I look between them, and it's still too much to think about. But I know one thing for sure.
"Bill, I do not intend to be with you ever again. You've hurt me too much." His face falls especially hard as I look to Eric, who has the beginnings of a smile on his lips. "I need time to think about you. Give me a few days to consider it, because I really don't know how I feel right now." The frown he wears now is only slight, and after a moment, he nods his head.
"Take all of the time you need. If there's anything I can give, it's time." I can't help but smile in amusement at his small joke, and giving them both a sad look, I leave the house through the front door. My walk across the yard is quick, but I slow down as soon as I enter the cemetery, and stop to set down at Gran's grave.
The 'talk' I have with her is extensive, and I analyze everything that I can for over an hour. By the time I feel that I am done here, tears are trailing down my face as I have made my decision.
I am contemplating going to Fangtasia myself to inform Eric, and don't notice the cracks in the door as I come into my dark house through the kitchen. Seeing a figure standing across the room, my hand flits toward the wall. "Lafayette?" The person moves a little closer and I brush the light switch just in time to see Debbie Pelt lift my own gun to my face. "What are you doing here?"
Her cackling laugh makes me cringe, and she gives me a hard look with wild eyes. "You think you're taking him away from me? You fucking bitch." Her voice is full of malice, and it takes me a moment to realize what she is thinking. I try to reach into her head, but the words are incoherent, and it seems as though she's high or drunk.
"Alcide and I aren't together. You can have him." I say with finality, and she just shakes her head with a twisted smile.
"Don't lie to me, you stupid cunt." The blast rings into my ears as I feel my legs give out, and my hands clutch around my front as I feel the horrid pain beginning to spread. Thick lines of blood start to come through my shirt, soaking through my clothes quickly, and she is still standing there as I loll my head back against the cabinet with a thud.
She takes a step closer, and I lift my hand up on instinct to witness her thrown away a second later as she's blasted with my light. Her body doesn't move after it lands on the floor, and I hope that she's unconscious. My telepathy tells me that Lafayette and Tara are both asleep upstairs, but it feels more like a drug induced coma, and for a second I idly wonder what Debbie did to keep them from interrupting her. Taking a breath, I feel a grinding in my chest, and the discomfort is trumped out beneath the intense pain. Strength has vanished from my body, sapped by the wound I've suffered, and I know that reaching the phone is a pipe dream.
It feels like I'm going numb, and of their own accord, my eyes land on where Gran had once lain in this kitchen. "I'll get to see you a lot sooner than you thought." I whisper, and I can practically see her there in her own pool of blood on the now replaced linoleum. Flicking my gaze around the room, I take it all in, this place that is so new yet so old. Everything that Eric did was an improvement after the maenad ordeal, and I realize that Gran would have loved to see the house in its fixed up glory. Somehow that thought brings me a sliver of solace, and my vision blurs for a second as I examine the kitchen table from my position.
My eyes droop, and are almost shut as I hear a crash. The front door flies inward in pieces, destroyed, and a second later Eric is crouching in front of me. "Sookie…" He doesn't seem to know what to say as he observes me with horror. I have the urge to cough, and doing so causes a shower of blood droplets to land on his shirt and neck.
"I don't think I can heal this." His words are strained, bloody tears rolling down his face, and he seems to break in front of me. "I am not ready to let you go yet." Time seems to stop as I remember the most recent hours, and I grace him with a loving smile.
"I was going to tell you tomorrow… I chose to be with you." His face turns to stone, and there is something in his eyes that makes me want to kiss him. I gasp as a wave of fiery pain runs through my mind and my eyes close of their own accord as I grit my teeth and do my best not to scream. It passes, and when I try to look at him it feels very hard to open my eyes. I know I'm getting close to the finish.
"You could always keep me." The words have finally escaped me and his demeanor changes as he hears it.
"Do you know what you are saying?" There is no emotion in his voice.
I groan as my vision blurs and it feels like I'm drifting away from him, "I love you." I manage to choke out as blood runs down over my chin, and I can see clearly enough to watch his eyes soften.
There's still the beginnings of a bond between us, and I hope that he can feel beyond my pain. I want him, and this, and everything that goes with it. When I'd leaned over Gran's headstone, I'd cried my eyes out because I knew that someday soon I would let Eric turn me. Maybe I hadn't thought it would be this soon, but I made my peace with that and accepted what was about to happen whole heartedly.
I'm moved fast, faster than I can feel or see and too fast to feel any pain, but I am aware of what's happened as he's holding me bridal style and we're suddenly in the cubby. My blood is leaving dark splotches on his shirt as he holds me against him, and oddly I feel bad for ruining his clothes.
We sit down on the edge of his bed, and he moves me to be curled into his chest so that my head falls over his arm and my neck is bared. My eyes are closed and there's a low roar in my ears. I can't hear anything, but the prick at my neck tells me he's bitten, and his chest vibrates against me. All strength leaves me as I go limp in his hold, and everything drifts away as I feel like I'm floating. Somewhere far away, I feel someone prying my mouth open, and liquid ambrosia is poured inside. Latching onto the source, I don't let it leave me, and a strong hand is petting the back of my head in encouragement. Darkness creeps in from all sides, trying to drag me away, and I fight it as hunger for this miracle substance fills me. There's a blazing in my veins, making it feel like my whole body is on fire, and I finally succumb to sleep after fighting it for as long as I could.
