
"No one sees Brace until he asks!" the other wolf hissed.
Agatha smiled pleasantly and raised a single hand against his chest, her nails slowly lengthening at her will. "Then, I'm very happy to be the first."
Inside the Club, various wolves scattered and the music that had been playing died down as the doors were flung off of their hinges and clattered uselessly like tin cans. The two wolves who had been guarding them followed with shouts of pain and landed hard onto their sides.
The other wolves glanced up as Agatha stepped inside. She smiled at them, a warm and happy smile. "Hello boys," she greeted.
They reacted with shocked whispers and gasps to one another. They obviously did not expect to see the assumed dead werewolf standing there in front of them. "A - Agatha?" a wolf in the back sputtered, "You're alive?"
Agatha chuckled softly and her eyes watched each and every terrified wolf before her. The scent of fear, nausea and uneasiness practically fogged the entire room. "Yes, alive," she replied, "I was what you'd call ... indisposed for a while now. But I am back. Now tell me, are you ready to follow your pack master once again?"
There was something shoving his way through the crowd. It was Brace, the new pack master. He was somewhat skinny with an excellent muscular structure built into his sturdy frame. His scent was no where near as appealing as Agatha could have figured, but he was quite strong. She sensed the strength that he dominated the pack with. Ah, but he had to learn that there was more to it than just sheer power.
"Who are you?" Brace demanded.
Agatha sized him up and flexed the muscles in her arms, tensing up for a possible fight. "You should know," she sneered, "After all, I happen to be the wolf that the faggot of a vampire you hired tried to kill."
The wolves reacted with shocked gasps and whispered to one another about the news. Brace simply sneered contemptuously, but Agatha could sense his heart slowly racing and his scent had changed completely. "Oh yeah?" he spat, "And how would you know anything about that, fuzz? Where's your proof?"
Agatha set her teeth behind her closed-mouth smile. "I want my pack back," she told him, voice dripping with menace and warning.
Brace laughed cruelly and the rest of the wolves did not share his humor. In fact, they looked worried about the possible situation of there being a pack master fight and a brutal one here in their Club. Agatha stared at Brace sternly and she took a step forward.
"The choice is no longer yours to make for them, Brace," she said, lowly, "Step down quietly or I take you down. I can promise you that you will not get back up."
Brace gritted his teeth, his masculine pride flaring with pain and hatred. His eyes changed from brown to a bright wolf gold. "You fucking bitch! I'll show you who's going to be stepping down!" he spat, shifting immediately into a large red and black wolf that dove straight for her, teeth and claws bared.
The other wolves scattered, but Agatha remained stock still and she lashed out one hand, grabbing the wolf by the throat. It struggled and yelped before it reverted back to human form and Brace swung his fist toward Agatha's head, but she caught it with her other hand. He gave a shrieking wail as she bent the bones back forcefully, snapping the tendons and calcium until she ripped the arm clean off. Blood sprayed across the floor and Agatha ripped out his throat with her other hand.
The wolves stared down at the corpse of their fallen leader before they stared at Agatha with shock. She simply smiled at them and shook the damp blood from her enclosed palm.
"Now, let's discuss our business affairs."
After Agatha had explained everything to her fellow wolves, the pack seemed more sympathetic with her this time. They even felt nervous by her presence too. After all, she wasn't like the other wolves were nowadays. But Agatha took her pack before anything else and by no means would she risk their lives for her own gain.
"I'm just sorry that HE was the leader of my pack," Agatha murmured, unimpressed with Brace's position and his skills, "You could have done better."
One of the wolves, an old friend of hers-Jacques-piped up. "Are you angry with us, pack master?" he asked, timidly.
Jacques had always been a coward. Agatha had never chastised him for this because he had a reason to be: His wife and three boys had been brutally murdered because of the human enemy. Agatha did nothing but smile and pat his shoulder with a gentle, soothing hand.
