Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot. All characters belong to C. Harris and HBO.
You Remind Me of Someone I Use to Know
It had been five years since Sookie walked out of his life. When she had found out about the contract that his maker had made with the Queen of Oklahoma it had been one heartbreak to many for her and she had just let go and he had let her.
Eric knew what the consequences would be when he decided he was not going to force her to stay and live with this heartbreak because of her involvement in his world like it had been forced on her in the past. He had often thought if he had to do it over again would he? Yes, without a doubt he never regretted his decision. He would do it again if it meant her freedom because that's how much he loved her and he was sure he always would.
King De Castro came for him within two weeks of her leaving when Eric could not produce his asset the telepath. Eric had been taken to a torture cell. Once there he had been stripped of his clothes and for the next year he had been tortured in everyway imaginable. His fangs had been pulled out, his skin had been sliced and mutilated beyond recognition, and some of his bodily appendages had been removed. Now this was no big deal for a vampire since they could heal themselves however, what most did not know was that without an adequate supply of blood the healing was really, really slow and it left behind scars on one's body.
De Castro saw to it that this was exactly what happened to Eric. He had only been fed small amounts of werewolf blood and the occasional bottle of cold true blood during this time in his life.
Once the physical torture stopped De Castro being the cruel bastard that he is began torturing him emotionally. Thinking that this would break the strong Viking and cause him to give up his little fairy. In the beginning he was sure that the fairy could feel Eric's pain through their bond and he knew that she would come for him. But as time went on and she was a no show De Castro devised more viscous ways of punishing Eric.
The first thing he did was to remove Eric from the position of Sheriff of Area 5. Then he commanded him to become submissive to vampires much lower than him in the vampire hierarchy. Eric had been forced to allow himself to be repeatedly raped and abused by newborns for the entertainment of De Castro and those in his court.
De Castro knew that the Viking was a lover of fine things and that the money he had earned over his 1000 years had paved the way for such indulgence so he seized all of his liquid cash from all public and hidden accounts. The information had been gained easily during the long 12 months of torture. The last and most hurtful act De Castro had committed upon him was taking away his child.
One night he had ordered Eric to command Pam to come to him at the palace. It had been well over a year since Eric and his child had communicated the proud Viking vampire refused to allow his child to witness his vulnerable state and had cut off all contact with her. But this night Eric had been forced to call her.
When she arrived she brought with her all Eric's business holdings and De Castro forced him to sign them over to him in front of her on his hands and knees this included the club Fangtasia. However, the pentacle of the evening was when he had his guards hold his child down in front of him and almost drain her dry before feeding her his blood thus; De Castro was now her maker. He had succeeded in breaking the maker/child bond Eric had formed with her over 200 years ago. Eric knew the moment their bond had been replaced with De Castro's blood magic he felt it in every cell of his body but was powerless to stop it. That was the moment something inside of him broke. The proud Viking vampire was no more. The fight had left him his will to live left him. He had nothing.
The next evening just a few moments before the sun set in the sky Eric was jerked up roughly by his hair from the floor of his cell out of his day rest. He dreaded what the evening would bring and shuttered at the thought of what other cruelties De Castro had dreamed up to hurt and humiliate him with. As his eyes popped open and focused on the face in front of him he trembled in fear.
"As your King I command you to never do anything that will bring about your final death by your own hand." Releasing the silver bands from his wrists that had been his constant form of torture for the last two years he nodded toward Eric's guards. They quickly moved him through the hallways of the palace and shoved him outside the gates. Eric's naked skin was exposed to the sun rays for the last remaining seconds before it sank below the horizon blistering instantly.
In pain, half starved, and to weak to fly he limped away trying to find shelter from the burning rays. Once darkness came Eric began looking for food. The first human other than the ware guards he had, had contact with in the last few years became his dinner. Due to such short fangs he had to pull on the wound in the man's neck exceptionally hard to feed. De Castro had removed Eric's fangs so often during his time of punishment that they had not fully grown back in over two years. Eric hoped now that they would after all fangs were a vampire's greatest defense.