`'`'`'`'`'
I growl in a pleased way when I feel her fighting the pull to keep drinking from me, but as is natural she can only do so for about a minute before relaxing against me unconscious. Positioning her on the bed, I stare down at her as I feel a fledgling maker bond whispering to life between us. Securing the door behind me, I make quick work of cleaning the kitchen and disposing of Debbie Pelt. It doesn't faze me to snap her neck as she is already knocked out, and I leave her hidden in the woods to be taken care of later. There is no evidence of what's occurred by the time I'm done half an hour later, and I'm almost ready to join Sookie when I remember Bill. I'd left his house a short while after Sookie, and was halfway back to Fangtasia when I'd felt her pain.
She turned him down flat, but I'm sure he felt her pain, and would come to check on her at some point since her tie with him would be broken soon. My blood would eradicate it from her system during the next few hours. The urge to protect her is too great as I hurriedly leave a note on the bedside table next to Lafayette, and return to the cubby to pull her up against my chest.
The flesh of her chest is already pushing the buck shot pellets free and knitting itself back together, and I slash my wrist, rubbing it over the wounds to help them along. As her maker my blood now held more potency in her system, and the damaged areas absorb the smears of red in an instant. We are in the sky a moment later, making our way towards my house in Shreveport as I nuzzle against her neck periodically.
Death has a smell all its own, and I'm glad the stench is already leaving her.
When I arrive, I take us straight to the bathroom before peeling off her blood soaked clothes as well as mine and disposing of them in the trash can. I make a mental note to get rid of them and the smell before she wakes. Warm water from the shower rains down as I cradle her and wash us both, glad to see that her skin at least is healed from the damage that had been done. There are odd indents though, and I can tell that her insides are still being repaired. I dress her in a set of silk pajamas before donning my own sweats and lying down beside her on the bed. I pull her so that she's curled into my side before grabbing my cellphone from its charger.
You will soon have a sister. There is a package in the woods near Sookie's house that needs picked up. Send lots of bagged blood to my house. I want it to be left in the kitchen fridge. Do not disturb me unless it's an emergency. I mean it.
She doesn't reply for a long time, and I carefully tap our bond in a way that she won't notice. Contemplation and uncertainty fill her for a long time, before she finally feels a bit of acceptance and seems to be happy for me. Her biggest problem with Sookie always seemed to be based on her humanity, and now that it's out of the way, I'm certain that Pam will be much more tolerant. I do not approve, in the slightest, of the situations surrounding Sookie's turning, but I had to admit that I didn't hate the consequences. Besides, Sookie had said that she had chosen to be mine, and I felt her acceptance and embracement of being turned just before I took her to my 'cubby', as she called it.
My phone pings. It's unfortunate that she was damaged. I will get my package and email area reports.
I smile, genuinely happy that Pam is not arguing or fighting.
Thinking of it, I wonder how Bill has fared with his meeting with Nan. The Authority was pleased that the witch situation was contained and that no one besides our small circle knew anything. I send him a short text saying that I am taking a short vacation, and will return with the week. He doesn't respond within a few minutes, and I assume it's as much of a response as I'd receive, considering that he blames me for Sookie's dislike of him. He'd been especially childish after Sookie had left, refusing to say a word to me and going to another room as his staff provided me with bagged blood and clothes.
A strange warmth overtakes me, and I lean my head back to relax next to her as I feel our bond opening. It's silent on her end, given that she's yet to wake, but I can't describe the feeling of having her body accept my blood so quickly. It wasn't until she was nearly awake that I had finally fully felt Pam, and I wonder if our started bond had anything to do with it. There's a buzzing on her end, but it eludes my grasp as I try to feel it out, and I wonder if her spark has somehow survived her death. I've been staring at her face for a few minutes at this point, but I can't seem to look away as I memorize her features. With how quickly she's healed, and how fast the maker child bond took root, I can't help but wonder if she will rise early and my thoughts unexpectedly turn to Godric. Would he approve?
He had seemed to like her, for as little as he'd known her. I'd been absolutely shocked when he'd defended her so ruthlessly, rather than just giving a commanding order to Lorena from where he stood. After so long of seeing him inactive, it had fooled me into thinking for a moment that he wasn't as depressed as he really was. Perhaps if he'd had a chance to know her longer he would have been pulled from his reverie, as she would have likely talked him right out of it. She was stubborn like that, and as that thought comes and goes I know that yes, he certainly would have approved. In recent years he had talked to me of caring more for others, but nothing had really been taken to heart on my end until I met Sookie. He'd felt the change in me when I was around her, and the fact that he'd said nothing usually meant he was in agreement.