"Not at all," she said, "A pack needs a leader regardless of who it may be. But now that it's all past us and I've taken my place among you, I might need something from all of you now. Something very important to me."
"What?"
Agatha's gaze darkened and her voice carried murder. "Sookie Stackhouse."
O
The bar waitress wasn't having the best day today.
Every single time the waitresses would sit someone, there would be a problem with their current customers regarding food or service.
"Look, I understand the steak was overcooked," Sam spoke with a customer in the far end of the store, "But did you have to eat it all before you complained to me?"
Tara hollered angrily at Lafayette from behind the bar, causing Jason to flinch and cover his ear with one hand. "Bitch, where's my goddamn fries at?" she shouted. "You said they'd be ready a half an hour ago!"
Lafayette stared at her with a deadpanned look from behind the heat lamps. He raised the basket of fries to her before he dropped them to the floor. "Oops," he said, calmly, "Guess I'll be needin' another hour. Maybe two if I hear any more bullshit from you."
Tara heaved a frustrated shout and smacked her hands on the bar counter before she rushed to the back to get some more lemons. Jason heaved a sigh and looked up at her when she returned for fresh ones to cut.
"Tara, what am I going to do?" he asked, miserably, "I can't get that chick's face out of my head."
Tara laughed, missing the point of his misery and stared at him skeptically. She picked up a small knife from the bar and began to cut up a single lemon into small slices. "When can you ever get a chick's face outta your head?"
"I was talking about that ... " Jason stopped and glanced both ways to make sure no one heard him before he leaned forward and whispered to her. " ... werewolf."
Tara stopped in her cutting to stare at him gently, the harshness fading. "Jason, you know you were just looking out for your sister," she insisted, "You protected her. That girl was crazy! She was going to kill us all!"
"No. No. No." Jason argued, shaking his head, "Listen, Sookie trusted that werewolf. She never woulda put her neck out for someone she couldn't trust. I mean, she hangs out with fangers for Christ's sake. She was upset with this one."
"Sookie's grateful, Jason." Tara glanced up toward Sookie who was gathering up dishes. "She's upset right now because she did like that girl-dog thing-but I know she's grateful. She just needs a little time, okay?"
Jason nodded in agreement, but he still looked doubtful. "I just never killed no body like that before ... " He made a small, half amused sound. "I been blamed for a bunch of shit like that, but I ain't never really done it, you know?"
Tara sighed and rolled her eyes. "Stop all that damn killing talk before I start crying ... "
While the two continued their conversation alone, it was getting harder for Sookie to control her abilities tonight given the crazy situation of the restaurant. There was just too much going on with everything around her.
"It's too bad chlamydia has to be a venereal disease. It's such a pleasant-sounding word ... Chlamydia. I think I might name my daughter Chlamydia."
"Okay, he wanted the jumbo shrimp with a baked potato, and she wanted the ... Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! What did she order?"
"That bitch thinks she's getting a tip for having her ass out like that? Huh. Maybe I should give her a tip ... "
But one particular thought from someone in the restaurant worried her. The person - a woman - sounded very concerned and she seemed to have her attention focused on the nightly parking lot outside. Sookie turned to look when the thoughts left.
"What the hell is that shit doing outside? Oh fuck. Are they going to come in? Shit, shit, they're coming in."
Suddenly, the front doors were thrown open harshly and all heads turned to see who was entering the restaurant. The music playing on the jukebox even died down and a man standing there had his jaw hanging open with surprise. Agatha's pack mates rushed into the place, grinning wickedly from ear to ear with ill-intent written all over their faces. Agatha stepped inside shortly afterwords, wearing only a thin blue raincoat to cover herself up. Her feet were covered in chunky grime and blades of grass. She smiled at the confused faces.
"Oh, don't stop for us, please," she told them. "In fact, you should probably leave here right now. All of you. It may get a wee bit ... messy."