The body odor from the homeless man was disgusting but his blood tasted divine as it ran down Eric's throat. Quickly stripping the limp body of his clothes Eric was surprised at how his thin tall frame fit in the jeans and tattered shirt. Although they were much to short for him he recalled a time when the man's trousers would not have buttoned around his waste.
All of his years surviving had made Eric a smart vampire. Eric had hidden away eighty thousand dollars just before the fall of the stock market in the 1920's. Since it had never been placed in an account and even Pam had not known of its existence Eric hoped it was still there. It was all he had left but it would be enough to start over.
He also still owned a small cabin in the mountains that had never been listed with his other assets on any financial holdings sheet. Glammering the woman behind the register at the second hand store he acquired himself a few changes of clothes and two soft igloo coolers.
Three nights later he awoke in the ground in the state of Idaho. As he entered the cave he remembered exactly where he had hidden his money. Using his vampire vision he quickly dug down until his hands hit the metal box. Although aged and rusty from the damp earth he was pleased to see that it still protected the treasure hidden inside of it.
Quickly placing the money inside of the two cooler bags slung across each shoulder he moved silently into the night. Stopping outside the bar to watch the human make his transaction with the vampire for the bagged blood in his trunk Eric waited for his opportunity. When the moment came he seized it. Glamouring the blood dealer to sale only to him once a month they agreed on the price of $500 for thirty bags of blood.
His next stop was a local market where he purchased a 30 pack of True Blood. Loading his bagged blood in one cooler and the bottles of True Blood in the other he took to the sky for his cabin in the Rocky Mountains. As he flew higher in the sky he made a promise to himself never would he love another and never would he make another child. His time socializing in vampire circles was over. He would now live out his immortal life in a solitary existence thanks to King De Castro. But it would not stop him from praying to his Gods that his end would come soon.
Eric survived in his mountainous home. He existed on bagged blood, true blood, and the occasional animal blood. To pass his time through the long nights he had bought himself a set of woodworking tools the last time he had ventured into civilization. He had made a beautiful porch swing that now hung from chains from the ceiling. He carved an intricately detailed table and chairs. This had taken him months but time was something he had an in abundance of now. He hung wooden dummies from tree limbs outside his cabin and practiced his skills as a warrior. He stalked and hunted game that he would never eat only drinking their blood while sharpening and honing his skills. But the one thing he could never over come was the feelings of worthlessness and weakness that his time with De Castro had left him with.
Sometimes his pain was so great that it would pull him from his day rest. He would awake to hear his own voice call out for Sookie. Many nights he awoke as the sun set to find bloody tears on his face. The scars on his body and his short fangs were a constant reminder of some of the things that haunted his mind.
While in captivity De Castro must have given him silver shots to his gums to impede the growth of his fangs. Eric had only heard of this and did not know how long it would be until it was finally out of his system and they would grow to their correct length.
One year an a half into his self imposed isolation Eric stood outside the bar to meet his blood dealer and he heard a ring of laughter that he would recognize anywhere. Making his transaction Eric moved to the shadows of the parking lot and sit his loaded coolers down under a big oak tree. Flying to the top of the tree he made sure to land on a branch sturdy enough to support him. Although he was still not fully recuperated from the torture inflected upon him…he was slowly getting there. He watched the bar until he saw the moonlight reflect off of the blond hair of a small female. He inhaled the air around him trying to pick up a familiar scent.
Pulling back he mentally chastised himself for displaying such weakness when hope had arisen in his heart. Launching himself into the sky he ran.
Sookie felt a chill travel down her arms as the hairs on her body stood on end. Only one person was ever able to evoke that sort of response from her and she knew Eric was near. Scanning the darkness with her eyes she did not see him but she felt a puff of wind blowing up tendrils of her long hair behind her. Dismissing the thought for now she continued on her way home.
Late that evening as she lay in bed thoughts of Eric and home drifted in her mind. When she had ran from Louisiana she wanted to get as far away from the pain as she could. But now she wondered if the decision she had made to stay hidden all of this time had been the right one. She heard the voice inside her head scream loud and clear No! She knew it was time to face her past.
Home she had always been told it was where your heart is if that was the case then her home was with Eric. He had always held her heart even if he now belonged to another it changed nothing for Sookie. At least that's what she told herself as her plane touched down in New Orleans.