Not realizing how much time has passed as I was lost to my own ponderings, I feel the dawn, and cage my arms protectively around her as I pull her up onto my chest and let the sun take me.
When I return to awareness, she of course hasn't moved, but I sense her end of the bond is buzzing more. The sun has yet to set, however I'm certain that she will rise early, and I gather the trash from the bathroom before I travel up into the house where the light tight shutters are still in place. I track a human scent going from the front door to the kitchen and back, and quickly bag the bloodied clothes up before putting them in the can in the garage. I'm amused when I see that Pam had a different type of fresh bagged blood put on each shelf in the fridge, and decide that I will have to get her something for her thoughtfulness. Perhaps I'll give her an hour to online shop with my credit card, and realizing that would probably be too much, I decide on half an hour instead.
Eric…
I feel Sookie calling to me, even though I know she has yet to open her eyes, and am back in the bed next to her in a second.
She surprises me by curling her arms around me, and pulling herself up to give me a kiss as soon as she feels that I am near. "You are an early riser." I murmur against her lips, and she cracks her eyes open to give me an uncertain look. "It only took you a single day to change. It takes three or four for most." I drop my fangs, and hers do the same, making her jump. "I am your maker, dearest. Your body will react to mine." Squashing the panicky feelings she got for a second, she examines her fangs with her tongue, before giving me a wide smile.
"I'm thirsty." The words are her first in this life, and I laugh a little as I remember they were my first as well, although it was a different language at the time.
"Of course you are." I chuckle, and she would have blushed if she were still human. "But first I need to know more about my new child, such as whether or not she still has her fae light?"
Lifting her hand slightly, she turns it towards the ceiling, and her forehead crinkles in slight concentration as she watches her skin intently. I'm mesmerized as a flicker appears above her fingers, and then all at once a second later a blast of light jumps out and scorches the ceiling. Remorse flicks through her end of our bond, and she gives me a worried look. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to burn that."
I can't help but laugh, and she smiles unwittingly. "There is nothing to be sorry for, lover. It would seem that you still have your light, and it's strong if not stronger than before."
She frowns, looking down at the sheets as something troubles her. Grabbing her chin, I tilt her face up, and give her a warm look. "What are you thinking about?"
Her eyes divert, but she meets my gaze, and sighs. "I met a fairy that had been turned into a vampire. He wanted to force me into some sort of marriage, because the first female born in my family with a spark was promised to him with a contract a long time ago. Niall banished him to some other plain or something before anything happened, but I did figure out a few things from him."
I arch an eyebrow, prompting her to go on when she stops.
"When a fairy is turned into a vampire, they pretty much get all the strengths with none of the weaknesses. I shouldn't be hurt by iron, lemon, silver or sunlight, and my blood should be just as good to you as a humans. A steak to the heart won't even hurt me." If I were alive, my heart would have just stopped as the weight of what she says settles on me.
Nothing will take her from me, not ever. Not stakes, or the sun, or silver, or any of the fairy things that could have hurt her before.
She's crushed to my chest as I bury my nose into her hair and start speaking sweet nothings in her ear in my old Swedish. She squirms against me for a second before relaxing, listening, and I detect that she is slightly warmer than she should be. Perhaps it is because of the spark which still resides in her, but it is not noticeable unless you hold her as close as I am and if I have any say in the matter, nobody will ever hold her this way again but me. The last few words slip from my mouth without a thought, "I love you.", and her emotions seem to liquefy all together. Her happiness, hunger, and a multitude of other emotions are all twisted into a single thing, and they are all directed towards me.
"I love you too." She says, and a moment later I feel her freeze against me. "I shouldn't have understood you… should I?"" Her whisper is almost afraid, and I rub circles in her back as I loosen my hold and she pulls back so that I can see her face.
"You are the most beautiful creature in the world." I say in modern Swedish, and her eyes widen.
"How is this possible?" She asks, and immediately squeaks into stunned silence as she's just spoken the words back to me in the same language. Her hand clamps over her mouth as though to silence herself, and then against all odds, she starts to giggle.
I hold her as she shakes into full blown laughter, and she lands next to me on her back on the bed as she can't stop for a minute. The emotions projecting most strongly from her are light with amusement and pleasant disbelief. "Lover, what has you so giddy?"
"Don't you see?" I shake my head and she laughs for a second more. "It's just… ridiculous." The right word seems to escape her for a moment, before she finally gets it and I smile in amusement. "I chose you, and then the high handed universe took me and made it so that you don't have to go doing things that infuriate me just to protect me. You can drink my blood for the rest of… forever. I've become the one thing you don't have to protect even though you want to." Her smile is beaming, and I believe that I am finally seeing the real Sookie Stackhouse. The one unhindered by fear of the future, or uncertainty of what will happen next. I used to call this Fairy Sookie, but with her turning, it's just her.
Her hand plays across my chest, and I grab it to bring it to my face, kissing the back and holding it in place to continue basking in her scent. "You smell even more enticing than when you were human, my little fae. Were I not your maker, I believe that I would be undone." This could be troublesome, but I decide not to worry too greatly since she won't be leaving my side anytime soon. I'm just pushing those thoughts away when her scent disappears, despite my grip on her, which tightens reflexively as I growl. "What did you do?"