No one moved from their spots. They just glanced at each other, unsure of what to make of that request. Should they leave? Shouldn't they?
Agatha glared at them now when she received no reaction.
"GET OUT NOW!" she bellowed, her voice so loud and terrifyingly demonic that every customer scattered with a chorus of terrified cries, pouring from the building and fleeing in their cars. Once she was sure that they were gone, Agatha smiled calmly once more at the remaining humans and sub-humans.
The employees of Merlotte's could only watch them warily, but they stood their ground. Agatha just chuckled softly. "Oh, forgive my boys for their rough intrusion," she told them, "They haven't had take out in a long time."
The wolves laughed in a chorus of hoots and sneers.
"What do you want?" Sookie asked.
Agatha smirked at her and her eyes melted from human blue to unnatural red pools. "I'm glad you asked that, Sookie Stackhouse," she whispered, "Because it's you I want. And my revenge will be served with you on a nice silver plate with a parsley sprinkled on the side."
Sam appeared from behind the back room when he heard that threat. "Whoa, now you are way out of line," he said, sternly. He raised his finger to her threateningly and she stared down at it, amused. "Now I suggest that you take your thugs and get out of my restaurant before I call the police."
Agatha laughed loudly, tossing her head back. "The police?" she repeated, sneering, "Oh, and give me one good reason why I should be afraid of the red - neck hand of the law? They couldn't kill me if they wanted to. No, they'd probably bore me to death with their talking."
Sookie uttered a hushed gasp when she felt Agatha's thoughts.
"Stupid human meat sack! She took my Victoria. No Shifter is going to stand in the way of payback! She deserves to suffer. Oh, I'm going to peel her flesh of while she's screaming beneath my paws!" She smirked hungrily at the human.
Sookie swallowed hard at the ferocity of the thoughts before she maintained a hardened resolve. "Wait!" she said, stepping close to Agatha against the hushed grunt of worry from Sam. "You're Victoria Bartlett's mother?"
Agatha's features shimmered with emotion for a very small moment before she snarled at her and pointed one finger. "Shut your trap, human!" she spat, "You have NO RIGHT to speak of my daughter! She trusted you and you shot her down where she stood!"
"No!" Jason shouted, advancing on the wolf leader, "She didn't do a goddamn thing. It was me. I shot her, alright?"
Agatha narrowed her eyes at him and she stared at the man up and down. "No. Sookie Stackhouse killed her. You just squeezed a trigger."
"How the hell do you know I used a gun?" Jason demanded, somewhat wavering a bit.
Lafayette looked stunned and stared at the man like he was insane. "Jason Stackhouse. You shot someone?" he exclaimed.
"What the hell, Jason?" Came Arlene's cry from the back.
"The gunpowder is still all over your hands," Agatha hissed, sniffing the air around him, "And you've gotten some of her blood on your shoes that you've tried day in and day out to wash away but it just cannot be washed away, boy."
She started to advance on Sookie and Jason stepped in the way. "You're not going to lay a hand on my sister!"
Agatha suddenly grabbed his throat and tossed him through the air, sending the man flying into a table, splintering it beneath his weight. Everyone shouted out with startled sounds and Sookie rushed to his aid. She bent down and inspected her brother before she looked up at a furious Agatha.
"Touch me again, human and I'll strip you like a pig!"
"It wasn't anyone's fault!" Sookie insisted, "She tried to kill us!"
Agatha scoffed, casting her words aside like they were nothing. "Pah! You lie!" she raged, "I even had the foolish assumption that you were a good person! You came into my home! I took in your scent thinking that you were a human worth keeping as a pet!"
Sookie blinked. Should she have been flattered by that? "How is that supposed to help us reach any agreement?"
"There will be no agreement!" Agatha hissed, snarling in her words, "An eye for an eye, and fang-for-fang. I'm going to kill you here and now!"