Three days that's how long it had taken Sookie to get a hold of Alcide and find out what had happened when she had disappeared off the vamp radar and left Bon Temps. Sam had shared a little with her but she knew there was more. As she stood in the alley beside the back door of Fangtasia she realized from her short conversation with Pam that Eric's world had crumbled at his feet when she left. When Pam informed her that she didn't know where Eric was now. And no she could not use their maker/child bond to locate him because he was no longer her Master, Sookie had walked away crying for her former lover.
Her next step was to involve Amelia to do a locator spell. Removing the bullet from the necklace that she wore around her neck she hoped it was enough to help her find him. Amelia was still active in the New Orleans coven and had heard rumors of the humiliation that Eric had suffered at the hands of De Castro. She told Sookie and advised her that he may never want her to find him. In fact, she stated that by now he may well hate her because her disappearance was responsible for all that had been done to the Viking. The last she had heard from someone who lived in the palace Eric had been striped of EVERYTHING before being released.
Although Amelia and Eric had never been the best of friends she still said she had felt such compassion for him during that time that she and the other witches of her coven had cast a simple spell on him to ensure his survival at Pam's request free of charge.
Sookie knew that what most of what Amelia had said was true because it had been confirmed by other sources but as soon as the locator spell revealed the Rocky Mountain range in Idaho, Sookie knew she had to go. Returning to Fangtasia that night she shared with Pam the information she had found out about Idaho. Pam recalled from her vault information Eric had told her many years ago about a cabin he own there. Giving Sookie the longitude and latitude co ordinance for the cabin Sookie waited in her seat as her plane took to the air.
She had invited Pam along but she had declined because her loyalties now were with another although her memories of her time with Eric remained intact. Being the vampire that she was she did not deal well with the internal conflict and Sookie was afraid Eric would refuse to see them.
Eric sniffed the air around him and his nose caught a familiar scent. Stepping out of the shadows Sookie whispered his name. Eric was on her in a flash. Holding her by the throat against a tree with her feet a few inches off the ground he growled in her face as his nose moved closer to her neck.
"Why have you come here human? State your business before I kill you. I know this place is too isolated for you to have stumbled upon by accident."
"Eric it's me Sookie." She croaked hoarsely.
"I know who you are. You think I have forgotten? I have forgot NOTHING!" His rage was evident in his eyes.
"Eric please…I have come along way. Let go of me and talk to me instead of yelling."
"I owe you nothing human. I have already paid back every debt I once owed to you ten times over."
Seeing she wasn't getting anywhere with him she hated to but she called upon her Fae magic and when the light from her fingertips hit his body he went limp…releasing her. Hitting him with a second shot he went unconscious. She then wrapped her arms around him and popped them both to the front porch of the cabin.
When Eric came to consciousness an hour later he was in his bed being restrained by an invisible force.
He growled at her from the depths of his chest.
"Eric I mean you no harm. I only want to talk. I will release you if you promise me not to try and harm me."
He silently nodded his head in agreement and slowly felt the pressure on his body relax. Yet he lay very still and did not utter a word to her. His eyes kept darting around the room never making eye contact with her.
Reaching out her hand to cup his face he jerked away from her touch as if he was in pain. "Do Not Touch Me." He said in a voice as cold as steal.
"Oh please Eric…I am sorry. If I had of known this would happen to you I would have returned."
"You know nothing human. Now go! Leave! You are not wanted here."
The tears poured from Sookie's eyes as she saw first hand the state her lover was in. Getting up from the bed she walked to the small kitchen and got a bottle of True Blood. Looking around for the microwave and not finding one she looked at Eric questioningly.
"Bring it here human I drink it cold."
Walking back to his side she handed him the bottle watching in fascination as he twisted off the cap and downed the whole bottle before taking it away from his lips. Setting the empty bottle on the floor beside the bed he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand rising up from the bed he went to the shelf on the wall and retrieved a towel and a bar of soap.
Turning around to look at her the first time tonight and said. "I will be at the stream bathing be gone when I return." Sookie sat in stunned silence when the door closed. This was not the vampire/man she had once known. What had they done to him? She didn't know but she was going to find out and if it took the rest of her life she would make sure those responsible paid and paid dearly.