Her eyes widen slightly as she takes in my predatory feelings, and she gives me a quick kiss. "I was just wishing that I could mask my scent, and I know some of the fairies that I've met can do that, so I decided to try it. Something about being turned is making me able to control my powers, so do you think I can teleport yet?"
"We'll try that later. It is unsettling to have you so close and not be able to smell you." The timbre of my voice sends a shiver through her, and a second later it's as though her scent is the air itself. She's all around me in a blanket, and she gives me a wicked smile as she seems to be doing this on purpose.
My fangs throb as my eyes slip closed and I groan, fully effected by the fae scent inside of her. A light growl starts to vibrate from her chest, and it only makes her harder to resist as the sound is soft and practically a purr. The pleasure of being the first and only to hear this hits me a second later, making me nuzzle against her neck as I cover her and press her slightly into the mattress. "You're mine now. Nobody can take you from me anymore." Pressing kisses along her jaw, I feel something akin to elation from her, and it changes to conviction as I nip down her neck.
"You're mine now. Nobody can take you from me anymore." Her words are in a sexy accent of my tongue, and I am nearly undone. The flimsy control holding me back snaps when I feel her fangs sinking into my shoulder, and I return the attentions she's giving my broken skin. Hunger bears down on me as it leaks from her end of the bond, having taken her over, and I fall to it just a second later as the taste of her hits my senses. She's entirely different, but all the same, somehow enhanced and more potent than before. Taking more than a pint settles the burning in my gut, and I lick her marks until they heal as she continues to pull from me. It would seem she was right about her blood being just a beneficial as when she was human, and I feel its slight warmth being absorbed into me.
"A maker's blood is quite the treat for the child, especially just after their turned." I murmur into her hair, and she takes in my words as she doesn't stop. Opening my end of the bond, she stills as my emotions are suddenly viewable for her, and she attacks the bond with curiosity as she's just now noticed it. Her drinking slows when her hunger loses its edge, and I'm surprised when she suddenly sinks her fangs into my neck. My growl rings out at the pure indignation I feel, and a new urge starts to creep up into me when her nails drag sharply down my back. "I would like to be able to restrain myself tonight. You are making that very difficult."
Her growl washes over me again, louder, and she moves to push her nose against mine. "But what if I don't want to leave this room?" The whisper makes me shiver and the hands that had been digging into my back are pinned above her head the next second as I leer down at her.
"You need to drink some of the bagged blood in my kitchen upstairs. Mine alone will not keep you at full strength, and we will both eventually run out if you don't nourish yourself." She pouts, but I can feel her absorbing the lesson at the same time as she feels her hunger rising again since she's no longer drinking straight from me.
There's no protest as I pull her from the bed to follow me, her hand clasped securely in mine, and I show her how to open the door into the room. After she memorizes the code for the door, we ascend the stairs into the study before heading to the kitchen. She doesn't make a sound as her eyes take everything in, and although hungry, she feels content to be here.
It's endearing to watch her take a hesitant taste of the warm blood, before downing the whole glass in an instant and looking at me hungrily. My amusement only makes her smile, and she finishes a bag of each type without really caring which is which. "Yours is still better." She says with a shy smile, and I chuckle. Checking the clock, I see that it is almost time for Fangtasia to open, and look at her decidedly.
"The plan had been for us to stay here for a few nights uninterrupted, but since you've risen early, I suppose we could go to Fangtasia tonight. I will be presenting you to the local vampires present as my newest child. We should test your abilities as we have the opportunity, and after we do boring official vampire stuff, then we'll talk about your human stuff that's left over. I also want to announce our pledging, which is sort of the equivalent to a human marriage, it's is just more permanent."
She nods as I speak, until I tell her the last thing. "Married?"
"Yes. Do you not want to?"
She answers me with a smile, her glass forgotten on the counter, and I return her passion for a long moment before I set her down and step back with a smirk. Her gaze lands on her empty glass before she's eyeing me expectantly, since I've stirred up a hunger in her. I'm only happy to supply her one more glass before taking her back to our bedroom and showing her the deep walk in closet. A smile plays on my lips at the memory of when this place was constructed, and the builders were ordered by Pam to use dynamite inserted into the rock to create the closet space. I hadn't told her why at the time, but had mentioned I wanted a rather large closet, so I suppose it was my own fault on some level.
"High handed." Is whispered from her as she looks upon the racks of clothes and the rows of drawers beneath them.
"This side is mine." I reassure her, sweeping my hand to the left but she's just gives me a harsh glance before taking a deep breath and starting to finger through the things hanging up. She plays with her speed and it doesn't take her long to investigate the drawers and racks, figuring out where everything is.
"If I rose early, then when did you get all these clothes?" Caught. I think with a smile.
"Right before you were taken by fairies." She gives me an outraged look before squashing the negative feelings and going back to picking out an outfit.