"No, you're not!" Sam challenged, stepping in between Sookie and the wolf, "Now whatever you think Sookie did, you're wrong! She's not to blame, I am! I attacked Victoria first and head on. That was how she died."
Agatha curled her lip in disgust. A Shifter taking out a werewolf? It was a joke on its own. "I hardly think so," she sneered.
Sam narrowed his eyes. "This is your last chance," he warned, "Leave and take your wild animals with you."
Agatha searched the Shifter's eyes for anything that could be seen as cowardice or mere bluff. There was nothing of that kind in this one. He was a man of his word after all. She decided to leave for the time being. After all, there were too many individuals here who could get in her way of Sookie.
"Very well, we'll go," Agatha said, gesturing to the other wolves there to depart, "But you cannot watch Sookie forever. Pray to God that He is watching out for her because when she is alone, she is mine!" She turned and left the building with the pack to follow.
Tara moved from across the bar and put her arms around Sookie in a comforting gesture. "Are you okay?" she asked.
Sookie nodded. Her heart was beating like a bongo drum in her chest, but she was fine. "Yeah, but I'm gonna need to tell Bill about this. He's going to want to know about a crazy werewolf who's trying to kill me."
Sam made a displeased noise, sharing no real interest in going to the vampire for any help on the matter. "Right, okay. Sure. The vampire'll make everything all better ... He's really good at making things better."
Sookie gave him a condescending look which made him silence his insults before they even began.
Well, Bill wasn't exactly happy to hear about the news the following evening. He was worried now that there was a werewolf after Sookie with a thirsty for revenge. Nothing would stop a beast like that when driven with a cause.
"Sookie, this is why I said associating with werewolves was a bad idea." he said.
"Well that isn't going to help me now, Bill." Sookie argued, with dismay.
Bill sighed heavily and placed an arm around Sookie's shoulders. "Eric's going to have to know about this," he told her, "He can probably hel - I don't like it any more than you do, but he IS the Sheriff. He has to know."
Sookie nodded. "Well, alright. But if we're going to ask Eric for help, you know he's going to want something in return."
Bill was already out the door with Sookie following behind him to his car. He nodded his head in agreement to the assessment and sounded a bit disgusted. "I know ... "
Meanwhile, Jason was at the Stackhouse home, preparing various firearms to protect the house from the possibility of a werewolf attack. He was pacing around wildly, thinking just what kind of damage he could do to an elder one.
"Shit, shit, shit..." he mumbled, moving back and forth.
A sound inside the trees caused Jason to pause and look toward the front door. He quickly grabbed his shotgun, just as the door flew open wildly. "Who's out there?" he shouted, as loudly as he could, "Get your ass out here if you're feelin' fucking randy!"
There were no signs of anyone or anything, but inside the trees, Jason could make out the sight of two red eyes and the sound of low growling. The shadow receded and a human laugh followed. "Keep on hiding from me boy..."
Jason lowered his weapon slightly, shock and horror on his face. "Shit ... "
Fangtasia
Pam smiled knowingly when Sookie and Bill approached the front doors of the bar. "Well, if it isn't my favorite couple," she said, in that deadpanned voice she was so famous for, "What do you want this time?"
"We need to speak with Eric," Bill told her, "It's important."
Pam searched their faces for something that maybe they didn't know. "I'm sure it is." she replied, "Come with me."
They followed Pam into the bar where music was blaring loudly and dancers were gyrating on poles. Sookie kept her eyes away from the orgy taking place at a table nearby where two vampires were feeding from a moaning, pleased human woman. Pam walked behind a swooshing door nearest the bar and called back for Eric. "Bill's here and he says that it's very important."
"Tell him it will have to wait." Eric was heard answering.
"Sookie's here with him."
After a brief moment of hesitation it seemed, Eric exited from behind the door and smiled thinly when he saw Sookie standing there with Bill. "Sookie, this is a pleasant surprise," he said, "To what do I owe the unexpected visit?"
