THE SLEEPWALKER SERIES

Characters: Eric Northman, Sookie Stackhouse, Pam Swynford de Beaufort (and probably a host of others from both the books and television series)

[A/N: I originally intended to join the First Blood Contest, which is about Eric Northman's first kill. But during the process of writing, the story kept expanding. Fueled by my latest literary readings and issues plaguing the world at large, I decided to create a series with the Viking as its central character. The series theme revolves around Eric Northman and his reflections on what his immortal eyes have seen and what else remains to be experienced. This series is a history and philosophy lesson of a sort. I do hope, beyond the purpose of entertainment, it serves to educate all you readers out there. And just to give it an audiovisual push, chapter titles and chapter themes relate to actual songs existent. You'll understand better if you check out the song lyrics themselves. Enjoy reading…and listening!]

VOLUME ONE

The Elect

Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.

Chapter One: Ava Adore

Fangtasia had to be closed early.

And this bothered Sookie to no end even after getting a hurried explanation from a less-than-pleasant Pam over the phone. Although why she should be bothered at all evaded Sookie. After all, the existence of Fangtasia and its owners and patrons never made living her life peacefully easy. Yet, here she was, standing right outside the STAFF ONLY door that led into the vampire bar in Shreveport, Louisiana, deciding whether to knock to be let in or just go on back home.

Sookie decided the former. She knocked, remembering (not without a little regret) how Bill had knocked on the same door. It opened moments later, a weary-looking human waitress in pink overalls scrunching up her face to peer at Sookie. The Bon Temps barmaid figured the other girl had not had a wink's worth of sleep for a very long time.

"Yes?" the girl in pink asked. Sookie immediately realized this must be one of the new additions to Fangtasia's human staff and as such, did not know Sookie. She had not been to Shreveport in weeks.

"Hi, I'm Sookie Stackhouse. I'm a, er, friend of Eric Northman's…and Pam's," Sookie introduced herself, extending a hand. It probably would not hurt to be a little friendly. The girl in pink yawned; Sookie saw she had a tongue piercing…and maybe had not brushed her teeth for hours now.

"Hm, so said other fangbangers an hour before you arrived," the girl in pink said. She craned her neck backward and shouted, "D'you vamps know someone named Sookie Stackhouse? She says you're her friends!"

In a flash, Pam—dressed in a frilly pink corset and a black ultra micro-mini skirt—appeared next to the girl in pink, looking just as weary (for a vampire, that is) as her new employee. She raised her eyebrows at Sookie. "Didn't I just tell you we're closed?"

"I'm not here to partake of your bar's offerings," Sookie said defensively. "I guess I was just worried."

That statement made Pam's eyebrows go even higher. "Worried? About what?"

Sookie shifted on her feet. "Well, I don't know. It's been kind of tough for you recently. I mean, you're all vampires and strong and all that but, what happened with the Queen and, well…"

Pam sighed dramatically as she pulled the door open wider, sent the girl in pink away to wherever, and said to Sookie, "You're bumbling. You really are troubled. Get in."

So Sookie entered and ran her eyes about the interior of Fangtasia. It was generally clean, or being cleaned, by two human males and another girl, probably a waitress. No one looked up from what they were doing as Sookie and Pam walked further. A dominating black leather seat—more like a throne—at the back, fronted by a stripper's pole, stood empty. Sookie glanced at the brand new wristwatch she received as a birthday present from Sam. It was only eleven in the evening.

She turned around to face Pam, who signed several sheets of papers on a low table before looking at Sookie. Sookie could not help but admire the rhinestone-studded fuschia pink high-heeled pumps Pam was currently sporting. And the legs. Sookie thought Pam was a very pretty vampire lady on the whole. And had she swung her way, Pam could be fun. But Sookie did not swing that way. Thank God.

"All right, I'll give it to you straight, since the reason why you're being such a trouble is because you're too connected to Eric now, you probably feel even his gas."

Ah, well. Pam and her strange sense of humor. Sookie kept a straight face while Pam enlightened her.

"Eric—I can't believe I'm even saying this—is having the blues."

Sookie remained expressionless. "Blues?"

"Blues, depression, whatever you call it," Pam snapped. "Barely an hour after we opened, he ordered us to close. We had to usher out a group of Moroccan tourists who could've increased the night's profits, and a handful of our own, prematurely. I told him it was bad for the business, he just clammed up and locked himself up."

"Any idea why he's in such a grim mood?" Sookie asked.

Pam shrugged. "I did ask. He said nothing. I would have appreciated him telling me to fuck Yvetta for the thousandth time than hear his silence. Then again, filial piety, right?"

Sookie thought for a moment, then said, "Maybe something happened tonight that really bothered him, or triggered something in his memory. You said there were Moroccans here and a few vampires…"

Pam recalled the earlier events of the night and said, "Eric doesn't give a shit about the tourists that come in here. He's been to Morocco after the Crusades but that was just a phase in his vampire journeys. About the vampires—wait!" Pam gave a little frown, hand up to keep Sookie from talking.

When Pam finally lowered her hand, she told Sookie, "It turns out I don't know any of them. Though I did see Eric have some form of a heated conversation with the blonde one."

"A blonde woman?"

Pam sneered at Sookie. "Baby, you're not the only blonde pie Eric wants to get a bite of. Jealous?"

Sookie sputtered in indignation. "I am not jealous! Eric can go do anyone he pleases." Sookie petulantly crossed her arms over her chest, earning a laugh from Pam.

"Oh, Sookie! I should kill you for making me laugh. But Eric would have disemboweled me, so, rest easy. As for your worries about my master, I can't help you with those. I've already gotten too much on my hands."

"What? You mean Eric just left you here?"

Pam rolled her eyes in exasperation, fangs bared. This did not faze Sookie. "He did not leave. He's here. Just wanting some alone time in his office."

But something inside Sookie told her that was not the case. With a huff, Sookie bolted to Eric Northman's office and tried prying the door open. Pam was beside her in a minute, eyes blazing.

"Pam, open the door."

"If we burst in on him, he would have your head off…or worse!"

"But…he's not even there!"

"Oh! Now you can read vampire mind? Or, wait! Oh, fuck! This is so cheesy! Is it Eric's blood telling you that? Vampire bond blah blah blah…"

Pam pushed Sookie roughly to the side, knocked three times, called Eric's name, then knocked again. With a burst of vampire strength, Pam pushed the door open and saw that it was, indeed, empty.

"What the hell?"

She turned to look at Sookie but the blonde waitress was already gone.


In you I feel so pretty, in you I taste God.

We must never be apart.