My hair is seen to right before I dress, and she gives me a heated look when I emerge from the bathroom in my black leather pants and black shirt. Giving her a kiss, I look down and give an approving smile at her choice of attire. Tight dark jeans with a form fitting knit grey sweater and plain white designer tennis shoes.
She steps away and into the bathroom, quickly brushing her hair into submission before returning and hugging herself close to me before giving me a mischievous smile. "I want to try something."
"What-" I start to say, and my insides feel lurched as we're suddenly moving. The sensation is unnerving and my arms clench around her before we are in my office at Fangtasia a second later. Looking down at the smile on her face I just chuckle as I feel grounded again, "Well that could be useful."
Listening out towards the bar, I only hear the vampires talking and the employees working to get the bar ready for opening. "Thalia." I open the door before I call, and she is closing the sound proof door behind her a minute later, raising an eyebrow as she is surprised to see me here so suddenly. "Meet Sookie, my newest child." She stills against me slightly as Thalia looks her up and down, before taking a deep breath and giving me a piercing look. I confirm what she smells, "She is part fae, yes. She is also to be my pledged, and you will personally protect her should anything ever happen while you are with us."
"Of course, Sheriff." She says, and shocks me by giving a smile to Sookie, something that I have not seen her do since she met Godric several hundred years prior. "We will be good friends." This is going better than I could have dreamed. I think, watching as Sookie smiles at her, and I feel a muted happiness go through her.
"Lover, should I or Pam ever be unavailable, you are to go to Thalia. You can trust her with anything." The nod she gives me is small, and I can feel that she wants to tell me something, so I nudge her to go ahead.
"I can feel her emotions. No thoughts from any of the vampires, but emotions from all of them." I can feel through her that Thalia is now quite surprised, pleased for me, and feeling anticipation for something. She turns her attention to the vampires in the bar, and as a whole they are all curious, as well as uncertain and bored.
"Sookie was a telepath before she was turned, but she could never read vampires." I inform Thalia, and she's expressionless although I can tell through Sookie that she is indifferent. "She can also shoot a light from her hands to defend herself, as well as she is immune to everything that kills us. We got here by her teleporting for the first time. Her fae abilities have remained despite her turning." She is quite impressed, and gives Sookie an endearing look before I regain her attention. "Call as many vampires as are able to come from within the area, and at midnight we will kick most of the humans out before I make the announcement. Don't talk to anyone that associates with a certain king."
Thalia quickly leaves the room, and I pull Sookie with me gently so that we enter the bar a few seconds after my third in command. I don't know where Pam is, but she feels entertained and irritated in the bond, so I can just imagine what she's up to before she comes to work for the night. All eyes are trained on Sookie as she follows close behind me, but none of them are brave or foolish enough to say anything as I pull her down into my lap on the throne. "Open the door." I say with a flat authoritative tone, wearing the bored mask that I utilize on stage, and I see that Sven is on the door tonight. He is a little older than Pam, and doesn't hesitate to open it up, beginning to check ID's and allow people in.
The emotions of the humans are worn plainly on their face as more and more come in and see Sookie in my lap. Everything from envy to anger, each person confused or unhappy at seeing her where they wish to be, and I wrap my arms around her instinctively with all of the scathing looks coming her way. Sookie doesn't say anything, focusing on the thoughts she's hearing, and simply whispers to me whenever she catches someone who shouldn't be inside.
She is also pleased to simply be held by her Maker, or perhaps more specifically me. I'm not sure which, given how recently she was changed.
"Almost all of them hate me." The quiet words from her are a surprise as I didn't feel anything from her, and I realize she is just stating facts. We've been on my chair for several hours, and midnight is only a short ways away. So far she has seen to twelve different people being kicked out, courtesy of different vampires who respond when I point them to someone. They are all intrigued. "Many of them think they just arrived too late and that they've missed their chance. They don't realize that I'm not human." She murmurs, and I can see the ears of many vampires are perked as she teases them with information. Looking at the door where Sven is admitting people slowly, she asks me his name, and I lean down close to her causing the humans to stare at us as though it'll be a show. "Sven." She says his name at a normal volume, the loudest she's spoken all night, and he is staring at her a second later. He's got an ID in his hands, and she looks pointedly at it before shaking her head. Understanding dawns on him, and he turns away the person trying to get in, causing them to pitch a fit before slowly leaving.
He starts turning to glance at her before letting a single person in, and the humans are watching this exchange as they realize that Sookie is something other. Vampires start entering the club not long after Thalia returns, and when its eleven thirty, Sven stops letting people in. Several vampires rise from their chairs to select a meal before the rest of the humans are kicked out, and at precisely eleven forty five Thalia announces that it is time for all of the humans to leave. The selected ones are glamoured as the rest all start to file out, only a few of them making rude comments as they are forced through the door.
Several bottles of royalty blend are served up and dispersed to the vampires in attendance, and once the last one comes inside the door is shut and bolted. Standing, I pull Sookie against my side, and the room goes silent as everyone focuses on me. "I called you all here tonight to officially announce and present my newest child, Sookie. This is also my official announcement of our impending pledging. Sookie is special. She has many abilities, and rose after only a single day of turning. You will protect her in my stead, and you will show her the same respect you show myself."