Pam's nose wrinkled slightly and she spoke Swedish. "De tycker båda stankerna om vätahund." (They both stink like wet dog.)
Eric licked his lips and grinned at the joke. "Det är en varulv. Kommer inte du ihåg dem, Pam?" (It's a werewolf. Don't you remember them, Pam?)
"Ja. Just låter inte de sitta på min nya soffa. Det är Prague. Jag får aldrig stanken ut." (Yeah. Just don't let them sit on my new couch. It's Prague. I'll never get the stink out.)
She turned and walked away with Eric calling after her, laughing with his words. "Finn något att ockupera sig med! Det kanske tar en stund!" (Find something to occupy yourself with! This may take a while!)
Pam scoffed from behind a table. Eric turned his attention to Bill and Sookie. "So, what do you want?"
"Sookie has a werewolf problem as you must already know about," Bill told him, "It seems that the werewolf who was killed a few weeks ago had a mother who now wants revenge. She mistakenly believes that Sookie killed her daughter and now she wants Sookie dead."
Eric's brows went up and he murmured quietly. Even he couldn't act stoic as he always was about something like this. "Hm. That is a problem. Would this werewolf happen to have a name by any chance?"
"Agatha Bartlett." Sookie answered.
Eric reacted slightly to the name with a small pucker of his brow and a parting of his lips. "Agatha Bartlett?" He frowned slightly and memory could be seen shimmering in his dark gaze. "That name rings a bell..."
"Really?" Bill asked. "Do you know her from somewhere?"
Eric recalled a moment in his past; a dark moment at that. The late 1800's where he had first crossed paths with one of Agatha's kind. They were not like the werewolves of today. They had evolved to meet the modern society's needs and their own. Agatha was a primeval being. The last of her type because most of his Viking warriors had spent centuries slaying these creatures. Of course, Eric hadn't realized that they were what they were until years later after he had crossed paths with Godric.
"Because I killed her husband." Eric answered them, at last.
Bill looked stunned and Sookie's eyes widened with shock. "You what?" Sookie whispered.
"Adolph Van Bar Lette was a tyrant of a man who spent most of his days tormenting his people of northern England," Eric explained, watching a sort of relaxed, yet still quite tense look cross their features as he explained everything, "I crossed paths with him across the borders of Scotland and took his life. It ended his reign indefinitely after his wife fled into the woods, screaming her revenge onto me. I suppose she had either forgotten or figured me to be dead."
Bill smiled sarcastically. "And you were just being the good Samaritan that you are ... "
Eric chuckled, amused. "Oh, come on, Bill," he teased, "You know me better than that." He took a deep breath and looked serious once more. "However, I think that all things considered, this could work to our advantage."
"How?" Sookie asked.
"Simple. IF it's you she wants," Eric continued, "Then we'll give her to you."
Bill shook his head angrily. "No! Sookie will not become a piece of meat!" he spat, "You can forget that right now!"
"If we do things your way, Bill," Eric countered, "She's as good as dead anyway." He smiled at Sookie, that troublesome smirk. "Trust me, Sookie."
Sookie had a feeling that maybe she had no choice.
Meanwhile
Agatha sat cross - legged by the stream, watching the water with cold, empty eyes. Through the rippling and the distortion of the reflection, she remembered her husband. Remembered the day that they had married inside the Romanov Chapels. After their wedding day, they ran wild and free that night through the woods to procreate their union for the first time. Adolph had always believed in uniting the body after marriage.
Mother!
You're holding my heart screaming
Mother Fucker!
That left me broken, bleeding
Son of!
The man you loved and left for
The son of a bitch!
Who tried to show me death's door
Everything's eliminated
Everything is dedicated
Tried to leave this life I hated?
even death was over rated
Love song for the dear departed
Head stone for the broken hearted
Arms to kill
Or flowers to steal
Head trip for the mortal earthbound
One sip of the blood that I found
Lying here
I'm dying here
Agatha shut her eyes for a moment, taking in the memory of blood-drenched werewolves lying in fields of flame and smoke, dead. Never to howl free again, never to run wild again. And most importantly, never to love again.
Love.
As in!
Obituaries rain down
It's all on me
Were lying naked face down
Wasn't it decapitated?
Can you see me fascinated?
Your the only thing I've damaged
What you get to be mis - managed
Love song for the dear departed
Head stone for the broken - hearted
Arms to kill
Or flowers to steal
Head trip for the mortal earthbound
One sip of the blood that I found
Lying here
I'm dying here
Agatha could forgive Sookie. She could forget what had happened to her daughter and just walk away with her tail between her legs. But she wouldn't. No. Nothing like that could be forgiven. Her husband, killed by Viking filth and her dearest daughter, killed by a ... Well, who really knew what Sookie Stackhouse was.
She opened her eyes and looked up across the stream toward a man and woman in mid-argument, wishing that they would just shut up because their thoughts and actions were becoming a bother to her at the moment. There was a man dressed in a denim jacket, blue jeans and a baseball hat. He was slightly overweight, just like Agatha liked them. The woman however was thin, dressed in a skinny pair of shorts and white tank top. Pure trailer trash.
Agatha rarely meddled in human affairs like domestic problems because she would have rather just stayed out of it. But in her mood right now, all she wanted was for it to stop. From her perspective, the man had hit her a few times.
So, she stood up and walked away.
Don't bring me daffodils
Bring a Boquet of Pills
See some geranium
Cracked to the craninum
Protect me when you can
Respect me when I am
Dying
"I don't give a shit who you been seein'!" he shouted, at her, "It's gonna stop here and now!"
"I'm not your damn property!" she screamed.
The man's eyes narrowed furiously and just as he raised his hand to grab her, something streaked by in a blur of snarls and black fur. The woman grimaced against the truck before she looked up and gave a terrified, high-pitched scream.
The man's entire torso had been cleaved in half with only his bleeding legs lying on the floor.
Later
The Stackhouse home was empty that night, save for Sookie who slowly moved up the length of the porch stairs, cautiously looking around the darkness for any signs of Agatha or the other wolves. She sensed the presence of Agatha as soon as she made it to the front door and whirled to face her. The wolf stood there, smiling coldly and cracking her knuckles.
"Ahh, alone at last," she whispered, "And ... " She took a few inhales and looked around, "No vampires or humans for miles. This is wonderful. Oh yes, truly a wonderful thing for me. Now, you are all mine."
Sookie took a few steps back as Agatha slowly advanced onto her. "Wh - Where are the others?"
"Around, but far," Agatha told her with a smile and a small shrug, "I would never risk my pack for my own gain."
"Agatha, please! Please, just listen to me," Sookie insisted, raising two hands carefully in front of her, "Victoria's death was an accident! Here, I even have this!" She reached into her pocket and removed the beaded bracelet that Victoria had worn at the time of her death. She tossed it to Agatha, who caught it easily with one hand. "She was a nice ... uh ... girl. I didn't kill her intentionally, I can promise you that. I would never do that."
Agatha's features brimmed with pain as she studied the beads. "I made this for her, you know ... " she said, softly, "When my Victoria was just a little pup. She loved it." A sorrowful smile lit her face. "My dead sweet little pup ... "
Sookie softened and felt nothing but pity for the creature, even though she had wanted to kill her. "I'm sorry."
Agatha's soft sniffling died down and her eyes glowed bright red. "No, you're not sorry. Not yet!" she snarled, showing her massive wolf teeth. And with that, she flung her raincoat off and began to transform. "You ... took my ... daughter!" Her words began to deepen more and more as her body snapped and popped with every single change from woman to beast, thick black fur replacing every layer of human flesh. "Now ... vengeance is ... MINE!" Her words died down as her mouth shaped into a muzzle.