It occurs to me that I have yet to see Pam, and I wonder what I will come up with later on to punish her for not attending to the bar. We return to my throne, and some of the vampires start to drink from the humans who were glamoured to stay behind. Sookie's fangs drop, but she keeps her mouth shut, and she ends up finishing several glasses of royalty blend. "Don't let anyone die." I tell Thalia, and take Sookie back to my office.
"So what are we doing now?" She asks, obviously trying to ignore what is going on in the bar.
"We are going to fill out your paperwork and register you with the AVL as a vampire. Usually the paperwork is sent to the king to be filed, but we'll just skip that middleman." I give her a smile before I grab the blank paperwork from the printer.
Quickly going through the questions, she tells me all the answers, and even surprises me when she says to use my address since she assumes she'll be living with me from now on. In no time we get to the last question. "Do you have an alternate name you wish to be recognized as now that you're vampire?"
She hesitates, and I give her a questioning look. "Well, I was thinking that since we'll be getting pledged at some point anyway, I could just go straight ahead with Sookie Northman."
Something in me snaps at hearing her give herself my last name, and I pin her to the wall as I assault her mouth. "Say it again." I rumble against her, before starting to kiss and suck on her neck.
"Sookie Northman." She gasps out, and I'm glad the room is sound proofed since she moans loudly when I sink my fangs into her flesh. Hers meet the base of my throat a second later, and she returns my growl with an alluring one of her own.
We finish drinking from each other a second later, and I can feel her elation at the prospect of being with me as my wife.
When I withdraw from her, she does the same, although she is reluctant to move away from me. "You have an incredible amount of control for a newborn." I compliment her, and set her in my chair as I happily write 'Sookie Northman' on the alternate name line, and put it through the fax machine straight to the AVL admissions office.
"I was thinking I would give the house in Bon Temps to Jason. He's met that new girl, she's real good to him and he told me that she might be the one. He was sober when he said it this time too." I chuckle, just imagining how many times he's drunkenly said that a girl was 'the one'. "When could I see them? I don't want to leave them waiting forever. Do they even know I'm here?"
"I left a note with Lafayette, saying that you were going on a vacation with me and would contact them at your own discretion." She appreciates that, since she can tell them herself, and soften the blow as much as possible.
I sense Pam getting closer, when she throws open the door and makes Sookie jump. She meets my disapproving glare with a blink, and turns her attention to Sookie. "Vampire looks good on you."
"Where have you been, and what is that?" I ask, eyeing the ball of cloth in her hands. When she holds it up, I see that it's a gaudy red and black 'vampire cape' from a humans Halloween costume. She doesn't elaborate as she tosses it onto my couch, and I give her a questioning stare.
"Some humans thought it would be ideal to wear those and lurk around the outside of my house just before I rose for the evening. I suppose it was their idea of a joke. That's the only one without blood on it." Sookie doesn't appear to be paying attention, lost to her own little world as she stares at the cape with amusement.
"They won't remember anything, but they also won't be doing any of their jokes anytime soon." I shake my head, and she looks at Sookie more closely. "When can we go shopping?"
"I'm okay actually. You should see all the clothes that Eric had waiting for me at our house." Sookie pipes up and I cringe internally as Pam gives me a knowing look, also not missing Sookie's use of 'our'.
She sighs, "Here I thought you were getting a fashion sense when you asked for that big closet in your resting place." Going over to my desk, she pulls a file from the drawer before setting it on top of the closed laptop. "There has been an unusual number of residency applications. You need to go through them." I nod and dismiss her, looking back to my bonded.
Sookie appears on my couch, moving the cape into her lap, and comes over to give me a kiss as Pam leaves the room. "You have paperwork to do. I want to go explore the house. Come and find me when you're done." The last sentence is breathed into my ear just before she disappears, and I have to adjust my pants as I take a seat at my desk. I'm quick to log into my official AVL account, and start looking up all of the applicants. It takes me no time to see they are mostly people that Lorena and Bill once associated with, with violent breaches of vampire law and several punishments served. They are all quickly denied, and I consider the few actual applicants as I start digging deeper into their backgrounds and making calls.
When I try to check on Sookie, her side of the bond is muted, and I wonder what she might be up to. The cape makes me uncertain of what she could be doing, since Halloween is still another week away, and that leads me to thoughts of the impending holiday. Calling Pam, I am quick to give her orders for what I want of the Halloween night event. We're talking when I feel a sudden spike of mischievousness from Sookie, which she quickly hides from me, and I look at Pam wickedly. The plans are revised, and nearly two hours after Sookie left, I am grabbing my leather jacket from the closet as I leave the office and head out the back door. Wind is blowing hard, and dark clouds are gathering with the smell of a storm about to break loose is thick in the air. From a distance I can see that all of the lights are turned off, and the first drops of rain hit the leather covering my shoulders and back as I land at the front door. Getting inside, I close the front door with a strong shove, blocking out the distant thunder from outside, my ears perking to the sounds inside the house. I hear music playing from somewhere, and Sookie's giggle seems to come from all around me as the scent of fairy hits me. Throwing my jacket into a chair, I take a deep breath.