"Shit!" Sookie cried, fleeing into her house.
The werewolf surged after her, shoving her entire weight through the front door, splintering the wood like it was nothing. Sookie screamed as she raced to the back door of the house, throwing shelves and chairs in her way in an attempt to slow Agatha down. But the werewolf moved as graceful as any military soldier. She would tuck, roll and flip over the thrown obstacles. Once Sookie was outside into the cool wet grass, Bill and Eric suddenly appeared and the werewolf skidded to a stop, snarling furiously.
"Bill, get Sookie out of here!" Eric ordered.
"Wait!" Sookie insisted, as Bill tried to drag her away, "Listen!"
Meanwhile, Eric and Agatha stared one another down, circling each other to see who would attack first. Eric's fangs slipped out with a hiss and Agatha bared her teeth with a furious rattling growling sound. The two-legged wolf surged for him and Eric jumped, planting one hand onto its back and flipping through the air, landing onto two feet as Agatha stopped and whirled, roaring with frustration at the games he was playing.
"Well," he sneered, "Guess you don't remember me after all, huh?"
The wolf charged again, only this time, on two legs instead. She swung her claws, which Eric caught one in both hands. He fought the strength of the wolf with tightened lips and a furious hissing sound from his lips. Agatha seemed to grin before she swung her other claws, Bill came by in a blur of speed, catching that one also. Eric glared at him as they struggled to hold the powerful creature at bay.
"Bill, I told you to go!" he shouted.
"You can't ... fight her by yourself!" Bill protested.
"Yes I can!" Eric spat, "Tend to Sookie and get the hell out of here!"
Agatha let loose a bellowing roar and she swung her body to one side, flinging the two vampires to the ground. She turned toward a defenseless Sookie and grinned a wolfy grin, slowly advancing on all fours toward her.
Just then, a shot rang out, narrowly missing Agatha's paws by inches. She looked up at Jason Stackhouse, who was standing at the roof of the house with his gun held high. He smirked broadly and nodded with a glorious hoot to follow.
"Told you you wouldn't lay a hand on my sister, you old bitch!" he shouted.
Agatha looked more annoyed by the man than afraid.
"What?" Jason called again, "Too chicken shit to fight me instead?" He looked angry that she wasn't even bothering with him, not seeing him as the threat that he tried to come off as. "Come on, then! Come on!"
"Stackhouse, I got this!" Eric spat up at him.
Jason flinched at the intensity of the vampire. "But-"
Eric gave him a 'do-not-fuck-with-me-right-now' look and Jason shrugged his shoulders warily. "Okay. You got it..."
Agatha tilted her head when Eric looked back at her and removed an old, Swedish blade from behind his back. It was golden and tipped at the hilt with serpents circling around it. The blade was curled slightly and stained with old blood.
"How about now?" Eric asked.
The werewolf stared at the blade for a few moments before an image flashed through her head of her husband's blood drenched, headless corpse lying in a wheat field set ablaze. Standing in the field was a younger Eric, holding the sword dripping of wolf blood.
Agatha's wolf features revealed almost human horror before they contorted with raw fury. Eric smirked at the bellowing screaming roar. "That's right!" he shouted, "It's not Sookie you want, it's me! Come and get me!"
The werewolf surged after him in the throes of madness and hatred and Eric quickly performed a spinning slash with his swords, slicing Agatha's arm. She shrieked a human shriek and shifted back to human form, clutching her bleeding arm. She snarled with fury and glared at the vampire.
"Viking filth!" she shrieked, "I'll tear you apart for what you did to him!"
Eric raised his brows, amused. "Well, you've done a great job of that so far."
Agatha uttered several pained gasps and stared down at the wound, watching in confusion as it still bled wildly. Small flickers of steam lifted from the damaged flesh. Silver. He had used silver to kill her husband and now there was silver in the sword meant to kill her.
"Mama?"