"Lover… who has visited you?" My fangs drop as the scent caresses my senses, and I realize that it's all Sookie. Having a fae close must have intensified her fairy scent.
"Niall came to see me, and taught me how to control a few of my powers." It feels like her arms are wrapping around my chest from behind as she moves her lips next to my ear, but when I turn to grab her there is only empty air. "I can do several fun things." Her voice shakes with a laugh, and I growl loudly.
A loud crack of thunder shakes the house suddenly. She's so focused on me that I feel her jump through the bond at the sound, and I take a step forward to walk beneath the upstairs balcony, planning to go towards the kitchen in the back as I feel her in that direction. The darkness doesn't impede my vision, or hers I'm sure, but the piano music track and the atmosphere with the storm gives a dark feel to everything. A human in this position would likely be scared. "Have you lured me into your haunted house, Mrs. Northman?" I call out, and chuckle as a dark humor brushes me from her side of the bond. While still hiding her location, she lets me feel her emotions and I find that they excite me further.
She's feeling very hungry as well as predatory, and I wonder if she's drank any bagged blood since she came home. Walking at a human pace, I listen intently to hear even a single footstep and am just under the balcony when the sound of fabric flapping around assaults my ears. I roar when I catch a flash of black and red as someone comes from the balcony above to attach themselves to my back, arms coming around my neck and jerking me backwards unexpectedly. The surprise and pull bring me to the floor on my back, and I'm confused and almost enraged when I find that nobody is there anymore. "I can make illusions in the dark." Her voice whispers in my ear, and the need to get to her seems to intensify at the challenge she's presented. It doesn't help that her scent seems to be stronger all around me now. My fangs are throbbing, fully out as I prowl up the stairs, thinking that I've heard something in the library. An open window greets me, and I shut it as wind and rain threatens the nearby texts. Lust and some sort of call threaten to strike me to my knees from her side of the bond, and I grasp a table, leaving indents on the wood as I steady myself. A red haze enters my vision, and I snarl as my inner beast starts to claw at the surface, threatening to pull me into bloodlust.
"You need to consider the consequences of your actions." I speak at a low volume, but of course she hears. She feels sorry and not sorry at the same time, apologizing while not regretting a single thing as she taunts me with the brush of an invisible hand through my hair. My groan comes out against my will, and when I look out the window to the yard, I see what I assume is another illusion of her dancing in the rain in a flowing white dress. The vision disappears for the seconds when lighting flashes, confirming my suspicion, and I go to the hallway before descending back downstairs. There's now a tea light candle sitting lit on the entryway floor, and I stare it down as it suddenly goes out on its own. Stepping into the corner, I mute myself from the bond, and I feel the slight uncertainty from her as I disappear into the shadows of the house. The ability to do so was one of Godric's best kept secrets, the technique that he had used to kill his sadistic maker, and an art which he had taught me. I haven't done it in several hundred years, and I realize that it's easier to do since my age has progressed. It was also one of the only 'silly' vampire rumors that were true. Godric had never informed me of how he learned to do it, since the knowledge had been lost to the death of the few that used it long before his time, and I never pushed the issue since he did not enjoy speaking of his youth.
I slip into the kitchen and it only takes me seconds to down a multitude of cold blood bags, knowing that I will likely be feeding her soon enough. "I'm coming to get you. It seems that you forget what and who you are toying with… As your maker I command you not to teleport when I find you." Returning back to darkness, I start to search the house as I feel her anxiety and uncertainty skyrocket. She now has her only real means of escape taken away, and there seems to be something else bothering her, something she feels she needs to tell me. "I'm going to make you scream whatever it is." I've found her in my bed of all places, our bed I correct myself, and she squeaks when my arms are suddenly locked around her as I come from the shadows behind her. She's wearing that ridiculous billowing cape, along with a red lingerie set and I have no idea where she even got the mouthwatering piece since I didn't supply it in her closet space, but I find that I don't care as it won't be whole for much longer.
There's a hint of fear from her, and she stifles it as she knows the truth, but I still feel a need to say it. "You should never fear me. You will never have a reason to."
Her hand rises to rub over my bicep as I growl and nuzzle her neck, her scent almost breaking every restraint I hold on myself, and I feel a tingling when she shoots me with her light. It doesn't hurt, instead it feels like I'm being dragged into her spark, and all I want to do is curl up to bask and sleep. The source of this warmth comes through my awareness, and I find myself on my back with my head in her lap as I look up at her face. She's smiling warmly, but there's a mischievous light in her eyes as she gazes down at me with her fingers running circles over my shoulders. A sound that I can only describe as a purr is coming from her chest, and I find the sound mirrored by myself, filling the room with the harmony of our light growls. An irrational urge to protect her hits me when the thunder sounds like an explosion outside, and she's instantly being held against my chest bridal style as I push my back to the wall behind our bed and look around as though expecting an attack any second. The hand that raises and rests itself on my chest elicits a growl as I have fallen to my baser instincts, but when she rests her head over where my silent heart resides, I freeze.