Agatha looked up with shock at the hallucination of her daughter standing there between Bill and Sookie. There was a blood drenched hole in her body where she had been shot, but she was standing there as if nothing was wrong. The ghosts always haunted those of the Night. Their deaths forever cursed them with their miseries.
"Mama, you were always like this. Stop it, please. Sookie was my friend." Victoria said, with pity, "You always wanted revenge, no matter what happened. There's no need to avenge my death. Sookie was telling the truth."
Agatha stared at her with dismay. "But Victoria ... "
She just chuckled quietly. "Don't worry. I don't need avenging. I couldn't control the change, you knew that from the start. I was weak. I deserved to die. I would have rather it be through friends than enemies anyway."
Sookie watched the weeping werewolf for a few moments more. She knotted her brow. "Something's wrong..."
"Sookie, don't!" Bill insisted as she rushed toward the werewolf.
"Hey..." Sookie said, gently, kneeling before Agatha.
Agatha continued to sob. "Go away ... " she moaned. When Sookie didn't move, she shoved her, hard. Her scream came out hoarse and loud. "GO AWAY!"
Sookie recoiled from the shove. She could hear Agatha's bitter thoughts and nearly cried herself. "It's not fair ... She has them. She has everything she wants. Why can't I? My daughter ... my husband ... Why can't I?"
"Join them ... "
"What?" Sookie asked.
Agatha stared at her miserably, tears streaming down her face. "I want to be with them ... " she whispered, "Please, end it."
Sookie shook her head quickly. "N-No! We don't have to do that! You can be with us! You don't have to die just to ease your loneliness!" She placed both hands on Agatha's naked shoulders. "Please, don't do this."
"Just do it ... " Agatha begged.
"No!" Sookie insisted.
"DO IT!" Agatha screamed at her.
Eric took a step forward and he raised the sword to Agatha's outstretched neck and waited until Sookie backed away to Bill's location. "Just so you know," he told her, quietly, "I consider this a high honor."
Agatha actually smiled. "Do it then, Viking dog." she hissed, closing her eyes.
Eric chuckled and raised the sword before he brought it down and sliced her head clean off. Sookie shut her eyes and recoiled at the sight of the headless werewolf hitting the grass. Somewhere though, Victoria's voice echoed richly.
"Mama come on home ... " she whispered, "Come on home ... "
She said, "I've seen you in here before."
I said, "I've been here a time or two."
She said, "Hello, my
Name is Bobby Jo
Meet my twin sister Betty Lou
And we're both feeling kinda wild tonight
And you're the only cowboy in this place
And if you're up for a rodeo
We'll put a big Texas smile on
Your face"
I said, "Girls,"
[Chorus]
I ain't as good as I once was
I got a few years on me now
But there was a time back in my prime
When I could really lay it down
And if you need some love tonight
Then I might have just enough
I ain't as good as I once was
But I'm as good once as I ever was
I still hang out with my best friend Dave
I've known him since we were kids at school
Last night he
Had a few shots
Got in a tight spot hustlin' a game of pool
With a couple of redneck boys
One great
Big bad biker man
I heard David yell across the room
"Hey buddy, how 'bout a helping hand."
I said, "Dave,"
[Chorus]
I ain't as good as I once was
My how the years have flown
But there was a time back in my prime
When I could really hold my own
But if you wanna fight tonight
Guess those boys don't look all that tough
I ain't as good as I once was
But I'm as good once as I ever was
I used to be hell on wheels
Back when I was younger man
Now my body says, "You can't do this boy"
But my pride says, "Oh, yes you can
I ain't as good as I once was
That's just the cold hard truth
I still throw a few back, talk a little smack
When I'm feelin bullet proof
So don't double dog dare me now
'Cause I'd have to call your bluff
I ain't as good as I once was
But I'm as good once as I ever was
Maybe not be good as I once was
But I'm as good once as I ever was
THE END