"For a fae to be turned into a vampire, they must accept it of their own will. They must embrace it and have no doubt in their maker. When I chose you, I chose you as you are now and as you are when in your right mind. My spark has bonded with you, and my light can't hurt you anymore. By fairy rules, I've completely entrusted myself to you, and I am yours no matter what now. My body would follow you and your command, even against my will, and even without the makers call." She plants a kiss to my collarbone, and starts working her way up as her arms come loosely around my neck. Her slowness is not without purpose as she knows I'm not really thinking, just acting.
The feel of any other person so close, when I'm in such a predatory state, would have caused me to lash out. But not her. Never her.
"You own me." She whispers into my ear, her hands running through my blond locks and scratching lightly over my scalp as she starts to kiss the vein on my neck. Her fangs are out, but her fae scent is still strong and getting stronger, overriding any possible thought I might try to form. It's like I'm breathing in pure Sookie, and it can't possibly be getting stronger but it is, every single second. Words seem to be lost on her for a second as she fights the hunger that wants to take her over just like mine has, and she pants against my neck despite not needing the breath. My hand grabs the back of her head slightly roughly, causing her to feel a rush of excitement, and her teeth prick my skin as I hold her against me.
For a moment I feel like the ancient that I am, reveling in the feeling of being in the presence of the greatest treasure of my long existence, a fangs and blood monster that has found something perfect to keep. A corner of my mind muses that if this were medieval times, I would lock her away in my black castle and keep her safely away from the world. It would be almost like some of the ridiculous stories that some of the humans have come up with, but in my version, the castle would in fact belong to her, and I would have carved it from stone with my bare hands. I am her faithful lover, maker and guard. Such an incredible creature attracts those who endeavor to take her against her will, and I know that without a shadow of a doubt I could never remove myself from her. I will destroy them first as I feel I cannot live without following her through the rest of my life. "Never hesitate to take from me, my master."
The thrill that runs through me with her whisper is probably the most incredible thing I've ever felt.
Her teeth sink into my vein, and I bend myself down to bite her fiercely as well, our minds washing to a blank at the exquisite feeling of our hungers being fulfilled. Her blood pours into my mouth, and I drink a fair amount before I stop and clean the marks which heal on their own instantly and she continues to consume me. The thought of being owned by her is something that also appealed to me in a way I couldn't describe. A sense of power comes from her, and I know what she has realized from examining my end of the bond. The taste of her blood has cleared the cloud from my mind, and I growl into her ear. "Yes, you also own me. Ask me for anything and it shall be yours. Give me any order and I shall carry it out. I could kill every human within the entire city with a single night, with a single request, and I would dance in the rain of their blood. You, Sookie Northman, are the only one who I have ever entrusted myself with, and you are also the only one in existence who controls this thousand year old Viking. I feel that even Godric couldn't break your hold, no matter how hard he could ever try." It feels like I'm babbling, saying more than I should, mixing English and Swedish sporadically as she continues to drink and her legs lock around my hips suggestively.
"I don't know if I want to have that kind of power." She's only pulled back by a minimal distance to speak.
My snarl is probably audible to the entire neighborhood as her fangs slide back into the half healed marks on my neck, the pleasure mixing with pain, and I growl into her ear loudly. "It's too late. You already have it, and I suggest you use it wisely."
She hums in delight as I start scraping my fangs down her neck, her purrs of enjoyment lost in the sound of my snarls and growls. Somehow she seems to breach a defense I didn't even know I had, and she sees the comical image in my head of her hidden away in the deepest winding passages of my royal gothic castle. Her hands leave lines of blood as her nails get carried away on my back. She sends me a change to the vision, showing an image she has created of me in a set of elegant black metal armor, a long red stained broadsword in my hands as I eviscerate our enemies trying to come through the front gates. Once the last head rolls, I move through the black halls faster than possible for humans, before I open the heavy stone door to an elegant and royally furnished bedroom. I can almost feel her hands moving over me to remove the pieces of armor until I am free of my bindings, and take her to our bed in victory of the bloodbath.
"Keep me safe my love, my bonded, my soon to be husband, my guard, my maker… my vampire. Keep me and protect me forever." Her wish is my command, and she chuckles softly when I say as much to her. The marks on my neck have healed by now, her having detached to speak her flowery words into my ear. Not that I was complaining. Just the sound of her voice is like a warm blanket being draped on me and turning the beast inside of me from a snarling mess to a loving creature who has curled at the feet of the person who tamed it. That word strikes me as it passes in barely recognized thought.
"You have tamed me, lover. You are where no one else has ever ventured to be, owned but also master of a monster that has hunted from the darkness for longer than most. Without hesitation, I will do what you ask, and I'm sure you will do the same for me." She shivers, my words like cool water through her system, and then she's kissing me fiercely as she pushes my head down into the pillows and straddles me.